Things I Think Are Kinda Cool

Back in 1958, Americans had an exuberantly optimistic view of the future…jet packs, robots, dinner with the “Jetsons”. This video, “Magic Highway USA” is taken from the Disneyland TV show, and features some of the lofty dreams we had about driving, commuting, and vacationing in the future. Some predictions actually did come true, like car rearview video cameras, but others were way too ambitious, like auto-piloted cars controlled by flimsy paper punchcards. Sit back and enjoy some retro-futurist kitsch:

-via Metafilter

BRAIN:  Summer’s almost here…are you excited?

YOU:  Absolutely.  I’m looking forward to getting involved in some new projects.

BRAIN:  Great…tt’s nice to see you engaged and ready to apply yourself.  What projects?

YOU:  ’America’s Got Talent’, ‘Toddlers and Tiaras’, ‘The Bachelorette’, ‘Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami”, and drumroll please…’Jersey Shore 2′!   I can’t wait to see what trouble that lovable and precarious Snooki gets into this year!

BRAIN: … I think we have a Situation on our hands.

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* I know it’s hard to believe, but Cheetos (my ultimate favorite) aren’t natural.  I know, crazy.  Find out how a silo filled with cornmeal becomes a delectable guilty pleasure.  And if anyone knows how I can become one of the ‘quality control’ experts on the assembly line, please let me know. – Wired

* This is the true story of 3 mental patients who each believe they’re Jesus Christ, picked to live together in a mental hospital and have their lives observed, to find out what happens when delusional people stop being crazy, and start being…well, they’re still crazy at the end. - Slate

* With hi-tech 3D graphics being shoved down our throats lately, why are so many designers still attracted to crudely simple 8-bit pixel art?  Is it simply nostalgia, or the challenge of representing an image with as little information as possible? – Ars Technica

* Are the lovers in Botticelli’s “Venus and Mars” high on aphrodisiac drugs, the Renaissance equivalent of popping Ecstasy pills?  According to an art historian, it’s absolutely possible.  Break out the glow sticks and pacifiers.  - Guardian

* Legendary American author Mark Twain wrote an autobiography with strict orders for it to not be published until 100 years after his death.  Time’s up, and we’re about to learn some dark secrets about him.  Let’s just say he wasn’t always Mr. Nice Guy.  - Independent

* Warning!  Cuba is overrun with condoms!   Don’t worry…Cubans have invented countless non-traditional uses for condoms, like smuggling alcohol into clubs, doubling as beach balls, attaching messages to the legs of messenger birds, becoming missiles in kids water balloon fights…the list goes on and on. – Global Post

* Surveillance cameras are only useful when a pair of eyes are actually watching the footage being recorded.  But whether you like it or not, the future is finally here, and it’s not humans doing the monitoring…automated computer brains have taken over in many areas. – Popular Mechanics

* Attention geeks:  It’s been 28 years since Mario first appeared in a video game.  Enjoy this essay which explains what it is about that little mustached Italian that keeps us coming back for more koopa-stomping and Princess-saving fun. - 1 Up

I know I’ve been harping on and on about the Robot Takeover for the past few months…but I think I now have definitive proof that it’s officially begun.  Meet the latest member of the robotic community, or as I like to call him, Robo-Cujo.  (I’m scared…)

-From WalYou via Digg

A newfangled high-tech machine called the ‘Berlin Brain-Computer Interface’ uses brain waves to give commands to machines.  In this vid, the player simply has to think about moving his left or right hand, and the corresponding pinball flipper is flicked.  Besides this being freaky/amazing, imagine the possibilities for paralyzed people.  Wow.

-Make via Neatorama

This is absolutely wild…a company called NuFormer has developed a new technology to display 3-D images & videos on the surfaces of buildings.  Check out the video below.  There is absolutely no CGI involved – if you were standing in front of the building, this is exactly what you’d see.  Imagine the possibilities…

-Link via @ArtGlobe (Twitter)

Woah – this is freaky.  Way back in 1993, AT&T ran their “You Will” commercials, which highlighted technologies they predicted we would all by using in the distant future.  You’ll totally remember the ads once you check out the video below, and you’ll also be shocked to see that the majority of their predictions actually came true!  (Hey AT&T – sure, you can see the future, but my iPhone reception is still crappy)

-via Gizmodo

Check out this new running robot from Toyota. I’m kinda scared…especially when that woman tries to push it backwards, and it’s basically like, ‘Back off, beeatch’.