Turtle’s 78 RPM Jukebox
Turtle’s 78 RPM Jukebox is a huge collection of popular Victor, Edison, and Columbia recordings in MP3, from 1900-1930. They also have techtidbits like: “N.K. captured this selection at 78 rpm and electonically slowed it to 71 rpm for our enjoyment. N.K. uses a Technics SL-1900 turntable (modified to spin at 78 rpm ± 10%), a Grado F1 cartridge and a 3 mil conical stylus tracking at 3 grams. N.K. uses Sound Forge version 5.0 and Audio Cleaning Lab version 3.0 digital processing software”. [via] Link.
I saw a really great documentary called Yank Tanks – it’s about the ingenuity of Cuban mechanics who often fabricate parts, turn chain saws in to mopeds, bake ceramic brakes in their back yards, all to keep 50+ year old cars running. “Every Cuban is a mechanic” is one of the quotes in the film- there were dozens of hacks and mods on the classic cars as well as the ways to repair them. The Yank Tank hackers are the curators of the largest, living, automobile museum in the world. 
Wow, scary. As the article asks- how can the MPAA tell if people are selling their own used DVDs or other things? The Motion Picture Association of America said Tuesday that it will fund the installation of 10 new surveillance cameras in downtown Los Angeles–ostensibly to help catch ne’er-do-wells who are selling counterfeit DVDs on the streets. [
RH writes- A pseudoscope is an optical instrument made with two prisms. The mirrors in the prisms reverse the image in each eye causing some items viewed through it to look quite unusual: convex objects become concave, things pointing towards you may look like they are pointing away and vice versa. This site describes more illusions that can be seen with it and how to make one for around ten dollars (holding up 2 $5 prisms). 
Great use for all those old CDs laying around, make a lamp! At a previous job, the head of QA had several stacks of several hundred CDs on the floor in front of floor to ceiling windows. The sunlight shining through the window would glow through these CDs in a very appealing manner that made the green light seam warm. From that point forward I always thought that a stack of CDs with a tubular light inside would make a very cool lamp. [