Gizmodo: riot

Friday Is the Perfect Day for an Office Riot

Jesus Diaz — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:20:00 EDT

Aside from some nice tapas, wine, and caipirinhas, is there any better way to end the week than a revolution at the office? I say NO! Here are the complete instructions:

Warning: Pictures in the gallery contain NSFW illustrations with nudity

According to its creators—the Centennial Society—the pamphlet is really designed to strike back against junk mail companies:

This small, sixteen-page pamphlet is produced to put inside the postage-paid, business-reply envelopes that come with junk mail offers. Every envelope collected is stuffed with the pamphlet and mailed back to its original company.

Whatever. Here's my idea: Let's all follow the instructions and start a new world order. One in which I can go naked outside my office hours too. [Centennial Society via Boing Boing]

PlayStation 3 Melee Watch: Riot Edition

Jason Chen — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 14:00:11 EST

The PlayStation 3 Mayhem reached UCLA-like proportions last night, as a Best Buy manager announced to 50 people that only 35 PS3 units were available. Ruh roh.

The crowd then rushed the entrance, which caused the manager to pull down the shutters and barricade himself in. Police on the scene labeled the crowd an "unlawful gathering", then used batons on people who were being uncooperative. To those baton-ed: better that than having to play through NBA 07 or Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire. – Jason Chen

Playstation 3 Rush: Police Use Force [KMPH via Digg]

Riot Goo

Jason Chen — Thu, 04 May 2006 01:05:59 EDT

Researchers at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas are apparently huge fans of The Ghostbusters. A recent patent filed by them shows a tank of goo carried backpack-like by riot police.

A hose extends from the tank to a nozzle, which when shot, combines a jet of water with a jet of dry powder into a single powerful stream of splurge that causes everybody in the area to fall down. Even cars are not immune as they go sliding faster than a Japanese drifter.

Any invention that calls for less bean bags shot to our face is a good one in our book.

Riot slimer [NewScientist]

Ebay Deal of the Day: I Predict A Riot

johnb — Wed, 17 Aug 2005 10:19:43 EDT

We beat this riot thing into the ground yesterday, but that doesn't mean even more crafty folks can't beat it even further today! We present the ultimate in post-riot apparel, the "I Went to Henrico County for a $50 iBook and But All I Got Was Kicked in the Balls" t-shirt.

Get yours today by pushing babies and old women into oncoming hordes of people. [Thanks, Jerrod]

HENRICO COUNTY $50 iBook t-shirt.. kicked in the balls [eBay]

iBook Riot: It Was Dell's Fault

Noah R — Tue, 16 Aug 2005 17:13:50 EDT

More news on the 2005 iBook Riot, held today at the Richmond International Raceway. A new video shows trampling inside the building. Riot cops arrived on the scene late in the morning to quell the crowd. (What does an iBook riot cop carry, a menacing Mighty Mouse?) The consensus from participants: It just wasn't worth it. Sure, $50 sounds like a great deal. But there is no point trampling children and the elderly for a 12-inch laptop that doesn't have built-in WiFi and Bluetooth.

The intrepid investigative reporters from MacObserver reveal the root cause of the stampede:

The 12-inch iBooks were part of a contract worth US$24.2 million and consisting of 23,000 iBooks; it was due to end this summer. In April of this year, Apple was outbid by some $4 million by Dell—$20 less for each Windows-based laptop—and Henrico County schools are in the process of transitioning away from Macs.

So, this is all Dell's fault.

[Mob Storms Door For Used Computers]
[Sheress Blunt, iBook survivor]
[MacObserver]

Apple iBook Riots in VA

johnb — Tue, 16 Aug 2005 15:54:58 EDT

What do you get when you mix record heat, $50 4-year-old iBooks, and a burgeoning back-to-school season? Riot! Folks in Richmond, Virginia piled up at the doors of the Richmond International Raceway to get their hands on one of about 1,000 laptops. The ensuing chaos caused one intrepid shopper to lose her footwear:

"This is total, total chaos," said Latoya Jones, 19, who lost one of her flip-flops in the ordeal and later limped around on the sizzling blacktop with one foot bare.

Another charming and telling quote:

One woman went so far to wet herself rather than surrender her place in line.

They couldn't donate these things? Tell the kids to take one home?

Panic ensues in rush for cheap laptops [CNN]
iBook frenzy, as it happened [GatewayVA]
Video [NBC12]