The toys appear to be passive, in that they aren't motorized, and rely on the micro-tides in your water bottle to propel them—along with their waving, limp tentacles—to and fro in your water bottle, and at six dollars they're hardly expensive. On thing: although you can be fairly comfortable that these little guys won't lay eggs in your intestines, it seems like we've got a sort of ship/bottle scenario here. If they're small enough to fit into your Evian bottle, aren't they small enough to come back out and choke you to death? [Bandai via Newlaunches]

First it was Beats by Dre headphones in the locker room, now it's Flip Minos awkwardly distributed onstage at the MVP crowning. By the looks of it, Delonte West is pretty used to the Santa LeBron treatment—he's still waiting for the Range. [Sporting News]

There's not much else known about this newly registered trademark filed with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office except that it has something to do with:

Video game software; Software for computer games; Optical disc recorded video game software; Optical disc recorded computer game software; Optical disc recorded game programs for hand-held typed electronic games with liquid crystal display

Oh, what could it be? It sounds like it could be a trademark for the EULA or privacy section of DC Universe Online, the Sony-developed DC Comics MMORPG. Or something related to that game. How else is Sony thinking it can register the name Badman in any kind of trademark filing and get away with it? [USPTO via Kotaku]

In a report from Xinhua, the government-sponsored news agency, a group of journalists and officials were on a Southern Airlines flight in late February when one of them noticed an unusual luminous object traveling alongside their vessel.

After excitedly pointing it out to everyone around him, one journalist managed to snap a few photos before the object suddenly changed directions and swerved north east. The witnesses debated whether it had been a plane – but later, another plane did appear and everyone agreed that it looked nothing like the unidentified object they'd just seen.

Altogether, the alleged UFO sighting lasted about a minute. Any idea what it could have been? Aliens? Solar flares? AMERICAN SPIES?! [Xinhua]

Photoshaper can be used by anyone with a digital camera and an Internet connection. Basically, the service will take any digital photograph you can send them using their web site, creating a 3D image out of it.

First, to create the 3D information, Photoshaper analyzes the photograph, converting it to black and white. It then uses the resulting picture as a guide to create the 3D layers: Darker tones correspond to thicker parts of the plate, while lighter tones correspond to thinner parts.

The plate is made then using a 3D printer, which lays down multiple layers of resin like an inkjet printer. The resin layers solidify instantly, allowing for more to be printed on top, constructing the 3D out of multiple paper-thin surfaces.

The result is a slab of white resin with a weird, rough surface. When you look at it straight on, it resembles a negative of the original image, but much less defined than a real negative. However, when you look at it through the light, the image appears magically in front of you, with a spooky effect.

At least it is spooky for me. I don't know about you, but this freaks me out. [Sh rugged apeways]

I've seen quite a few "headset hotties" in stock photos from when I created websites, and these aren't nearly the best ones on the internet. Maybe you guys can help them out?

[Headset Hotties via Boing Boing Gadgets]

Open up a keg like a can of tuna and sip from the lovely nectars within? Hilariously convert your friends' cars into convertibles? Open up those pesky gadget blister packs? Threaten your dog?

Let's fill in the rest of the story for this Alabama thief. [AP]

At first glance the sculptures, which come in candlestick, goblet, vase and custom configurations, just look like milled hunks of metal. But when viewed against a contrasting backdrop, the classic illusion becomes apparent. Cox can machine these inverted portraits out of either steel, brass or aluminum, and only needs a profile photo of your (or your soon-to-be creeped-out giftee's) face to get started. [Metal Portraits]

You see, Annie was ready to enroll in online classes at Madison Area Technical College (emphasis mine), so she bought a Dell laptop with Ubuntu pre-loaded. MATC lists as its requirements Microsoft Word and internet access, so when her Verizon DSL install CD wouldn't work and the word "Microsoft" was nowhere to be found, she called Dell. There, a gracious callcenter support drone told her that Ubuntu was just fine for everything she needed to do (true, I would say) and that it's just perfect for college students. Annie agreed.

Something tells me there are a few critical plot points missing from WKOW's story, because we go from that point to dropping out of MATC due to continued failings in getting the Ubuntu machine wired up to the net and ongoing confusion over this whole "Open Office" thing.

And then, instead of calling the school and Verizon to get things settled, Annie went to Dan Cassuto, overseer of WKOW's crack Troubleshooter segment. He called Verizon and MATC and everything is just fine now. Phew.

As ridiculous as it may be, let this serve as a parable. Just because you and I know that setting up a DSL connection without the install CD is pretty easy, and that Open Office can save Word-compatible documents just fine, poor Annie—a perfect representation of a mainstream user if I ever saw one—got tripped up. Linux will never truly go seamlessly mainstream with problems like this persisting.

I'm just glad everything worked out without the world ending and the internet explosing. Thanks, WKOW! [WKOW via Slashdot, The Whole Internet]

I scoured the entire area, and found what I consider to be the most amusing items there and placed them into a gallery below for your consumption.

In reality, it's an art museum and alpine ice research station that will be completed next year in the Swiss alps. The construction of the building will use a computer numerical control drilling machine, which will manufacture 180 pieces out of 2,000 cubic meters of wood. The pieces will be assembled on site.

Head to Archdaily to read all the details and see more images. [Archdaily]

It's just a weird post on Netflix's outward-facing blog. On the one hand, it's bragging that their new player is so simple that fewer people need help setting it up. On the other hand, they're talking about people being let go, which is strange, since they follow up with a line that says "...Netflix as a whole as we continue to add engineers and other positions throughout the company."

That just leaves our reaction to Netflix's announcement. WTF Really? [Netflix via CNN Gigaom]

1. Trying to saw a two-by-four alone looks awfully stressful: our moustachioed French hero has grown three heads in his panic. But recruiting a team of builders gets that barn made like they were Amish (though we all know the lazy French are incapable of such efficiency).
2. If you link arms, you can make kick-ass birdhouses. But watch out for the ghostly silhouettes inching ever closer.
3. Tools required to make birdhouses/barns/Core 2 Duo processors include: a chainsaw, a syringe, multiple dustpans, and a pastel scarf rakishly knotted around the neck. Optional but strongly recommended: party hats.
4. Doing basic arithmetic makes French barnbuilders very content.
5. OH GOD they've grown multiple heads again! At least people seem to be buying their barns, which apparently have shrunk into shoebox-sized models somewhere between here and the first panel.
6. Something awful has happened. Our heroic Frenchmen are now plugged directly into electrical outlets, with internal temperature monitoring. Is this some kind of Shyamalanianian twist and they were robots the entire time? This narrative ends on such a disturbing note. [Sony, thanks Christopher!]

Despite the weirdness, it works. Not only that: this design allows for very steady flights and attack angles which are not possible in other aircraft without losing stability. The fan lets the aircraft to almost float in the air, with the capability of moving very slowly, resisting turbulence and winds with ease. The company claims that it also has a very low carbon footprint for "projected manned applications." As the gallery shows, they are not stopping in UAVs: they want to do ultralight aircraft, planes for short-range delivery, fire fighters, crop dusting, short-haul passenger service and even a Vertical-Take-Off version.

[Flight Global]

And now, the obligatory 80s reference you were all waiting for:

Love, exciting and new
Come Aboard. We're expecting you.
Love, life's sweetest reward.
Let it flow, it floats back to you.

Love Boat soon will be making another run
The Love Boat promises something for everyone
Set a course for adventure,
Your mind on a new romance.

Love won't hurt anymore
It's an open smile on a friendly shore.
Yes LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE! It's LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE! (hey-ah!)

Love Boat soon will be making another run
The Love Boat promises something for everyone
Set a course for adventure,
Your mind on a new romance.

Love won't hurt anymore
It's an open smile on a friendly shore.
It's LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE! It's LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE! It's
LOOOOOOOOOOOVE!
It's the Love Boat-ah! It's the Love Boat-ah!

Come on, sing it. You know you want to. Sing it! [stuff4restaurants—thanks Lola]

If that wasn't enough, the woman even placed a mattress she found in the closet and took regular showers. So what is the deal here? Is this guy's house and closet so big that he simply never ran into her? Or his he just unobservant? Either way, I would have the police comb the area one more time. He could have a whole freakin' village tucked away in there. [SFGate]