Maybe this video can spark a debate on immigration, the mistreatment awaiting these new immigrants due to the rights they don't have as non-citizens, or the fact that border control is nearly impossible with current methods.

Or, since everyone already knows that millions of illegal immigrants pack 14 people into a minivan and head for the underbrush when the cops find them, we can just enjoy a humorous video of a man realizing his job just got too big to handle.

@BZISHI: It's actually not that common to find an attractive art object with expertly done electronics, unless two people worked on the project. Overlap between electronics craftsmanship and artistic ability seems to be lacking. That's why Ben Heck's projects are so amazing.

I've talked quite a bit with Jim about their plans for the future. The core of TechShop right now is a very enthusiastic and determined group of experts who are doing their level best to get a TechShop in every city. There will be franchises, and a corporate structure that greatly eases the mystery of legal and insurance matters, uses the collective experience to set guidelines for getting things done right the first time, and helps acquire equipment and drum up investor support. There will be several more TechShops this year already. In a couple years, I hope most people have access to a TechShop and will go learn and do things, and innovate, instead of turning their brain into lump of meat for sale on the television advertising market.

I thought the laser-cut candle mobiles might have been worth a couple extra shots, and a close-up...those things are more amazing the closer you get. But yeah, the main focus here was to cover the idea and philosophy of TechShop, and illustrate how that carries over into reality...mission totally accomplished. Also, I made it into a few background shots, and the flashy multicolored thing in the beginning was mine. ;) Here's what that eventually became: http://www.flickr.com/photos/macetech/2459016388/

Why is this not in every medicine cabinet? FDA approval I guess. I'm sure over-use has side effects.

$25 for this? Hmmm...I made one last year. Here's a video of the prototype: http://blip.tv/file/205627/

I could make an almost invisible version designed to fit on the standard internal USB headers provided on most motherboards. And change the firmware to do random stuff once in a while, instead of continuous circles. I have Chinese manufacturer hookups and could get them assembled and shipped for under $3 each. I'd charge about $10.

Only one side is laughing? Those are the funniest jokes!

You know what it feels like when you breathe out through your nose after eating too much wasabi? Yeah...that kind of "alert". I think this will be pretty effective.

I'm waiting for the hypodermic needle version.

However, this means I might have a chance to go, since Stanford is about 3000 miles closer.

This is great...they'll kindly keep my computer powered up while the motion sensor kicks in and does a triple-erase of the hard drive en route.

These will work great with my 75 straight-sided 2-gallon glass beakers, and a lot of green Jello. In the year 3000....

#2: I believe the chance it lands where someone can find it is 29.18%.

It would be funny up to the point you discover you've ruined your nonstick pan with these metal molds....

As long as the car is actually falling through the water, the pressure on the outside will be greater than the pressure inside. The difference is enough to make it very difficult, if not impossible, to open the door. It will also jam the window glass. If you know the water is only a few feet deep, this might be a valid tactic. But your first reaction should be to open the door and get out; if that doesn't work, try to roll down the window; if that doesn't work, try to break the window. This needs to happen as fast as possible if you are unsure how deep the water is.

The article says flashing RED lights. I wonder if the cops can flash only the reds, not the blues?

I guess it doesn't matter...you have to pull to the side of the road for any emergency vehicle with lights on, such as an ambulance or fire truck that don't have blue lights.

But if I saw a non-firetruck/non-ambulance vehicle with no blue lights, I might pull to the side and let them pass, but not come to a complete stop and wait for someone to come to my window. There are impostors out there looking for easy carjacking, you have to be careful.

Interesting that this paper AK-47 is only $120 less than the price of the real thing in Africa.

I did 100-120 flights a year for a while in the continental U.S. and you pretty much don't go through the metal detector with shoes on. The detector operator looks at your shoes and decides whether they look too scary, which has been virtually everyone's shoes in my observation. The experienced travelers always put their shoes on the carryon x-ray, while the inexperienced travelers (the one that's always right in front of you) get an outstretched arm and a stern command to go back and put their shoes on the conveyor, upon which they confusedly do an about-face and take about 3 minutes to untie their shoes.

Left to right orientation would probably confuse more people, since the curtains are moving vertically.

I'm in the camp that had no problem understanding the controls at first glance. Same with the Ikea infographic.

Maybe this is just a good illustration of the rift in our society in the way that people approach technology. The person who has trouble with the curtain control is the person who buys an iPod instead of the many cheaper and more advanced options.

Dragonphyre, if you read http://www.unlockthevalue.com/SilverRecovery.aspx you'll see that the silver is fully embedded in the silica. If you melt only the silver, you get nowhere, you just have melty silver chocolate chips in a silica cookie. And at 16 grams of silver per ton of ore, you can't melt all the silica and recover the energy costs to heat a ton of ore to 2577 F. The real challenge here is to find a way to reduce the silica to ultrafine particles without a direct mechanical grinding operation, which has already proven to be prohibitively difficult due to tool wear.