Audio Tower of Babel by Tivoli

What can you do with 1,000 Tivoli radios? That’s an easy one, build a 15-foot-high audio tower, of course.

Nicknamed the “Tower of Babel” this technological oddity was presented at the Milan Design Week 2009, to promote the audio supplier’s collaboration with Italian designer Giulio Cappellini. The Audio Tower of Babel was very popular in Milan, so it will be reconstructed in Moscow, London and Paris. Be sure to check it out if you’re into audio stuff.

You can watch the building process of Tivoli’s Tower of Babel, in the video at the bottom.

via Dvice

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Russians Know How to Party

I have a few Russian friends and i know for a fact they are party animals.

In this case we’re talking about Russian border guards, who celebrated Russisan Border Guards Day on May 28. Both active and retired members of the guard partyed in Gorky Park, Moscow, with food, music and, of, course, plenty of vodka. They seem to have had a memorable time, being a Russian Border Guard must be fun.

Photos by EPA

via Telegraph.co.uk

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The See-Through Toilet

The last thing I want happening to me in a public toilet is be seen by strangers while I handle my business, but people in Lausanne.

Relax though, if you behave inside, everything will be ok. This glass and steel structure features a voir button on the inside. The toilet windows are transparent when it is vacant, but turn opaque when someone enters and presses the button. Now, to prevent a person overstaying their welcome, the transparent toilet also has a motion sensor, and if it doesn’t detect any movement, for a long period of time, OR if it detects too much movement, the window turn transparent.

Talk about getting caught with your pants down, huh?

via Pasta&Vinegar

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Incredibe 3D Murals by John Pugh

These are some of the most realistic trompe l’oeil murals I have ever seen.

John Pugh has to be one of the most talented trompe l’oeil painters in the world. He creates unbelievably realistic murals that trick the viewer’s eye into seeing a three-dimensional scene. Pugh’s works can be seen all across the world, from New Zealand to Hawaii.

Photos by John Pugh/ BARCROFT

via Telegraph.co.uk

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Honey Baked Ham Cupcakes

Sweets keep getting weirder and weirder these days. After the bacon-flavored chocolate, I present to you the honey baked ham cupcakes.

Stef, from the Cupcake Project blog, has baked what she says is the world’s first honey baked ham cupcake. Those who tried these weird delicacies said they couldn’t really taste the ham, if anything it just gives the cupcake a nice sweet-salty flavor. In fact, the ham only acts as an edible cupcake wrapping, through which you have to bite your way to the tasty cinnamon cream cheese frosting.

If you want to try these at home, just visit Cupcake Project page and check the recipe.

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Ant Sauce, Delicious!

Fried insects are considered delicacies in many cultures, but ant sauce? That’s something new.

During the April-June season, thousands of Colombian farmers collect giant ants, named ulonas, cook them and sell them as a traditional exotic dish. The ants are roasted in big bowls, bagged and shipped to stores around the country.

Some people eat the roasted ants, known as Culonas, as snacks, while others use them to make a special sauce that goes great with potato chips. To me, this looks almost as “tasty” as the Chinese fried insects menu.

Photos by Xianhua/Reuters

via Reuters

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Modern-Day Gladiators Battle in Croatia

The largest city of the Istrian Peninsula and an ancient Roman port, Croatia’s Pula takes tourists back to the days when Romans ruled the lands.

During the Antiquity festival, at the start of summer’s traveling season, people gather in the Forum and Small Roman theater, demanding “bread and games”. This year, on My 23rd, the members of the Hungarian Collegium Cladiatorium fighting club were only happy to oblige. They entertained the crowds just like the gladiators of old used to…minus the hurting and killing each other, of course.

Photos by Xianhua/Reuters

via big5.cri.cn

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Auto-Close – The High-Tech Toilet Seat Cover

I had no idea there could be something high-tech about a toilet, but Pressalit’s Auto-Close Toilet Seat Cover proves how little I know about toilets and technology.

So what makes this toilet seat cover so high-tech? The Auto-Close features a built-in sensor that lifts the toilet lid when someone enters its range and gently lowers it when it is unused. No more touching the bacteria-infected toilet cover with your hands and, more importantly, no more airborne germs released in the bathroom.

Pretty high-tech for a toilet and it actually looks cool too.

via Trendir

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Damnation Custom Steampunk PC

You know what the best thing about this mean-machine is? IT CAN BE YOURS!

That’s right, created by artist Jake Hildebrandt, for the release of Damnation (a video-game from Codemasters), this Steampunk PC is now the prize of a competition initiated by Destructoid. All you have to do is show your love for Steampunk design. The most original comment gets to take home this cool rig. Unfortunately the contest is only available to people in Canada and the US. You have until June 19 to enter.

The Damnation Steampunk PC sports an Intel Core i7 965 processor, 12 gigabytes of DD3 RAM, an X57 chipset motherboard, dual Radeon 4870X2 graphics-card and 1 terabyte of hard-drive. So it’s not just a “pretty face”, this baby can handle just about anything you throw at it.

I like Datamancer’s Steampunk Laptop a bit more, but Jake Hildebrandt’s work of art isn’t bad either.

photos via Jack of All Trades on Flickr

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The World’s Hairiest Competition

The World Beard and Mustache Competition was held in Anchorage, Alaska, and crowned its winner from one of the locals.

Contestants from as far as Turkey or Switzerland traveled to Alaska to compete for the title of hairiest man…sorry, for having the most beautiful facial hair. That doesn’t sound very nice either, but you know what I mean. There were 300 facial-hair enthusiasts, from eleven countries, fighting for this coveted title.

David Traver, a local boy, won the competition with his 20-inch beard, grown for a period of two and a half years, before being braided into the shape of a snowshoe.

Photos by AP and

via Daily Mail

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Charlie the One-Winged Drake

Charlie is a lucky British drake who had one of his wings amputated, but managed to recover and is now looking forward to a peaceful life.

The drake was found near the Download Open Air Museum, in West Essex, after he had been shot while swimming peacefully on a pond. His injuries were to severe and one of his wings had to be amputated. If he were a wild drake he wouldn’t have been able to survive, but lucky Charlie has fuly recovered and will go on to live a happy life.

via Daily Mail

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The Giant Coconut Crab

I know what you’re thinking, but no, these are not stils from Starship Troopers, these giant crabs live right here, on Earth.

The Coconut Crab is the largest land-crab in the world, with a diameter of around three feet and weight of over nine lbs. As you might have guessed, this giant crustacean loves coconuts. It climbs coconut-trees, crushes their fruit with its powerful pinchers and scrap out the inside.

They are sold as pets in markets like Tokyo, but I find it hard to believe people would want such a creature in their houses. It’s not only their appearance and size, but also their strength. If you’re not careful, a Coconut Crab could easily crush one of your limbs. Just think, if it can crush a coconut, what could it do to your arm.

Coconut Crabs live on the islands of the Indo-Pacific region, but, unfortunately, their numbers are declining, due to loss of habitat and poaching. They are considered a delicacy by some people and it is said their flesh resembles the taste of lobsters.

via Scienceray

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Dirndl Dresses for Horses

Pet fashion really took off in recent years, so I wasn’t that surpised to see these horses dressed in traditional Bavarian dresses.

Dirndl dresses are famous all around the world for being Bavaria’s traditional outfits, thousands of Bavarian women wear them, and now, apparently even horses. German designer Hildegard Bergbauer used to create drindl dresses only for women, but has recenlty began taking orders for house pets and even horses.

The horses do look elegant in their brand-new drindl dresses, but I do believe the young Bavarian beauties holding them look even better.

Photos by Alexandra Beier/REUTERS

via Sina

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The Retirement of Billy the Goat

Having a goat as a member of the Royal Army might seem funny to most people, but it has been a British tradition for more than 200 years.

Lance Corporal William Windsor has served in the army for the last eight years, traveling overseas, meeting royalty and leading military parades. His comrades from the 1st Battalion of the Royal Welsh said goodbye to their loyal colleague as he walked by to the trailer that took him to the zoo, where he will spend his retirement.

Billy the Goat is a Kashmir goat and was offered as a gift to the Royal Army, by the Queen herself. Billy’s replacement will be announced in June, when another kid goat will be picked from a heard in Great Orme, North Wales.

Photos by PA and REUTERS

via Daily Mail

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Wall-E PC-Case Mod

Animation can have a weird effect on people. For example, this guy built a custom Wall-E pc case after watching the famous animation movie.

This Russian fellow spent 18 days building this awesome pc case mod from scratch, after watching Wall-E. He just fely had to have Wall-E hold his computer components and because there was no such case on the market, he decided to build it himself. I have to say the result is nothing less than mind-blowing, and watching the entire building process on Casemods.ru, made me admire his work even more.

I’m sure many of you would kill to have such a thing of beauty sitting on your desk, and, to be honest, I would too.

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