NY Times is reporting that Mattel is planning on releasing an adult collectors series of Barbie and Ken dolls based on the AMC television series Mad Men.

via BuzzFeed

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid, subscribe via RSS, Email, Twitter & Facebook.

Related posts:

- I Pity the Dolls, A Huge Collection of Vintage Mr. T Dolls

- 7th Annual San Francisco Altered Barbie Show

- Matryoshkus Russian Dolls: Bit, Byte, KB, MB, GB & TB

- The 6th Annual Altered Barbie & Ken Show

- Animatronic John McCain & Barack Obama Presidential Dolls

“Lord Of The Onion Rings” by Dave MacDowell

via The Daily What

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid, subscribe via RSS, Email, Twitter & Facebook.

Related posts:

- The DM of The Rings, The Lord of The Rings Told as a Dungeons & Dragons Campaign

- Onion Goggles, Eye Protection Against The Evils of Onion Tears

- The Onion comes to San Francisco

- The Onion Lampoons Wikipedia

- The Onion Makes It Easier Not To Vote

image by Jeremy Benning, National Geographic

We really wish we could have been a fly on the wall when “Sizing Up Sperm” — a human re-enactment of fertilization — was pitched in the esteemed offices at National Geographic. Regardless of how the idea was hatched, the results are stunning and the program airs this Sunday, March 14. In it, people dressed in all white literally act out the role of sperm in the race to become one with the egg, running through valleys, squeezing through spirals, battling Leukocytes and much more. The impressive undertaking was completed with helicopter-mounted cameras, world-renowned scientists, CGI and over-the-top reconstruction of the sperm’s journey played out in real life by humans.

National Geographic’s Sizing Up Sperm page has video, photos, facts and “The Great Sperm Race” game, whose designers we’re certain are tired of all those “first person shooter” jokes. Or their friends endlessly playing Every Sperm Is Sacred over and over while they were trying to work. It just so happens that Slate also got in on the ejaculation meme, and delivered the riveting article on a story of sperm donors and DNA tracing in Are Sperm Donors Really Anonymous Anymore? It’s a great pairing with the NatGeo feature, and will make any guy think twice before donating sperm, most especially when over a dozen of your children find each other, and start racing to find… you.

via Lori Dorn

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid, subscribe via RSS, Email, Twitter & Facebook.

Related posts:

- The Complete Series of National Geographic Magazines (1888-2008) on a 160GB Hard Drive

- The Democratic Party’s Presidental Race in Eight Minutes

- Recorder Race

- The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello

- Big Wheel Race Down Lombard Street

Whenever people mention the random webcam site, Chatroulette, it inevitably leads to talk of how there are certain less-than-desirable webcam chat partners on the service. Some would wager that the guise of anonymity on Chatroulette helps these users feel a bit safer when baring it all. They aren’t as anonymous as they think.

Chatroulette Map is a project that is grabbing the IP addresses of users, along with a screenshot, and then using Geo IP tools to pinpoint them roughly on the map. The site relies on the fact that Chatroulette connects users directly to each other (assumedly in an effort to save bandwidth) and in doing so exposes IP addresses. Most of the screenshots are safe and entertaining, but there are a few of those Not-Safe-For-Work ones mixed in. The site is also a great way to see a small sampling of the concentration of users around the world.

Previously on Laughing Squid:

- Andrey Ternovskiy, 17 Year-Old Founder of Chatroulette

- Jon Stewart Using Chatroulette on The Daily Show

- Chatroulette Game, If You Turn Your Head I Win

- Meeting Yourself on Chatroulette

- Catroulette

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid, subscribe via RSS, Email, Twitter & Facebook.

Related posts:

- Andrey Ternovskiy, 17 Year-Old Founder of Chatroulette

- Meeting Yourself on Chatroulette

- Jon Stewart Using Chatroulette on The Daily Show

- Anonymous & The Pirate Bay Team Up To Help Iran Democracy Activists at Anonymous Iran

- Chatroulette Game, If You Turn Your Head I Win

image by foCuseD-Photography for The Zentai Project

Zentai is the practice of wearing a full body suit (typically Lycra, though other materials fall into Zentai labels) for private enjoyment or exhibitionism. The suits can be colorful, animal themes or even sinister looking, and personal use ranges from sexual enjoyment to wearing the suits in public for fun and amusement — as seen at The Zentai Project.

While Zentai has been a staple of blog fodder for years as the prime example of far-out fetishes one can find with the click of a mouse, the fetish has had little thoughtful examination, nor has anyone bothered to talk to practitioners to hear the story from their side of the Spandex. At The Daily Beast, Will Doig did just that in his article “Men Who Love Lycra”. While the writeup is dressed with the sensationalism you might expect to someone who’s never encountered zentai (which is not always a sexual fetish), Doig’s piece by far the most in depth and titillating piece on the subject to date. It comes with its own shiny gallery, too.

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid, subscribe via RSS, Email, Twitter & Facebook.

Related posts:

- Tack Sharp, A In Depth Podcast About Photography

- World of World of Warcraft, Gamers Play a Character Playing WoW

- PC World: Fastest Vista Laptop, An Apple MacBook Pro

- A Taiwanese Man Has Finnished World of Warcraft

- Warren Ellis’ World Wide Week Holds A Mirror To The Internet

Ok Go, the band behind the recent Rube Goldberg inspired music video for “This Too Shall Pass”, is leaving EMI and starting their own record label Paracadute.

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid, subscribe via RSS, Email, Twitter & Facebook.

Related posts:

- Nine Inch Nails Becomes a Free Agent With No Record Label

- Record Coasters

- Over 13,000 Santas Converge in Derry For World Record

- Alex Roy, Breaking the Cross-Country Driving Record

- Beach Leaves Yahoo, Goes To Wink

The Video Game Bosses’ Lament by CollegeHumor

via Streeter Seidell

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid, subscribe via RSS, Email, Twitter & Facebook.

Related posts:

- Amethyst Caverns Music Video From Shatter Video Game Soundtrack Featuring Tiny Robots

- Wedding Invitations As An 8-bit Video Game

- Xoc Plays 100 Video Game Songs In 18 Minutes

- That’s Incredible! Video Game Invitational (1983)

- 1980’s Video Game Cartridge Advertisements

The 140 Characters Conference, an event explores the real-time Internet organized by Jeff Pulver, returns to New York City April 20-21 at 92nd Street Y in Manhattan.

The #140conf events provide a platform for the worldwide twitter community to: listen, connect, share and engage with each other, while collectively exploring the effects of the emerging real-time internet on business.

Laughing Squid is one of the media sponsors of 140 Characters Conference NYC.

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid, subscribe via RSS, Email, Twitter & Facebook.

Related posts:

- 140 Characters: A Style Guide for the Short Form

- 140 | The Twitter Conference in Los Angeles

- Play Conference Photos

- play: The Berkeley Digital Media Conference'>>play: The Berkeley Digital Media Conference

- play: The Berkeley Digital Media Conference'>>play: The Berkeley Digital Media Conference

Just in time for Spring, Google Maps has added a biking directions option.

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid, subscribe via RSS, Email, Twitter & Facebook.

Related posts:

- Driving Directions Using Google Maps Street View

- Add Google Maps to Websites With New Embed Feature

- Google Maps

- Google Satellite Maps

- The Vacationeers Get “Lost” in Google Maps Street View

ROFLCon II has just unveiled this year’s conference t-shirt: Pixel Art Three Wolf Moon, designed by R. Stevens (Diesel Sweeties) and based on the now legendary Three Wolf Moon t-shirt produced by The Mountain in 2008.

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid, subscribe via RSS, Email, Twitter & Facebook.

Related posts:

- Free Josh Wolf Benefit This Week As Josh Wolf Returns To Prison

- Josh Wolf Benefit Events

- Josh Wolf to be Released on Bail

- Josh Wolf To Be Released From Jail

- Josh Wolf on The Colbert Report

Theis Søndergaard recently launched Wired Reread, a new blog that searches for “retro gold” in old issues of Wired magazine.

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid, subscribe via RSS, Email, Twitter & Facebook.

Related posts:

- Nick Douglas Writing for Wired Magazine

- New Wired Homepage

- Guest Editor J. J. Abrams Turns Wired Magazine Into a Puzzle

- The Complete Series of National Geographic Magazines (1888-2008) on a 160GB Hard Drive

- Wired Infographic on The Life Cycle of a Blog Post

At long last the future has arrived!

Martin Jetpack is selling the world’s first commercially available jetpack for $86,000.

via TechRadar

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid, subscribe via RSS, Email, Twitter & Facebook.

Related posts:

- 1966 Jetpack Trip Around Disneyland

- War Of The Worlds eComic by Ian Edginton & D’Israeli

- War of the Worlds from a Martian Perspective

- Second Skin, A Documentary About Virtual Worlds & Gamers

- Practical Advice On How NOT To Go To South by Southwest

L’Ogre produced a fantastic music video for “70 Million” by Hold Your Horses, featuring the band recreating famous paintings throughout history.

via Scott Simpson

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid, subscribe via RSS, Email, Twitter & Facebook.

Related posts:

- Hold My Close-Up, Tiny Danson

- Video of Brian Eno Talking About His 77 Million Paintings

- Photos of 77 Million Paintings by Brian Eno

- Long Now Presents 77 Million Paintings By Brian Eno

- Million Pirate March at Bay To Breakers

At the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art yesterday, I came across a series of clever artist-themed desserts offered at the SFMOMA’s Rooftop Coffee Bar. There were many on offer, but these three were my favorites: Mondrian Cake, Richard Serra Cookies, and Jeff Koons White Hot Chocolate. Delicious and brilliant!

photos by Telstar Logistics

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid, subscribe via RSS, Email, Twitter & Facebook.

Related posts:

- Frida Kahlo Clones Wanted for SFMOMA Art Project

- New Blue Bottle Coffee Bar Opening in SFMOMA Rooftop Garden

- Disco Themed Bathroom at Triptych

- Adult Mario & Bartris, Two Video Game Themed Cocktail Robots at Roboexotica

- Firefox 3 Robot Themed Easter Egg

katamaran78 created “Galactica: Sabotage”, a remake the music video for “Sabotage” by Beastie Boys using footage from Battlestar Galactica.

Here’s a side-by-side comparison of the edit.

via Matthew Williams

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid, subscribe via RSS, Email, Twitter & Facebook.

Related posts:

- OMG It’s BSG! Battlestar Galactica Returns To Finish The Series

- Beastie Boys Release All Instrumental Album: The Mix Up

photo by Scott Meinzer

Scott Meinzer shot a beautiful HDR photo of a rainbow over San Francisco after yesterday’s rain and hail.

via Ryan King

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid, subscribe via RSS, Email, Twitter & Facebook.

Related posts:

- Rainbow Grocery Trainor Alley Mural

- Digested Rainbow by Alex Pardee

- The Flickr Panda Vomits Rainbow Goodness

- Rainbow Chasers, Three Men On A Mission To Save The Rainbows

- Pictory’s San Francisco Photo Showcase

Todd Lappin spotted this awesome Mondrian Cake on sale at the SFMOMA Caffè Museo.

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid, subscribe via RSS, Email, Twitter & Facebook.

Related posts:

- Wedding Cake Featuring Luke Skywalker Keeping Warm In The Guts of a Dead Tauntaun

- Giant Squid Cake

- Cake by Joel Veitch (Rather Good)

- Millennium Falcon Cake by Charm City Cakes (Ace of Cakes)

- Threadcakes: A Cake Contest Based on Threadless T-Shirt Designs

Cafe Grumpy photo by Scott Beale

Over the years I’ve noticed how the coffee situation in New York City has been steadily improving. Not long ago it was all Starbucks and Duncan Donuts, but that’s no longer the case. Oliver Strand of The New York Times takes a look at the best places to find good coffee in NYC, including a super handy interactive map.

photo by Scott Beale

The article mentions how San Francisco’s Four Barrel Coffee will be roasting in NYC soon. In the last year San Francisco’s Blue Bottle opened a cafe in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and Portland’s Stumptown Coffee opened a cafe at the Ace Hotel in Manhattan, along with a roastery in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

via Buzz Andersen

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid, subscribe via RSS, Email, Twitter & Facebook.

Related posts:

- Sightglass Coffee, New Coffee Bar & Roastery in San Francisco’s SOMA Neighborhood

- Photos of New York City, April 2008

- Blue Bottle Cafe Opens, Features $20K Siphon Bar Coffee Machine

- The Smallest Apartment in New York City

- Photos of New York City, September 2008

Cyriak creates some of the most bizarre animation out there, for example his latest video “Cycles”.

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid, subscribe via RSS, Email, Twitter & Facebook.

Related posts:

- Meow Mix Cat Music Video by Cyriak

- Bizarre & Surreal Animation by Cyriak Harris

- Tron Light Cycles Scene Recreated Using Cardboard

Academy Award Winning Movie Trailer by BriTANicK

via Ze Frank

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid, subscribe via RSS, Email, Twitter & Facebook.

Related posts:

- Twitter Wins SXSW Web Award

- Alien Squid Invades Japanese Film Trailer

- A LOLcat Guide 2 Winning, Graph Out Loud & Fail Nation + The FAILpocalypse

- Michel Gondry Re-creates His Own Trailer For “Be Kind Rewind”

- UCB Comedy Presents The Trailer For “Checkmates”