..."and on your left, the Gays."

For gay and lesbian residents, who are doing nothing more remarkable than, say, walking over to Cliff's Hardware Store, the idea that as many as six tour buses could turn up at once seems bizarre. They also worry that the upcoming release of the movie "Milk," based on the life story of Castro Street politician Harvey Milk, will just be another step toward turning the Castro into a kind of urban theme park for looky-loos.

If you thought the last CGI human was realistic

Have a look at "Emily", a new precedent for photo-realistic characters in video games and films, says her creator, Image Metrics.
Extraordinarily lifelike characters are to begin appearing in films and computer games thanks to a new type of animation technology.
Emily - the woman in the animation - was produced using a new modelling technology that enables the most minute details of a facial expression to be captured and recreated.

Keep reminding yourself that she is NOT a real person!

New York City Installs David Byrne-Designed Bike Racks

Nine new, whimsical designs expected to spark interest in cycling among New Yorkers while adding eye-catching art to the City's streets
"By bringing attractive yet functional sculptures to our streets, we are elevating the profile of cycling, and we believe that more and more people will begin to think about cycling as a mode of transportation, and not just a mode of recreation," said Commissioner Sadik-Khan. "Regular bike riders have an eagle eye for our current bike racks but these nine installations will capture the attention of all New Yorkers."

A Black Hole as Art

This extraordinary structure on took motorists by surprise. Artists Dan Havel and Dean Ruck were responsible for this house installation. The two wooden buildings were to be replaced by a new built project so the few months before the demolition, they made this into an architectonic installation. There are more photos on the original webpage.

A Safe-Sex Ringtone?

If you think you?ve heard the wackiest of ringtones, think again. The hot new cell phone sound in India is ? no joke here ? the ?condom ringtone.? The ringtone?s available for free at the aptly named condomcondom.org.
Listen for yourself in this ad:

Pop = Soda = Coke

"When on a hot summer?s day you buy a carbonated beverage to quench your thirst, how do you order it? Do you ask for a soda, a pop or something else? That question lay at the basis of an article in the Journal of English Linguistics (Soda or Pop?, #24, 1996) and of a map, showing the regional variation in American English of the names given to that type of drink...

Wearable Motorcycle

"Jake Loniak is a college junior, he's also the inventor of one of the most innovative concept vehicles we've seen in ages. In video : the electric exoskeleton motorcycle and an exclusive video of the beast in action."

I love what happens as it picks up speed!

Guess-the-google

Guess-the-google picks a keyword for Google Images then generates a montage of the results. You, the player must guess what keyword is common to all the photos, but the clock is ticking - it's surprisingly addictive. Try it!

Better than a trip to the lake

Why do I get the feeling that this clever idea is being recorded in Quebec?

The Life of Animals ... according to Man

La vie des animaux selon les hommes

Secret Agent Double-O

Weng Weng [ Wikipedia link ] was a Filipino actor and martial artist. Only 2 feet, 9 inches (83 cm) tall, he is listed in the Guinness World Records as the shortest adult actor in a leading role.

He played Secret Agent 00 in For Y?ur Height Only, The Impossible Kid and D?Wild Wild Weng.

His online recognition grew in April 2007 with the release of the Weng Weng Rap video by The Chuds and John R of R Room. This was eventually picked up by an Australian music forum, Fasterlouder.com.au, making Weng Weng a popular meme amongst members.

Muppets in CyberSpace

With the powers it inherited from its home planet of YouTube, the internet has brought songs and puppets and entertainment straight to the thing you're staring at right now.

The Swedish Chef, Gonzo, Beaker, and Statler and Waldorf have all started their own YouTube accounts, along with a brand-flipping new videos. Take a gander at the best-of videos after the jump

The Trouble with Mustaches

Hard to believe that this guy is for real, but what do you expect in The Peoples Court?

http://view.break.com/367836 - Watch more free videos

Olympic Organizers Hiding Logos That Aren't Official Sponsors

To ensure that only the companies that pay millions of dollars to be official Olympic sponsors enjoy the benefits of exposure in Olympic venues, organizers have covered the trademarks of nonsponsors with thousands of little swatches of tape.

Travel scams to avoid

"During a trip to England several years ago, I spied an advertisement in one of the London papers promoting a hotel-and-meals package in Yorkshire that looked too good to be true."How to avoid resort fees, ID theft and more...

Click here to launch a slideshow of stories

U.S. Homeland Security -- like vultures waiting to eat

"In the past five years I have worked for human rights and refugee advocacy organizations in Serbia, Russia and Croatia, including the International Rescue Committee and USAID."
"I have traveled to many different places, some supposedly repressive, and have never seen people treated with the kind of animosity that Homeland Security showed that night."
"In Syria, border control officers were stern but polite. At other borders there have been bureaucracies to contend with -- excruciating for both Americans and other foreign nationals."
"I've met Russian officials with dead, suspicious looks in their eyes and arms tired from stamping so many visas, but in America, the Homeland Security officials I encountered were very much alive -- like vultures waiting to eat."

Violin maverick Eugene Draw smashes genres - and expectations

It?s safe to say that violinist Eugene Draw was the only player at last month?s Toronto Beaches Jazz Festival to jump off the stage and into the crowd while soloing. His band, Dr. Draw, is comprised of guitar, bass and drums augmented with keys and harp, and it pounds out layers of spliced styles including bluegrass and rock with Latin and gypsy rhythms, or Romanian wedding music mixed with ska and jamrock ? all in the same song.
Draw started off as an aggressive middle-school fiddler performing thrash and skatepunk, but he dropped out of Montreal?s alternative scene because he was tired of scenester restrictiveness.
Here's a YouTube video of him performing Ave Maria: