What you see is not always what you get. But sometimes your lodging can come with a bonus. (via Everlasting Blort)
Sunday, February 15, 2026
Airbnb Surprises
7 American Phrases That Completely Baffle Brits
It's not surprising that contemporary slang sometimes becomes a lasting phrase, but often it stays in its original nation. Every place has shortcuts that are incomprehensible to outsiders. Laurence Brown looks at some American phrases that we all know, but puzzle other English-speaking countries. You might not realize how weird they are. There's a 90-second skippable ad at 2:50.
The converse video is here, about British phrases that baffle Americans. I was baffled by none of them.
Vintage "Rasputin"
Alexey Rom programmed a century-old Marenghi Organ to play the disco hit "Raputin" by Boney-M. This 81-key organ was built in 1905. My piano is older than that, but mine will never be in tune again. (via Boing Boing)
Saturday, February 14, 2026
Billy The Kid Versus Dracula
Billy The Kid Versus Dracula is a rather short movie from 1966. It was shot in eight days. The plot is pretty easy to imagine- Dracula (John Carradine) tries to seduce Billy the Kid's fiancé, and Billy has to save her. But how can a Western outlaw defeat Dracula? (Thanks, WTM!)
Michael Scott in the World of Fallout 4
In the sitcom The Office, Michael Scott is a corporate middleman at Dunder Mifflin Paper Company, Inc. His main purpose is to supervise a staff and avoid any real work. When this character is transported into the post apocalyptic world of Fallout 4, his is tasked with protecting colonies from attack, but he still just doesn't want to do the work. His main mechanism is to make a joke out of it, but the apocalypse is the most inappropriate place to make jokes.
This mashup is the work of eli_handle_b.wav, who has found his niche in putting comedic characters into life-or-death video game situations. (via Born in Space)
LEGO Submarine
Can you build a working submarine from LEGO blocks? Well, I certainly couldn't, but the guy behind Brick Experiment Channel did it. Most of it is LEGO parts, some are homemade, and some are just convenient, like the syringe. This submarine is controlled by Raspberry Pi and PID. This gadget even has laser sensors, a camera, and remote control. It also has a cute minifig captain inside.
If you want to skip ahead to see the submarine work, that starts at about three minute in, but I was quite impressed to see the quick build. If you want to build your own, the complete project is laid out in a series of articles here. (via kottke)
Friday, February 13, 2026
Handy Kitchen Gadgets
I want these, especially the waffle fries slicer. Too bad I would have to go back to 1952 to get in on this deal. (via Nag on the Lake)
Cat Attack!
This nightmare fuel is a scene from the 1957 film The Incredible Shrinking Man. I couldn't help thinking all the way through it that he'd have been much safer staying in the doll house, probably on the second floor. As it is, there are much worse places to land than in a laundry bin. (Thank, WTM!)
The Antikythera Mechanism
The Antikythera mechanism dates from the first or second century BC. It is an ancient Greek analog computer that calculated time and events such as the appearances of stars and planets and how they coordinated with years and even Greek festivals. In this TED-Ed lesson, we get an explanation of what a computer is and how analog computing works as compared to digital computing. (via Damn Interesting)
Smooth OpeRATTor
Who would have ever thought about mixing a smooth jazz ballad with '80s glam metal? Bill McClintock, of course. In this case, he takes the tune of Sade's 1984 hit "Smooth Operator" with the vocals of Ratt's 1984 song "Round and Round." The only thing these songs have in common is the year they were released. You would have likely heard them on the radio in the same hour, but it takes a special ear to see how well they could mix.
But McClintock always gives us extras. the guitar solo from Santana's "Black Magic Woman" fits right in. That one's from 1968, so it at least breaks up the timeline. Still, you could have easily her Santana's song in that same radio hour. (via Laughing Squid)
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