April Fool's Day Movie: Galaxy Quest

Any intelligent fool...

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex... It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.
Albert Einstein

April Fool's Day Movie: RAISING ARIZONA

"Psychic" fails to stop a train with deadly results

(September 1989, USSR) The Soviet Union is home to a growing number of psychics and mentalists. One of them, E. Frenkel, became convinced that he could use his powers to stop vehicles in their tracks. He believed that "in extraordinary conditions of a direct threat to my organism, all my reserves will be called into action."

Frenkel started small -- a bicycle here, an automobile there -- before graduating to streetcars. Finally, he devised an ultimate test of his psychic power: he would halt a freight train in its tracks.

The engineer of the train that ran Frenkel over saw him toss his briefcase aside, and step onto the tracks with arms raised, head lowered, and body tensed. The engineer applied the emergency brakes, but it was too late.

The mentalist psyched himself out.

via Darwin Awards

Occult Disorder: Opus the Penguin and Hare Krishnas

Ninja Parade Slips Through Town Unnoticed Once Again

Ninja Parade Slips Through Town Unnoticed Once Again
Modesto, CA residents turned out for the city's annual Ninja Parade, where no ninjas were seen for the 30th year in a row.

Google+ automatically creates social profiles for the anti-social

"Engadget reports that Google wants a patent on its System and Method for Generating a Ghost Profile for a Social Network. The brainchild of five Googlers, the invention is designed to convert anti-social-networking types to the joys of Google+ and its ilk. From the patent: 'A problem arises when users of social networks are friends with people that are opposed to social networks. The second group misses out on an important social component. For example, many users only share their photos on a social networking site. As a result, users that do not want to join the social network are forced to either join with reservations or miss out on the social component, such as viewing pictures.' By generating an unsearchable 'ghost profile' when a member of the social network invites a Google+ adverse friend to join, Google explains, non-believers get to participate in social networking activities without providing user information."

via Slashdot

Neil deGrasse Tyson Lets Slip That He's Been To Mars

via The Onion

Richard Branson launches journeys to the centre of the Earth through Virgin Volcanic

Richard Branson launches journeys to the centre of the Earth through Virgin Volcanic. Academy Award winning actor Tom Hanks to join first expedition.

Only 500 people have been to space, only three people have been to the bottom of the ocean, but no one has ever attempted to journey to the core of an active volcano. Until now.

Using patented carbon-carbon materials pioneered for deep space exploration, Virgin is proud to announce a revolutionary new vehicle, VVS1, which will be capable of plunging three people into the molten lava core of an active volcano.
In its first three years of operation, Virgin Volcanic's VVS1 will target the five most active volcanoes in the world:

•    Etna - Sicily, Italy
•    Stromboli - Aeolian Islands
•    Yasur - Republic of Vanuatu
•    Ambrym - Republic of Vanuatu
•    Tinakula - Solomon Islands

Branson Borer Mark 1

Sir Richard Branson will go on the first expedition along with Tom Hanks, Academy Award winning actor and star of Joe Versus the Volcano; Black Eyed Peas recording artist and science enthusiast Will.i.am; actor/producer Seth Green; and two-time Academy Award winning documentary filmmaker Barbara Kopple.Virgin registered Virgin Volcanic in the late 1990s in anticipation of the development of technology to explore active volcanoes.