Todds Spleen's blog

as seen at MAKE magazine

WASHINGTON — Famed chef Julia Child shared a secret with Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg and Chicago White Sox catcher Moe Berg at a time when the Nazis threatened the world.

They served in an international spy ring managed by the Office of Strategic Services, an early version of the CIA created in World War II by President Franklin Roosevelt.

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I have seen billboards made from just about anything: grass, chocolate, pennies, lettuce,... Now I can add dice to my list.

This creative ad shell for Treasury Casino was created by Junior ad agency, Brisbane, using 7563 pieces of dice.

The ad shows a happy winning face and is deployed in a bus shelter sign in Australia.

A device that reads glucose levels and delivers insulin may be close at hand.

Today, people with diabetes have a range of technologies to help keep their blood sugar in check, including continuous monitors that can keep tabs on glucose levels throughout the day and insulin pumps that can deliver the drug. But the diabetic is still responsible for making executive decisions--when to test his blood or give himself a shot--and the system has plenty of room for human error. Now, however, researchers say that the first generations of an artificial pancreas, which would be able to make most dosing decisions without the wearer's intervention, could be available within the next few years.

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Have a cookie while you're waiting. Unless you're ummm diabetic or something.

This should confuse counterfeiters

Presenting an animal-free homage to Josh’s porcine concoction, devised as my last day-long project of 7 in 7. He’s a rabid carnivore so I doubt we’d ever get his full endorsement, but adventerous vegetarians and vegans can now quaff a meat-like drink without fear of sullying their fauna-free repasts. I give you the Vegan Pork Martini:

to the Diamond Age

US readers of Esquire are soon to be exposed to the publishing industry's latest attempt at re-inventing itself: a magazine with a flashing cover.

The September issue of the magazine will have a tiny built-in battery, which will power a display on the cover that flashes the words 'the 21st Century Begins Now.'

The flashing cover was produced by Esquire in conjunction with E Ink, a Massachusetts company whose technology was used in the Kindle, the "e-reader" device made by Amazon. Esquire first had to hire an engineer in China who could build a battery small enough to be inserted in the cover

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A hidden hoard of recordings made by the electronic music pioneer behind the Doctor Who theme has been revealed - including a dance track 20 years ahead of its time.

Delia Derbyshire was working in the BBC's Radiophonic Workshop in 1963 when she was given the score for a theme tune to a new science fiction series.

more via Auntie Beeb

There are some cool audio samples in the article. You go now.

By the middle of the next decade Mercedes-Benz wants its entire lineup to be able to operate entirely free of petroleum. The German giant is working on a variety of technologies that will help provide crude oil free transport such as battery electrics, fuel cells and highly efficient internal combustion engines that can operate on biofuels. Mercedes has recently been letting European journalists sample some of these new powertrains at a test facility in Spain.

via autobloggreen

HONOLULU, HAWAII -- Hawaii has become the first state in the nation to pass into law a requirement that all new homes built after January 1, 2010, be equipped with solar or other energy efficient hot water systems. Signed into law by Hawaii's governor on June 26, the bill’s introducer, Senate Majority Leader Gary L. Hooser (D-Kaua'i, Ni'ihau) said, "Hawaii is almost totally dependent on imported oil for its energy needs and estimates show that, with this law, our oil consumption will be cut by 30,000 barrels during the first year and continues to decline exponentially thereafter."

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Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama D-Ill., fills sandbags with volunteers at a sandbag station in Quincy, Ill., Saturday, June 14, 2008.

via AP

Did not eat there.

UPDATE:
Would've considered it had there actually been flamingo in the tacos.