How To Drive A Bomb-Killing Robot
This is "Scooby Doo," a 60 lb. robot built by the same people that sell you the Roomba vacuum cleaner. It defused 19 explosive devices in Iraq before being "killed" in action. Last week, I learned how to drive it.
Grandma, Late For Hair Appointment, Nabbed For 102 In A 45
72-year-old Sandra Powell was caught in her tan Buick going 102 in a 45 mph zone. According to the report, Ms. Powell was less upset about being stopped and arrested, than being late for her hair appointment. Video below.
Trunklid Beer Tap Is Best/Worst Car Mod Ever
It's what every tailgate aficionado dreams of, but never actually follows through on. One enterprising VW owner installed a working beer tap on his Jetta's trunk. As long as it's disconnected while driving, it doesn't violate open container laws! [TCL]
The M1117 Guardian: When A Hummer Makes Love To A Tank
When it comes to fighting vehicles, bigger is generally better — except when you want to be able to drive them down the street without crushing everything. The Army's latest purchase is supposed to be the best of both worlds.
GM's Xenophobic Paranoia Couldn't Save Pontiac
Pontiac produced this xenophobic video 40 years ago to scare the crap out of its assembly line workers and encourage them to "show up to work each day" to build quality automobiles. It didn't work.
On British Automobiles, Cows And The One That Got Away
I own a 2001 Land Rover Discovery II SE7 and I love it — even though it's always broken.
First Tour: Huge Boston Apple Store
We're here at the Boylston Street Apple Store for Media Day. No line outside, but plenty of reporters playing with the toys. Ron Johnson, Apple's SVP of Retail, is here with hizonnah Mayor Thomas Menino to open the largest Apple Store in the country (confirmed!). The Mayah "loves" the store and made a joke at the…
New Boston Apple Store Largest In The United States (Updated Again)
Later this month, Apple is opening its latest flagship store on Boylston Street in Boston. The store's main claim to fame? It's huge. We're talking largest Apple Store in the
world
country, by square footage. The store, in the city's historic Back Bay district, looks like a four-story glass cube. It's the first store…
"Which one is the puppet?"
Chief Mahalo Jason Calacanis, interviewed in his Brentwood hot tub by a puppet. Got a better caption? Leave it in the comments. Bonus points if you're familiar enough with The 250 to identify both puppeteer and puppet.
Jason Calacanis on bulldogs and steak knives — the two-minute version
Crack videoblogger Robert Scoble heads to Mahalo to interview bulldog entrepreneur and blog blowhard Jason Calacanis. Scoble rolls 24 interminable minutes of virtual tape as Calacanis talks about the math of buying monitors and comfy chairs and how the backend of Mahalo works. Forget that. We trimmed the video down to…
TechCrunch explained in a sports metaphor
If TechCrunch were a football blog, every player in the scouting combine would be the next Tom Brady.
Tax tips for bloggers from my dad
Californians have another 7 and a half hours to file their taxes. If you haven't started yet, it's time to jump on TurboTax.com and get cracking. This will be my first year filing taxes without a W-2. As a freelancer, I've been looking for tips on deductions and tax filing in general. MORE
Julia Allison's reality show gets greenlit?
We heard from a tipster that Julia Allison's reality show has been given the go-ahead to begin production. No word from JA herself though, just a mysterious blog post. I tried to call Julia for comment, but like every other time I try to call her, some guy asked me 'pick-up or delivery'? I guess she lost her cell…
Intel's profit contracted 12% to $1.44 billion in the first quarter as falling prices for flash memory and higher restructuring costs offset strength in its core microprocessor business. Revenue grew 9.3% to $9.67 billion. [AP]
Alana Taylor's Twitter song
19-year old NYU student Alana Taylor really wants to be the next "It" tech girl and the new Mahalo Daily host. She even has a show on UStream, which apparently is the hot new thing. Like any good member of The 250, she's also a huge fan of Twitter — unlike Scoble and Mike Arrington though, she wrote a song about it. I…
Oklahoma exposes sex offenders' Social Security numbers
A blogger noticed the Oklahoma Department of Corrections was making the Social Security numbers of thousands of registered sex offenders viewable through a security hole on a state website. Even after he notified the department, the problem remained. Only when he showed how to make state employees' personal…
Valleywag emeritus offers unsolicited advice for Michael Arrington
Newly softhearted Gawker Media head Nick Denton offers some kindly advice for TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington: "@Michael Arrington: Hey, everybody has been expecting the grand roll-up ever since you hired Heather. I don't see it happening. Certainly don't see it sticking. And, without a roll-up, you have a niche…
"I'm leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again"
Jason Calacanis makes a list of ways to relieve stress with friends. Our favorite? "g) next time you go to a conference fly there with someone. Mike Arrington, Om Malik and I were all on the same flight to Le Web this past year. It's just great fun to travel together, share movies, and read books." Jason, you're…
"She's got legs, she knows how to use them"
BusinessWeek columnist Sarah Lacy, in Israel for a conference, is feeling the heat, and this time not from a conference audience. Tipsters, don't fail us now: pics or it didn't happen!
Apple hires HP's top acquisitions lawyer
Could Apple be preparing to spend its $18 billion cash hoard on acquisitions? Apple has hired Charles Charnas, an 18-year HP veteran who oversaw the $25 billion merger between Compaq and HP, to run Apple's intellectual-property licensing and strategic acquisitions. But don't count on Apple making any Yahoo-sized…