What's the Rumpus?

Author: Adrian

  • Fail of the Week: Police Pepper Spray Unruly 8 Year Old At School

    In Lakewood, CO. an 8 year old was pepper sprayed by local police when they were called to the school to handle the unruly boy.

    It’s one of those incidents that makes you double take and say “LOL WUT?” and to be honest, after reading the article, I’m not sure who failed worse: the police or the kid.

    I know what you’re thinking: The teachers should have been able to handle an unruly kid.  However, the kid was throwing the a tantrum worthy of Dust Head Hall of Fame.  According to reports, the kid was climbing on teacher carts, spitting and cursing at teachers, and ripped molding of the walls and attempted to stake anybody who came near him.  When approached by the officers he brandished a sharpened stick and yelled “get away from me you fuckers!”

    Still not convinced this kid is a whack job?  How about if I told you this was the third time the police had been called to the school about his behavior?

    The police fail because they had to use pepper spray on a kid, the kid fails because he’s a dust head without the PCP, he experts fail because they’re blaming TV and video game violence, the mom fails because she thinks the cops were being fascist, and the state of Colorado fails for containing all of the above.

    Police Pepper Spray Unruly 8 Year Old At School from The Consumerist

  • April Fools Day 2011 Wrap Up

    If you’re like me, you have a love/hate relationship with April Fools Day.  Every April 1st, the internet is abuzz with new products, news, and speculation.  Some of these are funny, so are a little too serious, and some of them you can’t tell whether they’re joking or not.  Sometimes, a poor company just happens to make a press release on April 1st about something serious and nobody takes it seriously.  This year showed us some doozies:

    • Youtube’s 1911 Mode – Youtube made on option available to its users on April first where you could watch all their content in black and white with no sound… like a classic silent film from 1911.
    • Gmail Motion – A concept that follows in the footsteps of the Kinect, users can now control they’re inbox using body motions.
    • Grooveshark’s 3D Shark theme – Grooveshark introduced a new theme for their site, hopping on the 3D bandwagon.  Now (assuming you have so old school one-red-lense-one-blue-lense 3D glasses) Grooveshark will now pop out of your screen at you while you listen to your favorite tunes.
    • Friday or Die – Funny or Die changed their site to be Rebecca-Black-centric, flooding the site with videos pertaining to the pop star everyone wishes they’d never heard of.
    • Apple Store Playset – Every year, Thinkgeek showcases a handful of “new” products.  This years highlight was the Apple Store playset (minifigs included!)
    • RFC-5984 – Every year people submit RFCs to the IETF, my favorite this year was RFC-5984: Increasing Throughput in IP Networks with ESP-Based Forwarding which basically outlines a protocol using Extra Sensory Perception to create a zero latency network.

  • Episode 64: Basementcast 2011

    The Red Cross says nurse uniforms violate the Geneva Convention.  A memorial building in Indianapolis might be named after popular mayor Harry Baals.  Scientists plan on being able to clone woolly mammoths within five years.  A new game of billiards using bowling balls… named Knockers.  Stem cells are being used in a new device to treat burns.  Duane Reade infiltrates the Hipster Vatican with the promise of beer.  Four Loko launches its new product – it’s just like the old product sans caffeine.  Robots replace teachers at 21 schools in South Korea.  All this plus more in this week’s episode.

    Show notes available at http://wiki.whatstherumpuspodcast.com/64

  • A Short Break

    We’re taking a short break until Adrian’s microphone situation is remedied.  Hopefully we won’t be gone too long, but until then here’s a bunny with a pancake on his head.

  • Episode 63: A Kazillion Jigabytes of CES Roundup

    From the Motorola Xoom to the 3DS to Star Wars Blu-Rays, we talk all things CES.

    Show notes available at http://wiki.whatstherumpuspodcast.com/63

  • Episode 62: 1,359,000 on the Podcast Scale

    MAKE announces the winner of their 2010 Zombie Safe House Competition.  Ever hear of the Naga Viper pepper?  Just reading about it will start you on fire.  A researcher at the University of Nottingham has managed to etch the entire periodic table of elements onto a single hair.  The Kinect has been hacked to play World of Warcraft.  Vladmir Putin has ordered the Russian government to move to GNU/Linux.  A man caught UPS tampering with his packages, listen in to find out how.  Plus, the Study of the Week, the Fail of the Week, and this weeks “Oh Asia, You So Crazy!”

    Show notes available at http://wiki.whatstherumpuspodcast.com/62

  • Episode 61: Ryderisawesomesauceanium

    CERN scientists successfuly captured “antimatter.”  Scientists at the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies have created the world’s smallest battery.  Magent buys the distribution rights to “Hobo Witha Shotgun.”  A man changed his name to Captain Awesome, changes signature to a smiley face and two arrows.  A self-healing polymer has been engineered to use light to rebuild itself.  A man robbed a bank using a super realistic Hollywood mask.  Glow in the dark toilet paper now available.  Plus, the Fail of the Week.

    Show notes available at http://wiki.whatstherumpuspodcast.com/61

  • Episode 60: Tilted Kilts and Old Maids

    A Cambridge computer has identified the most boring day in history.  A woman claims ownership of the sun.  Netflix is willing to pay $100,000 per episode for new TV.  Find out how quickly you can use up your Verizon LTE data allowance.  A new burlesque show will desecrate your childhood.  Root your Nook to turn it into a cheap Android tablet.  All this and the Fail of the Week, the Study of the Week, and this week’s “Oh Asia, You So Crazy!”

    Show notes available at http://wiki.whatstherumpuspodcast.com/60

  • Episode 59: 5 Pounds of Podcast

    The TurBaconEpic: The most epic Thanksgiving meal you’ll ever see.  A conceptual door knob that allows you to see who’s at the door.  If an Android phone, a Windows Phone 7, and an iPhone 4 caught on fire, which would last longest?  Google closed the Wave service, but is it dead?  New underwear has been invented to protect your junk in the TSA full body scan.  Netflix has begun to offer a streaming-only plan.  Plus, the Study of the Week, the Fail of the Week, and this week’s “Oh Asia, You So Crazy!”

    Show notes available at http://wiki.whatstherumpuspodcast.com/59

  • Episode 58: Oh Japan, You So Crazy!

    A Chinese woman was sent to a labor camp for retweeting.  We discuss a new concept stoplight.  A little grils hand is cut off and grafted to her foot to save it.  The Stuxnet virus targeted ‘high-value Iranian assets.’  Wikipedia has raised the same amount of donations in a week that it took a month to raise in 2009.  Google is preparing to launch G-Town.  All this plus the Study of the Week and the debut of “Oh Asia, You So Crazy!” and the Fail of the Week.

    Show notes available at http://wiki.whatstherumpuspodcast.com/58