waterfall

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- New Captcha system uses empathy to distinguish humans from bots.

- Watch Pornhub to donate money to breast cancer research.

- Meet the man that invented the Escape key.… Read more

I recently discussed techniques for reviewing projects to improve their likelihood of success. Underlying this is the reality that projects do fail often, at a greater rate than we'd like to admit.

Some failures are spectacular. After spending tens or hundreds of millions of dollars over a period of years, nothing ever really works. The entire investment of time, money, energy, effort, and focus has to be completely written off. Those are the legends. The laughing stocks.

But it's a mistake to conflate failures and catastrophes. Most failures are mundane and much smaller scale. They result from changing … Read more

MILL RUN, Pa.--After seeing a few Frank Lloyd Wright masterpieces, you might expect to be a little jaded when it's time for the next one.

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and have spent time inside the Marin County Civic Center--a stunning Wright creation that was the set for the movie "Gattaca." I've visited Wright's Scottsdale, Ariz., architecture school, Taliesin West and have seen a few other of his buildings along the way.

But nothing prepared me for my Road Trip 2010 visit to the incredible Fallingwater, Wright's 1937 piece de … Read more

NIAGARA FALLS, Canada--At one time, it was the largest producer of hydroelectric power on the planet. That was in 1961. Today, it is still New York State's preeminent hydropower facility, and it shares some of the glory of one of the most awesome spectacles in the world.

This is, of course, the Niagara Power Project, a hydropower producer capable of lighting 24 million 100-watt bulbs at once--2.4 million kilowatts. A ways downriver from the world famous Niagara Falls--Horseshoe Falls and American Falls--this giant project is still worth celebrating today, especially in light of the fact that people are … Read more

In honor of that mom in your life this Mother's Day, we beg of you: Don't get her THAT! Actually show her how awesome she is by getting her something she'll actually enjoy. But not THAT!

iPad: yay or nay?

Steve Jobs’ big New York Times letdown

ATAT stroller… Read more

If you're not supposed to cast stones at glass houses, it's probably not a good idea to throw them at glass speakers--especially when they cost $5,400 a pair. No word on whether these superslick towers are shatterproof, but we're glad to hear that the French company Waterfall Audio is introducing its line of glass loudspeakers to the American market at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show this week.

According to the press release, Waterfall will showcase its two flagship models, the Victoria EVO and Iguascu EVO, which are named for the "famous waterfalls in Africa and … Read more

If you're famous at work for doing the impossible, it's time to deck out your desk with something fitting.

This limited-edition M.C. Escher Waterfall Sculpture is available on ThinkGeek for an impossible-to-believe price of $59.99. Only 500 of the sculptures exist, so you should act quickly if you want to get in on the fun.

The sculpture, based on the famous M.C. Escher woodcut, is just six inches tall. That puts it squarely in the running for the object with the most ability to blow your mind per square inch.

Alas, the water in the … Read more

Does anyone really need an indoor waterfall with a built-in plasma screen? Of course not--which is precisely why we crave one so much. Think about it: It would be the perfect foil to the rants from our hemp-wearing anti-technology friends from Berkeley, catering to their meditative zen needs while we watch the game on mute.

But we'd need to find a way to hook it up first. The waterfall plasma screen from Astute Advances doesn't include a TV tuner, instead intended to be connected to a DVD player or other video source for instructional messages, lobby information, advertising … Read more