STUFF: News, Technology, the cool and the plain weird

[MIKA27]

STANLEY ADVENTURE COFFEE PERCOLATOR

What’s better than a weekend camping with your friends? How about waking up to a beautiful pot of percolated camp coffee in the morning? Just like granddad used to make. Now, leave it to Stanley to offer us a throwback to the good ol’ days with the Adventure Percolator.

Each percolator is made from BPA-free 18/8 stainless steel and holds up to 6 cups of liquid. Stanley also provides you with a removable silicone grip so you don’t burn your hand over that open flame. Don’t get stuck with instant coffee on an outing, with this rebooted percolator, brew up a fresh batch for the whole crew before you hit the trails. Available now for $40. [Purchase]

[MIKA27]

The North Face Slippers

Whether you are resting at base camp or walking in the snow to go for the newspaper, you will appreciate the warmth, comfort and grip of these ThermoBall insulated slip-on slippers with a grippy rubber sole. The Thermoball Traction Mule II Slippers by The North Face are water-resistant keeping your toes dry, cozy and ridiculously warm regardless the conditions, perfect for lounging around a camp fire after a long day on the slopes in tight ski bindings. And because they have a super grippy rubber outsole, these slippers are also up for urban tasks like a trip to the mailbox, taking out the garbage, or a stroll to your neighbors for a sugar refill.

Available in Europe here

[MIKA27]

Luminox Recon Leader

To celebrate their 25th anniversary, Swiss watch company Luminox have launched a series of high performance watches, including the good looking Luminox Recon Leader chronograph. Ideal for adventurers, the rugged timepiece features a second color countdown zone on the dial, multiple timezones, a dive timing unidirectional ratcheting bezel, highly scratch resistant sapphire crystal with antireflective coatings, a walking speed scale, and a bezel compass. The watchstrap contains three common map scales and an inch/centimeter measurement chart.

Learn more from Luminox, or purchase now from Amazon

[MIKA27]

TAFT'S ALE HOUSE WOODEN TOOTH BEER

When some breweries open their doors, they can barely see past the first week. In the case of Taft's Ale House in Cincinnati's Over The Rhine, they were planning for their first anniversary before they opened shop. Taft's Ale House Old Wooden Tooth Beer is a Russian Imperial Stout that has been aging in bourbon barrels for the past year. It was then bottled in these beautiful 500ml bottles that come with a custom branded wooden box with a neck flag and label that are custom printed with 9 colors including a metallic copper ink on a cherry veneer label. If the beer itself is anywhere near as appealing as the packaging, you might need to make plans to be in attendance in Cincinnati for the release — which is slated for Opening Day.

[Fuzz]

Nation Makes First Withdrawal from the Global Seed Vault

If Doomsday occurs, survivors have a place they can bank on to replenish the earth with flora, fauna and food.

Fauna? I think the author needs to re-check what the "seed" vault stores... or at the very least, get a dictionary!

[MIKA27]

BENHAM'S DRY GIN

When you're searching for a new gin, sometimes the best packaging ends up coming home with you. Graton Distilling Company's Benham's Dry Gin not only boasts a great looking design from Stranger & Stranger, but is also a delicious gin worthy of your next spring cocktail. Crafted using 12 botanicals, Benham's is made using a classic juniper base along with locally grown citrus to balance out a classic yet modern approach.

[MIKA27]

Fauna? I think the author needs to re-check what the "seed" vault stores... or at the very least, get a dictionary!

Well I guess what the author possibly meant was providing seeds, to feed people and fauna? Don't know but it makes sense...

[Fuzz]

Well I guess what the author possibly meant was providing seeds, to feed people and fauna? Don't know but it makes sense...

Doubt it, mate.

[MIKA27]

Tasmania Is Cut Off From The World

The Basslink cable connecting Tasmania to mainland Australia has been cut. Repair crews don’t yet know exactly where the fault is, the repair bill is projected to be “phenomenal”, and full power and Internet connectivity isn’t expected to be fully restored until May. Customers of iiNet and Internode in particular are struggling, with services like Steam and peer-to-peer downloading throttled or blocked completely over the weekend.

After Tasmanian IT minister Michael Ferguson stepped in over the weekend, iiNet/Internode parent company TPG pledged to order more bandwidth from Telstra for its customers, through the secondary Telstra-owned cable that is currently Tasmania’s only wired link to Australia and the rest of the world. That cable doesn’t have anywhere near the capacity of Basslink, though, so Internet restriction and slower speeds will be a fact of life for Tasmanian internet users in the months to come.

Stephen Reid, an iiNet customer, created Is Basslink Fixed, a website that regularly reports the results of a speed test on his 100/40Mbps fibre to the premises NBN connection in Kingston south of Hobart. Over the weekend, it was reporting speeds a fraction of those available to an equivalent connection in Melbourne, and even today his link is wildly variable, sometimes falling to one per cent of his purchased plan speed. There may be enough capacity on Telstra’s cable for off-peak use, but peak periods are seeing serious congestion.

DVD rentals are filling the gap left by Netflix and iTunes. But it’s worse than that for gamers, with Steam downloads being blocked entirely by iiNet and Internode over the weekend and service restored only after more capacity was purchased. Peer-to-peer downloads, not only used for Bit-Torrent file sharing but also for game updates by Blizzard Entertainment, creators of popular online games like World of Warcraft and Starcraft 2, are reportedly still blocked entirely by iiNet and Internode.

Power is just as much of a problem for Tasmania as internet access is. 200 diesel generators have been shipped to the island, and old — and reportedly unreliable — gas-fired turbines are being brought back online to help meet residential demand. Around half of Tasmania’s power demands are being met by the state’s renewable hydroelectric dams, and wind contributes another quarter. The final 25 per cent, though, would normally be met by imported power from the mainland via Basslink, and is currently being contributed by gas and diesel power.

There’s no quick fix for Basslink, and no quick fix for Tasmania — this situation will likely be ongoing for months. But online forums like Whirlpool show iiNet and Internode being especially hard hit, and several customers have already canceled their services and churned to competitors running on the Telstra network. Some Telstra customers, too, are complaining of speed ‘brownouts’ and dropouts during peak times.

With the Telstra cable’s capacity being limited by its age and by Telstra’s own wholesale pricing, and TPG reportedly delivering only 60 per cent of its required bandwidth to customers, it’s almost certain that there won’t be enough to go around. The government, too, is very disappointed in TPG’s actions. Telstra is confident its cable can supply Tasmania with ‘sufficient capacity” for home and business users, but modern conveniences like Netflix will likely be out of the question for most users until Basslink’s connectivity is restored.

[MIKA27]

Hollywood's Richest Directors Think $67 For A Movie Is Totally Reasonable

Rejoice, world, the plan to use the internet to ensure you never leave the house continues apace. Because a bunch of big Hollywood names are reportedly backing Sean Parker’s “Screening Room”, a project to let you buy movies at home the day they are released in theatres.

According to Variety, Parker’s new nightmare venture is being backed by Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Martin Scorsese, Taylor Hackford, Frank Marshall and J.J. Abrams. The idea is that each movie will cost $US50 ($67), with up to $US20 ($27) going to theatres. Customers also get two free movie tickets with the purchase to ensure that they eventually go to the theatre and pony up way too much money for shitty theatre food.

Maybe, maybe, this is cheaper than getting a babysitter and going out. But, alternately, the whole experience of movie-going is based on leaving the house and kids.

Ironically, Peter Jackson hated this plan when it was movie studios giving movies to DirectTV eight weeks after they were released. In a statement to Variety, Jackson said:

I had concerns about ‘DirecTV’ in 2011, because it was a concept that I believe would have led to the cannibalization of theatrical revenues, to the ultimate detriment of the movie business.

Screening Room, however, is very carefully designed to capture an audience that does not currently go to the cinema.

Is that because the DirectTV deal was at a reasonable price, so it was actually something the average person would take advantage of? Whereas Screening Room is aimed at people who have $67 per movie to spare and somehow also don’t have time to leave the house? Pair Screening Room with Seamless and Handy, and you’ll never have to see the horrible sunlight or vicious outdoors again!

Screening Room: Leaving your home is overrated.

[MIKA27]

A Hiker Stumbled Across This Incredibly Rare 2000-Year-Old Gold Coin

Finding money on the floor is rarely this exciting. This single gold coin was discovered by a hiker and Israel’s Antiquities Authority has since established that it’s one of only two ever discovered. The coin is 2000 years old — and, before you ask, priceless.

The coin dates to the year A.D. 107 and shows the Roman ruler Augusts. It was found in the Galilee region of Israel.

[MIKA27]

Meet the Former Biologist Who’s Literally Mailing Bulls**t to People

Robert Bender and friends are fed up with everyone's bullshit.

The 67-year-old from Ottawa says people are spewing more bullshit these days than they ever have before, and together with a half-dozen "fun-loving mercenaries" (whatever that means), he founded a company that sends it right back at them. Incredi-Bull, launched in January, offers its customers poetic justice: to call people on their bullshit "and actually do something about it."

In short, they sell authentic Canadian bullshit that was excreted from a real bull's ass.

Described as 100 percent natural, artisanal, and "hand-harvested," it's pretty much just a small, flattened **** fastened to a little orange card with a scornful message pointing out the recipient's shitty ways. It sells for $14.95 [$11 USD].

"At some level, it's a joke, and at some level, it's serious," says Bender, a former biologist and tech businessman. "The protest with humor has the advantage of both diffusing the harsh edge and also providing a vehicle... to make a protest, without being absolutely confrontational."

The company was intellectually inspired by On Bullshit, a 16-page essay by Harry Frankfurt of Princeton University, which, in both the dry style of academia and sly tone of someone who knows he's writing a major paper about "bullshit," shrewdly analyzes the intricate concept. It was also partially influenced by French protests involving agricultural policy, mostly in the 70s and 80s, during which farmers drove their manure spreaders into towns, fired them up, and sprayed **** all over the place.

Incredi-Bull is far from the first company to sell mail-order animal feces, however. Popular options include PoopSenders, Shitexpress, and I Poop You. Cards Against Humanity even did it on a grand scale in December 2014, when the company shipped 30,000 boxes of cow poo to customers as part of a Black Friday promotion.

At least one such scenario has raised legal questions about sending literal crap in the mail. Last year, an Iowa woman entered a legal battle with her neighbors after being charged with harassment for mailing a bag of cow dung to them because they complained about her dog barking.

Canada Post would neither confirm nor deny that mailing feces is allowed, but the practice does appear to meet its guidelines on biological matter, as long as it's not poisonous or infectious, won't soil other mail or postal equipment, or emit an offensive odor, and is packaged properly. The US Postal Service has actually gone on record to say that "yes, [poop] can be mailed," but it needs to meet its "strict guidelines."

Robert Bender shown hauling bull feces at a farm in rural Ottawa in an upcoming promotional video for Incredi-Bull

Incredi-Bull's material gets collected from a cattle breeder in the Ottawa area, and then pasteurized to kill all the bacteria, and get rid of the smell. "You can bet that someone, somewhere, is going to put down a bar bet about eating this stuff," Bender says. "We figured, yeah, people in bars do stuff like that, so we sterilize it to actual standards for medical sterilization."

Legal experts have advised that it's not necessarily the act of mailing feces that's problematic, since, generally speaking, it isn't dangerous, but it's the sender's intent and the context of his or her relationship with the recipient that could potentially make the person legally liable. It would, however, be "unlikely" for someone to face any criminal liability, according to Toronto criminal defense lawyer Brian Weingarten.

Weingarten says that any case would have to prove not only that it was a real threat, but also that it was done with malicious intent or recklessness.

"It's probably going to be an inconvenience, and the person's probably not going to be happy, but I think it would be a very unusual circumstance for it to really amount to a criminal charge," he says. "Courts don't like to deal with things that are jokes or pranks in a criminal context."

Incredi-Bull's limited Valentine's Day package

"This is clearly a joke product, with humor as intent. It has been sterilized, it has been treated in ways that make it innocuous," says Bender. "From a social standpoint, we don't want to be party to bullying or things that could come out of what I would call inappropriate motivation for protest."

He says business has been solid so far. Incredi-Bull keeps its sales numbers private, but he says they're all currently processing their third 110-pound lot of raw material (each "greeting card" uses between 0.7 and 1.7 oz). The company's already planning to scale up, including eventually introducing a new "bullshit detector" product. Not hard, since Bender says there's "no shortage" of bullshit in Canada.

"It's an annoying feature of life ,and I think in some ways corrosive. There are a lot of people who are fed up with the constant amount of abuse they get from being on the receiving end of bulls**t."

MIKA: Fuzz...you got mail

[MIKA27]

PlayStation VR Will Launch in October for $399

PLAYSTATION VR WILL launch in October 2016 for $399, Sony said on Tuesday at a Game Developers Conference event, calling it a “great value.”

Outside the US, the virtual reality headset for PlayStation 4 will cost 399 Euros, 349 GBP or 44,980 yen and a whopping $549 AUD all launching in October. It’s a bit of a delay for the device, originally slated to launch in the first half of this year, but Sony said it wanted to drive mass adoption early and have enough hardware to meet demand.

Over 230 developers are currently creating PlayStation VR games, Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Andrew House said at the event. “The opportunity for developers is monumental,” House said, noting that 36 million PlayStation 4s, all of which can use PlayStation VR, have already been sold worldwide.

House says he expects 50 games to be available this year. Sony is working with LucasArts and Electronic Arts on a special PlayStation VR version of Star Wars Battlefront, he added.

House took a moment to run down some of the numbers behind PlayStation VR. The headset includes a 5.7″ OLED screen with a 120 Hz refresh rate. The device has 360-degree head tracking using 9 LEDs. The field of view is “approximately” 100 degrees.

[MIKA27]

SNOOPERSCOPE NIGHT VISION DEVICE

Get into the stealth mode with the help from Snooperscope and a mobile device. With this clandestine product, give your smartphone the ability to see and capture the world around you in total darkness. Each Snooperscope is a portable and wireless device that uses your mobile screen to display images and video picked up by its infrared camera. Not only restricted to darkness, the Snooperscope also detects harder-than-normal objects to see in the daylight as well.

Each scope runs through a Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connection that protects your video feed. It also uses H.264 video compression and hosts an onboard battery that provides you with up to four hours of continuous use. Use it to spot game while hunting, as an action and sports camera in low light, detect opponents in a paintball match, or hunt for the ghost of cousin Vinney in your home. There are also accessory mounts available for helmets, bikes and even drones. Available now for $140. [Purchase]

[MIKA27]

CONTRABAND COCKTAILS

Prohibition was supposed to dry out America, and while there weren't many distillers legally making liquor, that didn't stop many Americans from continuing to drink. Contraband Cocktails: How America Drank When It Wasn't Supposed Toprovides a detailed look at the drinks, methods, and people that kept Americans buzzed. From the rise of the speakeasy, which led to the modern cocktail bar — to how members of Congress were supplied with illegal booze, Contraband Cocktails is a fascinating look at a period of American history none of us hope repeats itself.

[MIKA27]

Here Are Nike's First Power Lacing Shoes

Ever since Back to the Future II, people have wanted shoes with power laces. Well, it’s happened. Nike has finally put power lacing in real shoes. In real life. As in, you’ll actually be able to buy them. And you’ll never have to tie a shoelace again. The Nike HyperAdapt 1.0 will be the first real Nike shoe to implement the adaptive lacing tech and it’s supposed to work just like it did for Marty McFly. Put them on and it magically tightens up around your feet.

Tiffany Beers of Nike explains how the system works:

When you step in, your heel will hit a sensor and the system will automatically tighten.

That sounds about right! The adaptive lacing technology isn’t fully automatic though. As in, it won’t just tighten and loosen on the fly. Along with the heel sensor, you can adjust the power laces through a button on the side of the shoe. This isn’t purely just a gimmick (it’s a lot of gimmick though) because the idea is that the added benefit of these power laces is that the shoe’s laces will give the same sort of consistent scrunching and tightening each time. Bunny ears be gone (though who knows how the power lacing gets charged up).

The Nike HyperAdapt 1.0 is supposed to come out during the holiday season of 2016 in three different colours. No word on price yet but it’s probably safe to assume that you’ll need to start shining up them coins.

MIKA: I'm all for technology but the world is becoming weak with it IMO.

Things like driving, parking, shoe lace tying, hand writing, all daily things we do will be a thing of the past, people will forget and some will be worse for it.

A simple task of parking a car is impossible for many. Today I watched someone (They were in front and I couldn't drive around them at work) attempting to reverse park this impossibly small Fiat 500 into a car bay. This male went back and fourth at least 8 times!! I've seen it so many times, basic things we all had to learn in order to get our licenses will be long gone by next generation.

I think power laces are cool and all but will it end up being a gimmick much like the Reebok Pumps? Remember those...

[MIKA27]

Morgan Freeman Is On The Warpath In The New Now You See Me 2 Trailer

Everyone loves a good magic trick, and the success of the first Now You See Me almost felt like one. It had a great cast and premise, but no one could have guessed it would be a breakout hit or merit a sequel. Yet here we are, along with the newest trailer for Now You See Me 2, due June 9.

This time the film is directed by Jon M. Chu, whose most recent film was Jem and the Holograms. Try not to hold that against him. He got back Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Mark Ruffalo and Morgan Freeman for the sequel and has added Lizzie Caplan and Daniel Radcliffe, among others. This time, the Four Horseman — now part of the mythic organisation The Eye — are being set up by Freeman, whom they bested last time. The film then goes international as the gang goes to work for Radcliffe’s character, who doesn’t seem like he’s too trustworthy.

Basically, it’s a set up for the kinds of twists, turns and spectacle that made the first film so much fun, and hopefully Chu can capture some of that. The trailer feels like they’re on the right track.

[MIKA27]

The Trailer For The Ben Hur Remake Looks Pretty Great

Believe it or not but It’s been 91 years since the original Ben-Hur, which was such a brutal production that people actually died whilst making it. Thanks to the wonders of modern technology and occupational health and safety regulations the 2016 version is a lot less brutal, but is looking just as epic — although not quite to the level of the 1959 remake (it did win 11 Academy Awards, after all).

[MIKA27]

'Double-Fault' Earthquake Could Devastate Southern California

A geophysicist in California says the San Andreas fault could be triggered into rupturing by the smaller San Jacinto fault nearby, causing a single devastating earthquake. Such a “joint rupture” may have happened before — and it could very well happen again.

In 1812, an earthquake rocked San Juan Capistrano in southern California, damaging buildings and killing 40 people. The quake, estimated at a magnitude 7.5, started along the 130-mile (210 km) San Jacinto fault, but its energy travelled to the nearby San Andreas fault, causing it to rupture as well. For the people living on the surface, it felt like a single event, but in reality it was two faults working together to catastrophic effect.

At least that’s the scenario posited by California State University geophysicist Julian Lozos, whose new theory appears in Science Advances. Unlike other seismologists, Lozos doesn’t believe that the San Andreas fault — the primary plate boundary fault in southern California that extends for 800 miles (1,290 km) — worked alone during the 1812 earthquake. He argues that the earthquake initially began along the smaller San Jacinto, but then it spread to the San Andreas.

A map showing where records of damage were recorded in the wake of the December 1812 earthquake.

Modern seismic records don’t exist for the 1812 quake, so Lozos used a computer to simulate the proposed double-rupture. The model was based on historical accounts of the damage and established geological evidence, including the positioning of what Lozos calls “precariously balanced rocks.” His models show that the damage inflicted by the earthquake could very well have been produced by a joint rupture event. It’s a conclusion that jibes well with the separate work of geologist Nate Onderdonk of Cal State Long Beach, who says that multi-fault quakes have been happening in California for thousands of years.

As Lozos concluded in his study, “This precedent carries the implications that similar joint ruptures are possible in the future, and that the San Jacinto fault plays a more significant role in seismic hazard in southern California than previously considered.” So in addition to a heightened risk of earthquakes, the region is at a greater risk of multi-fault quakes spread over a larger area of destruction.

But as Smithsonian notes, that doesn’t mean these earthquakes are stronger than single-fault events:

Combination earthquakes aren’t necessarily more powerful than single-fault ones, but they do travel in different ways. Instead of zipping relatively neatly along the fault line under San Bernardino, a multi-fault earthquake — even a less powerful one than the 1812 temblor — could jump right across a very densely populated region, causing even more damage than anything the San Andreas could produce alone.

Lozos’s study also means that current prediction models may be wrong. It would be wise for seismologists in the region, particularly in the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, to take heed of this study and adjust accordingly.

[MIKA27]

A 50-Kilometre-Long Ice Shelf Is About To Break Away From Antarctica

Two years ago, a crack appeared on an ice shelf along a stretch of Antarctic coast. The fissure has grown substantially since then, raising concerns that it will break free and form an iceberg over twice the size of Manhattan.

Ice shelves are thick plates of coastline ice that float over the ocean. This particular ice shelf, called the Nansen ice shelf, measures about 50km long and 35km across. In 2013, geologists noticed that a crack had formed on the shelf running parallel to the coast. Satellite images taken late last year show the degree to which the crack has grown since that time. Scientists are now saying the entire structure could break free from the continent and float into Terra Nova Bay in the Southern Ocean.

The crack as it appeared on 26 December 2013. Image: Jesse Allen, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey

The crack as seen on 16 December 2015. Image: Jesse Allen, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey

Back in December, geologists Christine Dow and Ryan Walker observed the site from helicopter. Dow captured this stunning image of the crack during the flight.

The crack as seen from a helicopter in December 2015. Image: Christine Dow/NASA

“There’s a huge crack, miles long and sometimes over a hundred yards wide, which runs more or less parallel to the front of the ice shelf,” noted Walker at his blog. “Over the winter, the sea surface freezes and traps small icebergs in the crack, producing a fascinatingly broken ices cape.”

Satellite images taken just a few days ago show that the ice shelf is still attached to the coast. So with winter settling in, it’s unlikely that the shelf will separate itself sometime soon. That said, strong winter winds can prevent the water beyond the shelf from freezing. As noted at NASA’s Earth Observatory, it’s “unclear whether the front will separate soon or hang on like a loose tooth”.

Dow is hoping to return to the site next summer. As she told NASA, “I’m really interested to see whether this feature is occurring because of the topography around the ice shelf, or whether it was initially created by surface water flowing into a small ice surface crack. We’re planning an intensive survey of this feature in the coming years and will hopefully get a handle on the causes.”

This sort of thing happens from time to time along the Antarctic coast, and it’s not necessarily related to climate change. Some of these events are cyclical, as ice grows, breaks free and then grows back again. Back in 2008, for example, the Wilkins ice shelf disintegrated into dozens of large glaciers. Years later, the remnants of the collapsed shelf could still be seen from space. Also in 2008, the Serson ice shelf along the northern coast of Canada’s Ellesmere Island experienced a significant retreat — an event that has been linked to climate change.

Iceberg B-15T as it appeared in 2015. Image: Joshua Stevens, using Landsat data from the US Geological Survey/NASA

Finally, there’s B-15T, the largest iceberg ever observed by geologists. Calved from Antarctica’s Ross Ice Shelf in 2000, it measured 295km long and 37km wide. That’s larger than the whole island of Jamaica, and about the size of Connecticut. Over the years it broke up into smaller pieces, including B-15A, which covered 6475 square kilometres of sea surface area. Most icebergs get caught up in the swirling Antarctic currents and fall apart, but this one stayed trapped in the cool coastal waters where it could remain for decades.

[MIKA27]

2017 CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1

The first Camaro was released in 1966 by GM with the simple goal of fending off the Ford Mustang. While neither would win the market outright, the powerful vehicles produced in the ensuing fight would go on to significantly inform our collective idea of the ‘Muscle Car’. Now, nearly 50 years later with the announcement of Chevy’s new 2017 Camero ZL1, there is no question that the storied model is still pushing the limits.

This beast of a car is packed with a 6.2-liter small block V8 that pumps 640 horsepower and 640 pound-feet of torque through a 10 speed automatic (or the classic 6 speed manual) transmission. A lot of the track hardware on this car is actually borrowed from the Corvette Z06 – including the Brembo six-piston monobloc brakes, launch control system, and magnetic ride suspension. Despite all this hardware, including a set of 20-inch wheels wrapped in Goodyear Eagle F1 supercar tires, the ZL1 is actually 200 pounds lighter than its predecessor. While the pricing and sprint times have yet to be released – it is fair to call this Camaro the most muscled up yet.

[MIKA27]

MEDITERRANEAN DRAGON HOUSE

Here’s a testament to true architectural innovation. Madrid-based firm GilBartolome Architects took the near impossible, a 42-degree cliff face on Spain’s Grenada province overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, and dug it out to situate an amazing home for a couple who purchased a difficult plot of land. The property, aptly named House on the Cliff is two stories and largely buried in the ground and covered by an overhanging zinc-clad roof that follows the angled terrain.

From below, the curvature aesthetic of the home resembles the outline of a dragon face while from above it takes after the waves of the sea. A split-level living room opens onto a cantilevered terrace hosting a swimming pool on the lower level while three bedrooms on the second floor are filled with sea air and vistas through dormer windows and glass balconies. The project was constructed in 2015 to help boost the economy with labor-intensive construction from local workers.

[MIKA27]

Tudor Heritage Black Bay Dark

Tudor have introduced an all-black version of their popular Black Bay watch. Inspired by Tudor watches used by the French National Navy in the 1970s, the stunning all-black matte dive watch features a 41mm steel case and black PVD treatment, giving it the appearance of black military utility equipment, and red details on the engraved water depth, and the triangle on the rotatable bezel, also key design features inspired by history. Powered by an automatic MT5602 movement the sleek timepiece also features a 70-hour power reserve and is waterproof to 200 m (660 ft). Other details include a steel bracelet or leather strap options, domed sapphire crystal, and a bi-directional bezel.

[MIKA27]

TAG HEUER MONZA 40TH ANNIVERSARY WATCH

Originally created to celebrate Niki Lauda's first world championship title with Ferrari, the Monza still stands as one of Tag's most celebrated watches. Yet it has rarely been reissued. Which makes the Tag Heuer Monza 40th Anniversary Watch all the more special. It retains the iconic coussin case of the original, but expands it from 39 to 42 mm, and swaps its steel construction for carbide-coated titanium. The dial is home to both a pulsometer and tachymeter scale, just like the original, and likewise has black and white lacquered hour and minute hands, as well as a historic logo, the original font, and vintage orange SuperLuminova on the indices. Finished with a full-grain black "super racing" leather strap, it's limited to just 2,000 pieces.

[MIKA27]

The Long-Dead Lobo Movie Was Just Resurrected By the Writer of Wonder Woman

For as long as Lobo has been one of the most visceral, popular, and controversial comic book characters in DC’s library, there’s been talk of a movie. Nothing’s ever come of it—but there’s a hopeful sign. The writer of the new Wonder Woman movie has been hired to write a new screenplay.

The Wrap reports that Jason Fuchs, who not only wrote the new Wonder Woman movie but also last year’s Pan, is rewriting Lobo from the ground up. That suggests other people who have previously been attached to the project may no longer be involved.

The intergalactic bounty hunter has long been a character Hollywood has wanted to adapt, but been afraid to. In that way, he’s similar to Deadpool, since both characters thrive on their R-rated aspects. The difference between the two, though, is that Deadpool is infinitely more popular. Still, it’s hard not to look at this sudden move as a reaction to the success ofDeadpool. Plus there’s no doubt that, handled the right way, Lobo could be a hit.

At this time, there’s no word if Lobo will be written as part of the DC Cinematic Universe that includes Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, Wonder Woman, and Suicide Squad. Hiring Fuchs makes it seem more likely, though, since he’s already written one of those movies. And if that ends up being the case, the idea of Lobo taking on Batman or Superman on the big screen brings a pretty big smile to our faces.