The New York Times has a fascinating obituary on Kim Peek, the autistic man who was Dustin Hoffman's inspiration for Rain Man's character Raymond Babbitt. Some of his powers were absolutely uncanny:

• He could read two facing pages simultaneously, one with each eye.
• With that ability, he read 12,000 books and remembered every one of the pages.
• He knew so many plays and music pieces with absolute precision that he would be able to tell if an instrument was a note off in a philharmonic orchestra.
• He could remember every day in the calendar, area codes, ZIP codes, maps, countless classical compositions, a zillion trivia bits across dozens of fields in human knowledge and the arts, and give GPS-like directions for any city of the US.

And yet, with all these powers, Peek— who died a few days ago—wasn't able to understand poetry or conceptualize ideas. It was all about the memory and his extraordinary processing abilities.

However, the most important thing is that this man, who was born with these superpowers but also with grave problems, was able to go through life, cultivate his skills, work on his disabilities, partially solving his problems to interact socially, and finally emerged as someone passionate about what he liked, and loved by many.

Head to the NYT to read the complete obituary. [NYT]

In Be Kind Rewind, cinephiles Jack Black and Mos Def created ultra-low-budget versions of their favorite movies. The Asylum, a studio of B-movie mischief-makers, is their real-life counterpart, except they make gold like Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus and Transmorphers.

I've actually seen Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus (it's available at Netflix) and loved it, and John Herrman branded them "film heroes," so it's interesting to see Wired's bio of the organization. They're not just making weird parodies in their basement; these are relatively successful little movies that sometimes play in theaters and can often be found in rental stores.

And though the majority of its films are sci-fi or horror, the company has lately expanded into biblical-disaster movies (The Apocalypse), teen-sex romps (18-Year-Old Virgin), and even family fare (Sunday School Musical). It's a new kind of B movie: low risk and made to order. "I said, ‘Make me a T&A movie in 3-D,' and they did that with Sex Pot," says Keith Leopard, director of content acquisitions at Blockbuster. "They're constantly delivering good little filler products for our customers."

And, I mean, in Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus, a giant shark eats a plane out of the sky. How much better can it get? [Wired]

After the crotchbomb there has been a lot of noise about airplane security again—you can see how stupid the leaked new flight rules are here. But what's the actual risk of an airplane attack? Here's the definitive chart:

As you can see, the chances are very slim. As slim as the chances of the new security rules having any real effect in preventing any new attacks, sadly.

Unlike the electric Chevy Volt, BMW's Mini E doesn't have a heater to keep the battery at optimum temperature when it gets cold outside—sounds like a minor problem, but it halves the Mini E's range. Eep.

Testers of the Mini E have been finding that at 23 degrees F, the car only managed to eke out 55 miles to a charge, nearly half the advertised 100 miles. Even in more mild winters, like Washington, DC, the car gets 20% less range than in warmer climes. Disappointing, to say the least—we hope BMW works out this kink before the official rollout. [Crunchgear]

Researchers have discovered an antibody which, when injected into mice, will bond with prostate cancer tissue and "initiate direct cell death" in it. If results carry over to humans, this discovery would almost be a cure to prostate cancer.

I say that it would almost be a cure for that particular type of cancer, because in initial trials with mice "F77 bonded with tissue where prostate cancer was the primary cancer in almost all cases (97 percent) and in tissue cores where the cancer had metastasized around 85 percent of the time." This means that while the antibody even attacked advanced stage cancer cells, it did not attack them all. Still, this is fantastic news and I hope that further research lives up to the initial optimism. [PhysOrg]

No, those aren't the happy, cancer-free mice. They're some lab rats photographed by jurvetson.

This tiny, flying robot flaps its wings 30 times per second—just like a real hummingbird—and will one day save lives by searching for survivors in wreckage and spots not easily accessible by humans.

So far, the development of this hummingbird has cost $2.1 million and that number's growing. Japanese researchers are hoping to make the robot hover at a point in mid-air—just like the bird which inspired it—as they control it using infrared sensors. Once they manage that and add a tiny camera, they imagine that the robot will "be used to help rescue people trapped in destroyed buildings, search for criminals or even operate as a probe vehicle on Mars."

A space-exploring, human-saving, crime-stopping robot bird? Brilliant. [PhysOrg via Engadget]

Blio, officially debuting next week at CES, lets you read your ebooks as they're intended to look on paper. Clearly, Kurzweil is signaling his choice of tablets over e-ink, and his first shots are definitely persuasive.

With apps planned soon for the iPhone and PCs, Blio's cross-platform functionality makes it a natural fit for something like the Apple iSlate, which along with other tablet devices should be perfect for reading cookbooks, children's books, and any other illustrated tome. It marks a natural evolution away from the current stock of ebook readers, which are bound by the drab black and white of e-ink.

E-ink has manifold problems, but maybe the greatest of those is that it's just for text, rendering it essentially useless for any book that requires rich illustration. Blio seems to solve that issue, while at the same time offering text-to-speech capabilities that turn your ebook into an audio book.

Blio will also likely be offering over a million books at launch. While that probably includes a lot public domain filler from Project Gutenberg and Google Books, there are at least a few best-sellers (Twilight, In Defense of Food, John Adams, etc.) on the list as well. Better still, the app is going to be free.

Kurzweil has spent a lot of his time envisioning the future, with mixed degrees of success. But he's also a highly respected inventor with a multitude of patents under his belt, meaning we should pay attention when he makes a move like this. Especially with tablets in line to potentially hit the mainstream next year, this is a product that fills a clear and present need, and fills it right now. Let's hope it lives up to the vision.

Well, we knew it was coming today, and it's here now—Sprint is pushing WebOS's latest update to Palm Pres and Pixis as you read this. It's supposed to bring better performance and battery life as well as a bunch of minor features—let us know in the comments what y'all think. [Palm via Engadet]

At this point, it seems passe to accuse every robot post-Roomba of trying to kill you, but if this one isn't a homicidal psychokiller, somebody should tell its face.

Remo (short for Remote Brain (shouldn't it be Remob? Or RemBra?)) is actual a robot kit that's impressively advanced, even considering its $4,350 price. Its custom CPU talks to a PC over Bluetooth (hence the name) and gives dual color CCD cameras as well as pressure sensors in the feet for better balance. [RobotsSFX via PlasticPals via Botropolis]

Want to see the world's most notorious underwear? ABC News has pictures of the tighty-whiteys that nearly took down a Northwest Airlines flight, complete with Pentaerythritol tetranitrate codpiece. They are—perhaps predictably—rather soiled. [ABC News]

There's a format war you probably didn't even know was going on, right in front of your eyes. It's the battle of four 3D glasses manufacturers to take over movie theaters everywhere.

The New York Times has an excellent piece on the topic that I highly encourage you to read. It looks like a company named RealD has one up on the competition, as they've supplied the simple, polarized glasses distributed for Avatar (which cost about 65 cents each, btw).

Competitors include Masterimage, who uses a similar polarization technology, Dolby, who uses an RBG technology, XpanD, who uses a LCD-based shutter. The catch? Projectors can only be configured to support one of these systems at a time.

It's hard to imagine either Dolby or XpanD succeeding in the market—be they better or not—as both make glasses that are reusable but extremely cost prohibitive, running $28 and $50, respectively. Then again, until I saw Avatar, I didn't imagine 3D succeeding in the first place. [NYT]

Lifechanger is a new section on Gizmodo in which we laud the everyday objects that make life oh so better. In its debut, we're going to talk about a classic culinary icon: Pyrex Colors mixing bowls.

Around 1900, way before silicone spatulas and carcinogenic lids, there was a company named Corning Glass Works. They made a low-expansion glass lantern for use on the railroad—specifically solving the issue of a hot lantern shattering when struck by cold rain or snow.

Apparently, the lanterns were so durable that demand waned and Corning Glass was forced to diversify. Then in 1913, when an engineer's wife spotted the glass' culinary potential and baked a cake in a half-sawed Corning Glass Works battery container, the company realized their new direction. The first Pyrex-branded bakeware arrived just two years later.
My particular passion begins in 1943, with the release of the 400 Series Primary Color Mixing Bowls Set. In my corpulent, Midwestern eyes, this series of four simple nested bowls is the epitome of design.

They are perfect.

Four glass bowls of varying sizes, each marked with their own timeless primary color (of course green is not technically a primary color, but it's allowed to stay out of sheer awesomeness), each contained in another in another—no space is wasted, no gimmick championed.

Each piece is built for utility, and somehow, nothing about the package inherently implies "industrial"—there's an obscene amount of casually present character in these simple bowls.
The painted surface is soft on the hands but rock solid against a whisk. The white interior allows the colors of your mix to pop with accuracy. And, of course, the different bowl finishes become a subconscious cue, a chromatic language, if you will, as to the size of each piece. Is this your smallest bowl that you have in your hand? No, it's the red one, the second smallest.

I grew up mixing in Pyrex's bowls. My mother called them her favorite wedding gift she'd never asked for, and she uses the same set to this day. There are countless other stories like hers, as evidenced by a huge aftermarket following—just check eBay where vintage sets go for far more than anything on the market today. These bowls were crafted to last generations, a build quality that's tough to find in almost any contemporary product. Can you, perchance, imagine using your first gen iPhone in 30 years?

It's a downright tragedy that Pyrex no longer makes their Colors line. It's been replaced by a lifeless clear bowl set with colored plastic lids. But whenever they release the inevitable, limited edition redux, you can bet the sets will move like nesting hotcakes...though I think I may prefer the version I already have. It's already got a whole generation's worth of experience under its belt.

We've seen the ridiculous new airline security rules and we've explained how to cope with them, but now the TSA is easing up and allowing pilots to make the final call on things, including allowing live TV and pillows again.

Apparently an anonymous source told Reuters that

The TSA will now let pilots decide whether to allow passengers to keep items in their laps or require them to remain seated during portions of the flight [and that the TSA] will let pilots and airlines determine whether in-flight entertainment systems that show a plane's location should be turned off to avoid a security risk.

The NY Times has confirmed this claim with Gale D. Rossides, the acting director of the Transportation Security Administration, who says that "her agency had given airline captains discretion in determining when passengers could move about the cabin during a flight and whether they could have blankets or pillows on their laps."

Rossides also remarked that more "changes in security measures will take place in coming days," so who knows who'll be calling the shots about pillows and blankets a few days down the line.

What we know for now is that JetBlue already appears to be turning their in-flight entertainment systems back on and letting pilots make some decisions, so let's enjoy that news for now while we sort out whether it's still time to fire the TSA. [Reuters via Business Insider via CrunchGear]

Remember the original Mac or PC rap? Well, it looks like the guys behind it are back with another Apple-themed tune. This time it's a spoof of "I'm on a Boat," and it's unfortunately kinda catchy. (Heads up: NSFW lyrics.)

If you want to rap along to what these boys are calling "a Mac fanboy's anthem about Apple culture and products," here are the words:

(Shortayyy) Ahh shit!
Get your laptops ready, it's about to go down
Everybody on YouTube, watch the f***in screen
But stay on this muthaf***in page
We runnin this - let's go

I'm on a Mac, I'm on a Mac
Everybody look at me
Cause I'm clickin on a Mac
I'm on a Mac, I'm on a Mac
Take a good hard look at the muthaf***in Mac!

I'm on a Mac, muthaf***a, take a look at me,
Straight iPhone'in hard, got the 3G
Bumpin iTunes, CoverFlow to be exact
You can't stop me muthaf***a, cause I'm on a Mac!
Eat a virus bro
I'm on a Mac Pro
We rockin 8 cores hard
Watch the screen go
I got my SuperDrive
And my mighty mice-es
I'm pluggin girls
You at work, pluggin in devices
I'm on a tandem fixie
And a 64-bit
Friends are jealous
Cause Parallels can run their sh*t
But this ain't P.C.,
this is real as it gets
I'm on a Mac, mutherf***er
don't you ever forget!
I'm on a Mac and,
it's runnin fast and,
I bought a neopreen green scuba sleve sham
I'm the king of the Jobs, on a Mac for real
If you're on a PC, then you're not C.E.O.

Get the f*** up, this Mac is real!
F*** a Zune, I'm on a Mac, motherf***a!
F*** right click, multi-touch, motherf***a!
I'm on iChat with my boys, motherf***a!
These turtlenecks ain't cheap, motherf***a!
Hey, y'all, now I'm an Apple whiz
I never need to learn what a driver is
Gonna say goodbye to all viruses
Like a Nano in pink, anything is possible!
Yeah, never thought I'd be on a Mac
It's like a streamlined good-for-you crack
Wozniiiaaaaak, look at me ooohhhh

I'm on a Mac, I'm on a Mac
Take a good hard look at the muthaf***in Mac!

Yeah, this is almost amusing enough to make me want to order a muthaf****in Mac despite it not being the best time to shop for those. [Thanks, Peter!]

You don't spend three months of the year circumnavigating the globe on your houseboat. You don't have a closet full of designer loafers. You're not married to a supermodel. So what: your sink has a mini-waterfall LED faucet.

My favorite part of being in fancy restaurants and small European countries—you know, places where rich people hang out—is checking out the bathrooms. There's always some decadent touch that makes them cooler than the same-old I'm used to using back home. But with this LED faucet, available for $65 at ShopKami, you can bring a touch of that luxury to any old sink.

The easy-to-install, single-handle faucet uses a glass panel lit by a colored LED to convey water, allowing it to cascade gently into your sink while you massage a passion fruit clean or wash your hands with an organic mint soap. See? Your life's already improving. [Coolest Gadgets]

What you see here says a lot about you: A man, contemplating his failures? A construction worker enjoying his lunch? A lucky bastard, about to launch down the most amazing zipline on the planet?

The answer is E.) A photographer, trying repeatedly to make us sick to our stomachs.

The Moscow Bridge, which is actually in Kiev, Ukraine, sits on pylons that are only about 500 feet high, which is lower than the Golden Gate Bridge's, and less than half the height of France's Millau Viaduct, the world's tallest suspension bridge. The Moscow Bridge has, however, earned the coveted title of Tallest Bridge With Fresh Photos On the Internet Today, so there's that. [Vitaliy via English Russia]

The Nimbl wheelchair, designed by Lawrence Kwok, is intended for use in a home that hasn't been retrofitted for full handicap access. But why stay home when your wheelchair looks this good.

The Nimbl, living up to its name, features hubless wheels with a short wheelbase for increased maneuverability. But that's not the only unique feature of the chair's design.

The Nimbl also sports a motorized seat that can lift the operator several feet in the air, activated by a control panel in the chair's armrest. Though its currently only a concept, it wouldn't hurt current wheelchair makers to take note of the Nimbl's form or its function. [designboom]

Not to make all of you feel horrible about the gifts you gave your wife, but you see this telescope? Some guy made this by hand for his wife. And no, his name wasn't Copernicus.

He's never attempted woodworking before, but tackled this project with absolute determination. I'm a huge space geek, and have been fascinated with the night sky almost all of my life. I've talked of wanting a good telescope, and it would have been very easy for him to just make a stop by the store to pick one up. That he spent weeks working on this for me makes it the most special gift I've ever received.

Sure, you couldn't make a Kindle or a 47-inch Plasma TV by hand—at least nothing comparable in quality to the real thing—but did you even try? Huh?

So Rachel, you've got a really nice husband, but he's probably cheated on you in the past year. That's the only logical explanation. [Make]

HD Guru is reporting that DirecTV is going to launch the first 3D HDTV channel in the US next year. Great! Now all we need are 3D displays, content, and a goofy pair of glasses.

The 3D HD channel will apparently be officially announced next week at CES, and will come compliments of a DirecTV satellite that's scheduled to launch today. The report says that the channel will offer a line-up of movies, sports and other programs all in 3D, but at this point it's hard to see where that much content will be coming from. Some sports events are getting the 3D treatment next year, and there are certainly more and more big-name movies taking advantage of the technology, but there's not nearly enough out there to fill a whole schedule.

Existing DirecTV HDTV users will get a firmware upgarde that will allow them to receive the special programming, provided they have an appropriate display. That should be less of a concern than content availability, with both LG and Sony, among others, making a big push for 3D LCD televisions over the next few years.

A dedicated 3D HD channel will be a big step forward, but a lot more pieces need to fall into place before I'm standing shoulder to shoulder with Joy Behar during my daily dose of "The View." [HD Guru]

The environmental movement has gone too far. One of the main draws of the traditional Slinky was its metallic, yet smelly, rings, expanding and contracting like a steel accordion that only played one note. And now, cardboard.

Not only is this "environmentally friendly" slinky worse than a real Slinky, it costs $18! A Slinky is three fraking dollars at Walgreens, or free if you dig through your uncle's old crap. I won't stand for this, hippies. [Uncommon Goods via Nerd Approved]