This Battlestar Galactica PC is the most impressive case mods I’ve seen in a long while, from the front side-loading optical drive player—located behind a laser-cut transparent BSG medallion, so you can actually see the disc spinning—to the opening side bay to see the interior of the PC to the front LCD screens to the top spacecraft carrier bay, with functioning runway lights.

Japanese potato chips are exceptionally good -- light, thin and crispy, sort of like the American Lays brand potato chip.  The difference is they come in really wonderful flavors -- steak, wasabi (わさび), butter, steak sauce, and my favorite, mayonnaise.

There's only one problem: the average size bag of Japanese chips are about a quarter of that of an 9 oz bag and usually have a price of 3.50 American.  Enough for about one single snack of these delicious morsels. 

Above, are gigantor bags of Japanese chips that can be had in Tokyo.  My question: When are these coming to our shores??

LINK

Here is a list from SERIOUS EATS of what is viewed by them as the top ten worse Halloween candies to received when tricker treating.

While I agree with most of the candy on the list, I have to disagree about the Necco Wafers (chocolate variety).

WORST HALLOWEEN CANDY

A good diet is one that avoids foods that contribute to problems that raise the risk of heart disease like obesity, high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

Diet can play an important role in lowering your cholesterol. Discover ten foods that can protect your heart.

Think the older folks don't know how to dress?  Guess again.  We could only be so lucky to have their sense of style and flair!

LINK

The man of my dreams is back (gosh, he gets more handsome with each passing post I do on him!...insert school girl giggle here) and will now create your likeness in Lego for a mere $60,000 via the Neiman Marcus Christmas catalog.  Nathan Sawaya is the master of Lego and it's just more of his outstanding work that can be found on his site.

Paul Wachter wrote an interesting article for The New York Times on the curious customs of tipping: how it came to be and why we tip (even if the service is bad).

Economists have struggled to explain tipping. Why tip at all, since the bill is presented at the end of a meal and can’t retroactively improve service? And certainly there’s no reason to tip at a restaurant you will never revisit. “Using a rational and selfish agent to explain tipping, one reaches the conclusion that the agent should never tip if he does not intend to visit the establishment again,” Ofer Azar, the economist, writes. “Yet this prediction is sharply violated in practice: most people tip even when they do not intend to ever come back.”

The single most important factor in determining the amount of a tip is the size of the bill. Diners generally tip the same percentage no matter the quality of the service and no matter the setting. They do so, Lynn says, largely because it’s expected and diners fear social disapproval. “It is embarrassing to have another person wait on you,” the psychologist Ernest Dichter told a magazine reporter in 1960. “The need to pay, psychologically, for the guilt involved in the unequal relationship is so strong that very few are able to ignore it.” Ego needs also play a part, especially when it comes to overtipping, according to the Israeli social psychologist Boas Shamir.

(Apparently mixing beer and clamato is already a big thing for Latinos, especially those of Mexican descent)

(VIA NEATORAMA)

Can't get enough of hitting the Ctrl-Alt-Del buttons on your keyboard?  Why not take a break and have yourself a cup of Gunpowder with these oh so stylish tea cups!

LINK

This man plans to cross the Taiwan Strait in a paper boat...

A Chinese schoolteacher is preparing to cross the 112 mile-wide Taiwan Straits in a paper boat.

Zhu Yalin, a chemistry teacher in Meishan, Sichuan province, has arrived in Xiamen to build his boat.

"Not only is the whole boat made of paper, but the glue is an organic material - cooked flour soup," he told the Straits Guidance Daily.

LINK

It's bone dry.  It's time for the Santa Ana's.  Crackpot with matches.  A perfect storm.

a 26000 acre fire is now burning in the San Fernando Valley in the Little Tujunga area.  Stuctures are burning, people and their animals are evacuating.

The winds really came up early this morning and fed the fire even more. 

Freeways and schools are closed.

With the temperatures expected rise to the 90s in the the next few days and the winds to continue to blow, this could be bad.

Get details from the Los Angeles County Fire Department site and the Los Angeles Fire Department blogsite.

Local news of the fire can be found HERE.

Q:

A:

We’re guessing the store you were thinking of on the Strip near to MGM Grand was the Las Vegas Cigar Company, which formerly had an outlet in the Hawaiian Marketplace on the Strip. This store no longer exists, although the company still has its location at 2510 E. Sunset Road.

As far as other cigar stores on and around the Strip are concerned, here are some suggestions:

• Davidoff of Geneva has outlets at MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay (both open 10 a.m.-midnight weekdays and until 2 a.m. on weekends), and Mandalay Place (10 a.m.-10 p.m.; 11 p.m. weekends).
  
• Caesars Palace has two options. In the hotel-casino is the Colosseum Cigars store, open from 10 a.m.-midnight weekdays and until 1 a.m. on weekends. It stocks well-known brands, including Fuente, Padron, Ashton, and its own house brand. Casa Fuente in the Forum Shops is a bar/lounge in addition to being a Fuente store and is open from 10 a.m.-11 p.m. weekdays and from 10 a.m.-midnight on weekends.
  
• The Mirage is home to The Roasted Bean, which stocks a good selection of brands, including Partagas, Romeo & Juliet, Macanudo, Arturo Fuente, and Las Vegas’ own Havana Honeys. It’s open from 6 a.m.-11 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday and 24 hours Thursday through Monday.
  
• Mardi Gras Cigars in the Rio is open 10 a.m. till midnight (1 a.m. on the weekend) and sells Ashton, Arturo Fuente, Padron, Monte Cristo, Partagas, Macanudo, Gloria Cubana, Romeo & Juliet, Diamond Crown, and pre-embargo Cubans.
  
• The Golf Pro Shop at the Wynn stocks Monte Cristo, Arturo Fuente, Havana Honeys, La Gloria Cubana, Churchill, Dunhill, Romeo & Juliet, Macanudo, and Opus X. Hours vary with the golf season; it’s currently open from 9 a.m.-7 p.m.
  
• Surprisingly, Bellagio does not have a cigar store, but the Petrossian Lounge there has a pretty well-stocked humidor.
  
• Mr Bill’s is a Las Vegas-based chain of cigar stores with a huge inventory of brands. The one closest to the Strip is at 4441 W. Flamingo Rd. (by the Palms) and is open 9:30 a.m.-9 p.m Monday-Saturday and 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday. You can visit the Web site at www.mrbills.com
  
• One of our personal favorites is the Havana Cigar Company at
  3900 Paradise Rd. (next to Ruth’s Chris and Firefly, with another venue out at MonteLago Village). It’s got a huge walk-in humidor, plus a tiny lounge area, a wine bar, and an adjacent wine shop. The staff is always very friendly and helpful. It’s open 9 a.m.-1 a.m. (10 p.m. Sundays. Tel: 702/892-9555)
  
• A reader wrote in recommending the Don Yeyo Cigar Factory (328 W. Sahara, just west of the Big Gift Store, tel: 702/384-9262) "They make their own cigars and the label says Las Vegas. I always get some there when in town and order by mail in between."
  
• Last but not least, the Don Pablo Cigar Company, located at 3049 Las Vegas Blvd S. (opposite where the Stardust used to be) is an old-time favorite and if you call in from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, you can watch the cigar rollers at work. Store hours are Monday-Saturday 9 a.m.-6 p.m. and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday. (Tel: 702/369-1818).

(via LAS VEGAS ADVISOR)