World Record Belly Flop

You know how the Japanese bring us those incredible Youtube pranks of naked skiers trying to get a massage? Or the human pac-man game or even the crowd favorie, human tetris! Well, here's an American making his name in Japan...




Ahh so many questions...
1) Why is this guy doing something so incredible as an American in Japan? Is he taking his show on the road? More money? America didn't let him try something so foolish?
2) Was this a bad dare that escalated to a world record?
3) How do you practice for this? Does he wear a steel shirt?
4) How the freak does this guy have the nerve to make that jump? You could never and I mean never pay me to make this jump 4ft off the ground.

Special Delivery, pt. 2

How hard is it to walk a package 15 feet to the door? Apparently this USPS guy gets creative and delivers the package without using his back OR his knees. This reminds me of our Skeeball UPS delivery driver.


This doesn't really surprise me. Getting packages delivered has been one of the most frustrating things for me. I can never get USPS or UPS to actually deliver my packages. I've had so many packages returned to sender for no reason, a $160 watch magically disappear on transit from Provo to Sandy, and some just never show up.

This takes the cake: In the summer of 2007, UPS arbitrarily changed the correct address on my MacBook Pro to an old address I lived at 2 years previous. When they discovered I no longer lived at the old address, they kindly delivered it to some random lady in Orem over off Geneva Rd. I ended up showing up at the lady's house to claim my package! When I inquired about the error, their response was, "Oh, that's weird."

Snuggie: FAIL

The results are in. Consumerist.com got Consumer Reports to test the Snuggie. We all hate the commercials, yet somehow the Snuggie is selling like hotcakes. If you've ever almost picked up the phone because those people in the infomercial look so comfortable, don't. Its a piece of crap! Full video below.

New Domain!

Its official. The Man-Log now has its own domain name: www.man-log.com. So go ahead and change your bookmarks. If you don't have the Man-Log bookmarked, what are you thinking?! Press Ctrl+D now!

Amazing Basketball Shots!

Alex showed us LeBron, Jordan, and Bird making some far out shots. Some real, some faked. Well, 6 regular guys have been making some very real, and very hard shots. They're called 'Dude Perfect'. Its unbelievable how good they are. The real questions are: How long have they been practicing? Is the NBA going to change the 3-point line to the half court line?


[DudePerfect.com] This is exactly the kind of thing the Man-Log is about: Real men doing amazing things.
These guys have even grabbed the attention of Good Morning America. Apparently they're just a few high school buddies that are now in college. They have two main videos: Amazing Basketball Shots, and Ranch Edition. Ranch edition is by far the best. Watch it below:




Thanks for the heads up Nate!

I Am Witnessing

This might look like a role reversal on par with Obama saying that everything in his campaign will be transparent but I have new evidence that must be revealed.


To keep my horse in the world of Michael Jordan, I must say that we didn't have Youtube when he was around. Otherwise, videos of this caliber would have arisen, I AM SURE OF IT!

But seriously, I'll give it to Lebron. He has been unreal with some unreal highlight reels this year. He was MVP, his team is running away with the play-offs and he looks like he has been playing in the special 'zone' or 'atmosphere' that only a very select few, namely Jordan and Bird, can elevate their game to this level. We saw the 60 minutes special shot, we saw the half court shot before the game, and now....witness this!



Oh wait, after looking harder, I found one for Michael Jordan..Good luck Lebron!

Ditch the Satellite/Cable

If you have a computer, I will show you how to get rid of your cable/satellite and not miss a thing. You can watch all the TV episodes and movies you want via your hard drive or the internet.
Hopefully you've heard of Boxee by now. Basically its the latest and greatest in multimedia entertainment. Boxee works on PC, Mac, Linux, and AppleTV.


Watch this video:



Here's a few highlights in case you missed it (and Boxee has new stuff since this video):

1. Automatically scans your hard drive and network to add videos
2. Automatically adds artwork, organizes media, and provides info/trailers
3. Streams videos straight from Hulu
4. CBS.com video (including MacGyver, Price is Right, Star Trek, Twilight Zone, etc...)
5. MTV
6. Youtube (which now has select full length movies and TV shows)
   
7. Control it with your remote (ATI Remote Wonder, Logitech, iPhone, etc...)
8. Plays ANY kind of video (AVI, divx, xvid, mkv, mp4, dvd ISO images, etc...)
   
9. *New* Pandora Radio
   
10. *New* Netflix

An much, much more!

If some of you are using Windows Media Center (Vista or XPMCE), the only advantage it has over Boxee is that it can act as a DVR. Other than that, Boxee is the most extensive media center.

I prefer having TV shows and movies downloaded to my hard drive because it loads faster and is organized in one place. In case you forgot, I reviewed how to download TV shows here, and movies here.

Here's how to get Boxee:

• You must first sign up for Boxee over here
• For Macs or Ubuntu Linux, go over to Boxee download and grab the appropriate version
• For appleTV, follow the directions found here. BTW, given the nature of the AppleTV box and cost, this is the easiest Boxee to run.
• Boxee is in closed testing mode for PC users. Fortunately for you, I Spoon have acquired the latest PC Boxee version for you at Rapidshare. You can sign in just fine to Boxee with your newly created Boxee account.

Notes:

• If you have TV episodes downloaded, make sure to format them correctly (Season 2 episode 13 is not good enough. The correct way is: S02E13). Otherwise, Boxee might label some TV shows as movies.
• **Boxee can play dvd's that you have ripped to your computer. I'll post about how to rip movies to your hard drive later.**
• If you have tons of movies/TV shows like I do, it may take a few hours to automatically recognize your library.
  
• Macs run version 0.9.11.5774 and Ubuntu Linux runs version 0.9.11.5777
• Boxee for the PC can sometimes crash unexpectedly more than the Mac/Linux version. That's because its developing slower (version 0.9.9.5324)

Download TV Shows, Pt. 2

I covered earlier how to download TV shows using torrents. If file sharing isn't your cup of tea, I found a blog that posts direct download links to TV shows. If you download shows the night of airing, this method may be faster as you don't have to wait for more people the share the file.

SeriesGringas.us is a blog that posts direct download links to most TV shows. The posts are available immediately after showing.

The files are typically hosted on 3 websites: MegaUpload, HotFile, or NetLoad. MegaUpload seems to be the fastest. For free users, these websites usually require some amount of wait time (45-200 seconds) and only allow 1 download at a time. I usually use MegaUpload and HotFile simulaneously if I'm downloading 2 shows at once (although, lately MegaUpload has not required a wait time and let me download multiple files at once.)

Never Let a Woman do a Man's Job!

Economic times are tough. Do-it-yourself (DIY) projects are popular to save money. But never let a woman try to do a man's job. It will cost you more in the end. Hailing from Minneapolis, Carol Taddei is the perfect example. She tried to install her own toilet for a few hundred dollars, but the job ended up costing $3,000 to have a man come and fix it.


[NYTimes.com] Her master bedroom toilet began to break down and so she thought she'd do some Home Depot-ing to take care of it. Initially things looked good, until the room's ceiling below the new toilet collapsed. Back to Home Depot!
In her plight, Carol starting driving like other women we have featured, and tore the bumper off her car frantically leaving her garage.
Later, as a result of her skills, a bunch of shelves holding flower pots and garden tools collapsed on her head.

Realizing she was defeated, Carol called in a local emergency service: Mr. Handyman.

After 3 days of confusion, Carol's house was restored. The bill? $3,000. Next time, call that Mr. Handyman first.

My guess is she forgot to replace the wax bowl ring. She should have gone here.

Spot a Pyramid Scheme

As a man, we expect you to be smart. That includes not getting duped into some pyramid scheme. You may remember on The Office when Michael tries to recruit his co-workers to sell calling cards. Pyramid schemes are being disguised and re-invented every day. We expect you to know how to spot one.



Before we go into how to spot a pyramid scheme, understand this:

There are only two things that will happen if you get involved -

1. You will piss off a lot of your close family/friends
2. You will NOT make any real money
   

[USA Today] has this to say about pyramid schemes:

"It's going to sound really good. You're going to be tempted. Should you give in to temptation?

In a word: NO. Stop and read this first!

Let me explain how MLM or network marketing works and how it differs from regular sales or a regular business.

•Single-level sales: You go out and sell a product or service and you either get paid for your time, or more typically, get a commission on the amount of product or services you sell directly to customers.

•Multi-level programs: You go out and recruit other participants. You make money not only on the sales you make but on the sales of those you recruit...

Here's what the FTC advises: "If a plan offers to pay commissions for recruiting new distributors, watch out! Most states outlaw this practice, which is known as 'pyramiding.' State laws against pyramiding say that a multilevel marketing plan should only pay commissions for retail sales of goods or services, not for recruiting new distributors."

Even if a program isn't fraudulent, from a business point-of-view, MLM programs share the same fundamental flaws, including:

•Recruiting competitors. No one in legitimate business wants competitors. In MLM programs, your goal is to get lots of others selling the same product or service. In real businesses, you'd pay for exclusive territories. In MLM, you recruit competitors from among those nearest to you — in your church, neighborhood, friends – your best sales targets.

•Pay to be a customer. You'll buy products or services you sell as well as training materials. Overwhelmingly MLM revenue comes from those recruited to be 'business owners' within a program. I view most MLM programs as thinly-disguised schemes to find customers, not build businesses.

•You'll face pressure. Expect to be required – or pressured – to buy samples, marketing materials, training courses and tapes, attend seminars, and more. You're very likely to spend far more than you'll ever bring in from sales.

•You turn your friends and family into "prospects." MLM programs typically suggest you sell to – and recruit – people you know well. Do you really want to be constantly beseeching those closest to you?"

PyramidSchemeAlert.org Is a website is dedicated to uncovering the truth about all pyramid schemes. I did a search for a well-known "super fruit" company and came up with these results :


-- The top 1% (0.77% or 1 out of each 130) received 65% of all the commissions. These commissions came out of the pockets of those at the bottom.

-- The bottom 91% of the entire company sales force, received no company payments at all!

-- Of the 9% who did receive a commission check, the bottom 99% of them earned on average only $59 a week, before product costs and all business expenses.

-- The average income of the bottom 99% of all Monavie distributors was $3.75 a week before all product costs and business expenses.

These amazing company figures need to be repeated! 91% earned zero. Of the 9% that earned something, 99% of them earned only $59 a week on average, before all product costs and business expenses.

The Flying Car

Some guy at MIT has invented a flying car. ITS ABOUT TIME!




[Consumerist.com] "Admit it, when you envisioned the year 2009 as a kid you saw flying cars. And are unspeakably disappointed that the vision did not come to pass. Well, 32-year-old MIT grad Carl Dietrich was also pissed about the lack of such wonders, but unlike you he's actually gone and done something about it. The man has built a sky-ride with potential to get this party started.

The Orlando Sentinel's Steven Cole Smith reported that Dietrich's Terrafugia Transition flying car, which can cut people off on the street or in the air, converting between the two in 20 seconds at the touch of a wing-sprouting button, has had six test flights so far, including one March 5 in New York.

But you can't have it. Yet, anyway. Dietrich plans to begin deliveries at the end of 2011. The price: $194,000. A refundable deposit of $10,000 will hold your place in line. He'd like to sell maybe 200 a year but can make money at half that volume.

It will take 20 hours of flight training to get behind the wheel, because the vehicle will be classified as a light sport aircraft by the Federal Aviation Administration. But after a lifetime of longing, what's 20 more hours?"

Another Construction Failure

Alex showed us some construction failures in his post Epic Fail. My brother was in the city offices of Nephi, UT. He took a picture of their toilets:


As a man, does this violate your comfort zone?

Domino's and Nasty Employee Recap

This story may sound familiar to the Burger King Bather. This post details what it takes to get famous nationwide and the roller coaster ride that follows. Two idiots names Kristy and Michael got bored one night a made some videos of them doing nasty things to customers' food and put the videos on YouTube. This story has been evolving from April 13 until May 6.

While Kristy narrates, you can see Michael do things like put pieces of cheese up his nose, wipe a sponge on his butt, and fart on some meat. Watch the videos here. (link opens new window.)

Within a few hours of the blog Consumerist posting the story, readers used detective work to figure out where the store was: Conover, North Carolina. The sluethy readers were given free Donino's for 1 year.

Once discovered, they were immediately fired. Kristy tried to quickly dodge legal bullets with this email apology to Domino's Vice President:

"I am sorry about all of this! It was all a prank and me nor Michael expected to have this much attention from the videos that were uploaded! No food was ever sent out to any customer. We would never put something like that on you tube if it were real!! It was fake and I wish that everyone knew that!!!! Michael never would do that to any customer, EVER!! I AM SOO SORRY! You see all the time of the pranks that people upload and the pranks need to seem real in order to get a laugh out of people but this prank was very very immature and I am sorry for the embarrassment that I have caused your company!"

The VP completely rejected the apology, calling it a lie. Arrest warrants were issued for their arrest and Domino's plans to sue the duo.

The store was shut down and sanitized.

The President then issued this YouTube video response:




Then the story was featured on Nightline. Watch the video here on Consumerist or here on ABC.

Now, Kristy can't get a job. [ABC News]

"Kristy Hammonds, 31, tells ABC News that she has become a local pariah and cannot find work to support her two children...

Hammonds, a registered sex offender who faces felony food tampering charges from the Domino's incident, says she has been turned down at several area fast food restaurants, including Taco Bell and McDonalds, when employers recognized her name and face.

She says her inability to find work has made it difficult to raise her two children, aged 4 [years] and 8 months, whom she conceived with the aid of a sperm donor. The baby, she said, has special needs."

I'll Show you Wiggle Room

This should be put in the video stockpile because there is no commentary for this, just enjoyment...





Wigga wigga woom, wigga wigga woom......