Portent

This video looks real and I can’t tell if its a hoax or not. They put unpopped corn on a table in between three or four mobile phones (cell phones if you live in the USA) then ring the phones.

After a few seconds the corn pops and jumps up in the air. the corn is on tables so I don’t think they’ve got anything underneath to heat it. I guess I’ll have to try it out. This could be the new Mentos and Diet Coke meme!

(Update). It is a hoax. It was done as a marketing campaign. Snopes as usual has the goods! Scroll to the bottom of the page. Had me going there for a while…

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Popularity: 4% [?]

If you find yourself in London and witness people being soaked by water pistols in a determined but fun way, don’t be alarmed. It’s probably just players from Streetwars doing a hit on someone.

Streetwars is a live game that can take place any time during a three week period. Players have a nominated target who they attempt to soak (”a hit”) to eliminate them from the game. Some basic information and photo is provided for the assassin who then has to stalk, confront or otherwise ambush their victim. You can see more info including videos and news items about the game.

This has been running for the past three years, in the USA, Canada and a couple of European cities. I have a vague notion that the concept is quite old and started on U.S. University campuses back in the 60s or 70s.

After London there is Paris and then Toronto, so if you fancy entering it…Mind you with the present soggy British weather, getting soaked isn’t much fun!

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Popularity: 5% [?]

The 3rd most popular game of all time, and over 25 years old was the subject of a prank at UCSC’s Engineering school.

10 People, using 6,400 Post-Its over 5 hours put up this quite faithful representation of the game in the windows of a building. You can watch a time-lapse video. Excellent stuff!

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Popularity: 2% [?]