A quick and fun demonstration of the 3DS camera turning an image on an AR card into a real-time 3D minigame. It starts about the 1:20 mark. Like Jimmy, I didn't understand what I was seeing for the first few seconds, and then he started playing it and it was awesome. True augmented reality. Port this through some goggles and the line between real space and virtual space totally disappears. Well done Nintendo.

A sublime cover of a sublime Radiohead song, "Everything In Its Right Place," conceived as a conversation between DJ Spooky's iPad and Joshua Roman on the cello. Happy Friday!

The Mad Artist looks at drug memoirs, real and fake, in the light of reading David Shields' excellent book 'Reality Hunger'.

It’s always heartening to discover another writer who, perhaps by taking a very different path, has nonetheless arrived at a very similar creative place to oneself. This happened when I saw David Shields being interviewed on a BBC arts programme about his book 'Reality Hunger' and the broader implications of the concept... As a drug memoirist, I had a special interest because I knew from the interview that this is an area Shields touches upon, and to my mind drug writing is an important component in the spectrum of this push toward ‘reality’. Indeed he mentions the Vedas--citing them as the earliest examples of written storytelling--and also De Quincey, Burroughs and Hunter S. Thompson before getting stuck into James Frey and his infamous tome 'A Million Little Pieces'. Here is one of the finest examples of an ideological clash between ‘reality’ and ‘fiction’ in a contemporary book. Telling the story of a hopeless, burnt-out, twenty-three-year-old drug addict, who mends himself in a rehab centre, Frey firstly wrote the book as a novel, and when he had no success at marketing it, he rebranded it as memoir, after which it was outstandingly successful, selling in the millions.

Selling drugs is a recession-proof business model. From MSBC:

Medical marijuana is now a $1.7 billion market, according to a report released Wednesday by See Change Strategy, an independent financial analysis firm that specializes in new and unique markets. The figure represents estimated sales of marijuana through dispensaries in states with medical marijuana laws. It is the first time a definitive dollar figure has been given to the emerging medical cannabis industry.

To put that number in perspective, sales of medical marijuana rival annual revenue generated by Viagra, a $1.9 billion business for Pfizer.

The rising sales are generating growing interest from entrepreneurs and even some venture capitalists as the medical marijuana market is expected to nearly double in the next five years just in the 15 states where the drug has some protection under the law. If another 20 states pass medical marijuana laws -- as the study projects is possible -- the market could grow to $8.9 billion in 2016.

In an article entitled "News trends in drug use is emerging in local high schools," (sic that whole title), the author earnestly warns of a dangerous new high: Candyflipping.

Recently, a new trend has emerged in local high schools. Many teenagers are continuously looking for a new way to get "high."

One of the latest discoveries among that demographic is referred to as "Candy Flipping." Like MDMA or Ecstasy, candy flipping is most commonly used by teen age "Ravers," or "Shufflers" (A dance style). As if the impact of using Ecstasy alone was not damaging enough, it is now being combined with other drugs to create the phenomenon of candy flipping...

Both MDMA and LSD induce psychoactive effects that are both additive and overlapping. Some of the signs/symptoms associated with MDMA include hallucinations, pupil dilation, elevated heart rate, elevated blood pressure, elevated temperature, and nystagmus (3).

As with any drug, there are interaction dangers involving LSD and MDMA. Both drugs are particularly dangerous when taken in combination with the MAOI (Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitor) class of anti-depressants. Although neither drug is thought to be lethal by itself, it is believed that the interaction between MDMA and an MAOI class drug can be lethal.

Taking a combined dose of LSD and MDMA would likely result in short-term psychosis, hallucinations, synesthesia (Transposing of visual and auditory signals to the brain), and an altered perception of reality.

Ecstasy tablets are typically easily identified by their appearance of poor quality. They are generally made in a "Kitchen Lab" using poor binders (A pharmacologically inactive ingredient also termed "excipient" to help hold the chemicals together). The home manufactured pills are uncoated and slightly rough to the touch.

Thanks for the well-researched article! Clearly an expert on the subject. Though maybe 20 years out of date. It's all Molly powder these days. D'oh!

Of course, what is clearly missing from this story is that ecstasy pills often contain drugs other than MDMA. If all they have is the patient's word they took "ecstasy" without actually testing the pill, this rise in visits could also be accounted for by a rise in adulterated pills.

Medical emergencies related to the illicit drug Ecstasy increased 75 percent between 2004 and 2008, a new U.S. government reports finds.

Hospital emergency rooms treated 17,865 patients in 2008 for medical problems caused by Ecstasy, which can cause agitation, heat stroke and heart failure, according to the study released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). In 2004, Ecstasy-related ER visits numbered 10,220.

The resurgence of Ecstasy use is cause for alarm that demands immediate attention and action, said SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde in an agency news release.

More than two-thirds of these ER patients were between 18 and 29 years old, but a sizable number -- nearly 18 percent -- were from 12 to 17, the report said, noting Ecstasy use is increasing among teens.

Ecstasy -- also known as MDMA -- is often used at all-night parties called raves. Its reputation as a "club" or party drug belies the medical and mental dangers of even casual use, the report authors said.

Circa 1979. Remember, in Colombia they call it "bah-say". Here we say, "ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US."

[Thanks Mason!]

This story has been breaking on TMZ since this weekend:

The deputy D.A. who prosecuted Paris Hilton and Bruno Mars scored coke 3 to 4 times a week in the crack den of Las Vegas... this according to the police report obtained by TMZ, and we've learned he's been locked out of his office and is about to get fired.

David Schubert, who was busted Saturday night, had gone to a notorious area of Vegas Saturday night. Schubert, who was driving a BMW, stopped and cops observed a male get inside his car.

The two began driving and cops were suspicious, after the passenger got out of the car, went into a an apartment complex and came back out. When Schubert allegedly committed a traffic violation, cops made their move and stopped the vehicle. The passenger got out and ran, and was subdued after a foot chase.

For those of you with decent tech skills and little cash, this guide describes how to build a functional set of mind-machine strobe glasses from parts. Also contains links to great technical resources on flicker and ganzfeld hallucinations.

This post will describe how to construct a pair of goggles which can be used to induce geometric visual hallucinations via strobe light patterns. This tutorial should be accessible to anyone familiar with Arduino hacking, and I do not go into details of the electronics design. The effects are quite remarkable. These goggles can be constructed for 25 to 50 dollars, depending on how good you are at scavenging parts. I believe this design to be superior to some similar designs seen on the internet, and very much cheaper than this commercial equivalent ($649).

Update : For those of you who noticed that this appears to be a simple combination of the trip glasses and the DIY ganzfeld hallucination method, you are absolutely correct. I saw both of these hacks, and wanted to combine them, and also support full color. The result is a full color ganzfeld+flicker hallucination apparatus.

[Thanks Mason!]

Possibly one of the greatest rambling mumble-fests of all time? You decide.

This is a two-part clip so watch the second part here.

[Thanks Sam Hell!]