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Canstruction is an annual charity competition where design firms see who can build the most astounding structure made entirely from full cans of food. At the close of the competition all of the food used in the structures is donated to local food banks to feed the needy. Structures, ranging in size from 1,000 to 13,000 cans and are created by stacking a variety of can sizes and shapes using the product labels as the color pallet. This past year competitions took place in 45 cities across North America.

9th Annual Canstruction Competition Winners

(via Core77)

Over the past few weeks Shannon Larratt (editor of BMEzine.com) has been interviewing various people with "nerd" tattoos - computer logos, video game themes, science, math, and engineering. From Zelda, the Apple Logo, and DNA Chains, to 8-bit icons and Nintendo, people explain the stories behind their nerdy tattoos.

Revenge of the Tattooed Nerds

A handy, who-knew guide for 77 foods, beauty products, and household goods.

With help from experts and product manufacturers, Real Simple has compiled a guide to expiration dates. These dates are offered as a rough guideline. The shelf lives of most products depend upon how you treat them. Edibles, unless otherwise indicated, should be stored in a cool, dry place. (With any food, of course, use common sense.) Household cleaners also do best in a dry place with a stable temperature. After the dates shown, beauty and cleaning products are probably still safe but may be less effective.

Surprising Expiration Dates

(via LifeHacker)

Medical cannabis advocates hope vaporizers -- which can stand slightly larger than a blender and can cost up to $500 -- will help legitimize marijuana's medicinal use and take a swipe at its reputation as the devil's weed.

By heating cannabis to a point where vapors are formed but before the herb combusts, a vaporizer creates a clear substance that, advocates say, is practically free of many of the toxins found in marijuana smoke.

Becoming smoke-free, they hope, will make marijuana more palatable as a medicine to federal officials, scientists and regulators who are dubious about the health value of a smoked drug.

Medical Marijuana Users Suggest Vaporizers

How to earn more, save more, invest better, spend wisely and protect your family. The 50 smart money moves contained in this article are (claimed to be) the closest to sure things as you can get. Good payoff, low risk - the definition of smart.

Categories includes real estate, money mangement, saving, taxes, investing, consumer habits, and bettering yourself. Additionally, there's a section on the 15 dumbest moves to make with your money. Generally the article is helpful but a lot of the suggestion are just simply common sense.

50 Smartest Things to Do with Your Money

(via LifeHack)

Like all journalists and publishers, bloggers sometimes publish information that other people don't want published. You might, for example, publish something that someone considers defamatory, republish an AP news story that's under copyright, or write a lengthy piece detailing the alleged crimes of a candidate for public office.

The difference between you and the reporter at your local newspaper is that in many cases, you may not have the benefit of training or resources to help you determine whether what you're doing is legal. And on top of that, sometimes knowing the law doesn't help - in many cases it was written for traditional journalists, and the courts haven't yet decided how it applies to bloggers.

But here's the important part: None of this should stop you from blogging. Freedom of speech is the foundation of a functioning democracy, and Internet bullies shouldn't use the law to stifle legitimate free expression. That's why EFF created this guide, compiling a number of FAQs designed to help you understand your rights and, if necessary, defend your freedom.

Electronic Frontier Foundation Legal Guide for Bloggers

(via BoingBoing)

More and more, consumers are making environmentally friendly choices in the purchases that they make. They are actively seeking out organic foods, avoiding dangerous chemicals in products, and looking for energy-efficient appliances.

GreenerChoices.org is a free guide that offers reliable and practical advice on how to be a more environmentally-friendly consumer. The site includes information on large scale environmental issues concerning energy, climate change, agriculture, waste and dangerous substances and connects these larger issues to the products people buy. Consumers will also find tools such as energy calculators, rebate information, food label meanings as well as links to information about local energy, recycling and sewage treatment services.

Greener Choices for a Better Planet

Pac-Manhattan is a large-scale urban game that utilizes the New York City grid to recreate the 1980's video game sensation Pac-Man. This analog version of Pac-man is being developed in NYU's Interactive Telecommunications graduate program, in order to explore what happens when games are removed from their "little world" of tabletops, televisions and computers and placed in the larger "real world" of street corners, and cities.

A player dressed as Pac-man will run around the Washington square park area of Manhattan while attempting to collect all of the virtual "dots" that run the length of the streets. Four players dressed as the ghosts Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde will attempt to catch Pac-man before all of the dots are collected.

Using cell-phone contact, Wi-Fi internet connections, and custom software designed by the Pac-Manhattan team, Pac-man and the ghosts will be tracked from a central location and their progress will be broadcast over the internet for viewers from around the world.

Pictures and video on the site...

Pac-Manhattan

Lifehacker has a great post on how to enjoy Audiobooks. Personally I'm a huge fan - I bring books on tape with me anytime I take a long drive (for instance a 6 hour drive to Los Angeles) or any long plane flight.

It takes what would otherwise be a mind-numbingly tedious waste of time and makes it both interesting and engaging.

Funny thing is, when Audiobooks first hit the web I shunned them and thought - why on earth would anyone want to listen to a book on tape? In the end it was my Mother (hi Mom!) who's a huge fan of books on tape that got me into it.

How to Enjoy Audiobooks