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Here's 2-year old chimpanzee Do Do bottle feeding 2-month old tiger cub Aorn at the Samut Prakan Crocodile Farm and Zoo in Thailand. Sometimes the world is perfectly adorable. Presumably this video exists because adorable things need to happen. (Daily Mail via Neatorama)

Creepy Video Game Easter Eggs (Cracked) Does Web 2.0 Come at the Price of our Souls? (TC) Booze Boxes Weirdly Classy (Giz) Russian Kids Have the Best Yearbook Pictures (Bit Rebels) Is Pakistan Trying to Ban Encryption? (/.) Juno Orbiter on the Launchpad (Universe Today) LEGO Heist! (Reddit) (title pic via Geeks are Sexy)

Everyone's favorite Taiwanese consumer electronics manufacturer Foxconn has announced that it will increase its robot workforce 100 fold in the next three years. Foxconn, which is responsible for the manufacture of Apple's iPad among other devices, currently employs over 1.2 million people but only 10,000 robots. By 2014, Foxconn plans to make that 1 million robots. The company's founder Terry Gou broke the news during a "company dance party" this past Friday, saying that the new 'bots would help reduce rising labor costs and increase efficiency. Aside from its affiliation with Apple, Foxconn has mostly made headlines over its treatment of employees, and a rash of suicides amongst its workers. The company also famously operates a company-owned community, drawing inevitable comparisons to American coal towns. Whether these new robots will help improve working conditions or the company's image remains to be seen. What also remains to be seen is whether such a massive addition to Foxconn's robotic workforce will lead to human layoffs, or simply greater production capacity. But this might not be the end of Foxconn's problems, since depression is not an unheard of condition for robots. (Xinhuanet via Slashdot)

Microsoft has apparently been gathering location information for wireless devices and publishing it through their Live.com API. The API data contains the location of cell towers and Wi-Fi hotspots which can be used in locating a mobile device nearby -- similar to how early iPhones operated. However, CNet reports that buried amongst the benign information are the MAC addresses of other wireless-enabled devices, which could include phones, computers, and more. To build their database, Microsoft has been drawing on information "crowdsourced" from Windows 7 Phones and by special vehicles with Wi-Fi sniffing antennas. Does this sound familiar? It should. Cast your mind back a few months to a time when the world looked scornfully at Apple for "crowdsourcing" the location of Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers across the country through the iPhone. And just a few short days ago, Google faced similar allegations; that they're Street View cars were also used to gather wireless access point information and may have posted user's MAC address online. If you throw the two of those together, you more or less get what Microsoft has been up to. Responding to CNet's report, Microsoft says that it only publishes the location information of Wi-Fi devices it knows to be stationary. Presumably, this is done by comparing the data taken over different days. However, it seems that some wireless devices could have slipped through this filter.

Every now and again, we humans have an unexpected encounter with nature that completely throws off our day. For instance, what can you do when faced with a small bird clamped hard to your windshield wipers that simply refuses to move? When the wipers fail, I suppose you may as well just sit there and hope there's something amusing on the radio that will last however long the bird needs. Then again, if the bird happens to be an otherworldly spectre of doom, you might be there a while. Take thy beak from out my heart and take thy form from off my winshield wipers! (Reddit via Reddit)

The breathtaking photography of UK artist James Huse has finally revealed what an everyday balloon filled with milk look like at the moment it bursts. If you're anything like me, this question has probably haunted your dreams and troubled your every waking moment. If you're not like me, then you can probably enjoy the spectacle of these expertly captured images. And that appreciation is almost certainly part of what Huse intends: He writes on his website that these images are meant to demonstrate the importance of a university education, since he could not have been able to create these images without the funding, education, and equipment found at school. Taken as art or statement, it's an impressive to say the least See the full images below.

So it seems that the Japanese obsession with robots goes back far longer than one might expect. For about 300 years, Japanese master craftsmen have produced clockwork automatons called karakuri. Exacting in their detail, and breathtakingly complex, these wind-up creations were originally created in the 18th century to one-up Western automatons. Today, some practitioners still carry on the tradition, like the craftsman in the video above. It's an amazing look at an art rarely seen these days. (via Laughing Squid)

A team of UK aeronautics engineers have successfully flown the first aircraft made entirely with 3D printing. Called the Southampton University Laser Sintered Aircraft, or SULSA, the unmanned RC aircraft aims to show that complex flying machines can be crafted quickly using this new fabrication process. Indeed, less than a week prior to its launch, the SULSA was nothing more than a pile of plastic dust. Because it was crafted using 3D printing, the SULSA has several advanced design features usually too expensive or difficult in aircraft production. In this case, the SULSA has the low-drag elliptical wings that gave the WW2-era Spitfire its high maneuverability -- wings which were notoriously hard to make. The plane also has a geodesic internal structure, taken from another WW2 plane: The Vickers Wellington bomber. These concentric supports give the SULSA a similar robustness to the Vickers Wellington, which was well-loved for its ability to withstand anti-aircraft fire. But the SULSA is far more than a trip down memory lane for aircraft designers. The Southampton team has demonstrated that an advanced aircraft can be designed and built very quickly using a 3D printer. It's their hope that the successful flight of the SULSA will demonstrate the maturity of the fabrication technology, and pave the way for UAVs that can be tweaked and redesigned quickly for different missions or conditions. Be sure to read on below for a video of the SULSA's maiden flight.

World's Largest Dog is a Big Ol' Softie (Daily Mail) Anon Dumps FBI Contractor Data (/.) Iceland Completes First Draft of Crowd Sourced Constitution (AP) Play Gozilla in This Tiny City (Colossal) PayPal Hands Over Attacker's IP Addresses (Geek.com) Clever, Unbeatable Online Tracking Tool (Wired) YouTurn: Turn Signal Glove for Cyclists (Engadget) (title pic via Geeks are Sexy)

Fresh from the Detroit Maker Faire is Chester Winowiecki, an artist and something of a DIY musician, strumming out a little tune on his home-made banjo-ukelele. He's apparently promised to put together some instructions so anyone can whip up an instrument from old pie-tins and whatever they happen to have lying around. I can't wait. (via BoingBoing)

A month ago, a woman blogging under the name "EJ" wrote about her horrifying experience renting out her San Francisco apartment through the online Airbnb service. Over the course of a week in June, her apartment was systematically robbed, ransacked, and vandalized by EJ's renter, leaving her with a broken home and a profound sense of violation. Her story was picked up by Hacker News earlier this week and by the San Francisco Chronicle, which helped bring this chilling story to light. Airbnb, an online service that matches shot-term renters with apartment and home owners, has posted their own response to the story. The post by company CEO Brian Chesky expresses the company's shock at the events, a desire to "make things right" with EJ, and a call for caution amongst users. But EJ, who initially described Airbnb's customer service staff as helpful and understanding, has since soured towards the company. In a new blog post, she says that one of Airbnb's cofounders pressured her to shut down the blog or at least give the story a good-news ending. While the story has stirred up controversy around the web, the fact remains that a normal and trusting person has experienced a brutal loss. The San Francisco police have issued a statement saying that an arrest has been made in connection with the crime, but whether this is the end of the road in terms of a criminal investigation remains unclear. Whether or not EJ will receive any restitution from Airbnb, which raised over $100 million in its last round of funding, also remains unclear. In a telling statement concluding her most recent blog post, EJ advises anyone wishing to help her through donations to "keep the money and use it to book yourself into a nice, safe hotel room the next time you travel. You’ll be glad you did." (Techcrunch via Techmeme, All Things D)

The artist trading under the name Marcoooooo has quite a penchant for turning piles of everyday objects into faces and creatures. He's used office supplies and potpourri in his art, but some of his best work comes from transforming food into surprising creations, like this highly caffeinated and wide-eyed owl. It's impressive stuff to be sure, and deceptively simple looking. Take a look at some more of his creations, after the break.

Not the freshest viral video there ever was, but it's Friday and a little dancing seems appropriate. If you are unfamiliar (like I was until about 5 minutes ago) this is John Jacobson performing some wonderful, original choreography of his. The song is mysteriously catchy, the moves are impressive, though funny, and the dude's facial expression just makes me happy to be alive. Jolly good show Mr. Jacobson, you've made my day.

(via Reddit)

]Before you head happily off into the weekend, we've got some sour news for those of us grandfathered in to AT&T's unlimited data plan for smartphones. Starting on October 1st, the top 5% of AT&T data users will have their connection speeds greatly reduced. According to AT&T's press release, this move is a response to their networks being overtaxed by the proliferation of streaming video, music, and gaming on mobile devices. Once the new plan kicks in, the users who suck down the most data in a billing cycle will find their speeds reduced. AT&T assures users that this will not affect any of the tiered plan users, and most (95%) of the unlimited data users will be unaffected. They also promise ample notice prior to throttling, and a grace period, presumably to let you change your wicked ways. Far from a total lock-down, this plan is surprisingly nuanced.

Rorschmap, a neat little website designed by James Bridle, will take you to a location from Google Maps, but show it to you in a way that will blow your mind. The site has the same zoom and drag controls that Google maps does, but instead of allowing you to move around one map, Rorschmap has four maps that move around in relation to each other so that each zoom and drag doesn't so much move you to a new location as create a new location for you to move to. You can still type in a location at the bottom of the page, but don't expect to recognize what it shows you. The images it creates are stunning and sometimes dizzying kaleidoscopic images make me wish that urban planners (and mother nature) had more of a focus on four-pointed symmetry than boring things like traffic patterns. You can check out Brindle's thoughts about the whole project at his website. Check out some particularly good finds below, then go and try and make some of your own.