Zynga’s hit Facebook game FarmVille is poised to stretch its tentacles deeper into your wallet in a new deal with American Express. The credit card company is now offering pre-paid cards attached to their Serve rewards program that will earn FarmVille players in-game cash for real-life purchases. Strap yourselves in, as our reality becomes a little bit more like a Philip K. Dick story.

As it stands, the current Guinness World Record for continuous television watching is 86 hours, 6 minutes, and 41 seconds, and was set all the way back in 2010. However, it might not last much longer as an over four-day-long marathon of The Simpsons is being planned to commemorate the 500th episode of the series. Does this sound like a plot line from The Simpsons disconcertingly come to life, or is it just me?

Nothing gets people talking like an out of place, seemingly random object. At least, that is what designer Julie Kim seems to have proved by putting one of her coffee tables at an L.A. bus stop on a busy corner in the area of the city called Koreatown. Kim says that with California’s more popular tourist attractions like Disneyland and the Hollywood Sign, areas of the cities where residents spend their time (like public transit) are neglected and forgotten. In an article in Good, Kim says:

“It bothers me when outsiders have a perception that Angelenos are all blond surfers that hang out at the beach and drive everywhere.”

That is why Kim decided to embark on a project to show the less-seen side of L.A. Kim put her coffee table, set with a newspaper and a vase of flowers, on a corner and then shot video from far enough away so that people didn’t know they were being filmed. She found that people were drawn to the table, and it even sparked conversations among strangers.

Remember the fashion show sidequest from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl? Pokémon&Fashion brings it to life, adding Pokémon into fashion shots. One can only assume the Pokémon were fed well-made Poffins in order to keep their coats shiny and smooth for the photo shoots.

Autuin from the Free Geek Vancouver blog recently decided to do a write up of a project he has apparently had sitting around for a few years. This curious device, a digital picture frame, has an interesting little feature that separates it from its contemporaries. It uses your pictures. No, not  ones you upload to it or anything, just ones it finds hanging around once it sniffs out your insecure Wi-Fi.

While this is sort of an invasion of privacy, Autuin suggests that it’s more of a reminder that your privacy might not be as private as you think. Using insecure Wi-Fi is risky and this is intended to write that on the walls, so to speak. He’s now looking for a daring, Wi-Fi enabled coffee shop where he can hang it up on the wall. But not before insuring it, since it probably won’t last too long before attracting some negative, and maybe violent, attention. You can read about the creation process over on Autuin’s blog.

(Free Geek Vancouver via How-To Geek)

Artist Luke Jerram’s Glass Microbiology creations are stunningly beautiful sculptures of some of the world’s most deadly viruses, represented approximately 1 million times larger than their natural size. Jerram created the sculptures to reflect on the global impact of disease, and explore the effects of artificial coloring of scientific images on the public understanding of disease. In addition, Jerram is also interested in visualizing the tension between the sculptures’ beauty and each virus’ dangerous abilities.

Acting in the above video his brother Andrew made, Seth McMurry walks through the park when, by the power of Toadstool, a screen pops up, prompting Seth to make his way through a real life rendition of Super Mario Bros., only to find something one may consider a real life power-up to be a little overpowered for the world of Goombas.

(YouBentMyWookie via nerdbastards via Topless Robot)