For the So You Created A Wormhole art show opening tonight at L.A.’s iam8bit gallery, artist Jude Buffum came up with what might possibly be the best idea for a video game and reality TV show ever. But unfortunately, it’s just an idea with some awesomely faked screenshots for now. The hypothetical game, Jurassic President, takes place in an alternate future (or past, or something) where historical figures fight on dinosaurs as part of a reality show. Need I say more? No, I need not. More pictures after the jump.

When Facebook was born in 2004, it arguably began an entire new age of the Internet, an age of social networking, an age where putting your name on the net was actually encouraged. But what if Facebook had come out in the 90s? It’s no surprise someone has thought about that, the folks at Squirrel Monkey, specifically. They even made a very 90s video detailing its advanced features. It’s worth a watch for all of you who’d like to explore a surreal, alternate past.

If that floats your boat, be sure to check out 80s versions of Twitter and Google as well.

While the Mass Effect games did get significantly more shooter-oriented from sequel to sequel, they never made any moves to abandon their traditional 3rd person viewpoint. That wasn’t always the case, however, as evidenced by the canned project Mass Effect Team Assault which was intended to be just that, a Mass Effect shooter. The game was in development back in 2010, and was originally intended to be a standalone addition to the Mass Effect canon, probably as a downloadable game. It was later intended for inclusion as the multiplayer component of Mass Effect 3, where it ultimately was replaced by the Galaxy at War mode.

When it comes to imposing-yet-oddly-majestic structures in video gaming lore, Half-Life 2‘s iconic Citadel is at the top of the list. Throughout the game, it’s a point of interest, a destination, and as you draw ever closer, it looms above you in the background to taunt you with your own insignificance. But how tall is it, exactly? Well, according to recent calculations by redditor Ness4114, it’s 8430.9 feet tall, or around three times taller than Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the current record holder for tallest building on Earth.

If you were anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Apple iPhone Stove you pre-ordered, I have some bad news; they were all confiscated by Chinese authorities. Wait, there are Apple iPhone Stoves? No, not real ones anyway. There are, however, 681 counterfeit iPhone stoves now sitting in Chinese custody. Obviously, they were confiscated for trademark infringement, which is a good thing I guess, but if someone in China seems to think they can get away with selling iPhone stoves, there are probably worse culprits out there.

Finally: A toilet that combines the functional elegance of Apple products with something you poop in. Created by designer and programmer Milos Paripovic, this concept for a sleek toilet is meant to play on the (rather tired) joke about the cost of Apple products. In his own words, “This toilet has exactly the same function as any other toilet and costs only twice as much for the same performance[.]” I disagree. If Apple were to make a toilet, it would surely cost an arm and a leg but it would be the most satisfying toilet experience imaginable. See more images, after the break.

It seems like only yesterday that we were telling you, gentle reader, about the MegaUpload song. Facing criticism that it is simply an outlet for Internet piracy, the file locker service headed by Kim Dotcom created a star-studded video of celebrities quite literally singing the praises of the service. Sadly, as quickly as the bewildering video came into our lives (and our hearts) was it pulled from YouTube after a copyright complaint from Universal Music Group (UMG).

Fake model sheets seem to be turning into something of an artform. Not too long ago we saw conspiracy model sets and now Ty Lettau is tackling the concept as well by creating model sheets of certain iconic video game characters. Each sheet includes the (almost naked) character, their standard clothing and typical equipment along with some more stylish outfits and devices I’m certainly not familiar with. Interesting concept, and I hope there are more to come, although Ty has mentioned on his Flickr page:

There’s no shortage of iconic characters, but in order for this idea to work, they need to have many cosmetic changes (suits, power-ups, etc.). I really want to do Mega Man and Final Fantasy, but there’s just so little visual change to those characters.

Hopefully he can figure something out. Head past the break for Samus’ and Link’s sheets.

Calling it a “fall spring-cleaning,” Google said yesterday on their blog that the search giant would be shutting down several Google Labs projects and merging others with existing products. This comes not long after the announcement that Google Sets list-guessing application would be shutting down.

For the most part, Google is characterizing most of the shut downs as products who have become obsolete. Google Desktop, for instance, just doesn’t seem to fit as the almighty cloud becomes a larger and larger part of computing. Google Notebooks, another example of a product being shut down, ceased development years ago but can be seen as precursor to Evernote. Google says that these shut downs will help streamline their list of products — which is rather vast and fractured — and help give more resources to more important projects. In all, Google lists 10 projects that will be terminated.

While its good to see Google not letting these projects simply languish, it’s hard not to wonder if perhaps the entrepreneurial spirit that allowed the creation of so many projects (and albeit some dead-ends) will no longer be a major focus at Google. We can only speculate on that point, so in the meantime read on below for a full list of the cut programs and see if any of your favorites were spared.

Coming mere days after Apple’s longtime CEO Steve Jobs stepped down comes this note that the company will be halting TV-show rentals through its popular iTunes media service. Citing a lack of interest in the rental model, the company says it will continue to offer television programs for purchase and download. Apple says that customers have overwhelmingly demonstrated a preference toward downloading programs, and that the company will focus on that instead.

The demise of TV rentals might not just be a result of low customer interest, but also resistance from the studios that create the content. CNet points out that only FOX and Disney ABC were involved in the rental program, and with only limited content at the typical iTunes 99-cent price point. Apple’s announcement has also revived rumors of a subscription offering, or possibly a Netflix-style streaming service in the works. However, it’s worth noting that if studios weren’t responsive about a rental service, they almost certainly won’t want to have to contend with another streaming service.

As always, we’ll have to wait and see how this develops.

(via CNet)