Hasta La Gadget!

As the concept of physical controls become ever more dodo-ish, we see digital interfaces on just about everything. Even our solid forms of water aren’t safe.

A group of Finnish researchers who were able to build a touch screen out of a block of solid ice.

This very cool (get it?) touchscreen was assembled at the Nokia Research Center in Tampere, Finland.

The team used a set of infrared emitters and detectors to determine hand location on the wall of ice. The data was then collected and sent to a computer which projected images through the back of the semi-translucent block, creating an interactive surface.

Video after the jump.

via gizmag

Is “Bear Gall Bladder” today’s “Why Won’t My Parakeet Eat My Diarrhea?” That seems to be the case, from the looks of today’s Google search trends. So, how does such a bizarre phrase make it to the top of Google search?

Good question. It can be traced back to the last night’s debut of the National Geographic Channel’s new show, Wild Justice. The episode tackled the world ofbear poaching, where buyers will shell out thousands of dollars for a bear carcasses, thanks in large part to the gall bladder–a valued ingredient in Chinese medicine, which is thought to cure a number of ailments, including liver disease and simple fevers.

Such hunting–outside of simple search engine queries–is illegal, however.

Sarah Palin has a few choice words when it comes to the way that the Obama administration has handled its on-going Wikileaks issue. The former governor wondered aloud (via Twitter) why the government has failed to address the Wikileaks problem in the same manner she nipped the leak of her upcoming book on Gawker.

“Inexplicable: I recently won in court to stop my book ‘America by Heart’ from being leaked, but US Govt can’t stop Wikileaks’ treasonous act?” Palin asked on Twitter.

It was Palin’s publisher HarperCollins that stopped the leak, filing a complaint against the gossip site. The judge in the case ordered the immediate removal of the pages from the site.

Palin has also taken her WikiLeaks concerns to her Facebook page. In a post titled “Serious Questions about the Obama Administration’s Incompetence in the WikiLeaks Fiasco,” Palin compared the site to terrorist organizations like al Qaeda,

What steps were taken to stop Wikileaks director Julian Assange from distributing this highly sensitive classified material?” she asked. “Why was he not pursued with the same urgency we pursue al Qaeda and Taliban leaders?

Old Julian Assange can add another name to his growing list of detractors. George W. Bush, it turns out, is not a fan of WikiLeaks. The former president turned book author discussed the document leaking site during an Webcast appearance on Facebook to promote his new biography, Decision Points.

“Leaks are very damaging and people who leak ought to be prosecuted,” Bush told the crowd, adding, “When you have a conversation with a foreign leader and it ends up in the newspaper, they didn’t like it. I didn’t like it.”

Obama’s administration is no fan of the site, either. Attorney General Eric Holder is looking into whether Assange and the site can be prosecuted for the ever increasing number of leaked classified government documents.

There are some celebrity endorsements that just don’t seem to make any sense on their face–like Salvador Dali selling laundry detergent or Francis Ford Coppola promoting his own wine. Then there are those that seem to have been fated by some marketing firm in heaven. The Kardasian sisters hawking their own branded credit card for kids falls firmly into the latter category.

Shockingly, however, the card, launched a few weeks back, has become an easy target for critics, who have called its lending fees “predatory.” Perhaps the most vocal among them is Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.

The AG issued a statement to the press, which fittingly reads a bit like an Entertainment Tonight report,

Keeping up with the Kardashians is impossible with this card, where consumers lose money before they use money. Even before consumers spend a dime, the Kardashian Kard fees swallow the card’s value.

Using the card for six months costs $59.95–12 months costs $99.95. After that entry period, it will run owners $7.95 a month, plus a slew of added fees including $1.50 to get cash from an ATM, $1 to check one’s balance $1.50 to talk to customer service, and $9.95 if you lose the thing. Oh yeah, and $6 to cancel it.

Kim, Khloe, and Kourtney, who were so “excited” by the card’s November 10th launch, are now feeling the burn. Said a representative,

The Kardashians have worked extremely long and hard to create a positive public persona that appeals to everyone, particularly young adults. Unfortunately, the negative spotlight turned on the Kardashians.

So, what’s next for the Kardashian sisters? I hear you can make a mint selling subprime mortgages.