What these little folks do is they revert completely to a sexually immature, colonial stage after they reach sexual maturity. They're even cooler than that. When they're young they've got only several tentacles, but at a mature stage, they get to 80-90 of them. They're able to return to polyp stage due to a cell change in the external screen (Exumbrella), which allows them to bypass death. As far as scientists have been able to find out, this change renders the hydrozoa virtually immortal.

Top 10 Most Popular Stories of 2008

1. New Video of BigDog Quadruped Robot Is So Stunning It's Spooky
832,353 views
Jesús Díaz

2. Confessions: The Meanest Thing Gizmodo Did at CES
727,147 views
Adrian Covert

3. Cheeseburger in a Can is Both the Best and Worst Thing I've Ever Seen
674,770 views
Adam Frucci

4. Blue Screen of Death Strikes Bird's Nest During Opening Ceremonies Torch Lighting
665,510 views
John Mahoney

5. iPhone 3G's True Price Compared
576,471 views
Jason Chen

6. Alienware Curved Monitor Looks Like It's From Another Planet
559,032 views
Charlie White

7. Sprint's Samsung Instinct: At Last, a Decent iPhone Competitor
554,144 views
Matt Buchanan

8. iPhone 3G Launch Date Confirmed
543,020 views
Jesús Díaz

9. iPhone OS 2.0 Unlocked
528,769 views
Jesús Díaz

10. How To: Install Apps on Your iPhone Easily, No Hacking Skills Required*
480,447 views
Jesús Díaz

* This story is from 2007, but also made it to the top 10 in 2008

Monthly Top 10s

January
1. Confessions: The Meanest Thing Gizmodo Did at CES
Adrian Covert
2. Alienware Curved Monitor Looks Like It's From Another Planet
Charlie White
3. Cheeseburger in a Can is Both the Best and Worst Thing I've Ever Seen
Adam Frucci
4. 1960s Braun Products Hold the Secrets to Apple's Future
Jesús Díaz
5. This Video Makes Bill Gates Look Cooler Than Steve Jobs
Bill Gates
6. The CES 50-Babe Battle: Booth Babes vs. Regular Babes
Adam Frucci
7. MacBook Air Tear Down: Sexy On the Inside Too
Christopher Mascari
8. Holy Crap: Did Bill Gates Just Say Windows Sucks?
Wilson Rothman
9. Apple MacBook Air Is World's Thinnest Notebook, Looks Absolutely Amazing
Jesús Díaz
10. Microsoft's Brainwashing Children's Book: Mommy, Where Do Servers Come From?
Noah Robischon

February
1. Indiana Jones IV Trailer Makes Us Wet Our Pants
Jesús Díaz
2. Cheeseburger in a Can is Both the Best and Worst Thing I've Ever Seen
Adam Frucci
3. Peruvian Anti-Riot Police Uniforms Look Like Judge Dredd Meets Batman
Adam Frucci
4. Guitar Rising for Real Guitar Heroes
Jesús Díaz
5. How Grandma Sees The Remote
Mark Wilson
6. Stairs Bookcase Actually Makes Me Want to Move to London
Jesús Díaz
7.Leaked RIAA Training Video: Find Pirates, Find Crack-Dealing Terrorist Murderers Too!
Matt Buchanan
8. 1,301 Florescent Bulbs Lit Solely by Magnetic Fields
Adam Frucci
9. The Biggest Star Wars Collection in the Galaxy
Jesús Díaz
10. The Sad Final Days of CompUSA
Jason Chen

March
1. New Video of BigDog Quadruped Robot Is So Stunning It's Spooky
Jesús Díaz
2. Ride the Bitchcruiser Bike, But Wear Protection (NSFW)
Mark Wilson
3. Plug-'n'-Play USB Virus Makes MacBooks Fall to Pieces
Addy Dugdale
4. Technosexual: One Man's Tale of Robot Love
Addy Dugdale
5. Video of BigDog Beta Quadruped Robot Is So Stupid It's Hilarious
Jesús Díaz
6. The True iPhone Anti-Christ Is Here! Repent!
Jesús Díaz
7. Skywalker Last Supper Painting Made With 69,550 Star Wars Frames
Jesús Díaz
8. Cat Jumps Off a Plane, Lands on Its Legs
Jesús Díaz
10. First Video of Hacked iPhone 2.0 In Action
Jesús Díaz

April
1. 10 Sex Toys That Are Confusing and Wrong (NSFW)
Sean Fallon
2. A Cellphone's Missing Dot Kills Two People, Puts Three More in Jail
Jesús Díaz
3. Psystar Exposed: Looks Like a Hoax
Jason Chen
4. Putting Video Cameras in the WRONG Places (VERY NSFW)
Jesús Díaz
5. Sexy Lady Offers to Harvest Virginity of Net Neutrality-Supporting Nerds (NSFW)
Addy Dugdale
6. Exclusive Video: Psystar in the Wild
Jason Chen
7. Vista Running 108 Apps Bites Mac OS X Back
Jesús Díaz
8. Mac With 150 Apps Running Shows Teeny-Weeny Dock, Exposé Windows
Haroon Malik
9. Combat Robot Attempts Rebellion Against Human Masters in Iraq, Army Pulls Plug for 10-20 Years
Matt Buchanan
10. Sprint's Samsung Instinct: At Last, a Decent iPhone Competitor
Matt Buchanan

May
1. iPhone 3G Launch Date Confirmed
Jesús Díaz
2. Mentos and Diet Coke Explosion at 1200fps: Casio EX-F1 Strikes Again
Benny Goldman
3. R2-D2 Projector in Action Video (Verdict: A Must Have)
Jesús Díaz
4. Exclusive: Dell Mini Inspiron, Their First Mini Laptop
Brian Lam
5. Flying RC Penis Disrupts Garry Kasparov Speech
Jason Chen
6. How My Wife Castrated My DVD Collection
Mark Wilson
7. Stolen MacBook Victim Uses Screen Sharing and iSight to Bust Thieves
Adrian Covert
8. Sprint Spending $100 Million to Kick iPhone in the Nuts (iPhone Wearing Cup)
Mark Wilson
9. 5 Million-Piece LEGO Boulder Chases Indy, Crashes Into Car
Jesús Díaz
10. Full-Screen Multitouch Mac OS X Is Here (But Not from Apple)
Jesús Díaz

June
1. Lego Secret Vault Contains All Sets In History
Jesús Díaz
2. Why You Should Carry a Digital Camera At All Times
Adam Frucci
3. Woman Who Died While Watching TV Sat Unfound for 42 Years
Adam Frucci
4. Classic Clips: Bill Gates Chews Out Microsoft Over XP
Mark Wilson
5. iPhone 3G's True Price Compared
Jason Chen
6. iPhone 3G Launch Date Confirmed
Jesús Díaz
7. Girl Spins On Escalator Thanks to Physics or Magic
Jesús Díaz
8. Apple WWDC Liveblog Coverage
Jason Chen
9. 3,800-Piece Death Star Diorama Is Coolest Star Wars Lego Ever
Jesús Díaz
10. 3G iPhone Hands On
Brian Lam

July
1. iPhone OS 2.0 Unlocked
Jesús Díaz
2. Tron 2 Trailer Video Makes Pants Wet Worldwide
Jesús Díaz
3. iPhone App Review Marathon Liveblog
Jason Chen
4. iPhone 3G Review
Brian Lam
5. WASP Knife Will Freeze and Blow Up Your Organs
Elaine Chow
6. Batman...Uh, I Mean John Connor is About to Waste This Terminator
Sean Fallon
7. Exclusive: Inside the Lego Factory
Jesús Díaz
8. 40 Honest Gadget Ads That Won't Be Convincing Many People to Buy Anything
Adam Frucci
9. Apple and AT&T Stores Having Difficulty Activating iPhones (UPDATE: It's the iPocalypse)
Mark Wilson
10. iPhone 2.0 Video Walkthrough and iTunes 7.7 Confidential Screenshots
Jesús Díaz

August
1. Blue Screen of Death Strikes Bird's Nest During Opening Ceremonies Torch Lighting
John Mahoney
2. Tallest Skyscraper in the World Almost Completed, Defies Belief
Jesús Díaz
3. Slow Motion Lightning Video is Mindblowing, Will Sell a Thousand Slo-Mo Cameras
Adam Frucci
4. New iPhone Comes Loaded with Photos of the Girl Who Made It
Adam Frucci
5. Guy Films Space Shuttle Launch from Passing Airliner
Kit Eaton
6. Leaked: Dell Inspiron 910 (Mini Note) Specs and Release Date
Mark Wilson
7. Tattoo? Symbiote? What the Hell is That Thing On Olympian Kerri Walsh's Shoulder?
Jack Loftus
8. DIY Batman Tumbler Is Nearly Perfect, Built With One Man's Bare Hands
John Mahoney
9. Huge iPhone Security Flaw Puts All Private Information at Risk
Jesús Díaz
10. Photographs Enhance Video in Absolutely Unbelievable Ways
Mark Wilson

September
1. Hubble Finds Unidentified Object in Space, Scientists Puzzled
Jesús Díaz
2. Microsoft's "I'm a PC" Ad Beats Seinfeld (But Not Hodgman)
Wilson Rothman
3. Review: EFiX Dongle Perfectly Transforms PC to Mac
Matt Buchanan
4. How Many Google Phone Engineers Does It Take to Tell the Time?
Jesús Díaz
5. Download Google Chrome Now
Mark Wilson
6. The First Bill Gates + Jerry Seinfeld Microsoft Ad Makes No Sense
Jason Chen
7. Steve Ballmer Goes Nuts (Again) To Sell Windows
Mark Wilson
8. The Shocking Inside Story of the Epic Defects That Killed Millions of Xbox 360s
Matt Buchanan
9. Computer Weather Error Shows Why Houston Is in Extra Trouble
Jason Chen
10. Official Rock Band 2 Track List (Plus Carry Over "Most" of Rock Band's Disc Tracks!)
Matt Buchanan

October
1. Windows 7 Walkthrough, Boot Video and Impressions
Wilson Rothman
2. MacBook and MacBook Pro Dual Review
Mark Wilson
3. The Muppets' Animal Caught Speeding, Driving Police Crazy
Jesús Díaz
4. Awesome F-35B Video Shows US Marines Already Have Transformers
Jesús Díaz
5. T-Mobile G1 Google Android Phone Review
Jason Chen
6. BlackBerry Storm First Hands On
Matt Buchanan
7. The Truth About the Apple Tax
Matt Buchanan
8. Is Steve Jobs Preparing His Farewell?
Jesús Díaz
9. Barack Obama's $3 Million 'Overhead Projector' Actually Pretty Cool
John Herrman
10. Giz Explains: Why Windows 7 Will Smash Vista
Matt Buchanan

November
1. The 50 Skills Every Geek Should Have
Adam Frucci
2. How the CNN Holographic Interview System Works
Jason Chen
3. Gizmodo's 20 Essential iPhone Apps
John Mahoney
4. BlackBerry Storm First Hands On
Matt Buchanan
5. 5 Gadgets You Can't Skimp On (And How to Save Money Buying Them)
Matt Buchanan
6. Grandma Got a New Mac
Jason Chen
7. Student Writes to Steve Jobs, Gets Free Final Cut Studio 2
Jesús Díaz
8. Guy Builds F-35 Fighter Jet On His Own
Jesús Díaz
9. How Big Is the ISS Compared to Science Fiction Spaceships?
Jesús Díaz
10. MacBook Nano Looks Like It Came from Cupertino
Jesús Díaz

December
1. Nakagin Capsule Tower Looks to be From the Future, But Probably Won't Make it There
Elaine Chow
2. New York City Is Breathtaking Following Google Earth Update
Mark Wilson
3. Santa Claus' Gmail Account Exposed
Jesús Díaz
4. Video of Multiple Kill Vehicle Test Scares Me Silly
Jesús Díaz
5. Dealzmodo Hack: Make Your Old USB Stick Into a Digital Multitool
John Herrman
6. Female Avatars Are Not Safe in PlayStation Home
Jack Loftus
7. Fakemodo: Undeniable Evidence of iPhone Nano 3G ZOMG!
Jesús Díaz
8. Dad, Where's the Digital Photo Frame?
Jesús Díaz
9. Steve Jobs' Health Declining Rapidly, Reason for Macworld Cancellation
Jesús Díaz
10. Lego Colonial Space Ship Is Big Enough to Terraform Real Planets
Jesús Díaz

Most Popular Lego Stories of 2008

1. The Lego Secret Vault
459,413 views, my favorite Lego story of the year by far.
Video exclusive

2. 3,800-Piece Death Star Diorama Is Coolest Star Wars Set Ever
249,263 views

3. Best Lego Sets In History
245,771 views
Exclusive

4. Lego Brick Timeline: 50 Years of Building Frenzy and Curiosities
217,115 views
Exclusive

5. Lego Master Completes 30-Pound Star Wars Starship
183,202 views

6. Inside the Lego Factory
167,815 views
Video exclusive

7. Lego Airbus A380 Is Biggest Lego Airplane In the World
151,317 views
Video exclusive

8. Forbidden Set Shows Darkest Side of Lego
137,344 views

9. Lego Colonial Space Ship Is Big Enough to Terraform Real Planets
137,268 views

10. Using Hundreds of Lego Star Wars Mini Spaceships to Create Huge Battles
135,898 views

Some of my favorites

65-Foot-High Lego Cathedrals Store 19 Billion Pieces a Year
This thing amazes me every time I see it.
Video exclusive

The Lego Minifig Timeline
135,089 views
Exclusive

How Lego Builds the Minifig
Video exclusive

750,000-Piece Lego Kennedy Space Center Is the Mother of All Lego Models
Video exclusive

Winners of the Go Miniman Lego Video Contest
I still can't believe our readers did all this. Simply stunning.

[All Lego stories at Giz]

Built by Thomas Grassmann and his son Sebastian, not only this Lego model is one of the biggest and most detailed I've ever seen in my life, but it's well designed and realistic enough to be an actual colonial spaceship. Or at least, to be an actual prop in a sci-fi movie. [Festum via Brothers Brick]

We are so used to the International Space Station that we don't give its massive scale a second thought. I, for one, took it for granted until a newly-released NASA photograph reminded me that this thing is huge. So huge that I fired up Photoshop and did an illustration comparing it to a Colonial Viper Mk1, a Corellian corvette, the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-A, and the new Battlestar Galactica. Check both the high resolution sizemodo and the amazing NASA photo after the jump.

<<< Click on the sizemodo to see the high definition image*

Here's the NASA photography, showing the scale of an astronaut against a small section of the International Space Station.

I don't know about you, but this one really make me go oh-ah. Maybe it's all a fake and that guy is a Lego Minifig.

ISS Size:

Mass: 300,214 kg (661,857 lb) (June 18, 2008)
Length: 58.2 m (191 ft) along truss (February 22, 2007)
Width: 44.5 m (146 ft) from Destiny to Zvezda
Height: 27.4 m (90 ft) (February 22, 2007)

Solar arrays span: 73.15 m (240 ft) (February 22, 2007)

* The sizemodo shows the final completed ISS. The scale is 1 pixel = 0.5 meters. Scaled and measured with Photoshop's measurement tool.

To enter, Best Buy wants to see a video from you sharing "how Black Friday shopping is an important holiday tradition for them and their family, and what kinds of rituals they have to make the morning after Thanksgiving an enjoyable kick off to the holiday season." So be sure to demonstrate your abilities to trample and claw at your fellow man without worry, and especially your proclivities at fashioning crowd-control weapons from items rummaged from JC Penny's dumpster (where you must also forage for breakfast).

Winners will also, in addition to 4:30 AM buying privileges, receive on-site prizes and "pampering" for up to three guests and a Flip Video ultra to preserve the memories.

Sign of the Apocalypse, perhaps, but maybe a touch of genius: this is the ONLY way I would ever, ever consider getting with in 2 square miles of a Black Friday cattle call. Here is the list of participating Best Buys:

Atlanta
Store #896 – Edgewood
1210 Caroline St NE
Atlanta, GA 30307

Baltimore
Store #282 — Security
1701 Belmont Ave
Baltimore, MD 21244

Boston
Store #436 – Dedham
700 Providence Hwy
Dedham, MA 02026-680

Chicago
Store #815 – Clark St.
2650 N Clark St
Chicago, IL 60614-1523

Cleveland
Store #1161 — Steelyard Commons
3506 Steelyard Dr
Cleveland, OH 44109-2388

Dallas
Store #58 — Walnut Hill
9378 N Central Expy
Dallas, TX 75231

Denver
Store #1134 — I-70 & Tower Rd
3511 N Salida St
Aurora, CO 80011

Detroit
Store #1406 — Allen Park
3349 Fairlane Dr
Allen Park, MI 48101-2874

Houston
Store #291 – Galleria
5133 Richmond Ave
Houston, TX 77056

Los Angeles
Store #183 – Atwater Village
2909 Los Feliz Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90039

Miami
Store #1502 – Doral
10760 Nw 17th St
Miami, FL 33172-2012

Minneapolis
Store #1000 — Mall of America
340 W Market
Bloomington, MN 55425

New York
Store #1028 – Midtown Manhattan
529 5th Ave
New York, NY 10017-4608

Orlando
Store #157 – East Colonial
4601 E Colonial Dr
Orlando, FL 32803

Philadelphia
Store #579 – Deptford
1851 Deptford Center Rd
Deptford, NJ 08096

Phoenix
Store #260 – Mesa/Fiesta
1337 S Alma School Rd
Mesa, AZ 85210

Pittsburgh
Store #882 – Waterfront
680 Waterfront Dr E
Munhall, PA 15120-5000

Portland
Store # #1454 – Washington Sq.
8905 Sw Cascade Ave
Beaverton, OR 97008-7496

Sacramento
Store #364 – Citrus Heights
6110 Birdcage Centre Lane
Citrus Heights, CA 95610

San Diego
Store #352 – Mira Mesa
9540 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

San Francisco
Store # 187 – San Francisco
1717 Harrison St
San Francisco, CA 94103

Seattle
Store #498 – Bellevue
457 120th Ave NE
Bellevue, WA 98005

St. Louis
Store #42 — Watson Rd
9450 Watson Rd
Crestwood, MO 63126

Tampa
Store #561 – South Tampa
1725 N Dale Mabry Hwy
Tampa, FL 33607

Washington, D.C.
Store # 1092 – Columbia Heights
3100 14th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20010-2310

[Best Buy - Black Friday VIP, photo: besighyawn on Flickr]

The Medallion was laser cut in separate layers and pieces, then glued together. Red LEDs were added behind the bird inset to illuminate the dvd drive and provide a nice backlit effect.

The specs

• EVGA nForce 590 SLI motherboard
• AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ CPU
• Two EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS graphics cards in SLI
• 4GB (2x2GB) Crucial Ballistix Tracer Red DDR2 800MHz
• Cooler Master 850W modular PSU
• Pioneer slimline slot loading DVD drive
• Logitech G15 keyboard and G9 mouse
• IZ3D 22" 3D monitor
• Western Digital RaptorX 150GB HD (x2)
• Swiftech pump, blocks
• Black Ice Stealth 360 radiator
• PC Ice clear fluid
• Primoflex red tubing
• 10" LCD
• 2.5" LCD (x3)

Yeah, it's really horrible, but I really miss Starbuck. Hit the link for a detailed report and gallery. [Bit-Tech]

by Juliet Kinsman

Cobbled and colonial but also contemporary and quirky, I recently had the chance to stay at the brand-new Douro Valley hotel, Quinta da Romaneira. From one look at the interior design it's clear that super-picky attention to detail is paramount.

Thierry Teyssier, the creator of Quinta dos Sonhos (Romaneira's Portuguese name) considered every color, visualized every view, procured the highest spec fixtures and then sprinkled the 13-room hotel and working wine estate with imaginative artworks. Demonstrating an excruciating eye for detail, it comes as no surprise that the Parisian party planner took three years to finely tune this latest high-concept luxury hideaway in the craggy hills of Portugal's wine region.

It's nothing new for hotels to gush that each room is individual, a "selling point" that's usually tantamount to drab drapes in the same patterned fabric but in a different shade. However, the furnishings in every idiosyncratic enclave of this Maisons des Rêves property (there are two sister resorts in Morocco) have been cherry-picked from around the globe. Teyssier's search for special pieces started years ago with trips to Asia and Africa, reaping treasures such as one bedroom's 19th-century day bed from Macao.

Dark wooden flooring and original tiling lend a classical elegance to Dona Clara, the more traditional of Romaneira's two villas. In the library, muted natural purple and green tones echo the landscape of grapes and vines, and mingle with unexpected antiques such as a Victorian tailor's display cabinet of collars, a row of paint brushes and an old phonogram. Despite dating from 1854, Romaneira's more modern-styled villa, 'Quinta Velha,' is even more out-there in its arty objêts. A russet-colored, cement-floored lounge showcases Damian Hirst-reminiscent butterfly-laced screens, a collaboration with artist Francis Guerrier. Venture further and discover New Guinea-inspired frescoes and Teyssier's Amazonian finds — feathered tribal headdresses.

What was once wine cellars now contains a slender 25-meter pool, suspended above which are old rabelos, or riverboats. Another annexe, "Les Comptoirs," is a homage to Portuguese trading posts of centuries past, wherein lies the "Chocolaterie," where teatime treats are displayed in cabinets previously used by Goan tea sellers. Eating and drinking at this style hotel is amazing, right down to carefully choreographed different-every-mealtime dining locations. Unique crockery, linen, glassware and cutlery have been hand-selected to complement each setting, be it in a traditional azulejos-tiled dining room or fragrant lemon grove.

For more info on Romaneira, including a list of other boutique hotels in Portugal visit Mr & Mrs Smith.

Quinta da Romaneira
Cotas
5070
Douro Valley
Portugal

Scant details are available for this Aliens chess set, but it's wonderful. On the xenomorph side, chest bursters for pawns, with dual queens as the royalty, denoted in rank by whether or not their gelatinous egg sack has been ripped off. The human side is similarly ingenious: sentry guns for pawns, with a loader-armored Ripley as the king. Half of the board has even been bio-mechanically infected: all the black squares have been Gigerized. Checkmate = face hugged!

Alien Movies Chess Board [Contaminated via Gearfuse]

Every night of the tour, Pearl Jam’s live concert performance will be recorded. After each performance, Pearl Jam’s studio engineer will mix three songs on the Verizon Mobile Recording Studio Bus that will be released on V CAST Music. Verizon Wireless will offer one of the full-length tracks for free on V CAST Music; the other two full-length songs will be available, as well as the ringtones and ringback tones for all three songs, at standard costs. 

Fans will have the opportunity to donate their old wireless phones at each stop of the tour by simply bringing no-longer-used wireless phones, batteries and accessories with them and dropping them in the HopeLine donation area at each venue. The first 50 people making a donation to HopeLine will receive a special Pearl Jam VIP gift bag. All Verizon Wireless customers making donations at each concert venue will receive a free Pearl Jam ringtone and ringback tone for bringing their old phones and accessories to the show. People not attending the show can bring their donation into Verizon Wireless Communications Stores. Verizon Wireless’ HopeLine program puts the nation’s most reliable wireless network to work in communities by turning unused wireless phones into support for victims of domestic violence. Verizon Wireless collects no-longer-used wireless phones in any condition from any wireless service provider and recycles them or refurbishes them for resale and reuse.

Verizon Wireless customers in each of the tour cities who have downloaded any type of Pearl Jam mobile content from V CAST since the beginning of the year will be entered for a chance to win tickets to the show. The mobile tickets – containing a unique barcode and good for two seats at the most sought-after show in town – will be delivered to the customers’ mobile phones two weeks prior to the show and will be scanned at the entrance, just as paper tickets are scanned when fans enter a venue.

The highly anticipated Pearl Jam 2008 tour will be making the following stops:

• June 11, 2008 - West Palm Beach, Fla., Cruzan Amphitheater
• June 12, 2008 - Tampa, Fla., St. Pete Times Forum
• June 16, 2008 - Columbia, S.C., Colonial Center
• June 17, 2008 - Virginia Beach, Va., Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
• June 19, 2008 - Camden, N.J., Susquehanna Bank Center
• June 20, 2008 - Camden, N.J., Susquehanna Bank Center
• June 22, 2008 - Washington, D.C., Verizon Center
• June 24, 2008 - New York, N.Y., Madison Square Garden
• June 25, 2008 - New York, N.Y., Madison Square Garden
• June 27, 2008 - Hartford, Conn., Dodge Amphitheater
• June 28, 2008 - Mansfield, Mass., Comcast Center
• June 30, 2008 - Mansfield, Mass., Comcast Center

For more information visit www.verizonwireless.com/music, or www.pearljam.com.