It all started 25 years ago, when Kris Marshall of Iowa decked the halls hood of his truck with a strand of Christmas lights. Fast forward to today and he’s still carrying on the tradition of the “Christmas Truck,” but now his truck is 3,000 lights strong.

According to Jalopnik:

It’s amazingly nontechnical, it’s literally just lights taped to a truck. According to Marshall “It’s not very scientific, it’s a hideous site in the daylight, there’s black tape and wires in the daytime.” But at night it’s amazing. Marshall has used eight trucks and added dozens of strand since, though it’s always a 2WD Chevy/GMC with a regular cab and eight-foot truck bed “the way a truck ought to look.”

Apparently it’s all illegal, actually, though Marshall says local police officers don’t seem to mind. Girlfriends, however, are another issue: “If you’re picking up your girlfriend in the Christmas truck and she’s not expecting the Christmas Truck that can be a dealbreaker.”

Jalopnik, via Neatorama

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“How Much Information?” is the question researchers at the University of California, San Diego have been asking themselves in a series of studies of the same name. They’ve found that in 2008, American consumers used a so-massive-it-sounds-made-up 3.6 zettabytes of data, making for an average of 34 gigabytes per consumer.

If that sounds ridiculously high, it helps to understand how the study defines data. In short: everything. Absolutely all the data you consume — from video games, TV shows and even the printed word — is broken down into bites bytes.

From Ars Technica:

The report involved collecting a large number of estimates of various forms of media consumption: hours spent gaming, number of newspapers sold, etc. These were combined with estimates of the amount of information content of each of these, such as the number of words in a typical newspaper, and (when necessary), converting that into bytes. As such, there are undoubtedly significant error bars on most of these estimates, although they’re not provided with the numbers in the report. Still, some of the differences are pronounced enough that it’s fair to say that even large errors wouldn’t change many of the overall conclusions.

The study found that we spend 12 hours of each day immersed in media, with television and radio (the latter probably only mentioned as it’s a “traditional form of media”) accounting for half of that time, followed by video games and computer use at a quarter, and printed media coming in at 0.6 hours. There’s a lot of overlap, too, meaning that some of us consume more than one kind of media at once.

I guess that makes sense, considering I’m writing this blog, scanning my reader with 40+ sites open, listening to the latest Giant Bomb podcast and queuing an episode of Castle up on Hulu for when I take a break for dinner in a few.

Via Ars Technica

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9/12/09 Poor Barney has had to be put to sleep, due to a seizure. He wasn’t in our care very long, but was dearly loved by his foster family. Sleep tight Barney.

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According to an article over at Reuters, the coming onslaught of new small car models from major manufacturers over the course of the next year may cause an oversupply in that market segment and force automakers into a situation of offering large incentives for them at reduced profits.

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Top of the list of gifts we’ll have to wait until next year to buy is the Apple Tablet, and today there’s another round of rumors swirling around the much-anticipated apparition. Now we have a couple of know-it-all analysts saying we’ll be seeing a 10.1-inch tablet in March or April, 2010, and it’ll cost $1000.

These prescient soothsayers add that the tablet’s multitouch screen will not be an OLED panel as rumored previously, but it will be an LCD display that could be up to 12 inches in diameter — either way, the screens will reportedly have “stunning graphics.” This could mean they’ll be able to play 1080p video, like the Joo Joo Tablet can. Hoo boy.

How do these guys know all this? They’re saying they have contacts in the supply chain, posting that secret manufacturers are gearing up to roll out up to 10 million of the tablets in 2010.

Jeez, this is highly desirable device. For us, it could replace most of the functions we use the iPhone for, such as reading, playing with apps and generally connecting via Wi-Fi (what, it’s a phone?). Yeah, we’ll be first in line to snap up such a sweet slab. If it exists.

Via Cult of Mac

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We can’t blame this guy for wanting to get his lawnmowing overwith as quickly as possible. But 100mph? He could lay waste to a football field in 2 minutes, 42 seconds. You’re looking at the work of Project Runningblade, a British group that modified this Countax lawnmower that will attempt to mow down the world record.

Strangely enough, to break a world record for lawnmower speed, you don’t actually have to be cutting any grass at those dizzying speeds. The Guinness Book of World Records only requires that the speedy lawnmower must have mown some grass on the same day it goes for the record speed, and be built of lawnmower components by a recognized lawnmower manufacturer.

Project Runningblade must beat the current world record of 80.792 mph, set at the Bonneville Salt Flats. There’s grass at the Bonneville Salt Flats? Who knew?

Via Gizmag

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In October 2007, the City of San Jose, the 10th largest city in the US, launched a Green Vision program. The program set out a plan to carry out 10 green goals, one of which is to have 100 percent of the city’s public vehicles running on alternative fuels. Ultimately, the city has set its sights on becoming the greenest city in the nation.

Many have taken notice of their efforts and city officials have been invited to participate in the Sustainable Transportation Conference in Sweden this week. United States representatives Hans Larsen, who is the Acting Director for the San Jose Department of Transportation, will be sharing the city’s perspectives on Personal Rapid Transit (PRT). Larsen will be joined by delegates from New York and Los Angeles where ultimately 200 stakeholders are expected to participate.

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Pandora is on its way to your car. As if we weren’t already distracted enough while driving, the company predicts that all cars will be connected to the Web soon, and the superb Pandora net radio service will be a big part of it.

Before that utopian day arrives, the company intends to make sure its music-playing app is available on every smartphone and portable music player in the world. Pandora’s making great strides toward that goal, and it’s already easy to spread the wonders of Pandora all over your home and office.

So maybe our decision to dump Sirius XM was a good one. Here’s the thing about Pandora: As soon as you have the ability to skip a song, specify exactly which songs you like or don’t like, and wallow in the serendipity of discovering new music you never would’ve encountered otherwise, any other form of music discovery pales by comparison.

Via Gigaom

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For $40, you can ditch your boring old iPhone dock and pick up an old NES controller modified to work as an iPhone dock. It’s impressive enough, sure, but man, do I want someone to take one of these mods to the next level by giving the buttons some functionality. How about syncing when you press start? Or wiping the entire phone when you enter the Konami code? Let’s make this happen.

Etsy via Technabob

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Part Two of an ongoing series featuring entrepreneurs who utilize straight or waste vegetable oil (SVO/WVO) to fuel their businesses while reducing their carbon footprints.

For every U2 and Bon Jovi—touring the world in private jets and spacious tour buses—there are thousands of working musicians making their way to the clubs and bars of America in not-so-spacious  passenger vans.

Andy Reitz, a drummer from Boston, was one such musician. Fed up with pouring the bulk of his band’s earnings into the gas tank after every gig, Andy, and fellow musician Anthony Rovedo, founded Greenvans, a company dedicated to helping musicians save money while doing their part to help to reduce the environmental impact of touring. I had a chance to speak with Reitz about the birth of Boston-based Greenvans. Read the whole interview after the jump…

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For nearly as long as there have been cars, there have been songs about cars. Seeing as how most cars have radios, music and automobiles have always sort of gone together. From “409″ by the beach boys celebrating the Chevy engine of the same displacement to “Z28″ by Static X, there are many ways to croon about cars.

But really, the all new Chevy Volt song sounds like it belongs on an iPod commercial. Subliminal messaging anyone?

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This AQ Amigo speaker is one of those products you can tell won’t work very well just by looking at it. With speakers, they need depth to produce good sound. That’s just the physical constraints of speakers, you can’t argue with it.

But this thing, which is less than an inch thick and is designed to stupidly latch onto the top of your laptop screen, will in no way produce anything approaching good sound. And did I mention it hooks onto the top of your screen for some dumb reason? Yep. Just get normal desk speakers. They will sound and look better, I promise.

Hammacher Schlemmer via Book of Joe

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Do you want the convenience of headphones without the annoying respect for other people that they come with? I mean, who do the people around you think they are, not being forced to listen to whatever music you’re listening to?

The stereo neckphones are like headphones, but they’re speakers that hang around your neck. You’ll be able to listen to whatever you want loud and clear, and everyone around you will just have to deal with it. They’re perfect for subways and airplanes and really anywhere else you feel like getting glared at by everyone.

Hammacher Schlemmer via Book of Joe

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Lordi needs your help urgently. He will be homeless on Saturday – yet another innocent victim of the no dogs rule in so many rented properties. His owners face eviction if he remains with them so reluctantly they have to rehome him. Could you help? Please read about him….

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As any small child — or just impatient gadget-lover — knows, waiting is the hardest part. And while waiting until the holidays to open your loot is one thing, there are those items that will require just a bit more perseverance in the patience department. Because even Santa can’t deliver these, unless, that is, you’re giving your list to someone with a time machine.

Click Continue to check out seven tech gifts you won’t have in your hot little hands until next year.

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Oldies Club is launching this appeal to raise funds towards the care of two elderly dogs with a very sad tale to tell.

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Keisha is a friendly young oldie Collie X JRT. She recently found a new home, but sadly, through no fault of her own, she is once again seeking a forever family. She loves to be active and use her brain. She has lived with a cat in the past.

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Projectiondesign’s F35 projector is touted by the company as being the world’s first to project at a 2560-by-1600-pixel resolution. That means it’s able to support up to 720p/1080i, making it a good option for big-screen gaming or movie watching. It also means that it may not look all that terrible when blown up to an image 65-feet-wide, which the company says it can manage. Ever wanted to watch a movie on the side of an office building? Well, hey, maybe now you can.

Some other specs, for parties interested: it’s 6,500 lumens bright, the contrast ratio is 8000:1 deep and it has connections for DVI-D, dual HDMI 1.3, dual VGA, and component inputs. The only big question left is the F35′s price, and we’re guessing it’s a very big question, if you catch our drift. And I think you do, ’cause I’m laying it on pretty thick. (I think it’s going to be expensive.)

SlashGear, via CrunchGear

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At this time of year, one’s thoughts turn to Rudolf, Dancer, Prancer, Kurt, Donald, Dick (or whatever they’re called) and all the other reindeers that do Santa’s business. Jeroen Wesselink’s horned beast, sadly didn’t make it to Loading Bay Z3 of the Lapland Logistics Center, because he’s too good to pull a sleigh, and instead is making it as a multi-talented, occasional-stool, occasional artwork thingy.

Stick it on the wall and there’s your Monarch of the Stud Partition. Unhook it and you’ve got somewhere to hang your coat as well as somewhere to park your ass. Admit it, Wesselink’s idea is absolutely brilliant (although, when it comes to animals as art, I’m with Polly Morgan) and totally acceptable to the squeamish. I mean, it could have been so much worse — as the old deer could have ended up like this. Check the gallery below for more shots.

Via Dezeen

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Swiss design company Stadler Form has introduced what may be the coolest way to treat your personal air space with the new Fred humidifier.

Shaped like a retro-futuristic UFO from the 50s, the device makes the perfect conversation piece for your geeked-out home. The Stadler Form Fred comes in white, black, green, silver, chocolate and orange and can be purchased for just 108.40 euros ($159) here.

Via Funshop Korea

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NASA Administrator Charles Bolden speaks during a luncheon co-hosted by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and Women In Aerospace (WIA), Wednesday, Dec., 9, 2009 at the Ritz-Carlton in Arlington, Va. Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

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