clowns

Steve Jobs' stolen iPad lands in the hands of 'Kenny the Clown'

The thief who robbed Steve Jobs' home in July may not have been clowning around. But one of the iPads he stole ended up doing so.

Professional entertainer "Kenny the Clown" reportedly received the hot iPad from a friend, 35-year-old Kariem McFarlin, who has confessed to the crime and is being held in jail in lieu of bail before he appears in court on Monday.

Jobs' Palo Alto home was robbed on July 17 of more than $60,000 in computers and other items, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's office revealed on Tuesday. The burglar was … Read more

JuggaloBook: Facebook for the Insane Clown Posse posse

Some people are scared of clowns. Some people want to date them. Those people are known as Juggalos, followers of hip-hop music group Insane Clown Posse.

Unless you go around in full-face Juggalo clown makeup all the time, it can be hard to determine who would make a good friend or potential date out in the real world. That's where JuggaloBook comes in.

JuggaloBook is an Insane Clown Posse riff on Facebook. It's all Juggalos (and Juggalettes), all the time.… Read more

New iPhone games of the week (February 22, 2010)

Each week brings a bevvy of new iPhone games to our digital doorstep, but time doesn't permit us to cover each one individually. Therefore, here's a roundup of some new and interesting titles you might want to check out:

Alice in Wonderland: You can't judge a book by its cover, but you can judge a movie by its trailer--and Tim Burton's latest attempt to make Johnny Depp look weird (aka "Alice") offers little appeal to me or my kids. The eponymous tie-in game, on the other hand, is a surprisingly charming little platformer. Don'… Read more

Talk on your cell, risk missing the unicycling clown

Most research on cell phone distraction has revolved around driving, and has led to laws against using handheld phones when behind the wheel. But it turns out that walkers using cell phones are also distracted, more so than individuals walking alone, or in pairs, or even those listening to music. In fact, so much so that only 25 percent of them even noticed a clown unicycling past. (The clown was not a lovely coincidence but rather a study prop.)

Researchers at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash., set out to study inattentional blindness using the unicycling clown test, the results of which will be published in the December issue of Applied Cognitive Psychology.

It turns out that those walking alone, in pairs, or while listening to music noticed the unicycling clown more than 50 percent of the time, while those walking while talking into their cell phones noticed him only 25 percent of the time.

Cell phone walkers also had difficulties with the task of walking itself, and walked on average more slowly (at least they won't hurt the clown when they bowl him over), tended to weave, and rarely acknowledged nearby individuals (which may or may not be the result of distraction).… Read more

Clown meetup sought near San Francisco

If this isn't an opportunity, I don't know what is.

A professionally trained clown--he studied at the Ecole Philippe Gaulier in Paris!!!--has moved to Pacifica, Calif., a small town near San Francisco, and is looking to start a regular gathering of fellow clowns.

"In order to keep practicing and performing, I'd like to meet up (and) show what I have learned, and share our experiences," the clown, who does not give his name, wrote on Meetup.com. "My proposal is to lead some days workshop and see where this takes us to. What … Read more