It's my life, you're just along for the ride!

55 years ago today, the United States tested a hydrogen bomb over Namu island, in the Bikini Atoll, Pacific Ocean. The 15 megaton bomb exploded at 15,000 feet, causing a four-mile fireball, 500 times brighter than the Sun. It was the first airborne test of the hydrogen bomb—created in 1951 by Edward Teller and Stanisław Ulam—and yet another nuclear test of the long Bikini Atoll series. By then, another kind of atomic weapon was already being tested in beaches all around the world, one of the most fascinating pieces of garment ever devised by humankind: The bikini.

The origin of the bikini It was in May 1946 when Louis Réard—a French car engineer who at the time was running his moms lingerie shop in Paris—introduced two small pieces of clothing, advertising them as “the smallest bathing suit in the world.” Simultaneously and unknowingly, fashion designer Jacques Heim was working on a similar design. Réard named his invention the bikini because of the Bikini Atoll nuclear tests. He thought that everyone would be shocked by the risqué display of curves and belly buttons. He was right. During many years, the bikini caused more surprise than any of the nuclear tests conducted by the United States and the Soviet Union. The joke at the time was that that the “bikini” split the “atom”, because it was introduced right after a tiny single-piece bathing suit called the Atome.

via The Real and Fascinating Origin of the Bikini.

Cooler Master’s 2011 Case Mod Competition looks to be the gift that keeps on giving. After serving up a Tron lightcycle and an architectural marvel, it’s now playing host to a mod that redefines the idea of an all-in-one PC. Peter from the Netherlands has managed to fit a pretty bombastic set of components — 4.5GHz Core i7-980X, two ASUS GeForce GTX 580 graphics cards in SLI, over 12TB of storage with an SSD boot disk, and two PSUs providing 1,500W of power in total — together with a water-cooling setup and the inevitable glowing lights inside one enclosure, which just so happens to also serve as his desk. The three-piece monitor setup is also a custom arrangement, with a 27-inch U2711 IPS panel being flanked by two 17-inchers. Admittedly, this isn’t the first water-cooled and over-powered desk we’ve laid eyes on, but that shouldn’t prevent you from giving the links below a bash and checking out the amazingly neat design of Peter’s l3p d3sk.

via Dutchman integrates a 4.5GHz water-cooled rig into his d3sk — Engadget.

It seems like natural disaster after natural disaster these days. The Mississippi River has been flooding for a while now, and in order to fend it off, people have built levees around their homes as protection. Sometimes it works.

via A Levee Shields a House from the Mississippi River Floods.

Motorola has produced several iconic handsets during its storied existence. The DynaTAC, the Vader, the v60 and of course, the Motorola RAZR. What Nokia did for the candy bar-style mobile phone in the 1990′s, Motorola did for the flip phone in the early 21st century. Thin, sleek and stylish, the RAZR was initially brought to market in early 2005. The handset was light, easily fit in the pocket and packed a flat, backlit keypad that proved itself to be a formidable text messaging obstacle. The device was so popular, in fact, that just over 1-year ago we were still talking about the handset — the RAZR3 — before it was scrapped by Moto in favor of Android-based smartphones. During its four year reign of terror, where it retailed for nearly $200 on-contract, over 110 million RAZRs were sold by dozens of carriers the world over. We still have an AT&T V3 lying around BGR HQ for posterity sake, and although its utility is diminished, the handset’s mystique remains. How about it: how many of you cell phone junkies were proud RAZR owners?

via Throwback Thursday: The Motorola RAZR.

So, we already have a street-legal Tron lightcycle, but why stop there? After weeks of work, Bods Mods just completed its 40-inch long lightcycle PC, complete with ATX motherboard, liquid cooling, and plenty of blue light strips. The designer started the from-scratch custom build in SketchUp, Google’s 3D modeling app, followed by loads of foam shaping and Dremel work. Judging by the dozens (if not hundreds) of images posted to the Cooler Master forum, this is one of the most complex case mods we’ve seen, with incredible details down to the translucent Crucial and SSD logos painted on the lightcycle engine. Bods Mods entered its lightcycle case in Cooler Master’s 2011 Case Mod Competition, though the entries themselves are far more exciting than the first place prize: a boring, non-modified case full of components.

via Tron lightcycle case mod is totally awesome, 100 percent 3D — Engadget.

Technically, we suppose Logitech already made a play for the tablet accessories market when it launched a rebranded Zaggmate keyboard case earlier this year, but today the peripheral manufacturers getting serious about slates with the launch of two new portable products. Lacking a Smart Cover to keep your iPad 2 on edge? You could try the $70 Logitech Tablet Keyboard pictured above, which comes with a hardshell sleeve that doubles as a tablet stand and dedicated iOS or Android shortcuts. The keyboard itself is slick, roomy and somewhat plasticky, with a definite Notion Ink Adam vibe. Theres also a redesigned Zaggmate, now known as the $100 Logitech Keyboard Case, which comes with “a more intuitive keyboard layout and improved keystrokes for even more comfortable typing” — a claim we werent able to test — as well as a rebranded $100 Logitech Z515 Bluetooth speaker system, and a $50 Bluetooth mouse. Pricey? Definitely. Worthwhile? Decide for yourself later this month, when theyre scheduled to hit shelves.

via Logitech outs a pair of keyboard cases, gets into the tablet accessories game — Engadget.

Businesses are buying up iPads like crazy, but half of them dont know what to do with the tablet devices once they hand them over to their employees.A survey revealed 68% percent of businesses like the idea of using a a tablet at work and the iPad is the preferred model. Less than half of the companies surveyed were using the iPad to log sales, track finances and handle paperwork. The rest of these iPad-loving companies, over 50%, have no productivity plans other than to hand them out to their employees. At least the employees will have now something to do during their next company meeting. Group Scrabble, anyone? [MaximumPC]

via Clueless Companies Give Their Employees iPads For No Reason – Gizmodo.

There had been whispers in March that stated that the iPhone 5, or iPhone 4S as it’s now being referred as, would come equipped with NFC support something that the Nexus S already has, RIM is including in its new BlackBerry lineup, and Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 likely will be getting in its next update. Those rumors were then shot down and Bernstein’s note seems to back up those claims.NFC support would allow for iPhone owners to use their device to make mobile purchases when the phone is waved in front of a compatible reader.As for the iPhone 4S itself, it’s expected to be an LTE-less, HSPA+ supported, beefed up version of the iPhone 4. It supposedly will feature better cameras and will have Apple’s A5 dual-core chip inside when it arrives.And when it does finally arrive, it supposedly will have support for both Sprint and T-Mobile, meaning it could be the first iPhone available on all four major U.S. carriers. Just don’t expect it to have NFC support.Via: Business Insider

via Next iPhone Will Not Have NFC Support, Says Analyst.