It may not be easy, but it sure is fun! The car customization industry is exploding, already raking it $31 billion each year. When your industry’s insiders can admit that their products are completely unnecessary and not hamper profits, you know you’ve found a winner.

Events like the SEMA auto show (November 1-4) enable automakers to reach out to the young demographic that drives the customization industry. In a time where fuel costs are high and vehicles keep getting more expensive, it’s interesting the market for customization is so strong. “All of the dollars spent in our industry are discretionary. The parts are nothing you need but everything you want,” says Peter MacGillivray, SEMA vice-president for marketing and communications.

Car Customization Gaining Popularity [Leftlane News]

Sure, it’s in the UK, but until we get a reliable source from around here, I suppose we can order from over the pond.

Re: the qualities of absinthe. A buddy and I finished an entire bottle one night and we saw very few “green fairies.” However, my friend did fall asleep screaming about going to some dance club that didn’t exist. So there’s that.

Product Pages [Original Absinthe]

From WristWatchReview.com - Yep, here they go again. TokyoFlash has a new watch, the EleeNo G, which redefines user unfriendliness.

Reading the time is surprisingly simple. The top row indicates the hour & the bottom 2 rows indicate the minutes. For a detailed example of how to read the time please scroll down to the diagram below.

The instruction manual appears below:

This beast - the G is for Graphic! - is about $120.

Check it out here.

Ever wonder what the fastest car on the planet looks like? Wonder no longer–Swedish car-maker Koenigsegg is shattering all kinds of records with their latest invention.

Koenigsegg has now proven that it is the best allround performing supercar ever produced. Not only does it have class leading record breaking top speed, but also class leading aguility around a race track, combined with class leading suspension comfort.

Check out the data at Koenigsegg Sets Supertest Records, then peruse the website for more info, pictures and videos of this beast in action. [Koenigsegg]

Want to impress your friends at tomorrow night’s dinner party? Steer clear of these three popular wine myths–or expose your guests as frauds with all the grace and eloquence of a true wine snob.

Winemyth #1- “Legs mean the wine is good”

Winemyth #3-Any use of the word dry

Winemythsbusted [Untangled Vine]

It is a sad day when buying a Mercedes-Benz doesn’t evoke reactions of envy from your peers. Have the Germans lost their elite edge by releasing a slew of specialized cars?

Visit any Mercedes dealership, and you’re faced with the following lineup: A-Class, B-Class, C-Class, E-Class, S-Class, CLK, CLS, CL, SLK, SL, R-Class, ML-Class and GL-Class. With prices ranging from 20,000 to 200,000 euros (400,000, if you count the SLR supercar), Mercedes has lots its reputation as a “top brand” in Europe, Trout says. “Brand chronicles” — multiple messages — “are not the way of the future,” but rather, a “way of turning a brand that stands for something into a brand that stands for nothing.”

Diagnosis: Mercedes Brand Schizophrenia. [Leftlane News]

Google continues to expand its ubiquitous grasp with a new “Google Snake (Drinking) Game.” The game involves players creating a sentence one word at a time and Googling the resulting phrase until there are no results.

The game could be fun to play because a) of the funny sentence that comes out of it, and b) because everybody has incentive to risk creating a “meaningless” sentence hoping there will be some results on the web, in order to force the next one to create an even more meaningless sentence without results (e.g. an advanced player may risk more obscure phrases if the previous page count was in the millions).

Learn how to play the Google Snake Game. [Google Blogoscoped]

Useful, small, for guitars. Excellent.

Your strap will stay on your guitar so it doesn’t fall to the floor.

You can case your guitar with the strap left on.

Product Page [GuitarStrapLock]

“A house. Credit cards. Medical bills. A new car.”

“Things that can ruin your life is you aren’t financially prepared for them?”

“Ladies and gentleman we have a winner!”

In the American life, sometimes it’s hard not to try to fit your story to the typical plot line. What my friend did makes total sense; in fact, it’s what he was supposed to do, and what thousands of people do successfully every day. It’s just that it doesn’t always work out. That said, there’s something special about that first new car, if you’ve earned it: getting behind the wheel for the first time, turning the key, letting the new car smell rush over you, feeling like, yeah, that’s right, there is a road to travel, and finally I’m on it.

Caveat emptor.

When Your Friend Buys His First New Car [The Car Blog]

Absinthe, the infamously illegal liquor renowned for its hallucinogenic properties, is perhaps the most misunderstood spirit known to man. Despite its demonization by traditional culture, Ted Breaux, a New Orleans microbiologist, has made understanding the green fairy his life’s new passion. Though he started as a curious consumer, Breaux’s obsession led him to the French countryside where he now distills his own personal blend. Check out Ted’s story at Wired.

One of the ingredients is thujone, a compound in wormwood that is toxic if it’s ingested, capable of causing violent seizures and kidney failure. Breaux hands me a bottle of pure liquid thujone. “Take a whiff,” he says with an evil grin. I recoil at the odor - it’s like menthol laced with napalm. This is the noxious chemical compound responsible for absinthe’s bad reputation.

The Mystery of the Green Menace [Wired]