Disgruntled Workers Rail Anonymously Against Bosses
It seems that the down economy has had a degrading effect on some bosses' abilities to manage in workplaces across the nation.

"Under-pressure bosses act crankier, and corporate downsizing increasingly leads to promotions of people who make bad managers," Vicki Lynn, vice president of research and consulting at career management site Vault.com, told AM New York last week.

Yet, considering the current unemployment situation, many unhappy employees are afraid to leave their jobs.

If your boss invites you to meetings to discuss the fact that there are too many meetings, or refers to your "bereavement and unpaid family leave" as "vacation," then PleaseFireMe.com is the site where you can let the world know.

Among the more colorful (or relatable) problems:

• Please fire me. "My boss called a meeting and the number one point on the agenda was 'Internet: friend, foe, is it here to stay?'"
• Please fire me. "My boss sends me e-mails, then immediately walks over to ask if I got them. Then we wait together in silence for Outlook to refresh."
• Please fire me. "My team leader took a digital picture of everyone's face and pasted it onto an animal cutout. Now each employee is a different animal on the 'productivity' board. Whoever does the most work each week gets one step closer to the piece of meat your animal likes to eat that is glued to the other end of the poster. I'm the bison."
• Please fire me. "My boss ate all my Pringles after refusing to give me a raise."
• Please fire me. "Last week, I was told my job was in jeopardy due to budget cuts. This week my boss hired an interior decorator to decorate the office."
• Please fire me. "Sometimes on my lunch break, I drive to the park and cry."

The real world, sadly, is full of lousy bosses. While it is sometimes easy to chuckle about them, more often than not these situations are far from a laughing matter to the employees who have to endure their maniacal managers.

The Ultimate Rube Goldberg Machine?
A music video for the rock band OK Go's "This Too Shall Pass" has gone the Rube Goldberg route. Watch with or without sound — either way, the band's Rube Goldberg contraption might be the one to end all Rube Goldberg contraptions.

Wired.com's Gadget Lab has the "making of" video, which shows how it was done in apparently one continuous shot, after an estimated 60 tries.

"Crackberry" Symptoms Spread to iPhone
You know how some iPhone owners seem somewhat unhealthily attached to their smartphone, constantly wanting to show you this "totally sweet" app while mocking your BlackBerry or (eek!) flip phone while searching for the nearest Apple Store within a 1.5-mile radius of a WiFi-accessible Starbucks?

Well, it turns out that, yes, iPhone addiction might be a real problem. In a recent survey of 200 Stanford University students, only 6 percent said they weren't addicted to their devices at all.

LiveScience reports that 75 percent of respondents actually admitted to falling asleep with their iPhone in bed, while 69 percent were more likely to forget their wallet than their iPhone. Three percent said they don't let anyone else touch their iPhone, while another 3 percent have named their iPhone. The survey also found that 41 percent characterized the possible loss of their iPhone as "a tragedy."

The survey suggests there are benefits to having an iPhone fixation. But, really, how can we think about that when 8 percent of respondents (real, actual humans) admit that they have, at one point, thought, "My iPod is jealous of my iPhone."

Dumb Inventions
Many useless things were created during the 20th century. Take, for instance, Pet Rocks and reality show contestants, to name a few.

Here are six more creations that, if not useless, were at least a bad idea, compiled from Life's list of 30 dumb inventions:

• Curved-barrel machine gun (1953) — A sub-machine gun with a curved barrel for shooting around corners;
• Cup bra (1949) — A strapless, backless, wireless, support-less bra;
• Baby cage (1937) — A baby-holding wire cage that attaches to, and suspends from, the outside of a windowsill;
• Rainy day cigarette holder (1954) — A standard cigarette holder with a mini-umbrella added to shade the lit part of a stogie;
• Phone-answering robot (1964) — A robot that answers the phone but cannot speak; and
• Fast-draw robot (1960) — A robot equipped with a fast-draw mechanism to shoot it out with a live gunner.

Symphony of Science: The Poetry of Reality
Here are 12 scientists offering their words of wisdom for the promotion of science. Don't think of it as a lecture.

You will need sound for this:

Cheers.