@Alex (again): It was NPR that did the segment as well...the link to the story is at the bottom of the above link, "music by the numbers stations"

@Alex: I don't know about sterolab, but Wilco's album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was named after a snippet of someone saying "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" from one of these number stations that appears in one of their songs (can't remember which one). A podcast I listen to did a segment on it, but I can't remember which one that was either.

I am a HUGE infomercial fan...altho I've never purchased anything from one. The craziest one I ever saw only appeared once in college (no drugs or alcohol, I swear!) and it was an exerciser for kids. It was basically one of those things where you sit in a seat and pull the handles towards you...except they had attached a rocking horse head so now KIDS LOVE IT. As for the bad acting...well...at one point the host was on the playground and called over little Timmy. Poor Timmy used to be the slowest kid on the playground, but now that he's been using the exerhorse or whatever they called it, he wins races all the time. And to prove it, they have a race! The other memorable scene was a multi-level landscaped pool where many kids were playing and splashing...except for one lonely girl who was up on a higher level on her horse, exercising away. She looked so sad... We actually called the number because we thought it was a Saturday Night Live parody, but they tried to sell it to us as soon as they answered. Sadly I have seen neither hide nor hair of it (pun intended) since. Anyone else happen across this miracle exercise machine/horse for kids?

someone taught me a similar trick long ago (although it doesn't involve the "dangerous" element of FIRE, it can be done in a restaurant to amaze your friends (5 years +). Stick another toothpick in one of the holes in a salt or pepper shaker (standing straight up) and you'll be able to balance the fork/toothpick structure on it. Place the tip of the toothpick protruding from the forks on the tip of the toothpick sticking up from the shaker (at about a 90° angle) and it will balance. It might take some managing, but it works. And if you have it just right, you might even be able to spin the forks around the upright toothpick.