Send a ball , that’s how. Or nothing. Honestly, I’d prefer nothing. At least you won’t piss my mailman off (he already f***s up all my packages). Send a Ball, the online store that lets you create personalized inflatable balls for any occasion, made its ABC Shark Tank debut tonight. Here’s how the business started: “One day I [co-founder Michele) was in Osco, saw a BIN of bouncy balls, grabbed one and thought “I can mail this”. Took a sharpie, addressed it to my BFF Sharon, wrote “Have BALL with your new baby”, went to the post office and mailed it.” Balls start at $20 and include shipment to anywhere in the US. Which, for a $1 ball and $1 worth of postage, is a 1,000% markup. Which I think we can all agree, is the American way. Also: fat with a false sense of entitlement. News video with two annoying chicks after the jump.

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How To: Disappoint A Friend On Their Birthday

A new augmented reality app from Layar allows Android and iPhone 3GS users to view recovery.gov contract dollars at play work in the real world. Image above: an example of what those happy blue bailout bubbles look like, bouncing about on the thoroughly bailed-out streets of Washington, DC. My only criticism so far (I haven’t tried the apps): instead of blue circles as representational icons, the designers really should have chosen taxpayers’ tears. Snip: Layar is an application that overlays your view of the real world with waypoints representing your favorite coffee place, the movie theatre you’re trying to find, or in this case, where some of that $787 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is going. If you have an iPhone 3GS or Android device you can install the Layar app for free and then search for “recovery” or “sunlight” within Layar to find this layer. The layer works best near large cities where you are most likely to find recovery contracts. Recovery.gov Augmented Reality Mashup [Sunlight Labs, via Micah Sifry ] Layar Reality Browser [Layar]

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Track where US gov bailout trillions went with augmented reality mobile app

Headlines are a tricky thing. Today The Financial Times reported some big news, but don’t let the big type above their story fool you. They’re reporting much cooler news than this semi-snoozer: “Apple joins forces with record labels.” Don’t get me wrong. It is interesting. Apple and the four major music labels are reportedly cooking up project “Cocktail,” a plan to bolster album sales by bundling special digital content like booklets, videos, downloads and interactive features. If they do it right, this could be big, considering bands like Radiohead and NIN are making bank with multi-tier pricing for varied bonus content. Let’s be honest, though. FT’s headline should have been something like this: “Apple launches tablet, teams with record labels.” Yep. The story suggests Apple could likely bump up the release of its long-awaited, much-rumored touch tablet to September in order to coincide with project “Cocktail.” Says FT : The new touch-sensitive device Apple is working on will have a screen that may be up to 10 inches diagonally. It will connect to the internet like the iPod Touch - probably without phone capability but with access to Apple’s online stores. “It’s going to be fabulous for watching movies,” said one entertainment executive. Correction: It’s going to be fabulous for pirating movies. image by vernhart [via Wired ]

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Apple Tablet Due in September?

Fortune : So is SanDisk sitting pretty? Not really. While Harari’s flash evangelism has yielded some impressive results, it hasn’t addressed his main challenge: SanDisk’s core flash memory business is dizzyingly volatile. Because so many companies manufacture flash storage chips, and because the fast-evolving technology has a brief shelf life, the flash market lately has suffered gut-wrenching price swings and whipsawed SanDisk’s stock price in its wake.

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Number-two MP3 player maker declares, "You can’t out-iPod the iPod"

Meat Cards are business cards with your info burnt into them using a 150 watt CO2 laser. They are far superior to card stock for obvious reasons (read: meat and lasers). Screw die-cutting. Forget about foil, popups, or UV spot lamination. THESE business cards have two ingredients: MEAT AND LASERS . Unlike other business cards, MEAT CARDS will retain value after the econopocalypse. Hoard and barter your calorie-rich, life-sustaining cards. Mmmm, meat and lasers: definitely two of the finest ingredients on earth. PEW PEW, NOM NOM! Now, blast me in the eye with your laser pointer right as I swallow. What? Don’t judge me. Meatcards Thanks to Chloe and Julian for eating all my cards. No, really, thanks a lot guys.

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Best Business Cards Ever: Meat Cards