What do you get when you have poker icons, entrepreneurs, celebrities, and venture capitalists all rubbing elbows under one private mansion’s roof? Easy pickin’ for the poker champions? Maybe. Or maybe the X Prize Foundation Fundraiser. On April 24th, the X Prize Foundation will host their casino night fundraiser at a private Pacific Palisades mansion with such poker icons as Annie Duke, Andy Bloch, Chris Ferguson, Rafe Furst, and Phil Gordon in attendance.

The X Prize foundation was founded in 1996, and it’s mission is to seek out new life and new civilizations. Uh, sorry. It’s mission is to bring radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. Basically, they create and manage prizes that challenge innovators to solve problems that we face today. The X prize is a $10 million+ award given to the first team to achieve a goal such as to sequence 100 human genomes in 10 days for under $10k per genome, which would be a huge step in personalized medicine. The foundation also has an X Prize for developing clean, production-capable vehicles. Their future X prizes include challenges in energy and environment, exploration, education and global development, and life sciences.

Sound crazy? It’s not. The X Prize model is rooted in history. Large cash prizes have been offered to spur innovation such as breakthroughs in navigation in the 1700s, breakthroughs in chemical engineering in the 1800s, and breakthroughs in aviation in the 1900s. It works, and if it helps all mankind, then I’m all for it.

If you want to attend the foundation’s X Prize casino shindig and have a high roller experience, you can buy tickets on their site. Their prizes for the evening include a trip to space on Virgin Galactic, a 2010 Tesla Roadster, and getting your genome sequenced.

50 most popular women on the web (Coed)

8 sexy movie librarians (EgoTV)

Graphic of friend zone, male and female point of view (RegretfulMorning)

Top 15 TV miniseries (RealTVAddict)

Obama wants to know what 21st Century technological challenges you’d like to tackle first. (PopSci)

Why banning social media often backfires (Mashable)

10 types of insurance you should have (WalletGenius)

Art Rooney II posts a statement about Big Ben and Santonio Homes (Steelers)

Review of ‘Kick-Ass’ (SFGate)

Gallery of odd events (Funtasticus)

(All images via: Inspirmotional)

(Photo via: Metro.uk)

Effing nature

A damn good Owen Wilson, man!

After a week, the giveaway has come to a close, and the winner has been chosen. And the winner is:

Russell Moore

“not bulky, simple classic design”

Congrats! Check your email for further instructions!

For those who didn’t win this one, though, don’t be too bummed—our next giveaway started yesterday morning and also provides lots of chances to win! And this time around you’d be winning an awesome custom dress shirt from Blank Label!

25 girls in terrible pants (HolyTaco)

15 of the greatest news personalities names of all time (RealTVAddict)

7 signs you’re a troubled gamer (Ugo)

The Broncos sipped WR Brandon Marshall to the Dolphins for two second round picks (ESPN)

Elin divorcing Tiger. World is in shock. (PopCrunch)

Awesomely strange ‘I’m With Leno’ pics (EgoTV)

5 sexy aphrodesiacs that will drive her wild (Coed)

World’s horniest mummies (MentalFloss)

Mel Gibson breaks up with Rushin girlfriend (ABCNews)

Bank failures in America inforgraphic (WalletGenius)

(Video via: TotallySketch)

Girl. Frightened. “Something small and hard was up against my back!”

(Photo via: aplaceforconan)

Conan’s back, on tour and now on billboards updating his tweets.

Emanuelle Chriqui nude in Allure magazine (Brobible)

11 craziest unexpected sex-related deaths in history (Ranker)

18 celebrities picking their nose (PopCrunch)

Big Ben’s almost mullet (BigLeagueScrew)

Heidi Montag’s fake bikini body (KnucklesUnited)

Unpaid internships are illegal wha? (WalletGenius)

Top 10 TV doctors (RealTVAddict)

Seth McFarlane making a movie with real people and a teddy bear (ScreenJunkies)

11 cities whose names are actually misspellings (11points)

Top 10 female streakers (YesButNoButYes)

(Photo via: Imgur)

This is wrong on so many levels.

(Video via: Urlesque)

Hilarious compilation of people bouncing off glass doors.

Jennifer Aniston is hot in UK Glamour spread (Guyism)

10 ridiculous reality show ideas starring Sarah Palin (RealTVAddict)

It’s Brooklyn Decker’s 33rd birthday and she’s hot (Brobible)

5 upcoming shows that will make this guy watch tv again (Highest5)

7 unique dating activities for nerdy couples (ToplessRobot)

25 sexy 90s stars (HolyTaco)

Parents are taking over facebook (CollegeHumor)

The 7 most horrifying things ever discovered in a human body (Cracked)

Palm looking to be bought out (WalletGenius)

9 fantastically hard boss battles that were worth it (EgoTV)

How bout them stadium demolitions

(Photo via: Telegraph.co.uk)

But did he make it to the ladder? I don’t want to know.

25 weirdest and unbelievable bras (SmashingLists)

HPs answer to the iPad is the Slate (Asylum)

10 inventions cooler than the iPad (Coed)

What your favorite tv show really says about you (Holy Taco)

Ten 80s movies that would have made great NES games (Unreality)

5 things you didn’t know about Kelsey Grammer (Mental Floss)

Pics of Pet Roses’ WAG (Brobible)

Kim Kardashian in a dress so tight she can’t bend over. What a shame.  (Guyism)

Netflix signs deal with Fox, Universal (RealTVAddict)

11 theories about the mysterious ‘33′ on Rolling Rock bottles (11Points)

“A” for effort

(Photo via: Imgur)

This sorry pic stresses the importance of cheese as a substance that binds all things together in one gooey pie of goodness.

After a week, the giveaway has come to a close, and the winner has been chosen. And the winner is:

Laura

“Fiction rules as it can take you to the edge of the world and back and just for that moment you believe everything on the page..”

Congrats! Check your email for further instructions!

For those who didn’t win this one, though, don’t be too bummed—our next giveaway started Wednesday morning and also provides lots of chances to win! And this time around you’d be winning an awesome J Lewis Swatch Watch!

Texas stadium implosion coming on Sunday (PFT)

12 controversial issues South Park took head on (RealTVAddict)

Tiger Woods advances at the Masters (NYTimes)

Former Sex Pistols manager McLaren dead at 64 (BBC)

Baseball ump Joe West says that Yankees-Red Sox games take wayyy too long (ESPN)

Video of Dr. Hans Rosling using Legos to explain the problems of population growth (Fast Company)

10 random but memorable singing scenes in a movie (Unreality)

9 weirdest Crispin Glover moments (ScreenJunkies)

25 terrible restaurant signs (HolyTaco)

Tiger gives his best sad/contrite/guilty/haunted face. Cue voiceover of deceased Dad. Wha?

They will f*uck you up. And maybe fix you after?

(Photo via: TopCultured)

Get your facts straight on the Golden Ticket winners.

Pitcher takes a line drive to the knee and still throws out the runner at first

It’s time for another Wednesday Giveaway here at Manolith, and this week we’re teaming up with Swatch and J Lewis to hook you up with a sleek watch that never goes out of style. This Swatch watch is a simple, water-resistant timepiece that’s 34 mm wide, 39 mm long and 9mm thick. It’s a classic look designed to go with any and everything. The watch is Fog Cloud color, which means you can sport any outfit you want and not worry about your watch clashing with your attire.

Take a look at the instructions below for your chance to win, and while you’re at it,  check out this new video “Dancin’ For Me” from singer-songwriter J Lewis featuring Flo Rida! Hailing from Texas by way of Louisiana, J Lewis has a distinct sound that blends a bunch of different styles with a large dose of soul. His debut album will be coming out on Blackground/Interscope Records later this year.

J Lewis Feat. Flo Rida – “Dancin’ For Me” OFFICIAL Video
Uploaded by thatsfunny. – See the latest featured music videos.

Here’s a few ways to enter:

1)      Leave a comment telling us why you like Swatch and/or J Lewis

2)      Follow us on Twitter: @Manolith and our friends @SwatchUSA

3)      Tweet this giveaway on your own Twitter

4)      Link back to this giveaway on your blog

Note: Please use a valid email address. US and Canada residents only.

One lucky winner will be chosen randomly. Giveaway ends April 14, 2010.

Winners will be reached by email on April 15, 2010

Good Luck!