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Archive for August 22nd, 2007

Lighter Fare

After my previous post, I needed something a bit lighter-hearted. I figured I’d share this with the rest of the readers as well, since it evidently didn’t sit well with some folks.

So here’s some silliness instead: Cats Watching Ping Pong!

Via: VideoSift

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Space Imitates Star Wars.

It sure looks like the Death Star from Star Wars, but this one really IS a moon! Mimas is one of Saturn’s innermost moons. It has a crater 80 miles wide named Hershel. In this photo, taken from the Cassini orbiter, Mimas was shot in front of one of Saturn’s rings. Link to NASA information on Mimas. Link to photo information (where you can see an enlargement). -via Reddit

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Silly Squid.

This googly-eyed glass squid {wiki} looks like it was designed by a cartoonist! A team of 31 researchers recently explored the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and found this and other strange specimens of marine life. Link

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Total Momsense.

Anita Renfroe condensed everything a mom says during the day into a song. So true -I say all those things! Push play or go to YouTube. Link to Renfroe’s website. -via Old Horsetail Snake

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Google Stars

In the latest version of Google Earth you’ll get your own personal planetarium.

Zoom in to distant galaxies hundreds of millions of light years away, explore the constellations, see the planets in motion, witness a supernova explosion; it’s like having a giant, virtual telescope at your command — your own personal planetarium!

Update
Onelargeprawn was a few seconds quicker (17 to be precise) with these news. I’ll leave the post as it is for now, in case you want the extra info.

Link

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Google Earth's New Virtual Telescope

A new addition to Google Earth is bringing the sky and stars closer to the people. Sky in Google Earth also enables users to see distant galaxies, constellations, and planets. The software uses a library of images from telescopes on earth and from Nasa’s Hubble Space Telescope.

You need to download the newest version of Google Earth to use the Sky feature.

Link – via Spluch

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Dolphin Olympics 2 - Flash Game

A sequel to the popular flash game where you as a dolphin perform various tricks.

Link – via Jay is Games

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Worlds Oldest Father

The world’s oldest father has done it again, fathering a child for at least the 21st time, at the age of 90.

Indian farmer Nanu Ram Jogi, who is married to his fourth wife, boasts he does not want to stop, and plans to continue producing children until he is 100.

Mr Jogi admits he is not certain how many children his series of four wives have borne him – but counts at least 12 sons and nine daughters and 20 grandchildren.

Link

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I Can't Even Title This Post

I’ve spent all morning trying to come up with a post title, and I failed. There are no words that even come close to the sheer brick wall of mixed emotions I experienced after watching this.

I think this manages to cover every category, from Incredible to Horrifying… Link

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The Sophos Facebook ID Probe

The good people of Sophos, a popular security company, are warning users of social networks of the dangers of allowing strangers to gain access to their online profiles.

Sophos fabricated a Facebook profile for a “Freddi Staur” (an anagram of “ID Fraudster”) and then sent out 200 friend requests. They wanted to see how many people would respond and how much personal information could be gleaned from the respondents.

Here are the results:

87 of the 200 Facebook users contacted responded to Freddi, with 82 leaking personal information (41% of those approached)

72% of respondents divulged one or more email address

84% of respondents listed their full date of birth

87% of respondents provided details about their education or workplace

78% of respondents listed their current address or location

23% of respondents listed their current phone number

26% of respondents provided their instant messaging screenname

“Freddi may look like a happy green frog that just wants to be friends, but actually he’s happy because he’s just encouraged 82 users to hand over their personal details on a plate,” said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos. “While accepting friend requests is unlikely to result directly in theft, it is an enabler, giving cybercriminals many of the building blocks they need to spoof identities, to gain access to online user accounts, or potentially, to infiltrate their employers’ computer networks.”

Link

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Buster the Bengal.

Buster the rare white Bengal tiger was abandoned by his mother at the West Midland Safari Park, and is being fostered by the park’s veterinary nurse and her four cats. Now eight weeks old and 17.5 pounds, Buster has learned to use the cat door to come and go. White Bengals are extinct in the wild. Link (with more adorable photos) -via Arbroath

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Worst Accents on Film.

You’ve been to a movie theater at one time or another and felt jarred by a character’s vocal accent that was so innapropriate for the film that it ruined the suspension of disbelief for you. Deputydog has a list of 13 of the worst accents in film, with video clips for each. The comments propose hundreds more examples. Link

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Jeremy Fish's Dead Rapper Skateboard Art.

The painted skateboards above are artist Jeremy Fish’s "Dead Rapper Series." Check out more of his skateboard art and wonderfully whimsical paintings here: Link

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Sleek and Sexy Spacesuit from MIT

Say goodbye to those bulky, unattractive astronaut spacesuit and say hello to MIT professor of aeronautics and engineering systems Dava Newman’s sleek and sexy form-fitting spacesuit!

Newman’s prototype suit is a revolutionary departure from the traditional model. Instead of using gas pressurization, which exerts a force on the astronaut’s body to protect it from the vacuum of space, the suit relies on mechanical counter-pressure, which involves wrapping tight layers of material around the body. The trick is to make a suit that is skintight but stretches with the body, allowing freedom of movement.

Over the past 40 years, spacesuits have gotten progressively heavier, and they now weigh in at about 300 pounds. That bulk — much of which is due to multiple layers and the life support system coupled with the gas-pressurization — severely constrains astronauts’ movements. About 70 to 80 percent of the energy they exert while wearing the suit goes towards simply working against the suit to bend it.

Link

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Hair Embroidery

Artist Laura Normandin’s media of choice for her embroidery project is a little bit unusual: she used human hair!

Link

Previously on Neatorama: Knitting Things with Human Hair | Hair Shirt | Hair Wreath

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Bender and Leela Fan-Made Costumes

Chris and Kim Knight love to create costumes and props for themselves. For example, here are their Bender and Leela costumes. How they made Leela’s mono-eye is interesting:

The eyeball was originally a tap light. When that didn’t allow much visibility, we switched to the plastic blister pack from the same tap light cut a little bit smaller than the first version and painted with a very light dusting of white on the inside. Even though visibility was much better in early testing, she was blind once again when it was actually glued to her face.

Link to their homepage

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Read Print: a Free Online Library for Literary Classics

Neatorama reader Jennifer told us about Read Print, a free online library where you can read classic works of authors (that are out of copyright).

The website is like Bartleby, another free online book source, but it’s faster and with cleaner interface.

Link – Thanks Jennifer!

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Luxurious Foosball and Coffee Table Combo

How awesome is this: a foosball and coffee table combo, with oak panels, stainless steel frame and a glass top, handcrafted by Howard Bushell.

It’s only £3,800, a cheap price to pay for elegant tackiness! Perfect for your pre-Web 2.0 dot com crash office: Link – via Gizmodo

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UFO Haiti Revealed.

An investigation by the LA Times has uncovered the creator of the UFO over Haiti video. YouTube member Barzolff814 admitted he was the creator of the videos known as UFO Haiti and UFO Dominican Republic.

It took Barzolff a total of 17 hours to make both the Haiti and Dominican Republic videos. He did it all by himself using a MacBook Pro and a suite of commercially available 3-D animation programs, including Vue 6. The videos are 100% computer-generated.

The videos are research for a movie project.

The movie Barzolff is working on for the big screen is about two guys who create a UFO hoax so realistic that it spirals out of their control. “For better or worse,” said Barzolff, who cited being “overwhelmed” by the response to his video as one of the reasons he didn’t want to go public with his name.

When he uploaded the videos, he expected about 2,000 views. Just one version of the UFO Haiti video now has 2.5 million views. Link -via Fark

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Largest Hand in the World

Lui Hua suffers from a rare condition known as macrodactyly. When he was hospitalized in Shanghai last month his left thumb measured 10.2 inches and his index finger measured close to 12.

From The Shanghai Daily:

“It was the biggest hand in the world,” said Chen Zuliang, a hospital official. “Liu’s fingers stopped growing in recent years so plastic surgery was at last possible to correct the malformation.”

On July 20 surgeons undertook a seven-hour operation to reduce the size of Liu’s fingers and thumb. Doctors removed 11 pounds of flesh and bone in the procedure.

A second surgery is scheduled to take place.

Enlarged limbs can be caused by a number of medical conditions. Lymphedema is perhaps the most common cause and results in some extraordinarily enlarged limbs.

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Asteroids Revenge III

Asteroids are a peace-loving sentient race; they have endured decades of ruination at the hands of human spaceships. No more, for in Asteroids Revenge III, you play the role of an asteroid whose sole intent is to wipe out the human enemy by crashing into their ships.

Use either the arrow keys or the mouse to move around.

Link – via Random Good Stuff

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Agatha Christie Comic Strip

The novels of crime writer Agatha Christie [wiki] already immortalized on television, on film, on stage and in audio books, have now been adapted as comic strip editions.

The roll-out will start during the annual Agatha Christie Week running from September 9th to the 15th. It is hoped that the relaunch in comic form will make the world’s second best-selling author more appealing to younger readers.

Link – Thanks Emily!

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How to Roll up a Frying Pan

Want to know how to roll up a frying pan? Sure you do. Click Play or go to Link [video & step-by-step photographic instructions]

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Arm-Breaking Arcade Game Recalled

Word from the BBC is that a Japanese arcade game called Arm Spirit is being withdrawn from 150 game emporiums after three people broke their arms playing it!

“We think that maybe some players get over-excited and twist their arms in an unnatural way,” a spokesman said.

“The machine isn’t that strong, much less so than a muscular man. Even women should be able to beat it,” company spokesman Ayano Sakiyama told AP news agency.

Arm Spirit gamers advance through 10 levels, pitting their strength against a French maid, a drunken martial arts master and a Chihuahua dog before reaching the final challenge – a professional wrestler.

Link – via Arbroath

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Skydiving Pug

Some people take their dogs everywhere – but this guy takes the cake: he took his pet pug skydiving! Watch them jump out of a plane at 10,000 feet: hit play or go to Link [YouTube] – via Boing Boing

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Overdosing on Red Bull

Remember the story where a girl was taken to the hospital for overdosing on espresso? Here’s another story, this time it’s Red Bull energy drink:

A MAN whose heart stopped after he consumed eight Red Bull energy drinks in five hours has called for an overhaul of the product’s warning labels.

Matthew Penbross, 28, collapsed after downing the popular drinks, each containing 80 milligrams of caffeine, last Sunday.

He drank the Red Bull while competing in a motocross event on the state’s Mid North Coast.

His heart stopped and he needed defibrillation from ambulance officers.

Link (pic from Red Bull’s entry on Wikipedia) – via i-am-bored

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Wooden External Hard Disk

This gorgeous wooden contraption is actually a 750 GB external hard drive with USB 2.0 ports and audio/microphone jacks. It is called "Shadow" (why?) by Suissa Computers – and it can be yours for a mere $875.

Link – via Gizmodo

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One in Four Americans Don't Read a Book At All

A recent poll found that one in four American adults didn’t read a book at all in the past year:

One in four adults read no books at all in the past year, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll released Tuesday. Of those who did read, women and older people were most avid, and religious works and popular fiction were the top choices.

The survey reveals a nation whose book readers, on the whole, can hardly be called ravenous. The typical person claimed to have read four books in the last year half read more and half read fewer. Excluding those who hadn’t read any, the usual number read was seven.

Link – via Fark

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Diving From 35 Feet Into 12 Inches of Water

Here’s the holy trinity of Internet awesomeness: crazy Japanese TV show, a crazy American who specializes in belly flopping into a shallow pool of water, and YouTube.

See Professor Splash jump from a height of 35 feet (10.7 m) into 12" (30 cm) of water: hit play or go to Link [YouTube] – via A Welsh View and Gorilla Mask

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Are You A Nerd? Prove It!

Becky at our pal mental_floss blog (awesome, btw, definitely check ‘em out!) wrote this post challenging you to prove that you are a nerd:

Ira Glass raised this question recently; or, perhaps, not so much raised it as lamented the way in which people retroactively confer “nerd” status upon themselves. As in, “I was such a big nerd in high school.” His basic argument was: no you weren’t, or: prove it.

He surmised that most people filter their actual popularity, if not their seeded positions on Homecoming Court, through a sentimental lens of nerddom. “Nerds” experience pain, certainly, but just because one experienced pain in adolescence, does this make one a nerd?

So, are/were you a nerd? Link (Pic is Robert Carradine as the archetypal nerd in Revenge of the Nerds, from Wikipedia)

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