Archive for February 4th, 2008
USB Boxer
First, computers took real-life sports and made them virtual. Now you can reverse that and bring your videogame skills to 3D. The USB Boxer plugs into your computer and responds to your keystrokes! A counter keeps track of the punches thrown, and he even generates crowd noises and bells. Link -via Gizmodo
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Blind Tiger Receives Cataract Surgery
A one-year-old rare South China tiger at the Nanchang Zoo in Jiangxi province, China had been blind since birth, but can now see. The surgery was performed by Liu Fei, an eye surgeon with Nanchang University. Although Dr. Fei had operated on hundreds of human patients, this was his first veterinary surgery. It was also the first eye surgery ever done on a South China tiger.
The baby animal had been suffering from cataracts, most likely caused by inbreeding. Many of the tigers suffer from genetic defects. Most of this is due to a lack of genetic diversity. There are 72 South China tigers that have been born in captivity in China. Almost all of these exotic animals are directly descended from just six tigers, all of which were captured in the wild in 1955.
It is estimated that only about 30 South China tigers survive in the wild. Link -via Digg
(image credit: Shizhao)
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Supermarket Dominos
(YouTube link)
If you’ve ever wondered why the new cookies you just bought are all broken, this might be a clue. A full six minutes of supermarket goods knocked down at “an undisclosed location” over the Christmas holiday. It probably took hours to put all that stuff away. -via Cynical-C
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The Great British Venn Diagram
Here’s a diagram that may help you learn the difference between England, Great Britain, the British Isles, and the United Kingdom.
The Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom are the only two sovereign states in this image. They are shown in red. Ireland and Great Britain are both islands and are shown in green. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are constituent countries of the United Kingdom and are shown in orange.
There are other complicating factors, stemming from politics, history, and geography. The author explains these as simply as possible, including the fact that this is actually a Euler Diagram instead of a Venn Diagram. Now if they could only explain North America/USA/America! Link -via reddit
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Would you mustard my hole with a genie, baby?
“Would you mustard my hole with a genie, baby?”
Well, would you?
This is another Bollywood musical number video where silly sound-alike lyrics in English appear on the screen as subtitles. There was one called “Benny Lava” that made the rounds awhile ago. I think this one is funnier. [YouTube]
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Pies Made By ... WHAAAAT!?
Yes, that’s a real restaurant. The Thunderbird Restaurant is in East Zion, Utah. The founder, Jack Morrison, spelled home made as “ho-made” back before the word "ho" got its current meaning.
Found at our pal Dan Piraro’s new blog (he knows all about pies!): BizarroBlog
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The Bacon Pig
Vegetarians, avert your eyes: in our continuing series of thing sculpted out of meat (see the Meat House, Meat Ship), here’s the Bacon Pig by Carl Huber of the WAREHOUSE. He said that it was "so dangerously good." I’ll take his words for it:
People have been building all sorts of crazy stuff out of the wonder that is bacon, from the lowly bacon-wrapped scallops to the mighty meat house. But has anyone tried to restore a Frankenstein’s Monster-like dignity to the pig from which the bacon hails? Probably not, because most people aren’t this crazy.
It’s made from bacon, ground pork, and hot dog: Link – Thanks Carl!
Update 2/4/08: Neatorama reader Jonathan Overturf sent us another pic of a pig made out of meat: Link – Thanks Jonathan!
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Jeongmee Yoon's Pink and Blue Project
Yerim and her things (2005)
Ethan and His Blue Things (2006)
When Korean artist Jeongmee Yoon’s daughter would only wear pink clothes and play with pink toys, she was inspired to turn this monochromatic phenomenon into art. In her "Pink and Blue Project," Jeongmee found that it’s not unusual for girls to have predominantly pink (and boys blue) items:
"The Pink and Blue Project" was at first motivated by my daughter. At five years old, she loves pink so much that she wants to wear only pink clothes and use only pink toys or objects.
I found that she is not unusual and most other little girls in the U.S. and South Korea love pink clothing, accessories and toys. This phenomenon seems widespread among various ethnic groups regardless of their cultural background. It could be the result of an influence of customs or the power of pervasive commercial advertisements for merchandise such as Barbie and Hello Kitty.
While producing the "pink" images, I also became aware that many boys have a lot of blue possessions and started photographing them as well. Through advertising, consumers are directed to buy blue items, symbolizing strength and masculinity, for boys; and pink items, symbolizing sweetness and femininity, for girls. (source)
Link [warning: my antivirus found a suspicious object when loading the page. Use Firefox with antivirus, OK?]- via designboom, thanks Adam Fuhrer!
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Frozen in Grand Central: an Improv Everywhere Prank
A new Improv Everywhere performance art: over 200 people frozen in place in Grand Central Station in New York!
On a cold Saturday in New York City, the world’s largest train station came to a sudden halt. Over 200 Improv Everywhere Agents froze in place at the exact same second for five minutes in the Main Concourse of Grand Central Station. Over 500,000 people rush through Grand Central every day, but today, things slowed down just a bit as commuters and tourists alike stopped to notice what was happening around them.
Link | Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] – Thanks Jim Perry!
Previously on Neatorama: The Best Buy Prank | Meet a Black Guy in Aspen, CO
Update 3/6/08: One Mans Blog has the YouTube clips of similar “Time Stands Still” stunts in Romania, Poland, Italy, Germany, Sweden, and New Zealand: Link – Thanks Jon Jason!
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Giant Peach Sculpture is Just Peachy!
"Ella" is a giant sculpture made from about 24,000 peaches! It was created by BMF Sydney to advertise Ella Baché’s (slogan: "Skin good enough to eat") skin care products. Link – Thanks Adam Fuhrer!
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Incandescent Sculpture
Artist Dylan Kehde Roelofs creates individually handblown incandescent lights that appear antique and thoroughly modern at the same time. Standard pieces are for sale, and he also makes custom lights. When they burn out, he can replace the filaments for you. Link -via Dark Roasted Blend
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How Not to Lift a Vehicle
(Break.com link)
I was expecting someone to pull the truck over on top of himself, but no, no one gets hurt (I think). Still, the result is not what these guys expected! -via Grow-A-Brain
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Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse "In Color"
We are all familiar with the first Tacoma Narrows Bridge a.k.a. “The galloping Gertie”, a long suspension bridges in the U.S. state of Washington, which spans accross the Tacoma Narrows between Tacoma and the Kitsap Peninsula. We also know of its demise when on November 7, 1940, at approximately 11:00 AM it became famous for its wind-induced structural collapse that was caught on motion picture film. What is least known about the collapse is that it was also captured in “color”.
Link: Youtube
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Professor Gizmo
I’ve seen one man bands before but this guy brings it to another level. Enjoy!
Link: Youtube
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All the President's Gaffes
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The following
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt served hot dogs to the king and queen of England on their state visit. Here’s hoping they served him bangers and mash when he crossed the pond! - Harry S. Truman was known as a no-nonsense straight shooter whose desk bore a sign reading, "The buck stops here." While running for reelection, he told a campaign-stop crowd, "I don’t give ‘em hell, I just tell the truth and they think it’s hell," which led to his nickname: "Give ‘em hell Harry." - Dwight D. Eisenhower was asked by a journalist what significant decisions his vice president, Richard Nixon, had helped him make. "If you give me a week I might think of one," he replied. (He later apologized to Nixon). - John F. Kennedy wins the award for the "gaffe that never was," his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech. For years the media and the public believed that Kennedy had misspoken, saying "I am a jelly doughnut" (a Berliner is indeed a type of Berlin jam-filled pastry) instead of "I am a citizen of Berlin." However experts now say that Kennedy did speak correctly, so there’s a little jam on the face of his critics. - On September 16, 1968, Richard Milhous Nixon, in an effort to appeal to the young people, made campaign history on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, the hippie-esque sketch comedy television show. During a fast-paced montage sequence, this president with the stuffed-shirt persona appeared and cried out the show’s most famous catchphrase, "Sock it to me!" - Gerald Ford was prone to all manner of physical gaffes, from locking himself out of the White House to tripping and falling down the steps of Air Force One during a visit to Austria. His clumsiness was famously parodied by comedian Chevy Chase on NBC’s Saturday Night Live. - Jimmy Carter caused a minor scandal when he admitted in a Playboy interview that he had "lusted after women" in his heart. Most Playboy readers instantly agreed that they had, too. - Testing the microphone during what he thought was a sound check before a radio address, Ronald Reagan joked, "My fellow Americans, I’m pleased to tell you today that I’ve signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes." Only he didn’t realize that they were broadcasting. The joke fell flat with Cold War-era listeners. - George H.W. Bush declared that he disliked broccoli and scores of irate farmers sent bushels of the green stuff his way. He stuck to his guns, saying "I’m the president and I don’t have to eat broccoli if I don’t want to." - Bill Clinton created a minor scandal dubbed "Hair Force One." He received a $200 haircut from celeb stylist Christophe on Air Force One, reportedly shutting down two runways at Los Angeles International Airport for an hour, at an estimated cost to airlines of $76,000. - George W. Bush has made plenty of grammatical gaffes, but one of his biggest missteps was when, believing his microphone was off, he turned to Vice President Dick Cheney and pointed out a reporter by calling him a "major league a**hole." It’s a good thing his mom Barbara Bush wasn’t there, he’d have found his mouth filled with soap – in a major league way. |
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The article above is reprinted with permission from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Plunges Into the Presidency. This book is jam-packed with everything you could ever want to know about the highest office in the United States … you’ll find the slogans and smears, the legends and lore, the people and places, and the digs and the dirt – everything about the U.S. Presidency bound up in one book. Since 1988, the Bathroom Reader Institute had published a series of popular books containing irresistible bits of trivia and obscure yet fascinating facts. Check out their website here: Bathroom Reader Institute
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Forty-two men have occupied the office of U.S. president; if each one made only one mistake or misspoke just once during his time in office, we’d already have a substantial collection of presidential faux pas. Fortunately for the cynics among us, most of these men have made more than a few boo-boos over the years. A few of our favorites bear special mention:
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Funny Tech Joke: Dear Tech Support ...
This is one of the funniest geeky jokes I’ve read in a long time. From Miss Cellania’s Tech Jokes 1.0 post, here’s a guy’s letter to Tech Support about his women trouble:
Dear Technical Support,
18 months ago, I upgraded to Girlfriend 1.0 from Drinking Mates 4.2, which I had used for years without any trouble. However, there are apparently conflicts between these two products and the only solution was to try and run Girlfriend 1.0 with the sound turned off.
To make matters worse, Girlfriend 1.0 is incompatible with several other applications, such as LadsNight Out 3.1, Rugby 4.5, and Playboy 6.9. Successive versions of GirlFriend proved no better.
Read the rest of the joke here: Link (scroll down)
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Robot Cupcakes: Interchangeable and Yummy
Photo: hello naomi [Flickr]
Flickr user Hello Naomi created this super awesome robot cupcakes. They’re super awesome because they’re interchangeable and they’re made out of cupcakes (duh!). Via Super Punch
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Trivia: There's Cocaine in Almost All Dollar Bills
Trace amounts of cocaine are found in 4 out of every 5 dollar bills in circulation.
The average amount of cocaine found is 16 micrograms (0.000016 gram)
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Why We Shiver When Peeing
Fess up: you’ve always wondered why you sometimes shiver when peeing. Well, thanks to science, this oft-silently wondered but seldom asked aloud mystery is now solved:
The [phenomenon of pee shivers] is an example of the human body’s autonomic nervous system (ANS) at work.
We are not conscious of the ANS. It runs on automatic, hence its name, "autonomic", which literally means "self controlling, working independently". The urination reflex is relayed through the ANS. The reflex is directly related in strength to the amount of stretch of the bladder. Thus, the degree of shivering is generally related to how full the bladder is at the time of urination.
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Maxblaster Flashlight
Dutch optics engineer Ralf Ottow created a 38-million-candlepower homemade flashlight he called the Maxblaster. It can shoot a lightbeam 4 miles long!
Powered by a pack of 54 batteries, the Maxablaster can put a bright spot of light on a cloud four miles high and illuminate a house from just as far. But Ottow doesn’t use it to spook his neighbors. “It’s not a torch you’d walk your dog with,” he says. “It would probably cook your dog.”
Link – via GeekAlerts
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Finding Chuck Norris on Google
If you’re not tired of the Chuck Norris thingy, go to Google and type in "find Chuck Norris," then click the "I’m Feeling Lucky" button.
Via Locust & Honey
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Legend of Zelda on a Theremin
We’ve had a couple of posts about songs played on the theremin before (like the cover of Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy). Add this one to the list: The Legend of Zelda theme.
Link [embedded YouTube]
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Homemade Terminator Mask
Joe Slatter of The Dark Power has a pretty neat hobby: he makes pretty cool special effects, like this prosthetic Terminator make-up effects (complete with LED for that glowing eye effect!)
There’s even a "build log" on his website: Link – via Super Punch
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Silverfish Aquarium Looks Like a Hamster Cage
The Silverfish Aquarium by Octopus Studios is like an aquarium/hamster habitat mashed together. If you fish is tired of one "pod" it can just swim to the next one through a connecting bridge!
Previously on Neatorama: Fish Highway
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Ben Lawson's Tentacle Heart Illustration
Ben Lawson’s art is reminiscent of those vintage biology illustrations, but with a twist – like this tentacle heart (part of his "Home is where the heart is" series): Link – via Super Punch
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Quote: George Bernard Shaw on Economists
"If all the economists were laid end to end, they’d never reach a conclusion."
– George Bernard Shaw, author (1856 – 1950)
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Thunderbird Logo "Wig"
I don’t know why, but I had the sudden and irresistible urge to make a wig out of the logo of Mozilla’s wonderful email application Thunderbird. Turns out, it’s quite versatile! If you want it, here’s the PNG file, with apologies to Mozilla, Ron Paul, and Ian McKellen.
Your regularly scheduled Neatorama entries will now resume.
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