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Dr. Arthur Dunec, a dentist in Toronto, Canada, has a sense of humor: his office has the sign "Sorry We’re Open" to welcome his patients!
It’s easy to stay warm while lying down on the Cozy Chair by Sabine Müller and Andreas Quednau of SMAQ design group: the chair doubles as a radiator!
The chair saves energy by heating only what needs to be heated: you, your slippers and a drink: Link – via Apartment Therapy Unplugged
"I suppose it can be truthfully said that Hope is the only universal liar who never loses his reputation for veracity."
– Robert G. Ingersoll, American political leader and orator
After decades of US investments in China, it seems that the pendulum is swinging back. Today, many Chinese firms are pleasantly surprised to find that land, energy, and operating costs are actually cheaper in the United States as compared to China!
Liu Keli couldn’t tell you much about South Carolina, not even where it is in the United States. It’s as obscure to him as his home region, Shanxi province, is to most Americans.
But Liu is investing $10 million in the Palmetto State, building a printing-plate factory that will open this fall and hire 120 workers. His main aim is to tap the large American market, but when his finance staff penciled out the costs, he was stunned to learn how they compared with those in China.
Liu spent about $500,000 for seven acres in Spartanburg — less than one-fourth what it would cost to buy the same amount of land in Dongguan, a city in southeast China where he runs three plants. U.S. electricity rates are about 75% lower, and in South Carolina, Liu doesn’t have to put up with frequent blackouts.
About the only major thing that’s more expensive in Spartanburg is labor. Liu is looking to offer $12 to $13 an hour there, versus about $2 an hour in Dongguan, not including room and board. But Liu expects to offset some of the higher labor costs with a payroll tax credit of $1,500 per employee from South Carolina.
"I was surprised," said the 63-year-old president of Shanxi Yuncheng Plate-Making Group. "The gap’s not as large as I thought."
(Photo: Don Lee / Los Angeles Times)
What do you get when you combine sheet music with a roller coaster? This neat award-winning ad from the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, by Euro RSCG Zurich. Looks like the ad people played RollerCoaster Tycoon!
Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] – via AdFreak
Animal Index is a cute set of book dividers (also works for magazine and CDs) by Hiroshi Sasagawa, made to look like animal silhouettes.
They look like something you can make yourself as a fun weekend project with the kids!
Link [in Japanese] – via Happy Mundane
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Quick: what image comes to mind when I say "Oreo"? The sweet round cookie with a creamy center that you dunk in milk?
Apparently, that’s not the image that comes to mind in China: The iconic cookie is a long, think thick, four-layered water wafer coated in chocolate… and it’s not so sweet. Here’s why:
Oreos were first introduced in 1912 in the U.S., but it wasn’t until 1996 that Kraft introduced Oreos to Chinese consumers. Nine years later, a makeover began. Shawn Warren, a 37-year-old Kraft veteran who had spent many years marketing the company’s cookies and crackers around the world, arrived in Asia in 2005 and noticed that Oreo’s China sales had been flat for the previous five years.
Back then, Kraft was selling the U.S. version of Oreos in China. Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity — doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results — "characterized what we were doing," says Mr. Warren, vice president of marketing for Kraft Foods International. [...]
Mr. Warren assigned his team to a lengthy research project that yielded some interesting findings. For one thing, Kraft learned that
traditional Oreos were too sweet for Chinese tastes.
Here’s an interesting article by Julie Jargon of The Wall Street Journal on how food giant Kraft finally got nimble by trusting local managers: Link – via Beyond Madison Avenue
Undecimber is the thirteenth month of the year, according to the computer language Java.
It’s not a joke: the logic is that lunar calendars sometime have 13th month (for example, in the Hebrew calendar, 7 years out of every 19 have 13 months.
From On Gold Mountain: Sculptures from the Sierra by Zhan Wang
Artist Zhan Wang created the cityscape of San Francisco using stainless steel pots and pans and silverware!
His work is now on display at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco: Link | Photo Gallery – via Boing Boing
Craftster user Theperilouspopsicle decided to make her own prom dress out of … Skittles candy wrappers!
stats:
15 hours
101 skittle wrappers.a very cool thing about this project is that i posted ads on craigs list for wrappers and people actually sent me quite a few!
oh and yeah, turns out i dont actually like skittles..only the red ones. and after this project i dont think i’ll ever want skittles again (i had my friends eating most of them…hey! it was like a recycling AND a feed the hungry project)
And apparently, being the Skittles girl made her into the Belle of the Ball:
Prom went really well, my dress was a total hit and tons of people stopped to talk to me and take photos. Even during afterparty when i disguised myself in a tshirt and jeans there were still people running up to talk to me/ ‘omg thats the skittles girl!’. So all in all it was a great night, and the dress was definitely a success…now i wonder what i’ll make next seeing as i want to do more unconventional material work.
Link – Thanks Candy Addict!
Californians who converted their cars to run on vegetable oil pride themselves for saving gas money, as well as promoting alternative or "greener" fuels. Unfortunately, they are also learning that no good deeds go unpunished, especially by the gub’ment:
Dave Eck, a Half Moon Bay mechanic, had attracted a media spotlight with his fleet of vehicles fueled by used fryer grease from a local chowder house. So when Sacramento called, he figured officials wanted advice on promoting alternative fuels.
Not at all. The government rang to notify Eck that he was a tax cheat. He was scolded for failing to get a "diesel fuel supplier’s license," reporting quarterly how many gallons of grease he burns, and paying a tax on each gallon. [...] The state offered Eck only a potentially large fine — and not just for failing to pay taxes. He can also get in trouble for carting kitchen grease away from eateries without a license from the state Meat and Poultry Inspection Branch.
Or for not having at least $1 million in liability insurance, in case he spills some of the stuff. Or for not getting permission from the state Air Resources Board to burn fat in the first place.
The regulations are so burdensome that even Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, trying to set an example for Californians by driving a Hummer that burns cooking oil he buys at Costco, had not complied.
(Photo: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
“I bought 25 yards of mulch which included a back ache. Fun, Fun, Fun!”
Beauty is an Alaskan bald eagle whose beak was shot off several years ago. She was found in 2005, unable to properly hunt or eat. She was taken to a refuge, but her beak did not grow back. Now she will get a new one!
“For Beauty it’s like using only one chopstick to eat. It can’t be done” said biologist Jane Fink Cantwell, who operates a raptor recovery center in this Idaho Panhandle town. “She has trouble drinking. She can’t preen her feathers. That’s all about to change.”
Cantwell has spent the past two years assembling a team to design and build an artificial beak. They plan to attach it to Beauty next month. With the beak, the 7-year-old bald eagle could live to the age of 50, although not in the wild.
“She could not survive in the wild without human intervention,” Cantwell said.
The nylon-composite beak will be glued on, so it won’t be strong enough to rip flesh like a normal eagle, but will allow her to drink normally and eat food she is given. Link -via Digg
User-generated content on the internet can reach more people than high-budget films. How long will it be before Hollywood comes up with a completely user-generated film? Darius Monsef of COLOURlovers has written an article for Cineleet that looks at examples that show how close we are getting.
Spike Lee doesn’t think we’re too far off. He has teamed up with Nokia to direct a film made with mobile phone footage from every day people. “You are seeing first hand the democratization of film,” Lee said in a statement on Thursday. “Aspiring filmmakers no longer have to go to film school to make great work. With a simple mobile phone, almost anyone can now become a filmmaker.”
See video evidence in the post. Link -via Digg
Ready for the second Tokyoflash Treasure Hunt question? Here it is:
What Tokyoflash watch design is available in 4 different colors?
Find the answer at Tokyoflash.com
What is this? It’s a new contest where you can win a Free Tokyoflash watch of your choosing. Find out more about the game on our introductory post here: Link
Update 5/6/08: Yes, I meant casing color, not LED. There’s only one answer to this (hint: check out the color drop down in the product page – it’s the watch with 4 options!)
Nico de Bruyn was on a beach on Marion Island, a sub-Antarctic island that is home to Antarctic fur seals and king penguins when he noticed this bizarre attack:
De Bruyn and a colleague were on Trypot beach at Marion Island to study elephant seals when they noticed a young, adult male Antarctic fur seal, in good condition, attempting to copulate with an adult king penguin of unknown sex.
The 100kg seal first subdued the 15kg penguin by lying on it. The penguin flapped its flippers and attempted to stand and escape – but to no avail. The seal then alternated between resting on the penguin, and thrusting its pelvis, trying to insert itself, unsuccessfully.
After 45 minutes the seal gave up, swam into the water and then completely ignored the bird it had just assaulted, the scientists report. Why a fur seal would indulge in such extreme sexual behaviour is unclear.
Link (Photo: Nico de Bruyn)
Previously on Neatorama: 30 Strangest Animal Mating Habits
Bill Bramanti loves his Pabst Blue Ribbon beer so much that he got a custom made casket made to look like his favorite beer can. Bill and his family decided to make good use of the casket while he’s still alive, so they threw a party and used the casket as a giant ice chest filled with … you guessed it, Bill’s favorite brew.
Here’s a video clip from the Associated Press: Hit play or go to Link [YouTube]
Attention dog lovers! if Assemblyman Bill Maze of California succeeds, pretty soon you won’t be able to drive with your pets on your lap anymore:
A California lawmaker wants to ban motorists from holding pets on their laps while driving. Getting caught could net a $35 fine.
Assemblyman Bill Maze said his legislation has nothing to do with pet-loving celebrities who are photographed driving around Los Angeles with their small dogs.
Maze said he introduced the bill after seeing a woman driving with three dogs on her lap.
The monkeys in the Ohama Park in Osaka, Japan love tourists. More specifically, the snacks and tidbits they hurled on to the monkey habitat.
So much so that they all got pretty fat, and officials at the park have to step in and put them on strict diet.
The Daily Mail has the photos of the corpulent monkeys (see what I did there?): Link (Photo: Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP)
Previously on Neatorama: Top 15 Amazingly Fat Cats
UC Berkeley Professor of Bioengineering Boris Rubinsky and colleagues have just developed a handheld medical imager that looks just like the medical tricorder in Star Trek!
New handheld medical scanners coupled with regular cell phones resemble "Star Trek" tricorders and could see what ails you with a push of a button.
The invention, using off-the-shelf cell phone technology, would allow medical scanners to boldly go where none have gone before — to the aid of the roughly three-quarters of the world’s population currently without access to ultrasounds, X-rays and other imagers used for everything from detecting tumors to monitoring fetuses.
