We've reached the end of a stressful event-filled week. It started off with the Boston marathon, which became a crime scene when two bombs exploded, killing three people and injuring over a hundred. Then letters containing ricin started arriving addressed to congressmen and the president. Wednesday, they got the guy who did it. A fertilizer plant in West, Texas, had a fire and then an explosion Wednesday, resulting in 14 dead and numerous injuries. The media had its problems balancing breaking news and accuracy in the Boston events. Crowdsourced detective work meant several innocent people were suspected. Then Thursday night, one the bombing suspects died during a police confrontation. A young policemen was also killed in the line of duty. Friday, Boston stood still while police searched for the second bomber, who was captured alive last night. Then the city celebrated. And while all this went on, there may have been some posts at Neatorama you missed, so let's go over them now, beginning with our features articles.
In the first edition of Don't Eat That, John! The French Toast Reuben Nutella Elvis Sandwich, our own John Farrier challenged himself to prepare and eat one of the weird food combos he posts about. At least we know he'll take a dare.
Eddie Deezen wrote about Lina Medina: The 5-year-old Mother. A sad but true story of medical anomaly and abuse.
Uncle John's Bathroom Reader gave us the story of Women in Space: The Mercury 13.
Crime and Punishment—A Personal Meditation came from the Annals of Improbable Research.
And mental_floss magazine contributed Understanding Existentialism in Four Easy Steps.
We had three brainteasers from the Bathroom Reader series this week: Directions, Name That Heiress, and Pocket Change. Did you figure them out?
The next edition of Neatomail, our weekly newsletter, will feature a Hello Kitty giveaway, so sign up for your subscription today!
In this week's What is It? game, the small objects are copper crushers or copper pressure cylinders from the Frankford Arsenal. The What Is It blog explains how they are used to measure the force of a gun's chamber pressure. The first correct answer came from theoneandonly, who wins a t-shirt! The funniest answer was "flute holes" from Lucas Gentry. That's good for a t-shirt from the NeatoShop, too! Thanks to everyone who played, and thanks to the What Is It? blog!
The post with the most comments this week was Newest Birthing Trend: Don't Cut the Umbilical Cord, followed by Don't Eat That, John! The French Toast Reuben Nutella Elvis Sandwich and Wedding Present: Mother Gives Her Son a Lamp with Everything She Found in His Pockets While Doing His Laundry. I thought about telling John his titles are too long, but it appears to work, as far as getting comments goes.
The comment of the week came from Mike Francis in the post Mysterious Tiny Door Found in a Tree, in which he quipped "Do you have any idea what real estate prices are like in S.F.?"
The most popular post of the week was Apartment Resident Leaves Water Tap On All Winter, Creates Ice Mountain. In second place was Convertible Napping Desk, followed by Lina Medina: The 5-year-old Mother.
The post that drew the most ♥s this week was Dove Hires a Forensic Sketch Artist to Draw Women as They See Themselves. The post Judge Holds Himself in Contempt of Court When His Cell Phone Rings in Court came in second, and then we had a three-way tie between A Sloth and His Cat, Wedding Present: Mother Gives Her Son a Lamp with Everything She Found in His Pockets While Doing His Laundry, and "Look for the Helpers." But if you want to see posts with consistently high ratings by ♥s, check out the sub-blog Lifestyles of the Cute and Cuddly. It's under the button labeled "Pets" in the top menubar.
Usability Tip of the Week: Our latest feature articles are pictured in thumbnail images across the top of each page of Neatorama. But you can use the arrows on each side of that listing to find even more -up to the last twenty, I believe. We're still working on getting all our features ready for a new "best of" page, coming soon!
Mother's Day is May 12 -and that's a lot sooner than you thought, right? You'll be ahead of the game if you order Mom a gift soon from the NeatoShop, because no one else will find her a gift as unique as yours.
Now that's a happy fox! This picture is from the Neatoramanauts Facebook page. Just an example of the extra content you'll find at Facebook, so check it out every day! Follow Neatorama on Twitter and Pinterest, too!