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The art of the thank you note is not practiced as much as it once was, even though they always make the recipient happy. Mental_floss has collected some of the best thank you notes ever from the archives of Letters of Note. For example, here’s a note Neil Armstrong sent to the Extravehicular Mobility Unit engineering team.
To the EMU gang:
I remember noting a quarter century or so ago that an emu was a 6 foot Australian flightless bird. I thought that got most of it right.
It turned out to be one of the most widely photographed spacecraft in history. That was no doubt due to the fact that it was so photogenic. Equally responsible for its success was its characteristic of hiding from view its ugly occupant.
Its true beauty, however, was that it worked. It was tough, reliable and almost cuddly.
To all of you who made it all that it was, I send a quarter century’s worth of thanks and congratulations.
Sincerely,
(Signed) Neil A. Armstrong
You’ll enjoy the others just as much, if not more. Link
Psst!
Want a promotion? The secret to getting promoted at work is quite simple.
Change your name into something simple:
Parents wanting to give their children a leg up in the workforce can start early by giving them a simple name like Michael, Tom, Jane or Mary, new research suggests.
A study by professors at the University of Melbourne and New York University revealed that people with simple, easy-to-pronounce names were more likely to be favored for a promotion at work.
"The effect is not due merely to the length of a name or how foreign-sounding or unusual it is, but rather how easy it is to pronounce," said Simon Laham, the study's lead author from the University of Melbourne
From the NeatoShop: Hello My Name is McLovin
You
can get a quickie wedding, so why not a quickie divorce? That's the logic
behind the Divorce Hotel, where you can check in as a couple, and check
out in two days as singles:
In the Netherlands a weekend break can become a weekend break-up for couples hoping for a swift and cheap divorce.
It is a concept called the 'Divorce Hotel' and helps husbands and wives to arrange all the necessary legal documentation to end their marriage over the course of just two days.
They meet a mediator and series of lawyers behind closed doors who will split assets, agree alimony payments and arrange visitation rights - all for a fixed fee.
It is the brainchild of entrepreneur Jim Halfens, who said he spotted a gap in the market in a country where the average divorce can easily run into five figures and take months to complete.
"When they leave the hotel, all work is done," he told Sky News.
"The only thing that happens then in Dutch law is that they have to show the agreement to a judge in the Netherlands and that takes a couple of weeks.
"They walk divorced out of this door and to make it official takes a couple of weeks."
If you're wondering, the couples mostly choose to stay in separate rooms: Link
Previously on Neatorama: The Increasingly Rapid Decline of Marriage
The world may be ending, but that's no reason to fret! Be prepared, instead! (That's so catchy we ought to trademark it). Meet the Doomsday "Preppers," survivalists who prepare for the coming Apocalypse and, in some cases, profit at the same time:
ABC's Nightline has more: Link (Warning: auto-start video) | National Geographic series about it: Doomsday Prepper"There's a lot of different things that could happen," Ralston said. "For me, I look at prepping as kind of like insurance. You have car insurance, health insurance, life insurance."
Call it Apocalypse insurance. Ralston turned his family's two-car garage into a staging area. Inside is a trailer, which he keeps packed and ready to go at all times, stockpiles of freeze-dried food, including cartons of canned chicken with a shelf life of 15 years, survival gear, such as a system for purifying polluted water, first aid kits and lots of weapons and ammunition. His son has his own AK-47.
"In the beginning, my wife really wasn't on the same page as I was," Ralston said. "But in reality, the more information I started to give to her, it opened up her eyes to the other potential threats that are out there."
You’ve been warned. Indie filmmakers Andrew McMurry and Nathan McMurry put together this short clip, “Psycho Siri,” as an example of what could happen if you piss off an iPhone.
Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] – Thanks Tiffany!
A team of Russian scientists drilling 2 miles into the ice in the middle of the Antarctic to tap the underground Vostok lake that has been untouched for 15 million years has not been heard from for more than five days.
The start of a new science fiction novel? Well, almost.
The first part is real: there is an underground lake miles beneath the Antarctic ice that has been isolated for millions of years. And the Russians are drilling into it, despite oppositions from environmental groups who feared contaminations.
The second part - the one about the team being "lost" - is not. But, you know, of course that's what they'd say to cover up the conspiracy ;)
Our pal Frank Warren of PostSecret has just posted his 2012 PostSecret Live speaking tour and book signing schedule (The one near me is sold out, boo hoo!). If you're nearby, it's definitely worth going:
PostSecret "Live” is a multi-media presentation by Frank Warren, founder of PostSecret. See the postcards that were banned from the books. Hear the inspiring and funny stories behind the secrets. See the App secret that got the biggest response. Share your secret at the microphone.
See the full list here: Link - Thanks Frank!
So.
Eight years ago, there was the infamous Janet Jackson's Wardrobe Malfunction.
Now, we have rapper M.I.A.'s "Middle Finger Malfunction":
The NFL and a major television network are apologizing for another Super Bowl halftime show.
There was no wardrobe malfunction, nothing like that glimpse of Janet Jackson's nipple eight years ago that caused an uproar and a government scrutiny. Instead, it was an extended middle finger from British singer M.I.A. during Sunday night's performance of Madonna's new single, "Give Me All Your Luvin.'"
In front of some 110 million viewers on NBC and uncounted others online, she flipped the bird and appeared to sing, "I don't give a (expletive)" at one point, though it was hard to hear her clearly.
Did you watch the Super Bowl halftime show? Whatcha think?
Link (Photo: NBC)
We’ve previously featured Spabettie’s scrumptious-looking vegan s’more cocktails. The cups were made out of chocolate using Cool Shooters ice trays, so you can devour them with no clean up concerns.
Now Spabettie is continuing with the same theme, this time using vegan white chocolate. She poured a pepper-infused vodka into the chocolate cups to create a hot Valentine’s Day treat.
Link -via Tasteologie
On the left is a normal testicle. On the right is one that has been blasted with ultrasound. The latter has a reduced sperm count, which is why researchers at the University of North Carolina think that they may have discovered an effective male contraceptive:
They found that two, 15-minute doses “significantly reduced” the number of sperm-producing cells and sperm levels. [...]
Lead researcher Dr James Tsuruta said: “Further studies are required to determine how long the contraceptive effect lasts and if it is safe to use multiple times.”
The team needs to ensure that the ultrasound produces a reversible effect, contraception not sterilisation, as well as investigate whether there would be cumulative damage from repeated doses.
Link -via Popular Science | Photo: James Tsuruta and Paul Dayton
Have
you ever frantically searched for your keys, only to pick them up and
move them without realizing it? Blame your brain: it's out of sync with
itself.
Grayden Solman and colleagues at the University of Waterloo explains:
Solman's team propose that the system in the brain that deals with movement is running too quickly for the visual system to keep up. While you are rummaging around a messy house to find your keys, you might not be giving your visual system enough time to work out what each object is. Since time can be costly, sacrificing accuracy on occasion for speed might be beneficial overall, Solman thinks.
The slowing of mouse movements suggests that at some level the volunteers were aware that they had missed their target, a theory that is backed up by other studies that show people tend to slow down their actions after they have made a mistake, even if they don't consciously realise the mistake. Solman reckons this reflects the brain's "attempt to slow down the motor system", to allow the visual system to catch up and conscious perception to occur.
"What's really interesting is the notion that the motor and perceptual system are decoupled. They're both trying to help you find [your keys] but they're not coordinating," says Todd Horowitz, at Harvard University. "There are implications for social search, such as a doctor looking through an X-ray or [security] looking through luggage."
A truck full of fish overturned and dumped its load into Northern Ireland farmer Gordon Flinn’s field on Thursday. The tonnes of mackerel were piled two feet deep in places. The driver of the truck was taken to the hospital, but was not seriously injured and was able to return to the scene. The truck was removed and the road opened later that night, but the Flinns may have to put up with a fishy smell for some time. Link -via Arbroath
(Image credit: Louise Flinn)
Be still my nerdy heart! I've found a slice of Nerd Heaven: Behold the nerdiest collection to ever grace the InterWeb: Louisiana State University's Chemistry professor John A. Pojman's huge collection of pocket protectors (1,200 and growing!): Link - via It's Okay To Be Smart
See also: 25 Strangest Collections on the Web
Fifteen years ago, Barry Chappell quit smoking and started chewing nicotine gum. But it was only six years ago that he made a fateful decision to start keeping his old gum. Now, 95,200 pieces later, Chappell possesses a 175-pound ball of used nicotine gum.
Remember Chappell’s example, and pursue greatness in your own way.
Link -via Oddity Central | Photo: Art and Coin
After
naming
a fly after her, academia continues its fascination with Beyonce with
this latest move: a college course that uses the diva to explore "American
race, gender, and sexual politics."
“This isn’t a course about Beyoncé’s political engagement or how many times she performed during President Obama’s inauguration weekend,” he says. Rather, the performer’s music and career are used as lenses to explore American race, gender, and sexual politics. Allred pairs Beyoncé’s music videos and lyrics with readings from the Black feminist canon, including the writings of bell hooks, Alice Walker, and even abolitionist Sojourner Truth.
Link (Photo: Jen Keys/Wikipedia) - via HuffPo
Add
this to the list of mysterious
things that fell
from the sky:
Steve Hornsby from Bournemouth said the 3cm diameter balls came raining down late on Thursday afternoon during a hail storm.
He found about a dozen of the balls in his garden. He said: "[They're] difficult to pick up, I had to get a spoon and flick them into a jam jar." [...]
Walking around his garden he found many more blue spheres were scattered across the grass.
He said: "The have an exterior shell with a softer inner but have no smell, aren't sticky and do not melt."
Well, Neatoramanauts, what do you think is the explanation?
After
curing cancer and other serious maladies of man, science turned its
attention to solving the mystery of the best scratching spot in the human
body.
Behold, the magic of science:
In the study, reported in the British Journal of Dermatology, healthy male and female volunteers aged 22 to 59 were made to itch by rubbing them with cowhage, a plant with tiny hairs that irritate the skin.
The itches were induced on three parts of the body – forearm, ankle and back. For five minutes participants were banned from scratching, while being asked to record how itchy they felt at each spot.
Then the researchers scratched each location themselves with a laboratory brush, to ensure a consistent technique. The volunteers were asked how pleasurable the sensation was.
Results showed that the itch was felt most intensely at the ankle, and that was also the spot where the pleasure of scratching was felt most keenly and persisted longest.
I think they purposely didn't test a few other spots on the human body: Link
Photo: Backscratcher Pen from the NeatoShop
Planning
something special for Valentine's Day? Not if you're in Uzbekistan. The
authorities in the Central Asian nation has canceled Valentine's Day:
Instead, residents in the capital of Tashkent can enjoy readings of poems by Mughal emperor Babur, who died in the 16th century.
The unofficial ban on romance-related festivities echoes long-standing antagonism in Uzbekistan toward the holiday. Last year, the Turkiston newspaper described Valentine's Day as the work of "forces with evil goals bent on putting an end to national values."
See also: Neat Valentine's Day gifts from the NeatoShop
Melanie Janem is a modern day Prometheus, shining a sugary light into the darkness of our stomachs. Let us be thankful.
Link -via That’s Nerdalicious! | Previously: Death by Oreo Cupcake
Does it look like Cajun Mike’s in New Orleans is offering a bargain? Counteroffer: the NeatoShop will give you the same service at 10% off whatever price Cajun Mike’s quotes you.
-via That’s Nerdalicious! | Bar Website
Image via the National
Library of New Zealand
The 13 rules of eye flirtation above probably saved society from descending
into eye flirtation chaos – I mean, could you imagine what would happen
if someone mistook the secret signals? *Shudders*
Thank goodness that the now-defunct Taranaki Herald of New Zealand publshed
the complete guides for flirtation, which includes the rules for fan flirtation,
glove flirtation, hat flirtation, and parasol flirtation, reproduced
here:
The Islington Council made a sign warning people not to attach anything to park furniture or trees -and then attached it to a tree at Highbury Fields in north London, England. A neighboring architect, who was annoyed at the many signs posted recently, went to remove the sign and was surprised to see who had posted it on the tree. Soon, others gathered around to laugh at the nonsensical notice. The council soon relocated the notice to a nearby message board. They blamed the mistake on a junior member with good intentions. Link
Everybody needs business cards, even street gangs! In the late '70s and '80s, gang members in Chicago gave out these calling cards with handdrawn logos to introduce themselves to others, and either to intimidate or to impress with their stylish flair.
Link | More at Gang Cards - via Flavorwire
John Cheese at Cracked posted a list called The 5 Stupidest Habits You Develop Growing Up Poor, but also pointed out that they are perfectly rational from the vantage point of someone who does not have the choices that come with financial solvency. They would seem stupid to anyone who hasn’t been there, done that. For example, the food you grew up eating was determined by price and preservatives.
Forget about fresh produce or fresh baked goods or fresh anything. Canned vegetables are as cheap as a gang tattoo, and every poor person I knew (including myself) had them as a staple of their diet. Fruit was the same way. Canned peaches could be split between three kids for half the cost of fresh ones, and at the end you had the extra surprise of pure, liquefied sugar to push you into full-blown hyperglycemia.
If it wasn’t canned, it was frozen. TV dinners, pot pies, chicken nuggets … meals that can be frozen forever, and preparation isn’t more complicated than “Remove from box. Nuke. Eat.” Because of that, by week two, half of everything we bought would be freezer burned. Just like with the canned food, you grow up thinking that this is the way it’s supposed to taste. It’s not that you grow to like it, necessarily, but you do grow to expect it.
This is not the humorous Cracked article you may expect, but the text is still NSFW. Link
With this equation, of course:
Graph that and you'll get this:
via Krulwich Wonders
See also: I Heart Math T-Shirt over at the NeatoShop
He’d better find his spectacles before he heads into battle. There! Russian street artist Pavel Puhov found them. You can view more creative works by him at the link.
Link -via Colossal | Artist’s Website (Google Translate)
36-year-old Silicon Valley computer specialist Trent Arsenault is father to 14 children, yet he’s a virgin. How did he do it? Sperm donation, of course .. and now, the government is trying to stop him:
Trent Arsenault told CNN’s Anderson Cooper he has never had sex and “committed 100 percent of my sexual energy for producing sperm for childless couples to have babies. So I don’t have other activity outside of that.”
The Food and Drug Administration, however, wants to put an end to Arsenault’s activity.
Through his own website, Arsenault connects with Bay Area couples looking to conceive. The website is extensive and lists his medical records, including a list of sexually transmitted diseases he has been tested for, his diet, sperm count, and personality traits.
The federal government is not happy he sells his sperm directly, but Arsenault believes he is helping couples start families.
Link - Thanks Tiffany! | Photo: Sperm Cell from the NeatoShop
Didn’t Starship Troopers feature aliens hitting the Earth with rocks? Well, I’m sure that it’s nothing. Anyway, we’re getting hit by meteorites of Martian origin:
Scientists are confirming that 15 pounds of rock collected recently in Morocco fell to Earth from Mars during a meteorite shower last July.
This is only the fifth time in history scientists have chemically confirmed Martian meteorites that people witnessed falling. The fireball was spotted in the sky six months ago, but the rocks weren’t discovered on the ground in North Africa until the end of December. [...]
Astronomers think millions of years ago something big smashed into Mars and sent rocks hurtling through the solar system. After a long journey through space, one of those rocks plunged through Earth’s atmosphere, breaking into smaller pieces.
Most other Martian meteorite samples sat around on Earth for millions of years — or at the very least, decades — before they were discovered, which makes them tainted with Earth materials and life. These new rocks, while still probably contaminated because they have been on Earth for months, are purer.
The last time a Martian meteorite fell and was found fresh was in 1962. All the known Martian rocks on Earth add up to less than 240 pounds.
Link -via io9 | Photo: Darryl Pitt
Employers
often complain of lazy workers, but in this bizarro world of corporate
human resources management, a woman was fired for working during her lunch
break:
Smiley, 48, punched out of work for lunch Jan. 28, 2010, but remained at her desk to finish a project assigned by a manager because she did not plan to eat that day, she said.
Smiley, who had passed her 10-year anniversary with the company more than a month before, said another manager told her it was time for her to go to lunch and step away from her desk, but she refused. That manager observed Smiley working on a spreadsheet on her computer, answering the phone and responding to questions by people who approached her desk, according to a filing from the appellate court of Illinois. [...]
The company's human resources director then became involved, explaining that hourly non-exempt employees were required to take a 30-minute lunch break, a policy that had been in the company handbook for 10 years, according to the filing. Not following the policy would be a violation of Illinois' labor laws, the HR director said.
Ever
heard the saying that "a
camel is a horse designed by committee"?
Despite the many downside of working in a group, your boss may be insisting that you "be a team player" or put you in an office without walls.
Well, hand him this article by Susan Cain, author of the forthcoming
book Quiet:
The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
SOLITUDE is out of fashion. Our companies, our schools and our culture are in thrall to an idea I call the New Groupthink, which holds that creativity and achievement come from an oddly gregarious place. Most of us now work in teams, in offices without walls, for managers who prize people skills above all. Lone geniuses are out. Collaboration is in.
But there’s a problem with this view. Research strongly suggests that people are more creative when they enjoy privacy and freedom from interruption. And the most spectacularly creative people in many fields are often introverted, according to studies by the psychologists Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Gregory Feist. They’re extroverted enough to exchange and advance ideas, but see themselves as independent and individualistic. They’re not joiners by nature. [...]
The New Groupthink has overtaken our workplaces, our schools and our religious institutions. Anyone who has ever needed noise-canceling headphones in her own office or marked an online calendar with a fake meeting in order to escape yet another real one knows what I’m talking about. Virtually all American workers now spend time on teams and some 70 percent inhabit open-plan offices, in which no one has “a room of one’s own.” During the last decades, the average amount of space allotted to each employee shrank 300 square feet, from 500 square feet in the 1970s to 200 square feet in 2010.
Link (Image: Andy Rementer)
