If you didn’t see the strings, you’d just think this was a skinny dog. This talented puppeteer was spotted on the streets of Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Bonus: “Stormy Weather.” -via Arbroath

Even for Buenos Aires, the Ateneo Grand Splendid is a big name for a business. From the looks of it, this bookstore is both grand AND splendid! Yes, it was built as a theater, in 1919. The conversion to a bookstore in 2000 was done with care to preserve the grandeur of the original theater. See more pictures at 91 Days. Link -Thanks, Juergen!

Ischigualasto, meaning “the place where you put the moon” is a remote valley in Argentina. It is studded with geological formations left by wind erosion, amazing standing stones and boulders that are so rounded they look like enormous marbles. The valley’s once-fertile ground is now arid and contains so many plant and animal fossils that paleontologists come from all over the world to study them. Link

(Image credit: Flickr user Aylwin Lo)

Link – Via Dudecraft

In a corrupt society like Argentina, an honest man is hard to find. Yet, when an elderly couple left $32,500 in his cab, Santiago Gori hunted them down and returned every penny. Stunned by such honesty, Argentines began donating to him via a web site that was set up in his honor. So far the equivalent of $14,580 has been donated, according to the site.

“Thank you”, say many of the messages and one said it all: “I wish more people were like you.”

Link – via holeinthedonut

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by baweibel.

Update 5/11/09 – It’s just come to my attention of the statement describing Argentina as corrupt. They’re not my words (this was a post from the Upcoming Queue, written by the submitter) and I do not agree with such a broad and overreaching statement.

While I will leave the post up in its entirety, I’d like to express my apologies to our Argentinian readers. As a clarification, the statement is not the belief of the blog.

Esperanza Base (pictured) is now inhabited by 55 people, including ten families and two schoolteachers! Link

(image credit: © Samuel Blanc)

Two students from a technical high school in Argentina built a mouse that can be controlled by eye movements, thus allowing people with total paralysis to use the computer.

The invention is named the "Eye Mouse." This idea is not new but what makes it different is that it is a DIY mouse that almost anyone can build with cheap and easy-to-find components.

How does it work? The free software that they provide, divides the monitor surface in squares and asks the user what he wants to do – focus on an area, right click, left click, etc – with yes and no answers. If the eye looks at the camera, that is translated as a "yes".

With just a webcam,  an infrared LED, a small, flexible metal tube and the headband of a welding helmet, anyone can build the mouse at a fraction of the cost of similar devices.

The students wanted to make the Eye Mouse available to everyone, so the software is free. They have published step-by-step instructions on how to build the mouse, originally in Spanish but they have already been translated to English.

Link – via ticbelgrano

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by scbr.

This is a pretty clever guerilla marketing by the Argentinian Red Cross: a "melting" man passing out fliers urging spectators in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to fight global warming.

Link | Photo via Comunicadores.info [in Portuguese] – Thanks Adam!

Previously on Neatorama:

• Ice Sculptures of Melting Men by Nele Azevedo
• Melting Ice Cream Truck