(Error t-shirt on sale at the NeatoShop)

Christopher Null of Wired has a problem. Or, rather, computers have a problem with his last name:

But there’s a dark side to being a Null, and you coders out there are way ahead of me on this. For those of you unwise in the ways of programming, the problem is that “null” is one of those famously “reserved” text strings in many programming languages. Making matters worse is that software programs frequently use “null” specifically to ensure that a data field is not empty, so it’s often rejected as input in a web form.

So Null’s name alone often induces computer errors:

Sometimes, my name leads to harmless hilarity, particularly when mailing lists don’t know what to do with the word. American Express is probably the biggest perpetrator, regularly sending junk mail to my house addressed to my business—but dropping the “Null” from the name. The company called “Media LLC” is often helmed by a mysterious gentleman who is addressed only as “Mr.”

He’s had to unofficially change his name in small ways to get it to register in some systems:

Turning my last name into a combination of my middle name and last name, or middle initial and last name, sometimes works, but only if the website doesn’t choke on multi-word last names. My usual trick is to simply add a period to my name: “Null.” This not only gets around many “null” error blocks, it also adds a sense of finality to my birthright.

We used to have a problem like this at my library. An application that we used required patron last names to be at least 3 letters long. But some last names of Vietnamese origin have only 2 letters. This caused the system to reject their name entries.

-via Kevin D. Williamson

It’s as comfortable as comfort food. Surely there could be nothing as relaxing as putting yourself in a position in which you take on the appearance of food. So it’s good that the NOBU Corporation sells a zaisu (a floor chair) that looks like a folded slice of bread. I’d like mine with bacon, peanut butter, and bananas, please.

-via Dude I Want That

Redditor Pinehearst writes, “The McDonald’s in my town got flooded This was the result.” It’s more likely the town flooded, but the McDonald’s stayed dry and open for business. Good for the staff!

This photo comes from Port Lincoln, South Australia, which has recently experienced flooding as the result of heavy rain. The McDonald’s crew was helpful when Tamara Baker, 18, paddled up to the drive-through window for some food. The Daily Mail quotes her:

Tamara said McDonalds staff were impressed by her creativity and determination as she paddled through the drive-thru.

'They all just sort of laughed and said `this is the best thing. No one thought a kayak would come through the drive through',' she said.

But the teenager was shocked when her snap when viral.

'I didn't expect that at all. I thought maybe my friends would see it and have a laugh but nope. It's mental,' Tamara said.

-via First We Feast

(Photo: Vberger)

Huanglou, a village in the Guangxi Province of China, has a unique cultural practice: the women cut their hair only once during their entire lives. Otherwise, they let it grow up to 7 feet long. They are masters of the care of very long hair, using their own particular shampoo developed over the centuries.

The Red Yao women, as they are known due to their red clothing, maintain very precise practices for how their hair is arranged and displayed. It’s cut only once, when a girl turns 18, and eventually becomes a gift to her husband when she marries. The way that she wears her hair indicates her family status. Messy Nessy Chic explains:

For example, if the hair is wrapped like a circular tray on top of her head, it means she is married but has no children. If she is married with children, she’ll wear a bun at the front of her wrapped style– perhaps to represent a baby bump? I’d like to think it’s a play on “bun in the oven”!

If she wears a scarf around her head, with her hair remaining hidden, it means she is looking for a husband, who traditionally, would be the only man with the privilege to see her hair in all its beauty. Nowadays, once she’s married at least, the people of Huangluo seem to be a little more comfortable with sharing that beauty with the world.

Indeed they are. Huangluo has become a popular tourist destination as people travel to see the famous Red Yao women and their luxurious hair. You can see more photos of them at Messy Nessy Chic.

I first encountered Cassandra Calin's work with Hair: Expectations vs. Reality. I was immediately attracted to her vivid facial expressions that were perfectly formed for comedic effect. Since then, we've featured her work several times. Cassandra kindly agreed to an interview so that we could learn more about her art and life.

Can you tell us about your background? How did you start cartooning?

In middle school, I was always doodling instead of paying attention in class; especially science. I loved to scribble little people or funny faces on the photos that were in my science book. It was often something immature, but my friends thought it was hilarious.

Shortly after, one of my two childhood friends gave me the idea of starting a comic series based on us; the trio. Each episode was very roughly drawn on 1 or 2 pages and they had a few dirty jokes, some events that actually happened and a plot that rarely made sense. There was also an emphasis on each of our personalities and flaws in real life, which gave the series an interesting vibe. It was a very enjoyable personal project and it made me realize that I have a passion for comic art.

A year ago, a friend recommended that I join Tumblr and now, here I am, having a blast doing what I love.

Beckie Bone Dunning was in Ocho Rios, Jamaica when she spotted this amazing sight in the sky. Meteorologist Nick Wiltgen calls the phenomenon "cloud iridescence." He explained to the Daily Telegraph that:

"In clouds, iridescence is a by-product of sunlight being diffracted by water droplets or ice crystals, causing the various wavelengths of light, which we see as colours, to emerge at different angles," he said.

"As they reach the observer's eye, the observer perceives a pattern of various colours as those different wavelengths reach his or her eye from distinct directions, rather than being jumbled together and appearing whitish."

(Pie Comic/John McNamee)

The old joke goes something like this:

An angel appeared to three fishermen and says to one of them, "I'll grant you whichever of three blessings you choose: wisdom, beauty, or ten million dollars."

The fisherman thinks for a moment and chooses wisdom. There is a flash of lightning and the fisherman is transformed, but then he just sits there, staring blankly.

His two friends poke him and say, “You have great wisdom. Say something!" The fisherman says, “I should have taken the money!”

Poor bird. To borrow a phrase from Richard Adams, "He had the jewel in his pocket all along."

(Photo: Sotheby's)

This is My Wife's Lovers, a painting by Austrian artist Cal Kahler. It's a majestic display of feline beauty consisting of 42 cats on a canvas that measures 75 by 102 inches. If you're looking for the world's ultimate cat painting, you've found it.

In 1881, Kahler visited the United States and met a lady named Johnson. In 1891, she asked him to paint a portrait of all of her cats. This monumental work is the result of his labors, though it shows only 42 of Mrs. Johnson's 350 cats.

Sotheby's in New York sold it on Monday for $826,000. It's surely worth every penny.

-via Dave Barry

(Video Link)

This was, believe it or not, a safety demonstration. Expert skydiver Brianne Thompson wants to teach people the importance of carrying a second parachute. So after she jumped and deployed her first parachute, she intentionally set it on fire with a flare gun.

The canopy instantly flared and dissolved, causing Thompson to go into a free fall. That's when she deployed her back-up parachute, which she used to land safely on the ground.

Thompson is, by my estimation, successful in her goal. I plan to begin wearing two parachutes everywhere, even in the shower.

-via Daily of the Day

(Video Link)

He's had a submarine car, a horse's butt that opens to reveal a plane, and a coffee pot that . . . well, it makes coffee. Over 23 movies covering his lengthy career, Agent 007 has used the most extraordinary devices to get his work done. Often they're concealed to look like ordinary, everyday objects, since he's a spy. But inside, they're all amazing technological wonders.

In this video, Burger Fiction runs through all of the movies in order, showing each special gadget that Bond has used at work. That's fully 193 unique machines.

-via NotCot

I walk fast. This is because I am a decent human being, unlike all of the people who waddle in front of me at 1 mile per hour, like they have nothing to accomplish in their lives except be obstacles to human progress.

The city of Liverpool, UK found that 47% of survey respondents said that slow walkers are the most annoying problem they encounter when shopping in the city center. The city responded to this problem by making it legal to taser slow walkers building "fast lanes" on sidewalks with high foot traffic. The Independent reports:

Opening on the city's St John Street, the fast lanes will allow users to speed through the crowds while perusing the three-storey Liverpool One shopping centre.

The research, conducted by Argos, also revealed shoppers hated battling through crowds, people chatting in the middle of the street and pavement hoggers.

I found this article through reddit, where commenters offer great suggestions about how to deal with slow walkers. For example:

I find it's much easier to trip them or push them to the ground and continue my walking without the awkward baby steps behind them. Try it for yourself

It's not a Barbie Dream House. Barbie couldn't possibly afford the Astolat Dollhouse Castle. This extraordinary 29-room mansion is fit for a princess--if she can fit inside.

Miniaturist Elaine Diehl and other top artisans from around the world made it with only the finest materials over a 13-year period. It's 9 feet tall and weighs 800 pounds. Inside are rare, one-of-a-kind furnishings, including a library of miniature but readable books and tiny paintings. There's even a tiny bear skin rug, which I will assume is made from a tiny bear which has been hunted, killed, and skinned.*

For the first time ever, the Astolat will go on public display in New York City from November 12 through December 8. The estimated value is $8.5 million, which by Manhattan apartment standards is very affordable.

-via Nag on the Lake

*But probably not.

(I Heart Yeti t-shirt on sale at the NeatoShop)

It used to be common for people in Bhutan to see the yeti--the legendary hairy man-like beast of the Himalayas. But not anymore. In recent years, sightings of yeti have plummeted. Why? It's not because there are fewer yetis. BBC News investigated and found the answer: people little reason to venture high into the mountains anymore.

Yeti sightings used to occur as people foraged for firewood. Now people living in rural Bhutan are more likely to heat their homes with electricity and kerosene, leaving the region's most famous cryptid alone. No one in the village of Chendebji has seen one in 20 years:

The last person in Chendebji to have seen possible evidence of the yeti is a younger famer called Norbu.

The first time was 20 years ago, he says, when he was 18. He was in the mountains with his cattle when he saw a large footprint and the body marks of a yeti in the snow. The mere sight of them made his hair stand on end.

Then, five years later, Norbu says he discovered something very unusual - a lair made out of intricately woven sticks of bamboo.

"The yeti had broken the bamboo trees, folded them into a semi-circular shape, with the two edges of the bamboo in the ground. He had then slept inside the den. I could see the marks left by the yeti inside the nest," he says.

-via Marginal Revolution

The RMS Titanic was a floating city with almost every amenity from dry land that could be desired at sea. For example, the Titanic had its own daily newspaper called the Atlantic Daily Bulletin. Pictured above is an officer editing such a paper from a similar liner from the same time period.

The Atlantic Daily Bulletin offered practical information, such as the day's menus, but also entertained guests by providing society gossip, and kept people connected with the outside world by listing changing stock prices.

This is 1 of 16 unusual stories about the ill-fated Titanic that you might not know about. Read the rest at Vintage.

-via The Presurfer

Do you have high air conditioning bills, cracked nipples, knotted hair, and bad luck with Tinder? Then everything you need to learn to make daily life work can be found in Disney animated movies. For 75 years, Disney animated features have discreetly shown us how solve these problems. Mallory McInnis of BuzzFeed rounded up 40 of the most ingenious lifehacks that these dawn characters illustrate.