How long is a coastline? That depends. Do you measure around all those rocks jutting out from the beach? Do you measure the inside of a harbor? Do you take shortcuts when the coast is really jagged? And what about islands? It comes down to the "coastline paradox," in which the length of coastline can vary widely depending on how it's measured. The smaller units you use, the longer the coastline becomes.
But that's not the only problem in measuring a coast. The shoreline changes every day with the tides. It changes over time due to erosion, geologic activity, and human construction. It changes due to climate change. The problem, which you probably never thought about before, is explained in great detail in this video from RealLifeLore. The last minute is an ad. -via Laughing Squid
You know why people are always picking on Bards? Because they're jealous and they know Bard is the mightiest class in Dungeons & Dragons or any roleplaying game, because they have both the melee and magic skills, all wrapped up in an irresistible package.
But by all means continue to talk trash about Bards like the Barbarian does in this Rock Paper Cynic comic, and while you're busy hating the Bard will run off with your loot and your love interest- and their charm spells will make you hand it all over with a smile!
The Broccoli Tree on lake Vättern in Sweden was made famous by Patrik Svedberg, who saw that its beauty was worth sharing. But sharing something means running the risk of losing it. Here's the story from the Vlog Brothers.
Oscar Wilde once wrote that “Each man kills the thing he loves”. I don’t know exactly what Wilde meant by that, but our collective attention and obsession, amplified by the speed and intensity of the internet & social media, tends to ruin the things we love: authors, musicians, restaurants, actors, beloved movies, vacation spots, artists, democracies, and even a tree that became too famous to live.
Know Your Meme is an invaluable reference for those who live and work in internet culture. When an idea goes viral and appears everywhere at once, Know Your Meme has already determined the original source and tracked its growth and evolution. Websites and sources come and go, but the database serves as a historical archive. The site began when a group from Rocketboom began noticing that brands were using internet content without crediting the originators. It started as a video series, but the database that soon followed is what makes it so useful. Now Know Your Meme is marking its tenth anniversary, so it's a good time to learn more about it.
Know Your Meme set itself apart by approaching memes with journalistic integrity and rigor long before most people thought they deserved such treatment — or even knew what they were. The website has since become the go-to encyclopedia for internet culture, an ever-expanding library of memes and other internet phenomena that gets cited by publications like The Atlantic and The Washington Post, and receives fact-checking calls from The New York Times. Though much of the content it’s called upon to explain is silly, heinous, or both, it has built a reputation as one of the very few reputable sources on the machinations of the most important and little-understood invention of our lifetime: the social web. Nobody knows more about lols and GIFs, the mechanics of a viral goof, or the life and times of Pepe the Frog. Nobody has dug deeper into the cesspools of 4chan or the acid-trip wonderland of Tumblr. Nobody has seen this much shit.
Don't Call Me Oscar is a Tumblr blog that contains a collection of photographs from a family who recreates scenes from Oscar-nominated films. Sophia, Sadie, and Sloane and their friends are adorable in each one. This year's Best Picture nominees are there, but since they didn't do The Shape of Water, you'll want to delve back into previous year's images.
They've been doing this with movies since the 2011 nominees were announced! Check out all of them at Don't Call Me Oscar. -via Everlasting Blort
Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website or at Facebook.
The talkie revolution had been steadily rising in motion pictures since the late 1920's. Charlie Chaplin, the world's most famous and beloved movie figure, had resisted joining the growing revolution with his most recent film City Lights in 1931.
Chaplin's follow-up film, Modern Times, was originally planned and scheduled to be Chaplin's first full-length talkie. Charlie had written an entire sound script and it looked like Chaplin's world famous persona, "the little tramp," would finally be speaking in a movie, in this, Chaplin's 77th motion picture. But after giving the idea second thoughts, Chaplin shifted gears and decided to go back to the idea of a silent film. The little tramp, he reasoned, was a universal figure, and with the first words he spoke, he would lose much of his worldwide audience.
Production on Modern Times (the film's working title was The Masses) began on October 11, 1934. Modern Times would tell the story of Chaplin's tramp being caught up in the ever-growing industrial world and how he coped with it.
The bottom of the world is the coldest place on earth, and is not conducive to human habitation. But people live there anyway, although not permanently, and not in the way we are used to. For one thing, what time is it? For another, what country are you in? And most important, how do you keep warm?
No one is "from" Antarctica, and no one can go there without a reason and great planning. Getting there is an adventure in itself. Wendover Productions explains the ins and outs of living in Antarctica in detail, and makes it all interesting.
The idea of keeping a tick around is bad enough, but a nervous one? Especially when it's ruining your poker game! You could probably tell where this comic was going long before the punch line. Still, we are suckers for a good pun. This is the latest comic from Chris Hallbeck at Maximumble.
Rick is usually too drunk to remember all the stupid things he has agreed to do, so when a strange double bandolier speedo thingy, a revolver and a ponytail wig showed up in the mail he assumed his drunk mind had struck again. Rick slipped on the suit and boots and slipped the straps on, then he pulled the gun and mustered up his best badass sci-fi hero face as he gazed at his new look in the mirror. "Hey Morty, this *braaaap* new stupid sexy shooter guy suit ain't so bad, kinda brings out my macho side..." Rick trailed off as a portal opened up next to him and Morty, dressed like some kind of stupid sci-fi character with Egyptian influences, grabbed him and pulled him in...
Add some stupid funny sci-fi flavor to your geeky wardrobe with this Gazorpazorp t-shirt by Nemons, it won't make you sexier but it will make people laugh wherever you go, making you a comedy hero.
Are you a professional illustrator or T-shirt designer? Let's chat! Sell your designs on the NeatoShop and get featured in front of tons of potential new fans on Neatorama!
Here's a low-cost alternative for people who want to see Disney World, but can't afford the trip. Google and Disney announced today that all U.S. Disney theme parks and resorts are on Google Street View. They feature 360-degree panoramic views of attractions from Disneyland to the ESPN Complex to the water parks.
To create the 360-degree imagery at Disney Parks, Google used Street View Trekker, a wearable backpack with a camera system on top. The Trekker is worn by an operator and is moved through walkways and structures, automatically gathering images. Imagery is then stitched together to create the 360-degree panoramas you see today.
That's a lot of walking. I hope they used more than one operator. The entrance portals to all eleven attractions can be found at the Google Blog. Yes, you'll still have the crowds. -via Boing Boing
Marvel gave us a superhero movie in which Thor got a haircut and the audience got some laughs. And they loved it. Screen Junkies did, too, but still found plenty to poke fun at in the third Thor film, Thor: Ragnarok.
Thor and the Hulk take on quite a variety of opponents, including Thor's family, the bad guys, complete strangers, and an actual demon. At least that's what I got from the Honest Trailer. One more reason I need to get a Blu-ray player.
Bad dates are often so frustrating, so ego deflating, and so regretful, the bad memory of that horrible night sticks with you for the rest of your life.
But when it comes to bad dates there are many different levels of bad, which can make dating feel like a pyramid scheme:
A few years back I lived in a triplex that was once a large house. My upstairs neighbour was a cute blonde. We were friendly and had chatted in passing in the shared laundry room. We started flirting a bit via text (she had my number with my permission from the landlord due to the fusebox for the whole house being in my unit) and she suggested we go out for drink.
Less than five minutes into our “date” she launched into a pyramid scheme pitch that she called “a great business opportunity.” Cheque please and I left. She was not happy. – Guardian83
If you find yourself on a bad date just remind yourself that you are free to date other people, so don't let the first person you go out with tie you down:
Girl broke down crying mid-park-date.
No big deal, help the girl out. Found out she was crying because she was still in love with her ex. OK fine, this will be the last date, but I can still walk her home like a gentleman.
On the walk home, she starts smiling and swinging our arms saying,”I’ll train you (like a dog) to be like my ex.”
I walked her home, got in my car, texted her that it isn’t going to work, turned off my phone, drove home, and didn’t leave for three days. – CzarKwiecien
During the conversation she started talking about a bunch of things I had an interest in, being quite specific. It eventually twigged that she must have checked my Instagram for stuff I liked/did. I figured this was fine since had we met on Tinder or something that’s pretty standard.
I went back to her place and her housemate looked shocked to see me, like, f**king terrified. When we had a moment alone she beckoned me into the hallway and showed me a picture, of me, that was circled in quite a violent fashion and asked me “Is this you?”
Then ensued the most terrifying argument I’ve seen between two women ever at which point I went full nope, left as quickly as physically possible, drove away and did not ask questions. I’m sorta hopeful that there was a reason for it all and it just came off as super weird, rather than the sinister explanation I’d assumed upon seeing it. – whitehousea
Chobi is a long-haired dachshund just trying to get through this water bottle maze his human left in the hallway. When he comes to a part he's not so sure about, there's a real problem backing up, because his body is too long to just turn around!
What's amazing is how this little doggo even tries to get through without toppling the bottles. My dog would just crash through without a thought, while Chobi honestly looks sad about the few he accidentally knocked over. Luckily, the next maze was easier.
Lisa Simpson is the most underrated member of the Simpsons clan, and she's constantly overshadowed by her bratty brother, dumbass dad, magical baby sister Maggie and charming mother Marge, which is a crying shame- because she's actually a great role model for girls.
She's super smart and talented and doesn't try to hide it, she's independent enough at age 8 that her parents often turn to her for help, and her sensitivity and passion for good causes is infectious.
Lisa is described by Simpsons creator Matt Groening as "the only character on the show not controlled by his or her base impulses", but more than that she's one of the only characters on the show who is truly a force for good.
The woke little girl who has been inspiring kids and adults alike for decades is voiced by Yeardley Smith, who is now forever tied to the character since the two have shared the same voice for over 30 years.
Yeardley admits to being sometimes embarrassed by the fact that she's only allowed to play Lisa on the show because the timbre of her voice is too specific, but she's also proud to play a character she identifies with so closely:
I ask Smith if it feels, perhaps, like getting stuck eating crackers while everyone around her feasts at a bountiful and ever-expanding banquet.
“I feel like it’s more like being in a circus. Like being part of a circus performing family. But you’re not talented enough to do all the flips, so all you get to do is stand on the end of the seesaw that everybody else jumps off of.” Smith laughs. “You’ve got to have a tough skin in this business.”
The relationship between Homer and Lisa—the pairing of diametrical opposites in Lisa’s sensitivity and sincerity and Homer’s buffoonery—is also arguably the richest and most affecting relationship in the show. It can be emotional for the performers, too: Smith admits to breaking down while recording the scene in “Lisa’s Substitute” in which Lisa lashes out and calls Homer a baboon.
“Speaking very personally, I had a sometimes-wanting relationship with my own father,” she says. “So, to be able to play these scenes with Homer, where she actually feels like he gets her, really ticks a very personal box for me. I always feel that they write that stuff really beautifully. There have been so many episodes where they have a meeting of minds, when Homer goes out of his way to at least try to understand Lisa—and often admits, ‘I still don’t understand you, but I love you deeply. I’m really happy to be here with you and that’s enough for me.’ What’s better than that, really?”
Netflix will reboot the TV series Lost in Space beginning Friday, April 13th. Will it be anything like the original? Uh, no. In this series, we will hear that catchphrase, "Danger, Will Robinson!" But it doesn't come from the trusty robot that accompanied the space family Robinson. It comes from an alien that Will finds on an unfamiliar planet -who looks like a robot.
However, the biggest difference I can see is that this story is not a sitcom. We can't tell from the trailer if there's a Dr. Zachary Smith character, but if there is, he won't be one to laugh at. Another observation: this trailer follows the exact formula of all modern movie trailers, down to the beats.
