This neatolicious: Dan McPharlin creates what is probably the cutest papercraft set of miniature analog electronic devices, from tape recorder to retro synthesizers. Take a looksee: Link [Flickr Photoset] - via The Terminally Juvenile
Alex Santoso's Blog Posts
High speed photography is cool, but this photo of water, spelled out by good ol' H2O is beyond awesome! It's done by photographers Norimichi Inoguchi, Shinichi Maruyama and Wayne Wilson of Biwa, Inc.
http://www.biwainc.com/archive/ (then select Other) - via designboom
Photo: C.G. Muthana
From National Geographic Magazine's Daily Dozen, a collection of user submitted photographs as selected by photo editor Susan Welchman, here's an amazing entry. I'd like to think of it as celebrating eternal optimism - as in pile-an-extra-one-on-it'll-surely-fit can-do spirit of third world countries.
Photographer C.G. Muthana has this to say about the overloaded auto rickshaw (looks kind of like Phil Spector's hair!):
A three-wheeler transport vehicle carrying a huge load of dry coconut husks one early winter morning in the suburbs of Mysore, India. The husks are all tied to each other using their own fibers. (Source: Daily Dozen - April Week 2)
At least they're not doing it with people and trains ...
If you're like me then you're not functional until that very first cup of coffee in the morning. Now you can make the best part of waking up even moo-re fun with this handcrafted Calf & Half Creamer ($17.95)
Who can refuse this udderly wonderful design by Liz Goulet Dubois of Fred Studio? Not me certainly - we've just gotten our shipment for the Neatorama's Online Store: http://shop.neatorama.com/product-info.php?calf-half-creamer-pid279.html
Artist Barnaby Barford creates exquisite ceramic figurines with the unlikeliest of subjects. Check out this piece above, titled Family Feast, which is a tableau of a dinner of ravenous family members devouring buckets and buckets of KFC!
http://www.barnabybarford.co.uk/gallery_top.php?folder=56&vis=2&area=0
Previously on Neatorama: Re-Mixed Ceramic Figurines by Barnaby Barford
Tailors watch out! There's a weird yet popular hoax going on in Saudi Arabia that set people rushing out to buy old-fashioned sewing machines for up to $50,000:
The Singer sewing machines are said to contain traces of red mercury, a substance that may not exist. But it is widely thought that it can be used to find treasure, ward off evil spirits or even make nuclear bombs.
It is believed that tiny amounts can sell for millions of dollars, the Saudi Gazette reported. The paper said that trade in the sewing machines was brisk across the country.
Now, if we can only convince them that Neatoramabot T-shirt contains the even-more-exotic purple mercury, then we'll be set for life!
Some frogs are content to swallow a Christmas light, whereas others opt for a larger fare. Check out this green-stripe frog that took a bite out of a smaller green tree frog, as captured by wildlife fan Kerry Roberts in the garden of her home:
She said she heard a frog squealing and assumed that a snake had got into her garden was was eating one of the hundreds of amphibians that live near her house.
Kerry continued: "I was having coffee at about 6.30 in the morning when I heard some squealing and splashing in my pool - like a frog in distress.
"My first thought was 'oh no, it's a snake, how am I going to get rid of it?'. But when I went over for a closer to look I saw it was a frog trying to eat another one."
Link (Photo: Kerry Roberts)
What's the secret to happiness? According to a study by the University of Ulster, the answer is: having sisters!
Lead researcher Professor Tony Cassidy said: "Sisters appear to encourage more open communication and cohesion in families.
"However, brothers seemed to have the alternative effect. Emotional expression is fundamental to good psychological health and having sisters promotes this in families."
He said many of the participants had been brought up in families where parents had split and the impact of sisters was even more marked in these circumstances.
"I think these findings could be used by people offering support to families and children during distressing times. We may have to think carefully about the way we deal with families with lots of boys."
Every restaurant claims it has secret ingredients that make its food so special. This, apparently, is Domino's Pizza's ...
These two Domino's Pizza workers documented their shenanigans and uploaded it to YouTube. The original clip was taken down, but re-uploaded by someone else (ah, the power of the Intertubes) and has now spread all over the blogosphere ...
Oh, these two are SO fired! Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] - via everywhere! | Consumerist readers even tracked down the place.
Add this to the list of social ills blamed on web 2.0 social networking sites Twitter and Facebook: they could harm your moral values!
Today's fast-paced media could be making us indifferent to human suffering and should allow time for us to reflect, according to researchers.
They found that emotions linked to moral sense are slow to respond to news and events and have failed to keep up with the modern world.
In the time it takes to fully reflect on a story of anguish and suffering, the news bulletin has already moved on or the next Twitter update is already being read.
As activities such as reading books and meeting friends, where people can define their morals, are taken over by news snippets and fast-moving social networking, the problem could become widespread, researchers warn.
Children could be particularly vulnerable because their brains are still developing.
"If things are happening too fast, you may not ever fully experience emotions about other people's psychological states and that would have implications for your morality," said Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, from the University of Southern California, and one of the researchers.
French artist Nathalie Costes threaded large wooden beads through electrical cords to turn your cord chaos into decorative elements instead (or trip hazard, depending on your age and point of view): http://www.nathaliecostes.com/nathalie_costes/2009/03/nouveaux-sautoirs-%C3%A9lectriques-en-vente-dans-happy-new-home-.html - via Apartment Therapy
Photo: Taiyo Onorato and Nico Krebs
This anatomical duvet cover (or is it blanket?) is titled The Hypochondriac (2004) and is the work of Taiyo Onorato and Nico Krebs of TONK. The duo are great photographers, but their website has atrocious navigation - via Who Killed Bambi?
While people in the United States endlessly debate what should be done with the country's drug problem, Portugal went ahead and decriminalize the use and possession of illicit drugs 5 years ago.
Here's what the country learned:
In the face of a growing number of deaths and cases of HIV linked to drug abuse, the Portuguese government in 2001 tried a new tack to get a handle on the problem—it decriminalized the use and possession of heroin, cocaine, marijuana, LSD and other illicit street drugs. The theory: focusing on treatment and prevention instead of jailing users would decrease the number of deaths and infections.
Five years later, the number of deaths from street drug overdoses dropped from around 400 to 290 annually, and the number of new HIV cases caused by using dirty needles to inject heroin, cocaine and other illegal substances plummeted from nearly 1,400 in 2000 to about 400 in 2006, according to a report released recently by the Cato Institute, a Washington, D.C, libertarian think tank.
Brian Vastag of Scientific American has more on the story: Link
Photo: Steve Bourget
A team of archaeologists co-led by Steve Bourget of the University of Texas discovered a treasure-filled tomb of the Moche Culture in Peru. They found this gem amongst the content: a 1,500-year-old funerary mask of Lord Ucupe, dubbed the "king of bling" because he was covered head to toe in shiny jewels and metals.
Kelly Hearn and Ted Chamberlain of the National Geographic News have the story: Link
Email This Post to a Friend