Remember the post about parents that named their kid Adolf Hitler and got into trouble when they tried to order a birthday cake? Well, here's an update. New Jersey Children's Services has just taken the kids into custody:

The three-year-old boy and his two sisters - JoyceLynn Aryan Nation, 1, and 8-month-old Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie - were removed from their home by New Jersey's Division of Youth and Family Services.

So far no officially reason has been given for the intervention, and local police say they have not received any reports of abuse or negligence.

Link - via Linkfilter

(Photo: Getty)

According to a new meta-study by CHEMTrust drawing on more than 250 scientific studies from around the world, males of the species are in danger of becoming "feminized" by gender-bender chemicals:

Wildlife and people have been exposed to more than 100,000 new chemicals in recent years, and the European Commission has admitted that 99 per cent of them are not adequately regulated. There is not even proper safety information on 85 per cent of them.

Many have been identified as "endocrine disrupters" – or gender-benders – because they interfere with hormones. These include phthalates, used in food wrapping, cosmetics and baby powders among other applications; flame retardants in furniture and electrical goods; PCBs, a now banned group of substances still widespread in food and the environment; and many pesticides.

The report – published by the charity CHEMTrust and drawing on more than 250 scientific studies from around the world – concentrates mainly on wildlife, identifying effects in species ranging from the polar bears of the Arctic to the eland of the South African plains, and from whales in the depths of the oceans to high-flying falcons and eagles.

It concludes: "Males of species from each of the main classes of vertebrate animals (including bony fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals) have been affected by chemicals in the environment.

"Feminisation of the males of numerous vertebrate species is now a widespread occurrence. All vertebrates have similar sex hormone receptors, which have been conserved in evolution. Therefore, observations in one species may serve to highlight pollution issues of concern for other vertebrates, including humans."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/its-official-men-really-are-the-weaker-sex-1055688.html - via Look at This

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Our very own Jill Harness wrote this entertaining article on InventorSpot for all you Star Wars fan boys: the 10 Best Star Wars Toys All True Fans Must Have.

The one picture above is the Weenie Wing Commander, which helps you fight the dark side - literally! For those of you who don't like burnt and blackened weenies - by lifting the dogs from the surface of the grill.

Link

Previously on Neatorama: Top 10 Coolest BBQ Grills (And Then Some!)

That manly dog is Bodhi the Bulldog. Photo: neilio [Flickr]

I don't to post links to galleries (too much clicking!) but I'll make an exception for this one: an AskMen Top 10 list of ... manly dogs! (It's a fun topic, and I was itching to use this cute lil' bulldog photo above by Neil Lee of BeatnikPad)

Anyhoo, here's number 10 of AskMen's Top 10 Manly Dogs:

No.10 - Bulldog

Taking a turn toward a smaller breed, the Bulldog is a pint-sized tough guy, or at least they’re designed to look that way. This dog looks like a mix of a pug and a Mastiff. Bulldogs can look simultaneously peeved and happy, and they have lovable and quirky personalities that are a significant departure from the other manly dogs seen here.

Having a Bulldog as a pet is a surefire way to win friends and impress women; their bullish looks and saggy skin folds provide lots of laughs and their relatively poor conditioning, due to their heavyset, makes for some hilarious outings at the park when tossing a stick around. Still, they are just as dedicated to their territory as any other breed, and their dedicated companionship and ability to inspire are perfect reasons for their use as the official mascot of the U.S. Marine Corps.

Link

That's the World Thorium Fuel concept car by Cadillac. The Cadillac WTF (yes, I know), designed by Loren Kulesus, is supposed to be powered by the nuclear fuel thorium and therefore last 100 years (Whaaa? Nuclear fuel in a car? What a great idea!):

Elsewhere, every major system is redundant in case of a failure. And the wheels don't have individual tires - in fact, what's located at each corner is one combined unit made up of six individual wheels. That gives you 24 wheels in total, and each wheel has its own induction motor. Said Kulesus, "The vehicle would require the tires to be adjusted every five years, but no material would need to be added or subtracted."

Link | Loren's portfolio at Coroflot - via TechEBlog

Previously on Neatorama: Curly Skateboard by Loren Kulesus

Did your gadget just run out of juice and there isn't a RadioShack around for miles? Not a problem if you have this "rechargeable" NoPoPo (No Polution Power) battery. Just ... um, pee into it:

The Nopopo batteries use a combination of magnesium and carbon that can be mixed with a variety of fluids (including urine) to produce a charge. These batteries only last around 500mAh, which is far less than your average alkaline AA battery, but at least you won’t have to kill the earth to recharge them.

Link - via Shiny Shiny

Previously on Neatorama: Urine-Powered Battery

This has got to be the yummiest bed EVAR! Behold the Hamburger Bed (technically it's a cheeseburger, but who cares?) which comes complete with an oversized bun duvet, as well as tomato and pickle slice pillows.

Link (yes, the bed has its own Facebook page) - via CrunchGear

The following is a guest blog by Craig Conley, author of Magic Words: A Dictionary

If you've ever paid a compliment, written a mission statement, stated an affirmation, made a wish, shouted a command, or said a little prayer, you've used some magic words.

Indeed, magic words aren't just for stage performers or superstitious folks. They're powerful language tools, like blueprints for constructing reality. With magic words, we define a sacred arena where miracles can come into play. There are profound truths in that old cliché of a magician pulling a rabbit out of an empty hat with the magic word abracadabra. Almost everyone recognizes the image. But what relatively few people know is that our stereotypical magician is speaking an ancient Hebrew phrase that means "I will create with words." He is making something out of nothing, echoing that famous line from Genesis: "Let there be light, and there was light."

In the course of compiling Magic Words: A Dictionary, we unearthed a wealth of magical expressions from comic books, television shows, rock 'n' roll, ancient Egyptian scrolls, and pulp fiction. Here are some of our whimsical favorites:

THE POWER OF PURPLE

The title "Purple One" popularly refers to the artist formerly known as Prince. But former teen idol and now game show host Donnie Osmond was a purple one back in the mid-1970's. Elprup is the word that Donnie Osmond spoke on The Donnie and Marie Show to transform into Captain Purple. The word is purple spelled backward.

FROSTY THE SNOWMAN'S SECRET

Frosty the Snowman's secret comes to us courtesy of home automation expert Gordon Meyer, author of Smart Home Hacks. Animovividus Homonivalis is a pseudo-Latin spell for bringing a snowman to life. The word animo refers to the life force or soul of the snowman, which is conjured to vivify with the word vividus. Nivalis means "snowy," and homo means "man."

BART SIMPSON'S ZOMBIE SPELL

Zabar, Kresge, Caldor, Wal-Mart is Bart Simpson's spell for conjuring zombies, chanted in Matt Groening's animated series The Simpsons (Season 4, Episode 64, "Dial Z For Zombies," Oct. 29, 1992). The words are actually names of discount retail markets.

Bart also has another zombie spell: Cullen, Rayburn, Narz, Trebek. The words are names of game show hosts: Bill Cullen of To Tell the Truth, Gene Rayburn of Match Game, Jack Narz of Concentration, and Alex Trebek of Jeopardy.

A SPELL FOR A LA-Z-BOY

The magic word rantorp (a Scandinavian name) changes people into chairs in the play General Gorgeous by Michael McClure (1982).

"HOLY COW!"

Alizebu is a magic word for revealing hidden passages in the computer game King's Quest 6 (Sierra Entertainment, 1992). The word zebu comes from the Tibetan ceba, meaning "hump." Zebu is a breed of hump-backed India ox. With the Arabic Ali ("by the most high") in front, Alizebu could be translated as "holy cow."

OOO EEE OOO-AH-AH TING TANG WALLA-WALLA BING-BANG

This phrase is a love spell chanted in the song "Witch Doctor" by David Seville (1958). "It is a song of unrequited love cured by the magic incantations of the witch doctor" (Bob McCann, "The Declension Song," 2003). Diana Winn Levine suggests that ting tang are the magic words and walla walla bing bang mean the magic is over.

A CAT IN A HAT

If Dr. Seuss's Cat in the Hat were a magician, his magic word might be inspiratus, Latin for the divine "breath" that inspires creativity. We unearthed a delightful fakir's incantation that incorporates the word as it celebrates a Schrödinger's Cat paradox:

Hocus, pocus, inspiratus,
there is a cat in the hat;
hocus, pocus, inspiratus,
there is no cat in the hat.

(Incantation quoted in Lawrence Bruehl's The Mathematics of Unlimited Prosperity, 1939)

PEANUT BUTTER AND SESAME STREET

Abba Zabba recalls the expanse of the alphabet, A (abba) to Z (zabba), the alpha and omega of creative power. The words appear in a Captain Beefheart song of the same name (1974). The lyrics are a sort of nursery rhyme about childhood rituals and seem to suggest that the primal syllables abba zabba are "song before song before song." Abba Zabba is also the name of an old-fashioned peanut butter taffy candy bar.

Interestingly, peanut butter figures into other magic words. A-la Peanut Butter Sandwiches has appeared in a "Rugrats" comic strip and is the Amazing Mumford's magic expression on the Sesame Street television series. The peanut is like the sesame seed of Open Sesame fame—a spiritual food which unlocks a doorway to a world of wonders. The pods of peanuts and sesame plants open to reveal their seeds, just as the wall of rock opened for the legendary Ali Baba when he said the secret password.

SMALL CHANGE

Here's a magic word that is tailor made for a wishing well. Found in 18th-century Kabbalistic treatises, matba is a magic word for obtaining small coins. It literally means "bring forth." As a talisman to be carried in one's money purse, matba was to be written on a square of paper.

PEE-WEE HERMAN

Mekka-Lekka-Hi, Mekka-Hiney-Ho was popularized by the children's television series Pee-Wee's Playhouse (1986). "One of Pee-wee's visiting pals to pop into the Playhouse was in the form of a genie—a disembodied, turban-topped talking head named Jambi. Always a jokester, Jambi swiveled his head and worked his magic much to Pee-wee's rapture; he granted wishes if Pee-wee chanted along with him" (Stephen Cox, Dreaming of Jeannie, 2000).

FROM INSIDE PANDORA'S BOX

Jiggery pokery is action with astonishing results or a clever deception. It is the name of one of the plagues and misfortunes that was contained inside Pandora's box of mythology.

JOHNNY THUNDER'S SECRET

Cei-u (pronounced "say you") is the word that gives comic book character Johnny Thunder (Flash Comics, 1940) the power to summon The Thunderbolt (his magical partner who appears as a puff of pink smoke).

A GHOSTLY NAME

In the folklore of West Cornwall, England, Nomme Domme was a name that spirit-quellers used to address and obtain power over ghosts. The name is undoubtedly a corruption of the Latin In Nomine Domini ("In the Name of the Lord"). The name was considered "a magical word, very likely the spirit's name among spirits, for old folks held that they acquire new ones quite different from what they bore when in mortal bodies" (William Bottrell, Stories and Folk-Lore of West Cornwall, 1880).

A WATCHED POT NEVER BOILS?

It's been said that a watched pot never boils, and perhaps that inspired this Italian magic spell for getting water to bubble: Pentola, pentola, pentola, bolli.

BRUCE LEE-STYLE

Exclaimed at the end of a chant, the magic word harrahya could be likened to the shout of a martial artist delivering a knifehand strike, focusing power toward an amazing conclusion.

HOLY MOLY

Popularized by the Captain Marvel comics in 1940, Holy Moly is an expression of wonderment that recalls a magic herb of Greek mythology. Sporting white flowers and black roots, moly was Hermes' gift to Odysseus, to protect against incantations.

MAGIC IN OZ

In the Oz books by L. Frank Baum, it is said that to transform people and objects, the word pyrzqxgl must be pronounced correctly. The Munchkin named Bini Aru, who discovered the word, hid away the pronunciation directions after Princess Ozma decreed that only Glinda could practice magic in the land.

BROCCOLI

Oh! Brocoli,
Oh! Brocoli,
A magic word
is Brocoli!
—J.A.H., "The Masonic Password," Freemason's Magazine (Aug. 15, 1868)

The incantation quoted above was said in jest, yet it's not preposterous that the vegetable broccoli have a magical name. The word derives from a Latin root, brocchus, meaning "projecting." A simple definition of a magic word is "a powered projection" (to paraphrase W. Ong, The Presence of the Word, 1967).

UN-BEWITCHING

Zolda Pranken Kopeck Lum are the magic words the character Uncle Arthur teaches Darrin Stephens in the television series Bewitched, when Darrin is convinced he's been turned into a Warlock.

EXCELSIOR

Excelsior is a cry of ascendancy, supremacy, mastery, greatness. It is a charm for gaining the upper hand. The silvery tones of this heart-stirring magic word "put a soul in every bell / To triumph o'er the powers of hell—Excelsior!" (Thomas Bracken, "Longfellow," Musings in Maoriland, 1890). In his poem "Excelsior," Henry Wadsworth Longfellow likened the word to a sigh, an oft-repeated prayer, the accents of an unknown tongue, and a falling star. Excelsior is of Latin origin, ex meaning "beyond" and celsus meaning "lofty." It is typically taken to mean "ever upward."

Described by Encarta as "America's most creative and diligent scholar of letters, words and punctuation," Craig Conley has also been called a 'cult hero' by Publisher's Weekly. A former college teacher of writing and literature, he left academia to pursue his research into one-letter words, magic words and ancient Zen versions of Rock-Paper-Scissors.

In addition to Magic Words: A Dictionary (Weiser Books) and One-Letter Words, a Dictionary (HarperCollins), he has written a field guide to identifying unicorns by sound, a coloring book that requires no crayons, an atlas of blank maps, and four editions of the textbook Human Diversity: A Guide for Understanding . Craig blogs at OneLetterWords.com/weblog and MysteryArts.blogspot.com.

Are you an author and would like your book featured on Neatorama? Please email me about a possible guest blog post just like this one!

Photo: wtf_inc [LiveJournal] - via Crunch Gear

Hello, everyone! It's time for Neatorama and Hobotopia's Caption Monkey game. I don't know the background story of this photo, the LiveJournal user who posted it only mentioned that it was taken in Seattle.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to provide the caption. Funniest caption wins an original Laugh-Out-Loud Cat cartoon by Adam Koford.

For inspiration, definitely check out Adam's blog. Good luck!

W00t! (or better yet, Yikes!) Our weekly collaboration with the What is it? Blog brings us this scary looking thing. Yes, it's a dagger, but can you guess what it is specifically for?

Place your guess in the comment section. No prize this week, so you're playing for fame and glory. Please don't post any URL, let others play.

For more clues, check out the What is it? Blog. Good luck!

Behold a new prototype dashboard by Ford in collaboration with Smart Design (the designer for the super-easy-to-use Flip camcorder) for their new breed of "green" cars.

The dashboard gives drivers a "wealth of info" without confusing or distracting them. And when Ford researchers tested the new design, they found that drivers get obsessed with achieving a "high score" of getting the highest fuel efficiency:

In order to play into the research finding that drivers are looking for a high score when it comes to fuel efficiency, one high-resolution LCD screen on the dash features an eye-catching rendering of curling vines blooming with green leaves. It's more than a decorative element; it's a data-visualization tool intended to change the way people drive. If a driver wastes gas by aggressively accelerating or slamming on the brakes, for example, the vine withers and leaves disappear. More leaves appear if individuals drive more economically.

Matt Vella and Reena Jana of BusinessWeek have more on the story: Link - via Information aesthetics

I applaud Ford for trying to innovate, but as I write this post I distinctly remember driving in Los Angeles and finding a brand new Ford Mustang living up to the acronym Found On Road Dead, still with dealership plates and price tags (seemed that it was being taken for a test drive), broken down on the side of the road. I don't think the customer bought the car ...

It's just stupidity to shoot yourself, but it takes real talent to shoot yourself ... without a gun! Here's the bizarre story of one Howard Sheppard, 30, of Deltona, Florida who somehow shot himself in the arm without any firearms present:

Sheppard, who works at DeLand Memorial Gardens, told a nurse he picked up six rounds of ammunition and one of them discharged and struck him in the arm, Hudson said. When Sheppard said the other five rounds were in his shirt pocket, a security guard took the shirt and called police.

Sheppard initially said the ammunition was on a shelf and one of the bullets may have discharged because he threw a hammer and a string trimmer on the shelf, police said. After being pressed, he told Hudson that he secured the sixth bullet in a vise clamp, placed a metal punch into the cartridge primer and hit the punch with a hammer.

This one you've GOT to see. It's the story of Heeah Lee, who was born with phocomelia and has pincer-like fingers, two on each hand. Yet she plays the piano like ringing a bell.

Not to be missed: Link [embedded YouTube] - via AQFL

The human brain is wired to recognize faces everywhere, but it turns out that there's also a strange mania called cartocacoethes: the uncontrollable compulsion to see maps everywhere.

Strange Maps blog has a post about these "accidental maps" - for example, the africa in milanesa to the left:

“I was cooking this typical Argentinian food called milanesa, when I found the map of Africa in my saucepan,” writes Manuel Barcia from Argentina. “This typical dish is made out of a cut meat from the back of the cow, called nalga, covered with a mix of mashed bread and eggs and then fried. I always say that each piece of meat looks like an undiscovered island or some unknown place, but this looked just like Africa.”

Link - via BB-Blog