To celebrate/honor/make fun of everything that happened on the Web in 2008, the staff at Urlesque blog made their own award (now that's a neat idea!), the 2008 Urlies.

One of the funnest categories is the Meme of the Year. This year, "Fail" scored an Epic Win at the Urlies ...

As far as memes are concerned, it was the year of FAIL. Sure, the four-letter word has been trolling around the web in various forms for years, but as countless image macros fueled the fire and everyone added the catchphrase to their vocabularies this year, writers were sparked to write lengthy pieces about the phenomenon -- thus instigating a complete FAIL overload. Oh the irony.

And yes, Neatorama was nominated for "It" URL: Site of the Year, but we lost out to one of the neatest websites around today and one of my own personal favorites, Buzzfeed.

Link

Japanese scientists at the ATR Computational Neuroscience Labs have successfully built a machine that can read your mind - or at least getting images straight from your brain:

A Japanese research team has revealed it had created a technology that could eventually display on a computer screen what people have on their minds, such as dreams.

Researchers at the ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories succeeded in processing and displaying images directly from the human brain, they said in a study unveiled ahead of publication in the US magazine Neuron.

While the team for now has managed to reproduce only simple images from the brain, they said the technology could eventually be used to figure out dreams and other secrets inside people's minds.

Link | Article at Pink Tentacle - via Gizmodo

Whoa! Take a look at these super sweet shuriken (Ninja throwing star) magnets at epaulet. Want! http://www.epauletshop.com/servlet/the-92/Secret-Mark-Throwing-Star/Detail - via BB Gadgets

More cool stuff at Core 77's Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide (77 items for under $77)

A military killer drone, er ... missile defense took one step closer to reality. Here's a video clip of a "multiple kill vehicle" completing its hover test:

Objectives of the test included having the MKV-L hover under its own power and prove its capability to recognize and track a surrogate target in a flight environment. During the test, the MKV-L's propulsion system demonstrated maneuverability while tracking a target. The MKV-L transmitted video and flight telemetry to the ground.

Link

Tilt-Shift Barcelona from joja on Vimeo.

Ali posted a couple of really neat videos of tilt-shift+time-lapse photography before on Neatorama. Here's something along the same line: this time, it's Barcelona by Vimeo user joja.

It looks unreal: Hit play or go to Link [Vimeo] - Thanks Tekno Tronik!

Need more room in your Christmas stocking for goodies? It's not a problem with this fantastic DIY expandable Christmas stocking, by Instructables user scoochmaroo: Link - Thanks Ed!

Barrett Haroldson of Colle+McVoy ad agency worked on Yahoo! Messenger's newest microsite: Emoticarolers, where you can "compose" your own Christmas ditty to be sung by four emoticons sent to the digital doorsteps of your family and friends.

Here's the Neatorama Emoticarollers: Link [Flash] - Thanks Barrett!

BTW, I just found out that Colle+McVoy has worked on quite few interesting microsites featured previously on Neatorama, including the Human Flipbook, Candle Cannon and Yearbook Yourself.

Neatorama reader DHRECK wrote to us about his latest art creation: a fully functional Wii-mote/nunchuck completely covered with hemp strings!

Made from 3 kinds of 100% natural hemp string on the outside, while remaining 100% functional on the inside.

In stark contrast with the original Wii-mote set, what was once sleek, cold, white and hard plastic has now become a slightly fuzzy, natural, warm and textured concoction. No more bland, branded and boring
but mottled, flawfull, rough and a tad sweat absorbing.

The Hemp-Mote is absolutely playable, all buttons, accelerometers and the infrared camera accounted for. Unfortunately its exterior is also quite fragile and prone to degeneration, being in the raw state that it is.

Link | Also don't miss: Flying Spaghetti Monster, self portrait (yup, made from spaghetti) - Thanks DHRECK!

This is fantastic: Google Book Search has full copies of Popular Science magazine, dating back to 1872, available for you to read online.

The very first issue, May to October 1872, covers such topics as The Study of Sociology (by Herbert Spencer, no less - he coined the term "survival of the fittest"), The Recent Eclipse of the Sun, Science and Immortality, and so on.

Link - Thanks Philipp Lenssen!

Hans Andersson bought a LEGO Mindstorms kit for his daughters, but got caught up in making this spectacular robot himself. Meet Tilted Twister, a LEGO robot that does what most of us can't do: solve a Rubik's cube all by itself!

Just place the scrambled cube on Tilted Twister's turntable. An ultrasonic sensor detects its presence and starts to read the colors of the cube faces using a light sensor. The robot turns and tilts the cube in order to read all the faces. It then calculates a solution and executes the moves by turning, tilting and twisting the cube.

Link - Thanks Zecc!

When we posted about Paul Nawrocki wearing a sandwich board advertising himself for a job, many of you say that it would never work.

But such a tactic did work, at least for this guy:

An out-of-work banker who became a symbol of the looming financial crisis by trudging Manhattan streets wearing a sign advertising "MIT grad for hire" has landed on his feet - scoring a well-paying job at an accounting firm.

In a more hopeful sign of the times, Joshua Persky got rid of his sandwich board and demonstrated that creative people can bail themselves out without any help from the government. [...]

What sealed the deal for Joshua? Why, it's a blog:

"The publicity I got from the sandwich board encouraged me to set up a blog to document my experience," said Persky, 49.

A headhunter spotted the blog and brought it to Weiser's attention.

"Obviously, I had vigorous interviews, but I think it was [the blog] which sealed the deal," Persky said.

Link | Joshua's blog Oracle of NY - Thanks Geekazoid!

Woohoo! It's time for the Tokyoflash Treasure Hunt on Neatorama!

For those of you who don't know how to play (what? how could you!), here's what it's all about: it's an online treasure hunt where you can win a free Tokyoflash watch of your choice, courtesy of the good folks at Tokyoflash.

Here's the basic instruction. We'll give you 3 questions, for example:

1. What color is the "O" pebble in the Neatorama logo?
2. How many posts are on Neatorama’s homepage? (in numbers)
3. What’s the first insulting word in Neatorama’s article 10 Insulting Words You Should Know?

The answers (black, 30, frenchify) separated with dashes make a URL on Neatorama: http://www.neatorama.com/black-30-frenchify (go ahead, copy and paste this URL in your browser's address bar).

Easy, right? Let's get started then. Here are the Tokyoflash Treasure Hunt #7 Questions:

1. What is the name of the Tokyoflash Kisai watch *model* pictured above? Go to Tokyoflash to find out!
2. Go to Neatorama's Online Shop and look for Mike Jacobsen's Wizard of Oz T-Shirt. What is the last word uttered by the cowardly lion?
3. One of Tokyoflash's wonderful watches has an "always on" liquid crystal display with seven colors in one watch. What is the name of the watch?

Visit Tokyoflash and Neatorama's Online Shop to find the answers, then string 'em together to make the URL (all words are lower case, separated by dash). Follow the instructions you'll find there.

Hurry (this contest will end soon) and good luck!

Congratulations! You've got the answers right!

You're just one step away from winning the prize: one lucky commenter, chosen at random, will win a free watch of their choice. You can choose from any watches available fro sale from Tokyoflash.

This contest is open to all registered users of Neatorama. Please login and use your Neatorama username (if you don't have one, please register). Please write your choice of watch (and color) in the comment section. One entry per person, please (or you'll be disqualified on this and future games).

Thank you for playing and good luck (once again!). If you like the T-shirt, please buy one. Your purchase helps support the blog (plus they make great Christmas gifts!)