Halloween is nearing, and AskMen has a really neat article about the 5 Things You Didn't Know About Halloween. For example:

2- Halloween trick-or-treating originated from begging
The only real difference between begging and trick-or-treating is in perspective: The former is lowly, the latter is sanctioned. In fact, some U.S. states don’t hide it, calling Halloween “Beggars' Night,” while some groups have campaigned against the practice, labeling it extortion.

Although no documentary evidence exists, trick-or-treating resembles a practice known as "souling," once performed in the British Isles by poor people around November 1. They would go door to door begging for food; in exchange, they would offer to pray for the souls of the dead.

Link

Artists Nora Ligorano and Marshall Reese made an ice sculpture of the word "ECONOMY" and set set it outside in downtown Manhattan. The duo said that the melting 1,500 lb ice symbolize today's economic meltdown.

Link

Previously on Neatorama: Ice Sculptures of Melting Men by Nele Azevedo | 10 American Financial Meltdowns in the Past Century | T-Shirts About the Economy

Can't tell the difference between DOS and BIOS? Think that RAM is just a male sheep? Then you need to take a look at this excellent 1984 guide to computers:

In Computability, an instructional VHS tape from 1984, comedian Steve Allen and actress Jayne Meadows "take us on a light-hearted but detailed tour of the ways a home computer can change your life by simply using the correct software packages to suit your needs." [...]

With an Apple II, a Kaypro 2, cheeseball computer animation and a grab-bag of corny jokes, this is classic computing from the VHS era. Keep an eye out for references to Wargames, hackers, Boy George, Ronald Reagan, and more.

From the always excellent Waxy blog by Andy Baio: Link

Mark Langan created wonderful artwork using one of the most mundane of materials: corrugated cardboards!

Years ago, while tearing apart some old corrugated boxes, Langan noticed the wavy, fluted layer of paper (called medium) sandwiched between the smooth sheets of linerboard. “It got me to thinking that, if I were to slice, stack, and glue pieces to each other, some very interesting effects could be created,” he recalls.

Last July, Langan began turning that thought into reality, creating artworks by layering sheets of corrugated into aesthetically pleasing patterns. “The corrugated lends itself well to patterns,” he explains. “When viewed from different angles and lighting, the piece changes.”

Check out Mark's Artwork: Article at Inhabitat | Mark's Website

Today's the 79th anniversary of the infamous Black Tuesday, one of three days in which Wall Street crashed. Many people mark the Crash of 1929 as the official beginning of the Great Depression.

It's interesting to note that on Black Tuesday, the market lost about $14 billion in value (a chump change when compared to the $700 billion bailout package of 2008) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost only 30.57 points (a bit percentage though: about 12%).

People who thought that this drop in price was a buying opportunity would be in for a rude surprise: stock values bounced back a little but then continued its slide for several years. The bottom was reached about two and a half years later; by then the Dow had lost almost 90% of its value from before the crash.

Obviously the stock market recovered from the Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression - but it took almost 25 years for it to do so.

Read more about it on Neatorama's 10 American Financial Meltdowns in the Past Century

Photo: Delta Niner [Flickr]

Now that's a cool cop car (though I'm not sure how much respect he'll get driving that thing around!)

Think that the economy is bad? Be thankful that we're not in Zimbabwe, where $100 billion note buys you ... three eggs!

After the collapse of the agriculture sector in Zimbabwe in 2000, the inflation in that country skyrocketed to 231 million percent a year! Just think about it - 231 000 000%! Unemployment went up to 80% and a third of country’s population left it.

Let`s now have a look at the photos that you may not be able to see anywhere else in the world.

Link - via Presurfer

Squirrels are overrunning the countryside of Devon, England, so Chef Ed Chester decided to do something about those pesky critters: he's making squirrel kebab!

Cook Ed Chester reckons squirrel meat is delicious and is also selling pates and fricassees made from the rodents.

He believes the spread of grey squirrels has damaged the countryside and it is a good idea to eat them to control their numbers.

The squirrel dishes have become an instant hit with adventurous diners at the restaurant at Otterton Mill, near Budleigh Salterton, Devon.

Link

Here's one from the archives of toys-that-never-made-it-big. Can you see why Baby Laugh-A-Lot from Remco isn't a big seller?

I think I've heard that laugh in some horror movie somewhere ... Link (embedded YouTube)

Let's see: an 8-year-old boy shootin' an Uzi submachine gun at a gun show while his dad reached for a camera. What could go wrong?

Here's a tragic story about how a boy fatally shot himself in the head while trying out a weapon of war:

The machine gun shoot drew hundreds of people from as far away as Maine and Virginia. An advertisement said it would include machine gun demonstrations and rentals and free handgun lessons.

"It's all legal & fun — No permits or licenses required!!!!" reads the ad, posted on the club's Web site. "You will be accompanied to the firing line with a Certified Instructor to guide you. But You Are In Control — "FULL AUTO ROCK & ROLL," the ad said. [...]

Christopher, a third-grader, was attending the show with his father and sixth-grade brother, Colin. Christopher had fired handguns and rifles before, but Sunday was his first time firing an automatic weapon, said his father, Charles Bizilj.

Bizilj told the Boston Globe he was about 10 feet behind his son and reaching for his camera when the weapon fired. He said his family avoided the larger weapons, but he let his son try the Uzi because it's a small weapon with little recoil.

"This accident was truly a mystery to me," said Bizilj, director of emergency medicine at Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford, Conn. "This is a horrible event, a horrible travesty, and I really don't know why it happened."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-boy-shoots-himself,0,7568246.story

Researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder discovered the secret of making yourself more attractive to other people: give them a hot cup of coffee!

Looking to improve your romantic odds? Get your date a steaming cup of coffee.

That's the implication of a new study by researchers who wanted to see if there was any connection between physical and emotional heat. To their surprise, they found that people who held a cup of hot coffee for 10 to 25 seconds warmed to a perfect stranger. Holding a cup of iced coffee had the opposite effect.

If you want to make a good impression, advised study author Lawrence E. Williams, a University of Colorado at Boulder assistant professor of marketing, a fresh cup of coffee "may bias the situation in your favor."

Link

Look At This blog has a mega-post about all things Halloween. A few fun facts from the site:

Black cats were originally believed to protect witches' powers from negative forces.

A pumpkin is really a squash, and comes from the same family as the cucumber.

About 99% of pumpkins sold are used as Jack O' Lanterns at Halloween.

The biggest pumpkin in the world tipped the scales at a whopping 1,446 pounds. This gigantic gourd was weighed in October 2004 at a pumpkin festival in Port Elgin, Ontario, Canada.

The record for the fastest pumpkin carver in the world is Jerry Ayers of Baltimore, Ohio. He carved a pumpkin in just 37 seconds!

The very first jack o' lantern was made out of hollowed out turnips.

Link

Tired of people soliciting prostitutes, the city of Lynwood, California has installed cameras in hopes of deterring crimes:

The cameras can zoom in on individuals soliciting prostitutes and take a picture of them or videotape the incident.

The images could be used to prosecute those in question, according to sheriff's Lt. Ely Vera.

The city hopes to install nine more cameras by early December.

Just five months ago, hundreds of residents marched down Long Beach Blvd. -- a notorious area for prostitution -- amongst used condoms on the street, demanding the city take action.

Link (with video clip)

Ever wonder how your telephone company relates to other telecommunication companies? Think that AT&T's monopoly was successfully broken up by the Feds back in the 80s? And do you know what Sprint was originally named after?

Here's a look at the (convoluted) family tree of telephone companies. You'd be surprised at finding out who actually owns whom: Link (large pic)

Turns out, Viking are getting a bum rap over that whole plundering and pillaging thing. Dr. Elizabeth Rowe, a Viking expert and lecturer at Cambridge University, wanted the world to know that Vikings are a peaceful race that prefer grooming to pillaging:

They say that the Norse explorers, far from being obsessed with fighting and drinking, were a largely-peaceful race who were even criticised for being too hygienic.

The university's department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic has published a guide revealing how much of the Vikings' history has been misrepresented. They did not, in fact, wear horned or winged helmets. And they appear to have been a vain race who were concerned about their appearance.

"It seems that the Vikings may not have been as hairy and dirty as is commonly imagined," the guide says. "A medieval chronicler, John of Wallingford, talking about the eleventh century, complained that the Danes were too clean - they combed their hair every day, washed every Saturday, and changed their clothes regularly."

Link