Neatorama reader Ned Schwartz's friend Eric is going on an epic quest of blogging his way across the country ... on a Vespa GTS250 scooter!
Eric calls this project scoot66 (because of his fondness of Route 66 and because he wants to complete the 10,000 mile journey in 66 days). Oh, and he'll be mostly camping rather than staying in hotels/motels.
Check out Eric's progress here (he's at day 52): Link - Thanks Ned!
Previously on Neatorama: Motoring Across the USA on a Ruckus Scooter
Whodathunkit: credit crunch and economic woes in the UK had actually spurred a spike in necktie sales! And here's why:
Richard Whitbread, marketing manager of Tie Rack, said: "Since the doom and gloom set in, sales of ties have picked up. We have seen a 10 per cent increase in sales over the last quarter.
"When people start to be more concerned about their jobs, they start to smarten up. Also a lot of people are looking for jobs at the moment."
At long last, newshounds have tracked down and interviewed Rafid Ahmed Alwan, the Iraqi refugee and German intelligence source code-named Curveball (some say to signify his unreliability). Curveball was the source of the US claim that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destructions.
John Goetz and Bob Drogin reported from Nuremberg, Germany:
Alwan's fanciful accounts to BND officers were echoed in his tall tales to friends and co-workers. In early 2002, a year before the war, he told co-workers at the Burger King that he spied for Iraqi intelligence and would report any fellow Iraqi worker who criticized Hussein's regime.
They couldn't decide if he was dangerous or crazy.
"During breaks, he told stories about what a big man he was in Baghdad," said Hamza Hamad Rashid, who remembered an odd scene with the pudgy Alwan in his too-tight Burger King uniform praising Hussein in the home of der Whopper. "But he always lied. We never believed anything he said."
Another Iraqi friend, Ghazwan Adnan, remembers laughing when he applied for a job at a local Princess Garden Chinese Restaurant and discovered Alwan washing dishes in the back while claiming to be "a big deal" in Iraq. "How could America believe such a person?"
But an unrepentant Alwan is unfazed. "Everything I said was true," he said. "And everything that's been written about me is wrong. It's all wrong. The main thing is, I'm an honest man."
Link (Photo: Der Spiegel)
Meet Gus, a three-legged, one-eyed (he lost it in a fight with a cat - for shame!), cancer-afflicted Chinese Crested dog, who has the dubious yet official distinction of the World's Ugliest Dog at the Sonoma-Marin Fair.
And what did Gus have to say about the hullabaloo? He slept through much of the three-hour competition, wrapped in a blanket by his owner Jeanenne Teed.
Links: Official website (gallery with other ugly dog contestants) | BBC Gallery | YouTube clip of the competition
Meet In God We Trust, formerly known as Steve Kruescher of Zion. Yes, the man's name change just got approved by a judge last Friday:
Steve Kruescher of Zion has legally changed his name to "In God We Trust." It's true. His first name is now "In God" and his last name is "We Trust." Lake County Circuit Judge David Hall approved the petition Friday.
"I feel fantastic," We Trust said. "I've been praying for this." The 57-year-old school bus driver and amateur artist says his new name fully expresses who he is as a person. "God has brought me through some very hard times," he said. "I feel this is a way to honor God and immortalize that phrase."
God seems to have approved:
He's already had to pay $246 for the legal petition, and about $150 for legal notices in the newspaper. He figures the total cost will be about $600.
And wouldn't you know it? He just received his government stimulus check in the amount of $600.
"It didn't surprise me," We Trust said. "God is with me."
Link (Photo: Vince Pierri)
Previously on Neatorama: 10 Strangest Names EVAR!
Photo: Judah S. Harris of Charmin
Katrina Chalifoux of Rockford, Illinois won this year's toilet paper wedding dress design competition sponsored by Ripley's Believe It or Not!, Charmin, and Cheap-Chic-Weddings.com.
Katrina spent two weeks creating the dress, which has raised flower pattern from molded toilet paper!
Link | USA Today's On Deadline blog post
Previously on Neatorama: Toilet Paper Wedding Dress | Toilet Paper Clothes
After 11 years (that's 77 dog-years!) of disappointment, Jenny the collie has finally been adopted. The dog, who unfortunately had the dubious distinction of being Britain's most unwanted pet, was abandoned in 1997 and rescued by the Gables Farm Dogs' and Cats' Home who - thankfully - has a strict no euthanasia policy:
Proving that every dog has its day, Britain's most unwanted pet has finally been found new owners - after spending the last 11 years in a rescue centre. Jenny struck lucky after spending 77 dog years in kennels - thought to be a British record.
She was abandoned when she was just one in 1997 when rescuers from Gables Farm Dogs' and Cats' Home found her tied to a lamppost. And each day afterwards only brought fresh disappointment for collie Jenny as her canine friends were always chosen ahead of her.
New owners were put off because she was very fearful and a little aggressive when she first arrived, according to staff. And by the time she had fully settled in, she was older than ideal because most people want puppies.
Now, after becoming the longest-staying resident in the Plymouth centre's 101 year history, Jenny has finally found a family to love her.
Link (Photo: Apex)
A few months ago, brain scientist Jill Bolte Taylor gave a talk at TED about how the brain works. She was researching the differences in brains of normal people to those suffering from schizophrenia and other mental illness when she had a massive stroke. Being a brain researcher, Jill was fascinated of how her brain functions - motion, speech, self-awareness - shut down one by one:
... and in that moment my right arm went totally paralyzed by my side. And I realized, Oh my gosh, I'm having a stroke! I'm having a stroke! And then the next thing my brain says to me is "Wow - this is so cool! This is so cool!" How many brian scientist have the opportunity to study their own brain from the inside out. But then it crosses my mind "I'm a very busy woman! I don't have time for a stroke!"
Here's Jill's talk about how the brain works and what happens when you get a stroke: Hit play or go to Link [Flash Video at TED] - Thanks Brandy Fisher! (Yes, this went 'round the Interweb a while ago, but it's still neat!)
We probably all know that Benjamin Franklin invented the lightning rod or that he proposed the turkey as the national emblem of the United States.
But did you know that he was related to the Folger family (of the coffee fame)? Or that he also invented the bifocal glasses?
Read more of the 9 Things You Didn't Know About Benjamin Franklin: Link - Thanks Tony Servies!
We all know what traffic signs mean, right? Stop. Go. Yield - pretty basic stuff. But how much do you really know about traffic and road signs?
Here's a little quiz by the people at USA Traffic Signs. See if you can pass this test (1 out of 3 people actually failed, I got 86% which was passing!) - Thanks Mike Austin!
The Chinese had achieved a dubious distinction in South Africa: they're officially declared as "black" by the Pretoria High Court!
In a landmark ruling the Pretoria High Court accepted the Chinese as a “previously disadvantaged” group. This means that – at least in legal terms – Chinese South Africans will now be included in the definition of black people in legislation covering lucrative black economic empowerment (BEE) deals.
The controversial BEE policy, under which large companies have to surrender a percentage of their equity to black-run entities, is aimed at reversing decades of apartheid bias. It covers Africans, Coloureds (mixed-race people) and Indians but has been criticised widely as a politically correct form of theft by ruling party cronies.
Under white minority rule the Chinese were classified as Coloureds. In a decision that illustrated the difficulty of applying racial segregation Japanese people were given “honorary white” status – partly because they were wealthier and fewer in number than the Chinese.
Link - Thanks Geekazoid!
We haven't posted about a fun Flash game in a while, so it's my great honor to introduce to you the most awesome little Flash puzzle game EVAR: Puzzle Farter.
Your task, should you accept it, is to guide lil' farter towards his goal using a, erhm, very unique mode of transportation. And remember to play with your speaker turned to LOUD!
Link - Thanks Larry Fire !
Lucy Kellaway was on a mission to get rid of the corporatese phrase "going forward" that she hated so much, and wrote a post about it on the BBC Magazine. Her post garnered so much reaction that the BBC culled the top 50 office-speak phrases that should definitely be banned.
For example:
1. "When I worked for Verizon, I found the phrase going forward to be more sinister than annoying. When used by my boss - sorry, "team leader" - it was understood to mean that the topic of conversation was at an end and not be discussed again."
Nima Nassefat, Vancouver, Canada2. "My employers (top half of FTSE 100) recently informed staff that we are no longer allowed to use the phrase brain storm because it might have negative connotations associated with fits. We must now take idea showers. I think that says it all really."
Anonymous, England3. At my old company (a US multinational), anyone involved with a particular product was encouraged to be a product evangelist. And software users these days, so we hear, want to be platform atheists so that their computers will run programs from any manufacturer."
Philip Lattimore, Thailand4. "Incentivise is the one that does it for me."
Karl Thomas, Perth, Scotland5. "My favourite which I hear from the managers at the bank I work for is let's touch base about that offline. I think it means have a private chat but I am still not sure."
Gemma, Wolverhampton, England
As a stakeholder in this issue, I wouldn't want to wrongside the 2.0 demographic so let's conversate, drill down and incentivise a holistic approach to this challenge. We'll definitely need to pre-plan from the get-go in order to go forward together. After I get my ducks in a row, I'm actioning 110% of my effort to rid the world of office-speak once and for all.
Previously on Neatorama: The Origin of Words You Hear A Lot in the Office
