Photo: News46 [Flickr]
Many travel bands go by bus, but not Iron Maiden ... they have their very own flying tour bus: a Boeing 757 named "Ed Force One", piloted by the band's frontman Bruce Dickinson. And yes, that's Eddie the band's mascot on the plane's tail.
Desktop Frogger Arcade is true to the 1971 original
That's right, we said 1971. Many of you are thinking, "Wait a second, I thought Frogger came out in 1981. Must be a typo." Well, you, sir (or ma'am), are incorrect. Frogger was developed in 1971 by the University of Washington Psychology Department as some sort of prize / reward for completing a short-term memory test. Someone at Konami stol..er...borrowed the idea and released it on the Atari in 1981. Thank you, Wikipedia, for making us look oh-so-informed.
Vat19 has it for $29.95: Link
There are more hazardous waste sites in New Jersey than anywhere else in the United States.
In 1998, The Garden State had 109 hazardous waste sites on the national priorities list for the federal Superfund program or 8.7% of the national total. The state's land area is just 0.2% of the United States. New Jersey's hazardous waste density (the number of sites per 1,000 square miles) was 14.7 or 40 times the national average. (Source: A Geography of New Jersey: The City in the Garden by Charles A. Stansfield)
We're going to try potty train our oldest child soon - so it's with great interest that I read this CNN article on ... poop school for kids who hate to go potty (or are afraid of the toilet):
While Dunn works on the kids, psychologist Elaine Leclair, an instructor at the Harvard School of Medicine, offers frank advice to the parents in a separate room.
"I just say, 'Step back.' They hate to hear me say this, but I say whatever you're doing now is not working. You really need to try something different," Leclair said.
She said many parents come to the sessions angry and anxious. "They come in feeling extremely discouraged, very isolated thinking they are the only ones in the world who have this problem."
Teres acknowledged that's how she felt. "Imagine my surprise to find out there were thousands of kids who had this problem." After years of hiding her daughter's toilet training troubles from family and friends, the group parenting sessions allowed Teres to open up about her frustrations.
"It was like going to Betty Ford," joked Teres, who felt she had exhausted all her other options.
Link - Thanks Tiffany! (Photo by egg on stilts [Flickr])
Rich Muller of Guy Robot told us about his robot sculptures made from junk and found-objects. We've featured a number of robot sculptures before, but his website is well worth the visit: Link - Thanks Rich!
What's that ball doing in your can of Guinness? Well, Tory of Hobson's Choice blog found out the answer:
Basically, the small plastic ball is called a widget. The purpose of the widget is to release CO2 from some of the beer in the can to create the head. It is meant to mimic the texture and head of Guinness on tap.
Mystery solved! http://www.toryhobson.com/new/entries/not-your-macs-widget/ | Longer explanation at How Stuff Works - Thanks Tory!
In 1967, the US Department of Defense, Office of Civil Defense published a 28-page pamphlet on how to harden your home's basement to help survive against radiation and fallout from a nuclear blast.
Included is a chapter on "improvised" shelters - for those unlucky souls who hadn't completed their own personal bomb shelter:
If a workbench is not available, you can improvise a somewhat larger shelter area by using furniture, doors, dressers, or other materials.
Remove doors from their hinges and place them over supports in the corner of your basement having the best protection. The supports for the table can be chests of drawers or anything that can take a heavy load. Use two or three doors over each support for this shelter to provide sufficient strength to carry the heavy loads placed on them.
Place bricks, concrete blocks, earth- or sand-filled drawers, books, a collapsible swimming pool filled with water, etc., over the doors to provide an overhead shield. Use anything with weight that can be moved. The heavier the material, the more the protection.
Yup: your kid's ghetto pool (as my wife calls it) could double as a fallout shelter! Link (towards the bottom) - Thanks Derek!
Molecular biologist and University of Washington professor John Medina told us about his book, Brain Rules. In it, he presents 12 "rules" to boost your brain power, based on what scientists know for sure about how our brain works.
Some rules are obvious, like 5. Repeat to remember (short term) and 6. Remember to repeat (long term), and some are quite unexpected. Like multi-tasking, for instance:
Multitasking, when it comes to paying attention, is a myth. The brain naturally focuses on concepts sequentially, one at a time. At first that might sound confusing; at one level the brain does multitask. You can walk and talk at the same time. Your brain controls your heartbeat while you read a book. Pianists can play a piece with left hand and right hand simultaneously. Surely this is multitasking.
But I am talking about the brain’s ability to pay attention. It is the resource you forcibly deploy while trying to listen to a boring lecture at school. It is the activity that collapses as your brain wanders during a tedious presentation at work. This attentional ability is not capable of multitasking.
Read more about the brain's inability to multitask: Multitasking,%20when%20it%20comes%20to%20paying%20attention,%20is%20a%20myth.%20The%20brain%20naturally%20focuses%20on%20concepts%20sequentially,%20one%20at%20a%20time.%20At%20first%20that%20might%20sound%20confusing;%20at%20one%20level%20the%20brain%20does%20multitask.%20You%20can%20walk%20and%20talk%20at%20the%20same%20time.%20Your%20brain%20controls%20your%20heartbeat%20while%20you%20read%20a%20book.%20Pianists%20can%20play%20a%20piece%20with%20left%20hand%20and%20right%20hand%20simultaneously.%20Surely%20this%20is%20multitasking.%20But%20I%20am%20talking%20about%20the%20brain%92s%20ability%20to%20pay%20attention.%20It%20is%20the%20resource%20you%20forcibly%20deploy%20while%20trying%20to%20listen%20to%20a%20boring%20lecture%20at%20school.%20It%20is%20the%20activity%20that%20collapses%20as%20your%20brain%20wanders%20during%20a%20tedious%20presentation%20at%20work.%20This%20attentional%20ability%20is%20not%20capable%20of%20multitasking.%20 | Main website (with video clips) - Thanks John!
David Meddings of reelfurniture makes chairs and tables out of recycled timber. One of his specialties is this rocking chair made from those giant wooden reels (like the ones used to transport power lines). Link - via Ectoplasmosis
Jay Carlson of The Plug tied a disposable camera to a bench with a sign asking people to take photos. When he came back later that evening, the entire roll of film had been shot.
Here are the photos that were taken: Link - via growabrain
What would happen if you mash up The Simpsons with South Park? Well, wonder no more: YouTube user DeemienX has animated the intro to The Simpsons, done South Park style!
Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] - via Look at This
Über Google software engineer Matt Cutts (who blogged about Neatorama way back when!) happened to find an unusual business card
in an old book:
I found this business card in an old book that I bought at a book sale. So I never met the person who made the card, and the mystery behind the business card remains intact. How many uncreative (boring) business cards have you seen in your life? This business card illustrates that a little bit of creativity can go a long way towards sticking in someone’s
mind.
Matt put a scan on his blog, so you can see why it's aptly called the Best Business Card Evar!
Raul Fernandez told us about his animated series called The Troll Show, about real-life news show hosted by trolls (who are tired of all this "Internet troll" nonsense).
It's quite cute - and best of all, some of the clips feature news stories Raul found via Neatorama!
Here's Show #3, which talks about the returning boomerang story we featured a while ago: http://www.thetrollshow.com/show.php?shownum=3 - Thanks Raul!
Meet Li Xu, a Chinese "army major" who cheated a strings of girls by disguising herself as a man and proposing marriage:
She was arrested after Liu Lian, of Datong city, Shanxi province, reported she had been cheated out of £11,000 by an army major named Li Zhanyu who she had met on the internet. [...]
Liu Lian said: "He said he wanted to date my daughter, but first needed money to break up with his current girlfriend. He also promised to find my daughter a good job."
But, after Liu wired the money, Li disappeared from her life. [...]
Police thought he was a conman at this stage but their suspicions grew during questioning as they noticed his high-pitched voice and fair complexion.
A check-up by female police revealed Li to be a 25-year-old woman. She confessed she had cheated another two women with the same marriage con.
Li's scam lasted for two years ... and you'd think the, um, boobs would give it away sooner: Link
