(Photo: BBC)

On September 28, 1066, William the Bastard crossed the English Channel from Normandy to England. On October 14, his army met that of King Harold Godwinson at the coastal town of Hastings. As a result of that match, William the Bastard became William the Conqueror and Harold Godwinson became dead.

To commemorate that battle and the Norman conquest of England, William's brother Odo commissioned the creation of an enormous tapestry depicting the events. It is a marvel of early sequential art, beautifully detailed and measuring 230 feet in length.

But it was probably longer. The extant tapestry ends with the death of King Harold. Scholars think that there was probably an 8-10 section now missing. It likely depicted the subsequent coronation of William as King of England.

The English were not inclined to let that problem stand. So for a year, embroiderers on the island of Alderney (one of the Channel Islands) reconstructed that section of the tapestry using historic methods and materials. Pictured above are the results of their work. You can view larger images of these new panels at the BBC.

-via Nag on the Lake

The International Space Station passed over Houston, Texas a few days ago. While there, astronaut Commander Reid Wiseman (USN) made this Vine video showing a thunderstorm over the city.

It felt like I could reach out and touch it…moving like a snake through the sky. pic.twitter.com/wx7GEdvjXt

— Reid Wiseman (@astro_reid) June 28, 2014

He also tweeted out this picture of an aurora. Wiseman described it so poetically. 

You can see more photos from Wiseman here. He'll be up there, getting a scenic tour of Earth, until November.

-via Buzzfeed

(Photo: FaceMePLS)

What do dogs think about? I look at my own dog and wonder that. I'm especially curious what he dreams about, which he does, loudly and often. What is inside a dog's mind?

This is an especially important question for people who train guide dogs. A better understanding of dog perceptions can improve training.

For example, can a guide dog who helps a blind person understand that the human cannot see? Anthropologist F. Gaunet studied the expressions of guide dogs and non-guide dogs when they want food from their humans.

He determined that both kinds of dogs try to give visual cues to humans that they're hungry. Guide dogs, however, also learned to give auditory cues, such as smacking their lips loudly, to communicate with people. Here's a selection from an abstract of a journal article that Gaunet published on the subject:

A novel audible behaviour was observed: dogs licked their mouths sonorously. Data analyses showed that the guide dogs performed this behaviour longer and more frequently than the pet dogs; seven of the nine guide dogs and two of the nine pet dogs displayed this behaviour. However, gazing at the container where the food was and gazing at the owner (with or without sonorous mouth licking), gaze alternation between the container and the owner, vocalisation and contact with the owner did not differ between groups. Together, the results suggest that there is no overall distinction between guide and pet dogs in exploratory, learning and motivational behaviours and in their understanding of their owner’s attentional state, i.e. guide dogs do not understand that their owner cannot see (them). However, results show that guide dogs are subject to incidental learning and suggest that they supplemented their way to trigger their owners’ attention with a new distal cue.

This is a brilliant fashion concept that should have been obvious, but it took the inspired mind of Dulce Calaveritas to develop it. She makes a wide variety of geeky bow ties. Her Batman ties are, though, the best.

Clearly the next step is to develop a functional, razor-sharp steel batarang that also serves as bow tie. Then, even in formal wear, Bruce Wayne remains in uniform.

These ties are leather, but she also makes vinyl versions.

-via Fashionably Geek

A friend of redditor Iced_TeaFTW owns this cat. Naturally, he's named Stache. As you can see, he's a natural flirt.

It's only July, but Stache is ready for Movember. He was born ready for Movember.

You can follow Stache on Twitter here.

-via Tastefully Offensive

Robin Edds of Buzzfeed dove into the production history of Breaking Bad and found surprising bits of information about the actors' lives and the composition of the show. Here's a sample:

1. After watching Season 5, Episode 14 — “Ozymandias” — George R.R. Martin called Walter White a bigger monster than anyone in Game of Thrones and vowed to “do something about that” in his next book. Eek.

2. Aaron Paul has never had any acting classes. During a Reddit AMA he said: “I always just thought, ‘Hey, pretend like you’re being someone else and that’s all there is to it.’” 

3. Due to the success of the show, some drug dealers have actually started adding blue dye to their crystal meth in an effort to “brand” their product. [...]

5. Nearly two decades before landing the role of Walter White, Bryan Cranston was in Power Rangers! Below you can hear him as the voice of the evil Twin Man.

(Video Link)

Here's a video showing Bryan Cranston voicing that monster.

Cranston's involvement with Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers was surprisingly deep. One of the characters on that show, Billy Cranston, AKA the Blue Ranger, was named after him.

You can read more fun facts about Breaking Bad here.

Yes, I plugged that piñata right in the neck with a .243 round. People told me that I should use a stick or a bat, but that didn't seem fair.

Then I took it to Etsy seller SomeRabbits for processing. The meat was good, but on the sweet side. The skin, though, when properly treated, made a fine rug. She added some felt, but most of that is the original piñata.

-via Craft

The Terra Wind is a luxurious custom-built motorhome with everything you could want from a house, including a full set of home appliances, ornate teak cabinetry with gold inlay, and a jacuzzi bath. It's like a cruise ship on the road.

It's also that way on the water. That's because the Terra Wind was built by Cool Amphibious Manufacturing International--a company that specializes in amphibious vehicles. The Terra Wind is not just a road vehicle, but also a boat.

(Photos: Cool Amphibious Manufacturing International)

You can drive it straight into the water. The transmission can be switched from the driver's seat. It's built to move through freshwater at 7 knots. That may seem slow, but you drive your own motorhome or car into the water and see if you can go faster.

(Video Link)

There's a swim deck in the back, as well as a trailer hitch. When the above video was made, the manufacturer was working on a custom trailer for the Terra Wind. The trailer would also be amphibious, so you could take it anywhere.

The Terra Wind's price starts at about $850,000.

-via Dornob

I suppose that it does not speak well of me, but there are times when I utter non-Disney words when using a computer. But only when the computer has provoked me beyond all reason. And who among you can claim only pure language when dealing with computers?

Unfortunately, this man in Stow, Massachusetts used language that was a little too graphic--and I don't mean 3D computer animation.

Reader challenge: in the comments, express frustration with a computer problem using only Disney words.

-via Nothing to Do with Aborath

Would you like a nice, cold bottle of macaroni and cheese? Of course you would! A tall glass bottle is a convenient way to carry and eat food, so Tom Davie applied its shape to foods that you might not expect. He also re-applied the original labels and added color coded straws to accompany them.

I find the potted meat especially tempting. It may take some effort to get it through the straw, but I'd be willing to work on it.

Davie says that only these photos of the bottles remain because "some of the products do not age well over time." They were, alas, too good for this world.

Other foods that I'd like to see bottled: haggis, pigs' feet, and fried sheep brains.

-via Foodiggity

(Sticky Comics/Christiann MacAuley)

That is . . . just about right.

When I moved out of my first apartment, I counted 33 bags of trash. I'm not sure how that happened because I owned so little stuff.

Moving frequently is a great way to make sure that your household goods are pared down to a reasonable amount.

The Wounded Warrior Softball Team is an organization of American veterans who have lost limbs in the line of duty, but are still up for athletic challenges. Many of them make use of advanced prostheses. All of them are dedicated to improving the lot of American veterans returning home.

But they do more than just helping veterans. They're also helping kids with missing limbs play sports. That's why they recently held a softball camp in Louisville, Kentucky for 20 kids with absent arms or legs. 

It's making a difference for a lot of kids. NBC News reports:

This summer, the wounded warriors coached 10-year-old Adrian Grajeda. And now he can hit, throw, and field grounders better than ever before. But Adrian, who lost his leg less than a year ago after a car accident, said they showed him much more than that.

“It’s cool because you don’t feel alone,” he said. “And they can teach you stuff that you don’t know.”

(Photos: Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team)

The kids have been an inspiration to the veterans who operate the camp. The Courier Journal reports:

"These kids don't think of themselves as disabled or having a tough time," said Rick Wilk, a U.S. Army veteran who had one of his legs amputated. "They make us look like wimps out here, because they're running around and jumping around. How can we talk about being hurt when these kids have so much passion and so much drive?"

Wilk said that after a tour of the Louisville Slugger Museum on Monday, he heard a father ask his son if he was in pain from the physically grueling day. The boy told him he had no time to hurt, because there was only time to be happy.

-via Huffington Post

(Video Link)

A car drifted into the lane occupied by a motorcylist on a road in São Paulo, Brazil. The motorcyclist responded by chasing after the driver, then kicking the car with his foot.

This was a mistake.

The motorcyclist learned this fact immediately.

-via 22 Words

Comedian Demetri Martin travels across the county for gigs, so he's spent a lot of time in the sky. As a master of midair sleeping, he's provided this handy guide to sleeping positions that may work for you.

I have no idea how The Pierre got its name. But I know that I don't want to know.

None of these people seem to be taking advantage of the stretching-out room that the aisle provides.

-via Daily of the Day

(Video Link)

Carlos and his friends went scuba diving. Little did they know that an adorable menace lay beneath the surface, eager to feed upon human flesh--the tuna from the land.

(Cue Jaws music.)

The little shark pounced upon the human and began dragging him underwater. Or just grasping on to his swimsuit.

Carlos narrowly escaped. But as you can see from the end of the video, he's lucky that the shark didn't hit him a few inches to the right.

-via Huffington Post