(YouTube Link)

Computer musician Jaime Oliver's Silent Drum project uses the membrane of a drum head to create unusual sounds. The membrane itself doesn't make a sound, but a camera measures how Oliver manipulates it, and a computer uses those measurements as instructions for what sounds to emit.

Link via Make

Voters in Tracy City, Tennessee elected Carl Geary mayor, even though he died a month ago:

His widow, Susan Geary, said his election "was not a surprise at all to me."

"The day he passed away, people were calling with condolences and saying, 'We're still voting for him,'" she said.

Geary, 55, was known for his straight talking and served on the local council. He polled 285 votes to his rival's 85.

Local business owners said the vote to elect Geary was as a protest against the current mayor, Barbara Brock.

"I knew he was deceased. I know that sounds stupid, but we wanted someone other than her," said Chris Rogers, owner of the town's Lunch Box restaurant.

Link | Photo: (unrelated) US Department of the Interior

Do you carefully read the terms of use page when completing an online purchase? Maybe you should. The online computer game retailer GameStation revealed that hidden in its terms of use statement is this clause:

By placing an order via this Web site on the first day of the fourth month of the year 2010 Anno Domini, you agree to grant Us a non transferable option to claim, for now and for ever more, your immortal soul. Should We wish to exercise this option, you agree to surrender your immortal soul, and any claim you may have on it, within 5 (five) working days of receiving written notification from gamesation.co.uk or one of its duly authorised minions

It was just an April Fool's Day gag, but some 7,500 customers' souls are now the property of this company.

Link via Ace of Spades HQ | Image: College of New Jersey

A stretch of interstate highway near St. Louis, Missouri is now paved with asphalt made from pig manure:

"Whew!" gasped a worker with Pace Construction Co., the St. Louis County road contractor that joined forces with Innoventor, the Earth City-based engineering and design firm that perfected the process of converting the animal waste into a bio-oil used in asphalt binder.

To others, the air swelled with the sweet smell of potential for new manufacturing opportunities, jobs and, possibly, profits. How big is that potential? Nobody knows yet.

"If this works out, it's a win-win situation for everyone," said Karlton Krause, a hog producer from northern Iowa. "For farmers, it produces revenue. And at the same time, it helps clean the environment. We're taking a waste product and finding a value-added purpose for it."

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/story/8BD4ECDDEBD84EC686257706000C0410?OpenDocument via Stuff | Photo: US Department of the Interior

Designer Alejandro Aravena of the firm Vitra created a very simple chair. It's a strap that wraps around your legs and back to hold you into a seated position. "Chairless" was inspired by a picture of an Ayoreo (an indigenous group in Paraguay) person doing something similar. A portion of the proceeds from this chair will be donated to a foundation to benefit indigenous nations of Paraguay.

Link (warning: sound) via Fast Company | Photo: Vitra

(YouTube Link)

At a discussion forum called the Horn and Whistle Board, user captofchaos revealed this glorious machine that he has constructed. The Great American Horn Machine has a 620 gallon air tank and an air compressor that powers numerous ship and train horns. The video above is a demonstration of this musical instrument playing "God Bless America."

http://www.hornwhistleboard.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2386&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&sid=daafa489b24865b78ea40e9d9339bff4&start=30 via Gizmodo

The Garden of Cosmic Speculation was created by Charles Jencks and Maggie Keswick in Dumfries, Scotland in 1989. It contains unusual geometric patterns in order to inspire the mind. The mound pictured above was designed around the Fibonacci sequence. This is a private garden and open to the public only one day a year.

Link via The Presurfer | Video | Official Website | Photo: flickr user Paulus Maximus! used under Creative Commons license.

Sure, you could hire a funny clown to entertain people, but why not hire an evil clown to stalk and torment someone? That's the service that Dominic Deville of Lucerne, Switzerland, according to a report in the Austria Times:

First he contacts 'victims' to tell them they're being watched.

Then he taunts them with texts, phone calls and booby trapped letters warning them that at sometime in their party he's going to smash a cake into their face.

http://austriantimes.at/news/Around_the_World/2010-04-13/22467/Evil_clown_laughs_all_the_way_to_the_bank_ via Nerdcore | Photo: Europics | Previously on Neatorama: Coulrophobia: Fear of Clowns

One of the duties of the Library of Congress (US) is to archive published works. In order to carry out this task in the Web 2.0 world, the agency will begin archiving every tweet ever publicly published on Twitter:

Twitter is donating its archives of tweets to the Library of Congress, going back to the first one posted by co-founder Jack Dorsey on March 21, 2006. It wasn't a profound moment, and Dorsey didn't come close to Twitter's 140-character limit for messages. He simply posted "Jack," according to the Library of Congress' archives.

Twitter and the Library of Congress announced their partnership Wednesday.

The Library of Congress wants to store tweets to give researchers a better way to revisit discussions of significant events, including the tweets that occurred after President Obama's election in 2008, during the protests in Iran last year and the earthquakes in Haiti and elsewhere this year.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5inSYaT03ortwhbRd165XjW0N72VAD9F367600 via DVICE | Image: Twitter

(YouTube Link)

What would Hamlet be like if it had been written by Dr. Seuss? Justin Moran wrote a one-act play summarizing Shakespeare's masterpiece in this manner. Here is a production of it by the ACME Comedy troupe.

via Popped Culture | ACME Website | Script

Have you tried Chatroulette? Do you need a unicorn chaser to wash away those images now planted in your mind? Then you might want to try KittehRoulette. It's a site that displays random videos of cute cats. Much, much safer for the eyes than Chatroulette.

http://kittehroulette.com/ via Urlesque | Photo: Kittehroulette

Previously on Neatorama:
Chatroulette Surprise
Chatroulette Piano Improv

Flickr user SiLver sKY spotted a street performer near Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles. He was wearing an outfit composed of mirrors, from head to toe. More pictures at the link.

Link via Nerdcore | Photo: flickr user SiLver sKY used under Creative Commons license

(YouTube Link)

Retro Calculators is a web museum of mechanical calculating devices, such as slide rules and adding machines. Its YouTube channel includes videos of these machines in use, including the above Faber Castell Addiator. This is a gadget that combines a slide rule with an adding and subtracting device.

Link via View from the Porch | YouTube Channel

(Video Link)

Meet Meline is an animated short film about a young girl who discovers a strange creature while at play in her grandparents' barn. Virginie Goyons and Sebastien Laban produced it independently over a two year period. Run time: 7 minutes.

via The Presurfer | Behind the Scenes Video | Official Website

(YouTube Link)

The folks at the Guy Bauer radio talk show in Chicago put together this montage video of action heroes from twenty-eight movies (and one Family Guy episode) saying "We've got company" when encountering enemies.

via Urlesque | Official Website