Thomas Yang, an artist and creative director in Singapore, has a real gift for conveying ideas in new ways. He makes many posters that promote bike-riding, such as one in which he printed the Empire State Building with bike tires.
One of his recent works titled Tour de World advocates bicycling for environmental purposes by re-arranging the nations of the world into the image of a bicycle and rider.
-via Fubiz
Genoa, Italy is a very hilly place, so there are already many lifts and trams that carry passengers, around, up, and down. But what makes the elevator at d'Albertis-Montegalletto Castle novel is that its elevator goes both vertically and horizontally as needed.
To get to the castle, you take the elevator horizontally through a tunnel for about 300 meters. Then the elevator goes up the mountain to the castle.
How does it work? Tom Scott explains that elevators have to move along only one axis to be safe. So the designers of this elevator arranged for the elevator to enter a second one before it makes its ascent. Although it looks like one elevator, mechanically speaking, it's actually two.
-via The Presurfer
(Image by Gizmodo)
Taking a literal interpretation of the title of George R.R. Martin's famous novel series, Cocktail Chemistry shows us how to make a cocktail inspired by Game of Thrones.
It's a sophisticated variant of the ice ball cocktail, which we've seen previously. There's liquor inside the hollow sphere of ice. The fire comes from a high proof rum in the bottom of the glass. When ignited, the fire melts the bottom of the ice sphere, causing it collapse and the drink components to mix.
-via That's Nerdalicious!
If we're going to be honest with ourselves, we connect with our phones on so many emotional levels. We look to it for solace, to calm us down, to put us to sleep, to ease our minds. And to me, that's also what a relationship is about. So, in a sense, my smartphone has been my longest relationship.
And so Aaron Chervenak, a film director, took his phone to a Las Vegas wedding chapel and married her.
There was even a wedding ring--in this case, one built into the cell phone case.
I hope their relationship lasts. Unfortunately, these days, many married people want to upgrade to a newer model after a few years.
Are you behind on reading Anxiety magazine? Did your subscription order go through, or did you accidentally order two subscriptions?
You've got a lot to worry about and Anxiety magazine is here to keep you informed of the latest vexations. Crayon Elyse photoshopped covers for 5 issues of this non-existent periodical. You can view them all at Pleated Jeans. Say hello to this man who seems to know you, but you can't remember his name or where you met him.
(Photo: Greg Gjerdingen)
Founded in 1899, Packard was one of the last independent car manufacturers in the US. The luxury brand survived the Great Depression and two world wars. It emerged in good financial shape after domestic car production picked up in 1946. But it couldn't keep up with changing markets and its larger competitors.
In 1955, Packard merged with Studebaker--another company that would soon disappear. The following year, Packard unveiled the Patrician, an example of which is pictured above. On June 25, 1956, the last Packard came off the assembly line in Detroit. For a few more years, there would be Studebakers re-branded as Packards. But this would be the last true Packard. Blake Z. Rong writes mournfully at Road & Track:
All the things that went wrong with Packard—a move downmarket, chasing volume instead of brand image, strange styling, intense cost-cutting, defects, recalls, pissed-off dealers, model lineup bloat, the dreaded scourge of "badge engineering," a desperate merger with a tarnished carmaker just to compete with bigger companies—are still happening today. Maserati comes to mind. The last Honda Civic. Every dead GM brand that didn't survive the bailout, plagued by lost identities and muddled marketing, surviving this far only by dint of pure nostalgia. Mercury. Plymouth. The Mercedes-Benz CLA. Is Volkswagen going to follow the same route? Or Fiat-Chrysler? It's always sad when a carmaker dies, and we never wish for that to happen. Not even for Mitsubishi.
-via Glenn Reynolds
(Photo: Tom)
Do you bathe on a regular basis? Stop. You don't need to.
James Hamblin, a physician, explains in The Atlantic that it's unnecessary. Your body will naturally regulate its own filth if you would just leave it alone:
The odor of bodies is the product of bacteria that live on our skin and feed off of the oily secretions from the sweat and sebaceous glands at the base of our hair follicles. Applying detergents (soaps) to our skin and hair every day disrupts a sort of balance between skin oils and the bacteria that live on our skin. When you shower aggressively, you obliterate the ecosystems. They repopulate quickly, but the species are out of balance and tend to favor the kinds of microbes that produce odor.
But after a while, the idea goes, your ecosystem reaches a steady state, and you stop smelling bad.
Hamblin put the theory to the test on himself. It worked! His friends tell him that he doesn't stink:
And everything is fine. I wake up and get out the door in minutes. At times when I might’ve smelled bad before, like at the end of a long day or after working out, I just don’t. At least, to my nose. I’ve asked friends to smell me, and they insist that it’s all good. (Though they could be allied in an attempt to ruin me.)
So knock it off with bathing. Live naturally. The people around you will appreciate it.
-via TYWKIWDBI
A parent must always be aware of gravity. You will eventually get baby vomit and poop on your body and possibly even on your face. But you can reduce your vulnerability with proper positioning.
Chris Swann, a new uncle, didn't know this when he played with 9-month old baby Alice. She threw up directly into his mouth. It's disgustorable.
The duck's only chance is to outwit his much faster opponent. Perhaps he could double back and catch the dog behind him Or, like Khan in Star Trek II, his opponent may be thinking in 2 dimensions instead of 3. He could fly over the rock to catch his foe from above.
-via Jonah Goldberg
(Image: LG)
The South Korean electronics company LG is selling a television set that drives away mosquitoes with ultrasonic sound waves. It's marketing the TV in India, where mosquitoes are a major public health menace. Each 32" monitor costs about $400 USD. UPI quotes the company:
"The ultrasonic sound waves effectively drives away the mosquitoes keeping your loved ones absolutely safe at home. Since no harmful chemicals are used, it is also odor-free and not hazardous to health like the conventional methods used for keeping mosquito away," the company said on its website.
-via Ace of Spades HQ
Maya the Golden Retriever loves to play games on her iPad. Here she is, fascinated by a little bird that flies back and forth on the screen. She pauses now and then to howl in delight.
Her less--shall we say--intellectual sibling prefers a squeaky toy.
-via Tastefully Offensive
(Photo: Joe Pell)
A swimming hole in an isolated party of Angus, Scotland is popular with local skinny dippers. It's also a hunting ground for red kites who nest nearby. Lately, they've been waiting for the humans to get naked and into the water, then stealing their clothes. The Herald reports that these birds appear to have a special affinity for high fashion branded underpants, which they use as nesting material:
Gamekeeper Dave Clement last year found that a pair of red kites on his estate at Gannochy in Glen Esk near Edzell had stolen pants and socks from a popular local wild swimming spot, to to use in the building of their nest. […]
Dave Clement, member of the Angus Glens Moorland Group, said it appeared that the Kites had become more discerning in 2016, choosing branded undergarments.
“The licences ringer who went up the tree to the nest said there were Armani pants and another brand as well as socks, which they must have pinched off the swimmers at the local gorge.
“It seems they will take anything to line the nest, then lay the eggs on top, and someone must have gone home minus some underwear.
I've got not thinking and eating my own vomit down, so I have a good head start on being happy. Smiling all day is a bit much, but I'll keep imitating my dog in the hope of becoming him.
-via Tastefully Offensive
(Photo: QFamily)
The origin of the doughnut is shrouded in mystery, but it probably began in mid-Nineteenth Century America when a woman named Elizabeth Gregory made pastries, each of which had a single nut in the center.
These were doughnuts and not, I should point out, donuts. The alternate spelling "donut" may have been the work of the restaurant chain Dunkin' Donuts. Kate Taylor of Business Insider summarizes linguistic evidence that suggests that the popularity of the spelling "donut" follows the rise of Dunkin' Donuts as a franchise empire.
After Dunkin' Donuts began in 1950, the use of the alternate spelling of doughnut emerged. It tracks with the spread of the company across America. The spelling has become so common that the Merriam-Webster Dictionary now lists donut has a correct way to spell the word.
-via Ed Driscoll
It was an unlikely plan, but our hero had nothing to lose. If he didn't get out of the grocery store, he'd eventually end up eaten. He mentally prepared himself, then leapt for freedom.
Be sure to watch the entire video to see how his venture ended.
-via Gifsboom
