Skanky versions of normal costumes -- they're all the rage these days for Halloween. You know, like sexy librarian, sexy nurse, sexy blogger. That sort of thing. Jillian Tamaki has a few suggestions along these lines. View more at the link.

Link -via The Hairpin

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Trolls are, of course, never a problem at Neatorama, for all of our commenters are of a genteel, refined, and learned sort. Also: good looking. But this Saturday Night Live clip does apply to some darker fora on the Internet.

-via Boing Boing

When the Second Continental Congress declared American independence in 1776, it committed an act of rebellion against the established government over the area. It can be argued that the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which recognized this independence, made the act retroactively legal. What is less clear is whether the Declaration of Independence was lawful at the time. On October 31, British and American lawyers will meet at Benjamin Franklin Hall in Philadelphia to debate the issue. At the conclusion of the debate, members of the audience will vote on the question:

The Brits will cite the historical illegality of secession movements generally and the treasonous nature of this one, given that the colonies were established by British citizens who pledged their loyalty to the king. A betting man might even expect a cite or two to writings of that great lawyer-statesman Abraham Lincoln, who dealt firmly with his own breakaway republic. And the barristers — assuming they aren’t shouted down — can be expected to dismiss as “trivial” the economic arguments of the poor colonists, such as that taxation-without-representation rot. The taxes went to defend them against the French, after all.

Who do you think will win? Who do you think should win?

Link | Image: John Trumbull

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To turn left, blink your left eye. To turn right, blink your right eye. To start moving, clench your teeth. To stop moving, clench your teeth again. Thanks to researchers at Miyazaki University, wheelchair users with limited muscular control will have greater mobility options.

http://www.diginfo.tv/2011/10/17/11-0213-r-en.php -via Popular Science

Previously:
Mind-Controlled Wheelchair
Tongue Studs Can Give Paralyzed People Greater Control Over Mobility Devices

In the movie Predator, Jesse Ventura's character carries a M134 minigun, which he fed with a huge box strapped to his back. US soldiers with the 133rd Infantry Regiment in Afghanistan saw the movie and thought that such a box, while ridiculous for a minigun, might solve one of their own ammunition transportation problems. The Mk 48 machine gun is heavy and gunners have to carry their own ammunition. So Staff Sgt. Vincent Winkowski decided to build a back-mounted rig that would feed smoothly into his rifle:

So Winkowski grabbed an old ALICE (all-purpose lightweight individual carrying equipment) frame, welded two ammunition cans together -- one atop the other after cutting the bottom out of the top can -- and strapped the fused cans to the frame. To that he added a MOLLE (modular, lightweight load-carrying equipment) pouch to carry other equipment.

"We wondered why there wasn't some type of dismounted (Common Remote Operating Weapons Station) that fed our machine guns instead of a mini-gun as portrayed in the movie," Winkowski said. "So, I decided to try it using the feed chute assembly off of the vehicle CROWS. We glued a piece of wood from an ammo crate inside the ammo cans to create the decreased space necessary so the rounds would not fall in on each other.

Link -via TechCrunch | Image: Fox, 133rd Infantry Regiment

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You don't need a mask, just a good makeup kit and patience. BeautifulYouTV will walk you through the process, step-by-step. Once, you're done, put in these anime contact lenses to really freak people out (the objective of all sound fashion decisions).

-via Fashionably Geek

I guess that I should be glad that I got married before the revival of Doctor Who. I could do what's crossed out, but I'm not sure that I could come up with a TARDIS. Certainly not a functional one.

My three-year old saw a picture of the TARDIS and asked me what it was. I explained it to her, but I also emphasized that in our family, we are Trekkies. We respect people of other traditions, including Whovians. But we are Trekkies. Gotta start teaching the family ways and traditions while they're young and impressionable.

Link -via Blastr

Simon Fletcher runs a Tumblr blog with an inspired mission: to point out images of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in noses everywhere. He writes, "God is the artist. I just find the Ninja Turtle in his work." Michelangelo would approve. The artist, I mean.

Link -via NotCot

I think that we've now run out of excuses to exercise. Fauja Singh, at the age of 100, became the oldest man to complete a marathon:

It took Singh over eight hours to cross the finish line — more than six hours after Kenya's Kenneth Mungara won the event for the fourth straight year — and he was the last competitor to complete the course. But his time wasn't nearly remarkable as the accomplishment itself. [...]

Sunday's run was Fauja Singh's eighth marathon — he ran his first at the tender age of 89 — and wasn't the first time he set a record. In the 2003 Toronto event, he set the mark in the 90-plus category, finishing the race in five hours 40 minutes and one second.

Link -via Daily Telegraph (warning: auto-sound) | Photo: Frank Gunn/Canadian Press

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First it was kittens, and now it's turtles! All of the animals are getting into the action -- which is making trips to the vet difficult, I can tell you. It's not the lightsabers that I mind so much as the mind tricks.

-via Nerd Bastards

I wonder if Jabba will even consider taking her back at this point. At least lose the chest hair

Link | Photo: Christian Liendo

Geeks are easily classed, especially when they congregate in large numbers. Well-organized cons actually offer taxanomic schemes at the door so that you can keep everyone straight. But if you don't get one, then Owen Parson's visual guide will help you keep the geeks sorted. View the rest at the link.

Link -via reddit

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Marcos Zotes projected an eyeball on the bottom of a water tower in Brooklyn. It's watching you ominously, like a long-legged alien striding over a conquered Earth.

Flickr Set -via Nerdcore

Here's a great find at the New York City Comic Con by Caleb Goellner of Comics Alliance. It's a cyclotron of cuteness.

Link

Go ahead and call your insurance company. You now have a story that its employees will never forget. Actually, this is an ad in Nantes, France. It was made by the street theater company Royal de Luxe for IDM, a housewares retailer. Link -via Copyranter Previously by Royale de Luxe: Attack of the 20 Foot Marionettes Sultan's Elephant