When Thomas Edison showed off his phonograph in 1877, no one could imagine how important sound recording would become. That would only happen with the improvement of recording media quality so that music could be shared. Coin-operated vending machines were already around, and an enterprising inventor named Louis Glass married the two concepts together with his 1889 device that later became known as the juke box.

Glass's machine looks nothing like what we've come to know as a jukebox. The phonograph was encased in a lead-lined oak cabinet and had a 25-lb. sulfuric acid battery that provided electricity through wires to the motor. It could only play one wax cylinder at a time and had to be changed manually, meaning the music options—which probably included 1889 hits like "Down Went McGinty" and "The Rip Van Winkle Polka"—were quite limited. One clever tidbit: As part of the deal with the saloons, he had added an announcement at the end of each cylinder that told patrons "to go over to the bar and get a drink."

Amplification was poor, hence the four listening tubes. "It was a nickel for each tube, so you wouldn't want to join when (the song) was half-way through," Koenigsberg says, "Also, (the tubes) went into people's ears, so there was the not-quite-aesthetic pleasantry of handkerchiefs hanging on the side of the machine to wipe off the tubes." Nonetheless, the machine was a San Francisco sensation. A few weeks later, Glass placed a second machine in the same saloon. On December 18, 1889, he filed his application for the patent and quickly went to work making more.

That set off a race to make a better jukebox, with Glass competing to keep his innovation on top. Read the history of those delightful machines that fed the pop music industry for a hundred years at Popular Mechanics. -via Digg

(Image credit: Joe Mabel)

#2 Use the Q&A portion to promote yourself

The most important part of asking a question in front of an audience is not what question you ask, but everything you say before you ask the question to get people’s attention and make them realize you’re someone they should be talking to.

This is just one of ten important tips for making an impression at a tech conference. Sure, you’re there to learn things and to cultivate business contacts, but more important is to make sure everyone knows you and how totally cool you are. The rest of the ten things can be found at The Cooper Review. 

For decades, we saw print and TV ads featuring women wearing white swimsuits diving into blue water, women in white jeans riding horses, and women in nice white sundresses, advertising who-knows-what unless you already knew they were about menstrual products. When inhibitions dropped a little, we were treated to absorbent products that sucked up blue water. But now, Bodyform UK has a badass advertisement that confronts the realities of menstruation head on. This ad is SFW, although a bit …bloody.  

(YouTube link)

Yes, it’s about blood. There’s nothing shameful or dirty about blood, or sweat, or tears, and that includes menstrual blood. It’s just reality. Read more about Bodyform’s blood campaign.  -via Metafilter

What matters most when buying a place to live? Location, location, location …and the amount of actual land you get. You can change almost anything else. If that location is in a city, you’ll be paying more per square foot, and in certain highly-desired cities, the price can be astronomical. If you had a million dollars to spend in my area, you’d probably be shown an entire housing development. A million can buy you a mansion in a rural area. But in New York, San Francisco, Boston, and other major career destinations, a million will get you a place to sleep. See what kind of home a million dollars can buy in these and other cities at Housely.   

In the 1960s, record companies and concert producers scrambled to keep up with the demand for live music. If a loose collection of studio musicians recorded a song that became a hit, they’d slap together a touring group with the same band name, like Steam or The Archies. But a fake road band could even take on the identity of a real band -without their knowledge. Rod Argent, Colin Blunstone, Chris White, Paul Atkinson, and Hugh Grundy had a rock band in Britain called The Zombies. They had a few hits in the mid-60s, and in 1967 recorded the album Odessey and Oracle. By the time the album was released in 1968, the Zombies were on to other projects. Argent formed the group Argent, and Colin Blunstone started working on a solo career.

The Zombies quietly disbanded when Odessey and Oracle failed to make the charts. Nobody even saw fit to correct the unintentionally misspelled “Odessey” on the record’s cover, viewed in hindsight as typical psychedelic-era wordplay. Almost two years after their breakup, after little fanfare and two failed singles, the band’s U.S. label, Date Records, decided to release the track “Time of the Season” as a last-ditch effort; the song went to No. 3 on the Billboard chart and the Zombies were suddenly in demand.

The Zombies, unaware of their stateside success — this was possible in 1969 — had already moved on to new musical projects or day jobs. This vacuum meant anyone could tour the United States pretending to be the Zombies, even a four-piece blues band from Dallas. As the Beatles and Stones went from garage and blues rock beginnings to more adventurous music, the Zombies took their early, more raucous hits (“She’s Not There,” “Tell Her No”) and refined them. But replicating a refined sound was hardly the priority.

There were in fact two different bands touring the United States in 1969 calling themselves the Zombies. Both impostor groups were managed by the same company, Delta Promotions, the owners of which insisted they’d legally acquired the songs of the Zombies and other bands. It was an operation that would be impossible to attempt today, perpetrated in an era when fans didn’t have unlimited access to artists’ whereabouts, or, in some cases, even know what they looked like.

The Texas version of the Zombies was made up of musicians Mark Ramsey, Seab Meador, Dusty Hill, and Frank Beard. You might recognize the last two names. Buzzfeed tells the story off how the fake Zombies were sent to tour the country replicating the British bands’ songs without a keyboard to capitalize on the groups’ radio hits in 1969 and ’70.  

お腹に穴空いてるわけではない。 pic.twitter.com/TquGITgim3

— はなもも (@hanamomoact) May 26, 2016

Cows with port holes exist in real life, but this cat is an optical illusion. Oh, the cat is real enough, but the round hole in its side is not. It was spotted in the United Arab Emirates, where the sand is the same color as the cat’s calico spots. The black part of the spot creates the illusion of depth. The caption under the photo by Twitter user @hanamomoact translates to “The hole in my stomach is not empty.”

おかあちゃん、お腹に穴が空いてるわけじゃない、動画バージョン。 pic.twitter.com/gsL2jZ05DM

— はなもも (@hanamomoact) June 3, 2016

The caption of the video translates to “The version of the videos don't lie to Momma, hungry hole.” That’s a machine translation; if you can read Japanese, I’m sure the original is more eloquent. -via HuffPo

This is the way to run a business, if you are more concerned about enjoying your occupation than chasing every dollar you can pull in. Artist Ichimura Mamoru owns the museum and creates the art for sale there. Redditor inexion took a picture of the sign that’s inspired visitors for years. Here’s more about the museum.

The sign (originally written in Japanese but translated into English by a tourist back in 2003) was for a Ukiyoe museum, Ukiyoe is a traditional Japanese painting style that uses carved wooden blocks to print with and recreate works. Luckily for us the owner hadn't yet had enough for the day and the museum was still open.

You can find the Ukiyoe Small Museum on Yasaka Dori street in Kyoto, Japan, but it might not be open when you get there. -via reddit

Drexel University students got new uniforms a few months ago. So they could all look the same. I don’t know whose idea the khaki pants were. Or the haircuts. They weren’t the only ones wearing these shirts. This is one of 19 Photos That Are The Definition Of Irony at Buzzfeed.

The following article is from the book Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Nature Calls.

Move over Kardashians, these media darlings not only knew how to build a huge fan base that lasted more than a few TV seasons, they also helped to change humans’ view of the animal world.

ELSA THE LIONESS (1956–61)

Elsa was one of three orphaned cubs rescued in the 1950s by George Adamson, the senior game warden of Kenya’s Northern Frontier District. (Adamson and a scouting party had been called out to capture a lioness that was attacking people. When the lioness charged, the men killed her in self-defense… and only discovered her cubs, Elsa among them, afterward.) Two of the cubs went to a zoo, but George’s wife Joy insisted on keeping Elsa to raise, an idea that was unheard of then because, at the time, lions were just considered to be mindless killing machines.

Not Elsa, though. She was playful, loving, and devoted to the Adamsons. When she reached three years old, however, she’d grown so large and strong that the couple decided she couldn’t continue being a pet. So George began taking Elsa out to the bush, helping her learn to stalk animals, kill her own food, and fend for herself. Eventually, Elsa became the first captive lion successfully returned to the wild.

Elsa retained her affection for George and Joy, always returning home to visit. When she arrived one day with three cubs, it was clear she’d adapted to her new world. But life in the wild was hard— Elsa died of a blood disease before her cubs were grown. So the Adamsons raised them, too, and then set them free on the African plains.

Claim to fame: Joy Adamson wrote Born Free about raising Elsa and returning her to the wild. The book became a best seller and was made into a film in 1966. George trained the captive, but not-quite-tame lions that starred in the movie, and the natural charm of the lions helped make the film an international hit.

Legacy: Elsa’s love and loyalty changed an entire generation’s view of wild animals. For the first time, lions were seen as individuals with differing personalities, instead of brutes just to be hunted. The success of Elsa’s release into the wild also sparked a new movement to help captured animals to be returned to an environment that was as close as possible to what nature intended. When Elsa was returned to the wild, most people considered it a novel and even crazy idea, but today, returning animals to their native habitat is an important part of conservation. After Elsa’s death, Joy established Elsa Wild Animal Appeal to aid in the preservation of animal habitats. She also became a founder of the World Wildlife Fund. George founded the George Adamson African Wildlife Preservation Trust and worked full time teaching orphan and captive lions how to survive in the wild. And the actors who played Joy and George Adamson in the 1966 movie founded the Born Free Foundation to aid wild animals in captivity.

CHI-CHI THE GIANT PANDA (1957–72)

The following article is from the book Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Nature Calls.

(Image credit: Indrajit Das)

We know, we know— Og and Gog had this one figured out a million years ago. But just in case you haven’t…

IT WILL HAPPEN

There is a very good chance that at some point in your life— even if you’re the most home-loving, easy chair– sitting, gelatinous blob of a human that ever lived— you’re going to have to make a fire outdoors. The kids will demand it. Or the spouse will kick you out of the cabin one night while you’re staying in the mountains on a winter vacation. With this in mind, you’re going to need some tried-and-true tips for starting a fire in the great outdoors. So here you go.

BURN, BABY, BURN

(Image credit: Flickr user Nina`H)

If you’re at a campground that provides a fire pit, you should use it, as this is the safest and easiest way to go. If none is available, you’re going to have to build a fire ring or pit yourself. Here’s how:

You know how the Mercator Map makes Greenland look huge? Since we used the handy flat world map so often in school, we are just used to it. Now a site called The True Size can help dispel those notions of geography that are so ingrained. Type in a nation and drag it around to see how large it really is in comparison to other countries on the map. Greenland is actually tiny when set next to, say, Brazil. We know that Russia is the world’s largest nation in area, with Canada in second place, but when you drag them closer to the equator, you see that the difference is not as vast as you may have thought.

Meanwhile, those "small" nations in equatorial Africa aren't really small. The Democratic Republic of Congo grows to cover half of Europe when you move it north. The real fun is to move Antarctica around. Sure, it’s big (if it were a nation, it would be second only to Russia), but it’s not as ridiculously dominant as the Mercator map would have us believe. -via mental_floss

Jeff Wysaski, working as Obvious Plant, put together a newspaper full of humorous want ads and distributed it as a free community paper. The ads are a real hoot! Any ad that isn’t funny is probably real.

 

You can read the entire newspaper in enlargeable full-page photos from an imgur album.

The 1979 film Alien introduced us to one of the more terrifying visions of extraterrestrial life, a ten-foot tall parasite that will keep you alive just long enough to aid in its reproduction. It also introduced us to badass character Ellen Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver. We weren’t used to women action heroes in 1979.

5. RIPLEY WASN’T SUPPOSED TO BE A WOMAN.

[Screenwriter Dan] O’Bannon and [writer Ronald] Shusett wrote the entire cast as men, but they left a note in the screenplay that “the crew is unisex and all parts are interchangeable for men or women.” Shusett admits they never dreamed of the lead being a woman, though. The producers made that call, believing a female Ripley would be more unique but also more palatable to their bankrollers. As Brandywine producer David Giler remembered, “Looking it over, [producer Walter Hill] and I thought, ‘Here’s this one character who’s not too interesting.’ And this studio—I hate to say this, but for very cynical reasons—this studio [20th Century Fox] is making Julia and Turning Point and they really believe in the return of the woman’s movie. [We’d] probably get a lot of points if we turn this character into a woman.”

11. ROGER DALTREY HELPED WITH THE LIGHTING.

When the Nostromo crew disturbs the facehuggers, there's a beam of blue light, which indicates early trouble. And you have The Who to thank for that. Lead singer Roger Daltrey was experimenting with lasers right next to the studio where Alien was shooting, and he graciously lent his equipment out to Scott.

Read the rest of the trivia from the production of Alien at mental_floss.

Wendover Productions brought us the video Why Flying is So Expensive last month. He received a lot of feedback about airlines that don’t cost so much, so he researched the question, and now gives us an explanation of how budget airlines work for so much less.

(YouTube link)

The upshot is that you can save a lot of money on flights if you are flexible. If you don’t have to be at certain airport on a certain date or time, or you can handle fewer amenities, you can save big bucks. Just don’t expect it to be a luxury experience. -via Geeks Are Sexy

No parent is ready to learn that their daughter is trending... #hotdogprincess Best part is it was all her idea! pic.twitter.com/YBmUkRoj4y

— Brandon E Turner (@turnerbrandon) June 2, 2016

It was Princess Week at the dance school, and all the little girls came dressed up as their favorite princess -mainly Disney Princesses. But Ainsley put on a hot dog costume because she is the Hot Dog Princess from Adventure Time! Of course, that went right over most people’s heads, but they admired Ainsley for her unique fashion sense. Oh yeah, she was wearing a princess dress under the hot dog costume, and said she was a princess on the inside. Now Ainsley is a viral sensation!

Always be yourself.pic.twitter.com/NVCr6CMwmI

— Holly Springs Dance (@marilynhssod) June 4, 2016

She was even asked to open the show at the school’s spring recital. See more pictures of Ainsley at Buzzfeed.