You don't have to do any artwork yourself with this zombie generator -just upload your picture and it will turn you into a zombie! Well, at least your picture. This one is me, zombified. Link -via the Presurfer

This week, Neatorama was proud to roll out our new literary sub-blog BitLit, where you can enjoy new fiction from all kinds of contributors! We started with three offerings, all described in this post. Check in for new chapters of Frostbite and Trivial Pursuits {?} posted every day, and read the entire short story Nomen Ludi.

Jill Harness was busy this week, again rounding up the best Halloween information and entertainment for you in Neatorama’s Halloween Decoration Geekstravaganza, as well as 12 Gross Candies Perfect For Trick or Treaters, and the post 10 Controversial Horror Movies For Halloween.

We had more Halloweeny goodness from Uncle John's Bathroom Reader in Famous Trials: The Witches of Salem, and The Annals of Improbable Research brought us Yummy Mummies for Good Health.

Halloween wasn't the only thing going on. John Farrier gave us 10 Facts You Might Not Know about Babylon 5.

Jill said Happy Birthday, Teddy Roosevelt! on what would have been the president's 152nd birthday Wednesday

Really, Really Dumb Moments in Sports came to us from the new issue of mental_floss magazine.

I reported on 10 Things I Learned at BlogWorld in Las Vegas.

Alex is asking for your comments and suggestions in the post How Should We Improve Blogging Diversity on Neatorama?

If you didn't have time to try it out earlier, spend some downtime this weekend playing with Neato-Puzzle #4.

In the What Is It? game we posted on Thursday, t-shirts go to just a guess who correctly guessed that the object is a carpet stretcher, and to e7c for the funniest guess: George Washington's Halloween costume's vampire denture!

Steven Johnson drew a Halloween edition of the Name That Weird Invention! contest. T-shirts from the NeatoShop go to Barking Bud, who called it a Mortalcycle, and to John P, who came up with the name Moto-Crossbones by Bone-Daddy Bikes, which comes in "his and hearse models". Honorable mentions: Elizabeth (Bone Chopper), Hannah (Tyred of Life), Saudia (Nutcracker), Heather B (Dirt Nap Bike), deathbyawesomeness (diecycle), Sasha (BMXoskelton), and ladybuggs (The Grim Chopper).

As a special treat, we ran a second round of Name That Weird Invention! on Friday. You can still enter that contest for a couple more days.

We also saw a trick-or-treat version of Mal and Chad's Fill in the Bubble Frenzy. The winning entry is from Matt, who said That's the last time I try the "Knock knock. Who's there? Bananna." joke! Matt, however, did not select a t-shirt.

Congratulations also to Holly Werra and Mark Dziak, who won t-shirts from the NeatoShop in the How Did You Know? contest that Neatorama sponsored this week at mental_floss.

We had four winners in the Star Wars giveaway: Heather Muise, David Alexander LaPierre, @Chiisexy and @raaven. What? You didn't know we were doing a Star Wars giveaway until it was over? That's because it was a social media giveaway. You'll be in on the next such giveaway if you follow Neatorama on Facebook and Twitter!

Have a great Halloween!

It's hard to believe today, but less than 100 years ago, there was a great debate about whether women should be able to vote. The anti-suffragists declared that voting women would abandon their families, they would become ugly and mean, and society would collapse.

This attitude was reflected in the suffragette caricatures drawn in newspapers and magazines. According to Tickner, depictions of spinster suffragettes were normally slender in a time when curves were celebrated; their faces likewise were severe and gaunt, “the lines of disappointment etched deep by the illustrator’s pen.” The spinster suffragette’s clothes and physical appearance emphasize that she is a failed woman and wannabe man. The lady wants to vote because she couldn’t get a date.

Read more about the anti-suffrage movement and see more cartoons and caricatures from the debate at mental_floss. Link

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Finally, a film that explains everything! This trailer for a prequel to the Alfred Hitchcock horror classic The Birds comes from NYSUfilms. -via b3ta

Illustrator Steve Thomas created a series of beautiful retro posters for locations, transportation facilities, and events featured in the Star Wars movies. They may be available to purchase as prints soon! Link -via Buzzfeed

In the Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling, the explanation for how the elephant got its trunk involved a crocodile that pulled on a baby elephant's nose until it stretched out. That same scene was photographed recently in South Africa. A baby elephant was taking a drink when a crocodile, hidden under the surface of the water, clamped down on the juvenile's trunk!

Hearing the baby’s calls of distress, the herd of elephants immediately went to its rescue, scaring off the crocodile by trumpeting and stamping the ground. After the attack the herd stayed with the youngster.

When the baby had recovered the herd crossed the waterhole together in safety, only yards from where the crocodile had been hiding.

These pictures were taken by amateur photographer Johan Opperman in the Kruger National Park in South Africa.

Experts said crocodiles don't normally attack elephants. Link -via Fark

(Image credit: Johan Opperman/Solent News and Photo Agency)

Almost three-year-old Gram wanted to be Robocop for Halloween, so his dad went to work and made this costume. They went out for a photo shoot and met some real Detroit police officers!

They even let him sit in the police car. He in awe during the whole encounter. Detroit's finest were there to help protect a movie or TV Show that was filming on that block. While we were talking, some Hollywood-type rushed over to take a picture of the kid with his camera phone. "I'm good friends with Peter Weller, the guy who played Robocop on the movie," he said. "He's gonna get a kick out of this." The guy proceeded to e-mail the photo to Weller, so chances are the real Robocop has seen my little Robocop. Then we headed back to the first precinct for some repairs (after such an eventful shift, the paint was peeling off the suit and parts were falling off).

The post includes many more pictures, and how the costume was created. Link -via Metafilter

There are many familiar terms you read on the internet, but if they came up in conversation, you might not pronounce the words the same as other people do -because you've only seen them typed! Geekosystem has a pronunciation guide for 21 words and phrases that you may not have ever heard spoken out loud. But if you ever do, you'll be correct. Take, for example, the word "Cthulhu".

4) Cthulhu

Created by H.P. Lovecraft, Cthulhu is a humongous cosmic entity resembling a blend of an octopus, dragon and humanoid. Bordering on a ridiculous mishmash that would be found laughable in today’s horror scene, Cthulhu is still widely-known and loved amongst literature buffs and geeks the world over.

* The Mystery: Probably doesn’t need a list of common mispronunciations, but it’s safe to say every letter in the name other than the “l” can be pronounced one way or another.
* The Answer: Wikipedia says H.P. Lovecraft once transcribed the pronunciation as “Khlûl-hloo,” though didn’t pronounce it that way at other times. Now commonplace, the accepted pronunciation is “ka-thoo-loo;” that is, if you accept a pronunciation from a source other than the creator of the word. Lovecraft didn’t seem to have any consistent way of pronouncing it though, so we’re all better off settling on the common way described above.

You'll also want to check out the best way to pronounce FAQ, Ubuntu, and meme, among others. Link

(Image credit: the NeatoShop)

REDSKINS DOUBLE THEIR BLUNDER

During the NFL draft in 1946, the Washington Redskins were giddy when they nabbed UCLA running back Cal Rossi. By pairing Rossi with star quarterback "Slingin' Sammy" Baugh, Washington hoped to build a backfield that would give opponents nightmares. There was just one problem: Rossi was still a junior in college, and in those days, only seniors were eligible for the draft. How did the Skins fumble so badly? The team's owner, George Marshall, was too cheap to send scouts across the country; instead, he just picked new players by scanning the sports page.

The team selected Rossi again the next year, but amazingly, it was yet another wasted draft pick. As soon as the team selected him, the Redskins learned that Rossi had joined the Navy and had no intention of playing pro football.

HOT POTATOES

As a 1987 minor-league baseball game, catcher Dave Bresnahan made what looked to be a critical blunder. He threw the ball over the third baseman's head, and the opposing team's runner trotted home as the ball rolled into the outfield. But when the player arrived at home plate, Bresnahan tagged him out. How could the ball be in left field and in Bresnahan's mitt? A quick investigation revealed that the so-called ball Bresnahan had thrown into the outfield was, in fact, a potato. In his spare time, the catcher had carved a tuber to look like a baseball and stashed it into his mitt.

Creative? Definitely. Successful? Not so much. The umpire scoffed at the ploy and called the runner safe at home. The bush league play also enraged Williamsport's manager, who yanked Bresnahan from the game, fined him $50, and kicked him off the team. The fans, on the other hand, loved the stunt so much that Williamsport retired Bresnahan's number the following season. At the ceremony, he joked, "Lou Gehrig had to play 2,130 consecutive games and hit .340 for his number to be retired, and all I had to do was bat .140 and throw a potato."

FISHY BUSINESS

Back in 2005, Paul Tormanen looked like a rising star on the bass-fishing circuit. When other anglers struggled to find a decent catch, he managed to fill his boat with trophy bass in less than an hour. But unbeknownst to his rivals, Tormanen was arriving at each tournament a little too prepared. He would hit the lake before the competition, catch a mess of fish, and then leave the biggest ones tethered to a stump underwater. On tournament day, he'd simply retrieve his catch and collect the prize.

Tormanen got away with the scheme for several months, but his plans went awry after another fisherman stumbled onto his stash one day. Fish and Wildlife agents secretly marked the illicit catch, and when Tormanen netted the fish, he was arrested for contest fraud. The dubious tactic earned hm 120 hours of community service and a lifetime ban from fishing competitions.

Tormanen's dirty tactics may seem crude, but they're masterful compared to those of Robby Rose. During 2009's Bud Lite Trail Boss Big Bass Tournament, Rose tried to make his bass seem bigger by stuffing 16 oz. weights down their throats. Contest officials realized something was fishy when Rose's leaden catch sank to the bottom of the holding tank.

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The above article by Ethan Trex is reprinted with permission from the Scatterbrained section of the November-December 2010 issue of mental_floss magazine.

Be sure to visit mental_floss' entertaining website and blog for more fun stuff!

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This young man rescued a baby hummingbird when it was attacked (by what, he doesn't say). Music by Jack Johnson. -via Cute Overload

When you produce a skull every day, what are you going to do for Halloween? Noah Scalin at Skull-a-Day carved a pumpkin and found the skull inside! Link -via The Daily What

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Misery Bear encounters zombie teddy bears in this Halloween offering from Chris Hayward and Nat Saunders for BBC Comedy. Not recommended for young children. -Thanks, Nat!

It's once again time for the Fill in the Bubble Frenzy with boy genius Mal and his talking dog Chad! Tell us what goes in the speech bubble and win any T-shirt available in the NeatoShop -take a look around, pick one out and tell us what shirt you’d like with your submission in the comments. If you don't specify a t-shirt with your entry, you forfeit the prize. Enter as many times as you like (text only, please), but leave only one entry per comment. For inspiration, check out Mal and Chad’s comic strip adventures by Stephen McCranie at malandchad.com. Good luck!

Update: The winning line is from Matt, with the entry That's the last time I try the "Knock knock. Who's there? Bananna." joke! Matt, however, did not select a t-shirt.

Early this year, scientists heard of a new and different monkey in the Kachin state of Myanmar. When they arrived at the site, they found the monkey had been "discovered" by the hunters who killed it. It was eaten soon after.

Scientists first learned of "Snubby"—as they nicknamed the species—from hunters in the remote, mountainous Kachin state (map) in early 2010, according to the U.K.-based conservation group Flora & Fauna International (FFI), which announced the discovery Wednesday.

The hunters told the team of R. strykeri's fleshy lips, upturned nose, and odd respiratory issue: Rain falling into the monkeys' noses possibly causes the animals to sneeze, so they often spend soggy days with their heads tucked between their knees, the hunters said.

Local hunters told the FFI team that the rainy season was a good time to look for the monkeys because they made more noise during rain. Eventually, more of the snub-nosed monkeys were seen, but they moved so fast no photographs could be taken. Link

(Image credit: Ngwe Lwin)

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This music video for the song "Mecha Love" by Hadouken is a compilation of people doing awesome things. A very few are from viral advertising and use special effects, but the vast majority of these clips are just people doing what they do, awesomely. -via Laughing Squid