The best Halloween costume is clever and easy! This t-shirt transforms with a flick of the wrist into a zombie mask -all you have to do is ask. Link
Miss Cellania's Blog Posts
The best Halloween costume is clever and easy! This t-shirt transforms with a flick of the wrist into a zombie mask -all you have to do is ask. Link
There are only so many hours in the day, and if you're an evil villain, there's too much dirty work to do.
Often they are the funniest part of the story, and certainly have more personality than the evil overlord they work for. Revisit some of your favorites in this expandable list from Geekosystem. Link
So you get a henchman. But you can't just let him out there all alone. It's a big dark scary world, and he barely even has a name, much less any characterization! He needs a buddy.
Bonus points if the buddy is the physical opposite of the other, skinny where he is fat, or short where he is tall. Extra bonus points if you can use them as stand-ins to personify a much larger fighting force.
Often they are the funniest part of the story, and certainly have more personality than the evil overlord they work for. Revisit some of your favorites in this expandable list from Geekosystem. Link
In case you're not a pro at this, Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal has explicit instructions for how to pet a kitty. And don't even think you'll be able to get out of it, or delegate the job to someone else, if you live with a cat! Link
(YouTube link)
Combine a graceful sea creature in its natural environment with some ethereal music and you've got this video. From the YouTube link:
Making a rare appearance just in time for Halloween, this ghostly-looking orange cirrate octopus was recently observed by MBARI's ROV Doc Ricketts swimming over the Taney Seamounts. These finned octopuses belong to an order of animals called Cirrata named for the presence of hair-like structures called 'cirri' which may aid these animals in the capture of food.
-via Boing Boing
1. Plimsolls: Kicking it Old School
Plimsolls put the town shoemaker out of business. As the first mass-produced shoes, plimsolls were crafted on an assembly line using canvas and vulcanized rubber. But don't let the "inspected by No. 35" tag fool you. These mid-19th century kicks were so crude that they didn't even differentiate between the right and left foot.
2. Keds: When the Rubber Met the Road
Tires and sneakers are both made of rubber and fabric, so it was only a matter of time before tire companies got into the shoe business. In 1892, Goodyear took on Plimsolls by manufacturing a more sophisticated rubber-and-canvas sneaker. The company decided on the name Peds, but someone else already held the trademark. So, Goodyear went with Keds. The rest of the world, however, started calling them "sneakers," after an ad man remarked the shoes' soles were quiet on most surfaces.
3. Converse All Stars: A Love Affair with Chuck Taylor
4. Adidas and Puma: A True Sibling Rivalry
German brother Adi and Rudolf Dassler founded their shoemaking firm in 1924. Twelve years later, Adi drove cross-country to Berlin, where he convinced Jesse Owens to wear his handmade running shoes in the Olympics. Owens won four gold medals, and the Dasslers' white shoes became coveted by runners everywhere. But in 1948, after many years of feuding, the brothers split. Rudolph opened up a shop across the river and named his new enterprise Puma, while Adi renamed his company Adidas (the first three letters of his first and last names). A natural -and lasting- rivalry was born.
5. Nike: Forged in a Waffle-maker
In 1972, University of Oregon track-and-field coach Bill Bowerman began experimenting with ways to make a better running shoe. One night on a whim, he poured a urethane mixture into his wife's waffle iron. The result was a shoe sole with protruding square segments that offered greater impact absorption. Conveniently, Bowerman's revelation came precisely when one of his former track stars was trying to launch a fledgling shoe company. His name was Phil Knight. With a simple handshake, the two men formed the most successful sneaker company in history.
6. Run-DMC and Adidas: Hip-Hop's Comeback
Although Adidas Superstars were all the rage with NBA players in the 1970s, they were passe by the time Run-DMC hit the scene in the mid-1980s. But the rappers brought them back-big time. They sported them without laces (as the prison population did) and even wrote a hit song about them called "My Adidas". Adidas gave Run-DMC an endorsement contract for $1 million-the first one granted to non-athletes.
7. Reebok Pump: A Slam Dunk
Hitting the market in 1989 at $170 a pair, the Pump was the most expensive gym shoe to date. But many consumers were happy to pay the price, finally giving Reebok a foothold in Nike's basketball monopoly. The high point came in 1991 when NBA star Dee Brown won the Slam Dunk Contest. Just before his final attempt, he bent over and dramatically pumped up his shoes. he then slammed home a no-look dunk, forever linking himself with Reebok's hi-tech shoes.
8. You: the Consumer
The watchword in today's sneaker market is individualization. Online, customers can design their own shoes, selecting colors, patterns, and materials. Retro is in. Limited release is in. Affordability is out. If you really want to, you can design a shoe that doesn't differentiate between the right foot and the left. Or, you can just find an old pair of plimsolls on eBay. It's all up to you, the consumer.
Be sure to visit mental_floss' entertaining website and blog for more fun stuff!
Plimsolls put the town shoemaker out of business. As the first mass-produced shoes, plimsolls were crafted on an assembly line using canvas and vulcanized rubber. But don't let the "inspected by No. 35" tag fool you. These mid-19th century kicks were so crude that they didn't even differentiate between the right and left foot.
2. Keds: When the Rubber Met the Road
Tires and sneakers are both made of rubber and fabric, so it was only a matter of time before tire companies got into the shoe business. In 1892, Goodyear took on Plimsolls by manufacturing a more sophisticated rubber-and-canvas sneaker. The company decided on the name Peds, but someone else already held the trademark. So, Goodyear went with Keds. The rest of the world, however, started calling them "sneakers," after an ad man remarked the shoes' soles were quiet on most surfaces.
3. Converse All Stars: A Love Affair with Chuck Taylor
(Image credit: Flickr user jekert gwapo)
The original Converse All Star was the first shoe designed for a specific sport-basketball. After pro athlete Chuck Taylor began endorsing the shoe, he became such an effective spokesman that his name was permanently added to the ankle patch in 1923. The classic black-and-white model debuted in 1949, setting the sneaker standard for the next 25 years. In fact, All Stars haven't changed since then, and they remain the best-selling athletic shoes of all time.4. Adidas and Puma: A True Sibling Rivalry
German brother Adi and Rudolf Dassler founded their shoemaking firm in 1924. Twelve years later, Adi drove cross-country to Berlin, where he convinced Jesse Owens to wear his handmade running shoes in the Olympics. Owens won four gold medals, and the Dasslers' white shoes became coveted by runners everywhere. But in 1948, after many years of feuding, the brothers split. Rudolph opened up a shop across the river and named his new enterprise Puma, while Adi renamed his company Adidas (the first three letters of his first and last names). A natural -and lasting- rivalry was born.
5. Nike: Forged in a Waffle-maker
In 1972, University of Oregon track-and-field coach Bill Bowerman began experimenting with ways to make a better running shoe. One night on a whim, he poured a urethane mixture into his wife's waffle iron. The result was a shoe sole with protruding square segments that offered greater impact absorption. Conveniently, Bowerman's revelation came precisely when one of his former track stars was trying to launch a fledgling shoe company. His name was Phil Knight. With a simple handshake, the two men formed the most successful sneaker company in history.
6. Run-DMC and Adidas: Hip-Hop's Comeback
Although Adidas Superstars were all the rage with NBA players in the 1970s, they were passe by the time Run-DMC hit the scene in the mid-1980s. But the rappers brought them back-big time. They sported them without laces (as the prison population did) and even wrote a hit song about them called "My Adidas". Adidas gave Run-DMC an endorsement contract for $1 million-the first one granted to non-athletes.
7. Reebok Pump: A Slam Dunk
Hitting the market in 1989 at $170 a pair, the Pump was the most expensive gym shoe to date. But many consumers were happy to pay the price, finally giving Reebok a foothold in Nike's basketball monopoly. The high point came in 1991 when NBA star Dee Brown won the Slam Dunk Contest. Just before his final attempt, he bent over and dramatically pumped up his shoes. he then slammed home a no-look dunk, forever linking himself with Reebok's hi-tech shoes.
8. You: the Consumer
The watchword in today's sneaker market is individualization. Online, customers can design their own shoes, selecting colors, patterns, and materials. Retro is in. Limited release is in. Affordability is out. If you really want to, you can design a shoe that doesn't differentiate between the right foot and the left. Or, you can just find an old pair of plimsolls on eBay. It's all up to you, the consumer.
__________________________
The above article by Eric Furman is reprinted with permission from the Scatterbrained section of the September-October 2008 issue of mental_floss magazine.Be sure to visit mental_floss' entertaining website and blog for more fun stuff!
(YouTube link)
Four guys in New Zealand accomplish a goal and celebrate with joy. I would too, if I could do whatever it is they did! -via The Daily What
The "How It Should Have Ended" series tackles the weird disconnect from reality most of us noticed in the Star Wars saga. Put yourself in Darth Vader's place and see what really should have happened in the movie The Empire Strikes Back at Geeks Are Sexy. Link
1. Nintendo set out to replace their Game Cube in competition with the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. They developed a game system with something new and exciting: a wireless controller that works by motion sensor. Instead of pushing buttons, players can move their bodies as if they were in the game, making it a "virtual sports" controller. The sensors detect both movement and acceleration along three axes, which gives the system six parameters with which to measure the movements of the player.
2. While in development, the Wii was code named Revolution, but it wasn't a secret. It changed to Wii on April 27, 2006. The name was chosen because it is short, simple to pronounce in many languages, and needs no abbreviation. The spelling We was considered first, but Wii was more distinctive.
3. Wii sales were launched in November 2006 in the US and December 2006 in the UK. The timing was either a brilliant marketing scheme or a planning disaster, as Christmas demand led to shortages in both countries. The shortage continued through 2007. Many began to suspect that Nintendo was orchestrating artificial demand for the product. For four holiday seasons (so far), there have not been enough Wii systems in all areas.
4. When the Wii was new, there was incident after incident of broken TVs and monitors caused by flung Wii remotes. Windows and household glassware were also victims. Nintendo urged people to use the strap to secure the remote to their wrists while playing games. The website Wii Have A Problem sprung up to document the damage caused by Wii remotes that "got out of hand", so to speak.
5. Pink and blue Wii remotes were launched for Valentines Day 2010. Sure, it was a gimmick gift, but individual color-coded remotes are handy for families with more than one child, in order to keep track of not only scores, but who lost/damaged the equipment. Remotes now come in quite a few colors, or you can get colored covers for existing remotes.
In the bootleg markets of Shanghai, you can purchase an ePad, a iRobot, or an iPhono. You can even get an MP5 player! But I was really impressed by this guitar peripheral for the Wü game console. See these and more in a gallery of good at Classy Hands. http://www.classy-hands.com/?p=966 -Thanks, Lee!
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Sally Davies took pictures of a McDonalds burger and fries for 137 days, and the pictures never changed. It wasn't the first such experiment, but could it be replicated under normal conditions? Some say a Happy Meal will last forever, but YouTube member GitEmSteveDave had very different results. You can skip the first minute if you're in a hurry. -via Breakfast Links
Three-year-old Alannah Merleto of Baulkham Hills, New South Wales, Australia flushes a lot of things down the toilet, as some children do, but her two-day-old kitten was the worst thing she could flush.
The rescue crew found the kitten by putting a camera down the pipe, and pushed the kitten to an access valve. The eight firefighters worked for five hours to free the kitten. The kitten was reunited with his mother Pusska and was renamed Cain after the firefighter who pulled him from the drain. Link -via Buzzfeed
(Image credit: Brad Hunter)
Mum Ammie Croft called in the cavalry to her Baulkham Hills home after not being able to find the fourth kitten in a newly-born litter.
""I asked Alannah if she knew where he was and she said 'down the toilet'," Ms Crofts said. "I didn't believe it could be true. I thought, 'she can't have put the kitten down the toilet'." A whimper from the pipes confirmed her fears.
Complete with rescue equipment used in the 1989 Newcastle earthquake disaster, the NSW Fire Brigade arrived and began their quest.
The rescue crew found the kitten by putting a camera down the pipe, and pushed the kitten to an access valve. The eight firefighters worked for five hours to free the kitten. The kitten was reunited with his mother Pusska and was renamed Cain after the firefighter who pulled him from the drain. Link -via Buzzfeed
(Image credit: Brad Hunter)
Shaun the Sheep stars in a cute physics game in which you guide the sheep home. You have obstacles to cross, and three sheep of different mass. While you figure out a strategy, enjoy the artwork and sound effects. Link -via Metafilter
Brian Lee, a 24-year-old design student, submitted an entry to an Australian vehicle competition -and won! His design, the Aid Necessities Transporter (A.N.T.) is built to bring supplies to disaster areas. The design was inspired by the worker insects it is named for.
See the concept vehicle in motion at InventorSpot. Link
(Image credit: © Brian Lee)
The ANT responds to the need for getting necessary supplies to victims of disasters as fast as possible. Like the ant, ANT was designed with six wheels (6 legs) and carries its supplies like the ant carries food back to its nest in its center, so does the ANT carry supplies and food on its center.
See the concept vehicle in motion at InventorSpot. Link
(Image credit: © Brian Lee)
A soccer team from Togo traveled to Bahrain to play against the Bahrain national team. Bahrain not only won, they were surprised at their opponent's lack of fitness. When the Togolese soccer authorities heard about the match, they were dumbfounded, because Togo had not sent a team to Bahrain!
Of course, there's a lot more to the story, which you can read at Slate. Link -via the Presurfer
Investigations were launched, and the nation's sports minister muttered to the press about "shadowy handlers" and "mafia groups." After what must have been a grueling piece of detective work, the investigators pinned their suspicions on Tchanile Bana, a former national-team coach who had recently been suspended for taking another fake team to a tournament in Egypt. Bana confessed, apologized, was banned from the game for three years, and insisted—maybe a little too fervently—that he had acted alone.
Of course, there's a lot more to the story, which you can read at Slate. Link -via the Presurfer
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