Do you have some nice vacation pictures? Can you take some? National Geographic Traveler is sponsoring the World in Focus Photo Contest with both amateur and professional divisions. Get this- the grand prize in the amateur division is a 10-day expedition to the Galapagos islands! There are lesser prizes as well, like a trip to Hawaii and cameras and stuff. Even if you don't enter, you can see the entries and vote for the "people's choice" award (which is separate from the contest judging). The deadline for entries is August 23rd. Link-Thanks, Marilyn Terrell!
This is the The Aerogenerator X Vertical Axis Wind Turbine, a design concept that will generate more wind power than current vertical designs. It is 885 feet wide and will rotate three times a minute over the ocean. Besides generating more power, the advantages of such a design will be the ease of repair compared to vertical turbines and the fact that it will pose less of a threat to birds. See it in action at Gizmodo. Link -via The Litter Box
This adorable purple octopus, possibly a younger relative of our own Octowriter in the sidebar, could be a new species. An expedition off the coast of Newfoundland identified 11 new species of marine creatures. The project, involving Spanish and Canadian scientists, uses a ROV (remotely operated vehicle) to explore the ocean as far down as 9,800 feet, or 3,000 meters. See pictures of the other new species at National Geographic. Link
When you rob a fast food outlet, you expect to come away with a lot of cash. One thief in Atlanta was sorely disappointed with his take, so he called the Wendy's he robbed to complain.
"Next time there better be more than $586," he said during one call. He made "a similar threat" in the second call, police said.
About 11:15 p.m., a man wearing a ski mask and holding a gun walked up to the drive-through window at the Wendy's at 1940 Piedmont Road, police said. He told an employee to put the cash drawer on the counter.
Police are hoping to get clues as to the thief's identity by studying the security cameras. Link -via Gawker
We take it for granted today, but less than 100 years ago, the supermarket seemed like some sort of bizarre fantasy. Wait a minute-that's what it seems like today, too. Well, anyway, here are some historical highlights.
TO MARKET, TO MARKET
At the end of the 19th century, a typical food-shopping trip wasn't as easy as it is today. Buying groceries would have included, for example:
* Stop at the butcher for meat. (You could also choose from a small selection of canned goods and bread.)
* A stop at the fruit store for fresh produce.
* Stopping on the street to buy from milk wagons, and from horse-and-wagon peddlers hawking their specialties-anything from baked goods to fish or ice.
* A final stop at the local grocer, who sold canned goods, potatoes, and sugar in 100-pound sacks, molasses, and sauerkraut in barrels, bacon in slabs, and butter in tubs. But strolling through the aisles was out of the question. At the counter, customers told the grocer what they wanted and a clerk would fill their order.
THE SELF-SERVE STORE
Then, in 1916 Clarence Saunders opened the Piggly Wiggly store in Memphis, Tennessee. "Astonished customers," write the Sterns in their Encyclopedia of Pop Culture, "were given baskets (shopping carts weren't invented) and sent through the store to pick what they needed-a job formerly reserved for clerks." Although customers were a little bewildered by the dozens of stocked aisles at first, Piggly Wigglyy was an immediate success. It grossed $114,000 in the first six months-with expenses of only $3,400. Before long, there were over 1,000 of them in 40 states. The self-serve grocery store began to spread.
ROAD WARRIORS
Amazingly, one of the biggest factors in the growth of the supermarket was the invention of the automobile ignition switch. Previously, housewives had to limit their shopping to store within walking distance; it was too difficult and dangerous to turn the starter crank to get the car started. But once their was an easy way to start the car, housewives were set to travel miles to get a bargain.
This led to another significant innovation: the free parking lot. For the first time, parking was available right in front of the store, customers didn't have to look for a space on crowded streets. The attractiveness of this concept was demonstrated when the Kroger Grocery and Bakery Company opened in Indianapolis, surrounded on four sides by free parking lots. The store performed 40% above initial predictions, and a whopping 80% of customers arrived by car.
PRICE MAULING
When the Depression hit in 1929, families found themselves struggling to buy food. Michael Cullen, manager of a Kroger grocery store, suggested opening a huge self-serve store far from high-rent districts, selling everything a shopper needed under one roof. Kroger executives thought the idea was crazy. So Cullen did it on his own, using his life savings. King Kullen, the Price Wrecker, opened in March 1930 in an abandoned warehouse in Jamaica, Long Island.
Cullen knew the grocery business inside and out, which allowed him to buy drastically reduced merchandise from the surplus stocks of food manufacturers. Plus, his store's size gave him great buying power; he he bought massive quantities at lower prices than his competitors could. Success came quickly. Two years later, Cullen was operating seven more stores, and the super store concept was widely imitated. A few years later, in 1933, Cincinnati's Albers Supermarket became the first store to actually use the term "supermarket".
When Sylvan Goldman invented the shopping cart in 1937, supermarkets had everything they needed for long-term success.
SUPERMARKETS' WEAK SPOT
As chain stores became more powerful, both the media and independent grocers began campaigns against them. Even Time magazine referred to them as "cheapies", assuring the American public that these giant disgraces were only due to bad times and would disappear soon. Independent grocers launched campaigns to boycott supermarkets because they used "unfair" methods to overcome their competition-such as staying open at night and selling items at or near cost. But customers were thrilled to be paying significantly less for food and continued to patronize them. In New Jersey a law making it illegal to sell food at or below cost was passed... and then quickly withdrawn when consumers raged that it was making them pay more for no good reason.
A SYMBOL OF DEMOCRACY
But the real explosion in new supermarkets came in the baby boom years. In 1951, Collier's magazine reported that more than three new supermarkets were opening a day in the United States, a pace that only increased in the 1960s. In 1950, supermarkets accounted for 35% of all food sales in America; by 1960, that figure was 70%. Small groceries began to thin out.
Now the media reversed itself. Supermarkets were no longer a national disgrace-they were a unique symbol of American ingenuity. Beginning in 1956, the U.S. government even began using supermarkets as a propaganda tool to promote "the American Way." Soviet premier Nikita Kruschev and Queen Elizabeth both paid rapt attention as guides at supermarkets demonstrated how a steak was wrapped in cellophane. The U.S. Information Agency even arranged for the Pope to come and bless an American supermarket.
The government set up demo stores in several European cities, where people were amazed at the variety of food under one roof. Italians in particular were astonished by certain aspects of American supermarkets, such as pet food, which didn't exist in Italy. It drew such a large crowd that the pet food section had to be removed. Another was the concept of self-service. Italians were amazed that they could actually touch food before they bought it. Some even suggested that the United States had devious motives in introducing the supermarket. Left-wing newspapers were full of conspiracy theories.
Supermarkets are widespread in many countries today, but they remain an international symbol of American culture and know-how.
The 13th book in the series by the Bathroom Reader's Institute has 504 pages crammed with fun facts, including articles on the biggest movie bombs ever, the origin and unintended use of I.Q. test, and more.
Since 1988, the Bathroom Reader Institute had published a series of popular books containing irresistible bits of trivia and obscure yet fascinating facts.
Different artists were invited to illustrate one-line episode summaries of the TV show Law and Order. All are interpreted independently: confused, straightforward, humorous, or artfully. This one by comic artist Kate Beaton used the line "A missing boy is found." I also liked "Fraternity Closes Ranks During a Probe" but didn't think it was appropriate for this site. Link -via Buzzfeed
Dimas Aliprandi of Joao Neiva, Brazil always wondered why he didn't look like his sisters. When he was 24, he finally could afford a DNA test which proved he was not the biological child of his parents. His parents were shocked! Further investigation found that Aliprandi was switched at birth with another boy born on the same day.
He said the hospital then searched its records and found Elton Plaster was born there on the same day.
The records led Aliprandi to the 35-acre (14-hectare) farm where Plaster lived with his parents, Nilza and Adelson, in the town of Santa Maria de Jetiba, about 30 miles (45 kilometers) from the Aliprandi home in Joao Neiva.
The Plasters agreed to do DNA tests.
"They discovered that Elton was the biological son of the man and woman that I had been calling Mom and Dad for 24 years," Aliprandi said. "Meanwhile, Elton discovered that the couple he had always regarded as his biological parents were mine."
What happened afterward is the most remarkable part of he story. The Plaster family invited the Aliprandi family to come and live on their farm, where they built another house! Both young men are now living with both their biological parents and the parents who raised them. Link -via reddit
The Denver Post photo blog has a wonderful collection of aerial photographs of New York City. I had trouble selecting just one to tease you with. Link -via Laughing Squid
Jack and Betty were high school sweethearts who went their separate ways 62 years ago. He ended up in California; she lived in Virginia. They reconnected by internet, and Jack traveled to meet Betty again. You're going to love this. -via The Daily What
Wow! This past week, we had more "Neatorama only" feature articles than I can remember ever in one week. In case you missed anything, here's an easy way to find them.
In every war, there is The Last to Surrender, because not everyone gets the message that the fighting is over. John Farrier followed up that historical post with another: 5 Amazing Early Explorers.
New entries at the Museum of Possibilities this week were Toll Roads for Legalized Car Wars and The Sleeping Bag: Ultra-light or Lightly Humorous?
We tried to make sense of geometry in A Non-Math Look at Math Objects. The sequel is due next week.
Check out the new installations at the Neatorama Art Blog! We have new galleries this week by illustrator Hugh D'Andrade, the collaboration known as id-iom, mixed media artist Teale Hatheway, and illustrator Lisa Evans.
We announced the GTFO Winners! Congratulations to first place winner Arm Rotating Girl and all the other prize winners. Go ahead, have another look at all the entries.
Neatorama co-sponsored the How Did You Know? contest at mental_floss this week. Congratulations to daily winners Dan Cinalli and Ryan Pelster, but it's not over yet! Check in with mental_floss on Monday to solve the ultimate puzzle.
NeatoGeek's Caption Contest had a good response this week. Congratulations to pismonque who won a t-shirt from the NeatoShop for his/her caption.
The What Is It? game came around on Thursday. BigWally knew the answer and Serris won a t-shirt by giving the funniest answer, both of which you can see at the post.
At the Decipher the Doodle contest from NeatoBambino, prizes from the NeatoShop went to lolamouse for the correct answer and to xela22 for the funniest answer (which you can read at the post).
If you'd like to be part of Neatorama yourself, find something neat on the web and submit it to our Upcoming Queue. You might find you are a blogger at heart!
Fourteen-year-old Kora Wira was fishing in Florida with her parents when a barracuda jumped out of the water and bit her arm! The 42-inch fish landed in the boat and was killed by Wira's father. Between docking the boat and driving to the hospital, there was one more chore to be done.
Wira and her dad stopped for a quick picture before jumping in the car and heading to the hospital. Wira said she wasn't in pain at the moment, but she was still creeped out by the fish. Her arm needed 51 stitches, and doctors told her they had never treated a barracuda bite. Her stitches are out now, and she said her arm is healing.
The complete story is a slide show of photographs that include Wira's wounds, which may be disturbing. http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/gallery/fishing/2010/07/barracuda-jumps-boat-chomps-koral-wiras-arm?photo=0 -via Buzzfeed
1. Henry Ford's Bumpy Road Henry Ford probably wouldn't be too judgmental about about his company's recent financial troubles. Particularly because he was no stranger to debt himself. When Ford first started the Detroit Automobile Company in 1899, the young engineer was a little too obsessed with perfection. In two years, the plant produced just twenty cars. The poor output, combined with exorbitant costs, wasn't a recipe for success. By 1901, his enterprise had gone bankrupt. Not one to wallow in self-pity, Ford reorganized his talent under a new name, the Henry Ford Company, but soon left to start yet another group-the Ford Motor Company. And that's where he finally started to make the real money. Whatever happened to the Henry Ford Company? It did alright for itself. The group changed its name to the Cadillac Automobile Company.
2. Hershey's Bitter-to-Sweet Success Milton Heshey knew he could make great candy, but running a great business was more daunting. Hershey, who didn't have a formal education, spent four years apprenticing in a Philadelphia candy shop before striking out on his own in 1876. Six years later, his business went under. This wasn't the last time Hershey would go broke. A subsequent attempt to peddle sweets in New York City met the same fate, and the penniless Hershey returned home to Lancaster, Penn. There, he started tinkering with the use of fresh milk in caramel production. And out of nowhere, sweet success! In 1900, Heshey sold his Lancaster Caramel Company for an eye-popping $1 million. But the restless entrepreneur wasn't done yet. He immediately began work on a new idea-manufacturing a Swiss luxury import known as "milk chocolate".
3. The Burt Reynolds Bachelor Pad
Back in the 1970s, Burt Reynolds owned mansions on both coasts, a helicopter, and a lavish ranch. But the next decade was harder on the Hollywood star. Thanks to a pricey divorce and some poor career choices, Reynolds ended up owing creditors almost $10 million. In 1996, he filed for Chapter 11. But instead of hawking his valuables and putting his trademark mustache up for auction, Reynolds found a loophole to protect his wealth. In states such as Florida and Texas, there's a homestead exemption that protects debtors from losing their primary residence. The problem was, Burt Reynolds' shelter happened to be a sprawling $2.5 million Florida mansion. The issue caused such a stink that when Congress passed measures tightening the loopholes in 2001, Reynolds was one of the examples Senators used to show that bankruptcy rules went too easy on the wealthy. _______________________ The above article was written by Ethan Trex. It is reprinted with permission from the Scatterbrained section of the May/June 2010 issue of mental_floss magazine. Be sure to visit mental_floss' entertaining website and blog for more fun stuff!
What a thrill it would be to turn over a page every month and find a new picture of a goat in a tree! You could have that delightful experience in 2011 with the Goats in Trees calendar. Link -via Breakfast Links
