Engaged geeks Dale Larson and Laura La Gassa commissioned artist Yiying Lu to make their wedding invitations. Lu is best known as the creator of Fail Whale, once used extensively at Twitter. Since the wedding invitations are the opposite of fail, this design is called "Win Penguins." Link -via Laughing Squid
Miss Cellania's Blog Posts
The computer generation has become nostalgic. The blog How I Met Your Motherboard collects photographs and stories from the days before computer nerds ran the world. Consider the memories Laura has of 1984.
You can contribute your own memories to the collection. http://howimetyourmotherboard.com/ -Thanks, Jason!
Along with the ZX Spectrum, my parents had also presented us with a selection of computer games. Loading them was an undertaking in itself: each fed into a cassette player, its buttons held down with thumb-numbing force, while the tape whirred and spluttered and made a sound that may be roughly transposed as chkeeewschyrrrrrfffffllychkxduhuhftttt. My brother had three games: a vampire adventure named Transylvanian Tower, a treasure hunt called Espionage Island and a complicated programme that followed the process of evolution. For me, there was a solitary cassette, a numeracy aid named Count About. I cannot deny that I was at that age rather muddled by mathematics, but it only added to my sense of dismay that my computer time would involve assisting a badly graphicked monkey clamber up a tree to collect a specified number of coconuts.
You can contribute your own memories to the collection. http://howimetyourmotherboard.com/ -Thanks, Jason!
The headline reads:
The story is short. The comments are priceless.
The comments at reddit are another level of win.
This little item became the most viewed story ever at the Salisbury Journal's website. Link -via reddit
(image credit: Flickr user desiretofire : music is the shape of silence)
Dog injures nose
The story is short. The comments are priceless.
Sounds harrowing. Keep us posted.
It's outrageous that something like this is allowed to happen in this country. I want this to be addressed in the next prime ministeral debates. Let's see Nick Clegg talk himself out of this one.
Shocked and disgusted. There's nothing but bad news now days. What sort of world are we leaving for our children?
This is brave and edgy reporting. It's a pity that the Pulitzer Prize is limited to the USA.
But how does he smell??
The comments at reddit are another level of win.
...I only live a few hours from Ringwood. Should I get down there and see if I can find out more?
Good luck! The roads are going to be packed as soon as this story gets out.
Probably best to stay indoors until it all blows over. And keep your windows closed.
This little item became the most viewed story ever at the Salisbury Journal's website. Link -via reddit
(image credit: Flickr user desiretofire : music is the shape of silence)
Among the many actors who have appeared on The West Wing TV show are quite a few who became big names afterward. You'll recognize them in reruns, even if you didn't know who they were the first time around. There are also some who were TV stars way before President Bartlet took office. Today's Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss will test your knowledge of the episodes these folks appeared on. Link
At three days old, a pinto stallion at Tiz Miniature Horse Farm in Barnstead, New Hampshire weighted only six pounds and was only 14 inches tall. His was named Einstein.
See more pictures at The Daily Mail. Link -via Fark
His tiny proportions may be more suitable for a human baby, but they are tiny for a horse, even a miniature breed like Einstein.
Dr Rachel Wagner, Einstein's co-owner, claims the Guinness Book of Records lists the smallest newborn horse as weighing just 9lbs.
Breeders say that unlike the current record holder, Thumbelina, Einstein shows no signs of dwarfism - he is just a tiny horse.
See more pictures at The Daily Mail. Link -via Fark
Ostrich eggshells with patterns engraved on them were found in Africa dating back 60,000 years. The eggshells were used to carry water.
In other words, writing. Or at least a form or communication that led to writing. The researchers examined 270 fragments of ostrich eggs found in South Africa. Link -via Scribal Terror
The four different patterns and markings are repeated and believed to convey ownership or purpose and to differentiate the eggs from each other.
The researchers led by Pierre-Jean Texier, of the University of Bordeaux, said that before this discovery, the first signs of art, writing or 'culture' was thought to have been first shown in the late Stone Age between 35,000 and 10,000 years ago.
It included cave paintings dating back to 30,000 years BC, thought to be some of the earliest examples of decorative art or written communication.
But this latest discovery, which is much older, showed "collective identities and individual expressions" that were the beginning of modern civilised behaviour, they said.
In other words, writing. Or at least a form or communication that led to writing. The researchers examined 270 fragments of ostrich eggs found in South Africa. Link -via Scribal Terror
The 1975 song Bohemian Rhapsody is a long strange song that became such a lasting hit that you know there's a fascinating backstory. The BBC produced an hour long show about it in 2004, in which Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen discuss the song's genesis and other musical artists marvel at the juggernaut it became. TYWKIWDBI has all six segments of the show embedded in one post. Link
Watch as Boeing builds a 737-700 for Southwest airlines in only 2.5 minutes in this time-lapse video. This particular plane is named the Florida One, for its artwork featuring the state flag. The catchy music is a bonus! Link (embedded YouTube clip)
In the United Arab Emirates, adventurous chef Anissa Helou got a chance to taste roasted camel hump. The tender hump full of stored fat is the choicest part of the camel, and you have to buy an entire camel to get the hump. In this post, you'll also see how to cook a whole camel at once! Link -Thanks, Hanan!
This handy place to keep your iPhone looks just like the phones we used when I was a kid! Each base is cast and sculpted one at a time. USB cord not included, so consider it an art work. $195 from Etsy seller freeland studios. Link -via Nag on the Lake
Dave may have had a terrible party in a previous life. He really hates that one particular song! -via The Daily What
The package was en route from Appomattox, Virginia to Puerto Rico. At the post office in Lynchburg, Virginia, postal workers noticed the box was moving. They had to get a search warrant, and when they finally opened the package, inspectors found a ferret inside! Postal workers promptly named it Stamps.
A local family with 15 other ferrets has adopted Stamps, who is healthy and estimated to be about two years old. Link -via Arbroath
(image credit: US Postal Inspector)
Photos from the Postal Inspector’s office show someone stuffed Stamps into a makeshift cage, doped him up on Benedryl, and tried to mail the ferret to the U.S. Territory.
The Postal Inspector handling the case, David McKinney, believes whoever tried to mail Stamps knew they were up to no good. The return address on the package is an abandoned house, and the sender doesn’t exist.
A local family with 15 other ferrets has adopted Stamps, who is healthy and estimated to be about two years old. Link -via Arbroath
(image credit: US Postal Inspector)
This packing tape is printed with the image of a backbone, which leads to a great pun for a product name. http://www.copernicustoys.com/proddetail.php?prod=t-spine -via Boing Boing?
Joey Chestnut, one of the world's top-ranked competitive eaters (previously at Neatorama), won the asparagus eating contest at the Stockton Asparagus Festival in California.
Chestnut previously held the title from 2004 until 2008. Link -via Fark
Chestnut, who now makes his home in San Jose, captured his fifth career asparagus-chewing championship, devouring 8 pounds, 7 ounces of fried asparagus as hundreds cheered the local hero on.
"It was a great contest," Chestnut said. "The crowd was definitely on my side so I definitely was able to push harder than everybody else, I think."
The 8 pound, 7 ounce tally just missed breaking Chestnut's own world record of 8.8 pounds, set in Stockton in 2008.
Chestnut previously held the title from 2004 until 2008. Link -via Fark
After you stop groaning, you can vote for this proposed Threadless T-shirt design by Ste7en. Link -via Nag on the Lake
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