December 31st will be a long day this year. One second longer, to be exact. The earth's trip around the sun doesn't exactly correspond to our calendar, as it takes 365.2422 days. That's why we add a day for leap year every four years, but it still doesn't come out even, so every once in a while, another second is added to the last day of the year.

The International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service is the organization that monitors the difference in the two timescales and calls for leap seconds to be inserted or removed when necessary. Since 1972, leap seconds have been added at intervals varying from six months to seven years — the most recent was inserted on Dec. 31, 2005.

Link -via Metafilter

(image credit: Flickr user slack12)

I didn't know you could do this.

An owner of a Fuji apple orchard printed up custom stickers of iPods and the Apple logo. He then put the stickers on his Fuji apples while they were still young and on the trees.

A month later after the apples had matured, he removed the stickers.

I'll have to try this myself next year! Link -via Grow-a-Brain

With a title like Death Metal Puppy, you might want to think before you watch this video, since the music is, yeah, death metal. But it made me laugh! Turn your speakers down a bit and give it a chance. Link (embedded video clip) -Thanks, Kiltak!

To celebrate the release of mental_floss’ first iPhone application, a game called Big Fat Lies! every Lunchtime Quiz this week involves lies. Today’s quiz asks you to figure out which statements about Alaska are big fat lies. Remember, you need to select the LIE, not the true statement! I couldn't take the quiz, because my IPS hates me today. http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/20838

To celebrate the release of mental_floss' first iPhone application, a game called Big Fat Lies! every Lunchtime Quiz this week involves lies. Today's quiz asks you to figure out which statements about TV are big fat lies. Remember, you need to select the LIE, not the true statement! I scored 60%, which is about average for this quiz. http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/20826

Simon Tofield, the creator of the Simon's Cat series (previously at Neatorama) has turned his attention to his sister's dog. This video was created for the RSPCA's campaign to fight pet obesity.

There is of course a serious message to this animation. According to leading vets, pet obesity is one of the biggest issues affecting pets’ health and one in three of the UK’s dogs and cats are now overweight. Fat pets can develop serious health problems – including diabetes, arthritis and even organ failure.

The RSPCA has more information, and has even created an online community to help people keep their pets slim and healthy. Link -Thanks, Jayne Carverhill!

Dark Roasted Blend has lots of pictures of abandoned places in Antarctica, where the trouble to remove material is high and the low temperatures curb natural destruction. There's also a lot of strange facts about the continent.

While the South Pole and environs doesn’t have a permanent population, there are on average 2,500 people living there during the year -- approximately 4000 in summer and 1000 incredibly hardy ones in winter (source). While no complete necrologies exists for the Antarctic, at least 268 people have died there since humanity first decided it was a good place to visit. So if the ghosts divvie the work evenly, each one only has to haunt 9.68992 inhabitants.

Link

Two mirrors, a little bait, and a camera. Put them together and you have Mother Nature making a kaleidoscope! Music by the Swiss band Larytta. Video directed by Körner Union. A pleasant way to spend three minutes. Link (embedded YouTube clip).

PetCentric offers your dog or cat a personalized holiday greeting to send to his internet friends! The sample above is my daughter's cat Biscuit. You can select from three songs and several holiday outfits. Link -via Ursi's Blog

The embedded flash is autoplay, so I put the finished product on the next page.

Wired celebrates the 40th anniversary of the unveiling of the first computer mouse on December 9th, 1968.

Computer scientist Douglas Engelbart kicks off the personal computer revolution with a product demonstration that is so amazing it inspires a generation of technologists. It will become known as "the mother of all demos."

The presentation included the debut of the computer mouse, which Engelbart used to control an onscreen pointer in exactly the same way we do today. For a world used to thinking of computers as impersonal boxes that read punched cards, whir awhile, then spit out reams of teletype paper, this kind of real-time graphical control was amazing enough.

Englebert also demonstrated other computer abilities such as hyperlinks, windows, and videoconferencing, among other ideas we use today, although it took the computer industry decades to implement them. http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/12/dayintech_1209

In addition, Wired has a gallery showing the evolution of the computer mouse. http://www.wired.com/gadgets/miscellaneous/multimedia/2008/12/gallery_40_years_mouse

(image credit: SRI International)

A maternity hospital in Taiwan is licensed as a Hello Kitty establishment! The Hau Sheng Hospital in Yuanlin, Taiwan has only 30 beds, but each is fitted with Hello Kitty sheets. The furniture matches. Everything from medical forms to the elevators is emblazoned with the image of Hello Kitty.

The hospital's director Tsai Tsung-chi opened the £2m (T$100m) hospital in his hometown after obtaining authorisation from the fictitious cat's Japanese parent company Sanrio Co Ltd.

Describing the objectives of the hospital, he said: "I wish that everyone who comes here, mothers who suffer while giving birth and children who suffer from an illness, can get medical care while seeing these kitties and bring a smile to their faces, helping forget about discomfort and recover faster."

Link -via Shiny Shiny

Luxury Property Blog looks at the most expensive Christmas trees ever! This one, in Singapore, featured 21,798 diamonds, 3,762 crystal beads, and 456 lights, for a cost of over a million dollars! How does that compare with a cut evergreen that costs as much to select, fell, and ship? You'll also see expensive ornaments, unusual Christmas trees, the Europe's "most pathetic tree". Link -via Dark Roasted Blend

Trees and shrubs can grow into works of art in the hands of someone who knows how to bend, sculpt, and graft. The result is arborsculpture, and Web Ephemera has some really nice examples of the art. Link -Thanks, RJ Evans!

(YouTube link)
Whipper is a parakeet in New Zealand. A fluffy mutant parakeet who was abandoned by his mother because of his bizarre looks. No doubt he'll be quite popular with people! -via Unique Daily

Deck the hall with loaves of poultry!

Celebrate your love for (or just fascination with) the Turducken (turkey stuffed with duck stuffed with chicken) with this handmade Christmas tree ornament. Order yours today! Link -Thanks, Dana!