Homemade whiskey is still illegal in all 50 states and most countries, but the craft is making a comeback. This time around, it’s a geek hobby instead of a moneymaking venture, with a focus on quality as opposed to quantity.

"It took me years, but with practice and dedication you can make any spirit every bit as good as a commercial distiller," says Dave Robison, 42, owner of Pioneer Spirits, a single-batch distillery in Chico, California. "You might not be able to reproduce it exactly, but it will be as good as anything you can buy on the top shelf."

Anyone who wants to try distilling is cautioned to do their homework first.

After all, he says, "This ain't stamp collecting."

Wired has an overview of the hobby, with links to sites and forums for home distillers. http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2008/05/modern_moonshine

(image credit: unprose)

Double amputee Oscar Pistorius (featured previously at Neatorama) has won an appeal and will compete to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.

The 21-year-old, who runs on specially adapted carbon fibre blades after having his legs amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old, saw the ban imposed by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

The 400m runner was barred from all competitions involving able-bodied athletes because of claims that the artificial legs he uses give him an unfair advantage.

"Today, I can pursue my dream of competing in the Olympic Games. If it's not for Beijing, it will be for London in 2012," said the South African, nicknamed 'Bladerunner'.

The South African runner still has an uphill battle. His personal best time for the 400 meter is 46.46 seconds. To qualify for the Olympic team, he must beat 45.95 seconds. http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hWOS0zFQ_pdZfYBsxOqrx0VAjchw -via YesButNoButYes

There’s a fascinating article explaining the "advantages" of the Cheetah prosthetic limbs Pistorius uses at Cocktail Party Physics (after the first couple of paragraphs). Link

21-year-old William Lopez was ejected from his graduation ceremony Thursday at Yankee Stadium. New York University held its commencement at the ballpark because of construction at Washington Square Park. The students were told to stay off the field, but Lopez couldn’t resist the temptation to run the bases.

"The students had been repeatedly advised . . . that they were strictly prohibited from being on the field," said NYU spokesman John Beckman.

About three-quarters of the way through the ceremony, Lopez, wearing his gown and mortarboard, leaped over the right-field fence onto the field.

He sprinted across the outfield behind second base and made it to third, as many in the crowd, which also included 20,000 guests, cheered him on.

Stadium security and NYPD officers apprehended him before he made it to home plate. Link -via Digg

(image credit: Robert Miller)

Here’s a gadget that will keep a half of a banana fresh.

NANA Saver™ Banana Holder Eliminates waste so you can enjoy half now, and half later. Keeps a sliced banana fresher, longer by reducing exposure to air. Hinged banana shaped body with tiny teeth grip sliced bananas firmly in place and flat plate presses snug against banana face to minimize air contact.

Only $2.98. Personally, I just fold the first half of the banana peel over the exposed fruit, although eating only half a banana is a rare thing at my house. dd -via the Presurfer

Among blogs with very specific subjects, this is one of the most focused. It’s a blog dedicated to the ampersand, the typographical character for “and”.

I like the ampersand. I think it is often the most attractive punctuation mark of them all. This blog is an attempt to give this humble character the respect it deserves. If you would like to submit some ampersand-related content, please let me know.

Link -via Dump Trumpet

In today’s Lunchtime Quiz from mental_floss, you are given a nonsense word (or at least that’s what they seem to be), and you decide whether it’s a character from Dungeons and Dragons or a skin disease. Although I didn’t know the answers, I used the Force and got this score:

Skin Disease or Dungeons and Dragons Character?



Score: 94% (15 out of 16)

I knew you wouldn’t believe me unless I grabbed the code. I found it hard to believe myself! http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/14962

In addition to natural selection, Charles Darwin referred to artificial selection, meaning the process of breeding domestic animals to select for desirable traits. His cousin Sir Francis Galton said this principle could be applied to humans as well. The idea came to be known as “eugenics”. The philosophy was that a society could maintain health and intelligence as a group by disallowing those with undesirable traits to reproduce. Indiana passed the first eugenics law in 1907.

"…it shall be compulsory for each and every institution in the state, entrusted with the care of confirmed criminals, idiots, rapists and imbeciles, to appoint upon its staff, in addition to the regular institutional physician, two (2) skilled surgeons of recognized ability, whose duty it shall be, in conjunction with the chief physician of the institution, to examine the mental and physical condition of such inmates as are recommended by the institutional physician and board of managers. If, in the judgment of this committee of experts and the board of managers, procreation is inadvisable and there is no probability of improvement of the mental condition of the inmate, it shall be lawful for the surgeons to perform such operation for the prevention of procreation as shall be decided safest and most effective."

Other states soon followed. In practice, such laws collided with human rights. Who is qualified to judge what traits are truly undesirable and which persons deserved to be sterilized? Thousands of “undesirables” were sterilized in the US, decades before (and after) the Nazis endorsed the idea. Read the entire story at Damn Interesting. Link

Send ten dollars to the Something Store and they will send you ...something. You don’t know what it will be, but hey, it’s only ten dollars!

It maybe something you need, something you want or something you desire.
Yours may be a cool gadget, rare book, table game, handmade necklace, reverse clock, box of gourmet chocolates, set of shiny shower curtains, popular video game, big-box retailer gift card, the latest version of a software, a set of kitchen knives, a pair of designer jeans, garden tool, kitchen appliance, unique home decor item, electronic equipment, magazine subscription, office supply item, or ...
Your something will most likely be brand new, though it may also be refurbished or antique.

Shipping is free. There is plenty of customer feedback, but you really can’t complain since they make no promises. Link

Long before internet shopping, Wile E. Coyote got all his products via mail order from the ACME Catalog. ACME sold just about anything you’d ever need! You can take a look at the catalog yourself.

ACME is a worldwide leader of many manufactured goods. From its humble beginnings providing corks and flypaper to bug collectors ("Buddy's Bug Hunt/1935") to its heyday in the American Southwest supplying a certain coyote, from Ultimatum Dispatchers to Batman outfits, ACME has set the standard for excellence.
For the first time ever, information and pictures of all ACME products, specialty divisions, and services featured in Warner Bros. cartoons (made by the original studio from 1935 to 1964) are gathered here, in one convenient catalog. For more information about any ACME product, simply click on the thumbnail picture.

http://home.nc.rr.com/tuco/looney/acme/acme.html -via Dump Trumpet

The National Film Board of Canada, in association with the Cannes Short Film Corner and partner YouTube, presents the fourth annual Short Film Online Competition - Cannes 2008.

Between May 9 and May 19, 2008, filmmakers from 40 countries entered the NFB Online Competition when they registered their films with the Cannes Short Film Corner, the meeting place for short films at Cannes.

These 9 films were selected for our Online Competition by short-film expert Danny Lennon, programmer of this year’s Short Film Corner. They represent the best in the world and were culled from over 650 submissions.

Now it’s your turn to choose. The winning short film will be determined by your ratings on a scale of one to five stars. The name of the winner will be announced in Cannes this coming May 21. The winner will receive a HD MINI-DV camera from the NFB and a laptop with an editing suite.

The site has a link to a YouTube playlist, where you can see each and rate them. Link -via Underwire

(YouTube link)
Last year, Neatorama introduced you to Pua the Tamandua. Pua’s owner, TamanduaGirl also has Stewie, seen here eating from a spoon. Stewie can also walk on two legs, and he is a professional painter! Both Pua and Stewie performed in the movie Dr. Doolittle 4 (availble on DVD). Link -via Dark Roasted Blend, where you’ll find more irresistable tamandua pictures.

This photograph, originally from Cute Otters, shows an otter mom proudly displaying her offspring. It was one of many incredibly cute images of different kinds of animal mothers posted at The Pet Blog. Link -via the Presurfer

(image credit: SY Dration/Cute Otters)

Neptune Memorial Reef, three miles off Key Biscayne, Florida offers a final resting place for those who love the sea. Earthly remains are cremated then mixed with cement and laid on the ocean floor, with a memorial plaque.

Artist Kim Brandell, who designed the reef, said he was given no parameters in the reef's designs, which grew as they waited three years for permits. The structures are 90% cement. Some of the sculptural elements are in bronze and steel. It is the same pH balance as the sea, Brandell said.

"I designed it to be a divers' location. I am hoping and planning it be to the most dived location on the planet. I didn't want it to look like Roman or Greek architecture. I wanted it to be contemporary or modern in design."

As a diver swims down the pathways of the reef there will be themed areas, like dancing or sports. "If it's music I might have concrete or metal musical instruments," Brandell said. "Nothing is going to be in words to describe these features. It will be sculptural elements."

The cemetery lies 14 meters below the surface. Link to story. https://www.nmreef.com/ to website. -via Arbroath

(image credit: Wilfredo Lee/AP)

Some parts of the earth are more vulnerable to devastation by global warming than others. Tropical (and biologically diverse) regions like the Great Barrier Reef, the Galapagos Islands, and the Virgin Islands may be the first to go, but highly populated areas such as New York, Tokyo, and London are in danger as well. This list details what could happen to sensitive areas if sea levels rise. Pictured is endangered New Orleans after Katrina. Link

62-year-old rocker Neil Young has been honored with his own species, a trapdoor spider named Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi.

An East Carolina University biologist, Jason Bond, discovered a new species of trapdoor spider and opted to call the arachnid after his favorite musician, Canadian Neil Young, naming it Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi.

"There are rather strict rules about how you name new species," Bond said in a statement.

"As long as these rules are followed you can give a new species just about any name you please. With regards to Neil Young, I really enjoy his music and have had a great appreciation of him as an activist for peace and justice."

The new species was found in Alabama in 2007. Link -via Geek Like Me

(image credit: Reuters)