Neatorama

Sound Wave, Sculpture by Jean Shin Posted: 29 Sep 2008 12:54 AM CDT Photo: Hiroko Masuike / The New York Times Korean artist Jean Shin created this sculpture "Sound Wave" (2007) out of melted vinyl records to connote "the inevitable waves of technology that render each successive generation of recordable media obsolete." Her sculpture and others made from recycled materials are part of The Museum of Art and Design’s exhibit "Second Lives: Remixing the Ordinary." Roberta Smith of The New York Times has the story: Link | Photo Gallery | Jean Shin’s website - via Boing Boing Gadgets

“Corpse” Turned Out to be State-of-the-Art Sex Doll Posted: 29 Sep 2008 12:53 AM CDT A couple walking their dog in a remote, wooded area in the town of Izu, Japan, found what appeared to be a corpse and alerted the police. When forensic pathologists began to unwrap the "corpse," they realized it was a state-of-the-art sex doll! Naturally, the police weren’t amused - and they tracked down the guy who dumped it: According to investigators, the man had lived with the sophisticated doll for several years after his wife passed away, but decided to part with her after making plans to move in with one of his children. “It seems he grew attached to the doll over the years,” said the chief investigator. “He was confused about how to get rid of her. He thought it would be cruel to cut her up into pieces and throw her out with the trash, so he proceeded to dump her illegally.” The man, who regrets his lifelike doll was mistaken for a corpse, now faces fines for violating Japan’s Waste Management Law. Link

208 Nikon Small World Micrography Posted: 29 Sep 2008 12:52 AM CDT Photo: Dr. Rachel Fink / Mount Holyoke College Every year, the Nikon Small World showcases the best in microscopy. This year is no different. Here are the selection of photographs from the 2008 Nikon Small World: Link - via Super Punch This one above is a fluorescence micrograph of 5 days old squid (Loligo pealei) embryos, magnified 80x, by Dr. Rachel Fink of Mount Holyoke College. Previously on Neatorama: Nikon Small World 2006, 2007 winners | Runner up from 2007 contest and my personal favorite: Zooplankton in a Drop of Water by Peter Parks

Steampunk Earpiece Posted: 29 Sep 2008 12:51 AM CDT Heh! How awesome is this: the "Mechanical Aural Communication Device," a steampunk ear piece (pre-Blue Tooth era, I suppose) made by Flickr user nicrosin. Too bad it’s just a prop. Link - via GeekAlerts

Can Mercenaries Stop the War in Darfur? Posted: 29 Sep 2008 12:51 AM CDT The War in Darfur, Western Sudan, Africa, is now in its fifth year and its increasingly unlikely - despite their rhetorics - that major world powers will do anything to prevent the killings. Some people are now calling for a free market/private sector solution to the conflict: if governments are unwilling to send soldiers to the area, how about the private sector hiring Blackwater mercenaries instead? John of Locust & Honey wrote: Several years into the Darfur genocide, it’s getting increasingly unlikely that any of the major powers will do anything to prevent the extermination of these people. This problem has led some people to propose a free market solution: mercenaries. Let us say, hypothetically, that a group of churches or denominations came together and hired a mercenary army to protect the people of Darfur from their Sudanese oppressors. Would their actions be consistent with Christian principles? Link Photo caption: A Darfur survivor at the site of a mass grave on the outskirts of the West Darfur town of Mukjar. Photo by: Nasser Nasser and Alfred de Montesquiou - via AP

Back to School … Knives?! Posted: 29 Sep 2008 12:50 AM CDT Marcy Massura of Marcy Writes - The Glamorous Life blog found this suspicious set of knives at her local supermarket for back to school! Apparently, it’s for kids who can’t wait to resume their summer vacation by being suspended for carrying weapons to school! Link - via Miss Cellania

The Walled City of Kowloon and Other Abandoned Cities and Places in Asia Posted: 29 Sep 2008 12:49 AM CDT Web Urbanist blog has a really neat post about 7 abandoned cities and places in Asia. This photo above is of the lawless Walled City of Kowloon in Hong Kong: In the rogue ungoverned Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong things were so tightly packed that trash blocked off parts of buildings and many occupied apartments literally never saw the light of day. Like something straight from a William Gibson novel, there were no police or building codes - there was no law. For nearly 50 years this slice of Hong Kong was allowed to exist and grow independently due to a legal technicality. After the Japanese left following the second World War squatters swarmed to fill the space, with the population at 10,000 people (living on seven acres) by the early 1970s - a combination of dissidents, outlaws and both organized and disorganized criminals. Professionals who couldn’t get a license set up shop, criminals hiding from the law thrived, and the self-organized community grew to 35,000. Then in 1993 everything changed - no one wants to deal with this lawless place anymore and it is promptly destroyed and turned into a park. Link - Thanks Kurt!

Slime Molds Posted: 28 Sep 2008 10:11 PM CDT Slime and mold are two words guaranteed to send a shiver down many a spine. However, plasmodial slime molds, fungus - like organisms with about eight hundred and fifty species worldwide - possess a strange beauty that you might not expect. Come and take a look at a few, thanks to some exquisite macro photography. You may never look at slime mold in the same light again. Shown is a mold named Hemitrichia calyculata. Link -Thanks, RJ Evans! (image credit: myriorama)

Bacon Cinnamon Rolls Posted: 28 Sep 2008 10:09 PM CDT Two great tastes that some say taste great together. Find the recipe for Bacon Cinnamon Rolls at Bacon Today. If you try these, let us know what you think! Link -via Cynical-C

Squid Hat Posted: 28 Sep 2008 10:07 PM CDT If you’ve ever had the hankering to wear a squid on your head, now you can do just that. Etsy seller Josh Freeman has squid hat/pillows in lavender, red, blue, and other colors. Link -Thanks, Lotta!

Happy Deathday, Edgar Allan Poe! Posted: 28 Sep 2008 08:19 PM CDT We’re coming up on the anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe’s 1849 death, which is rather fitting since we’re coming up on Halloween. I know; Poe was more than the Cask of Amontillado, The Tell-Tale Heart and The Raven, but undoubtedly he is best known for his chilling tales. But I thought we’d delve a little deeper into Mr. Poe to celebrate his upcoming deathday. I somehow think he would prefer that people celebrated that instead of his birthday anyway. Tamerlane and Other Poems If you’re looking for an almost one-of-a-kind Poe collectible, keep an eye out for Tamerlane and Other Poems. Poe was a mere 18 when it was released in 1827; only 50 copies were published, credited to “a Bostonian”. The 40-page collection was paid for by Poe himself and definitely showed his age - most of the poems were about youth and the trials of it. At this point in time, it’s thought that only 12 copies of Tamerlane still exist. You can find one at the Poe Museum in Richmond, Va., and most of the others in private collections. It has fetched as much as $125,000 at an auction. Virginia Clemm In 1835, Poe married his first cousin. Here’s how that happened: after Poe was discharged from the Army in 1829, he went to live with his aunt and her family. For a while Edgar was pretty taken with the girl next door, a Miss Mary Devereaux. Virginia played Cupid for a while and carried messages back and forth between the two of them. It didn’t pan out, though, and eventually Poe moved to Richmond to take a position at the Southern Literary Messenger. He hadn’t forgotten about Virginia, though, and started to make plans to marry her. Another cousin heard about this and was not happy about the prospect and pleaded with Virginia’s mom to consider the girl’s education instead of letting her marry Edgar. Edgar was devastated and wrote a letter to his aunt, begging her to let Virginia decide her future for herself… she was only 13 at the time, but maybe 13-year-olds were more mature then. The clincher was probably when he offered to financially support not only Virginia, but also her mom and brother. The family was living in almost total poverty, so no doubt that was pretty appealing to the Clemms. They ended up getting married either in 1836… or it may have been 1835. They filed for the license in 1835 and it’s believed that they may have quietly been married at the same time, but they didn’t actually have a public ceremony until 1836. It definitely wasn’t a normal relationship - Poe referred to his wife/cousin as “Sis” and “Sissy”. Some biographers think their relationship was more of a companionship sort of a thing, and that their marriage was never actually consummated. Regardless, they seemed very supportive and devoted to one another (despite some infidelity rumors), so when she died of tuberculosis at the young age of 24, Edgar was devastated. It’s assumed by a lot of Poe followers that his famous poem Annabel Lee is based on her. As she was dying, she asked her mother to “take care of my poor Eddy - you will never never leave him?” And her mother made good on the agreement - she did stay with Edgar until he died in 1849. And how did that happen?? Death On October 3, 1849, Poe was found wandering the streets of Baltimore, an absolute mess and completely delirious. It would appear that he was wildly drunk, and he was definitely wearing someone else’s clothes. He was taken to the hospital, but never came to enough to explain what had happened, and his death certificate is missing so we don’t even know what the official cause is, but newspapers reported “congestion of the brain” and “cerebral inflammation”. So what really happened? I Think the most interesting theory is this one: he was caught in cooping scam. In today’s day and age, cooping doesn’t happen. Gangs would kidnap drunks, homeless people and other innocent bystanders and hold them in a room (a “coop”) during elections. They would force these people to vote for their man over and over again, beating them if they wouldn’t comply and making them change clothes to vote over and over again in the same place. Was Poe a victim of this? We don’t know for sure, but it’s possible. The flaw in this theory, though, is that Poe was well-known in Baltimore at the time and would surely have been recognized if he tried to vote over and over again. But if he was dirty and beaten to a pulp, maybe not. Image from krichter The Poe Toaster This isn’t an obscure fact about Poe, but it’s interesting nonetheless. Since 1949, a mysterious person nicknamed “The Poe Toaster” has appeared at his grave in Baltimore to toast him with cognac. He also leaves three roses. The Edgar Allan Poe Society in town has helped hide the secret of the Poe Toaster’s identity for years, although a man did confess to being behind the annual tribute. However, his story apparently has a lot of inconsistencies and holes in it, so it’s believed that his “confession” may not be entirely true.

A Short History of the White House Garden Posted: 28 Sep 2008 05:55 PM CDT [YouTube - Link] The White House grounds has always had a rich history of political intrigue, drama, and fascinatingly…gardening. It would seem that as each President took office they would add a little something to the grounds from plants, trees, and vegetable gardens. With food and fuel costs skyrocketing the video ends with an optimistic view of the next President declaring more locally grown gardens for food production. Despite the quick drop of the true agenda by the nonprofit group Kitchen Gardeners International who made the video it still doesn’t detract or take away the interesting fact filled history of the White House Gardens. via - Serious Eats.

The Dot Matrix Revolution Posted: 28 Sep 2008 05:33 PM CDT DOT MATRIX REVOLUTION* from superbrothers on Vimeo. Here’s a really neat video all about the history of computing. Usually, one would be hard pressed to compact all that information into a simple little lecture but amazingly the “Superbrothers” have managed to squish it into a four minute video. Add to this the cool geeky music of Jim Guthrie and two dancing pixelated scientists and we end up with something you can dance and learn to. “Schoolhouse Rock!“…eat your heart out. via - io9.com

Red Mark of Death Posted: 28 Sep 2008 01:21 PM CDT Photo: fixbuffalo [Flickr] The "Red Mark of Death" is left Government inspectors on condemned buildings slated for demolition in Buffalo, New York. Flick user fixbuffalo has an interesting Flickr photoset of these marks, which often include notes to warn of the dangers present in the house. Link - via Growabrain

Burger Wedding Cake Posted: 28 Sep 2008 01:20 PM CDT Tom and Kerry Watts love burgers. So when they got married, it was only natural that their wedding cake was shaped like a huge burger! Firefighter Tom, 36, said: "Not only did I get to marry the woman of my dreams but I also got to have the burger of my dreams in the same day. "I could not believe the size of the burger. It was just incredible. Everything has just been amazing. It was the best day ever." Kerry, also 36, added: "We love burgers and thought it would be a bit of fun. It made the day even more special. We love chocolate too so we also had a chocolate cake." Link

Man Survived Being Hit by Car, Then Train Hours Later Posted: 28 Sep 2008 01:20 PM CDT For an unlucky man, Robert Evans is incredibly lucky: the homeless man was hit by a car in a hit-and-run accident, and when he walking from a hospital to his camp for that, he was hit by a train and survived! "He got two ambulance rides last night," MacPherson said. "It’s an extreme oddity that someone is hit by a car and a train on the same night. I can’t imagine that this has ever happened before in Boulder." Link

LeMons: Racing Junk Cars Posted: 28 Sep 2008 01:19 PM CDT Photo: Fabrizio Constantini / NY TImes Le Mans is a prestigious French endurance car race lasting 24 hours, which is "nasty, brutish, and not short enough," according to Jay Lamm. So he created LeMons as an homage: Conceived in 2006 in mock homage to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France, the LeMons is likewise a marathon of man and machine. But unlike the gentlemanly Gallic race, LeMons is a 24-hour brawl and, more defining, nice cars are not welcome. The rules say that teams can spend no more than $500 on their vehicles before adding safety gear. So this is a race of junkers, and the one that lasts from Saturday to Sunday while turning the most laps is the winner, rewarded with a prize of $1,500 — all of it in nickels. Eddie Alterman of The New York Times has the story: Link - via digg

Homeowner Shot Teenage Intruder Over Twinkies Posted: 28 Sep 2008 01:19 PM CDT In the State of Texas, homeowners have the right to use deadly force to protect their lives and property. But the case of Jose Luis Gonzalez sparked a controversy when the jury found him not guilty for shooting a teenage intruder over snacks and soda: Gonzalez had endured several break-ins at his trailer when the four boys, ranging in age from 11 to 15, broke in. Gonzalez, who was in a nearby building at the time, went into the trailer and confronted the boys with a 16-gauge shotgun. Then he forced the boys, who were unarmed, to their knees, attorneys on both sides say. The boys say they were begging for forgiveness when Gonzalez hit them with the barrel of the shotgun and kicked them repeatedly. Then, the medical examiner testified, Anguiano was shot in the back at close range. Two mashed Twinkies and some cookies were stuffed in the pockets of his shorts. Another boy, Jesus Soto Jr., now 16, testified that Gonzalez ordered them at gunpoint to take Anguiano’s body outside. Gonzalez said he thought Anguiano was lunging at him when he fired the shotgun. Many people in Laredo — a town just across the Rio Grande from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, where drug violence runs rampant — defended Gonzalez’s actions. In online responses to articles published by the Morning Times, comments included statements such as "The kid got what he deserved" and calls to "stop the unfair prosecution." Link | (Photo from this FOXNews article) Previously on Neatorama: Was It Self Defense or Murder?

Is a Dead Worm in Your Fish Dinner a Health Violation? Posted: 28 Sep 2008 01:18 PM CDT One minute you’re eating fried fish in your favorite restaurant, and the next you’re spitting out worms. Now, is that a health code violation? If you say yes, you’d be wrong: Kelly McCoy, a representative with the Sacramento County Health Department said as long as the worm was dead, there was no health code violation committed. McCoy said the discovery is more of a customer service issue. On average, the Sacramento County Health Department receives about one complaint a month from restaurant patrons who find dead worms in fish, McCoy said. Problems can arise if the fish is not properly cooked and the worms are still alive. If a person eats a live worm, he can become a host to the parasite. Finding a live worm in cooked fish would show that the fish was not properly cooked, and that would also be considered a violation, McCoy said. Link

No More Needles: New Needle-Free Syringe Invention Posted: 28 Sep 2008 01:17 PM CDT Psst, needlephobics! (You know who you are!) Are you afraid of shots? Investor Yoshio Oyama has invented something for you: a convenient needle-free syringe that use air pressure to deliver drugs. Yoshio’s system is called Mother’s Kiss, and National Geographic News has the video clip: Link

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