Neatorama

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• VideoSift Clips of the Week
• China's 56 Ethnic Groups
• A Currency is "Reevaluated"
• Hillybilly Truffles
• Man Updates Twitter and Facebook Accounts During His Own Wedding
• Velma the Vampire Hunter
• Borrow My Pen
• Body Armor for Dogs
• Hamlet's Soliloquy Sounds Better in Klingon
• Buy a Home, Get Beans!
• Sugar Streak
• Prohibition-Era Bowling Alley Unearthed in Queens
• Is Loneliness Contagious?
• Edible Insects
• Personal Branding Iron
• US Navy UAV Sets Endurance Record with 26-Hour Flight
• Steve Ballmer Portrait Using Hundreds of Blue Screens of Death
• Japanese Street Addresses and Other Cultural Opposites

VideoSift Clips of the Week Posted: 03 Dec 2009 03:34 AM PST (Links open in a new browser window/tab) Stunning Shuttle Ascent Video Compilation Starts off a bit slow, but skip forward to about the 2 minute mark for some of the best Space Shuttle footage we’ve ever seen. “This video was compiled by the Space Shuttle Program at the Johnson Space Center and made available for all NASA employees to share with friends and family.” Link Cookie Monster sounds like Rammstein He must be moonlighting with the German metal band. Link The Double Pendulum Gives an Example of Chaotic Motion You probably don’t need to watch the entire video to get the idea – but the first couple of minutes are striking – the pendulum seems to have a life and purpose of its own. Link Twilight: New Moon in 60 Seconds Now you don’t have to watch the actual movie. This recreation has better performance and a swiftly moving plot-line. Link Loop the Loop in a Real Car The Fifth Gear team attempts to perform a full 360 degree loop in a full size car. Someone loves their Hotwheels™. Link Lastly, if you like your video music, we just did our first ever interview with the fantastic duo Pomplamoose.

China's 56 Ethnic Groups Posted: 02 Dec 2009 07:58 PM PST The vast majority (>90%) of Chinese are Han Chinese.  The remainder are distributed among 55 other ethnic groups.  This diversity was awkwardly displayed during the opening ceremonies of the last Olympic games, when a parade of 56 children representing those groups was later revealed to have been comprised of 56 Han Chinese children wearing the ethnic clothing of the other groups. Now there is a photoessay which appears to correct that gaffe.  All of the ethnic groups are portrayed in professionally composed group portraits, with the subjects wearing traditional dress and often carrying traditional instruments or tools.  Pictured above as an example are the ethnic Kazak; the others are at the link.  It’s an impressive photo gallery. Link.

A Currency is "Reevaluated" Posted: 02 Dec 2009 07:37 PM PST Economic activity inside North Korea has reportedly ground to a halt following a government announcement that it is devaluing its currency at a rate of 100:1. There were reports of public outrage and confusion after the announcement of the measure, which requires North Koreans to swap existing won notes for new ones at an exchange rate of one to 100 — effectively knocking two zeroes off their value. Because of a cap of 100,000 won per family (£475 at the official exchange rate), anyone with significant holdings of cash will have their savings wiped out. The move is seen as an effort to quash small businesses and private enterprises which have proliferated in the unofficial economy.  As many as 30,000 vendors are believed to operate in a market outside the capital, Pyongyang, and many of them had accumulated substantial cash reserves.  This move effectively confiscates that cash. Analysts do not foresee any direct economic repercussions outside the country, but it does serve as a reminder that many other world currencies are, like the North Korean won, “fiat money” Links at the Times Online, Wall Street Journal, and Economist.  Photo credit.

Hillybilly Truffles Posted: 02 Dec 2009 06:19 PM PST The Food & Travel section of GQ has a 6-page article reporting the successful growing of black truffles in Tennessee.  When Julia Child’s book was released in the United States, the recipes called for canned truffles because fresh ones were virtually unknown.  Even in France the black Périgord truffles are in short supply, and they are considered a supreme delicacy. Although the truffle possesses a pleasant crunch, it is treasured not so much for its taste or appearance but for its aroma, which has been likened to bedsheets after a night of abandon, slatterns who disdain to bathe, all that is dark and alluring about the human body and soul. In the middle of the winter growing season, they can be fruity and floral. Later, they become muskier… They are not just pungent. They meld with certain foodstuffs, in particular fresh pasta, melted cheese, and runny eggs, enhancing their taste. They work well with vanilla ice cream, too. They are intoxicating. They weaken and captivate… Truffle farming is difficult because it may require planting an orchard of hundreds of hazelnut and oak trees to host the mushrooms, but there are certain financial rewards: “The best day for him was December 21, 2008, when Tom located 24.2 pounds of truffles, worth more than $14,000… I selected the best of the previous day’s harvest and paid the prevailing rate of $640 a pound, exactly what French black truffles were selling for in America…” GQ link, via Metafilter

Man Updates Twitter and Facebook Accounts During His Own Wedding Posted: 02 Dec 2009 04:27 PM PST (YouTube Link) Dana Hanna of Abingdon, Maryland updated his Facebook relationship status at the altar, immediately after the presiding pastor declared the marriage. In The Los Angeles Times, W.J. Hennigan writes: Hanna explains on YouTube that he did it for laughs and that the gag was a surprise to everybody in attendance except the minister. This would explain his wife's look as he pulled "his" and "hers" cellphones from his tuxedo pockets. "This was just done to be funny — we really don’t Facebook THAT often ," he wrote on YouTube. "I have a lot of family scattered around the country and we all use Facebook a lot to keep in touch." You can read Hanna’s full explanation at the YouTube link. Link via CollegeHumor

Velma the Vampire Hunter Posted: 02 Dec 2009 01:07 PM PST Illustration by Travis Pitts Dr. Monster (Travis Pitts) created this illustration for his Flickr ‘Stream.  Pitts calls it “we’ve got some work to do now,” and it clearly tells a dramatic tale.  Note the R.I.P.  S+F+D (Shaggy, Fred & Daphne).  Link

Borrow My Pen Posted: 02 Dec 2009 12:39 PM PST Borrow My Pen – $6.45 Tired of people "borrowing" your pen all the time? Well, give ‘em a little shock with these subversively funny pens. Each of them are printed with fake but very funny company names and tag lines, such as: Springfield Sexual Addiction Center From PERV to PERFECT in as little as 10 days. Curbing your enthusiasm since 1998 Shecky The Clown Bar Mitzvahs, Weddings, Interventions. Don’t forget Shecky’s dog Arlene, a little extra but worth it. Electrolysis Is Us The first name in unwanted hair removal. Specializing in those hard-to-reach areas Dr. Lance Hughes, Proctology Turn your head and cough, 301 South Main (please use rear entrance) Part of Neatorama’s Christmas Special (purchase of each product will get you a Free Mystery Bonus). Perfect for stocking stuffers. Get ‘em while you still can: Link

Body Armor for Dogs Posted: 02 Dec 2009 11:06 AM PST The Canadian firm K9 Storm offers sophisticated physical protection for dogs out in the field. In Popular Science, Clay Dillow writes: The Intruder not only protects canines with a sturdy flak jacket enveloping their vital organs, but it sports a wireless camera so the handler can see what the dog sees, as well as speakers so the handler can issue audio commands. As a result, dogs can operate up to 300 yards from their handlers, a big advantage in emergency situations where dogs are often sent into areas deemed too unsafe for humans to operate. Although the suits cost $20,000 per unit, the enormous expense of training and maintaining a high-end military or police dog may justify the expenditure. Link | Photo: K9 Storm

Hamlet's Soliloquy Sounds Better in Klingon Posted: 02 Dec 2009 10:58 AM PST (YouTube Link) This video shows an actor performing the “To Be or Not To Be” soliloquy from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, restoring the language to the original Klingon. The play became available in the United Federation of Planets in 2000, thanks to the efforts of the Klingon Language Institute. via Wandering Goblin | Amazon.com Link

Buy a Home, Get Beans! Posted: 02 Dec 2009 08:16 AM PST Clayton Homes has an ad on a newspaper website offering a premium when you buy a new home -a can of beans! Link -via J-Walk Blog

Sugar Streak Posted: 02 Dec 2009 08:01 AM PST (YouTube link) Can you catch the Gingerbread Man? This video is a “choose your own adventure” series, with important decisions to be made at key points. The best episode was in the basement. Sure, it’s viral advertising, but that doesn’t interfere with the adventure.

Prohibition-Era Bowling Alley Unearthed in Queens Posted: 02 Dec 2009 07:43 AM PST The new owner of a former garment factory building recently unearthed a pair of manually-operated bowling lanes in his basement. The lanes are in very good condition, considering it’s been many years since they’ve seen action. After research into the property, the owner believes the basement was a secret club during Prohibition! Link From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by protonpack3.

Is Loneliness Contagious? Posted: 02 Dec 2009 07:37 AM PST A study of the data from 5,000 individuals who participated in the Framingham Heart Study leads researchers to believe that loneliness spreads through social networks like a virus. The tendency to be a loner may be less of a character trait and more of a “state such as hunger”. They found loneliness is catchy with three degrees of separation. So a person’s loneliness depended not just on his friend’s loneliness but also on his friend’s friend and his friend’s friend’s friend. Participants were 52 percent more likely to be lonely if a person to whom they were directly connected (one degree of separation) was lonely. For two degrees of separation, the number drops to 25 percent and 15 percent for three degrees. The number of family members had no effect on loneliness scores. Over time, lonely individuals become lonelier and transmit such feelings to others before severing ties. “People with few friends are more likely to become lonelier over time, which then makes it less likely that they will attract or try to form new social ties,” they write. Such friendless individuals ended up on the outskirts of their social networks. Link -via Digg (image credit: Flickr user ~Oryctes~)

Edible Insects Posted: 02 Dec 2009 07:25 AM PST By now you’re probably wondering what to get that insect-lover on your list.  Sure, you could go with the earwig T-shirt or the cockroach fridge magnet, but why not choose something they’re sure to love?  You know what I’m talking about:  Chocolate Ants!  Those irresistible chocolate wafer cookies “with genuine farm ants mixed in.”  Easy to eat. Or how about some Chocolate Covered Insects, coated with creany white and milk chocolate? The crickets and mealworms are especially crunchy. And for that special someone, Scorpion Lollipops!  In assorted fruit flavors, with real parboiled scorpions inside (examples at left). Available at reasonable prices from The Bone Room, the natural history store in Berkeley that specializes in natural science and all things once living.  It sells all sorts of items suitable for gifts, but if you’re planning to fly I wouldn’t recommend buying one of their human skulls.  You might run into some trouble with TSA. Link

Personal Branding Iron Posted: 02 Dec 2009 07:09 AM PST This company will make a tiny branding iron with your name on it! The product is a metal part that will replace the head of a disposable cigarette lighter. Fire up the lighter, and your branding iron will be hot in no time. Yes, it sounds dangerous, that’s why the description says “for decorative purposes only.” What could possibly go wrong? Link -via Bits and Pieces

US Navy UAV Sets Endurance Record with 26-Hour Flight Posted: 02 Dec 2009 06:27 AM PST With a flight lasting twenty-six hours and one minute, the US Navy experimental unmanned aerial vehicle Ion Tiger broke a flight endurance record. Michael Barkoviak writes for Daily Tech: The U.S. Navy’s Ion Tiger flew over the Aberdeen Proving Ground on November 16 and November 17 for more than one day, as the 37-lb. aircraft carried its fuel-cell engine, 9.5-lb. compressed hydrogen tank, and a five-pound payload. Ion Tiger has a a day-night camera capable of surveillance and reconnaissance for future missions, said representatives from the Naval Research Laboratory. The recent test flight was meant as an endurance test, and researchers were quick to point out that much work is left to be done. Link via CrunchGear | Image: Naval Research Laboratory

Steve Ballmer Portrait Using Hundreds of Blue Screens of Death Posted: 02 Dec 2009 06:19 AM PST This collage portrait of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was created out of hundreds of pictures of computer screens showing Windows’ infamous error page, the Blue Screen of Death. It was made by Fraser of PoorlyDrawnPortaits.com. via Gizmodo | Poorly Drawn Portraits

Japanese Street Addresses and Other Cultural Opposites Posted: 02 Dec 2009 05:55 AM PST (YouTube Link) This video by musician and entrepreneur Derek Sivers provides several examples of American cultural norms that are counterintuitive in other societies. For example, Americans navigate roads with street addresses, but Japanese streets don’t have names. So how do travelers in Japan find a particular place? via Urlesque | Sivers’ Website

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