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2010/10/31

Neatorama

Neatorama

House Sings Thriller

Posted: 31 Oct 2010 04:24 AM PDT


(YouTube link)

Halloween home decorations have come a long way. See the other songs programmed for this house at the YouTube channel. I have to wonder what the neighbors think! -via Metafilter

Pumpple: The Turducken of Cakes

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 06:10 PM PDT

Flying Monkey, a bakery in Philadelphia, created a cake dubbed the “pumpple”. It’s a pumpkin pie and apple pie baked between chocolate and vanilla cakes and covered with buttercream icing:

This oversize creation weighs in at a whopping 15 pounds and measures more than a foot tall. And at 1,800 calories a slice, it’s not for the faint of heart.[...]

It starts with the pies, which it par-bakes. The half-cooked pumpkin pie is dipped into chocolate cake batter and baked. The apple pie and vanilla cake get the same treatment and are baked on top of the chocolate cake. Its massive size means that it spends hours in the oven. Homemade buttercream is then — literally — the icing on the entire cake.

Link via Theresa Coleman | Photo: NBC

Dead Drops

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 06:01 PM PDT

Here at Neatorama, we’ve covered a variety of projects by artist Aram Bartholl. He has filmed people living out their World of Warcraft characters, made a giant Google Maps marker, and placed CAPTCHAs in real life. Bartholl’s latest project is called “Dead Drops.” He stuck five USB flash drives into walls around New York City and invited people to download from or upload content to them.

Link via CrunchGear | Photo: Aram Bartholl

"Skin Printer" Generates Skin to Cover Injuries

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 03:03 PM PDT

Researchers at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine are developing a printer that they hope can create skin to help injured soldiers immediately after they’re hurt:

The system, which lays down cells with the same fluid-based inkjet technology used in many printers, could print large swathes of living tissue directly onto the injuries of soldiers wounded on the battlefield. Covering burns and related wounds is of critical importance because, the scientists note, “any loss of full-thickness skin of more than 4 cm in diameter will not heal by itself.”

Tests on mice revealed advanced healing by both the second and third week of recovery, with complete closure and formation of scar tissue by week three in treated (but not untreated) subjects. The printer has two heads, one of which ejects skin cells mixed with fibrinogen (a blood coagulant) and type I collagen (the main component of the connective tissue in scars). The other head ejects thrombin (another coagulant).

Link via DVICE | Photo: US Army, used under Creative Commons license

Horse Playing with a Ball

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 01:12 PM PDT


(Video Link)

This horse is playing with a ball; your argument is invalid.

via Geekosystem

Black Knight Backpack and Slippers

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 11:04 AM PDT


Black Knight Backpack and Plush Slippers

These Monty Python and the Holy Grail Black Knight Plush Backpack and Black Knight Plush Slippers from the NeatoShop are already dismembered, but don’t you worry because it’s only a flesh wound!

Start your Christmas shopping early with these fun and unusual Bags & Totes and Footwear

Man Sued McDonald's for Making Him Fat ... and Won!

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 11:01 AM PDT

A lot of people probably think "McDonald’s made me fat," but there’s one guy in Brazil who got the court of law to agree with him. Here’s the bizarre story of a man who sued McD for making him fat … and won!

A former manager of a McDonald's franchise in Porto Allegre, Brazil, sued the hamburger chain for making him gain 65 pounds while he worked with them for over a dozen years. McDonald's must pay him $17,500 as recompense for his weight gain, a Brazilian court ruled on Tuesday.

The 32-year-old man, whose identity wasn't disclosed, complained that the company’s policy of mandatory food sampling caused him to balloon from about 155 lbs. to 231 lbs. while working at their restaurant in southern Brazil. [...]

The man said that he felt forced to taste everything on the menu to ensure the quality of the food because McDonald’s hired undercover customers to randomly visit restaurants and report back on quality.

Also, he blamed the free lunches consisting of burgers, fries and ice cream, which contributed to his excessive weight gain during the course of employment.

Judge Joao Filho agreed with the man, and issued a ruling against the company, ordering them to pay $17500 to the ex-employee.

Link – via Arbroath

Feather Art by Julie Thompson

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 11:00 AM PDT

Self-taught wildlife artist Julie Thompson uses feathers as canvases for her amazing art:

Julie began this artwork in the early 1990s, using feathers shed naturally by domesticated birds like peacocks and turkeys, but it was far from easy. Even a simple image can take a huge amount of painstaking work, and Julie says that on average, any single painting can involve as much as 18 hours worth of artwork.

See more at Environmental Graffiti: Link | Artist’s website

He's Got Eyes on the Back of His Head!

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 10:59 AM PDT

When life gives you lemon, make lemonade. How about when it takes away all your hair, except for a little tuft at the back? Well, this guy sure made the best of it!

Find this, and more crazy hairstyles over at Oddee: Link

Kung Fu Dracula

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 10:58 AM PDT

Move over, Twilight! Here’s the best vampire scene ever, from the amazing martial arts film Kung Fu Beyond The Grave

The second I heard "Count Dracula, come to my AID!" / "I’m COM-I-I-ING!" I knew it’d be a big hit!

Team Billy Chong FTW: Link [embedded YouTube clip]

Death by Caffeine

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 10:57 AM PDT

Can you die from taking too much caffeine? The answer is yes – all it takes to kill you is the equivalent of 70 cans of energy drinks:

Apparently, the pack of [powder] caffeine suggested taking no more than 1/16 of a teaspoon, but Bedford reportedly took spoonfuls of the stuff, so I wouldn't start worrying that your morning coffee addiction might help you end up on the wrong side of living. Bedford reportedly took the dosage of caffeine at a party, and one friend recounts seeing him profusely sweating and throwing up blood only about 15 minutes after the dosage was taken. Pretty horrifying.

Link

Previously on Neatorama: 30 Strangest Deaths in History

DIY Anti-Cheating Device

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 10:55 AM PDT

There’s no context (or credit) to this image we found over at Arbroath today, so it’s your job, dear Neatoramanauts, to supply the explanation. Funniest explanation wins T-shirt of your choice from the NeatoShop (may we suggest selecting one from the Science and Funny T-shirt categories?). Please remember to write your selection alongside your entry, otherwise you forfeit the prize.

Ready? Set? Go!

How Different Age Groups Celebrate Halloween

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 10:13 AM PDT

Matthew Inman at The Oatmeal made a chart of how different age groups celebrate Halloween. I have experienced all these phases, with the difference that when I was younger, teenagers had lots more fun! Link -via Geeks Are Sexy

Pavlov's Cell Phone

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 08:49 AM PDT

Ian Page is conditioning himself to salivate whenever his cell phone buzzes:

For the last 8 years, whenever my cell phone received a call or text it would vibrate in my left pocket. ‘Bondage Happens’ is a device I wear on my head that is connected to my cell phone. Whenever I receive a call or text the phone will vibrate and the device will inject a little bit of lemon juice into my mouth, thereby conditioning me to salivate when I get a phone call. I will wear the device for 2 weeks, starting Friday October 22nd.

Link via Make | Page’s Website | Screenshot: Make

The Garden of the Monsters

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 07:50 AM PDT

Pier Francesco Orsini, a 16th-century mercenary and nobleman, built a garden of huge sculpted monsters and other fantasy figures at his estate in Bomarzo, Italy. You’ll find the story of this remarkable project and more pictures at Kuriositas. Link

(Image credit: Flickr user zak mc)

Practice Makes Perfect

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 07:47 AM PDT


(YouTube link)

A young owl practices pouncing on imaginary prey. Or else he just wants to show off how cute he is! -via Arbroath

Make Me Zombie

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 07:45 AM PDT

You don’t have to do any artwork yourself with this zombie generator -just upload your picture and it will turn you into a zombie! Well, at least your picture. This one is me, zombified. Link -via the Presurfer

This Week at Neatorama

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 05:27 AM PDT

This week, Neatorama was proud to roll out our new literary sub-blog BitLit, where you can enjoy new fiction from all kinds of contributors! We started with three offerings, all described in this post. Check in for new chapters of Frostbite and Trivial Pursuits {?} posted every day, and read the entire short story Nomen Ludi.

Jill Harness was busy this week, again rounding up the best Halloween information and entertainment for you in Neatorama's Halloween Decoration Geekstravaganza, as well as 12 Gross Candies Perfect For Trick or Treaters, and the post 10 Controversial Horror Movies For Halloween.

We had more Halloweeny goodness from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader in Famous Trials: The Witches of Salem, and The Annals of Improbable Research brought us Yummy Mummies for Good Health.

Halloween wasn’t the only thing going on. John Farrier gave us 10 Facts You Might Not Know about Babylon 5.

Jill said Happy Birthday, Teddy Roosevelt! on what would have been the president’s 152nd birthday Wednesday

Really, Really Dumb Moments in Sports came to us from the new issue of mental_floss magazine.

I reported on 10 Things I Learned at BlogWorld in Las Vegas.

Alex is asking for your comments and suggestions in the post How Should We Improve Blogging Diversity on Neatorama?

If you didn’t have time to try it out earlier, spend some downtime this weekend playing with Neato-Puzzle #4.

In the What Is It? game we posted on Thursday, t-shirts go to just a guess who correctly guessed that the object is a carpet stretcher, and to e7c for the funniest guess: George Washington’s Halloween costume’s vampire denture!

Steven Johnson drew a Halloween edition of the Name That Weird Invention! contest. T-shirts from the NeatoShop go to Barking Bud, who called it a Mortalcycle, and to John P, who came up with the name Moto-Crossbones by Bone-Daddy Bikes, which comes in “his and hearse models”. Honorable mentions: Elizabeth (Bone Chopper), Hannah (Tyred of Life), Saudia (Nutcracker), Heather B (Dirt Nap Bike), deathbyawesomeness (diecycle), Sasha (BMXoskelton), and ladybuggs (The Grim Chopper).

As a special treat, we ran a second round of Name That Weird Invention! on Friday. You can still enter that contest for a couple more days.

We also saw a trick-or-treat version of Mal and Chad’s Fill in the Bubble Frenzy. I’ll post the winner here as soon as I find out who it is.

Congratulations also to Holly Werra and Mark Dziak, who won t-shirts from the NeatoShop in the How Did You Know? contest that Neatorama sponsored this week at mental_floss.

We had four winners in the Star Wars giveaway: Heather Muise, David Alexander LaPierre, @Chiisexy and @raaven. What? You didn’t know we were doing a Star Wars giveaway until it was over? That’s because it was a social media giveaway. You’ll be in on the next such giveaway if you follow Neatorama on Facebook and Twitter!

Have a great Halloween!
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