Neatorama

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• 8 Delightfully Geeky Wedding Proposals
• Conan O'Brien Delivered a Commencement Address
• A Study of Traumatic Brain Injuries in Astérix Comics
• Hip Hop Violin Medley
• Pull My Finger Pen
• Ray Villafane's Carved Pumpkins
• Möbius Ship
• The Mysterious Oreo Logo
• Functional Model Airship
• Sauron-y Night
• Newscaster Tries to Tell the Dalai Lama a Dalai Lama Joke
• TV Show Names According to My Mom
• The Star-Spangled Banner
• Anti-Gravity Dancing
• Postertext: Turn Your Favorite Book Into Art Poster
• Pool Playing Robot
• 8 Wonders of The Solar System
• 6 People Who Had No Clue Their Faces Were World-Famous
• United Nations Declares Internet Access a Human Right
• Scientists Trap Antimatter for Almost 17 Minutes
• The 6 Most Ill-Conceived Weapons Ever Built
• A Drunk Driving Trifecta
• Congratulations
• Human Cloning in Plastic
• Killer Queen

8 Delightfully Geeky Wedding Proposals Posted: 15 Jun 2011 05:03 AM PDT While there's nothing wrong with giving your gal a glass of champagne before getting down on one knee to propose, some people prefer to go a less traditional and more personalized route. Of course, if the potential bride and groom both happen to be a bit geeky, then it follows that a customized wedding proposal might just have a bit of a nerd-twist to it as well. Here is a small sampling of some of the geekiest wedding proposals ever. Be warned, if you tend to cry after watching emotionally-charged moments, this article (particularly the videos) might have you spraying your computer with tears. I know I was misty-eyed while writing it. 1. Borderlands I have to admit, this just might be my favorite wedding proposal ever. Ben and his girlfriend, Tora, were both seriously addicted to the popular Gearbox RPG shooter Borderlands. That's why when Ben decided to ask Tora to marry him, he decided to ask Gearbox for help popping the question. The company's response was more positive than Ben ever could have hoped for, as they spent a week working on a special Borderlands-themed wedding proposal video for the couple. It even featured a few hilarious quips from the robot character, Claptrap. Ben got all of Tora's friends and family members together under the guise of throwing her a birthday party and unveiled the video by saying he got a hold of a new Borderlands trailer. Needless to say, after watching the video, Tora's response was a big fat "yes," although she did later admitted that she was a little upset that Ben got to go to the Gearbox studio without her. Video links #1 and #2 2. Mario This guy and his girlfriend both seriously love Mario (if you couldn't tell already by looking at the room) so in order to ask his girlfriend to marry him, he set up a functional Mario question mark box that would drop the ring when she hit it with her head. While the set up is exactly as geeky as you might expect, it's surprisingly emotionally touching when she tries to hold back her tears as she jumps to hit the box. Video link 3. Bejeweled If your girlfriend loves the game Bejeweled and you happen to be a software programmer, you can do something above and beyond if you're so inclined. Or at least, that's what Bernie Peng did when he decided to propose, using his programming skills to create a custom Bejeweled game. Once the score got high enough, the regular screen would clear out and a ring would appear on the DS screen. Bernie then dropped to one knee and presented her with a pink ring that looked like it belonged in the game. As if the story weren't great enough on its own, the company that makes Bejeweled was so impressed by Bernie's proposal that they offered to pay for the couple's honeymoon and they volunteered to supply all of the wedding guests with a free version of Bejeweled. Now that's a great way to capitalize on the publicity of the wedding proposal! 4. Google Maps Michael Weiss-Malik's girlfriend already agreed to marry him during a low-key, at home proposal, but Michael felt the occasion needed more pizazz, so he moved on to his proposal 2.0 plan, which involved a hot tip he learned at work. Did I mention Michael works at Google? When the Google Street View car was set to drive by the company's headquarters, everyone was invited to go outside and wave at the car, but Michael opted to do something even more memorable. He dressed in some kind of animal costume and stood outside holding a banner that read "Proposal 2.0 Marry Me Leslie!!" Then, instead of emailing her the link directly, he asked internet users to email her and tell her why she should marry Michael or to link to his website that included the Google Street View scene. 5. Muppets Anyone can order a custom Muppet doll to propose for them, but Sid Ceaser decided to go one step further by making a three minute long, professional-looking video staring Muppets made to look like him and his girlfriend. He then brought her to the movies where the proposal film was played before the feature presentation. When she said yes, the lights came on, revealing that her friends and family made up the entire theater audience. Video link 6. Light Writing Light Writing Proposal from Derick Childress on Vimeo. Light graffiti involves using lights and a camera to "tag" a building or other surface. Usually, it's taken close up in one long-exposure shot, but when one photographer decided to use the technique to ask his girlfriend to marry him, the production got pretty massive pretty fast. In order to spell out "Emily Will You Marry Me?" the photographer decided to shoot the massive light letters from a high vantage point that would show a huge chunk of downtown Raleigh. After scouting out the perfect building, he rented a hotel room there and had his friends help him shoot the images and throw out the lights to create the writing. The process was incredibly tedious and technical, but if you want to learn more about how it was done, his website has a lot more information. If you don't care about the technical side of things, the video shows all you need to know…how the lights spelled out his message. Video link 7. LOL Cats I Can Has Cheezburger played a critical role in this marriage proposal, where a man used photos of his cat and ICHC's classic LOL builder to create a one-of-a-kind proposal that went on the site's front page. When she gave her answer, they added a few captioned pics of the girl with her kitty to the post so everyone knew she gave a resounding "afurrmitive" to the question. 8. Comics As a freelance artist who has worked on a number of major comic books, Leigh Gallagher knew he didn't spend enough time at home or give his girlfriend nearly enough attention. That's why he made sure his proposal comics were filled with heart-filled confessions, humor and an unbelievable attention to detail. Despite his self-confessed flaws, the comics made one thing abundantly clear: Leigh is one heck of a catch. If all the touchy-feeliness of this article has gotten to you and you want to read about a few proposals that haven't gone this smoothly, then you might want to check out this older Neatorama article featuring 14 Romantic Gestures Gone Terribly Wrong. Of course, if you are feeling the emotions here, feel free to share your own proposal stories in the comments!

Conan O'Brien Delivered a Commencement Address Posted: 15 Jun 2011 04:37 AM PDT And it was quite good! Commencement addresses tend to range from tedious to unbearable, but O’Brien’s speech before the graduates of Dartmouth College was both funny and practical: Eleven years ago I gave an address to a graduating class at Harvard. I have not spoken at a graduation since because I thought I had nothing left to say. But then 2010 came. And now I’m here, three thousand miles from my home, because I learned a hard but profound lesson last year and I’d like to share it with you. In 2000, I told graduates “Don’t be afraid to fail.” Well now I’m here to tell you that, though you should not fear failure, you should do your very best to avoid it. Nietzsche famously said “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” But what he failed to stress is that it almost kills you. Disappointment stings and, for driven, successful people like yourselves it is disorienting. What Nietzsche should have said is “Whatever doesn’t kill you, makes you watch a lot of Cartoon Network and drink mid-price Chardonnay at 11 in the morning.” Video Link and Transcript -via Ace of Spades HQ

A Study of Traumatic Brain Injuries in Astérix Comics Posted: 15 Jun 2011 04:26 AM PDT The long-running French comic series Astérix features a lot of violence. Five medical researchers in Germany figured that there might be something valuable to learn from this data set, and so decided to conduct a formal study of the comic’s brain injuries. Here’s the abstract: BACKGROUND: The goal of the present study was to analyze the epidemiology and specific risk factors of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the Asterix illustrated comic books. Among the illustrated literature, TBI is a predominating injury pattern. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of TBI in all 34 Asterix comic books was performed by examining the initial neurological status and signs of TBI. Clinical data were correlated to information regarding the trauma mechanism, the sociocultural background of victims and offenders, and the circumstances of the traumata, to identify specific risk factors. RESULTS: Seven hundred and four TBIs were identified. The majority of persons involved were adult and male. The major cause of trauma was assault (98.8%). Traumata were classified to be severe in over 50% (GCS 3-8). Different neurological deficits and signs of basal skull fractures were identified. Although over half of head-injury victims had a severe initial impairment of consciousness, no case of death or permanent neurological deficit was found. The largest group of head-injured characters was constituted by Romans (63.9%), while Gauls caused nearly 90% of the TBIs. A helmet had been worn by 70.5% of victims but had been lost in the vast majority of cases (87.7%). In 83% of cases, TBIs were caused under the influence of a doping agent called “the magic potion”. CONCLUSIONS: Although over half of patients had an initially severe impairment of consciousness after TBI, no permanent deficit could be found. Roman nationality, hypoglossal paresis, lost helmet, and ingestion of the magic potion were significantly correlated with severe initial impairment of consciousness (p???0.05). Link via Nerdcore | Image: René Goscinny

Hip Hop Violin Medley Posted: 15 Jun 2011 02:14 AM PDT (Video link) A video clip with Josh Vietti, a pop violinist based in Orange County, California, performing various famous hip hop songs on violin. via Pusha

Pull My Finger Pen Posted: 15 Jun 2011 12:03 AM PDT Pull My Finger Pen – $2.95 Father’s Day is Sunday.  This is a time when we pay tribute to Dad and his giving spirit.  In honor of this joyous event we present to you the Pull My Finger Pen from the NeatoShop. We think Dear Old Dad will find this farting, finger shaped pen to be a real gas! Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more fantastic Gag Gifts & Pranks! Link

Ray Villafane's Carved Pumpkins Posted: 14 Jun 2011 07:53 PM PDT Ray Villafane’s funny and spooky carved pumpkins are wondrous sights to behold. Make interviewed him about his background and what’s involved in this craft. When asked about the tools that he uses, Villafane wrote: 99% of the carvings I do are done with various-sized ribbon loop tools. These are standard tools for clay potters and sculptors. The great thing about these tools is that they are not sharp at all, keeping it safe for kids. I use a paring knife to sharpen up the details in the end, but you would be surprised how far you can get without ever using a knife! Link -via Make | Villafane’s Kickstarter Page

Möbius Ship Posted: 14 Jun 2011 06:13 PM PDT Tim Hawkinson made this model sailing ship that’s twisted like a möbius strip: Echoing the working methods of ship-in-a-bottle hobbyists, Hawkinson created a painstakingly detailed model ship that twists in upon itself, presenting the viewer with a thought-provoking visual conundrum. The title is a witty play on Herman Melville's novel Moby Dick, which famously relates the tale of a ship captain's all-consuming obsession with an elusive white whale. The ambitious and imaginative structure of Hawkinson's sculpture offers an uncanny visual metaphor for Melville's epic tale, which is often considered the ultimate American novel. Link -via Kottke | Photo: Indianapolis Museum of Art

The Mysterious Oreo Logo Posted: 14 Jun 2011 05:31 PM PDT Nabisco first unveiled the Oreo in 1912, then marked with a distinctive logo on the outer cookie shingles. In changed in 1924, and then acquired its current form in 1954. Oreo enthusiasts have studied the logos extensively, searching for their meanings: The circle topped with a two-bar cross in which the word "OREO" resides is a variant of the Nabisco logo, and is either "an early European symbol for quality" (according to Nabisco's promotional materials) or a Cross of Lorraine, as carried by the Knights Templar into the Crusades. Continuing the Da Vinci Code-theme, the Oreo's geometric pattern of a dot with four triangles radiating outward is either a schematic drawing of a four-leaf clover or — cue the cliffhanger music from Jaws — the cross pattée, also associated with the Knights Templar, as well as with the German military and today's Freemasons. Offer your own conspiracy theories in the comments. Link -via The Mary Sue | Photo by Flickr user pumpkinsoupsauce used under Creative Commons license

Functional Model Airship Posted: 14 Jun 2011 05:11 PM PDT The USS Macon was a military airship operated by the United States from 1933-1935. Retired computer engineer Jack Clemens spent two and a half years building a 20-foot replica that flies for 45 minutes at a time: The Macon was an airship, not a blimp, meaning it had a rigid hull. A backbone made from 12 circular frames connected with strips of wood called longerons gave the 785-foot-long craft its form. Clemens wanted to mimic the structure in his model, so he built a jig to ensure that the frames–made from thousands of balsa-wood sticks–were precisely the right size. Although the Macon's skin was a mix of cotton muslin and metal-colored sealant, Clemens's model used Mylar because it was lightweight, tough and the right color. Clemens calculated that to get his craft to fly, he would need a total of eight small model-airplane propellers anchored to the sides of the frame. "It takes very little propulsive force to move an airship," he explains. The propellers are powered by a single 2.5-ounce lithium-polymer battery that sits in the nose of the craft and helps balance the weight of pulleys and servomotors in the tail. The airship takes up a lot of room in Clemens’ home, so he hopes to donate it to a museum. Link | Photo: Cody Pickens

Sauron-y Night Posted: 14 Jun 2011 05:03 PM PDT I’m having trouble tracking down the artist responsible for this piece, so if you know, let me know in the comments. Well, other Van Gogh, obviously. I’m assuming that this is not an alternate Starry Night that he painted himself. -via blastr

Newscaster Tries to Tell the Dalai Lama a Dalai Lama Joke Posted: 14 Jun 2011 04:44 PM PDT (Video Link) Karl Stefanovic, an Australian newscaster, got a chance to sit down and talk with the Dalai Lama. Naturally, he took the opportunity to tell the Dalai Lama a Buddhism joke. At least, Buddhism as it is popularly understood in the West — your own theological mileage may vary. Watch and see how well it went over. via reddit

TV Show Names According to My Mom Posted: 14 Jun 2011 04:27 PM PDT Well, maybe not MY mom, because she only watches shows in which someone gets murdered. Could this be your mom? This compilation is from Jeff Wysaski at Pleated Jeans. Link

The Star-Spangled Banner Posted: 14 Jun 2011 01:17 PM PDT On this Flag Day, we have the story of the Star-Spangled Banner from the Smithsonian. This is the American flag that flew over Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. Francis Scott Key was inspired by this particular flag when he wrote our national anthem in 1813. Succeeding generations loved and honored the Stars and Stripes, but this flag in particular provided a unique connection to the national narrative. Once it was moved to the Smithsonian Institution in 1907, it remained on almost continuous display. After almost 200 years of service, the flag had slowly deteriorated almost to the point of no return. Removed from exhibit in 1998 for a conservation project that cost about $7 million, the Star-Spangled Banner, as it had become known, returns to center stage this month with the reopening of the renovated National Museum of American History on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Read the story of what happened to the flag from the time it was constructed in Baltimore to its permanent installation at the Smithsonian Institution. Link (Image credit: Smithsonian Institution)

Anti-Gravity Dancing Posted: 14 Jun 2011 12:58 PM PDT (YouTube link) Whee! Four skydivers do a choreographed dance in the Skydive Arena wind tunnel in Prague, Czech Republic. The music is “Fot i Hose” by Casiokids. -via Metafilter

Postertext: Turn Your Favorite Book Into Art Poster Posted: 14 Jun 2011 12:50 PM PDT Postertext – $23.95 to $34.95 Combine your love of books and art into one very cool poster: Postertext lets you "hang" your favorite book on the wall as a poster. The clever poster takes a book’s text (yes, you can read the book that way if you want!) and arrange the whitespace to depict a memorable scene from the book. It’s the perfect gift for your fellow book lovers. Check out NeatoShop’s selection of Postertext posters: Link | Official website

Pool Playing Robot Posted: 14 Jun 2011 09:19 AM PDT If you have ever seen a really good pool player, you may have thought "wow that guy hits the ball with robotic accuracy." Well now thanks to some researchers in Germany the guy at the pool hall might actually be a robot. Watch video of the pool playing robot in action. Thomas Nierhoff, from the Institute of Automatic Control Engineering at the Technical University of Munchen in Germany, programmed a two armed robot to shoot billiards…and to do it well. The bot, with seven degrees of freedom in each arm, was able to sink easier shots with up to 80% success… Link

8 Wonders of The Solar System Posted: 14 Jun 2011 09:18 AM PDT While our space probes and the Hubble Space Telescope have made great advances in recent years bringing us photos of the cosmos, there are still many places in our own solar system that close photography is just out of reach. These artist renderings bring us close to eight amazing places that hopefully we will get a closer look at some day including the rings of Saturn and the geysers of Triton.   Artist Ron Miller takes us on a journey to eight of the most breathtaking views that await explorers of our solar system. The scale of these natural wonders dwarfs anything Earth has to offer. What might we see and feel if we could travel to these distant domains? Link

6 People Who Had No Clue Their Faces Were World-Famous Posted: 14 Jun 2011 09:18 AM PDT There are pictures we are all familiar with, but who are the people in the pictures? Some of the most famous images are those of people who had nothing to do with the photograph’s fame, and some weren’t even aware of them. Like Geraldine Doyle, who was well aware of the Rosie the Riveter poster seen everywhere during World War II, but had no clue that her face was the inspiration for it -until 1984! Doyle, incredibly, had no idea of her connection to Rosie the Riveter. In fact, she didn’t even know about the original inspirational photo, which given her posture, lends an unsettling peeping-Tom vibe to the whole thing. At the time, she’d just graduated high school and, like many other women, had taken a job in a factory in order to support the war effort. American Broach & Machine Co. had her on a metal press in no time at all, probably after a vigorous and thorough safety-training program that only that decade could deliver. Fearing an injury that could impact her ability to play the cello, Doyle quit after only two weeks on the job. She endured the potential hand crushing long enough for a photographer to snap the picture without her noticing. Someone who did notice, however, was J. Howard Miller, an artist commissioned by the government to draw up some motivating pieces of art. Read the rest of her story, plus those of other famous faces, at Cracked. Link

United Nations Declares Internet Access a Human Right Posted: 14 Jun 2011 09:18 AM PDT The next time your significant other complains that you spend too much time online you can tell them that internet access is a human right. So says the United Nations in a report released this past week citing how the Internet has become vital in ensuring freedom of expression. As LaRue highlighted, Internet access can be particularly valuable during times of political unrest, as evidenced in the Arab Spring uprisings. LaRue emphasized the power of the Internet as a communication medium and said in his report that, “given that the Internet has become an indispensable tool for realizing a range of human rights, combating inequality, and accelerating development and human progress, ensuring universal access to the Internet should be a priority for all states.” Link

Scientists Trap Antimatter for Almost 17 Minutes Posted: 14 Jun 2011 09:17 AM PDT It sounds like something out of Star Trek but scientists have been able to trap antimatter for 17 minutes, improving on an experiment last Fall that was able to trap antimatter for merely fractions of seconds.   So just how difficult is it to trap antimatter for study? Just like in Star Trek, the combination of matter and antimatter particles leads to the annihilation of both and the production of a small flash of energy. Thus, to successfully trap antimatter, researchers use magnetic fields to contain antiatoms. When they turn off the field, the resulting annihilation events–recorded by a special detector–clue the scientists into just how many antiatoms are left after a set period of containment time. Link

The 6 Most Ill-Conceived Weapons Ever Built Posted: 14 Jun 2011 09:16 AM PDT If you are going to build a "good" weapon you need to make sure that it effectively does what you want it to do; a gun that hits the enemy and a tank that protects your troops (also while hitting the enemy). However it seems through history there have been some pretty ill-conceived weapons. This includes something called the Bob Semple Tank which was built by looking at a picture of a tank. Besides having the least-threatening name ever bestowed upon a tank, the Bob Semple barely qualified as one. It was little more than a farm tractor — and due to several design flaws, it was about as useful as one in a war zone. The designers based it on an American tractor tank, but the problem was that they had no blueprints, no building materials outside those found in a farm and no idea what the hell they were doing. They literally designed the Bob Semple by looking at a postcard of the original tank. By that logic, half of us should be able to reconstruct the Eiffel Tower. Link

A Drunk Driving Trifecta Posted: 14 Jun 2011 08:49 AM PDT Police in Timaru, New Zealand, pulled over a 15-year-old on State Highway 1 near Pareora and gave him a breathalyzer test. The unnamed driver registered three times the legal alcohol limit for teenage drivers. He was taken to the police station, where his mother was summoned to retrieve him. She was subsequently stopped and arrested for drink-driving on Craigie Ave at about 2.14am, after blowing 776 mcg, nearly twice the adult limit of 400. But it wasn’t over there. The woman then rang her partner to come and pick them both up. He was stopped and arrested on North St at about 3am, when he blew 559mcg. Supposedly the family was reunited -in jail. Link -via Arbroath

Congratulations Posted: 14 Jun 2011 08:02 AM PDT During graduation season, we see and hear the word “congratulations” a lot. There are also a lot of cakes made for graduation parties -but there are also a lot of cake decorators who cannot spell the word. Some shorten it to “congrats” and STILL misspell it! Cake Wrecks has a glorious roundup of recent congratulation cakes you are sure to get a kick out of. Link

Human Cloning in Plastic Posted: 14 Jun 2011 07:33 AM PDT How would you like to have a doll action figure with your own face? Danny Choo goes through the process of becoming a plastic clone at Clone Factory in Japan to show you how it’s done, from the photography to the 3D printing to the finished doll. You can have one made, too, for the low price of 138,000 yen -and a trip to Japan. Link -via Metafilter

Killer Queen Posted: 14 Jun 2011 07:30 AM PDT (YouTube link) A cover of the classic Queen song by Fredrik Larsson (FreddeGredde) and his seven clones. -via The High Definite

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