Neatorama

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• Cute Android Figures Made From Random Junk
• Ronen Tinman's Car Furniture
• Laser Etched Sausage of a Hockey Player
• Spider Homesteads in Woman's Ear
• Clever Motorist Gets Revenge on Jerk Driver
• Smart Fingertips Let Us Feel Virtual Sensations
• Millennium Falcon Made From Car Parts
• Wake Up! Mug
• Raymond Chandler's The Man Who Repaired Laptops
• Arizona Penguins to be Left Homeless
• A Cute Cartoon That Explains How Cryptocat Works
• Gorgeous Textured Oil Painting of Yoda
• Cat Surfs away from Dog
• Extra Terrestrial Hobo Nickels
• A Gun Designed to Fit inside a Coffin and Shoot Grave Robbers
• Images Of American Tourists Taking In The Sights
• The First Feature Length Film Shot Entirely On A Smartphone
• A Vending Machine That Lets You Make Your Own Toy
• Big Head Squirrel Feeder
• "Where The Wild Things Are" Cat
• Lebowski Is Coming
• 10 Terrifying Cryptids
• A Brief History of Olympic Defectors
• Shark Bait: RoboDog
• Wearing Your Jabba On Your Sleeve
• Mars Photo Sets Record on Neatorama Facebook
• Natural Thing
• The Perseid Meteor Shower
• It Just Won't Fit In My Mouth
• Blown Glass Hermit Crab Shells

Cute Android Figures Made From Random Junk Posted: These cute little android figures were made by crafty Andrea Petrachi, and they look like a Jawa's dream come true! They make up for their lack of mortal soul with an overabundance of personality and charm. In fact, they're so neat looking that they could inspire a scifi series of their own, something likeRobobabies and the battle for the Junkyard... Link  --via Beautiful/Decay

Ronen Tinman's Car Furniture Posted: Ronen Tinman's artisic motto is that everything deserves a second chance. That's why he takes old cars that aren't roadworthy and gives them new purpose as furniture. Here's a sink cabinet that used to be a Volvo. At the link, you can also find a Citroën hood serving as a table, a BMW 318 chest and a motorcycle fuel tank turned into a bag. Link -via Dude Craft

Laser Etched Sausage of a Hockey Player Posted: Hockey, sausage and lasers--three wonderful things that belong together. Aapo Mattila etched this portrait of Timo Jutila, a famous hockey player from Finland. Link -via Tasteologie

Spider Homesteads in Woman's Ear Posted: The spider was there for five days before doctors discovered it: A woman who checked into China's Changsha Central Hospital Wednesday (Aug. 8) with an itchy ear learned she had a small spider dwelling in her ear canal, according to news reports. It had crawled inside five days earlier while she slept. That's probably something that you should keep in mind when you go to bed tonight. Spiders are just looking for opportunities to crawl into your ears.  They watch you as you start to fall asleep. Do you feel a little itch in your ear right now? That may be a spider that got in last night. Link -via Geekologie | Image: Rednet.cn

Clever Motorist Gets Revenge on Jerk Driver Posted: (Video Link)  The best thing that you can do when you have a hostile encounter on the road is to drive away. Just drive. This is the second best option. Especially if the jerk has conveniently left his car windows down. Link -via Glenn Reynolds

Smart Fingertips Let Us Feel Virtual Sensations Posted: Move over smartphones, nanotechnology researchers are developing "smart fingertips" which could let us feel virtual sensations: Imagine feeling like you’re lifting a 50-kilogram weight just by pulling at thin air. That’s just one of the possible applications of new "smart fingertips" created by a team of nanoengineers. The electronic fingers mold to the shape of the hand, and so far the researchers have shown that they can transmit electric signals to the skin. The team hopes to one day incorporate the devices into a smart glove that creates virtual sensations, fooling the brain into feeling everything from texture to temperature. [...] Hoping to create circuits with the flexibility of skin, materials scientist John Rogers of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and colleagues cut up nanometer-sized strips of silicon; implanted thin, wavy strips of gold to conduct electricity; and mounted the entire circuit in a stretchable, spider web-type mesh of polymer as a support. They then embedded the circuit-polyimide structure onto a hollow tube of silicone that had been fashioned in the shape of a finger. Just like turning a sock inside out, the researchers flipped the structure so that the circuit, which was once on the outside of the tube, was on the inside where it could touch a finger placed against it. Link (Image: John Rogers/University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

Millennium Falcon Made From Car Parts Posted: Photos: Scott Hart/Ripley's Before you say "What a piece of junk!" you should know that she may not know like much, but she's got it where it counts! This 10-feet long 900 lb. Millennium Falcon replica, made entirely out of car parts, is currently hanging from the ceiling at the Ripley's Odditorium in Williamsburg, Virginia - Thanks Scott!

Wake Up! Mug Posted: Wake Up! Mug - $11.95 Hey sleepyhead! Are you looking for a mug that reflects your caffeine dependent personality? You need the Wake Up! Mug from the NeatoShop. This heat-sensitive mug starts off with drowsy eyes. Add hot liquid and your favorite mug instantly perks up.  Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Mugs! Link

Raymond Chandler's The Man Who Repaired Laptops Posted: "You've got malware, sweetheart" (Image via Dieselpunks) What if, instead of a private eye, Philip Marlowe is a computer repairman? Jason Harrington channels Raymond Chandler in this wonderful hardboiled piece, titled "Raymond Chandler's The Man Who Repaired Laptops": When a girl like Vivian Sternwood walks into your third floor bachelor pad that doubles as your at-home laptop repair business as advertised on Craigslist, it can only mean trouble. It would be a hot one that day, a real summer scorcher—not even noon, and already I felt like a boiled New England dinner simmering in a sea of electronics. “What can I do for you, sweetheart? Take a seat,” I said. She was a doozy of a dame, with dangerous eyes like blue screens of death and a dark umber HP Pavilion laptop with a 640 GB hard drive she’d dropped off the day before. I’d taken her case at the recommendation of her father, the landlord, on account of my being two months behind on the rent. “I am here to pick up my laptop that would not start up. Why else would I be here?” she said, cell phone buzzing in her purse. “And I am in a rush. Make it snappy.” Read the rest over at McSweeney's: Link

Arizona Penguins to be Left Homeless Posted: The historic Eastman Gin in Phoenix, Arizona, is going to be dismantled. The town council has allocated $70,000 for the demolition of the 84-year-old gin. Town officials say the cotton gin, which operated until 2005, is structurally unsound and filled with roosting penguins. They’re concerned that the town will be liable if someone is hurt inside. It’s possible that the quote was supposed to say “pigeons,” but one week and quite a few comments later, the story has not been altered. Link -via Fark (Unrelated image credit: Flickr user Little Sadie)

A Cute Cartoon That Explains How Cryptocat Works Posted: (Vimeo LINK) Cryptocat Adventure! was made by Nadim Kobeissi, the creator of the Cryptocat encryption service, to explain how his service works, and why it's better way to safely video chat and transfer files online. Aside from being informative, this pixelated animated short is also really cute! --via BoingBoing

Gorgeous Textured Oil Painting of Yoda Posted: Matt Elder's Yoda on Dagobah captures the sage perfectly. Elder rendered it with oil on gessobard, mostly with the use of a palette knife. Link -via Comics Alliance | Artist's Website

Cat Surfs away from Dog Posted: (Video Link)  The dog thought that he had his prey trapped. But Action Cat is not so easily defeated. Watch our hero ride a surfboard to safety. -via Blame It on the Voices

Extra Terrestrial Hobo Nickels Posted: No, your time machine hasn't taken you to an alternate universe. This is just an old nickel that, in the hobo nickel tradition, has been carved with an alien design. Visual News has a roundup of other alien designs, which you can view at the link. Link -via Nerdcore

A Gun Designed to Fit inside a Coffin and Shoot Grave Robbers Posted: In the America of a century ago, grave robbing was a lucrative business. The deceased didn't seem to mind, but their living relatives did. So they often went to great lengths to secure the bodies, including the use of steel cages.  But the best defense is a strong offense, so the more serious graveyard keepers used guns and tripwires to shoot robbers. Among their options were coffin torpedoes: In 1878, a number of "Coffin Torpedoes" hit the market. One design by Phil Clover of Columbus, Ohio was for an abbreviated shotgun that rested just inside the coffin lid. Once the lid was raised, the gun would fire directly into the face of the violator, discharging a number of 36-caliber lead balls. Another inventor, Thomas N Howell, perfected two different "Grave Torpedoes." Each was more like a landmine than any firearm. Borrowing Civil War technology, Howell's device weighed 8-pounds and carried a charge of more than .75-pound of black powder ignited by a percussion cap. Buried atop the coffin with a protective plate above the torpedo, if disturbed the metal plate would help serve as a shape charge directed right at the would-be grave robber. An advertisement for the weapon declared that it would allow one to, "“sleep well sweet angel, let no fears of ghouls disturb thy rest, for above thy shrouded form lies a torpedo, ready to make minced meat of anyone who attempts to convey you to the pickling vat.” In 1881 at least three men were killed when one such device ignited during a late night traipse through the cemeteries near Gann in Knox County, Ohio. Link -via American Digest

Images Of American Tourists Taking In The Sights Posted: Americans are converging on the 2012 London Olympic games in droves, so it's a great time to celebrate this summer of tourism with a photo series dedicated to the unique look of the Tourist. The images in this gallery are by Roger Minick, who has been shooting his Sightseer series of American tourist portraits since the 70s.  Times change, but the tourism's all the same... Link  --via Flavorwire

The First Feature Length Film Shot Entirely On A Smartphone Posted: (YouTube Link) Olive looks like a cute little film, with an indie flair and a colorful cast, nothing too groundbreaking until you discover how the film was shot- entirely on a Nokia N8 smartphone! Also noteworthy is the fact that Olive was created as a true independent, the first film to make it from small smartphone screen to the big screen without the backing of a major motion picture studio. --via Laughing Squid

A Vending Machine That Lets You Make Your Own Toy Posted: This big old, shiny vending machine that lets you make your own toy, according to the designer toy molds contained within each machine. So far they’ve only made the Helper Dragon by Tim Biskup, but you've gotta start somewhere... Kids these days get to buy Tim Biskup toys out of a freakin’ vending machine?! *sigh* They’re living the good life. Link  --via DesignTAXI

Big Head Squirrel Feeder Posted: Big Head Squirrel Feeder - $14.95 (string, food, and squirrel not included) Are you nuts about squirrels? Now you can feed and make fun of your favorite bushy tailed friends with the Big Head Squirrel Feeder from the NeatoShop. This hilarious feeder is shaped like a big squirrel head. Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more nutty Home and Garden items.  Link

"Where The Wild Things Are" Cat Posted: ABC News' Nightline photographer Meredith Frost snapped this photo of a cat all made up to look like Carol from Where The Wild Things Are, over at the Pet Stylist Super Show in Knoxville, Tennessee, in July 2012. Check out the YouTube clip (the cat made a brief appearance at 0.54) or go to ABC News for the pic: Link

Lebowski Is Coming Posted: We've written a lot about the art exhibits at LA's Gallery 1988 -particularly their Crazy 4 Cult shows, and with the sixth annual show, now all you New Yorkers will have a chance to check out the great geek artwork by over 200 artists starting tonight at 64 Gansevoort St. -including this great peice titled "The Dude of Thrones." Good times! Link Via The Mary Sue

10 Terrifying Cryptids Posted: The title of this gallery is 10 Cryptids More Terrifying than the Mongolian Death Worm. However, it does have an entry on the Mongolian death worm, and I find the illustration of the Jersey Devil to be something other than terrifying -like, maybe, ridiculous. Still, it's a fine read on mythical monsters. Pictured here is the hodag, photographed in 1893. Link

A Brief History of Olympic Defectors Posted: So far at the London Olympics, seven athletes from Cameroon went missing, and three from Sudan have requested asylum. The Olympics have been the scene of political defectors, asylum-seekers, and others who don't want to go home ever since 1948, when the president of the International Gymnastics Federation took the opportunity to avoid returning to Czechoslovakia. Marie Provaznikova, a Czech who was President of the International Gymnastics Federation, was the first person to defect from the Olympics. Czechoslovakia had recently become a satellite of the Soviet Union, and Provaznikova knew her country wouldn’t be the same. She darted to the United States, where she later taught gymnastics. Provaznikova lived in the U.S. until 1991, dying at age 101. Read the stories of defectors from many different Olympiads at mental_floss. Link

Shark Bait: RoboDog Posted: (YouTube link) For Shark Week, Mythbusters designed an experiment to find out if the dog paddle attracts sharks, but they really didn't want to sacrifice a dog to do it. The solution ....RoboDog! -via The Daily What Geek

Wearing Your Jabba On Your Sleeve Posted: Jabba may not be very chic while alive, but if you skin him and turn him into a purse, he actually makes quite the stylish fashion accessory. Who knew? Link

Mars Photo Sets Record on Neatorama Facebook Posted: This morning we set a new record over on our Facebook page: 51 people liked, 12 people shared and 4 people commented on a photo of Earth, Jupiter and Venus, as seen from Mars. This, in and of itself, is no big deal. We've had status updates receive more than 10,000 likes on our Facebook page in the recent past. But the numbers I've just reported hit the status update within 1 minute and 27 seconds of posting it to the page! Very exciting! So be sure to join the fun by LIKING our page. We've also got a Twitter, a Pinterest, and a G+ page, if you're so inclined, where we often have unique contests you won't find here on the blog. So come on over and say "hi!"

Natural Thing Posted: (YouTube link) Cats and dogs chasing a laser pointer light would make a great music video, wouldn't it? The group Nobody Beats the Drum thought so. The last minute or so of this is the best. -via Buzzfeed

The Perseid Meteor Shower Posted: The annual Perseid Meteor Shower will occur Saturday night and Sunday morning. If you're in the right spot, away from light pollution, you can see up to 100 meteors an hour! The Perseids have been observed for at least 2,000 years and are associated with the comet Swift-Tuttle, which orbits the sun once every 133 years. Each year in August, the Earth passes through a cloud of the comet's debris. These bits of ice and dust -- most over 1,000 years old -- burn up in the Earth's atmosphere to create one of the best meteor showers of the year. The Perseids can be seen all over the sky, but the best viewing opportunities will be across the northern hemisphere. Those with sharp eyes will see that the meteors radiate from the direction of the constellation Perseus. NASA will be up all night, with a live chat led by astronomer Bill Cooke and his team from the Meteoroid Environment Office discussing the Perseids. And if you have to work inside or have too much cloud cover to see the meteor shower, they will have a live stream online. Link (Image credit: Flickr user Rongem Boyo_)

It Just Won't Fit In My Mouth Posted: (Video Link) Everyone loves apples, but when your little beak just can't get a hold of them, you're gonna have a little bit of trouble -as this fellow will gladly attest to. Via I Can Has Cheezburger

Blown Glass Hermit Crab Shells Posted: Back in my day, hermit crabs had one kind of shell -natural. These days, kids have the choice of painted shells, bejeweled shells, MakerBot shells, LEGO shells and now they can even show off their bodies with these gorgeous blown glass shells by Artist Robert DuGrenier. Link Via Laughing Squid

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