Neatorama

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• Artwork Featuring The Hit Movies From 1988
• <i>The Neverending Story</i> Tattoo
• Cross Stitch of All 151 Original Pokémon
• Gas Can Guitar
• The World's Last Ninja
• The Great Wall of India
• Write Your Own Final Exam
• Trampoline Fails
• The <i>Doctor Who</i> Quiet Book
• The Single Most Important Object in the Global Economy
• Fashion Trend: The Face-Kini
• The Funniest Joke of the Year (at the Fringe)
• Road Signs for Seniors and Teenagers
• Back to School Supplies
• Artists Are Happier at Their Jobs Than The Rest of Us
• The Mississippi River: The Backbone of America
• Slice Skin Cake
• Why the Tortoise Wouldn't Eat
• The Wealthy Roma
• The Resistance of Astronomers to New Paradigms
• AK Ice Tray
• Teen Used Bobby Hill Fake ID to Buy Alcohol
• The Odd Life Of Timothy Green Ruined Their Day
• Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys?
• Robot Heads Made From Salvaged Junk
• Giant Bird In A Man Suit
• What Lies Beneath The Metal Skin Of Pixar's Cars
• Thomas Kinkade Meets Godzilla
• Primrose and Her Pink Casts
• Cruise Ship Animals

Artwork Featuring The Hit Movies From 1988 Posted: 22 Aug 2012 04:00 AM PDT Artist Andrew Wilson created this colorful and incredibly detailed illustration dedicated to the hit movies that came out in 1988, appropirately enough for the Gallery 1988's show called Crazy 4 Cult 6. A lot of great movies came out in 1988, which one of the flicks pictured above is your favorite? Link  --via GeekTyrant

<i>The Neverending Story</i> Tattoo Posted: 22 Aug 2012 03:00 AM PDT When I was a lad, the movieThe Neverending Story enchanted me. Then I read the book, which is even better. Among my treasures is a rare first American edition in red and green text--green for events in Fantasia and red for events on Earth. I'm certainly not the only person who loves Michael Ende's story. At the Evil Eye Tattoo palor in Stockholm, Samelina got this sleeve tattoo showing scenes from it.  Link -via Fashionably Geek

Cross Stitch of All 151 Original Pokémon Posted: 22 Aug 2012 02:00 AM PDT (Video Link)  It took Eponases 8 months of painstaking work, but she crafted a marvel. Watch this time-lapse video of the creation of her amazing cross stitch. You can also see pictures of the completed work at the link. Link -via Geekosystem

Gas Can Guitar Posted: 22 Aug 2012 01:00 AM PDT Jeff Hamada of Booooooom (that's 7 Os, I have to check every time) is holding another contest. This time, he's inviting readers to submit photos of homemade musical instruments. Here's a cute submission from Amadeus Rokita of Hamburg, Germany. Link | Contest Information

The World's Last Ninja Posted: 22 Aug 2012 12:00 AM PDT 63-year old Jinichi Kawakami began his training when he was just 6 years old: Kawakami said training ranged from physical and mental skills to studies of chemicals, weather and psychology. "I call ninjutsu comprehensive survival techniques," though it originated in war skills such as espionage and guerrilla attacks, he said. "For concentration, I looked at the wick of a candle until I got the feeling that I was actually inside it. I also practised hearing the sound of a needle dropping on the floor," he said. He climbed walls, jumped from heights and learned how to mix chemicals to cause explosions and smoke. According to some people, the tradition will die with Kawakami because he is the world's last ninja: As the 21st head of the Ban clan, a line of ninjas that can trace its history back some 500 years, Kawakami is considered by some to be the last living guardian of Japan's secret spies. "I think I'm called (the last ninja) as there is probably no other person who learned all the skills that were directly" handed down from ninja masters over the last five centuries, he said. Link -via blastr

The Great Wall of India Posted: 21 Aug 2012 11:00 PM PDT Kumbhalgarh, the second longest wall on earth, can be found in the state of Rajasthan in western India. The 36-kilometer wall was built beginning with the rule of Rana Kumbha in the year 1443. Read about the history of the wall and see more gorgeous pictures at Kuriositas. Link (Image credit: Flickr user Benjamin Vander Steen)

Write Your Own Final Exam Posted: 21 Aug 2012 10:00 PM PDT Tyler Cowen is a professor of economics at George Mason University and general Renaissance man (seriously, read his blog--he's interested in everything). Alex Tabarrok, also a professor at GMU, shares this fascinating story: Tyler [Cowen] once walked into class the day of the final exam and he said. “Here is the exam. Write your own questions. Write your own answers. Harder questions and better answers get more points.” Then he walked out. Would you like to have an exam like this? Link -via Kottke | Photo: Mercatus Center

Trampoline Fails Posted: 21 Aug 2012 09:00 PM PDT (YouTube link) One of the first questions a pediatrician asks a new patient's family is "Do you have a trampoline?" along with "Do you always use proper child restraints in the car?" Here you see a few of the horrible things that can happen when you jump on a trampoline -and these clips don't include people who were seriously injured. -via Videogum

The <i>Doctor Who</i> Quiet Book Posted: 21 Aug 2012 08:00 PM PDT We've seen a Star Wars quiet book and a Star Trek quiet book, but what is the parent of a little Whovian to do? The crafty Bantam 33 has solved that problem with a long set of adventures launched from a felt TARDIS. View the rest of her pages at the link. Link -via Nerd Approved

The Single Most Important Object in the Global Economy Posted: 21 Aug 2012 07:00 PM PDT How much do you know about the pallet, that "humble construction of wood joists and planks"? Unless you are a manufacturer, shipper, supplier, retailer, or logistics worker, you probably don't know much about them. But as a consumer, you depend on pallets more than you know. As one German article, translated via Google, put it: “How exciting can such a pile of boards be?” And yet pallets are arguably as integral to globalization as containers. For an invisible object, they are everywhere: There are said to be billions circulating through global supply chain (2 billion in the United States alone). Some 80 percent of all U.S. commerce is carried on pallets. So widespread is their use that they account for, according to one estimate, more than 46 percent of total U.S. hardwood lumber production. Companies like Ikea have literally designed products around pallets: Its “Bang” mug, notes Colin White in his book Strategic Management, has had three redesigns, each done not for aesthetics but to ensure that more mugs would fit on a pallet (not to mention in a customer’s cupboard). After the changes, it was possible to fit 2,204 mugs on a pallet, rather than the original 864, which created a 60 percent reduction in shipping costs. There is a whole science of “pallet cube optimization,” a kind of Tetris for packaging; and an associated engineering, filled with analyses of “pallet overhang” (stacking cartons so they hang over the edge of the pallet, resulting in losses of carton strength) and efforts to reduce “pallet gaps” (too much spacing between deckboards). The “pallet loading problem,”—or the question of how to fit the most boxes onto a single pallet—is a common operations research thought exercise. Once you're convinced of how crucial the pallet is for global and even local trade, read how the humble pallet came about, and how it came to be so important. Link -via Boing Boing (Illustration credit: Robert Neubecker)

Fashion Trend: The Face-Kini Posted: 21 Aug 2012 06:00 PM PDT This woman isn't a superhero with a low budget. She's a swimmer in China, the epicenter of this latest fashion craze. The face-kini is basically a ski mask made of light fabric that protects a person from the sun: Often paired with a long-sleeved shirt, the face-kini reportedly costs from $2.40 to $4; many residents simply make their own, out of old clothes. But observers could be forgiven for thinking they've stumbled onto a vacation community for superheroes in Qingdao, a city across the East China Sea from South Korea. [...] In many cultures, a tan doesn't imply health and leisure, as it often does in Western advertising. Instead, it's seen as a connection to outdoor work, and the peasantry. Preserving one's pale skin, the thinking goes, implies that you lead a pampered, successful life. Link -via Dave Barry | Photo: AFP/Getty

The Funniest Joke of the Year (at the Fringe) Posted: 21 Aug 2012 05:00 PM PDT Canadian comedian Stewart Francis won the top prize for the funniest joke at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Do you want to hear the joke? "You know who really gives kids a bad name? Posh and Becks." Don't get it? I didn't, either. "Posh and Becks" sounds like a brand, like "Abercrombie and Fitch" but them someone said it was Posh Spice and David Beckham (Posh Spice isn't her real name; if it was, that would be funny). Still don't get it? I didn't, either. Turns out that the Beckhams have four children, which they named Brooklyn Joseph, Romeo James, Cruz David, and Harper Seven. Yeah, still don't get it? See, in Britain, those are considered bad names. In America, they are barely notable among the odd names we have. Strange how some jokes just don't travel well. Anyway, the rest of the top ten funniest jokes are listed at the Telegraph. Link

Road Signs for Seniors and Teenagers Posted: 21 Aug 2012 04:00 PM PDT Our pal Dan Piraro of Bizarro Comic created this panel that shows how road signs look like to senior drivers: ... and for teenage drivers: Link

Back to School Supplies Posted: 21 Aug 2012 03:00 PM PDT It's not clear whether this store display is aimed toward parents or college students, but it must have been a deliberate joke. This picture is from a compilation of funny back to school signs that include, but are not limited to, hilarious educational misspellings. Link -via Buzzfeed

Artists Are Happier at Their Jobs Than The Rest of Us Posted: 21 Aug 2012 02:00 PM PDT Many parents I know privately cringe when their children want to go to art school. And for good reasons: It's expensive and job prospects afterwards aren't exactly bright. But there's one bright side to being starving artists: they're actually happier than the rest of us. Researchers analyzed job data in Germany, which included information on how fulfilled people felt in their current positions. On a scale of 1 to 10, artists—those whose principal occupation involves performance or visual art—ranked their job satisfaction at 7.32 to 7.67 on average, while nonartists averaged 7.06. The root of this satisfaction remains unclear. More artists than nonartists reported being self-employed, which suggests that autonomy influences job satisfaction, but data linking fulfillment to other predicted variables—such as a wide diversity of available jobs and high levels of on-the-job learning—were statistically inconclusive. Link

The Mississippi River: The Backbone of America Posted: 21 Aug 2012 01:00 PM PDT The Mississippi River has been providing water, transportation, and blues songs to us for hundreds of years. The river was essential in building trade, agriculture, and settlements in the United States. And it continues to be crucial in ways we rarely think about. In combination with the Missouri River, which flows into the Mississippi, it's the fourth longest river on Earth. Learn more about the mighty Missisippi at Environmental Graffiti. Link (Image credit: Flickr user Michael Hicks)

Slice Skin Cake Posted: 21 Aug 2012 12:30 PM PDT Gruesome and awesome. Those are probably the two thoughts that came to most people's mind when they saw the Slice skin cake, made by Edinburgh, UK, cake designer Gillian Bell. Link - via AnatomyUK

Why the Tortoise Wouldn't Eat Posted: 21 Aug 2012 12:00 PM PDT Margaret Parker of Carlisle, England, found a five-inch-long tortoise in her garden. The miniature tortoise was cute, so she brought it inside and tried to feed it. Parker's daughter brought some lettuce for it, but it still wouldn't eat. So the women called Knoxwood Wildlife Rescue Centre for advice, and a volunteer was sent out. Pauline Adams picked up the tortoise and figured out the problem. She said: “At first when I arrived I didn’t have my glasses on and I thought it was a baby tortoise. It was sitting there in the shoe box, on a bed of lettuce and tomato. “Then I put my specs on, and thought: ‘Oops - what’s this?’ “When I picked it up I saw the CE mark and the words Made in China, and I just cracked up. “I laughed even more when she told me her daughter had been to the Co-op to buy tomato and lettuce for it. She was very apologetic. Judging by the moss on it, it had been in the garden a long time. Adams and Knoxwood founder George Scott both said Mrs. Parker did the right thing by calling them. Link -via Arbroath

The Wealthy Roma Posted: 21 Aug 2012 11:30 AM PDT Photo: Karla Gachet and Ivan Kashinsky There are two million Roma (or "gypsies" as you may know them, though that term is considered derogatory by the Romani people) in Romania, most of whom live in poverty. But not all: some live like kings in mansions with fanciful balconies, pillars, turrets and towers and domes. Tom O'Neill of National Geographic brings us to Buzescu, the home of the wealthy Roma, where despite the glamorous facades, age-old traditions still rule: Front doors would open to gleaming expanses of marble, ceilings hung with chandeliers, and, like the main prop of a stage set, a grand Gone With the Wind staircase leading to bedrooms heaped with toys. Yet most rooms looked totally unlived in. In mansions with a dozen rooms or more, often the only occupants were grandparents and a few young children, and they mostly stayed in back rooms and ate in the kitchen. The parents and older sons were off doing business, usually returning for holidays, baptisms, and funerals. The mansions had been built largely as showrooms to be filled with pride and awe. Another surprise was that behind the showy facades, time-encrusted customs remained in force. At Victor Filisan’s house, where he offered me the local drink of Jack Daniel’s and Red Bull, I asked to use the toilet. He showed me not to the Jacuzzi-equipped bathroom inside but to an outhouse at the back of the lot, the same one he and his wife use. For reasons of ritual purity, many Roma, especially older ones, do not cook and use the toilet under the same roof. In other houses, I saw teenage wives serving meals to teenage husbands. Arranged matches of children as young as 13 remain common among the town’s wealthy families. Link Previously:The Roma's Long Road to Equality

The Resistance of Astronomers to New Paradigms Posted: 21 Aug 2012 11:00 AM PDT By Eric Schulman Alexandria, Virginia Abstract In this paper we explore the resistance of astronomers to new paradigms. 1. Introduction In the classic work The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Kuhn 1962), Thomas S. Kuhn describes scientific research as "a strenuous and devoted attempt to force nature into the conceptual boxes supplied by professional education." He points out that in some cases research results can change the basic tenets of current scientific practice, a process known as "paradigm shift," but that scientists are usually very reluctant to change their ideas about how the universe works. The history (Schulman 1999) of paradigm shifts in astronomy include the overthrow of Newton's classical theory of gravity (Einstein 1916), the discovery of the expansion of the universe (Hubble 1929), and the realization that there aren't enough jobs in academia (Schulman 2001). Such major paradigm shifts may occur only once in an academic career, making them difficult to study. It is possible, however, to gain insight into how science works by looking at minor paradigm shifts. Unlike major paradigm shifts, in which the majority of the scientific community is forced to modify its assumptions, minor paradigm shifts result in only a few people changing their assumptions. In this paper we look at the mental processes of a Ph.D. astronomer undergoing a minor paradigm shift. Such mental processes are by nature private, and it is therefore important to hide the astronomer's identity by referring to him/her by initials only. 2. Observations and Results We studied the paradigm shift that occurred when a Ph.D. astronomer, ERS, flew on business from Virginia to Alabama. Below we list a number of observations that ERS made, as well as the explanations of these observations under both the new and the old paradigms. Observation: The clock in ERS's rental car says that it is 10:45 am, but ERS's watch says that it is 11:45 am. New Paradigm Explanation: Alabama is on Central U.S. time (GMT -5 hours), not Eastern U.S. time (GMT -4 hours), so ERS's watch should be set back 1 hour. Old Paradigm Explanation: The rental car clock was not set forward for daylight savings time (five months before), and should therefore be set forward an hour. Observation: When ERS arrives at the meeting he/she will be attending, the computers are not set up yet, even though ERS's watch indicates that it is 12:45 pm and the meeting is supposed to start at 1 pm. New Paradigm Explanation: Alabama is on Central U.S. time (GMT -5 hours), not Eastern U.S. time (GMT -4 hours), so ERS's watch should be set back 1 hour. Old Paradigm Explanation: The computer support staff at the meeting venue are disorganized. Observation: According to ERS's watch, half the meeting participants arrive at about 1:30 pm and the other half arrive at around 2 pm for the 1 pm meeting. New Paradigm Explanation: Alabama is on Central U.S. time (GMT -5 hours), not Eastern U.S. time (GMT -4 hours), so ERS's watch should be set back 1 hour. Old Paradigm Explanation: The other meeting participants are inconsiderate. Observation: It is announced that meeting participants can receive FAXes at the meeting venue between 8 am and 5 pm Central Daylight Time. New Paradigm Explanation: Alabama is on Central U.S. time (GMT -5 hours), not Eastern U.S. time (GMT -4 hours), so ERS's watch should be set back 1 hour. Old Paradigm Explanation: The meeting is being held at a a company whose headquarters are in a different state and company policy requires that all sites operate on the headquarters time zone rather than on the local time zone. Observation: Although ERS's watch indicates that it is 8:30 pm, the cable preview channel claims that it is 7:30 pm. New Paradigm Explanation: Alabama is on Central U.S. time (GMT -5 hours), not Eastern U.S. time (GMT -4 hours), so ERS's watch should be set back 1 hour. Old Paradigm Explanation: Uh-oh... 3. Conclusions Although the minor paradigm shift did not affect any of ERS's fundamental assumptions about the nature of the universe, it still required five observations that conflicted with the old paradigm before ERS was convinced that a new paradigm was needed. This is indicative of the difficulty that new paradigms usually have in being accepted. Because many scientists are extremely reluctant to change their fundamental assumptions about the Universe, major paradigm shifts are often delayed until the older generation of scientists dies. It is customary to refer to scientists who adhere to the old paradigm as "dinosaurs." Note that scientists with new-fangled ideas that conflict with the correct paradigm should of course be referred to as "crackpots." References Einstein, A. 1916, "Die Grundlage der allgemeinen Relativitatstheorie,"Annalen der Physik, Vol. 49, pg. 769. Hubble, E. 1929, "A Relation between Distance and Radial Velocity among Extra-Galactic Nebulae," Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, Vol. 15, pg. 168. Kuhn, T. S. 1962, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, (Chicago, University of Chicago Press). Schulman, E. 1999, A Briefer History of Time, (New York, W. H. Freeman and Company Publishers). Schulman, E. 2001, "How to Write a Job Application,"Annals of Improbable Research, Vol. 7, No. 3, 16 Previously by Eric Schulman: How to Write a Ph.D. Dissertation. (Clock images courtesy of Oliver Boorman's generator) _____________________ This article is republished with permission from the March-April 2000 issue of the Annals of Improbable Research. You can download or purchase back issues of the magazine, or subscribe to receive future issues. Or get a subscription for someone as a gift! Visit their website for more research that makes people LAUGH and then THINK.

AK Ice Tray Posted: 21 Aug 2012 10:30 AM PDT AK Ice Tray - $7.95 Are you in a constant battle to keep your drink cold? Win the war against warm beverages with the AK Ice Tray from the NeatoShop. This dangerously fun ice tray is shaped like a AK-47 magazine. Each tray makes 10 three-dimensional bullets. Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Ice Trays. Link

Teen Used Bobby Hill Fake ID to Buy Alcohol Posted: 21 Aug 2012 10:30 AM PDT Forget buying propane and propane accessories! Undercover sting operations in Nottinghamshire, England, reveal that an identity card featuring the handsome cartoon face of Bobby Hill from the TV show King of the Hill is enough to let underaged teens to buy beer: More than half of the 22 shops tested by the county council trading standards operation either served the teenager alcohol without asking for identification, or accepted fake ID, even though it identified that he was underage. A total of seven stores failed to ask for identification and six checked his false ID card but still sold him the alcohol. The Daily Mail has the story: Link - via That's Nerdalicious

The Odd Life Of Timothy Green Ruined Their Day Posted: 21 Aug 2012 10:00 AM PDT (YouTube Link) (Spoiler Alert-If you really wanna see Timothy Green spoiler-free, watch this hilarious video after you see the movie) Somebody told these kids that The Odd Life Of Timothy Green is the "feel good movie of the summer", so they begged their parents to take them. Now their young lives are ruined and there's nothing their parents, Disney or anybody else can do about it! --via Geek Tyrant

Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys? Posted: 21 Aug 2012 09:30 AM PDT Mystery novels starring the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew have been around for over 80 years, and there are so many of them that it might be hard to tell them apart. If you love solving mysteries, you've probably read a lot of both series. In today's Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss, you'll be given a title, and you decide whether it belongs to a Hardy Boys book or a Nancy Drew book. Simple? Don't count on it! Link

Robot Heads Made From Salvaged Junk Posted: 21 Aug 2012 09:00 AM PDT Artist and robot lover Tal Avitzur doesn't believe in throwing away leftover metal junk- because he'd rather make cool robot heads out of it all! He calls these wall mounted robot heads Talbotics, and they would look really cool adorning the wall of a scifi themed trophy room. Link  --via JazJaz

Giant Bird In A Man Suit Posted: 21 Aug 2012 08:30 AM PDT (YouTube link) Together, Matt Richert and Keith Habersberger make up the comedy band Cardboard Sword. This is music video for their song "Giant Bird in a Man Suit." Try to imagine the brainstorming session that came up with this. -via The Daily What

What Lies Beneath The Metal Skin Of Pixar's Cars Posted: 21 Aug 2012 08:00 AM PDT These fun Pixar's Cars themed internal anatomy illustrations are by Jake Parker, and I think they just made the whole talking car thing a bit creepier. Jake's illustrations have come a long way from their humble beginnings back in 2008 (link below), and I hope he creates one of these cool diagram for every character. One question comes to mind when I look at these drawings- do the dealerships scoop the brains out of the vehicles before they sell them, or is that procedure dealt with at the factory? Link  --via i09 (previously on Neatorama-Dissecting Lightning McQueen of Pixar's Cars)

Thomas Kinkade Meets Godzilla Posted: 21 Aug 2012 07:30 AM PDT For some reason, we really only ever see Godzilla rampaging in massive cities, but never in small, rural areas like those in the paintings of Thomas Kinkade. Man would I love to see him fight Mothra in one of these villages. Imagine the lights dancing off their skin. Link Via i09

Primrose and Her Pink Casts Posted: 21 Aug 2012 07:00 AM PDT (YouTube link) Primrose is the smallest ever patient at the Bind Equine Veterinary Practice in Bridgnorth, Shropshire, England. The adorable donkey was born so prematurely that her front legs were not developed enough to hold her weight. To keep them from breaking, vets fitted her with a pair of bright pink casts, which will only be necessary until Primrose gains proper strength. Link

Cruise Ship Animals Posted: 21 Aug 2012 06:30 AM PDT To make the cruise ship experience even more fun, some ships' housekeeping staffs fold guest towels into the shapes of different animals. This is a scorpion that one Carnival cruisegoer found on her bed. At the link, you can see other towel animals, including swans, elephants, monkeys and pigs. Link | Photo: kthpryn

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