Neatorama

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• Inflatable Misletoe
• Hubble May Have Spotted Most Distant Galaxy Ever
• The Most Amazing Hearses in the World
• Best Selling Science Fiction Books of All Time
• Exit Sign Art
• It's A Big Decision
• Retna + Louis Vuitton
• I'm Going to Be Late Getting Home from Work Today
• Grandfather Becomes Famous Modeling Women's Clothing
• How It's Made - Hot Dogs
• Two-Person Roller Coaster Costume
• Great Horned Owl Folkmanis Hand Puppet
• 7 Things You Should Know About Sign Language
• Miss Xuxu
• Steamboat Han
• Meet the 750-leg Millipede
• James Earl Jones Reads The Raven
• The Internet Mourns Twinkies
• Energy from a Single Orange
• Dumb Ways to Die
• Movember Guitar
• The 10 Greatest Historical Literary Cameos on Time-Traveling TV Shows
• Axolotl Mini Squishable Limited Edition
• Diving Pig Bacon
• The Friskies Awards
• Ocelittle
• Squirrel Trap
• Sweet Note
• Why Coke Cost A Nickel For 70 Years
• Congrats to Kermit and Piggy!

Inflatable Misletoe Posted: 17 Nov 2012 04:00 AM PST Inflatable Mistletoe - $9.45 Are you looking for a fun way to add a little instant cheer to your home or office? You need the inflatable Mistletoe from the NeatoShop. This Quick and easy decoration includes a hang tab and string.  Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Christmas items! Link

Hubble May Have Spotted Most Distant Galaxy Ever Posted: 17 Nov 2012 04:00 AM PST Light detected by the Hubble telescope and NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope is believed to have come from the most distant galaxy yet. The galaxy is called MACS0647-JD, and from our perspective, is seen between the Big and Little Dippers. Scientists combined data from the Hubble space telescope with NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope to make the discovery. MACS0647-JD would have existed about 13.3 billion years ago, or roughly 420 million years after the Big Bang. This would place it around 200 million years earlier than previous candidates for most distance object ever spotted. The galaxy cluster in front of MACS0647-JD helped scientists to see it, since the gargantuan gravitational pull of the cluster bends light around it. This creates a gravitational lens that makes distant objects appear much brighter than they otherwise would. If the existence of MACS0647-JD is confirmed, it would help scientists understand how the universe appeared when the first stars and galaxies formed.   Astronomers will have to crunch some serious numbers before the distance is confirmed. Read more about the findings at Wired. Link -via Geekologie See a video of the zoom at the Hubble site. Link (Image credit: NASA, ESA, and M. Postman and D. Coe (Space Telescope Science Institute), and the CLASH team)

The Most Amazing Hearses in the World Posted: 17 Nov 2012 03:00 AM PST At a carshow in Madrid last February, visitors got to see ornately crafted classic hearses. This one, known as La Llorana--"The Weeping Woman," is built on a 1928 Latil truck chassis. You can view others at the link. Link (Translation) -via Wunderkammer

Best Selling Science Fiction Books of All Time Posted: 17 Nov 2012 02:00 AM PST Are you a science fiction fan (not that space fantasy Star Wars baloney) like I am? Then maybe you will like this super awesome infographic of the best selling Sci Fi books of all time! Ender's Game is possibly my favorite childhood book and it is both gratifying and disturbing to see it on this list. One million copies sold since 1985 sounds like a lot, but is it? A post I wrote earlier shows thatTwilight already has sold a sickening 43 million, and Harry Potter is at a staggering 400 million. Yet Ender's Game can only get 1 million. People don't get out of bed for a Youtube clip with less than 1 million views. Fahrenheit 451 -one of the fathers of modern Sci Fi- a paltry 10 mil. I am a little soul crushed at the moment but I will get over it. Enjoy the list and enjoy the rest of your day. I will go sulk in a corner for a while. Stupid Twilight and it's 43 million. -Via Flavorwire

Exit Sign Art Posted: 17 Nov 2012 01:00 AM PST You'd be surprised at how many artworks and installations either use exit signs or are inspired by them. About a year and a half ago, Daniela and I popped into the Charles Bank Gallery on the Bowery and were welcomed by Allen Grubesic’s modified Exit sign reading “EXCITING”. We both found the sculpture very clever. Since that day, when perusing gallery and artists’ websites online, I’ve run into many other sculptures and installations that repurpose old exit signs or are simply influenced by them. So, the bloggers at CollabCubed rounded up those artworks and exhibited them in a post for your pleasure. Shown here is an untitled work by Nicholas Consuegra. There are plenty more! Link -via Breakfast Links

It's A Big Decision Posted: 17 Nov 2012 12:29 AM PST (Video Link) "Should I munch on this one delicious piece of kibble or should I save it?" Poor little mango, she has so many hard choices in her life. Via Cute Overload

Retna + Louis Vuitton Posted: 17 Nov 2012 12:00 AM PST Using street art as advertisement or promotional material is becoming more and more popular these days. Sometimes this is good, sometimes this is very very bad. Here we have an especially good example of how this can be done right, in my opinion. Artist Retna was commissioned by Louis Vuitton to paint their building, this is what he came up with. For those of you who don't know Retna, don't worry if you can't read what he has written. No one really can, it's sort of his thing. He made up his own calligraphy / language and has been doing it for a long time. -Via The Street Art Blog

I'm Going to Be Late Getting Home from Work Today Posted: 16 Nov 2012 11:00 PM PST "And the daycare center charges ten dollars for every minute that I'm late for pickup! Why does this always happen to me?" John Brosio injects monsters and animals into everyday life, usually not to human benefit. Artist's Website -via Borderline Artistic

Grandfather Becomes Famous Modeling Women's Clothing Posted: 16 Nov 2012 10:00 PM PST Seventy-two year old Liu Xianping was just trying to help out his granddaughter and her clothing store, Yuekou. He posed wearing the shop's fashions, and has become an internet sensation in China. You have to admit he's got the legs for it! "Why unacceptable (for someone like me to wear women’s clothes? Modelling for the store is helping my granddaughter and I have nothing to lose. We were very happy on the day of the shooting. I’m very old and all that I care about is to be happy." People love seeing Liu. The store's business has increased fivefold since Liu's pictured appeared on its website. Link -via reddit

How It's Made - Hot Dogs Posted: 16 Nov 2012 09:00 PM PST That's it folks, I am never eating another hot dog again. Thanks internet, you already ruined chicken nuggets for me. I grew up hearing that urban myth "they just throw all the scraps" into hot dogs but I never thought anything of it. This is by far worse. That blob of food... well, I am done. No more hot dogs. Not now, not ever. -Via Bits and Pieces

Two-Person Roller Coaster Costume Posted: 16 Nov 2012 08:00 PM PST (YouTube Link) Some thrill seeking Halloweenies from Bogota, Columbia put together this two-person roller coaster costume and brought the thrill of the theme parks into their everyday lives. Not only is this a clever costume capable of "simulating" all the banks and drops of a real coaster, it's the only ride I've ever seen without people waiting in line to get on! --via Laughing Squid

Great Horned Owl Folkmanis Hand Puppet Posted: 16 Nov 2012 07:00 PM PST Great Horned Owl Folkmanis Hand Puppet - $49.95 Hoo's got great Owl items? We do! If you quietly come to the NeatoShop you will notice the Great Horned Owl Folkmanis Hand Puppet perched in the New Items section. This beautiful specimen features moveable wings and a rotating head. Levers make the eyes blink.  Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Toys & Games | Folkmanis Hand Puppets Link

7 Things You Should Know About Sign Language Posted: 16 Nov 2012 07:00 PM PST If you don't know sign language, you might not realize that it's far more than translating spoken or written words. Sign language has its own grammar and rules, and it employs more than just hands. And it's different in different countries. See the picture? This is the sign for the word “math” in two different sign languages—American Sign Language on the left, and Japanese Sign Language on the right. Why should there be more than one sign language? Doesn’t that just complicate things? This question would make sense if sign language was a system invented and then handed over to the deaf community as an assistive device. But sign languages, like spoken languages, developed naturally out of groups of people interacting with each other. We know this because we have observed it happen in real time. Read more about sign language at mental_floss. Link (Image source: YouTube)

Miss Xuxu Posted: 16 Nov 2012 06:00 PM PST Meet Miss Xuxu of Melbourne, Australia. Possibly the world's cutest dog. Photographed by Thai Hoa Pham, you can catch more photos here. The picture on the bottom left just kills me... what a cute little puppy. -Via The Modern Met

Steamboat Han Posted: 16 Nov 2012 05:00 PM PST If Star Wars had been made in 1928 by Walt Disney, it'd probably look like Steamboat Willie. Brendan Tobin imagined this alternate reality for the now Disney-owned franchise. I can't wait to see Han Solo play the washboard. Link and Artist's Website -via Popped Culture

Meet the 750-leg Millipede Posted: 16 Nov 2012 04:00 PM PST There are around 10,000 species of millipedes, but the one with the most legs of all is Illacme plenipes. It was thought to be extinct, but 17 living specimens were discovered in the past seven years ago in San Benito County, California, by Paul Marek of the University of Arizona and his team. The rareness of the millipede meant that from 1928 until 2005—when Marek, then a Ph.D. student, found a few specimens in the woods near San Juan Bautista—most scientists had simply assumed the species had gone extinct. Over the past seven years, Marek and his colleagues have taken several trips to the area, typically searching for hours before finding a single specimen clinging to the side of a boulder or tunneling four to six inches down into the ground. In studying these specimens under a microscope, Marek has discovered a number of surprising characteristics that go beyond its legs. ”It basically looks like a thread,” Marek told LiveScience. “It has an uninteresting outward appearance, but when we looked at it with SEM [scanning electron microscopes] and compound microscopes, we found a huge, amazingly complex anatomy.” Complex anatomy, indeed, as the millipede has no eyes and produces silk! See closeups of the unusual features and read about the strange bug at Smithsonian's Surprising Science blog. Link

James Earl Jones Reads The Raven Posted: 16 Nov 2012 03:00 PM PST (YouTube Link) The guy who gave Darth Vader his voice reads Edgar Allen Poe's classic poem The Raven, and his booming baritone has ruined all further readings of the poem forevermore. When James Earl Jones reads something, it stays read! --via Gizmodo

The Internet Mourns Twinkies Posted: 16 Nov 2012 02:00 PM PST You've probably heard by now that Hostess, the company that manufactures Twinkies, HoHos, and Wonder Bread is going out of business. They filed for bankruptcy in January, and filed a court request for liquidation this week. The loss of Twinkles is a particularly hard blow for junk food junkies, and folks across the internet wasted no time in sharing their grief. Ranker has gathered the best reaction Tweets, image macros, and videos for your sharing pleasure. Link

Energy from a Single Orange Posted: 16 Nov 2012 01:30 PM PST Every time you bite into an orange, you are tasting the results of the sunshine that went into the plant. The same sensation comes with other fresh ripe fruits and vegetables. In the orange battery, citric acid reacts with the zinc in nails inserted in an orange to release light energy. But the glow you see is not all that bright -photographer Caleb Charland, who made the battery, said the photograph required 14 hours of exposure! Still, this beautiful picture was worth it. Link -via Colossal

Dumb Ways to Die Posted: 16 Nov 2012 01:00 PM PST (YouTube link) This too-cute public service announcement is an ad for Metro Trains Melbourne. They eventually include some warnings about the danger of trains. Stay safe. -via Pleated-Jeans

Movember Guitar Posted: 16 Nov 2012 12:30 PM PST In our continuing coverage of Movember, we see here a moustache guitar. Really guys I didn't plan on writing this much about Movember but how can I ignore something this awesome. Just check out this guy rocking out on it. You can check out his blog at Vulpestruments there is more info and pictures there. The guy makes hand crafted instruments from recycled and reused materials. Pretty damn cool. -Via Laughing Squid

The 10 Greatest Historical Literary Cameos on Time-Traveling TV Shows Posted: 16 Nov 2012 12:00 PM PST Science fiction shows that feature time travel love to get famous people from history to make appearances. And actors love to play famous historical figures that are out of their element. Flavorwire ranked the top ten such shows to feature famous authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Mark Twain, Agatha Christie, William Shakespeare, and more, all with video evidence. Link

Axolotl Mini Squishable Limited Edition Posted: 16 Nov 2012 11:30 AM PST Axolotl Mini Squishable Limited Edition - $19.50 (sold individually) Are you looking for a salamander you can really cuddle up with? You need the Axolotl Mini Squishable Limited Edition from the NeatoShop. This delightful plush amphibian is much softer and huggable than a real Axolotl. He also won't try to swim away.   Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Plush Toys.  Link

Diving Pig Bacon Posted: 16 Nov 2012 11:30 AM PST Have you heard that certain meats taste much better when their respective animals live stress free lives? I am sure you have. But what about when their respective animals live diving lives? A farmer in China's Hunan province is claiming that his bacon tastes better because of his diving pigs. Huang Demin built a 3 meter tall platform and pushes his hesitant pigs overboard, daily, into the river. Not really diving, more free falling but you get the picture. According to him the act helps improve their immunity to disease and improves the quality of the pork. While it may be hard to substantiate this claim, his economical incentives are proving their worth. Diving pig pork gets a diving pig price, Huang sells his stuff for three times above normal market value. -Via Arbroath

The Friskies Awards Posted: 16 Nov 2012 11:00 AM PST Friskies cat food held a competition for the best cat videos on the internet. Over 1400 videos were submitted, and the grand prize was awarded in a ceremony Wednesday night in Los Angeles, featuring cat music and a ballet dancer portraying Nyan Cat. But you won't be surprised by who won. And the winner of the first-ever Friskies award was Mick Szydlowski for his video, "Oskar's First Toys." Oskar is a cat born without eyes, and Mick and his girlfriend, Bethany, captured video of the newborn cat playing with a toy ball. Szydlowski received a year's supply of cat food and a check for $15,000, which he says will be used to buy toys for Oskar and to help pay for their upcoming move from Omaha, Neb., to Seattle. "It's an incredible feeling," Szydlowski told Yahoo News. "Cats deserve a show like this. And Oskar deserves some of the winnings, maybe all of the winnings. "Oskar is completely blind, but he doesn't let that slow him down one bit," Szydlowski said. "He's healthy, he's happy, he does everything a regular cat would do." Szydlowski says he hopes all the attention his Oskar videos have received will help convince people that cats with disabilities can still make great pets. "A lot of people assume it's a death sentence, which is not the case," he said. Friskies also donated 250,000 cans of cat food to shelters in conjunction with the award. Read more about the competition and the ceremony at Yahoo News. Link See the videos that made it to the final round. Link See Oskar's First Toys. Link

Ocelittle Posted: 16 Nov 2012 10:30 AM PST It's an ocelot! For those of you who haven't heard of an ocelot, they are dwarf leopards from the Central America / Texas / South America region. For the artistic or wealthy they can be pets, Salvador Dali had one named Babou. They love to make cameos on the TV show Archer (NSFW - Language). Also they are cute, very cute. -Via Tastefully Offensive

Squirrel Trap Posted: 16 Nov 2012 10:00 AM PST (YouTube link) Squirrels dancing to trap music. Who knew the little rodents were so hip! -via Daily of the Day

Sweet Note Posted: 16 Nov 2012 09:30 AM PST Redditor spoonpie tucked a note in her second-grade son's lunchbox. She later found it amended. Kids can be stubborn! Link

Why Coke Cost A Nickel For 70 Years Posted: 16 Nov 2012 09:00 AM PST Coca-Cola began to be sold in glass bottles in the last years of the 19th century -for five cents, the same price the fountain servings had been for years. Those bottled Cokes sold for a nickel until 1959! Oh, it wasn't because the company just wanted to keep the price all that time, but circumstances made raising the price difficult. The Coca-Cola vending machines were built to take a single coin: a nickel. Levy says the folks at Coca-Cola thought about converting the vending machines to take a dime. But doubling the price was too much. They wanted something in between. So they asked the U.S. Treasury to issue a 7.5-cent coin. At one point, the head of Coca-Cola asked President Eisenhower for help. (They were hunting buddies.) No luck.   There were other factors involved, which you can read about at WEKU. Link -via Metafilter

Congrats to Kermit and Piggy! Posted: 16 Nov 2012 08:30 AM PST Funny that they chose to use the Vegas-style sign...I just don't see these two having a Vegas wedding -I think they would go somewhere a little classier, but I could be wrong. Link Via When Geeks Wed

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