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2014/02/14

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How Can Women's Body Armor Be So Skimpy, Yet So Effective?

Posted: 14 Feb 2014 04:00 AM PST

In fantasy art, women's body armor is often depicted in ways that may appear unrealistic. This may come as a shock to some of you, but in the opinion of some critics, the popular chainmail bikini is designed to appeal to male visual taste, not practical protective abilities.

This is, of course, a great misunderstanding. Artist Stjepan Sejic explains the science behind this popular trope. Read the whole piece here and get educated.

-via Geek Art Gallery

Rose Scented Mustaches

Posted: 14 Feb 2014 03:00 AM PST

Rose Scented Mustaches

Giving someone flowers as a token of your affection is so passe. Give your love the gift of style and flair with the Rose Scented Mustaches from the NeatoShop. This hip synthetic facial hair comes with an adhesive backing and is rose scented for your sniffing pleasure.  

Be  sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Mustache items. 

Link

100-Year Old Best Friends Talk about Pop Culture

Posted: 14 Feb 2014 03:00 AM PST


(Video Link)

Here's your video treat of the day. Daily of the Day calls Alice and Irene "absolutely delightful" and I fully agree. These 100-year old women have been best friends since the age of 6. Talk show host Steve Harvey asked them for their opinions on popular culture and controversies, such as selfies, Justin Bieber, twerking and the current iPhone operating system.

Photographs of the First Winter Olympics

Posted: 14 Feb 2014 02:00 AM PST

The very first Winter Games were held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. Athletes competed in most of the same sports as they do today: speed skating, figure skating, skiing, ski jump, curling, bobsledding, and hockey (plus, there was a military patrol competition, won by the Swiss). But the look was different, as you can see from the business attire worn by the speed skaters here. See a collection of pictures from those first Games at Slate. -via Digg

Proposal: Get Rid of Football Helmet Face Masks

Posted: 14 Feb 2014 01:00 AM PST

(Photo: University of Nebraska)

Modern football helmets are technological wonders designed in reflection of a detailed knowledge of physics, materials science and biomechanics. They’re designed to keep a player’s head safe and cool without impairing visibility. Nonetheless, football players often receive debilitating head injuries.

Is the solution to make football helmets even more impervious? Owen Edwards of The Design Observatory Group argues for the opposite approach: make helmets less impact resistant by removing the face masks that emerged in the 1960s.

His argument is that armoring football players has made them less cautious about ramming into other players—or being rammed. A player with a less protective helmet has to be more careful about what he’s doing with his head. Edwards writes about his own football experiences and how they were different from those of modern players because his gear was less protective:

In the final two years of my otherwise forgettable football career, before switching to lacrosse in college, I and my teammates considered shockingly sissified the first appearances of single, transparent bands of Lucite on the helmets of a few players with expensive orthodontia work. Real men, we figured, did not worry about the chance of a broken nose or a few lost teeth. But of course we did worry, perhaps wrongly imagining that our faces were our fortunes. So nobody ever dove into a tackle head first. Instead, we were taught to tackle with our shoulder pads, and practiced the technique for hours on tackling dummies. Our helmets were far from the state of today’s art, but I don’t remember more than a few, very rare concussions. Better yet, I can still remember almost everything else about those days…a good sign, I think.

If high school, college and professional football teams could forge a kind of anti-missile treaty, facemasks could be gone by the start of spring training. Mouthpieces can do a pretty good job of protecting players’ teeth, and a return to shoulder tackling will keep noses unbroken. And, of course, there will be no more of those penalties for those nasty facemask takedowns.

-via American Digest

POLL: Should football organizations eliminate the face mask?

  • Yes, it will make football safer.
  • No, it will make football more dangerous.
  • Just show me the answers!

Sweet Child O' Mine New Orleans Style

Posted: 14 Feb 2014 12:00 AM PST

(YouTube link)

Miche Braden sings with Scott Bradlee and the Postmodern Jukebox to show what the Guns ’n’ Roses song “Sweet Child O Mine” would have sounded like if Bessie Smith had sung it in the 1920s. It would have sounded awesome! -via Viral Viral Videos

James Roberson's Horror-Themed Valentine's Day Cards

Posted: 13 Feb 2014 11:00 PM PST

James A. Roberson, a cartoonist in Florida, has kindly provided free downloadable Valentine's Day cards. Some are funny, some are romantic and others are both at the same time. You can view them all here.

Mmm. Cotton candy. I should get some for my wife to accompany the card.

-via Popped Culture

The ABCs of Kentucky

Posted: 13 Feb 2014 10:00 PM PST

Kentucky for Kentucky presents a limited-edition print featuring the artwork of illustrator Robert Bridges. It’s called The ABCs of Kentucky, featuring 26 points of Kentucky pride, one for each letter of the alphabet, from Muhammad Ali to Zombies. They could have come up with something better for O than opossum, in my opinion. Even “opinion” would have been better. I see I got bumped for Mammoth Cave, which is understandable. They are for sale here. -va Laughing Squid

Cancer Patient Recreates "The Birth of Venus"

Posted: 13 Feb 2014 09:00 PM PST

Jonathan Thorpe is a photographer in the Washington, D.C. area. His friend, Heather Byrd, is a model. She has leukemia. But that hasn't stopped her professional life. Thorpe wanted to work with her to show "beauty through a troubling time." So he created a carefully-staged shot of her in a hospital scene modeled after Sandro Botticelli's famous painting "The Birth of Venus" (above).

I think that photograph is completely safe for work. It's non-erotic, like Botticelli's original. But on the off chance that you work in a profoundly conservative workplace, I decided to provide just a link. Go here to view the magnificent photo and Thorpe's description of how he shot it.

-via My Modern Met

Valentine Breakfast

Posted: 13 Feb 2014 08:00 PM PST

(YouTube link)

DaveHax has several short videos especially for Valentines Day. This one has a quick and easy romantic breakfast you can serve your sweetie on Valentines Day morning -or maybe even as a late night snack. It’s easiest if he or she likes their eggs sunny side up. If you are like me and prefer eggs cooked thoroughly, there’s another video that shows how you can make a heart-shaped hard-boiled egg! -Thanks, Dave!

Man Shouts "I Love Jesus" and Smashes Cop Car While Darth Vader and Superman Do Nothing

Posted: 13 Feb 2014 07:00 PM PST

(Screenshot: KTLA)

Credit for the headline goes to Dangerous Minds.

It was a typical day on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. A man approached a parked and unoccupied police car. He shouted "I love Jesus Christ!" and smashed the windows with a bludgeon. He retrieved a laptop computer, then walked a few yards away to examine it.

Meanwhile, two men dressed Darth Vader and Superman nervously hung around, but took no steps to intervene. Eventually police arrived. They pushed the suspect to the ground on top of the star marked for actress Susan Lucci and arrested him.

The entire incident was caught on camera by a local news team that, coincidentally, was right there on the scene. You can watch the video here--an experience that I recommend.

-via Slade Sohmer

The Surprising Science of Dinosaur Pee

Posted: 13 Feb 2014 06:00 PM PST

These are strange times for paleontology. Finding dinosaur bones is great, and then the more we know about ancient species, the more we can recognize other clues. Fossilized coprolites, or poop, give us more clues. And now scientists are finding evidence of dino pee.

The first possible dinosaur pee trace to be discovered was described only recently. At a 2002 meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, Katherine McCarville and Gale Bishop reported on a strange “bathtub-shaped depression” among dozens of dinosaur tracks just south of La Junta, Colorado. The scour, set in the 150 million year old stone of a long-lost lakeshore, measures approximately ten feet long, five feet wide, and ten inches deep. The shape is similar to splats McCarville and Bishop created by streaming water onto sand.

There was no sign of rock overhangs or other structures that could have spilled water onto the ground at the fossil site. The only sources for an elevated stream of fluid, McCarville and Bishop pointed out, were sauropods like Apatosaurus and theropods such as Allosaurus that criss-crossed the shore. The shallow pit could have held the liquid waste of a dinosaur.

Exactly what species of dinosaur created the trace is impossible to say, but, McCarville and Bishop suggested, “The volume of fluid required to form a scour structure as large as the one in question suggests it may represent the expulsion of liquid urine from one of the sauropod dinosaurs crossing the tracksite.” All the more reason to be wary should you ever find yourself standing below a Diplodocus.

But wait a minute: did dinosaurs really pee like that? They are related to birds, and birds just relieve themselves of urine and excrement at the same time, as you can see in any chicken coop or on any statue. Of course, there were many types of dinosaurs, as there are many types of birds today. Brian Switek looks at the research in dinosaur urination, including a modern bird found to rain down the same way, at Laelaps.

(Image credit: Alexander Hüsing)

Brutally Honest Valentines

Posted: 13 Feb 2014 05:00 PM PST

Just because you love someone doesn’t mean there aren’t other reasons you stay with them. Ekant Veer is an associate professor of marketing at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, and he has a wicked sense of humor. Fortunately, his wife does, also. He designed a set of seven posters that can reveal your true feelings to the one you love on Valentines Day. And there's nothing wrong with total honesty, if you both have a sense of humor -after all, the recipient probably had these same thoughts at one time or another. -via Buzzfeed

Famous Movie Scenes Depicted In The Style Of The Ottoman Empire

Posted: 13 Feb 2014 04:00 PM PST

Turkish artist Murat Palta blends the art style of his native land with pop culture scenes from his modern geek heritage, creating art prints that look like they would fit right in during the Ottoman Empire or a geeky fandom convention.

Each piece is rendered in Miniature Style of the Ottoman Empire, and Murat’s choice to keep the characters simple, with an aged and weathered aesthetic, really adds to the charm of pieces depicting iconic scenes from geek friendly films such as A Clockwork Orange, Star Wars, Alien, The Shining and Scarface, just to name a few.

-Via Beautiful/Decay

Confidence

Posted: 13 Feb 2014 03:00 PM PST

I had to laugh, because I'm getting pretty close to that point where they actually move out. I might not laugh so much if my kids were still this little. There's a fine line between providing security and providing independence. This is from Lunarbaboon.

Artist Creates A Different Kind Of Selfie

Posted: 13 Feb 2014 02:00 PM PST

(Video Link)

When Spanish artist Eloy Morales wants to create a selfie, capturing a moment in time when he finds himself covered in various colors of paint, he doesn’t pull out his digital camera or cell phone- he grabs tubes of paint and some brushes and gets to work on a hyper realistic selfie painting.

His attention to details, warmth of contour lines, rendering of natural light and the colorful paint splattered across his face give each piece a hyper realism that fools people into believing they’re actually looking at a photograph, but Eloy’s selfies are so much cooler than some smartphone snapshot.

And if you think Eloy's incredibly realistic renderings are created using Photoshop watch the included video showing the master portrait artist at work.

-Via Bored Panda

The Art of Cheetos

Posted: 13 Feb 2014 01:00 PM PST

The Execution-Style Killing of a Man for Being Different

What is art? We could address that question at great length. What is beauty? Well, obviously Cheetos. That's an easy question with an obvious answer. Beauty=Cheetos.

The Instagram account Cheese Curls of Instagram is filled with photos of Cheetos that resemble things in the eyes of its anonymous creator. What do you see when you look at Cheetos?

-via Foodbeast

New Jersey View of The Statue of Liberty

Whether It's a Defense Mechanism, Form of Communication or Sign of Intelligence, This Monkey is Throwing Feces at His Friend

As an Act of Humility, Pope Francis, Wearing a Mitre, Kisses a Newborn Baby's Feet After Washing Them

Interpreter and Guide for The Lewis and Clark Expedition, Sacajawea Nods Her Head as She Holds Her Baby, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau

Someone Called About Something Floaty Pen

Posted: 13 Feb 2014 12:00 PM PST

Someone Called About Something Floaty Pen

Are you tired of being expected to take detailed messages for other people? Express your displeasure, and lower expectations about your message taking abilities, with the Someone Called About Something Floaty Pen from the NeatoShop. This cheeky retro floaty pen comes in a sunny yellow and features the text " Someone called ... about something ..."

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Office & Desk stuff. 

Link

GIFs Compare NES Game Screens To Original Film Source

Posted: 13 Feb 2014 12:00 PM PST

Gamers were blown away by the surprisingly detailed pixel art graphics created for the intros and cutscenes used in Nintendo Entertainment System games, especially the adaptations of movies and TV shows.

Players weren’t staring at an abstractly arranged pile of pixels, they got high quality 8 bit art with their updated console gameplay, and the crowds went wild. But how close were those pixel art masterpieces to the actual movie footage?

Technologically advanced duo Brother Brain and Low Interest have created some scintillating morphing image GIFs as a futuristic form of side-by-side comparison.

The conclusion- game artists in 1985 were really good at replicating the original source with a limited color palette and a handful of pixels, and these morphing images would make totally rad wall art pieces.

You can see ten of these amazing morphing NES screen GIFs here.

32 Famous People Rejected by Saturday Night Live

Posted: 13 Feb 2014 11:00 AM PST

As so many Saturday Night Live cast members have come and gone over the show’s 39-year history, even more have the experience of being rejected by the show. If it ever happens to you, cheer up, because many SNL rejects have gone on to great things. Steve Carell didn’t pass the audition, while his wife did. Paul Reubens was so disappointed by the rejection that he came up with Pee Wee’s Playhouse. And how could Lorne Michaels overlook the talent in Jim Carrey? Hint: he didn’t.

Hollywood’s original $20 Million Man was rejected more than once by SNL. The first time was in 1980, when—citing burnout—Lorne Michaels asked to take a year off. He thought that the show would go on hiatus with him, but the network bumped associate producer Jean Doumanian into Michaels’ position to keep the show going. Her first order of business? Shake up the cast a bit. Carrey auditioned, but Doumanian hired Charlie Rocket instead. So he tried again, but again got a “no.” Michaels isn’t taking the blame for this oversight. In the book Live from New York, he says that “Jim Carrey never auditioned for me personally.”

To be honest, Doumanian had no choice but to shake the cast up, because the Not Ready for Prime Time Players all left when Michaels did. But that’s just one story of 32 SNL rejects who went on to make a name for themselves in movies and TV anyway that you can read at mental_floss.

(Image credit: Roypack)

How to Make an Electric Ice Scooter

Posted: 13 Feb 2014 10:00 AM PST

We've seen a scooter modified with skis to permit someone to easily cross snow. But what if you're trying to cross ice instead of snow? Let's say that you and your friends are re-enacting the 1242 Battle of the Ice on Lake Peipus at a lake in your neighborhood. People do that, right? Well, you're going to need something to simulate the Teutonic Knights' heavy cavalry that fell through the ice.

Instructables member Ben Nelson has just the thing for your adventure. He found an electric scooter in a dumpster. The front wheel was missing, so he put an old ice skate in its place. Now he's ready to hit the ice.

The Truth About Being Single

Posted: 13 Feb 2014 09:30 AM PST

(YouTube link)

There’s nothing wrong with being single, but it can be painful on occasions like Valentines Day when the world convinces you that you’re the only one without a sweetheart. So what are you looking for in a partner? You’re not asking for much in a significant other -only the world on a silver platter! -via Tastefully Offensive

Epic Legend Of Zelda Cross Stitch Map

Posted: 13 Feb 2014 09:00 AM PST

It’s a good thing Link didn’t have to wait for a map of Hyrule to be cross stitched while on one of his epic journeys, or he would have been waiting so long he probably would have given up the whole adventuring biz!

A dedicated geek, and meticulous crafter, who goes by the name tibtibs on Reddit spent nine long months of her life bringing this amazing cross stitched map from Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past to full term, spending around 500 hours working on this incredible piece based on a pattern free to download online here.

If you don't have anything to do for the next nine months, and need a new map of Hyrule for your guild lodge, then you should follow in tibtibs footsteps, but beware- creating this map is an epic adventure in itself.

-Via Nerd Approved

Caught in the Act

Posted: 13 Feb 2014 08:30 AM PST

The night patrol had almost reached the top shelf when they were caught red-handed. Or red-pawed, as the case may be. Redditor toncinap works with a cat rescue organization and tells us these are cats in one of their foster homes. They’ve obviously raided the kitchen before, because why else would you put a heavy bag of cat food on the top shelf? Adopt one of these cats, and you’ll be getting one with an education -they’ve already learned from the best!

The official count is five cats, although there are others in the thread who argue that there are actually many more than that.

Bringing The Monster Manual To Life Using ZBrush

Posted: 13 Feb 2014 08:00 AM PST

When a newly initiated Dungeons and Dragons player cracks open a copy of the original Monster Manual and sees all the wild creatures that reside inside their mind begins to race with the gaming possibilities.

But those original drawings are sorely in need of an update, and although the creature designs have been re-drawn multiple times there’s nothing like the look of a good ol’ fashioned D&D dungeon dweller created in the shiny new(ish) digital sculpting program ZBrush.

Level 18 Paladin and epic level artist Patrick Farley has been working through the original Monster Manual in ZBrush, bringing the iconic creatures like the Beholder and the Gnoll, and the more obscure/oddball creatures like the Xorn, to life with his incredibly detailed 3D models.

The most amazing part of Patrick's series- he has only been working in ZBrush for a little over a month and has already created five creature models. At this rate he'll be on to the Fiend Folio by the end of the year!

-Via Boing Boing

A View of Sochi from Space

Posted: 13 Feb 2014 07:30 AM PST

This past Monday, an astronaut aboard the International Space Station captured a photograph of Sochi, Russia, at night. The circle of yellow lights designate the Sochi Olympics Park. The white circle within it is Fisht Stadium, with the Olympic flame showing up as a yellow dot. I believe the blue lights are from the Bolshoy Ice Dome, the Olympic hockey venue. -via With Leather

(Image credit: Flickr user NASA Goddard Photo and Video)

Paul Michael's <i>Star Trek</i> Rings

Posted: 13 Feb 2014 07:00 AM PST

We've previously posted Paul Michael's delightfully geeky ring designs, including those inspired by Wonder Woman, Han Solo and the Death Star. He recently posted these two designs on his Facebook page.

I love the starship design! Michael has already made a wax mold and is working on a making this design a reality. The Starfleet logo is also nice, though one commenter notes that it could be difficult to make a Vulcan salute if the ring is worn on the middle two fingers.

-via Nerd Bastards

What Is It? game 314

Posted: 13 Feb 2014 06:30 AM PST

It's once again time for our collaboration with the wonderfully entertaining What Is It? Blog. Do you know what the pictured item is? Can you make up something totally wacky? That's what we're looking for: the funniest and most creative guesses. We will award t-shirts from the NeatoShop to two commenters who post the cleverest, funniest, or most outlandish use for this thing!

Place your guess in the comment section below. One guess per comment, please, though you can enter as many guesses as you'd like in separate comments. You have until Friday evening to come up with great guesses.

Please write your T-shirt selection alongside your guess. If you don't include a selection, you forfeit the prize. May we suggest the Science T-Shirt, Funny T-Shirt and Artist-Designed T-Shirts?

See, you don't have to know the answer to win! There are more pictures of this thing at the What Is It? Blog. Good luck!

Cover Your Walls In Dragon Scales

Posted: 13 Feb 2014 06:00 AM PST

Over on Homes and Hues, we feature a lot of cool home designs, but so far, the site has been sadly absent of decor that can make your interior resemble a dragon's scales. Today we have remedied that with the introduction of the Ginkgo Acoustic Panels, a modular wall accessory that not only improves the acoustics in your room, but also spruces up the walls. The designs are cool and can be arranged in all number of patterns, but Game of Thrones, Hobbit and other fantasy fans will join me by expressing their excitement over the green and yellow panels being assembled in a design that makes your wall look like the side of a dragon.

See pictures of the non-dragon looks over at Homes and Hues: Customize Your Walls With Ginkgo Acoustic Panels

No School Today Due to Ice Ice, Baby

Posted: 13 Feb 2014 05:30 AM PST

(YouTube link)

School is closed today at Durham Academy in Durham, North Carolina, because the state is covered with ice from winter storm Pax. Michael Ulku-Steiner and his assistant Lee Hark make the announcement with a musical video set to the tune of Vanilla Ice's song "Ice Ice Baby." All I got from our local school was a robocall. You can tell by the Olympic sweater that they recorded this in a mirror. Olympic sweater? Those things cost $600! Or they did, before they sold out. Oh yeah, it’s a private school. -via Viral Viral Videos

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