Sponsor

2014/03/18

Neatorama

Neatorama

Neatorama

Neatolinks: Flea, Bloody Brains, Body Art and Doctor Who

Posted: 18 Mar 2014 04:00 AM PDT

The Illuminati Pyramid Is Everywhere

Posted: 18 Mar 2014 03:00 AM PDT

The pyramid, the All-Seeing Eye, the pentagram- these are the symbols utilized by the Illuminati, that shadowy organization controlling the world with their secrecy and power of lots of money.

Conspiracy enthusiasts know that when you start looking for the Illuminati you’ll discover to your horror that they are everywhere, putting their symbols into everything so we’re constantly reminded that they are in power.

From puppy mouths to Jay-Z’s nose to seemingly random pixel arrays, you can find the Illuminati’s power pyramid everywhere and in everything, but if you’re still not convinced take a look at these 4chan Illuminati images posted to Imgur by bravesaint.

Warning- once you start seeing the Illuminati everywhere you won’t be able to stop seeing the Illuminati everywhere, because they are everywhere!

-Via Super Punch

Kids’ Choir Sings “Happy”

Posted: 18 Mar 2014 02:00 AM PDT

(YouTube link)

The elementary choir from the Detroit Academy of Arts and Sciences sings Pharrell William’s song “Happy.” They sure seem happy -and talented, too! Maybe they’ll make your day start out to be a happy one. -via Daily Picks and Flicks

Video: Helicopter Crew Rescues a Dog

Posted: 18 Mar 2014 01:00 AM PDT


(Video Link)

Oreo is a black and white labrador. She's friendly, but also kind of dense. She explored a rocky cliff on Portuguese Beach in Sonoma Coast State Park, California. Oreo made it about 40 feet down a 90 foot cliff and got stuck. She couldn't climb back up. And she couldn't climb down, either, because the waves were battering the cliff hard. If Oreo had tried to get down, she would have probably drowned.

Thankfully, some humans from the local police department were able to help. The helicopter crew from the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department flew in. Deputy Henri Boustany dangled from the end of a 100-foot line. Paul Bradley, the helicopter pilot, lowered him to Oreo's position. Boustany was able to pick up the dog without any problems.

-via Ace of Spades HQ

Mandala

Posted: 18 Mar 2014 12:00 AM PDT

Artists Stephan Hillerbrand and Mary Magsamen created a series called Mandala that, instead of using sand like Tibetan monks, uses familiar objects such as toys.

The word "mandala" is from the classical Indian language of Sanskrit. Loosely translated to mean "circle," a mandala is far more than a simple shape. It represents wholeness, and can be seen as a model for the organizational structure of life itself--a cosmic diagram that reminds us of our relation to the infinite, the world that extends both beyond and within our bodies and minds. We have created mandala’s within our own home out of the stuff we have found lying around in our own creative exploration.

They have a lot of toys lying around! There are eight mandalas in the series, with others made from shoes, magazines, and plush animals in addition to small plastic toys. -via Boing Boing

Pretty Cunning

Posted: 17 Mar 2014 11:00 PM PDT


Pretty Cunning by perdita00

Can't get your mom to make you a cunning shirt? Don't worry! Neatoshop artist perdita00 has got you covered with this clever designs.

What? What did you say? "Boy, it sure would be nice if we had some grenades, don't you think?" Sorry, perdita00 can't help you there. She's got to keep things shiny for the law, so hopefully these geek T-shirts would suffice:

The Legend of JayneSister TimeThe Timey Wimey ZoneStay Shiny

View more designs by perdita00 | More Funny T-shirts | New T-Shirts

Don't forget to visit perdita00's official Facebook page!

Are you a professional illustrator or T-shirt designer? Let's chat! Sell your designs on the NeatoShop and get featured in front of tons of potential new fans on Neatorama!

Technology Could Make <i>Star Trek</i> Real by Making Prison Life Hell on Earth

Posted: 17 Mar 2014 11:00 PM PDT


(Video Link)

In the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Hard Time," Miles O'Brien is captured by an alien species and falsely convicted of a crime. A trailer for that episode is embedded above.

Normally, Starfleet would be able to spring him free within a few days and O'Brien would be able to get back to his normal life. But this species, the Argrathi, didn't imprison people for years at a time. They just artificially induced in prisoners the memories of long imprisonment. Chronologically, O'Brien went in and out of prison in a few hours. But inwardly, he experienced 20 years of confinement in a lonely, dirty cell.

The experience psychologically broke O'Brien (until, of course, the next episode).

Rebecca Roache, a philosopher at Oxford, has explored ways in which current and future technologies could be used to make enhance the punishments of prisoners. Ross Andersen of Aeon magazine interviewed Roache about her work.

First, why would you want to do such a thing? Roache argues that certain people deserve more punishment that can often be experienced in a single lifetime. For example, if the Allies had captured Adolf Hitler before he was able to commit suicide, could confining the 56-year old war criminal for the rest of his life constitute a proper punishment? Roache envisions an alternative approach for the worst criminals:

When I began researching this topic, I was thinking a lot about Daniel Pelka, a four-year-old boy who was starved and beaten to death [in 2012] by his mother and stepfather here in the UK. I had wondered whether the best way to achieve justice in cases like that was to prolong death as long as possible. Some crimes are so bad they require a really long period of punishment, and a lot of people seem to get out of that punishment by dying. And so I thought, why not make prison sentences for particularly odious criminals worse by extending their lives?

We are entering an age of expanded human lifespans. Some people argue that practical human immortality--or at least the defeat of aging--is coming soon. When a person is sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, then in the future, it could mean centuries of confinement.

Speaking more speculatively, Roache moves into Star Trek territory. If you could alter prisoners' perception of time, could you move their sentences along more efficiently?

There are a number of psychoactive drugs that distort people’s sense of time, so you could imagine developing a pill or a liquid that made someone feel like they were serving a 1,000-year sentence. Of course, there is a widely held view that any amount of tinkering with a person’s brain is unacceptably invasive. But you might not need to interfere with the brain directly. There is a long history of using the prison environment itself to affect prisoners’ subjective experience. During the Spanish Civil War [in the 1930s] there was actually a prison where modern art was used to make the environment aesthetically unpleasant. Also, prison cells themselves have been designed to make them more claustrophobic, and some prison beds are specifically made to be uncomfortable.

There's obviously a lot of potential for abuse here. A state empowered to deliberately extend the lives of prisoners or psychologically confuse them in order to extend their suffering is essentially empowered to engage in torture as a means of punishment.

-via Marginal Revolution

Doge 2048

Posted: 17 Mar 2014 10:00 PM PDT

Doge 2048 is a spinoff of the game 2048, which I never understood. But Doge 2048 is a lot more fun, because it has Doge! Use your arrow keys to combine two Doges that look alike. And keep doing it. The first time through, you will think, “I have no idea what I’m doing.” That was how I felt, anyway. The second time through, I sort of got the hang of it and scored 2500. Have fun playing Doge 2048. Much fun. Such score. -via Metafilter

Hilarious Japanese Translations Of Hollywood Movie Titles

Posted: 17 Mar 2014 09:00 PM PDT

For some reason movie titles don’t survive the trip across the ocean unscathed, and when international audiences go see a movie they may not be totally sure what they’re going to see because the title has been so badly butchered.

A website called Rocketnews24 has taken it upon themselves to reveal this title butchery by translating Japanese versions of Hollywood movie titles back into English, showing us how easy it is for Being John Malovich to become Malcovich’s Hole, Despicable Me de-evolves into Mysterious Thief Gru’s Moon Theft, and a third Final Destination becomes a ride on a Final Deadcoaster.

-Via DesignTAXI

Doctor Manhattan Sings the <i>Frozen</i> Song "Let It Go"

Posted: 17 Mar 2014 08:00 PM PDT

In the Watchmen comics universe, the physicist Jon Osterman was widely known as Doctor Manhattan. He was a tragic figure who first acquired unsurpassed powers, but at the cost of his humanity. He exiled himself to Mars, cutting himself off from a humanity that wished to use him, but he could only destroy.

Elsa, too, had great powers that made her dangerous and only isolated her from other people. So it is fitting that Alex Wolinetz, added the lyrics from the song "Let It Go" to scenes from Dave Gibbons's depiction of Doctor Manhattan.

TED-Ed Addresses the Oxford Comma

Posted: 17 Mar 2014 07:00 PM PDT

(YouTube link)

The Oxford comma has sparked many an internet argument. Everyone seems to have an opinion, and everyone is convinced their way is the only correct way. What really matters is that you communicate clearly. That means reading back over what you’ve written, and since fewer and fewer writers actually do that (and I am as guilty of that as anyone), communication problems can creep in. Personally, I like the Oxford comma and use it always, but I honestly don’t care whether everyone does, as long as their meaning is clear. The full TED-Ed lesson can be found here. -via Laughing Squid 

Preview: The Upcoming <i>Guardians of the Galaxy</i> from Marvel Press

Posted: 17 Mar 2014 06:00 PM PDT

The Guardians of the Galaxy are a classic superhero team in the Marvel universe. They're the subject of a movie that will come out this year. Be sure to watch the funny trailer here. It looks really promising--especially with such an unexpected soundtrack!

The Guardians are also an ongoing title in Marvel Press. Here are preview images for an upcoming release by artist Dean White.

-Thanks, MaryAnn Zissimos!

An Outside Threat

Posted: 17 Mar 2014 05:00 PM PDT

When the aliens come to take over, they will come with full knowledge of our weak points and how to exploit them. At least that’s what they want us to think. In reality it’s already happened! This comic is from Raynato Castro and Alex Culang at Buttersafe. -via Geeks Are Sexy

This Is What Happens If You Sneeze Into a Trombone

Posted: 17 Mar 2014 04:00 PM PDT

When you gotta sneeze, well, you gotta sneeze. But what happens if you're in the middle of playing the trombone for an orchestra performance?

This is what happens when you sneeze into a trombone:

In this YouTube clip that has gone viral, conductor Julian Bright recounted his experience leading the Salvation Army's amateur London Central Band when a trombonist sneezed into his trombone.

Bright said to the BBC, "I actually thought something in the PA system had blown up." Musicians usually try to sneak in the sneeze into the loud segment of the music, but obviously that's not always possible. "If the band had been playing something loud and boisterous, it would have gone unnoticed ... [The trombonist] says that he knew that a sneeze was coming but he was so conscious [about] not playing his part that it all just happened too quickly and he couldn't get his trombone out of the way."

Bright added that a sneeze wouldn't have mattered much for a percussionist, but it's particularly bad for a trombonist. "When you then add a sneeze to the natural tendencies of the instrument, it's a lethal combination."

Elevated Motorcycle

Posted: 17 Mar 2014 03:00 PM PDT

How did this happen? We really don’t know! The motorcycle accident reportedly occurred early Saturday morning in Fortaleza, in northeastern Brazil. The news outlet reporting the accident heard several different versions of the story. A couple of versions had the wiring pole on the ground and then standing back up somehow, and others told of a motorcycle going so fast that it launched into the air. There is even confusion as to the nature of the pole, with the electric company claiming it belongs to the phone company, and vice versa. There are more pictures here. -via Arbroath

Toddler's First Traffic Ticket

Posted: 17 Mar 2014 02:00 PM PDT


Photo: First Coast News

Ah, the developmental milestones of a child's life. Smiling that first smile. Uttering the first word. Taking the first step. Now, add this one: getting that first traffic ticket.

Two-year-old Za'Dariyah Mishaw was cruising along the parking lot of her Florida condo complex, fulfilling her need for speed, when she saw that dreaded flashing blue lights coming up behind her.

According to First Coast News, patrol officer Christian Velasco, who gave the lil' speed demon a ticket, said that "she was going pretty fast. It took me a while to catch up to her, but we did, and she was cited."

Za'Dariyah's uncle Keyth Mishaw said, "Everyone always had bad things to say about the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, well, I want to say BIG PROPS to these officers for making a memorable moment for my family." It was Za'Dariyah's first time in her new car, and now she kept telling her mom that she wanted to pay her $4 ticket.

The photo of the coppers giving the young kid her first taste of the law has gone viral on Facebook, racking nearly 40,000 shares.

Came In Like A Thunderbolt

Posted: 17 Mar 2014 01:00 PM PDT


Came In Like a Thunderbolt by JCMaziu

NeatoShop artist JCMaziu never hit so hard in design - he just closed his eyes and drew this awesome design. So forget wrecking balls. Hammer's where it's at!

Visit JCMaziu's blog and Facebook page, then check out his NeatoShop for more shockingly awesome shirts:

Gunslinger CreedSons of EmpireIt's A Trap!Shark

View more designs by JCMaziu | More Funny T-shirts | New T-Shirts

Are you a professional illustrator or T-shirt designer? Let's chat! Sell your designs on the NeatoShop and get featured in front of tons of potential new fans on Neatorama!

4 Neat Facts About The Big Bang That'll Make You Look Smart Without Understanding Any Physics

Posted: 17 Mar 2014 01:00 PM PDT


Time Line of the Universe (Image: NASA/WMAP Science Team/Wikimedia)

Today, the scientific community is abuzz with the news that astrophysicists have detected gravitational waves or ripples in the fabric of space-time left over from the Big Bang

The detection of the gravitational waves is a landmark discovery - these waves, first proposed by Albert Einstein in his General Theory of Relativity nearly a century ago, are believed to originate from the Big Bang. "Detecting this signal is one of the most important goals in cosmology today," said lead astronomer John Kovac of Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. "This has been like looking for a needle in a haystack, but instead we found a crowbar," added team co-leader Clem Pryke of University of Minnesota. Many have likened the major discovery as the "smoking gun" of the Big Bang.

The details of the discovery is fascinating (like how gravitational waves actually "squeeze" space as they travel and have "handedness" just like light waves). Even though the physics of the Big Bang may be over your head, it doesn't mean that you can't chat about it intelligently with your coworkers.

Here are 4 Neat Facts About the Big Bang That'll Make You Look Smart Without Understanding Any Physics that you can use to impress other people:

1. Father of The Big Bang was Actually a Catholic Priest

The first person who proposed the theory of the expansion of the Universe wasn't Edwin Hubble, the astronomer whose name graced the space telescope orbiting the Earth today.

Rather, it was Georges Lemaître, a Belgian Roman Catholic priest, astronomer, and professor of physics at the Université catholique de Louvain. (Photo: Wikimedia).

In 1927, Lemaître proposed that "the Cosmic Egg exploding at the moment of creation," but his new idea had little impact because the journal it was published in was not widely read outside of Belgium. A few years later, when Einstein read the paper, he remarked "your calculations are correct, but your physics is atrocious."

2. "Big Bang" Was Actually A Pejorative

Well, supposedly anyhow.

The name "Big Bang" was coined by British astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle* who ridiculed the idea that the universe had a beginning (he likened it as "an irrational process, and can't be described in scientific terms," because that resembled the argument that the universe had a creator). Hoyle believed that the universe didn't have a beginning - it was always there (this "steady state" theory was later debunked). (Photo: Cardiff University/wikimedia)

On March 28, 1949, Hoyle first uttered the name "Big Bang" on a BBC radio broadcast. It was reported that he intended the name to be insulting, a claim that Hoyle later denied. He said that instead, it was a "striking image" for the radio audience meant to emphasize the difference between that, and his steady state theory.

*If you think his name is familiar, that's probably because you've seen the TV series A for Andromeda or read the novel by the same name. It was written by Hoyle and John Elliot.

3. The Big Bang Was First Conceptualized In 1225


L'image du monde by Gossuin de Metz

Seven centuries before modern scientists proposed the Big Bang, a thirteenth-century English scholar named Robert Grosseteste wrote a treatise called De Luce (On Light) in which he explored the nature of matter and cosmos. In that, Grosseteste described "the birth of the Universe in an explosion and the crystallization of matter to form stars and planets in a set of nested spheres around Earth."

According to Tom McLeish and colleagues in this Nature article titled "History: A medieval multiverse," Grosseteste's De Luce is "the first attempt to describe the heavens and Earth using a single set of physical laws." In terms of the Big Bang, Grosseteste proposed an initial explosion of a primordial sort of light called lux, which then expands the universe into an enormous sphere and thinning matters as it goes.

4. Pope Pius XII Thought The Big Bang Proved The Existence of God

The relationship of the Catholic Church and scientists is often catankerous, but the Church was actually rejoiced when scientists first proposed the Big Bang.

In 1951, Pope Pius XII celebrated the scientific idea of the Big Bang in a speech before the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. He remarked, "… it would seem that present-day science, with one sweep back across the centuries, has succeeded in bearing witness to the august instant of the primordial Fiat Lux [Let there be Light], when along with matter, there burst forth from nothing a sea of light and radiation, and the elements split and churned and formed into millions of galaxies."

Pius XII thought that the Big Bang actually proved the existence of God: "Thus, with that concreteness which is characteristic of physical proofs, [science] has confirmed the contingency of the universe and also the well-founded deduction as to the epoch when the world came forth from the hands of the Creator. Hence, creation took place. We say: therefore, there is a Creator. Therefore, God exists!"

Later, Georges Lemaître and other astronomers approached the Pope privately and told him that it wasn't a good idea to pin the Catholic faith on a contested scientific hypothesis (as the Big Bang was back then), and the Pope never mentioned the topic again in public.

Source: Doug Linder (2004) The Vatican's View of Evolution: The Story of Two Popes

St Patricks Day Earthquake on KTLA

Posted: 17 Mar 2014 12:00 PM PDT

(YouTube link)

Imagine being live on camera when an earthquake hits. Not only do you have the local audience watching your every move -and facial expression- but you know it will go viral later. Some who was watching the broadcast said that anchorman Chris Schauble remarked later in the show that it would no doubt go viral because his eyes bugged out. The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake was centered a few miles north of Westwood, and registered 4.7 in the Richter scale. -via Warming Glow

Caveman Rock Music

Posted: 17 Mar 2014 11:00 AM PDT


Photo: AFP

Yabba dabba DO-RE-MI!

Talk about caveman rock: Percussionists from the French National Orchestra will play a song specifically composed for a set of 24 stone chimes or lithophones dating from the New Stone Age (between 2500 and 8000 BC).

The stone chimes are solid, oblong stones that experts first believed to be pestles or grinders of grain. In 1994, archaeologist Erik Gonthier of the Natural History Museum in Paris happened to tap one with a mallet. Instead of a dull thud, he heard a musical note instead. "I thought back to my grandmother's piano and the small supports which made the strings resonate. I found some packaging foam in the trashcan of the museum, I made two rests that I placed under either end of the lithophone, and tapped it. It made a clear 'tinnnnggg'," Gonthier told the BBC, "My heart beat like crazy. I knew that I had found something great."

It took five years for Gonthier to convince other experts that the stones are actually pre-historic musical instruments. But even Gonthier admitted that there might be other purposes to the stones. "They may also have been used to signal danger, or even to call people to dinner," he said. "They could be heard from kilometers away in the desert or forest."

The French National Orchestra will play the musical piece dubbed "Paleomusique," written by classical composer Philippe Fenelon, only three times to avoid damaging or wearing the instruments down.

Read the rest of the story over at the BBC.

One More Book

Posted: 17 Mar 2014 10:00 AM PDT

When you’re reading stories to kids at bedtime, you may as well start early in the morning, because it’s their most favorite activity of the day. And why not? They get a great story (or two or three) without having to read it themselves, mom or dad is willing to do whatever it takes, and they focus completely on the child. He doesn’t want a good time like that to ever end. Is there any wonder it takes so long to get children to fall asleep?

What we need is an activity that makes children wind down and get sleepy, but isn’t so pleasant as to make them want to prolong it. When a child gets to a certain age, a parent discovers that magical activity: homework. This comic is from the ever-relatable Lunarbaboon.

Mercury Shriveling Like a Raisin

Posted: 17 Mar 2014 09:30 AM PDT

According to data sent back by NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft, the planet Mercury is now 8.6 miles smaller in diameter than it was a few billion years ago. But it’s not shrinking because of the sun’s heat -it’s actually getting smaller because it’s cooling down.

All planets are chilling and shedding heat to varying degrees, and Mercury is no exception, despite being the closest planet to the sun. But the process has taken an unusual toll on Mercury's already cratered complexion, forming cliffs that can soar up to two miles (three kilometers) high—about as tall as Mount St. Helens—and long chains of aligned ridges that snake across the face of the planet for up to 1,050 miles (1,700 kilometers), more than twice the length of Florida.

Mapping this terrain on foot will never be an option, since surface temperatures can reach a toasty 800 degrees Fahrenheit (430 degrees Celsius). Scientists instead used observations from NASA's sun-shielded MESSENGER spacecraft, which has been orbiting Mercury since 2011.

You have to wonder how scientists know what size the planet was billions of years ago. Read more about the research at National Geographic News. -via reddit

(Image redit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics laboratory/Carnegie Institute)

Star Wars Carnival Procession

Posted: 17 Mar 2014 09:00 AM PDT

(YouTube link)

The Intergalactic Krewe of Chewbacchus isn’t the only group bringing Star Wars to pre-Lenten festivities! The Jedi Knights of the New Hope were recorded participating in a Carnival parade in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Cádiz, Spain. A unit of Storm Troopers guard a huge Millennium Falcon float, which is not canon, but who cares?

At Daily Picks and Flicks, you can watch a second, nighttime procession that includes a routine of the Storm Troopers dancing to Michael Jackson. There are plenty of other clips of the group linked at the YouTube page, if you are interested. I particularly like this one of Darth Vader dancing.

Whodunit: Undercover Jonah

Posted: 17 Mar 2014 08:30 AM PDT

The following is a Whodunit by Hy Conrad featuring Jonah Bixby, a twelve-year-old crime solver and son of a police detective. Can you solve the crime?

(Image credit: Flickr user Dustin Quasar)

"Mom, I look like a stupid penguin."

Jonah waddled back and forth in front of the museum, pretending to be outraged by the rented tuxedo. In reality, though, Jonah thought it was kind of cool being dressed up like James Bond and taking part in his first undercover assignment.

"Jonah, stop," Carol Bixby hissed as she straightened the straps of her formal gown. "The first rule is not to draw attention to yourself."

"Sorry." Jonah didn't blame his mother for being upset. After all, she and the other police detectives had worked long hours to ensure that tonight's event ran smoothly.

The event was a charity gala featuring five newly acquired sculptures. They were modern pieces and each statue was accented in real fur. That was why the museum needed such security. Anti-fur protestors were picketing the museum, and some had even threatened to crash the gala and destroy the offending works of art.

At the front of the line, Jonah handed the guard his long rectangular ticket and got in return the ticket's torn square stub. Then he and his mother stepped through metal detectors and underwent a bag search. Once inside the grand lobby, they blended in with the other formally dressed guests, except that Detective Carol Bixby wore an earpiece and had a police-issue handgun in her fancy little purse.

The crowd was just beginning to wander back toward the exhibition rooms when her earpiece began to squawk. "Silent alarm," a voice informed her. "Exhibition Hall J."

"The statue room," Carol whispered to her son and started sprinting in that direction. Jonah followed and so did two other undercover "guests." All four of them wound their way through the labyrinth of hallways and arrived at about the same moment, rushing into Exhibition Hall J and finding it freshly vandalized.

Jonah saw the five statues in the center of the room, each one with a red "X" sprayed across it. On one of the walls was a message, also in red paint. "Fur Is Mur..." it said, the last letter trailing off into nothing.

Carol Bixby scanned the room, then pointed to a window high in the wall. The glass had been shattered, and footprints on the marble floor showed where the intruder had jumped down into the room of statues. Near the doorway was the abandoned can of spray paint and a pair of plastic gloves.

"How did he get out?" one of the plainclothes officers asked.

"He didn't," Carol said. "It's been less than a minute since the broken window triggered the alarm. He barely had enough time to jump to the floor, do his damage with the paint, and run off. He must still be in the museum."

A sudden flash of cameras alerted them to the photographers gathered around. The reporters who were there to document the gala opening now had a bigger story on their hands. The vandals had won, Jonah thought. They had gotten their publicity.

Half an hour later, Carol Bixby and her son were in the museum office, interviewing witnesses.

The first was the city Councilman Grover Prescott, who had been a vocal opponent of the fur exhibition. He was in a dark brown suit, one of the only guests not in formal wear. "Right after I got through security, I went to use the bathroom," the councilman told Carol. "I was just coming out when I saw this man run by. A young guy in a tuxedo, that's all I could see. A couple seconds later, you and your people came running from the other direction."

The second witness was Rhett Aronson, a young animal-rights activist. "And just what are you doing here?" Carol demanded.

"I have a right," Rhett protested, taking from his pocket the same long rectangular ticket that everyone else had used to gain admission. Jonah looked at the man's feet and saw that he was wearing black fabric shoes and not the typical patent-leather tuxedo shoes.

The interview was interrupted by a uniformed officer. "We sealed the doors as soon as we could," he reported to his superior. "He must have already made his escape."

As soon as the officer and the activist walked out, Jonah leaned over to his mother. "The bad guy didn't escape," Jonah whispered. "He's still in the museum."

WHO IS THE SPRAY PAINT VANDAL?

WHAT CLUE DID JONAH NOTICE?

Show Answer

The whodunit above was provided by American mystery fiction author Hy Conrad.

In addition to his work in mystery and crime puzzles, Hy was also one of the original writers for the groundbreaking TV series Monk.

Currently, Hy is working on mystery novel series "Abel Adventures" as well as the Monk series of novels, starting with Mr. Monk Helps Himself (published by Penguin, order from Amazon here)

Check out Hy's official website and Facebook page - and stay tuned for more whodunits puzzlers on Neatorama from the master of whodunit mysteries himself!

Dear Future Mom

Posted: 17 Mar 2014 08:00 AM PDT

(YouTube link)

A pregnant woman finds out that her child will have Down Syndrome and asked what that will be like. In response, the Italian advocacy group Coor Down (English link) gathered 15 people with Down Syndrome from various countries to answer her question. The video was produced in honor of World Down Syndrome Day on March 21st. -via Viral Viral Videos

Winchester Mystery House to Allow Overnight Stays

Posted: 17 Mar 2014 07:30 AM PDT

Would you stay all night in the Winchester Mystery House? The 160-room mansion in San Jose, California, was built by Sarah Winchester in some kind of appeasement to the spirits of all the people killed by Winchester guns from the company her husband founded. It’s a big tourist draw, and soon it may be possible to test your nerves by staying all night. According to the Silicon Valley Business Journal:

A special use permit approved March 5 by the San Jose planning department would allow overnight guests at the city landmark, but it doesn't look like the existing bedrooms in the structure are included in the permit. Instead, a staff report singles out certain structures on the site, including the pump house, caretaker's residence, and foreman's quarters as lodging possibilities.

The target market won't be traditional travelers, but rather those who want the full Winchester Mystery House experience.

"It wouldn't be a hotel type of thing," said Kristinae Toomians in the city's planning department. "Some people just have a fascination with it."

In addition, the city approved converting the existing cafe (a humble affair) to a bona fide restaurant open to the public, not just guests at the attraction. Winchester Investments LLC, the owner of the business, was also granted approval to allow the consumption of alcohol across the entire site (except the parking lot). That will presumably boost the attraction's events business.

Since the majority of the Neatorama crew live in California, I suggest that an overnight stay would be a wonderful thing to write about. Don’t you think? -via Boing Boing

(Image credit: Ben Franske)

Animated Short Set In Post-Apocalyptic Brooklyn - Fathoms

Posted: 17 Mar 2014 07:00 AM PDT

(Video Link)

Animator Joe Russ drew inspiration for his epic length CGI short Fathoms from his father’s untimely death due to cancer when Joe was only seventeen, he drew the funds to complete the film from a successful Kickstarter campaign, and he drew, and animated, and created over a six year period, working mostly on nights and weekends, until he'd finished this heartfelt project.

Fathoms is a touching, relatable and beautifully melancholic short film about “Sam, Evan, and Hippo the cat as they struggle to survive and find meaning in a flooded world haunted by remnants of the past”, and with a total runtime of just under twenty minutes you're going to have to set some time aside to watch this one, but believe me-it's worth it.

-Via GeekTyrant

Let's Take A Ride

Posted: 17 Mar 2014 06:30 AM PDT


Let's Take a Ride by ddjvigo

The Mark III is busted and in the shop? Suit up with this awesome T-shirt by NeatoShop artist ddjvigo instead!

Visit ddjvigo's Facebook page then check out his NeatoShop for more cool and geeky T-shirt designs.

Love and FantasyDark Lord EvolutionKaijuInk Skull

View more designs by ddjvigo | More Funny T-shirts | New T-Shirts

Are you a professional illustrator or T-shirt designer? Let's chat! Sell your designs on the NeatoShop and get featured in front of tons of potential new fans on Neatorama!

My Husband’s Stupid Record Collection

Posted: 17 Mar 2014 06:30 AM PDT

Sarah’s husband Alex Goldman has a collection of over 1500 vinyl records, which get hauled every time they move. So Sarah decided to listen to all of them to find out what he sees in the music. Thus was born the blog My Husband’s Stupid Record Collection, in which she reviews each album in alphabetical order. And she doesn’t hold back on her opinions.

There’s that dying animal again, and someone beating on a snare drum like a three year old beating on a pot with a wooden spoon. Thank god I’m not listening to this music live right now, because then I would really be in hell. I’m still listening to “D.C.” by the way, it seems to be never ending. I am the maddest I have ever been during this project! Oh sweet Jesus, it’s calming down into normal sounding jazz bass and drums. Maybe the song titles on this album all have names like “Spirits Rejoice” and “Angels” because that’s how you feel not while listening to them, but when they’re over. When it’s over, your angelic spirit rejoices.

Alex stepped into Metafilter to contribute his view of the project. So far there are only two week’s worth of reviews, but you can follow along as she goes through all of them. -via Metafilter

Stairs, Shelves, A Cupboard and A Desk All-In-One

Posted: 17 Mar 2014 06:00 AM PDT

Staircases are critical in homes that have more than one story, but  they can also be a serious drain on space. In an effort to make the most of the staircase, designer Just Haasnoot commissioned Dutch design studio Mieke Meijer to create a staircase that combines the functionality of stairs, shelves, a desk and a cupboard. The end result is a great place to work that provides a lot of much needed storage all while serving as a staircase at the same time. 

You can see all kinds of other great pictures of the staircase and more information about it at Homes and Hues: A Staircase, A Storage Unit and A Desk In One
@

No comments:

Post a Comment

Keep a civil tongue.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Label Cloud

Technology (1464) News (793) Military (646) Microsoft (542) Business (487) Software (394) Developer (382) Music (360) Books (357) Audio (316) Government (308) Security (300) Love (262) Apple (242) Storage (236) Dungeons and Dragons (228) Funny (209) Google (194) Cooking (187) Yahoo (186) Mobile (179) Adobe (177) Wishlist (159) AMD (155) Education (151) Drugs (145) Astrology (139) Local (137) Art (134) Investing (127) Shopping (124) Hardware (120) Movies (119) Sports (109) Neatorama (94) Blogger (93) Christian (67) Mozilla (61) Dictionary (59) Science (59) Entertainment (50) Jewelry (50) Pharmacy (50) Weather (48) Video Games (44) Television (36) VoIP (25) meta (23) Holidays (14)

Popular Posts (Last 7 Days)