Neatorama

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• Aerobatics Spirals over Abu Dhabi
• 10 Things We've Learned About Dads
• Movie and TV Shots Before and After Added Visual Effects
• Bane the Barista
• Night's Kiss - A Superheroic Way To Show Your Love
• Nana the Balancing Border Collie
• Mirrored Cabin in Scotland is Part of the Scenery
• Animals Which Are Barely Recognizable Without Hair
• Your Relationship with Your Mobile Phone: In Your Mind vs Reality
• One Potato, Two Potato
• Fear And Loathing In Elementary School- Ralph Steadman's Little Red Computer
• Class Signifiers of 1949
• Strange Pets Once Predicted to Be the Pets of the Future
• Ellen DeGeneres Sings "Birthday" by Katy Perry
• Why Captain America Is Perfect
• Monster Rhapsody - The Queen Of The Damned
• 18 TV Roles The Cast Of <i>Friends</i> Had Before They Were Friends
• Lullaby for an Elephant
• A Brief History of Flag Day
• BatDad Returns: Father's Day Edition
• The Profoundly Weird, Gender-Specific Roots Of The Turing Test
• Can You Believe This Is The World's Most Tattooed Man?
• Graph Coloring and Chromatic Numbers for Second Graders

Aerobatics Spirals over Abu Dhabi Posted: 15 Jun 2014 04:00 AM PDT Color me impressed: the United Arab Emirates Aerobatics Team "Al Fursan" (English "The Knights") painted the skies over Abu Dhabi with the country's Pan-Arab flag colors of black, white, green, and red. Photographer Sherilal Mohanan took this fantastic snapshot, which you should definitely see in its full sized glory over at 500px - via reddit. If you want to see it in action, YouTube user Louis Bredekamp has the video clip:

10 Things We've Learned About Dads Posted: 15 Jun 2014 02:00 AM PDT In honor of Fathers Day, Smithsonian has rounded up some research on fathers and fatherhood that has surfaced in the past year. Some of it is common sense, although it’s nice to have common sense confirmed scientifically, but there are some findings that we may have never considered before. 1) Do the dishes. It’s for your daughter:  Dads who want their daughters to aspire to prestigious careers should make a point of handling more chores around the house. That’s the suggestion of a study published in the journal Psychological Science, which concluded that when a father helps out a lot at home, his daughters are more likely to break out of the mold of traditionally female jobs and instead seek more high-powered careers. Researchers at the University of British Columbia said they found that girls raised in homes where chores were shared evenly between both parents tended to have broader career goals.   2) Finally, a reason to eat brussel sprouts: It’s not just pregnant women who need to eat healthy for the benefit of their offspring, According to a study at McGill University in Canada.  it’s important for prospective fathers to load up on vegetables with folates, such as spinach, sprouts and broccoli, says a recent study based on mice.  If a father's folic acid level is too low when he and his partner conceive, he may increase the risk that the child will have abnormalities.  It’s long been recommended that women boost their folic acid level during pregnancy, and now, it may turn out that men need to do the same before trying to conceive. There’s more at Smithsonian. Some of these studies may apply to you or someone you love, at Smithsonian. (Image credit: Flickr user Daria)

Movie and TV Shots Before and After Added Visual Effects Posted: 15 Jun 2014 12:00 AM PDT   Boardwalk Empire   Image: Brainstorm Digital on Vimeo Viewers often get so enveloped in their favorite movie and television shows that they forget the actors are often emoting over settings, creatures and actions that they can't see. Or lose sight of the countless hours visual effects artists and editors spend to fill in the necessary elements for the final cut. Whether or not fans keep such enhancements in mind as they watch media presentations, these before-and-after shots are an interesting diversion. Via Bored Panda.    Game of Thrones   Image: pizzadeonshare   Walking Dead   Image: lombok.com             Life of Pi   Image: lombok.com    Gravity    Image: bussinessinsider.com      The Great Gatsby   Image: bussinessinsider.com

Bane the Barista Posted: 14 Jun 2014 11:00 PM PDT Theatricality and deception, powerful agents to the decaffeinated. Oh, so you think coffee is your drink? But you merely adopted the dark roast. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn't see other drinks until I was already a man, by then to me it was only decaffeination. Coffee betrays you because they belong to me. You don't fear decaf ... you welcome it. Your libation must be more severe. You have my permission to drink. Vince Mancini over at Uproxx spotted Bane the Barista at a Starbucks dishing out libations to unsuspecting citizens of San Francisco. If you think that Starbucks butcher the spelling of your name on your cup of coffee, wait till this guy calls it out.

Night's Kiss - A Superheroic Way To Show Your Love Posted: 14 Jun 2014 10:00 PM PDT Night's Kiss by Mari Kari The bat and the cat- theirs is a love affair that can never be, a romance that began with a crime and ended up becoming a big city scandal. Capturing a tender moment between the two masked figures meant taking more than just a snapshot, so a painting was commissioned in the style of Klimt. Now the two are free to share a kiss for eternity, without undermining their individual allegiances. Show the world your super artsy side with this Night's Kiss t-shirt by Mari Kari, it's a stylish way to show you appreciate the finer things in life- like comic books and classic artwork! Visit Mari Kari's Facebook fan page, then head on over to her NeatoShop for more classic designs: Born to be Very Best Beware Sweet 'n' Salty Annie's Toys View more designs by Mari Kari | 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!

Nana the Balancing Border Collie Posted: 14 Jun 2014 10:00 PM PDT (YouTube link) Nana is good at what she does. She can balance stuff on her nose, which you’ve seen dogs do before, but as the video goes along, her stunts get more and more difficult. Nana stands on her hind legs, she walks an obstacle course, she stand on her front legs, and even rides a skateboard -all while balancing things! And it’s all perfectly edited to “In the Hall of the Mountain King.” See more of Nana at her blog.  -via Tastefully Offensive

Mirrored Cabin in Scotland is Part of the Scenery Posted: 14 Jun 2014 09:00 PM PDT    Image: Ross Campbell I'll never forget seeing the lush, green beauty of Scotland for the first time. It was view after stunning view. It makes sense that the best idea for a shelter in scenic Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park would be one that blends perfectly into the landscape.  This enticing, stainless steel structure was designed and built as a thesis project by Strathclyde University architecture students Angus Ritchie and Daniel Tyler, who named it "The Lookout." The clever design won funding from the Scottish government for construction of the $8,500 structure, built mostly by hand. The mirrored surface camouflages a two-seat, wooden bench, and on another side, a smaller seat for one. The slatted, Japanese-style benches are built in locations that frame selected views for their occupants.  Read about The Lookout in detail at Dezeen. Via Gizmodo.     Image: Ross Campbell    Image: Daniel Tyler

Animals Which Are Barely Recognizable Without Hair Posted: 14 Jun 2014 08:00 PM PDT (Image Via Daily Mail) (Image Via Daily Mail) (Image via broccoli) Animals that are covered in fur, or feathers or spines, are often identified by how they look when they're wearing a full coat, and many animals look downright sad when their signature coat is gone. Yet there are times when an animal loses its fur/feathers/spines, or has to have it shaved off due to a skin condition, and although they don't seem to mind they often end up looking downright strange, terrifying even! Take a look at the critters in this Bored Panda article entitled These 15 Animals Without Hair Are Barely Recognizable and see if you'd be able to identify these poor, bald critters if you saw them in the wild. Some are easy to identify, others look nothing like you'd imagine when they're "naked"!

Your Relationship with Your Mobile Phone: In Your Mind vs Reality Posted: 14 Jun 2014 07:00 PM PDT Mobile Relationship by Manu Cornet Who's the boss? Your smartphone or you? Manu Cornet of Bonkers World shows us in just two panels the horrendous reality of our relationship with our mobile phones. All that's missing is that cruelly addictive app 2048, whose super power is erasing hours of productivity out of your day. Now pardon me as I have to go charge my new mobile overlord phone.

One Potato, Two Potato Posted: 14 Jun 2014 06:00 PM PDT (YouTube link) A man and his cat play One Potato, Two Potato. The game is going swimmingly until the cat, just like the one who played Jenga, decides he’s had enough of this stupidity. MatthewJMc says his cat just doesn’t know how to win gracefully. He has to rub it in! -via Daily Picks and Flicks

Fear And Loathing In Elementary School- Ralph Steadman's Little Red Computer Posted: 14 Jun 2014 05:00 PM PDT You probably know Ralph Steadman as the guy who provided illustrations for many of Hunter S. Thompson's articles and books, but despite his uniquely sketchy style Ralph's works are not easily resigned to a specific age group or target audience. Alongside his adult, and psychotically psychedelic, works are plenty of not-so-scary projects, like his award winning illustrations for Alice In Wonderland, his illustrations for good friend Bernard Stone’s Mouse series, and this oddball kiddie masterpiece-The Little Red Computer. It’s the sad story of an oddball computer who can neither count nor seem to fit in with the rest of the computer clones, and may be the first children's book about computers ever published, since it first came out in 1969. -Via Dangerous Minds

Class Signifiers of 1949 Posted: 14 Jun 2014 04:00 PM PDT The April 1949 issue of LIFE magazine contained a chart that detailed the difference between highbrow and lowbrow tastes. The chart is actually two pages (only one is shown here), and it’s bigger and easier to read at Google Books. Scroll up for an intro article about the chart, in which Russell Lynes calls highbrows snobs, and scroll down for a rebuttal from Winthrop Sergeant, who says if it were not for the few highbrows in America, the country would descend into Idiocracy (not a term used at the time, but it well describes his opinion). And in case you are wondering, I found an link to an explanation of unwashed salad bowls at Metafilter. Times have changed, and a wise person knows that money, education, and taste are less useful as indicators of class (or at least classiness) than how one treats his fellow man. -via Nag on the Lake

Strange Pets Once Predicted to Be the Pets of the Future Posted: 14 Jun 2014 03:00 PM PDT Genetically Engineered Mini Rhino On the 22nd of August, 1872, the Fort Wayne Daily Sentinel printed the following opinion about the supposedly numbered days of dogs and cats as pets: "Dogs have nearly had their day, and so have cats. The household pets of the future will be snakes. To be sure, their introduction will meet with opposition, but prejudice will soon wear away. A Mr. Mann, an English music teacher, has been arrested for keeping snakes loose about his house, and allowing them to crawl into the domiciles of his neighbors. Upon the trial it was shown that Mr. Mann's two little children play with and fondle a young Brazilian boa, and Mr. Mann himself asserted that "these creatures are becoming sought after as pets by many private persons, so that it is difficult to buy one at all now."' The spectacle of a Fifth Avenue belle sweeping down Broadway, leading a pet snake by a silk cord fastened to a silver-plated collar, will be the next sensation."  While the writer's prediction never came to fruition, it's safe to say that the sight of a "Fifth Avenue belle" toting Bergdorf's bags and leading her fancy-collared snake by a silk leash on the streets of Manhattan would, indeed, be a sensation.  Read this article at Gizmodo's Paleofuture to learn about more strange pet predictions of the past, from mini rhinos to robotic dogs to miniature horses.  Image Credit: The Kids' Whole Future Catalog, Random House, 1982

Ellen DeGeneres Sings "Birthday" by Katy Perry Posted: 14 Jun 2014 02:00 PM PDT (YouTube link) Fadi Saleh edits existing video to make President Obama sing different songs on his YouTube channel baracksdubs. Ellen DeGeneres commissioned him to make one for The Ellen Show, and the result is Ellen singing the Katy Perry song “Birthday.” -via Viral Viral Videos

Why Captain America Is Perfect Posted: 14 Jun 2014 01:00 PM PDT To say that Captain America is an idealized version of a normal human being is an understatement- he is human perfection incarnate, his mind and body working as one well oiled machine, created to take down the evil Nazi empire, and that nefarious bonehead the Red Skull. But have you ever had the nature of his perfection spelled out for you? Leave it to Dorkly to do an amazingly succinct job of spelling out how Captain America is quite possibly "the most perfectly conceived character in the entire Marvel Universe", read these six little illustrated panels and you’ll probably come away unable to think of that star spangled superhero the same way ever again! -Via Dorkly

Monster Rhapsody - The Queen Of The Damned Posted: 14 Jun 2014 12:00 PM PDT Monster Rhapsody by Michael Tomes When classic movie monsters aren't busy chewing on people, or terrorizing villagers, they like to get together and hit karaoke night at their neighborhood blood bar. One of their all time favorite songs is by a band named after royalty, a rhapsody about bohemia and a guy who admits to his mother that he just killed a man, they think that part is a real howl! Here's something for fans of classic, both music and movies- the Monster Rhapsody t-shirt by Michael Tomes, it boasts a ghoulishly bold design that will look cool whether you're hangin' around your haunted house or visiting a graveyard at midnight. Visit Michael Tomes's Facebook page, official website, Twitter and Tumblr, then head on over to his NeatoShop for more monstrously cool designs: Float Unleash Hell Hail to the King Fido: Zomcon Warning Sign View more designs by Michael Tomes | 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!

18 TV Roles The Cast Of <i>Friends</i> Had Before They Were Friends Posted: 14 Jun 2014 12:00 PM PDT It’s easy to think of the cast of the sitcom Friends as six young unknowns who suddenly struck it big, but that’s far from the truth. All six were hardworking, if under-appreciated, actors prior to Friends. You’ll probably remember at least some of them after you look through this list of their many previous TV roles. Who knew that Lisa Kudrow would end up playing a relative of an earlier character she portrayed in another sitcom?   18. In 1992, Kudrow was cast in a small recurring role on Mad About You as Ursula Buffay, a waitress at Riff’s (the restaurant frequented on the series) who always forgets everyones order. Of course, Kudrow would go on to play Ursula’s twin sister, Phoebe. And while starring on Friends, she continued to guest star on Mad About You until the series finale in 1999. To be honest, someone who watched more TV than I did in the '80s and '90s might know that, but I bet you didn’t realize how many TV roles the Friends stars had under their belts before the series that made them stars.

Lullaby for an Elephant Posted: 14 Jun 2014 11:00 AM PDT YouTube Link Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai province, Northern Thailand is an elephant sanctuary and rescue center. Located in an idyllic, rural setting in a natural valley bordered by a river, the park is a welcome refuge for elephants in distress from all over Thailand. Elephant Nature Park's founder Sangduen "Lek" Chailert has an interesting history. Her grandfather was a tribesman and traditional healer who took Lek on jungle adventures when she was young. Later, her family cared for an elephant that became her companion. Lek's lifelong affinity for elephants led to her important work with the species. This sweet video shows Lek singing an elephant named Faa Mai to a sound sleep, complete with elephant snores. Via Viral Viral Videos.

A Brief History of Flag Day Posted: 14 Jun 2014 10:00 AM PDT In the United States, today is Flag Day. It’s a smaller holiday sandwiched between the patriotic holidays of summer: Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day. No one takes the day off, and many people forget what day it is until they see more American flags flying outside than is usual. But mental_floss dug up the foundations of the holiday, and how it came to be June 14th on our calendar every year.

BatDad Returns: Father's Day Edition Posted: 14 Jun 2014 09:00 AM PDT YouTube Link BatDad is back at Neatorama with this Vine compilation for Father's Day. He may be BatDad, but that doesn't mean his wife and kids are cutting him any slack. Via Geeks are Sexy.

The Profoundly Weird, Gender-Specific Roots Of The Turing Test Posted: 14 Jun 2014 08:00 AM PDT We had a story about a computer program passing the Turing Test last week that turned out to be a flash in the pan because 1. it was a chatbot, not a computer, and 2. it’s really easy to impersonate a 13-year-old boy speaking in his second language. But the story made people more curious about the Turing Test itself. How did it come about? It turns out that Alan Turing’s original idea in 1950 is quite different from what people think of as the Turing Test today. He begins by describing a scenario where a man and a woman would both try to convince the remote, unseen interrogator that they are female, using type-written responses or by speaking through an intermediary. The real action, however, comes when the man in replaced by a machine. “Will the interrogator decide wrongly as often when the game is played like this as he does when the game is played between a man and a woman?” asks Turing. The Imitation Game asks a computer to not only imitate a thinking human, but a specific gender of thinking human. It sidesteps the towering hurdles associated with creating human-like machine intelligence, and tumbles face-first into what should be a mathematician’s nightmare—the unbounded, unquantifiable quagmire of gender identity. What we now know as the Turing Test has been refined and clarified since then, not by Turing, but by other academics after Turing died in 1954. The Imitation Game, as the original is called, is an intriguing idea, but one that opens up more questions. What is involved in trying to impersonate the opposite sex, whether you are a human or machine? How does the judge, or anyone, perceive these differences? And quite importantly, how have the parameters of such a deception changed over time since Turing proposed the idea? I’m reminded of the application that guesses whether a block of text or a blog is written by a man or a woman. The text analyzer did not guess my latest article correctly, as shown below. Now I wonder how the Imitation Game would differ if a woman competed with a machine to convince the judge that each was a man. But I digress. Read about the origins of the Imitation Game and how Turing’s idea evolved into the Turing Test at PopSci.  -via Boing Boing (Image credit: Jon Callas)

Can You Believe This Is The World's Most Tattooed Man? Posted: 14 Jun 2014 07:00 AM PDT (Video Link) When a person’s interest in tattoos turns into addiction, and they proceed to cover themselves from head to toe in ink, they do so knowing that people are going to stare at them, and ask them questions about their tattoos, when they’re in public. Rico the Zombie (Rick Genest) is the world’s most tattoed man, and he chose to make himself look more "interesting" by covering his body in tattoos, but there are bound to be moments in Mr. Zombie’s life when he wishes he could cover up his ink. Enter Dermablend Professional- a company that produces a cover up makeup so powerful it makes Rico the Zombie look like Rico the Smith- ordinary tattooless citizen of the world…albeit with a few more facial piercings. This video from a few years back shows the power of their product, and is truly the most effective advertising I've ever seen for a cover up makeup! -Via The FW

Graph Coloring and Chromatic Numbers for Second Graders Posted: 14 Jun 2014 06:00 AM PDT Math professor and philosopher Joel David Hamkins gave a guest lesson to his daughter’s second grade class. How does someone dedicated to “the philosophy of the infinite” present a math lesson to a group of seven-year-olds? By coloring pages! We began with vertex coloring, where one colors the vertices of a graph in such a way that adjacent vertices get different colors. We started with some easy examples, and then moved on to more complicated graphs, which they attacked. The aim is to use the fewest number of colors, and the chromatic number of a graph is the smallest number of colors that suffice for a coloring.  The girls colored the graphs, and indicated the number of colors they used, and we talked as a group in several instances about why one needed to use that many colors. They went on to map coloring, in which odd shapes must be colored so that touching border have different colors, using the fewest possible colors. Then he wrapped it up with  Eulerian paths and circuits. In these lessons the fun part comes first, and the concepts underlying them follow as they go. The high point of the day occurred in the midst of our graph-coloring activity when one little girl came up to me and said, “I want to be a mathematician!”  What a delight!   Read how the lessons went at Hamkins’ blog. Hamkins also provides a printable version of the booklet he gave each child. -via Digg

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