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2014/06/25

Neatorama

Neatorama

What Gives a Dollar Bill Its Value

Posted: 25 Jun 2014 04:00 AM PDT


YouTube Link

In this TED-Ed video by Doug Levinson, the concept of the valuation of currency is explained. Watch it and have an instant defense if anyone ever accuses you of not knowing about the value of a dollar. Via Viral Viral Videos. 

Zero Teapot

Posted: 25 Jun 2014 03:00 AM PDT

Zero Teapot

Zero in on your love of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas with the ceramic Zero Teapot from the NeatoShop. This frightfully fun collectible looks like Zero the ghost dog, with the handle and the lid designed to showcase his floppy white ears. A jack-o-lantern adorns his long snout.

Jack's best friend is sure to become your new best friend. 

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great The Nightmare Before Christmas items. 

Link

This Beautiful Library Used to Be a Prison

Posted: 25 Jun 2014 03:00 AM PDT

This is the Morrin Cultural Centre in Quebec City, Canada. It was originally built by the French in 1712 as a redoubt. After the British conquest, it served as a prison. The current building was constructed from 1808 to 1813 to continue that role. Prison reformer John Howard designed it as a place to incarcerate but also hopefully reform convicts. It offered workshops and individual cells and segregated prisoners based on the severity of their offenses. It also had an iron balcony for a gallows.

The prison was closed in 1867 and turned over to Morrin College, the newly formed English language school for Quebec City. The Literary and Historical Centre of Quebec took up residence in the renovated prison. When Morrin College shut down, the Society remained in place.

It's still there at the prison, which is now it is the home of the only English language library in Quebec City. As you can see from the Centre's Facebook page, where I found these pictures, it's beautiful.

-via Marilyn Terrell

Puppy Perks at Work

Posted: 25 Jun 2014 02:00 AM PDT


YouTube Link

As noted on this Harvard Health Publications blog run by Harvard Medical School, multiple studies have concluded that interaction with animals is good for human health. I imagine that most of you have read about similar research at some point. To quote the blog entry,

"Studies going back to the early 1980s support the idea that dogs—and other pets—have enormous health benefits for people. Pets have been shown to lower blood pressure, improve recovery from heart disease, and even reduce rates of asthma and allergy in children who grow up with a Fido or a Frisky in the house. Pets also improve people’s psychological well-being and self-esteem."

But it doesn't take a scientific study to see the smiles (even happy tears, in one case) of employees in this video shot by dog treat brand Dogswell on June 20, 2014, national "Take Your Dog to Work" day. It may essentially be an advertisement, but it's a cute one that makes me smile. I hope it does the same for you. (Relax and forget what Rusty just did allll over that hedge fund!) Via Unique Daily.

Know Your Double

Posted: 25 Jun 2014 01:00 AM PDT

Yes, yes, you have a double. I get that. Could you be more specific? There are different types of doubles. An alternate universe self is not the same as a future self. Cartoonist John Martz has composed a field guide to possible doppelgängers. You can view 12 more types here.

-via David Thompson

After Ever After 2

Posted: 25 Jun 2014 12:00 AM PDT

(YouTube link)

The singer Paint (John Cozart) sings with himself in four-part harmony about what really happened to the heroines of Disney movies after the movie credits. It’s not the pretty picture you'd expect from the fairy tales. Mulan, Cinderella, Tiana, and Elsa all have further problems to deal with. The song is not for children. -via Buzzfeed

This is actually the second song he’s done about the fate of Disney characters. Continue reading to hear the stories of Ariel, Jasmine, Belle, and Pocahontas.

(YouTube link)

“Happily ever after” never seemed so scary!

3D Printing Stone AgeTools

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 11:00 PM PDT


Photo: Moti Fishbain

Now THIS is what 3D printing is made for! For their Man Made series, Israeli designers Dov Ganchrow and the late Ami Drach (previously on Neatorama) recreated stone age tools with a decidedly modern twist.

According to designboom, prehistoric flint tools were three-dimensionally scanned at the Hebrew University's Institute of Archaeology. Then, specialized extensions and handles were printed by 3-D printing firm Stratasys out of polymer.


Stone hand-axe no. 10 (2014)

"Any multi-tool becomes specialized when frozen at a single moment in time during its use," says Ganchrow. "The first stage of the project was one of hastened evolution and bleeding: flint rocks of desirable size, shape and material quality were sourced from the Negev desert in southern Israel, while time was spent improving and understanding the skill of knapping. Basically this involved the striking of flint with a softer stone (historically a striking bone or antler was also used) to create controlled breakage, and chipping away flint flakes as the impact's shock wave runs through the stone. Needless to say this is where the bleeding came in..."


Stone hand-axe no. 2 (2014)


Stone hand-axe no. 8 (2014)


Stone hand-axe no. 3 (2014)


Stone hand-axe no. 5 (2014)


Stone hand-axe no. 9 (2014)

View the originals over at designboom. Photo: Moti Fishbain

An Honest Trailer for Forrest Gump

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 10:00 PM PDT


YouTube Link

Watch this heartwarming Honest Trailer to "relive the heartwarming tale of Forrest, a simpleton who bombards complete strangers with his entire life story, and Jenny, a suicidal, junkie hobo." That's the very definition of life-affirming.
 

Napoleon Dynamite Pancake Breakfast

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 09:00 PM PDT

Jill at Kitchen Fun with My 3 Sons (previously at Neatorama) is playing with her food again. One of her sons is a real Napoleon Dynamite fan (and the other boys like it, too), so she tried recreating the faces of Napoleon and Pedro in pancake form! All it took was pancake batter, scrambled eggs, Nutella, and some marshmallows and chocolate chips for the details. See the resemblance?



These should be served with a side of Tater Tots. Read more about them at her blog, in a post laced with movie dialogue. -Thanks, Jill!  

Idiot Burglar Breaks into House, Logs into Facebook Using Homeowner's Computer, But Forgets to Logoff

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 08:00 PM PDT

(Every Time Someone Uses Facebook t-shirt now on sale at the NeatoShop)

James Wood of Minneapolis, Minnesota noticed that someone had broken into his house while he was away. He called the police. While waiting for them, he noticed that someone--presumably the thief--had logged into Facebook on his computer.

Wood updated the suspect's status and asked anyone reading to provide information about him. Commenters promptly contributed information about the owner the account, who later contacted Wood and asked him for some personal items that he had accidentally left in Wood's home while burglarizing it.

Wood agreed and called the police when the suspect showed up. Police arrested the man and charged him with second degree burglary.


(Video Link)

-via Geekologie

I Dare You to Watch This Entire 3-Minute Video

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 07:00 PM PDT

I'm in my 30s, but I don't have the attention span that I did as a teenager. Back then, I could actually read an entire book in one day and, occasionally, one sitting. I could watch an entire movie or study a difficult subject for 2 hours without interruption.

I think that I could do all of these tasks again if I had to do. But it's harder since I've started living online.

In this video from College Humor, Adam Conover challenges you to watch an entire 3-minute video that contains no hidden surprises or punchlines. Can you do it?

-via Huffington Post

POLL: Did you manage to watch the entire 3-minute video clip?

  • Yes - I did it!
  • No - It was too painful! I couldn't do it!
  • I refuse to participate! Just show me the answer!

Game of Pugs

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 06:00 PM PDT


(Video Link)

When you play the game of pugs, you win or you die. Thanks to Blinkbox, here are the pugs of Westeros perfectly costumed as your favorite characters, such as Joffrey Baratheon, Tyrion Lannister, Jon Snow, and Daenerys Targaryen.

There are no direwolves, which is a significant oversight. But on the upside: no one dies and there are no nude scenes.

-via Pleated Jeans

Epic Battle - The Dimwit Meets The Dinosaur

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 05:00 PM PDT


Epic Battle by Andriu

When Homer discovered an alien capsule in his box of donuts he did the only logical thing- he ate it. Soon he had grown so big the city of Springfield could no longer contain him, and although he was sad that he couldn't be with his family he was mighty glad he'd grown so large when a giant, stupid looking lizard monster showed up and started wrecking the place...

Mashups don't get much meatier than the Epic Battle found on this t-shirt by Andriu, show your love of kaiju and cartoons in a mega way!

Be sure to visit Andriu's Facebook fan page, Twitter and Tumblr, then head on over to his Neatoshop for more mighty cool designs:

The Ninja SavagesFantastic BrosHalfmanCharlie Skellington

View more designs by Andriu | 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!

Museum Camouflage by Harvey Opgenorth

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 05:00 PM PDT


(L) In front of artwork by Ellsworth Kelly (M) In front of artwork by Helen Frankenthaller (R) In front of artwork by Christopher Wool. Photo via Saatchi Art's Facebook page

In his art series Museum Camouflage (1998 - 2001), artist Harvey Opgenorth made custom clothes for blending in front of modern artwork.

Opgenorth's artwork reminded us of the camouflage art series by Chinese artist Liu Bolin, which we blogged about way back in 2008, but unlike Liu who used paint, Opgenorth sewed custom clothes.

TV's Greatest Catchphrases (Part 2)

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 04:00 PM PDT

(YouTube link)

A lot of folks enjoyed the video TV’s Greatest Catchphrases a couple of weeks ago. We were told it would be part one of two, which makes plenty of sense to me, as any such list will draw many demands for other favorite catchphrases to be included suggestions for a sequel. And now part two is here, from Tastefully Offensive! If your favorite TV catchphrase wasn’t in the first, it might be here. Or vice versa. Anyway, get ready for a whirlwind TV nostalgia tour! -Thanks, Robert!

8 Ways to Sit on Couches

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 03:00 PM PDT

And for the really talented ...

Tumblr user Julia AKA Cheese3d posted this clever illustrations of the 8 ways to sit on couches. Which one is your preferred sitting position?

Surprisingly, Mary Jane's awkward sitting style isn't listed.

A Loom that Weaves in 3-D

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 02:00 PM PDT



Designer and engineer Oluwasey Sosanya has created a loom that weaves three-dimensional objects. The impressive apparatus forms each intricate project using a single thread.

Sosanya will present the shoe soles pictured below at the annual show of the Royal College of Art, of which he is a student in a masters program. He elaborates on his ambitious plans for future projects: 

"I am developing more technical materials for helmets and stab proof vests–I am currently working on a material that I hope will address several of the issues caused by body shape that surround stab resistant vests worn by female British law enforcement officers."

See more images at Juxtapoz. 
Images Credit: Oluwasey Sosanya

 
 
 

Queen Visits <i>Game of Thrones</i> Set

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 01:00 PM PDT

I guess we all know who really has best claim on the iron throne and the rulership of the Seven Kingdoms! If only it were so, but this is a Photoshopped image. However, Queen Elizabeth, along with Prince Philip, visited the set of the HBO TV series Game of Thrones today in Belfast.

(YouTube link)

The cast were all on hand, but when the queen inspected the throne, she declined the opportunity to actually sit on it. -via Warming Glow

Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité!

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 12:00 PM PDT


(Photo: unknown)

Liberty, equality, and brotherhood--these words formed a common republican slogan during the French Revolution. If the revolutionaries had included Beyoncé, would there have been fewer decapitations?

-via Global Street Art

Everyday Life in New York City in the 1890s

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 11:00 AM PDT

Social reformer and photojournalist Jacob Riis took many pictures of New York City in the 1890s to show how “the other half” lives. Those pictures are now part of The City Museum, and a selection is online at Vintage Everyday. These pictures show the streets of the city, the back alleys, tenements, poorhouses, schools, sweatshops, and makeshift livings spaces for the struggling poor of the era.

As you see how much has changed in the past century, you also realize that cities still have sweatshop workers, homeless people, crowded slums, and marginalized folks getting by the best they can. -via mental_floss

Innovation from Stanford Lends CLARITY to Brain Imaging

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 10:00 AM PDT

YouTube Link

An innovation by scientists at Stanford University is making it possible to see an intact brain in ways never before possible.

Stanford researchers named the breakthrough imaging technique CLARITY, which (quite obviously) stands for “Clear Lipid-exchanged Acrylamide-hybridized Rigid Imaging/Immunostaining/In situ hybridization-compatible Tissue-hYdrogel.”

Revealed by Stanford last year, CLARITY renders the post-mortem brain transparent. This tranparency enables researchers to view the communication pathways of neural networks in color and 3-D, without having to dissect the brain, as was standard procedure in previous methods. From a New York Times article on the technology,

Even more important, experts say, is that... the new process... preserves the biochemistry of the brain so well that researchers can test it over and over again with chemicals that highlight specific structures and provide clues to past activity. The researchers say this process may help uncover the physical underpinnings of devastating mental disorders like schizophrenia, autism, post-traumatic stress disorder and others."

View this fascinating video to see an example of CLARITY, and learn more by reading this explanation from Stanford. Get a brief breakdown of the technique at IFL Science.

Whodunit: The Party's Over

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 09:30 AM PDT

Neatorama is proud to present a new series of Whodunits from Hy Conrad. The new mysteries are from The Little Giant® Book of Whodunits by Hy Conrad and Matt LaFleur. Can you solve the mystery before you read the solution?

(Image credit: Flickr userXipe Totec39)

Tony had promised to help clean up after the party and Tony was a man of his word. Still nursing a hangover, Tony dragged himself over to Fernando's house. The two men had coffee, then walked into the fenced-in yard, scene of last night's birthday revels.

The lawn was strewn with blown-up balloons and bottles and streamers, but after an hour of work, they managed to get it cleaned up.

"Darn," Fernando said, pointing up to a tree by the edge of the eight-foot-high wooden fence. A balloon was stuck in a top branch. "I'd wait for a breeze to blow it off, but there hasn't been a breeze in days."

Fernando climbed the tree. He was just a few inches from knocking free the balloon when he glanced into a window of Gil Dover's house next door. "Looks like a robbery," he yelled down. "Broken window. A big mess. Tony, my phone's not working. Go to the corner and call 911. I'll meet you by Gil's rear gate."

When the police arrived, Tony and Fernando were waiting outside the splintered gate to Gil Dover's backyard. "That's how we found it," Fernando explained. "We didn't go in." Upon entering, the police found what Fernando had said: a broken window, a big mess in the den— plus ten missing rare coins worth $100,000.

Gil Dover wasn't too disturbed. "The coins were insured," he reported. "My uncle left me the collection, and frankly I'd rather have the money. I usually put the alarm on. But today's cleaning day. I don't put it on when the house cleaner comes."

But the cleaner had never come. Al, of Al's Domestic Service, was at his own house across town. He said he got a message from his answering service asking him to skip this week.

A sergeant checked his notes. "Dover says he left home at his usual time, 11 A.M. Fernando looked over the fence at 11:30. Anyone could have broken in during that half-hour period."

"Maybe," his captain replied. "But I have a good idea who's responsible."

Whodunit and how?

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!

This Second Century A.D. Lighthouse Is Still in Use

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 09:00 AM PDT


(Photo: Yellow.Cat)

This is the Tower of Hercules near La Coruña, Spain--the northwestern tip of the Iberian peninsula. It may be the only ancient lighthouse still in use. It's possible that a Phoenician work preceded it, but we can be sure that a Roman structure lies at the core of this tower. The Romans built it sometime during the reign of Emperor Trajan (r. 98-117 A.D.), who was himself from an area that forms modern Spain. The Romans referred to it in classical writings as Farum Brigantium.

During the Eighteenth Century, the architect Eustaquio Giannini conducted a renovation of the site, building a 161-foot tower over the original 112-foot Roman one.


(Photo: Juan José García Fernández)

-via Amusing Planet

Star Portals - The Xenomorphic Looking Glass

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 08:30 AM PDT


Star Portals by Letter-Q Artwork

Being able to create an interdimensional portal wherever you'd like is something that sounds great on paper, but add a xenomorphic lifeform to that equation and watch how quickly those apertures fill up with the stuff nightmares are made out of...

Dark days have come to the world of scientifically themed video games thanks to this Star Portals t-shirt by Letter-Q Artwork, throw one on and share this warning with the world!

Be sure to visit Letter-Q Artwork's official website, Facebook fan page and Twitter, then head on over to their Neatoshop for more horrifyingly good designs:

The Mighty To-ThoroFacehugUltimate BlueprintNeverending Fight

View more designs by Letter-Q Artwork | 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!

Grizzly Bear Chews On a GoPro Camera

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 08:30 AM PDT

(YouTube link)

Chris Weston conducts wildlife photo safaris for a living. He was in the Katmai Peninsula of Alaska recording bears with Monique Brignoni for a documentary and set out a brand-new GoPro camera in the water to see what would happen. It didn’t take long for a 500-pound grizzly to get curious. He chomped down a bit before deciding a camera wasn’t good to eat. What was really surprising is that the camera was barely damaged, and yielded this frightening footage of what it’s like to be eaten by a bear! -via Caters News Agency

The Most Perfect Graffiti Ever

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 08:00 AM PDT

Move over, Banksy! Twitter user Dokter Bertho snapped this picture of the world's most perfect graffiti ever:

I'd add "ink drips" to the list! (Yes, it's probably not the original - We've seen variations floating around the web for a while).

Inside the Mind of an Inventor

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 07:30 AM PDT


Vimeo Link

Stamford, Lincolnshire, U.K. inventor Colin Furze's wacky creations have been featured previously on Neatorama. Furze, a plumber by day, is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the World's Fastest Pram, Longest Motorbike and Biggest Bonfire entries.

This Vimeo Staff Pick gives viewers insight as to the thought processes that led to his various inventions.

Roasted Chickens Wearing Costumes

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 07:00 AM PDT

“It must be Zorro: he has his black hat and Capon.”

Has anyone ever told you that you should dress up your chicken dinner? Jill Alexander Essbaum, aka Emily Chickenson, dresses hers up in costumes to illustrate puns in photographs. She makes the costumes, builds the sets, and sells the resulting photographs in a set of greeting cards. See the full-size pictures at Buzzfeed.

University Makes the Video Game League of Legends a Varsity Sport with Athletic Scholarships

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 06:30 AM PDT


(Photo: pinguino k)

League of Legends is a hugely popular multiplayer online combat game. Many people do not just play, but play so well that they win tournaments for that game. League of Legends has become so intensely competitive that Robert Morris University-Illinois, a college in Chicago, thinks that it can be called a sport. That's why that college is designating its League of Legends team a varsity sport and is offering team members athletic scholarships. Inside Higher Ed reports:

Starting in September, League of Legends players will join hockey goalies, quarterbacks and point guards as varsity athletes at the Chicago campus. The university is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.

The university plans to offer between 45 and 50 athletic scholarships to incoming gamers, said Kurt Melcher, the university’s associate athletic director. The scholarships will pay for 50 percent of tuition and 50 percent of room and board for members of the League of Legends team.

The gamers will be treated like other varsity athletes, Melcher said. They’ll have uniforms, regular practice sessions and postgame meals. Students who need it will also receive tutoring support from RMU’s athletic department.

The League of Legends team will compete in the Collegiate Star League, an eSports league that includes teams from institutions like Harvard, MIT, and the University of California at Berkeley, the athletics official said.

-via Christine Ramsey

POLL: Can a video game be legitimately called a sport?

  • Yes
  • No
  • Just show me the answers!

McKenzie and Her Dad

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 06:00 AM PDT

(YouTube link)

Twelve-year-old McKenzie Carey (warning: autoplay music) suffers from mitochondrial disease. That doesn’t stop her from wanting to do the same things other girls do, like enter beauty pageants. Mike Corey, her truck driver father, lends a hand by dancing on stage with Kenzie to the Miley Cyrus song “The Climb.”

“Pageants give her the same opportunity as other children and show people that she can accomplish anything with a little bit of help,” says her mom, Tammy. “I just want the judges to look at her, not her wheelchair.”

Mitochrondrial disease is classified as terminal, and most children diagnosed do not survive past their teen years. “We were told it would be a miracle if McKenzie made it to age 5,” Tammy says.

McKenzie has won quite a few pageants, and cash prizes go towards her medical expenses. The biggest prize -for all of us- is seeing the smile on her face. -via Viral Viral Videos
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