Neatorama

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• The Gotham Grrrlz - They're Not Half Bad
• Why Were Comics So Weird In The 50s And 60s?
• Women and Men on Men and Women in Red
• The Confusing Borders of Lake Constance
• Photos Of Pets Before And After Being Praised
• Decoding the Civil War
• These Crappy Retro Board Games Show Us How Good Gamers Have It These Days
• Banned in the USA
• Benedict Cumberbatch is a Distant Relative of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• The Problem with New Year's Resolutions
• Daredevil Photographer Shoots Urban Landscapes From A Fresh Perspective
• Funny Where Wolf Werewolf- Something's Different About Waldo...
• The Joy of Vibrating
• The Cat That Thinks Its A Husky
• Five Movies that are Just Way Too Smart For All of Us
• Dashcam Video Footage Of A Driver Hitting 240 Green Lights In A Row

The Gotham Grrrlz - They're Not Half Bad Posted: 03 Jan 2017 03:59 AM PST The Gotham Grrrls by Donovan Alex All those bad boys from Arkham Asylum were always starting riots, so the bad girls decided to get in on the fun too. But they had a more subtle way of reaching out to the populace of Gotham, a more effective way to getting into their heads- music. Harley, Ivy and Catty became The Gotham Grrrls, a loud and aggressive punk band who played catchy songs like "Beat on the Bat", "Anarchy in the USA" and "Lust for Laughs". Soon these songs were earworming their way into the mind of every citizen in Gotham- including crime fighters like Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson. The plan was going off without a hitch, and those femme fatales were having the time of their lives, but then the day came when they were told Lex Luthor would be their new manager, and their smiles quickly turned to frowns... Show some love for your favorite singing Sirens with this The Gotham Grrrls t-shirt by Donovan Alex, it's a rockin' good way to make your fellow DC fans smile wherever you go! Visit Donovan Alex's Facebook fan page, then head on over to his NeatoShop for more mighty geeky designs: Keep On Bustin El-Mouthy The Katana Maiden The Undercover Resistance View more designs by Donovan Alex | More Cartoon 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!

Why Were Comics So Weird In The 50s And 60s? Posted: 03 Jan 2017 03:59 AM PST There is a noticeable difference between the average superhero comics from the 80s and beyond and issues starring the same characters from the 1950s and 60s, and that difference is all thanks to the Comics Code Authority. The Comics Code kept writers and publishers from printing anything that could be considered immoral or remotely offensive, and their assault on comic books began with the release of Dr. Fredric Wertham's book Seduction Of The Innocent. Susana Polo of Polygon's Issue At Hand discusses the silly effect the Comics Code had on comic storylines, touching on how writers fought back with the power of morally neutral absurdity and how Nixon and Stan Lee helped cut out the Code. (YouTube Link) -Via Polygon

Women and Men on Men and Women in Red Posted: 03 Jan 2017 01:59 AM PST The following is an article from The Annals of Improbable Research, now in all-pdf form. Get a subscription now for only $25 a year! Researcher Daniela Niesta Kayser. (Image credit:University of Potsdam)  Attempts to Detect Some Effects of Red Clothing by Alice Shirell Kaswell, Improbable Research staff Consternation abounds as to the relationships, if there are any, between a woman’s reproductive biology and her decisions to wear, or not to wear, red things. Here are some of the bolder explorations that seek understanding of this vexing subject. Men Viewing Women in Red “Red and Romantic Behavior in Men Viewing Women,” Daniela Niesta Kayser, Andrew J. Elliot, and Roger Feltman, European Journal of Social Psychology, vol. 40, issue 6, October 2010, pp. 901–908. The authors, at the University of Rochester, explain: In two experiments, we investigate..., specifically, whether red on a woman’s shirt increases attraction behavior in men. In Experiment 1, men who viewed an ostensible conversation partner in a red versus a green shirt chose to ask her more intimate questions. In Experiment 2, men who viewed an ostensible interaction partner in a red versus a blue shirt chose to sit closer to her.... [Our results show that it] appears that women would do well to wear a red shirt or dress when preparing for a date with a desirable man, and women may be particularly successful in online dating when they post a picture of themselves in red apparel. More generally, our findings should be of considerable interest to fashion consultants and product designers, as well as marketers and advertisers. Romance in Women Viewing Men “Red, Rank, and Romance in Women Viewing Men,” Andrew J. Elliot, Daniela Niesta Kayser, Stephanie Lichtenfeld, Markus A. Maier, Tobias Greitemeyer, and Richard H. Gramzow, Journal of Experimental Psychology, 2010, vol. 139, no. 3, pp. 399–417. The researchers, at the University of Rochester, the University of Munich, the University of Innsbruck, the University of Southampton, and Tianjin Medical University, explain: [I]n a series of 7 experiments we demonstrate that women perceive men to be more attractive and sexually desirable when seen on a red background and in red clothing.... The influence of red appears to be specific to women’s romantic attraction to men: Red did not... influence women’s perceptions of men’s overall likability, agreeableness, or extraversion. On Men Who View Women in Red in Austria “Sexy Red: Perceived Sexual Receptivity Mediates the Red-Attraction Relation in Men Viewing Woman,” Adam D. Pazda, Andrew J. Elliot, and Tobias Greitemeyer, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, vol. 48, no. 3, 2012, pp. 787-790. The authors, at the University of Rochester and the Slovak Academy of Sciences, explain: Males in Austria participated [in these experiments].... From a pragmatic standpoint, our results suggest that women may need to be judicious in their use of red clothing. Wearing red may be a subtle, yet powerful way to communicate sexual interest to a targeted male, but in public settings replete with eager male receivers, a red signal may result in unwanted sexual advances. More generally, our finding that female red carries sexual meaning will likely be of considerable interest to fashion designers, marketers, and advertisers. On Men Who View Women in Red in Burkina Faso “Red Enhances Women’s Attractiveness to Men: First Evidence Suggesting Universality,” Andrew J. Elliot, Jessica L. Tracy, Adam D. Pazda, and Alec T. Beall, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, vol. 49, no. 1, 2013, pp. 165-168. The authors explain: Recent research in the U.S. and Europe indicates that viewing red enhances men’s attraction to women.... We conducted a first test of this universality hypothesis by examining the influence of red on attraction among men living in an isolated traditional small-scale society in Burkina Faso where red carries explicitly negative associations. The results indicated that the red effect is present in Burkina, and that it emerges in culturally appropriate expressions of attraction. On Women Who Use Red to Be Viewed by Men “Women Use Red in Order to Attract Mates,” Pavol Prokop and Martin Hromada, Ethology, vol. 119, no. 7, 2013, pp. 605-613. The authors, at Trnava University, Slovakia, and Poznań University of Life Sciences, Poland, explain: As expected, women preferred red clothing both in real-life and would-be situations more than men.... A preference for the color red was shown in particular for clothes on the upper parts of the participants’ bodies... Women who were actually involved in a romantic sexual relationship had a preference for red in would-be situations more than single women... On Women Who Use Red to Be Viewed by Men “Women’s Use of Red Clothing as a Sexual Signal in Intersexual Interaction,” Andrew J. Elliot, Tobias Greitemeyer, and Adam D. Pazda, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, vol. 49, no. 3, 2013, pp. 599-602. The authors explain: In Experiment 1, women expecting to converse with an attractive man were more likely to choose to wear a red (versus green) shirt than women expecting to converse with an unattractive man or a woman of average attractiveness. In Experiment 2, women expecting to converse with an attractive man were more likely to choose to wear a red (versus blue) shirt than women expecting to converse with an attractive woman. On Women Who See Red When They See Other Women in Red Clothing “Red and Romantic Rivalry: Viewing Another Woman in Red Increases Perceptions of Sexual Receptivity, Derogation, and Intentions to Mate-Guard,” Adam D. Pazda, Pavol Prokop, and Andrew J. Elliot, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, vol. 40, no. 10, 2014, pp. 1260-1269. The authors explain: Experiment 1 demonstrated that women perceive another woman in a red, relative to white, dress as sexually receptive. Experiment 2 demonstrated that women are more likely to derogate the sexual fidelity of a woman in red, relative to white. Experiment 3 revealed that women are more likely to intend to guard their romantic partner from a woman wearing a red, relative to a green, shirt. Revisiting Romantic Red “Romantic Red Revisited: Red Enhances Men’s Attraction to Young, But Not Menopausal Women,” Sascha Schwarz and Marie Singer, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, vol. 49, no. 1, 2013, pp. 161-164. The authors, at Technische Universität Dortmund, and Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Germany, explain: ► Young and old men judged a young or older woman against a red or white background. ► Red increases only young woman’s sexual attractiveness. ► Young and old men do not differ in this sexual attractiveness ratings. ► Red does not increase physical attractiveness, intelligence or sympathy. ► Men are not aware of this red effect. _____________________ This article is republished with permission from the September-October 2016 issue of the Annals of Improbable Research. You can download or purchase back issues of the magazine, or subscribe to receive future issues. Or get a subscription for someone as a gift! Visit their website for more research that makes people LAUGH and then THINK.

The Confusing Borders of Lake Constance Posted: 02 Jan 2017 11:59 PM PST Tom Scott take us to an amazing place: Lake Constance. Where is Lake Constance? It's in Europe. It's in Germany, Switzerland, and/or Austria. (YouTube link) Whether there are actually international borders running through the lake depends on what country you are from. One nation claims there are lines. Another says the lake belongs to all three countries. And the third doesn't really care! -via reddit

Photos Of Pets Before And After Being Praised Posted: 02 Jan 2017 09:59 PM PST (Image Link) Some people believe their dogs understand everything they say, while others claim dogs only understand facial expressions and emotional responses, but most animal behaviorists agree the truth is a combination of the two. (Image Link) Dogs can understand words their humans say to them repeatedly, and they begin to associate things like mealtime, praise and admonishment with those words, the most popular being the praise "good dog". (Image Link) Redditor JavaReallySucks posted a pic of his adorable dog before and after being called a good boy, to illustrate the way his dog's face lights up after being praised by his master. The photographic exercise seemed like fun so others took to shooting before and after praise pics of their pets, which worked really well with the dogs while the cats continued to not give a crap one way or the other. (Image Link) See People Are Posting Pics Of Their Animals Before & After Being Called A Good Boy here

Decoding the Civil War Posted: 02 Jan 2017 07:59 PM PST Decoding the Civil War is a volunteer crowdsource project that aims to decipher and digitize the contents of Civil War telegrams from the Thomas T. Eckert Papers archives. It's a simple matter of being able to read cursive, particularly the fancy style of cursive used 150 years ago. Volunteers won't be the exclusive transcribers of any document; getting many pairs of eyes to decode the written telegrams helps to ensure accuracy. That said, I have no problem whatsoever decoding every word of the above handwriting. However, many of the telegrams contain code words, and don't always make sense as written. If you have some extra time and want to contribute to the preservation of historical documents for future generations, check out the tasks set up at Zooniverse. -via TYWKIWDBI

These Crappy Retro Board Games Show Us How Good Gamers Have It These Days Posted: 02 Jan 2017 05:59 PM PST (Image Link) Back in the 70s and 80s companies were making board games based on anything and everything, and they were trying to appeal to adults with both theme and gameplay. (Image Link) But it seems like their idea of adult meant bland and boring, because retro games like The Backbone and 15 Love are easily identified as mind-numbingly dull simply by looking at the board. (Image Link) They, like many of the games on Cracked's sarcastically titled list of The 9 Most Insane Board Games Of All Time, also feature themes and box art that have nothing to do with the game. (Image Link) With crazy clowns, angry lemons, and Kilkenny cats dueling with pistols on the boxes you'd think these games would have something interesting about them, but their colorful box art was pure gimmick. (Image Link) The clown game Narro is just a simplified version of checkers, the angry lemons game Früchtchen plays like Old Maid with dice, and The Amusing Game of Kilkenny Cats is simply checkers mixed with Sorry!, with no cats, no guns and no fun! Read The 9 Most Insane Board Games Of All Time here (NSFW language)

Banned in the USA Posted: 02 Jan 2017 03:59 PM PST On September 11, 2001, Clear Channel owned 1200 radio stations in the United States. In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, programmers came up with a blacklist of sorts, of songs that might possibly cause trauma or offense. The list was only meant to be suggestions, but staff at each station adhered to it pretty closely, for years afterward. The radio adage is that "what you don't play can't hurt you," and no one wants to put their job in jeopardy over a song. On the other hand, not getting radio airplay in 2001 had a profound effect on the musicians behind those songs. Some had just released albums or singles that were stopped in their tracks, while others saw their entire careers damaged. Fifteen years later, Ringer talked to five artists who were on the list. C.J. Pierce [Drowning Pool]: We started doing USO tours. We went over and played on active bases. We went to Iraq and Kuwait a few times. And the troops, they said they would listen to “Bodies” to get in the right frame of mind to do their job, to come home safe. We felt more of a sense of a reverse effect: Radio wasn’t playing it, but everybody else affected by the situation was listening to the song. Serj Tankian [System of a Down]: On 9/12, I had written a statement called “Understanding Oil” and posted it to the band’s website [the next day]. It was basically a very — it was a geopolitical thought process, trying to understand what had happened and how it was linked to our foreign policy of the past 50 years, et cetera. And it was really — we got a lot of heat for it. Death threats, you name it. It taught me a valuable lesson: It’s quite easy to speak the truth when public opinion is on your side. It’s not, when it’s not. It’s pretty painful when it’s not. But the truth doesn’t change. Richard Patrick [Filter]: At some point, I don’t know what happened, but everyone just wanted to be entertained by the pretty people. It was like the end of — it was like a place where all of a sudden the world became too horrified by reality, and then all of a sudden everyone wanted all their entertainment to be pretty. Even in movies and stuff like that. Read the rest of the sad but fascinating oral history of the musical aftermath of 9/11 with these guys plus Corey Taylor of Slipknot and Barry McGuire.  -via Nag on the Lake

Benedict Cumberbatch is a Distant Relative of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Posted: 02 Jan 2017 01:59 PM PST It turns out that Benedict Cumberbatch may have been born to play Sherlock Holmes. Researchers have recently discovered that he is actually a distant relative (16th cousins, twice removed to be exact) of Mr. Holmes' creator, Conan Doyle. Of course, that is pretty distant. To put it in perspective, their last common ancestor was John of Gaunt, the duke of Lancaster, who lived in the 14th century. Researchers from Ancestry.com discovered the connection in their free time simply because they love the Sherlock series, which returned yesterday by the way. According to Fox, the website has not yet told the actor about the connection.

The Problem with New Year's Resolutions Posted: 02 Jan 2017 11:59 AM PST Tingman filmed his four-year-old daughter Laura talking about New Year resolutions. She's right. The new year shouldn't be the only time we decide to make changes in our lives. Food for thought.   (YouTube link) But that's not what makes this video special. She four years old! No, she didn't write this speech. She's probably not reading cue cards. But even if she was fed lines one at a time, she's got amazing presence and inflection, which makes her the cutest motivational speaker you will hear this week. Watch a video of Laura playing piano at age two.  -via Metafilter

Daredevil Photographer Shoots Urban Landscapes From A Fresh Perspective Posted: 02 Jan 2017 09:59 AM PST If you want your urban landscape photos to get attention online you have to present images taken from a fresh perspective, which is why daredevils and urban explorers take the freshest photos. And speaking of fresh- these stunning photos by self-taught photographer Tatsuto Shibata take my breath away, because Tatsuto's perspectives are anything but ordinary. Tatsuto shoots from way up high and deep inside, showing us the sights from several different, and quite unusual, perspectives. But he doesn't just show us the city from a daredevil's perspective- he takes us on an enthralling  tour of each town, as Tatsuto switches up his style on a whim. See Daredevil Japanese Photographer Explores Urban Landscapes From A New Perspective here

Funny Where Wolf Werewolf- Something's Different About Waldo... Posted: 02 Jan 2017 08:59 AM PST Funny Where Wolf Werewolf by Mudge People kept blindly searching for a guy in red and white stripes named Waldo, never stopping to consider Waldo is a pretty common name- and that particular Waldo had been on the road a really long time. When people spend that much time on the road you're bound to run into a few freaks and even more monsters, which is why spending too much time traveling can really change you. And yet people kept wondering where they would find Waldo next, searching so closely for that stripey fellow that they ignored the trail of bodies he was leaving behind... Warn people about the danger of searching for Waldo with this Funny Where Wolf Werewolf t-shirt by Mudge, it's the delicious way to show the world you found Waldo- and he ain't lookin' too good these days! Visit Mudge's Facebook fan page, official website and Twitter, then head on over to his NeatoShop for more frightfully fun designs: Sabre Toothed Tiger Wearing a Winter Beanie Retro Pit Bull With Bowler Hat and Monocle MudgeWare Zombie Hockey Bear T-Shirt Pocket Great White Shark Shredding Some Pepperoni Pizza View more designs by Mudge | 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!

The Joy of Vibrating Posted: 02 Jan 2017 08:59 AM PST Ever since we got electrical power, there have been weight-loss gadgets that depend on vibration. They don't work; you can't vibrate fat away. That doesn't mean these gadgets can't be fun. Two little boys found one out for demonstration in a store and decided to try it out. One was overcome with the ridiculousness of it all. The other discovered what vibrating will do to your voice. Then the first kid found that so funny that he literally ROFLed.  -via Digg

The Cat That Thinks Its A Husky Posted: 02 Jan 2017 07:59 AM PST Back in 2014 we featured a husky that was raised around cats and thus, thought it was a cat, but as it turns out, we now know the opposite can be true too. Meet Rosie, a cat that was abandoned at only three weeks old and raised in a home with a surrogate mother husky who happens to be good friends with a few other huskies who live in the neighborhood. The kitty survived thanks to its surrogate family, but Rosie never learned what it's like to be a cat. Instead, she thinks she's just a slightly smaller dog. Like her dog buddies, Rosie likes to go hiking, swimming, kayaking and more -basically whatever her humans and dog friends are up to, she wants to be a part of it.  You can keep up on this cute kitty's adventures, and those of her friends, over on Instagram. Via Life Daily

Five Movies that are Just Way Too Smart For All of Us Posted: 02 Jan 2017 06:59 AM PST If you don't quite understand a movie, it may be because it went just above your head or maybe it's really just a confusing mess. If you liked the movie, a second or third showing may reveal all. Or you can read the reviews and get an explanation -if there is one. Then there are movies where you think, "LOL, I know this makes sense but I don't want to work too hard at it, so I'll just take their word for it." Which of those categories does Primer fall into for you? Shane Carruth delivered high on complexity with his film about a pair of scientists who build their own version of a time traveling machine. What was so amazing about this film is that it was created with the low budget of seven thousand dollars. The film contains a plethora of minor details that are important in moving the story forward. Complex doesn’t even begin to describe its intense intellectualism and facts with which it is packed. In fact, discussions are still taking place about this intellifilm and people are just starting to figure it out after twelve years time. It is a brilliant film If you like mind-expanding movies that force you to think and notice clues and keep up with subplots, you'll want to check out the film suggestions featured at Unreality.

Dashcam Video Footage Of A Driver Hitting 240 Green Lights In A Row Posted: 02 Jan 2017 05:59 AM PST One of the more popular automotive-related urban legends is the tale of "nothing but green", in which a driver claims to have hit X amount of green lights in a row while driving through the city. This urban legend is hard to believe in big cities like Los Angeles, New York or San Francisco, because it seems like all the other drivers on the road would make it really hard to continuously  every light, green or not. But NYC ride-share driver Noah Forman hit an astounding 240 green lights while driving through Manhattan, and Shawn Swetsky posted Noah's dashcam footage to prove it. Noah hits 240 green lights. from Shawn Swetsky - Post Producer on Vimeo. You can also watch Noah hit 240 green lights in a row in real time on the full 26 minute long video here. -Via Boing Boing

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