Neatorama

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• America's Weirdest Airlines
• Where Zombies Came From
• Modern Japanese Cemeteries Use QR Codes and Automated Urn Delivery Systems
• Man Who Married Virtual Character Loses Her Hologram

America's Weirdest Airlines Posted: 28 Apr 2022 06:25 PM PDT When the US airline industry was deregulated in the late 1970s, it opened the door for almost anyone with some money to incorporate a new airline. That opportunity gave rise to an entire crop of specialty airlines, each with a gimmick to draw passengers with particular tastes or desires. For a few years, flyers could select an airline that would cater to your religion, let you smoke despite FAA regulations, fly your cat or dog to a new city, or make you feel like a movie star. There were certainly travelers who chose such amenities, but those specialty passengers mainly wanted to get to a particular destination, and none of the niche airlines were big enough to travel to that many destinations. Eventually, the novelty wore off as passengers prioritized ticket prices, direct routes, and availability over novelty. Read about five such bygone specialty airlines at CNN. -via Digg (Image credit: Aeroprints.com)

Where Zombies Came From Posted: 28 Apr 2022 10:33 AM PDT Zombies come from dead bodies, right? No, they come from movies and TV. No, that's not right, either. The idea of zombies is much older. You're thinking of Haiti, aren't you? That's the answer if you're discussing the origin of zombies with your friends, yet this TED-Ed lesson from Christopher M. Moreman starts even further back than that. But how they were regarded in Haiti is more chilling than any movie about undead brain-eaters. The zombie metaphor was true horror, because it was a little too close to the truth. Maybe you should reserve a little sympathy and respect for zombies. Well, maybe not the walkers, but the people whose lives gave rise to the zombie myth. -via Geeks Are Sexy By the way, the 1932 film White Zombie is available at YouTube.

Modern Japanese Cemeteries Use QR Codes and Automated Urn Delivery Systems Posted: 28 Apr 2022 07:55 AM PDT #Japan - QR codes and cranes: Japan embraces modern cemeteries. 📸 @BEHROUZZZZ#AFPpic.twitter.com/uEKM8QVwS5 — AFP Photo (@AFPphoto) April 21, 2022 In a densely populated city like Tokyo (16,122 people per square mile), land must be used thoughtfully. A sprawling graveyard with plots for individual graves can be expensive. Japan has a solution. AFP describes a modern cemetery that takes up a floor of an office building. Vistors wait in individual mourning booths while a machine retrieves the ashes of the dead from storage and delivers them to the booth. Facilities such as this one may, after 30 years, send the ashes to collective memorials far away from Tokyo. But these memorials are marked with QR codes for individual interred persons, which family members and monks use while praying for the departed. Read more about these innovative burial solutions at AFP. -via Super Punch

Man Who Married Virtual Character Loses Her Hologram Posted: 28 Apr 2022 06:43 AM PDT In 2018, we brought you the story of Akihiko Kondo, who married virtual Vocoloid singer Hatsune Miku. A company called Gatebox built a hologram of Hatsune Miku that used artificial intelligence, allowing Kondo to interact with her and hold simple conversations. Then in March of 2020, Gatebox ceased support for the hologram, explaining that it was a limited production model that had run its course. There couldn't have been a worse time to lose communication with one's spouse, at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic. However, Kondo still talks to Miku, although she doesn't reply. Miku now lives with Kondo in the form of a larger doll. Or many dolls, as seen in Kondo's Instagram gallery. Kondo's life has changed in other ways. He took up the cause of bullying in Japan, and has enrolled in law school, hoping to explore the topics of anime, minority issues, and freedom of expression. Read about Kondo's life since marrying a fictional character at The Mainichi. -Thanks, WTM!

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