To celebrate Halloween, NASA Cassini's website has posted spooky sounds from Saturn and Titan.
(via naacal)
Spooky Sounds From Saturn
Attention Halloween Partygoers
Thinking of going to your Halloween party dressed as Sarah Palin?
Think again!
(via Some Guy With a Website)
Immersion Scarf
Can't read your mobile phone because of the disturbing bright sunlight?
Use the Immersion Scarf and you'll be sure to look like a fool.
Could You Handle A Slippery Dick?
Some people could not bear to do it. Others might be able, but only with their eyes closed.
Others might swallow hard and grasp it with both hands. Given a Slippery Dick, ask yourself one question... could you handle it?
(via Robert-John)
Dystopic Horizons Realty
Dystopic Horizons Realty has found the solution to our depressed economy and the local housing crunch. 'Artist Housing' is not a cardboard house... it's a cardboard home! The exceptional lifestyle that cultivates creative thinking.
Each inspired live/work unit is hand-crafted, and capable of magnificent views. The loft-like Cubist floorplan allows convenient interior access and customized storage solutions. Green construction and copious natural lighting and ventilation support ecologically responsible living.
(via Laughing Squid)
Kids Halloween Candy Code
Sacramento kids developed a hobo-esque code for Halloween, leaving chalk symbols on the sidewalks outside houses to indicate positive or negative candy information.
USB Cooler Keyboard
You really do not want to have wet hands when handling delicate visual materials for your work. No more sweaty hands to disturb your creativity.
This keyboard has three internal cooling fans to keep your hands cool and clean.
18 Extraordinary Modern Beds And Bed Designs
Considering we spend a third of our lives occupying them, it is surprising bed designs have remained so stable throughout history - until now.
Here are 18 groundbreaking beds that are straining to free themselves from convention, predictability and even gravity.
Top 10 Countries Censoring The Web
When the World Wide Web was created in 1989 by Tim Berners-Lee, its main objective was to enable the free exchange of information via interlinked hypertext documents. Almost 20 years later, that objective has been accomplished on most parts of the world, but not in all of them.
Some countries are trying hard to keep an iron hand over the flow of information that takes place on the Web. Here are 10 countries who are censoring the web.
Robocop On A Unicorn: An Unlikely Combination?
Yes, you read correctly. Robocop and Unicorn are united in a meme that is sweeping the internet (and possibly ridding it of wrong doers at the same time?).
Yet what is the point, if indeed there is one? Take a look at this web-based phenomenon and make up your own mind.
(via Robert-John)
5 Signs You've Had One Too Many To Drink
Check out this funny 'Hollywood-style' Heineken trailer of introducing some of the embarrassing characters that emerge when one of your friends had one too many to drink.
Then go to the bar to keep an eye on things. See if you can detect when somebody has had too many drinks.
(thanks Paul)
Top 10 Web Political Moments
On the eve of an historic US election that has seen the Internet dominate the political landscape, The Webby Awards named the Web's ten most influential political moments.
From Senator Dianne Feinstein breaking new ground with the first campaign Web site in 1994 to the celebrated CNN YouTube debates in 2007, the list charts the Internet's evolution from political postscript to powerful political tool.
(thanks Jenny)
Caves: The World Beneath The World
If you are stretched and squeezed by everyday life, then you might be in perfect shape to explore caves. Enter a narrow natural passageway that may lead to a simply mind-boggling underground world.
Caves may lurk right under your feet: a fascinating and unexpected environment, which is often known only to spelunkers and dedicated Gollum-seekers.
Ghosts in the Library
A list of libraries that are said to be haunted. The list is compiled by George Eberhart of the American Library Association.
The paranormal has a strong hold on the imagination of many people, and for them this series should be especially attractive. But who doesn't enjoy a good ghost tale?
(thanks Barbara)
Meat Art Gallery
Meat After Meat Joy is a group exhibition of contemporary artists who use meat in their work. Curated by Heide Hatry, the show's title refers Carolee Schneemann's performance/happening Meat Joy itself projected in the gallery.
The show features sculpture, photography, painting, and video pieces 'in order to investigate the paradoxical relationship meat has to the body.'
Your Debut Album
Here's something funny to do when you're bored.
1 - Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random.
The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.
2 - Go to Random quotations: http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3.
The last four words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album. If you want to do this again, hit refresh to generate new quotes, because clicking the quotes link again will just give you the same quotes over and over again.
3 - Go to Flickr's 'explore the last seven days':
http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/.
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover. Put it all together, that's your debut album.
Here's my debut album:
My band: Bat Hawk,
My album: Take a Long Run,
My album cover:
(via This Could Only Happen To Me)
Bloodhound 1000 Mph Rocket Car
Roughly three years from now, former RAF pilot Andy Green will be strapped into a purple-and-yellow contraption. And a few seconds later, he hopes to become the first man to drive through the 1,000mph barrier.
Green, 45, hopes that in his Bloodhound supersonic car he will smash his existing land speed record by more than 200mph.
Top 10 Most Outrageous Opening Lines In Literature
I am a sick man... I am a wicked man. An unattractive man, I think my liver hurts. From Notes From the Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
Top 10 Most Outrageous Opening Lines In Literature.
The Fire Rainbow: An Astonishing And Rare Marvel Of Nature
No, it's not the first of April. The phenomenon known as a 'fire rainbow' does exist. A fire rainbow is a halo or an optical phenomenon similar in appearance to a horizontal rainbow, but in contrast caused by the refraction of light through the ice crystals in cirrus clouds.
Here, read the science behind it and marvel at some amazing photography of this rare beauty, the circumhorizont arc, known to its friends as a CHA.
(via Robert-John)
Beautiful Halloween Wallpapers And Halloween DIY-Tutorials
Halloween is around the corner and the atmosphere is filled with pumpkins, skeletons, bonfires, horror movies and other scary things spread across the houses, stores and, of course, web sites.
Just the right time to spice up your desktop and your designs with an appropriate Halloween spirit. Here are some beautiful Halloween wallpapers, art works, recipes and tutorials for your scary Halloween party.
Short Term Memory Checker
Short term memory is information that undergoes little processing or interpretation and can be recalled for only a few seconds. Estimates of short term memory capacity vary - from about 3 or 4 elements (i.e., words, digits, or letters) to about 9 elements.
Check your short term memory. You are shown some items. Push the OK button when you have memorized them. Next find and click them among a lot of other items. You advance to the next level if you found all items. But if you make a mistake in even one, it's game over.
10 Fun Facts About Pablo Picasso
Did you know Pablo Picasso's full name was Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Martyr Patricio Clito Ruíz y Picasso?
Or that Picasso had such a difficult birth and was such a weak baby that when he was born, the midwife thought that he was stillborn so she left him on a table to attend his mother.
10 Fun Facts About Pablo Picasso.
Skip Conversions
Skip Conversions by artist Oliver Bishop-Young. It's a project which suggests new uses for dumpsters.
German Police Seek Speeding British Muppet
German traffic police have been left looking like proper muppets by a British prankster. An Audi TT Audi A4 Avant with British registration plates has been repeatedly caught speeding on roads in the Bavarian city of Bayreuth.
The speed cameras in Germany are made to take photos of drivers who sit in the left side of the vehicle, so drivers of UK-style cars driver can't be easily identified.
A police source said: 'Because this is a British vehicle we can never get a decent picture. The driver has obviously worked this out because he has placed a large puppet in the passenger seat.'
The GreenDot Project
Everyone has a unique body signature. GreenDot is a research project that investigates motion capture, pattern recognition, and Intrinsic Biometrics'' techniques to detect human body language in video.
The goal of the project is to train a computer to recognize a person based on his or her motions, and to identify the person's emotional state, cultural background, and other attributes.
(via Boing Boing)
Egg Cup Design Hits The Twenty First Century
Life's enchanted cup! Byron may not have been referring to the humble egg cup when he wrote that line, but design and technology have brought the egg cup bang up to date with some new takes on an old idea.
Take a look at these 21st century egg cups - breakfast may never be the same again!
(via Robert-John)
The Most Overhyped Gadgets
PR campaigns blow millions on them. News anchors announce their arrival like they're members of state. And the rest of us suffer when they utterly fail to deliver.
They're overhyped tech products, and unfortunately, we've run across quite a few of them through the years. Here are a few of them... or at least, the ones we most bitterly remember.
Virtual Husband
Yesterday I posted about a Japanese woman who had been arrested after she killed her virtual husband.
The question is not how she killed him, but why?
Here's the answer!
Timeline Of U.S. Presidential Elections
This timeline is a presentation of popular and electoral voting data from U.S. Presidential elections since 1860.
What The Real Crisis Is Like
If you think that the current economic crisis is something that has never happened in history before, you may be wrong!
After the collapse of the agriculture sector in Zimbabwe in 2000, the inflation in that country skyrocketed to 231 million percent a year.
Where These Internet Pioneers Got Their Names
Yahoo!, Sony, Motorola, RedHat, Oracle, Google, etc. These names are mentioned everyday in the Tech world. We know who they are and what they do, but we might not know how they settled with their brand name and the story behind it.
Here are 18 Internet giants and stories on how they end up with their names.
Some Things May Not Be Transparently Obvious
Trick photography is hardly a new phenomenon – in fact it has been around since the invention of the camera.
Here though is a strange new obsession – creating 'transparent' computer screens and capturing a digital image of a digital image of, well – a digital image!
(via Robert-John)
Fun Facts About The United Nations
On October 24, 1945, the United Nations officially came into existence when its Charter was ratified by the five permanent members of the Security Council (France, Republic of China, Soviet Union, United Kingdom and United States) and a majority of other 46 member countries.
To celebrate, here are 10 fun facts about the UN.
Home Schooled
Home Schooled is a comics series by American artist Ash Jackson.
Co-writing by Silas Jackson.
The Presurfer will feature a Home Schooled cartoon every Monday. This is an absolute exclusive cooperation between The Presurfer and Ash Jackson.
Home Schooled is more or less a reflection of the wacky and occasionally interesting adventures of the artist, Ash Jackson, himself, with the aid of his friends, family, and other cohorts.
Title: Happy Halloween!
click on the picture for real size
Weird Sound Generator
The Weird Sound Generator makes wacky, zany, weird, and unusual sounds. They stimulate brain cell growth in humans and pets.
Exposure of fetus to Weird Sounds promotes genius and prodigy...ism. Exposure of adolescents to Weird Sounds promotes respect and admiration for parents. Exposure of octogenarians to Weird Sounds reduces flatulence.
This project was personally endorsed by Albert Einstein who, while alive, looked into the future and declared: 'Zom day zomvun iss goink to make a very veird zound generator.' Not many people know this fact but now you do.
Weird Sound Generator.
50 Beautiful Graffiti Artworks
Street culture and graffiti are well-known for being provocative, appealing, bold and uncompromising. Originally used by gangs to mark their territory in some urban area, graffitis have now become a rich medium for unrestricted expression of ideas and statements.
50 Examples of beautiful graffiti artworks.
Turn Your Name Into A Face
Want to waste some time with something useless?
Turn your name into a face.
I turned my name into a face and this is what it looks like.
Woman In Jail Over Virtual Murder
A Japanese woman has been arrested after she allegedly killed her virtual husband in a popular video game. The 43-year-old was reportedly furious at finding herself suddenly divorced in the online game Maplestory.
Police say she illegally accessed log-in details of the man playing her husband, and killed off his character. The woman, a piano teacher, is in jail in Sapporo waiting to learn if she faces charges of illegally accessing a computer and manipulating data.
25 Lunches Too Awesome To Eat
Bentos, or boxed lunches, have a long history rooted in ancient Japan. They originally began as simple meals that required little or no effort to assemble. Today they are a vibrant art form that is popular worldwide.
(thanks Andi)
Find The Exact Address Of Any Point On Earth
If you know the exact road directions for reaching a particular point in the city but you have no clue about the postal address of that place, this Google Maps mashup can help.
Use a search box to find an approximate location on Google Maps. Then click any point to see its address. You can use a zip code, address or city name.
Playing The Building
Playing the Building is a sound installation by artist David Byrne in which the infrastructure, the Battery Maritime Building in New York - is converted into a giant musical instrument.
Devices are attached to the building structure - to the metal beams and pillars, the heating pipes, the water pipes - and are used to make these things produce sound. The activations are of three types: wind, vibration, striking. The devices do not produce sound themselves, but they cause the building elements to vibrate, resonate and oscillate so that the building itself becomes a very large musical instrument.
Enceladus Up Close
Saturn's tiny, icy moon Enceladus has recently been visited by NASA's Cassini orbiter on several very close approaches.
Scientists are learning a great deal about this curious little moon. Cassini has been orbiting Saturn for over 4 years now, and has provided some amazing views of Enceladus.
Search!o
Search!o is a tabbed search engine which aims to simplify your searching needs by bringing a lot of sites in a single page.
Search!o allows you to search in particular categories, including music, images, books, blogs, news, fonts, recipes, jobs, torrents, tutorials people and many more.
RealSnailMail
RealSnailMail is the first webmail service using live snails.
The moment you click 'send' your message travels at the speed of light to our server where it awaits collection by a real live snail. Our snails are equipped with a miniaturised electronic circuit and antenna, enabling them to be assigned messages.
Your message is collected from a despatch centre at one end of their enclosure. Once associated with the tiny electronic chip on the snail's shell your message will be carried around until the snail chances by the drop off point. Here more hardware collects your message and forwards it to its final destination.
Inflatable Fruitcake
It's festive, it's traditional and it's inedible - just like the real thing. When inflated, this inflatable fruitcake makes a great centerpiece for the holiday dinner table.
10 People With Unbelievable Talents
Miroslaw Magola moves objects with his mind, Manjit Singh pulls an airplane with his ears, and Zhang Quan can clap as loud as a helicopter.
Just some of the people with unbelievable talents.
(thanks Luke)
Pro Thumb Wrestling
Pro Thumb Wrestling is a full-size, officially sanctioned professional thumb wrestling ring. All contenders must insert their thumbs through the opposite corner holes and come out wrestling.
The Stink In Farts Controls Blood Pressure
A smelly rotten-egg gas in farts controls blood pressure in mice, a new study finds. The unpleasant aroma of the gas, called hydrogen sulfide, can be a little too familiar, as it is expelled by bacteria living in the human colon and eventually makes its way, well..., out.
The new research found that cells lining mice's blood vessels naturally make the gas and this action can help keep the rodents' blood pressure low by relaxing the blood vessels to prevent hypertension.
List Of Multiple Births
A Wkipedia list of multiple births and pregnancies greater than twins, such as triplets (3), quadruplets (5), quintuplets (5), and up to quindecaplets (15).
If The MPAA Did Handbags
In day to day life it is hard to sometimes appreciate the restrictions put on us because they become camouflaged into our every day life and are just accepted as the norm. The media industry is trying to camouflage a lot of unethical restrictions to become the norm of how we consume video and music.
Applying the logic of the digital media industry to the handbag industry may seem like an unorthodox topic but it sure does point out the hypocrisies and bad ethics of certain media companies and organisations.
If the MPAA Did Handbags.
(thanks Lauren)
Cool Shooters Ice Tray
What's cooler than a shot glass made of ice?
Fill Cool Shooters water or your favorite juice, freeze, and then pop out four fully-formed with frozen shot glasses. A great way to add a little nip to your favorite sip!
Designate
Are you tired of arguing about whose turn it is to do the washing-up, whose going to make the tea and whose time has come to water the plants?
Let Designate make that tricky decision! Simply type in your question, enter some options and Designate will decide for you.
Powering A Clean Energy Revolution
Halloween is nearly here, and the days are getting shorter. Does the prospect of high energy prices this winter make your blood run cold? Check out how much you can save by taking a couple of simple steps.
(via Google Blogoscoped)
Blogging Plant
A potted plant that posts daily news on its mood and health is believed to be the world's first botanical blogger. Midori-san, which lives on the counter of a Japanese café, writes regular updates with the help of sensors attached to its leaves.
The detectors pick up electronic signals on the surface of the plant, which responds to light and human touch. The data is then combined with weather and temperature information and translated into chatty blog posts using a computer algorithm.
(via Arbroath)
My Fame Star
With My Fame Star you can choose from stock images or upload a photo of your own. You can then customize a True Hollywood Stories-type video that chronicles the subject's rise to - and fall from - the dizzying heights of pop-culture celebrity.
(thanks fusionjazz)
Red Bull Air Race
The Red Bull Air Race, started in 2003, is a series of air races, held all over the world, where pilots fly specialized aerobatic planes through a series of gates, racing the clock, accumulating points toward the championship title.
Pilots must also perform specific manoeuvres while passing through the gates. These photos are from the most recent two races, in Budapest, Hungary, and Porto, Portugal.
15 Awesome Architectural Optical Illusions
As architects struggle to balance aesthetic appeal with practical considerations, many are finding the best way to create bold, interesting, even mind-bending features is through the use of optical illusions.
In effect, our own eyes are being used against us - and nobody's complaining about the results!
15 Awesome Architectural Optical Illusions.
Songs Of The Charts, Charts Of The Songs
Would you be able to recognize some of the world's most famous and popular songs if they were represented by a chart instead of by their tune? Take a few minutes to look through these and see if you can guess the songs of the charts by, well, by the charts of the songs.
Songs Of The Charts, Charts Of The Songs.
(via Robert-John)
7 Most Extreme Cliff Diving Spots On Earth
After an arduous climb up to the top of a waterfall or massive cliff, are you feeling brave enough to take a flying leap from the peak of your destination?
How about if it means that you have to jump through narrow crevices into icy cold waters, risking your life because of the height of the jump and the chance that you’re going to pummel straight into the side of that cliff?
Some crazy people out there aren't afraid to take these chances, or are at least brave enough to overcome those fears. Here's a look at seven of the places where they go to do those insane jumps.
(thanks Andy)
How 10 American Towns Got Their Weird Names
Plan to hit the road next summer, but don't know where to go? We don't mean to be rude, but have you considered Hell? Hell, Michigan, that is.
For a different kind of vacation, check out this tour of off-road America, where unusual names are the main attraction.
Proboscian Sippy Mask
This mask is made of coiled, sewn, polyester horsehair braid. It has a drinking tube up the proboscis because nothing irritates more than having to remove your mask each time you'd like a sip of something tasty at a party.
(via Everlasting Blort)
6 Of The World's Greatest Missing Treasures
They were fantastic examples of opulence, decadence, and splendor.
People marveled at their beauty, drooled over their excess, and cowered at their power.
And now they're gone. But where are they? And what happened to them?
Explore 6 of the world's greatest missing treasures.
Brain Habits You Didn't Realize You Had
The brain is certainly the most amazing part of the human body. It becomes more interesting when it does not work the way you expect it should. Psychology frequently establishes our intuitions about how the human mind works, but it reveals a number of surprises as well.
Although some psychology students will have heard one or two of these before, here's a list of brain habits you probably didn't realize you had.
50 Stunning Underwater Photos
Underwater photography is a specialized art, relatively few photographers attempt it. But it offers many exciting and rare photographic opportunities for fresh and truly different vivid images.
Here are 50 beautiful examples of underwater photos, created by artists and professional photographers. All works featured below have the artists and photographers’ names linked to their portfolios or websites.
10 Unusual Monuments To Rub, Kiss Or Pat For Good Luck
Whether it's on their noses, bellies or bottoms, these good luck talismans brave the affections of thousands of people every year who are trying to improve their lot. It's amazing how seriously the superstitions are taken, to the point where people plan their entire vacations around them.
Fertility, money, shyness, whatever ails you, chances are you can probably find something in this list of monuments to rub in order to make it go away.
(thanks Andi)
Soft Drink Can Generator
Soda. Pop. Coke.
Whatever you choose to call it, here's the Soft Drink Can Generator, where you can create your own brand of carbonated sugar water.
Enter some text, choose an emblem, and pick your colors and patterns. A soft drink can will be generated for you. Collect 'em, trade 'em, put 'em on your website, or e-mail 'em to your friends.
More generators at my Generator Blog.
A Decade Of Internet Superstars: Where Are They Now?
Whatever happened to the Evolution of Dance guy or that kid who loved Britney Spears so much he cried for her under his sheet? What about the 'Numa Numa' guy, or Mahir 'I Kiss You' Cagri?
Here's what happened to them and other web celebrities when their 15 minutes of fame ended.
23 Tubes, 1 Bowl
What do you do with 23 tubes of toothpaste which are past expiration and need to be thrown out. You squeeze them all into one bowl, stir it all together, then put some on your toothbrush and brush your teeth with it.
(via Grow-A-Brain)
Top 10 'Tear-Jerker' Films
It might be a 66-year-old cartoon but Walt Disney's Bambi has been named the best tear-jerker of all time. The tale of the young deer whose mother is shot by hunters topped a poll of films which make you weep.
Top ten movie tearjerkers:
1. Bambi (1942)
2. Ghost (1990)
3. The Lion King (1994)
4. E.T. (1982)
5. Titanic (1997)
6. Beaches (1998)
7. Philadelphia (1993)
8. Watership Down (1978)
9. Boys Don't Cry (1999)
10. Steel Magnolias (1989)
40 Of The Most Creative Lamp Designs Ever
We all know that one of the easiest ways you have to light a dark corner in any room or add some atmospheric lighting to your living-room area, is to place your choice of lamp.
In fact, the lighting selected and used can complete the statement of a house or improve a room's decoration and give the feeling one is looking for. Here are 40 of the most creative lamp designs that you can find on the internet these days.
Sleep Safe Tape
Sleep Safe Tape is a roll of standard transparent tape that has pictures of an eye printed along the length of the tape. Many situations exist where it is taboo to sleep despite the natural inclination of humans to rest their tired eyes.
With Sleep Safe Tape, users can get the shuteye they need while appearing to be wide-awake.
(via Everlasting Blort)
Polar Bear Plea Makes For 'Explosive' Art
Artist Mark Jenkins, best known for his packing tape models, has recently been causing another stir on the streets – this time in Washington DC. Motorists were surprised to see a somewhat disheveled looking Polar Bear signaling his distress to the passing traffic.
The bear was one of a series of life-sized installations which were scattered around the city. The aim was to call attention to the plight of the Polar bears, who are losing enormous areas of their habitat due to global warming.
(via Robert-John)
The Life Of The Queen Bee
With the help of some stunning photography, we take a journey through the life of the queen of the hive. Take a look at an amazing life cycle.
(via Robert-John)
Lightmark
Photographers Cenci Goepel and Jens Warnecke travel around the world. With flashlights and torches they make 'Lightmarks' in beautiful landscapes. The result? A combination of movement, light and darkness.
(via Everlasting Blort)
10 Weird Psychology Studies
Psychologists are skilled at inventing unusual tests of human thought and behaviour, but some research is pretty weird.
There's research into psychic dogs, invasions from Mars, the antidepressant properties of semen, pigeon-guided missiles and men's urination.
10 Weird Psychology Studies.
Man's Oldest Friend
For hundreds of years they've been considered man's best friend, and now it seems dogs have been around longer than thought.
Scientists have discovered the oldest-ever remains of dogs dating back 31,700 years - that's 221,900 in dog years.
(via Optical Poptitude)
Home Schooled
Home Schooled is a comics series by American artist Ash Jackson.
Co-writing by Silas Jackson.
The Presurfer will feature a Home Schooled cartoon every Monday. This is an absolute exclusive cooperation between The Presurfer and Ash Jackson.
Home Schooled is more or less a reflection of the wacky and occasionally interesting adventures of the artist, Ash Jackson, himself, with the aid of his friends, family, and other cohorts.
Title: The Greatest Victory.
click on the picture for real size
Ma Li And Zhai Xiaowei
A ballet performance by Ma Li and Zhai Xiaowei from China. Nothing special you could say until you know that she, Ma Li, lost her right arm in a car accident and he, Zhai Xiaowei lost his left leg in a tractor accident.
Creative Anniversary Calculator
I just found out that in Mercurian years I would be 95 years old, and in Saturnian years I would have reached the age of 2. I also found out I have lived for 1,864,984,200 seconds, or 31,083,070 minutes, or 518,051 hours.
In my life I have blinked about 311 million times and if left uncut, my fingernails would have grown to a length of 59 inches.
How did I find out? With the Creative Anniversary Calculator.
The Incredible Beauty Of Hummingbirds In Flight
Nothing can quite prepare you for the exquisite sight of a hummingbird on the wing. Nature has truly spoiled us with this astonishing spectacle.
Take a look as ten different Hummingbirds take flight in their search for food and marvel at the aerodynamics of one of the world's truly astonishing species.
(via Robert-John)
Entoptic Phenomena
Entoptic phenomena are visual effects whose source is within the eye itself.
A Flickr photoset of Entoptic Phenomena.
The Strangest Toilets From Around The World
I didn't know there was something like World Toilet Day. Well, there is, on November 19.
To celebrate, Offbeat Earth uncovers the oddest toilets from around the globe, provide interesting facts, and even supply information about a toilet-shaped house!
Upside Down Dogs
There's a place for everything on the Internet, so why not for a site showing pictures of dogs lying on their backs.
Upside Down Dogs.
Digital Conversion PSA
With the impending switch from analog to digital video, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration has released this informative PSA on just how easy the conversion will be.
Mark Khaisman Tapeworks
Mark Khaisman uses several layers of brown tape on Plexiglas panels to produce these works of art. Mark Khaisman was born in Kiev, Ukraine and studied art and architecture in Moscow, Russia. He currently lives and works in Philadelphia, USA.
Twinzes?
This just goes to show that the idea that every person in the world has a twin out there also applies to furry things. Well, sort of...
Grooveshark Lite
Grooveshark Lite is a web based streaming music service. Grooveshark is the easiest way to discover, share, and listen to music online. No registration required, easy to use and free.
200+ Tools For Surviving The Economic Crisis
With the economy in such an uncertain place, many people are fearful of losing their jobs and lifelong investments. There are countless simple online services and tools dedicated to helping you take control of these elements.
Mashable put together a list of over 200 tools to help you do everything from manage your personal and professional finances to find a job in your given field, get discounts at local and online stores, and much more.
Space Smells Like Fried Steak And Hot Metal
Outer space smells like fried steak, hot metal and welding a motorbike, scientists said. Nasa has commissioned Steven Pearce, a chemist and managing director of fragrance manufacturing company Omega Ingredients, to recreate the smell of space in a laboratory.
His research will be used to help astronauts prepare for the conditions they will encounter in space. Mr Pearce began working for Nasa in August and hopes to have recreated the smell of space by the end of the year.
The Baghdad Battery
In 1936, while excavating ruins of a 2000-year-old village near Baghdad, workers discovered a mysterious small vase. A 6-inch-high pot of bright yellow clay dating back 2000 years contained a cylinder of sheet-copper 5 inches by 1.5 inches.
The edge of the copper cylinder was soldered with a 60-40 lead-tin alloy comparable to today's solder. The bottom of the cylinder was capped with a crimped-in copper disk and sealed with bitumen or asphalt. Another insulating layer of asphalt sealed the top and also held in place an iron rod suspended into the center of the copper cylinder. The rod showed evidence of having been corroded with an acidic agent.
Blender Defender
Have a cat that won't stay off your counters? Scare the crap out of him with a motion-detecting blender defender.
The Secret Headquarters For Paranormal Reports
If you love stories about Bigfoot, UFOs, ghost villages, aliens, conspiracy theories, or any other paranormal news, Area51.org is for you.
12 Shockingly Absurd Food Inventions
When you think of the great inventors and inventions of our time, you might consider Alexander Graham Bell and the cotton gin and, at the very least, the PEZ dispenser.
You don't think of the spinning ice cream cone or the dude who invented toilet candy. But yet, someone thought our world was lacking without them! So, just how ridiculous is the human food-mind.
The 5 Oldest Banks In The World
With so much focus on the demise of banks of all sizes, its easy to imagine the worst doomsday scenarios and wonder if your own bank is next. However, some banks have continued operations throughout civil wars, world wars and economic depressions without going under.
These are not the first banks in the world, which trace back to early lending from priests to merchants in 18th century B.C. Babylon and up through the Roman empire, but rather these are five of the oldest surviving banks in the world, and they each tell a story.
Act Of God
Someone bought a new Dynex computer mouse at Best Buy.
With it came a User Guide.
(thanks Seymour)
Cosmetic Pillow Case
If wrinkles and crow's feet bother you, try sleeping on Copalife copper oxide pillowcases. Taking a beauty sleep goes one step further with a pillow case that helps remove wrinkles. Sleeping on a pillowcase is now a non invasive cosmetic alternative to painful surgery.
Copalife accelerates the removal of blemishes, age spots, acne and skin discolouration while improving the firmness and elasticity of the skin.
Halloween Greetings Before The E-Card
Before the advent of the internet people had to rely on that quaint old fashioned idea, snail mail, to send their greetings to family, friends and possibly fiends. Halloween was no exception and each year a multitude of messages would be sent.
Take a trip down memory lane and see how Halloween was celebrated through the fine art of the post card.
(via Robert-John)
Top Ten Worst Halloween 'Candies'
Serious Eats has a list of what the 'bad houses' give out at Halloween. Trick-or-treaters, beware: This is the gross stuff you probably want to avoid.
(thanks Erin)
The Sun
The Sun is now in the quietest phase of its 11-year activity cycle, the solar minimum - in fact, it has been unusually quiet this year - with over 200 days so far with no observed sunspots.
The solar wind has also dropped to its lowest levels in 50 years. Scientists are unsure of the significance of this unusual calm, but are continually monitoring our closest star with an array of telescopes and satellites.
Here are some images of the Sun in more active times.
The 15 Dumbest Names For Web 2.0 Startups
Sometimes new Web 2.0 services and applications have the most awful names. Naming is a difficult thing, and finding the domain name to match the name or description you have in mind is virtually impossible these days.
On the other hand, how many people would have considered Google a good name for a search engine? Or Yahoo! for that matter?
10 Reasons We Will Survive The Recession (Maybe)
A recession rears its ugly head and everyone shouts like it's the end of the world! Ladies and gentleman of the planet, please, some calm!
We have been there before and got through it, so why should this one be any different? Here are ten reasons for those of you faint at heart to take to heart. We will overcome! Er, some day!
(via Robert-John)
iPhone Left In Hot Car For Three Hours
The normally peaceful suburban town of Winnetka, Illinois, USA, is still reeling following the news Monday that a local resident, whose name is being withheld by police pending a full investigation, left an iPhone unattended for more than three hours in a car parked in the hot sun.
According to official police records, two officers forcibly broke into the car at 4:07 p.m. and found the iPhone lying face down on the dashboard. The iPhone at first showed no signs of life, but after a tense few seconds, officers were able to wake it and get it to respond to a series of simple touch commands.
Finch
Finch makes slow Internet bearable, by stripping away the fat of web pages, leaving just the content. It takes out CSS, images, flash, metadata, iframes, and more, meaning less for your computer to load.
For example, the New York Times homepage is over 110KB, and uses external resources that make it amount to about 1.4MB. Finch trims that down to 84KB, which doesn't look as pretty, but is 94% less for your computer to download. Pages viewed through Finch also won't run JavaScript, so AJAX apps like facebook definitely won't work, and at this stage sites using cookies won't function properly, meaning you won't be able to log in.
Floating Guitar
Singer-songwriter Josh Pyke might have considered playing an upbeat version of Handel's Water Music as he sailed across Sydney Harbour - but he was too busy keeping his floating guitar under control.
Tourists stared in amazement as Josh steered the large guitar, complete with outboard motor, around the harbour. The curious vessel was designed by Australian guitar manufacturer Maton.
(via Neatorama)
The Hair Of The Dog
These are not just portraits of people posing with their pets. Look a little closely and you'll see that the owners are wearing sweaters and vests that resemble the fur of their dogs. And they should because they were literally made from them.
(via Everlasting Blort)
Tuttuki Bako
The so-called Tuttuki Bako, or Tuttuki Box, features a display that shows a digital replica of your finger once you put it into the hole in the right side of the device and start moving.
Users can then play with a panda bear or a small figure, explore a 'virtual' lake and touch a girl's face or a slime ball.
Tarvuism
After creating the two universes several bilion years ago, Tarvu came to Earth inside an egg as a tiny baby and landed in the middle of the ocean. He was rescued by a family of octopuses, who taught Tarvu how to swim, how to hunt and how to disguise himself from predators.
Tarvu survived on barnacles and octopus ink. Tarvu lived like an octopus in the ocean until he was nine. At that age, his adopted father, Oobu the Octopus told him that he was ready to come on to dry land and join the human race.
A Brief History Of The Twenty-First Century
Nov. 4, 2008: John McCain takes the U.S. presidency with 277 electoral votes, winning Ohio and Florida by less than 1 percent of the vote.
Sept. 12, 2016: Digger True enters the presidential race less than two months before Election Day, this time campaigning with wordless, randomly generated photographs of voters.
Aug. 13, 2025: A surprising announcement comes from Johns Hopkins University: As it turns out, smoking cigarettes is kind of good for you.
Dec. 23, 2065: The moon population reaches one million. Its primary industries are mining and tourism.
A Brief History Of The Twenty-First Century.
(via Grow-A-Brain)
10 Best Foods For Your Heart
A good diet is one that avoids foods that contribute to problems that raise the risk of heart disease like obesity, high cholesterol and high blood pressure.
Diet can play an important role in lowering your cholesterol. Discover ten foods that can protect your heart.
The Animals Save The Planet
Animal Planet has teamed up with the makers of Wallace & Gromit to produce a series of 10 short clay animation films that demonstrate how everyone can make a difference by changing to a greener lifestyle.
50 Beautiful Movie Posters
A showcase of 50 beautiful movie posters of different decades of movie history and different genre, different graphical approach, colors and style.
50 Beautiful Movie Posters.
The 25 Weirdest Things Eaten By A Human
We've all eaten something that other people think is strange, whether it's an odd food combination or just plain gross.
But the people in this collection take weird eating to a whole new level, swallowing items from diamond rings to hairballs.
Life Size LEGO Replicas
What would be better than another you made completely out of LEGO bricks? Artist Nathan Sawaya is obsessed with LEGO bricks. He fills his New York studio with more than 1.5 million of the interlocking toy building blocks, and he can sculpt anything out of them.
Send in detailed photos and measurements, then Nathan gets to snapping and boom! One-of-a-kind, life-size sculptures of yourselves in LEGO bricks. The price? Only $60,000.00.
(via J-Walk Blog)
Our Milky Way Like You've Never Seen It Before
It looks like a lunar landscape but this remarkable photograph actually shows our Milky Way and the planet Jupiter in all their glory - viewed from a cave in America's Utah desert.
The spiral galaxy, which cannot be seen with the naked eye, was captured by photographer Wally Pacholka using a 35mm camera and 50mm lens on a tripod with a 30-second exposure - long enough to collect the light but not to see the stars moving.
Life In The Trees Ain't Just For The Birds And The Bees
Who needs life on the ground when you can live high up in the air?
If you suffer from vertigo, perhaps it is best to look away now!
If not, take a look at these marvellous takes on that ancient form of habitation, the tree house.
(via Robert-John)
Home Schooled
Home Schooled is a comics series by American artist Ash Jackson.
Co-writing by Silas Jackson.
The Presurfer will feature a Home Schooled cartoon every Monday. This is an absolute exclusive cooperation between The Presurfer and Ash Jackson.
Home Schooled is more or less a reflection of the wacky and occasionally interesting adventures of the artist, Ash Jackson, himself, with the aid of his friends, family, and other cohorts.
Title: Mindwarp.
click on the picture for real size
The Apocalypse Codex Vol 1 is a compilation of Home Schooled comics that appeared on The Presurfer in the past three years.
Deepest Ever Living Fish Filmed
The deepest ever living fish have been discovered, scientists believe. A UK-Japan team found the 17-strong shoal at depths of 4.8 miles in the Japan Trench in the Pacific - and captured the deep sea animals on film.
The scientists have been using remote-operated landers designed to withstand immense pressures to comb the world's deepest depths for marine life. The fish, known as Pseudoliparis amblystomopsis, can be seen darting about in the darkness of the depths, scooping up shrimps.
Yes We Can (Hold Babies)
Yes We Can (Hold Babies) is the international source for pictures of Obama holding babies.
There are occasionally some kisses involved, sometimes the babies are a little too old to be classified as babies, and sometimes we just post pictures of Obama standing under a dinosaur (and by that we do not mean John McCain).
(via Everlasting Blort)
Favourite Words
A scrimshanker is one who accepts neither responsibility nor work. Mallemaroking is the carousing of seamen in icebound ships. And a slubberdegullion is a worthless person.
BBC News Magazine asked its readers for their favourite words and they were overwhelmed with nominations. Here are 50 of the best favourite words.
7 Spectacularly Skilled High-Speed Photographers
High-speed photography is a fascinating way to capture the images that we don't often get to see. So many amazing things happen in the blink of an eye - moving too quickly for us to see more than a blur and the aftermath.
Using clever equipment and quick shutters, these talented photographers freeze time and illuminate one single critical moment. If they time it just right, high-speed photographers can catch a moment of impact, explosion, or surprising movement - and it makes for incredible art.
(via Dark Roasted Blend)
What's The Score, Senor? Why, 404s Galore
404s Are everywhere, not just on the Internet but intruding into our daily lives in an almost spooky manner! Take a look at this wide variety of 404s - both on and off line and ponder why the 'page not found' has buried itself so deeply in to our consciousness.
(via Robert-John)
The Year In Beer: Beer Drinking In America By Volume
More than milk, coffee, or even bottled water, beer is the drink of choice for thirsty Americans of age. The United States drink more than 50 billion pints each year.
But instead of a string of numbers, lets visualize our way to grasping the United States' yearly beer consumption.
Take On Me: Literal Video Version
Ever wish songs just sang what was happening in the music video? Well now they do. Dust Films has created a new version of the video for the 1985 song 'Take On Me' by the band A-Ha, where the lyrics actually explain what is going on in the video.
(via Laughing Squid)
USB Versatile Microscope
USB Versatile Microscope is a webcam microscope that can be used in various purposes by changing 4 types of attachments included.
For example, object type attachment is to view small objects, earpick type attachment is for viewing ear inside as well as used as earpick, mirror type attachment can be used for checking teeth, and clear type attachment is for checking scalp and hair.
I Need A Cat
I'm 17, broke, and I need a cat. I would like to ask anyone who can to donate any amount of money, via PayPal, so that I can purchase a cat.
If I should raise enough money to buy a cat, and everything that it needs to be comfortable, then I will document the cat's life and post it on a specifically made blog where anyone can access it. This way, anyone who was kind enough to contribute to the purchase can feel some sort of ownership towards the cat!
Advanced Style
Advanced Style is a blog by Ari Cohen. He wants to document the inspirational street fashion of our respected elders. He says: I have always looked to street fashion for inspiration and since moving to New York four months ago I noticed how awesome so many of New York's older men and women styled.
My main goal is to capture examples of 'Advanced Style' from the sophisticated and well dressed to the accidentally stylish and colorful folks out on the town.
(via Boing Boing)
Real Life Transformers
Swiss/French artist Guillaume Reymond presents a new amazing project.This series of performances brings together different types of vehicles, gathering them according to a precise choreography, and creating what looks from the sky like gigantic robots.
(via Zootrópole)
Beer-Filled USB Flash Drive
There are a lot of strange USB flash drives on the market bit this one must be one of the strangest. A beer-filled USB flash drive by CNK Promotions.
Opening Page
I will make you #2 on the Internet or you owe ZERO. Google is #1, of course, but Opening Page is #2 !!!) I can justify paying Opening Page's $100 million sticker price. BUT OP BUYS ITSELF. I finance it all you pay is the extremely low down payment. THIS IS the Internet Age. Own Its Opening Page extreme ad value. Links to everything. Be the Opening Page in every office and ON EVERY LAP.
Unnecessary Knowledge
Did you know that 'I am' is the shortest complete sentence in the English language, three years of a person's life is spent on the toilet, ants do not sleep, the average person laughs 13 times a day, and that rabbits are the only animals that lack the ability to vomit.
Well, you know know! More Unnecessary Knowledge.
(via One Click)
Head Kenzan Japanese Massager
The Head Kenzan is a scalp massager with a unique Japanese twist. The brush structure is inspired by 'kenzan,' a traditional tool used in Japanese flower arranging to hold the flowers in place.
With 92 bristles that hit upon that perfect balance of not-too-hard and not-too-soft, the flexible Head Kenzan molds itself to your head. Simply use the handles on either side to run the brush back and forth, massaging and energizing your scalp.
(via UniqueDaily)
The Sherlock Holmes Guide To Recovering Your Stolen Identity
As technology rapidly increases and the information age expands, our identities are at an increasing risk for being stolen. But it's not a hacker trying to steal your social security number that should be causing you to lose sleep. It's the ownership of your mind that's at stake.
Most of us work at boring jobs, doing the same thing day in and day out. We're trying to liberate ourselves from these dead-end pursuits but it's not always easy.
22 Of The World's Most Creative Alphabets
There are so many crazy ways to write the ABC's.
This collection of alphabets was gathered from the portfolios of artists, photographers and design students around the world.
15 Innovative Green Vehicles And Vehicle Designs
With gas prices spiraling out of control, people are going wild over green cars like never before. From strange conversions by bold individuals to hundred-year old toys for the rich to the fastest diesel car in the world.
15 Innovative Green Vehicles And Vehicle Designs.
Spelling Change
Spelling Change was developed by a group of creative professionals to spread awareness and passion about the Obama campaign. Artists and designers were asked to create a letter of the alphabet inspired by the Obama campaign. These letters were then printed on t-shirts and distributed to photographers, who shot Obama supporters from all walks of life wearing them.
Now, you can use this living alphabet to create emails, t-shirts, posters, bumper stickers, and postcards personalized with your own messages. You can also design and upload your own letter, becoming part of a creative community fueled by a shared passion to change America from within.
(thanks Patrick)
Fungus Cannon
High-speed video of a fungus releasing spores at 180,000 G - the biggest acceleration ever recorded in nature. In this video the fungus fires its spores to the music of the Anvil Chorus from Il Travatore.
Babymaker3000
Make a baby without actually 'making' a baby. Volkswagen of America created the Babymaker3000, a tool to have a baby with a loved one, or a person you hardly even know. Just find the right mate, and make a baby so adorable you just can't help but love.
What if Barack Obama and Sarah Palin would have a baby?
The child would look like this.
Babymaker3000.
(thanks m.c.)
The Cookies
A young lady was waiting for her flight in the boarding room of a big airport. As she would need to wait many hours, she decided to buy a book to spemd her time. She also bought a packet of cookies.
She sat down in an armchair to rest and read in peace. Beside the armchair where the packet of cookies lay, a man sat down in the next seat, opened his magazine and started reading...
Read the rest of The Cookies.
Sad Guys On Trading Floors
Turning the economic crisis into one of those clever internet memes.
Sad Guys on Trading Floors.
(via Everlasting Blort)
The 8 Phases Of Dating
Matthew Inman created The 8 Phases of Dating for online dating website Mingle2.
(via Neatorama)
America's 10 Most Confusing Traffic Signs
The creation of safe and legible road signs is an art but not all sign makers are Michelangelo. Whether because of confusing symbols, contradictory instructions or an excess of information, these signs obfuscate more than help the driver.
7-Election 2008
7-Eleven coffee drinkers weigh in on the election with every coffee purchase.
To make your choices heard, stop by a participating 7-Eleven store and place your vote by choosing one of two 7-Election cups.
(via J-Walk Blog)
Restaurant Turns To Monkey Business
A Japanese tavern has turned to two monkeys for help with its table service. The Kayabukiya sake house, in the city of Utsunomiya north of Tokyo, is using a pair of uniformed Japanese macaques called Yat-chan and Fuku-chan to serve its customers.
Kaoru Otsuka, who owns the restaurant in Utsunomiya, Japan, said he did not teach the sake-serving monkey its waiting skills. Mr Otsuka claims Yatchan watched him serving customers and remembered how to do it.
Google Launches Mail Goggles
Have you ever sent an email message you shouldn't have. Gmail can't always prevent you from sending messages you might later regret, but now Google Labs launched Mail Goggles.
When you enable Mail Goggles, it will check that you're really sure you want to send that late night Friday email. And what better way to check than by making you solve a few simple math problems after you click send to verify you're in the right state of mind?
By default, Mail Goggles is only active late night on the weekend as that is the time you're most likely to need it. Once enabled, you can adjust when it's active in the General settings.
Earth From Above Comes To New York City
Photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand will bring his work back to the United States - to New York City for the first time in 2009.
Yann Arthus-Bertrand has been photographing unique views of our planet, seen from the sky, since 1994 - and has produced an exhibit of over 150 4-ft. by 6-ft. prints which will be on display in New York City from May 1, 2009 to June 28, 2009.
The 15 Nuttiest Celebrity Stalkers Of All Time
Sometimes fame comes with a price. And sometimes that price comes in the form of a crazy person believing they are in a relationship with you and/or stalking your every move to get closer to you.
Popcrunch compiled a list of some of the most obsessive stalkers that celebrities have had to deal with over the years and maybe it will make you appreciate that you too aren't stalked by a cuckoo.
Contemplating Kate: Moss Rolls In As A 21st Century Muse
Since the tender age of fourteen, Kate Moss has been one of the most sought after supermodels, gracing magazine covers and catwalks the world over. Now, she seems to have made the transformation to the primary artist's muse of our young century.
Judge for yourself if she can take her place in the pantheon of immoral muses.
Is Moss the Muse or is it all a big 'Muse-take?' (some nudity).
(via Robert-John)
Q-Drum
The burden of fetching water, invariably over long distances by cumbersome and far too often, unhygienic means, is all too evident in rural Africa.
The Q-Drum is a low cost rollable water container for developing countries. The idea of the Q-Drum originated in response to the needs of rural people for clean and potable water, as well as easing the burden of conveying it.
Famous Landmarks Replaced By Cheap Souvenirs
At a moment's glance this picture could be the real Big Ben. But then you notice the hand below and the optical illusion is revealed. Tourist Michael Hughes unveiled his extraordinary holiday snaps of the world's famous landmarks - perfectly blended with cheap souvenirs.
Michael, 56, stumbled across his unusual technique in 1998 and has perfected it after travelling to hundreds of famous sights.
History Of The Carrot
The bright orange fleshy root vegetable we know today as the carrot is a far cry from its wild ancestor, a small tough and pale fleshed acrid root plant. Probably no one would be eating carrots if no one had taken an interest in improving their flavour. Luckily, some motivated Dutch people took carrots under their horticultural wings and taught them how to be sweet.
Carrots were originally purple or red, with a thin root. The species did not turn orange until the 1500's when Dutch agricultural scientists and growers used a mutant yellow carrot seed from North Africa to develop a carrot in the colour of the House of Orange, the Dutch Royal Family.
Weird Word Scrolls
Have a trippy adventure scrolling down into endless hallucinogenic worlds. Nine surrealistic and strangely beautiful, very long 'scroll' like works of art from the wonderful world of Larry Carlson await your exploration.
(thanks Larry)
I Saw A Sea Slug Near The Sea Shore
Nudibranch! A strange name that comes from the Latin for 'naked' and the Greek for 'gills.' These beautiful creatures, often casually termed sea slugs, are beautiful, strange and unusual beings.
Come for a while in to their world, with the help of some breath-taking macro-photography.
(via Robert-John)
Chris Davis For Judge
I got an email from Chris Davis who is running for district court judge in Nevada, USA. He asked me if I would help to get out the word to join the fight against corruption. I'm not into politics and I don't know anything about corruption in Nevada courts, but I do like the way Chris presents the whole matter in JibJab style.
If you're interested, learn more at Chris Davis' website.
Aging Is An Accident Of Evolution
Everyone has assumed we age by rust. But how do you explain animals that don't age? Some tortoises lay eggs at the age of 100, there are whales that live to be 200 and clams that make it past 400 years.
Stanford University Medical School researchers discovered contradictions in the theory that aging is a buildup of tissue damage similar to rust.
The Stanford findings suggest specific genetic instructions drive the process. If they are right, science might one day find ways of switching the signals off and halting or even reversing aging.
Print What You Like
Ever print a webpage only to find your printout is full of ads, empty space and other junk you don't want? Print What You Like is a free webpage editor that gives you control of how webpages look when printed.
Enter the url of a page you wish to print and edit the page until it contains only what you want to print. That's it! Only your modified page will be printed.