When you are handcuffed to another prisoner and you try to escape, make sure you don't run to opposite sides of a light pole.
How To Not Escape From Court
The Bird Of Paradise Without Wings
This particular 'bird' has no wings and will never fly. However, people around the world will stop and gawk at its flightless beauty.
Take a look at this bird of paradise without wings.
(via Robert-John)
West Virginia Hot Dog Map
I've been told that a true West Virginia hot dog is a heavenly creation that begins with a wiener on a bun. Add mustard, a chili-like sauce and top it off with coleslaw and chopped onions.
However, coleslaw is not a standard topping at hot dog joints everywhere in West Virginia. The food culture is diverse and influenced by many factors such as predominate ethnicities and a melding with cultures of surrounding states. This West Virginia Hot Dog Map project attempts to document this diversity.
The Kh(aX)n Machine
The Kh(aX)n Machine is a little application to graph Google queries as you increase the number of times a letter recurs.
Remember William Shatner's 'Khaan?' Or was it 'Khaaaaaan?' You can do the same with any word. I tried it with my first name. Here's the graph.
Transforming Toyota Truck
After graduating high school, three Japanese buddies decided to follow their dream of a year-long cross-country road trip, from the northeastern island of Hokkaido to the southwestern one of Yakushima.
But before they set out, the trio built one of the coolest road trip cars ever conceived, from a decrepit mid-80s Toyota Toyoace.
Generations Online In 2009
Contrary to the image of Generation Y as the 'Net Generation,' internet users in their 20s do not dominate every aspect of online life. Generation X is the most likely group to bank, shop, and look for health information online.
Boomers are just as likely as Generation Y to make travel reservations online. And even Silent Generation internet users are competitive when it comes to email (although teens might point out that this is proof that email is for old people).
Here's the Generations Online In 2009 report as a pdf document.
Interview With A Cannibal
On the afternoon of June 12, 1981, Issei Sagawa walked into the woods in Bois de Boulogne, France, carrying two suitcases. The postgraduate student at the Sorbonne had shot and killed female Dutch exchange student Renée Hartevelt the day before. After eating portions of her body, he tried to dump the corpse in a remote lake. Witnesses saw him and he was soon arrested.
French psychologists found Issei Sagawa to have been legally insane at the time of the crime and, therefore, unfit to stand trial. He was subsequently exempted from prosecution. He returned to his homeland, where Japanese authorities tried to put him on trial for murder. French justice officials refused to hand over the necessary documents to carry on and he was again set free.
(thanks Rory)
Save The Words
Each year hundreds of words are dropped from the dictionary. Old words, wise words, hard-working words. Words that once led meaninful lives but now lie abandoned and forgotten.
You can do your part. Help save the words! If not for yourself, then for generations yet to come. One day they'll be grateful.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Today, 60 years ago, Mohandas Gandhi was shot and killed while having his nightly public walk on the grounds of the Birla House in New Delhi. The assassin, Nathuram Godse, was a Hindu radical with links to the extremist Hindu Mahasabha, who held Gandhi responsible for weakening India by insisting upon a payment to Pakistan.
Gandhi was a major political and spiritual leader of India and the Indian independence movement. He was the pioneer of resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience, firmly founded upon total non-violence which led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world.
Two Hundred Sit-Ups
If you are serious about increasing your core strength, follow this six week training program and you will soon be on your way to completing two hundred consecutive sit-ups.
Think there's no way you could do this? All you need is a good plan, plenty of discipline and about 30 minutes a week to achieve this goal.
There's also One Hundred Push-Ups.
Bacon Explosion: The BBQ Sausage Recipe Of All Recipes
Want to step it up a notch and clog a few arteries?
Behold, Bacon Explosion!
(via J-Walk Blog)
404 Error Pages
A 404 error page is an HTTP error message returned to the browser by the Web server when a requested Web page is not available. The error occurs because the page no longer exists or is restricted.
Here are some examples of beautiful and original 404 error designs.
You're So Vane!
They are everywhere around us, but sometimes we don't take the time to look up and see them. Here we present the bizarre world of the weather vane.
Whether or not those responsible for them will put their hands in the air and own up is anyone's guess. What is obvious, however, is that there is certainly truth in the old saying - vanity, vanity, all is vanity!
(via Robert-John)
The Most Extravagant Dinner Parties In History
Before you splurge on that Super Bowl Party, or make arrangements for that lavish Oscars Dinner, keep in mind that you can go too far in your quest to impress friends and neighbors.
Here are ten examples of historic hosts that got caught up in the excitement of party planning and may have suffered just a touch of remorse the next morning.
(thanks Ken)
The Best Complaint Letter Ever?
This is a letter recently received by the Virgin Atlantic customer complaints team and is currently being hailed on several blogs as possibly the funniest customer complaint letter ever.
Yahoo! News called the Virgin Atlantic press office and they confirmed they received the letter and that Richard Branson himself called the author to thank him for the feedback.
(thanks HicksianGirl)
Barack Obama Is Watching
Would you still do whatever you're doing if Barack Obama was watching?
Would you?
Who Has the Internet's Biggest Ego?
There's famous, then there's Internet famous, an honor that is only slightly more glamorous than being on the homecoming court of a really big high school.
Men's Lifestyle Magazine Asylum has outed the people with the biggest, most ridiculously dramatic over-the-top egos ever discovered in the history opf the Internet. And now they're counting on you.
Tell them who has the biggest ego of them all.
(thanks Alex)
Radio Aporee Maps
Radio Aporee Maps is an open project about the creation and exploration of public sonic layers. It collects and organizes sound recordings from daily surroundings and living spaces all over the world and puts them onto Google Maps.
The sounds are organized within a mashup system of mapping software, databases, telephone networks and the Internet.
(via Google Blogoscoped)
Ten Simple Things We Should All Say More Often
How many words do you speak during a day? The average figure is 16,000 words. Even then, much of what we say can be meaningless chit-chat, brisk, necessary exchanges or even angry rants.
Here are ten things that we could all do with saying more often. The positive impact they will have on your mood and your day is pretty dramatic.
(via geekman)
Make Yourself A Happiness Pie
An animation of Ray Noble and The New Mayfair Dance Orchestra playing 'Make Yourself A Happiness Pie', recorded New Years Eve 1930.
(via Everlasting Blort)
Airline Meals
Airline Meals has over 7000 pictures, showing meals and full meal details from up to 350 different airlines, sent in by travellers from every corner of the world.
First class meals, business class meals, economy class meals, but also crew meals, vegetarian meals, gluten free meals, children's meals, or just a bag of peanuts.
Ring Finger Length Linked To Success
A study by Cambridge University scientists of highly pressured London traders, whose jobs requires risk taking and quick responses, found the most successful had long ring fingers in relation to their index fingers.
Not only did traders with long ring fingers make on average six times more money, they survived more years in a cut-throat world which weeded out the weak and unprofitable.
(via Reality Carnival)
20 Wildest Reactions To Obama's Victory
America went a little crazy last Tuesday night, finding a diversity of wild and wonderful ways to celebrate or to protest Obama's historic victory.
Art-O-Mat
Art-o-mat machines are retired cigarette vending machines that have been converted to vend art. There are 82 active machines in various locations in the United States (and even one in Canada).
(via The Thinks I Think)
The Biggest Movie Event Of The Year
Entertainment news program Red Carpet revealed the biggest movie event of the year, starring me!
(via The Thinks I Think)
I Hate The Media
The goal of 'I Hate the Media' is to point out all the bias and the blindness. All the lies and the lunacy. All the fakes and the phonies. All the morons and the myopic.Day in and day out, we're bombarded by blatant bias. Insulted by idiot anchors. Harangued by Hollywood halfwits. Aurally assaulted by so-called singers.
Television. Radio. Newspapers. Magazines. Films. Music. They all deserve to die slow, painful deaths. Oh, what's that? They are dying slow, painful deaths? Well, in that case, it appears that life really is fair.
The Fantastic Floating Islands Of Titicaca
The Uros people of Lake Titicaca have a unique way of life - they build their own islands, float them on the lake and then proceed to live on them.
Here is a glimpse of their world, where their home made 'islands' are truly 'in the stream.'
(via Robert-John)
The Neatorama Upcoming Queue
My friends over at Neatorama have launched The Neatorama Upcoming Queue. It's basically a hybrid between social networking media (like Digg) and a traditional blogging platform.
Do you have a blog and would like it featured on Neatorama? Have you ever found something neat/funny/weird on the Web and would like to share it with all of Neatorama's readers? Now you can.
The Upcoming Queue lets you vote good posts up and bad ones down. Posts that gather a lot of positive votes will then be promoted to the blog's front page. More information on Neatorama.
Twenty-Five People At The Heart Of The Meltdown
The worst economic turmoil since the Great Depression is not a natural phenomenon but a man-made disaster in which we all played a part.
The Guardian City editor Julia Finch picks out the individuals who have led us into the current crisis.
5 Things You Didn't Know About Human Hair
Human hair is a simple thing made of keratin and dead skin cells. Its function is to prevent heat loss from a person's head, yet it also causes women to weep, men to buy Porsches and people to spend billions each year on its upkeep.
Such a simple thing as human hair leads to all kinds of complexities. Here are examples in which hair is more than just a dandruff jungle, so check out these 5 things you didn't know about human hair.
(via Neatorama)
Magtoss
Magtoss is about creating fake magazine covers.
There'll be a couple of new ones posted each week.
(thanks Jane)
Text-To-Movie
If you can type, you can make movies. Xtranormal's mission is to bring movie-making to the people. You type something; they turn it into a movie. You can start making a movie by doing the following:
Click the Make Movies tab at the top of the page. On the page that appears, chose the style and number of characters you want to use. The movie maker appears. You can change the set, actors, and background music.
Start typing the dialogue for your actors. You can drag many actions directly into the text blocks such as camera angles, sound effects, facial expressions, and character animations.
The First Nonsmoking Nation
If you're a smoker and you're indignant that your boss just shut the smoking room and outraged that you have to leave the bar to light up, take heart. Life could be worse.
You could be Bhutanese.
The 9 Most Extreme Places On The Planet
Imagine living in a place so remote the mail only comes once a year. Or reaching the summit of the highest place on earth… which isn't Mount Everest.
The 9 most extreme places on the planet.
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: Comedy Is All About the Delivery.
click on the picture for real size
Obama: BlackBerry User-In-Chief
After facing down his top security advisors, President Obama won the right Thursday to be the BlackBerry user-in-chief.
Under an arrangement with security aides, Obama will get a new BlackBerry loaded with software approved by U.S. intelligence officials that lets him communicate with friends, family and close associates without fear of hackers reading his e-mail.
American Red Cross Posters
Since World War I, the American Red Cross has utilized posters to raise funds, recruit, promote, and expand awareness of its activities. Be it supporting the War Fund, recruiting nurses or Junior members, promoting health and safety programs... posters have often been a 'first contact' with the general public.
American Red Cross Posters will take you to a number of photographs of American Red Cross posters from different decades. Information includes the artist, year of issue (if known), the size, and if the poster was paper, carboard, or both.
(via Everlasting Blort)
Kisai Tenmetsu Watch
Tenmetsu, the dynamic design from Kisai combines precision lines, stunning contours and three bold LED tones to form an outstanding wrist watch.
The time and date are shown in sequence by color. Red LEDs indicate 15 units, amber LEDs indicate 5 units and green LEDs indicate 1 unit, a combination of which present hours, minutes, months and date.
(via The Awesomer)
The Slingshot Man
The story of Rufus Hussey, a man who makes slingshots and shoots them like an expert marksman.
A 1,474-Megapixel Photo Of Obamas Inaugural Address
Photographer David Bergman made a panoramic image showing the nearly two million people who watched President Obama's inaugural address. To do so, he clamped a Gigapan Imager to the railing on the north media platform about six feet from his photo position.
Comprised of over 220 images, the incredibly detailed panorama is filled with pieces of information that you previously weren't able or bothered to see. Some are just obviously cool - nearly being able to read the sheet music on performers stands, seeing the comically varied expressions in the VIP area behind the President as he speaks - but others are more subtly awesome.
(thanks Cora)
Stories Behind 10 Famous Food Logos
You don't have to go far to find fascinating stories behind some of the world's most famous logos. Just take a look inside your kitchen cabinets.
Microsoft Songsmith: 'Roxanne' By The Police
Here's what 'Roxanne' by The Police would sound like if they'd used Microsoft Songsmith.
Obama Is A Ninja
Barack Obama as a ninja. One of the many Obama toys from Gamu Toys of Japan. The dolls are 1/6 scale figures produced by the Hong Kong based DID Corporation.
(via Boing Boing)
Henchman's Helper
Henchman's Helper includes 42 live webcams from around the world, 9 constantly updated weather graphics, and a large, ominous-looking infrared satellite image of North America.
Designer Joel Friesen says: When you have to be evil, at least have a cool lair to back it up. With a wall of monitors it would be impossible not to. Something to do for fun… and evil.
Our World May Be A Giant Hologram
The German-British Gravitational Wave Detector team has been scratching their heads over inexplicable noise that is plaguing their giant detector. According to Craig Hogan, a physicist at the Fermilab particle physics lab in Batavia, Illinois, the detector has stumbled upon the fundamental limit of space-time - the point where space-time stops behaving like the smooth continuum Einstein described.
If this doesn't blow your socks off, then Hogan has an even bigger shock in store: If the detector result is what I suspect it is, then we are all living in a giant cosmic hologram.
The idea that we live in a hologram probably sounds absurd, but it is a natural extension of our best understanding of black holes, and something with a pretty firm theoretical footing. It has also been surprisingly helpful for physicists wrestling with theories of how the universe works at its most fundamental level.
The Obameter
PolitiFact has compiled about 500 promises that Barack Obama made during the campaign and is tracking their progress on their Obameter.We rate their status as No Action, In the Works or Stalled. Once we find action is completed, we rate them Promise Kept, Compromise or Promise Broken.
Unapologetic
Unapologetic is a site where authors can tell mini stories that deal with failed relationships. But each story can only employ one vowel and the narrative has to make sense.
(thanks T.D.)
Bacon Watch
The irresistible allure of bacon has crossed over into the world of fashion!
The bacon watch has a round clock face and straps that look like delicious slices of bacon. Vinyl strap, metal casing. Batteries included.
(via Everlasting Blort)
9 Minimalist Japanese Homes
Modern architecture and design is all about bringing out the best with the minimal possible effort and usage of materials. Economy and beauty are the two parallel components of minimalist blueprint that most homes use today.
This wonderful collection of minimalist Japanese homes illustrates how creative thinking merged with revolutionary use of building techniques can give shape to soothing and spectacular abodes.
(thanks Yaw)
10 Must See President Obama Websites
The wait is over and the 44th President of the United States of America has been inaugurated.
Here are 10 of the most memorable websites featuring the new POTUS, hopefully something for all tastes.
(via Robert-John)
Extraordinary Uses For 16 Ordinary Household Items
Your friend brings back your DVD scratched to all hell? Use toothpaste to smooth it out. Or, the screws in your medicine cabinet keep coming loose? Dab a little nail polish on it. If you are perpetually breaking the outdoor lights on your garage when you try to remove them, coat the threads with petroleum jelly.
Here's are 81 surprising things you can do at home with things you already have laying around – saving you money and making you feel a little more kick ass when you show off your MacGyver-ing skills.
(thanks Annie)
Top 10 Movie Presidents
He's the Chief Executive, the Chief Legislator, the Commander-In-Chief, the Chief Diplomat, and just about the Chief Everything. The President of the USA is one of the most symbolic and fictionalised figures in the world.
Look back at some of Hollywood's offers of President of the United States, and see how they sized up to mighty challenges. These are the Top 10 Movie Presidents to ever grace our screens.
(thanks Sheridan)
650 Million Years In 1:20 Minutes
A video about continental drift, a name first used by German Alfred Wegener in the 1920 edition of his book The Origin of Continents and Oceans, in which a postulated supercontinent Pangaea played a key role.
21 Free And Paid Alternatives To Adobe Photoshop
There's no doubt that Adobe Photoshop is probably the most popular and powerful image editing software on the market today. However, if all you need to do is retouch photos, create designs, or even design a website template, then there is life beyond Photoshop.
Here are 21 Free and Paid Alternatives to Adobe Photoshop.
(thanks Andy)
Dear Final Demand
Dear Final Demand is a place where financially disorganised people can vent some frustration by defacing Final Demand letters. Why? It seems it's therapeutic.
Deaths On The Movie Set
Sometimes, tragically, in the middle of shooting a movie, an actor dies.
It's actually happened many times.
So what's a director to do?
Turns out they have quite a few options.
There's Something In The Water
A stop motion video made for vitamin water brand V Water.
(via Nag on the Lake)
Funny Photographers
Sometimes photographers take funny pictures.
And sometimes photographers take funny pictures of other photographers.
And here's Funny Photographers part 2.
How Much Do You Know About Barack Obama?
A quiz. How much do you know about Barack Obama?
I must say I know him quite well. I got 8 out of 10 questions right.You are a probably a news junkie, Obama fan, or both. You know a lot about Barack Obama - including his politics, history, and family. It's likely you're a very knowledgeable person and quite well read.
USA 360 Degrees Virtual Tour
Panoramas.dk is a site that presents panoramic pictures. During the next months they want to take you on a tour around the United States. The site will be updated daily with new panoramas.
Madonna Image Of The Week Archive
A collection of historical images of the Madonna assembled by Martha Nation.
(via Everlasting Blort)
15 Ridiculous Rocket And Jet-Powered Vehicles
Jet and rocket engines are appearing in the most unexpected of places for reasons most people simply can't comprehend. As you examine these ridiculous, bizarre and in some cases incredibly dangerous DIY creations, you'll be tempted to question the purpose of these objects and shake your head at the waste of fossil fuels.
Perhaps more important is the amazing fact that all of the people who have taken these jet-powered contraptions on test drives lived to tell the tale.
(via Neatorama)
10 Most Bizarre Programming Languages Ever Created
Ever heard of Ook, Piet, Befunge, reMorse, or Whenever? These are so called esoteric programming languages, designed as a test of the boundaries of computer programming language design, as a proof of concept, or as a joke. There is usually no intention of the language being adopted for real-world programming.
10 Most Bizarre Programming Languages Ever Created.
The Superest
The Superest is a continually running game of My Team, Your Team. The rules are simple: Player 1 draws a character with a power. Player 2 then draws a character whose power cancels the power of that previous character. Repeat.
The Beauty Of Urban Decay
The Beauty of Urban Decay, a series of photos of this eroded elegance that photographers have captured brilliantly.
10 Extraordinary Purchases By Rich Collectors
Do you sometimes wonder what it would feel like to purchase some really rare item that would truly add monetary value to your collection? It seems that for some people cost is just not an issue, and they actually made some pretty extravagant purchases, most of them turning out to be pretty expensive investments as well.
The car pictured above is a 961 Ferrari California Spyder. It was purchased by popular British radio host Chris Evans. The Ferrari, previously owned by actor James Coburn, was sold for $10,894,900.
(via Dark Roasted Blend)
How To Make Your Own 3D Camera For $15 Or Less
3D Photography is surprisingly easy to do on your own and doesnt even require special glasses.
Photojojo shows you how to make your own 3D camera for less than $15 and enter the fabulous world of the 3rd Dimension. All you need are two disposable cameras and some duct tape.
Love Bugs Or Just Bug Porn?
The diversity of insects on this planet is astonishing and should be a source of continual wonder for us all. It can only be hope that these incredible creatures can be left to survive and continue their species for many millennia to come.
Of course they do everything we do - sometimes with much more aplomb! You may think this is mother nature at its rawest or a kind of bug porn! Choose for yourself.
(via Robert-John)
Alternative Search Engines That Find What Google Can't
Google has become the standard search engine of virtually every web-goer on the internet today.
In fact 'to Google' is pretty much synonymous with 'to search.'
But that certainly doesnt mean that other search engines can''t do a decent, if not better, job.
Here's a catalog of awesome alternative search engines that are certain to help you search faster and more efficiently.
Watch Barack Obama Inauguration Day Speech Online
WebTVHub shows a list of practically all the live streams and online video coverage of Obama's Inauguration.
(thanks Chris)
Inauguration Speech Generator
A grassroots internet campaign helped Barack Obama get elected. Now he's calling for the internet's assistance one more time – to help him craft the best inauguration speech ever. The Inauguration Speech Generator.
Tri Towers Solitaire
Here's an addictive little game that'll keep you busy for a while.
Tri Towers Solitaire. Clear the three peaks of cards to win a level. Each time you complete a layout, you will move on to the next round and begin again.
Cards can be removed from the layout if they are one higher or lower than the visible deck card shown at the bottom. If the visible card is an Ace, either a King or Two can be played. If you cannot play, click Next Card to show the next card. The wild card can be played at any time, on top of any card. You can then place any card from the layout on top of it.
(via Look At This...)
How To Marry A Rich Foreign Man
Want to marry a rich foreign man? Better get some special nurse shoes so you won't generate static electricity.
(thanks Eric)
Strokes Of Luck: 10 Monuments People Just Have To Touch
Let's face it, when people travel a long way to see a monument, sometimes looking just isn't enough. Sometimes they want - no, need - to touch! Here are 10 monuments that fill that need.
(thanks Andi)
Top Text Message At The Inaugural: 'No We Can't'
On the 20th day of January, in the year 2009, the earth might just stand still. No, not because the USA is inaugurating the first African-American to the highest office in the land! A much more serious issue is afoot.
This is the day that cell phone carriers forecast a significant drain on the wireless capacity in Washington DC, not allowing the record millions attending Barack Obama's inauguration to 'phone home'... or phone anywhere, for that matter!
Carriers are expecting wireless traffic to escalate to more than four times the norm, where demand will outstrip supply, and the likelihood of cellular users getting a 'No, We Can't' response from their wireless service will become a definite possibility.
Almost Unrecognizable
Any idea who this is?
It's Robert Downey Jr., playing the roll of Kirk Lazarus in the movie Tropic Thunder.
Almost Unrecognisable is a long list of film stars not looking like themselves.
(via Dump Trumpet)
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 FD of A.
click on the picture for real size
Queen Rania Of Jordan YouTube Channel
Rania Al Abdullah (born in Kuwait as Rania Al-Yassin) is the Queen of Jordan and married to King Abdullah II. In March of 2008 she launched her own YouTube channel, dedicated to breaking down stereotypes about the Arab and Muslim worlds and to bridging the East-West divide. Regionally and internationally, Queen Rania has campaigned for a greater understanding between cultures.
Not only is this a very noble intention but she also does it with a great sense of humor. Here's a video in which she spoofed the famous Top 10 format from US comedian David Letterman to explain why she launched this channel.
Chalkboard Manifesto
Shawn McDonald draws comics on paper, scans them, and then uses a secret recipe to turn the raw ingredients into chalkboard-looking pictures.
The T-Mobile Dance
Saatchi & Saatchi's latest ad for T-Mobile. Filmed at London's Liverpool Street station, where 350 dancers performed routines as commuters passed through the concourse.
(thanks Cora)
Psychiatrist Knits Anatomically Correct Woolly Brain
Psychiatrist Dr Karen Norberg, of the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts, spent a year knitting an anatomically correct replica of the human brain."For me, there were two humorous aspects. One was simply to undertake such a ridiculously complex, time consuming project for no practical reason. The second was the idea of making a somewhat mysterious and difficult object - a brain - out of a 'cuddly', cheerfully coloured, familiar material like cotton yarn.
Surfing The Net Is Great For The Mind
Scientists at the UCLA Semel Institute Memory & Aging Center have found that using the Internet increases neural activity in the brain - and triggers key centers in control decision-making and complex reasoning. The findings demonstrate that a good surf through the net may improve brain function.
Four Corners Dark
Four Corners Dark is the personal blog of photographer Nic Nichols.
Nic is a documentary photographer from Delaware who shoots mostly with low-fi plastic cameras, Holga (an inexpensive, medium format 120 film toy camera made in China), Lomo (a Russian camera that produces unique, colorful, and sometimes blurry images), other toy cameras, and old, expired film.
Four Corners Dark features toy camera news, reviews, and techniques.
The Dinosaurs Song
Directed by Bernard Derriman. Animated by Andrew Collins, Lily Dell, Ian Harrowell, and Brian Estanisloa.
Inside My Mouth
Jeffrey Martin is an American photographer who has lived in Prague for 9 years. He took a 360 degrees panorama picture from inside his mouth. Clicking on the arrows you see in the picture will take you to another panorama.
More about Jeffrey Martin.
Africa In Perspective
People often underestimate quite how large Africa is. The continent is put in perspective by transposing as many of the world's countries over it.
Spinning Ice Circles
On December 13th, 2008, This mysterious 'ice circle' appeared in, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. They occur at bends in the river where the accelerating water creates a force called 'rotational shear,' which breaks off a chunk of ice and twists it around. As the disc rotates, it grinds against surrounding ice - smoothing into a perfect circle.
More on ice circles.
21 Radical Rugs And Must-See Mat Designs
There has never been anything simple about rugs. Once the highest sign of ostentation and one of the standard units of international trade, the status of rugs has been hit hard in the age of uncritical mass-production - little more than something to wipe your feet on.
But now? From relaxing rolling terrain to monsters with too many teeth, from snowdrifts to roadkill, rugs and mat designs are enjoying the same creative comeback as any other item of furniture. Which of these 21 examples would floor you?
Sick Days
Sick Days is a blog by Mike Erskine-Kellie, author of Avery Ant. (www.averyant.com/) Sick Days is about Alan Truitt, a customer service representative working for Hamish Industries, the world's 103rd largest manufacturer of quality windows and doors.
In reality, Alan is a mostly fictional character and Hamish Industries is a largely fictional company. Despite that, everything you'll read at Sick Days is pretty much 100% true.
Type As Image
Type as Image is a collection of typographic experiments where the words are treated as images that speak about their own meaning.
(via Grow-A-Brain)
How To Lose Belly Fat: 5 Key Secrets
While putting on weight in general can have negative effects on your health, abdominal weight gain is particularly unhealthy. Since visceral fat is buried deep in your abdomen, it may seem like a difficult target for spot reduction.
But when you lose weight, you'll most likely lose proportionately more from the abdominal region than elsewhere. Visceral fat is more metabolically active and easier to lose than subcutaneous fat under the skin, especially if you have plenty of it. However, you exercise, you eat right, but you still have a belly fat? Here are several surprising reasons why - and how to fix it.
(thanks Olga)
30 Fascinating Cigarette Smoking Facts
The world's view on smoking cigarettes has changed dramatically over the last century. The habit was once considered to be cool, sexy, good for your health, and widely enjoyed by many people. It was promoted by sportsmen, and advertised all over television.
Today, smoking is considered to be a nasty addictive habit that can kill you and those around you. You won't find them advertised anywhere - nor will you see anyone smoking inside a public building.
Here's a list of interesting facts about cigarettes.
(via Look At This...)
The Obamamobile
It's official call sign is Cadillac One, but it will always be known as the Obamamobile. This is the top security armoured limousine which has been custom built to be Barack Obama's presidential car. It will travel with him wherever in the world he goes.
Barack Obama will have his first ride in the stretch limo when he parades along Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington after his inauguration on January 20. But his Secret Service agents have already been familiarising themselves with the machine they call 'The Beast', built by General Motors in Detroit and based on a Cadillac chassis.
Cadillac World Thorium Fuel Concept Car
Here's another one from the world of unlimited conceptual design:
the Cadillac World Thorium Fuel concept car. Otherwise known as the Cadillac WTF.
Created by Loren Kulesus, everything about the WTF has been created to last 100 years without maintenance. That's the reason for the element number ninety, thorium: to act as a nuclear fuel powering batteries that would power the car.
(via Neatorama)
Homemade Bacon Vodka
If you have time, bacon and vodka, you too can have this tasty elixir in your hands.
(via Everlasting Blort)
Earth Observed
The Earth Observatory is a website run by NASA's Earth Observing System Project Science Office. Bringing together imagery from many different satellites and astronaut missions, the website publishes fantastic images with highly detailed descriptions, feature articles and more.
Gathered here are some standout photographs from the collections in the Earth Observatory over the past several years.
Science And Society Picture Library
The British Science and Society Picture Library represents the collections of the Science Museum, the National Railway Museum and the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television - as well as a variety of related collections.
The picture library now has over 150 image collections from both within and outside the museums' core collections. These contain over 70,000 online records, including over 40,000 digital images.
Hack Your brain
Do you ever want to change the way you see the world? Wouldn't it be fun to hallucinate on your lunch break?
Although we typically associate such phenomena with powerful drugs like LSD or mescaline, it's easy to fling open the doors of perception without them: All it takes is a basic understanding of how the mind works.Researchers at Oxford University announced the discovery of a powerful new painkiller. They found that subjects who looked at a wounded hand through the wrong end of binoculars, makeing the hand appear smaller, felt significantly less pain and even experienced decreased swelling.
Spain's Prado Museum Teams Up With Google Earth
Spain's Prado Museum has teamed up with Google Earth for a project that allows people to zoom in on the gallery's main works. The initiative, announced yesterday, is the first of its kind involving an art museum. It involves 14 of the Prado's paintings.
Open Google Earth, then type in 'prado museum spain' in the search engine. Once the museum zooms into focus, click on the square with the name of the museum.
Meeblings
Meeblings is the collective noun for several species. There are herelings, therelings, gravlings, sizzlings, treeblings, zaplings, and feeblings. You have to click and hold a meebling to activate it.
Obamicon Me
The election season is now over, and it's time to unwind and express yourself as we head into the new era. Make your own 'Obamicon' - your image in a style inspired by Shepard Fairey's iconic poster.
Regardless of your candidate of choice in the 2008 election, here's your chance to sound-off. Take your picture with a webcam or upload a photo, choose your own message, and submit to the gallery.
Reverse Speech
It has been called the discovery of the 7th sense. It is called Reverse Speech, the phenomenon of hidden backward messages in speech. It initially gained worldwide fame in the early 80s as those strange backward messages in rock and roll.
A simple explanation for this phenomenon is that the human brain automatically tries to make sense out of any noise as soon as it expects that noise to be a spoken language. The power of suggestion is then used to nudge the listener to hear what the presenter wants them to hear.
Reverse Speech. Real or a conspiracy theory? You decide for yourself.
Say 'Cheese'
If the simple act of cooking food is a wonder, cheese is a miracle. The application of salt, enzymes, bacteria, heat, and time transforms ordinary milk into an enormous variety of forms.
From evanescent queso fresco and ricotta to more enduring varieties such as cheddar and Parmesan, cheese can be sweet or pungent, hard or spreadable, chalky or smooth, musky or bright - like wine and beer, it offers a seemingly infinite range of experiences.
A Cheese Primer.
Australia Offers 'Best Job In World' On Paradise Island
Australian state Queensland is offering internationally what it calls 'the best job in the world' - earning a top salary for lazing around a beautiful tropical island for six months. The job pays 150,000 Australian dollars (105,000 US dollars) and includes free airfares from the winner's home country to Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef.
In return, the 'island caretaker' will be expected to stroll the white sands, snorkel the reef, take care of 'a few minor tasks' - and report to a global audience via weekly blogs, photo diaries and video updates. The successful applicant, who will stay rent-free in a three-bedroom beach home complete with plunge pool and golf buggy, must be a good swimmer, excellent communicator and be able to speak and write English.
Rescue Ink
You take a look at them, and maybe your first reaction is to cross to the other side of the street. Just remember to look both ways before you do. They're not a gang, vigilantes or a social organization, but they do have that certain 'in your face' style when it comes to animal abusers.
You may find us hanging out together at a hot rod show, tattoo parlors, or even hitting up the blacktop together on our bikes for a little road trip, but the main thing that brings us together is our love of animals.
We met because we were all doing the same thing on our spare time: rescuing and finding homes for abandoned and abused animals. None of us did it for money; we did it because we cannot stand by while anyone mistreats an animal.
(via Neatorama)
Chocolate Beer
It's called Shokoraburuwari (Chocolate Brewery) and is made by Sapporo Breweries from Japan. I love chocolate. But I don't drink alcohol. So, I'll never know what this chocolate beer tastes like.Sapporo Breweries Ltd and domestic confectioner Royce will release 'Chocolat Brewery' beer from January 14 in a limited quantity. The new beer features chocolate malt and cacao to create a balmy flavor and bitter taste.
Some 20,000 sets of 3 cans will be available on the company’s online site. From Jan 30, 12,000 cans of the beer will be available at shops only in Hokkaido.
List Of English Words Of Dutch Origin
As I'm from the Netherlands, Dutch is the language I speak. Most of my readers have English as their first language. I knew some words used in the English language were of Dutch origin, but I never realised there were so many.
This is a list of 174 words of Dutch language origin. However, note that this list does also include some words of which the etymology is uncertain. Some of these words are similar not because they are Dutch loan words, but because English, like Dutch, is a Germanic language.
Five Of The World's Weirdest Plants
Everyone should be familiar with the genus Dionea or 'Venus Fly Trap,' and you may have previously learned of certain ant-loving Acacia shrubs.
While perhaps not as adrenaline-pumping as Crustaceans or as gruesome as Amphibians, plants have more than earned the spotlight just this once, providing food, shelter and oxygen for the entire kingdom Animalia.
Five of the World's Weirdest Plants.
Pretty Loaded
Once upon a time, in a land of sputtering dial-up connections, websites took ages to load. Folks yearned for the 100% mark. But as soon as that figure arrived, the beloved preloader disappeared, never to be seen or heard from again.
Pretty Loaded is an archive of preloaders that preload other preloaders... which in turn reveal yet more preloaders. It's a tribute to a vanishing art form amid a constantly changing digital landscape.
Double Decker Smart Car
Jonny Smith builds his own version of the ultimate city car - a double-decker Smart car. It's gonna cost him - watch until the end.
All Hail The Humble Snail: Pet, Pest Or Tasty Treat?
Love them or hate them, there is more to the snail than meets the eye. Here, with some amazing photography, is a look at the humble snail in all its mucus covered glory! Whether regarded as pet, pest or tasty treat, they are everywhere!
(via Robert-John)
World Pooh Sticks Championships
Pooh sticks is a game first mentioned in 'The House at Pooh Corner,' a Winnie-the-Pooh book by A. A. Milne. It's a simple game which may be played on any bridge over running water; each player drops a stick on the upstream side of a bridge and the one whose stick first appears on the downstream side is the winner.
The annual World Pooh Sticks Championships have been held at Day's Lock on the River Thames near Dorchester-on-Thames, England, since 1984. The next Pooh Sticks Championships will take place on March 29, 2009.
The First 100 Minutes Of The Obama Presidency
The news media typically reviews a new President's performance after his first 100 days in office, using it as a barometer to measure the Commander-in-Chief's effectiveness.
Mad Magazine believes we can find out everything we'll need to know about Barack by reviewing The First 100 Minutes of the Obama Presidency.
Legend Of Zelda Medley
Filipino composer and gamer Diwa De Leon performs a five man a-capella and violin of the themes from Legend of Zelda.
(via Boing Boing)
Tribal Survival In Century Twenty One
Many people saw the twentieth century as the chronological death knell for tribal cultures around the world, particularly as globalization took hold.
However, many tribes persevered and are still here at almost the end of the first decade of the twenty first.
Here we take a look at four of these tribes - to our eyes perhaps bewilderingly unfamiliar - and ponder how long their unique cultures will continue to surprise, educate and delight.
(via Robert-John)
Neighbourland
Neighbourland is a collaborative art project where people from all horizons compose personalized and anonymous messages addressed to one of their neighbours.
(thanks Emilie)
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 Lion's Den.
click on the picture for real size
Top 10 Signs Of Evolution In Modern Man
Through history, as natural selection played its part in the development of modern man, many of the useful functions and parts of the human body become unnecessary. What is most fascinating is that many of these parts of the body still remain in some form so we can see the progress of evolution.
Early humans ate a lot of plants - and they needed to eat them quickly enough that they could eat a sufficient amount in one day to get all of the nutrients they needed. For this reason, we had an extra set of molars to make the larger mouth more productive.
This was particularly essential as the body lacked the ability to sufficiently digest cellulose. As evolution made its selections, our diets changed, our jaws grew appropriately smaller, and our third molars became unnecessary.
Top 10 Signs of Evolution in Modern Man covers the most significant evolutionary changes that have taken place - leaving signs behind them.
10 Very Good Reasons Why You Should Grow A Giant Beard
From The Bureau for Bigger Better Beards.
10 Very Good Reasons Why You Should Grow a Giant Beard.
VisualWikipedia
VisualWikipedia is a visual, intuitive, and interactive web interface to encyclopedic knowledge and information. It is designed to provide a fun place to learn stuff in an efficient manner.
VisualWikipedia is available in several languages and is a separate entity from wikipedia.org with no association with it.
Sea Slug Symphony
Sea Slugs may not have the most beautiful of names but it can be argued that they are among the most beautiful of creatures on the planet.
There are many species - an astounding array of color, shape and size. Join us and witness the Sea Slug Symphony below the sea.
(via Robert-John)
International Space Archives
The International Space Archives is building a digital library organizing the incredible imagery created by the human exploration of our universe. Over the past fifty years, manned and unmanned space programs in the United States and other countries have amassed a huge amount of still and motion photography which is unique in its scope and splendor.
For the first time ever, the International Space Archives is bringing together the best of this still and video imagery in one comprehensive collection. The photos, films and video in the archive are coming from a variety of sources including NASA and the space programs of Russia, Japan, China, India, the European Union and others.
Splat Stan Coaster
Poor old Stan... Mugged again. Made from silicone rubber, Stan will dive under any cup you need to place on your precious table-tops to make sure your surfaces remain stain free.
Take Stan to work with you and never again will your important documents arrive on the bosses desk with your unsightly coffee cup rings.
(via Everlasting Blort)
Geek Gang Signs
geek: a person who has chosen concentration rather than conformity; one who pursues skill and imagination, not mainstream social acceptance.
gang signs: hand signs used by gang members to identify their membership.
Geek Gang Signs.
DiggGraphr
DiggGraphr is a treemap view of Digg, where each story is represented by a rectangle and the area occupied by each rectangle is proportional to the number of Diggs relative to the other stories in that channel.
You can hover over the rectangles for more info. Clicking on the rectangle takes you to the source page.
Whole Earth Catalog
The 'Whole Earth Catalog' was published regularly from 1968 to 1972, but only intermittently thereafter. During its four years of regular publication, the Catalog earned a reputation, a following, and a National Book Award, the only time a catalog has been so honored.
Standing with one foot firmly in the rugged individualism and back-to-the-land movements of the Sixties counterculture and the other in the nascent global community made possible by the Internet, the 'Whole Earth Catalog' offered an integrated, complex, challenging, thought-provoking, and comprehensive worldview.
Whichbook
Whichbook is a completely new way to find books you might like to read. Whichbook lets you build a description of the kind of books you like and then matches that description against the books in the database.
Your description can be built either on a choice of moods, or on specific plot elements. The books that most closely match your requirements are then returned as a list.
I wanted a book that was funny and unusual but also a little bit disturbing and demanding. What I got was 'Karloff's Circus Accomplice Book 4' by Steve Aylett.
Evolution Of Technology
A fast-paced spot by German agency Scholz & Friends for electronics retailer Saturn tells an ultra-high-tech tale of robotic evolution and look likes an awesome H.R. Giger-fueled nightmare.
(via AdFreak)
The Recently Deflowered Girl
I've seen many strange books but this one must be the strangest of them all.
'The Recently Deflowered Girl: The Right Thing To Say On Every Dubious Occasion' is a book published in 1965, written by Hyacinthe Phypps with illustrations by Edward Gorey.
Safe for work.
NamelessleTTer
NamelessleTTer is a collaborative art project where people from all horizons leave personalized bookmarks in books with the goal of seeing other readers discover them. They can be left in different places such as libraries, bookstores, etc.
(thanks Reno)
6 Professional Painters From The Animal Kingdom
Humans are not the only species to create art. You can argue all day about what is art and what isn't, but some animals are selling their creations, which puts them a notch closer to being true artists than most of us! Here are six different professional animal artists.
Super Boy Scout
Long Island teen Shawn Goldsmith earned every merit badge offered by the boy scouts, a feat described as 'almost unheard-of' by scout officials.
He was awarded his 121st Boy Scout of America merit badge on December 19, 2008, days before his 18th birthday. He hopes to one day become a businessman and politician.
(via Neatorama)
Chain Bottle Holder
The laws of gravity no longer apply. Up is now down and down is up. This cool wine holder clearly shows that the basic laws of physics have been broken.
Either that or this is in fact an optical illusion created by welded chain links that cleverly counter balance the weight of a wine bottle.
The Book Cover Archive
An archive of book cover designs and designers. You can browse by designers, titles, authors, art directors, photographers, illustrators, genres, publication dates, and publishers.
Huh?
Mix a female bodybuilder with a steel drum band and a Rubik's Cube and what do you get? A very weird video! And worst of all, if you look carefully you can see it's played in reverse. (at the 1:02 minute mark, look at her hair)
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
Was this on television last night? No, not really!
Make your own Who Wants to be a Millionaire? scene. The site is in French but it's not that difficult to figure out what you have to do. Click on 'Remix cette image', change the text and click on 'Tester mon remix.'
More here.
Colombian Coffee Growers To Sue Over US Cartoon
Colombian coffee growers are brewing up a lawsuit over a U.S. comic strip joking that violence is so rampant there, maybe 'there's a little bit of Juan Valdez in every can' of the country's java.
The Colombian Coffee Growers Federation says it has consulted with U.S. lawyers and will sue 'Mother Goose & Grimm' cartoonist Mike Peters 'for damage and harm, detriment to intellectual property and defamation.'
(via J-Walk Blog)
The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book
The first cookbook to use standardized measurements in its recipes, The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, was published in 1896. Edited by Fannie Farmer, the book became one of America's favorite cookbooks and was republished as The Fanny Farmer Cookbook.
The full text of the original 1896 edition is available on the Internet, in images as well as in transcript.
Throw Me A Chair... No, Just One!
This is an oldie but a goldie. A wrestler (the guy to the right in the black shirt) asks the audience to throw him a folding chair and just about every fan in attendance decided to comply with the request.
Nigerian Vegetable Biker Helmet
Motorcyclists in Nigeria have been wearing dried pumpkin shells on their heads to dodge a new law forcing them to wear helmets, authorities say. According to the new law, all motorbike drivers and motorbike passengers must wear helmets.
Kano Federal Road Safety Commission commander Yusuf Garba told the BBC they were taking a hard line with people found using the improvised helmets. 'We are impounding their bikes and want to take them to court so they can explain why they think wearing a calabash is good enough for their safety,' he said.
(via Boing Boing)
Amazing Cityscape Art Made From Unusual Objects
Most of us played with building blocks to create our own make believe buildings and cities. Fortunately, not all of us outgrew this habit.
Here are some cityscape artworks made from unusual objects like eggs, cookware, and Jell-O.
Seal Finds Trout Buffet At Sandwich Hatchery
Like a chocoholic with keys to a Godiva shop, a young harbor seal found herself in sea mammal heaven yesterday - the Sandwich Hatchery. And before she was captured and released on a salt water beach, the little seal managed to munch on untold numbers of four-pound trout.
She had to travel about two miles from the area of the Sandwich Boardwalk on Cape Cod Bay, follow a creek that passes under a mini-golf course and Route 6A and runs through a wooded area skirting the fish hatchery, before somehow making her way to the hatchery lagoons.
(thanks Cora)
Gapminder World Chart
Gapminder published a different kind of world map in November last year. The directions are not North and South, but Healthy and Sick, and not West and East, but Rich and Poor.
The chart was produced in 2008 but the data is from 2006, showing information from the UN Statistics Division, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation and others sources.
When you click on the map you will be shown a pdf document.
(via Google Blogoscoped)
Frozen Smiles
All of a sudden, dentures aren't just for Grandpa anymore. Freeze up a batch of Frozen Smiles and drop them into any glass - they're the ice cubes that grin right back at you. Nobody will ever take your glass away from you.
Britain's Strongest Girl
Think of a weightlifter and the image that comes to mind is of a musclebound hulk with thighs like treetrunks. Think again. Petite 14-year-old Zoe Smith from Abbey Wood, London, has staked her claim to be the strongest girl in Britain after lifting almost two-thirds more than her bodyweight.
The 5ft 2in schoolgirl, who weighs 126 pounds, managed to hoist aloft an astonishing 210 pounds in one 'clean and jerk' event. Zoe was named one of the British Olympic Association's Athletes of the Year for 2008 after she took gold at the Commonwealth Youth Games in India.
(via UniqueDaily)
Six Word Stories
They say brevity is a virtue. Six Word Stories is a collection of short stories consisting of just six words. It was inspired by Ernest Hemingway's famous challenge. Six Word Stories includes stories by famous people, reader submissions, and the Internet at large.
Some examples:
Bob's last message: Bermuda Triangle, Baloney.
We kissed. She melted. Mop please!
The baby’s blood type? Human, mostly.
Rattlesnake Pint Glass
Pick your antidote to daily stress, and pour it in here. Fangs bared, rattles poised just so to make a perfect handle, this lethal faux rattlesnake wraps around a pint glass; looks even more lethal with your favorite brew inside.
(via Everlasting Blort)
7 Architectural Wonders of the Natural World
From underground ant colonies that extend farther than the Great Wall of China to termite mounds that tower at nearly twice the relative height of the Burj Dubai, and from the largest multi-species spider web ever discovered to the longest beaver dam on the planet, here are seven of the most awe-inspiring animal architects and architectonic structures of the animal kingdom.
(via Neatorama)
Online Time Travel Pharmacy
Have you ever wanted to fight a brontosaurus, or be best friends with a stegosaurus? Time travel can help you do that. Have you ever wished you had been Wal-Mart's 1,000th customer, and received a complimentary bag of shoes? Time Travel Pharmacy can help you do that.
OnlineTimeTravelPharmacy offers proven time-travel prescriptions filled by Canadian pharmacists. The medications are shipped from Mumbai, India, in the year 2395. Note, the medications are packaged in paper envelopes.
(via Everlasting Blort)
Gasbangwallop
See what happens when Barry Bernard's secret cocktail of gases is ignited within an old bed. Here's a clue - there's some gas, a bang and a great big wallop.
