Neatorama

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• 16th Century Cat Bomb
• The Deadly History of Persia’s Ancient Assassins
• When Railroad Engineers Drag Race, Everyone Loses
• Japan Finance Minister Taro Aso to Old People: "Hurry Up And Die"
• Daily Contaminations
• Chanel Guillotine
• Nuts About You Plush
• Meet Tamblyn Williams, Lion Tamer
• J.J. Abrams to Direct Star Wars: Episode VII
• Man vs. Subway
• Oil Truck Turned into a Massive Portable Grill
• Should Restaurants Ban Food Photography?
• Pool Party
• TARDIS Dress
• Cloud Pencil and Eraser Set
• World Migration
• Photographing a Giant Sequoia
• The Octopizza
• Palace of the Soviets
• Shetland Ponies in Shetland Cardigans
• Robbers' Plot Foiled When Getaway Donkey Becomes Uncooperative
• Soap Bubble Nebula
• Hello Kitty Travel Pillow
• What Is It? game 261
• Survey Says
• Froot Loop Donuts

16th Century Cat Bomb Posted: 25 Jan 2013 04:00 AM PST Long before the days of Anti-Tank Dogs and Bat Bombs, military geniuses of yore thought up of a way to drop bombs to the enemy: with rocket birds and cat bombs. What could possibly go wrong? Link - via The Atlantic

The Deadly History of Persia’s Ancient Assassins Posted: 25 Jan 2013 03:00 AM PST The word assassin comes from an old order of warriors who did a lot more than assassinate their enemies -although they did plenty of that, too.   In the year 1090, a charismatic man by the name of Hasan-i Sabbah used his popularity to gather together a small but devout following of Ismaili Muslims. Sabbah single-handedly molded his following – known as the Order of the Assassins, or Hashashin – into a fighting force capable of bringing down the most well-guarded leaders of the day. Zealous and disciplined, this force would strike terror into the hearts of caliphs, viziers and sultans for the next 200 years. Sabbah’s Order of the Assassins fought for power against Christians and rival branches of Muslims. The Order was outnumbered and scorned by the Sunni majority. But despite this, as Jefferson M. Gray of Historynet.com says, “Hasan-i Sabbah and his successors were brilliant practitioners of asymmetric warfare. They developed a means of attack that negated most of their enemies’ advantages while requiring the Assassins to hazard only a small number of their own fighters.” Not only does the name live on, so do their tactics, emulated by armies, spies, organized crime, and terrorists. Read about those tactics -they'll probably seem familiar in today's world- at Environmental Graffiti.  Link

When Railroad Engineers Drag Race, Everyone Loses Posted: 25 Jan 2013 02:00 AM PST The caption for this photo in William Middleton's The Interurban Era reads: Two Fonda, Johnstown, & Gloversville cars suffered embarrassment after unsuccessfully contesting track space in the Gloversville (N.Y.) yard. And the moral of the story? Never give in to anyone on anything, no matter how small, and no matter how much it costs you. Link -via Jalopnik | Photo: William R. Gordon Collection.

Japan Finance Minister Taro Aso to Old People: "Hurry Up And Die" Posted: 25 Jan 2013 01:00 AM PST Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso has an advice for elderly people of Japan. It can be summed up in four blunt words: "hurry up and die." Taro Aso, the finance minister, said on Monday that the elderly should be allowed to "hurry up and die" to relieve pressure on the state to pay for their medical care. "Heaven forbid if you are forced to live on when you want to die. I would wake up feeling increasingly bad knowing that [treatment] was all being paid for by the government," he said during a meeting of the national council on social security reforms. "The problem won't be solved unless you let them hurry up and die." Justin McCurry of The Guardian reports: Link

Daily Contaminations Posted: 25 Jan 2013 12:00 AM PST Electronic bugs are invading your home! Don't worry -you aren't being monitored and you don't have to call an exterminator. These bugs are from a series called "Daily Contaminations" from sculptor/photographer Luca di Filippo. These itty-bitty bugs with their motherboard bodies and wiry legs are di Filippo’s statement on “the invisible electronic traces we leave in our daily activities.” Like the unseen insects that invade the darkest nooks and crannies of our houses and apartments, these traces surround us even while we remain oblivious to their presence. Of course, we’re occasionally reminded of their existence, but most of us prefer not to think about them. Out of sight, out of mind. Read more about the bugs and see the other photos at Tech Graffiti. Link

Chanel Guillotine Posted: 24 Jan 2013 11:00 PM PST If you have to go, then go out in style. You wouldn't want to be known as the guy taken out by a house brand guillotine purchased at Kmart. You deserve a pricier, ritzier means of execution: the Chanel Guillotine. Artist Tom Sachs built this sculpture, which he also named Breakfast Nook for reasons unfathomable to me. Link -via Booooooom

Nuts About You Plush Posted: 24 Jan 2013 10:00 PM PST Nuts About You Plush Are you a real teddy bear who is nuts about someone who is nuts about squirrels? This Valentine's Day get your bushy-tailed rodent loving sweetheart the Nuts About You Plush from the NeatoShop. This adorable bear is made to look like he is wearing a squirrel costume. It is the perfect way to sum up your overly complicated relationship in one very cute little package.   Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Valentine's Day items.  Link

Meet Tamblyn Williams, Lion Tamer Posted: 24 Jan 2013 10:00 PM PST Photo: Shlomi Nissim/Fine Art Photography In this striking photograph by Shlomi Nissim of Fine Art Photography (more great photos there, btw), Australian lion tamer Tambly Williams look just like a modern day Jane Porter (from Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan of the Apes). From The Telegraph: Tamblyn Williams carries six-month-old lion cub Jagger on her shoulders. Jagger arrived at Seaview Lion Park in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, from a different lion park where he was part of a breeding programme. But he was abandoned just days after birth and was taken in by Tamblyn who had just started as a volunteer at the park after moving to South Africa from Sydney, Australia, to study wildlife. She says: "I spent every day feeding him, going for walks, playing with him and just making sure he was in good health. Now he's a few months older he's a bit too heavy for me to carry - but we're still close." Link - via Amazing Things in the World

J.J. Abrams to Direct Star Wars: Episode VII Posted: 24 Jan 2013 09:00 PM PST The L.A. Times has confirmed that J.J. Abrams, who directed the latest two Star Trek movies, will direct the first Disney film of the Star Wars franchise. The first film is projected to be released sometime in 2015. Link This, of course, led sci-fi and movie geeks all over the internet to crack jokes about Abrams confusing the two space franchises, and speculate about the signature Abrams lens flare effect, seen in the image above posted by ‏@DaveVzla. Here are some from the Metafilter comments: Is the USS Enterprise going to do the Kessel run in under 12 parsecs now? No, but the Millennium Falcon is going to do the Corbomite Maneuver. There's going to be a great scene where X-Wing Pilots 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42 attack a Death Star only to discover its made of smoke. Spock with a lightsaber would be pretty badass, though. Revenge of the Lens Flare amirite?!? The Empire thought it had eliminated all the little vulnerabilities from the newest Death Star, and the rebels could not do anything to stop it... until someone figured out how to beam photon torpedoes into the middle decks. I heard Peter Jackson is being tapped to direct Episode 8, but he's going to do it in 3 parts.

Man vs. Subway Posted: 24 Jan 2013 08:00 PM PST Which is faster, man or subway? In this video clip, Vincent Mulard was challenged to exit a Paris Metro train, then run to the next subway stop and then get back onto the same train! Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] - via Viral Viral Videos

Oil Truck Turned into a Massive Portable Grill Posted: 24 Jan 2013 07:00 PM PST When the lid is closed, this truck looks like all the other tankers at Ken Foster's oil delivery company. But this beauty is made to cook meat in huge quantities: Then, with the push of a button, the whole thing cracks apart, opening like a giant set of aluminum jaws. And inside sits a traveling kitchen, complete with four-burner stove, 42-inch grill and stainless steel prep counter. [...] Foster, the owner of Hall Oil and grill store Breakaway in South Dennis, first began planning the mobile grill set-up about a year ago, when he was deciding what to do with an old oil tank truck. He took his vision to welder Gary Webb, of Gary's Truck Equipment in Harwich, and the two began collaborating on a design. "I told him my idea of how I would like to do it," Webb said. "I also told him it was a gamble — I could cut it apart and say, 'This isn't going to work." The work was challenging, Webb said. He had to be very careful to ensure that the aluminum tank maintained its shape, so it would fit correctly when closed. He also had to custom design and fabricate all of the components, from hinges to hydraulic systems. Link -via Recyclart | Photo: unknown

Should Restaurants Ban Food Photography? Posted: 24 Jan 2013 06:00 PM PST First it was the Terms of Service fiasco, then it's restaurants. Can't Instagram get a break? Helene Stapinski of The New York Times tells us how some restaurants are fed up with customers taking pictures of their food and what they're doing about it: When it comes to people taking photographs of their meals, the chef David Bouley has seen it all. There are the foreign tourists who, despite their big cameras, tend to be very discreet. There are those who use a flash and annoy everyone around them. There are those who come equipped with gorillapods — those small, flexible tripods to use on their tables. There are even those who stand on their chairs to shoot their plates from above. “We get on top of those folks right away or else it’s like a circus,” Mr. Bouley said. Read more over at the New York Times: Link POLL: What do you think, Neatoramanauts? Should restaurants ban food photography? Yes - Those people are annoying! No - How else am I supposed to find out what my friends eat?

Pool Party Posted: 24 Jan 2013 05:00 PM PST (vimeo link) Red Paper Heart, an art studio working in interactivity and animation, was asked to make a pool "interactive" for a party. Since the surface of water is not an easy medium easy to project upon (especially when people are swimming in it), they poured in 65,000 ping pong balls to float on the surface and reflect the projected light! The balls are fairly easy to swim through, and even when moving provided a stable projection surface. You can see a series of photographs of the project at their website. Link -via mental_floss

TARDIS Dress Posted: 24 Jan 2013 04:00 PM PST Now this is amazing: the definitive TARDIS dress, made by Sasha Trabane and Andy Coyle. The story goes like this, as told by Jax Adele over at The CraftJAXtic Blog: My best friend Sasha HATED her prom dress. She had been pushed to go to prom by her friend and after a visit to David's Bridal she ended up with a BLUE dress as her mother suggested instead of a RED dress that she had wanted. Prom came and went as well as several years before the dress came back up in conversation. I was trying to find a dress for Sasha to use as the base of a victorian steampunk costume and she regaled me with her hatetred of the dress. The dress arrived at my house and then came to live in my husband's closet until the day when Sasha decided she wanted to be a DALEK. I told Sasha I would help her with whatever she wanted but she did realize the dress was already BLUE, she could just be a TARDIS. Her face lit up. This was definitely possible. So while starring at the dress and it's original design we realized it had all this extra fabric just crossing over her front. She split the seem and removed the brooch to reveal what would become the inside of the TARDIS. After careful consideration she went with a Police Box choker and a light up tiara to mimic the top of the TARDIS. Windows were constructed from ribbon, felt, and ironing hem tape. The Pull to Open sign was a dark tshirt transfer. The interior was a drop cloth from Home Depot, laundered and washed with a light gold color. It's a definite winner! Links: Turning Prom Dress into the TARDIS Dress over at CraftJAXtic Blog | The TARDIS Princess Facebook Page

Cloud Pencil and Eraser Set Posted: 24 Jan 2013 03:00 PM PST Cloud Pencil and Eraser Set  Does an optical and meteorological phenomenon caused by a reflection of light in water droplets just make you super happy? Does work make you sad? Maybe it is time you harnessed the power of light for your desk with the Cloud Pencil and Eraser Set from the NeatoShop. The cloud eraser doubles as a pencil holder for the included colorful pencils. This office supply is sure to make you happier than a double rainbow.   Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Office & Desk stuff.  Link

World Migration Posted: 24 Jan 2013 03:00 PM PST Carlo Zapponi created an interactive graph called peoplemovin that plots the movement of people in and out of nations. peoplemovin shows the flows of migrants as of 2010 through the use of open data (see Data Sources). The data are presented as a slopegraph that shows the connections between countries. The chart is split in two columns, the emigration countries on the left and the destination countries on the right. The thickness of the lines connecting the countries represents the amount of immigrated people. By clicking on a country, you not only pull up statistics, but also a visualization of where its citizens emigrate to or immigrate from. It's a large chart; the sample here shows immigration to the US, which is the number one destination country. Link  -via the Presurfer

Photographing a Giant Sequoia Posted: 24 Jan 2013 02:00 PM PST Photo: Michael "Nick" Nichols/The National Geographic How do you photograph a 3,200-year-old giant sequoia that rises 247 feet from the ground? Michael "Nick" Nichols did it by stitching together 126 images into one fantastic photo of an absolutely majestic tree. The next question is how did he take those individual pictures? For the answer to that question, you have to watch the video clip: The National Geographic has the fascinating article by David Quammen about these forest giants: Link | Photo Gallery

The Octopizza Posted: 24 Jan 2013 01:00 PM PST Like you, I get hungry whenever I see an octopus. But donedirtcheap has made our tentacled friends even more delicious. His Octopizza is baked with a yeast dough and covered with pepperoni suckers. You can find step-by-step instructions at the link. Link -via That's Nerdalicious!

Palace of the Soviets Posted: 24 Jan 2013 12:00 PM PST Designed in the 1930s, Palace of the Soviets, which would've been the tallest structure at the time, was supposed to be the administrative center and a symbol of the might of the Soviet Union. Alas, the German invasion of 1941 and the subsequent World War put an end to the architectural adventure. But fans of totalitarian architecture take heart! We still got the propaganda posters and art, as compiled in this neat post by Dark Roasted Blend: Link - Thanks Avi!

Shetland Ponies in Shetland Cardigans Posted: 24 Jan 2013 11:00 AM PST Scotland's latest tourism ad series features Shetland ponies wearing handmade cardigans of pure Shetland wool. If that isn't the cutest thing you've ever seen! The ponies are named Fivla and Vitamin. Continue reading to see them getting dressed, and see more pictures at Visit Scotland. Link (Image credit: Rob MacDougall) (YouTube link) -via Laughing Squid

Robbers' Plot Foiled When Getaway Donkey Becomes Uncooperative Posted: 24 Jan 2013 10:00 AM PST Your getaway vehicle must be reliable. That's Crime 101. Unfortunately for these robbers in Colombia, they made a simply asinine choice: The group had managed to steal rum, oil, rice, cans of tuna and sardines from a small shop in the tiny north Caribbean town of Juan de Acosta, according to Noticias Caracol. They planned to load the goods onto 10-year-old Xavi, who they had stolen some 12 hours before, and make their escape. But the animal let out a series of 'hee-haws' and unfortunately for the trio alerted nearby police. They had to ditch the donkey, which was still carrying the stolen items, and ran to safety away from the officers. Link -via Glenn Reynolds | Photo (unrelated): geekmoose

Soap Bubble Nebula Posted: 24 Jan 2013 09:00 AM PST T. A. Rector/University of Alaska Anchorage, H. Schweiker/WIYN and NOAO/AURA/NSF Pop goes the supernova! Actually, that's planetary nebula PN G75.5+1.7, or better known as the Soap Bubble Nebula, which was discovered by amateur astronomer Dave Jurasevich back in 2008. Just look at it and wonder what other marvels does the Universe have in stock? Link

Hello Kitty Travel Pillow Posted: 24 Jan 2013 08:00 AM PST   Hello Kitty Travel Pillow Valentine's Day is right around the corner. Are you planning the purr-fect romantic getaway? Don't forget the super comfy Hello Kitty Travel Pillow from the NeatoShop. This adorable pillow is great for taking cat naps.  Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more fantastic Hello Kitty items.  Link

What Is It? game 261 Posted: 24 Jan 2013 08:00 AM PST Here it is, our collaboration with the always amusing What Is It? Blog! Tell us what this object is, if you know. If you don't, make a wild guess! Place your guess in the comment section below. One guess per comment, please, though you can enter as many as you'd like. Post no URLs or weblinks, as doing so will forfeit your entry. We'll have two winners: the first correct guess and the funniest (albeit ultimately wrong) guess will win T-shirt from the NeatoShop. Please write your T-shirt selection alongside your guess. If you don't include a selection, you forfeit the prize, okay? May we suggest the Science T-Shirt, Funny T-Shirt and Artist-Designed T-Shirts? Check out an additional picture at the What Is It? Blog. Have fun and good luck!

Survey Says Posted: 24 Jan 2013 07:00 AM PST Remember the Fast Money round on Family Feud? Answers come easily when you're sitting on your sofa …but imagine the pressure you'd feel on national television. You might even say something stupid. Q: Name a fruit that is yellow. Orange. Q: Name something that floats in the bath. Water. Q: Name a famous cowboy. Buck Rogers. Q: A number you have to memorize. Seven. Q: Name a part of the body beginning with "N." Knee. Q: Something you do before going to bed. Sleep. Q: Name a bird with a long neck. Naomi Campbell. Q: Name something with a hole in it. Window. Q: Name a sign of the zodiac. April. Q: Name something you might accidentally leave on all night. Your shoes. Q: Name a holiday when the stores are always busy. Monday. Q: Name something some people do clothed that others do without clothes. Ride a motorcycle. Q: Name something you do in the bathroom. Decorate. Q: Name the first thing you take off after work Underwear. Q: Something that flies that doesn't have an engine. A bicycle with wings. Q: Name an occupation where you need a torch. A burglar. Q: Name an animal you might see in a zoo. A dog. Q: A job around the house that has to be done every fall. Spring cleaning. Q: Something you might be allergic to. Skiing. Q: Name a famous bridge. The bridge over troubled waters. Q: Name something a cat does. Goes to the bathroom. Q: Name a song with moon in the title. Blue sueded moon. Q: Name an item of clothing worn by the Three Musketeers. A horse. Q: Name a famous group of singers. The Simpsons. See also:Family Feud Fails _________________________ The article above is reprinted with permission from Uncle John's Supremely Satisfying Bathroom Reader. Since 1988, the Bathroom Reader Institute had published a series of popular books containing irresistible bits of trivia and obscure yet fascinating facts. If you like Neatorama, you'll love the Bathroom Reader Institute's books - go ahead and check 'em out!

Froot Loop Donuts Posted: 24 Jan 2013 06:00 AM PST It's Froot Loops all the way down! These giant versions of the breakfast cereal are actually donuts made with Froot Loops in the batter and sprinkled on the surface. Food television celebrity George Duran says, "I never thought I would say donuts look sexy." I never would either, but we'll just ignore that socially awkward moment and eat these. Video Link -via Foodiggity

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