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50 States and Their Mottos by Emily Wick - 01/09/2009 07:48 AM

The Fifty United States and their Mottos (2008) by Emily Wick Artist Emily Wick created this fabulous map of the United States out of linoleum block prints, with official state mottos carved into each of the 50 States. My favorites are New Mexico’s "It grows at it goes" motto and Maryland’s "Manly deeds, womanly words" motto. Link [...]

Star Wars Toy Trains Would Be Jedis How to Use The Force - 01/09/2009 07:47 AM

Can you be a Jedi? Well, here’s a toy Jedi training device that trains Star Wars fans to use The Force: The Force Trainer (expected to be priced at $90 to $100) comes with a headset that uses brain waves to allow players to manipulate a sphere within a clear 10-inch-tall training tower, analogous to Yoda [...]

Minimalist Watch/Bracelet by Hiranao Tsuboi - 01/09/2009 05:56 AM

Is it a bracelet or a watch … or both? Here’s a minimalist wristwatch by Hiranao Tsuboi of 100%: The eye-catching watch uses LED digits built into the elegant black brushed-metal wristband, negating the need for a traditional watch face altogether. Tsuboi’s watch also has no name - it’s a one of a kind exercise made especially [...]

Where Did Madoff Hide His Money? - 01/09/2009 05:56 AM

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you all know that Bernie Madoff fleeced his clients out of $50 billion. But where have all that money gone? Robert Chew of TIME Magazine wrote an intriguing article on the possible ways Madoff had squirrel away his loot: A guilty conscience, billions to play with and oodles of time [...]

Why Stepping Onto the Bowling Lanes is a Bad Idea - 01/09/2009 05:55 AM

[YouTube - Link] This woman got really, really excited when she bowled a strike. Here’s why you should never step foot on the bowling lanes … - via videosift

Lowest Blood Oxygen Levels Ever Recorded - 01/09/2009 05:53 AM

Medical researchers went to Mount Everest and took samples of their own bkood while near the peak. What they found was shocking! An average person at sea level has about 13-14 kilopascals (kPa) of oxygen in their bloodstream, University College of London medical researcher Dan Martin says. When his intensive care patients drop to around 8 [...]

139-year-old Baseball Card Found - 01/09/2009 05:51 AM

Bernice Gallego of Fresno, California had no idea what the baseball card she found in her attic might be worth, so she listed it on eBay with a starting bid of $10. After a few inquiries about the card, she pulled the auction and decided to have the card appraised. Turns out her hunch was [...]

Retro Sabotage Super Mario - 01/09/2009 05:48 AM

Remember Retro Sabotage (previously at Neatorama) where you can play hilariously sabotaged classic arcade games? Now they have something new! See if you can figure out what is different about this version of Super Mario Bros. from 1985. You can construct one of your own, too! Link -Thanks, Rico & Tof!

Man Wants Donated Kidney Back - 01/09/2009 05:46 AM

As part of their divorce settlement, a doctor in New York state is requesting the return of a kidney he donated to his in 2001! The doctor claims his wife began having an affair sometime after the transplant. “We were in a million-dollar home, I was a full-time surgeon, full-time father and a dedicated husband. And [...]

When You Love Whoppers More Than Your Friends - 01/09/2009 05:29 AM

Are you dying for a Whopper right now, but don’t have a dime to your name? Do you have Facebook? Well, problem solved - download the Whopper Sacrifice application. If you have 10 friends you’re willing to dump on Facebook, Burger King will send you a coupon for a free burger. [...]

Word Association Game - 01/09/2009 05:04 AM

OK, it’s not exactly a game, but it is kind of entertaining in a mindless way. It’s pretty simple: the site gives you a word and you type in the first word that comes to mind. Then it gives you another word based on the word you just gave - the site is [...]

Snow Face - 01/08/2009 07:27 PM

See what happens when a bunch of students have some free time and a lot of snow? This image is a 5′ sculpture made out of snow. In March of 2003, there was a huge blizzard in Denver and school was canceled for an entire week. With nothing else to do and artistic frustration to get [...]

19 Cool Products That Are Almost Impossible to Use - 01/08/2009 07:24 PM

You’d think that making a product simpler would be a good thing, but sometimes minimalism goes too far. Cool Material has a list of beautiful minimalist products that are so simple they may be hard for a normal person to use! Pictured is the Nimbus Ultimate Wheel, which does away with the bicycle’s second wheel, [...]

Barriers - 01/08/2009 07:23 PM

From Prague, Czech Republic: If you want to promote the slogan “Europe Without Barriers”, what better place to put it than on some police barriers? Link -Thanks, Jeff!

Particle Accelerator vs. Webcam - 01/08/2009 04:01 PM

Etahan Cascio from the Proton Therapy Center at Massachusetts General Hospital demonstrates what happens when a Particle Accelerator is turned on in front of a Webcam. Devices used for the experiment consists of a Beam Aperture, CRaTER Instrument and a Webcam. Very interesting results at the end. Link: YouTube

What is it? Game 87 - 01/08/2009 12:41 PM

Our weekly collaboration with the What is it? Blog brings us this mysterious object - can you guess what it is for? Place your guess in the comment section. No prize this week, so you’re playing for fame and glory only. Please don’t post any URL - let others play. For more clues, check out the What [...]

Jaguar Motorcycle by Barend Hemmes - 01/08/2009 10:32 AM

Barend Massow Hemmes of Massow Concept Cycles along with Polar cycles of Doncaster UK created what is probably the most awesome motorcycle I’ve ever laid eyes on: the Jaguar "leaper" cat logo concept bike, made from stainless steel. Just how awesome is that? Link - via Modern Urban Living

Kerouac’s On the Road Visual Maps by Stefanie Posavec - 01/08/2009 09:45 AM

Literary Organism, a visualization of Part One of On the Road, by Jack Kerouac Artist Stefanie Posavec took pieces from On the Road by Jack Kerouac and turned them into various maps, dissecting the literary masterpiece and converting it into a visual one: Stefanie’s maps capture something above and beyond that of the others. Rather than mapping [...]

Jack Skellington in LEGO - 01/08/2009 09:44 AM

Photo: Legohaulic [Flickr] Flickr user Legohaulic is a big fan of Tim Burton and an avid LEGO hobbyist, so what better tribute to The Nightmare Before Christmas than to create this masterpiece: Jack Skellington made entirely of LEGO! Link - via The Brothers Brick

5 Things About Shakespeare You Didn’t Know - 01/08/2009 09:43 AM

AskMen has a pretty nifty post about the 5 things you didn’t know about Shakespeare. Take, for instance, the word "torture" - yep, good ol’ Will invented it (well, technically he made the noun "torture" which existed at the time into the verb form): 3- Shakespeare invented "torture" Shakespeare didn’t just invent "torture," but also "excitement," "addiction" [...]

Can Science Make a Love Spray? - 01/08/2009 09:42 AM

Guys, are you unlucky in love? Thanks to science, there may just be hope for you yet: a love spray! Neurobiologist Larry Young of Emory University, Georgia, explains: Animal testing is beginning to shed light on the complex neural and genetic components of love in the same way they have led to pharmaceutical therapies for anxiety, phobias [...]

Dragon Cake - 01/08/2009 09:41 AM

Flickr user Astro-Lopithecus has a photoset of an amazing birthday cake shaped like a dragon clutching a 10-sided die. I’d venture a guess that whoever was celebrating his birthday is a D&D lover … The Dragon Cake is made by Mike McCarey of Mike’s Amazing Cakes [warning: Flash and self-starting audio] Link - via reddit

For People Who Like to Make Lists - 01/08/2009 04:35 AM

I’m a compulsive list-maker. If you look in my purse at any given time, you can usually find three different mini notebooks filled with random scribblings, lists and ideas. You don’t even know how delighted I was to come across Listography. It’s a place to keep online lists of anything your little [...]

Star Wars Matryoshka Dolls - 01/08/2009 04:16 AM

These little dolls are adorable and clever. I want a set! There are plenty more images and close ups on artist Matt Brown’s site. Link

Where are they now? Ferris Bueller & friends - 01/08/2009 04:13 AM

Who among us hasn’t asked themselves at least once “whatever happened to the cast of Ferris Bueller’s day off”? Well now you can find out! The link includes fascinating “then and now” pics. (I certainly think Jennifer Grey is very beautiful now post-nosejob, but wasn’t she even more beautiful before? Anyone?) Save Ferris! [Thanks, Gail!]

Things You Probably Don’t Need #7 - 01/08/2009 04:03 AM

Hey, I like Abraham Lincoln as much as the next person. Not only was he one of our greatest presidents ever, he was a fascinating man. But let’s be honest… you probably don’t need this. No one really needs this. It’s beyond creepy. Then again, it might be a great [...]

World’s Largest Sand Carpet - 01/08/2009 03:55 AM

This Persian rug is made of colored sand and is located beside the Straight of Hormuz. Life In The Fast Lane has some great images of the “carpet” being assembled as well as some largest sand carpets of the past and some neat sand sculptures. Link

Fantastic Global Street Art - 01/08/2009 03:13 AM

Good Magazine has a fantastic gallery of some of the best street art in the world. Some are sculptures and some are murals. The site paired up with Wooster Collective, a street art blog that has some great stuff and some just ok sauce.

The Customer is Not Always Right - 01/08/2009 12:51 AM

As a former retail employee, I wholeheartedly agree with that statement. And so do the people at NotAlwaysRight. I only wish I knew of this site when I actually worked retail - I could have contributed so many good stories. But there are some really funny ones even without my additions. [...]

Yama: 3D Pinhole Camera Made From Human Skull - 01/07/2009 08:37 PM

Wayne Martin Belger of Boy of Blue Industries created this pinhole camera, named Yama, out of a human skull! Yama is the Tibetan God of Death: Yama’s eyes are cast from bronze and silver with a brass pinhole in each. A divider runs down the middle of the skull creating two separate cameras. A finished contact print [...]