unique and interesting: July 2007

Monday, July 30, 2007

The Childhood Goat Trauma Foundation

The Childhood Goat Trauma Foundation was created in 1982 by a small group that originally came together as a an informal support group for problems that were the result of traumatic experiences at petting zoos as children. Each year, over 6,000 people are traumatized by goats in the United States alone.

Through its programs and workshops, individuals from all walks of life have been able to live happier and more fulfilling lives, without the ever-present ghosts of their personal goat traumas. Some have even made such progress that they have been able to put their traumas completely behind them and rejoin mainstream society.

Here's an example of Goat Trauma in action. What you don't see here is the goat lurking just below desk-level, gnawing away at this man's right leg.

Lifted

When an overconfident teen alien gets behind the controls of a spaceship, he must attempt to abduct a slumbering farmer under the watchful eye of a critical instructor. But abducting humans requires precision and a gentle touch, and within a few missteps it's painfully clear why more humans don't go missing every year.

(via Neatorama)

How To Predict The Weather Without A Forecast

Long before technology was developed to predict the weather, people had to rely on observation, patterns and folklore to avoid being caught off guard by the elements. In 650 BC, the Babylonians predicted the weather from cloud patterns. In about 340 BC, Aristotle described weather patterns in Meteorologica. Chinese weather prediction lore extends at least as far back as 300 BC.

Ancient weather forecasting methods usually relied on observed patterns of events. For example, it might be observed that if the sunset was particularly red, the following day often brought fair weather.

If your plans, livelihood or even your survival depend on the weather, it certainly wouldn't hurt to become familiar with some of these methods, especially since you never know when you might be out of touch with the local weather report. These methods aren't foolproof, but they have their usefulness, and if you don't have a forecast on hand, what do you have to lose by trying them?

The Père-Lachaise Cemetery is one of the largest cemeteries in the city of Paris, France. It is reputed to be the world's most-visited cemetery, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to the graves of those who have enhanced French life over the past 200 years. The cemetery takes its name from Père François de la Chaise, the confessor of King Louis XIV.

There are many famous people burried at the cemetery, like Sarah Bernhardt, Georges Bizet, Maria Callas, Frédéric Chopin, Yves Montand, Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, and Oscar Wilde.

Take a virtual tour of the Père-Lachaise Cemetery.

(via Nag on the Lake)

10 Products To Keep Your Pets Cool

From Inventor Spot:

In summertime, it is important to take precautions against the danger of heat exhaustion and heatstroke for your pets. After all, cats and dogs don't release body heat by sweating. Instead they cool down by releasing heat through their footpads and by panting - ways that aren't always effective, leaving pets vulnerable to warm weather.

Here are 10 products to keep your pets cool.

The world's largest toilet has opened in Chongqing, China. There are more than 1,000 toilets spread out over 30,000 square feet. Some urinals are uniquely shaped, including ones inside open crocodile mouths and several topped by the bust of a woman resembling the Virgin Mary.

We are spreading toilet culture. People can listen to gentle music and watch TV, said Lu Xiaoqing, an official with the 'Foreigners Street' tourist area where the bathroom is. After they use the bathroom they will be very, very happy.

Top 40 Best Sand Sculptures.

Spot The Knockoff

Can you spot a fake Prada wallet a mile away? Are you sure? Not only have the counterfeiters who stock knockoff markets become more savvy about replicating telltale details, they're copying niche brands you might not expect.

Can you tell faux from fashionable?
Try the 'Spot the Knockoff' quiz.

The Teachings Of Diogenes

Diogenes of Sinope was a Greek philosopher who lived ca. 400 - ca. 325 B.C. He was the most famous exponent of Cynicism, which called for a closer imitation of nature, the repudiation of most human conventions, and complete independence of mind and spirit.

But he was also a very playful philosopher who liked to use great wit when challenging the values and beliefs of his fellow citizens in ancient Athens. Here are some examples:

Someone asked, 'Why is it, Diogenes, that pupils leave you to go to other teachers, but rarely do they leave them to come to you?' 'Because,' replied Diogenes, 'one can make eunuchs out of men, but no one can make a man out of eunuchs.'

Diogenes was asked, 'What is the difference between life and death? He answered, 'No difference.' 'Well then, why do you remain in this life?' 'Because there is no difference,' Diogenes said.

The Teachings of Diogenes.

Girls! Get your man and make him yours forever. Don't sit at home alone at night, waiting for the phone call that never comes. Enjoy the thrill that every woman craves.

Learn how you too can win and keep the man you love with the Mancatcher Voodoo Kit.

How To Overcome Papaphobia

Defined as a persistent, abnormal and irrational Fear of the Pope, each year, this common phobia causes millions of people needless distress. The financial toll of this phobia is incalculable. Living with fear means you can never concentrate fully and give your best.

Papaphobia will likely cost you tens, even hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of your lifetime. Now Papaphobia can be gone for less than the price of a round-trip airline ticket, or a few weeks of drugs or conventional therapy.

Animal experts from Paultons Park near Romsey, Hampshire, England, have discovered an ingenious new way to stop their meerkats fighting, by using VapoRub, a humble cold remedy. The staff were concerned that their two existing meerkats would fight with three new arrivals.

They realised a decongestant rub, normally used to ease cold symptoms, could mask the African animals' scent. In the wild, meerkats normally attack newcomers to a group. The five animals at Paultons Park have had the strong smelling rub applied to their noses to hide their scent long enough for them to get used to each other without any arguments.

The Best Dangerous Science Jobs

A biosafety Level 4 lab researcher and a propulsion engineer have very dangerous jobs. But did you know that grad students are number 6 on a list of dangerous science jobs?

Even the most mundane job in science is hazardous if you don't know what you're doing. Grad students in labs around the world are in constant danger of, well, screwing up.

The Best Dangerous Science Jobs.

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: Freegan.

click on the picture for real size

Jumping Spider Mating Ritual

An interesting video of a male jumping spider trying to impress a female spider. This particular spider bobs his body and waves gis front legs in a higly specific manner. But the most interesting part are auditory signals, sounding like buzzes and drum rolls.

(via Nothing To Do With Arbroath)

Do you know what the corresponding aspect of these two pictures is? Yes, of course you know because you've seen the title of this post. Indeed, both are showing food with 120 calories.

More pictures of how 120 calories look like.

Your Real Age

We all know that the choices we make and the medical conditions we have affect our lives. This Real Age Calculator shows how greatly we can alter our lives simply by cutting out that donut or smiling more. Answer some questions and get your Real Age.

Here are my results. I know that I look much younger than I am (I'm 57) and I also know that I usually act younger than I am, and the test results confirm that.

The Mutato Collection is a collection of non-standard fruits, roots and vegetables found at Berlin Super- and Farmer Markets.
The Mutato Project serves to document and archive the last survivors of biological variety.

(via Grow-A-Brain)

Tea too strong? Too weak? Problem solved. This nattily attired tea penguin always brews the perfect cup.

Set the timer for your ideal brew time (from 1 minute up to 20) and he lowers the teabag into the water. When the time is up, he lifts it out.

Nano Journeys whisk you away to the micro and nano cosmos. On various routes you can gradually 'shrink yourself' into worlds invisible to us and penetrate into the smallest known dimensions of our universe.

(via Ursi's Blog)

The Hornet Spook Light

photographs by Ed Gibson, Grove, Oklahoma

Twelve miles southwest of Joplin, Missouri, USA, a roughly paved road runs through a narrow canyon. Nearby is the former border village of Hornet, and close to that is the site of what once was a spook light museum. The place is remote and far from civilization, so why do so many people come here?

They are searching for an unexplained enigma, a puzzle that most of them actually seem to find. It has been seen along this road since 1866 and has created such a mystery that even the Army Corps of Engineers officially concluded that it was a 'mysterious light of unknown origin.' It has gone by many names, but it's most commonly known as the Hornet Spook Light.

World Database Of Happiness

The World Database of Happiness is an ongoing register of scientific research on the subjective enjoyment of life. It brings together findings that are scattered throughout many studies and provides a basis for synthetic work.

All over the Internet, reports are flooding in of angry computers attacking their users. A closer look reveals they all have one thing in common: a new Nokia N95 was on the scene of each incident.

The Healthy Computer Volunteer Group came to a clear conclusion: the use of advanced Nokia technology in combination with slogans like 'It's what computer have become' is obviously upsetting a wide range of 'old school computers.'

Jealous Computers is Nokia's lastest advertising campaign. See some shocking footage of angry PC's caught on camera. Read vivtims' testimonies and learn how to prevent a jealous computer attack.

Linkdump

Top Ten Of Worst Natural Disasters

What Road Signs Really Mean

Prevention's Anti-Aging Guide

And you thought superheroes existed only in fiction? Inspired by fiction superheroes such as Batman and Superman, these people wear masks and capes in order to fight real crime on the streets. Here's a list with 10 of the most famous real-life superheroes.

Historical Sounds

Historical Sounds in MP3 Format is a collection of audio files intended to archive the greatest speeches in recorded history. Most of the files are from the 20th century, but there are a few exceptions, such as the Edison recordings.

Clever Google Tricks Worth Knowing

Find the face behind the result, find free anonymous web proxies, judge a site by its image, Google for music, videos, and ebooks, and some other clever Google tricks.

10 Worst Drivers Ever Caught On Video

This is about people that obviously lack the requisite skills to operate a motor vehicle - who were also unfortunate enough to have the evidence caught on film.

Things That Are Difficult To Say When You're Drunk

There are things that are difficult to say when you're drunk. There are also things that are very difficult to say when you're drunk. And then there are things that are downright impossible to say when you're drunk.

Over 50 redheads rode the subway together and protested a Manhattan Wendy's for their 'racist logo.'

(via Cynical-C Blog)

A Study On Phone Carrying

Information from a series of Nokia street surveys conducted between 2003 and 2006 that explored where people carry their mobile phones and why.

The mobile phone's effectiveness as a communication device is partly dependent on its owner noticing incoming communication and it was assumed by the authors that the process of deciding to carry an object would correlate with a minimal level of its effective use.

The Virtual Egyptian Museum brings you a collection of antiquities never shown before in the New World. No one has seen any of these artifacts in a 'real museum' for the past 25 years.

In the Virtual Egyptian Museum, the almost unlimited amount of space available for information and the negligible overhead required for redundant information makes it possible to provide the visitor with complete historical, geographical, sociological, religious, economic and technological context for each and every object.

(via corsinet)

System Administrator Appreciation Day

ployees may often take for granted that when they arrive at work, all they need to do is turn on their workstations, click on some desktop icons and start checking e-mail and doing their work. But, somewhere at the company headquarters is a room with lots of machines, lots of wires, lots of blinking lights and a constant buzzing sound. This is the territory of the SysAdmin. This is where things happen.

Today is System Administrator Appreciation Day. On this special international day, give your System Administrator something that shows that you truly appreciate their hard work and dedication.

Songs for Ice Cream Trucks.

List Of Artificial Objects On The Moon

A list of artificial objects on the surface of the Moon. They have been abandoned after having served their purpose. The list does not include smaller objects such as the retroreflectors and Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package.

Nor does it include several commemorative or personal objects left there by Apollo astronauts, such as the golf balls from Alan Shepard's lunar driving practice during Apollo 14, flags, or the Fallen Astronaut statuette left by the crew of Apollo 15.

I Like Turtles

Ten-year-old Jonathan Ware of Milwaukie, Oregon, was asked by a reporter what he thought of his elaborate face paint. Jonathon stared zombie-like into the camera lens and said, 'I like turtles!'

The Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at Delft University of Technology here in the Netherlands has embarked on a four-year project to develop 'the ultra-eco-friendly plane' which happens to be a flying saucer.

The faculty is currently hard at work recruiting a special research team to design this innovative aircraft in a project called CleanEra.

The Collected Works Of Friedrich Nietzsche

Friedrich Nietzsche is unchallenged as the most insightful and powerful critic of the moral climate of the 19th century. His exploration of unconscious motivations anticipated Freud.

He is notorious for stressing the 'will to power' that is the basis of human nature, the 'resentment' that comes when it is denied its basis in action, and the corruptions of human nature encouraged by religions that feed on such resentment.

The Collected Works of Friedrich Nietzsche.

The Mafia has controlled everything from the street corner drug trade to the highest levels of government. Glorified by movies and television, hounded by law enforcement officials, marked for death by their enemies, mobsters live violent and often brief lives. The Mafia at its core is about one thing - money. Still, there are secret rituals, complicated rules and tangled webs of family loyalty.

In this article from 'How Stuff Works' you'll find out how people get into the Mafia, what the Mafia does and what law enforcement agencies have done to stop them. You'll also learn about the important people and events that have shaped this not-so-secret society.

Oscar is a hospice cat at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, Rhode Island. Oscar seems to have an uncanny knack for predicting when nursing home patients are going to die, by curling up next to them during their final hours.

His accuracy, observed in 25 cases, has led the staff to call family members once he has chosen someone. It usually means they have less than four hours to live.

According to Dr. David Dosa, many family members take some solace from it. They appreciate the companionship that the cat provides for their dying loved one.

101 Amazing Earth Facts

What is the hottest place on Earth? And the coldest place? How far does regular dust blow in the wind? Has the Moon always been so close? What is the wettest place on Earth? How old is Earth? Are rivers alive?

101 Amazing Earth Facts.

People who work at their desks all day tend to stay in one position for a long time.

Physical Activity at Work has videos that are designed to counter the effects of sitting at your desk.

With its detailed satellite photos, Google's interactive map lets everyone be a virtual globetrotter. And some of the things to be found are downright bizarre.

Camera Illusion

This is an interesting camera illusion.

A series of Photoshopped movie posters starring fish.

(via Neatorama)

Messin' With Sasquatch

While Dudeism in its official form has been organized as a religion only recently, it has existed down through the ages in one form or another. Probably the earliest form of Dudeism was the original form of Chinese Taoism, before it went all weird with magic tricks and body fluids.

The originator of Taoism, Lao Tzu, basically said 'smoke 'em if you got 'em' and 'mellow out, man' although he said this in ancient Chinese so something may have been lost in the translation.

Come join the slowest-growing religion in the world - Dudeism. An ancient philosophy that preaches non-preachiness, practices as little as possible, and above all, uh...lost my train of thought there...

Is Your Printer Spying On You?

Imagine that every time you printed a document, it automatically included a secret code that could be used to identify the printer - and potentially, the person who used it. Sounds like science fiction, doesn't it?

Unfortunately, the scenario isn't fictional. In a purported effort to identify counterfeiters, the US government has succeeded in persuading some color laser printer manufacturers to encode each page with identifying information. That means that without your knowledge or consent, an act you assume is private could become public. And what's worse, there are no laws to prevent abuse.

Rumours of a link between the US first family and the Nazi war machine have circulated for decades. Now British newspaper The Guardian has obtained confirmation from newly discovered files in the US National Archives that a firm of which Prescott Bush (the current president's grandfather) was a director was involved with the financial architects of Nazism.

Documents uncover details of a planned coup in the USA in 1933 by a group of right-wing American businessmen. The coup was aimed at toppling President Franklin D. Roosevelt with the help of half-a-million war veterans.

The plotters, who were alleged to involve some of the most famous families in America, (owners of Heinz, Birds Eye, Goodtea, Maxwell Hse and Prescott Bush) believed that their country should adopt the policies of Hitler and Mussolini to beat the great depression.

More information on the White House Coup:
Wall Street's Plot to Seize the White House.

The Orb is a new generation of mobile structures created specifically to fire the imagination of a younger, style conscious generation. It has been designed to appeal across three distinct markets: commercial show units, holiday park homes and adaptable home offices.

Built to a standard far beyond that of comparable structures using marine technology, it is both incredibly durable, lightweight and transportable.

(via Ursi's Blog)

Robot sculptures by Gordon Bennett, made from a mixture of found objects which are both old an new. The parts are found in various places including garbage dumps, basements, construction sites, and garage sales.

(via Everlasting Blort)

Uniqlock

It's a clock, but a very unusual one.

The sea contains untold numbers of strange and bizarre creatures. It is said that we know more about our own solar system than we know about our oceans.

Indeed, some creatures of the sea can seem more alien than anything you can imagine. But even worse, some of them can seem more frightening than your worst nightmare.

Pikifx

Pikifx is a website that allows users to upload their image and add a range of cool effects while online. Basically you can make your images look cool without having any desktop software installed or the knowledge on how to use the software. You can resize and crop your photo, and add creative effects, borders and text.

Here I took a picture of my Sandra, applied a 'fade to black' effect and used an old television set as a border.

Try Pikifx yourself.

The official site of the saddest caveman in the world.

(via Miss Cellania)

What would happen if you were to connect all the ZIP codes in the US in ascending order? Is there a system behind the assignment of ZIP codes? Are they organized in a grid? The result is surprising and much more interesting than expected.

Ice cream is a frozen dessert made from dairy products, such as cream, combined with flavorings and sweeteners, such as sugar. In the fifth century BC, ancient Greeks sold snow cones mixed with honey and fruit in the markets of Athens. Roman emperor Nero had ice brought from the mountains and combined with fruit toppings. Today's ice treats likely originated with these early ice delicacies.

But at some point, the world of ice cream took a turn for the worse. Here are 101 very frightening ice cream flavors.

(via Dark Roasted Blend)

Accidents with ships, containers or on containerterminals.

The Which Lolcat Are You? Test

You've heard of lolcats, haven't you? If not, go here.

Now there's the Which Lolcat Are You? Test. Answer questions and be awarded the title of one of 8 notorious lolcats.

Eight Things

I have been tagged with a blogging meme by Jon Baas. The rules state that I must share eight little known random facts about myself. So, here we go!

Eight little-known facts about me:

*1. I spent my education on a boarding school where, at the age of 11, I had to speak French because the school was founded by Napoleon. Fortunately, a couple of months after I arrived, we were allowed to speak our own language.

*2. My family descends from Spanish gypsies. Although we have been in the Netherlands since the 1700s, our family line goes back to the Beticos, a group of Spanish 'Gitanos.' Even my last name, Vlemmings, refers to Spanish gypsies. Vlemmings comes from 'Flamenco' which comes from Andalusi Arabic 'fellah mengu,' meaning 'peasant without land.'

*3. When I was 16 years old, I almost died from a double pneumonia. I haven't been sick for a single day since that time.

*4. I know everything about Formula 1 Racing. And I mean everything! Every statistic about the 58-year old history of Formula 1 is in my head. I am a walking racing encyclopedia.

*5. For six months I have lived on a small island off the coast of the Netherlands.

*6. Many years ago I was a table tennis champion.

*7. Looking back I realize I have been living a rather exciting but also dangerous life. I have been jumping out of airplanes, I have been involved in car racing, I have been hang gliding and base jumping. I did most of these things when I was young and foolish, some of them without my parents even knowing.

*8. I suffer from a slight form of 'Entomophobia,' a fear of insects. I am not afraid of flies and mosquitos and I also realize that most insects pose no threat. It's the fearsome looking insects that give me the shivers. Grasshoppers, earwigs, spiders etc. Probably because I have seen them under the microscope.

My Faux Paws was born when our resident designer, 'Vyra Wag,' was looking for a way to combine two of her favorite things, animals, and dressing people. 'Ms Wag' worked on many shows, usually involving herself in sets, props, and, what else? Costumes!

Even as a child her favorite game was 'dress up,' and she spent many hours creating outfits for herself, her friends, and her dolls. Even her cats wore their share of her creations. She is very happy to be using her design talents to dress up the animal world and is constantly coming up with new ideas for outfits.

(via Everlasting Blort)

Atlas Of Faiths

A map of the world's different religions.

Home Schooled

Laws Of Cat Physics

* Law of Cat Stretching: A cat will stretch to a distance proportional to the length of the nap just taken.
* Law of Furniture Replacement: A cat's desire to scratch furniture is directly proportional to the cost of the furniture.
* Law of Cat Sleeping: All cats must sleep with people whenever possible, in a position as uncomfortable for the people involved as is possible for the cat.

Laws of Cat Physics.

(via jvworldwide)

Weird Facts

While driving from Beloit, Wisconsin, company founder Benjamin Hirsch, the developer of Plastone car polish, stopped at a place named Turtle Creek, rested by a stream, and was struck by his reflection in the water.

Realizing that his car polish provided a wax coating as tough as a turtle shell and as reflective as Turtle Creek, he renamed his product, Turtle Wax.

More weird facts.

Haruo Suekichi from Japan has made thousands of watches, each with an individual name. His watches are not like anything you have ever seen. He's a Steampunk Watchmaker.

Steampunk refers to a subgenre of speculative science fiction which came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used - usually the 19th century, and often set in Victorian era England.

What happens when you put eggs in the microwave? Or a football, ketchup packets, gummy worms, christmas lights, soap, or crayons?

Look what happens when these items are heated up.

Traffic Wardens Need Love is a movement of people who feel traffic wardens need more love. They are only doing their job, and everybody seems to hate them.

This website is a portal for traffic wardens all over the world to come to visit and see just how much they are loved.

(via Nothing To Do With Arbroad)

45 Freeware Design Programs

Do you like to draw, edit images, illustrate, create animations, or do some 3D modeling? Then here are 45 design programs to download that are absolutely free!

Leonardo - Right To Left

Leonardo da Vinci wrote in Italian using a special kind of shorthand that he invented himself. People who study his notebooks have long been puzzled by something else, however.

He usually used 'mirror writing,' starting at the right side of the page and moving to the left. Only when he was writing something intended for other people did he write in the normal direction.

Now you can write in Leonardo's style yourself.

(thanks Yelena)

update: I just realized this is a re-post.

People playing chess on roller coasters, inspired by a web comic.

Arnold Height

One of the world's most puzzling questions is 'How tall is Arnold Schwarzenegger?' This is unknown, although it is estimated he's somewhere between 5'9" and 6'2". Arnoldheight.com is a team consisting of around 200 scientists working around the clock to discover the true height of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Arnoldheight.com is the only website dedicated to this exciting field of research after the takeover and liquidation of websites such as www.tinyarnie.com and www.shortzenegger.org which are now no more.

(via J-Walk Blog)

Who Is Miss American Pie?

The meaning behind the lyrics of Don McLean's American Pie.

Linkdump

Contemporary Japanese Bamboo Art

The Art of Living in Small Places

Top 10 Weirdest Toilets

The English-to-American Dictionary

200+ Hotkeys To Boost Your Productivity

The most accurate time piece ever invented! Precisely accurate in all time zones throughout the entire universe. A timely reminder of the only moment that really matters.

Thriller

Michael Jackson's Thriller by 1,500 inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center in the Philippines.

New York Subway Map Of The Internet.

News Anchors Can't Stop Laughing At Falling Model

NBC anchor Jim Vance reports on a story out of Paris Fashion Week, where a runway model fell down not once, but twice on her way back from the end of the catwalk. Vance and company can barely keep it together to finish reporting it.

What a great idea. The major goal of the Five Day Weekend is simple: to reverse the workweek so that Americans clock in for two good days of work, followed by five well-earned days off.

Why? Because overwork has become a major problem for Americans, and it's getting worse by the year. The two-day weekend was created in 1930, and despite decades of unparalleled technology growth, people are actually working more and more each year.

Fivedayweekend.org believes overwork in America has become a soul-crushing epidemic, getting worse every year since the 1940s. They believe there's a way to break the trend, and they could use your help.

They're actually taking a Five Day Weekend petition to Congress in a month or so. Help them by signing the petition.

If today is your birthday, here's a funny birthday song.

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Monday, July 30, 2007

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Friday, July 27, 2007

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Monday, July 23, 2007

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Friday, July 20, 2007