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Friday, January 16, 2015

Friday links

Tomorrow is Ben Franklin's birthday - bio, quotes, videos, his 200 synonyms for drunk, the bodies found in his basement, and more.


Watch Art on Ancient Greek Vases Come to Life with 21st Century Animation.

ICYMI, Wednesday's links are here, and include the Feast of the Ass, the best baby bed ever, why apple pie is "American", and where cockroaches live when there are no houses around.

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Watch Thousands of Mouse Traps and Ping Pong Balls Set Off a Spectacular Chain Reaction

Apparently this is a Pepsi commercial - very cool, nonetheless. 

Using really humble and basic ingredients, namely a lot of ping-pong balls and standard household mouse traps, London-based art directors and filmmakers Harriman Steel created a spectacular chain reaction to celebrate the beginning of 2015. The video, which was filmed to advertise the Pepsi Max drink, was done in-camera with no special effects and a a lot of patience. "This shoot was optimistic at best and insane at worst, but then if it was going to be straight forward and easy it probably wouldn't have been worth doing in the first place. Everyone involved on the shoot rose to the challenge to deliver a film that is as beautiful as it is unbelievable."


Update - as an anonymous commenter pointed out:
Back in the sixties, when you could actually learn something watching Disney, there was a discussion of nuclear fission in which they set up this same exact illustration. Of course, none of these people congratulating themselves were born at the time so we oldsters might forgive them for acting like they just landed a man on the moon.
Here's the video he references: if you don't want to watch the whole thing, start at the 5:30 mark:


This is brilliant - anonymously send glitter to your enemies (NSFW language)

NSFW language warning for the clip below and at the website.

Wow, I wish I'd thought of this first - ShipYourEnemiesGlitter.com will (as suggested by the name) ship an envelope of glitter to someone at your request for $9.99 because, well, they’re terrible human beings just like you:
We fucking hate glitter. People call it the herpes of the craft world. What we hate more though are the soulless people who get their jollies off by sending glitter in envelopes.
We've had enough so here's the deal: there's someone in your life right now who you fucking hate. Whether it be your shitty neighbour, a family member or that bitch Amy down the road who thinks it's cool to invite you to High Tea but not provide any weed.
So pay us money, provide an address anywhere in the world & we'll send them so much glitter in an envelope that they'll be finding that shit everywhere for weeks. We'll also include a note telling the person exactly why they're receiving this terrible gift. Hint: the glitter will be mixed in with the note thus increasing maximum spillage.
Check out the FAQs at the bottom of the page, which includes this:
My recipient got glitter in both eyeballs, is now blind, & would like to file charges. Help?
Response: Heh.
Wanna save a bunch of money and do it yourself? Amazon has lots of glitter, but you'll have to get your hands in it...) 

via Nerd Approved, more at WaPo. And apparently they're doing well: Too Many Glitter Bomb Orders Crash Website.

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Wednesday links



Interesting article on the background of the obscenity trial against James Joyce's Ulysses: The Worst (And Most Important) Smuggling Job in the History of Literature. My favorite quote from the trial is here.

Best baby bed ever? Fantastically Terrifying Baby Bed Recreates the Movie Jaws.



Back To The Future 2 Concept Art Reveals More Of What 2015 Should Look Like.

How Apple Pie Became 'American'.

ICYMI, Monday's links are here, and include luxury survival condos built in an Atlas missile silo, people who hacked junk into life-saving devices, award winning wedding photos, and a collection of fart facts.

Monday, January 12, 2015

Best baby bed ever? Fantastically Terrifying Baby Bed Recreates the Movie “Jaws”

Joseph Reginella, a Staten Island-based sculptor and toy designer, created this fantastically terrifying version of a baby bed. He was inspired by the 1975 horror film Jaws, and he features a menacing shark attacking a small boat. 

In this case, the vessel holds the son of Reginella’s close friend, Mark. The fabricator carved the sculpture out of styrofoam, coated it in plastic, and painted it the appropriate colors. He finished it in about a week.

Reginella had the idea while at work on another project. “At a shop Themendous, we made an airplane bed for some little kid in California, and I thought it would be funny if someone would order a terrifying bed instead of something mainstream,” he told CNET. When Reginella found out that his childhood friend was having a boy, he knew that he had to make it for him. The baby reportedly loves it (although he looks less than thrilled to me).
There’s been a lot of buzz about the Jaws-themed bed. If you wish you had one, then you’re in luck. Reginella’s toy line, Toxic Teddies, is now offering custom hand-made duplications for sale.

Monday links

Eat your hearts (or brains, or whatever) out, zombies - Atlas Missile Silo turned into Luxury Survival Condos.

The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, famous for inspiring Stephen King to write The Shining, is planning to construct a 10,000 square foot maze, and is having an open design contest.


Math: how long it would take 2 million people to fart enough hydrogen to fill the Hindenburg?


One man built his own dialyses machine, another built replacements for his blown-off hands: 5 Desperate People Who Hacked Junk Into Life-Saving Devices.

There Are Now Lego Astronauts Aboard The ISS.

ICYMI, Friday's links are here, and include the story of the 1969 Paul McCartney is dead hoax, turning Nazi super cows into sausage, macro photos of weird insects, and a device for butt selfies. 

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Math: how long it would take 2 million people to fart enough hydrogen to fill the Hindenburg?

A calculation that's part of 14 Fart Facts for my Flatulent Friends by Hank Green:


The Benjamin Franklin essay entitled Fart Proudly (in which he suggested something similar to Beano) was left out of the printed collections of his writings for a long time, but is now available. Wikipedia has some background on the exchange of correspondence of which it was a part.

Related:

Ben Franklin's 200+ synonyms for “drunk”.

One minute science video lesson of the day: How A Bean Becomes A Fart.