Jesse

This sound map shows how loud your neighborhood is in Los Angeles and Orange County. [ more › ]

Izzy Swan loves to make machines that are driven by an ordinary battery-powered hand drill. He’s made a band saw, a lawn mower, and a mini bike this way.

His latest challenge was inspired by Theo Jansen’s famous kinetic sculpture Strandbeest. Swan’s walking machine uses the rotary motion of a 20 volt drill to move two actuated legs forward, pushing a little cart. It’s like a Segway, but way cooler. It can hold up to 370 pounds and move for a mile on a full battery charge.

(Video Link)

-via Make

Spray Painting The Sewers by Prime Premne

Master Splinter was trying to spread the word about how dangerous Shredder and his Foot clan really are, but humans just saw him and his teenage turtle trainees as muck dwelling mutants. He realized it would take more than ninja combat on the streets to change the world's mind about that metal headed monster, so he started a street art campaign designed to raise awareness and add some artistic color to the cityscape...

Join Splinter's campaign against that old Shred Head with this Spray Painting The Sewers t-shirt by Prime Premne, it's a fun way to add some street art style to your geeky wardrobe.

Visit Prime Premne's Facebook fan page and Twitter, then head on over to his NeatoShop for more delightfully geeky designs:

Weapon X-626	Puny Bat	Galactic Bark	Viridis Draconis Monstrum

View more designs by Prime Premne | More Funny T-shirts | New T-Shirts

Are you a professional illustrator or T-shirt designer? Let's chat! Sell your designs on the NeatoShop and get featured in front of tons of potential new fans on Neatorama!

CanopyStair is a spiral staircase that straps to the trunk of a tree. Each step is modular and can be strapped to the tree without the use of tools. The CanopyStair was designed by Robert McIntyre and Thor ter Kulve as a way to easily climb a tree, and the duo put care into the design so that it would not harm or mark the tree once removed.

photos via CanopyStair

via Dezeen

I've never been to a proper asado, the legendary grilling feast of the mountains of South America, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy those flavors at home. It doesn't even mean I can't squeeze those flavors between two pieces of bread and transform them into a miraculous cheeseburger. Because I can, and I have. And it's enough to make a gaucho sweat with anticipation. Read More

Household Hacker demonstrates a few quick and simple life hacks you can do using ordinary sugar.

1. Make flowers last longer
2. Garden Booster
3. Preserve Baked Goods
4. Get rid of Grass Stains
5. Remove Grease and Oil from Skin
6. Get rid of Wasps

With Confederate flags coming down across the nation, activists want this Long Beach school to change its name. [ more › ]

How many Oreo cookies do you want to eat? I'll have just one--provided that it's one of these. YouTube user Hey! It’s Mosogourmet used special plastic baking pans to create this massively scaled-up version of an Oreo cookie. The creme filling has broken Oreos inside, so it's truly authentic. Now I'd like to have a huge glass of milk in which to dunk mine.

-via That's Nerdalicious!

See, it’s always handy to teach your children new skills! Swaddling a baby makes him or her feel cozy, warm, and safe, like being back in the womb. Or like being a burrito. And that can be a good feeling no matter what your age. This is the latest from Lunarbaboon.

Science writer Emma Bryce explains how to use a semicolon in a new TED-Ed lesson animated in the style of a video game by Karrot Entertainment.

It may seem like the semicolon is struggling with an identity crisis. It looks like a comma crossed with a period. Maybe that’s why we toss these punctuation marks around like grammatical confetti; we’re confused about how to use them properly.

"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it."

AFV Kids shared a video back in April of a group of cute little boys hilariously tripping and falling like dominoes while attempting to exit their tent. The last three children to fall out had a nice laugh while laying in the grass.

via Tastefully Offensive

(Photo: KHSL)

Amber Pangborn of Oroville, California got lost while driving through a forest in northern California. She was 9 and a half months pregnant. After her car ran out of gas, Pangborn went into labor. She then gave birth alone in the woods.

Pangborn named her daughter Marisa.

Pangborn was then promptly attacked by bees who, she says, wanted her placenta. They stung her badly. In an attempt to signal for help, she tried to start a fire. She was successful. In fact, she started a wildfire that grew into a quarter acre blaze before being spotted by a US Forest Service helicopter crew.

The helicopter took them to a hospital, where the child is reported to be in good condition. The Los Angeles Times reports:

Pangborn’s mother, Dianna Williams, told the L.A. Times that her nine-months-pregnant daughter went to a casino on Wednesday to visit a friend and get a respite from the hot temperatures. Pangborn, she said, was also hoping to induce labor.

Well, her plan worked.

Hot dogs have become an integral part of the American barbecue, and this Fourth of July there are bound to be thousands of weenies getting grilled in backyards across the country.

But hot dogs are one of those universally liked food products that nobody can seem to agree on, because everybody likes their dog done up their way.

There are the tomato and pickle loving people in Chicago, the spicy pepper fans in Arizona, and this monstrosity representing Iowa:

Suffering succotash, what happened to that poor hot dog?!

See The United Hot Dogs Of America here

A few minimal works by illustrator Dhavebaj Anupabsthian.

The post Minimal Geometric Illustrations by Dhavebaj appeared first on MASHKULTURE.

Don't you just love Mondays? No? We neither, though we found these ‘12 Perfect GIFs To Keep You Relaxed & Soothe Your Spirit’ that might help you to focus and get your stuff together while fading out your growing to-do list.

Graphic designer and illustrator Adam J. Kurtz created them from Twitter submissions he received from individuals who shared their personal mantras for keeping calm and focused—and turned them into hypnotizing hand-lettered GIFs.

All images © Adam J. Kurtz | Via: Buzzfeed

continue reading

Photo: Leah Bullard

No wedding photo is complete without "The Kiss," but when photographer Leah Bullard snapped a photograph of the bride and groom kissing, she got a bit more than she expected: the flower girl wanted in on the action, too!

When Anthony Palmer and Michelle Hall of Knoxville, Tennessee, got married last weekend, Michelle's four-year-old daughter Anderson was the flower girl. When Bullard said that she needed the bride and groom to kiss, the little girl "thought I was referring to her, because she thought she was the bride and so naturally she just leaned in for a kiss and kissed that ring bearer!" said Bullard to KFOR.

"Guess what! When momma kissed, Ikey and I kissed!," said Anderson about Ike the ringbearer, "He was the best ring bearer ever! And he thought I was the best flower girl ever! We're best friends"

Owen Lake, 6, lost his stuffed tiger while taking a flight from the Tampa International Airport to Houston. Yes, that's Hobbes from the legendary comic strip Calvin and Hobbes! Through some apparent misunderstanding during a game of Calvinball, Hobbes and Owen got separated.

Owen's mother called the lost and found office and confirmed that Hobbes was there. But, unfortunately, they had to board their flight immediately. Hobbes would have to wait until the family returned to Tampa.

In the meantime, Hobbes toured the airport, seeing the whole operation . . . .

(Photos: Tampa International Airport)

Owen and Hobbes were eventually reunited. The airport staff gathered to say goodbye to Hobbes as he returned home.

-Thanks, Wifey!

To promote its line of heavy dump trucks and excavators, Caterpillar asked professional golf players Erimo and Marimo Ikeuchi, who are twin sisters, to play on a special course that the company made. The neatly manicured green, complete with shrubs, grass, and a flag in the hole, rolled around in the back of a truck as the twins did their best to land their shots.

(Video Link)

The green was followed by a sandtrap and other hazards. Golf would be so much more exciting if it was always played like this!

-via The Presurfer

June Gloom provides cover during a season that in less pleasant climes can be downright sweltering. But it's not always very photogenic. [ more › ]

Cologne based design studio Kaschkasch created this space-saving beauty, called Fju. When folded down it serves as a small workspace. Folded up Fju changes it‘s appearance and transforms into a slim storage shelf. Fantastic.

 

Southern Illinois University science student Drake Anthony (aka “DIY Laser Guy“) recently created a great 40-watt laser shotgun. His futuristic shotgun shoots eight parallel five-watt laser beams, totalling 40 watts, that are all manipulated with lenses to make a more direct beam. Anthony uses his laser weapon to set paper on fire, blast through a collection of balloons, burn a ping-pong ball, and more.

The output of this laser is complete insanity, and is made up of 8 parallel 5W laser beams totaling to 40W. The parallel beams are manipulated with lenses, sort of like how a choke modifies the spread of a shotgun blast. The massive diode array is powered by a huge lithium polymer battery pack (capable up dumping 250A) and the laser array is regulated by a whopping 24 LM317 drivers.

photo by Drake Anthony

It's a simultaneously beautiful and disgusting work of art. Tasha Sturm of Cabrillo College in Aptos, California sent her 8 and 1/2 year old son outside to play. When he returned, she pressed his hand into a large plate of trypticase soy agar. The bacteria on his hand grew into this lovely formation--a vibrant array of colors and fractal shapes. Sturm describes it in more detail in the comments at this post.

-via Colossal

When you need to use some Cottonelle toilet paper, do you find that the sheets feel just a bit narrower in your hand? Probably not: that’s the sneaky nature of the Grocery Shrink Ray. Rolls of Cottonelle Ultra toilet paper lost just a fraction of an inch from each square, but that adds up to a big loss in square footage in a whole package.

The first example comes from Chris, who happened to notice the change while at work. The change wasn’t much: just .2 inches in one direction and .14 in the other, but this results in 8 square feet less toilet paper per package.

You’ll notice the “touch of cotton” on the label of this variety: we learned last year that Cottonelle toilet paper never contained any cotton until 2013.

There’s some good news in all of this, though: Chris points out that at least the price came down slightly along with the quantity of TP. At his store, at least.

Why does the old package declare that the sheets are “wider,” anyway? Wider than what? Did Sayori mix up the old and new packages, and this type of TP was widened?

Oh. Wider than the unnamed leading brand. Well, then.

Seeing a classic BMW on the street isn’t all too common, but I suspect if you saw this one, you would’t forget it. These cars were sometimes referred to as “Batmobiles” because of the chin spoiler and facia. They certainly didn’t make many of these, as only about 500 were sent to the UK.

Source

The post A Classic 1972 BMW 3.0CSL dressed in a lime yellow color appeared first on Classic Nation.

If you are of a certain age, you’ll remember the story of how John DeLorean built his odd futuristic sports car in Northern Ireland and financed it with cocaine trafficking. For anyone younger, the car is synonymous with just one thing- the time machine in the Back to the Future movies. The process of turning a automotive failure into the coolest thing in cinema wasn’t an easy task.

Originally, three DeLorean cars were converted into time machines over the course of 10 weeks at a cost of around $150,000. Carried out by the same team responsible for another of our favorite fictional vehicles, Knight Rider’s K.I.T.T., the company created one hero car, one stunt car with added props for creating the distinctive fire trails, and a third DeLorean was cut into pieces for filming interior shots. Its first time on camera? December 14, 1984.

Urban Ghosts has details on each stage of preparing the DeLoreans for their star turn, including the roles they played in the sequels, and what ultimately happened to those vehicles. Oh yeah, and there’s lots of great pictures, too.  

(Image credit: Terabass)

You can probably remember a time when you’ve been held up during the airport security screening process by something as innocent as forgotten bottle of lotion or an electric toothbrush. But while Transportation Security Administration agents seem to do fine catching things they don’t need to, a recent internal investigation into the agency found otherwise when it came to catching potentially dangerous items.

TSA agents failed 67 out of 70 tests run by undercover investigators with the Department of Homeland Security, where DHS agents were able to smuggle fake explosives or banned weapons through checkpoints, ABC News reports, citing officials briefed on the results of a recent Homeland Security Inspector General’s report.

“Red Team” agents, as they’re known, posed as passengers to try and beat the system, which they managed to do 95% of the time. In one case, an undercover agent was held up when he set off an alarm, but TSA screeners then failed to find a fake explosive device taped to his back during a pat down.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson sought a detailed briefing on the results last week at TSA headquarters, sources say.

“Upon learning the initial findings of the Office of Inspector General’s report, Secretary Johnson immediately directed TSA to implement a series of actions, several of which are now in place, to address the issues raised in the report,” the DHS said in a written statement to ABC News.

Officials say security at the country’s airports is multi-layered and strong, but that the latest results were disappointing nevertheless, according to insiders cited by ABC.

You might recall a similar incident in 2013, when an undercover TSA agent made it through security at Newark Airport with an explosive device stuffed down his pants.

Back then, the TSA issued a statement that this kind of testing was normal.

“TSA regularly conducts covert testing of security layers. Regardless of the tests’ outcome, TSA officers are provided with immediate on-the-spot feedback so they receive the maximum training value that the drills offer,” a statement said. “Due to the security-sensitive nature of the tests, TSA does not publicly share details about how they are conducted, what specifically is tested or the outcomes.”

EXCLUSIVE: Undercover DHS Tests Find Security Failures at US Airports [ABC News]

MIT scientists premiered their amazing Untethered Miniature Origami Robot that is able to self-assemble, walk on various surfaces, swim in shallow water, carry small items, and climb up different grades at the IEEE 2015 ICRA Conference in Seattle, Washington.

…we present a novel single-sheet structure that self-folds into a centimeter-sized mobile robot that subsequently walks, swims, and dissolves. The robot is controlled using an external magnetic field exerted by embedded coils underneath the robot. Equipped with just one permanent magnet, the robot features a lightweight body yet can perform many tasks reliably despite its simplicity. The minimal body materials enable the robot to completely dissolve in a liquid environment, a difficult challenge to accomplish if the robot had a more complex architecture. This study is the first to demonstrate that a functional robotic device can be created and operated from the material level, promising versatile applications including use in vivo.

images via IEEE

Chicago-based photographer Matt Lief Anderson creates amazing travel images, capturing his many roadtrips in intriguing photographs that make us want to pack our bags and head into the great outdoors. Matt Lief Anderson specialized in travel photography as well as music and fashion images.

For this exclusive 24 Hours episode he takes us on his trip around the Southwest through Colorado, Utah and Arizona while we get to spend a few more days than usual on the photographers side to check out the beautiful changing landscape of America's Southwest. For more visit Matt Lief Anderson on his website, Facebook and Instagram.

The unofficial start to the trip is in South Dakota’s Badlands, where you can pitch a tent anywhere in the park as long as you are out of site of other campers. I race South on assignment to shoot a music festival in Colorado.

I have a break from the music festival I’m shooting so I take a drive around Roosevelt National Forest.

The festival is over and I start my trip. I’ll be drifting around The Southwest for the next couple of weeks. The first stop is Rocky Mountain National Park.

I take a quick hike to Dream Lake, I try to take a shortcut and almost fall off of a mountain. The paths are covered in 3 feet of snow. The shortcut was a bad idea, but the lake was incredible and I have it all to myself. It’s a great spot for lunch.

The road south on HWY 285 is mind-blowing. The snow gives way to sand and dust. It actually feels like summer finally.

I make the hike into the Great Sand Dunes during sunset. It’s an incredible place, but walking up dunes is a huge chore. It takes an hour to walk a mile.

The sun goes down and take a break to enjoy the stars. Storm clouds form and I have to hike back to my car in the dark. I arrive just in time to avoid some intense hail. I skip camping and drive to Alamosa for a cheap motel.

I turn off the road on a mountain to make coffee and see this. I keep heading South because I have to be in Phoenix to pick up my girlfriend Sandra who is joining me for the rest of the trip.

I trek down a dusty road at Monument Valley and hitch back up to the top where my car is parked. I drive back to Goosenecks in Utah where I’m camping for the night.

Goosenecks is one of the best places I’ve ever camped. I love that you can throw a tent up 10 feet from the lip of a giant ravine. I’m definitely keeping this in mind on my way back through with Sandra.

On my way out, I take another drive through Monument Valley.

I make a quick stop in Page to check out Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe bend. It’s incredibly beautiful, but it’s far too touristy. I ditch the crowds of people and keep heading South.

I pick Sandra up and we stay in Phoenix in an Airbnb. We got lucky and stayed in a cheap room in a huge house with a big backyard, hammock, and a dog. It feels like a resort. The next day we back North to the Grand Canyon. It’s Sandra’s first time.

We start the next morning with a hike around Bryce Canyon.

We stop for a quick picnic somewhere overlooking Lake Powell for lunch.

I couldn’t resist bringing Sandra back to Goosenecks to camp. I still can’t believe you can pitch a tent so close to a cliff’s edge. April in Utah is really cold, so we build a fire and drink some bourbon.

We head back to the border one more time for Monument Valley. Sandra doesn’t like it as much as I did. It’s too dusty for her. We make the trip back through a snowstorm in Northern Colorado and stop in Denver for dinner with friends and call it a night. The next morning we make our way back to Chicago.

All images © Matt Lief Anderson