In the Lab With the World’s Leading Laugh Scientist

Robert Provine isn’t funny. His wife often frowns at his jokes. But the man knows how to bag a laugh.

Audio recorder in hand, he prowls campuses, malls, zoos, parking lots—wherever he hears the potential for a chuckle. He anticipates the sound, waiting to trap it, hoping to drag each individual laugh back to the lab for analysis. And he knows the tricks. Provine will walk up to strangers point-blank and ask them to laugh into his recorder. He’ll take a charity laugh, or even the nervous kind that people blurt out after saying, “I can’t laugh—you’re not funny.” He’s used sitcoms and laughing gas as bait. Tickling isn’t beneath him.

In his lab, Provine feeds the laughter into a sound spectrograph, analyzing the frequency, amplitude, and length of each sample. In more than 30 years of fieldwork he’s collected an astounding amount of data. He knows that “laugh notes” (such as “ha,” “ho,” or “heh”) have a duration of 75 milliseconds, separated at regular intervals of 210 milliseconds. He’s found that babies laugh 300 times a day, while adults laugh only 20 times. And he knows that laughter peaks at around five years of age. In a study of the “Giggle Twins,” two identical twins who were separated at birth and reunited 43 years later, Provine says, “Until they met each other, neither of these exceptionally happy ladies had known anyone who laughed as much as she did.” He used the example to show how laugh patterns and genetics are linked.

(Image credit: Flickr user Heart Industry)

So, what’s his motivation? Why does this bespectacled psychology professor walk around stalking laughs? Because he wants to understand why we do it. The answer seems obvious: We laugh because something’s funny. Not so, says Provine—and he’s got proof.

Laughing So Hard You Can’t Stop

It was back in the mid-1980s, as a young professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, that Provine first became hung up on the neurological underpinnings of laughter. To understand the phenomenon, he collected over 1,200 “laugh samples.” His preferred method: skulking around campus and listening in on conversations. “I’d find a place where people were drifting by, like the line at the dorm cafeteria, and jot down notes,” Provine recalls. As he’d expected, peals of laughter followed one-liners like “You smell like you had a good workout” or “Do you date within your species?”

What Provine didn’t anticipate, however, was that nearly 90 percent of the giggles would be triggered by mundane remarks. Phrases like “I see your point” or “I’ll see you guys later” were being rewarded with laughter. What was it about these dull statements that made people laugh?

“It suddenly occurred to me that I had learned something important,” Provine says. Building off his research, Provine theorized that laughter was being used as a social lubricant; we use it to bond with others. This notion supported other aspects of his field research. It explained why people laugh 30 times more often in the presence of others than they do when they’re alone. It also explained why nitrous oxide (a.k.a. laughing gas) won’t crack you up when inhaled in solitude.

Since then, Provine has made other staggering advances in the field of laugh science. For instance, he’s actually proved that laughter is contagious. Consider the case of the “laugh epidemic” that swept through what’s now Tanzania in 1962. In the small town of Kashasha, three girls started giggling. Soon, the snickers rippled outward to 95 students, lasting for hours before dying down, then erupting again—for three months straight. The school closed down, briefly reopened, then shut down again after the laugh bug reinfected 57 students. Within ten days, laugh attacks plagued 217 kids in the nearby town of Nshamba, then 48 more in Bukoba. It continued to spread, closing 14 schools and afflicting about 1,000 people, before quarantines were put in place. A year and a half passed before this laughathon tailed off.

For the 50 years since, people have been wondering how such a thing could occur. In his lab, Provine instructed volunteers to listen to recordings of positive sounds, like cheering and laughing, and negative sounds, like screaming and retching. Using MRI scans, he showed that hearing laughter activates the brain’s premotor cortex, preparing the facial muscles to smile and laugh in kind; thankfully, screaming and retching don’t inspire the same mimicry.

Laughter’s self-perpetuating powers also explain more modern-day phenomena, including the use of laugh tracks on sitcoms. Canned guffaws first debuted in a 1950 comedy called The Hank McCune Show to give TV viewers the sense that they weren’t alone. But the sounds had a second benefit—the effect cued audiences to laugh when jokes weren’t obvious enough. As Provine explains in his book, Laughter: A Scientific Investigation: "Yes, [TV execs] are often desperately trying to wring some humor out of pathetic scripts, but the overall pattern of their efforts has a basis in reality. Most real-life laughter follows ordinary statements—laughter is more about social relationships than jokes.” As he puts it, “Your life with its own laugh track is like a vast unending sitcom produced by a very ungifted writer.”

Tickled Pink

Oddly enough, the public has strong opinions about what Provine should and shouldn’t research. One day, when he was giving a lecture at a local museum, a female audience member pulled him aside and said, “I certainly hope you’re not studying tickling.” When Provine asked why, she said, “It’s a repulsive, unpleasant behavior.” The comment had the opposite effect. “I thought, ‘Gee, this must be really important to have generated such a strong response,’” he says.

Provine distributed a 52-item questionnaire to over 400 people, asking who tickled whom and how they felt about it. Thirty-five percent of respondents had been tickled in the past week, 86 percent in the past year. Most people enjoyed tickling others—thus the success of the Tickle Me Elmo doll—and while many claimed they hated being on the receiving end, it was more like a love-hate relationship: They’d run off screaming but come back for more. Provine also found that tickling mysteriously disappears after age 40, most likely because that’s when children move out of the house and couples have less sex (tickling is often a form of foreplay). As Provine asks, “How many 80-year-olds get into tickle battles?”

(Image credit: Flickr user Matt Batchelor)

Soon, it dawned on Provine that tickling was an easy way to study laughter in other species like monkeys—so he flew to the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta and asked to tickle a few of the residents. To his relief, the center humored his request, allowing him to observe as trainers tickled a chimp named Josh. Provine concluded that the “ha ha” of modern laughter evolved from the “pant pant” of primates during rough-and-tumble play. It also led Provine to identify the world’s first joke. “My candidate for the most ancient joke is saying ‘I’m gonna get you,’ then tickling them,” says Provine. “It’s the only joke you tell to a human baby and a chimpanzee.”

The Best Medicine (Really!)

As Provine has learned, laughing isn’t just about social lubrication and amusement; it also has a dark side. For class one day, he brought in a laugh box—a device that emits a crazed cackling at the push of a button. Provine pushed it, then asked his students to note whether they laughed. At first, nearly half of them did. “But by the tenth time, no one was laughing, and no one liked it,” Provine says. He stashed the laugh box in his office, but had to remove it after a few coworkers began swinging by to push the button. The crazed laughter was driving him to the brink of violence.

(Image credit: Flickr user Hans Splinter)

This irritation underscores laughter’s less pleasant aspects, like its ability to signal social dominance. In one study of a psychiatric ward, the senior staff often made junior staff the butt of their jokes. Rather than dish it back, the junior staff passed the negative behavior on, poking fun at their patients.

Clearly, laughter can hurt, but its healing powers are equally potent. In 1976, a newspaper editor named Norman Cousins came down with a painful degenerative disease that was initially diagnosed as ankylosing spondylitis. As his condition worsened, he checked into a hotel and treated himself with a regimen of vitamin C, Marx Brothers films, and episodes of Candid Camera. Ten minutes of belly laughs calmed his pain for two hours; within weeks, his disease mysteriously faded into remission.

It’s stories like these that keep Provine intrigued. Even after years of scrutiny, he admits that laughter remains a squirrelly subject, with certain aspects eluding his grasp like a hilariously greased pig. For example, we can’t force ourselves to laugh. Like sneezing, or crying, or yawning, laughter just happens. These days, Provine is examining the use of laughter online, and how it surfaces through comments like LOL (Laughing Out Loud). He also plans to run brain scans of people laughing—a hot area of research that many scientists are exploring. Still, the original laugh tracker prefers basic tools. “Just because something is simple and doesn’t require fMRIs or supercolliders doesn’t make it trivial,” Provine says. “All you need is a pencil and pad of paper.”

_______________________

The article above, written by Judy Dutton, is reprinted with permission from the March-April 2012 issue of mental_floss magazine.

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This baby red tree kangaroo joey and his mama are residents of the San Diego Zoo. Fortunately, someone at the zoo managed to catch them during this moment of tenderness. It just shows that no matter what the species, a mother's love is unconditional.

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(YouTube link)

A herd of sheep in New Zealand show their solidarity by banding together to let their opinions be heard. All they need is an eloquent leader to coordinate activities. Wake up, sheeple! -via Tastefully Offensive

Red Lightning Bolt Shwings Lace-Up

Jolt your favorite pair of tennis shoes back to life with the Red Lightning Bolt Shwings from the NeatoShop. This striking shoe accessory looks like a thundering lightning bolt. 

Each set of Red Lightning Bolt Shwings Lace-Up comes with 1 pair of bolts. Buy 2 pairs to really electrify your wardrobe. 

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Footwear. 

Link

Ron Paulk, a homebuilder in the state of Washington, wanted to be able to bring all of his tools and workbenches to any jobsite without a lot of packing and unpacking. So over the years, he built a series of mobile workshops. This one, which fits in the back of a truck, is his masterpiece. Core77 interviewed him about his marvelous workshop. You can watch the first part of the interview at the link.

Link | Paul's Website

How to educate the public about the new laws governing marijuana use in Washington state? The Seattle Police Department has a great idea. They will be at the Hempfest pot rally this weekend -giving out bags of Doritos, each bag with a sticker outlining the new laws.

Because while stoners have no problem ignoring a leaflet, police recognize that it's nearly impossible to turn down a bag of Doritos.

"Distributing salty snacks at a festival celebrating hemp, I think, is deliberately ironic enough that people will accept them in good humor," says police department spokesman Sergeant Sean Whitcomb. "We want to make sure people learn the rules and that they respect the vote."

The labels on the snack-sized bags will direct festival attendees to the SPD's post-legalization FAQ titled "Marijwhatnow?" which went viral last November, reminding citizens that possessing up to an ounce of pot is allowed, but selling and growing the stuff remains illegal (until licenses are issued later this year by the state).

With funding for the project coming entirely from the privately run Seattle Police Foundation, police say they plan to distribute about 1,000 bags of Doritos over the weekend.

Link  -via Slate

Burn Unit by Wirdou

Poor Ring. First, it was cut from its master's hand, then lost in the river for hundreds of years, then it was picked up by a silly Hobbit and hidden in a cave for hundreds more years, then some more Hobbits came about and before long, it got chucked into an active volcano!

Man, the One Ring has got it tough, as illustrated by Wirdou in this clever Burn Unit T-Shirt.

Visit Wirdou's official website and Facebook page, then go to his NeatoShop page for more neat T-shirts! Your purchase helps support indie artists as well as this blog.

Minion University	Chemical Avengers	Enjoy You Will	Night's Watch The Wall

View more designs by Wirdou | More Funny T-shirts

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

This is a Taiwanese dish that RocketNews24 reporter Kuzo tried:

Par for the course for our gourmet reporter but these soups were also served with the bodily fluids of the animals such as blood and poison. If that doesn’t get Kuzo up and going we don’t know what will.

First he tried the snake combo which came with a bowl of snake soup, cup of snake blood, and a shot of snake venom (diluted). The soup itself had a lightly pleasant taste, and was the kind of soup that you could easily eat on a daily basis. On the other hand, the blood was kind of gross and tasted like iron.

Neatorama should hire an intern/guinea pig to send on assignments like this.

Link

The family that reddits together, stays together -even when they are in different countries. Robotswana posted this picture, saying it's just another day at his Dad's job. Then his father, Todd Pitock, stepped in to explain.

I'm the guy in the photo. I was visiting the Makhadikhadi, which is in the Kalahari in Botswana. People are doing research as part of something called the Meerkat Project. The meerkats are wild but habituated -- meaning they're used to people and don't see them as a threat. So if you sit down and wait, eventually the alpha male, who is like the chief sentry, will mosey over and climb you like a rock. As one poster noted, he's looking for good viewpoints to gauge threats. The photo was NOT photoshopped. In fact, it wasn't even edited for color. And yes, those are my Brooks trail running shoes, and many thanks to the guy who advised on the new generation of them. The story will appear in National Geographic Traveler, though I don't know when. -- Todd Pitock

Link

(Photo: Eric Pheterson)

It may look like a painting, but this is a real landform. The Zhangye Danxia Landform Geological Park in southeastern China has beautiful rippled shapes of red sandstone.

Link -via TYWKIWDBI

(YouTube link)

"Oh no! Your hand is falling out of the window! Ah, I got it. Now you're safe!"

What a brave and heroic kitten. -via Daily of the Day

(Image: Amazing Maps)

China has a population of 1.35 billion people. That's a lot of people crowded into the red area of the map above. Every other color also represents 1.35 billion people. So all of the Americas, western Europe and Australia are equal to the population of China.

Link -via 22 Words

I recall shopping for a car in 1983 and seeing all the fancy dashboard lights -even some that were projected on the windshield! All I could think of was "Look at all the things that can stop working." But they sure were pretty!

In our humble opinion, one of the most coolest things that occurred in the 1980s was the rise of digital dashboards in cars, watches, hi-fi equipment (and just about everywhere), with their "early video game"-like riot of LCDs and LEDs and warm glow of CRT displays... When applied to car dashboards, all this could turn some otherwise cheap plastic car interiors into futuristic spaceship control panels.

Dark Roasted Blend takes you back to those days with an assortment of fancy dashboards of the 1980s, plus KITT (the ultimate dashboard, from the TV show Knight Rider), and even customized dashboard lights you can have today. Link

(Video Link)

(Photo: New York Times)

How does a master comedian write jokes? Jerry Seinfeld writes his stand-up routines just like he wrote his television scripts: by longhand on paper tablets. In this video by the New York Times, Seinfeld discusses the development of his famous Pop-Tart joke:

I've probably been working on this for two years. Two years? I mean usually I'd write a bit in a couple days. It's a long time to spend on something that means absolutely nothing. But that's what I do; that's what people want me to do...is spend a lot of time wastefully. So that then I can waste their time.

Link -via American Digest

Bomb Squad Bag

Back to school time is here. Are you looking for a bag that is da bomb? Brace yourself for the Bomb Squad Messenger Bag from the NeatoShop. This fantastic, 100% cotton canvas bag, features a retro looking Bomb Squad design. 

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Bags & Totes. 

Link

How great is this tattoo of an ape face on the back of the head? It might be a Photoshop, but if not, the guy can always cover it up by letting his hair grow out. But then again, if he eventually started to go bald, the eyes would show up first. If he goes totally bald, what a weird picture that would make! We don't have the source of the picture, but it may have originated in Russia. -via Boing Boing

A few weeks ago, I headed to a local craft fair where I stumbled upon the great fashion creations of Miss Finch's Finery. Her collection of tiny top hats and flowery hair pieces brought me in, but it wasn't until I saw her great geek hats that I recognized her work from Comic Con.

After talking to maker Shienna Mondejar, I couldn't wait to go show her fantastic geek creations to you guys. You can see more of her work on Facebook and if you like what you see, she'll be happy to custom make a hat for you if you just contact her to place an order.

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Haim is a donkey in Israel who was abused before being taken in by Ramat Gan Safari, an animal sanctuary that is home to 1,600 creatures. He has been in rehabilitation for skittishness and physical wounds. But the raw skin on his legs wouldn't heal because of flies which caused Haim to scratch and pick. Traditional bandages caused too much damage and pain because they had to be changed often.  

Two caretakers, Becca Rivkin and Shira Inbar-Danin, came up with a solution. They spent four hours stitching a special pair of pants for the donkey that are held up by suspenders over his shoulders. The pants are double-layered, with a soft stretchy material on the inside, covered by a rougher baggy material that flies can’t bite through. The two women also rub cream on his legs every day.

The special pants are working swimmingly, and Haim will soon receive pants for his hind legs as well. With his skin protected, his fur is expected to grow back quickly, and then Haim the donkey will be able to trot around bare-ass once again.

Link -via Arbroath

(Image credit: Zoological Center Tel Aviv - Ramat Gan)

Photo: Yasuhiro Takagi

Want to walk in the clouds? Now you can, thanks to Cloudscapes, a collaboration by Japanese studio Tetsuo Kondo Architects and environmental engineering firm Transsolar, located at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo.

The indoor cloud is created by pumpking three layers of air into the structure: cold dry air at the bottom, humid hot hair in the middle, and hot dry air on top. Visitors can then immerse themselves in the clouds that form in the middle layer.

Photo: Yasuhiro Takagi

"The temperature and humidity inside the container are controlled to keep the clouds at their desired height," The project stated, "The edges of the clouds are sharp yet soft, and always in motion. Their colour, density and brightness are constantly changing in tune with the weather and time of day."

The Tokyo installation is actually the second Cloudscapes that Tetsuo Kondo and Transsolar had created. Their first, located in Venice, Italy in 2010, was created for the 12th International Architecture Exhibition.

From Tetsuo Kondo's project page:

Via Dezeen and Lost at E Minor

(YouTube link)

Brent Weingard has been cleaning windows in tall buildings for 35 years. Watching him at work might induce vertigo. Even with proper safety equipment, this is one scary job! -via the Presurfer

Meet Kim Ki-hoon, an English teacher in South Korea. He's been teaching English for over 20 years in the country's private, after-school tutoring academies or hagwons. That's not unusual but what's unique about Mr. Kim is that not only is he respected as a teacher, he also makes a lot of money teaching.

How much is a lot of money, you ask? How about $4 million a year:

Mr. Kim works about 60 hours a week teaching English, although he spends only three of those hours giving lectures. His classes are recorded on video, and the Internet has turned them into commodities, available for purchase online at the rate of $4 an hour. He spends most of his week responding to students' online requests for help, developing lesson plans and writing accompanying textbooks and workbooks (some 200 to date).

"The harder I work, the more I make," he says matter of factly. "I like that." [...]

The bulk of Mr. Kim's earnings come from the 150,000 kids who watch his lectures online each year. (Most are high-school students looking to boost their scores on South Korea's version of the SAT.) He is a brand name, with all the overhead that such prominence in the market entails. He employs 30 people to help him manage his teaching empire and runs a publishing company to produce his books.

Amanda Ripley of The Wall Street Journal has the story (Photo: SeongJoon Cho for the Wall Street Journal)

Add this to the long list of the strangest things ever faked in China. A chinese zoo in People's Park of Luohe, Henan province, got into trouble recently when its supposed "African lion" started barking like a dog:

The beast was in fact a Tibetan mastiff – a large and long-haired breed of dog.

“The zoo is absolutely cheating us,” the [Beijing Youth Daily] quoted Liu, who was charged 15 yuan ($2.45) for the ticket, as saying. “They are trying to disguise the dogs as lions.”

Not so, the zoo defended itself:

The chief of the park’s animal department, Liu Suya, told the paper that while it does have a lion, it had been taken to a breeding facility and the dog – which belonged to an employee – had been temporarily housed in the zoo over safety concerns.

Link - Thanks Steve!

Update 8/15/13: Neatoramanaut Marcos pointed out the real photos of the fake animals from Beijing Youth site (fake lion photo updated above) - Thanks Marcos!

Fake golden jaguar:

Fake wolf:

Photo: Mark Gurney

Ain't he cute? Meet the olinguito, the first new species of carnivore to be identified in the Western hemisphere in 35 years. It's a small raccoon-like animal approximately 2 and a half feet long and weighs about two pounds. It has woolly orange-brown fur and a cute teddy bear-like face to boot.

The cute mammal was discovered by a team of scientists from the Smithsonian Institution in the cloud forests of Colombia and Ecuador. The search for the olingo was started when zoologist Kristofer Helgen uncovered bones and animal skins in the storage room of Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History.

"When I looked at the skulls I didn't recognize the anatomy," Helgen told BBC News, "It was different to any similar animal I'd seen, and right away I thought it could be a species new to science."

But it turns out that scientist shouldn't have had to look far. Turns out, the olinguito has been known to man all along: they've been displayed in museums and zoos for the past few decades. In fact, there's one living in the The Smithsonian-run National Zoo in Washington.

"It's been kind of hiding in plain sight for a long time," Helgen said. It was a case of mistaken identity with its closely related cousin the olingos.

Yes, Christmas is a long way away still, but it's never too early to start working on those homemade ornaments, especially if they are based on something as utterly memetastic as Sharknado. Dollar Store Crafts has all the instructions you need to make your own awesome Sharknado ornament.

Link

When a society designs a system to help only the very most helpless and needy, there will be unintended consequences. For example, there are people willing to go to jail to receive health care, and others become disabled because there aren't enough jobs. Now Out magazine tells us about men in New York City who contract AIDS and found that it improved their lives. Tye Fortner was a 22-year-old homeless sex worker who found out he was infected.  

“My whole world changed,” Fortner says, recalling the moment six years ago when he received his diagnosis. At first it changed for the worse as he struggled to come to terms with his diagnosis.

But then, it changed for the better.

After years of homelessness and a day-to-day existence, Fortner, now 28, was faced with the tantalizing prospect of a place to sleep, regular meals, and more thorough New York City services provided to people who reach a certain stage of the disease. First he would have to meet their diagnosis requirements; then he would receive help.

“I didn’t know about the services,” he says. “I didn’t know that once you have AIDS you’re entitled to all this other stuff.”

That silver lining was a surprise to Fortner. And while it might seem counterintuitive, contracting the virus has made life easier for other young homeless men in New York City, who in return for developing full-blown AIDS gain a roof over their heads and basic services.    

Read more about the paradox that confronts the down-and-out with a deal in which no one really wins. Link -via Digg

(Image credit: Armenian Red Cross Youth)

Sunny Days Office Supply (sold individually)

Back to School time is here. Make sure you have all the desk essentials you need to complete your work with the Sunny Days Office Supplies from the NeatoShop.This delightful set of 4 gingham patterned office necessities includes: scissors, tape dispenser, stapler, and staple remover.

Sunny Days Office Supply sets are available in Blue, Green and Pink.

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Office Supplies.

Link 

(Photo: SpeedyCop/Nick Pon)

Jeff Bloch, AKA "SpeedyCop", makes delightfully weird custom cars. You may remember his car built from of a Cessna. His latest project is a 1999 Chevrolet Camaro that SpeedyCop flipped over, then made roadworthy. Why does he do it? SpeedyCop explains that:

I'm an 8 year-old kid trapped in a 40 year-old body, with just enough talent to pull off my wacky ideas, and, fortunately, enough truly amazing friends to help make them a reality.

Link -via Oddity Central

Scientists from the ORB LAB were trying to catch sharks that has previously been tagged. They caught a 3-foot dogfish shark first, and when they started to reel it in, the dogfish became bait for a huge sand tiger shark! The larger shark had been tagged previously, and was examined, measured, and released. The dogfish, of course, was not so lucky. Link -via Geekologie

Make up artist Carly Paige likes to show off her skills on Facebook. Rather than trying to show how pretty she can look, like most make up artists on the site, Carly shows how she can recreate pop culture icons. Above is her take on Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt and below is her version of Kim Kardashian.

You can find lots more of her great work at the link.

Link Via Fashionably Geek

You've learned a lot about the history of breakfast cereals here at Neatorama, and if you are in the New York area, you can see a part of that history. The Museum of Food and Drink in Manhattan will have one of the original puffing guns on display beginning August 17th. It was used in the mid-20th century to make puffed rice, wheat, and other grains. The gun was developed after puffed cereal was discovered accidentally.

In 1901, while attempting to determine the moisture content in a granule of starch, a botanist at the New York Botanical Garden, Alexander P. Anderson, filled hermetically sealed test tubes with cornstarch and wheat flour, and toasted the contents in a five-hundred-degree oven. Hit with a hammer, the still-hot tubes, which became pressurized as the temperature rose, exploded. The cornstarch, he found, had ballooned into a “porous puffed mass, white as snow” and nearly ten times its original volume, according to one account. Essentially, the water in the starch, unable to boil because of the hermetic seal, immediately vaporizes when the seal is released and the pressure drops; the steam expands outward and puffs the starch.   

American cereal manufacturers use a more continuous puffing system now, but puffing guns are still made for use in other countries. However, only two men know how to make them, and when they are gone, so will puffing guns be gone. See the puffing gun in action in a video at The New Yorker. Link

(Image credit: General Mills)

I don’t care if you don’t watch wrestling anymore, the chances are that you know who Stone Cold Steve Austin is and that you grew up watching him. You know him as the bald dude who drank beer, flipped everyone off, beat up his boss, and broke all of the rules.

I love listening to podcasts.

What does me listening to podcasts have to do with Steve Austin and money lessons?

My new favorite podcast is the Steve Austin show. You can check it out here. Austin covers all sorts of topics, from crazy traffic in California to working out. Being a personal finance blogger, I always manage to pull out financial advice.

What are the money lessons that I picked up from Stone Cold Steve Austin?

Save your money. Even if you’re making lots of it.

I’ve seen unofficial stats that suggest that Austin is filthy rich and doesn’t have to work for the rest of his life and his next life. I can’t confirm this, but I imagine that he has earned/saved a decent chunk of change. He would laugh at my savings for sure.

It turns out that no matter how much money Austin had coming in, he always tried his best to save it up. I agree with this because it doesn’t matter how much you earn. It’s what you save that’s important. But, I’m sure you’ve already heard this a million times before. It’s just interesting to hear it from a mega-superstar.

A stupid purchase will always be a stupid purchase.

Austin recalls a story on one show where he goes to rent some jet skies and is absolutely offended to find out that they charge a $45 fee to ride these. I agree! A stupid purchase will always be a stupid purchase. It doesn’t matter how much money you have. Getting ripped off always sucks.

I hate getting ripped off. We’ve all experienced this. From airport food to tourist traps. A ripoff will always be a ripoff. It doesn’t matter if you have lots of money saved up.

You can have some fun being extremely frugal.

Being frugal can be fun. Austin mentions how he would go out of his way to save money on hotels on the road by actively seeking out the biggest dump possible. He would have fun staying at really crappy hotels.

I totally agree with the idea of having fun with extreme frugality in some cases.

For example, we go to clubs  or go out in general with as little money as possible sometimes. The goal is to see who can have the most fun without spending a fortune on drinks or on any other random crap. Some of the best nights have had a budget of $5.

This is why I wrote about how to get wasted without going broke. There are so many ways to get out there without blowing your savings account.

Don’t spend your savings.

Just because you have a lot of money saved it doesn’t mean that you should dip into your savings. Your savings are there to bail you out or for the future when you’re too old to work. Your savings aren’t meant to be blown in the present moment when you’re still trying to live.

Austin mentions that he doesn’t like to spend his savings on his bills. He focused on finding new streams of income to get by.

This easily leads to the next point…

ALWAYS have money coming in.

It doesn’t matter how much you saved up, you should always have money coming in. Austin likely has merchandising deals and royalties from the WWE, yet he still seeks out work and even uses his podcast to generate revenue. This shows me that you should always have money coming in. Even when you have millions of dollars saved up in the bank.

It’s okay to be a loner sometimes.

I love to be the life of the party and the one gathering all of the attention. I thought that Austin would be the same. It turns out that he enjoys being longer. He mentioned how when his income increased, he started to travel alone just so that he could have some time to himself. I like that.

There’s nothing wrong with taking time for yourself. When I want to be alone, I grab my headphones and my laptop. I then write away like a maniac.

That’s what I’ve learned from a childhood hero. I suggest that you check out Austin’s podcast. You never know where you can pick up your next financial lesson. If you’re tired of the financial stuff, you should check out Kettlebell Rebels.

@studenomics Thanks for listening to the #steveaustinshow. #saveyourmoney

— Steve Austin (@steveaustinBSR) August 16, 2013

Yo ho ho and a bottle of adorable could be this little scallywag's theme song. And you can own your own precious little amigurumi pirate manatee plush thanks to the brilliant NeedleNoodles of Etsy. He's one of a kind, so don't be too surprised if he sells out in a flash.

Link

Tunes-In Knit Hat with Built-In Headphones

It may be hot outside now, but Fall will be here before you know it. Make sure you and your tunes are prepared for the cooler weather with the Tune-In Knit Hat with Built-In Headphones from the NeatoShop. This great little hat has built-in removable headphones that work with devices that use a 3.5 mm jack.  

The Tunes-In Knit Hat with Built-In Headphones comes in Gray/Pink and Blue/Gray. Buy both and make it a fantastic his and her set. 

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Headgear. 

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(YouTube link)

The Korean dance group Morning of Owl shows off some innovative moves at the 2013 R16 dance battle in Seoul. You can see the entire sequence, with their competition Slavic United, in a longer video at  Laughing Squid. Link

Rub a shark's nose and it'll balance itself on your hand. Really? Just try it. I dare you. Anthony Bond writes in The Daily Mail:

While in the Bahamas, Graham Gibson and his wife went scuba diving with Tom the diver who is also, apparently, Lord of the Sharks. The sharks seemed completely docile in the water with Tom, where he was able to induce tonic immobility in the animals, which causes them to become temporarily paralyzed. How did he do this? By rubbing the shark’s nose.

The effect lasts for 15 minutes and isn’t harmful to the sharks in anyway, as most believe it’s merely a defense mechanism. And while they’re paralyzed, you get to take photos of them while you seemingly balance them in your hands!

How do you discover that you have this talent? Or just as important: that you don't?

Link -via Daily of the Day

Ever wanted to ditch it all for the simplicity of living in a tiny house, but don't know if you'd actually like it? Why not give it a try for a while and see for yourself?

Deb Delman and Kol Peterson not only built Accessory Dwelling Units (or ADUs, also known as carriage house, cottage or granny flat), they also run an AirBNB business renting them out. You can rent one for the night (and what a cozy night it'll be!)

Check out the pics:

Find out more over at Tiny House Hotel official website - Thanks Tiffany!

In 1492, Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas. Except, of course, for all the people who already lived there. Shoot, he wasn't even the first European to arrive the Americas.

So what lands did the Europeans actually discover? What lands did they arrive at first before any other humans? Bill Rankin made this map and chart showing the locations, dates and current populations of lands that Europeans can legitimately claim to have discovered. You can view a larger version at the link.

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(YouTube link)

WeddingMan123 did a wedding photo shoot (two days before the actual wedding) and used a quadcopter to get some video footage. Well, you know how it is when you are trying to do too many things at once… and we have a little mishap. The groom sustained a cut on his head and cheek. Luckily, the couple were good-natured about it and continued the shoot. The photographer says,

At the request of the bride and groom I put the video online. All though it sucks that this happened. I have decided to own up to what I did, instead of try to hide it from the world.

I'd kind of like to see the pictures taken afterward. -via Daily Picks and Flicks

(Image: James Grebey)

In the DC canon, Superman quit his full-time reporting position at The Daily Planet. I haven't read the comic books in that storyline, but I'm confident that this is a stupid career move.

But let's say that DC retconned that storyline out of existence--not that DC would ever engage in excessive retconning, mind you. Hypothetically, how likely could Clark Kent find a journalism gig today? James Grebey, a cartoonist and journalism student, explains with this letter.

Link -via Ka-ching!

Convicted by DNA evidence is nothing new, but this is: David Hilder, 47, was the first person convicted of manslaughter, partly on DNA evidence left by his cat.

So forget human DNA database, here comes the brave new world of cat DNA database:

In the latest case in Britain, investigators tapped the same lab to identify the cat hair discovered around the dismembered torso of David Guy, 30, who was found hidden in a trash bag on a British beach in July 2012. Detectives matched the hair to a cat belonging to the man's friend, David Hilder, but because the genetic material was mitochondrial DNA — which can be shared among large number of animals — the strength of the match couldn't be known.

That's where the cat DNA database came in.

Wetton — who had previously helped to set up a similar database for dogs — worked with doctoral student Barbara Ottolini to create a repository of cat DNA for the Hilder case. They gathered samples of mitochondrial DNA from 152 felines across England over a six-week period.

"Only three of the samples obtained matched the hairs from the crime scene," Wetton said, suggesting that while the match wasn't perfect, it was still a pretty good indication the hairs on the torso came from Hilder's cat.

Read the full article over at SFGate.

The blogger behind The Stranger on Baker Street works as a waiter. As an experiment, one night, he conversed with customers by quoting the Doctor continuously:

[Offering desserts (to the kids)] "You could have a slice of Triple Chocolate Strada for only $6.99 which I personally think is a bit steep. But then again, it’s your parent’s cash and they’ll only waste it on boring stuff like lamps and vegetables. Yawn!”

I actually sold every table the dessert I offered when I offered it this way. Few got the reference, the ones who understood “Hi I’m The Doctor” were completely losing their shit at this point in the meal, as I’d been dropping references all dinner.

[When an elderly woman literally threatened to slap me for being so strange] "900 years of time and space and I’ve never been slapped by someone’s mother."

Her family started cracking up and she just chuckled a little. I narrowly avoided a guest complaint for the sake of Doctor Who. I’m proud of that one.

[Messed up an order] "I’m sorry, I’m so… So sorry."

No reaction from this one, save for the girl who was fangirling over me from the beginning. (Not too surprising though, only table I messed up on, so I only got one chance to use it)

[After Guest hands me their ticket and wishes to pay] "Allons-y"

Two guests understood and stared wide-eyed. One gave me her number (After I had been using Who quotes on her table all night), and requested I pick her up in a TARDIS. Those that didn’t understand stared at me quizzically.

Link -via Tor

You haven't had a bender until you had one where you ended up in a cargo container, about to be shipped out to sea.

In an epic tale that will undoubtedly be told for generations to come, Jiang Wu of Qingdao, China, got drunk and mistakenly thought that a shipping container was a bed and breakfast he was staying. When he woke up, Wu found that he was sealed inside.

Thankfully, Jiang still had his cell phones so he called the police. "His problem was, though, that he couldn't tell us which container he was in and there were thousands of them stacked on top of each other," said the police spokesman. The police finally found him in a container stacked 60 feet off the ground by following the sound he made by banging on the container's metal side.

"He's very lucky. If he'd been asleep for another hour the next stop would have been America," said a dock worker.

The Star Wars logo seems so familiar to us now that we don't even remember when it was different 36-37 years ago. The classic typography wasn't even finalized for all print media until after the movie's release. In the pre-release hype, we saw several different versions that seem just plain odd now. Follow the development and the changes of that logo at Visual News. Link  -via Digg

Tie Dye Sunglasses Wallet (sold individually)

Are you looking for a groovy way to store your favorite pair of party glasses? You need the totally fab Tie Dye Sunglasses Wallet from the NeatoShop. This bitchen case is made of flexible silicone and features a metal frame closure with kiss lock. 

The Tie Dye Sunglasses Wallet is available in Blue and Orange. Buy both and make it a bangin set. 

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Travel Accessories. 

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Part of the art of the modern TV series is knowing when to bow out gracefully and how to deliver a final episode that will seal the series' reputation for posterity -not to mention syndication and DVD sales. These concerns are fairly modern, and crafting the perfect series finale is largely uncharted territory.

There’s a reason why so few TV shows end well.  Unlike movies or books, television shows are open-ended.  They end when they end, and when they end is controlled not only by the showrunners, but by the network, the ratings, and the whims of the public.  It’s getting more common these days for shows to announce their own end-dates, but this a relatively new phenomenon.  Most shows go until they’re no longer financially viable, and when that happens your chances of getting a satisfying ending are relatively low.  Most television shows stumble to the finish line in a confused mess of sagging plotlines, creative differences, low ratings, and audience fatigue.

Indy Zoeller at Unreality looks at five series that wrapped up artfully, and analyzes the reasons they worked so well. Do you agree with his selections? Four of the series I've never seen, and the other-well, I still haven't seen the final episode. Link

We're rooting for Japanese dance group/band World Order to achieve world domination so we can walk on the street just like 'em! The band's unique synchronized dance moves, done with their signature military precision, are just fascinating to watch.

Here's the band's new Imperialism music video, shot in Washington, D.C.:

"Machine Civilization" music video, the band's biggest hit (so far):

"Permanent Revolution":

"Boy Meets Girl"

Recently, the group performed at the Budokan's 360° stage:

What? You thought those were funny? Before you make fun of them, just know that Genki Sudo, the lead singer of World Order is a bona fide MMA martial artist who can surely kick your butt in style.

More at World Order's official YouTube account

When the Corporate States of America map came out, I was disappointed not to see KFC as the brand associated with Kentucky. That is corrected in this Restaurant Map of the U.S. from Thrillist. Now, the definition of restaurant here covers chains, fast food, single food brands, and even coffee shops if they are most appropriate for a state. See the full-size version and the reasoning behind each state decision as well. Link -via Geekologie

Woohoo, it's Friday and we're feelin' like sharin'! Check out the NeatoShop's new lines of Funny T-shirts (we've got TONS of new stuff by indie artists) and who knows, you may even win your favorite tee (details below). Sci-fi mash ups? Funny one liners t-shirts? We've got them all!

Some of our favorite new designs:

Iron Droid	Bong of the Dead	Minions in Black	Walking Monty
Intensive Care Unit	Bat Country	Minion University	Full Metal Shell
The Legend of Minlink	Burp	Cup of Jabba	Jack's Nightmare
A Very Silly Time	The Original Walking Dead	The Fret Shredder	Space Souvenir

Okay, here's how to win: Check out NeatoShop's New T-Shirts listings and let us know your favorite T-shirt AND who designed it (props to the artists, people!).

Write your selection in the comment below. ONE shirt and artist per comment, though you can enter as many as you'd like You can enter 3 choices. We'll pick 4 winners at random soon, so hurry!

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

Have you ever wondered how soccer balls got that fascinating design of hexagons and pentagons? They weren't always so.

Once upon a time, soccer balls (or footballs, depending on where you hail from) were inflated pig bladders wrapped in leather. One variation was an ancient Chinese game called “tsu chu,” using a ball stuffed with feathers. In medieval England, players used leather-covered wine bottles filled with cork shavings (to make them easily retrievable if they fell in the river). It wasn’t until 1844, when Charles Goodyear patented vulcanized rubber, that soccer balls started taking shape. Literally.

But the design of those earlier balls was made of 18 stitched panels: six sections that contained three stripes each. The hexagon/pentagon design was conceived by someone you might recognize. Read all about it at mental_floss. Link

(Image credit: Flickr user Telstar Logistics)

By the power of Grayskull, this is one of the most awesomely nerdy groom's cakes I've ever seen. Luke Y. Thompson requested baker Dee Ayres create this lovely groom's cake for his rehearsal dinner.

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Ecce Homo by Elías García Martínez, before (L) and after (R) its "improvement"

There's many path of to artistic fame, but Cecilia Gimenez's is unique: back in 2012, the amateur octagenarian artist decided to help "restore" a deteriorated fresco called Ecce Homo at her local church, painted over 100-years ago by Spanish painter Elias Garcia Martinez.

The end result of Gimenez' "restoration," described as a "crayon sketch of a very hairy monkey in an ill-fitting tunic," was widely mocked on the Internet. The restored version has been called "Ecce Mono" (or Behold the Monkey, a pun on its original name) and "Potato Jesus."

The ridicule was so bad that the priest of the church had considered covering up the painting. But thank goodness that didn't happen, because the botched painting turned out to be quite a boon to the local town of Borja, Spain. Since gaining worldwide attention, the infamous fresco has raised more than 50,000 euros (US$66,660) for a local charity and drawn more than 40,000 visitors.

And things are definitely looking up for Gimenez: the 80-year-old artist has sold her art on eBay for thousands of dollars. She now has her own art exhibit, where two dozens of her other works are on show. No word, however, on whether she'll attempt another restoration anytime soon.

After years of denial, the CIA finally 'fessed up: Area 51 really does exist! The mysterious airbase in Nevada was revealed in recently declassified documents:

According to these reports, which include a map of the base's location in Nevada, Area 51 was merely a testing site for the government's U-2 and OXCART aerial surveillance programs. The U-2 program conducted surveillance around the world, including over the Soviet Union during the Cold War. [...]

The map and other documents were released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request submitted by Jeffrey T. Richelson, a senior fellow at the National Security Archives, in 2005.

Richelson submitted the request as part of his continuing study of aerial surveillance programs and told CNN that he was not given an explanation of why the new documents were less redacted than previous versions declassified by the agency.

They still, however, won't let us see the aliens on the base.

Laura Koran of CNN has the post. (Photo: Phil McDonald/Shutterstock)

(YouTube link)

A dog raps about how great his life is, as dogs will do. Some language might be considered NSFW, unless you're a dog. Performed by Jester Jacobs. -via Tastefully Offensive

Apparently Taco Bell has decided that everything needs to be a taco. Case in point, their chicken and waffle taco and very berry waffle taco. Unfortunately, the chicken and waffle one might be one of the most appetizing items on their breakfast menu, but they aren't even testing it any more. If you're interested in a very berry waffle taco though and happen to live in one of their test markets, you're in luck -but you better hurry.

Link Via Eater

You're Not The Boss of Me Bangle (sold individually)

Are you looking for a subtle way to assert your independence? Proclaim your freedom with the You're Not The Boss of Me bangle from the NeatoShop. This sassy piece is hand carved, inked and polished.   

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Jewelry. 

Link

Taung Kalat is a Buddhist monastery build on top of a tall volcanic plug in Burma. Although monks no longer live there, the site is considered to be the home of 37 Nats, or Buddhist spirits. It is also home to a large troop of feral monkeys. To get there, you must climb 777 steps, which you can see in pictures at Kuriositas, along with closer looks at the architecture and the gorgeous view from the top. Link -via the Presurfer

(Image credit: Flickr user Oriol Gascón)

(Photo: Vallesanchez)

El Peñón de Guatapé rises high above Guatapé, Colombia. It's a 200 meter tall slab of granite and quartz. Visitors can climb 649 steps carved into the rock to reach the top. Keep going! You can buy beer at top of the rock.

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(YouTube link)

A guy meets a blind date in a restaurant and his brain goes into overdrive, with an epic struggle between the logical and inhibited left side and the emotional, impulsive right side. This animated short from Josiah Haworth, Joon Shik Song and Joon Soo Song of Ringling College of Art and Design is part of Cartoon Brew's 4th annual Student Animation Festival. Link -via Viral Viral Videos

If you watch Adventure Time, then you already know The Ice King is the most heart-breakingly darkly tragic figure in the cartoon. That's why James Hance's painting of The Ice King and Gunter is so touching.

James Hance is one of our favorite geek artists, and you if you've always wanted one of his fantastic originals, then don't miss out on your chance to grab this great work for sale on eBay with only 2 days left to go.

Link Via The Mary Sue

Jürgen Horn and Mike Powell are settling into their new home in Iceland, but found that much of the country is inaccessible because there are few roads. So they took a tour by airplane, and Jürgen said, "After our first flight Iceland made so much more sense!!!" It was difficult to select one of the many photographs of the countryside, because the terrain varies so much. Check out the full fascinating set at Iceland for 91 Days. Link

Remember Ring Pops? It's time to graduate to something more adult and sophisticated. Merve Kahraman designed tiny wine glasses that slip onto fingers. The calls the project the "Seduction Series". You can't fit much wine into one glass, but remember: you have ten fingers. Put a ring on each one.

Link -via Foodbeast

Michael Evans, a furniture designer in Bloomington, Indiana, makes a lot of unique works. But I'm especially taken with several of his jewelry boxes. He builds them in old waffle irons.

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A few years back, John posted the adorable Doctor Mew creations by Jenny Parks that show what all of The Doctors would look like as cats. If you love the series, you can now own these adorable pins featuring all of the Doctor Mews because Jenny is now selling them on Etsy for only $1 each. You'd better act fast if you want to get a hold of them because #9 is already sold out!

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Zombie Back Scratcher (sold individually)

Got an itch that needs scratching? Give yourself a hand, and arm, with the Zombie Back Scratcher from the NeatoShop. This drop dead funny back scratcher is shaped like the undead hand of a friendly zombie.    

The Zombie Back Scratcher is handcrafted in the USA by local artisans and no two are exactly alike. 

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Zombie items. 

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Forget to include the artist? That's a fine. Deliberately remove the artist's name or watermark? You're facing hard time. Jacob Andrews shows a scene from a world presumably ruled by webcomic artists.

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My Neighbor's Breakfast by The 50ft Snail

Better than eating soot sprites, that's for sure! This cute T-shirt design by The 50ft Snail shows that all you need in the world is a little bit of love, a fantastic neighbor and a hearty breakfast. Oh, and a magical catbus doesn't hurt either.

Please let us welcome The 50ft Snail to the NeatoShop. Check out his Facebook page for more neat designs (give 'im a like, wontcha?), then visit his NeatoShop page for more cool T-shirts! Your purchase helps support the blog as well as indie artists.

Xenomorph Meal Time	Business Time	A School of Fire and Ice	Aperture Spaaace Programme

View more designs by The 50ft Snail | 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, earn generous royalties, and get featured in front of tons of potential new fans on Neatorama!

(YouTube link)

Your garbage collector knows more about you than any government spy. The city crew knows who has a baby, and exactly when your baby is toilet trained. They know what size TV you got for Christmas, how much beer you drink every week, what kind of pets you have, and when your birthday falls on the calendar. Archaeologists get into the act, too, by analyzing garbage dumps from eras past, although that's a bit less personal. Minute Earth tells us more about the science of garbage analysis. However, an analyst who goes through my garbage would think I am lying about eating vegetables, since any evidence of vegetable preparation goes into my compost pile instead of the trash. -via Viral Viral Videos

Artist Mike Boon, who designed the cute Dr. Seuss alphabet and other neat alphabets featured on Neatorama a while ago, is back with this clever Periodic Table of the Muppets. See if you can identify your favorite characters!

A river emerges from a crack in an urban wall. The mysterious British street artist JPS stenciled this design. You can view a gallery of his work at the link.

Link -via Global Street Art

There is no shortage of viewers who have watched every episode of Breaking Bad over and over, spotting instances of foreshadowing, looking for recurring symbolism, analyzing each scene, and hoping that those things will help them figure out ahead of time how the story of Walter White will end. From these analysts come seven different theories of what will come. These, of course, contain spoilers for those not current on the AMC series. Take, for example, the color theory.

As graphic designer John LaRue of The Droid You're Looking For illustrates with his ludicrously painstaking infographic (above), color also seems to indicate both motivations and imminent turns in the narrative. For example, characters tend to wear yellow before they make intense, game-changing decisions, like Walt did when he killed Krazy-8 in season one. While yellow is the proverbial canary in a coal mine, green seems to indicate a character (usually Walt, often Saul) acting out of greed; white points to powerlessness (in the case of Walt's cancer and hospital treatments) while beiges represent to the straight-and-narrow life Walt left behind (see: Elliott Schwartz's birthday party guests). Some Breaking Bad color theorists believe the way a character's colored clothing is layered--and even put on or taken off--also represent compound or ulterior motives. For instance, when Jesse and Walt clean Jesse's apartment after the botched bathtub disposal of Emilio's body in the second episode, Walt wears a yellow shirt... under a green apron.

How does this tell us what will happen in the future? Read the rest, along with six other theories, at Wired. Link -via Digg

You'll still have to figure out the minute hand, but the hour of the day will be obvious. The face on Sabrina Fossi's clock makes a full rotation every twelve hours.

Link | Designer's Website

The music generated at the site Listen to Wikipedia may sound random at first, but what you're hearing is real data.

Using the data provided by Wikipedia's recent changes feed, bells are used to convey additions, while string noises represent subtractions from articles. Higher pitched noises are for smaller edits, while larger edits are translated into lower pitched tones. Deep swells of sound accompany new users joining the service. All of the various noises work together in surprising harmony, creating a zen-like mood to go along with the furious edits being made to Wikipedia's database.

At the same time, you can see what's happening onscreen. It may be soothing music, but you might also be sucked into the thrill of watching the encyclopedia of the internet being built in real time.  

Link to story. Link to website.  -via mental_floss

The proton packs are heavier, but that's to be expected for any sturdy ghostbusting materials from the Victorian Era. The change is worth it: Stay Puft looks far more dapper in his waistcoat and cravat. Sean Fallon photographed these cosplayers at Gen Con in Indianapolis.

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Nacho cookies complete with frosted jalapenos? Count me in!

Oh Sugar Events created these adorable concession stand-style treats for a baseball-themed bar mitzvah, but they would also be great for any sports party -especially the football parties soon to star up this fall.

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Day of the Dead Skull Tissue

Are you looking for a sweet way to honor someone's love of sugar skull art? Gift them the Day of the Dead Skull Tissues from the NeatoShop. These beautiful designer tissues feature a colorful sugar skull design. 

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Health & Wellness items. 

Link

Here at Neatorama, we love the amazingopticalillusions of Julian Beever. This chalk work, which he calls "Wheel of Fortune", is unfortunate for anyone who sits down on the bench.

Artist's Website -via 22 Words

(YouTube link)

Mary Ann Johnstone's goats know how to have fun! You probably won't see this much glee in a yoga class. -via Arbroath

It's the technological wonder of our electrified age! Adam's Twittertape Machine prints out tweets as soon he publishes them. It's heavier than a smart phone, but this is a classier way to tweet.

Link -via Nag on the Lake

Forget the sermon, the best part of chuch comes from this gospel choir singing You Need to Keep Yo Business Off of Facebook:

Keep yo business off of Facebook
Keep yo business off of Facebook
Sunday you actin' like a saint - but yo Facebook status say you ain't
Keep yo business off of Facebook

Word, peeps! Now who's gonna share this on Facebook? Via The Clearly Dope

The rock carvings on the Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation in Nevada are fairly well known, but no one knew just how old they were before paleoclimatologist Larry Benson dated them using the history of the area's climate.

"They're almost unique in the sense that the grooves have been carved down almost an inch deep in some cases," says Benson, an emeritus scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey who does research for the University of Colorado and its Museum of Natural History.

Just by looking at the designs, Benson thought he might know how old they were. He noticed that the symbols are much whiter than the gray rock they're carved into.

He knew from his climate research that the dry area where the petroglyphs are located was once a lake, and that the white coating was probably left from the last time the rocks were submerged in water, which suggested that the petroglyphs may be older than 11,000 years

"And I did know, at least from my limited knowledge, that these were probably older than the oldest dated petroglyphs in North America," he recalls.

By comparing the coatings of the carved rocks with non-carved rocks in the area, he determined that the petroglyphs were carved in a dry period between 10,000 and 14,800 years ago. Read more about the dating process at NPR. Link -via Metafilter

(Image credit: Larry Benson)

Zoey the hamster can't wait to try out the first recipe from her new Jell-O cook book. While the cover features Jell-O watermelons, it looks like she's trying out some sort of cherry recipe instead. Believe it or not, the book is a hamster-sized version of The Jello Mold Mistress of Brooklyn's actual recipe book -best promotion ever.

Link

Detroit is not the only industrial city seeing hard times and vacant homes. Gary, Indiana, has 10,000 abandoned and unoccupied houses, which attract vandals and bring property values down. But a pilot program hopes to lure new families into the old neighborhoods. Initially, twelve homes in one neighborhood are being offered for the price of one dollar. There are some requirements. Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson explained:

"Essentially what we do is give those houses out through a lottery process. People have to qualify, families have to qualify through income, through the ability to fix up the homes, because these homes have been abandoned and so they do need some work – anywhere between $25,000 to $50,000 worth of work," Freeman-Wilson said in an interview with CBC's Lang O'Leary Exchange.

The benefit would be that the new homeowners would pay taxes, remove the homes from the city’s list of derelict buildings, and improve the character of the neighbourhoods where they settle, Freeman-Wilson said.

Another requirement is that the buyer live in the home for five years, so if you don't already have a job in the area, you probably would not meet the income requirement. Link  -via Holy Kaw!

(Photo: Sung Ming Whang)

(Photo: Sung Ming Whang)

(Photo: Ken Marshall)

(Photo: Ken Marshall)

93 miles north of Chengdu, China lies Huanglong--a large array of stunningly beautiful hot springs, streams and waterfalls. You can see why it's a popular tourist destination. View more photos at the link.

Link

If you spend your week working and doing normal stuff, then kick back on the weekend to have fun on the internet, this little update might help you find the most important things on Neatorama that you don't want to miss. This week, that includes links to several giveaways in which you can win nice prizes from the NeatoShop! But first, don't miss any of our exclusive features from this past week.

Monday was the 136th anniversary of physicist Erwin Schrödinger's birth, so Alex gave us 7 Neat Facts About Schrödinger in honor of the occasion.

Alex also brought us a couple of posts on the big picture Spotlight blog: The Food Rorschach Test and Underdogs: Dogs Dressed as Their Owners.

And then he gave us an all-video post on the group World Order: The Music. The Suits. The MOVES!

Eddie Deezen told us what happened when Bob Dylan Introduces the Beatles to Marijuana.

Tiffany gave a review of the McDonald's Beef Rendang Burger, found in Indonesian outlets.

This Man Knows Why You're Laughing came from mental_floss magazine.

Uncle John's Bathroom Reader contributed The Golden Age of Radio.

Can Fame Be Measured Quantitatively? was from the Annals of Improbable Research.

Over at the Lifestyles of the Cute and Cuddly, our featured pet was Chester Smooshyface, pictured here. Chester was a scientist in another life! We'd like to see your pet, too, so send pictures to tips@neatorama.com and your cat, dog, horse, hamster, or whatever may soon be our featured pet!

You don't want to miss out on our regular weekly columns, either. David Israel had another Question In Need of Answers, this week asking What Non-Traditional Medical Cures Actually Work? We got a lot of helpful advice and a lot of silliness in the comments.

Hy Conrad presented another Whodunit, called The Doc's Last Lunch.

Jill Harness had a poll on the new flavors of Lay's potato chips. Sriracha flavor ended up ahead of the rest, but not by much.

In the What Is It? game this week, the mystery object is an English champagne tap from the early 1900s, after penetrating the cork with the screw, the small knob is rotated to open the valve to fill a glass, the valve can then be closed to keep the remaining champagne fresh. Berhard was the first with the correct answer, and wins a t-shirt from the NeatoShop! The funniest answer came from artanis knarf, who said, "It's for tapping a lovely bunch of coconuts....deedly deedly." That's good for a t-shirt, too! See the answers to the other mystery items at the What Is It? blog.

But that's just the beginning of the giveaways! We've got several contests that are still open for you to enter.

David Israel is running a contest on the social media sites Twitter and G+ called the Whiteboard Contest. You've only got until Monday to enter, so check out the particulars here.

You've got until August 25th to enter the NeatoShop's Dream Picnic Pin to Win Contest on Pinterest! You could win a whole slew of great prizes from the NeatoShop.

And if you want to win a t-shirt right here on the blog, check out the NeatoShop New T-Shirts Giveaway. However, your chances of winning are better if you enter all the contests!

The non-giveaway post this week that received the most comments was, of course, Questions In Need of Answers - No. 5: What Non-Traditional Medical Cures Actually Work? Besides that, the most comments went to If You Were in a Food Fight to the Death, What Would Be Your Weapon of Choice? followed by a tie between Literally Now Literally Means Figuratively and Would You Prefer The American or Canadian "Do Us A Flavor" Flavors? Those conversations are still open for your contributions!

The comment of the week came from Artor, who responded to the Death Star Butt Painting with "That's not a moon! ...Oh yeah. It is. Care to take a shot at that exhaust port?"

The most popular post was 1946 Alcatraz Menu. Coming in second was Literally Now Literally Means Figuratively, and Underdogs: Dogs Dressed as Their Owners was third. 

The post with the most hearts was Dog Plays Game with Himself, with Abused Donkey Gets New Pants and A Random Act of Kindness by a Motorcyclist tying for second place.

And the most emailed post was Underdogs: Dogs Dressed as Their Owners, followed by a three-way tie between Amazing: Pizza Tosser Dances with His Dough, Dog Plays Game with Himself, and This is How You Die.

Yeah, we know older posts are liable to have more views, hearts, comments, and emails for the week. We aren't giving away any prizes for the post statistics, but they help us know what kind of things you like to read and share. And since certain posts did well way back in the week while you were working, sharing them here again helps you catch up on the most notable of them.

Check out the back-to-school items like lunch boxes and backpacks that are on sale right now at the NeatoShop. Get the school year started right by getting your student something special no one else will have!

Have a great week, Neatoramanauts!