Stuff

Extremely Bizarre Inventions For Everyday Use

March 29, 2012 By IHaveCoolName Leave a Comment

Invention is often an exploratory process, with an uncertain or unknown outcome. There are failures as well as successes. Inspiration can start the process, but no matter how complete the initial idea, inventions typically have to be developed. Inventors are often famous for their confidence, their perseverance and their passion.

Inventors may, for example, try to improve something by making it more effective, healthier, faster, more efficient, easier to use, serve more purposes, longer lasting, cheaper, more ecologically friendly, or aesthetically different, lighter weight, more ergonomic, structurally different, with new light or color properties, etc. Entirely new invention may be created such as the Internet, email, the telephone, or electric light.

The idea for an invention may be developed on paper or on a computer, by writing or drawing, by trial and error, by making models, by experimenting, by testing and/or by making the invention in its whole form. Brainstorming also can spark new ideas for an invention. Collaborative creative processes are frequently used by designers, architects and scientists. Co-inventors are frequently named on patents. Now it is easier than ever for people in different locations to collaborate. Many inventors keep records of their working process – notebooks, photos, etc., including Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson and Albert Einstein. In the process of developing an invention, the initial idea may change. The invention may become simpler, more practical, it may expand, or it may even morph into something totally different. Working on one invention can lead to others too.

Filed Under: Hilarious, Strange, Stuff, Wacky Tagged With: bizarre, Cool, Nice, Strange, Stupid

Hairstyle That Will Scare You Every Time You Look At It

March 28, 2012 By IHaveCoolName Leave a Comment

A hairstyle, hairdo, or haircut refers to the styling of hair, usually on the human head. The fashioning of hair can be considered an aspect of personal grooming, fashion, and cosmetics, although practical, cultural, and popular considerations also influence some hairstyles.

Throughout history, people have worn their hair in a wide variety of ways, largely determined by the fashions of the culture they live in. Hairstyles are markers and signifiers of social class, age, marital status, racial identification, political beliefs and attitudes about gender.

In many cultures, often for religious reasons, women’s hair is covered while in public, and in some, such as Orthodox Judaism or European Orthodox communities, women’s hair is shaved or cut very short, and covered with wigs. Only since the end of World War I have women begun to wear their hair short and in fairly natural styles.

In ancient civilizations, women’s hair was often elaborately and carefully dressed in special ways. Women coloured their hair, curled it, and pinned it up in a variety of ways. They set their hair in waves and curls using wet clay, which they dried in the sun and then combed out, or else by using a jelly made of quince seeds soaked in water, or curling tongs and curling irons of various kinds.

Filed Under: Arts, Offbeat and Lifestyle, Strange, Stuff, Wacky Tagged With: Cool, Disturbing, Eye, Hair, Scary

Space Needle From Seattle Turned Into A Giant Slingshot From Angry Birds

March 27, 2012 By IHaveCoolName Leave a Comment

The Space Needle is a tower in Seattle, Washington and is a major landmark of the Pacific Northwest region of the United States and a symbol of Seattle. Located at the Seattle Center, it was built for the 1962 World’s Fair, during which time nearly 20,000 people a day used the elevators, with over 2.3 million visitors in all for the World Fair. The Space Needle is 605 feet (184 m) high at its highest point and 138 feet (42 m) wide at its widest point and weighs 9,550tons. When it was completed it was the tallest structure west of the Mississippi River. It is built to withstand winds of up to 200 miles per hour (89 m/s) and earthquakes of up to 9.1 magnitude, which would protect the structure against an earthquake as powerful as the 1700 Cascadia earthquake. The tower also has 25 lightning rods on its roof to prevent lightning damage.

The Space Needle features an observation deck at 520 feet (160 m), and a gift shop with the rotating Sky City restaurant at 500 feet (150 m). From the top of the Needle, one can see not only the Downtown Seattle skyline, but also the Olympic and Cascade Mountains, Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, Elliott Bay and surrounding islands. Photographs of the Seattle skyline often show the Space Needle in a prominent position, even appearing to tower above the rest of the city’s skyscrapers, as well as Mount Rainier in the background.

Filed Under: Hilarious, Infographics, Lego/Toys, Society, Stuff, Wacky Tagged With: angry birds, Game, Seattle, Slingshot, Space Needle, usa

Crazy Woman That Is In Love With A Statue

March 26, 2012 By IHaveCoolName Leave a Comment

A statue is a sculpture in the round representing one or more people or animals (including abstract concepts allegorically represented as people or animals), normally full-length, as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size, or larger. Its primary concern is representational.

The definition of a statue is not always clear-cut; sculptures of a person on a horse, called Equestrian statues, are certainly included, and in many cases, such as a Madonna and Child or a Pietà, a sculpture of two people will also be. A small statue, usually small enough to be picked up, is called a statuette or figurine.

Many statues are built on commission to commemorate a historical event, or the life of an influential person. Many statues are intended as public art, exhibited outdoors or in public buildings.

Some statues gain fame in their own right, separate to the person or concept they represent, as with the Statue of Liberty.

There is an urban legend concerning a code for mounted statues, whereby the horse’s hooves are supposed to indicate how the rider met his end. One hoof off the floor would indicate the rider died of wounds received in battle, or perhaps was just wounded in battle; two hooves off the floor would indicate the rider was killed in battle. An examination of the equestrian statues in most major European cities shows this is not true. If it ever was true, the practice appears to have died out in the 19th century.

Statues are amongst the wonders of the world, with the Colossus of Rhodes and the Statue of Zeus at Olympia among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and the Moai of Easter Island among the wonders of the modern world.

Filed Under: Offbeat and Lifestyle, Society, Strange, Stuff Tagged With: Crazy, Love, Statue, Woman

65 Foot High Snow Layer In Japan

March 25, 2012 By IHaveCoolName Leave a Comment

Snow is a form of precipitation within the Earth’s atmosphere in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of snowflakes that fall from clouds. Since snow is composed of small ice particles, it is a granular material. It has an open and therefore soft structure, unless packed by external pressure. Snowflakes come in a variety of sizes and shapes. Types which fall in the form of a ball due to melting and refreezing, rather than a flake, are known as graupel, ice pellets or snow grains. Snowfall amount and its related liquid equivalent precipitation amount are determined using a variety of different rain gauges.

The process of precipitating snow is called snowfall. Snowfall tends to form within regions of upward motion of air around a type of low-pressure system known as an extra tropical cyclone. Snow can fall pole ward of these systems’ associated warm fronts and within their comma head precipitation patterns (called such due to the comma-like shape of the cloud and precipitation pattern around the pole ward and west sides of extra tropical cyclones). Where relatively warm water bodies are present, for example due to water evaporation from lakes, lake-effect snowfall becomes a concern downwind of the warm lakes within the cold cyclonic flow around the backside of extra tropical cyclones. Lake-effect snowfall can be locally heavy. Thunder snow is possible within a cyclone’s comma head and within lake effect precipitation bands. In mountainous areas, heavy snow is possible where upslope flow is maximized within windward sides of the terrain at elevation, if the atmosphere is cold enough.

Filed Under: Infographics, Society, Strange, Stuff Tagged With: Japan, Snow, Water, Winter

The Most Creative Churches Around The World

March 24, 2012 By IHaveCoolName Leave a Comment

A common architecture for churches is the shape of a cross (a long central rectangle, with side rectangles, and a rectangle in front for the altar space or sanctuary). These churches also often have a dome or other large vaulted space in the interior to represent or draw attention to the heavens. Other common shapes for churches include a circle, to represent eternity, or an octagon or similar star shape, to represent the church’s bringing light to the world. Another common feature is the spire, a tall tower on the “west” end of the church or over the crossing.

The Latin word basilica (derived from Greek, Basiliké Stoà, Royal Stoa), was originally used to describe a Roman public building (as in Greece, mainly a tribunal), usually located in the forum of a Roman town.

After the Roman Empire became officially Christian, see Edict of Thessalonica, the term came by extension to refer to a large and important church that has been given special ceremonial rites by the Pope. Thus the word retains two senses today, one architectural and the other ecclesiastical.

A cathedral is a church, usually Roman Catholic, Anglican, Oriental Orthodox or Eastern Orthodox, housing the seat of a bishop. The word cathedral takes its name from the word cathedra, or Bishop’s Throne (In Latin: ecclesia cathedralis). The term is sometimes (improperly) used to refer to any church of great size.

Filed Under: Arts, Hilarious, Lego/Toys, Strange, Stuff, Wacky Tagged With: Building, Church, lego, Small, Snow

Some Of The Most Creative Bow Ties

March 23, 2012 By IHaveCoolName Leave a Comment

The bow tie is a type of men’s necktie. It consists of a ribbon of fabric tied around the collar in a symmetrical manner such that the two opposite ends form loops. Ready-tied bow ties are available, in which the distinctive bow is sewn into shape and the band around the neck incorporates a clip. Some “clip-ons” dispense with the band altogether, instead clipping to the collar. The traditional bow tie, consisting of a strip of cloth which the wearer has to tie by hand, may be known as a “self-tie,” “tie-it-yourself,” or “freestyle” bow tie to distinguish it from these.

Bow ties may be made of any fabric material, but most are made from silk, polyester , cotton, or a mixture of fabrics. Some fabrics (e.g., wool) are much less common for bow ties than for ordinary four-in-hand neckties.

The bow tie originated among Croatian mercenaries during the Prussian wars of the 17th century: the Croat mercenaries used a scarf around the neck to hold together the opening of their shirts. This was soon adopted (under the name cravat, derived from the French for “Croat”) by the upper classes in France, then a leader in fashion, and flourished in the 18th and 19th centuries.

It is uncertain whether the cravat then evolved into the bow tie and necktie, or whether the cravat gave rise to the bow tie, which in turn led to the necktie. The most traditional bow ties are usually of a fixed length and are made for a specific size neck.

Filed Under: Arts, Hilarious, Strange, Stuff, Wacky Tagged With: Bow, Bow tie, Creative, Men

Cast Of Downton Abbey As Dogs And Cats

March 22, 2012 By IHaveCoolName Leave a Comment

Downton Abbey is a television series, coproduced by Carnival Films in the UK and WGBH Boston in the US. The series is set on the fictional estate of Downton Abbey in the North Riding of Yorkshire, and features an ensemble cast. It was created by Julian Fellowes and Gareth Neame principally written by the former. It premiered on ITV on 26 September 2010 and on PBS on 9 January 2011.

Reception of the programme was predominantly positive; ratings were extremely high for what is usually considered a “period” show, and the first series picked up a number of awards and nominations after its initial run. It has subsequently become the most successful British costume drama since the 1981 television serial version of Brideshead Revisited, and in 2011 it entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the “most critically acclaimed English-language television show” for the year, becoming the first co-produced US/British show to be recognised as such by the Guinness Book of Records.

The second series aired in autumn 2011 on ITV and in January 2012 on PBS. On 3 November 2011, ITV confirmed that a third series had been commissioned. The third series is currently in production for broadcast later in 2012 on ITV and in January 2013 on PBS.

Filed Under: Arts, Strange, Stuff, Wacky Tagged With: cat, dog, Downton Abbey, Pet

Characters From Star Wars Movies Wearing Cool Clothing

March 21, 2012 By IHaveCoolName Leave a Comment

Some human cultures, such as the various people of the Arctic Circle, traditionally make their clothing entirely of prepared and decorated furs and skins. Other cultures supplemented or replaced leather and skins with cloth: woven, knitted, or twined from various animal and vegetable fibers.

Although modern consumers may take the production of clothing for granted, making fabric by hand is a tedious and labor intensive process. The textile industry was the first to be mechanized — with the powered loom — during the Industrial Revolution.

Different cultures have evolved various ways of creating clothes out of cloth. One approach simply involves draping the cloth. Many people wore, and still wear, garments consisting of rectangles of cloth wrapped to fit — for example, the dhoti for men and the sari for women in the Indian subcontinent, the Scottish kilt or the Javanese sarong. The clothes may simply be tied up, as is the case of the first two garments; or pins or belts hold the garments in place, as in the case of the latter two. The precious cloth remains uncut, and people of various sizes or the same person at different sizes can wear the garment.

Another approach involves cutting and sewing the cloth, but using every bit of the cloth rectangle in constructing the clothing. The tailor may cut triangular pieces from one corner of the cloth, and then add them elsewhere as gussets. Traditional European patterns for men’s shirts and women’s chemises take this approach.

Filed Under: Arts, Hilarious, Strange, Stuff, Wacky Tagged With: Clothing, Cool, Neat, Star Wars

Hilarious Cakes That Will Make You Laugh

March 20, 2012 By IHaveCoolName Leave a Comment

A finished cake is often enhanced by covering it with icing, or frosting, and toppings such as sprinkles, which are also known as “jimmies” in certain parts of the United States and “hundreds and thousands” in the United Kingdom. Frosting is usually made from powdered (icing) sugar, sometimes a fat of some sort, milk or cream, and often flavorings such as vanilla extract or cocoa powder. Some decorators use a rolled fondant icing. Commercial bakeries tend to use lard for the fat, and often whip the lard to introduce air bubbles. This makes the icing light and spreadable. Home bakers either use lard, butter, margarine or some combination thereof. Sprinkles are small firm pieces of sugar and oils that are colored with food coloring. In the late 20th century, new cake decorating products became available to the public. These include several specialized sprinkles and even methods to print pictures and transfer the image onto a cake.

Special tools are needed for more complex cake decorating, such as piping bags or syringes, and various piping tips. To use a piping bag or syringe, a piping tip is attached to the bag or syringe using a coupler. The bag or syringe is partially filled with icing which is sometimes colored. Using different piping tips and various techniques, a cake decorator can make many different designs. Basic decorating tips include open star, closed star, basket weave, round, drop flower, leaf, multi, petal, and specialty tips.