Oddity Central

Oddity Central


Doctor Claims Rare Condition Allows Him to Feel Patient’s’ Physical Pain

Posted: 31 Jul 2015 05:52 AM PDT

People often use the phrase “I feel you pain” when trying to comfort somebody, but usually it has a figurative meaning. That’s not the case with Joel Salinas, a doctor suffering from a rare condition called mirror-touch synesthesia which actually allows him to feel the physical pain of his patients.

Salinas, a neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, says that he has had the condition since childhood. Whenever he would observe other people hugging, for instance, he would feel hugged as well. And when he saw people get hit, he felt the discomfort too. "When I see people, I have the sensation of whatever touches their body on my own body, and it's kind of reflected as a mirror," he explained.

mirror-touch-synesthesia

Belgian Man Shuns Civilization to Live as a Hunter-Gatherer in Slovenia

Posted: 31 Jul 2015 04:56 AM PDT

Angelo Valkenborg had it all – a good job, a marriage, and a nice home, but at one point in his life, he realised that none of that made him truly happy. So the 31-year-old Belgian left his old life behind and moved to a forest in Slovenia to live like a hunter-gatherer.

Angelo had always been fascinated by the great outdoors and started getting into survival techniques in the wild. But his work and family life didn’t exactly go hand in hand with his favorite pastime. It was after returning from a three week expedition in the wilderness of Northern Sweden that he learned his marriage had failed. His “intense passion for the outdoors” was apparently too much for his wife to handle. “Who can blame her?” he wrote on his blog. “I went fr’om a salesperson who cared a lot about going out and having a good time to a always dressed in outdoor gear geek.

Angelo-Valkenborgh

It’s Late Summer but This Everlasting Pile of Snow in Buffalo Still Hasn’t Melted

Posted: 31 Jul 2015 03:12 AM PDT

The residents of Buffalo, New York, are baffled by a 12-ft pile of snow that hasn't melted in eight months. The giant pile, located near Central Terminal on the Queen City's east side, has been around since the 'Snowvember' storm last year, and seems unaffected by the summer heat.

According to New York state climatologist Mark Wysocki, the "original problem started back in November." After the storm, city workers had no place to put all the excess snow so they decided to dump it in a vacant lot. Then they used bulldozers to flatten and compact the pile. By doing that, they created insulation, effectively producing a very slowly melting snow pile.

"It's not unprecedented, but it's weird when you think about it," said Storm Team 2 meteorologist Patrick Hammer. "That pile of snow is like a glacier. It's very dense and it's covered in dirt and garbage, which acts to insulate the snow from the sun's rays. That's what melts the snow, not just the heat but the sun's rays, and it's protected."

buffalo-snow-pile

Dornob | Design Ideas Daily

Dornob | Design Ideas Daily


Lions and Rhinos and Unicorns! Paper Wall Art by Papertrophy

Posted: 31 Jul 2015 07:00 AM PDT

Papertrophy Deer Heads
As part of the still-going-strong Western chic and vintage folk art trends, interior design boutiques have been selling out of animal skulls and antlers, from deer to steers and beyond. We buck the trend by going the paper route. Cue Papertrophy. The mastermind behind this iconoclastic company, Dr. Holger Hoffmann from Berlin, was inspired by classic animal trophies (author Ernest Hemingway in Africa comes to mind), but rest assured these gorgeous minimalist creatures were never alive. Read more…

Let There Be Flower Lights: Performative ‘Shylights’ That Gloriously Bloom At The Click of Light

Posted: 30 Jul 2015 04:42 PM PDT

Shylight-in-movement-small-LRG-CROP
Studio Drift is a design team based in Amsterdam that engages with light and natural forms by producing exquisite sculptural light structures, exhibited in museums and galleries around the world. They are grandiose and breathtaking, both in design and in performance. Their 'Shylight' installations (like the one above at the  Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam) are based on the movement of flowers, which open and close in reaction to light. Read more…

Keep Going - Check Out These Great Related Dornob Articles:



Daily Optical Illusion for 07/31/2015

Mighty Optical Illusions

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Seemingly Bent Squares Illusion

Bent Squares IllusionEver just have a day where you feel all out of sorts for no particular reason? For me, today is one of those days. First, I overslept, then I tripped coming down the stairs, spilled my coffee, and found that someone had eaten the last bowl of cereal. So, now I’m grumpy, behind in work, […]

The post Seemingly Bent Squares Illusion appeared first on Mighty Optical Illusions.

See the entire illusion: http://www.moillusions.com/seemingly-bent-squares-illusion/
 
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Walyou

Walyou

Link to Walyou

Japan: the robot hotel is a reality

Posted: 30 Jul 2015 03:01 PM PDT

Robot Hotel

Japan has surprised us in the last few days with something new: a robot hotel. Nagasaki now has its Hen-na Hotel (“weird hotel”), staffed almost exclusively with automatons. Read all about it here!

Passengers visiting the robot hotel at the Huis Ten Bosch theme park in the Nagasaki prefecture will be welcomed by a very realistic looking ladies, if they speak Japanese… or by a dinosaur if they speak English. Several robots staff this hotel, and will carry luggage to the rooms, control the lockers, clean, and other tasks while the room service is all managed via tablets provided by the hotel itself. The doors to each of the guest’s rooms will use facial recognition and practically the entire building will be using solar energy, a measure taken both to save energy and protect the environment.

Another bit of news is that the prices of the rooms will be changing through time, using a bid system which works in direct relationship to the demand each time of the year. There is a minimum base price of $60 USD per room, and a max of $150 for the triple room which isn’t all that high, all things considered. They have yet to release the prices for the special and luxury rooms, but this is a five star hotel after all so it could be quite higher.

In the future, the hotel will grow to have some 72 rooms, as their website explains, and a future expansion which will add 72 more by March of 2016. There is also a plan to open some 1000 hotels just like this around the world – quite ambitious.

It would seem that the Japanese are ready for this idea to catch on. If this will have results or not, only time will tell, but if you want to travel to Nagasaki and give this place a try. head over to their official website (in English) and make your reservation.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories at Jaeger vs. Jaeger: the USA and Japan battle with giant robots and Apple Will Employ Robots to Map Building Interiors.

I5 Plus Smartband Takes Simplicity to the Extreme

Posted: 30 Jul 2015 01:41 PM PDT

Iwown I5 Plus 04

While some wearable manufacturers prefer to make overly complex devices, Iwown teaches everyone a lesson in simplicity with its I5 Plus waterproof smartband.

1. Contents of the Box
2. Design and Build Quality
3. Connectivity
4. Menu and Navigation
5. Battery Life
6. Price and Availability
7. Conclusions

Contents of the Box

At a first glance, it might look like something is missing from the box, but in fact, there’s everything needed to get started. Upon opening the box, a logical question could arise: “Shouldn’t there also be a USB cable included?” Well, no, since the main part of the smartband also includes a USB plug.

Inside the box, you will find just the smartband and a user manual. Instructions on how to set it up and how to use it are available in both English and Chinese, fact that indicates the manufacturer’s desire to market this product internationally.

Design and Build Quality

The back of the Iwown I5 Plus looks a bit like it was made in a rush. Other than that, the smartband is impressively well built. The TPU band has a slot for the USB plug and two other holes for securing the main unit into place. Check out the following slideshow to get an idea about how the item looks.

Click to view slideshow.

It really would be something if all wearables priced this low were made out of so sturdy materials. The only thing that worries me is what would happen to the main unit if pressure is applied onto it while it charges. That being said, when it’s “plugged” into the bracelet, there are no chances the USB plug could ever get damaged. Add to that the fact that the smartband is IP67 certified, which means it is dust- and waterproof, and you have a rather impressive product.

Connectivity

As most wearables out there, the I5 Plus connects to smartphones via Bluetooth. In terms of operating system compatibility, it works with iOS 7.0+ or Android 4.3+.

Click to view slideshow.

The companion app, called Zeroner, is about as simple as the smartband itself. However, judging by the 2.3/5 score it has on Google Play Store, I’d say that most people aren’t happy with it, with the most cited reasons being bugs, connectivity issues with various smartphones, and loss of data after unexpected resets. Fortunately, I didn’t experience any of these problems, and the overall experience was very pleasant.

Right after launching the app, you need to set up an account using an e-mail address and a password, to make sure that your statistics get synced, should you want to pair the smartband with another device.

Menu and Navigation

If it’s versatility you’re after, Iwown’s I5 Plus might just be up your alley. Navigating through the menu is done by swiping to the left or to the right, while confirming a selection is done by pressing the touch screen for three seconds. Here are some of the things it can do.

Display time and date: There is no way to manually set the time and date, but the smartband syncs these details when getting paired with your smartphone using the companion app. To see the current time, you either have to tap the display or do a wrist gesture, as you would if you wore a conventional timepiece. On the other hand, to see the current date, you need to swipe up or down when the time is displayed.

Sleep and fitness tracking: Using the included accelerometer, the I5 Plus can tell when you’re sleeping (moreover, it can distinguish deep from light sleep), and when you’re moving around. When it comes to fitness, it counts calories, number of steps and distance. Of course, no fitness tracker out there is extremely accurate, so these are more like estimations. To make sure sedentariness doesn’t get to you, you can set sedentary reminders or move alerts, as Iwown calls these.

Push caller ID and notifications: When your phone rings, the caller ID will get displayed on the smartband’s screen. Similarly, when you’re getting notifications from certain apps, they are transmitted to the I5 Plus, provided that the Bluetooth connection is not broken. According to the Zeroner app, you can be alerted using vibrations whenever you’re getting a text, or when receiving messages on Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp or Skype. You’ll have to enable notifications for each of these apps in Zeroner.

Alarm clock: This is yet another feature that’s handled using the companion app. You can set up as many alarms as you want, and you can even establish a pattern for them, depending on the day they fire up.

Battery Life

The I5 Plus allegedly features a 75mAh battery that should keep the smartband up and running for up to a week. The manufacturer recommends charging the device for half an hour prior to using it. From my experience, the battery can last a week, but that will depend a lot on how the smartband is used. Setting up a lot of alarms and getting a ton of notifications will cause the battery life to drop dramatically.

Price and Availability

At $16.36, which is as much as it costs on GearBest, the I5 Plus competes against Xiaomi’s Mi Band. On the upside, this one has a display, but the lesser companion app and the poorer battery life rank it lower than Xiaomi’s wearable.

Conclusions

Iwown’s I5 Plus packs quite a few features for its small price. That makes it a good choice when compared to its mainstream counterparts, considering that the latter cost a few times more. It remains to be seen how and if this smartband stands the test of time, but so far, the

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about the I5 Plus waterproof smartband, or the Mifone W15 smartwatch.

Optical Illusion of The Day: Seemingly Bent Squares Illusion

Optical Illusion of The Day: Seemingly Bent Squares Illusion

Link to Mighty Optical Illusions

Seemingly Bent Squares Illusion

Posted: 31 Jul 2015 05:06 AM PDT

Ever just have a day where you feel all out of sorts for no particular reason? For me, today is one of those days. First, I overslept, then I tripped coming down the stairs, spilled my coffee, and found that someone had eaten the last bowl of cereal. So, now I’m grumpy, behind in work, in pain, uncomfortable, and hungry. It’s shaping up to be an interesting day.

When I first glanced at today’s optical illusion, I immediately noticed that the squares—much like me this morning—were all bent out of shape.

Bent Squares Illusion

Doesn’t it look like the block of squares has a bit of a rounded 3D effect? Normally I can see that the seemingly bent illusions, like these bent squares, aren’t really bent after looking at them for a bit, but not this morning. It was only after looking at this bent squares illusion in my trusty image editor that I was able to see that they aren’t bent squares at all, but regular squares with perfectly right angles.

The sides aren’t bent at all. They just look bent because of the starburst pattern of the background. It’s a simple trick, but a very effective one. Maybe I’m just off my game today, but they still look like bent squares to me this morning.

Don’t forget to rate today’s bent squares illusion with the stars below! If you want to see more seemingly bent illusions, make sure you check out our seemingly bent illusions category page!

The post Seemingly Bent Squares Illusion appeared first on Mighty Optical Illusions.

This Blog Rules

This Blog Rules


5 Attempts To Answer Unanswerable Questions

Posted: 30 Jul 2015 06:15 AM PDT

As a society that is deeply concerned with fictional characters, book conspiracies and other silly questions, we find our minds wondering (more than often) about the whys, the whos, the whats and the whens. And if you were thinking you were the only one asking yourself something absurd, the endless subreddits are the living proof […]

The post 5 Attempts To Answer Unanswerable Questions appeared first on This Blog Rules | Why go elsewhere?.

5 Inspirational Kids

Posted: 30 Jul 2015 04:57 AM PDT

We’re used to thinking adults inspire kids, with children looking up (literally) at grown-ups for advice and role models. But things are starting to change and you too could find the following 5 inspirational kids amazing. What fuels these kids’ determination to change the world? They can be brutally honest and demand justice be done […]

The post 5 Inspirational Kids appeared first on This Blog Rules | Why go elsewhere?.

Oddity Central

Oddity Central


Staffless Pay-What-You-Will Bookstore in China Actually Works

Posted: 30 Jul 2015 02:23 AM PDT

A peculiar outdoor bookstore recently opened in Nanjing, China. There is no cashier desk and no working staff to keep an eye on the books. Instead, visitors are invited to peruse the reading material on offer and pay whatever they want for books by dropping the money in a lock-box.

Organizers say the aptly named Honesty Bookstore is a social experiment meant to raise awareness of honesty and integrity. Believe it or not, so far, people have been doing the right thing. With no staff around, there is absolutely nothing stopping people from just taking the books they like and leaving without paying anything for them. Well, nothing but their conscience, that is. According to several news reports from China, people have actually been dropping money inside the box of their own free will, and Honesty Bookstore organizers claim that the raised money is enough to cover costs.

Honesty-Bookstore

MC1R – The World’s First Magazine for and About Redheads

Posted: 30 Jul 2015 01:28 AM PDT

Over the years, redheads have borne the brunt of many jokes, enjoying very little appreciation in the fashion world. Changing all that is MC1R – the first and only magazine dedicated to gingers.

In scientific lingo, MC1R is a protein that regulates skin and hair color in mammals. A mutated MC1R protein is believed to cause red hair. So it happens to be a befitting title for the magazine, which exclusively caters to people with red hair. It features content on a wide range of topics, including contemporary art and fashion editorials, interviews with musicians and designers, and current events. Every story is related to red hair.

MC1R-Magazine

Company Brews Beer with Lobsters and Sea Salt

Posted: 30 Jul 2015 12:45 AM PDT

The Oxbow Brewery in Newcastle, Maine, has come up with a brand new brew that combines two of the state's summertime favorites – beer and lobster. The offbeat lager, called 'Saison dell'Aragosta', is made by cooking live lobsters in unfermented beer.

'Aragosta' is Italian for lobster or crayfish. The name was chosen to honor Giovanni Campari, the brewmaster of one of Italy's finest breweries, Birrificio del Ducato. According to Tim Adams, co-owner of Oxbow, Giovanni travelled all the way to Maine last summer to work with him. The duo initially wanted to brew an "esoteric German beer that was low in alcohol and used wheat along with barley." They wanted a tart and acidic flavor profile, with salt playing an important role. But the evening before they set to work on the new brew, they happened to eat lobster rolls for dinner. That, instead, proved to be their inspiration.

"Giovanni turns to me and says, 'We gotta put some lobster in the beer we're brewing,'" Adams said. "I was slightly taken aback and hesitant, but I couldn't say no to him. The guy traveled all the way from Parma to Maine."

lobster-beer

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