My Z News

If you’ve ever been around someone who is waking up from surgery, you’re probably already aware of just how silly the after-effects of anesthesia can be. Grogginess, confusion and a sense of euphoria are common, but why? Interestingly, medical professionals have found even low levels of anesthesia to effect the brain similarly to the deepest levels of sleep. While patients find themselves relaxed, drowsy and numb (both during and for several hours after surgery), they are still able to talk and answer questions – often with hilarious results. Remember David after dentist? In 2008, then-7-year-old David left the dentist office after having an extra tooth removed, but once he got to the car, he started saying some pretty bizarre stuff. Luckily, his dad caught it on his flip-phone camera, and just like that, David went viral. To date, the video has over 132 million views, making David’s after-dentist musings one of the most watched videos on YouTube. However, he’s going to have some fierce competition from Bart. The beefy, tattooed guy might look tough, but after getting home from a trip to the dentist, he’s feeling particularly vulnerable. In fact, it’s clear that things haven’t been going well for a while – as his wife says, he’s already fallen off the couch, and only just made it to bed. But, Bart’s not alone under the covers. What his wife finds next to him on the mattress and Bart’s reason for clutching it tight is so hysterical, it’s something you have to see for yourself.  Read more: http://www.wimp.com/husband-on-post-dentist-drugs-is-afraid-of-the-funniest-thing-tape/

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Studies have shown that bears can use simple tools, like moving a stump to reach something up in a tree. Those studies apparently didn’t look into this bear, however, because his moves swinging this stick qualify as more than “using simple tools.” This bear appears to be a ninja bear. Spinning the stick, throwing it into the air, catching it; this bear has moves to show off and isn’t shy in front of the camera. Have his years in the zoo taught him such complicated baton maneuvers or was he rescued from a circus? We’ll never know, but we now must accept that we live in the world where at least one ninja bear exists. Hopefully, he won’t train the others. Read more: http://www.wimp.com/ninja-bear-stick-spinning-master/

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We’re big fans of skateboarding dogs here at Wimp, but we’ve never seen a K-9 with this level of shredding skill before. On November 11th, 2015 Otto the bulldog set a Guinness World Record by skateboarding between the legs of 30 people. Navigating this human tunnel was no easy feat, requiring precise board control from Otto during the stunt. This little puppy has learned some useful techniques in his years of skating, and his form is impeccable. Your first step was Guinness, Otto; your next step is the gold. At least, as soon as the Dog Olympics adds a skateboarding category.  Read more: http://www.wimp.com/skate-boarding-dog-breaks-world-record/

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4K video is the newest and highest resolution of videos you are likely to see today. 4K goes beyond the standard High Definition of years past and displays an even more remarkably clear image. What better way to use this new technology then to showcase some gorgeous looking food? This two-minute time lapse shows what happens to food after you put it in the oven and shut the door. If you aren’t hungry already, then this video is sure to make you want to grab food ASAP. Read more: http://www.wimp.com/cooking-food-time-lapse/

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It seems like no matter how on top of technology we try to stay these days, our gadgets are only ever a few months away from being rendered obsolete by a newer, shinier model. Honestly, it can get mind-boggling. If you ever want to track me down, I’ll gladly share my own woeful tale of how I was once just a mere few more weeks with my old phone away from actually having the newest model of something for once in my life. That being said, there is that old saying: the more things change, the more they stay the same.  Even though computers are evolving faster than ever, there’s one aspect of all this new technology that has stayed mostly unchanged for over a hundred years – the keyboard. Sure, there are some cosmetic additions here and there, added functions for specialty professions, and ergonomic designs for improved comfort, but these are mostly surface-level. It may be hard to believe, but the modern keyboard has had pretty much the same basic design and layout since 1873! We’re all familiar with keyboards these days, and today there are many of us who have pretty much grown up with them since day one. Michael Robert Moore In that time, you’ve probably noticed two things about the keyboard. First, the arrangement is not alphabetical, but jumbled up … Imgur … and second, there are two keys, the F and the J, that have a little bump on them. So what’s the deal? Fast Company To answer the first question, we’ve got to go back to 1873. That’s when the Sholes and Gidden typewriter company sold a design for a new keyboard layout to Remington, who launched this seemingly jumbled layout with the Remington 1 typewriter. Wikimedia Previous arrangements of letters on typewriters led to certain letters being typed too quickly in succession, which caused frequent jamming of the keys. The QWERTY layout (named after the first six keys on the first row) placed letters in a way that led to frequently used letter pairs (like “th” or “st”) not being on neighboring bars. Wikimedia Still, even a QWERTY keyboard wasn’t immune to the occasional jam. Some people think that QWERTY was invented to slow people down so they have to search for each letter before typing, kinda like Grandma does today! YLakeland In fact, the introduction of QWERTY helped raise people’s typing speeds because they had to deal with far less jamming interfering with their work. Improvements in the Remington 2 only served to make the layout even more popular. A few years later, the introduction of “touch typing” increased typing speeds further. With touch typing, users are trained to rely on muscle memory instead of sight. The fingers on each hand are supposed to rest as shown in the diagram below. After some time spent training the hands to move around in this way, muscle memory takes over and users can type without having to look at the keyboard, achieving speeds of […]

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Swedish musician Martin Molin has always had a fascination with weird instruments like the glockenspiel or the Theremin. Perhaps it was this fascination with the bizarre that led him to create what may well be the most insanely awesome instrument I’ve ever seen: the Wintergatan Marble Machine. The Marble Machine is a hand-cranked monstrosity of a music box that features a vibraphone, a bass guitar, kick drum, cymbals, and a host of other instruments. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention the intricately complex system of 2,000 cascading steel marbles (technically ball bearings, but whatever)? As he spins the crank, those 2,000 marbles make their way through the inner workings of a machine with around 3,000 internal parts, activating various instruments as they go. Additionally, there is a central wheel made of LEGO Technic parts that plays a score programmed onto a 32-bar loop. All in all, it’s a machine that would probably make Rube Goldberg’s head spin, and Molin plays it masterfully.  According to Molin, he got the idea from stumbling upon the subculture of marble machines, but wanted to make his version fully programmable. He set aside two months of time for it in August of 2014, but quickly realized it’d take a lot longer. All told, it took 14 months to build the whole thing. Molin crafted most of the parts on the fly, which is why it looks as Frankenstein-ish as it does. As cool as the machine is, it’s sadly staying in place for now – it’d have to be totally disassembled in order to move it. H/T: Wintergatan Read more: http://www.wimp.com/mad-musical-genius-builds-insane-new-instrument-using-2000-marbles/

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Meet Jumpy the dog. Some say he is the smartest canine in the world, and he just got a whole lot more impressive. Jumpy has mastered a skill that takes us humans a few years to figure out. With a little help, this dog can grab a paintbrush and neatly write out the five letters that spell out his own name. It’s a cool trick for a very cool dog. His trainer, Omar von Muller, has spent years with his pup and has taught him to become one of the most sought-after dogs for work on camera. Is Jumpy the smartest dog alive? We can’t say for sure, but what is certain is that his handwriting is a whole lot neater than mine. Read more: http://www.wimp.com/dog-paints-his-own-name/

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The Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon is unique among the various drill teams in the American Armed Forces. For one thing, they earn their name through their remarkably quiet maneuvers. For another, there is no drill team in the Marines that have such an elaborate routine. The purpose of the platoon, known as the “Marching Twenty-Four,” is to showcase the precision and professionalism of the United States Marine Corps. Often regarded as the toughest branch of the military, the Marines learn how to do what they do the hard way. While an Army recruit might learn how to repair a fairly new vehicle with all the right tools, an enlisted Marine gets taught that, in the field, the vehicle is never new and the right tools are never available. They get the broken, old hand-me-downs from the Army and have to get their equipment fixed any way they can. It’s not just precision and ingenuity that will get you into the Silent Drill Platoon, however. There are quite a few physical qualifications. First of all, the rifle used for twirling is a real, fully operational M1 Garand, weighing in at well over 10 pounds. It takes quite a bit of strength and endurance to twirl these guns around like they were made of plastic. Members of the platoon can’t vary more than one inch from six feet in height and also have to be the median weight for that height. This ensures a uniformity to their stature that increases the remarkable visual effect of their movements. Don’t forget to SHARE this video with your friends on Facebook! H/T: Houston Librarian Read more: http://www.wimp.com/marine-silent-drill-team-moves/

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The oud is an instrument that has been played for over 5,000 years. Though it may not be familiar to many in Western culture, the oud is still a commonly played instrument in many parts of the world. Mr. Nazih Ghadban knows a thing or two about playing the oud. As a well-known and respected luthier, he has spent his life preserving these beautiful instruments.  Not only can he make an oud, but he can also play a pretty mean lick. In this video he does both and shows why these instruments have been loved for thousands of years. Read more: http://www.wimp.com/man-plays-luthier/

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Shoes do a lot more than protect our feet. They dress us up on formal occasions, give us an extra inch or two and express our own personal style. For some, shoes can also be a sign of status. Mark ‘Mayor’ Farese explains how sneakers were everything when he was a kid. After being made fun of for his sub-par shoes, he realized you were a nobody if you didn’t have the coolest pair of kicks. Vowing to always look fresh from that day on, Mayor now owns a $750,000 sneaker collection consisting of over 3,000 pairs. He could wear a different pair every day for the next eight years. While we may not all share Mayor’s passion for sneakers, his dedication shows us how we can turn our hobbies into valuable passions. Read more: http://www.wimp.com/expensive-sneaker-collection/

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