By Jeromina Juan

If you've been brainstorming Halloween DIY costume ideas, no need to bang your head on a brick wall. It's time to put on your thinking cap. Literally! With just a ball cap, squiggles of caulking (the stuff made for sealing tubs, sinks, and windows), and dabs of paint, this bloody brain is yours to wear on fright night.

It's best to study pictures of the human brain before tackling this project in order to best mimic the brain's convolution patterns when caulking the cap.

Weighing a little less than a pound and a half, this costume is still lighter than most professional bicycle and motorcycle helmets. Use a cap without an adjuster to ensure a perfect fit.

Materials

Fitted cap, without adjuster
Craft knife or seam ripper
Newspaper
Acrylic paint, red and black
Paintbrush
Bowl, approximately same size as cap
Tall jar
Plastic bag
2 tubes of latex or acrylic caulking (not silicone)*, ivory or bone color
Caulking gun
Water
Gloves

*NOTE: Silicone caulking is not paintable.

Directions

Step 1: Remove the cap's brim by carefully ripping the seams with a craft knife or seam ripper.

Step 2: Place the cap on newspaper. Paint the cap with dark red paint (a mixture of red paint and a little bit of black paint). Let dry.

Step 3: On newspaper, create a work stand for your cap by placing a bowl upside down over a tall jar. Place a plastic bag over the bowl, and the cap over the plastic bag.

Step 4: With a craft knife, cut the tip of the caulking tube to have an opening approximately 1/2" in diameter. Load the tube into a caulking gun.

Step 5: Caulk convolutions on one half of the cap to create one hemisphere of the brain. Repeat on the second half of the cap.

Step 6: Let the caulking dry for approximately one to two hours until the surface loses tack. Wearing gloves, lightly press on the convolutions to slightly flatten the surface.

Step 7: Let the caulking cure for 24 hours.

Step 8: Once the caulking has cured, mix water with red paint and a little bit of black paint, to a thin, runny consistency. Use a brush to dab paint mixture onto the caulking, focusing on crevices. Apply a second coat if needed. Let dry.

Your bloody brain is ready to wear! You may wrap gauze to cover the seam between the brain and the forehead. Of course, the more fake blood, the better! Happy Halloween!

About the Author:

Jeromina Juan is the brains behind the blog Paper, Plate, and Plane, where she shares unique DIY ideas for all holidays throughout the year. She is partial to Halloween, being born on this special holiday.

Shared by Becky
One step closer to my hover board!

What the what? This video gives a little more explanation into the effect at work here (superconductivity + quantum trapping of the magnetic field in quantum flux tubes) and an awesome demonstration of a crude rail system. You can almost hear your tiny mind explode when the "train" goes upside-down.

Wingardium Leviosa! (via stellar)

If you’ve been living under a rock or don’t feel the need to give the Tribune money (because no one reads The Missourian anyway) just to bypass their pay-wall in order to read some crummy stories about this god-forsaken hole in the middle of America we call “CoMo,” then you have no idea about the serpentine deceptions about to come down from our own city council, a council we supposedly elected. Yes, believe it or not, the self-serving decepticons at city hall are jerry-rigging the lines that divide wards to suit their own purposes and maybe even for a few developers ready to rape and pillage the center city for profit in the form of a Starbucks on your front lawn. Bastards.

Here’s the deal: Reapportionment comes along every ten years, side-by-side with the cicadas. The city council gets together some ideas for moving the ward boundaries for various and sometimes arbitrary reasons. They then ask a few dedicated citizens to look over the plans and make a recommendation. From there, the city votes and we have new wards. Great. Democracy works again and we’re all happy.

Well, almost.

You see, 4th Ward councilman Daryl Dudley tried an end-around by submitting his plan (Plan “D” for “douche,” I believe) that would conveniently take the neighborhoods who didn’t like him enough during the last election (12% support) and kick them into the 1st Ward. Of course, Dudley is a giving sort. His plan also takes a bite out of the 3rd Ward and combines it with the 1st as well. These neighborhoods are known as Benton-Stephens and they didn’t like their councilman (Cesspool Kespohl) either.

Moving voting boundaries around in order to fix your re-election bid is called “gerrymandering.” In my neighborhood, it’s called “being a dick.”

That’s not all, folks. See, the neighborhoods that have been proposed to move in Plan D(ick) happen to surround downtown, or “The District” as some like to call it. What this would do would consolidate the representation for the center of town into one ward, the 1st. “Consolidation is bitchin’!” you say? Nope. Not in this case. The representation on city council would go from three to one for those living in and around downtown. The people who would be making decisions for that part of town would be those who don’t even live there. They just go down there during daylight hours to shop and look at the punks and black people.

As you can imagine, folks is pissed. They organized themselves and bothered old people for their signatures all weekend in order to recall Dudley with an opportunity to boot him out of office – an office he only won by 2%. The thinking was that if people who currently live in the 4th Ward signed the petition before being shipped off to the 1st, said signatures would still count.

If I were sexist, I’d say that Dudley was gettin’ bitch-slapped and notarized like Iowa State on Saturday. But I am not sexist and I’d just say that he will have to do some answering once those signatures are turned in.

In the meantime, upset at the prospect of Dudley’s gerrymandering, a whole lot of people with email addresses in the 4th Ward wrote to Mayor McCheese McDavid and demanded that the council choose the less-offensive Plan E (as chose by the committee) which would generally keep things stable in the 4th. I guess the mayor was scared when he figured that Plan E was supported 50:1 in those emails, causing him to switch his support from D to E.

Dudley and his plan get bitch-slapped again.

Now, the good people of the 4th Ward will wait. They’ll turn in those signatures, walk past the #OccupyCoMo protesters (dirty hippies), and sit through a whole lot of boring in hopes to see Plan D go down in defeat. Then, there will be much rejoicing in Professorville. Gerrymandering will be blocked and democracy restored…

Or Plan D (or even the semi-gerrymandered Plan A) will be passed. I suspect that Dudley will have to take his on a special election day, the mayor may also be in trouble, and the greedy developers of this town will win again.

Fuck! I hate politics!

Either way, keep an eye/ear open tonight to see what the council decides. Then, get ready for a campaign in the 4th that will put the GOP debates to shame. Maybe things just got a lot more interesting around here.

The Comoian is a new feature on the Collective meant to provide another perspective on Columbia not currently present in our pages. This perspective – like all the opinions on this website – are not representative of The CoMo Collective, its editors, nor its writers. Take it for what it is. Leave angry comments in the space below. – Zac

Not sure if this is entirely legal, but I guess stamping dollar bills is one way to get your political views across.

Link

Those of us who are still playing with Google Plus are eagerly awaiting its further integration into other Google services (in ways other than the red box in the top right corner). The updates are coming slowly but surely; Google Docs is now integrated with Hangouts, Google Maps can be shared as posts, and Plus posts are starting to appear in Google Web search.

But Google Plus is built around sharing, and one of Google's best sharing services is missing: Google Reader. It's the free RSS reader that lets anyone subscribe to any website's feed, and it's behind some of the most popular RSS client apps, like Feedly. But there's no built in way to share articles from Google Reader with your circles on Plus. Fortunately, you can make one pretty easily. Here's how.

Sponsor

These are the steps to add Google Plus as a service on your Google Reader. Once you've set this up, all you have to do to share an article is the bit in the last step.

1. Go to Google Reader, click the gear icon, and choose 'Reader settings'
   
   



2. Click the 'Send To' tab
   
   



3. Scroll down all the way and click 'Create a custom link'
   
   



4. Enter the following into the fields that appear:
   
   Name:
Google+
URL: https://plusone.google.com/_/+1/confirm?hl=en&url=${url}
Icon URL: https://ssl.gstatic.com/s2/oz/images/favicon.ico




5. Click 'Save,' and Google+ will appear checked, with the nice icon next to it:
   
   

Now, when you go back to Google Reader and click on any article, you'll see Google+ in the 'Send to' drop-down menu at the bottom.


Clicking this will open a new window to add that article as a +snippet, which you can share with any circles or individuals you choose on Google Plus. That's it!


Not all blog posts will turn into nice +snippets, but that's up to the site from which you're sharing. Until Google creates some simple integration of these services, this method will have to do. Once it's set up, though, it's easy to share your Google Reader articles with your Plus-buddies.

Are you new to Google Plus? Check out Dan Rowinski's excellent introduction, How To Use Google Plus.

Thanks to How-To New for finding those share-to URLs.

A rotisserie chicken is a busy cook's best friend. Whether you get yours from the farmers market or from your local grocery store, nothing beats being able to have dinner on the table in about five minutes. When simple roast chicken gets boring, you can save time by using the precooked chicken in various recipes. Read on for a big list of recipes. (See also: 5 Awesome, Easy-to-Freeze Meals)

1. Enchiladas

Cottage cheese lightens up these chicken enchiladas and gives them extra flavor. They feed a crowd and are sure to become a new favorite.

2. Chicken and Wild Rice Salad

This simple chicken and wild rice salad is easy and nutritious, with almonds for crunch and grapes for extra sweetness. 

3. Pho

The classic Vietnamese rice noodle soup, chicken pho, is super easy to make with pre-cooked chicken and canned chicken broth.

4. Fried Rice

Use up leftover chicken and vegetables in this simple chicken fried rice dish.

5. Chicken Pasta

A quick pasta dish is a lifesaver for busy families everywhere. Steam some vegetables and combine them with cooked chicken, pasta, and your favorite jarred pesto or pasta sauce.

6. Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Make a delicious sandwich for lunch the next day with this chicken salad flavored with tarragon. 

7. Chicken and Vegetable Soup

Simmer leftover vegetables, rotisserie chicken, and chicken stock together for a quick and satisfying chicken soup. Throw some noodles in for extra heartiness.

8. Pasta Salad

Chicken pasta salad is an easy dish for potlucks and picnics. Mix cooked chicken and raw vegetables with cooked pasta, and add vinaigrette or other salad dressing.

9. Chicken and Apple Quesadillas

Kids love quesadillas, especially when apples add a bit of sweetness and crunch to these apple chicken quesadillas.

10. Hawaiian Chicken and Pineapple Sandwich

Make a quick version of this grilled chicken and pineapple sandwich by subbing shredded rotisserie chicken for the grilled chicken. Doused in teriyaki sauce and served with a juicy slice of pineapple, this Hawaiian chicken sandwich is sure to please.

11. Chicken, Jicama, and Mango Salad

Lean chicken can be an excellent part of a low-fat diet. Try this naturally low-fat chicken and jicama salad that is as delicious as it is healthy.

12. Chicken and White Bean Chili

Lighten up a classic chili by making it with chicken and white beans instead of the usual ground beef.

13. Pot Pie

There are few things as comforting as a hearty chicken pot pie, which is easy to make when you've got pre-cooked chicken. 

14. Chicken à la King

Chicken à la King is smothered with creamy sherry-laced sauce and mushrooms and served over a slice of toast. 

15. Chicken Tetrazzini

Rotisserie chicken and store-bought alfredo sauce are two shortcuts that make this chicken tetrazzini ready in a flash.

16. Cobb Salad

Keep things fresh with a chicken cobb salad, a perfect entree salad that is healthy and satisfying.

17. Chicken Curry

Yes, chicken curry, usually a recipe that requires several steps, can be quick and simple when you have pre-cooked chicken. Serve this savory yellow curry over steamed rice. 

18. Sesame Noodle Salad

This classic Asian noodle salad combines shredded chicken, cold sesame noodles, and a delicious peanut sauce for a unique twist on pasta salad.

19. Empanadas

These chicken empanadas look impressive, but they’re surprisingly easy to make with rotisserie chicken and store-bought pastry dough.

20. Chicken Tortilla Soup

There’s nothing like a hot bowl of comforting, spicy chicken tortilla soup on a rainy day.

21. BBQ Chicken Pizza

Dress up some store-bought pizza dough with barbecue sauce, shredded chicken, and your choice of toppings.

22. Chicken Caesar Wraps

Throw cooked chicken, romaine lettuce, and a drizzle of low-fat Caesar dressing into a flour tortilla or wrap for a quick and healthy lunch.

23. Curried Chicken Salad

Classic sweet and spicy curry chicken salad is perfect when stuffed into a pita with some shredded lettuce.

24. Chicken Lettuce Wraps

These savory chicken lettuce wraps are a great way to avoid carbs, especially when topped with P.F. Chang’s “special sauce.”

25. Chicken Stock

When the meat is gone from your rotisserie chicken, try using the leftover bones for stock. Simmer the chicken carcass with about five quarts of water and carrots, onions, leeks, parsnips, celery, or whatever vegetables you have lying around, along with a couple of bay leaves for about two hours. Freeze the stock for later, or use immediately.

I've always been fascinated with large-scale domino chain reaction set ups, but hadn't seen this take, using popsicle sticks, before. When Think Geek tweeted this massive 1,000 stick chain reaction, I was delighted and baffled. I did a little digging around to find out exactly how this popsicle stick chain reaction works, and this video from jayauldenparnell was the best, clearest tutorial I found. He shows you how to weave the sticks together and even how to "program" in places where you want the giant snake of sticks to turn. It looks like it could be a tedious project, but one that moves quickly once you get the rhythm down. It would be a perfect rainy day or cold winter day activity for kids. Just make sure they know before they start that they are on clean up duty afterwords.

Ever since we started following Winter the Dolphin’s story, Jordan and I have been fascinated with animals that use helper legs. I was so excited to stumble onto a Wired magazine article. It’s called Animal Prosthetics Help Human Amputees Move Again.
The slideshow of different animals is really cool. I recommend checking it out. The author, Emily Anthes, wrote a separate blog about two elephants who have survived with the help of prosthetics in Thailand. She had mentioned she thought the two animals deserved more space than the Wired article offered.

Sometimes the hardest part of getting a degree isn’t the final exam or the big midterm project. It’s getting started. Hell, sometimes it’s just trying to decide if you want to go back to school. If, however, you’re one of the millions who is thinking of changing careers to go back to school to earn your degree in a new field or you just want to learn the basics of a new field of study, the Internet is here to help. There are thousands of free online college courses and classes that can help you decide if you’re ready to learn something new, refresh your memory on concepts you’ve already learned or just quench the thirst of a curious mind and all you have to do is download them to your iPod.

Classical Mechanics

Physics can be one of the most difficult concepts to grasp and understand if you don’t have a good foundation of the basics to get you started. This class in podcast form can help do just that for you.

This Stanford course aims to teach the “essential theoretical foundations of modern physics” through a series of nine lectures that are free to download from iTunesU’s dedicated education section. The class will explore several subsets of physics including classical and quantum mechanics, the theories of relativity, electromagnetism and others and each course builds on the other one to help you better understand the concepts by utilizing them in increasingly challenging lessons.

Introduction to Biology

If you’re thinking about taking a crack at the highly lucrative and competitive medical field, this is the place you should start, even if you’ve been to medical school and you already know the difference between a tibia and a fibula.

This general introduction course from MIT’s OpenCourseware program can be viewed in video form or listened to as an audio podcast as professors discuss the core material behind some of biology’s most basic building blocks such as genetics, molecular biology and cell biology. The course also comes with study materials, problem sets and quizzes so you can put the principals you’ve learned into practice.

Introduction to Psychology

Whether you’re trying to go back to school to earn another bachelor’s degree or you’re just another cog in the business world looking for an edge up on the other guy, having a basic understanding of the principals and philosophies of the human mind can become a great asset.

MIT offers just such a course through their online lecture series program. This podcast only comes in audio form and presents debates and discussions on such basic psychological concepts as free will, consciousness, human differences and the never ending battle between “nature vs. nurture”. The most interesting part of the course is the way it turns the student into its test subject, not only to help students effectively learn the course material but maybe also a little something about themselves.

Introduction to Economics

One of the hardest and most basic subjects in any course curriculum has to be economics. Just trying to wrap your brain around things like positive and negative externalities and the tightening of the reaction function can null and void the sharpest of minds.

So before you step back into the classroom that almost turned you into a drooling vegetable as a college freshmen (assuming the beer didn’t already cancel out that possibility), UC Berkeley can help prepare you with a free refresher course on their iTunesU site. According to the course’s web page, you’ll learn about everything economists learn on the first day of school such as tax effects on an economy, welfare analysis and adverse inflation shock. The course’s website also has practice problem sets and sample midterms to help you with your studies.

Modern American History

The philosopher and poet George Santayana famously said, “Those who do not know history’s mistakes are doomed to repeat them.”

You can start with this UC Berkeley course that examines the political, economic and socioeconomic histories and course of events in just the last few centuries of America’s history. This course, which is also available on iTunesU’s podcast section, contains several lectures that explore America’s recent rise as a global superpower by examining the events and effects of The Cold War, The Cuban Missile Crisis and the rise of instability and unrest in the Middle East.

Introduction to Political Philosophy

Probably the most booming industry in these hard economic times is politics. Let’s face it, industries come and go. Corporations rise and fall. The dollar increases in value and drops to record lows. However, politicians will always be around to grandstand for their party, slander their opponents and line their pockets under the guise of helping others line theirs, probably even after nuclear war has wiped out all of human and nothing are left but the slimy cockroaches and the insects that somehow survived the radioactive blast.

So if you’re thinking of entering the political arena (may God have mercy on your soul), you can at least take this Yale course that explores the philosophy of why politics is the way it is by looking at the way it was starting with the polis experience, then to the sovereign state and finally to the constitutional government.

Photographers Alfred Palmer and Howard Hollem produced some exceptional Kodachrome transparencies in the early war years. The images are amazing, almost unreal since all we are used to seeing is images in black & white. Now you can view the images and their original captions.

Link

Well, I don't know about that, but as an analogy enthusiast, I did enjoy reading through this list. Some favorites:

Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.

From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30.

He was as tall as a six-foot, three-inch tree.

John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.

That first one...I can't decide if it's bad or the best analogy ever.

Next time you feel like high fiving someone that is far away, try ihighfive.com. Made me smile.

(via @dwaldron)

Shared by Becky
genius

So you love your sleek, compact Apple wireless keyboard and Magic Trackpad, right? Who doesn't? There's not a wire or cable in sight and you're workspace couldn't be more clutter free, functional and oh so pleasing to the eye. Until, that is, that dreadful day comes when you need to do some serious number crunching. In that moment, it's safe to say, you wish you'd gone for Apple's wired keyboard with a numerical keypad built into the side.

Well, thanks to the good folks at Mobee, now you don't have to compromise. For $29.90 you get the Magic Numpad -- a pack of three custom film layouts that you apply to your trackpad. Depending on how intensive the number crunching you're about to do is, you can apply either the classic numpad (that leaves you some tactile surface on your trackpad), the full numpad or the numpad with customizable keys. With the overlays and a free download of Mobee's free Snow Leopard or Lion compatible software, your Magic Trackpad will be transformed into a fully functioning Magic Numpad.

The Magic Numpad is up for pre-order now on Mobee's website. Availability is set for October. Head on over to Mobee's website for all the details.

[Via This is my next]

Magic Numpad turns your Magic Trackpad into a number pad originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This Portal 2 Wheatley puppet from Furin Cosplay is nothing short of phenomenal. Check out the extensive in-progress documentation on her blog to get an even deeper appreciation for the amount of work that went in to making it. [via @thinkgeek]

Gary, be sure not to nap in your rattan pod too long; I’ve heard the ostriches feed in this area. Gary? Gary!!!

WDYL.com - When searching for a dirty word or phrase, instead of giving a safe-search error the website shows results for the word “kittens.”

/via Zachary Reese