E-Photomania

Top 10 The Most Dangerous Snakes in the World

2011-10-18T09:07:00.000-07:00

1. Black Mamba

2.King Cobra

3.Inland Taipan

4.Viper

5.Tiger Snake

6.Australian Brown Snake

7.Anaconda

8.Spitting Cobra

9.Puff Adder

10.Death Adder

World Dangerous Roads - Part 3

2011-10-09T11:19:00.000-07:00

1. Road from Tibet to Nepal: sheer drops

We finally have some photos documenting hair-raising twists and drops of the road from Tibet, China (Lhasa) to Nepal (Kathmandu) - courtesy of Tatiana, whose father took these pictures in October 2006 (He was also a witness to the crash right in front of him) - The 1000 km long Friendship Highway includes seven 3500 meters passes, with one pass as high as 5000 meters. Most of the road is pretty manageable driving, although is has some rather fascinating parts:

(images via)
See more pictures of the road from Lhasa here (thanks, Cee!)

"There are some crazy "roads" in Nepal as well. The road to Besisahar is a
road in name only, and it's the only route to the most popular trekking path (the Annapurna Loop) in Nepal".

2."The Halsema Highway" in the Philippines.
Greg Brennan sent us some interesting pictures of this route, and it seems to fit the bill as one of the most precarious and shudder-inducing roads out there.

Greg writes: "The Halsema Highway, also known as the Baguio-Bontoc Road, runs through the Central Cordillera Valley on the island of Luzon in The Philippines. The beginning of the highway starts off slightly paved and quickly turns to dirt. It is approximately 150 miles long and takes about 10 hours to get from Baguio city to Sagada on a nice day. It is known for rock slides, mud slides and buses driving dangerously fast on its narrow passage. It also goes through some of the more remote provinces in The Philippines. There are many accidents and overturned buses on a yearly basis. Often there are sheer drop offs of over 1000 feet without a guard rail. During the rainy season it is nearly impassable."

(images credit: Greg Brennan)

UPDATE for the Bolivian Road of Death:

Bolivian Buses

These buses travel the Road of Death, and in themselves evoke solemn speculations about reasonable risks, life/death and possible breakdowns in impossible locations:

They are definitely not an air-conditioned coaches, and their technical condition often is a matter of prayer, not engineering.

Here is a rare look inside such bus...

...as it negotiates a road ahead:

Rob has a wonderful account of traveling on buses in Bolivia, and helping to clear a few rock slides along the way...

(images credit Rob)

Send us more pictures of buses in Bolivia;
their drivers especially deserve utmost respect.

Until next installment in a series, I leave you with this mystery photo: is it Photoshoped? If not, this Jeep is certainly not going anywhere...

Butterfly Wings Alphabet

2011-10-08T11:14:00.000-07:00

Nature Speaks in English Sometimes...
Today I stumbled upon a really fascinating little site: Butterfly Alphabet. Meticulously sought-out and collected there by scientists and amateurs alike are the LETTERS, NUMBERS and SYMBOLS found in everyday nature patterns and particularly in butterfly wings.
Here is the Butterfly Alphabet:

What's more, on this site, you can write your name, or any text in the butterfly (or other nature pattern) letters and send the card to your romantic interest for a good "wow, how cute!" effect. For example, this is "Dark Roasted Blend" written in butterfly letters:

and "Mazel Tov!" written in Nature's Alphabet:

Nature's Smiley Faces!
Some of the endearing faces found on that site. They have heart pictures, too!

Panda Party Animals

2011-10-07T11:20:00.000-07:00

Panda bears love to hang out:

(images via 1, 2)

A panda missing its tree? Or, do pandas simply always look a little sad? -

Giant Panda hanging from structure at the Wolong Nature Reserve, China (left):

(images credit: Katherine Feng, National Geographic, Alamy)

Pandas can turn into the cutest furballs:

(images via)

Is there a dessert? Yes! (also check the different ways how pandas Love to Party!)

(image via)

We wrote about the cutest panda bears - The Newborn Pandas- before (we also have an article about the Red Panda, or Firefox - here).

(image via)

It's coming to get you! -

Animal Acrobatics

2011-10-06T11:02:00.000-07:00

Climbing: involuntary
New definition of "lost":

This moose is not just "hanging around". It's actually quite a sad story

"This moose got his antlers stuck in a newly-laid power cable, strung on the ground for miles. When the men (from a big distance) pulled the lines with their heavy equipment, he went too. They could not get the line straight and went searching for the problem. The moose was still alive when they lowered him..."

Make sure you read the similar stories here and here. All are very odd...

Voluntary climbing

These Moroccan goats love to climb trees, attracted by the "argo" nuts.
Locals use these nuts to make oil. Goats seem to get a kick from both nuts AND climbing. More on that here

(image credit: Remo Savisaar)

(image credit: Remo Savisaar)

Deer running "on" water:

The only thing cows can do, though - is to get totally STUCK:

More animal acrobatics tricks:
- some real...

(originals unknown)
...and some photoshopped:

Sources: Karaul, Exler, Funlog

Polar Bears (outside of Coca-Cola commercials)

2011-10-05T11:18:00.000-07:00

Showing the cutest behinds:

Motherly love:

(image via)

Polar bears don't have it easy nowadays: this one is stranded on a piece of ice off an island near Svalbard in the Arctic circle:

(left image credit: Arne Naevra)

Exercise is everything:

Staring contest - and other arguments:

(left image credit: Tristan Bayer)

"Wildlife filmmaker Tristan Bayer is ready for his closeup while making the wildlife adventure documentary Earthling. Luckily they say that white bears can't jump! The bear huffed and puffed and finally won the staring contest by defeating Tristan with his foul bear breath." See the bigger version here.

(image credit: Paul Nicklen / National Geographic)

The image above is part of Paul Nicklen's "Polar Obsession" series - make sure to check it out:

(image credit: Paul Nicklen / National Geographic)

One very FEROSHUS polar bear, thanks to Cute Overload:

(image via)

The Result: Out of This World

2011-10-04T11:31:00.000-07:00

A glorious, almost Mandelbrot-like complexity is simply striking in this "Glitter" photograph (our favorite):

Unusual, over-saturated colors show up inside crystal clear waves, reflecting kaleidoscopic world around them:

There is also a place for pure abstraction, even psychedelic touches:

This image is titled "The Twelve Disciples" - see if you can spot some faces inside that wave, too:

Here is perhaps his most famous image: the wave's "mohawk", an amazingly colorful splash, featured recently inside National Geographic magazine:

Another singular splash:

Inside the belly of the beast: "The Twister" photograph shows what a violent wave is made of -

Even in the absence of killer monster waves, the shorebreak art can look slightly alien... Here is the little "Frosty" guy:

(all images copyright Clark Little)

Inside a Wave: Epic Photography by Clark Little

2011-10-03T23:26:00.000-07:00

Monster Waves... Tricky Lighting... Astounding risk... Timeless Photographs.

"The Shorebreak Art of Clark Little" is nothing short of epic. Getting inside, over and under 30-40 foot waves is no small feat, especially with bulky camera equipment, and a goal of finding that perfect angle and lighting condition that makes a perfect shot.

(all images copyright Clark Little, used with permission)

Clark Little is pretty well known today as the foremost shorebreak art photographer (his art has been seen on "Good Morning America", and featured in a number of glossy magazines all over the world). But as much as we like the fantastic shots of various wave' innards, we are even more impressed to see him pitched against dangerous, massive amounts of water - violent waves, where you only have a moment to make that shot and to get out of the harm's way.

With exclusive permission of Clark Little Photography we publish today the rarely-seen photographs of Clark Little heading with his camera into...

Into the Vortex!

(Clark with his camera "inside" and "under" the waves)

Encounter with a Wave (almost alien-like in intensity, if you ask me):

Bears! What Are They Up To?

2011-10-02T23:14:00.000-07:00

If you happen to be near this animal, you should definitely be aware of what's it doing (and maybe join the fun?)

Bears being bears... they don't need an excuse to do what they do. But today we are going to discover what they do best.

Bears love to chill out:

Well, Hello there, dear! -

Happy Climbing:

Bears are no strangers to Zen, when it comes to inner contentment:

Teddy Bearz:

(image via)

Getting in trouble:

Chasing the bear: this image quickly became an internet classic -

(image via)

You know to be careful, of course: bears know martial arts (below left), and can chase you in deep snow:

This bear has judged you, and found you wanting:

(original unknown)

Bears doing yoga stretching exercises:

(image via)

There is a cookie down there! I can reeeeeach it -

(image via)

"Here is one tired bear", seems to be a perfect caption for it:

(image via)

This bear is tired too... having a quick nap after some fishing:

(image credit: Rick Sheremeta, National Geographic)

This is how a bear can sleep... if he wants to:

(original unknown)

Lords of the Logistics Part - 2

2011-10-01T23:01:00.000-07:00

Neccessity is the Mother of Invention

Carrying Things!

Safety First!

I guess monitor did not survive "the delivery":

Washing the windows:

Street cleaning:

Ideas for builders:

CROWDED!

Proof that a man needs a wife?!

Good use of time and space:

Cool parking jobs:

New ways to surf:

Image sources: email contributions, 1, 2, 3

A truly ingenious way to fish out a Ford car out of the river

2011-09-30T22:59:00.000-07:00

The last image is known to be a Photoshop job.

Lords of the Logistics Part - 1

2011-09-29T22:57:00.000-07:00

Chinese Street Cleaning:

Traveling in comfort:

New ideas for the logging industry:

...for the hotel industry:

New approach to BBQ:

...and a Private Urban Lawn device:

Sources: Exler, Karaul

New (fun) way to install an air conditioner

2011-09-28T22:50:00.000-07:00

(Source: Echo)

The Ghastly Vehicles

2011-09-27T22:43:00.000-07:00

Most are from the former Communist Block countries (so called "Borat-mobiles")

(originals unknown)

The last image seems to be common practice in India: this is how the vehicles are driven from one factory to the other, while being only half-built.

Aggressive ghosts:

Still working Russian truck, lovingly propped up by wood:

(image via)

Some cars get a new life as graffiti displays:

(image via)

...or as a rebel force headquarters (here is a Serbian partisan's van):

(image via)

Still hauling containers!... plus enjoying a nice cooling system:

(image via)

This car advertisers repairs of all sorts... except car repairs, I guess:

(image via)

Volga car lives again:

(image via)

Convertible "wishful thinking":

(bottom image via)

Probably the utmost in "wishful thinking" (this vehicles also has frightening stickers: "Belongs to Mafia" and "Elected Governor of the Road") -

But there is something scarier than old cars road hazard:

Vehicles in Iraq:

...deserve their own category. Some of them refuse to die even after being "freshly squeezed" by your friendly neighborhood tank:

No way this thing still moves! -

(original unknown)

The Buses Of Cuban

2011-09-27T22:41:00.000-07:00

Not even mentioning the condition of other cars in Cuba (almost all of them would throw US safety expert in for a loop)... There are cars that never cease to amaze US vintage car collectors, how such ancient models can still drive around. But even disregarding cars, take a look now at the public transit buses in Havana:

Very strange:

(image credit: Simon Ward)

Mystery Devices - 2

2011-09-26T22:35:00.000-07:00

Can you tell what they are for?

See the answers at the bottom of the page...

1. This is not a telephone. What is it?

2. Not a mouse, not even an USB device:

3. I can only say that it sells well in Japan:

Intermission:

This is not a mystery; I just loved this...

Chainsaw Gun, oh my.

-------
In our previous "Mystery Device" issue we featured some hamster-powered devices; here is more:

Hamster-Powered MIDI Sequencer:

Read more about it here
"Enslave lower mammals to produce power for a night light.":
Seen here

The whole Power Station moved by these enthusiastic critters is described here:

Toy robots are an obvious choice:

Kid choppers...

(photo by: Jodi Kurland)

The utmost in exploitation? The whole car powered by hamsters.
(yes, shown at Toyota competition, powered by the amplified electric power generated by hamsters running)

-------
But let's get back to enigmatic gadgets:

4. Training for the Space Program?

5."The Vintage Matrix" outtake?
Wunderkind's educational device?

6. Wow, TV and turntable in one? Really high-tech for the 60s:

7. This one is truly a mystery, I honestly have no clue:

-----------------------------------------
ANSWERS:

1. It's a Dictating Machine!
The wax cylinder recorder, made by "Chicago Dictating Machine Co". See color original here, thanks to Quadrofonic Wingnut

2. Unusually styled radio with the car shift stick selector
(found on this page via Cooler)

3. It's Japanese take on a sexy bedroom lamp; apparently you can outfit it in a lingerie of your favorite style, like this for example:

See more here

4. Futuristic-styled doghouse. Dogs also had a groovy time in the 60s.

5. Just a humble hair-dryer from the 30s.
"One of the first machines used for permanent wave hairstyling back in the 1920's and 1930's." (thanks mamafrog)

6. This Mystery Device is "Picturesound!"
Sounds great, but alas, it was only slide projection unit, not a TV.
Built as an educational toy for kids, it's described in detail on this wonderful site (make sure you click the "next" button there)

7. UPDATE This is a pre-radar aircraft detection and acoustic location device, best seen in this link and this article. Depicted in the photograph is half of the equipment by Goerz, Czechoslovakia, 1920s; I wonder what the other half looks like. They were truly otherworldly looking and possibly very unwieldy to handle, but apparently quite precise: the best listener could achieve an accuracy of less than one degree in locating the intruding airplanes.

More of this weird bunch can be seen in this great article:
"Acoustic Location & Sound Mirrors"

Here is rather more portable listening equipment "Waalsdorf":

and even smaller "Paraboloids" listening equipment, meant to be worn around the head: (its operator does not seem to be very happy wearing it)

Ghost Cars of the World

2011-09-25T22:22:00.000-07:00

Blues Brothers, take note: these cars are truly un-killable

The sheer logistics required to make these cars marginally road-worthy boggle the mind. Driving them is similar to boarding abandoned roller-coaster, as you never know if there is a terrible crash just waiting to happen at the next turn.

Ghost Cars of Venezuela

Seeing these ghostly apparitions still plying the highways and country roads of the (mostly) developing countries, makes us better appreciate what we have (even though we complain about high maintenance, repair and gas bills).

Thanks to Tony Pearson, who sent in these photos, we now have a better idea of what driving in Venezuela looks like:

All-wheel steering? -

Not. Safe. -

More un-killable vehicles: this one is from the "Barn" -

Mystery Devices

2011-09-24T22:22:00.000-07:00

Can you tell what is it for?

No, it's not the Doomsday Device launch key
from the "Dr. Strangelove" movie :)

SOLUTION:

This is a USB self-destruct switch, also known as the "USB Data Shredder".
Thanks to T, here is a link,
and I found another page with a few more pics:

"Despite the skull and crossbones that cover the bright red button at the center of this Self Destruction USB Hub and give it the aura of impending doom if you get anywhere near that button, the device is actually just a four-port USB hub. But in those moments in front of your computer when you lose a ton of work, get fired via email, or slow processing simply breaks the camel's back, sometimes a resource for even merely mimicking your own self-destruction can provide relief. You'll be happy when you wake up the next morning that it wasn't real."

More wacky USB devices: Link 1, Link 2

Happy Independence Day-2011

2011-08-12T20:31:00.000-07:00

Flying Colors! Creative Paint on Airliners Part - 2

2011-08-10T10:02:00.000-07:00

The sky is blue, so why your plane should be simply white? Paint it in all the colors of a sunset... and pretty up the skies! Part-2

Commercial Branding and Advertising on Planes
Did you know there was a "Pepsi" Concorde? - more info here -

Virgin Blue (from Australia) advertising Gillette - more info:

Even NATO joined in with their own creative military plane livery:

... Incredible painted German "Tornado" jets formation! -

Apparently you have to be very careful where you place your artwork - mind these window openings! In some cases they appear to be placed strategically, covering this girl areas? -

... and in others, it's clearly a "fail" situation - see the ugly window openings instead of nice eyes of girl on the right:

And finally, in terms of luring passengers into the planes... Western Pacific marketers seem to get it right:

(image credit: Pima Air & Space Museum, Tucson, AZ, via Airliners.net)

Flying Colors! Creative Paint on Airliners Part-1

2011-08-10T09:49:00.000-07:00

The sky is blue, so why your plane should be simply white? Paint it in all the colors of a sunset... and pretty up the skies!

Some airline companies are clearly out-painting competition with their groovy air fleet. Often called "aircraft livery", such special paint schemes can be exciting and even inspirational. Japan Airlines with their Disney jumbo jets comes to mind, in particular, plus Australian Qantas Airways has been commissioning famous artists to come up with exotic art for their "birds".

On this page we feature some particularly wild and even outrageous airliner paint schemes, from all over the world - send us more examples you spot in the airports or even if you had opportunity to fly inside one of these yourself...

Or a wicked mummy image (Astraeus - Iron Maiden plane)? Why not! -

Art Planes and Special Event Promotions

First off, Qantas unveiled truly mind-boggling painting scheme for its jumbo jets in "Flying Art" series... (more info) -

Qantas even used some groovy lighting to make a memorable presentation for the delivery of its first A380 -

Lufthansa's soccer nose - more info, and the whole 2006 FIFA World Championship team painted on TunisAir Airbus A320:

Aeroflot's Boeing 767-300 "Russian Olympic Team" -

From abstract art to portraits of famous people -

Smiling faces, and overall cute demeanor -

Animated characters! -

Most colorful Dream Express, in two different flavours! -

"Tsunami in the Sky" Storm Cloud

2011-08-10T09:35:00.000-07:00

The "Giant Wave" Supercell Pictures That Will Blow You Away

The collision of two supercells, resulting in the enormous "tsunami in the sky" storm front

With Mike Hollingstead's exclusive permission, we present to you June 19, 2011 McCook Nebraska Supercell:

Mike suggests playing "Exogenesis Symphony Pt 1: Overture" by Muse, while looking at these pictures... "If the storm could pick a song to have playing for it, it would pick that song.":

"I sat here just east of Alma NE and had my mind blown for 40 straight minutes, 10:35 to 11:15 before I had to even move again. It was still mind blowing through midnight." Then some soft clouds rolled in - "sorta like mother nature's blinds, partially open. See me, she says.":

Even if this thing did not produce tornadoes, it put itself right into the "Hall of Fame" of weirdest sights on Earth - read the whole story of storm chasing here

Here is how this supercell (or rather two separate storms) evolved:

One supercell (with beautiful tiered structure) being chased by the other... when two supercells collide, "they could be heading into crazy realms":

Once these two collided (partly merged, partly towered one over another), it produced a complex structure that "established its own vortex that didn't want to stop sucking up the stable layer below." -

During the next hour the otherwordly structure was still there, but it looked different - more like a stacked dessert cake, or some sort of a skirted mushroom:

"Still being an other-worldly sight. You really half felt, this thing is on the wrong planet right now."

What's perhaps the strangest if that smaller funnel clouds formed way up there, between the layers of the structure, some reaching almost horizontally into the "belly of the beast".

Other sightings of "giant wave-like supercell clouds"

Similar to the storm formation seen in Nebraska, this storm in Oklahoma has lightnings shooting from its "mouth". Photo by Mark Humpage:

Some of these storm fronts will be classified as shelf clouds, but they still look like weird upside-down ocean waves. Here is the incredible supercell, which occurred in eastern Colorado on June 10th, 2006 (top image):

Giant wave-like shelf cloud, seen near Sydney, Australia, during the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht race:

Some of these supercell monsters have tentacles (or arms, called "inflow clouds") that reach out for you... This is Nebraska Sand Hills storm south of Valentine, July 13, 2009:

And finally, a powerful supercell as it towers up, resembles nothing less than a thermonuclear explosion (if mirrored vertically in Photoshop):