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7 Tax Breaks You Might Be Missing
April will be here before you know it: Take advantage of these seven tax breaks you might be missing (and start saving those receipts).
Ever since word began circulating that Netflix had a “secret” laundry list of content categories that allows the service to sort their films to target specific demographics, users have wondered if narrowing their selections might make for a speedier selection on movie night.
The answer is: Maybe, if you’re a huge fan of Casper Van Dien and dogs with magic powers. Check out 14 of Netflix’s most oddly specific labels. (To browse on your own, just type www.netflix.com/browse/genre/####, with #### being the accompanying four-digit code.)
Nothing evokes a good cry like a political convention. Unfortunately, Netflix is woefully under-stocked on the genre, offering only Braveheart and Lee Daniels’ The Butler as options.
Are you 10 and a half? Forget it. A day over 12? There’s nothing to see here. But if you are just the right amount of prepubescent, you might enjoy The Corpse Bride or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
There used to be entire video store racks devoted to low-budget, scantily-clad barbarian movies. Sadly, those days are long gone. Netflix’s only current option for viewers eyeing sexy sorcery is Hell and Back, an R-rated CGI film from 2015 about two brothers who wind up in hell.
This category seems redundant if one assumes Belgian thespian Jean-Claude Van Damme is incapable of making an unexciting film. The selection, however, offers evidence to the contrary: It consists mainly of his latter-day filmography. Welcome to the Jungle is no Kickboxer, although Pound of Flesh—in which Van Damme hunts down thieves who stole his kidney—is deserving of a category all its own.
The Scary Movie franchise probably belongs here, but Netflix doesn’t currently own the rights to stream them. Instead, you’re stuck with Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, a modest comedy about two affable rural types mistaken for spree killers.
We’d file Brian’s Song here, but Netflix is more responsible: The library mainly consists of the Air Bud franchise, a direct-to-video staple about a Golden Retriever smart enough to master a variety of sports but not quite sharp enough to get better acting gigs.
Be confident all of your Scandinavian entertainment via Netflix will be grim, dire, and full of hopelessness: Director Lars von Trier makes up most of the entries, although you can lighten things up a bit with a documentary about cultural genocide.
If you’re going to watch a disemboweling, it had better come with a good Rotten Tomatoes score. Saving Private Ryan, Braveheart (again), and Gladiator are among the entries.
Children without any hope in their eyes might benefit from a rousing inspirational film like Hey, Arnold: The Movie or The Land Before Time.
When you’ve exhausted your Erik Estrada (1231) or Michael Dudikoff (487) options, it might be time to graduate to Casper Van Dien, the hunky star of 1997’s Starship Troopers. Easily his best film, you won’t find it here. Instead, you can check out Van Dien in a haunted house (The Pact) or in a very low-budget Avengers rip-off (Avengers Grimm) featuring fairy tale characters.
Booze connoisseurs will enjoy this corner of Netflix devoted to documentaries and series about people drinking, talking about drinking, or wishing they were drinking. A Year in Champagne takes a look at how sparkling wine is made; Crafting a Nation examines the trials of small-time brewers.
Growing up is always better with a pet. (Unless you were the kid in Old Yeller.) Check out this category for stories of taming horses (Flicka 2, Rodeo Girl) and an immortal dog with magic powers (The Amazing Wizard of Paws).
Your standard slope movies—Ski School, Ski School 2—can take significant creative license with the ski world. For the facts, check out the documentary McConkey about the legacy of skier and base jumper Shane McConkey.
As any Three Stooges fan knows, no comedy has ever “starred” Larry Fine. He’s always been a supporting masochist, taking thousands of double eye-pokes as a team player. That’s probably why there are no titles listed.
All images courtesy of Netflix.
September 19, 2016 – 10:00am
Why Is the Music in Marvel Movies So Forgettable?
This is the scientific reason why the music in Marvel movies is so forgettable.
What Your Car’s Low Gas Light Really Means
Drivers will know that a low gas light doesn’t always signify a bone-dry tank. This handy chart lets you know what it really means for your specific car.
A recent report from USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) projects that grocery prices will see an increase in the coming year. These six grocery staples will likely be affected.
The most popular potato chips you’ve never heard of are called The Whole Shabangs—and they’re exclusively sold in prison commissaries.
Eddie Braun via Facebook
When Eddie Braun was a little boy, he got a chance to meet his idol, Evel Knievel. The famed daredevil took the young man aside and gave him some encouragement. A short time later, Braun hopped on his Schwinn bike and broke his arm trying to jump over some garbage cans.
His latest attempt to honor Knievel went a lot better. On Saturday, Braun, 54, climbed into the cockpit of a rocket-powered shuttle and made the jump Knievel himself couldn’t: over the 1600-foot expanse of Snake River Canyon in Twin Falls, Idaho.
Knievel had attempted to clear the terrain back in September 1974, but his parachute deployed while still over the canyon, causing him to fall 500 feet to the rocks below. Numerous people have come forward with plans to replicate the stunt, but the red tape involved—FAA clearance, liability issues, and city ordinances—kept everyone on the ground. A determined Braun spent three years and nearly $1.5 million of his own money to see the project through.
Calling the workmanship involved a “bunch of technical crap,” Braun boiled it down for GQ.com. “At the end of the day, my right hand will be on a switch,” he said. “I hit that switch, and if everything goes right, I’m going to go 0 to 430 mph in less than 3.9 seconds. And as I’m praying inwardly, I will hit a series of other levers and such, which will deploy the parachutes at the right time, which will slow me down, and bring me to a controlled crash.”
With no precedent to observe, Braun told his documentary filmmaking partners to finish production on a forthcoming feature even if he didn’t make it, so long as they would “cover my puddle with something dignified.”
In front of family and a few actual rocket scientists, Braun loaded himself into the rocket and took off, steam pressure from superheated water blasting him 2000 feet into the sky like something out of a Warner Bros. cartoon. After clearing the Canyon, his craft deployed two parachutes and came to a gentle landing 4729 feet away.
Braun, who now plans to retire from stunt work, was unharmed. That keeps his current worst-injury statistic at a broken back and collapsed pelvis from a car jump for an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger.
September 19, 2016 – 9:30am
The First Aid Blanket – designed by the team of Prof. Chai Chunlei has bagged the Red Dot Awards #BMRTG #onlineinfo pic.twitter.com/JGtuCZuNNC
— marion mertins (@MarionMertins) November 28, 2014
The ability to think fast in an emergency situation is crucial. It’s also easier said than done, which is why designers at Zhejiang University in China came up with the idea for a First Aid Blanket with easy-to-read instructions printed right onto the fabric.
The emergency blanket is intended to be kept in areas where drowning is a risk. According to My Modern Met, it includes a spot to place the victim as well as guidelines for administering CPR and checking for a pulse.
The tool is just a concept for now, but it’s already received recognition for its potentially lifesaving applications. In 2014, the Zhejiang University team received a Red Dot Award for their design. The description from the contest page reads: “…First Aid Blanket is a feasible and efficient way to make every rescuer ‘skilled.’ In addition, it can provide confidence to the inexperienced rescuer, which also plays an important role in a successful rescue.”
This First Aid Blanket Will Help You To Save Lives – Design You Trust https://t.co/jQGZ75lPsl pic.twitter.com/sEAK0huGju
— beep_roadrunner_A.K. (@beep_roadrunner) September 11, 2016
Meet The First Aid Blanket! http://t.co/By0JllIl5p pic.twitter.com/P3Y30PTVpY
— Yanko Design (@yankodesign) February 11, 2015
[h/t My Modern Met]
All images: Zhejiang University/Red Dot Awards
Know of something you think we should cover? Email us at tips@mentalfloss.com.
September 19, 2016 – 9:00am
A lot of things can affect how well your phone is working, but it might be news to you that one of those things is your own body. A recent report (PDF) commissioned by the Nordic Council of Ministers examined the antenna performance of different smartphone models and found that both the hand you hold your phone in and the ear you hold it up to can dramatically change how well it’s picking up radio signals.
In the chart below—created by Quartz and shared by Digg—you can see some of the specifics (dBm stands for decibel-milliwatt). In brief: iPhones do not fare well. The iPhone SE, 6S, and 6S Plus all rank pretty poorly overall, and those models operate particularly poorly if you hold them in your left hand and to your left ear.
While this might seem like some 21st century subtle discrimination against southpaws, it’s actually just a failure of tech when it comes to antenna placement, which varies from phone to phone. It’s not all bad news, though. The Microsoft Lumia 640 has the best call transmission strength overall, regardless of which hand you hold it in, and some phones—like the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge—do actually work better in your left hand. In general, though, the right hand and right ear combination is your best bet for a clear call.
So next time you’re in the middle of a conversation and switch hands, only to find that the call has suddenly become a little fuzzy, it’s not just in your head. We might not be able to manually futz with the antenna like we used to, but it’s still a fickle piece of hardware.
[h/t Digg]
Know of something you think we should cover? Email us at tips@mentalfloss.com.
September 19, 2016 – 8:30am
Joseph Herscher // YouTube
A straight line may be the fastest route from point A to point B, but a 300-step contraption is considerably more entertaining. Rube Goldberg popularized the idea of completing simple tasks in the most elaborate ways possible with his beloved cartoons in the early 20th century. Since then, new generations of tinkerers have been constructing impressively absurd Rube Goldberg machines of their own. Here are 13 apparatuses that prioritize fun over efficiency.
Every year, inventive minds gather to compete in the Rube Goldberg Machine Contest. A different challenge is presented with each competition—in 2012, participants were given the task of inflating a balloon and popping it. The winning team that year, from the Purdue Society of Professional Engineers, went above and beyond with their design. In addition to completing the charge at hand, the machine executed every challenge from the contest’s 25-year history, including juicing an orange, changing a light bulb, crushing a can, and sharpening a pencil. Their 300-step Rube Goldberg machine nabbed the Guinness World Record that year for the largest one ever constructed. In 2015, that record was crushed by a Hungarian team and their 382-step behemoth.
It’s easy to see where Canadian photography studio 2D House found the inspiration for this epic machine. The photography-themed project, planned over the course of three months in 2011, took two months to build—and the video went viral. Since then, 2D House has built several Rube Goldberg machines, including ones made for Target and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
OK Go is known for their insanely creative music videos, and in 2010 the band took a page out of Rube Goldberg’s book with their video for This Too Shall Pass. Engineers at the Los Angeles-based arts and technology collective Syyn Labs were commissioned to construct the set-up, which was filmed in a single shot after more than 60 failed takes.
The Dutch design studio HEYHEYHEY described their contraption as a “Rube Goldberg machine with a twist.” During each performance, “Melvin the Magical Mixed Media Machine” would take pictures and video of its audience and upload them to its blog. According to the team’s website, Melvin has been out of commission for the last few years. But even without the interactive component, watching video of the machine’s umbrellas, pinwheels, and parachuting toy army men is entertaining nonetheless.
Constructing Rube Goldberg machines isn’t considered a typical Passover tradition, but this project from students at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology makes a good case for it. The chain reaction is set into motion when wine is poured into a kiddush cup. From there, a toy Moses in a basket, a burning tin foil bush, and matzo cracker dominoes illustrate the story behind the holiday. The journey ends when a lid is lifted to reveal a traditional Seder plate.
A Rube Goldberg machine doesn’t have to be imposing to be impressive. The Japanese watch company Seiko fabricated their miniature apparatus from 1200 tiny mechanical watch parts. The end goal? Delivering the final component to a delicately assembled watch.
Thankfully, most vending machines don’t take 175 steps to deliver a can of Coke. But if you have the patience, YouTube user berlagawesome’s Rube Goldberg soda machine is well worth the four quarters to set it in motion. He spent 140 hours in total putting the above video together. After all that effort, the soda must have tasted extra refreshing.
Inventor Bob Partington pulled out all the stops when developing what he claims to be the world’s slowest Rube Goldberg machine. Growing grass, melting popsicles, a stream of molasses, and a tortoise are a few of the methods used to deliver a golf ball from one end of the structure to the other. The whole process took six weeks, three days, seven hours, and two minutes to complete. Fortunately for the viewer, the video has been sped up quite a bit.
As far as Rube Goldberg machines go, kinetic artist Joseph Herscher’s are surprisingly useful. The Page Turner does exactly what’s promised—Herscher triggers it by taking a sip from his coffee mug, and by the time he’s done reading the front of the newspaper the next page is turned for him. This further proves that Rube Goldberg machines and lazy mornings go hand-in-hand.
This fortune telling machine doesn’t feature an animatronic psychic or require a quarter to operate it. Instead, YouTuber Hevesh5’s creation uses balls, beads, and dominos to achieve its ultimate goal. It ends when a dumbbell rolls over a fortune cookie, releasing the fortune inside.
Dogs can be trained to do many things, including act as the components of a living Rube Goldberg machine. Purina turned to the creative agency Deep Focus to make this machine happen. The agency planned out the video with numerous sketches and tests to ensure every piece of the puzzle came together, and even created a miniature 3D model of the machine to help them catch any snags before filming. When it finally came time to shoot, tennis balls, kibble, and frisbees were used to motivate the canine stars to do their part.
LEGO blocks can be used to recreate scenes from literature, construct a fully functional caravan, and, as Christian Bechinie demonstrates, build dynamic machines. The LEGO constructor’s Rube Goldberg machine topples 200 domino pieces throughout its minute-long run. If you’re looking for something to do with your childhood LEGO collection at home, this video should provide some inspiration.
There are some insanely complicated Rube Goldberg machines on this list, but comparatively simple structures can be equally mesmerizing. Marbles and magnets are the primary components featured in this Rube Goldberg machine, from domino artist Kaplamino. After the frustrating process of perfecting each step, we’re left to enjoy the immensely satisfying results.
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September 19, 2016 – 8:00am