#cool-stuff — Public Fediverse posts

Thomas Edison National Historical Park

A handsome young man, Bryan Ferry vibes!

Orpheus, a poet and musician in mythology (makes me think of the song “Orpheus” by David Sylvian)

Spending part of gorgeous yesterday at Thomas Edison National Historical Park was magical. We’ve been there many times, but you can’t get enough of Thomas Edison. I love the statue of Orpheus holding a record. And the bed Thomas Edison slept in because he spent so many hours at work in his lab. Deaf and self-taught through books and tinkering he had over 1000 patents!

A New Jersey legend of sound and vision.

And I must say, he was handsome as a younger man too — Bryan Ferry vibes! I asked one of the tour guides if Edison still had family that is alive. He does, but they are very low-key about who they are. They did visit the park and one of the kids shouted out, “Tell them who we are!” So cute that they were proud!

I have other cool stories about happenings at the park throughout the years. It’s a very special place in my heart.

I was honored to report on the soft opening of the Black Maria replica back in the summer of 2024.

My husband is a lifetime member of the historical park, so we can go free whenever we want. But they do have times when the park is free to visit. It’s definitely worth it. Everyone who works there is kind and helpful to answer all your questions. There’s plenty of fascinating movie footage about Edison you can view at a theater inside (which is well air conditioned!), clean restrooms, and three floors filled with items to explore. Of course I favor the music room.

The actual bed (not a replica) Thomas Edison slept on in his lab, after working 70 hours or so.

The historical figure I’d love to have dinner with!

To see more photographs, check out my blog from 2014: https://maryannemistretta.wordpress.com/2014/01/25/thomas-edison-a-man-with-bright-ideas/

Thomas Edison National Historical Park

A handsome young man, Bryan Ferry vibes!

Orpheus, a poet and musician in mythology (makes me think of the song “Orpheus” by David Sylvian)

Spending part of gorgeous yesterday at Thomas Edison National Historical Park was magical. We’ve been there many times, but you can’t get enough of Thomas Edison. I love the statue of Orpheus holding a record. And the bed Thomas Edison slept in because he spent so many hours at work in his lab. Deaf and self-taught through books and tinkering he had over 1000 patents!

A New Jersey legend of sound and vision.

And I must say, he was handsome as a younger man too — Bryan Ferry vibes! I asked one of the tour guides if Edison still had family that is alive. He does, but they are very low-key about who they are. They did visit the park and one of the kids shouted out, “Tell them who we are!” So cute that they were proud!

I have other cool stories about happenings at the park throughout the years. It’s a very special place in my heart.

I was honored to report on the soft opening of the Black Maria replica back in the summer of 2024.

My husband is a lifetime member of the historical park, so we can go free whenever we want. But they do have times when the park is free to visit. It’s definitely worth it. Everyone who works there is kind and helpful to answer all your questions. There’s plenty of fascinating movie footage about Edison you can view at a theater inside (which is well air conditioned!), clean restrooms, and three floors filled with items to explore. Of course I favor the music room.

The actual bed (not a replica) Thomas Edison slept on in his lab, after working 70 hours or so.

The historical figure I’d love to have dinner with!

To see more photographs, check out my blog from 2014: https://maryannemistretta.wordpress.com/2014/01/25/thomas-edison-a-man-with-bright-ideas/

Every week, Dean Wesley Smith points out Kickstarters he thinks #writers and #readers should look at/back. This week? Cozy fantasy, cozy mystery, romance, and baseball! Take a look. #booksky #books #coolstuff deanwesleysmith.com/kickstarter-...

KICKSTARTER FRIDAY

Every week, Dean Wesley Smith points out Kickstarters he thinks #writers and #readers should look at/back. This week? Cozy fantasy, cozy mystery, romance, and baseball! Take a look. #booksky #books #coolstuff deanwesleysmith.com/kickstarter-...

KICKSTARTER FRIDAY

Found this new really cool app. Looking forward on how this will continue...

CountryCount
https://f-droid.org/packages/de.sipa.countrycount

#fdroid #app #travel #coolstuff #newapp #world #countries #opensource

Found this new really cool app. Looking forward on how this will continue...

CountryCount
https://f-droid.org/packages/de.sipa.countrycount

#fdroid #app #travel #coolstuff #newapp #world #countries #opensource

This is neat. A site dedicated to classic short stories. Formats them for easy reading on many devices.

https://www.libraryofshortstories.com/

#amreading #shortstories #coolstuff

This is neat. A site dedicated to classic short stories. Formats them for easy reading on many devices.

https://www.libraryofshortstories.com/

#amreading #shortstories #coolstuff

NWA father and son raising money for the Gravette baseball team https://www.rawchili.com/mlb/504885/ #Baseball #ChrisMurphy #ChristmasTree #CoffeyvilleCommunityCollege #CoolStuff #FishHabitat #fisherman #GravetteBaseballTeam #HighSchool #Kansas #Kyle #LocalLake #lot #money #NwaFather #son

https://orllewin.uk/pcr/

A really cool little personal hyperlocal radio stream.

https://orllewin.uk/pcr/

A really cool little personal hyperlocal radio stream.

That Is Beautiful...But...Um...No Thanks.

https://www.freenovelsonline.top/2025/07/picture-pot-38-pic-dump.html

#freenovelsonline #art #photography #pictures #coolstuff

If We Sit Still, Maybe It Won't Notice Us

https://www.thirstyspittoon.top/2025/06/picture-box-25-pic-dump.html

#thethirstyspittoon #art #photography #pictures #coolstuff

I follow this rad #engineering dude on YouTube because he shares really cool & interesting content. I love this recent video where he bought an #octopus from a seafood market, brought it home & taught it how to play an underwater #piano that he invented.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PcWnQ7fYzwI

#AnimalIntelligence #cephalopod #mollusc #octopoda #MarineBiology #SeaCreatures #CoolStuff #nature #wildlife #intelligence #OceanAnimals

I follow this rad #engineering dude on YouTube because he shares really cool & interesting content. I love this recent video where he bought an #octopus from a seafood market, brought it home & taught it how to play an underwater #piano that he invented.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PcWnQ7fYzwI

#AnimalIntelligence #cephalopod #mollusc #octopoda #MarineBiology #SeaCreatures #CoolStuff #nature #wildlife #intelligence #OceanAnimals

I like the page. Good clean layout. Was able to navigate and read everything easily… I like the music player… Can't wait to see what the project pages have to say…

A quotation from Steven Brust

The Cool Stuff Theory of Literature states that all literature consists of whatever the writer thinks is cool, and the reader will enjoy the work to the degree that the reader and writer agree about what’s cool — and this functions all the way from the external trappings to deepest level of theme and to the way the writer uses words.

Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
Interview (2003-02-03) by Chris Olson, Strange Horizons

More info about this quote: wist.info/brust-steven/79636/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #stevenbrust #author #coolstuff #literature #reader #writing

The Art of Kobold Press First Look and Page-Through

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://thegaminggang.com/cool-stuff/the-art-of-kobold-press-first-look-and-page-through

Children in an iron lung before Polio vaccination ; 1950

https://www.freenovelsonline.top/2025/07/picture-pot-38-pic-dump.html

#freenovelsonline #art #photography #pictures #coolstuff

I'm Not...I'm Not Sure What's Going On Here, But What A Cool Picture

https://www.thirstyspittoon.top/2025/06/picture-box-25-pic-dump.html

#thethirstyspittoon #art #photography #pictures #coolstuff

links: Hosting a WebSite on a Disposable Vape

http://ewaste.fka.wtf/

This article is served from a web server running on a disposable vape.

#coolStuff #reuse #solarpunk #webdev

When boredom strikes on a Saturday night… look up!
Track satellites (and space junk!) in real-time with this free site I just discovered.
Perfect for families when the kids “aren’t tired yet”—it keeps them curious and helps them wind down.

Find out more below!

#SpaceNerd #SaturdayNightFun #Satellites #SpaceDebris #BedtimeHack #IttyBitty4Life #familyfun #familytime #coolstuff #space

http://ittybitty4life.com/2025/09/06/saturday-night-fun-track-satellites-in-real-time-with-satellitetracker3d/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

A long exposure photo of a lightning bolt hitting a tree.

https://www.freenovelsonline.top/2025/07/picture-pot-38-pic-dump.html

#freenovelsonline #art #photography #pictures #coolstuff

“Hallow” ; Daniel Popper ; The Morton Arboretum – The piece is 26 feet high.

https://www.thirstyspittoon.top/2025/06/picture-box-25-pic-dump.html

#thethirstyspittoon #art #photography #pictures #coolstuff

Why is it that I'm seeing this for the first time in my life? Also, do you know a place that might sell something like this?

#NailTrimmer #CoolStuff #PersonalHygiene

Why is it that I'm seeing this for the first time in my life? Also, do you know a place that might sell something like this?

#NailTrimmer #CoolStuff #PersonalHygiene

This waterfall looks like a woman in a dress.

https://www.freenovelsonline.top/2025/03/picture-pot-37-pic-dump.html

#freenovelsonline #art #photography #pictures #coolstuff

🥃𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓🥃

Picture Box 25 (Pic Dump)

Soldiers from Czechoslovakia, Canada, United Kingdom, China, Italy, United States, and Japan in Siberia during the Russian Civil War ; 1919

https://www.thirstyspittoon.top/2025/06/picture-box-25-pic-dump.html

#thethirstyspittoon #photography #pictures #coolstuff

One of the offices in the Government Bunker. Including a top secret code machine made by Siemens. Also good old rotary phones for all you nostalgic old farts like me 😁

#governmentbunker #BadNeuenahrAhrweiler #ahrtal #regierungsbunker #fallout #vaulttec #nuclearbunker #coldwar #coldwarbunker #germany #coolstuff #traveltip #oldschoolcool

Police officer guarding a pharmacy during high-flood waters in Ontario ; 1974

https://www.thirstyspittoon.top/2024/12/picture-box-24-pic-dump.html

#thethirstyspittoon #art #photography #pictures #coolstuff

Trees cocooned in spider webs

How Big Are These Spiders?

https://www.thirstyspittoon.top/2024/12/picture-box-24-pic-dump.html

#thethirstyspittoon #art #photography #pictures #coolstuff

Very detailed and complete tutorial on how to create realistic trees with Threejs: https://tympanus.net/codrops/2025/01/27/fractals-to-forests-creating-realistic-3d-trees-with-three-js/

You can test the tree generator in your browser: https://www.eztree.dev/

Source code: https://github.com/dgreenheck/ez-tree

All of that by https://x.com/dangreenheck #CoolStuff #ProceduralGeneration #Threejs #WebXR #WebGL

Very detailed and complete tutorial on how to create realistic trees with Threejs: https://tympanus.net/codrops/2025/01/27/fractals-to-forests-creating-realistic-3d-trees-with-three-js/

You can test the tree generator in your browser: https://www.eztree.dev/

Source code: https://github.com/dgreenheck/ez-tree

All of that by https://x.com/dangreenheck #CoolStuff #ProceduralGeneration #Threejs #WebXR #WebGL

☕𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓☕️

Picture Pot 37 (Pic Dump)

Sauron Is Everywhere

https://www.freenovelsonline.top/2025/03/picture-pot-37-pic-dump.html

#freenovelsonline #art #photography #pictures #coolstuff

Unser Shopper Little Basket ist ein wahres Multitalent! Für alle kleineren Fellnase & Welpen ist diese kuschelige Körbchen der perfekte Rückzugsort.
Träum- und Schlummerstündchen garantiert 😍
2 Größen und eine tolle Auswahl an Stoffen und Farben warten auf euch!

#weloveterrier #welovedogs #welovedackel #teckellove #dogsinthecity #lifestylefordogs #handmade #conceptstore #coolstuff #hotdogs #dogsofinsta #hundetraining #hundetasche #cord #dogbag #shopper #hundeshopper https://bit.ly/4gOE1qm

Entdecke neue Produkte im Outlet!

#hundekissen #hundedecke #hundekörbchen #hundebett #hundesofa #dogbed #handmade #welpenzubehör #welpenkörbchen #lifestyle #lifestylefordogs #luxurydogbed #coolstuff #interiordesign #conceptstore #hamburg https://bit.ly/4i0hec4

My volunteer gig, the White Elephant Sale, the uranium glass display table is rocking. I am responsible. Two 4’ uv led strips. Squeeee! #volunteers #uranium #vintage #coolStuff #WTF #SFBay #SFBA #Oakland

A website where there's a cat chasing the mouse pointer.

https://dimden.dev/

#Cat #Caturday #CoolStuff #Neocities

Check out this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKvYRDhPt_0 #youtube #video #coolstuff #wow

It has averaged somewhere between 25-30 celcius where I am as of late in the last two weeks, sans humidity (and usually hanging in the mid-thirties with it). Now, I am still trying to get as much exercise in as I can, in at least trying to get a half hour walk in when I can. Sadly that's been exactly one day in the last two weeks, because while I am eager to reclaim my walking routes, I am also not so stupid as to inflict heatstroke on myself. I'm quite mad but I'm not THAT mad.
So it's back to finding alternatives. Digging out the VR helmet again, I am once again just struck with the feeling that... it might not be PRACTICAL but dangit it still feels like something out of the future. I put it on, turn it on, and.... my handsets are dead. Blast. Batteries are kaput. But... I can still do things! I can grab the menu screens in the air with my fingers and move them around! I can poke a virtual keyboard to find things, and use passthrough to still see my way around while I grab new batteries and replace the old ones on the handset. I could probably play some games with them... but my hands have a bad shake that is much less pronounced with a handset, which can use snap-to reasoning for things. And that's the cool thing in the end. No matter what, being able to just... reach out and touch the virtual remains one of the coolest things ever to me. One day, perhaps within my lifetime, we won't even need a funny hat to do it. I look forward to that day.
#Vr #coolstuff

Check out this video
https://youtube.com/watch?v=hhmKfpKM8bw&si=BneXrfTbWz-sn3EN #youtube #video #coolstuff #wow #cats #blackcat #movie #Jaws #sharks

Check out this video
https://youtube.com/watch?v=hZ43UC5tIOY&si=ko0e_s2L3FApahne #youtube #video #coolstuff #wow

This piece looks really cool as a shower curtain (mirrored)....That would wake you up in the morning! LOL

ART
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/fire-water-on-white-13-orange-abstract-art-sharon-cummings.html

#shower #bath #bathroom #homedecor #orange #art #artwork #artist #artists #abstract #abstractart #abstractpainting #modern #modernart #artmatters #colorfulart #colorful #warm #hot #fire #interior #interiors #interiordesign #interiordecor #diamonds #diamond #coolstuff #cool #buyintoart

#computerscience student's #budget everyday #carry ($300)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_QAvGlh-Pg

#edutainment #coolstuff

How #80s are you, #Floppotron edition (yes I know everyone has already seen this I am sure).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGfkPCZYfFw

#Retrocomputing #Recycling #ScrapArt #Music #CoolStuff

Delighted to be partnered with flippercleaner.com! Their products with my work have been so popular that they are ordering MORE!

Tropical Fish Art
https://fineartamerica.com/art/tropical+fish+sharon+cummings

#fish #fishes #fishy #art #artwork #mastoart #fediart #colorful #tropical #colorfulart #beach #beaches #beachy #coastal #sea #ocean #clownfish #tang #aquarium #aquariums #reef #coralreef #reefing #reefer #fishtank #artmatters #buyintoart #fun #cute #tropicalfish #animals #coolstuff

Great Malfunction by Charlie McAvoy, #Microsoft Anna/Vista, Jason Robertson, Isiah Folio #Asdfguy86, Frank Vatrano, MintdowsSlushie, #BallySports, Josh Morrissey, #Nokia Nettie Nash, Sidney Crosby, Microsoft Mike, Nashley Perez on #AynOdin2 #Odin2 with #MintGreen #Green #Light #Lights #Music #gaming #console #consoles #portable #portablegaming #gameconsole #cool #CoolStuff #Tech #technology