The URDB Blog

Photo

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:03:48 -0400

Record Challenge: Most Times Petting a Dog in 30 Seconds

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:44:05 -0400

This week’s challenge: pet a dog as many times as you can in 30 seconds. Each “pet” must be distinct; patting is not permitted. Shoot it on video and send it our way.

Top 5 URDB World Records Featuring...Dogs!

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:18:00 -0400

By Laura Yan

Ah, dogs. A man’s best friend, and the best friend of quite a few record setters here at the URDB. Eliciting the assistance (or direct participation) of a four-pawed friend is quite a bit more difficult than attempting the feat as a human. We admire the astonishing cuteness factor the addition of a fluffy pet adds to any record, and celebrate some of our favorite records, featuring those tail wagging, hoop leaping, hand shaking canine friends.

Most Times Coaxing a Dog Through a Hoop in 30 Seconds

Sarah Newell dangled a treat and enticed her Border Collie, Piper, to leap through a hoop 22 times in 30 seconds. Her puppy’s impressive energy and obedience meant a well deserved treat, and a much honored world record holder title.

Most Alternate Paw Handshakes Elicited From a Dog in 30 Seconds

What is it with Border Collies and world records? Lyle Bjornson, with the help of a dog treat, elicited 19 alternating paw shakes in 30 seconds. The coordination and extra difficulty piled onto his accomplishment makes it truly remarkable.

Most Bench Presses of a Live Dog in 30 Seconds

While some coax a dog into performing an actual record, others force a world record upon an unsuspecting dog by incorporating it into a human-dog record partnership. Such was the case with Eliot Glazer, who bench pressed his dog Atticus exactly 30 times in 30 seconds on a segment of Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. He and his dog not only became record holders, but national television celebrities as well. That’s what we call teamwork.

Most Burps in 10 Seconds While Holding a Dog

We can’t decide what’s more riveting: the inhuman speed reflected in Todd Pernerowski’s 43 burps in 10 short seconds, or his dog Laika’s confused scampering while he accomplished it.

Most Writing Utensils Fit Inside a Pug’s Collar

And finally, some records don’t require active participation on either part, and simply a spark of an idea, a really cute pug, and patience, as with Nick H’s 14 pens, pencils, and Sharpies stuffed inside Bobo the pug’s collar. Can we get a collective “awww”?

kellyreeves: Inspired by the ‘boomers, my mustache for the URDB...

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 18:03:06 -0400

kellyreeves:

Inspired by the ‘boomers, my mustache for the URDB book. Be a part of the record!

(I wanted to show my hands so you knew I wasn’t holding it. magic)

Yay!

URDB Record Setter Profile: Brett Moser, professional skateboarder

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 17:52:00 -0400

Brett Moser holds a world record title many might find a hard time challenging: Most Consequetive Stationary 360 Underflips On A Skateboard While Blindfolded. A relative new-comer to URDB, Brett has nevertheless already broken his own record of 24 underflips to 27. We asked the skater to reveal a few secrets about his tricks and record breaking philosophy.

Tell us a bit about yourself. Who are you, what do you do?

I am 28. I live in Springfield Missouri and have worked with an action sports ministry called Real Encounter for the last 5 years or so.

I heard about the URDB a few months ago while listening to a podcast and I thought it sounded interesting. I looked into what it was and thought that it might be something fun to work into the shows we do on the road as well as using it on the freestyle skating website I run called Railflip.

Where did you get the idea for this specific record? Are 360 underflips a favorite trick of yours?

360 Underflips are my go to trick and usually the first trick I do during our shows to get the ball rolling. I went out to film after getting back from a trip where we got very little sleep. I think had had only a couple hours of rest in like a 72 hour time period. I got all set and found that I was too tired to do the things I had planned on. I didn’t want to waste the trip and setup time, so I thought about what would be a quick thing I could film to submit and see how URDB worked.

Did you have to practice often to break the record, or was it an impulsive in the moment act?

I usually skate or practice about 5 days a week. The trick is one that I feel very comfortable with so it was naturally my first choice to do blindfolded. It is also a trick that doesn’t take much setup or involve a ton of strength which was good at the time, since I was dead tired.

How did being blindfolded add to the experience?

I have been working on blindfolded skating for a few years now. It’s pretty interesting because you don’t think about how much of a role your eyes play in keeping your balance. So it took me a while just to feel comfortable jumping and landing in different positions on the board. It just takes practice.

Where did you perform for your newer record?

About a week after I submitted the first video for the record I started to get ready for a show we were heading to in Dallas. It was a big Christian Youth Conference of a few thousand students. They had asked me to do about a 20 min performance and speaking session. On the way I was telling another team member about the record and thought it might be something fun to try and break in front of the crowd. It actually didn’t go well the first session due to a couple of things so I came back the next morning and tried again. The second time went better and I ended up beating the record on the first attempt. The crowd seemed to have fun with it as well.

Do you have any ideas for future records? Any plans to break your current records?

I haven’t really looked into a lot of the other skateboard records on URDB, but I have plans to try and do a URDB themed contest on my freestyle. I am hoping to set a record and then challenge the people who visit the site to beat it. Whoever has the record at the end of a set amount of time would be the winner and get some sort of prize.

Help us set a world record: Most People Wearing Fake Mustaches In A Book

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:53:49 -0400

Get involved, people! We want everyone featured in our upcoming book.

bookofworldrecords:

Want to see yourself in the URDB Book of World Records AND help set a brand new world record?

Just take a picture of yourself wearing a fake mustache, created however you like. Click the button below to open an email where you’ll attach your picture. Put your full name in the subject line and you’re officially part of the record! We’ll let you know when the book comes out so you can see yourself in it.

By emailing URDB a photo, you are agreeing to URDB’s Terms of Service.

Zach Reidell now holds the world record for Longest Active Email...

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 17:51:24 -0400

Zach Reidell now holds the world record for Longest Active Email Address, beating Peter Craig’s much-ballyhooed 345-character address. Reidell’s record setting address is 411 characters. Want to send him an email? Go for it!

hi-this-is-the-longest-email-in-the-world-and-is-much-superior-to-contact-admin-hello-webmaster-info-services-peter-crazy-but-oh-so-ubber-cool-english-alphabet-loverer-abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz-at-please-try-to.send-me-an-email-if-you-can-possibly-begin-to-remember-this-coz.this-is-the-longest-email-address-known-to-man-but-to-be-honest.this-is-such-a-stupidly-long-sub-domain-it-could-go-on-forever@zchr.org

The world’s longest active email address is 345...

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 15:07:51 -0400

The world’s longest active email address is 345 characters, created by Peter Craig of Blakeview, Australia. Want proof that it works? Email Peter and say hello!

contact-admin-hello-webmaster-info-services-peter-crazy-but-oh-so-ubber-cool-english-alphabet-loverer-abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz@please-try-to.send-me-an-email-if-you-can-possibly-begin-to-remember-this-coz.this-is-the-longest-email-address-known-to-man-but-to-be-honest.this-is-such-a-stupidly-long-sub-domain-it-could-go-on-forever.pacraig.com

Do512 and The Action Pack Present: The World Record Party at The Highball

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 13:11:02 -0400

Do512 and The Action Pack Present: The World Record Party at The Highball:

interweber:

Do you live in Austin, TX? (MAYBE YOU DO!)

This event is going to be hella, hella fun.

Congratulations to Brian Pankey from all of us at URDB HQ. If...

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 09:53:43 -0400

Congratulations to Brian Pankey from all of us at URDB HQ. If you’ve yet to discover this man’s genius, check out his profile page.

prettyheartattacks: …all my friends are dead. This Tumblr post...

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 15:15:00 -0400

prettyheartattacks:

…all my friends are dead.

This Tumblr post just set a new URDB world record for Most Notes on a Single Tumblr Post! Officially submitted as 26,302 notes by book author Avery Monsen, it is now well over 27,000 in just four days—and still growing. Play a part in record history by adding more notes to this post, or, better yet, come up with your own super-viral Tumblr post and defeat this record. Onwards! Submissions welcome here.

Extraordinary stop-motion film featuring Michael Arthur’s...

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:37:43 -0400

Extraordinary stop-motion film featuring Michael Arthur’s live illustration of World Record Appreciation Society #17. All records/record setters from the event are featured. Michael then auctioned off the artwork, with all proceeds donated to Special Olympics New York.

We’re backstage at Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, preparing...

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:38:11 -0400

We’re backstage at Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, preparing to tape a world record segment for tonight’s show. No sneak peeks on the feats we’ll be documenting, but we swear on our lives—they’re awesome. Tune into NBC tonight at 12:35 AM.

(Click on image to see Questlove’s URDB record for Most Afropicks Fit In An Afro At Once.)

NEXT TUESDAY at Joe’s Pub in NYC. Our stellar lineup...

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 09:34:05 -0400

NEXT TUESDAY at Joe’s Pub in NYC. Our stellar lineup includes the likes of Opus Moreschi, Elna Baker, Morgan Murphy, Mark Malkoff, Arden Myrin, Victor Varnado and beatboxer Chris ‘Shockwave’ Sullivan. All proceeds to Special Olympics New York. Advance tickets highly suggested.

Chapped lips and makeup aficionados rejoice: Ashlie Munk set a...

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:49:57 -0400

Chapped lips and makeup aficionados rejoice: Ashlie Munk set a new world record for the Largest Lip Balm Collection with her 415 lip balms in a variety of colorful tubes and tins. Not only a benefit for your lips, but a refreshing sight for your eyes!

If you’re in NYC this Friday, this will be an amazingly...

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:30:00 -0400

If you’re in NYC this Friday, this will be an amazingly fun party. Even better, it’s raising funds for an extremely important cause. We’ll have URDB yellow jackets in the house, documenting a world record for Most Money Raised Using Square At A Charitable Event. Hope to see you there!

Read about 100 Beds for Haiti.

URDB Record Holder Profile: Michael Smith

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 16:42:00 -0400

We think it’s fair to say that Michael Smith is, without a doubt, the uncontested King of World Records at the prestigious Princeton University. With an imagination that’s created everything from scientific records like Most Yeast Plasmid Transformations Performed in a Single Setting (useful AND impressive!), to a more lighthearted record featuring a group of half-naked Ivy Leaguers, pizza and an inflatable pool in the snow, it should be no surprise that Michael’s URDB career is one we care for. We spoke to Michael about his extraordinary feats and discovered a few of his record mysteries.

Your first record on URDB was for Most College Students In An Inflatable Pool With Snow On The Ground. Where did the idea for that come from?

The idea didn’t actually start as a record for URDB. It was a group of friends, and we wanted to put up a pool outside after the snow. As we were in there, many more people who walked by joined in. I had used the pool previously, but never had that many people in the pool, and figured that it was probably a universal world record, so we took a photo, and submitted it. My sister had informed me of URDB, and I wanted to be a part of it, but hadn’t thought of anything specific until we were all in there.

Was it cold being in the pool?

Not at all. We actually routed hoses from the upstairs hot water showers. We also had people going up and down with large trash cans of hot water, so it was quite comfortable. Thus the passersby joining in.

Was there actually 16 people inside the pool, or 15 as the record has been corrected to? What happened to the participant who did not quite make it inside the pool?

The photo that I submitted had 15 people, and it was my mistake when counting, because I didn’t see Sam Gulland in the back, who wasn’t actually in the pool.

However, he was in the pool before the photo was taken, and we had times when we probably had more than 16 people. The photos were from friends, and I wanted to show the URDB record as a surprise to the pool participants afterwards, so I foolishly didn’t try to get a photo with the max number of people. Sam Gulland was heartbroken that he wasn’t a part of the record. He’s actually now enlisted in the Army, but I don’t think the URDB experience was a deciding factor for that.
What made your record setting transition from a ridiculous group record to two far more scientifically-involved records?

During the year, I was spending lots of time in the lab for my senior thesis. It’s not that I wasn’t still doing ridiculous things, but figured I could include some of that into my lab work. Lots of lab work is very repetitive, and in my case, large scale personal work.

Tell us a bit more about those records. What was the thinking behind attempting them? Did they prove useful in the lab after the records had been set?

I started joking around the lab that I was setting records within the lab for highest output. Much of what I did can now be done by robots, or more high-tech methods. But I was still chugging along, and made a significant dent in the number of knockout genes screened. I had started with smaller scale undertakings, but they constantly had to be increased. Once I knew that I was doing the largest one I’d be able to do, and the largest one the lab had ever seen, I’d make sure to have some evidence of the event. That way future Rose Lab members will know who was the true master of lab work. As for useful… I mean… I needed those strains for my experiments. None of them came up with anything groundbreaking to my core questions, but they made significant dents for the next people.

Did your professor, Mark Rose, know about URDB? And how did he feel about being witness to your record breaking?

He also did not know that I was setting a URDB until afterwards. He knew I was doing some larger scale projects, and knew the scope, but had no idea what it was for. Originally the records were going to be a surprise for when I handed in my thesis, but he saw the URDB email that mentioned New Jersey, and fatefully clicked on the link. So he saw them, and I suppose you’d have to ask him to know what his reaction was.

How long did it take you to set those records?

Each of those were done in one sitting, as stated. That meant they were done in one lab day, including the time for setup, and breakdown. I was probably in the lab those days for about 10 hours in total. I didn’t include the incubator time, ‘cause that can be anywhere from overnight to a couple of days.

It’s been a few months since you’ve set a record. Any more ideas for future feats, scientific or otherwise?

I’m now working in a bee lab. Once I see something that I think I can set the standard for, I’ll do it. I think I will stay with the science ones though, because its part of my work, and adds a bit of something to the daily grind.

I also considered submitting a URDB record for ‘Most URDB Records In A Senior Thesis’, which would be two, since I included them both in the appendix.

Has your record setter status gained you a new standing among Princeton students and professors?

Absolutely not. I don’t think a single Professor knows about it, except Professor Mark Rose and Professor Gammie.

-Laura Yan

H2Whoa! Pool World Records to Keep You Cool

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 09:51:00 -0400

It’s an unbearably hot summer’s day here in NYC, and if you’re anything like us, you’re clenching to the comforts of an air-conditioned room, and dreaming of an arctic escape. Though changing the season would be a bit challenging, it might help to envision yourself as one of these cool (har) record setters who turned to the pool for a world record. It could be just the push you need before you leap to your own.

Highest Splash Made From A 10-Meter Diving Board Jump

You might opt to imagine yourself as record setter Ben Jones, with the hot sun attacking your skin as you hover on a 10-meter diving board. Add in the backdrop of the perfect blue summer sky and the span of the pool in front of you. Now imagine the refreshing plunge into the water, and how delightful it’d be to have sparked that 11.9 meter (that’s 39 feet, Yankees!) splash of cold, cool droplets into the air.

Most Consecutive Push-Ups In A Pickup Truck Swimming Pool

When lacking a full-sized swimming pool in your backyard but still desperate for breaking a world record and staying cool, get innovative and use what you have, like young Gavin Martin, who armed himself with goggles and his swimming trunks to complete seven full pushups and set a world record—in a pickup truck swimming pool. Yes, that’s right, he turned the bed of a 93 Mazda into a pool so that he could complete seven pushups in a pickup truck. Keep on truckin’ AND swimmin’!

Fastest Time to Run Across a Covered Swimming Pool

Alternatively, you could have the full-sized swimming pool and go for a quick run across it—without getting wet (just like that “liquid mountaineering” viral marketing campaign but in real life!), like Shin Clinton, who sprinted across his freakin’ covered pool surface, stirring up ripples galore. Just remember, though, Shin is a running-on-covered-water professional. We wouldn’t advocate trying the same task without a lifeguard on hand and top-notch swimming abilities.

-Laura Yan

The paint isn’t quite dry, but you may have noticed things look...

Sun, 04 Jul 2010 14:20:17 -0400

The paint isn’t quite dry, but you may have noticed things look a bit different at URDB.org. First off, there’s a brand new header and footer design. The look is decidedly minimalist. We’ve always said the records are the stars of the show, so we tried to subtract as many other elements as possible.

Most dramatically, we have BRAND NEW RECORD PAGE. This is just an initial release. There are many elements to be added ahead, but this version improves on the old design in a few key ways. The video/media area is much larger and has zoom functionality (click on the magnifying glass). The “info box” on the right gives you the current stats for a record, even if you are looking at an older, broken attempt. The new tab layout should make it a bit easier to navigate the various attempts that make up the record history. And another significant change is that we have migrated off our old comment system (Disqus) and built our own. Now, instead of separate comment threads for each attempt, we are leaving the comments intact across the entire record.

Best of all, there are a host of new things coming, many of which depended on us getting this release out. Stay tuned for a new homepage, better navigation and browsing options, new submission process, etc, etc. If you have feedback or ideas, we always welcome your thoughts here.

Committed to bigger, better and radical-er,

Team URDB

Celebrate America: Set a 4th of July World Record

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 21:02:00 -0400

Rather than opting for just fireworks and barbecues this Fourth of July, we advocate that you celebrate your American spirit by setting a few new URDB world records. Take inspiration from some of our favorite patriotic world records, and see if you can become the record setter for, say, ‘Most “U-S-A!” Chants In 30 Seconds’, or ‘Fastest Time To Read All The Ingredients On A Bottle Of Heinz Ketchup’.

Fastest Time To Recite All 50 United States In Alphabetical Order While Being Hit In The Head With Wooden Spoons

Jessica Henderson let out a rapid fire stream of every state name in alphabetical order while her friend hit her head with two wooden spoons, and accomplished the feat in 17.34 seconds. She beat radio personality Brian Pierce’s original record of 21.2 seconds.

Largest Group Of AmeriCorps Members To Recite The AmeriCorps Pledge With At Least 50% Of The Group Standing On One Foot

Already patriotic in their service to America, 51 members of the Vermont AmeriCorps united to recite their full pledge, with at least half the members standing on one foot. Not only did they read their commitments to America out loud, but showed it by their perseverance in breaking a world record while finding the balance within themselves.

Longest Time To Balance American Flag On Chin While Listening To ‘God Bless The USA’

The legendary “Balance King” Doug McManaman showed true American spirit by balancing a full sized American flag on his chin while listening to the heartwarming “God Bless the USA” for 58.38 seconds. Even better: he was dressed in all red, white and blue! Even better than better: he’s Canadian!

Happy 4th, everyone.

-Laura Yan