Photographer meets kakapo
http://www.poetv.com/video.php?vid=67753
Oh, isn't this interesting? Funny, how his plane went down the very next day.
http://blogs.wsj.com/new-europe/2010/04/09/polish-central-bank-pulls-trigger-to-weaken-zloty/
So you *do* have a sense of humor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hg6QrSVJUyk
Destroyer of Worlds
http://hawtness.com/2010/04/09/wtf-girl-photos-destroyer-of-worlds/
That...would...be...fine
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2010/4/9/
Aesthetics of early computer graphics
http://translab.burundi.sk/code/vzx/index.htm
Devo Song Study -- Help pick 12 out of 18 songs for their next album
http://songstudy.clubdevo.com/
The Cat With Hands (Creepy!)
http://vimeo.com/2689070
What to do in case of first alien contact
http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2010/04/first-contact-alien.png
Cracked, on how to write a Nicholas Sparks novel
http://www.cracked.com/funny-4725-nicholas-sparks/
Monster Engine brings children's drawings to life (thanks to inkgorilla for this link.)
http://thechive.com/2010/04/06/moster-engine-brings-childrens-drawings-to-life-11-photos/
More:
http://themonsterengine.com/
Kowloon Walled City
http://io9.com/5512888/the-walled-city-where-sunlight-couldnt-reach
Of course I had to find some other photographs:
http://artkhammarita.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/wolf2.jpg
http://artkhammarita.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/kowloonwalledcityalley2.jpg
http://kwout.com/cutout/n/na/mu/kni.jpg
http://images.coilhouse.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/factory.png
Pixels
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFpcTGJwvZ0
Prometheus backlit by Saturn
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100405.html
Small Worlds
http://www.rathergood.com/small_worlds
A Jules Verne inspired steampunk SL sim
http://www.boingboing.net/2010/04/07/underwater-jules-ver.html
Hell
http://xkcd.com/724/
And the Flash implementation of Hell
http://www.swfme.com/view/1046212
Monday, April 12, 2010
Monday, April 5, 2010
Monday gifts -- 04/05/2010
An odd dream
I just woke up from a vivid dream, like the ones I had back around 1999-2002. It seemed hours long, but I only remember the last parts.
In the middle of the dream, I came out of a theater in a downtown mall (there's no such place in the real Los Angeles) where I'd just seen an anime movie that was artistically cool but utterly baffling in the plot department. Back at my parked car, I begin to drive and search for the freeway signs to take me home.
But I get lost, and find myself in in some out-of-the-way place near Silverlake (that also doesn't exist); a historically preserved Spanish mission, and now it's broad daylight. The trees are beautiful, and the day is pleasantly warm, and I'm forced to stop the car and explore a bit on foot. A small community of people live here, mostly Hispanic, but there are also a few blond-haired kids are running around underfoot. Germans, just like those who founded Anaheim (the reason for that city's name being half Spanish and half German).
As I look around I find some leaves from the trees, they're about 5 inches long and dagger-shaped, deep green with some orange and red flecks. After picking one up, it finds its way into my mouth and I nibble at it. Surprisingly, it has a pleasant taste, if chewy. I eat another.
I meet a man and a little girl, both Hispanic, and talk with them for a few minutes, then on a random impulse I pick up one of the dagger-shaped tree leaves and ask about them. Are they poison? As it turns out, they are quite poisonous, though it takes a while for the toxin to take effect. I confess to having eaten a couple, and express some worry. The girl laughs and said she ate some too, when she was younger, and was given medicine by her mother. I'm alarmed but relieved there's a cure.
But there's a slight shift of scene and I'm driving again, still trying to find my way home and just as lost, for about thirty minutes. The poisonous leaves are totally forgotten. I drive over a big incline and have to gun the engine, it's so steep, and end up going airborne slightly at the top where the dusty road suddenly goes level. My car lands with a thump. Fifty feet before me a Hispanic man who had been riding a burro, I see him tumble to the ground when the sound of my car frightens his mount and causes it to fall over in surprise. It's really funny. He isn't hurt, and the little blond girl walking with him laughs with a sound like sunlight on water at the unexpected slapstick.
I marvel that I've stumbled my way back to the mission, though a quarter mile from my previous location. Now I recall that I needed that antidote, and briefly tell my story to the man and girl. He uses his cell phone to call someone at the mission, and I'm taken there quickly. I am shown inside to a kind of kitchen/bakery which has a quasi-European quality.
There is a blond woman, in her early thirties and very pretty, who is glad to see me. Upon first hearing of the need for the antidote to the leaves she'd baked a special pie for me, thankfully it was ready now. It looks like a turnover, square with three open slices on top revealing what looks baked apple inside. When given a fork, I discover it is slightly bitter, but also sweet, and rather tasty, far better than I anticipated.
The woman is a mother, and one of her older children, a blond boy of about 15, watches me with unfriendly eyes. I don't know why he doesn't like me.
That's when I woke up, filled with the belief my dream was a message couched in symbolism. But what does it mean?
p-Cubee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iV0Icy41JM
Dungeons and Dragons Online changes to free-to-play economic model, earns 5x more money as a result.
http://www.fearlessgamer.com/2010/02/27/dd-online-got-the-free-to-play-model-right/
See, this is cool. I spend far more money in free-to-play games like Second Life (which is to say, some) than I do on subscription-based games (which is to say, almost none). Here's the actual DDO site.
http://www.ddo.com/
Attack of the Clones savaged, er reviewed in 9 parts.
Maybe he's trying too hard to top his Phantom Menace review.
After watching it entirely, though, I have to admit it's pretty good.
I'll save you the trouble of hunting down the additional parts, because YouTube's redesign mostly baffles me. Aren't redesigns supposed to make things *better*? Then why is it so unhelpful now? Am I missing something?
1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfBhi6qqFLA
2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im7k4LUzA3Y
3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux8pCqiiBLA
4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGnorxUw4AA
5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz1L63TdhC8
6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-isAmaVbsM
7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Blkx6axytKQ
8: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QThD0r3hZg
9: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq0wv2ossJU
Bunny Chow and other gourmet food trucks
http://laist.com/2010/03/31/las_first_bustaurant_world_fare_is.php
The street in front of our office has become a lunch truck alley, and every day there are unusual offerings. The most unique I've seen has to be this one, a double-decker Bus-taurant that serves Bunny Chow, a slang name for a kind of curried South African sandwich. The lower part of the bus is the kitchen, the top storey is the dining area.
Another interesting truck serves a fusion Soul-Asian cuisine which is quite good, but so far my fave is Fishlips Sushi.
Flint, Michigan is burning
http://paxtonland.com/archives/2010/04/153/
The 10 Most Unfortunate Masters of the Universe Toys
http://io9.com/5508866/the-10-most-unfortunate-masters-of-the-universe-toys
Even as a kid I new Masters of the Universe sucked. But age has sharpened my appreciation of that fact.
October by Eric Whitacre
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EoUAbODO34
I really like Whitacre's compositions, they have a certain Aaron Copland quality, with a dash of Michael Kamen.
Cloudburst, another nice Whitacre piece, this being more like a melodious Gyorgi Lygeti.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Zqp0OpzMAI
Miegakure - 4D platform game
http://marctenbosch.com/miegakure/
Bob and Beyond -- Those doomed Windows apps
http://technologizer.com/2010/03/29/bob-and-beyond-a-microsoft-insider-remembers/
U900 - Diamond Head -- A very cute video. There's something about the simple music and soft morning light on the animated dolls that makes me feel happy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-VWdPGGTT8
Top 5 Just Cause 2 stunts
http://kotaku.com/5505470/top-5-just-cause-2-stunt-videos-are-here-now-vote
Yume
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGOeYzWTIFc
I just woke up from a vivid dream, like the ones I had back around 1999-2002. It seemed hours long, but I only remember the last parts.
In the middle of the dream, I came out of a theater in a downtown mall (there's no such place in the real Los Angeles) where I'd just seen an anime movie that was artistically cool but utterly baffling in the plot department. Back at my parked car, I begin to drive and search for the freeway signs to take me home.
But I get lost, and find myself in in some out-of-the-way place near Silverlake (that also doesn't exist); a historically preserved Spanish mission, and now it's broad daylight. The trees are beautiful, and the day is pleasantly warm, and I'm forced to stop the car and explore a bit on foot. A small community of people live here, mostly Hispanic, but there are also a few blond-haired kids are running around underfoot. Germans, just like those who founded Anaheim (the reason for that city's name being half Spanish and half German).
As I look around I find some leaves from the trees, they're about 5 inches long and dagger-shaped, deep green with some orange and red flecks. After picking one up, it finds its way into my mouth and I nibble at it. Surprisingly, it has a pleasant taste, if chewy. I eat another.
I meet a man and a little girl, both Hispanic, and talk with them for a few minutes, then on a random impulse I pick up one of the dagger-shaped tree leaves and ask about them. Are they poison? As it turns out, they are quite poisonous, though it takes a while for the toxin to take effect. I confess to having eaten a couple, and express some worry. The girl laughs and said she ate some too, when she was younger, and was given medicine by her mother. I'm alarmed but relieved there's a cure.
But there's a slight shift of scene and I'm driving again, still trying to find my way home and just as lost, for about thirty minutes. The poisonous leaves are totally forgotten. I drive over a big incline and have to gun the engine, it's so steep, and end up going airborne slightly at the top where the dusty road suddenly goes level. My car lands with a thump. Fifty feet before me a Hispanic man who had been riding a burro, I see him tumble to the ground when the sound of my car frightens his mount and causes it to fall over in surprise. It's really funny. He isn't hurt, and the little blond girl walking with him laughs with a sound like sunlight on water at the unexpected slapstick.
I marvel that I've stumbled my way back to the mission, though a quarter mile from my previous location. Now I recall that I needed that antidote, and briefly tell my story to the man and girl. He uses his cell phone to call someone at the mission, and I'm taken there quickly. I am shown inside to a kind of kitchen/bakery which has a quasi-European quality.
There is a blond woman, in her early thirties and very pretty, who is glad to see me. Upon first hearing of the need for the antidote to the leaves she'd baked a special pie for me, thankfully it was ready now. It looks like a turnover, square with three open slices on top revealing what looks baked apple inside. When given a fork, I discover it is slightly bitter, but also sweet, and rather tasty, far better than I anticipated.
The woman is a mother, and one of her older children, a blond boy of about 15, watches me with unfriendly eyes. I don't know why he doesn't like me.
That's when I woke up, filled with the belief my dream was a message couched in symbolism. But what does it mean?
p-Cubee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iV0Icy41JM
Dungeons and Dragons Online changes to free-to-play economic model, earns 5x more money as a result.
http://www.fearlessgamer.com/2010/02/27/dd-online-got-the-free-to-play-model-right/
See, this is cool. I spend far more money in free-to-play games like Second Life (which is to say, some) than I do on subscription-based games (which is to say, almost none). Here's the actual DDO site.
http://www.ddo.com/
Attack of the Clones savaged, er reviewed in 9 parts.
Maybe he's trying too hard to top his Phantom Menace review.
After watching it entirely, though, I have to admit it's pretty good.
I'll save you the trouble of hunting down the additional parts, because YouTube's redesign mostly baffles me. Aren't redesigns supposed to make things *better*? Then why is it so unhelpful now? Am I missing something?
1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfBhi6qqFLA
2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im7k4LUzA3Y
3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux8pCqiiBLA
4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGnorxUw4AA
5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz1L63TdhC8
6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-isAmaVbsM
7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Blkx6axytKQ
8: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QThD0r3hZg
9: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq0wv2ossJU
Bunny Chow and other gourmet food trucks
http://laist.com/2010/03/31/las_first_bustaurant_world_fare_is.php
The street in front of our office has become a lunch truck alley, and every day there are unusual offerings. The most unique I've seen has to be this one, a double-decker Bus-taurant that serves Bunny Chow, a slang name for a kind of curried South African sandwich. The lower part of the bus is the kitchen, the top storey is the dining area.
Another interesting truck serves a fusion Soul-Asian cuisine which is quite good, but so far my fave is Fishlips Sushi.
Flint, Michigan is burning
http://paxtonland.com/archives/2010/04/153/
The 10 Most Unfortunate Masters of the Universe Toys
http://io9.com/5508866/the-10-most-unfortunate-masters-of-the-universe-toys
Even as a kid I new Masters of the Universe sucked. But age has sharpened my appreciation of that fact.
October by Eric Whitacre
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EoUAbODO34
I really like Whitacre's compositions, they have a certain Aaron Copland quality, with a dash of Michael Kamen.
Cloudburst, another nice Whitacre piece, this being more like a melodious Gyorgi Lygeti.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Zqp0OpzMAI
Miegakure - 4D platform game
http://marctenbosch.com/miegakure/
Bob and Beyond -- Those doomed Windows apps
http://technologizer.com/2010/03/29/bob-and-beyond-a-microsoft-insider-remembers/
U900 - Diamond Head -- A very cute video. There's something about the simple music and soft morning light on the animated dolls that makes me feel happy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-VWdPGGTT8
Top 5 Just Cause 2 stunts
http://kotaku.com/5505470/top-5-just-cause-2-stunt-videos-are-here-now-vote
Yume
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGOeYzWTIFc
Monday, March 29, 2010
Monday gifts -- 03/29/2010
For almost exactly two years I've been sending weekly gifts to a good and unusual friend, a collection of links I choose for the recipient's amusement. They are carefully chosen to appeal to that person's tastes, and those tastes are quite unique. I will not say who this person is, but you may find it interesting to try to build a mental picture of him or her, based solely on the links I send.
I've decided to share these links with you, the fearless reader. Enjoy!
WARNING! Some or all of these links may be NSFW, some *incredibly* so. Open at your peril.
More Photoshop CS Content-Aware Sneak Peak Awesomeness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ScWu7pG7r0
Computer Assisted Design
http://vimeo.com/9163295
DIY Turing Machine
http://gizmodo.com/5503234/a-diy-turing-machine
Motherbrain
http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/03/500x_motherbrain.jpg
Play
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIZVCCJxIQ4
Found Film Clips from the 60s and 70s
http://www.flickr.com/photos/neatocoolville/sets/72157623369717673/
Voynich under the microscope
http://www.forteantimes.com/features/articles/3145/voynich_under_the_microscope.html
AP2000
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbJDiyHuBmw
Good Show Sir -- Dreadful SF book covers
http://www.goodshowsir.co.uk/
Pierre Molinier's art
http://www.all-art.org/art_20th_century/molinier1.html
*Painfully* cute
http://crig.deviantart.com/art/Meow-158531137
Hybrid - Break My Soul
http://www.digitalcinemafoundry.com/2010/03/24/hybrid-break-my-soul-music-video/
The 10 greatest modern recreations of ancient tech
http://io9.com/5502066/the-ten-greatest-modern+day-recreations-of-ancient-technologies
The Secret World gameplay footage -- part WoW, part Cthulhu, part Left4Dead, it seems
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/gdc-10-the-secret/63666?type=flv
Paramotor swoopdown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9V7GEOUGhk
A pretty mermaid painting
http://www.warmphotos.net/img/cool/beautiful-mermaids-from-many-artist/beautiful-mermaids-from-many-artist02.jpg
from
http://www.warmphotos.net/beautiful-mermaids
Saul Bass-styled retro Tron titles
http://www.wired.com/underwire/2010/03/retro-tron-intro-saul-bass/
Broken by Trifonic -- an instant Dangerous track -- ignore the visuals
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88yLWB-Q2bE
Their Growing Distance is also nice
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_QkkPvuzVE
Inside a 4-stroke engine
http://io9.com/5500701/watch-the-explosion-that-never-stops-inside-your-engine
RPG heroes are jerks
http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1930495
Art by Charles Immer
http://www.charlieimmer.com/index.html
Nature By Numbers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkGeOWYOFoA
Program or be programmed
http://rushkoff.com/2010/03/25/program-or-be-programmed/
Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir -- it makes me cry. It's the Internet all in one package.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7o7BrlbaDs
Conducting video for the above
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh1c2xWVWiA
Cary Grant's love of LSD
http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2010/03/his-girl-lsd-the-cary-grant-experience.html
Table of odd British Pronunciations
http://slb-ltsu.hull.ac.uk/awe/index.php?title=Odd_pronunciations_of_proper_names_-_examples
Spy Party
http://kotaku.com/5500968/the-next-smart-video-game-only-lets-you-kill-once
B-Radical harmonicas
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-news-harmonica-factory-20100321,0,309365.story
A fascinating history of the 6-second Amen Break
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaFTm2bcac
...
http://ugliesttattoos.com/2010/03/18/funny-tattoos-unicorn-vs-robot-dolphin/
and
http://ugliesttattoos.com/2010/03/17/funny-tattoos-of-course-i-suppose-he-could-have-both/
and
http://ugliesttattoos.com/2010/03/13/pussy-hound/
Fine Structure
http://qntm.org/structure
I've decided to share these links with you, the fearless reader. Enjoy!
WARNING! Some or all of these links may be NSFW, some *incredibly* so. Open at your peril.
More Photoshop CS Content-Aware Sneak Peak Awesomeness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ScWu7pG7r0
Computer Assisted Design
http://vimeo.com/9163295
DIY Turing Machine
http://gizmodo.com/5503234/a-diy-turing-machine
Motherbrain
http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/03/500x_motherbrain.jpg
Play
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIZVCCJxIQ4
Found Film Clips from the 60s and 70s
http://www.flickr.com/photos/neatocoolville/sets/72157623369717673/
Voynich under the microscope
http://www.forteantimes.com/features/articles/3145/voynich_under_the_microscope.html
AP2000
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbJDiyHuBmw
Good Show Sir -- Dreadful SF book covers
http://www.goodshowsir.co.uk/
Pierre Molinier's art
http://www.all-art.org/art_20th_century/molinier1.html
*Painfully* cute
http://crig.deviantart.com/art/Meow-158531137
Hybrid - Break My Soul
http://www.digitalcinemafoundry.com/2010/03/24/hybrid-break-my-soul-music-video/
The 10 greatest modern recreations of ancient tech
http://io9.com/5502066/the-ten-greatest-modern+day-recreations-of-ancient-technologies
The Secret World gameplay footage -- part WoW, part Cthulhu, part Left4Dead, it seems
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/gdc-10-the-secret/63666?type=flv
Paramotor swoopdown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9V7GEOUGhk
A pretty mermaid painting
http://www.warmphotos.net/img/cool/beautiful-mermaids-from-many-artist/beautiful-mermaids-from-many-artist02.jpg
from
http://www.warmphotos.net/beautiful-mermaids
Saul Bass-styled retro Tron titles
http://www.wired.com/underwire/2010/03/retro-tron-intro-saul-bass/
Broken by Trifonic -- an instant Dangerous track -- ignore the visuals
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88yLWB-Q2bE
Their Growing Distance is also nice
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_QkkPvuzVE
Inside a 4-stroke engine
http://io9.com/5500701/watch-the-explosion-that-never-stops-inside-your-engine
RPG heroes are jerks
http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1930495
Art by Charles Immer
http://www.charlieimmer.com/index.html
Nature By Numbers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkGeOWYOFoA
Program or be programmed
http://rushkoff.com/2010/03/25/program-or-be-programmed/
Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir -- it makes me cry. It's the Internet all in one package.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7o7BrlbaDs
Conducting video for the above
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh1c2xWVWiA
Cary Grant's love of LSD
http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2010/03/his-girl-lsd-the-cary-grant-experience.html
Table of odd British Pronunciations
http://slb-ltsu.hull.ac.uk/awe/index.php?title=Odd_pronunciations_of_proper_names_-_examples
Spy Party
http://kotaku.com/5500968/the-next-smart-video-game-only-lets-you-kill-once
B-Radical harmonicas
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-news-harmonica-factory-20100321,0,309365.story
A fascinating history of the 6-second Amen Break
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaFTm2bcac
...
http://ugliesttattoos.com/2010/03/18/funny-tattoos-unicorn-vs-robot-dolphin/
and
http://ugliesttattoos.com/2010/03/17/funny-tattoos-of-course-i-suppose-he-could-have-both/
and
http://ugliesttattoos.com/2010/03/13/pussy-hound/
Fine Structure
http://qntm.org/structure
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Do subatomic particles have free will?
If humans have the least bit of free will, then subatomic particles do too, claim two scientists. Read more here.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
How an emotion (compassion) became a virtue
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Notre Dame
I've been listening to hours and hours of Joseph Campbell's lectures on mythology. He's really a fascinating fellow. Yesterday I listened to the episode of Bill Moyer's series Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth entitled Love and the Goddess, where he spoke of Christianity's gentle reintroduction of Goddess worship with the rise of interest in the Virgin Mary during the middle ages. He pointed out that the cathedrals which sprang up in those times can be thought of as a womb, wherein one can experience their own 'virgin birth', that of a spiritual rebirth.
I went to look at pictures of cathedrals, and was forced to agree. In particular, the entrances to cathedrals have a very strong resonance with the organs of childbirth -- quite beautifully so. Take a peek.
That's a vagina if I ever saw one. (smiles)
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Why today's kids don't understand math
This is the NEW New Math, and it's no wonder kids have no understanding of mathematics.
By the way, this kind of complete obfuscation is taking place in every subject. Not just math.
And it's deliberate.
This is how you turn people into cattle.
By the way, this kind of complete obfuscation is taking place in every subject. Not just math.
And it's deliberate.
This is how you turn people into cattle.
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