JOBY Tripod System
The JOBY tripod system is a really neat example of a design that challenges the very definition of ‘tripod’. Great for stablizing your camera out in unusual circumstances.
Add comment July 11th, 2006
Archive for July, 2006
Christian Dior Me
Really *ahem* interesting Christian Dior Fall 2006 Collection.
Add comment July 11th, 2006
super etch-a-sketch drawings
This person has some mad Etch-a-Sketch skills.
Add comment July 11th, 2006
cold feet?
Get yourself some USB foot warming slippers. I know I need a pair - my feet are always cold! Hrm, yes, and this IS a ridiculous way to utilize your usb juice.
Add comment July 6th, 2006
bumptop
The bumptop physical desktop is an excellent execution of an alternative method of interacting with files. While not very practical or usable, it’s a beautiful mix of real physics and digital organization.
Add comment July 5th, 2006
The Art of Espresso
I own an espresso machine, and making a good espresso definately seems to be a fine art that is a balance of good beans, the right grind, a quality machine, and perhaps most importantly, knowing all the little tricks that help you get it right. I certainly wouldn’t pretend to know how to make a truly great coffee (though it mainly has to do with how much I’m not willing to spend on speciality coffee gear!). Check out the Boing Boing story and links and you can see what I’m talking about.
Add comment July 5th, 2006
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya | Dance Steps Video
I’ve started watching The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. I’m a few epsiodes in, and am enjoying it thoroughly - The ending song is really cute and has the characters from the show doing a cutesy dance number.
The funniest thing is the SOS-Dan fansite that shows the dance steps so that you can learn the dance too! Then you can teach your socially awkward male friend. And once he’s mastered the steps, teach it to his Gundam figures, and also to the random cosplayers from Finland. Go Fin anime fanatics, go!
Add comment July 5th, 2006
Modern Empires
Imomus at Click opera has a piece called ‘Empires and Dance’ which provided a new perspective on what I am used to from living in the USA, offering Berlin as the location where a new model is being worked out. Imomus:
Berlin is in fact a laboratory for future ways of doing things. This city is not just post-industrial, but post-imperial. It’s a divergence machine.
Add comment July 5th, 2006
Anime Fansubbing & P2P .. or .. Automate Downloads with Azureus and RSS Feeds
The BasuGasuBakuhatsu Anime Blog has a tutorial on How to: Automate Anime Downloads with Azureus and RSS Feeds. This is a pretty nifty way to get your Daily Recommended Dose of Fresh Squeezed Anime without having to check on new torrents (though the true Anime nuts will check daily anyway!).
I think it’s quite interesting how the Japanese Anime industry has not caused a fuss about the whole p2p paradigm and the efforts of fans (perhaps as part of their marketing strategy?). Until anime series are officially released in the USA, the overseas studios seem OK with groups of fans translating the shows, fansubbing them, and releasing through p2p (Usually BitTorrent) Once the shows are released in the US, the fansub groups cease distribution of the titles - the subs themselves often include a statement to this effect also. Of course, this is all probably far from legal. There has been one US company that sent cease and desist letters to fansub groups. And anyway, torrents don’t usually survive until a title is released - that specific p2p delivery depends greatly on the link have a heavy activity. I have watched some great series through seeing fansubbed versions, and then bought the box sets. Though i can understand misgivings by studio execs worried about loss of revenue … It’s a fascinating case that I think only serves to increase the popularity of anime, and must certainly drive up the revenue of the merchandises… An would totally love to read an in-depth piece done on this topic, with proper investigation and interviews with the heads of Japanese and US companies.
Add comment July 5th, 2006
Democracy, my Ass
Mike Ferner writes: Has This Country Gone Completely Insane?
This afternoon, drinking a cup of coffee while sitting in the Jesse Brown V.A. Medical Center on Chicago’s south side, a Veterans Administration cop walked up to me and said, “OK, you’ve had your 15 minutes, it’s time to go.”
“Huh?”, I asked intelligently, not quite sure what he was talking about.
“You can’t be in here protesting,” officer Adkins said, pointing to my Veterans For Peace shirt.
“Well, I’m not protesting, I’m having a cup of coffee,” I returned, thinking that logic would convince Adkins to go back to his earlier duties of guarding against serious terrorists.
Flipping his badge open, he said, “No, not with that shirt. You’re protesting and you have to go.” Read on …
3 comments July 3rd, 2006
The McCollough Effect
As always, I’m interested in the issue of perception and how subjective it is. The McCollough Effect is at first glance *no pun intended* a simple ghostly after-image optical illusion: Stare at two colored gridded squares for a few minutes, and then at some non-colored squares. The non-colored gridded squares will now be surrounded by hazes of those two colors. The crazy thing is that supposedly the effect of staring at these squares for a few minutes can last for hours, even through sleep! And according to the site, coffee and your level of extroversion can also amplify the effect! I say, wtf! Just goes to show how our perception of reality is so easily skewed. I’m going to leave those squares visible on my monitor all day and see how screwed up I can make myself. *grin*
Add comment July 3rd, 2006
The Loudness of Music & The Oversaturation Gag Reflex
Nick Southall has an excellent (though quite long) article called Imperfect Sound Forever in Stylus Magazine which covers the trend of the music industry to over-compress music that is being released these days. What this technically means is that the tunes we listen to these days have much less dynamic range between the quiet bits and louds bits. One of the main factors for this is that these overly compressed, or ‘hot’ tracks stand out compared to other tracks that are less compressed. This sells records. This consistently loud (or ‘hot’) barrage of sound throughout the music we are exposed to makes us less likely to really listen carefully - almost as if the music were produced to overcome the background sounds that are almost assumed in our day and age - the drone of the car engine, the noises on the sidewalk, the hum of the office copier. The article covers the topic from a variety of angles - technological, societal, personal. A fascinating read - I even read the followup as well as a piece on the music oversaturation we encounter these days as downloading music gets so easy and our hard disks are filled with thousands of hours worth of music. What does that mean for that one excellent song? For the music I produce?
Add comment July 3rd, 2006
Jack in the Space
I’m not sure what to make of the Jack dude from the Jack in the Box ad campaign having his own myspace page. Oh wait, I know. It means myspace is now so painfully obvious as a marketing strategy tool that even the big corporations have glommed onto it. *barf*
Add comment July 3rd, 2006
Cool HD Capacity Gauge
This External Hard Drive from Western Digital has a pretty cool feature - it has a very nice looking gauge on the front that indicates the used/available capacity at a glance. This is a such a simple and useful thing that it’s amazing it isn’t a standard feature for drives. I’ve seen it done on a USB Flash drive, but not a HD. At 1/2 a terrabyte, this puppy sure packs alot of storage, but comes with a corresponding price tag….
Add comment July 3rd, 2006