January 2012
1 post
2 tags
A Note on Self-Reliance
1. In what prayers do men allow themselves! That which they call a holy office is not so much as brave and manly. Prayer looks abroad and asks for some foreign addition to come through some foreign virtue, and loses itself in endless mazes of natural and supernatural, and mediatorial and miraculous. Prayer that craves a particular commodity,—any thing less than all good,—is vicious....
June 2011
2 posts
Green: Documentaries Delve Into the Sushi Economy →
Two filmmakers set out separately to explore the rise in sushi’s international popularity, then found themselves focusing on the environmental implications of overfishing.
Groundwater Depletion Is Detected From Space →
Scientists have used small variations in the Earth’s gravity to identify trouble spots around the globe where people are making unsustainable demands on groundwater.
May 2011
4 posts
Disbelieving Free Will Makes Brain Less Free →
If people are told that free will doesn’t exist, their brains might follow suit.
A test of people who read passages discrediting the notion of free will found an immediate decrease in…
Electrons Are Near-Perfect Spheres →
By Duncan Geere, Wired UK
A 10-year study has revealed that the electron is very spherical indeed.
To be precise, the electron differs from being perfectly round by less than…
Polaroid printing iPhone case →
I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s wondered when someone will devise an iPhone printer concept and it seems that now our wait is over! The Sophie is a concept from designer Mac Funamizu…
Electric Fish’s Better Brain Linked to... →
Better brains make one fish, two fish, into lots and lots of fish.
After upgrading their ability to communicate using electrical signals, a group of African fish exploded into…
February 2011
3 posts
England crime map comparisons →
After a sluggish launch by police.uk to unleash local crime data, the Guardian and Doug McCune teamed up to provide a tool that lets you compare crime rates in different England…
Billboard Hot 100 notches 1,000th No. 1 single:... →
Lady Gaga has snagged a piece of pop music history in landing the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 this week with her new single “Born This Way.”
Even more significant…
City traffic visualized as blood vessels →
Pedro Cruz puts a twist on the traditional map approach to visualize traffic in Lisbon as blood vessels:
In this work the traffic of Lisbon is portrayed exploring metaphors of living…
December 2010
5 posts
US Army testing solar powered tents for troops,... →
While the military is still hashing out plans to outfit soldiers with their own smartphones, gadgets are already a part of daily life of troops in the field. Of course, more technology…
Athlete Robot runs just a few steps before falling... →
Since 2007, researchers at Tokyo University’s ISI Lab have been working on a prototype of a running robot, which we’ve seen several of in the past. Athlete Robot (as it is seemingly…
10 Best Data Visualization Projects of the Year –... →
Data visualization and all things related continued its ascent this year with projects popping up all over the place. Some were good, and a lot were not so good. More than anything, I…
Geminid Meteor Shower Peaks Tonight; Best of 2010? →
With a recent growth in intensity, the annual shower may outshine the August Perseids as the best meteor shower of 2010, experts say.
November 2010
9 posts
Stop-Motion Video: Laura Marling - “The Needle and... →
Stop-Motion Video: Laura Marling - “The Needle and the Damage Done”
Not sure if this is an official video, but it’s fabulous nonetheless, and, hey, unofficial vids are giving the…
Nick Cave Planning New Bad Seeds Album for 2011 →
In a recent interview with Spinner, Nick Cave revealed that his next project will be a new Bad Seeds record, out sometime next year….
Super Sad Super Crunching →
Gary Shteyngart’s new novel, Super Sad True Love Story (more here), paints a compelling but amazingly bleak picture of a future ravaged by the twin evils of predictive analytics and texting….
QE2 →
Several people have asked my opinion of the Federal Reserve’s new round of quantitative easing. In particular, some have noted that I did not sign the open letter by conservative economists…
Is this the end of caffeine/alcohol drinks? →
A wall stacked with Four Loko alcoholic energy drinks is seen at a convenience store in Seattle last week. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) The party may be over for the makers of alcoholic energy drinks.
Help Scientists Hunt for Exploding Stars →
A new crowdsourced science project uses thousands of human eyes to identify stars in their death throes. The first report shows that armchair astronomers can catch a new supernova just…
Ray Charles Foundation sues the singer's eldest... →
The Ray Charles Foundation has filed a lawsuit charging the late soul singer’s eldest son, Ray Charles Robinson Jr., with copyright infringement stemming from the use of a photograph and…
Skull of a fetal dinosaur →
Reader Keith took this shot at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. He’s not sure about the species, but digging around the AMNH website, I think it might be an…
What generation do you belong to? →
In this interactive, USA Today guesses your age, based on what influenced you as a teenager:
The year you were born partly determines what generation you belong to, but so do your…
October 2010
1 post
3 tags
12 Ancient Landmarks on Verge of Vanishing →
A Haitian palace, a Swahili port town, and a Maya complex are among the ancient sites disappearing due to modern neglect, a new report says.
September 2010
3 posts
3 tags
Crapgadgets anonymous →
A mouse in the shape of a gilded turtle? A human skull that doubles as an MP3 player? A USB-powered stapler that doubles as a USB hub? Those catastrophes, and many more thanks to people (more or less) like you.
5 tags
[Disputable] $75,000 Is the "Perfect Salary for... →
According to a study focusing on 450,000 Americans and how they evaluate their happiness, a salary of $75,000 a year is the magic number after which people’s day-to-day happiness nods off.
I am a little skeptical of the news myself. What do you think?
1 tag
WTF ... Banner Fail →
FAIL blog makes me so happy.
August 2010
10 posts
2 tags
Space Food: The Best and Worst →
Astronaut foods during the Gemini and Apollo programs were highly processed, because “low-residue” food meant fewer encounters with the dread fecal bag.
I’ve had cotton candy once and it was pretty good, albeit a little crunchy. Can’t say the same would work for savory meals though.
In the future, perhaps meals will be ingested via pills (or laser beams?!). Who...
Armor for Cats →
Is your cat ever really safe enough? For those warrior cats who need additional protection during their wartime pursuits, artist Jeff de Boer has created these stunning (and hilarious) …
1960s toy gun commercial →
Video link. Mattel’s Tommy Burst toy machine gun — so realistic you can use it to scare off prowlers! (Via Vintage Ads)
Cab Calloway Sings for Betty Boop in 1933 (Video) →
So how’s this for awesome: in 1933, animator Roland Crandall singlehandedly animated a seven-minute Betty Boop cartoon (a version of Snow White) in only six months. In 1994, animators voted the…
Find Creative Commons Licensed Sound Effects at... →
Whether you’re looking for crickets for the a little ambient pop in the background of your camping montage or robotic squeaks and grinds for the main character in your space-based…
1973 ad for Sony reel-to-reel tape deck →
“Whatever weird instrument your great-grandson will be playing, the Sony TC-377 will capture it.” From National Geographic, April 1973. (Via Vintage Ads)
A capella soul covers of cartoon TV show theme... →
This video by YouTube busker DeStorm Power is a year old. How’d I miss this magic? Theme songs include cartoon Fat Albert, Pinky and the Brain, Reading Rainbow, Gummi Bears, Fraggle…
golden highway →
Gardiner Expressway seen from Closer avenue.
Shot with a normal zoom lens, Tilt/Shift effect is achieved in post.
2 tags
Shanghai: 1990 & 2010 →
This image, published on Gizmodo shows a comparison of the Shanghai city skyline in 1990 and 2010.
2 tags
Classic Pike Place →
Circa 1910′s Pike Place Market shot.
July 2010
51 posts
Burmese protesters using "Team America" likeness... →
Team America lives on.
Jeff Koyen sends this along and asks, “Anyone remember Evil Bert spotted alongside Osama in Bangladesh?”
Indeed. At left, a snapshot of the original…
Burmese protesters using "Team America" likeness... →
Team America lives on.
Jeff Koyen sends this along and asks, “Anyone remember Evil Bert spotted alongside Osama in Bangladesh?”
Indeed. At left, a snapshot of the original…
How to win Rock-paper-scissors every time →
I admit it. When I first heard there are actual tournaments for Rock-paper-scissors, sanctioned by the World Rock Paper Scissors Society, I laughed. I mean seriously, $50k to the winner…
The Late Movies: Fun With Time Lapse →
Tonight for the Late Movies, we take a look at some incredible time lapse videos—everything from a banana aging in a minute to a quick trip across the United States. Have a favorite of your…
Tokyo timelapse video →
It’s best to watch Samuel Cockedey’s beautiful “floating point” time lapse movie of Tokyo skylines and landmarks in high-definition and full screen. (Via Pink Tentacle)
Trumpet junk raygun →
C.G.Conn Gideon’s entry at Budget Rayguns is this wonderful trumpetgun, suitable for arpeggioing the Bug-Eyed Monsters into paste.
C.G.Conn Gideon (Thanks, Keri666! via Submitterator)
Robert Rankin’s badass homemade raygun
1 tag
summer boats →
Seen from Toronto Beach, near Queen and Lee Ave.
High-flying cluster ballonists →
Several months ago, Jonathan Trappe flew across the English Channel suspended by a cluster of helium balloons. Yet Trappe is just the latest in a long line of adventurers enamored with cluster…
Fashion! (trippy mid-sixties video clip, mit... →
Video Link. A clip from the mid-sixties German television program “Paris Aktuell”. The music is “Teen Tonic” by groovy, experimental musique concrète pioneers Pierre Henry and Michel…
Live & Die. →
Unlike
History of The Beatles as told by their hair →
The Beatles were famously known for their mop-top haircuts in the early 1960s, but their styles evolved over time. DeviantArt user mozzarellapoppy has a look at the hair, moustache, and…