Archive for November, 2008
« Older Entries | Newer Entries »Theo Jansen’s Eerie Beach Beasts
[ Comments Off ]Posted on November 22, 2008 by admin in Clean & Green, Technology
Saturday, November 22nd, 2008Life is indeed a beach
If technology has ceased to amaze you, get ready to rediscover amazement. The clip at left is the trailer for a film about Dutch artist, engineer, and visionary Theo Jansen. Using primarily electrical conduit tubing, Jansen creates disturbingly life-like machines that are meant to “populate” the coasts of Holland, “feeding on wind and fleeing from water” as he puts it. The trailer featured here gives a quick glimpse into what his creations are about, but for a fascinating few minutes, check out his talk on TED.com. His creations are sort of like a real-world Sodaconstructor, the Java-powered, kinetic, on line tinkertoy. Sodaconstructor is a little difficult to figure out, but kind of addictive once you master the basics.
War and Peace in Fifteen Hours
[ Comments Off ]Posted on November 21, 2008 by admin in Editorial & Opinion
Friday, November 21st, 2008Fill your brain with useless information faster!
Growing up in a smarty-pants college town (okay, only third smartest), I received what I later realized was kind of an unusual public school education. As well as oddities like explicit sex ed in first grade (I’d love to do followup research with my peers to see how that turned out), we also benefited from things like speed reading being mysteriously integrated into our standard seventh grade English curriculum. Oye. Poor Mr. Bigler. Before I go on, I’d like to pause for a moment and apologize to the mild-mannered and patient Mr. Bigler for all the paper airplanes, thrown erasers, and smart-ass remarks. Forgive me. Phew. I feel much better now. Perhaps he can rest in peace knowing that 500 words-per-minute felt incredibly slow to me using the tool at spreeder.com. Try it for yourself. Cut and paste a body of text (just use some news or something) into the box and hit play. The default setting is 500wpm. I felt pretty comfortable at 950 (neener neener). What feels natural to you?
Four Reasons I Wouldn’t Smoke After Sex
[ Comments Off ]Posted on November 20, 2008 by admin in Lifestyle & Culture
Thursday, November 20th, 2008That is, if I ever had sex…
The American Cancer Society needs a new PR firm. I had already had two cigarettes before I realized today was The Great American Smokeout. Well, it’s too late now. I’ll have to try some other time. But what’s the hurry, when more doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette? Yes, dentists and doctors alike agree that cigarettes are pretty swell. Besides, I haven’t figured out yet why they taste so good. My challenge to you: give me three good reasons I should go against the medical advice of my 1950′s doctor. And make them funny; pictures of black lungs and stuff don’t work. And for those of you who actually might care if I quit, here’s another challenge: Donate $1,000.00, and I’ll quit for at least one year. For smaller donations, I’ll smoke one less pack per week for every $50.00 donated. And I’ll quit forever if you get me a date with Isabella Rossellini, Elina Lowensown , or Nastassja Kinski.
The War On Error Begins
[ Comments Off ]Posted on November 20, 2008 by admin in Comics
Thursday, November 20th, 2008Putting The Intelligence Back Into Intelligence
Peter Frampton, Meet Peter Drake
[ 3 Comments ]Posted on November 19, 2008 by admin in Music
Wednesday, November 19th, 2008The original talk box guy
Something that’s driven me crazy for a while is pop music artists that use that effect you’ve probably heard where they sound just a little like a robot on certain notes. Kid Rock