March 31, 2008

Tron, Sweded

My friend Snarles IM'ed me this link to Wired's Underwire blog with a video of a Sweded version of Tron embedded.



I'd watched it earlier this week but watching it again reminded me that I really should have posted it.

Geektastic. I enjoyed Michel Gondry's Be Kind Rewind much more than I expected to, given the New Yorker's tepid review. The website for the film, BeKindMovie.com has a similar quirky aesthetic. You can see Google sweded there, along with this helpful guide to sweding.

March 19, 2008

The future Eiffel Tower -- another reason to visit Paris again



The temporary observation deck will be made of carbon Kevlar webbing and be bolted to the existing tower, doubling the area at the available to sightseers.

Neat.

[Hat tip: iO9]

March 18, 2008

ping.fm, Tumblr, FriendFeed and getting microbloggy with it

I've been twittering much more recently, in no small part due to downloading Snitter.

The latter is a brilliant interface for Twitter.

As a result of that network, I've been turned exposed to any number of new (and exciting) social media services. Each service has made its mark by allowing the user to aggregate and mix multiple feeds from blogs, podcasts, photo services and video networks.

ping.fm, which allows the user to update multiple presence applications at once, just makes my life easier. Many thanks to Chris Brogan for the invite.

I'm trying out Tumblr, after getting tumblr envy one too many times.

Joining FriendFeed has allowed me to aggregate them all together and to subscribe to and comment upon other blogger's shared feeds.

I'm uncertain whether adding more services will save me time in the end or add needed precision to winnowing the important bits and bytes from each day's information glut.

I was impressed with the ease of sign in. Online interface design has come a long way in the past ten years. 

March 17, 2008

Cyberdonkey: "Big Dog" Robot from Boston Dynamics



Big Dog has been all over the Internet today. How can it not be?

The unearthly gait, buzzing operation and weirdly mammalian bounding of Big Dog are even more impressive in this outing with a payload and snowy hills to navigate.


Boston Dynamics
and DARPA are well on their way to giving Skynet a hardy pet someday.

March 7, 2008

Playmobil Security Checkpoint. No, really.


My friend Dana forwarded me a link to the comment page on Amazon.com listing for the Playmobil Security Checkpoint today.

That comment section is about as entertaining as anything I've read this month. Hilarious.

There are one or two serious comments about using the product to teach kids about security procedures before heading to the airport. {chuckle}

The laughs kept coming, though... guess what "Customers Who Bought Items Like This Also Bought?"

Dianetics: The Evolution of a Science by L. Ron Hubbard
Scientology: A New Slant On Life by L. Ron Hubbard
Clear Body, Clear Mind: The Effective Purification by L. Ron Hubbard
Self Analysis by L. Ron Hubbard
Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought by L. Ron Hubbard

From this, we can gather that Scientologists love to play with plasticine security checkpoints.

I love Fridays.

March 3, 2008

Hexapus!



Hi, Henry.

[Image courtesy of AFP/HO/Blackpool Sealife Centre]

History's Greatest Replies, according to Dr. Mardy

This compilation is just priceless.

Some classics:

"Winston, if you were my husband, I'd put poison in your coffee."
-Lady Astor

"Nancy, if you were my wife, I'd drink it."
-Winston Churchill

****

"What are you doing reading a Bible?" asked an astonished Thomas Mitchell, confronted by an irreligious man paging through the Good Book on his deathbed.

"I'm looking for loopholes."
-W. C. Fields

****

At a press conference, a reporter pointed out that $80,000 was $5,000 more than President Hoover's annual salary.

"Maybe so, but I had a better year than he did."
-Babe Ruth