two cents

Semester at Sea

2011-12-03T12:13:00.001-05:00

This is a spectacular video...and not just because it's my brother who produced it. Seriously, try to make it to the end

Semester at Sea LipDub Ship Tour from Semester at Sea on Vimeo.

Ridiculous Pool

2011-07-15T16:22:00.002-04:00

What happens when you put sprapaint cans on the bottom of a skateboard?

Skate peinture |

Psychopath Test

2011-06-17T14:18:00.001-04:00

Love it

tumblr_lmwhmiwXsm1qz6f9yo1_r1_500.jpg (JPEG Image, 466x699 pixels)

Bottle Key

2011-06-13T13:17:00.001-04:00

Bottle Key | Leather Goods, Wallets, Bags, Accessories | Made in the USA

Two Roads to Courage

2011-06-08T17:07:00.001-04:00

Mindblowingly awesome.

Suitcase: "Two Roads to courage" - bottle of bourban and brass knuckles.

"Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing."

BAM!

Tyler Riewer

It's a small world after all

2011-03-11T09:34:00.005-05:00

Distance no longer matters as much as accessibility. Very cool infographic

researchers at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy, and the World Bank, created this gorgeous map. They first created a model, which calculated how long it would take to travel from a given point, to the nearest city of 50,000 people or more; the model includes rail, road, and river networks.

Infographic of the Day: It's a Small World, Afterall | Fast Company

Dieter Rams: ten principles for good design

2011-02-23T09:14:00.001-05:00

Worth reading again and again

Dieter Rams: ten principles for good design

Smart NFL Marketing

2010-11-03T09:32:00.003-04:00

So I got an email from NFL today. It happens to be my birthday this week, so they gave me a % discount. But when i looked at the visual in the email, they had put my last name on the jersey of the team I affiliate myself with (the Skins). This is brilliant. If i loved the Skins more, this would be much more motivating...and for real fans I can imagine how compelling this would be. So all the pieces:

15% discount
jersey with my name
on my team
with the #1

Well played, NFL. I'm very impressed.

Heineken STR bottle

2010-10-12T11:10:00.002-04:00

The new limited edition Heineken STR bottle looks great on it's own, but when under black light, looks even cooler. Check it out.

Look, Ma, I'm on TV!

2010-08-31T09:11:00.000-04:00

Okay Yellow talked me into being in their latest spot for Mercedes-Benz, and it turned out pretty great. Be sure to check them out!

Graffiti Analysis 2.0 (Digital Blackbook)

2010-04-22T10:44:00.000-04:00

Graffiti Analysis 2.0: Digital Blackbook from Evan Roth on Vimeo.

Wow. Great idea, spectacular execution.
more at http://graffitianalysis.com/

Airplane Hanger

2010-03-01T10:26:00.002-05:00

Clever

from MOM

Coke-powered phone

2010-01-08T12:35:00.002-05:00

Chinese designer Daizi Zheng has created a conceptual mobile phone for Finnish brand Nokia that could be powered by sugary drinks.

read more

(via treehugger)

Projection on Buildings

2009-12-01T11:20:00.000-05:00

Projection on Buildings from NuFormer Digital Media on Vimeo.

via Jacob

Street Pole Campaign

2009-11-13T16:26:00.003-05:00

An outdoor Street Pole campaign for the University of Natal courses. This was also also the launch of the media of Street Pole advertising in South Africa in 2001.

Clever work by Steven Smith.

The Longest Way

2009-11-05T10:39:00.001-05:00

Probably way behind on this, but I find it inspiring and well done. Makes me want to travel.

The Longest Way 1.0 - one year walk/beard grow time lapse from Christoph Rehage on Vimeo.

The Fun Theory

2009-10-13T11:40:00.000-04:00

awesome.
more at thefuntheory.com

Via David

Jay-Z - Blueprint III

2009-09-16T12:33:00.003-04:00

New Jay-Z album cover is cool enough visually, even with the red stripes added with photosho...wait...

wow...

(not a bad album to boot)

(via Bobby)

Actually cool bike helmets

2009-08-31T15:36:00.003-04:00

Fuseproject was commissioned by New York City to create a new product and brand for the new generation of bikers, would provide safety both in a context of a free bike program, and of a policy to promote cycling in the City.

The helmet features an innovative two-fold design that consists of a protective polystyrene shell on the inside, covered with a customizable soft fabric that attaches with integrated straps. Unfortunately this product is not yet available for purchase, NYC is currently distributing helmets at community events around the city.

IQ Font

2009-07-28T10:54:00.002-04:00

The type nerd in me rejoices with his fellow technology nerd. The iQ font was created by the tracked movements of a little Toyota.

3-D Projection on buildings

2009-07-27T23:41:00.002-04:00

555 KUBIK_ extended version from urbanscreen on Vimeo.

I absolutely love this.

via Gizmodo

Go Plates

2009-07-23T21:34:00.004-04:00

When you need a free hand to, you know, actually eat the food you're carrying around - just put your plate over your brew. They're called Go Plates. Love it.

via Geekologie

Automated Tabletop Cutter

2009-07-17T13:15:00.002-04:00

Loved the idea for this. The possibilities are really exciting - imagine all the fun stuff you can do with your recycling.

Automated Tabletop Cutter

Michael Jordan/Gatorade street art photos

2009-07-15T09:16:00.002-04:00

A street art tribute to Michael Jordan made out of 19,000 Gatorade bottles

BooneOakley.com - Home Page

2009-06-22T21:13:00.001-04:00

youtube as a website. brilliant.

Netflix Origami

2009-05-22T17:23:00.003-04:00

This made me smile because we have a never ending supply of these around the house.

Happy Memorial Day!

Mama's Sauce

2009-05-20T08:26:00.003-04:00

Mama's sauce is a design/print shop in central Florida that just blew my mind. They take great care in their print processes, and seem to truly love the art form. Refreshing.

This poster for a crawfish boil was actually printed with Old Bay seasoning mixed in with the ink! Amazing. Looks super-great too.

Here There Be Monsters

2009-05-15T09:08:00.002-04:00

The Portfolio of Here There Be Monsters in itself is worth a post, but what really caught my attention was how they use Google Maps to present the site. The click-drag can be a little annoying, but it is a really unusual and captivating idea. Worth checking out.

Someday Is Today

2009-05-12T16:12:00.002-04:00

I'm proud to announce the launch of Someday Is Today a collaboration between Benjamin Clyde, Aaron Martin, Shawn Romano, Northland Church and myself.

We decided to take another approach on the idea of taking overseas service trips, and focus on the things that prevent people from taking the dive. This campaign included a series of videos played during the services, and a simple website that funnels you into a trip that fits you best.

I helped with the web structure, overseeing the amazing designers (simple job) and some of the messaging.

Our vision for it starts with Northland, but could include lots of churches/ministries/organizations using the campaign and listing their trips here. If you're interested in participating, let us know.

Honda Insight and Vimeo

2009-04-27T11:07:00.002-04:00

Honda Insight is running an amazing video/campaign on Vimeo. The entire page is effected along with the video. Is it bad it kind of gave me goosebumps?

via Brandon's Twitter

Martin Luther King Sings

2009-04-23T17:22:00.001-04:00

via Daniel

Zip Up Tangles

2009-04-23T09:19:00.001-04:00

Yes, please.

Someone please put these into production. Thank you.

Peter Funch

2009-04-17T10:09:00.001-04:00

Photographer Peter Funch takes a series of photos from the same spot and composites them together based on theme. Love it.

Via yewknee

ToneMatrix

2009-04-13T09:22:00.001-04:00

ToneMatrix

Simple sinewave synthesizer triggered by an ordinary 16step sequencer. Each triggered step causes a force on the underlaying wave-map, which makes it more cute.

Nice.

Video on a Sphere

2009-04-08T18:13:00.003-04:00

Video on a Sphere

Talk about "immersive" media...love it

Boxed Water is Better

2009-03-19T11:04:00.003-04:00

Boxed Water is Better seems pretty neat:

Started with the simple idea of creating a new bottled water brand that is kinder to the environment and gives back a bit - we found that it shouldn't be bottled at all, but instead, boxed. So we looked to the past for inspiration in the century old beverage container and decided to keep things simple, sustainable, and beautiful.

via the dieline

ThruYou

2009-03-04T15:13:00.001-05:00

What you are about to see is a mix of unrelated YouTube videos/clips edited together to create ThruYou.

http://thru-you.com/

Fascinating. via Brandon via zefrank

Crisis of Credit Visualizations

2009-02-20T11:41:00.002-05:00

Fantastic visualizations of the crisis of credit

Via Hunter Chorey

Twestival tonight!

2009-02-12T09:02:00.003-05:00

If there's a twestival in your town, I really encourage you to go tonight.

It's a simple meetup happening in 175+ cities around the world with the goal of raising money for an amazing cause, charity:water. My church has been supporting them for a while, and they're legit. They help build wells for people who currently drink disgusting water that they have to walk miles for. It's amazing to think about how other cultures have to live because of a lack of simple technology to dig a well. Here's more on charity:water:

charity: water for Twestival from charity: water on Vimeo.

Each Twestival is locally and volunteer run, but the one in Charlottesville is awesome. Donors have provided everything, so every single penny from even my beer purchases will go to charity:water. Basically a regular night out with all money going to help.

On the right side of the main Twestival page you can see the cities around the world that are taking part. Find your city, buy a drink, and let's get some wells dug.

(ps - if you come to the charlottesville one, you can get your grubby hands on this SICK print by publicdomain/modern mysticism)

That awful new Pepsi logo

2009-02-11T10:01:00.002-05:00

I've got lots of thoughts on how bad the new pepsi logos are, but this guy introduced a new perspective on the unfortunate mark. This image cracks me up.

Also, if you havent seen the "Breathtaking" presentation that's been "leaked", you should check it out. It's supposedly the brief that explains the case for the shapes of the new logos...but it HAS to be a joke...right?

Pseudo-3D Video Conferencing with a Generic Webcam (Chris Harrison, Scott Hudson) - ISM '08

2009-02-05T08:00:00.000-05:00

fascinating

via yewknee

Bike Lane That Travels With You

2009-02-04T10:32:00.002-05:00

LightLane by Altitude inc

The system projects a virtual bike lane (using lasers!) on the ground around the cyclists, providing drivers with a recognizable boundary they can easily avoid. The idea is to allow riders to take safety into their own hands, rather than leaving it to the city.

Brilliant. Love this idea for so many reasons.

Via GOOD via IDasia

Twitter Chatter During the Super Bowl

2009-02-03T08:14:00.003-05:00

As the Steelers and Cardinals battled on the field, Twitter users across the nation pecked out a steady stream of "tweets." The map shows the location and frequency of commonly used words in Super Bowl related messages.

My favorite is when the Boss takes the stage.

via twitturly

Hobonox audio tool

2009-01-28T08:50:00.003-05:00

Hobonox is beautiful, really well done, and I'm sure fascinating, but reminds me why i never did well in my studio production class in college.

The idea is to:

Produce your own electronic music with the Hobnox Audiotool...Choose your set-up, add, remove and arrange the devices you need and record your track to the myFiles’ section of your Hobnox account. From there, publish and share...

Love the look of the interface and like the pan-able stage (although sometimes you accidentally grab a machine when you're trying to pan around), but this is a great example of how giving people great power to control small details ends up becoming complicated and difficult. People with studio experience, however, might disagree and feel right at home. Worth checking out.

via westerndave's twitter

Duplex

2009-01-27T08:00:00.000-05:00

“Duplex is an aquarium/cage favouring an improbable encounter between a bird and a fish. The aquarium is thermoformed so as to create a space where the bird can fly at the same visual level as the fish.”

via IDasia (which, by the way, is my new favorite)

AWAKENING

2009-01-26T15:37:00.003-05:00

Jeremy Cowart's photography is quite good to start with, but the Awakening book project really caught my eye. He went around with the Passion world tour and captured it in breathtaking images. How can someone edit together a couple thousand photos each as stunning as the last? Looking forward to seeing this book when it comes out.

Via Jeremy's Twitter

Reflective Black Vinyl

2009-01-20T16:29:00.003-05:00

This bike has been wrapped with this cool vinyl material which looks black, but with direct light or flash, it looks white and reflective. The video shows it off best. How cool.

via Core 77 (who, by the way, is killing it these days)

Easy PB&J Jar

2009-01-15T18:17:00.003-05:00

Yes, Please!

Some interesting industrial design from Sherwood Forlee. His Easy PB&J Jar features a clean and simple glass jar with two lids.

The Easy PB&J Jar is a jar with two lids that allows you to access all of your peanut butter easily without having to resort to breaking open the jar. As you near the end on one side, simply flip the jar over to get the rest. The straight and smooth internal walls also ensure that no peanut butter is ever left behind a nook or cranny like existing jars.

via sustainable is good

Q Drum

2009-01-14T10:07:00.003-05:00

I tend to like ideas like these that generate water closer to the source, but for places where this is not possible, the Q Drum is a great, simple idea:

The idea of the Q Drum originated in response to the needs of rural people in developing countries who have a problem carrying adequate quantities of potable water from a reliable source. A burden which is generally bestowed on the women and children of each community. In Africa for example, many debilitating back and neck injuries are a result of women carrying heavy loads on their heads....
The Q Drum is user friendly and the unique longitudinal shaft permits the drum to be pulled using a rope tied through the hole. There are no removable or breakable handles or axles, and the rope can be repaired on the spot or easily replaced...

Brilliant.

Via LeeSteffen

Photoshop Interface on a billboard

2009-01-13T12:36:00.002-05:00

Street Art Berlin ("don't forget..."), originally uploaded by epoxy _.

street art commentary on popular images. photoshop interface pasted onto the images. love it.

Check out the full set.

via brandon

The "blog" of "unnecessary" quotation marks

2009-01-08T11:14:00.002-05:00

Stuff like this cracks me up

via paul armstrong

24-hours of airtraffic

2008-12-22T09:28:00.001-05:00

Tension - A Portrait of Barack Obama

2008-12-17T23:04:00.003-05:00

Tension - A Portrait of Barack Obama, originally uploaded by mmike2.

1000 feet of steel high tension wire, black enamel and poplar base

holy moly. i love this kind of art.

via Time via Nathan

Happy Christmas from AKQA

2008-12-17T12:42:00.002-05:00

via Brandon

The Turn

2008-12-16T12:25:00.002-05:00

The Turn is a fascinating look at the work of artist/singer Fredo Viola. The navigation alone is worth marveling over, but the concept might even eclipse that. He records multiple video tracks of an audio piece (song) and puts them together to "watch" the song come together. This is standard fare on youtube these days, but this presentation is mesmerizing and beautiful. Extraordinarily well done.

via dbox

Lakai- Fully Flared Intro

2008-12-15T10:00:00.001-05:00

quite the twist on the traditional skate video

Idea Generator

2008-12-09T12:15:00.003-05:00

For when you need a jumpstart, the Idea Generator.

via creattica

We are a creative community

2008-12-05T00:03:00.001-05:00

I stumbled on this Johannes Leonardo site tonight. Frankly, I don't 100% get it, but it's fascinating and thought provoking.

Hack the wiimote

2008-12-04T15:07:00.002-05:00

Low-Cost Multi-touch Whiteboard using the Wiimote. Apparantly this is old news, but cool nevertheless. This Johnny Lee guys is pretty awesome.

More here

via Baekdal

The Atlas of the Real World

2008-12-01T13:27:00.003-05:00

The Atlas of the Real World is a beautiful look at how the world would be shaped if it was based on other criteria. The one on the left is Internet Users in 2002. The book is available here.

Multicolr

2008-11-26T08:00:00.000-05:00

Idee's multicolr search lab is really fun to play with. Choose a color and it finds creative common photos containing it. You can even select multiple colors. Fun to play with.

Playing For Change: Song Around the World

2008-11-25T18:00:00.000-05:00

Wish their mission statement was more clear, but Playing for Change is a neat concept. They went around the world and had different musicians record different tracks. Fantastic.

Via Chris

New Five Euro Commemorative Coin

2008-11-25T10:43:00.000-05:00

Stunning.

Via Core77

Did you know?

2008-11-24T10:42:00.001-05:00

A Visual Guide to the Financial Crisis

2008-11-21T09:20:00.004-05:00

Fascinating and very well done. Check it out.

via Chris

Do the test - sequel

2008-11-20T20:00:00.001-05:00

The people behind the original do the test video posted about before have a new one up. Still managed to surprise. Well done.

Are we human?

2008-11-19T18:17:00.002-05:00

I freely admit that I like the Killers. Alot. This set is really incredible, and works well with the song (which I like. alot.) It should be noted that the cool hunter suggests it is very similar to this one, but both are still worth seeing.

Via the Cool Hunter

New Life

2008-11-08T02:18:00.003-05:00

Charlotte Sarah Centofante born november 8 at 1:13 am 8lbs 2oz and totally amazing. Happy birthday to us!

photos

The Power of Now

2008-11-06T15:45:00.002-05:00

Sprint's new ad-site for mobile broadband called The Power of Now is pretty neat. Deliberate info overload, but fascinating and awe-inspiring - even for a blatant marketing piece.

Maybe I'm just a sucker for info graphics?

Via Mike Monello

VOTE

2008-11-04T10:50:00.001-05:00

Vote today. You really should. Even if it's for someone you don't totally love. If you wait for the perfect candidate you'll never vote. And forget about "feasibility" or "throwing away your vote". Each vote sends a message. What will yours be?

Verdict: Daytum is awesome...

2008-11-03T10:28:00.003-05:00

...i just dont know if i'll ever use it.

Daytum is a super-cool way to display "data sets". You can display whatever data you wish in a number of different ways. It is really well designed and the interface is smooth as silk.

The data sets people enter (including their default ones) are typically very silly - what you're eating for lunch and whatnot.

I can't think of any ways I'll use it regularly, but I can see how people might. Signup for the public beta if you want to get in...

update: note to daytum - why can't we embed these individually? would be quite useful...

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T09:50:00.001-04:00

From last year, but still one of the best ever. Instant Halloween classic. The full song can be downloaded here. THANK YOU 30 ROCK!

An in-depth look at USA's religious beliefs, practices

2008-10-29T12:48:00.002-04:00

USA Today has a fascinating look at the beliefs of various religions in the US. The graphs are kind of neat to play with.

via Scott

Synchronized Debating

2008-10-29T11:42:00.002-04:00

Get the latest news satire and funny videos at 236.com.

via jeremy pinnix

MTV Music

2008-10-28T12:40:00.001-04:00

MTV just launched MTV Music a video service so you can actually watch music videos. Imagine that - Music Videos on Music Television. The archive seems pretty deep, and seems to have some true classics. Interface is nice too.

via digg

a-ha |MTV Music

One Mile Scroll

2008-10-20T13:59:00.003-04:00

One Mile Scroll is a little site to try to translate the scale between web scrolling and real-life objects.

The One Mile Scroll transforms virtual space into an actual, physical distance. Take your computer for a scroll...Scale: 1 inch = 96 pixels

You can scroll a mile, or the height of the eiffel tower or the statue of liberty.

Not world-changing, but certainly a unique way to look at a mundane thing we do every day.

The Wisdom Project

2008-10-17T07:30:00.000-04:00

The Wisdom Project is fascinating:

"Inspired by the idea that one of the greatest gifts one generation can pass to another is the wisdom it has gained from experience, the Wisdom project, prodcued with cooperation from Archbishop Desmond Tutu, seeks to create a record of a multicultural gorup of people who have all made their mark on the world."

The trailer is a must see, and the book itself seems beautifully designed.

via yewknee

The Atlantic Project: "Think Again"

2008-10-16T12:37:00.002-04:00

The Atlantic Project is a marketing piece for the magazine...but even still a really cool look into some of the difficult questions of our time. The videos are very interesting and thought provoking. Some questions include:

When is Evil Cool?
Why do Presidents Lie?
Is Porn Adultery?
Can Jesus Save Hollywood?
Is America Still the Land of Opportunity?

Fascinating.

826

2008-10-15T10:47:00.005-04:00

826 is a remarkable, awe-inspiring organization. From the recent article in Brand New:

Established in San Francisco in 2002 by renown writer Dave Eggers and educator Nínive Calegari, 826 is a unique organization that tutors and provides workshops for kids ages six to eighteen on writing and ultimately on creative expression. The San Francisco building where the classes took place, located at 826 Valencia Street (hence the name 826), was zoned commercial and the logical thing to do was to set up a pirate supply storefront which, according to David Byrne, is "definitely one of the top five pirate stores." And in that same spirit, the 826 chapters in New York and Los Angeles are flanked by retail stores like the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co. (designed by Sam Potts) and Echo Park Time Travel Mart (designed by Stefan Bucher), respectively.

Loyd has been telling me about this for a few years. They use the fictional storefront as inspiration for the kids and actually sell pirate stuff to raise funds as well. The posters are particularly amazing.

You really must read more on Brand New.

This Ted talk is also worth watching

link via Nathan, product design and photos via office

An American Werewolf In London

2008-10-14T12:59:00.002-04:00

So ridiculous i want one for Halloween.

An American Werewolf in London by Aled Lewis

Design Marathon

2008-10-10T11:35:00.003-04:00

It's days like today i'm really proud to live in Charlottesville.

Today is the first annual Design Marathon.

twelve hours of pro-bono design work
ten deserving community nonprofits
twenty local professional designers
ten design students
zero reasons to miss out

Some good friends are taking part, and I couldnt be more proud.

I only wish I would have found out sooner! Dont know if I would have made the cut, but love the idea and would be honored to be a part. Perhaps at the Second Annual Design Marathon...

Content Aware Scaling

2008-10-09T13:36:00.004-04:00

Does it make me a nerd if I find Content Aware Scaling exciting?

This was all the buzz a while back when it was in prototype phase, but Adobe actually built it into Photoshop CS4. Fascinating to see it in action.

via Paul

My Cuppa

2008-10-08T10:36:00.003-04:00

My Cuppa is the "colour matching guide mug" with the following swatches:
Milky
Classic British
Builders Brew
Just Tea

Love it. Reminds my of my pals Jon and Nick from across the pond who regularly take their tea in the afternoon. Something tells me they don't need a color matching system....

clever nonetheless.

If the world were a village of 100 people...

2008-10-03T01:38:00.003-04:00

The World of 100 is a set of fascinating visualizations from Toby Ng Kwong To in London. It explores difficult to comprehend world statistics in a much more accessible way - by imagining how it would look in a villiage of 100 people.

It's tough to see, but this poster, for example, says "If the world were a village of 100 people, skin colour: 30% white, 70% non-white."

It's a set of 20 posters and they're all really great.

The economy is imploding...

2008-09-30T10:01:00.006-04:00

...and my head is spinning with people I respect on both sides of the issue proposing completely opposite solutions to the problem. One thing is certain, doing nothing with frozen markets doesnt seem acceptable. The finger-pointing on both sides is reprehensible.

In the end, as Americans, what should we think? The Onion, America's Finest News Source sums it up well (foul language ahead):

Stock Market Posts Record Point Loss

After the defeat of the bailout bill, the Dow Jones plunged a record 777 points. What do you think?

Charity: Water, Twitter, and the way we connect these days

2008-09-24T10:57:00.003-04:00

I first heard about Charity: Water through my church, but recently read more from Mashable and TechDarling:

On September 18th 2008, Mashable’s Twitter followers donated $3536 to Charity:Water, an initiative to build wells in Ethiopia. On the same day, our Twitter friend Paul Young raised a further $637 through his Twitter and Facebook accounts. And Twitter user Sarah Townsend hauled in $400 - that’s more than $4500, almost exclusively from Twitter, in a single day. With $4000 buying an entire well to supply water to 200 people for 20 years, we can truly call this the “well that Twitter built”.

Incredible idea for a cause and how to fund it, incredible ideas to use these technologies to spread the word, and incredible success all around. How can we continue to use these technologies to make a difference? More on Charity: Water below

The September Campaign Trailer - www.borninseptember.org from charity: water on Vimeo.

I'm inspired that he started this at 32 and is only 33 now. Gives me hope! More on Charity:Water

Mesmerizing audio visualizations

2008-09-22T10:48:00.001-04:00

I stared at this for a while last night totally engrossed. According to the creator,

In this movie, each of the 48 dots is moving in a circle. Each of the dots is on a 3 minute cycle. At the end of 3 minutes, the outermost dot will have moved around the circle once (this dot represents the first harmonic or fundamental). The next dot will have moved around the circle twice (representing the second harmonic). The next dot three times, and so on. The innermost dot moves around the circle 48 times.

He goes on:

You may notice some interesting links between the visuals and the audio, especially if you are a musician. For example, when the pattern forms a 3-arm starfish, the chords you are hearing are diminished chords, which consist of minor thirds, an interval in which the notes are 3 chromatic steps apart. The chords you hear always bear this type of relationship to the pattern you are seeing, consisting of intervals which match the arrangement of arms.

Fascinating. Apparently the Source Code is also available for you to play with yourself.

via SpaceCollective

Windmills for Malawi

2008-09-18T13:50:00.003-04:00

Love this. Seeing a need. Applying the talents you have. Being creative. Making a difference.

A side-note - Summit Church was where I went when I lived in Orlando, and it is amazing.

Japanese water hologram

2008-09-18T07:00:00.001-04:00

For all i know they could be talking about how gullible Americans are, but from the looks of it they seem to be projecting light onto airborne water particles to produce a really impressive hologram effect. Really cool looking.

via Benjamin

Fifty people, one question

2008-09-17T08:56:00.003-04:00

Fifty People, One Question: Restored from Benjamin Reece on Vimeo.

Beautiful, fascinating and inspiring. Worth watching fullscreen.

via Shawn Kelley

Swype

2008-09-17T07:45:00.001-04:00

Swype is a new input method for touchscreen devices. Instead of pecking each character, the user drags their finger over a keyboard graphic, and based on your finger's path, an algorithm spits out relevant word results. Think T9, but faster and for touchscreen. Worth paying attention to because it's the guys who actually invented T9.

Liecount

2008-09-15T18:15:00.000-04:00

A good friend and I decided to do an experiment. What would happen if we tracked the lies told by this years presidential candidates and their campaigns from the conventions until voting day? Would that tell us anything about them and their parties? Perhaps it will, perhaps it won't - but certainly it is an interesting perspective for this election.

So we started liecount.com

Counting lies won't tell the whole story, to be sure. Gross hypocrisy is not an outright lie, for example. It does a poor job of gauging intention. It doesnt measure waffling on issues, temperament, leadership qualifications, or poor policy formulation. Regardless, it is important to keep these people accountable for their words. After all, they're interviewing for arguably the hardest job in the world...

In the week that it's been launched, there have been various other reports discussing the role that lies have played in the campaigns this year. I think we're on the right track. As Nathan pointed out

"An imperfect system to be sure, but certainly valuable...sort of like America's political system."

Would love if you participated in the conversation and/or submit whoppers you've heard.

Liecount.com

I need more cowbell

2008-09-15T12:50:00.001-04:00

MoreCowbell.dj is perhaps a few years too late but excellent and funny nevertheless. Upload any song and tell it how much more cowbell to add, and enjoy the results.

Here's a nice one:


	Make your own at MoreCowbell.dj

via the agitator

Balance of press coverage

2008-09-12T08:46:00.004-04:00

You probably know at this point I love information visualization.

Every Moment Now is visualizing the balance of press coverage of the two candidates. Really cool to see at a glance.

Granted it doesn't map favorable coverage vs. disfavorable, but it measures the collective conversation balance. Neat.

Via Mike Ryan

hasthelargehadroncolliderdestroyedtheworldyet.com

2008-09-10T10:23:00.004-04:00

The grand experiment is underway. From CNN:

Deep underground on the border between France and Switzerland, the world's largest particle accelerator complex will explore the world on smaller scales than any human invention has explored before.
The collider's ALICE experiment will look at how the universe formed by analyzing particle collisions.
The Large Hadron Collider will look at how the universe formed by analyzing particle collisions. Some have expressed fears that the project could lead to the Earth's demise -- something scientists say will not happen. Still, skeptics have filed suit to try to stop the project.

Thank goodness for hasthelargehadroncolliderdestroyedtheworldyet.com. Check it regularly to see if we still exist.

Link via Amanda

bios [bible]

2008-09-09T08:00:00.000-04:00

Robotlab has created an interesting exhibition:

An industrial robot reproduces all 66 books of the bible in calligraphic script. The process takes seven months, non-stop.

Very cool, of course, but the "why' is still a question only sort of answered on their site:

‘bios [bible]’ is focusing on the questions of faith and technical progress. The installation correlates two cultural systems which are fundamental for societies today – religion and scientific rationalism. In this contexts scripture has all times an elementary function, as holy scripture or as formal writing of knowledge.

In computer technology 'basic input output system' (bios) designates the module which basicaly coordinates the interchange between hard- and software. Therefore it contains the indispensable code, the essential program writing, on which every further program can be established.

Regardless, pretty cool to see.

More photos and video on the Robotlab site

More on Robotlab:

robotlab creates experimental situations in exhibition spaces, in which the public has the opportunity to interact with robots. The massive appearance of the robots, the movements and the machine sounds effect the visitor, are interpretated individually and evoke ideas which may lay in the field of practical purposes as well as formulate an utopian image of a future culture with man and machine.

via Brand Spanking New

John McCain Gets BarackRoll'd

2008-09-08T13:49:00.002-04:00

Fantastic. The best thing about this might just be that since McCain doesn't use the internet he might just never see this.

If you're unaware of the multiple pop culture references here, may God have mercy on your soul. Here's a primer:
RickRoll
BarackRoll ("like a rickroll... only Presidential")
John McCain greenscreen challenge

Funny stuff from Hugh Atkin

Jesus Is My Friend

2008-09-05T18:55:00.001-04:00

This is sort of like a band i was in once...

Have a great weekend!

Girl Talk, deconstructed

2008-08-29T12:44:00.001-04:00

Girl Talk's uncanny ability to mix together memorable parts of tons of popular songs into one, cohesive, frantic piece is mind-blowing. Wired has visually deconstructed What It's All About. Love it.

via apex exposure

3D objects from 2D pictures

2008-08-29T10:50:00.002-04:00

Some University of Manchester researchers have come up with a really creative way to extract the depth and 3D properties from a 2D image. They take one photo with diffused light, and another with a flash, and essentially "subtract" the images to figure out the depth. They can even approximate depth from a single image using a photoshop technique. The result is stunningly accurate 3d model, with true colors and textures.

Really creative, really neat.

Read more and see the siggraph video on their site
Or the New Scientific article
Or check out the video below:

via digg