A River, A Large Bag & Some Rocks

That's what I'd be looking for if I had to put up with this performance more than once :-).

Gobbledigook

This is a recent music video by Icelandic band Sigur Rós.

It's definitely NSFW, but don't let that stop you from watching it away from W, because while almost the entire content contains full frontal nudity, it's quite tasteful.



Thanks to Random Good Stuff.

Internet Safety

I never watched Sesame Street when I was a young lad.

However, I still find this cartoon I found on Gizmodo very funny :-).

This post was brought to you by the letters L, S, and D and the number (e^π - γ).

Firefox 3 Download Day

The last time I checked, a number of the plugins I rely on were still incompatible with Firefox 3. However, I'm hoping that will be sorted out before the final version is released.

Irrespective of whether that happens, I'll still get involved with Firefox Download Day.

Yes, it's really just a little silly, but what other chance am I every likely to have to get involved in a Guinness World Record attempt?

Of course, the actual date hasn't been announced yet, but if you follow the link, you can register to be alerted once it has been decided.

iPhone Earth

Here's an example of the kind of thing that makes me think the next iPhone will really take off.

That's not to say I think there's much value in it for me, personally. However, the SDK they're using to develop this is currently in the hands of thousands of programmers.

Trust me; there will be plenty of compelling applications for this device from day one ... and that number will increase rapidly.

These Kids Obviously Saw My Last Post!

Thanks to Projectionist for making my day with this ...

Dear Oh Dear Oh Dear

Thanks to Teaching College Math for this wonderful cover of that great tranny show standard, I Will Survive ...

It Pays To Keep Things Neat & Tidy

Here are some fairly funny IKEA ads that show why it's a good idea to keep your place tidy ...

Optical Illusions

Again, the title says it all ...

Dollhouse Trailer

This will probably get removed from YouTube pretty quickly, so only my devoted readers will get a look, which seems fair!

Dollhouse is Joss Whedon's latest series, coming next year. Here is (or maybe is not) a trailer.

It's kind of like Joe 90, just without the consent ... and obviously a whole lot sexier :-).

Update: As expected, it's been taken down. So, here's an io9 article containing some footage.

Latest "Get A Mac" Ad

While you wait for all the announcements at WWDC, enjoy this ...

Shrimp On A Treadmill

The title says it all!

Powerset

Here's another Wikipedia related item that I meant to post about the other day.

Powerset is a site that does semantic analysis of Wikipedia and Freebase search results, trying to highlight information that more closely matches your query, and to show the essence of the content.

For example, click the following link to see the top result for "What is a merkin?". I particularly like this image from that page, which was taken at Burning Man :-).

Presumably, they will start handling content from other search engines over time.

Mapipedia

I was just listening to Mac Break Weekly and Merlin Mann mentioned that there are hooks to relevant Wikipedia entries on Google Maps.

In the top right hand corner of the map itself, there is a set of buttons. One of them is "More...". Clicking on it provides a list of checkboxes. Just tick "Wikipedia".

You will now see little Wikipedia icons at various places on the map, at any points of interest that have entries. Kind of cool.

Wooden Spoon Award

Thanks to Random Good Stuff for this video. Yeah, it's just an ad, but it's pretty damned funny!

Nice Backpack

I've always been a briefcase ... or, more often, used plastic bag ... person, rather than one to wear a backpack.

However, this incarnation could almost tempt me to change my ways.

My biggest complaint about all previous backpacks I've seen is that they're too large and/or insufficiently protective.

This one is made from neoprene and is designed specifically for carrying a laptop, with a couple of pockets included, for accessories.

It definitely looks streamlined and light. At $US80, it's not expensive, either.

Thanks to Engadget for the heads up.

Floating Staircase

Thanks to Apartment Therapy for pointing out this amazing staircase, designed by the Jordivayreda Projectteam.

I can only assume the steps have a fairly solid steel core, otherwise their use would be limited to only the most earnest anorexics.

How To Traumatise Your Children

"How To Traumatise Your Children" is one title in what looks to be an extremely important range of "Self-Hurt" books :-).

Of course, any poor rugrat who happened to have me as a parent would already be traumatised ... as would I, come to think of it!

So, this particular one is unlikely to be of much benefit to me ... nor are "How To Get Fat" and "How To Procrastinate".

Nonetheless, I'm pleased to see such a pragmatic series of books being made available for the edification of those who do require help!

Jumping Jeans

This is reminiscent of those French chaps who throw cans into various receptacles from large distances.

However, in this case, the projectiles are their own bodies and the receptacles are pairs of jeans!

Clever Cogs

Bruce Shapiro makes some amazing, elaborate computer-controlled artworks.


Thanks to Gizmodo for the link.

A Cool Gadget

Nike's PreCool Vest is designed to drop the core body temperature of athletes, prior to their events, so it takes longer for them to overheat.

However, I reckon I could make good use of one 24/7 during the summer. Damn, I hate the heat!

Thanks to New Launches for the link.

Citation Needed

The T-shirt seems spot on.

However, I'd be very happy to give her "credentials" a thorough going over, just to make sure :-).

Priorities

Hopefully, it won't be long until we can replace "911" by "000".

Claw Game

This seems a little suss, but given that these game machines are presumably water-tight versions of the same ones that normally contain stuffed toys or watches, which are designed to make it very hard for the player to have any success at all, I can't imagine it's significantly worse than the normal situation for these poor sods.

HTC Touch Diamond

If any phone could lure me away from the iPhone ... which Vodafone have just announced they will be (not necessarily exclusively) carrying in Australia sometime this year ... it would be the HTC Touch Diamond.

While I'm still seriously put off by that little logo in the top left of the screen, the user interface looks pretty damned good in this video ... although, it seems to me that they're quite often wasting a lot of the screen real estate by maintaining soft button images at the top and bottom of the screen.

Maleonn Ma

Thanks to io9 for pointing me to the work of Maleonn Ma, a Chinese artist & photographer who creates weird scenes, like this one, that show naked men in bizarre alternate realities.

Quite fascinating ... and more than a little disturbing!

Green With Envy?

If it's not weird hearing Bill Gates's voice coming from Kermit's mouth ... what he's saying definitely is.

I assume this audio was recorded quite some time ago. I wonder if Bill still thinks the same way?


Thanks to Mac User.

Passengers ... Yummo!

As Neatorama suggests, I think the point they're trying to make with this ad is that the vehicle in question has room for a lot of passengers.

I just think it's cute that the giant shaggy beast is using the people to feed its offspring.

Weird Nails

I've seen a number of these pictures of amazing fingernails before, but Crooked Brains has collected them all in one place.

You have to wonder what makes people want to manipulate their bodies like this, but I guess if they're happy to do so, the least we can do is have a good gawk at them.

Amazing ePaper Wrist Display

Ticketime is a concept design by Jacky Wu, Neo Chen & Eric Liu.

It's intended for use by airlines, to provide travellers with a wristband containing information about their flights, and would be returned once the customer's trip was completed.

The band is held on your wrist by two magnets, one on each end. In a clever twist, when the two magnets meet, they create a circuit that powers the display.

I would pay real money if I could get a watch like this for normal use, so let's hope someone takes this design into production sometime soon!

Herb Alpert And The Tijuana Grass

Chopping up herbs isn't a particularly onerous task, but the fact that something's easy shouldn't stop you from throwing some gadgetry into the mix!

So, here are some clever herb snips I found over at Cool Hunting. They're only $US13, which seems pretty reasonable to me.

What's more, you could even grab a second pair to use as a cheap personal shredder for your home office!

When Only The Best Will Do

Thanks to Shiny Shiny for pointing me to Wrong Cards, the place to go when Hallmark just doesn't cut it.

Most of them are clever, but this is my favourite so far.

In case you're still looking for that perfect mother's day card, they have quite a decent selection ... assuming you're happy being cut out of the will :-).

Radical

Hopefully, this isn't what happens when you get a question right in my mate Gavin's classroom :-) ...

Slow Mo Mango Munchers

Somehow, even the silliest things look interesting in slow motion.

It doesn't hurt that the backing track is one of my favourite pieces of music ... the "Flower Duet" from Lakme by Delibes.

Of course, I'm no opera fan ... I first heard that duet as the accompaniment to a hot lesbian scene between Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon in "The Hunger" :-).


Thanks to Neatorama.

Sensual Coffee

I have to say, this has to be the most bizarre coffee grinder that's ever been created.

The huge device is made from mahogany. You snuggle up to it and a sensor measures your heartbeat and grinds the beans in time with it, to "induce an experience of intimacy with the process of making coffee".

That makes me really thirsty for ... a beer!


Thanks to Gizmodo for the link.

Elaborate Wedding Reception Toast

Thanks to Neatorama for the link to this impressive video of a huge production number the family and friends of a bride named "Amy" worked up for her reception. Pretty much everyone was involved.

It's quite long, so you may not make it to the end before nausea sets in. I just think it shows how much this woman is loved ... aw shucks :-).

Disappearing Ink

I don't know about you, but these days I tend to print out very little content. I consume the vast majority of it on computer screens.

However, that's not because I prefer to read from a screen; it's related more to the ephemeral value of such printouts. It just seems so damned wasteful to print something, only to throw it into the recycling bin within a short period.

So, I was interested to read this article over at the Times Online.

It talks about new printer technology being developed by Xerox PARC (the research establishment that brought us many innovations, like the mouse and windowed environments).

As opposed to using plain paper to which toner particles are attracted, or onto which ink is sprayed, it utilises paper that is coated with photo-sensitive particles.

Basically, the way it works is that the printer causes these particles to change colour, hence producing a readable printout. The particles, when exposed to light, revert to their clear state over the course of a couple of days.

At that point, the paper can be directly reused, rather than going through a complex industrial process to effect the recycling. Further, if the content becomes redundant prior to the normal regeneration interval, the paper can be cleared on demand as part of the printing process.

All up, this sounds like something I would find very useful, indeed!

It's A Fair Cop

Personally, I don't feel constrained by my gorgeous MacBook Air, but I think we'd all agree this video does make its point nicely ...