joypog's shared items in Google Reader

Anka Zhuravleva

2011-10-19T22:28:48Z

Jet Fuel

2011-10-19T04:00:00Z

Film Grenade

2011-10-17T12:48:00Z

[Image: The "Throwable Panoramic Ball Camera" by Jonas Pfeil].

The "Throwable Panoramic Ball Camera," designed by Jonas Pfeil as part of his thesis project at the Technical University of Berlin, creates spherical panoramas after being thrown into the air.

The camera "captures an image at the highest point of flight—when it is hardly moving." It "takes full spherical panoramas, requires no preparation and images are taken instantaneously. It can capture scenes with many moving objects without producing ghosting artifacts and creates unique images." You can see it at work in this video:

Pfeil explains in detail:

Our camera uses 36 fixed-focus 2 megapixel mobile phone camera modules. The camera modules are mounted in a robust, 3D-printed, ball-shaped enclosure that is padded with foam and handles just like a ball. Our camera contains an accelerometer which we use to measure launch acceleration. Integration lets us predict rise time to the highest point, where we trigger the exposure. After catching the ball camera, pictures are downloaded in seconds using USB and automatically shown in our spherical panoramic viewer. This lets users interactively explore a full representation of the captured environment.

It's easy enough to imagine such a thing being mass-produced and taken up by the Lomo crowd; but it seems equally likely that such a technology could be put to use aiding military operations in urbanized terrain, with otherwise disoriented squad leaders tossing "robust" optical grenades up above dividing walls and blocked streets to see what lies beyond.

Either way, a throwable camera strong enough to withstand bad weather and strong bounces—and able to store hundreds of images—sounds like an amazing way to start documenting the urban landscape. In fact, the very idea that a "photograph" would thus correspond to a spherical sampling of all the objects and events in a given area adds an intriguing spatial dimension to the act of creating images. It's a kind of reverse-firework: rather than release light into the sky, it steals traces of the light it finds there.

(Spotted via Popular Photography).

Kill a Client

2011-10-14T14:42:35Z

[via this isn't happiness.]

Xiau-Fong

2011-10-13T13:24:34Z

Xiau-Fong‘s paintings.

[via who killed bambi?]

Our Exquisite corpse

2011-10-13T09:15:35Z

Stunning Beaded Skulls by Our Exquisite Corpse, available here

(via)

When birds attack. Halloween costume

2011-10-10T18:20:31Z

When Birds Attack is a funny Halloween Costume. You can buy it here…

[via Kitschy Living]

09 Oct 2011

2011-10-09T07:00:00Z

09 Oct 2011

This post has been generated by Page2RSS

Eternal Flame

2011-10-06T04:00:00Z

To Get a Better Class of Populists, Start By Finding Some Populists

2011-10-05T15:18:15Z

Ross discussed the lack of effective populist Republican candidates in a recent column, but a key part of the problem is that almost every person he named isn’t a populist in any meaningful sense. For example, he includes Perry on the list:

Rick Perry was supposed to put an end to the game of musical chairs. He was an outsider with insider connections, a populist with experience and organization, a successful governor whose anti-Washington persona guaranteed him credibility with the conservative grass roots.

This is all wonderfully vague. In what sense is Perry a populist? If there is one phrase that characterizes his tenure as governor, it is probably crony capitalism. Perry’s cozy relationships with corporations and donors are things that populists loathe. If Republican leaders have been “too forgiving of crony capitalism and Wall Street-Washington coziness,” what would be accomplished by a Perry victory except to reinforce all of the party’s worst habits? If right-wing populists see collusion between corporations and government as a major problem, Perry and those like him see it as something desirable and useful. Perry’s purpose in the race has always been to divert anti-establishment discontent in a manageable, acceptable direction where it will do nothing to force the party to make any significant changes. Can you imagine Perry proposing stricter financial regulatory reform? Of course not. Is he going to argue for breaking up banks that have been deemed “too big to fail”? Not a chance.

One reason why “no populist politician has been able to deliver an agenda to match” is that there haven’t been many populist politicians on the right in the first place. When Ross says that Republican voters deserve “a better class of right-wing populist,” I agree with him. The first step in getting better populists is to distinguish between the politicians whose “populism” consists of folksy mummery and those interested in breaking up concentrations of wealth and power. Until there are Republican candidates interested in both of those goals, there is little chance that any of them will propose policies that will achieve them.

05 Oct 2011

2011-10-05T00:43:00Z

05 Oct 2011

This post has been generated by Page2RSS

Kohei NAWA

2011-09-26T07:13:37Z

Covering surface of an object with transparent glass beads, the existence of the object itself is replaced by “a husk of light”, and the new vision “the cell of an image” (PixCell) is shown.

Osaka-based artist Kohei NAWA.

Valentine the Rabbit

2011-09-24T05:42:39Z

“I have always wanted a bunny and I’ll always have a rabbit the rest of my life.” - Amy Sedaris

Bert & Ernie Jack-O-Lanterns

2011-09-24T15:16:06Z

Bert & Ernie Jack-O-Lanterns

Creepy Flower Encrusted Skeletons

2011-09-20T04:33:39Z

Shared by joypog
I'm such a sucker for this site's stuff!

Flower Encrusted Skeletons by Dutch sculptor Cedric Laquieze…

[via BuzzFeed]

Alex McLeod’s Distant Secrets

2011-09-16T13:37:23Z

Brand new series of works by Alex McLeod…

Xiau Fong

2011-09-20T04:24:12Z

Shared by joypog
that is a bitchin hamster!

Watchout!! Xiau Fong spotted some dangerous armed animals out there!!

(via)

But Black People Govern Like This ...

2011-09-15T15:00:00Z

Via Angry Black Lady, I know Michael Moore and Bill Maher think this is a great line:

I went into the polls voting for the black guy, and what I got was the white guy...

But it really isn't. In fact, it's racist, and Michael Moore would do well to stop repeating it. It really is no better than the Kenyan anti-colonial bit, indeed it is a good deal worse. I said this yesterday on twitter, but it would be as if my Jewish accountant messed up my taxes and I said, "Dude, you're Jewish, what the hell?!?!"

In fact, I'd be getting exactly what I deserved. If you paid more attention to Obama's skin color, than to his speeches, the voluminous amounts of journalism noting his moderation, his two books which are, themselves, exercises in moderation, then you have chosen to be ignorant.

You are now being punished for that ignorance. No one should feel sorry for you. Try not being racist.

H/T to BJ's comments for the headline.

Popshot Printshop

2011-09-11T19:54:21Z

Popshot Magazine is a bi-annual British based arts publication that champions contemporary poetry and illustration. They recently opened The Print Shop, an opportunity to bring beautiful and affordable illustration prints to the walls of visual art/illustration lovers around the world. Each illustration is Giclee printed, produced in limited edition runs of 150 and measures at a whopping 550mm x 675mm. Same great samples below…

Guinea pig habitat makeover at the sanctuary

2011-09-11T15:39:04Z

Harvest Home Animal Sanctuary’s 5 resident guinea pigs just got surprise habitat makeovers with brand new hand-made Piggy BedSpreads from Martha at www.PiggyBedSpreads.com! Seth, Red, and DeDe live together in a cubes & coroplast habitat on a six-foot long table, with a great view of everything that happens in the rabbit building. Rufus and Amos are two friendly guinea pig boys who live in a large cage on a stand, on the other side of the room in the rabbit building.

Previously, Harvest Home used a recycled paper bedding to line the bottom of the guinea pig enclosures. However, thanks to the generosity of PiggyBedSpreads.com, the new habitats have eco-friendly, reusable, washable Piggy BedSpreads! They are designed to wick moisture away from the guinea pigs, and into the middle layer of the bedspread, with a waterproof base layer that prevents urine from leaking through. Poops are sweeped up regularly, and the BedSpreads are washed weekly. Not only are the new Piggy BedSpreads much more cost effective for the sanctuary, but the top fleece layer is softer on little piggy feet, and the flat surface encourages piggies to run laps and play. In addition, the colors of the Piggy BedSpreads brighten up the rabbit room.

A big thank you to www.PiggyBedSpreads.com for donating the guinea pig habitat makeover. Only one of Harvest Home Animal Sanctuary’s wonderful resident guinea pigs currently has a sponsor - for only $10 a month, you can make a big impact in the life of one of these special guinea pigs! As a sponsor, you will receive a sponsorship certificate and photograph and email updates of your sponsoree. Sponsorships make marvelous gifts for your animal-loving family and friends. Sign up here!