nevertheless

Bigshot DIY Digital Camera Kit

2009-11-14T16:44:00.000+11:00

is a fun camera for kids and adults alike since it teaches anyone how a camera works. The camera can be powered with a battery or with a dynamo, where 6 cranks equals one picture.

Here in this video, Professor Shree Nayar talks about the purpose and development of the Bigshot camera project.

I really like the frontispiece rotating wheel framing lens and wish other cameras had a similar option.

The amphibious WaterCar Python

2009-11-13T23:22:00.000+11:00

is promoted as the worlds fastest amphibious vehicle, driving on land and boating in water.

Dave March, founder of WaterCar, Inc., has been building cars & boats since 1976 and by 1990 realized that car and boat manufacturers were "were using lightweight high-performance automotive-type engines. while Car manufacturers were incorporating light-weight marine-type composite and alloy bodies and chassis." These coincidences crystallized into Dave's invention of the WaterCar.

There are two distinct versions of this vehicle, The Python which is factory produced complete build with your preferences in engines and body. The Gator (or Amphigator) is the almost pure engineered invention, consisting of the Gator Body and the Patented WaterCar Transmission, all other parts can be gathered from a Volkswagen donor car or bought right off the shelf from other sources.

The video here convincingly demonstrates the speed and agility of a Corvette powered oil burning gas guzzler and judging by its entry/exit at the waters edge highlights the need for leveled underwater surfaces, thus restricting its use to landscaped bay estuaries.

Since its up to the owner to choose their own motor, it may be possible to use an electric engine, such that Plasma Boy employs in his White Zombie: Electric Vehicle Dragster ?

Source

"We Live in Public" Trailer

2009-11-12T23:49:00.004+11:00

"Ten years in the making and culled from 5000 hours of footage, WE LIVE IN PUBLIC reveals the effect the web is having on our society, as seen through the eyes of “the greatest Internet pioneer you’ve never heard of”, artist, futurist and visionary Josh Harris. Award-winning director Ondi Timoner documented his tumultuous life for more than a decade to create a riveting, cautionary tale of what to expect as the virtual world inevitably takes control of our lives.

Harris, often called the “Warhol of the Web”, founded Pseudo.com, the first Internet television network during the infamous dot-com boom of the 1990s. He also curated and funded the ground breaking project “Quiet” in an underground bunker in NYC where over 100 people lived together on camera for 30 days at the turn of the millennium. With Quiet, Harris proved how we willingly trade our privacy for the connection and recognition we all deeply desire, but with every technological advancement such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter, becomes more elusive. Through his experiments, including a six-month stint living with his girlfriend under 24-hour electronic surveillance which led to his mental collapse, Harris demonstrated the price we pay for living in public."

Living in a studio house with 99 people for 30 days under 24/7 video surveillence without an opportunity to take a walk in the park seems to be completely unhealthy and unhuman thing, let alone a quite remarkably stupid thing to do, hey ?

Tokyo Scanner : Flight View of Tokyo

2009-11-11T09:26:00.000+11:00

This video is ripped from an experimental documentary (a promotional DVD for Roppongi Hills), directed by Mamoru Oshii, a Japanese filmmaker and writer famous for his philosophy-oriented storytelling. Oshii has stated his approach to directing is in direct contrast to what he perceives to be the Hollywood formula, i.e. he regards the visuals as the most important aspect.

Tokyo Scanner has been described by a forum commentator as:

"Basically it is a fly over view of several areas in and around Tokyo. It is shot with a very high-tech gyro stabilizing zoom lens that allows for a small area, perhaps 20M x 20M, to be zoomed in on from a great height but the image is still rock steady. At various times the image is overlaid with some graphics that suggest a targeting device, some text, and accompanied by audio that is supposedly from the scene." Source.

Radar sourced video of the Moon

2009-11-10T12:10:00.001+11:00

Bruce Campbell, from the Smithsonian Institute presents here a video, that was

"created from a mosaic of radar images collected using a transmitter at the Arecibo Observatory (AO) in Puerto Rico and receivers at the Green Bank Telescope (GBT). Radar maps can look like optical images, but they represent the amount of energy reflected back toward the transmitter by any given part of the Moon's surface. These maps are created by measuring the echo strength as a function of the round-trip radar time delays and frequency changes (Doppler shifts) that correspond to different locations on the Moon. The radar wavelength of 70 cm penetrates 10 meters or more into the very dry lunar surface, revealing variations in the abundance of rocks larger than about 10 cm in diameter and differences in the chemistry of rocks that form the Moon's crust. The movie begins with a view of the north pole of the Moon - the center of the side we can see from Earth is at top. The rotation carries us around the visible edge of the Moon, past the south pole, the giant Orientale basin, and back to the north pole."

The 4G Flash drive Harmonica

2009-11-09T23:10:00.001+11:00

Jim McLean, the backyard harmonica teacher, from Riverside Illinois has invented a 4G flash drive with a mini playable harmonica. The harp comes with a 10-minute Quicktime harmonica lesson, preloaded. Watch Jim introducing himself in this other video, and or go buy it here.

Augmented Reality

2009-11-08T11:52:00.000+11:00

or AR seems to becoming the next big mover and shaker in the mobile WiFi smart-phone world. In this video, CNN's Kristie Lu Stout demonstrates how this new software application works and how it can assist us, locate context relevant information with directions, products and services, around us.

"Augmented reality (AR) is a term for a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are merged with (or augmented by) virtual computer-generated imagery - creating a mixed reality. The augmentation is conventionally in real-time and in semantic context with environmental elements, like for example sports scores on TV during a match." Source

Fabio Viale Sculpts a marble boat

2009-11-06T23:48:00.001+11:00

Fabio Viale an Italian Sculptor, based in Turin, decided to make a working marble boat, he calls Ahgalla. The video here provides us a token insight into the labor and effort he made in carving his boat, he then takes it for a spin in the bay.

Fabio Viale has a sculpted a number of other marble pieces, that on close view, have a surface that resembles lightweight Styrofoam. Fine art blogger Yatzer has observed

"Who ever thought that marble would offer such opportunities in creating distinct contemporary pieces that speak the language of today with the know-how of yesterday ?"

Dystopian Dreams

2009-11-05T23:09:00.003+11:00

is a dreamily seductive media art video by Ben Marzys with music by Gui Boratto;

"takes a closer look at the city's fabric as a site of sensorial explorations. The viewer is plunged into dramatic city-scapes where the notion of time and place and their boundaries are being blurred by the use of subtle morphing techniques. From derelict landscape to underwater city, one is being transported between dreamlike hybrid places, brought alive by the interaction of human activity."

goat understands physics

2009-11-04T08:40:00.001+11:00

Somewhere in Eurasia someone has videoed a goat climbing a ladder, walking a tightrope with a monkey perched on top, performing a couple of amazing tricks, 2 metres in the air.

Dnfmanagement

2009-11-03T23:50:00.000+11:00

is by Nitin which appears to be the beginning of a media art laser dance spectacle.

A Fun Japanese pop culture music video

2009-11-02T23:50:00.000+11:00

is a minimal animation by Takeuchi Taijin with
music track TV Boy by Masahito and Kotubi.

Although I don't understand one word of the lyrics
I can't resist replaying it too many times,
posssibly because the visuals are so simply cute.

Subwoofer effect on organisms

2009-11-01T22:37:00.003+11:00

A cat enjoys a good shake while cleaning itself on top of a sub-woofer.

Alfred Sirleaf, the Monrovian Analog Blogger

2009-10-31T17:54:00.000+11:00

Liberia, a country ravaged by war has had no functioning utilities for over 14 year, no sewage system, no water, no electricity, no telephone. Thus Alfred Sirleaf, delivers the news of the day via a folding out blackboard he calls the Daily Talk. He says “I like to write the way people talk so they can understand it well." And in order to reach the common man, he places symbols of the main stories, like a UN helmet near a story about them for the people who can't read, of which there are many.

Alfred Sirleaf is reported to have founded his blackboard newspaper because of his belief that a well-informed citizenry is the key to the rebirth of Liberia.

Each morning, Alfred Sirleaf wakes up and heads down to his bulletin board to write up the day’s news, putting together a slate of stories his countrymen might otherwise never be aware of. Grateful readers line up in droves, on foot and in cars, to read these updates, in what has been described as "the country’s—and probably the world’s—only analog blog."

Playing with Kenneth Snelson's Tensegrity.

2009-10-29T23:52:00.002+11:00

With the symmetry of the dodecahedron tensegrity Japanese Origami Book publishers have reinterpreted Kenneth Snelson's invention. The Tensegrity.

Go here for more of their videos.

(English trans.)

Ferrofluid

2009-10-28T23:44:00.000+11:00

by jann de vries is a media art experiment with magnetic liquid technology known as Ferrofluid.

"A ferrofluid, (portmanteau of the Latin word ferrum, meaning iron, and the word fluid) is a liquid which becomes strongly polarised in the presence of a magnetic field." Source.

Read more about magnetic liquid technology.

Related Post

Yuck ! Badly Polluted Romanian River

2009-10-27T18:25:00.000+11:00

Recently a friend returned from a working holiday in Romania and wrote me that he never saw the sad condition of the downstream section of the Argeş River. But here in this video we see one mighty impactive outcome caused by improper regulation of the environment.

"I actually traveled beside that river but upstream in the Fagaras mountains (from Curtea de Arges to Victoria) - it's dammed further upstream about 20 km before you cross the Transfagarasan pass at Lake Vidraru. So I didn't see the polluted part of it. There are lots of places in Romania which leave a lot to be desired in terms of concern for the environment. You see a lot of plastic just strewn everywhere - especially bottles and shopping bags etc. I can imagine after winter when the snow melts and runs off a lot of that plastic & rubbish ends up in the rivers."

We must remember that this video only shows the flowing surface of the Arges river, and at best, we can only imagine what types of habit destructing chemicals may also be fettered within it. I think its likely that we may have forgotten that there are enormous ranges of petro-chemical plastic bottles floating around the rivers and oceans everywhere, huh ?

Via: The Presurfer

Descending a Spiral Escalator

2009-10-26T15:47:00.000+11:00

There aren't many spiral escalators in the world. The video here gives us a panoramic view of traveling down one in Caesar's Palace Forum Shops, in Las Vegas.

Possibly the first spiral escalator appeared in London 1909, but was apparently scraped before completion, according to Tom Hall's blog.

One of the few and most remarkable spiral escalator installations in the world is the one found in Yokohama Minato Mirai, engineered by the Mitsubishi Electric Corporation which has developed and manufactured successful commercial designs since the 1980s.

Spiral and or curved escalators would seem to offer unique panoramic views of any building that has large open interior atrium airspaces.

See more curved, spiral and curiosity escalators at LifeintheFastLane, blog.

Sand Bubbler Crabs

2009-10-25T22:30:00.000+11:00

This neat little video by a holidaying Stretta at Langkawi, Malaysia and and his equally fastidious authored description, simply blows me away!

"One morning, on the beaches of Langkawi, Malaysia, I noticed fractal-like patterns in the sand. At first I thought it was caused by an impression of seaweed, but upon closer inspection, the patterns were convex, not concave - in fact - the patterns were hundreds of tiny little spheres of sand. There was always at least one clear path to a hole in the sand. If I stayed still long enough, eventually these tiny little crabs - about the size of a fingernail - climbed out of the holes and began their work.

The crabs are so small, that it is actually fairly difficult to observe what they're doing with the naked eye. This seemed like a good opportunity to try capturing video with my macro lens. I didn't have a tripod, so I found a piece of driftwood and rested the camera on it, laying down prone behind it.

I'd never personally seen anything like it before. These are Sand Bubbler Crabs and they're sifting through huge amounts of sand in search of detritus. The waste sand builds on their head and they kick off the ball before they can't see over it."

Stoked by Suzuki's carbon free mobility effort

2009-10-24T13:13:00.000+11:00

There's no doubt that fuel cell powered electric motor vehicles look to offer another positive conduit forward for consumer interurban mobility. The first of Suzuki’s carbon free cars, the SX4 will be released 2010 are electric powered fuel cell vehicles and according to Gizmag;

"Suzuki’s carbon free mobility effort at the Tokyo Motor Show used three existing models to demonstrate the benefits of its growing hydrogen fuel cell expertise: the SX4 fuel cell car, a two-wheeler based on the existing Burgman 125 feet-forward enclosed scooter, and the fuel cell powered Mio Electric Wheelchair. Although Suzuki also showed a plug-in hybrid version of the Swift, another existing car being adapted to a future power train, the company is clearly staking a claim in the Fuel Cell technology arena."

Yes, I'm mostly impressed by Suzuki's fuel cell powered Mio Electric Wheelchair, which..

"employs a direct methanol fuel cell that directly supplies methanol to the cell for reaction along with a large-capacity Li-ion secondary battery. The wheelchair can run 40 km or more with one recharge (4 L) of methanol solution. It allows easier handling because there is no need to recharge from the mains power source."

How cool and convenient is that ?

The Dyson Air Multiplier; a blade-less Fan

2009-10-23T09:03:00.000+11:00

Usually, fans create a cool stream of air by chopping and pushing air, with angled, rotating blades. The Dyson Air Multiplier, by contrast, blows just a single sheet of air, from a thin opening towards the rear of its circular wing. The Air Multiplier hides the blower in the base, forcing the air through a ring of vents which are aerodynamically contrived to "multiply" the strength of its airstream.

The Dyson Air Multiplier appears likely becoming the new symbol for cool or staying cool in an ever increasing global warming world, except to say the 10" fan may not be so cool at $300US. Nevertheless the benefits override the cost of this invention, in that the fan needs no safety grill, and what few parts there are can be easily cleaned. It runs on a small motor, and airflow can be fully regulated with a dimmer switch. It tilts and oscillates, and can be set on a continuum of speeds with a dial on the front.

Source

See You Nowhere

2009-10-21T23:48:00.003+11:00

Yes, I look everywhere, as it were, and See You Nowhere as the creator of this video, Powski consciously moves our mind to unwind.

The music piece is by Kraken

eWaste Diy Wind Generator Demo Test

2009-10-20T23:46:00.000+11:00

If your a Diy minded person or just curious about how it could be possible to produce a hugely efficient Wind Turbine Generator then this video may strike a chord.

Clean Republic demonstrates the testing of the generator component of a wind turbine by employing the resourceful use of magnets from old or dead hard drives. Take note the magnets used in computer hard drives are of the highest quality magnets available.

Clean Republic's home built electricity magnet generator alternator turbine using eWaste hard drives tests, reveal; At 90 rpm the device generates 15 volts AC at one watt and at 600 rpm generates 55 volts at 15 watts. This little demonstration provides great pause for thought and may encourage greater individual and community involvement in creating our own Carbon Neutral energy systems!

Awesome: The Electronic Popable Book

2009-10-19T23:44:00.001+11:00

The High-Low Tech group at the MIT lab led by Jie Qi with assistance from Leah Buechley and Tshen Chew are developing tools that democratize engineering. Here in this video, they have created an electronic pop-up book that explores the integration of paper, electronics, mechanics, and computation. Their book uses traditional pop-up paper book mechanics which also integrates modern paper-based electronics for more “dynamic interactivity.”

"We believe that the future of technology will be largely determined by end-users who will design, build, and hack their own devices, and our goal is to inspire, shape, support, and study these communities. To this end, we explore the intersection of computation, physical materials, manufacturing processes, traditional crafts, and design."

And, hey presto the crafty popup books of our childhood's learning and playing, become live exciting interactive sculptures that satisfies "the kid", left in all of us.

Inspirational mention.

Airpod a car fuelled by Air

2009-10-18T23:55:00.002+11:00

Airpod is a car that runs 200 miles on compressed air. The video here shows the engineer inventors, revealing the unique value of a pollutant free green transport system.

The Airpod seems to be, at first appearance, in this video, of the production model, a 3 wheeled buggy or half a car, but it actually runs on four wheels the two at the front are very close together.

Everything about this Carbon neutral automobile is unusual. Steering is done with a joystick, and the only doors open to the front and back. The two passenger seats are rear-facing and can be replaced with a cargo space. Drivers recharge their air supply in eight hours by plugging the car into electricity outlets, or by going to special 'air stations' where the process takes only 2 minutes.

Read more about the amazing engineering of the Airpod, here.