umbrellas
In Pittsburgh, some people emphasize the first syllable of umbrella. (These were in the entry to the greenhouse at the Frick Art and Historical Center on another rainy day.)
Brilliant Nude Remix
Big Ideas (don’t get any) from James Houston on Vimeo.
I’ve just graduated from the Glasgow School of Art’s graphic design course. This was my final project.
Radiohead held an online contest to remix “Nude” from their album – “In Rainbows” This was quite a difficult task for everybody that entered, as Nude is in 6/8 timing, and 63bpm. Most music that’s played in clubs is around 120bpm and usually 4/4 timing. It’s pretty difficult to seamlessly mix a waltz beat into a DJ set.
Weekly Picture 122
Fireball, Highway 71, Austin, TX, 6.3.2008
I auctioned my life and all I got was $384,000
The man who put his life on ebay is disappointed it netted him only $384,000. He figures his house alone was worth that.
Ian Usher, a British immigrant to Australia, put everything he owned as well as introductions to his friends on the online auction site after a painful breakup with his wife prompted him to want a fresh start.
Usher said he had hoped to get at least $480,000 for his life — his house and all its contents, car and a motorcycle, a jet ski, skydiving gear, an introduction to friends and a trial period in his sales job — but that the final result was enough for him to make a new start in life.
1 H.P. Vehicle
Roush Technologies, usually known for tuning Mustangs, has created the ROUSH Trainer, a vehicle with a rear-mounted cabin built with the express purpose of following a horse — or camel! — around to monitor it while it’s training.
the google sari
(thanks, Dave)
Destruction Therapy
Castejon, in northern Spain, sponsored an anti-stress session for locals in which they supplied sledgehammers and appliances and let everyone go to town.
Typeface – The Documentary
Following the Helvetica Zeitgeist, it looks like there is another film slated for release on typeface. More photography, like picture above, can be found here.
city of shadows
Alexey Titarenko uses simple long exposures to create slightly creepy, blurred human masses, using the movements of the inhabitants of St. Petersburg. See his City of Shadows project for more.
Brookville, Ohio
Beautiful Skink Cages
“Beautiful skink cages,” read the ad.
But I don’t want to cage a skink!
Anole in Sunflower Shade
By the way,
the red-winged blackbirds are fierce this nesting season. Saw one drive off a red-tailed hawk by harrying and dive-bombing it.
For Cooper: Steampunk RV
Judas Betrayed
Ah, yes, people always seem to forget the economics of academics:
The loudest and most frequent complaint has been about its secrecy. The members of the team weren’t allowed to reveal what they were working on, much less to share information with fellow scholars. In 1991 the Society of Biblical Literature passed a resolution that said all scholars should be allowed access to a newly found manuscript or, barring that, a facsimile. If that resolution had been followed, critics argue, then the more egregious errors would never have made it to press or been broadcast to millions.
But that simply wasn’t possible given the nature of the project, according to Terry D. Garcia, executive vice president for mission programs at National Geographic. Garcia greenlighted the Judas deal and made the announcement at the news conference when it was released to the world. He was involved at every step, even personally carrying fragments of the manuscript back from Switzerland to the United States to undergo radiocarbon dating. He says the organization was mostly concerned that the Gospel of Judas “is what it purports to be.” As for the much-criticized nondisclosure agreements, Garcia says they are a routine precaution. “The last thing we wanted were multiple voices talking about bits and pieces of this project,” he says. “All that would do was fan speculation and create unsubstantiated claims that might impede the research.”
He notes that National Geographic sunk a lot of money into the Gospel of Judas (he wouldn’t say how much, though he confirmed it was in the low seven figures). That money was used in part to pay for the transcription, translation, and preservation of the manuscript. It was a significant investment of resources and time. Most important, according to Garcia, it put National Geographic’s reputation on the line. He dismisses criticism of the project as inevitable and called the assertions in DeConick’s opinion piece “the height of irresponsibility.”
Houston
The Google Hypothesis
At what point do vast databases allow us to skip theory and move straight to predicted observations.
Instead Google operates a very large dataset of observations which show that for any given spelling of a word, x number of people say “yes” when asked if they meant to spell word “y.” Google’s spelling engine consists entirely of these datapoints, rather than any notion of what correct English spelling is. That is why the same system can correct spelling in any language.
&
If you can learn how to spell without knowing anything about the rules or grammar of spelling, and if you can learn how to translate languages without having any theory or concepts about grammar of the languages you are translating, then what else can you learn without having a theory?
anivers, the birth of a typeface
(via coudal)
Would you eat lab grown meat?
(via wired)
economic trouble in the ’service’ industry
The Moonlite BunnyRanch, a brothel in Nevada, is struggling because high gas prices are keeping the customers away but Dennis Hoff, owner, has a plan to get people in the door:
Under a promotion under way at the Moonlite BunnyRanch near Carson City, the first 100 customers who arrive with government stimulus checks receive twice the services for the same regular price.
Mr. Red
Online Democracy
Perhaps the subject heading is a redundancy, but I do find it interesting scary that online gamers, like those described in the NYT article on Eve (the MMORPG), seem to understand democracy better than many real world politicians. The same thing applies to (some) bloggers which, of course, is just another game:
“I have to tell you that I have been involved in E.U. meetings where the participants were not as prepared and professional as what we’ve seen here,” he said, referring to the European Union. “These players have approached this meeting with what seems like real understanding of their roles. They are not just fighting for their particular interests but seem to be very socially responsible in wanting to represent all the players of Eve. Perhaps some real-world politicians could learn from them.” [from the NYT's article]
NASCAR Truck Series
Is it possible drivers in Houston are more aggressive than in Dallas?
2008 San Francisco LGBT Pride Parade
There’s a live stream you can watch of this year’s San Francisco LGBT Pride Parade, and it’ll continue for perhaps another hour from now (now being 4:20 PM or so CDT). (Thanks, Steve.)
Up, Up and Away
“This is the strangest thing I’ve seen since I’ve been on the
force,” said Paul Madison, first officer on the scene. Madison
questioned the man who looked like Jesus and discovered that he was
dressed up as Jesus and was on his way to a toga costume party when
the tarp covering the bed of his pickup truck came loose and released
twelve blow up sex dolls filled with helium which floated up into the
air.
Can’t vouch for the source, but a good story any way you look at it.