Reading The Code

I wrote about these a while back, and now someone has another fine example online -- a Masonic code book:


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Panoramic Pinhole Camera

Fine craftsmanship and centuries-old techology -- in a panoramic camera:



Their site is down, but you can read more at RetroThing.

8 Essential Spy Gadgets

Once upon a time, you needed a guy named Q to give you cool spy gadgets; now you can go to the internet and get all kinds of sneaky crap:

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How To Cross-Breed Photoshop Animals

Want to be a Worth1000 darling? Learn how to blend two animals together in Photoshop. Below is a crappy example I did years ago -- hopefully you can do better!

10 Best Celebrity Pinball Games

While I think I've seen most of these celebrity pinball machines, this is the only one I've actually played:

Steve Carell: How To Look Smart

Stevel Carell is smart -- you have to be smart to come up with a list of how to be smart.




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Pedal-Powered Monowheel

The monowheel concept has been around over a hundred years, but it hasn't ever really improved on things we've already got. Modern ones tend to be motor-powered, but the guy below put together this pedal-powered monobike as a design project:


Personally, in my technical eye, the gearing ratio from pedal to gears to wheel is much, much too small; the reason there's a small gear at the back of a bike is because the big wheel is attached to it and spins once for every time the small gear spins, but you can't transfer that to the monobike design seen here; the monobike above counteracts the gear-reduction with that tiny, tiny 'pusher' wheel the transfers the energy to the big wheel. I can't imagine a human ever being able to pedal fast enough to stay upright Huge pedal gear, tiny transfer gear, huge 'pusher' wheel...Gosh, darn it -- now I'm designing one. I gotta stop thinking so much.

Pinhole Camera

Really, if you know what a pinhole camera is, you can easily find many more varied, useful, and informative internet content -- but this article from Low-Tech Mag does a nice job of condensing it for the masses, while tossing in some excellent examples of the process.

Big Bird Record Player - Battery Powered!

This is an awesome little find from RetroThing: a Fisher-Price battery-powered, Sesame-street themed record player. The little bird on the tone arm appears to play with his beak, a'la Flintstones. The parts are remiscent of the standard Fisher-Price record player of the time; I can't remember if it was battery-powered, too. I've got one of the standard FP players (amongst others) -- RetroThing recommends using it as a 'tester', when out and about buying record albums. Good thinking!

Be Careful With The "Home Row"

Giving a new, more-girlfriend-friendly definition to the concept of "HOMEROWED!", some over-creative design student has come up with the idea of embedding a flexible keyboard into your crotch. Well, in front of your crotch, but be careful when you have impure thoughts lest your keyboard inadvertently type "NTHUJUY66NHYYHIUY7UTNH75BBBBB" accidentally.

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The Chapel: NY Apartment

What you see below isn't come building in the Holy See, it's not someplace that the Pope visited in the US -- it is a private home that you could own if you've got 17-some-million dollars.

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Automated Censors and Context

It could be paralysis, but given the asterisks, the struck-out words must be 'anal,' yielding 'analysis' for those of us without as dirty a mind as this computerized censor.
It reminds me of when Fark censored "...their egg in.." because in that phrase is a series of letters that, when spelled backwards, is a slur against african-americans. it's hard for me to see without actually retyping it backwards...and someone had to think that might happen and be worth censoring to write a program that checks for it.

Merry Christmas, Neonatal Ward!

I couldn't hold on to this until next Christmas -- what a disturbingly cheery way to express Christmas, from lee ki seung:

More Fun From The Laptop Audience

Apparently, there's lots of things that can be found in the picture from earlier today -- it's like an I Spy game!

Difference Engine And Coming To America

Some people recreating Babbage's Difference Engine, an early theoretical programmable machine that led to all computing today, have finished their project -- the second one in existence:


It'll be at the Computing History Museum, starting in May, if you want to go see it.

.SU Domain Names Still Around

*.su, the Soviet Union top-level-domain didn't evaporate when Democracy came to vodkatown: there's still people out there who own the domains, and the TLD is still supported.

Find The Poor Kid

When I went to college, nobody used laptops -- but check out the ratio today:

Requires An Organizational Chart?

From The Infomercantile, the most basic and straightforward organizational charts that ever existed:

Pseudo-Antique Adding Machines

In their own steampunky way, these adding machines look like something a surveyor woul've carried while plotting the transcontinental railway:

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New Atomic Wallpaper

Bradbury & Bradbury, wallpaper manufacturers, have a line of 50's-inspired wallpaper, things certain to remind you of your grandma's bathroom:

Extreme Photography!

It's not exactly the biggest X-sport, but these guys have a list of some of the most extremestly extreme photography equipment ever. SURGE!

Fly That Plane!

Those of you scared of flying should know that nobody who flew on a big-jet airline died in an aircraft accident last year. I could make more cracks about who you should be scared of (Homeland Security, pilots with guns, that fat guy in the seat next to you), but I think it needs to be pointed out: compared to all the other ways people died last year, none of 'em had anything to do with a big plane.

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Bikini Atoll Coming Back

After being blasted to nothing in the 1950s, Bikini Atoll is coming back -- including coral, which is usually quite sensitive to environmental problems. Water is quite insulative against radiation, so that probably helped.

From Eternity to Eternity

I actually own a new reprint of this poster -- I had no realize how old it was, but it turned up in a house being demolished:


My copy used to be framed and hung above my bathroom door; there wasn't enough room in the current bathroom for it.

CNN - Illustrated

This blog crudely illustrates CNN 'crawler' headlines, with amusing results:

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Shepard Fairey Orwell Covers

Shepard Fairey created that Obey Giant image, and he might be accused as being a hack, but he really can do some awesome work, like these Penguin editions of Orwell books:

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Products That Keep The Shape Of Their Packaging

A photoset of products that briefly retain their packaging's shape. Cranberries and spam are the obvious ones, but this one of broccoli is mesmerising:

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Buy An Ex-Triceritops

Christie's Auction house is selling off a complete Triceratops skeleton -- got half a million Euros, and you might be in the running:

They Don't Understand How This Works

when your community watch program requests information on crime, writing it on their posters isn't going to reach the intended people:

Panty Hose Avant Garde Statuary - Made At Home!

Ever wonder how you -- YOU -- can become an abstract sculptor? A wood base, a untwisted clothes-hanger, and a pair of pantyhose are the main components in making something worthy of being on a steel-and-glass end table in somebody's monochrome New York 1980s penthouse:

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Banksy: Not Caught On Video This Time

While Banksy allowed himself to be caught on film not too long ago, his recent installment teases the video-observed world by operating directly underneath a CCD camera:

Elvis Live!

New photos of Elvis' 1972 Madison Square Garden show have surfaced, courtesy of the Garden's official photographer (slideshow):

Stray Dog Moscow

Moscow has a problem with strays -- first, they're attacking citizens. Not a good thing. Second, they're not allowed to shoot them; people frown on killing dogs. So, the only option seems to be to spend $64,000,000 on sterilizing them. Oh, and the residents themselves raised all the money to build a statue for the stray that will killed by the crazy supermodel. Moscow and feral critters have a love-hate relationship these days.

Creepy Realistic Statues

These are so unbelievably creepy, I want to have them. Line them up in my livingroom. And then cry in terror for fifteen minutes after sitting down on the couch. That would be so cool.

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Beautiful Gas Mask

Artist Diddo Velema has taken gaskmasks and made them into high-fashion works of art; he seems to forget that, for a time, gas masks weren't rare, obscure terrifying things, but a part of every day life, like a fire extinguisher, and I don't see anyone making fashion fire extin...oh, wait. Never mind. Velema's fancy-masks are found at designergasmasks.com.


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Burger Joint's Copyright, Offensive Fiasco

First, they catch flack from women's rights people over equating sexy, busty women to 'quickies,' but then a sharp-eyed netizen noticed that the logo was eerily familiar to a magazine cover drawn by Stephen Notley -- the burger appears to be copied directly (placement of contiments and so forth), but the gal appears to be drawn from scratch...although they copied the fiery hair. Why copy that? Because it's on the original, I suppose. I'll also note that in Notley's original, the woman appears to be properly balanced and naturally posed; in the poor imposter, the perspective's not right, the weight is misplaced, and the hips and back are unnatural. Score: Notley 10, Bad Imposter 3 (points for trying).

Library of Congress: Abe's Fingertips

The Library of Congress has some neato posters -- advertising the LOC as 'knowledge at your fingertips', as represented by art interpreted in fingerprints. Cool stuff.

Why We Have Guardrails

First, consider this impressive accident -- the truck was actually travelling from right-to-left in the photo, but hit the railing and did an end-over-end to come to a rest...



...but it's far better it hit the rail than what is off the bottom edge of the photo, seen at the bottom of this page. The truck driver should feel very, very lucky.

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Mario In Javascript

Javascript is the broken, half-usable scripting language that's been in internet browsers for a decade, and mostly it's used for annoying menus and breaking the back-button. This guy, however, is a Javscript master: he's adapted Super Mario Brothers...entirely in javascript:

Your Book Has Scabies

Experts have often put a touch of their favorite things into their bookplates (I mean, haven't you?) This gentleman, however, is an expert in scabies. I'm sure this ensures his books, when lent out, are returned to him in a prompt and expeditious manner.

Staple Without Staples

You don't need an Easy Button to temporarily bind pages without a stapler...although a scissors is necessary. The deep recesses of my mind seem to think that a teacher showed me this many years ago:

World Domination Notebooks

Need to get your kids moving towards Big Plans? Are they not sure how to start planning a coup, organising their superhero life, or becoming a princess? Start them out with one of these notebooks:

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Palm to The Forehed: Fifty

So, you've watched Ferris Beuller's Day Off, and enjoyed the Chicago montage involving mocking the stock market hand signals -- but, did you know what those hand signals really mean to commodities traders? Here's a place to find out.


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Common People, By Archie

I love the Shatner version of the song, but an Archie and Veronica collaboration will do:

Recycled Signs In Your Living Room

These chairs are awesome, but they look rather uncomfortable: seats from used street signs:

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Rainbow In Your Hand

Simple, effective, and striking: a rainbow in your hand:




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Chocolate Pencils

I doubt these have graphite in the middle (that just doesn't sound tasty at all), but just look like pencils; the pencil-sharpener is just used as a grater, to put chocolate shavings on foods and desserts:

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Atari PC Workstation, 1982

Remember Atari PCs? IBM PCs were the workhorses at the time, but the PC market was far more open than today, with TRS-80s, Commodores, Texas Instruments, and, of course, the Apple ][e. This person must've been a hard-core computer user -- look at all the stuff they have hooked up to it!

Squirrels With Silver Spoons

Ah, the life of a squirrel: using data, scientists have discovered that squirrels born in the lap of luxury live longer, are healthier, and have happier lives than squirrels on the skids. Hm. Squirrels on the Skids would be a great Rockabilly band name. Anyhow, since I can't add any more to biological studies and data, here's a happy, healthy squirrel born with a Ricky Schroeder in its mouth:

(pic from here)

Markerbored!

A low-tech version of layer-tennis, these guys draw on and augment the drawings on their household whiteboard until it's full:

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Live In Esprit

Having an Esprit bag with everything you need crammed into it was all the rage when I was in high school -- now, those kids of the 80s can be grownups in the 00s and actually live in an Esprit container. Esprit's offices have been converted into homes, and you can move right in, hairbrush, diary, non-working Bic pens, V.C. Andrews novel and all:

People Going Someplace

Andrew Bush’s “Vector Portraits” are pictures of people in the car next to you -- usually you don't notice them, they don't notice you, but here they are, photographed permanently partway between where they were and where they're going:


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Peabody-Award-Winning Doritos

If you watched today's Colbert Report, you'd know that via the transitive property Doritos have won the Peabody award this year. Colbert instructed his minions to print the label-sheet and affix said labels to all the Doritos they can get their paws on. Get to it!

Wobbly Chess

Not satisfied with normal flat cless, this stylish set has lightly-cupped board-squares, and pieces with rounded bottoms. The result is, first, wobbly pieces, but it also guarantees that the pieces will stay on their spaces despite table being bumped, gently carrying the board from the diningroom-table to the coffee-table, and other sorts of chess-interrupting events.



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Poe's Berenice -- Illustrated

Read Edgar Allen Poe's Berenice online, illustrated and scanned from the September 1967 Eerie magazine:

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Is That A Guitar in Your Pants, or...

A man recently tried to steal a guitar by sticking it down his pants -- with the help of accomplices, though. The article is wise to note that somebody else tried the same down-pants technique at the same store in 2006, but was also caught. Think it's rare? Well, just this past February someone tried stealing an acoustic guitar by putting it down his pants. It seems that even the guitar can't keep out of a guitarist's pants. They should be glad they didn't try that at Ray's Music Exchange -- he's an excellent shot.

Star Wars Figures That Look Like Celebrities

Reproducing an actor like Mark Hamill or Harrison Ford in a tiny, tiny plastic head is tough, as these examples of Star Wars figures that look like somebody else attests:




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Bringing Phytosaurs Back to Life

1931: scientists and artists combine forces to reconstruct the phytosaurs -- full story here.

Teddy Bear Fetal Development

Who knew that something could be so cute and so creepy at the same time -- the gestation of a teddy bear:




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If London Were Like Venice

A tale from the late 19th century, envisioning a London that has sunk deep enough that the city were flooded:

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5 History Myths

Courtesy of the annoyingly-linkable Cracked website, 5 history myths you've memorized, despite forgetting all the valuable stuff like Constitutional rights and non-addition mathematics:

Batphones! I said, BATPHONES!

You may not be combatting the Joker, but you can at least have supermamillian hearing with the Batphones!

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New Joker Photos From Dark Knight

A bunch of spoilery photos from The Dark Knight, depicting the late Heath Ledger's Joker, have been leaked - see more here.

Banksy Caught On Film

Famous graffiti -artist Banksy has been caught in a film that appeared online briefly, but appears to have been taken down -- if it really is him, it'll be the first time he's really been seen...but Banksy is also known for playing tricks; he could easily have hired someone to act as him in the video.

Shadow Puppets!

Next time you're on a date with a hot chick, and invite her back to your place, you can show her how cool you are by pointing your desk lamp at the wall and making some shadow puppets!

Live-art-blogging TED -- in Book Form

The TED Conference had people sketching the presentations as they occurred, making visual representations of what was being talked about -- it can be downloaded, in logically-arranged form, from here:

Eddie Rickenbackers Plane of the Future

I suppose being a fighter pilot ace gives you some credibility when endorsing aircraft designs, but I'm sure, when the time comes, he'd rather have an engineer make a plane that flies well and avoids hitting the ground too hard:

Grace Slick and Sesame Street

Amongst other trivia found here, Grace Slick was the Jazzy Spies singer on Sesame Street (also, why's Spider Man on Electric Company, where'd Romper Room come from, and much more)

Nationally Lampooning Geographic

No, it's not Paris Hilton in National Geographic, it's the Harvard Lampoon's parody of the elderly stateman of photography magazines:

National Geographic was in on it, and, yes, that's Paris Hilton on the cover (see outtakes)

Dirty Joke On A Business Card

Try working dirty jokes into your business communications today, and you're looking at a sexual harrassment suit. no, it's not on the front -- Hang Fire Books has a scan of the ribald card back.

Cabbage Chair

Well, it looks like a toilet-paper chair to go with your gothic toilet, but it's actually loosely-rolled fabric, cut and formed to make a seat. I can't imagine it's all that comfortable -- or stable -- but it sure looks cool.

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Digital Billboards, Hacked By Skullphone

I wouldn't have even thought electronic billboards would be hackable, but, duh-- if it's got a computer, someone's going to crack it open:

In this case, it's a hacker called Skullphone -- he didn't replace anything, just inserted his own logo-cum-advertisement into rotation. (via)

Gothic Throne...Throne?

It's a throne fit for a king -- for when you have to take an absolutely epic dump. It's gothically styled, but with all the modern conveniece of that low-flow piece of crap in your bathroom -- the Dagobert throne from Herbeau Creations:

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Steampunk Vader

Darth Vader is a guaranteed candidate for steampunking, and some star-wars-steampunk-fan has put together this helmet:

Available on eBay, and found via.

Laser-Cut Record Albums

These black shapes are more than just die-cut plastic: these are re-purposed record albums, laser-cut and used as recoration.

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Shipping Container Construction

Just pack up the store, load it on a ship, and get it to the customers without customers coming to you -- Puma is doing an entire store, made of several containers.

Russian Trains Have Big Balls

And, no, not of the debutante kind:

From the always excellent Modern Mechanix.

No Wrestlemania Nipples In Florida

Nipples are forbidden by local statues, removing the obvious mamallian features of these wrestlers:

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Pixel Couch

This is what you get when you go crazy with anti-aliasing the furnishings:

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Cowpuncher?

This showed up as a job description on a file at work: the guy working on it had to find out what the heck a cow puncher does. Turns out, it's a DOT-endorsed job description:

Performs any combination of the following duties on a beef cattle ranch to attend to beef cattle: Herds, castrates, and brands cattle. Inspects and repairs fences, windmills, watering troughs, and feed containers. Feeds cattle supplemental food during shortages of natural forage. Trains saddle horses. Rides beside horse being trained to prevent bucking horse or rider from being injured.

Exile in Guyville -- Reissued in Vinyl!

Liz Phair's excellent album Exile in Guyville -- full of all sort of failed-relationship sentiment -- is being reissued in CD and MP3...and vinyl.

How To Repent In Public

Language Log has instructions on how to apologize for sin in public:

1. Carefully choose the best place to do it.
2. Have your family, especially your wife, standing next to you.
3. Admit wrong-doing in a general way.
4. Frame an apology without specifics.
5. Say that you have learned your lesson and you will never do this again .
6. Take no questions.