This time lapse video of an overnight bridge demolition is surprisingly beautiful in its own way. The track excavators look like insects devouring a leaf. It was made with a Canon 5Dmk2. over 18+ hours and 4,000 images.
A Bridge Too Far from James Miller on Vimeo.
The Mercedes Unimog is the quintessential go anywhere four wheel drive work vehicle. Developed in post war Germany for agricultural use, they were taken over by Daimler Benz in 1951. Portal gears on the wheel hubs allow the axles and transmission to be higher than the tires center, giving the Unimog a higher ground clearance than the Humvee. They also have a flexible frame that allow the wheels a great range of motion. These combine to allow the Unimog to climb a shear vertical step several feet high. They are used by various countries military forces and when decommissioned are often imported to the US and used by extreme four wheel drive enthusiasts. They have been made in a variety of variants including a radio box truck, ambulance, troop carrier, and snowblower and are now offered in a variety of modern construction job variants. If I had more garage space (and disposable income) I would love to own an old radio box or troop carrier.
Lego is . . . well really, do I even have to go into how awesome Lego is? Combine awesome truck with awesome building toy and you get the new Lego Unimog model.
Lego has announced their largest model kit ever is going to be a 1:12.5 scale Unimog U400 truck, and what can I do but come down with a serious case of the “I wants”. It even has a working pneumatic crane.
I want it even more than this awesome VW Beetle set (the blocks just don’t do the beautiful curves justice) which was the previous lego model I drooled over.
Unfortunately at $250 I won’t be ordering one right away, but I will always keep my eyes open for a good sale or used set, and dream…. that is still free. Some more pictures to enjoy:
Over at the (rather fascinating) blog The Technium they talk about what it means to grow up in a digital world. It is fascinating to witness how young children not only take to advanced technology so naturally, but also take it for granted as a basic and obvious part of the world around us. They illustrate the point with 3 humorous anecdotes. The highlight of my favorite one is :
One day he printed out a high resolution image on photo paper and left it on the coffee table. He noticed his toddler come up to up and try to unpinch the photo to make it larger, like you do on an iPad. She tried it a few times, without success, and looked over to him and said “broken.”
Find the rest at Born Digital
UPDATE: Over at the Kids.Woot blog Jason Toon responds. He wonders if maybe it is not such a good idea for very young children to have interact with these virtual environments so much when they are still struggling to understand the physical reality around them.
What happens to the human mind when, during the most crucial period in its cognitive and motor development, it encounters technologies like the iPad? We have no idea. I hate to pee in the virtual punchbowl, but it seems wise to at least consider the possibilities now. iPad-type devices are still only used by a relatively tiny number of people. If introducing children to iPads at an early age can harm their development, that’s a lesson we’d hate to learn after the devices have become as ubiquitous as TV.
Check out these awesome banana sculptures from Japanese artist y_yamaden. You can find the whole set of pictures here. (Japanese language)
[Geekologie] via [Laughing Squid]
Why are America’s best and brightest and leaders of tomorrow out running around in the mud with broom sticks between their legs, trying to chase a someone in a golden lycra suit? They are playing Quidditch, of course! Yesterday two championship games of the Prairie Cup Ground Quidditch tournament were held on the campus of the University of Minnesota Morris. The game rules are roughly the same as the game from the world of Harry Potter, with of course the exception of the flying around part. People run about with brooms between their legs trying to throw a quaffle through the goal rings while avoiding the beaters trying to hit them with bludger balls. (Truth be told, we had a hard time telling the quaffle from the bludgers.) All the while, a person designated the golden snitch runs about (in a wonderful shiny golden suit) trying to avoid having his tail removed by seekers. In the pickup game we watched there were not actually any seekers in evidence chasing the golden snitch, but he had a nice run about anyway (and yes, that is fresh snow on the ground on April 16th!)
You can find a few more of my pictures here, and campus news coverage here
I keep struggling to figure out what is going on here, it doesn’t make sense. I keep think it is starting to make sense, but then no, it still doesn’t make sense. Then why is it so funny? (B has sneaking suspicion it is the word “mork”)
Click through for much more…
We were always too poor to write our own poems
And had to buy them at the store.
The kinds that they sell always rhyme too well,
But the images tend to bore.
Someday when I am rich,
I will buy great words
And write poems about dragons and swords.
The kinds that paint pictures of far away places,
And taste so much better to read.
Ever wonder just how paper beats rock in the Rock Paper Scissors Game? Well someone else out there not only wondered, but outright disagreed and even went one step further – they made this funny sign about it:
Speaking of Rock Paper Scissors: If you feel like losing a few games to a smarty-pants computer program, check out this “You Vs Computer” rock paper scissors game at the New York Times. I will give you one for free, he leads with rock the first time, after that, prepare to be humbled…but at least it won’t punch you in the face for playing paper.
Just in time for the upcoming Pi Day (3/14), YouTube musician Michael John Blake has created a lovely song by interpreting the first 31 digits of pi into musical notes. While there is certainly a lot of creative input involved to get from pi to this song, the connection is still fun, and don’t forget to notice just how many different instruments this guy can play. Enjoy!
Just in time for all you sailors stuck at home during these cold winter months:
Some suggestions you can do at home, if you miss being aboard your boat!
1.Sleep on the shelf in your closet.
2.Replace the closet door with a curtain.
3.Four hours after you go to sleep, have your wife whip open the curtain,
shine a flashlight in your eyes, and mumble, “Your watch!”.
4.Put a wall across the middle of you bathtub and move the shower head down
to chest level.
5.When taking showers, shut off the water while soaping.
6.Put lube oil in your humidifier instead of water and set it to high.
7.If your basement floods, durning a sudden thaw, go down and start bailing.
8.Bring inside some type of gas motor(lawn mower, garden tiller, etc),
start, and leave running while trying to listen to favorite CD, or having an
in-depth conversation.
9.If the wind, outside, is howling, race around the house to make sure all
windows and doors are secure (at night, everyone takes a turn on ‘watch’).
10.Place all none edible garbage in small plastic bags, and store in other
half of tub (edible garbage to be thrown out the window).
11.Wake up at midnight and have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on stale
bread. Cold canned ravioli or soup, is optional.
12.Make up your family menu a week ahead of time without looking in the
pantry, ‘fridge, or freezer.
13.Once a month, pick a major appliance, take it completely apart, and put
it back together.
14.Use 18 scoops of coffee per pot, and allow it to sit for 5 to 6 hours
before drinking.
15.Put a fluorescent light under the coffee table, and lay there to read a
book.
16.Every so often, throw the cat in the tub(hot tub, large sink, etc.) and
shout, “Man overboard!”.
17.Run into the kitchen and sweep all the pots/pans/ dishes off of the
counter onto the floor, then yell at the wife for not having the place
“stowed for sea
18. With every major wind shift, have your alarm go off so you can reset your address.
19.Periodically throw some sand about the house.
20.Cut two legs shorter on each chair.
21.During a squall, wake up – go to the front porch – throw a bucket of cold water in your face – go back to bed.
-This list is found in various forms and versions on numerous boating and navy sites across the web
Very cute. And silly me trying to juggle with three oranges at once, and wasting time with all that ridiculous throwing-them-in-air nonsense…
In 1988 a gentleman named Paul Middlewick was looking at the (so wonderful) London Underground map when he saw something new and different hidden in the routes. It was an elephant. Since then, he has discovered many other animals from all branches of the animal kingdom hiding in that iconic subway map. He has made a series of clever drawings showing them and is selling them in a book and on T-shirts on his web site Animals On The Underground. I really like the idea of this kind of “hidden art” lurking everywhere around us. You can see a few more below, or click over to his site to see the whole collection.
found on [Whitezine]
Here is an amazing video of someone playing chicken with giant wind turbines with a RC plane with a pilot-view camera in it. Amazing stunt, which I am guessing the wind turbine company would not appreciate at all, though I wouldn’t think he would be capable of actually hurting one with his little plane. Some of the close misses made me gasp…
Playing Chicken with a Wind Turbine FPV from aaron_gx on Vimeo.
[Gizmodo]
Monty Python Royal Society for Putting Things on top of other things
The other day the daily email from buy.com included an ad for a Japanese Shopping site called Rakuten – “Now Shipping to the USA” – so I decided to check it out. It is apparently one of the biggest shopping sites in Japan, almost like a Japanese Amazon.com, but with a heavy bent towards kitsch. Unfortunately, unlike the amazing Japanese Gadget site dealextreme.com which offers free shipping to the USA, the shipping to the USA from Rakuten looks pretty cost prohibitive right now, but the poorly translated product descriptions are wonderfully entertaining and worth a look.
Some are just the somewhat cliche awkward English translations (sometimes referred to as “Engrish”), like the text on this wonderful Asimo Costume which I wish I could afford to buy:
| Robottoasobo costume |
| Product Description ? |
| The newest robot costume design. ASIMO ASIMO can also be used for imitation. * The one who is not compatible. * Please read the instructions available. [Size] To 180cm tall. Adult [Materials] Urethane, leather, polyurethane, PVC, use film * After use, I highly recommend I use deodorant. * You can not wash. |
| The set includes ? |
| Mind, body parts back, hands, gloves, feet |
Some others though enter into a whole different realm of surreal beauty, like product haiku’s or love poems.
The title on the product page for a basic iPod sock is
“Like a rice cake! Whoops stretched Gyu cover Pitatto”
Check out this wonderful description / poetry:
ipod while carrying in a bag, against various things,
Imperceptibly that I’ve hurt for?
At that time, it is useful to have a cover too.
mochi is made up of a soft knit fabric has stretch.
Pita Innovation cover stretches Gyu ?.
ipod protection against scratches and shock.
The body, so that a snug fit,
Unchanged in size but covered.
When carrying, I am happy that the bulky!
And, ipod besides the variety of usage.
Compact and vulnerable part of the LCD cover and even cell phones.
Inorganic electronic devices, is surrounded knit, friendly atmosphere.
Watch and removed, ? also soaking in the small items into
The perfect gift item!
Packages like the sweets, there is impact
Some people were gifts will surely surprised me.
In all color 8color!
Bibittokara a bright strawberries.
I hesitate because there are a lot of tea!
Ipod usual, but by changing the color of the cover, it becomes a different color.
ipod will not hesitate to get a new one but not,
If you cover, you can enjoy lots of color.
Even with friends and lovers and matching different colors good!
Oke covered in it,
“Which one do it, she’ll not know!”
No more of them.
I may use both the mood of the day!
In addition, ipod or mobile phone, and each item
Once you have a different color cover,
Obviously useful even when removed from the bag!
Does introduce one color.
Your favorites, please find it.
–
“Even with friends and lovers and matching different colors good!” yes, indeed.
With over 17 million products in their catalog, it could keep you amused for a long time.
Love the text on this toy box:
-Game Attention
Do not play outdoors during thunderstorms
- Handsome appearance
modern techniques
radio control
- Flat out most
Let me passing through the fine time with you
On September 21 activist groups around the world temporarily took over single parking places on city streets and converted them in to small public parks complete with grass, trees and benches. Many of the groups accomplished this feat using only human powered vehicles (bikes) to carry in supplies. They pay the meter for one hour and get to work, then everyone is invited to enjoy a little green space until the meter runs out. Then they pack up and are on their way. 47 parks in 13 cities. Whether you consider this a “protest”, public performance art, or just a random act of kindness, this is totally awesome! Things like this make the world a better place to live.
This cat likes to drink from a running sink. Nothing too unusual there. But he has an unusual way of getting the water to his mouth. No cat I have known would do this. Very funny video, thought it is really too long, you can get the whole idea in the first minute.
Or: More Adventures in Home Repair
For the last several months we have been experiencing a terrible smell from our stove whenever we broiled food in the oven. An odd, not food like smell, more like burning insulation or plastic or something. It was barely noticeable when we just baked, but once the top elements got really hot for broiling, the odor got nasty. We opened windows and turned on fans, but it would linger in the whole house for hours. We cleaned the oven, we cleaned under the stove burners, no change. The other day we finally decided to tear into it and figure out what was going on.
We pulled the plug, moved it out from the wall and started taking out screws. Top element removed, connections looked fine, no charring or loose wires. Took off the door, removed back panels, found some greasy dirt, but nothing that looked like it was burning. After taking the stove top and head unit completely off we spotted a few mouse droppings in the bit of fiberglass insulation exposed under the edges of the pan which separates the stove from the oven. I started wondering if mice had moved in to the insulation, then met their hot demise. I found it interesting that the pan was held on with Torx screws which seemed to imply that it was not supposed to removed. I dug out my Torx driver, removed the screws, and cautiously lifted, afraid of what I might find. As it came up we saw a dark brown area on the otherwise light yellow insulation and knew we were on the right track. We slowly peeled back the insulation, afraid that any moment a horror movie worthy charred remains of a dead mouse would be revealed, but instead there were dark pea sized pellets? Whaa? those look like – no it couldn’t be – rabbit droppings??
While my mind churned for a moment trying to grasp what I was seeing, BRB suddenly spoke the answer – Cat Food! Yes, there were not rabbits nesting in the stove (whew, I hate it when that happens), but rather mice had stashed a winter’s worth of cat food pellets in a hollowed out area in the fiberglass insulation, and then the pellets had baked and burned when the top of the oven got hot enough. We proceeded to carefully perform a pelletectomy surgical procedure with gloves, scissors and vacuum cleaner. We managed to remove the food and the damaged insulation, but were left with a big hole in the insulation exposing the top of the oven compartment.
We left everything torn apart all over the kitchen and drove to the appliance store to find out how to get replacement fiberglass. The service man did not seem to even offer to sell us some, but agreed with our suggestion that it would be easy to scavenge a piece from a dead oven. We drove over to their appliance graveyard where things were piled up for recycling. Unfortunately they had just sent out a big group of ovens, but there was one stove top that had a few strips of insulation in it – just enough to fill the hole, and its bright white color made it look like surgical gauze, to complete the surgery metaphor.
After reassembling the whole mess, we seem to have solved the problem, and tested it / celebrated by baking some muffins. And now we know not to try to bake a cat food hot dish for the cat. Like revenge, cat food is a dish best served cold.
Here is a nice tribute to bananas I came across on YouTube. Some cool, fun images here. Enjoy!
Here is a wonderful banana sighting from Japan. Dole has started an ad campaign there featuring a Bananaman who sprouts CGI bananas from his head and hands and even shoots bananas from his nose to cheer up sad women in the park. Bananas consumption has apparently surged in Japan with the popularity of “The Morning Banana Diet” and Dole has decided to capitalize on the trend with these bizarre commercials. Hey maybe this guy should try to get a job at Dole? Enjoy the Banana filled goodness below.
