NPD: Android is now top-selling OS in American smartphones
Disclaimer: NPD's Ross Rubin is a contributor to Engadget.
Continue reading NPD: Android is now top-selling OS in American smartphones
Thursday, August 5, 2010
NPD: Android is now top-selling OS in American smartphones
NPD: Android is now top-selling OS in American smartphones
Disclaimer: NPD's Ross Rubin is a contributor to Engadget.
The Depression in color
The Depression in color
I absolutely love this collection of photos, taken by the Farm Security Administration and Office of War Information between 1939 and 1943. The shots taken prior to 1941, especially, are incredibly jarring—familiar images of poverty stricken farm families straight from your high school history textbook, suddenly rendered "real" and emotionally resonant by the addition of color film.
I'm very fond of the shot posted above, partially because it's just a great portrait, but also because I recognize that dress and that apron. My Great-Grandma, Rosella Duncan, owned strikingly similar outfits and was still wearing them when I was a teenager in the 1990s. It's the sort of recognizable, relatable detail that gets lost if you were to look at the same image in black and white.
Other particularly striking shots in the series:
- >#6: which shows a small-town newspaper's early attempt at real-time headlines
- >#17: where you see the family pictured above eating dinner and can get a good look at their food
- >#43: a shot of a woman and her son outside a grocery store that could easily be (without any real alterations) a modern big city bodega
- >#66: a real-life Rosie the Riveter who is rocking some fabulous, bright-red nails
Denver Post Photo Blogs: Captured: American in Color 1939-1943
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Churchill and Eisenhower ordered World War II UFO cover-up
Churchill and Eisenhower ordered World War II UFO cover-up
Winston Churchill and Dwight Eisenhower agreeing to a UFO cover-up during World War II? Sounds like something we might have seen during a flashback on an episode of The X-Files. But according to notes discovered within hundreds of previously secret "UFO files" released by the U.K. government's National Archives today, it actually happened.
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DS9s Siddig talks about intentionally blowing his lines
DS9s Siddig talks about intentionally blowing his lines
Remember the episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in which Doctor Bashir was revealed to have been genetically modified as a child, changing everything we'd known about the character? Alexander Siddig sure does. Because after he received his script, he showed how wrong he thought that surprise change was in one of the most devious ways an actor can—by intentionally blowing his lines.
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Silver skull spoons
Silver skull spoons
It's a portmanteau playground! "Skoons" is better than "spulls," I think. They're made from vintage silver by Tom Sale, aka Pinky Diablo, and are available in both tea- and table-skoon sizes. Of course, the numerous holes limit their utility as spoons; I wonder if the details could be embossed instead of pierced? Also, if the teeth were made a bit sharper they could double as tines, and the whole utensil would become a "skull spork." I'll leave that one to your own imaginations to skoonerize...er, I mean, spoonerize.
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Anthologize - Turn Your Blog Into an Ebook
Anthologize - Turn Your Blog Into an Ebook
If you've ever looked at your blog posts or your students' blog posts and thought, "there's a book here," you're right there probably is a book in those posts. Now if you're a WordPress user, you can turn those posts into an ebook. Anthologize is a free WordPress plug-in that allows you to take your posts and arrange them into an ebook. Anthologize features a drag and drop interface for arranging the layout of your ebook.It's important to note that Anthologize is a brand new product and may contain some bugs. You should also be aware that Anthologize will only work for self-hosted blogs not on WordPress.com blogs.
Applications for Education
Anthologize could be a useful tool for creating an organized, easy to read, ebook from blog posts. If you have a self-hosted blog that your students have contributed to, you can create a record of the school year and what your students have learned.
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Image of the Day: Firefly crew redone as the Star Trek crew
Image of the Day: Firefly crew redone as the Star Trek crew
Presented without comment.
(via imgur)
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Assault victim jailed for reporting it
Assault victim jailed for reporting it
Victims of false accusations are now being heard and their accusers punished. But what of those falsely accused of making false accusations? An assault victim here in Pittsburgh was robbed, raped at gunpoint, and then charged with falsely reporting a crime when she reported it. [Pittsburgh Tribune-Review]
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Monday, August 2, 2010
Shades of Milk and Honey: Kowal's debut novel is a drawing-room romance with magic and art
Shades of Milk and Honey: Kowal's debut novel is a drawing-room romance with magic and art
Shades of Milk and Honey is the hotly anticipated debut novel from Mary Robinette Kowal, who has already made a name for herself in science fiction with a series out outstanding short stories. It's a Regency drawing-room romance, told in pitch-perfect style, with one important difference: these mannered and well-bred nobles are able to do magic. By conjuring "folds from the ether," well-brought-up men and women are able to create optical illusions -- or even breezes and smells -- though such workings are quite exhausting and too much conjuring can leave the practicioner comatose, brain-damaged or dead. Kowal's lively romance tells the story of two grown sisters: Jane, a spinster at 28, is the ugly duckling of the family, but she makes up for her sallow skin and disharmonious features with her talents in genteel arts, from painting and pianoforte to conjuring up beautiful and vivid glamours using the ether. Her younger sister, Melody, is the family beauty, courted by men all around the Dorset countryside. Father is a warm but distant presence, while Mother is a bedridden neurasthenic hypochondriac who grasps and climbs the social ladder, hoping to ingratiate herself with the viscountess next door (and possibly marry Melody off to her nephew, a dashing captain in Her Majesty's Navy).
Shades of Milk and Honey does an incredibly cunning job of working magic into this well-worn scenario, breathing fresh life into the stifling mannerist drawing-rooms of these propriety-bound gentlemen and ladies without ever losing the authentic feel of a Regency love-story.
And this is a love-story and a rather glorious one at that. The suitors, belles, and chaperones dance around each other as the gravity-wells of a good heart, artistic talent, and physical beauty send them careening around, one against another.
Kowal's first novel is a beautifully told story of being true: true to love, true to family, and true to art, even when it seems that one of them must give. It's a marvellous and promising debut, and hints at more wonders to come.
A video trailer for the book follows.
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Spoiler: Costume designer reveals how Inception REALLY ended
Spoiler: Costume designer reveals how Inception REALLY ended
Have you been able to figure out which way things went down at the end of Inception? Because we haven't. We're still trying to decide whether ... well ... even ASKING the question here might spoil the movie for those who haven't seen it yet, so if you really want to know what we just found out about the ending, check out what Jeffrey Kurland, Inception's costume designer, revealed below.
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Sunday, August 1, 2010
A life in polaroids
A life in polaroids
Jamie Livingston took a polaroid photograph every day for eighteen years. On the day he died, a friend took the final shot. [Mental Floss. Thanks, opcws and @Pic_Nick]
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Art On The Fly: 10 Examples Of Zany Zipper Art
Art On The Fly: 10 Examples Of Zany Zipper Art
[ By Steve in Architecture & Design, Gadgets & Geek Art, Urban & Street Art. ]
All praise the zipper: the ubiquitous, maintenance-free, no muss, no fuss fastener that trumps both buttons and Velcro! Zippers operate smoothly, silently and safely day in and day out, often in close proximity to our most sensitive bodily parts yet they rarely – "There's Something About Mary" excepted – cause us anxiety or grief. These 10 toothy examples of zany zipper art illustrate the mix of appreciation, admiration and YKK-stamped tabs by which society holds these fascinating fasteners.
Zippered Walnut
Artist Ellen Rixford knows how to grab one's attention, as this zippered walnut shells, er, shows so well. The walnut is actually crafted from clay, is 6 inches long and is highlighted by an industrial zipper. Rixford created this striking image for a drug company advertisement… perhaps regarding a non-surgical treatment to replace testicular surgery.
Juming Museum's Zipper Lotus Pond
Fly fishing anyone? Get your rod (and reel) to Taiwan, where the lushly landscaped grounds of the Juming Museum are graced with a most unusual pond. Designed by respected Taiwanese artist and sculptor Ju Chun, the Zipper Lotus Pond was completed in 2009.
Sharp eyes may notice that the zipper slider carries the logo "JU-JUN". It's not clear exactly what the artist's intent was in using this logo though the similarity to his name may offer a clue.
Zipper Tongue
When zipping your lips isn't enough… yes, this is a photoshop. Not completely though, the zipper hardware was added to an actual "lingua bifida" body modification for a Worth1000 photoshop contest. Considering the increasing number of bodymods that have crossed the Net of late, we may yet see an actual zippered tongue some day. You just won't see it in my bathroom mirror.
Life In The Fastener Lane
This group of images highlights zippers that have been painted or otherwise integrated into streets, avenues, boulevards and other paved pathways. One might ask (in a Seinfeld-esque voice), "What's the deal with zippers and roads?" Perhaps artists note some correlation between the role of roadways in society and the functionality of zippers on an individual's clothing. Or, maybe they just need sufficient space.
While paint and chalk make sense for roadway artwork, more obtrusive installations such as the Big Zip above are best suited to sidewalks and soft shoulders. Pedestrians and bicyclists may disagree, however.
Sebastian Errazuriz's Zipper Dress
Guys who already have trouble "unwrapping" their dates aren't going to be thrilled by the Zipper N3 dress. Designed and created by 31-year-old Chilean artist Sebastian Errazuriz, the intention wasn't to facilitate hanky panky but instead provide women with a so-called "credit crunch dress" that can be adapted to form over 100 different styles. Errazuriz used 120 zippers to make the dress, which he hopes to have mass-produced by a major clothing firm.
Amalia Versaci's Upcycled Zippers
Amalia Versaci has got a name made for fashion and indeed, the Rhode Island School of Design grad focuses her creative energies on clothing and accessories. Her special emphasis is on the zipper, however, and her designs often employ zippers and parts thereof in original yet appealing ways. Versaci has taken a special interest in vintage and upcycled zippers, taking inspiration from the shapes and designs popular when zippers were as new, exciting and futuristic as Velcro is today.
Hear no evil with Amalia Versaci's zipper slide earrings! I SAID, HEAR… ok, we'll move on. Upcycling vintage zipper slides and adding today's colors, tones and shades adds up to an attractive combination well suited for today's New Traditionalists.
Jewelry isn't the only purpose Versaci dedicates her zipper creations. Above are magnets made from heavy-duty YKK industrial zipper slides and collages crafted from vintage zippers still attached to their backing fabric strips.
Hirotoshi Itoh's Grinning Stones
Part of the fascination of fossils is that what's been locked in rock for countless millions of years is suddenly displayed before your very eyes. Hirotoshi Itoh's zippered stones are something like that, except weirder. From skull-like grinning boulders to congealed coin purses to a soupcon of seashells secreted in silica, Itoh offers a glimpse into the heart of rocks whose concealed treasures are revealed with a mere casual zip.
Creepiest, of course, are Itoh's granitic grinning stones. Funny, I don't recall Han Solo smiling as he gazed out from Jabba's imprisoning block of Carbonite… unlike Itoh's mouthy marbles, I guess he just wasn't into it.
Benoit Lemoine: The Zip Tape Experiment
The cool thing about zipper tape is that it can be used to reveal heretofore un-noticed shapes and structures that COULD be zipped but aren't. Forked tree limbs, bipod street lights, anything that conforms to a Y-shape (don't get cheeky now)… just zip it! Benoit Lemoine has made somewhat of an artistic career for himself being the Banksy of Zipperdom, an odd avocation if there ever was but hey – someone's gotta do it.
A variation on the zipper tape Lemoine chooses to use is Popped Zipper Tape, which makes your parcel, package, briefcase or whatever look like it, well, popped a zipper.
Karen L. Davidson's Zipper Mosaics
Winters are long & cold up in Minot, ND, and residents have come up with some interesting ways to avoid cabin fever, snow blindness and the like. One of the coolest (sorry) ways to get through those frigid months – the ones with an R in them – is Original Zipper Art as practiced and promulgated by Karen L. Davidson. From pins to plates to Christmas Trees and more, Davidson knows how to make a zipper do tricks that'll bust your buttons.
Davidson takes advantage of the wildly diverse color palette bestowed upon today's plastic, polyester and metal zippers by manufacturers, thus avoiding messy paints and volatile solvents. A bonus is that the colors are either baked on or mixed into the zippers' substrates. Designed to be long lasting from the start, Davidson's zippers do the same for her art!
Zipping Across The Ocean
Japanese artist Yasuhiro Suzuki set out to make a big impress ion at the 2010 Setouchi International Art Festival, and one would have to agree his zany zipper motorboat helped him succeed in spades. Suzuki must have noticed that the long, radiating wakes left by boats on smooth water look a lot like zippers unzipping… well, somewhat. In any case, inspiration led to construction and the result was the world's only Zipper Motorboat. Here's a short video of Suzuki unzipping Neptune's fly:
Zipper Motorboat at SIAF 2010, via Shumiyama
Zippers: where would clothing (and zany art) be without them? Buttons and Velcro have their good points but zippers are faster than buttons and they make a cool sound; not that painful ripping sound that so irritated Morty Seinfeld and doubtless many others. The Art of the Zipper simply completes the zipper's long interaction with modern society by meshing the functional with the creative. Not much more to say… so I'll zip it.
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[ WebUrbanist - By Steve in Architecture & Design, Gadgets & Geek Art, Urban & Street Art. ] 
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Image of the Day: Lisa Simpson gets married. (TODAY!)
Image of the Day: Lisa Simpson gets married. (TODAY!)
Back when the writers for The Simpsons were coming up with a date for the episode "Lisa's Wedding," 2010 must have seemed impossibly far away.
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Wikileaks volunteer detained; Julian Assange still at large
A volunteer for Wikileaks was detained by officials Thursday while entering the country at Newark International Airport. Jacob Appelbaum, noted for his work with the Tor online security project, was searched and "interrogated" for three hours before being released, according to a source who asked to remain anonymous. Wikileaks, a clearing house for information submitted by whistleblowers, released a trove of "War Logs" last Sunday relating to the conflict in Afghanistan. Appelbaum delivered a keynote speech at the recent HOPE conference in Wikileaks chief Julian Assange's place, and gave an interview to Boing Boing about the content of the logs. According to the source, Appelbaum was stopped by customs officials and spoken to for at least three hours by a team that included a U.S. Army investigator. Army Pvt. Bradley Manning was named last week as a possible Wikileaks source in relation to the classified logs. Appelbaum's interviewers demanded that he decrypt his laptop and other computer equipment, the source said. After his refusal to do so, they confiscated it, including three cellphones. The laptop was returned, apparently because it contained no storage drive that investigators could examine. He was also asked about his role in Wikileaks and informed that he was under surveillance. The FBI also asked to speak to Appelbaum earlier today in Las Vegas after his talk at the annual DEFCON hacker conference. Mr. Appelbaum, the source said, had an attorney present who declined the request on his behalf. Appelbaum, reached Saturday afternoon, said he was unable to comment. Update: CNET also has a story up, with more details of the detainment: Appelbaum, a U.S. citizen, was taken into a room, frisked, and his bag was searched. Receipts from his bag were photocopied, and his laptop was inspected, the sources said. Officials from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Army then told him he was not under arrest but was being detained, the sources said. The officials asked questions about Wikileaks, asked for his opinions about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and asked where Wikileaks founder Julian Assange could be found, but Appelbaum declined to comment without a lawyer present, according to the sources. Appelbaum was not permitted to make a phone call, the sources said.
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The Intimidator
The Intimidator
GarE Maxton's 125-piece Intimidator appears, at first look, to be named for its own complexity as a puzzle: blocks of precious metals interlinked in a hellish, impossible-looking block. This design is by far my most complex metal sculpture and it's both mentally and physically intimidating, thus the name. ... In June 2009, starting with a few extra parts from my Labyrinth sculpture, I began working night and day creating this sculpture. It grew to eight inches tall, four inches deep and five inches wide; there's a lot of volume to fill with interlocking parts and assembly of this puzzle is extremely difficult; you'll need a lot of time on your hands. Physically, it tips the scale at over 40 pounds.But it's not just a toy: when certain pieces are reassembled just so, it also has an intimidating function.
Inspired by Scaramanga in 1974's The Man with the Golden Gun, the .45 caliber firearm puzzle will remain "part of my personal collection," writes the creator. Maxton, however, does offer many delightful and mysterious metal puzzles for sale. Submitted by InsertFingerHere and Defunctdoormat.Sent from James' iPhone
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