The Music Animation Machine

These are pretty cool. If you can get beyond the fact that the music is extremely methodical and technical, it’s at least visually stimulating and cool to see some kind of visual representation of some of the world’s most exquisite musical masterpieces. Check out the Music Animation Machine here.  And a different aesthetic to this one;     

Anti-Groping Cellphone App.

Wow. You read the title correctly. The 7th most downloaded cellphone application in Japan these days is an anti-groping app that allows women to send messages to male gropers on trains. The “Anti-Groping Appli” was created back in 2005 by games developer Takahashi and has recently jumped in downloads. I’ve been told this is a big issue over there– although I didn’t personally experience it. But wow, the fact that it’s prevalent enough for an application to be created– and actually downloaded, is a little nutty. And the messages; let’s face it, are hilarious. It’s funny to me to think that showing someone a text message on a train ANYWHERE in the world might actually deter them from doing anything. That would never work in the states. Apparently, instituting all female train cars in Japan wasn’t quite enough to alleviate this ridiculous problem. Bizarre. Read the full story over at ABC.com.

If I ever need a hearing aid…

… I want mine to come in this packaging.

The design is by Copenhagan design studio Goodmorning Technology, for Widex “high definition hearing.”

I’m a huge fan of well-designed, and creative packaging– I say fan, but some might say “sucker.” Anyhow, this box for a hearing aid is some of the coolest in package design I’ve seen in awhile. As you pull the innerbox out of the sheath, it simulates a sound wave in action. Ingenius if you think about the fact that whomever is opening/needing the device relies much more on visual cues than aural. Love it. Watch the video below for a demo

Invisible Shield

The newest craze in gadgetry, is to protect your gadgetry. Not really, I just made that up. But this Invisible Shield stuff is the real deal. My bosses at the “tech company I currently work for” have this stuff on all their little gadgets and it’s really quite impressive. Originally designed by the military to protect helicopter blades from being deteriorated by sand and other debris, it’s a clear sticker that you apply over your appliances that makes them virtually indestructable. Well– more like incredibly scratch resistant. You no longer have to worry about scratching your ipod when you shake it in a bag full of nails. They make these stickers in custom cut shapes for just about everything– ipods, cellphones, laptops, pdas, game consoles– you name it. If they don’t have the design you need, they’ll make up a custom sticker for you as well. Check out the demo tape if you’re not convinced- it gets good about half way through. However, if you choose to use this stuff, take your time with the application. It can be tedious, but you don’t want annoying bubbles or crooked applications. There are a million youtube tutorials on how to apply like a pro, so good luck. You can find Invisible Shield here. Oh yea, and it’s got a lifetime warranty– can’t go wrong.

Virtually Hanging Out

Last night a bunch of homies– that could’ve easily hung out in real life, decided to hang out via the internets. It was good times. Here’s a picture of us videochatting about taking pictures, while some of us took pictures of us taking pictures of us videochatting… uhh…. yea, I don’t know…

Go to Pheed.net & BLAHBLOG to visit the high-tech mofos in this screenshot.

Ophthalmologist uses photoshop to shed new light on Impressionism

I’m a huge fan of impressionistic art. I love the overall aesthetic as much as I’m fascinated by the technological advances that led to the emergence of such an influential artistic movement. The invention of the color wheel as well as the develpment of acrylic paints allowed artists like Monet, Manet, Cézanne, & Degas to create some of the world’s greatest artistic masterpieces. Many people have been puzzled through the years, however, as to why artists such as Monet & Degas seemed to have “digressed” later in their lives. Some believe it was the influence of artists like Van Gogh that led to a more modern shift in their later pieces, while others (like myself) tend to believe it was more due to vision impairments such as cataracts that led to the shifts in “style.” Ophthalmologist Michael Marmor seems to agree with me (or maybe it’s the other way around) and has used photoshop in order to recreate how certain vision impairments may have changed each artist’s perceptions of their work. It’s pretty interesting and you can read the article on Wired.com here. Below are some pieces with different lenses applied to them through photoshop. They simulate vision empairments and may explain why the artists were satisfied with harder lines and stronger brush strokes– to them it may not have looked any different from the work they produced for years sans any vision problems. You can see a gallery of comparison paintings, along with Marmor’s explanations here. Pretty interesting stuff.

Taking siestas to the next level since 2003…

NY based company Metronaps has created what they call their Energy Pod– for power naps at the office. I’m a huge fan of siestas– anyone who knows me, knows that much– I was ecstatic when I read this article about siestas cutting the risk of cardiac death by up to 37%. It gives me great rebuttal amo for anyone who flips me shit for taking naps. Anyhow, this company understands the importance of napping to work productivity and employee well-being, and are attempting to create a personal and comfortable environment for people to take a snooze while at the work place. The space ship looking pod provides a sterile and virtually silent environment (the shield blocks sound from coming in or going out) complete with Bose speakers for your listening enjoyment. They cost a pretty penny, but if they increase the bottom line I guess it’s an investment worth looking into. Maybe one day when I have endless disposable income I’ll pick one of these up for my office– or maybe I’ll just get a couch and an ipod.

Fixed Gears on NYTimes.com

Saw this article in the NYTimes.com today and learned a lot about the history of fixed gears. If I didn’t take a nasty fall and get stitches in 5th grade, and if I didn’t live in an area completely surrounded by hills I might try to give a fixed gear a try– but I’m too much of a pansy and a lightweight. I must say it’s quite the expensive hobby– seems like every other week I’m hearing what new components my brother is buying for his bike that equal 2+ months of my income. But I guess it’s still way cheaper than a car, and much more eco friendly. Maybe when I live somewhere a little more flat I’ll try to work my way into it.

Check out the article here.

They Rule

Awhile back I took a Concepts of New Media class, and really loved it. Our prof, Philip Howard, was stellar and the content of the class kept me, well, coming to class. Our first assignment was to find a piece of “old, new media” and smash it apart to try to figure out how it works- then using our findings try to come up with a definition for new media. Our final assignment was to make our own mash-up and in the past Howard’s had his classes make maps of wi-fi hotspots around Seattle- which were later used by the City of Seattle. Pretty cool. Anyhow, during class one day Prof Howard pulled up the website “theyrule”. I thought it was so cool, I quickly jotted it down in my moleskine as something I wanted to explore further (something I did often in this class). Well life happened, and I got so busy I completely forgot about it until today. Remembering it was like getting a Christmas present. Theyrule.net is a website that allows you to make visual maps of how companies (specifically board members of these companies) are connected to other companies. It’s absolutely amazing to see how many people sit on multiple boards, proving they really do “rule”. Here’s an example of a map I made. I stuck with the Seattle theme, and started with all the major companies based out of Seattle. One cool part about this website is that icons representing board members get fatter depending on how many other boards they sit on. Classic. It’s pretty fun to play around with, which keeps your mind off of the fact that what you’re seeing/creating is extremely depressing and scary. Rich getting richer, poor getting poorer, with major power consolidation. Here’s a map I found with 7 of the most powerful people around;

“Will Work-Out for Electricity”

This is sort of an addendum to the post I made about dancing for electricity. Just another example of human energy being converted to power. Who knew my lame joke about running to power the TV was actually right on point?

“Will Dance For Electricity”

Saw this short video over at Inhabitat.com and thought it was the most excellent idea/concept/reality. Why hasn’t anyone thought of this before?! I’d dance to keep the music playing, or walk to keep the streetlights on, or run to power the TV- the opportunities are endless. Read more here.

Ignore the shameless plug for Toyota.

L.A.S.E.R.

This was my favorite find of last week! Even though I’m posting it now, and it’s not as “cutting edge” as it was 7 days ago, I still think it’s worthy of some airtime/blogtime. You can read more about this new technology at the Graffiti Research Lab.

And just in case you’re thinking “Why doesn’t that L.A.S.E.R. burn that building?” let me ease your mind and tell you that it’s light that’s amplified and projected onto the building. 100% safe & temporary. Look for Advertisers to be using this technique faster than you can say dolla dolla bills y’all.