Waves and Waves of Wood

Reuben Margolin makes amazing kinetic sculptures from found and salvaged materials. His pieces are often model recreations of simple waveforms found from observing nature. Out of these simple observation Reuben begins the complex construction process to make pieces of wood behave like water. The end result of his pieces are often mesmerizing as shown on this video by Make Magazine.



Found At Boingboing.net

TED: THIS ONE IS BIG, CREATING A 6th SENSE

TED conference has all kinds of wonderful talks, one of the most memorable was when Jeff Han debuted the Multi-Touch panel back in 2006(now being used everywhere in Apple's Itouch.) Likely this one will equally mark the point in which Technology took a leap forward.
TED 6TH Sense


Jeff Han TED 2006

Found on Grinding.Be, Thanks.

SHEEP PONG & ANIMATION

What would you do if you had dozens of sheep and an LED expert at hand?
This was found over at Grinding.be blog, and it's pretty amazing.

Home Invasion?.... Why Not Video Blog It?

The news has been filled recently with stories of congressmen Twittering rather than listening during Obama's congressional speeches. I must admit there is a Hackberry South Twitter page, though the site doesn't seem to only work for for blatant advertisement. Most of what can be said is pointless, and you have to either not have many friends or stay connected constantly to catch the things you might actually care about. To relish in the ridiculousness of it, here is a guy that decided to Twitter and Video blog when someone broke into his home. There are plenty of questions that arise. I'll let the NYTIMES handle it.

New Music Ensemble 2009 Remix

A while back we did a posted about composer Steve Reich and had clips from Grand Valley State University which learned and performed Music For 18 Musicians in it's entirety for Steve Reich's 70th Birthday. Here is the trailer for what sounds like an amazing remix cd they are releasing later this year.

Terry Riley - In C

Mel Chin's - Paydirt & Fundred on Studio 360

*Thanks Wagner

Tennessee to Texas... "Suck it!" or How To Create A Giant

See they say all things are bigger in Texas, well Tennessee's got a problem with that. Tennessee is home to Little Debbie, which provided the "protein bars" necessary to create the world's largest spider monkey. State Government plans to clone little Lucy A, and try to one up itself by feeding Lucy B a strict diet of Chinese Buffet food (Sweet n Sour Pork, Pizza, Chicken Wings and extra helpings of the little doughnut rolls.)



*Thanks Prof. Roberto

Teaching Is Like War, It's Worse When You're Sober

By EMILY JOHNS, Star Tribune

"A substitute teacher in the St. Paul School District offered a lesson Tuesday on what not to do if you're looking for teaching jobs: Drink and teach at the same time.

The teacher was sent home after he was apparently drinking while teaching a fourth-grade class at Roosevelt Elementary West Side School of Excellence.

Police found a pint-size bottle of Phillips vodka in his bag and gave him a ride home after he registered 0.18 percent on a Breathalyzer test...."

Full Article Here

Here Is Why He Should Have Known This Was A Bad Idea
"Witnesses reported seeing the teacher vomit on a field trip and then leave first-graders to wander through a corn maze by themselves while the teacher passed out on a school bus."

*Re-enactment of what the children did to the teacher after they found their way out

More Here

What To Do With An Advanced Degree From MIT

On the Effectiveness of Aluminium Foil Helmets:

An Empirical Study

Abstract: "Among a fringe community of paranoids, aluminum helmets serve as the protective measure of choice against invasive radio signals. We investigate the efficacy of three aluminum helmet designs on a sample group of four individuals. Using a $250,000 network analyser, we find that although on average all helmets attenuate invasive radio frequencies in either directions (either emanating from an outside source, or emanating from the cranium of the subject), certain frequencies are in fact greatly amplified. These amplified frequencies coincide with radio bands reserved for government use according to the Federal Communication Commission (FCC). Statistical evidence suggests the use of helmets may in fact enhance the government's invasive abilities. We speculate that the government may in fact have started the helmet craze for this reason."

Full Study Here

*Thanks Carlos Vanderheech

Past Present Future

Future Fashions


Dynosphere

Papa Got A Brand New Bag Of Something

Southern Icon meets Drunk History


Dance Lessons


Night Train

Where's the Beef or Entrepreneurship?

Full Article at Forbes.com, By Sramana Mitra

A growing concern is the current lack of policy to support entrepreneurship from this administration, especially bootstrapped entrepreneurship. As the government tries to assess what might stimulate entrepreneurship, I don't see many "practitioners" of true entrepreneurship represented on President Obama's advisory council. Who represents the voice of the bootstrapped entrepreneur in the government? Who understands the extreme cash-strapped conditions under which entrepreneurs operate? Without understanding, how can they design an effective system?
...In fact, this week, there was some whining from the venture capital industry about a tax increase for carried interest per the Obama budget proposal. The administration proposes raising taxes on these firms' general partners by treating carried interest, the portion of profits they take from successful investments, as ordinary income instead of capital gains. That change would increase the tax rate, starting in 2011, to 39.6% from the current 15% level.

Give Up That Twitter For Lent!

From AP, Full Story Here

ROME - Roman Catholic bishops in Italy are urging the faithful to go on a high-tech fast for Lent, switching off modern appliances from cars to iPods and abstaining from surfing the Web or text messaging until Easter.

The suggestion goes far beyond no-meat Fridays, giving a modern twist to traditional forms of abstinence in the five-week period Christians set aside for fasting and prayer ahead of Easter.