Rant: What to do when you’re talking to a moron

Hang up the phone. The sooner, the better. I am a web designer and got an email from a guy about a website asking me to call him the next day. He didn’t provide a phone number in the email, and stated that his budget is $250,000. Sounds pretty bogus, right? Well, I give him a break and email him back to say that he didn’t leave a number in the email. So he emails back with a number, and I think ok, well maybe this is a legitimate person who just pushed the zero key too hard when entering his budget. After all he forgot to list a phone number, so it’s not to much of a stretch. So, I call him back the next day. And this paranoid person answers the phone, “Hello”? I say, “Hello, I’m looking for A***L”. “Who’s calling”, the voice asks. “My name is [...]

A Room in the Glass Globe

Nov, 25 2010
By anthropod
Artwork
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Hideyuki Nakayama’s “A Room in the Glass Globe”, developed in conjunction with LEVER, is essentially a door knob that allows a viewer to peer into a room with a closed door. The view is a bit clouded, and fish-eye distorted, not a perfect clear view. Although it clearly defeats the purpose of a door, I find it interesting. It reminds me of some of a possible future society, where nothing is private and the government can invade your life anyway and anytime. Sort of like in Minority Report, where you are eye-scanned every 10 seconds, the police can aggressively interrupt your private life at anytime, and personal data is displayed for everyone to see. It’s currently on display at the Plain People store in Aoyama, Tokyo. Source: Gizmodo

Serenity: The Shepherd’s Tale

I am happy to say that I liked Serenity: The Shepherd’s Tale a lot more than Serenity, Vol 1: Those Left Behind. The Shepherd’s Tale seemed to have a more solid storyline, as if it were always meant for the series but never got the chance to come to fruition. All browncoats have an idea of Shepherd’s past, having worked with The Alliance, but the surprise for me came with the realization that Shepherd Book’s childhood was riddled with abuse and abandonment. Which led him to a life of murder, crime, and complete lack of remorse, before his quest for redemption. Also surprising to me was how he came about to be in The Alliance. I always assumed he was a conservative type born on a central planet, sort of like the Doc, who joined The Alliance with the belief that he was contributing to the greater good. And after [...]

Make Your Own Tron Quorra Suit

Well, Halloween may have already past this year, but anytime is the right time for a Tron Suit! Designer Syuzi Pakhchyan has created this awesome Tron: Quorra costume, complete with luminescent striping and “identity disc”. I think this is my all time favorite Halloween costume. Not only is it a great character to mimic, the simplicity behind the design makes it especially appealing to me. According to the article, Syuzi will be posting diy instructions in the next weeks to make your own Quorra suit. So, if you’re interested, check back at FashioningTechnology for updates. Syuzi says: The costume is made from faux leather and EL Film strips. The luminescent panels are removable, velcored onto the leather vest in order to make the top washable. To be frank, the cutting and re-soldering the EL film was quite tricky to work with but I think I managed to the tame the [...]

Can Eco-Friendly Go Too Far?

Nov, 07 2010
By anthropod
Artwork
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I don’t know, but if it can, these would probably be a few inches over the threshold. They’re called “Zero Footprint Shirt”, by designer/artist Dave Rittinger. Although, I don’t see how they can be “zero footprint” since they use glue. Anyway, they do have a certain visual appeal, but definitely too costume-ish for my realistic taste. Maybe a nice leaf-print shirt on organic cotton, from an environmentally conscious facility would be more practical. But, of course, I doubt practicality was the intention here. I like the brownish/purple one the best. Visit Dave Rittinger

Eye-Fi Pro X2 for iPad and DSLR Cameras

Nov, 07 2010
By anthropod
Gear, Geeking Out, Photography, Technology
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Eye-Fi Pro X2 tethers dslr camera to ipad The Eye-Fi Pro X2 is a great device that allows a photographer to read a DSLR memory card into an iPad wirelessly. That’s right, no wired connections. The Eye-Fi Pro X2 replaces your standard memory card and allows an interface with your iPad. This is great for live demos, fast quality checks, etc. The Eye-Fi Pro X2 ($130) makes the transfer through any available wireless internet connection. It is also possible for it to directly transfer from the camera to the iPad using the less expensive Eye-Fi Connect X2 ($45), but to do so requires you to “jailbreak” your iPad. Additionally, the direct method requires a $20 app from the “Cydia” store, and an $8 app from the standard app store. So, you could purchase the Eye-Fi Pro X2 and use it through wi-fi connections on the go, or you could use [...]

Stuff I Found on Etsy: Gorgeous Filigree Jewelry

Nov, 02 2010
By anthropod
Artwork
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I have a recent fascination with vintage brass jewelry, particularly filigree jewelry. There are a few notable artists that I’ve come across recently, but user vintageFiligree at Etsy brings filigree designs to a new level. Detailed, whimsical, unique and simply beautiful. Here are a few samples from the shop.

Serenity, Vol 1: Those Left Behind

Serenity, Those Left Behind Warning: there are spoilers ahead, if you’ve not read the comic yet. I am a huge fan of Serenity/Firefly, particularly the series. Although I am not as fanatic as most, I particularly enjoy the storyline and the high level of detail that went into its inception. So, I purchased the comic Serenity, Vol 1: Those Left Behind recently, hoping to find a little treasure of unexplored Serenity/Firefly plot. Well, I’m sad to say that I am more than a little disappointed in the book. In summary, it’s like reading a fans fantasy of what the character’s should have been, rather than what they were. Every personality is over-exaggerated to the point where they are only reminiscent of the series and movie. The lingo is fairly accurate to that of the series, if overly-simplistic most of the time. But the actions and behavior of the crew are [...]

Happy Bully

Walking Downtown When she’s not staring ominously through doorways at me, Talinka is quite adorable and squeal-inducing. Technically, she’s still staring at me… but with a smiley face. Those tiny teeth and dainty feet make me smile every time!

Talinka Staring at Me 10/31/10

Over the past 5 years I’ve been subject to the scrutinizing and often judgmental stares of my little bull terrier, Talinka. It’s a daily occurrence that I recently started capturing with my iphone. It’s part of what makes her personality special and comical. So, I’ve started this new category just for her. Here’s a few to kick off this new category.

This about sums it up…

I love cats, I really do. But lets face it, most of them don’t love us back. These disgusting, yet true to life, nesting dolls really illustrate the most “endearing” things about living with cats. And by endearing, I mean barf-inducing daily tribulations my bat-shit crazy cat-lady neighbor would like to immortalize in the form of artsy nesting dolls. The creator says, Do you know a crazy cat lady? Buy her this solid wood set of nesting dolls, and make her day. I’ve painted each by hand, and hand stamped the words “lick everywhere, cough up, ignore, shred, poop” on the back of each doll. I then sealed the dolls with a top coat for protection. Although the creator obviously crafted these with love and intent, I can’t bring myself to putting them in the “artwork” category… Source Craftastrophe

Solar Flare Snapshot

This false-color photo captures by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, shows a solar flare accompanied by a coronal mass ejection. The ejection reached Earth’s magnetosphere within two days (93 million miles away), creating a geomagnetic storm, and subsequently aurora borealis displays seen from both poles. Source NASA’s Astronomical Picture of the Day View more photos and videos at NASA Multimedia

Perseid Meteor Shower Aug 11-13

The annual Perseid Meteor Shower, which is viewable every year in August, will be viewable from the 11th through the 13th. According to space.com, In 2010 the Earth is predicted to cut through the densest part of the Perseid stream sometime around 8:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Thursday. The best window of opportunity to see the shower will be the late-night hours of Wednesday on through the first light of dawn on the morning of Thursday, and then again during the late-night hours of Aug. 12 into the predawn hours of Aug. 13. The Moon, whose bright light almost totally wrecked last year’s shower, will have zero impact this year; unlike last year when it was just a few days past full, this year it will be new on Monday, Aug. 9, meaning that there will be absolutely no interference from it at all. What to expect, A very [...]

WTF of the day: Giant Fries

McDonald’s fries the size of a bus: that’s all the world needs…. Wonder how much they paid for that ad space. The advertisement, placed for viewing during Switzerland’s Zurifest, is fortunately not a permanent feature and will be removed shortly after the festival. Source Ads of the World

Sharpie Graphite Pencil Ink

Not sure how useful this will be in a world dominated by keyboards, but Sharpie has come out with a pen that has “liquid graphite” ink, as in pencil graphite. It writes like a pen, but the graphite ink is erasable for up to three days. One good application would be contract writing on the fly…. maybe, I don’t know. Or note taking in class. $4.99 at Office Depot Source: The Daily Wh.at

Triceratops and Torosaurus a Single Species

Aug, 07 2010
By anthropod
Science
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One of the most well-known dinosaurs, the Triceratops, has been re-classed as a member of the lesser known species, Torosaurus. John Scannella and Jack Horner, researchers at the Museum of the Rockies, suggest that Triceratops is actually a juvenile version of Torosaurus, a species that apparently went through extreme morphological changes at it matures. So much so, that the fossils of each species appeared, until now, to be separate species. It’s not so hard to believe. There are plenty of species that are un-recognizable from juvenile to adult: frogs, many insects, several fish species, etc. What’s special about this case is that these dinosaurs’ had large horns and “frill” that appear to made of bone. How can bone morph like that? It would have been possible because as a juvenile, the horns and frill were underdeveloped and “spongy”, and didn’t harden into true bone until they matured. Apparently, Torosaurus will [...]

Memory Pen

Wang Xuelei has designed the Memory Pen USB Flash Drive. Essentially, it is a pen that does not require paper. You can jot down memos and little bits of info on almost any surface, and the pen stores the virtual motion of the pen strokes in it’s memory. Then you plug it into your computer as a Flash Drive and download digital representations of what you wrote with the pen. Although obvious issues exist with not being able to actually see what you’re writing, this would undoubtedly be a useful gadget. Also, it would save a huge amount of paper, which is a step in the right direction towards focusing on environmentally-responsible equipment. Source Yanko Design

Gear Ring by Kinekt Design

The Gear Ring by Kinekt Design is the perfect item for the engineer in all of us. Made for mean and women in sizes 5-14, the Gear Ring is not only intriguing looking, but features working gear movement. $165, Kinekt Design. Check out the video below to see it in action. Source: Design Milk