31 May 2006
Richard Meier's Jubilee Church
ArchNewsNow.com archive article on Richard Meier's Jubilee Church in Rome.
30 May 2006
The City of Urville
The City of Urville as imagine and drawn on a grand scale by Gilles Trehin, an autistic Frenchman who has sketched (more accurately drafted) about 200 drawings of the imaginary city in deep detail since 1984. The drawings are fascinating for their detail and for the Mr. Trehin's ability to put it all together in a cohesive whole, assuring that building are always in the right place no matter what perspective they are seen from in his city.
Dorfman Museum Figures
Dorfman Museum Figures is a company that makes life-like mannequins for use in museum displays and such.
The Elephant Arc de Triomphe
The Elephant Arc de Triomphe as featured in The Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society. Certainly would have made a significantly different landmark than the one that exists there now!
A Sketch of the Tower of Babel
From the Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society, comes a sketch of the tower of Babel by Athanasius Kircher, as a part of a series on fascinating archetecture.
Houses Woven Out of Trees
Further to the earlier post on the Tree Circus, comes an article from Discovery Channel News where Mitchell Joachim, part of the MIT Media Lab's Smart Cities Group, along with ecological engineer Lara Greden and architect Javier Arbona, propose a home that is made by pleasching (the weaving of tree branches together to form lattices, archways, etc.) trees.
Shell Horizons
Shell Horizons is a web store that sells exotic seafans, driftwood, barnacles, sponges, sealife and of course shells, such as this albino Murex Indivia.
Laurence Hutton Collection of Life and Death Masks
A intriguing collection of life and death masks including such people as Oliver Cromwell, Benjamin Franklin, President Ulysses S. Grant, Goethe, President Abraham Lincoln, Napoleon and as far back as Dante Aligheri, through to such modern celebrities as Noel Coward. All from the Manuscripts Division of the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections of the Princeton University Library.
A Bird in Hand...
... is worth a few in a book. This excerpt of the Bird Hand Book is a collection of photos by Victor Schrager of photos of over 100 species of birds in the hands of ornithologists.
Edward Leedskalnin's Coral Castle
The Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society article on the Coral Castle reminded me of this amazing piece of architecture that I had seen on television many, many years ago. The Coral Castle, now on the National Register of Historic Places, was the result of Leedskalnin's unrequitted love, and human determination a monument to the love of his life who broke off their engagement a day before they were to be happily married.
Much like John Bishop and his castle, Edward Leedskalnin single-handedly carved and sculpted over 1,100 tons of coral without outside assistance or large machinery to build the Coral Castle. A man of only 5 feet in stature, weighing just 100 pounds, and with only a fourth grade education, he still managed to cut and move huge coral blocks using only hand tools.
The coral that he worked on was sometimes 4,000 feet thick, and the walls approximately weigh 125 pounds per cubic foot -- each section of wall is 8 feet tall, 4 feet wide, 3 foot thick, and weighs more than 58 tons.
All in all fascinating piece of architecture with an even more spectacular story behind it.
The Balancing Pagodaof Myanmar
In Myanmar (or as many people still know it, Burma) sits this pagoda on top of a rock that is completely gilded in gold. This in itself is not what makes this spectacular -- rather it is the fact that the rock balances on the precipice of the cliff with a contact patch that is incredibly small, as this blog post shows, along with links to more photos, and even one from 1912.
Photos of Bishop Castle
This photo shows Bishop Castle, billed as the world's largest one man building project. Started in 1959 by Jim Bishop, the castle is part of his dream to see how much one man can build in a lifetime. His castle, entirely built by his own two hands mostly on weekends, stands up to 160 feet tall and includes a ballroom, stained glass windows and even a fire breathing dragon.
Longplayer
Further to the recent articles on the changing of a note at the performance of John Cage's As Long As Possible piece that is meant to take 600+ years to perform, here is another piece slated to take a millenia to come to completion: Longplayer.
A Short History of the Ocular Harpsichord and its Progeny
From the Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society an article on The Ocular Harpsichord and its Progeny.
A Four-legged (Human) family
An article from the Daily Mail in England which documents a family in Turkey with a genetic oddity tha tprevents them from walking upright so they walk on all fours instead.
The Bird Cage Fish Bowl
From the Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society, and article about a Bird cage that is combined with a fish bowl that allows the bird to flutter around the fish.
Kunstkammer Georg Laue
The Kunstkammer Georg Laue is a gallery in Germany that specializes in curiosity cabinet items from the Renaissance and the Baroque periods. They also have some interesting pages on some particular items.
Historical Anatomy Books
The US National Library of Medicine's online depository of human anatomy texts, including Vesalius' classic De humani corporis fabrica libri septem from which the above print is drawn. Not only are these texts a window in to the evolution of the human understanding of the body, but they also form a core of knowledge from where modern medicine has sprung. These tesxts inform not just medicine but reach well into our collective culture, an example of which is modern artist Damien Hirst's The Virgin Mother, installed at New York City's landmark Lever House building on Park Avenue, his previous work, Hymn, from 2000 and his recent painting, The Skull Beneath the Skin, from 2005.
Semper Augustus and an example of the tulip craze
This page contains a beautiful picture of a tulip, Semper Augusta, that at the height of the tulipmania in Amsterdam a single bulb would have bought a nice house in the swankest part of town. The article also contains comparisons to modern life about how much these bulbs were going for.
Experiments in the Revival of Organisms
Yet another article from the Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society, this time on Experiments in the Revival of Organisms, including electrical reanimation of large animal's severed heads. A slight bit disturbing but interessting nonetheless.
The Guinness World Records
I happened on the Guinness World Records site, and found that they have an interesting site with lots of good content and video. Nice place to explore.
Penis Panics
A strange article from the Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society about Penis Panics, where mass hysteria has struck in China and men start worrying about shrinking penises and that they will die when they fully retract into their bodies.
A Vehicle for an Terranaut
This vehicle is meant to accomodate a water bound life form in the exploration of land.
The Frame Collector
An article from ther Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society, about Olaf Lemke, who collects antique frames. The photos remind me of a store in Paris's antinuque district on the right bank that my mother and I visited that exclusively sold antique frames. Our eyes fell on a nice pair of gilt wooden baroque frames that did not look in particularly good condition but were beautiful nonetheless. Naturally we were rather shocked at the price that was close to US $10,000!
Quin's Atlas of the Universal History
From the Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society is an article on Edward Quin's "Atlas of the Universal History," a book which contains series of mpas that show the expansion of geographical knowledge over time.
Scholar's Rocks
An article on the appreciation of Scholar's Rocks from China and Japan. These were symbolic of the scholar in China and were meant to provide inspiration by providing a handy fantasy world that would rest on the scholar's desk.
The Magnetic Fluid Sculptures of Sachiko Kodama and Minako Takeno
A link to videos of the interactive sculptural works of Kodama and Takeno done in magnetic fluids. What you see in the picture is not a graphics simulation done on a computer but a fram from the video of the sculpture itself. Fascinating and definitely cutting edge. More on the artists and their medium.
Autopia Ampere
Popular Mechanic's article on Autopia Ampere, Wolf Hilbertz's dream of building a city out of accretions of sea minderals on steel frames.
The Architectural Drawings of Jean-Jacques Lequeu
From the Library of France's Gallica site, are the works of Jean-Jacques Lequeu. Some of them are even more fantastical than Etienne Boullée's, but there is still an undoubted granduer in his work.
27 May 2006
The Highest Parachutist
From the Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society's blog, comes a short post and a video on The Highest Parachutist. Truly amazing that this guy jumped out of a balloon in SPACE, and broke the sound barrier without an aircraft.
The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time
PCWorld.com's list of 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time. How many have you had (I even had an IBM PC Jr.!)
Cells on a chip to cut animal tests
From the UK paper, The Guardian, comes a story about cells on a microchip that are being designed to cut animal testing. The chips replicate the human body by clumping different cells together with fluid channels linking them.
Like Wiki for Wine
WineLog.net is a new Web 2.0 type site that allows users to post and talk about particular wines.
On-line cinema library unveiled at Cannes
From Yahoo News, an online cinema library has been unveiled for dowloading DVD quality films for $5 and to go online in December.
Advances in Carbon Nanotube Transistors
Technology Review's article on IBM's advances in carbon nanotube technology. This is the most promising next step for computing, as silicone transistors start to reach their physical limit. The move to carbon is estimated to produces transistors that are 10 times faster than future generations of silicone transistors and use less power.
Build a 15,000 rpm Tesla Turbine using hard drive platters
This reminds me of New Yankee Workshop, where Norm Abram shows you haow to build wonderful stuff and makes it look easy cause he has industriual equipment at hand. Likewise, you too can build a 15,000 rpm Tesla Turbine using old hard drive platters if you happen to be able to have lucite blocks, a drill press and other special equipment. Nonethe less it is still pretty cool, even if I admittedly don't understand entirely the use behind a Tesla turbine.
Nanowires light up
EurekaAlert!'s article on NIST's nanowires that light up when excited by lasers or electrical current.
Build your own robot
Personal Computer World's article on where to find premade robots and kits to build your own robot.
Free Music Recommendation Services
ExtremeTech's article on Free Music Recommendation Services. Interestingly, Last.FM, which was one of the first posts on this on this blog years ago, was still found far superior in almost every other category.
Selling Independent Music
IndieStore.com is starting a website to sell music from independent artists and labels.
Top Ten Gadgets
SCI FI Tech's article on the top ten gadgets for the filthy rich. , and their follow up article on the top ten gadgets that you can actually afford.
Swarm
"Swarm is a graphical map of hundreds of websites, all connecting to each other. It updates itself every second with where people are going and coming from. As sites become more popular, they move towards the center of the swarm and grow larger. Conversely, sites that lose traffic move away from the center and grow smaller."
Although it is a bit confusing at first, it is a rather interesting tool to see what people are browsing, and opens up interesting avenues of exploration that would otherwise be hidden through regular browsing.
Although it is a bit confusing at first, it is a rather interesting tool to see what people are browsing, and opens up interesting avenues of exploration that would otherwise be hidden through regular browsing.
22 May 2006
Rowing Man, Staten Island, NY
This is a post from my new Flickr account. I am hoping to post more of the photos that I have taken as a part of my photography / photoediting hobby over the years. This scene was taken in 2005 but reminded me greatlyof "John Biglin in a Single Scull" (1873) which I had seen at the Metropolitain Museum of Art's exhibition on Thomas Eakins a few years prior in 2002.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.
Build your own LASER!
Popular Science's article from 1964 on how to Build your own LASER! You can increase the size of the article with the from Small to Full Size. In an interesting comment in the article it says that they have not found a practical use for the laser yet.
The arc of exploration
A beautiful five minute exposure of a Space Shuttle Endeavor launch showing the trail of the engine from launch to where it is about 230 miles away.
21 May 2006
Unrealised Moscow
Unrealised Moscow is a brief online exhibit from the Schusev State Museum of Architecture that has some awesome drawings of massive, monumental architecture like the ones shown.
Your Hobby Sucks Part II
So this guy likes to build models, and one day decides to build a model of a cruise ship. Eh, you say millions of people make models of ships. As with my previous post about people with amazing hobbies, this guy decides that a regular small scale replica that you might put in a living room is not quite enough. He decides to make it a 1/8th scale model and to make it something he can tool around in on the water. Here you can see Francois Zanella launching his cruise ship, based on the Majesty of the Seas.
I just don't understand...
Why e-mails are so easily misunderstood, an article from The Crhistian Science Monitor that details some research and findings on the subject.
Google Notebook
Google labs has concocted another tasty web service it seems -- Google Notebook. THe notebook allows you to: 1) Clip useful information. You can add clippings of text, images and links from web pages to your Google Notebook without ever leaving your browser window. 2) Organize your notes. You can create multiple notebooks, divide them into sections, and drag-and-drop your notes to stay organized. 3) Get access from anywhere. You can access your Google Notebooks from any computer by using your Google Accounts login. 4) Publish your notebook. You can share your Google Notebook with the world by making it public. Sounds nifty!
DIY Glove Keyboards
Hacked Gadget's article on making your own Glove Keyboard which will allow you to enter information into the device of your choice without a physical keyboard.
19 May 2006
The Evolution of Dance
Judson Laipply's Evolution of Dance from Elvis to today compressed into 6 minutes of hilarious video. The question is how many have YOU done?
18 May 2006
Botanical Illustrations
Pruned's post on the Botanical Wunderkammer (there is a Part II follow up post as well) and other links to botanical illustrations
Inside a Wind Tunnel
This page has full screen QuickTime Virtual Reality files of the insides of various wind tunnels. In fact this website is full of neat Virtual Reality places to visit!
Dubai
An article from Pruned via Archinect on Dubai which gives an interesting look at all the construction that is happening there. Includes an incredible photo that gives the sense of scale of just how large a project The Palm is. Be sure not to miss the post on the indoor ski resort, SkiDubai, at the largest mall outside of the United States.
The Answer is D
An observatory built in the Negev desert in southern Israel to observe the eventual collision of the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies is the subject of Landscape challenge #3 from the blog Pruned.
Plant Cellular Anatomy : Introduction
Plant Cellular Anatomy : Introduction is web site with scientific stains of plant cells. There is a large list of plants stained on the left. Select them and then scroll down to see the results, which can be quite lovely.
Internet Archive: Feature Films
Internet Archive's Feature Films section is an online, legal collection of movies that have passsed into the public domain and are available for download and viewing.
The Undying Garden
From the blog Pruned, a post called Living Dead: Topographical Investigations, Part I describing a botanical garden that is full of plants and flowers from around the world, held forever in stasis in 25 tons of liquid silicone.
This Place is Not a Place of Honor
DamnInteresting's article, This Place is Not a Place of Honor, concerns the communication of danger 10,000 years into the future for nuclear waste. How do you tell someone you don't know what you mean when you are not even sure that they are still going to have the same means of communication?
Revealing David Blaine's Magic
For those interested in finding out how some of his famous tricks are done, the Free Information Society has a nice PDF showing how many of them are accomplished in detail. Be warned! The magic will be gone after you read this.
The Sound of History in MP3
The Free Information Society presents these "historical sounds" (really speeches) in MP3 format. Things like the Pearl Harbor attack news announcement, Stalin on fighting Fascists, Teddy Roosevelt on the right of the people to rule.
How Celebrities Go Bankrupt
An article egalZoom.com about how celebs go bankrupt. But there is a good deal of wisdom in it for all of us:
Being a financial tamer sounds easier than it actually is. One Hollywood financial advisor, Scott Feinstein, told the New York Times about a call he received from a client in his mid-twenties who wanted to buy a $35,000 watch. "I said ‘What time does it say?' and he said, ‘Ten minutes after 3.'" Feinstein recalled. "I told him, ‘Mine says 10 after 3 too, and it cost me 60 bucks. Put the watch down.'"
The dollar amounts may be different, but the principles are the same.
Being a financial tamer sounds easier than it actually is. One Hollywood financial advisor, Scott Feinstein, told the New York Times about a call he received from a client in his mid-twenties who wanted to buy a $35,000 watch. "I said ‘What time does it say?' and he said, ‘Ten minutes after 3.'" Feinstein recalled. "I told him, ‘Mine says 10 after 3 too, and it cost me 60 bucks. Put the watch down.'"
The dollar amounts may be different, but the principles are the same.
12 May 2006
Pykrete
Wikipedia article on Pykrete, a mixture of ice and sawdust that makes ice last twice as long. Durable enough for them to consider making an aircraft carrier out of the stuff!
I believe that children are our future...
Never discount someone because they are young. As the Wired Magazine article "Power Up With Magnetic Bacteria" shows a 16 year old has harnessed bacteria with naturally occuring magnetic properties in them to create electricity. Of course one wonders what PETA would think about this!
10 May 2006
Empire and Regency: Decoration in the Age of Napoleon
New York Public Library's collection of books, scrapbooks, and goldsmith's drawings from the early 19th to early 20th-centuries featuring mainly interior decoration, furnishings, furniture patterns, and views relating to the Empire and Regency Styles.
Ornament and Pattern: Pre-Victorian to Art Deco
The New York Public Library's fascinating online exhibition on Pre-Victorian to Art Deco Ornament and Pattern. The extensive collection of images spans from illustrations of butterflies, to fabric patters, to some house advertisements, to monograms and jewelry.
The Digital Scriptorum
A searcheable online collection of Medieval illuminated manuscripts drawn from several sources. The only drawback is the lack of a browse feature. Try searching under the text search using religious terms such as "Pentecost" then clicking through the manuscripts.
Anne Wagner's Friendship Book
An introduction to Libri Amicorum: Friendship and Autographs, an exhibit of "a "friendship book" from the circle of Percy Byssche Shelley, created by Anne Wagner in the early 19th century". Click on See all images to see the entire book in thumbnails.
A collection of Bindings
An introduction to the French 19th-Century Bindings Collection of William A. Spencer from the NY Public Library. You can click on See all images to see the entire collection as thumbnails. Although it takes a bit of patience to browse through them, there are some really nice book bindings in there.
Asia and the Pacific Rim in Early Prints and Photographs
An introduction to a collection of early prints and photographs from Asia and the Pacific Rim from the NY Public Library's Collection. You can also clcik on see all images to see thumbnails of the colleciton.
Pictures of the Floating World
An introduction to the collection of woodblock prints from The Floating World: Japanese Color Woodcuts by Kitagawa Utamaro at the New York Public Library's digital collection. You can click on see all images in the upper left to see all the prints.
Pages from the British Miscellany
09 May 2006
The Man who Never Was
Via DamnInteresting.com, a story about a body that was used with great success to deliver false information to the Nazis.
NASA Space Colony Art
Art from NASA's archive of art from the 1970s describing possible space colonies.
FedEx Escaping the Thunderstorm
A video of Federal Express planes deviating around a thunderstorm on radar.
Creating a Mandala
An archive of monks creating a mandala at the Asia Society. In particular, check the progress photos in the archive on the upper left.
When thin is too thin
According to the Scotsman, a British woman is to be deported from Australia for beign too thin. Of course, there is also a certain irony in a British woman being deported from Australia considering the colony's origins.
To Quote the Bard: I have drunk and seen the spider
In the event that the consumption of human flesh substitute (as featured in my earlier post It's Peeeeeeeeeopleeeee) does not slake your thirst for a taste of the human body, you can always try what two Hungarian renovator's did: Have at a barrel of "specialy flavored" rum.
The New Frugal Gourmet
Too poor to eat rich? Fear not! A band of German anarchists are stealing from gourmet restaurants to feed the poor!
Be a hero
You can make yourself a poseable action figure! HeroBuilders.com will turn any sketch you have into a 3D action figure, plush toy or wooden toy. And they do one offs if you aren't interested in having millions of yourself in tights everywhere.
When you are done with your old cell phone
You can sell it! Cell For Cash will buy your cell phone and send it to another country to be used there. It also helps reduce waste and reuses products if you are one of the green and granola types.
Pentagon Strike
This Flash video about the 9/11 strike on the Pentagon was from a long time ago, and in fact, has been updated since I first saw it some years ago. Conspiracy buffs, this one is for you.
The Importance of Time
O.k. So you get these hokey e-mails. I usually don't forward these or post them, but I like this one, and its my blog so there.
A young man learns what's most important in life from the guy next door.
It had been some time since Jack had seen the old man. College, girls, career, and life itself got in the way. In fact, Jack moved clear across the country in pursuit of his dreams. There, in the rush of his busy life, Jack had little time to think about the past and often no time to spend with his wife and son. He was working on his future, and nothing could stop him.
Over the phone, his mother told him, "Mr. Belser died last night. The funeral is Wednesday." Memories flashed through his mind like an old newsreel as he sat quietly remembering his childhood days.
"Jack, did you hear me?"
"Oh, sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you. It's been so long since I thought of him. I'm sorry, but I honestly thought he died years ago," Jack said.
"Well, he didn't forget you. Every time I saw him he'd ask how you were doing. He'd reminisce about the many days you spent over 'his side of the fence' as he put it," Mom told him.
"I loved that old house he lived in," Jack said.
"You know, Jack, after your father died, Mr. Belser stepped in to make sure you had a man's influence in your life," she said.
"He's the one who taught me carpentry," he said. "I wouldn't be in this business if it weren't for him. He spent a lot of time teaching me things he thought were important...Mom, I'll be there for the funeral," Jack said.
As busy as he was, he kept his word. Jack caught the next flight to his hometown. Mr. Belser's funeral was small and uneventful. He had no children of his own, and most of his relatives had passed away.
The night before he had to return home, Jack and his Mom stopped by to see the old house next door one more time. Standing in the doorway, Jack paused for a moment. It was like crossing over into another dimension, a leap through space and time. The house was exactly as he remembered. Every step held memories. Every picture, every piece of furniture... Jack stopped suddenly.
"What's wrong, Jack?" his Mom asked.
"The box is gone," he said.
"What box? " Mom asked.
"There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk. I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he'd ever tell me was 'the thing I value most,'" Jack said.
It was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how Jack remembered it, except for the box. He figured someone from the Belser family had taken it. "Now I'll never know what was so valuable to him," Jack said. "I better get some sleep. I have an early flight home, Mom."
It had been about two weeks since Mr. Belser died. Returning home from work one day Jack discovered a note in his mailbox. "Signature required on a package. No one at home. Please stop by the main post office within the next three days," the note read.
Early the next day Jack retrieved the package. The small box was old and looked like it had been mailed a hundred years ago. The handwriting was difficult to read, but the return address caught his attention.
"Mr. Harold Belser" it read.
Jack took the box out to his car and ripped open the package. There inside was the gold box and an envelope. Jack's hands shook as he read the note inside.
"Upon my death, please forward this box and its contents to Jack Bennett. It's the thing I valued most in my life." A small key was taped to the letter. His heart racing, as tears filling his eyes, Jack carefully unlocked the box. There inside he found a beautiful gold pocket watch. Running his fingers slowly over the finely etched casing, he unlatched the cover. Inside he found these words engraved: "Jack, Thanks for your time! -Harold Belser." "The thing he valued most...was...my time."
Jack held the watch for a few minutes, then called his office and cleared his appointments for the next two days. "Why?" Janet, his assistant asked. "I need some time to spend with my son," he said. "Oh, by the way, Janet... thanks for your time!"
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away"
A young man learns what's most important in life from the guy next door.
It had been some time since Jack had seen the old man. College, girls, career, and life itself got in the way. In fact, Jack moved clear across the country in pursuit of his dreams. There, in the rush of his busy life, Jack had little time to think about the past and often no time to spend with his wife and son. He was working on his future, and nothing could stop him.
Over the phone, his mother told him, "Mr. Belser died last night. The funeral is Wednesday." Memories flashed through his mind like an old newsreel as he sat quietly remembering his childhood days.
"Jack, did you hear me?"
"Oh, sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you. It's been so long since I thought of him. I'm sorry, but I honestly thought he died years ago," Jack said.
"Well, he didn't forget you. Every time I saw him he'd ask how you were doing. He'd reminisce about the many days you spent over 'his side of the fence' as he put it," Mom told him.
"I loved that old house he lived in," Jack said.
"You know, Jack, after your father died, Mr. Belser stepped in to make sure you had a man's influence in your life," she said.
"He's the one who taught me carpentry," he said. "I wouldn't be in this business if it weren't for him. He spent a lot of time teaching me things he thought were important...Mom, I'll be there for the funeral," Jack said.
As busy as he was, he kept his word. Jack caught the next flight to his hometown. Mr. Belser's funeral was small and uneventful. He had no children of his own, and most of his relatives had passed away.
The night before he had to return home, Jack and his Mom stopped by to see the old house next door one more time. Standing in the doorway, Jack paused for a moment. It was like crossing over into another dimension, a leap through space and time. The house was exactly as he remembered. Every step held memories. Every picture, every piece of furniture... Jack stopped suddenly.
"What's wrong, Jack?" his Mom asked.
"The box is gone," he said.
"What box? " Mom asked.
"There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk. I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he'd ever tell me was 'the thing I value most,'" Jack said.
It was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how Jack remembered it, except for the box. He figured someone from the Belser family had taken it. "Now I'll never know what was so valuable to him," Jack said. "I better get some sleep. I have an early flight home, Mom."
It had been about two weeks since Mr. Belser died. Returning home from work one day Jack discovered a note in his mailbox. "Signature required on a package. No one at home. Please stop by the main post office within the next three days," the note read.
Early the next day Jack retrieved the package. The small box was old and looked like it had been mailed a hundred years ago. The handwriting was difficult to read, but the return address caught his attention.
"Mr. Harold Belser" it read.
Jack took the box out to his car and ripped open the package. There inside was the gold box and an envelope. Jack's hands shook as he read the note inside.
"Upon my death, please forward this box and its contents to Jack Bennett. It's the thing I valued most in my life." A small key was taped to the letter. His heart racing, as tears filling his eyes, Jack carefully unlocked the box. There inside he found a beautiful gold pocket watch. Running his fingers slowly over the finely etched casing, he unlatched the cover. Inside he found these words engraved: "Jack, Thanks for your time! -Harold Belser." "The thing he valued most...was...my time."
Jack held the watch for a few minutes, then called his office and cleared his appointments for the next two days. "Why?" Janet, his assistant asked. "I need some time to spend with my son," he said. "Oh, by the way, Janet... thanks for your time!"
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away"
The Tim Perkins Webpage
Another webpage that I thought was interesting, in part for its content, in part for its set up with notes in the margins. Sad that it hasn't really been updated for years.
Learn from MIT
Ever want to learn from the best, but thought you can't afford to? MIT OpenCourseWare allows you to do just that and for free. All it takes is some self motivation and a desire to learn.
There you are sitting by the campfire...
And you realize that now is the perfect time to pull out that harmonica and play a few strains of the Brokebak Mountain theme. But wait!! You can't! You don't know how to play the harmonica! Fear no more... teach yerself to play the dulcet tones of the pocket harmonium byt going to HarmonicaLessons.com.
Full Moons
The different types of moons are (dates vary):
January Full Wolf Moon
February Full Snow Moon
March Full Worm Moon
April Full Pink Moon
May Full Flower Moon
June Full Strawberry Moon
July Buck Moon
August Full Sturgeon Moon
September Full Harvest Moon
October Full Hunter's Moon
November Full Beaver Moon
December Full Cold Moon
January Full Wolf Moon
February Full Snow Moon
March Full Worm Moon
April Full Pink Moon
May Full Flower Moon
June Full Strawberry Moon
July Buck Moon
August Full Sturgeon Moon
September Full Harvest Moon
October Full Hunter's Moon
November Full Beaver Moon
December Full Cold Moon
08 May 2006
The Philips Bodygroom
The Philips Bodygroom commercial site. You need to explore the whole site, not just watch the intro video. It's hilarious.
Hybrid Bike
This bike runs entirely on organic fuel and is especially impressive when you hear it roar.
Let me read you an LP
Discovering his abilities on a bet, Dr. Lintgen can read the grooves of a vinyl LP and tell you what the piece recorded on it is.
John Cage's "As Slow As Possible" Changes a Chord
A New York Times article on the changing of a chord in a performance of John Cage's ongoing piece Organ 2/ASAP. Why is the changing of a musical chord notable? The performance of the piece began in September 5th, 2001 and is scheduled to last 639 years -- the chords don't change more than twice a year in the piece.
07 May 2006
Everyone Else Has Had More Sex Than Me
A fun flash video of the song by Bernard Derriman "Everyone Else Has Had More Sex Than Me" featuring a cute dancing bunny.
Link provided, with thanks, by P. Reid.
Link provided, with thanks, by P. Reid.
05 May 2006
NY Times Review of Knowledge and the Wealth of Nations
The New York Times Review of Knowledge and the Wealth of Nations,' by David Warsh reveals an interesting book that exposes the "intellectual revolution, largely invisible to the general public, that swept through the economics profession between the late 1970's and the late 1980's."
"Warsh tells the tale of a great contradiction that has lain at the heart of economic theory ever since 1776, the year in which Adam Smith published 'The Wealth of Nations.' Warsh calls it the struggle between the Pin Factory and the Invisible Hand. On one side, Smith emphasized the huge increases in productivity that could be achieved through the division of labor, as illustrated by his famous example of a pin factory whose employees, by specializing on narrow tasks, produce far more than they could if each worked independently. On the other side, he was the first to recognize how a market economy can harness self-interest to the common good, leading each individual as though 'by an invisible hand to promote an end.'"
"Warsh tells the tale of a great contradiction that has lain at the heart of economic theory ever since 1776, the year in which Adam Smith published 'The Wealth of Nations.' Warsh calls it the struggle between the Pin Factory and the Invisible Hand. On one side, Smith emphasized the huge increases in productivity that could be achieved through the division of labor, as illustrated by his famous example of a pin factory whose employees, by specializing on narrow tasks, produce far more than they could if each worked independently. On the other side, he was the first to recognize how a market economy can harness self-interest to the common good, leading each individual as though 'by an invisible hand to promote an end.'"
The CargoLifter Dome
CargoLifter was a company that was tauted with much promise about a decade ago for bringing back the age of the zeppelin as a cargo ship, and I remember being fascinated with the monstrous airship that was goign to be built. DamnInteresting.com recently had an article on this, which was a moment of synchronicity as I was wondering in the past months what happened to this after wondering what happened to the facilities of the famed and failed BioSphere2 project.
As the Wikipedia article tells us the airship was never built, although a massive dome hanger was constructed. Looking closely at the photo reveals three people standing in the dome in the lower left of the photo, which gives you an idea of the scale of the hanger.
The hanger is now an indoor tropical resort called Tropical Islands. Wikipedia Commons also shows other views of the hanger and of the interior of the Tropical Islands resort. You can also see an aerial view of the building on Google Maps.
Thanks to P. Reid for contributing some of the links above.
Project West Ford and the Copper Earth Ring
DamnInteresting.com's article on Project West Ford. The project was launched in the 1950s by the United States to assure global communications during the cold war, and created a ring of hundreds of millions of copper needles in orbit around the earth.
04 May 2006
SwarmSketch
SwarmSketch is an online canvas that randomly chooses a popular search term which becomes the sketch subject for 1 week and allows users to add a line of limited length to create a picture. The idea is to create a collective sketch of what the people thought was important each week.
Richard Feynman
An old but interesting article about Richard Feynman, a Nobel Prize winner who helped develop the first parrallel processing computer.
Historical Celestial Maps on the Internet
The University of Utrecht offers a good index page of links for historical maps of the heavens. An example of these beautiful celestial maps is the one included here by Andreas Cellarius.
Nature's Alphabets
As humans we seek order in our world, and it is always particularly pleasing to see things in nature that resonate with what is in our heads. An example is finding letters in nature. The photographer Kjell Sandveld has spent decades gathering the alphabet shown here from the wings of butterflies. You can also go to this page and click on the letters to see the alphabet formed by other creatures as well. In fact, a article in the Telegraph from the UK describes all writing as having sprung from nature.
The Self-Portrait of Hananuma Masakichi
The Self-Portrait of Hananuma Masakichi is an amazing sculpture that one man put together in anticipation of his death. The sculpture, made out of wood, is amazingly life like.
03 May 2006
02 May 2006
LASIK at Home!
Finally, after years of only being able to get Lasik surgery done at a hospital, someone has figured a way to make it effortless to do by yourself! Lasik at Home does the process in 4 easy steps. All it takes is a steady hand and you not blinking...
01 May 2006
The Human Camera
The Human Camera is Stephen Wiltshire. This article is an interesting look into so called "photographic" memories.
Slightly Off Route
The title of this webpage, "Slightly Off Route,"pretty much says it all. This is what happens when you are the captain of a cargo ship, and you forget that there is a landmass in between where you are and where you want to go.
Bosnian Pyramids...Not
An article in Archeology Magazine recounts an interesting story about a man from Houston who is digging up a hill in the belief that it is the world's oldest and largest pyramid. Too bad there is no solid basis for his beliefs.
The World's 50 Best Restaurants
This "academy" has a list of what they feel is the 50 best restaurants in the world.
Motocycle Airbag
The president of the company, hit-air, saw a motorcycle accident once, and decided to do something about protecting cyclists. His solution was to make an airbag jacket for motorcyclists. Unfortunately, due to the possibility of liability suits in the United States these are not yet marketed here.
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