Pley is a cool idea and much like Netflix is. You subscribe to the service, you get a new Lego kit. Once you build it and enjoy it for awhile, you send it back and they send you another one. Your kid always has new kits to build, and you avoid having their room fill up with Lego.
For more on this, check out: Cool Tools – Pley.
Head over here: Spoonflower: Shop, design custom fabric, wallpaper & gift wrap and you can see how you can take your own images and designs, have Spoonflower print it, and send it off to you. Very cool.
Not only are these cards cool, but if you go to this link, 8-bit popup cards | Mini-eco, you can learn how to make them yourself!
Domaine makes the case on this page and here on this one .
Can you spot the IKEA in this photo?
How about in this one?
Of course, it’s the composition and layout of all the furnishings in the room (and the room itself) that makes the spaces look great. However, you can also see the IKEA pieces, as the centerpieces, more than hold their own.
This is fascinating: 10 historic photographs an instant earlier.
If you immediately see in your mind the photo that comes after this one….
…then head on over to that site.
So for those of you who say, “Hey! We were promised jetpacks!”…well, like the future, they are hear but just not evenly distributed.
For this videos and more on this, go here: This Man Flew Over Mt. Fuji on a Real-Life Jetpack, and It’s Absolutely Breathtaking – Mic.
There’s some great photos at the link below, but my favorite may be this one:
You can actually see the shadow of the drone on the eagle’s wing.
The rest are here: The 15 Best Drone Photos of 2014.
It’s no fluke: if you watch the whole thing, you can see he is into it!
Crows are remarkable. Via YouTube and someone on twitter….I can’t remember who though. Thanks, whomever you are!
Really. There is a kickstarter going on right now you can contribute to: LUNAR MISSION ONE: A new lunar mission for everyone. by Lunar Missions Ltd
The team there says….
We plan to send an unmanned robotic landing module to the South Pole of the Moon – an area unexplored by previous missions.
We’re going to use pioneering technology to drill down to a depth of at least 20m – 10 times deeper than has ever been drilled before – and potentially as deep as 100m. By doing this, we will access lunar rock dating back up to 4.5 billion years to discover the geological composition of the Moon, the ancient relationship it shares with our planet and the effects of asteroid bombardment. Ultimately, the project will improve scientific understanding of the early solar system, the formation of our planet and the Moon, and the conditions that initiated life on Earth.
I think this is the most fantastic Internet project I have seen yet. I highly recommend you check it out.
Thanks to Kottke for pointing it out.
I am a big fan of the Raspberry Pi. And I think there is no better way to learn about computers and take your knowledge to a deeper level than building your own computer. The folks at Kano must agree, because they have put together this kit than combines the Pi with everything the owner needs to build a workable and very useful computer. Now you can buy all these things separately, but this kit saves you time and makes up for any lack of knowledge you might have in this area.
You will still need to have a display device to connect to it. Preferably this will be a HDMI device, though it is possible to hook it up to a non-HDMI device. (See here for details.)
For more on the Kano, go here: Kano – Make a Computer.
Here: Garb, from Uncrate.
This pix is just a sample; you can see lots more here: Garb: First Class | Uncrate. Lots of great looks and ideas. For men who are stylistically challenged, I recommend you go here and steal all the ideas you can.
I love this: wonderful cover, great musicians, loads of fun.
If you wish you could go out tonight and can’t, watching this could be the next best thing.
P.S. Thanks to Blake E. for this!
I love this. Andrew Hyde made a decision. He decided
to cook dinner for people. A year later I’ve hosted 138 dinners. The average dinner had 14 guests which means I’ve made 1932 dinners for friends and strangers.
I highly recommend this post of his describing it: Dinner At My House (How I Hosted 138 Dinners in a Year) by Andrew Hyde. It makes me want to try and do something similar.
Well, not exactly. But as this article in fivethirtyeight.com shows, if you do know someone’s name and that’s all you have to go on, you can go along way to guessing their age.
Fascinating.
This porcelain is not just amazing, it is something you can buy. And not just robots, but sea monsters and flying monkeys too. Perfect for anyone needing a house warming. 🙂
I love the detail: the robot is in the middle of the plate and also all around the edge.
Via the always interesting Colossal blog.
Of course you would like a copy, if for no other reason than the material value of it.
While this blog can’t prove a physical copy, a fine digital copy exists here. It’s quite something to be able to turn the digital pages and zoom in on it. Highly recommended.
(Hat tip to Nina A for this pointer.)
The Awl has a fascinating analysis of the McRib that includes some speculation on why McDonald’s introduces it when it does. The above graph, from the article, plots two lines,
The blue line is the price of hogs in America over the last decade, and the black lines represent approximate times when McDonald’s has reintroduced the McRib
It goes into details on why McDonald’s might introduce the McRib when it does and why. It has other things to say about the sandwich, not all that I agree with, but overall the article is thought provoking and well worth a read.
I would also add that besides price, Marketing cycles have something to do with it. McDonald’s is constantly turning over promotions, and the McRib would likely have to be tied into that campaign cycle as well.
I came across the audiotool web site serendipitously today. I’m delighted I did, for it’s an incredible web site. What Audiotool does is allow you to virtually play with a number of classic electronic devices like 909s and 303s from to make your own electronic music, well, like this: August 27 by blm849 – Audiotool. In a very short time, I learned how to wire up the configuration below to make this piece of music. It looks complicated, but it was actually pretty simple. And alot of fun. With practice and inspiration, I think anyone could make some really interesting music with this site. What’s even better, the music can be downloaded by anyone as an MP3 file, so you can take it and play it on your favourite portable music device.
Jones Soda not only has great beverages, but a great way of packaging them.
Case in point — pun intended — is myJones.com. You can get a case of Jones with your own selected labels. They also provide some, like these lolcats. For fans of Jones, it could be a great present for them.
It is ironic that an opera house seems more innovative than many in the pop recording industry: “then” is more advanced than “now”. The latest thing they are going to do is Offer Performances on the Web. According to the NYTimes.com:
‘In the Metropolitan Opera’s relentless quest to exploit all media, the company next Wednesday will start making many video and audio broadcasts available for Internet streaming on demand.
Met Player, as the service is called, will be available through the Met’s Web site, metopera.org. At its inauguration, on the 125th anniversary of the Met’s first show, users will be able to choose from 13 high-definition video performances, 37 standard video recordings and 120 audio broadcasts dating to 1937. The company said it planned to add performances regularly, drawing on its vast historical archives and its continuing high-definition broadcasts.’
The player looks good, but the proof will be in the sound. The Met has a sterling reputation; I am optimistic it will be good.
According this article in GigaOM, Obama Is campaigning within games:
‘Last week we noted unconfirmed sightings of an “Obama for President” billboard in the Xbox 360 racing game Burnout Paradise. Today we’re able to report that it is, in fact, an official advertisement placed by the senator’s campaign team.’
Checking out music on the Transbuddha web site the other night, I came across this!
Yes, not only is Jesus your friend, apparently he is also a Mountie. Okie-dokie, then. That’s the ridiculous. (And likely a comedy sketch, but still….)
As I was listening to it, I thought, hmmm…that sounds like Ranking Full Stop from the English Beat. Of course it’s also on YouTube.
While there are some differences, it is very similar! So, first song, very bad. But it got me listening to something better. And checking out that, I started thinking of their good cover of the classic Smokey Robinson and the Miracles song, Tears of a Clown. So I looked it up, and I came across this:
So, from the ridiculous to the sublime in a few minutes.
As a aside, I thought: man, the Miracles were a pretty subdued group of dancers. I did a check on the Pips, the Temptations and even the Jackson 5, and while all those groups were looser than Smokey’s backups, they were still more focused on singing and not so much on (lipsynching and) dancing.
I also think Justin Timberlake stole this look for his “Lovestoned/I think she knows” video. You can see it here:
Smart People I Know 