Some stunning microscopic photography of plants, fungi, insects and the like. The picture above is of the scales of butterfly wings.
Monthly Archive for December, 2004
Well rumours of the new project in development by the suprnova people are true. The project is in it's beta stages at the moment, it is a closed beta though. Unfortunatly this project doesnt really have anything to do with suprnova, in fact the only connection is sloncek.
eXeem will be an application which reproduces the suprnova experience in a distributed mannor. Meaning it will be much more difficult to shut down by the powers that be.
The downside is I have also heard a number of rather negative things about this project, much hyped projects such as this often generate bad press too. The first is that apparently the program will have banners, apart from the general annoyance (eleviated by the enevitably banner crack) it also means the company will have to have a postal address to send earnings to…not a good thing. It smells like a very clever marketing scam, without the suprnova name this is just another filesharing app…
The p2p pundits are a little dissapointed…
Arrr!
Wired has a fantastic article about the release scene hierarchy and how movies make it from the cinema to divx and the peer2peer networks.
Certainly worth a read.
It seems there is some functionality which many iPod users are living without. It also seems this functionality was origionally supposed to be in the iPod, but somehow got lost on the way. The ability to record, without expensive addons.
Well, it is possible…and actually pretty easy to do by the looks of things. Simply install linux on the iPod…arrrg, i hear you scream…installing linux requires bearded guys in brown sandles. On the contrary, this is an apple-style linux install just press a button and it is done (then another two to boot into linux).
The ultimate benefit of this excercise is that it will enable you to record stuff at upto 96kbps (belkins recorder only does 8kbps) without any equipment, even using the headphones as a microphone.
Found this somewhat insane page dedicated to exposing things to (very) powerful electromagnetic fields to find out what happens.
It seems most coins shrink…
Well as most know this is a subject which I am quite fascinated by, as it seems to be almost a form of involuntry take-over of the media industry by the public. How bout that…an involuntry nationalisation, except not run by a government but by the fans…ok, ill stop…
Anyway, aside from the jibber. Wired has published an enthrawling article and interview (of sorts) with Bram Cohen, the techie behind the bittorrent wave. Who, like any techie who accedentally changed the world is a little worried about being the scapegoat for it.
An absolute must read for anyone interested in where the media industry could be in a few years time…
Found this fantastic photoblog, with some of the most stunning photos of generally everyday things I have seen in a while.
As far as I can tell he is also a photoshop enthusiast (I cant believe that any camera takes that kind of colour nativly), but still it is great inspiration.
Also inspired me to add the other photoblogs I visit, to my links section, enjoy 
This page has a list of the top 20 album covers (in their opinion) of 2004. Some very nice ones here, rally highlites the lost visual media of the mp3 revolution.
ah well…
Well, it was only a matter of time till we took the hint from birds…the more efficiant way to power flight is to digest flies.
Some researchers have come up with a prototype mini-plane (about 15cm long) which powers itself using bile-based fuelcells. The idea being that it will eventually harvest flies to be able to power itself.
It is a nice idea…but…birds have been doing this for longer than humans have been here, which means that flies are gonna be pretty good at avoiding them, and I have never seen an aircraft that can out-manoeuver a bird, have you?
Some crazy guys have created a steam powered car, in quasi 60's futuristic stylings, which is capable of doing in excess of 200mph.
Imagine being overtaken by one of these on the m4, and being enveloped in the resulting steam cloud …
Found this hilarious page of cybersex going wrong…some of the stories are great, especially when he msgs the same person twice by mistake (after she(?) has already told him to drop dead).
Wellhung: Hello, Sweetheart. What do you look like?
Sweetheart: I am wearing a red silk blouse, a miniskirt and high heels. I work out every day, I'm toned and perfect. My measurements are 36-24-36. What do you look like?
Wellhung: I'm 6'3" and about 250 pounds.I wear glasses and I have on a pair of blue sweat pants I just bought from Walmart.I'm also wearing a T-shirt with a few spots of barbecue sauce on it from dinner…it smells funny.
Sweetheart: I want you.Would you like to screw me?
…
Sweetheart: I'm running my fingers through your hair. Now I'm nibbling your ear.
Wellhung: I suddenly sneeze. Your breasts are covered with spit and phlegm.
Sweetheart: What?
Wellhung: I'm so sorry. Really.
Sweetheart: I'm wiping your phlegm off my breasts with the remains of my blouse.
Wellhung: I'm taking the sopping wet blouse from you. I drop it with a plop.
fantastic!
Found this thought provoking article about yawning and how it is one of the most basic empathic communications (hence why when one person, dog, baboon etc yawns others around it do to).
What I did find fascinating was how often I was yawning simply reading the text…I guess it might have something to do with the fact it was pretty early in the morning, but still…
Well, I am used to working with the Sony PD150 and PD100 which are both pretty old cameras. However they both use 3CCD's to capture light instead of the 1 that most cameras on the market use. This creates a massive boost in quality, even discoverable to the non-graphic eye.
Anyway, NYTimes has a roundup of the 3CCD cameras on the market today (including a brief description of how they work). They range from the huge bulky ones such as the one pictured, to the dinky little point and shoot ones…
One thing i must comment on is that half the page is taken up by adverts…HALF!!
Article Here (BugMeNot required)