Archive for July, 2008
Ah, the lovely old-world architecture of Prague…
…is completely destroyed in the face of a television tower!
You know, starting at the first picture, the furthest off, you can see the odd television tower in Prague soaring above the town. The first thing that strikes me is the odd shape. Secondly is how the odd shape doesn’t match any other buildng next to it. Finally, the lovely “creepiest baby ever” statues can already be seen on it from even this far out!
The next picture shows the tower a little closer to town, wherein you can really see the glaring differences between the television tower and the surrounding architecture of the buildings. The tower has the nice rounded edges to the rectangular blocks while the buildings have none of those to tie in.
Finally, the creepy babies. The babies themselves are creepy enough, but why would you make them faceless? It is disturbing on a scale that I have not seen the likes before. I am impressed with the statues themselves…they seem to be well made. Maybe televisions as heads would be more appropriate on a television tower, but this? I have no words.
So, I thought it would be extremely difficult for me to find a building or structure that I find architecurally offensive with me being a structural engineer and all…but I guess I have finally found it!
Retrieved from -Extra Life-
Photos courtesy of -Deputy Dog-
An update to how I will post on the site
Originally, when I started on this endeavour, I planned on also commenting on digital images I have found in various places on the internet. Upfront, I will go ahead and credit Knuttz for all their image collection they have done in which I love browsing through!
With that being said, I would like to post the first image (I guess technically the second)…
So….is this news anchor a rapist? Or is it just really a bad case of similar appearances? Either way, I would have definitely had a different news anchor report on the news if the sketch artist made a picture that looked like the anchor!
No commentsAh, nothing like making fun of the terrible tragedies…
…but at least it is almost 96 years ago now.
So to me, drinking a Gin and Tonic with these ice cubes would be much more enjoyable than watching Leonardo DiCaprio in the Titanic movie. Yes, I am one of the few people who hated that movie. But anyway, I’m corny enough to love pun names for gadgets…Titonic…Titanic..classic! Anyway, it’s not out yet, but it seems that this kit with 4 iceberg (cubes) and 4 Titanics would definitely provide a conversation piece at all dinner parties!
Product Page -Fred Studio-
Retrieved from -Coolest Gadgets-
Old school Transformers were really cool…
…but unfortunately, some people think impractical is the new “cool”.
Coming across the lines yesterday was a toy Transformer that just came out. Before I start my rant, let me say that I have just dug out all of my old Transformers from the 80s recently and am amazed at how well they still hold up. Most of them were cars, boats, trains and even guns that change to robots. They seem to make sense. You could see the purpose behind it to fit with the “mythology” of the cartoon/toys. What is the purpose of a shoe that can transform to a robot? Maybe I’m just too old and practical now, but…what’s the point!?!?
Product Info -Gadget4All-
Retrieved from -GeekAlerts-
For those who have people stealing their coffee mugs at work…
…there may be a coffee cup for you (if the concept artist can get it made!)
Designer Efrat Gommeh in Israel must really have trouble with people stealing his coffee cup while at the workplace. I know sometimes I have the exorbitantly skanky cup after drinking hot chocolate and coming in the next morning to find it molded over. Those times, I usually take my cup, pour some hot water in it and let it sit for about an hour before I attempt to get near it. That would be the main time I could see someone using the “Lock Cup” that Efrat Gommeh has proposed. No one would steal your cup if it had a big hole in the side…at least no one in their right mind. If they were really desperate, I guess duct tape could solve that problem though!
Product Info -Efrat Gommeh-
Retrieved from -OhGizmo!-
Hopefully no one is tired of hearing about it yet…
…but I have another update on my smart car order.
I told everyone I would keep them updated, but while I was on vacation last week, I got an update on my smart stating it would arrive between Aug. 09 and Oct. 09. Since I forgot my login info (yeah, I know, I should remember it) while I was on vacation, I couldn’t update. I thought I would check again today and saw that it got bumped up one more month yet again! And since I hear that most people are receiving theirs at the beginning of the range, that means I’m about one year out!
No commentsI hate tour guides and tours with all those noisy…tourists…
…but at least Germany has come up with a very inventive way of getting the point across without being noisy!
Brühl’s Terrace in Dresden, Germany has done away with the standard rent a headset and listen to the story of history and have begun to use a new technology called “Touched Echo”. At a location of an air raid on February 13, 1945, people who want to hear the sounds of airplane battles that took place can just place their elbows on the handrail and soak it in while bystanders are none-the-wiser that you are listening to something.
The simplistic explanation of the technology is this: with an apparatus attached to the handrail, tourists can lean their elbows down on the rail and place their hands over their ears allowing vibrations to travel through the rail, through the bone which is then converted into sound. A little more technical (not much)…the vibrations are translated in your inner ear from vibrations to readable sound “pulses” in the brain.
So no erroneous sounds, no constant babble from tour guides, no maintenance issues from rain, just simple sounds in a fairly simple method.
Retrieved from -OhGizmo-
Original Article -livegrids.net-
I am a definite newcomer to Photoshop…
…but hopefully my skills can outdo the digital altering skills of Iran’s Defense Department. Check out the image below and see if you can tell what’s wrong with the picture. When you think you know, click on it to see circled “problem” areas!
It appears that Iran was performing some missile tests last week trying to show off their might, and didn’t want to get caught with their pants down. The picture shows four missiles being fired during this test, when observers said there were only three missile fired at the testing as can be seen in the original article. Later, the Agence France-Presse made the following statement:
The fourth missile “has apparently been added in digital retouch to cover a grounded missile that may have failed during the test,” the agency said.
So, trying to show their might and a missle failed.
“How do we not show weakness? I know, grab a computer, I can fix this in a hurry!”
I have been manipulating images the past two weeks to try and create HDR images in Photoshop, and in the two weeks I have used it, I can definitely tell where they failed. Where they conveniently removed a truck, copied a rocket, moved it elsewhere…
Anyway, who knows if it was the Iranians who manipulated it or the Agence France-Presse who did, but it is pretty sad that it wasn’t captured by our press before such highly rated newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times, New York Times and the Chicago Tribue printed it.
Retrieved from -The Lede-
No commentsOnce again, a commonplace electronic item is dangerous…
…at least to the environment.
The process of creating flat panel displays uses a compound called Nitrogen Triflouride (NF3) used in LCD TVs on the shelves today. TV manufacturers tout how eco-friendly LCD TVs are than the standard cathode ray tube TVs due to the lower power consumption, but what they don’t tell you is how unhealthy the creation of these power miser sets actually is.
If everyone can remember back to chemistry class, you all know that carbon dioxide is the main compound everyone talks about that contributes to the greenhouse effect, and thus global warming. To give you an idea how bad Nitrogen Trifluoride is to the environment, it is 17,200 times better at trapping heat in the atmosphere, thereby making global warming that much worse.
Let’s hope new technologies come out sooner so that possibly flat panel displays can be healthier for our environment!
Retrieved from -Register Hardware-
1 commentSo smart has finally announced the electric version of their car…
…but I’m sure it will still be plenty expensive to justify.
Daimler’s CEO Deiter Zetsche announced that the smart car will have an electric version of the car starting in 2010. This tacks on to Toyota’s iQ electric car and several others who are joining the ranks with electric engines. Reports claim that they don’t know who will make the electric engines (possibly from Israeli’s Project Better Place), but from what I hear, Mercedes Benz is buying batteries from Tesla motors, makers of one of the fastest electric cars, to place in their Mercedes cars and smart cars. Sounds pretty reliable, but still somewhat expensive. I will have to wait and see how much battery replacements cost, how far the car can go on a charge and the total cost of the car before even considering.
Retrieved from -Dvice-
Retrieved from -Dvice-