3D anamorphic drawings

3D anamorphic drawings [source]

'' How to do 3D Anamorphic Artwork and Sidewalk, Street, and Driveway Art '' [source]

Music with LEGO

''BEAT BRICKS – A LEGO STEP SEQUENCER'' [source]

Electronics kits for boys and girls

''littleBits Teaser Kit - Each bit has a simple, unique function (light, sound, sensors, etc), and modules snap to make larger circuits. With a growing number of available modules, littleBits aims to put the power of engineers in the hands of artists, makers and children.'' [source]


''GoldieBlox: The Engineering Toy for Girls by Debbie Sterling - GoldieBlox is a construction toy + book series starring Goldie, the kid inventor who loves to build. My name is Debbie and I’m a Stanford engineer. When I was a little girl, I thought the word, “engineering” was nerdy and intimidating and just for boys. I’ve since learned I was so wrong. Engineers build all the important things we use every day…things that make our lives better. The scary truth is that only 11% of engineers are women and girls start losing interest in science as young as age 8!  This is our chance to change that statistic.'' [source]

Mixed news

More info about:
- Milli-motein MIT reconfigurable robot [here].
- SKIDOME DENMARK (Randers) here.

Few simple (FREE) ways to know where colleagues are

''Employee In/Out Board Software
InOutBoard.com is an easy-to-use web-based software solution for tracking employee attendance and current work status, delivering company announcements, managing online time sheets, creating events in shared calendars, sending phone messages, and access to timecard reports. Use the InOutBoard Online to eliminate your wall-mounted peg board, old receptionist software, resource sign-up sheets, and paper phone messages. You get a complete web-based solution including mobile access for quick status updates.'' [source]  ONLY FREE FOR 30 DAYS :(


'' Free EIOBoard In Out Board Alternative '' [source]




This one is actually FREE:
'' Tabzon is a free online in-out board designed to help you keep track of friends & colleagues. '' [source] 

And the same company also provides this service: http://pinterest.com/
"Pinterest is an online pinboard. Organize and share things you love."

Amazing StarTrek NextGeneration puppets!

'' These Next Generation yarn figures were created by yarn maven, Jana Ford. And she didn’t just do 1 or 2 of our favorite characters, she made the WHOLE DAMN CAST. '' [source]

Mixed science news

'' Could Tractor Beams Be Made From Light? ... The idea behind Segev’s “tractor beams” goes something like this. In these materials, while the individual photons are refracted in one direction, the overall shape of the light waves will be refracted in the opposite direction. This means that the wave’s group and phase velocities move in different directions — that is, the overall shape of the wave moves in one direction (carrying the wave’s electromagnetic energy with it), while the individual groups of photons move in the opposite direction.

Since the two forces are moving in opposite directions, this creates a theoretical area of negative radiation pressure in the middle. Controlling the direction of the negative pressure could make particles caught in the middle move.

Usually this would be an effect without practical consequence because existing metamaterials are metallic, and thus absorb electromagnetic radiation. Segev’s paper proposes instead using natural crystals like quartz which possess the property of “birefringence” — that is, they have several refraction indices.'' [source]

'' ‘Schrödinger’s Hat’ Uses Invisibility to Measure Quantum World ...
Conceptually, a Schrödinger’s hat is like an invisible battery. It captures a tiny bit of energy without fiddling with the [energy] waves so you can later get a measurement. ...
If you’re trying to image something at the nanoscale, say a computer chip or nanodevice, you might get very close to it without disturbing it.  '' [source]

'' Invisibility Cloak Uses Mirages to Make Objects Vanish'' [video]

'' First, Invisibility Cloaks; Now, Real-World Levitation ...
From the branch of science that gave us the real-world invisibility cloak comes… honest-to-God levitation. In theory, at least.'' [source]


'' Researchers break record, keep quantum computing qubit alive for 3 minutes ...

The trick used at the University of Oxford has to do with coaxing the computational particles into superposition and keeping them there in two different spin states simultaneously. Researchers used a form of extremely pure silicon-28 (which is non-magnetic and non-reactive) as the medium for the test. A number of phosphorus atoms were suspended in the silicon, and scientists found that the particles behaved as if they were in a vacuum.'' [source]

Functional programming ... in mainstream languages

JAVASCRIPT

''An Introduction to Functional Programming in JavaScript '' [source]
and
'' Functional Programming ... from Eloquent JavaScript'' [source] 

PYTHON
'' Charming Python: Functional programming in Python, Part 1... [source] 


 And to understand monads, check out this great article (with code in javascript):
''Translation from Haskell to JavaScript of selected portions of the best introduction to monads I've ever read'' [source]
Terrific examples!

Ian Stewart on the bank crash

''The mathematical equation that caused the banks to crash...
It was the holy grail of investors. The Black-Scholes equation, brainchild of economists Fischer Black and Myron Scholes, provided a rational way to price a financial contract when it still had time to run.
...
The equation itself wasn't the real problem. It was useful, it was precise, and its limitations were clearly stated. It provided an industry-standard method to assess the likely value of a financial derivative.
...
The trouble was its potential for abuse. It allowed derivatives to become commodities that could be traded in their own right.'' [source]

What the wind can do for you

A new kind of wind-harvesting technology "Windstalks"
''  Windstalk is completely silent, and the image associated with them is something we're already used to seeing in a field of wheat or reeds in a marsh. '' [video]


'' Unbelievable Kinetic Sculptures of Theo Jansen. ... 
Theo Jansen calls his kinetic sculptures “Animari.” The creatures walk in herds on beaches, powered only by the wind. Some of them are able to capture and store the wind, then keep moving for extended times.'' [source] 

Future user interfaces

'' Amazing hologram technology '' - an interesting concept, in between holography and controllable play doh [video]

'' Future Holographic Video Game Console '' [video]

2 (or 3) movies, very very related

'' 12:01 (1993) 
... Barry Thomas is the average office worker. He becomes attracted to Lisa Fredericks who works in the same company. After work, Barry witnesses the murder of Lisa and goes to a bar to get drunk. Later that night, there is a storm and Barry gets a shock from a lamp's faulty power wire at exactly 12:01 am. The next morning, he realizes that everything is happening exactly as it did the previous day.'' [source] SCI-FI

'' Groundhog Day (1993) 
... A weatherman finds himself living the same day over and over again.'' [source]

And possibly also this one, is remarkably similar...
'' In this version, Kurtwood Smith plays Myron Castleman, an everyman-type who keeps repeating the same hour of his life, from 12:01pm to 1:00pm. The character is fully aware that the time loop is occurring, and nobody else appears to be aware of it. Each time the hour resets, Myron retains his memory (or as the film puts it, his consciousness), and despite his best attempts to understand what is happening, he ultimately realizes that he is entirely helpless to prevent the time bounce. Myron cannot even break the loop by killing himself, as he reappears, alive, at the next iteration; he is trapped in the loop for eternity. '' [source]

See here for more details ;)

Victorian 2D worlds and games

''A Game With A Point – Flatland: Fallen Angle. ... I have no idea if triangular noir-adventure Flatland: Fallen Angle was specifically inspired by 2011′s meme-tastic Bastion, but I do suspect we’re likely to see quite a few games that borrow its narrate-as-you-play mechanic over the next year or so. ... Made in just 96 hours (over the space of three weeks) it’s very much a shortform piece and suffers from a slightly wobbly combat mechanic (death seems to come suddenly and randomly, but the idea is you can only cause damage by hitting an enemy with one of your points), but it’s atmospheric, smart and does a great job of the unusual melange of simple line-art, breathless Pac Man-esque outrunning of foes and a doomy, nuanced narrative. ... It’s free, but there is a $1 ‘appreciation version‘ with dev commentary and an arena skirmish mode, should you wish to provide it with a digital hug. '' [source] ''Flatland - the book'' [source] And you can read the book for free (since it's way past copyright expiration!) here or at Project Gutenberg. There are a couple of follow-ups to Flatland: 1- Rucker's The Fourth Dimension [source] 2- Flatterland: like Flatland, only more so (2001) [source] by Ian Stewart A new movie is coming about 1984, only steampunked! '''1884' Terry Gilliam presents '1884 Yesterdays Future'.'' [source]
And some interesting discussion about a 2D version of the Tardis can be found here (why not! :D ).

Flying motorbike!

''Prototype hoverbike could soar to 3km altitude at 173mph ...

The current prototype doesn't have much in the way of safety features, but Malloy plans to add a pair of explosive parachutes to the frame, or just require the rider to wear a parachute, as well as covering the currently-exposed propellors with a mesh to stop limbs from being lopped off. Malloy also hopes to implement gyroscopic controls with onboard overrides to stop the craft from tipping over.

Happily you won't need a pilot's license to fly one, as the hoverbike is officially classified as an ultralight.'' [source]

Steampunk movie - free, just watch

'' The Anachronism ...
The Anachronism is an award-wining Steampunk short about two children who discover the wreck of a giant squid submarine on a beach near their home. '' [source]

Steampunk portal-gun

''  It’s a Steampunk styled Portal Gun, like the one carried by Chell in the Portal video game franchise, and it’s so purrrrty I just want to mount it on my wall and stare at it all day long.  '' [source]

Mecha robots: big and small! :D

- Jeeg superdeformed and posable! 

[source]

- Getter robot (1, 2 and 3)

[source]

- SD Grandizer [source]


Paper toys:

- Goldrake (aka Grendizer, aka Goldorak) 

- Another version of Goldrake, this time with spacer [source]:

- mini mazinger [source]

- Generic (but really cool) paper-robot [source]:

- and for these kinds of paper toys, this site looks really nice: http://paperkraft.blogspot.com/

3D models:

- Go Nagai spaceships [source]

Basic English

''Basic English (British American Scientific International Commercial) is a constructed (made-up) language to explain complex thoughts with 850 basic English words chosen by Charles Kay Ogden.
...

The word use of Basic English is simpler and more regular than the word use of full English. Not all the meanings of each word are allowed.

Ogden's rules of grammar for Basic English help people use the 850 words to talk about things and events simply'' [source]

- LEARNING OGDEN's BASIC ENGLISH 

Projects and References for Learners

http://www.basic-english.org/learn/learn.html

- And here you can build sentences in Basic English:

http://www.basic-english.org/learn/oww1a.html

Virgin galactic + playboy (?)

''Playboy Bunny In Space? Virgin Galactic Eyes Playboy Club In Orbit ...
The first rocket-powered test flights of SpaceShipTwo are expected later this year. The air-launched spacecraft has already performed a series of unpowered drop tests and captive-carry flights with its massive mothership, the WhiteKnightTwo.
...
A big selling point would be the restaurant, which would be built into the spinning section so diners (and their food) wouldn't float off their seats and tables, explained Baime and Harper, who also sought input from futurist Thomas Frey of the Davini Institute think tank, and former NASA scientist Stan Kent.'' [source]

Small digital camera

''This is the world's smallest digital camera, measuring just over one inch in all dimensions and weighing only half an ounce ... it uses a 2 MP image sensor that takes still images at 1600 x 1200 resolution and captures video at 30 fps at 640 x 480 resolution ... '' [source]