Thursday, May 22, 2014

Water "color" clock

Also from EvilMadScientists comes this wonderful clock, combing a plotter with Buddhaboard, which is a dark background with a gray ceramic cover which is transparent when wet, so what is drawn on it with water disappears as it dries.
This would be cool to have in a reception or such. (In a place where the noise isn't a problem.)




It is based on the equally kool WatercolorBot:



Invented by SuperAwesomeSylvia. (Man, kids today are scary.)


World's coolest calculator (updated)

Not the world's most portable, or fastest, or quitest(!), but I think it's the coolest.



My mind is not great with numbers, but I think it's great that a real calculator can be built not only mechanically, but so apparently simply.

Update:
Bruce W pointed to this even slower computer:

50 cameraphones, almost synchronised, in an arc

[Thanks to Bert]




"Korner", affordable home security system

Korner.
This system seem very intelligent, and highly reasonable.

Classic nudes seen by modern standards

Classic nudes seen by modern standards, article and illustrations.

Throughout art history, painters from Titian to Rubens to Gauguin found beauty in the bodies of women who would never fit into a size 0. But what would these famous works of art look like were they to conform to today’s Photoshopped standards of beauty?



Banking oddity

I've noticed that some banks offer their highest interest rate only on accounts with less than a smallish amount, say 3 grand. But then some banks offer their highest rate only with deposits higher than a large amount, say 20 grand.
What kind of sense does that make?

Monday, May 19, 2014

It finally happened!

It finally happened!
Today, after nineteen years of surfing the World Wide Web, I clicked on a banner ad!


(Note to historians: it was an ad for the Google Nexus Seven tablet. I wanted to see if it was a new version and if it had anything interesting. But all the sales page informed was that it was £200 and had a "sharp screen".)

First Look at How Google's Self-Driving Car Handles City Streets


First Look at How Google's Self-Driving Car Handles City Streets, article

I think this is one of the most exciting tech developments currently happening. The amount of time used behind the wheel is enormous, and so is the number of deaths and injuries occuring on the streets due to human error. 

Giger-esque 'Alien Siege Machine' coming to Burning Man

Article.