Friday, December 30, 2005

Friday, December 30, 2005
04:18 PM
[

New West goes to a gator farm: "David Pescovitz:

New West has an excellent article (and photos) by Ted Alvarez about Colorado's San Luis Valley. In this piece, the first installment of a series, Alvarez gets up close and personal with the residents of a gator farm, and those who wrangle the reptiles.

 Images Thumbnails Feature Slv1 Jayyoung1-1

Jay Young, 27, the son of Colorado Gators founders Erwin and Lynne, holds several gator wrestling titles and has spent his entire life wrangling the massive reptiles. The city of Los Angeles recently hired him to attempt to remove a released pet gator from a public lake, and rumors abound that he’s taken a few ‘meetings’ with Hollywood since his celebrated visit made local and national news. When I finally catch this wiry, muddy bayou man sauntering towards me, with a cigarette dangling from his lower lip and stringy hair in his face, it’s easy to see why.



‘I learned to handle ‘em when I was small and they were small,’ he drawls sleepily. ‘I mean, I got bit a few times, and each time I learned not to what I did again.’ When prodded, he proceeds to name off his injuries nonchalantly, as if ticking off items on his Thursday grocery list. ‘A 6-footer—Tinkerbell—got my arm,’ he says, pointing to a lengthy scar on his ropy forearm. ‘I let my arms get to far out to the side. Three fingers got crushed and held in a big one’s jaws…teething, I guess.’
Link(Thanks, Jonathan Weber!)

"



(Via Boing Boing.)

Web Zen: animal games zen: "Xeni Jardin:
chicken tic-tac-toe
cow herding
pig balance
catching tales
dog frisbee
dog boounce
panda bounce
spider jump
bug on a wire
worm battleship
seagull bomber
bear and cat


web zen home, web zen store, (Thanks, Frank).

Reader comment: Colby Griggs says, 'I'm sure I won't be the only one that says 'Where's the Yeti?' Link. Specifically - Pingu Throw SE. It's been updated so you can control the flight of the penguin after the Yeti bats him.'



Reader comment: Andrew says, 'Forgot Spaced Penguin -- Link.'



Reader comment: Geoffrey says, 'Don't forget Bird Snatchers! Link.'

"



(Via Boing Boing.)

Friday, December 30, 2005
04:15 PM
Hmmmm

And now, we pause for a Bladerunner origami unicorn moment: "Xeni Jardin:



There's been entirely too muchtalk of goatse on Boing Boing lately. Here's an eBay auction to cleanse the palate: Link to 'Blade Runner UNICORN ORIGAMI.'


(Disclaimer: this blog post is not an endorsement for said auction. If you drop Hamiltons on it, you do so at your own peril).
(Thanks, Jason)

"



(Via Boing Boing.)

Friday, December 30, 2005
04:13 PM
just in time for the future --2006!

FAA releases space tourism regulations: "Xeni Jardin:

Ladies and gentlemen, you are now free to float around the cabin. Snip from AP story:

More than 120 pages of proposed rules, released by the government Thursday, regulate the future of space tourism. This don't-forget list touches on everything from passenger medical standards to preflight training for the crew.


Before taking a trip that literally is out of this world, companies would be required to inform the 'space flight participant' — known in more earthly settings as simply a passenger — of the risks. Passengers also would be required to provide written consent before boarding a vehicle for takeoff.


Legislation signed a year ago by President Bush and designed to help the space industry flourish prohibits the Federal Aviation Administration from issuing safety regulations for passengers and crew for eight years, unless specific design features or operating practices cause a serious or fatal injury.

Link to full text of news story. The document released by the FAA today includes a mandate that physical exams be recommended but not required, and a requirement that all passengers receive emergency training. Here's a PDF link, and a final set of regulations is expected in late June, 2006. (Thanks, Jeff)

"



(Via Boing Boing.)

Friday, December 30, 2005
04:11 PM
put the mystery meat back in christmas

When opened, iPod box contains slab of meat: "Mark Frauenfelder:
Here's an infuriatingly-sparse-on-details story about a woman in Hawaii who bought an iPod for her son for Christmas. When the boy opened the box, it did not contain an iPod as expected, but a piece of 'mystery meat.' Link(thanks, Consumatron!)

"



(Via Boing Boing.)

Friday, December 30, 2005
04:09 PM
gak gak

Presidential porno-protest posters proliferate in Austria: "Xeni Jardin:





Art spoof posters that depict Britain's Queen Elizabeth shagging the presidents of the U.S. and France have been (snort) erected throughout Vienna. They popped up just days before Austria is scheduled to take over the EU presidency, much to the embarassment of government officials. Coverage of this odd story in the US has so far been devoid of images -- but trust Boing Boing to stoop where real news organizations will not. Austria's equivalent of the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is said to have funded the campaign. Here are a few shots on Idealog, and the whole series is available as a torrent here.


(Thanks, Sean, and Idealog)

Reader comment: Christopher Granade says,

According to Raw Story, these posters have been removed from Vienna bilboards. From the story, 'Austrian media reported that the offending images were yanked yesterday — just a day after they started flashing at motorists — on personal orders of Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel. A woman answering the telephone at the chancellor's public information department who refused to identify herself said she could not confirm the report.'

"



(Via Boing Boing.)

Friday, December 30, 2005
04:08 PM
sweetness & light at last
sweetness is on the left

Tale of the tortoise and the hippo: "David Pescovitz:
A year after they first met, Owen, the baby hippo that survived last December's Tsunami, and Mzee, a 130-year-old tortoise are still best pals. They live together at the Haller Park preserve in Mombasa, Kenya. From Snopes.com:

 Photos Animals Graphics HippoBereaved by the forces of nature and discovered by wildlife rangers near certain death in the Indian Ocean off Malindi, the one-year-old male hippo calf dubbed Owen was on 27 December 2004 placed in Haller Park, a wildlife sanctuary in the coastal city of Mombassa, Kenya.



As soon as he was placed in his enclosure, the orphaned youngster immediately ran to the giant tortoise also housed in that space. The tortoise, named Mzee (Swahili for 'old man') and estimated to be between 100 and 130 years old, was not immediately taken with the brash newcomer — he turned and hissed, forcing the hippo to back away. Yet Owen persisted in following the tortoise around the park (and even into a pool), and within days the pair had forged a friendship, eating and sleeping together. Owen has even been seen to lick the tortoise, whom he regards as his new mother. (Wildlife workers speculated that Owen may have been attracted to Mzee as a parental figure because the tortoise's shape and color are similar to those of an adult hippopotamus.) Link(Thanks, Paul Saffo!)
This week, children's book publisher Scholastic has announced the publication of a book based on their tale. 'Owen and Mzee: the True Story of a Remarkable Friendship' was co-written by Craig Hatkoff, his seven-year-old daughter Isabella, and Dr. Paula Kahumbo of Haller Park.
Link

"



(Via Boing Boing.)

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Have you smacked a libertarian today? Vol. 3: "Libertarians everywhere got served today by Scott Harris, in Romenesko's Letters section."



(Via Geekable.com.)

Wednesday, December 21, 2005
10:55 PM
¡”

Why pot gives you the munchies: "David Pescovitz:
Columbia University scientists are gaining a new understanding of why marijuana gives you the munchies. While the brain's cannabinoid receptors are involved, the specifics have been a mystery. From a press release:

Understanding this circuitry has important practical implications because blocking the cannabinoid receptor, CB1, offers a promising approach to treating obesity. One such compound, rimonabant (trade name AcompliaTM) is already undergoing clinical testing.



In an article in the December 22, 2005, issue of Neuron, Young-Hwan Jo and colleagues report how the circuitry of CB1 is integrated with signaling by the appetite-suppressing hormone leptin.
Link to press release,
Link to abstract of scientific paper

"



(Via Boing Boing.)

Wednesday, December 21, 2005
10:54 PM
life imitates tv

Festivus poles for sale: "Mark Frauenfelder:
In a classic episode of Seinfeld, the character played by the inimitable Jerry Stiller declared the establishment of a new holiday to replace Christmas. It was called Festivus and the centerpiece was a bare aluminum pole. Now a company is selling the poles.

FestivusAccording to Frank Costanza, the Festivus celebration includes three major components:

The Festivus Pole

The tradition begins with a bare aluminum pole, which Frank praises for its 'very high strength-to-weight ratio.' During Festivus, an unadorned aluminum pole is displayed, apparently in opposition to the commercialization of highly decorated Christmas trees, and because the holiday's creator, Frank Costanza, 'find[s] tinsel distracting.' Local customs vary and you may be able to decorate your pole with non-threatening plain decorations, or ordinary green garland.

The Airing of Grievances

At the Festivus dinner, each participant tells friends and family all of the instances where they disappointed him or her that year.

The Feats of Strength

The head of the family tests his or her strength against one participant of the head's choosing. Festivus is not considered over until the head of the family has been pinned to the ground. A participant is allowed to decline to attempt to pin the head of the family only if they have something better to do instead.

Link(thanks, Andria!)

"



(Via Boing Boing.)

Wednesday, December 21, 2005
10:50 PM
French Roast is my methadone

Methadone clinic comix: HOOKED!: "Xeni Jardin:


Scans of HOOKED!, an anti-drug comic book distributed at New York City methadone clinics in 1966. Link.

"



(Via Boing Boing.)

Wednesday, December 21, 2005
10:49 PM

Soviet-era space-themed New Year's cards: "Xeni Jardin:



Awesome gallery of aerospace-themed holiday greeting cards from the former Soviet Union. Link (Thanks, Ed Weekly)


Reader comment: Peter Brown says,

All of the cards in the linked to collection are, in fact, New Year’s cards, not Christmas cards – they bear the New Year greeting С Новым годом! (Pronounced: s’novy godom). New Year’s was the main holiday celebrated in the former Soviet Union (officially atheist), replete with a New Year’s tree and the appearance of ‘Dyet Moros’ (Grandfather Frost) – not Santa. Christmas was banned after the 1917 revolution and not celebrated again until 1992. Also, in Russia, Christmas is celebrated by the Orthodox church according to the Julian calendar, on January 7, and was/is a much different type of celebration than New Years. (Link).

Reader comment: Kate Hunter says,

The pronunciation for the Russian 'Happy New Year' phrase isn't quite right. It should be 's'novym godom' (missed the M on the end of the first word). And if you wanted to focus more on pronunciation than transliteration, then the second O in 'godom' might be changed to an A. It's written 'godom' in Russian, but pronounced more like 'GO-dam.'

"



(Via Boing Boing.)

Wednesday, December 21, 2005
10:46 PM
still have mine

Apple Newton Museum shutting down, selling everything: "Xeni Jardin:
Boing Boing reader John Venzon says,






The 'Newton Museum,' which has a complete collection of every Newton model ever made is closing down and selling the entire collection as one giant piece. There are some good pictures covering everyone's favorite PDA whippingboy.

Link

"



(Via Boing Boing.)

Friday, December 16, 2005

Friday, December 16, 2005
10:33 PM
hey its dead, jim

I'd rather eat gagh: "Dear producers of Star Trek,


I will admit that the two-part episode of Enterprise within the mirror universe was cool.


But please don't make this movie. Thanks.


Hugs and kisses,

Jeff"



(Via Geekable.com.)

Friday, December 16, 2005
10:27 PM
science toots its horn...

How soon after marriage do Japanese brides cut the cheese?: "Mark Frauenfelder:
 Archives Fartfrequency
From Tokyo Times: 'As the pie chart above graphically demonstrates, Japanese ladies appear to simply fart for fun; with nearly half of them practically pumping their way through the first year of marriage.'
Link

"



(Via Boing Boing.)

Friday, December 16, 2005
10:27 PM

Web Zen: home decorating: "Xeni Jardin:
brini maxwell
windows
mirrors
radiators
pillows
rugs
bed
linen
more pillows
lamps
clocks
dishware
knife set



plus...
handmade modern
design*sponge
funfurde

web zen home, web zen store, (Thanks, Frank).

"



(Via Boing Boing.)

Friday, December 16, 2005
10:23 PM

King Kong's Monkey Love: "Mark Frauenfelder:
Joshua Bearman wrote a great essay for the LA Weekly on the relationship between man and ape and how our perception of gorillas as being 'monstrous, savage, wildly sexual' persists despite all evidence to the contrary. It's called 'Monkey Love: Intimacy on the Primate Family Tree.'

Josh says: 'It is probably the only coverage of
King Kong that is based on weird science, meandering from Enkidu, the hairy
man-beast in the Gilgamesh epic, to the latest paleontological evidence
about Gigantopithecus blacki, the 12-foot prehistoric ape that died out
100,000 years ago, to the re-classification of chimpanzees into the
hominidae family, and of course the biological potential for a consummated
love between man and ape.'

200512151217
Cooper and Schoedsack weren’t entirely off their rockers when they cast Kong and Fay Wray in a ‘great romance.’ Humans share enough DNA and chromosomal similarity with both gorillas and chimpanzees — we’re 99 percent genotypically congruent with chimps — that offspring might be possible, were biologists unscrupulous enough to try it. There’s always suspicion they may have already; for some reason, Japan often gets fingered as the place that has secretly developed primate crossbreeds. And then there was the case of Oliver, a circus chimpanzee who seemed so human — he lived with a family in South Africa, where he liked to feed the dogs and sip whiskey while watching TV — that he was tested for human parentage. He came up negative, but in the end Oliver had to be sold because he developed an overpowering sexual interest in his female owner and woman visitors.
Link

Reader comment: email_name:
Jordan Running says: 'Your post from today titled 'King Kong's Monkey Love' reminded me of an article I saw yesterday from Seed Magazine titled 'Girls Gone Wild...for Monkeys.' The article is about a study which shows that 'while straight men are only aroused by females of the human variety, straight women are equally aroused by all human sexual activity, including lesbian, heterosexual and homosexual male sex, and at least somewhat aroused by nonhuman sex.' Wild. Link

Reader comment: John says: 'Apparently at least one person tried to crossbreed chimps and humans, in 1926. Clive Wynne has the story in a NYT op-ed. The scientist was Ilya Ivanov of the USSR, and the story involves Africa, Cuba, the New York Times and the Ku Klux Klan.'

The young Soviet Union, in its effort to stamp out religion, was determined to prove that men were descended from apes. In 1926, a Soviet scientist named Ilya Ivanov decided the most compelling way to do this would be to breed a humanzee: a human-chimpanzee hybrid.

Ivanov set off for a French research station in West Africa. There he inseminated three female chimpanzees with human sperm. Not his own, for he shared the colonial-era belief that the local people were more closely related to apes than he was. He stayed long enough to learn that his experiment had failed.

Next Ivanov wrote a Cuban heiress, Rosalia Abreu. Abreu was the first person to breed chimps in captivity and had a large menagerie outside Havana. Ivanov asked if any of her male chimpanzees might be available to inseminate a Russian volunteer known to posterity only as 'G.'

Link

Reader comment: 'Lovecraft wrote a story, now public domain, about a man who married an ape called 'Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and his Family.'' Link

"



(Via Boing Boing.)

Monday, December 12, 2005

Monday, December 12, 2005
11:41 PM
ahh Blake

William Blake: "'Energy is eternal delight.'"



(Via Motivational Quotes of the Day.)

Monday, December 12, 2005
11:41 PM

Indian Proverb: "'Keep five yards from a carriage, ten yards from a horse, and a hundred yards from an elephant; but the distance one should keep from a wicked man cannot be measured.'"



(Via Motivational Quotes of the Day.)

Monday, December 12, 2005
10:28 PM

Godzilla: Final Wars: "Director Ryuhei Kitamura breathes new life into the hugely popular Godzilla series by resuscitating the iconic lizard for this new era. This time, instead of battling within the species, mankind must fend off the scourge of Kaijus, mutant humans equipped with outrageous powers with which they can destroy the world. For the sake of survival, Earthlings must band together to create the M kikan task force, designed to protect the human race."



(Via Netflix New Releases This Week.)

Monday, December 12, 2005
10:24 PM
well stare

Noam Chomsky on NoOne's Listening podcast: "David Pescovitz:
On last week's NoOne's Listening podcast, Irene McGee interviewed linguist and media critic Noam Chomsky. (Previous post about Irene McGee here.) Professory Chomsky gives his short, sharp take on corporate news (the stuff between the ads), consumer propaganda, and the potential of citizen journalism. Amazingly, Chomsky is able to maintain his optimism about this country. From the podcast:

Both political parties and the media are far to the right of the general population on a whole host of issues. And the population is just disorganized, atomized... And that's why the media and campaigns keep away from (political) issues. They know that on issues, they're going to lose people. So therefore you have... George Bush... this pampered kid who came from a rich family and went to prep school and an elite university. And you have to present him as an ordinary guy who makes grammatical errors, which I'm sure he's trained to make--he didn't talk that way at Yale--and a fake Texas twang, and he's off to his ranch to cut brush or something. It's like a toothpaste ad. And I think a lot of people know it.
Link

"



(Via Boing Boing.)

Saturday, December 10, 2005

Saturday, December 10, 2005
09:18 PM

vote for cthulhu: "

Cthulhudynamite
I am very fortunate to call John Kovalic my friend. He is an incredibly kind, supportive, and talented guy. He did the illustrations for Just A Geek, just because I asked him to, and the goddamn publisher didn't even give him (or Neil Gaiman who wrote the foreword) credit on the cover (I guess they needed every inch they could get for the Star Trek stuff. Awesome.)



John has brought so much supermegacool stuff into the world, and has contributed sto so many things that I love, it's hard to single out one thing that's best: Apples to Apples? Dork Tower? The illustrations for various incarnations of Munchkin and Chez [Geek|Grunt|Greek|Goth]?



How about his hilarious-because-it's-true take on Disney's fetid 'breath of fresh air?'



All are legitimate candidates, but today I am voting for the shirt you see pictured on the left, which finally combines Napoleon Dynamite and Cthulhu, a pairing that was long over due.



Bravo, John. Put me down for a men's medium.

"



(Via Wil Wheaton.)

the Dhammapada: "'If one speaks or acts with a cruel mind, misery follows, as the cart follows the horse... If one speaks or acts with a pure mind, happiness follows, as a shadow follows its source.'"



(Via Motivational Quotes of the Day.)

Saturday, December 10, 2005
09:03 PM

The Flesh Eaters: "From: Dark Sky Films - Year: 1964 - Rated: Not Rated - Release Date: October 25, 2005 - Features: Anamorphic * Widescreen * Extras! * - Recommended! It might look more than a little campy and strange today, but for my money The Flesh Eaters remains one of the great cult horror titles of the early 1960s. Martin Kosleck really steals this one as the villainous Professor Bartell, and Dark Sky has done an exceptional job on the newly restored widescreen transfer, with all of the original and often edited gore intact. Recommended. Amazon Compare"



(Via digitallyOBSESSED.com DVD Reviews.)

Saturday, December 10, 2005
09:03 PM

Holophonic Sound / 3D audio with just two speakers: "

I’m not your average home audio enthusiast. I’m one of a rare breed—an imaginary home audio enthusiast. That is to say, I know all about the technology behind stereo equipment, Surround Sound, Dolby, THX, and all those other impressive-sounding names; I have a respectable CD collection; I have forsworn analog audio and video; and I know exactly what my home theater setup would look like…if I had one. There are imaginary speakers all around my living room, wired to an imaginary amplifier, tuner, CD changer, and digital media receiver; these nicely complement my imaginary widescreen plasma TV. The problem is not knowing what I want, how to hook it up, or where to put it; the problem is that my cheap TV and boom box reproduce sound adequately, and I have not yet convinced myself that my music-listening or DVD-watching experience would be enough better with thousands of dollars of audio equipment to justify the cost. Of course, it’s also a problem that what my imagination says is adequate to provide the ideal listening environment changes as technology improves.


When I was a kid, the term High Fidelity still meant something—it set apart audio equipment that had been deliberately engineered for faithful sound reproduction and a high signal-to-noise ratio from cheaper, cruder devices. At a certain point, though, pretty much everything was considered ‘Hi-Fi’; the new buzzword was stereo. Having equipment and recordings with two discrete channels of audio—conveniently matching the average number of human ears—was seen as the new sign of audio competence. Then there was the shift from the analog world of tubes, tapes, and vinyl to the digital world of microprocessors and CDs, a new standard of audio quality. And now we’re into a new phase: an increasing number of carefully positioned speakers and subwoofers to simulate the 360° audio field of the cinema.


For Those Who Have Ears to Hear…

The curious thing, though, is that while the number of speakers in the typical living room has increased, the number of ears on the typical head has not. Humans somehow have the ability to locate the source of a sound spatially with only two inputs; even with a single ear, most people can pinpoint the direction a sound is coming from. Crucially, this sound-locating ability is not restricted to a single plane; we can also determine if a sound is coming from above, below, or anywhere in between. No home audio system I’ve ever seen (or heard) addresses the Z axis (up and down)—and neither, for the most part, do cinemas; the only way to experience truly 3D sound artificially is to go into a special environment such as San Francisco’s Audium where speakers are physically placed above, below, and all around you.


If humans can determine the location of a sound anywhere around them with just two ears, it’s reasonable to imagine there must be some way of reproducing spatially accurate sound with just two speakers. But what’s the trick? What can ears and brains do that microphones and speakers can’t?


The Ears Have It

A large part of what enables people to identify the position of a sound is attributable to the hardware—the unique shape of the ear folds and ear canal. Because sounds coming from one direction will be reflected and channeled into the ear canal with slightly different characteristics than sounds coming from another direction, the brain is able to use these subtle clues to unconsciously create a mental picture of where the sound must have originated. While sophisticated digital signal processing equipment can add depth and spatial separation to a stereo signal, there’s a much different and older approach to solving the problem: a method of recording known as binaural audio. A binaural recording is made with two microphones and a two-track recorder, just as a stereo recording would be. The difference is that the microphones are placed inside a dummy head—shaped just like a human head, complete with rubbery ears, sinus cavities, and so on. The microphones are right where the eardrums would be, so the signal they pick up is much closer to what ears would hear. The resulting recording—always most effective when heard through headphones—produces a vastly more accurate spatial rendition than would be achieved by using a pair of conventional microphones.


A well-executed binaural recording can sound shockingly realistic, even if the sound quality itself is not pristine. But binaural recording is appropriate only for live recordings; it’s also inconvenient, expensive (some pro-quality dummy heads retail for over US$8,000), and, frankly, just plain weird—all of which, along with the fact that you need to listen through headphones for maximum impact, helps to explain why you don’t encounter such recordings very often.


Hooked on Holophonics

But there’s a clever, patented variation on binaural recording that claims to go far beyond the simple microphones-in-the-dummy-head approach. It’s called holophonic recording, and the realism it produces, especially in the up/down dimension, is uncanny, eerie…even—as a friend of mine likes to say—freakadelic.


Ordinary holograms are produced by mixing reflected laser light with a second beam hitting an object from another angle; the resulting interference pattern of the two waves is what’s actually recorded on film. Expose the film to the same wavelength of light again, and a 3D image emerges from the interference pattern. Italian inventor Hugo Zuccarelli wondered whether a similar process could be used to record sounds, since after all, sound waves can form interference patterns with each other just as light waves can. His holophonic process starts with a type of binaural dummy head, but it reportedly records the interference pattern formed by mixing the sound with an inaudible, digitally superimposed reference signal. Zuccarelli believes that the human auditory apparatus, when listening to sounds, adds the same signal to the input, effectively decoding the interference patterns previously recorded. All that may sound like a bunch of mumbo-jumbo—and Zuccarelli certainly has detractors who claim ‘holophonic’ sound is nothing more than binaural with maybe a few bells and whistles. All I can say is: hearing is believing. The holophonic recordings I’ve heard are simply remarkable—much more impressive than conventional binaural recordings—but I encourage you to listen for yourself and form your own opinion.


There is, of course, a little snag. As with all binaural recordings, holophonic sounds lose most of their spatial characteristics when played through ordinary speakers (though Zuccarelli has designed a special speaker system that enables holophonic sounds to be appreciated even outdoors by a large audience). As things stand now, you won’t be able to enjoy a holophonic soundtrack on your home theater system—no matter how many speakers it has—unless you and everyone else watching the film wear headphones. Nevertheless, a number of recording artists, including Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, and Pink Floyd, have employed holophonic technology in recordings or concerts, and it has also been featured in both films and commercials. Holophonic sound may be slow to catch on as a mainstream technology, but it’ll make your iPod sit up and go ‘Wow.’—JK



[ Permalink ]



More Information...


This article is also available as an audio recording! By signing up for a one-year subscription to Interesting Thing of the Day for just $10, you’ll get full access to each daily article as a podcast, plus the option to receive the articles by email. (To hear sample recordings, visit our Subscriptions page.)


First things first: You need to hear some holophonic recordings. I must remind and urge you to listen to these through headphones; the effect really is lost with ordinary speakers. The best individual samples of holophonic recordings (and the Holophonics.com Web site) have disappeared over the past year or so for unknown reasons. You can still find some decent samples (apparently made using a slightly different technique, which is not quite as convincing as Zuccarelli’s) at Holophonic {beyond the sound}. (Click the TEST holo-sound link, and then, in the pop-up window, click the links [in Italian].) This site appears to have several CDs (see their store page), but as far as I can tell they only ship to customers in Europe. The 10-CD Dimension Sound Effects Library, which features holophonic recordings, costs about $500 and is available from Nightingale Music and Sound Ideas. There’s also this recording, available only on LP.


Zuccarelli’s official Web site also disappeared at some point in the last year. For an overview of holophonic sound, see ‘What Is Holophonic Sound?’ at Sound Ideas.


Other articles about Zuccarelli and his work can be found at BioWaves or HaBi 2.


SPECIAL NOTE: According to reader Geno Andrews, Zuccarelli originally made 5 ‘head’ microphones. A producer friend of his in Italy has one of them available for sale; contact geno@genoandrews.com for details.


Interested in binaural recording generally? See an excellent FAQ for Beginners at Binaural Source, and download lots of sample binaural recordings from Duen Hsi Yen’s Binaural, 3D, Holographic Sound Page. And that $8,000 binaural dummy head? Check out the Neumann KU100.


If you really want all the messy details about how the human ear hears ‘holophonically,’ see the paper Decoding the Source Information by Dichotic Hearing by A. Illényi of the G. Békésy Research Laboratory for Acoustics, Technical University Budapest. To learn more about the recording apparatus, see Zuccarelli’s patent (which, I should point out, only covers his process for creating the ‘dummy head’ microphone assembly, not the recording process itself)—it’s #4,680,856.



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"



(Via Interesting Thing of the Day.)

Free B-Movies for IPod: "More than 500 public-domain flicks -- including classics like Night of the Living Dead -- are just a click away. Plus: Video art lights up iPods. From Leander Kahney's Cult of Mac blog."



(Via Wired News.)

Saturday, December 10, 2005
08:41 PM

John Shirley reviews the new King Kong: "Mark Frauenfelder:
John Shirley looks deep into the savage breast of Peter Jackson.

Symbolism enwraps interlocked themes; male sexuality, female desire, hidden agendas, friendly faces hiding monsters, human indifference to suffering, the mindless savagery that is civilization—crueler than any giant ape could be, calling us to a need to redefine our relationship with wildness, with the animal world itself. At one point Jackson rather heavy handedly quotes Heart of Darkness to explain his subtext, telling us we all have to explore our own Skull Islands, come face to face with inner beast, see it as it is, and if not tame it, come to terms with it.
Link

"



(Via Boing Boing.)

Saturday, December 10, 2005
08:33 PM

Samorost 2: Myst meets Terry Gilliam: "Cory Doctorow:


Samorost 2 is a free, Flash-based Myst-style puzzle-game with gorgeous, lush Terry Gilliam cut and paste-style graphics. Watching this is almost as much fun as playing it.

Link

(via Wonderland)


"



(Via Boing Boing.)

Saturday, December 10, 2005
08:30 PM
practical science

Beer science: "David Pescovitz:
The cover story of this week's issue of Science News is about the chemistry behind beer flavor. Scientists are attempting to understand how the combination of a huge number of compounds affect the taste of the beverage, efforts that could eventually result in a more skunk-resistant brew. From the article:

The first push to delve into the mystery of beer flavor occurred in the mid-1970s, when a team of flavor chemists from 40 countries identified 800 chemical compounds in the beverage. These compounds—some individually, most in combination—contribute nearly 125 distinct flavors to beer. Brewers use the word flavor broadly, to include tastes, odors, and mouthfeel.



Today, says Morten C. Meilgaard, who chaired this international group, the total has risen to over 1,000 compounds. Studying the chemical constituents of beer is 'like looking at the night sky,' he says. 'The closer you look, the more stars you can see.'
Link

"



(Via Boing Boing.)

Saturday, December 10, 2005
08:28 PM
looks like my brudder

Photo of West Virginia's Braxton Beast?: "David Pescovitz:
Loren Coleman of Cryptomundo has posted this camera trap photo of 'an unknown bipedal creature' taken in Braxton County, West Virginia. What the heck is it? (Please do not email your comments to me. Rather, post your opinions directly to Cryptomundo's comments section.) From the blog:

 Wp-Content FreakhumanoidaThe Cryptomundo correspondent, a 27-year-old gentleman, Frederick B. Gerwig, sends along this information in his initial email to me earlier this week: 'Here is a picture that my father’s wildlife camera (motion activated) took around 12/07/05. We are not sure what it is, but it doesn’t look human. It very well could be a hunter or something, however, my father’s property is posted and this is a wildlife feeding site approximately 400 yards from their Braxton County, WV home. The proportions seem very strange as compared to those of a human. It is possible that it is low light distortion, but it seems very curious. Sorry the picture is so small. The camera he uses is somewhat low tech to prevent theft as it stays stationed at this location all the time until he picks it up to download and review the pictures on his PC. Let me know what you think…we are baffled by this image.'
Link

"



(Via Boing Boing.)

Saturday, December 10, 2005
08:26 PM
ouch that hurt

comic-book-habit.gif 517×548 pixels: ""



(Via .)

Wednesday, December 7, 2005

Wednesday, December 07, 2005
08:47 PM
here kitty kitty

Loren Coleman on Borneo's "new" animal: "David Pescovitz:

 Wp-Content Newborneoanimal
Over at Cryptomundo, Loren Coleman considers whether the mysterious cat-size creature caught on camera in Borneo may actually be a rediscovery of a Hose's Palm Civet, previously thought to be extinct. (Link to World Wildlife Fund's story from yesterday about the strange animal caught on film.)
Link to Cryptomundo"



(Via Boing Boing.)

Wednesday, December 07, 2005
08:24 PM
haha

Archaeological anachronisms photoshopping contest: "Cory Doctorow:


Today on the Worth 1000 photoshopping contest: anachronistic artifacts being unearthed by archaeologists.


Link

"



(Via Boing Boing.)

Wednesday, December 07, 2005
08:22 PM
mmmm candy

Candy salesman's catalog from 1949: "Cory Doctorow:


This is an entire 1949 NWCA candy-salesman's catalog, scanned in at medium resolution. Loads of clip-art treasure here.

Link

(Thanks, Candy Addict!)

"



(Via Boing Boing.)

Wednesday, December 07, 2005
08:20 PM
add this to my list

Bike helmet covers shaped like brains, frogs, mohawks, etc: "Cory Doctorow:


NoginSox are foam-rubber sculptured slipcovers for your bicycle helmet; they come in designs ranging from terrified froggies to naked brains to spiky mohawks. They come in lighted and non-lighted versions.

Link

(via Wired Magazine)


"



(Via Boing Boing.)

Saturday, December 3, 2005

Saturday, December 03, 2005
09:39 PM

USB powered, mouse-aimed airdart launcher: "Cory Doctorow:


This airdart launcher draws power from your USB and is aimed using your mouse. Twenty quid at M&S.


Link

(via Red Ferret)


"



(Via Boing Boing.)

Saturday, December 03, 2005
09:23 PM
one lawyer sai to another

Tiger shark with shark in its mouth: "David Pescovitz:


A tiger shark was caught off Australia's Tannum Beach with another small shark hanging out of its mouth mid-bite. From ABC Capricornia:

 News2 Tiger Shark MouthApparently the smaller fish was caught on Tannum's shark lines.



While being pulled in, the movement attracted the attention of its larger colleague.



The tiger shark was so reluctant to let go of its free meal, it was eventually pulled in to shore.
Link to ABC Capricornia report, Link to an Underwater Times article with more about tiger sharks (via Fortean Times)

"



(Via Boing Boing.)

Saturday, December 03, 2005
09:07 PM
what in sam hill

Sam Buck sued for naming her coffee shop after herself: "Cory Doctorow:
A judge in Oregon has ruled that naming your shop after yourself is a trademark violation if your name is too similar to that of a big corporate brand.


A woman named Sam Buck opened a coffee shop in Astoria, Oregon in 2000, two years before a Starbucks opened down the road. She named her shop Sambuck's, and the judge in her case said that she willfully infringed on Starbucks's trademark in so doing.


Now she's stuck with hundreds of thousands in legal fees and the added expense of throwing out all her cups, her sign, etc.



She says she doubts people have trouble distinguishing her 10-foot-wide shop from a Starbucks, and that her business logo is not easily confused with that of Starbucks.




Link

(Thanks, Peter!)"



(Via Boing Boing.)

Sunday, November 27, 2005

Henry David Thoreau: "'I stand in awe of my body.'"



(Via Motivational Quotes of the Day.)

J. K. Rowling: "'His priority did not seem to be to teach them what he knew, but rather to impress upon them that nothing, not even... knowledge, was foolproof.'"



(Via Motivational Quotes of the Day.)

Sunday, November 27, 2005
08:52 PM
ouch
shoulda seen it comin too

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith: "

Reviewed by a panel
Quote: 'Looking over the major plot elements, one comes away from the film convinced that everyone in Lucas's future past is a putz. Anakin knows his wife and child(ren) are in danger, so what does he do? Does he take them and travel to an exile planet in hopes of avoiding both the Jedi and the Sith? Nope, he just whines like a wuss and walks right into the Emperor's incredibly hokey trap.'

"



(Via DVD Verdict.)

Sunday, November 27, 2005
08:36 PM

If hackers ruled the Earth photoshopping contest: "Cory Doctorow:


Today on the Worth 1000 photoshopping contest: hackerish versions of everyday objects. I love the Vegas sign (pictured here) and especially the ASCII Bits cereal.


Link


"



(Via Boing Boing.)

Sunday, November 27, 2005
08:33 PM
mmmmm robots

Transformers costumes that turn into cars and jets: "Cory Doctorow:

Mark of Marksprojects has built a series of working Transformers costumes. They can transform from robots to cars/jets while you wear them. No build-logs but he sells the transformable versions for nearly four grand (!). Someone needs to deliver a set of open source plans for these!
Link
(Thanks, Marsolais!)


Update: To clarify -- There's an audience for these things who will pay $3,750 for this. They're cash-rich and time-poor. There's another audience who will never pay $3,750 for one of these, but might happily spend a year putting one together in their basements: time-rich and cash-poor. The time-rich people would likely never avail themselves of a set of plans for this, so a set of open plans would not displace sales of the costumes, but it would encourage a generation of cardboard hackers who'll go on to deliver new and better costumes in years to come -- it's the best of both worlds.

"



(Via Boing Boing.)

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Wednesday, November 23, 2005
09:30 PM

Typographers ponder ligatures for WTF, LOL: "Xeni Jardin:






On Typophile discussion boards, typographers are considering the evolution -- in a non-digital, alternate universe -- of ligature styles for the common internet expressions 'wtf' and 'lol'.

Link

(Thanks, Rebecca Blood)

"



(Via Boing Boing.)

Wednesday, November 23, 2005
09:23 PM
this for my bro who was just visiting, a deisneyphile

Disneyland ride 3D videos as a podcast: "Cory Doctorow:

Back in March 2004, we blogged about a guy who makes red/blue stereoscopic 3D movies of Disney rides. Now he's launched them as a video podcast feed -- get 3D Disneyland ride-throughs delivered to your desktop!

Link

(Thanks, Waltsentme!)


"



(Via Boing Boing.)