I love my AirPort again: "Since plugging in an AirPort Express base station for the first time, I am in love with these gorgeous white things again... AirPort Express (AX for friends and family) brings a new level of refinement to the very line of access points that put WiFi networking within reach of us all mere mortals — OK, that summary is a bit cutesy but I swear it's awesome, dude."
(Via MacDevCenter.)
VOA News - Astronomers See Light of Distant Planets for First Time: ""
Sci Fi Wire -- The News Service of the Sci Fi Channel: "Lucas: Star Wars Due In 3-D
George Lucas told ShoWest that he is planning to remaster all of the Star Wars films for rerelease in 3-D as a way to promote the technology, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Appearing as part of a panel of high-profile directors promoting 3-D and digital cinema at ShoWest, Lucas said he hadn't yet committed to a precise schedule, but hoped to have the first film ready for the 30th anniversary of the original Star Wars movie in 2007 and that he would then rerelease one Star Wars film per year in 3-D, the trade paper reported.
Lucas was joined by James Cameron, Robert Zemeckis, Robert Rodriguez and Randal Kleiser. Peter Jackson joined the group via a pretaped 3-D segment. They all implored theater owners to invest in digital projectors, which would allow theaters to show their upcoming movies in 3-D.
Cameron is in preproduction on the 3-D film Battle Angel, planned for a 2007 release. Zemeckis has two 3-D features in production, and Rodriguez is readying The Adventures of Shark Boy & Lava Girl in 3-D for release in the summer, the trade paper reported.
"
The Fembots are here: "Xeni Jardin:
Guests of Japan's World Expo opening on March 25 will be greeted by multilingual, rapping robots. The Actroid, shown here, was developed by Kokoro and Advanced Media. She's a twentysomething fembot with dewy skin, warm eyes, and enough AI to understand 40,000 phrases in each of four languages: Chinese, English, Japanese and Korean. She also 'performs rap music.' Snip:
The humanoid can put on facial expressions suitable for the more than 2,000 types of answers it can give, but it may refuse to answer to some questions for 'privacy reasons,' making an X with her arms and bowing. She also has a sense of irony. When asked if she is a robot, she says, 'Y.e.s, I. a.m. a. r.o.b.o.t' in a disconnected voice and moves about clumsily. A moment later, she says 'Just kidding' and starts a natural flow of movements.
(Via Boing Boing.)
Count Ratula coffin hotrod: "Mark Frauenfelder:
David and I were driving down the Ventura Freeway in Sherman Oaks and saw this hotrod shaped like a coffin. I pulled my camera out of my pocket and David snapped the pics. (Click thumbnails for enlargement.)"
(Via Boing Boing.)
Benefits of beer with burnt meat: "David Pescovitz:
Charred meat contains compounds that can cause cancer. Drinking a glass of beer with that well-done steak may reduce the DNA damage though, according to a new study by Okayama University scientists. The research was conducted on mice using near beer, since alcohol can be carcinogenic on its own and would muddy the data. From Science News:
After a few days of administering the beer diets, the scientists laced some of the animals' food with either of two heterocyclic amines (HCAs)—the carcinogens from cooked meat....Beer diminished by some 40 to 75 percent the number of HCA adducts (abnormal DNA structure) that formed, depending on the type of tissue (studied after dissecting the mouse) and quantity of beer ingredients ingested, the researchers report in the Feb. 9 Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Good news for beer drinkers: Both light-colored lager and a darker stout proved protective.
(Via Boing Boing.)
R. Crumb interview: "David Pescovitz:
Today's issue of The Guardian has a special report on comic artist extraordinaire Robert Crumb, including a new interview conducted at his home in the south of France.
By the time Crumb was nine, he had become an obsessive collector, obsessive cartoonist and obsessive nostalgic. He already had a sense of yearning for an America he had never known. His mother used to tell him he was like a little old man. Did he think he was weird? 'Oh, yes. I knew I was weird by the time I was four. I knew I wasn't like other boys. I knew I was more fearful. I didn't like the rough and tumble most boys were into. I knew I was a sissy.'
...It's strange talking to Crumb - his words are depressive and lugubrious, and yet he appears mellow, laughing easily through his existential nausea. The most terrible stories amuse him as much as they pain him. He tells me how a best friend killed himself by swallowing four bottles of paper correction fluid, and he chortles. He talks of his own despair, and giggles. He admits that he could never have imagined a life quite so fulfilled - with Aline, and his beloved daughter Sophie, also a cartoonist, and success and money - and says he's still miserable as hell, and laughs.
(Via Boing Boing.)
Fake animal taxidermy: "Mark Frauenfelder:
Fake animal taxidermist makes a pink boar rug.
Link (Thanks, Sarah!)"
(Via Boing Boing.)
Hand-cranked iPod Shuffle charger: "Cory Doctorow:
MakeBlog's Phil Torrone has built a hand-cranked charger for his iPod Shuffle, basically because he could. Next time you're off the grid and want to listen to your music, you know who to call.
Link
"
(Via Boing Boing.)
Old comic book panels taken out of context = lotsa laffs: "Mark Frauenfelder:
Superdickery.com has some unintentionally hilarious panels from old comic books.
Link(via Eye of the Goof)
UPDATE: Tamu says: 'Actually the second panel is not unintentional. The creator of Wonder Woman often used bondage imagery in Wonder Woman comics, because he felt it was an excellent example for women to folow. He endorsed woman engaging in bondage games, as they would eventually be the dominant sex on the planet. He thought bondage was healthy for strong women to engage in.
'Check out Wonder Woman: A Complete History for a look at William Moulton Marston, the psychologist who created the Wonder Woman character. He was quite a character himself.
'For the record, it's not that I am really into bondage. I'm really into comics.
'Honest.'
(Via Boing Boing.)
Moment of graffiti Zen: "Xeni Jardin:
Chris sez, 'I was walking through downtown Toronto this weekend and I got a snapshot of the funniest graffiti / 'post no bills' sign I've ever seen.'
Link"
(Via Boing Boing.)
Microsoft demos Weasley's clock from Harry Potter: "Cory Doctorow:
Simon sez, 'At this year's internal Techfest Microsoft Research Cambridge demonstrated a clock surprisingly similar to that on the wall of the Weasley household in the Harry Potter films. I guess it only goes to show: any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic!'
Link
"
(Via Boing Boing.)
Cell phone flask: "David Pescovitz:
From Beverages & More:
'It looks like a regular cell phone, but it's got capabilities other phones don't; fill this 3 oz flask with your favorite hooch and take it anywhere; complete with clip, leather case and funnel!'What's next? A Blackberry dugout?
(Via Boing Boing.)
Bubba the Lobster (RIP): "David Pescovitz:
Bubba the 22-pound lobster has died. The celebrated crustacean had just been moved from a fish market to the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. He passed away before departing for his final destination, a Ripley's Believe It Or Not museum. Link
"
(Via Boing Boing.)
