How is 3D animation done? Let Despicable Me 2's Steve Carell explain it to you.
And here's the trailer for the animated Free Birds coming this November about two turkeys who go back in time to get turkey off the Thanksgiving menu. (I know a guy who's a technical director - meaning he writes a lot of their software tools - on this film.)
Did you know that Jimmy Choo (Sex in the City - look it up) makes men's sneakers? They're comfortably priced from $525 to $995. I found this based on a WSJ article about wearing sneakers in the office.
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| While I never was a huge fan of the Muppets, here for your pleasure is the periodic table of the Muppets. |
Vince Flynn, author of the Mitch Rapp series of counterespionage novels, has died from cancer. After being introduced to his work by a friend (thanks Nick) he became one of my favorites of that genre and not just because his main character, Rapp, is a Syracuse University alum.
The Fort Worth PD maintains a web page for mapping crime throughout the city.
Have you ever wondered why flash photography isn't allowed in a museum? [When photography is prohibited altogether it has more to do with who owns the works and their copyrights which is something totally different.] Effects of Light on Materials in Collections is a 212 page technical paper that delves deeply into the subject. It was difficult to draw any conclusions based on the information in this survey of prior work except for a statement that the guidelines are order of magnitude only. Of course, the problems are highlighted in the discussion in chapter 4 and mainly involve the wide range of materials used in artworks (and their varying sensitivity to light) and the wide range of light sources used for photography.
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| An interactive map of 500 years of meteor impacts. |
The online survey How Millennial Are You? scores me at 41/100 which qualifies me for GenX status (33 pts required, supposedly born in 1965 or later) but way less than millennial status (73 pts required). As you know, I believe generational categorization like this is meaningless. What is the significance of the number of text messages I sent within the last 24 hours or whether I read a newspaper? That's just a reflection of the tools used, not anything about me.
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| Read it and weep. This maps pronunciation of the word aunt as "ant" (red) or "auhnt" (blue). This is where someone in my household says that just because everyone does it doesn't make it right. From a huge collection of dialect survey maps at NC State University. |
This is a very interesting list of interview questions. I like #6: What book do you think everyone on our team should read?
Too small for proper viewing (probably as an incentive to buy the poster) here are cheese varieties charted on a wheel.
Hot continental pr0n! See Antarctica stripped naked! NASA video shows the topography of the bedrock beneath the Antarctic ice sheet.
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| Yes, this is exactly what it looks like. A fart photographed in infrared. source |
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| This collection of typography made from urban photos of the sky reminded me of Franz Kline's paintings. |
Where is the sheep? It's right here. Maybe it should be in a cargo container at Containerization. Which is not to be confused with essayification, whereby the essay (and perhaps, without stretching things too much, the blog) counter today's rigid dogmatic thinking and writing.
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| Using a quantum microscope, scientists were able to make the first image of a hydrogen atom's orbital structure. |
What's the purpose of a college education? While I don't disagree with the sentiment, perhaps the form of the actual answer indicates deeper issues. "Should students study HTML code or Shakespeare? Most of the 32 respondents (they asked 255 college or university presidents) answered yes"
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| If it makes you feel any better, there are more public libraries in the USA than McDonalds. |
So now that the AMA says obesity is a disease, one third of all American adults have a condition requiring medical treatment. Hope Obamacare pays for gastric bypass.
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| The ABCs of Heavy Metal - source |
Man has 100 pound testicle surgically removed.
How fast can you scroll 100 meters? 1:09:88 for me putting me in 32,197th place.
Now that Adrian Belew isn't going to tour with Nine Inch Nails, the guitarist is going back to work on his FLUX project - an album of music that's never played the same way twice.
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| Oy, what is it with all the maps? Here's America's daily vegetable eating. |
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| Again with the maps? Here are all the rivers in the USA. |
The problem with doctors finding a new human body part is now they have an excuse to charge you for having it removed.
God giveth and God taketh away - how the chicken lost its penis. (Only 3% of birds have penises.)
Like you've never seen them before - photos of aircraft from below.
Why is the brain programmed for humor? tl;dr
Behind the scenes photos at Disney's Haunted Mansion.
Getting up in years? Looking for a place to get away to? College Station, Texas - home of Texas A&M - is the 4th best unknown retirement destination in the USA.
She just looks like a great chef, don't you think?
Even though it takes 84 slides to illustrate 11 reasons why you won't get hired, it's worthwhile reading for all college students. Did you see that? ALL COLLEGE STUDENTS.
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| My god, I'm really starting to repeat myself. ABC again. Christ, I gotta get out of the house. This is a rut. This is the alphabet of modern artists. |
If you have time for a billion pixels, here's a photo of Mars courtesy of the Curiosity rover.
What are people searching for on Google right now?
The Internet Trends slides are always worth looking at. Slide 27: Surprised Google+ is 4th in top social media platforms. Slide 32: Mobile is 15% of all internet traffic and growing. Slide 52: Wearable computers are a way to better handle the 150 times per day people handle their smartphones.
This guy says you use his images for anything other than strictly private viewing. Normally I'd ignore him. But he does have a cool photo of the Chinese space station transiting across the face of the sun.
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| Stop it. No more maps. I mean it. This is absolutely the last one. States by the brands for which they're famous. |
While not a periodic table per se, twelve elements names can be spelled using only the symbols of other elements on the table. For example, XeNoN.
Ze Frank is back with another episode of True Facts, this time about the Mantis Shrimp.
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| You don't like the maps? OK, how about this! A coat made entirely of male chest hair. |
...if it need not take reality into account. ~Marcel Proust
3 comments:
Well, I'll forget half the comments I had as I went through the links.
50 on Millenial which proves how bogus it is.
Typography jumped the shark a while ago and that video typography is doesn't work for me at all.
The crime stats graphic tells me crime is taking a bite out of us.
I was surprided by the number of rivers in the West. Great map.
I'll be spending some time on the internet trends slides. India's internet penetration is only 11%? (that was a serious question but while I'm on it, they do need a better word in that category)
Good links, thanks.
One other thing, I read that NYTimes piece on Essays last week and sent it to a few people. I'm guilty of the problem, too.
Maybe I missed the point, but I think he was saying essayification was a good thing - that other writing is too dogmatic.
You're more millennial than me - congratulations? However, I'm still a lot less mature than you.
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