Truly spectacular and one the most breathtaking DIY endeavors to grace the front page of WonderHowTo, a recreation of Pixar's UP house was launched to an altitude of 10,000 feet in a private airfield near Los Angeles this past week. The project was executed by a team of engineers, scientists and veteran balloon pilots—(meaning, please, Do Not Try This at Home).
Who is Lara Croft? Video game character. Comic strip hero. Action figure. Actress Angelina Jolie. All wonderful, yet all fictional. If you're looking for a flesh-and-blood archetype, try XtremeJenn, a Lara Croft cosplayer who's linked her real life "hobbies" to the world's beloved Tomb Raider. Found on Unreality Mag, this picture is the real thing. No green screen, no staging. XtremeJenn does everything a badass Tomb Raider should do: skydiving, base jumping, and some serious rock climbing.
Scanner photography + sandwiches = Scanwiches (simply put: "scans of sandwiches for education and delight"). The web-famous Tumblr is the invention of Jon Chonko, a NYC-based designer at thehappycorp global.
"A major hardware update to the masterlock cracking robot. Upgraded the previously non-working latch opening mechanism to be geared down 1:25, allowing it to open the shackle. I also revamped the motor mount to be sturdier, and the base of the unit to hold the lock better and also be easier to mount parts to.
AR-media has made some great Augmented Reality software. You can check out their new AR-media™ Plugin for Autodesk® 3ds Max® OR their AR-media™ Plugin for Google™ SketchUp™. They use a marker based technology that allows you to create models in either 3ds Max or SketchUp, then export them as a ARmedia file type to be played by anyone who has the free ARmedia player.
New York based studio softlab's latest installation "(n)arcissus" is an eye-bending site specific installation currently on display at the Frankfurter Kunstverein art center in Frankfurt, Germany. The piece, made with over 1,000 mylar and vinyl laser cut panels, hangs in a stairwell, measuring 9 meters tall from the lobby ceiling.
Jonathan Guberman of Site 3 coLaboratory hackerspace in Toronto has created an Arduino-controlled mechanical typewriter that can type on its own, detect what is being typed on it, and run text-based interactive fiction games such as the classic (and to most, all but forgotten) Zork. Guberman says:
In my Country, education plays a major role in our life, it's the base to have an easier life and also to expand the knowledge further and further, however, the majority of people who are involved in the education system don't understand the real benefits behind real education.
Life-giving internal organs! Usually, they're a convenience. Not so when making a convincing see-through Portal costume, however. Happily, Ben Heck has a devised an LCD-based hack that will permit you to tunnel through your belly without discomfort. Interested in vanishing your viscera? A full video guide follows below. Previously, HowTo: Top 10 DIY Nerdtastic Halloween Costumes.
Anna the Red, the internet's resident Queen of Bento, has created an elaborate Halloween Bento Box based on video game Costume Quest: "an adorable role-playing adventure game created by Double Fine. It takes place on Halloween night, kids in costume trick-or-treating and fighting monsters to save a kidnapped sibling while collecting costumes."
Wingsuits are an invention of the Gods. Why? Because they give human beings incredible superhuman powers. First in the gallery below, a compilation of world renown daredevil Jeb Corliss' most amazing jumps. Second, Jeb's epic flight under the arms of Rio's gigantic Jesus Christ. Previously, Adrenaline Rush vs. Death: The Science of Risk.
The Farmer's airship is here on FarmVille to protect your crops!! Place it and nothing will wither for 10 days!
Crafting Co-Ops let you and your neighbors work together to grow crops for your crafting buildings! There is a job for every recipe in the Winery, Bakery and Spa. Your reward for completing one of these co-ops is 3 bushel sets which you can use to help you craft goods in your crafting building.
Shinya Kimura is an artist. And his art is the motorcycle. Though a legend in Japan for some time now, the motorcycle engineer first came into the American public eye as a contestant on Biker Build-Off, a Discovery Channel channel show featuring custom bike builders. Kimura has been accredited with originating the popular, vintage style trend of customized bike building (think Pimp My Ride meets retro Harley Davidson).
The economic mini-camper isn't a particularly new idea, but German designer Cornelius Comanns' Bufalino concept is about as sleek as I've seen them.
Berlin based artist Nils Vöelker's plastic bag installation entitled "One Hundred and Eight" features 108 plastic bags that inflate and deflate by 216 individually controllable computer cooling fans. Völker originally intended the piece to be a giant display screen, but the end result became something much more compelling. Via Wired:
Indianapolis-based motor junkie Paul Stender and his team of vehicle modders called the Indy Boys Inc have created the ultimate anti-fuel economy: a school bus outfitted with a Phantom fighter jet engine, which clocks 367 mph and burns 150 gallons of fuel in just a quarter mile. Stender says:
What do you get when you mix water-filled bowls with electrical wiring and human hands? The answer may shock you. Artists Ion Furjanic & Isaac Souweine write, "Electric Tea 1.0 is the first in a series of works that put sound where it doesn't belong. [It] uses porcelain bowls, metal orbs, speaker wire, water, and the conductive power of the human body to create a water based musical controller."
Anybody who says they don't love golden, crispy fried chicken is lying. Fried chicken is DEE-licious.
Melbourne-based graphic designer Benjamin Hammond just launched a site called One Minute Portraits, where the artist draws quick portraits in less than a minute. It works like this: email a photo of yourself, Hammond creates the portrait, and you can choose to buy the original if you like it. (OR pick up a few drawing lessons and do-it-yourself.)
I follow new brands as soon as they're available to maximize my chances of unlocking a new badge, so the majority of my friends are brands. Recently, brands like the IFC (Independent Film Channel) and The Huffington Post have been adding content in the form of a dialogue box based on the location of your latest check in "to see the world through the lenses of my favorite organizations." It was cool to read the info at first, but after getting the same info over and over I'd opt for a mute but...
In this video, we learn how to paint clay pots for gardening with Michelle Gervais. All you need is: acrylic paints, brushes, plastic paint, cup of water, paper towels, and clay pots. First, put a base coat on your pot before you place your design onto it. This is easiest done with a foam brush, and without using any water. This will dry quickly, but take a lot of paint to fully cover the entire pot. When the paint is dry, you can now start to paint on your design! You can put stripes, flower...
In this video, we learn how to use QuickBooks assistance. The assistance gives you answers to problems that you may be having with their software. This is a great way to learn the basics, like individual tasks that are on the home page. The coach was made for someone who is brand new to QuickBooks, so the information may be introductory instead of advanced. You can also go to a QuickBooks user chatroom where you can get information from other users. You can also look the information up on the...
Goodbye, point-and-click; hello, point-and-splash! This water-based touch screen by Japanese designer Taichi Inoue is more than just clever and ergonomic, it's downright summery.
What do these egg-carton lamps by American designer Victor Vetterlein have in common with Frankenstein's monster? More than you'd think! Both are green. Both have bolted necks. And both are assembled from materials most would be happy to let decompose.
Did you ever, as a know-nothing kid, push against your closed eyelids for the pleasure of the resultant light show? LCD bending takes the low-tech fun of physical retinal stimulation and updates it for the 21st century. And, as the title suggests, the end result looks very much like a sort of angelic, fractal-based fingerpainting.
In honor of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, ESPN commissioned the Wieden+Kennedy ad agency (the same group that did the amazing aquarium Nikes) and the AM I Collective (a group of artists based in Cape Town, South Africa) to create 32 murals, depicting each and every team. Very nice work, beautifully done.
Pixar animation artist Josh Cooley presents a series of drawings based on R-Rated movies in the style of G-Rated Golden Books (you remember, the children's books your parents probably read to you as a kid). Keep an eye on Cooley - his book, Movies R Fun, should be coming out later this year.
We got some new things on the farm today! I love the animals so I'm going to spotlight the new Haflinger horse and foal first!
Oh boy, these can't be good for you. But, man, I am a sucker for cookie dough. Via recipe creator, Annie Eats:
Lots of people attempt coasters in this way. But this is the first one I have ever found that seems to really work and is truly COASTER LIKE.
Atlanta based designers Amy Flurry and Nikki Salk collaborate on some fantastic paper installations, which are “fueled by a love of fashion and an appreciation of grace and nuance of this humble material.”
Kevin Mathieu of California offers this interactive ART piece for rent at kids or adult parties. Based on a US Postal Jeep, this LEGO jeep is equipped with LEGO surfaces throughout its shape to stick LEGO's to. After writing a 40 page art proposal LEGO gave Kevin 600 lbs of LEGOs, but he is still looking for more. So if you live in the San Francisco Bay Area be on the lookout for the LEGO JEEP.
Ok... so this is a CAKE! site... but I'm open to lots of desserts... and these Japanese Kit-Kat flavors are just too weird. Check it out:
This is fan art for a movie that has been announced but I don't think the script is even written. Universal has won a four-studio bidding war to win the film rights to the classic Atari video game Asteroids. Newcomer Matthew Lopez, who came out of Disney’s writing program and did work on Bedtime Stories, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and Race to Witch Mountain, has been hired to write the screen adaptation.
Tennis Bad Boy's Alternative to Sending Kids to Russia I just saw this article on NYT. John McEnroe has launched a tennis academy to foster young tennis players in the NYC area. His courts on Randall Island are meant as an alternative to the academies like USTA that require players to relocate and basically play the game 24/7.
GOOD, a Los Angeles-based magazine focused on doing good in the world, along with LAUSD, The USDA People’s Garden Initiative, The Environmental Media Association, The National Gardening Association, The Urban & Environmental Policy Institute, The California School Garden Network, and Mia Lehrer & Associates, is sponsoring a contest for people to help design a garden for a LAUSD school. GOOD will help build the winning garden design, and they'd like your participation, too.
It's only a patent, so don't get too excited (though I have to admit, I'm already pretty excited). Via PatentlyApple,
Congrats to MuscleNerd, the first to jailbreak the almighty iPad. Via DVICE:
Here are the13 best articles on How to Build a Potato Gun. http://www.scribd.com/doc/15796837/To-Make-A-Spudgun-An-instructionally-informative-document-by-Enoctis
