Focusing has always been a problem with photographers, and even with today's digital cameras it's not easy. The most obvious problem is trying to accurately focus on the subject before exposure. Next, you have to choose the correct aperture size in relation to the depth of field, and make sure you're using the correct exposure. Then there's lens aberrations, where a certain ray of light does not converge to a single focal point in the desired image, resulting in some light leaking away from t...
There's nothing worse than a drink gone lukewarm. Add ice, and your precious bourbon gets watered down. Solution? Whiskey stones.
Origami paper cranes make for lovely eye candy and, once you know how to fold them, become wonderfully meditative when you compulsively make a bunch of them in one long sitting.
Making bread from scratch is extremely difficult. Painstakingly following instructions does not necessarily guarantee successful results. Baking delicious homemade bread takes practice, skill, and frankly, a level of real culinary artistry.
We've all done it. You're sick. You don't want to go to the doctor so you just Google it. Soon, you've perused dozens of websites with conflicting information, you're no better informed than when you started, and your confusion makes you feel worse about your predicament. Would you have been better off not Googling in the first place?
Beware the Canning Mission! The Zynga Community Forum is full of complaints about the new Canning Mission. Here is an outline:
Sounds like an anomaly, right? When I was a kid folding frogs, my mother gave me origami paper that was most certainly dry. But the works below by Vietnamese-American artist Giang Dinh were folded with one *wet* piece of paper. It's a technique called "Wet-Folding", invented by the great Japanese origami master Akira Yushizawa (pictured right).
2 large eggs 1 cup of milk
How small is Russian artist Anatoly Konenko's microminiature aquarium? Well, for starters, it holds just two tablespoons of water. Not that you could ever fill it with a spoon, of course! The force would tear the décor to bits. Konenko favors a syringe for that particular task.
"Freezing Moments" is a great piece of video of different liquids dramatically reaching freezing point, directed by Andrey Muratov. It's cryptically described as "Components of the space. Between existence and 'No!'. Alive - Absorbs." Hmm. Client is also cryptic: GTLK (Gosudarstvennaya Transportnaya Lizingovaya Kompaniya). Appears to be Russian, which would translate to the "State Transport Leasing Company".
Try running through fire, swimming in freezing water, wading through mud tunnels, and crawling across barbed wire, all the while being distracted by fire machine-gun blanks, thunder flashes and smoke bombs.
The Leidenfrost Effect: “a phenomenon in which a liquid, in near contact with a mass significantly hotter than the liquid’s boiling point, produces an insulating vapor layer which keeps that liquid from boiling rapidly”. It looks pretty spectacular captured at 3000 frames-per-second (almost as spectacular as when the same principle is applied to the human hand). Previously, Hand Fully Submerged in Liquid Nitrogen (OUCH... right?)
Researchers at Northwestern University have hatched a robotic replica of the ghost knifefish, an amazing sea creature with a ribbon-like fin, capable of acrobatic agility in the water. The fish is distinctive in its ability to move forward, backward and vertically, but scientists didn't understand its vertical movement until the creation of its robot replica, GhostBot (shown below). They now know its vertical propulsion is caused by two waves moving in opposite directions, crashing into each ...
Bird spotting is a fun and also fascinating pastime that is definitely expanding in reputation. Not simply can you watch spectacular birds, but you may appreciate the wonder of the open air as well as unwind in the clean air. Having time to view birds in there natural place or in their nesting behaviors can be a great way to escape the headaches of the planet for a little bit and simply experience nature.
Yep, it's that easy. From Re-Nest: "To quiet the sound of a leaky faucet, simply tie a string around the neck of the faucet and allow it to catch the drips on the way down.
Glacial Wanderer demonstrates how to build a high-speed air gap flash fast enough to capture a speeding bullet without it getting blurred. These types of flash units usually run around $8K+, but for a few hundred dollars you can build you own and capture sick stuff like...
Apparently paper towel + Windex is a no-no when it comes to cleaning your computer or television's LCD screen. Apple's official guidelines for proper cleaning are as follows:
Serious Eats' latest Meet and Eat features Todd Barricklow, creator of the Taco Bike, an eco-friendly alternative to the fast growing food truck industry. The 200+ pound bike is equipped with a propane tank, three sectioned griddle, water tank, heat exchanger, wash sink, wastewater hold, ice holder and sectioned food area, trash can, napkin holder, table, money drop, chopping boards and more.
The world is beginning to treat pizza with the creativity and variety it deserves. Pizza cups. Pizza lollipops. The incredible recursive pizza. Below, Jen of Tiny Urban Kitchen presents a world travel inspired pizza project that draws from the same kind of expression as cake decorating.
Instructables member mark-mark creates a beautiful effect with just a tin can lantern and an LED. It's as simple as it sounds: punch a decorative pattern into a tin can and insert your LED rig. Catch the impressive result here.
If you fancy yourself a nomad, check out Walking House, a mobile and modular dwelling system that is pneumatically powered, all-terrain ready. The vehicle-home crawls along at a snail's pace of 60 meters per hour, which equates to less than 1/2 a mile per hour. Akin in concept to the rolling house-on-the-go (except in the way cooler insect-like robot form), Walking House also boasts some cool eco-friendly features:
National Geographic recently published a retrospective of the lovely Jane Goodall, one of the world's most accomplished conservationists. The feature includes every image of Goodall to ever appear in the magazine for the past fifty years.
Subject enters a typical office where someone familiar is sitting behind a desk across from the door. Everything in the room is fixed to the floor or walls and the person behind the desk is secretly strapped into the desk chair. As the subject approaches the desk to sit down in a chair he will eventually come to the center of the room at this time the floor of the entire room will flap open (either 4 triangular flaps or one major flap) and subject will fall 20 feet onto a air bag below
Well suited for loft living, Studio Gorm's Flow Kitchen offers an extremely eco-friendly and efficient solution to all your daily actions in the kitchen. The Netherlands based design studio focuses on three major areas: Waste, Water and Energy. My favorite element? A cutting board that sits above a compost bin. Slide it forward, and sweep your scraps right into the (eco-friendly) trash.
While I don't find Mattijs van Bergen and Anouk Vogel's "Living" dresses aesthetically earth shattering, I'm wowed by the concept. The fashion designer and landscape architect created a collection of dresses made from recycled inner tubes and flowers for a late summer exhibition titled “Fashion & Architecture” at the Amsterdam Centre for Architecture.
The prank begins with a 21 CANNON Salute wake up call! As the victim jolts up in bed the bed will raise up and the victim will fall onto a water slide flowing with raw sewage. As the victim slides down the slide, bumps on the slide with knock him in the balls. We'll have fire hoses set up along the sides to spray more RAW SEWAGE on the victim while other people will shoot rotten eggs and milk at the victim. To add effect we'll have flame throwers shooting flames up in the air next to the slid...
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.
"Fruity hand soaps, moisturizers, emulsifying lotions, pumice stones, and Loofahs don't cut it. We want to cleanse ourselves with the fat of the sweet, dead pig."
Another sweet boat this weekend (see yesterday's Zipper Motorboat), the Seabreacher X is a high-speed sub, fashioned after a man-eating shark. Built by Innespace, the submarine has a 260 horsepower engine, can speed through the water at 50 mph on the surface and 25 mph when diving, and best of all: the Seabreacher X can jump 12 feet into the air!
A group of New Zealand students have designed the ultimate green addition for eco-friendly living: a "clip-on" Plant Room.
Feeling comfortable or at home means living in an atmosphere where you are accepted. Some people moving abroad worry about getting adjusted to the new social environment or the western culture. You may have left your home to make big business, excel in your career, get married, meet a relative/friend, discover new places, or for any good reason.
Who new the South Whidbey Assembly of God sponsored our annual 3rd of July fireworks in Freeland. And does anyone care? I just like fireworks and having the celebration on the 3rd suite me fine as I can't get enough fireworks. Alas this year we will miss for the 2nd year in a row (last year watched awesome show from the water in Poulsbo). We will be seeing what St. Simons GA has to offer. I think they are sponsored by the local synagogue (watch out for exploding matzo balls). At least being f...
Heat Illness in Young Athletes: Detection and Prevention From recreational activities to free-play to team sports to camps, outdoor activities during the
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.
In the dojo, what ISN’T said is often as important as what IS said. To most of us who’ve been raised in the USA, the reticence we encounter in the dojo can be off-putting. American society is very “content” oriented. Our legal contracts, for instance, run for pages and pages. Everything needs to be spelled out. In “context-oriented” societies there is far less reliance on such a literal approach. Much more importance is placed on the relationship between the two parties entering into an agree...
Chi gyo ichi nyo is a familiar expression in the dojo. The word chi means knowledge. Gyo means doing, or action. Ichi nyo means inseparable. Action and knowledge are one! Acting without adequate knowledge or understanding is a constant source of frustration and problems. In our lives we are often busy and active without really understanding the basis of our actions and their full impact. Some people practice karate without really knowing why they are training. In class they do the techniques ...
Yum, what's better than pasta? Put aside the store-bought, and try your hand at making fresh homemade pasta.
Cyclists and unknowing vehicle participants "collaborated" on a public guerilla graffiti art piece in Berlin this last week.
I've seen lots of cool case mods, but this FIFA 10 PC case mod with an integrated working BBQ grill pretty much blows all the others right out of the water.
