The following weekend magazine cover is awesomely subtle. Snoop is scheduled to play theRochester Institute of Technologyin Rochester, New York, this Saturday, and it's clear that this particular publication has an ingenious art director.
Look how they cleverly placed Snoop's head just in front of the "ken" on weekend. What's it look like to you? Hmm...
Since this is magazine cover is from the Rochester, New York area, it could be the weekend magazine for theRochester Democrat and Chronicle; we're not sure. If you know, post it in the comments so we can hang out with/high-five the art director for this magazine.
This is supposedly the world's most remote restaurant; if you make it there you get to eat lunch for free. On the one hand, what a deal! On the other, HOLY SHIT LOOK AT THIS PATH:
Unless this place is serving the best food in the entire world, there's no way you could get me to make that trek. Holy mother of god. [Core77]
Send an email to Adam Frucci, the author of this post, atadam@gizmodo.com.
Middle school music classes will offer you a trumpet, flute, clarinet, drums, and a few other everyday musical instruments.Learnto play one of them and one day you may be asked to play a very different instrument that you might even fall in love with. Here are eight out of the ordinary musical instruments.
1. Lituus
The medievallituuswas a specified instrument in Bach’s cantataO Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht. But no modern musician had ever played, or evenseena lituus! The Swiss conservatory Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (SCB) asked the University of Edinburgh to recreate the lituus (also known as Bach’s horn) for them. They usedcomputermodeling to design the instrument from information about what itshouldsound like, what itmighthave looked like, and the available materials and technology in Bach’s time. Two identical instruments were produced, and were played in the Bach cantata in 2009. Listen to the lituus in avideo here. Get a closer look atthe constructionof the lituus as well.
2. Gajda
AMacedonian gajdais a bagpipe made from a goat or a sheep. The animal skin is the wind bag, and occasionally you’ll see one with hooves or even a head still attached.Variationsof this instrument are found in Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey. Hear a strangely-constructed gajda inthese videos.
3. Tromboon
Thetromboonis an instrument that combines the reed and mouthpiece of a bassoon and the body of trombone. The word has become aslang termmeaning a mashup that combines the worst qualities of two disparate things. The term was coined by musicianPeter Schickele, and is a required instrument in some works of the fictionalP. D. Q. Bach. Hear the sound of a tromboon inthis video. See othertrombone variationsas well.
4. Shakulute
Ashakuluteis a hybrid of ashakuhachi, or Japanese bamboo flute, and a western silver flute. The shakuhachi is blown into from the end. To make a shakulute, you attach a special head joint to your flute so it can also be blown from the end. Thishybridinstrument was developed by shakuhachi makerMonty Levenson. Listen to the shakalutehere.
5. Serpent
Theserpentis also called a contrabass anaconda. It is an ancestor of the modern tuba and was introduced in the year1590. The sound is made with the mouth like a trumpet or tuba, but the notes are made bycovering finger holeslike a flute. See morepicturesof many people who play the serpent. Hear the serpent inthis video.
6. Subcontrabass Flute
Flutes are usually thought of as high-pitched instruments, but there are many types of flute that arebiggerand pitched lower. Thesubcontrabass fluteplays a fourth below the contrabass flute. The pipe is 15 feet long, but doubled, so the instrument can fit into a eight-foot box. A rare variation is the TheKotato double contrabass flute, which has 18 feet of pipe. There are only four of these existing. Shown is the contraflutes of theMetropolitan Flute Orchestra in Kylemore Abbey, with the subcontrabass flutes in back. Hear what the subcontrabass flute sounds like inthis video.
7. Igil
Theigilis a two-stringed traditional instrument from the Tuva region of Siberia, just north of Mongolia. A very few old igils are made from a horse’s skull, which reflectsthe legendthat the igil was first created on instructions from a horse that appeared in a dream. The igil is sometimes referred to as a horse head fiddle. Hear the igil accompanying a performance of Tuvanthroat singinginthis video.
8. Otamatone
Theotamatoneis a new electronic instrument that resembles a musical note with a cartoon face. It was invented by Novmichi Tosa ofMaywa Denki, an art collaboration of the Tosa family that specializes in nonsense machines. The otamatone is nowavailableto the public. Hear this cute little instrument inthis video.
Bonus: Hosaphone
Thehosaphoneis an instrument invented in order to parody fans and websites dedicated to other odd instruments. It appears to be a length of tubing with a funnel on the end. Hear the hosaphonehere.
Let’s start by saying Gizmag doesn’t condone any form of smoking – they’re all bad for you. But we recognize that millions of people do, and it’s not just the extra cost on the community for smoking-related illnesses that irks most non-smokers, it’s also the trillions of cigarette butts that end up littering our sidewalks, roadways, parks, etc., many of which end up in our waterways. Greenbutts wants to tackle the problem with a 100 percent biodegradable cigarette filter... with extra benefits. The manufacturers say when a green butt is placed under a thin layer of soil it sprouts into green grass shoots or even blooming flowers.
Currently, cigarette filters are made from cellulose acetate and although technically they are biodegradable, this can take as along as 10-15 years in certain environmental conditions. Greenbutts says it is estimated that 4.5 trillion cigarette butts become litter every year and back in 2006, during the International Coastal Cleanup, cigarettes and cigarette butts constituted 24.7 percent of the total collected pieces of garbage, over twice as much as any other category. It’s not just the physical filters that are the problem because as they break down, the filtered cellulose acetate and carbon particles, suspected of causing harm in humans, can leach into our waterways and water supplies.
Greenbuttssays its new filter is manufactured from 100 percent all-natural and compostable materials - organic cotton and natural de-gummed hemp. Wheat flour and pure water bind the filter elements as they are spun together. No chemicals or hidden additives are used.
The company encourages users to collect their green butts in a planter instead of an ashtray and watch them grow into green grass shoots or flowers... we're not quite sure exactly what sort of flowers. It also says that if you use its filters with additive-free tobacco you can have a true "all-natural cigarette".
Greenbutts is currently seeking investment and partnership opportunities so no word on availability or pricing yet.
But if you really want an all-natural feeling, we suggest steering clear of cigarettes and tobacco products altogether.Need help quitting?
As long as there has been civilization, there has been crime, and it’s up to the police to help bring criminals to justice and stick them where they belong. Jail, prison, house arrest…it doesn’t matter to a good cop, just as long as they’re off the streets. The hard-edged cops in our new series “Central Division” know a thing or two about throwing the bad guys in the joint. But what happens to the perps once they’re behind bars? A few enterprising inmates use their scant resources and overflowing free time to create fascinating works of art. Here are a few of our favorites. And remember: Don’t mess with the law, or you might have to find some new hobbies.
1. The Sailor
Most inmate art logically depicts the artist’s feeling toward the very concept of incarceration. Perhaps dreaming of an escape, this inmate hand-painted an idyllic sailing scene on an administration-building window at the Montana State Prison.
2. The Courtyard Mural
Sometimes prison artwork is a collaborative effort. Several inmates contributed to transforming a wall of Australia’s Fremantle Prison courtyard into a beautiful mural.
3. The Fiery Horizon
Shortly before it closed in 1990, Fremantle allowed prisoners to decorate the walls of their cells. This inmate mainly used black, yellow and red for a fiery sunset effect.
4. The Micro Cell
Using popsicle sticks and other odd items found within the prison walls, this inmate created a miniature cell. The attention to detail is stunning, from the tiny bunk beds to the miniature toilet.
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5. The Makeshift Postcard
Because they have limited access to art supplies, prisoners often have to get creative with the materials they use to create their work. Even a mailing envelope can serve as a blank canvas.
6. The Pin-Up
It helps to have an artistic eye when your resources are limited. Using pre-existing cracks in his cell wall, this prisoner created a detailed portrait of a woman.
7. Dinner And A Mural
At quick glance, it may look like someone hung a painting, but this landscape portrait was actually scrawled over the tiles in the cafeteria of the West Virginia State Penitentiary in Moundsville.
8. The Wall Bible
Many inmates use their time behind bars to grow spiritually. This illustration from a cell in a New Mexico state prison is evidence that, even when a hard copy of the Bible is not available, a cell wall can become one.
9. The Spanish Lady
It takes a lot of talent to draw on just about any surface, but the attention to detail in the illustration scrawled onto this rough surface in a Madrid prison is particularly impressive.
10. A Car On Crack
Where most people would only see a cracked wall, some inmates see a blank canvas. Here, prisoners from Costa Rica’s San Lucas Island Prison made innovative use of the cracks in a wall to create a surprisingly realistic illustration of a car.
11. Stained Glass, Prison Style
Most prison chapels lack the ornamentation of a more traditional church. But inmates of a prison on the coast of French Guiana took matters into their own hands, painting this beautiful mural on the wall of theirs.
12. The Cavity Search
This wall illustration, found in the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp in WWII Germany, has more than one meaning. Cartoon vegetables represent the kitchen in which the painting resided, but also depicted is the humiliating cavity search that all incoming inmates had to endure.
13. Mini Log Cabin
The most ideal art projects for prisoners are those that will help pass time. This miniature log cabin, built by an inmate in Louisiana’s notorious Angola Prison, undoubtedly fits that bill; it must have been quite labor-intensive.
14. The Wood Train
Renato Norelli made this train during a “lockdown,” and his cellmate did all the painting and chose the color scheme. Knowing how limited inmate artists are, this astoundingly detailed train is all the more impressive.
15. The Wood Chopper
Miniature versions of large-scale objects certainly seem to be a trend among artistic prisoners due to extra down time and limited materials. Using only wood, Larry Sabo crafted a finely detailed miniature motorcycle. It’s going for $240 at prisonart.org.
SEM images showing the nanowire arrays in the T-shirt fabric, and diagram illustrating the cross-section of the carbon microfibre coated with boron carbide-nanowires. Image (c) Advanced Materials
(PhysOrg.com) -- A simple cotton T-shirt may one day be converted into tougher, more comfortable body armor for soldiers or police officers.
Researchers at the University of South Carolina, collaborating with others from China and Switzerland, drastically increased the toughness of a T-shirt by combining the carbon in the shirt’s cotton with boron - the third hardest material on earth. The result is a lightweight shirt reinforced with boron carbide, the same material used to protect tanks.
Dr. Xiaodong Li, USC College of Engineering and Computing Distinguished Professor in Mechanical Engineering, co-authored the recent article on the research in the journal,Advanced Materials.
“USC is playing a leading role in this area. This is a true breakthrough,” Li said, calling the research “a conceptual change in fabricating lightweight, fuel-efficient, super-strong and ultra-tough materials. This groundbreaking new study opens up unprecedented opportunities.”
The scientists started with plain, white T-shirts that were cut into thin strips and dipped into a boron solution. The strips were later removed from the solution and heated in an oven. The heat changes the cotton fibers intocarbon fibers, which react with the boron solution and produce boron carbide.
The result is a fabric that’s lightweight but tougher and stiffer than the original T-shirt, yet flexible enough that it can be bent, said Li, who led the group from USC. That flexibility is an improvement over the heavy boron-carbide plates used in bulletproof vests and body armor.
“The currently used boron-carbide bulk material is brittle,” Li said. “The boron-carbide nanowires we synthesized keep the same strength and stiffness of the bulk boron carbide but have super-elasticity. They are not only lightweight but also flexible. We should be able to fabricate much tougher body armors using this new technique. It could even be used to produce lightweight, fuel-efficient cars and aircrafts.”
The resulting boron-carbide fabric can also block almost all ultraviolet rays, Li said.
Okay, so we're currently holding our breath while the developer preview of iPhone OS 4 installs on our 3GS -- a process that seems to be, uh, not going so well, but we wanted to share these quick shots we took from the simulator in the meantime. The dock is now 3D, like the one in Snow Leopard and on the iPad, multitasking works just like you'd expect -- you can swipe left and right to see more open apps -- and the Game Center app is present, although not functional. There's also Events and Faces in the Photos app, which you'd expect after the iPad version got them. We've got our fingers crossed that our latest restore attempt is going to work, so check back in a few for a video walkthrough, but hit the gallery below in the meantime!
Update: Wonder of wonders, we actually got the bugger working! We're doing video right now, let us know what you want to see -- and check out some on-device shots below.
Update 2: Video time! We also added some impressions, it's all after the break.
Okay, so we've been playing with iPhone OS 4 for a while now and here's what we've learned:
It's pretty stable, especially compared to other developer editions of the iPhone OS we've messed around with. We haven't had any crashes so far, and things seem mostly to be working. Find My iPhone doesn't work, and iTunes 9.1 doesn't know about folders and will delete any you've set up, but nothing major is broken, at least as far as we can tell.
The multitasking system works as described, but without any apps that support it it's hard to test -- we'll see if we can cajole a copy of Pandora or TomTom to play with. Steve might say task managers are a sign of failure, but you can certainly delete icons from the switcher -- just long press on them and a minus arrow pops up.
Bluetooth keyboards are going to be the next great iPhone accessory gold rush. Been jonesing for a million-dollar idea? Here you go: slider keyboard case with built-in extended battery. We prefer our royalties in cash, please.
We couldn't get threaded messages to work in Mail, but we're sure we're doing something wrong -- we've never really gotten along with iPhone Mail.
The zoom control on the camera is pretty slick, and there's okayish macro. Tap-to-focus in the video mode is also a nice addition.
Spell check works just like the iPad, as do cut/copy/paste hardware keyboard shortcuts. Still no way to bring up the soft keyboard from the device when it's paired, though, which is annoying if you walk away -- you have to remember to turn off Bluetooth, which will undoubtedly confuse someone.
Faces and Events in Photos are just like the iPad -- they're just fancy folders. The actual face-detection happens on your machine, and things are just sorted on the phone.
Setting up a Gmail account also prompts you to sync calendars and notes -- hallelujah!
Game Center is a barren wasteland right now, since no apps support it -- we managed to log in and discover that we have no friends and no one has requested to be our friend. Suitably humbled, we logged out.
We didn't have any major problems running our OS 3.0 apps, and we didn't see any new ads or anything.
And that it, really -- without third party app support a lot of these features won't come into play just yet. Without them, it's just a nice iteration of the iPhone OS -- what else do you want to know?
The Contemporary Arcade Coffee Table has been designed to discreetly bring the finest contemporary personal entertainment to the heart of your living space!
Available in Walnut and Oak finishes, the Contemporary Arcade Coffee games table cleverly conceals a media feast of gaming, music, TV and more in an elegantly handcrafted piece of furniture.
The iPad doesn't have a built-in camera, but you can give it something better. By putting an app onto each an iPad and an iPhone, you can connect the two via bluetooth and have a wireless camera for your iPad.
All you need to do is download the Camera A and Camera B apps onto your iPad and iPhone respectively—note that Camera A will set you back a buck while Camera B is free. Once you've got the apps on your devices, make sure bluetooth is switched on, and open the apps. Ta da! You'll see everything your iPhone's lens sees on your iPad.
To take a picture you'll tap the camera icon at the bottom of your iPad's screen. A pop up prompt will ask you if you really want to save the photo and that's it, you're done. Oh, and if you want photos to save to both your iPhone and your iPad each time, then you can flip the little toggle switch in the lower right of the screen:
How does this witchcraft work? Based on the fact that I just saw my iPhone lock screen twice moments ago, I'd say that the apps are allowing your iPad to mirror your iPhone's display. I guess that means that you could also use this app setup to truly turn your iPad into a gigantic iPhone. [Camera A and Camera B]
Update: Keep in mind that this app will only work with an iPhone 3Gs and not other models.
Send an email to Rosa Golijan, the author of this post, at rgolijan@gizmodo.com.
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All you art collectors out there. Here is a chance to get a Giclee copy of some of Ian M Sherwin work. Ian is planning on doing a whole series of Marblehead, Massachusetts paintings. His work is amazing.
This is supposedly the world's most remote restaurant; if you make it there you get to eat lunch for free. On the one hand, what a deal! On the other, HOLY SHIT LOOK AT THIS PATH:
Unless this place is serving the best food in the entire world, there's no way you could get me to make that trek. Holy mother of god. [
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