Category: Culture

Walking in a kitchen wonderland

These animals are wanted house guests, and this macro photography project called Wonderland is pretty charming. It’s the work of a wunderkind named Aimish Boy.

Here’s what he says about the project:

“The WonderLand series, still under development, is being composed by using a unique but rather simple and elegant artificial lighting and household objects (from vegetables to plastic bags).
The photos are shot (mostly) in a miniature studio on my kitchen’s table with a Canon EOS 60D Camera, and a Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro lens and Flashes, they are real and NOT a digital manipulation. The outcome is a beautiful and magical set with a fairy flair to it. The small models were found in my apartment and on plants outside my window, none of them was hurt during shooting.”

Makes me want to buy expensive photography gear. Here’s a gecko hanging out on set.

Urban Speaker is art that lets you shout it in the streets

Dial a number. Harrangue a crowd. Fun when you’re tucked up in bed and want to feel like you’re out on the streets. This is the premise of Urban Speaker.

“The Urban Speaker resembles construction signage and blends in with its urban surroundings. It consists of a tripod with an amplified loudspeaker, smartphone, battery and a traffic sign. The signage instructs passersby to dial a phone number to speak in public. Users who place the call get an automatic answer and can speak their mind for sixty seconds after which the call is terminated. A QR (Quick Response) barcode on the sign allows some mobile phones to instantly access the urbanspeaker.mobi website for location, event and other details as well as quick dialing of the installation’s phone.”

Time magazine covers in the US compared with the rest of the world

This says something. Right?

From Flickr.

Ninja Jedis

This is sensational.

From these guys called Team 2X. Who you might recognise from such films as Scott Pilgrim Vs The World.

Dubstep dancer on the Great Wall of China

I don’t really get excited by Dubstep. But this guy has moves. And he’s performing them on one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

Thanks to Peter on Facebook for sharing this one.

Tumblrweed: Kim Jong Il Dropping the Bass

He might be gone. And Kim Jong Il Looking at Things may have been supplanted by Kim Jong Un Looking at Things (like carpet).

But a little known fact about Kim Jong Il is that nobody dropped the bass quite like he did. And there are photos to prove it.

Geriatric shufflin…

Love this. Redubbed videos of people dancing are one of my favourite things online.

50 Apps for your Christmas iPad

Did you get an iPad for Christmas? I’ve had my iPad for a while now, and I’ve started to sort out the dross from the gold. Here are my favourites from a range of categories to get you going.

It really is a sensational device.

Reading Stuff

1. Reeder – best RSS reader, hands down.
2. GoodReader – great for PDF reading and annotating – terrific for essay writing.
3. Instapaper – curate your own longform articles from around the web to build your own magazine.
4. Zite – is an automated magazine service that finds articles based on your interests.
5. Flipboard – turns your social media channels (including google reader) into a magazine.
6. Kindle – Get Amazon’s range of e-books on your iPad.
7. Stumbleupon – click your way around interesting links in areas you’re interested in.
8. Google Currents – See what’s hot in Google.
9. Pinterest – another app for finding fun stuff on the interwebs. Populated mostly by crafty mums.

Photo Stuff

1. Instagram – I’d rather shoot photos with my iPhone camera, but the iPad app is great for checking out the social photostream (you can follow me, my username is nmcampbell, my feed is mainly photos of coffee and my daughter).
2. Phoster – makes cool posters.
3. Diptic – Stitch photos together in artistic ways.
4. Process – apply filters to your photos (not quite the same as Instagram) with the tap of a button.
5. Poly – Uses the power of maths to make polygon styled pictures. Kind of fun.
6. Photoshop Express – a nice lightweight photo editor from Adobe.
7. Grid Lens – is kind of fun, makes an instant diptic style collage (as in you take a bunch of shots at once, or with a slight delay. Clever.
8. Snapseed – I just bought this, and haven’t had a chance to play with it much yet.
9. ColorSplash – edit black and white photos with a splash of colour.

Social

1. Facebook
2. Twitter
3. Path – a journal type thing where you can keep track of your movements, meals, and meetings, in a social way.
4. Beanhunter – find and review cafes everywhere.
5. Foursquare – let people know where you are and if you like it.
6. UrbanSpoon – find a restaurant and review it.
7. Stamped – review anything. Places. Books. Movies.

Utilities

1. Dropbox
2. Evernote
3. Bump – share files between iOS devices with a physical shake or “bump”…
4. Bluetooth Photo Share – great for giving gran some photos on her iPad.
5. Blogsy – nice multi-featured blogging software.
6. Google App
7. Remote – control your apple gear

Games

1. Angry Birds – But you already know this…
2. Stick Wars – Tower defence with stick figures.
3. Fruit Ninja – Slice and dice flying fruit.
4. Words with Friends
5. Scrabble – for the traditionalists
5. The Sims – I just downloaded this.
6. Wolfenstein 3D – A dose of nostalgia
7. NBA Jam – another dash of nostalgia. Great port from the SNES.

Music

1. Shazam – hear a new song, Shazam will tell you what it is.
2. Garageband – mix and mash your own music.
3. I am T-Pain – Autotune everything
4. Songify – speak music

Bible/College stuff

1. ESV
2. YouVersion – multiple translations at the tap of a finger
3. Logos – get your Logos library on the go
4. Vyrso – the book reader from Logos
5. Complete Class Organiser – Take notes, keep track of your timetable, and record lectures in one app
6. Greek Reader’s Lexicon – nice Greek app by Sam Freney
7. QuickCite – scan book barcodes get bibliography details by email.

That’s a bunch of apps – have I missed any?

Understanding the world via pattern recognition

This video is pretty cool.

Inked up Lego minifigs look tough.

These tattooed lego men are a brilliant piece of advertising for a fine point pen.

Via 22 Words.

Young kid wakes up to the sound of hip hop on a road trip

He gets into the groove pretty quickly.

Rollerman: It’s all downhill

This is pretty amazing. The guy is wearing a suit made of roller blade wheels. Or with roller blade wheels attached.

Join the Internet: let google show you how…

Well. That last post seems pretty hard to top. But things must keep moving here lest you think I’m a completely lame and inane father incapable of speaking other than to mention the bowel movements of my child.

Alas and alack. The Internet goes on. So. Here is an advert for being on the internet, from Google India. I like it.

Black and white breakdancing…

These are brilliant, especially if you’re familiar with the original Run DMC video…

Via Kottke.org

Tumblrweed: Cosby Sweater Project