I just came across this blog that collects stunning photographs of industrial decay.
I could stare at these for hours, marveling at the way nature creeps in and makes its mark on even the most shiny and innovative human inventions.
Many of these photos have intriguing subject matter and beautiful composition.
This one makes me swoon…
See more on Industrial Decay
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a current exhibition of Irish figurative painter Francis Bacon (not to be confused with Sir Francis Bacon).
I particularly love his grim series of papal heads, tortured and seemingly fading (or rather, being pulled) in and out of reality.
See more from the exhibit here.
I don’t follow fashion at all, but sometimes I’m struck by beautiful fashion photography. Amazing still life photographer Peter Lippmann recently did an ad campaign for Christian Louboutin in the style of classic 18th century still life paintings.
I love the dark, sinister edge in these photos, coupled with exotic arrangements of decadent objects and colorful treats.
See the rest here.
And pay a visit to Peter Lippmann’s website to see his other great work.
Such a simple idea, yet it works so well. Craig Karanick has a series of prints that group candies by color.
I do love “red flavored” things. If it’s not chocolate for me, it pretty much has to be red.
The particular combination of sugar, nostalgia and some unfamiliar (but interesting) candy pieces in these images just does it for me.
I find it least appetizing, but this one would compliment my own decor quite nicely:
Although the blue collection is sparse (and seems to be the color of choice for candy underwear and athletic garb), I’m including it for Brian H:
Other prints group candies by shape (look at the panda!):
And some are well-lit, artistically photographed regular candies:
More deliciousness here.
In keeping with my love of geekwear (especially the subtle kind that can be incorporated into a normal wardrobe), I felt the need to post these Circuit Board Socks for men.
I suppose these would make a really great or really awful gift for an IT pro…depending on the guy.
The interwebs also seem to have a variety of circuit board cufflinks, if a gentleman is so inclined.
InformationWeek featured an interesting project in which artists Artists Alex Dragulescu and Julian Hodgson accepted a commission to create visualizations of computer viruses.
Using pieces of disassembled code, API calls, memory addresses, and subroutines associated with the bane of a security team’s existence, they analyzed the data by frequency, density, and groupings.
Algorithms were then developed and the artists mapped the data to the inputs of the algorithms, which then generated virtual 3-D entities.
The patterns and rhythms found in the data gave shape to the configuration of the artificial organisms, and the result was a series of images called Malwarez.
See the rest of the gallery, along with descriptions of each image here.
Freshome recently posted about a lighting concept for the Louvre Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.
The museum design incorporates light, water and a very unconventional layout.
[There] are thousands of little breaks, edges and holes that allow for a flurry of warm and charming sun light to slice in through the ceiling like the canopy of a rain forest.
As you walk down the pavilions, plazas, alleyways and canals that seemingly float as sea level, the sunlight will hit the interior of the gallery space in completely new and exciting ways.
I would love to visit a place with this lighting scheme and be showered in tiny beams of light.
I come across many robots in my online perusals. Here are a few recent highlights.
Researchers at the University of Hertfordshire are working on a robot named Kaspar that perceives tactile sensations in order to help children with autism.
The goal is to make the robot able to respond to different styles of how the children play with Kaspar in order to help the children to develop ‘socially appropriate’ playful interaction (e.g. not too aggressive) when interacting with the robot and other people.
(Honestly, I’m not sure if such a creepy looking robot is the best tool for the socialization of children)
Saya-Sensei Synthetic Substitute Teacher:
Students in Tokyo were recently “delighted” to come back to school after the holidays and find their teachers replaced with this (terrifying) robot.
The robot, which can speak multiple languages, uses facial expressions to facilitate communication. With an array of motors in her head that stretch the soft synthetic skin into various positions, Saya can display emotions ranging from happiness and surprise to sadness and anger.
However, Saya needs to work on improving her classroom management skills. At present, she can’t do much more than call out names and shout orders like “Be quiet.” But that does not make her any less popular with the kids.
Following the recent trend of “emotional robots,” we have Kobian, the bipedal emotional humanoid machine.
KOBIAN can express seven different feelings, including delight, surprise, sadness and dislike. In addition to assuming different poses to match the mood, the emotional humanoid uses motors in its face to move its lips, eyelids and eyebrows into various positions.
This photo really needs a caption:
To cleanse your palate, I offer you PARO, the therapeutic seal robot.
Paro can learn to behave in a way that the user prefers, and to respond to its new name. For example, if you stroke it every time you touch it, Paro will remember your previous action and try to repeat that action to be stroked. If you hit it, Paro remembers its previous action and tries not to do that action.
PARO has been found to reduce patient stress, stimulate interaction between patients and caregivers, improve relaxation and motivation, and help the socialization of patients with each other and their caregivers. It was even proclaimed the World’s Most Therapeutic Robot by the Guiness Book of World Records.
I’ll close out this post with a few awesome Maker Faire bots, photos courtesy of my friend Damon:
One day I will get to the Maker Faire and witness delights like these in person!
You’ve got to check out this collection of Slime Mold photography. These fungi-like organisms grow exclusively on dead plants and soil (rarely larger than a centimeter or two).
These little structures are amazing!
Check out the rest here.
SheWalksSoftly 