getting clever online since 1983
"Father and Son: STS-1 and STS-135," a photo by Chris Bray, who is the younger of the two in these side-by-side captures from the very first shuttle launch thirty years ago, and the final one, last Friday. "The picture we waited 30 years to complete."
(Flickr, via Reddit and Laughing Squid.)
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What does it feel like to fly like a bird by using a jet-propelled wing? Only one man on Earth knows, and he shared his story with the crowd at TED Global in Edinburgh, Scotland, on Tuesday.
Yves Rossy’s invention allows him to fly by attaching to his back a four-engine jet suit with wings, which he starts up after jumping out of a helicopter or plane.
Unlike similar aircraft, Rossy’s has no steering controls. Rather, he uses his body to steer — arching his back gains altitude and pushing his shoulders forward sends him into a dive. “If you put steering in it’s more like an airplane. … I wanted to keep freedom of movement,” Rossy told the TED Global crowd.
Traveling at speeds of up to 190 miles per hour and a height of 3,000 meters, the aircraft can stay in the air for about 10 minutes, which was enough time for Rossy to cross the English Channel. He also recently flew above the Grand Canyon.
The device isn’t quite ready for mass consumption, however. Rossy, who served as both a commercial and military pilot earlier in his life, has had to use the wing’s escape parachute about 20 times — sometimes after becoming disoriented in the clouds, others after more than one of the engines fails.
Rossy, who does hope that one day his invention or something like it could be used by anyone, summarized the experience by saying, “I don’t have feathers, but I feel like a bird sometimes. It’s an unreal feeling.”
You can check what one of his flights and invention look like in the video below from his Grand Canyon mission:
Image courtesy of James Duncan Davidson / TED
More About: aviation, TED, ted global, yves rossy
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I love the ocean, which is one of the three reasons I love this project by David Bowen. The other two being that is technically awesome and absolutely mesmerizing. More »
If you were never quite sure what happened after the pretty lady broke a bottle of champagne against the hull, you might find this amusing. Apparently, after all the pomp and circumstance, boats are just kind of unceremoniously dropped into the drink.
Via Alan Simon
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Up late creating a whole new schema for organizing my social network into "Circles" and populating them with everyone I know. Surely there's an app for this?
#SCIFI Another #Fringe marathon done: 3 episodes from season 2 back to back to back in 1 night (2nd time this week)...
Kyle McDonald, an artist, installed software that would grab pictures of people's faces while they were using a public computer. It's sorta creepy and invasive but also gives a unique look at how weird you look when you're on the computer. More »
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[Video Link]. As Mark explained in a prior BB post, "Ray Harryhausen is a stop-motion-animation wizard who is widely regarded as the master of old-school special effects."
(via Aaron-Stewart Ahn)
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Charles Brownstein
charles.brownstein@cbldf.org
The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund today announces that it is forming a coalition to support the legal defense of an American citizen who is facing criminal charges in Canada that could result in a mandatory minimum sentence of one year in prison for comics brought into the country on his laptop. This incident is the most serious in a trend the CBLDF has been tracking involving the search and seizure of the print and electronic comic books carried by travelers crossing borders.
CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein says, "Although the CBLDF can’t protect comic fans everywhere in every situation, we want to join this effort to protect an American comic fan being prosecuted literally as he stood on the border of our country for behavior the First Amendment protects here, and its analogues in Canadian law should protect there."
The CBLDF has agreed to assist in the case by contributing funds towards the defense, which has been estimated to cost $150,000 CDN. The CBLDF will also provide access to experts and assistance on legal strategy. The CBLDF’s efforts are joined by the recently re-formed Comic Legends Legal Defense Fund, a Canadian organization that will contribute to the fundraising effort. Please contribute to this endeavor by making a tax deductible contribution here.
The facts of the case involve an American citizen, computer programmer, and comic book enthusiast in his mid-twenties who was flying from his home in the United States to Canada to visit a friend. Upon arrival at Canadian Customs a customs officer conducted a search of the American and his personal belongings, including his laptop, iPad, and iPhone. The customs officer discovered manga on the laptop and considered it to be child pornography. The client’s name is being withheld on the request of counsel for reasons relating to legal strategy.
The images at issue are all comics in the manga style. No photographic evidence of criminal behavior is at issue. Nevertheless, a warrant was issued and the laptop was turned over to police. Consequently, the American has been charged with both the possession of child pornography as well as its importation into Canada. As a result, if convicted at trial, the American faces a minimum of one year in prison. This case could have far reaching implications for comic books and manga in North America.
The CBLDF’s Board of Directors voted unanimously to aid the case by raising funds to contribute to the defense and to help the defense with strategy and expert resources.
Brownstein says, “This is an important case that impacts the rights of everyone who reads, publishes, and makes comics and manga in North America. It underscores the dangers facing everyone traveling with comics, and it can establish important precedents regarding travelers rights. It also relates to the increasingly urgent issue of authorities prosecuting art as child pornography. While this case won’t set a US precedent, it can inform whatever precedent is eventually set. This case is also important with respect to artistic merit in the Canadian courts, and a good decision could bring Canadian law closer to US law in that respect. With the help of our supporters, we hope to raise the funds to wage a fight that yields good decisions and to create tools to help prevent these sorts of cases from continuing to spread."
Find out more on the case here. To help support the case, you can make a monetary contribution here.
About CBLDF
The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund was founded in 1986 as a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of First Amendment rights for members of the comics community. They have defended dozens of Free Expression cases in courts across the United States, and led important education initiatives promoting comics literacy and free expression. For additional information, donations, and other inquiries call 800-99-CBLDF or visit them online at www.cbldf.org.
About CLLDF
The Comic Legends Legal Defense Fund was founded in 1987 to raise money for the defense of a Calgary, Alberta comic shop whose owners were charged with selling obscene materials. The CLLDF has since been maintained on an ad hoc basis to provide financial relief for Canadian comics retailers, publishers, professionals, or readers whose right to free speech has been infringed by civil authorities. Largely dormant since the early 1990s, the CLLDF is reforming to provide support for this case, and reorganizing to ensure that help will be readily available for future cases involving Canadian citizens or authorities. To help the CLLDF in this mission, please go to www.clldf.ca.
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Today, a chapter in your lives ends. But tomorrow holds new promises for the future, and blah blah etc. etc.—graduation speeches are awful. Unless your principal gives the address in a full Iron Man suit. More »
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Kaywoodie Pipes - DFH gift set. You're welcome.
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CASSINI MISSION from Chris Abbas on Vimeo.
There's hardly anything to be said about this except, "Wow." Chris Abbas has done some amazing work taking video from NASA's Cassini mission to Saturn and turning it into this haunting, beautiful montage.
Submitterated by Alan
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| YouTube Doubler |
This, alone, is a good reason for YouTube Doubler to exist. Also: No, I am never going to get over the Yakety Sax meme. You know how your parents held on to some piece of clothing or a hairstyle well past its prime? Fifteen years from now, that's going to be me and Yakety Sax.
Via Daniel Keogh
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"All the kids from daycare are in dreamland. The froggie has made his last leap. Hell no you can't go to the bathroom, you know where you can go? The fuck to sleep."
—Samuel L. Jackson voices this audiobook version of "Go The Fuck to Sleep," the previously-Boinged book which was officially published today (after crazy pre-release piracy).
The Samuel L. Jackson audiobook is free for the time being. Listen to a sample here.
You can also
buy a hard copy or a Kindle version of the book now, just out today.
Word is that Werner Herzog will do an audiobook version, to be released soon:
Published today, the picture book begs sleepless children to "go the fuck to sleep" in a series of quaint, expletive-ridden verses. It soared to the top of book charts last month after a pirated PDF went viral, and calls this week from a New Zealand lobby group to ban it are only likely to add to its appeal.
"The flowers doze low in the meadows / And high on the mountains so steep. / My life is a failure, I'm a shitty-ass parent. / Stop fucking with me, please, and sleep," writes author and award-winning novelist Adam Mansbach, who was moved to pen the book when his own daughter was suffering sleepless nights. "The cubs and the lions are snoring, / Wrapped in a big snuggly heap. / How come you can do all this other great shit / But you can't lie the fuck down and sleep?"
Mansbach said that "the best possible person in the world" was narrating the audiobook: Herzog. The film director's recording will be unveiled at an event to launch the book, illustrated by Ricardo Cortes for small American publisher Akashic Books, at the New York Public Library.
Unofficial videos of Werner Herzog impersonators reading aloud various other children's books follow. Oh my god I can't even wrap my head around how awesome the real thing would be.
[Werner Herzog reads Madeline]
[Werner Herzog Reads Curious George]
[Werner Herzog Reads Winnie The Pooh]
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