"Ninety-nine percent of the time you'll be wrong. You've got to be o.k. with that."
- James Gosling, speaking to students about creativity, innovation, and computer science.
July 2011 Archives
I am here.
Sometimes it's enough, just to notice that.
I know I've read about this before - and may have even posted about it: fabric woven from spiders' silk. What I didn't remember, or hadn't read before, was that the spiders are released into the wild after their day of spinning. Does this begin to make them domesticated insects?
Some things were meant to go together. Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories has posted directions - with splendid photo illustrations - showing how to combine googly eyes and magnets in your own home or workplace.
A TED talk by Kevin Slavin: How algorithms shape our world. (via Laughing Squid)
The world is where we live from WWF on Vimeo.
...and this is a beautifully-made video.
Shape memory alloy wire plus origami equals a delightful crane, flapping in slow motion. Details with video and clear instructions here. Project created by Jie Qi at the MIT Media Lab High-Low Tech Group.
I ran across this great Kickstarter project called Fe Wearables on Laughing Squid, and now I'm thinking about how I might like to play with magnets in some of my own sewing projects...
I can hear insects chirping, the bell buoy, waves, and a distant motorboat.
What a great reuse of the Microsoft Kinect game system. I love the "Heart and Soul" duet on the giant (still invisible) floor piano. (From a collection of Kinect hack videos in a New York Times blog entry)
Squishy Circuits from The Tinkering Studio on Vimeo.
Here's what happened when the team at the Exploratorium's Tinkering Studio introduced kids to conductive playdough, LEDs, motors, and noisemakers. More background on the project is here.
I know I linked to this tutorial in September, but in honor of the newest Harry Potter movie, and in case you missed it on the first go round, here is a great Processing tutorial in which you use a live video feed and a homemade wand to control what happens on your screen.
Here's a page full of resources for learning how to use App Inventor to create applications for mobile devices running the Android operating system.
One Day on Earth - Motion Picture Trailer from One Day On Earth on Vimeo.
I especially liked the second half of the trailer. (via This is Colossal)
With a window open. Perfect for sleeping well.
Breathing, listening, being still. These are on the other side of work...
Even when it's been a wonderful week, I can still look forward to Friday - the change in pattern renews me.
Kehai from shiori saito on Vimeo.
Conductive thread has been embroidered into the patterned armrests of this chair by artist Shiori Saito. When you touch the armrests, your body acts as a variable resistor, triggering different domestic sounds. I love the care with which the embroidery has been matched to the existing pattern on the chair's upholstery. (via Fashioning Technology)
Clever stuff available at Tattly, an online store offering design-y temporary tattoos. (via Laughing Squid)
A World I Never Made from Rachel Kwak on Vimeo.
(via ThisIsColossal)
I turned 34 today - in hexadecimal. May ask my students to figure it out in binary tomorrow, when I see them.
I'm still thinking about the Junkyard Jumbotron. I'd love to be able to show a movie clip rather than just a slide show on it... but it is set for still images and not video. However, I did test it with an animated gif. So that might be a work-around.
Junkyard Jumbotron from chris csik on Vimeo.
I had a chance to see this in action today, and I couldn't wait to invent an excuse to build one for myself. More about how to do it here. This self portrait is shown on a laptop, an iPad, and a borrowed phone (because I was using my own phone to take the picture).
From the curious minds at the Exploratorium's Tinkering Studio: squishy circuits, and squishy circuits with thermochromic paint. I love the way they blog their process of discovery.
I think this would go well with the rug maze... just as children have imaginary friends, I think I may need to furnish an imaginary second house. (via the Exploratorium's Tinkering Studio blog)
Hmm. BoingBoing reports that the Swiss have an Anti-PowerPoint Party.
I've gotten an Android phone lent to me so I can learn to program for mobile devices. I'm finding App Inventor very easy to get started with... have worked through four tutorials at this point, and can't wait to try more.
I don't think knitting - at least at my gauge, with my chosen yarn, in stockinette stitch - will work for a readable QR code. So I've ordered a piece of needlepoint canvas, and when that comes next week, I'll see if that works better.
A chance to catch up with some family...
