Friends of mine have created a music/performing arts outfit called Neosonic. From their website:
“Neosonic combine real time live electronic music production with dynamic dance and light performance, creating shows that are both visually stunning and musically moving”
They’re booked out until the end of the year, here’s why:
A friend recently gave me a copy of Sublime magazine (which I really enjoyed, I’m already thinking about subscribing). It was the “Water Issue” and had some interesting articles on this most precious of resources (see “Magazine Preview > Issue 4 > Water Wars” on their website, no dedicated url unfortunately…). It also had some less serious articles, including a mention of the Innerspace Dolphin - a watercraft shaped like a Dolphin. Here’s a video clip from NBC’s Today Show:
No mention of them going into production yet which is a huge shame - as if you wouldn’t want to commute to work on those bad boys…
It was probably about a year ago that I first heard about StumbleUpon. It got noted in the “must check it out some time” mental category, one which is hugely over-flowing. And then, like all brilliant applications it just kept getting mentioned; by friends, in news articles, bloggers, everywhere. So I finally bit the bullet and installed it; absolutely superb. How did I ever manage without it? My own internet slave, instantly ready and eager to serve me internet-zen whenever it’s wanted (which is very, very often). How else would I have found this list of the world’s most beautiful libraries?
So thanks to BoredStop.com, StumbleUpon and Flickr user “Curious Expeditions” whose photo it was. I must get round to visiting the Strahov Monestary library some day…
Great article over on Deputy Dog a couple of weeks ago - the “Top 10 physically modified people”, including the person who struck me most, Kala Kaiwi:
I think that there is more to the post than merely being freaked-out/laughing at people who look very different. There are two points here for me personally.
The first is around the how - how exactly do these people accomplish some of their mods in the first place? There’s some serious surgery going on for some of these modifications, and some logistical/ergonomic issues surrounding the various spikes/piercings/hoops/tats etc.
The second is of course around the why - why exactly would you spend time (and money!) to achieve this kind of look? (a look that most people find pretty disturbing). Judging from the comments, a lot of people have some very strong (mainly negative) views about such drastic physical bodily modifications.
Personally, I think these people are GREAT. Granted, they may scare kids, and most probably the occasional adult too, but I think it’s fantastic that (a) we have the ability to perform such mods in the first place, and (b) that they’ve got the courage to be at the leading edge of such a practice (the leading edge of anywhere is a pretty exciting place to be dontchathink?).
May there someday be a time when we all look exactly how we want to look…
Interesting article on the BBC site today about the “M 200G” a flying car which is being built by a company in Davis, California. Apparently it will go on sale in a few months time for $90,000 (£44,700).
It is unclear which agency will authorise its use - the Federal Aviation Administration or the Department of Transport. It is also unclear how much it would cost to run - eight engines initially suggests that it would cost x 8 as much as would a regular car…but this is probably wrong because there’s a lot less friction in the air. It would be very interesting to see some figures around MPG and how it compares to various classes of road-car. Presume owners would also save that most precious of resources - time.
Other thoughts:
Programmes (over wireless internet by then of course) around flying cars? A new Top Gear? Pimp my Saucer?
Good uses for them: rescue teams (as mentioned in the BBC article), air ambulances, emergency police response vehicles etc.
Bad uses for them: makes get-aways from crime scenes a whole lot easier and faster, opens a whole new can of worms around using them for terrorist activity etc.
So the question becomes, are we going to get together and brainstorm these issues before they arrise? We won’t be able to identify all of the issues (some of them may be “emergent” and therefore invisible to us at present) but we can at least try.
Further reading:
Wikipedia article on flying cars
News.com article (from 2005) on why flying cars WON’T take off (pun presumably intended)
Blogs - I could not find any blogs specifically around the topic of flying cars….opportunity?
