News-o-matic
October 6, 2006
- Amp linked the intriguing Faces of Sydney project, where thousands of Sydney residents are photographed and overlayed, creating a eerie, ghostly combined images of men and women of the city. I think they look quite serene and mystical, but that might just be my Anglo Saxon Celtic showing.
- Amp also found the Virtusphere, a collapsible rotating exploration sphere that allows VR boffins to move about without actually going anywhere. I'd considered a large room with treadmills and moving floors, but this is much more elegant.
- Starbucks plans to double its number of stores in North America. I'm sure they've run the numbers and think that their expansion plan can work, but that's really a lot of coffee stores.
- UK comedian Mark Thomas helped a group of Oxfordshire schoolkids set up an online arms dealership, to draw attention to lax weapons sale laws in the UK and Europe. Anyone fancy a TR-85 M1 tank for the weekend?
- There's a hilariously awesome concert rider from Iggy Pop and the Stooges, outlining their gig gear setup, security, lighting and other fun stuff. As well as being funny, it's actually very detailed and useful, which isn't surprising from such a legendary group.
- Pretty amusing YouTube video of the Chaser boys' stunt with a Trojan Horse. Apparently some people really don't learn from history.
- Make sure when you're changing the battery in your electronic car key fob thingy that you prevent your dog from eating the immobilizer chip. Otherwise you'll have to take him driving with you for a couple of days.
- You can protect your bags in the USA by packing a starter pistol in each one. Bags with weapons (including starter pistols) are treated different to standard luggage, as the TSA really doesn't want a suitcase full of guns to go walkabout. It's a nice social hack, but now that the info is out there I can't see it remaining standard procedure.
- A collector's edition version for the upcoming WoW expansion has been announced. It includes a bunch of assorted crap like an art book and soundtrack CD, but most importantly it includes another in-game pet. Unfortunately it's not the legendary ultra-cute sleepy panda, it's a little fluttering Netherdrake, which is almost certainly a resident of the new Outland area. Methinks no panda, no sale.
- Neil Gaiman was recently on the RU Sirius show, and he was excellent. Well, I'm only about halfway through the podcast (22MB MP3) at this moment, but he's been thoroughly terrific so far. He would have to be really, really, really bad in the second half to mess things up.
- Speaking of Neil, his new book of short stories, Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders is out. I loved his previous book of short stuff, Smoke and Mirrors, so I'll definitely be getting the new one sometime very soon. Well, if I can avoid paying a ridiculous import price like I did with Dzur ($60!).
- Penny Arcade have done two nifty podcasts too recently, the first (10MB MP3) for their comic on basketball ninjas and the second (11MB MP3) for their comic on the Zune. I like listening to the way they wander from topic to topic before finally deciding on the comic they'll actually create. It comforts me how often they really seem to have no idea what they're doing until the very last moment.