artpost: some inventions are more obvious than others

via Brass Goggles.


Steampunk Space Helmet, by Herr Döktor, entitled Vacuum Survival System
Build Progress Forum Thread

Recently recovered from the archive at Castle d’Arrogance, details of Herr Döktor’s Vacuum Survival System, or ‘Space Helmet’, have just recently come to light; this object was produced at some, as yet, undetermined time (due to the peculiar and labyrinthine method of personal dating) as a means for ‘personal safety while travelling the Ætheral Void between the Spheres, and for safe and comfortable promenading upon the Airless Planets of the Solar System’

Apparently it started as a large acrylic Victorian cloche-style garden propagator and a large polypropylene planter. Fantastic! (More pictures at Brass Goggles).

he’ll be back, oh yes he will

BB video: Jacob explaining his Cold Boot Encryption Attack.

I deeply appreciate Jacob. Not only is he locally famous as my mad, delicious friend who convinced Liz and I that taking our shirts off while standing in two feet of snow was a good idea, (all in the name of art, you understand), he is also now, gratifyingly, the mad genius behind NoiseBridge, an open Project Space for hackers that just opened in San Francisco’s Mission District with a focus on art, science, technology, mentoring and other fun stuff.

“We want to provide infrastructure and collaboration opportunities for people interested in programming, hardware hacking, physics, chemistry, mathematics, photography, security, robotics, all kinds of art, and, of course, technology. Through talks, workshops, and projects we encourage knowledge exchange, learning, and mentoring.

As a space for artistic collaboration and experimentation, we are open to all types of art – with a special emphasis on the crossover of art and technology. From hardware labs to electronics, cooking, photography, and sound labs, anything that’s creative is welcome.

We intend to have many interesting things happening at all times. Sharing is essential to making this work. A logical followup to this is to find a space to display our creative projects.”

When it’s completely set up, the plan is to have a darkroom, a machine shop area, an electronics area, a programming laptop area, a relaxing reading room, a bart capsule hotel space, a library, server racks, a kitchen, and possibly a few more things, just because. At the moment they’re still meshed in the process of establishing themselves as a non-profit, but soon people will be able to make tax deductible donations. Not to say you can’t already give them money. That would be good too.

the future is now, then and again

From sclerotic_rings,

“Fifty years ago tomorrow, with the launch and subsequent success of Explorer 1, the US officially set off the space race. With it came the discovery of what are now known as the Van Allen radiation belts surrounding Earth, marking the first real scientific discovery of the interplanetary US/Russian competition. Now, maybe, we’ll see advertisers stop using “Space Age” as a synonym for “futuristic” and maybe see its use as a synonym for “fondly nostalgic of paths not taken”.”

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NASA announced Tuesday that its new crew exploration vehicle will be named Orion.

Duncan sent me this to complement my recent post on how to ding Focus On the Family: Baby Got Bible.

It seems that in response to us, not only have they begun implementing cookies, but they have taken down the Narnia DVD! Just how much notice did that post get?? You people are freaking me out.

One Giant Blunder for Mankind: How NASA Lost Moon Pictures.

Getting a lot done today, but only during the afternoon, as if the lost art of film editing was being applied to pack all the action into only two hours. I have cheques to pick up, work to arrange, and a focus group to attend. Simple things, wishes carrying my feet forward. Fortuitously, last night was the first night in a month that I slept home and alone. I was woken by a phone-call, Michael from Drumheller. He wants to know if I can build him an Electronic Press Kit for his Frank Zappa band. He might be visiting soon. Haloes dripping down like the unexpected rain drowning the sky outside.

Spacewander.com: Twelve minutes of space footage.

a tab closer post

  • HUNGRY? CUP-A-NOODLE!
  • Tron remixed as a Depeche Mode music video from Justin Alt. does anyone else agree that tron refuses to look dated?
  • Scariest film in years, Mac Cosmetics Ad ft. Amanda Lepoore.
  • Polysics, who seem like a Japanses Devo.
  • Naked taiko drumming. ( a longer cut of the same performance.)
  • the eerie game of quarters
  • LSD being tested on Britsh Troops. “he himself then lapsed into laughter.”
  • Brokeback to the Future
  • Not a Stupid Girl, by Pink