This is a video of James Bruton demonstrating and discussing his Barcode Guitar, an electronic guitar with four necks covered in barcodes that's played using a regular handheld barcode scanner. Some more info while I rock out so hard my scanner breaks and I have to call a manager over to help finish ringing up this customer:
Each barcode translates to a numeric code, which is mapped to a note on the synthesizer connected to the controller. James also built in a variety of controls for adding nuance to his performance, including programmable buttons, pitch bend, and octave and channel shifters, all made from arcade controls.
That's cool. Still, there's just something about this mashup of musical and technological prowess that does something to me. You, uh, you need any groupies? I'm just saying *lifts shirt to reveal tattooed barcodes above nipples, winks* think about it.
This is a video of an iFly indoor skydiving instructor demonstrating his skills in the fake sky. I especially like that Spider-Man move I used for the gif. He also does a bunch of mime-style moves as well. *raising sign over head* 8 out of 10. "That says 'KISSES 50¢'" And everyone just saw it, I'm gonna be rich!
This is a short video of a unicyclist attempting a rail grind but unintentionally performing a timeless nutcracker instead. As soon as I saw his beanie came off I knew he was never gonna be the same. Man...that painful, buttcheek-grasping walk afterwards *shudders* we've all been there.
Keep going for the full video with a much more pleasant frame rate while I try to figure out what the hell that one creeper was doing around the corner.
This is a video of TheLockpickingLawyer (who has a wonderful Youtube channel if you're interested in lockpicking, the security of various brands and styles of locks and safes, or can't sleep at 4AM) demonstrating how to remove an inventory control tag from a piece of clothing using nothing but a strong neodymium magnet and half a second. So, if you were wondering where I got all these new clothes, the answer is my mom made them like she always has. I'm no thief. I've only stolen one thing in my entire life and that was your heart and I threw it out the window into the woods when I was driving home.
This is a shot of Narwhal (I suppose it was either that or Unicorn), a healthy 10-week old abandoned puppy (WTF is wrong with people?) that was rescued by Mac's Mission, an animal rescue organization operating out of Jackson, Missouri. He has a nonfunctional tail between his eyes (read: it doesn't wag like a windshield wiper for his eyeballs). Some more info while I put on my propeller beanie and try to convince coworkers my mom was a helicopter:
Rochelle Steffen, who runs Mac's Mission, named after a pit-bull terrier she rescued seven and a half years ago, told BBC News Narwhal "is in no pain and plays for hours". ... And X-rays had showed his secondary tail, about a third the size of his actual tail, was not connected to anything and served no purpose other than to make him the "coolest puppy ever".
Well how about that? Narwhal will be available for adoption after he's grown some more and medical staff ensure his secondary tail is inconsequential to his health, and I think it's safe to assume the line to adopt him will look like a mob gathering for this year's must-have Black Friday doorbuster deal.
Thanks to Cyndi M, who agrees the first dog that calls him butthead is getting put in time-out.
This is the set of Color Wars colored pencils available from purveyors of pop-culturally named colored pencils PopColors. As you can see, each of the 12 pencils in the $15 set *spit-takes orange juice and milk mix* has a Star Wars themed color name. But the fun doesn't stop there! They also have named sets with Game Of Thrones, Stranger Things, Parks and Recreation, The Office, and other themes. Just to be clear though, these are just regular-ass colored pencils with themed color names on the side. "But--" I know, and we shouldn't dwell on it, let's just try to move on with our lives.
These are a couple photos and videos of the giant fire-breathing mechanical Dragon de Calais built by La Machine (previously: their giant mechanical spider and minotaur) that recently roamed the streets of Calais, France as part of a live-action performance. The dragon measures 25-meters (~82-feet) long, stands 15-meters (~49-feet) tall, weighs almost 80 tons, and takes 17 people to operate. But *unsheathing sword* only one hero to slay. Speaking of -- where, uh, where's the fair maiden? "There isn't one." Treasure hoard? "Nope." *resheathing sword* I'll be at the tavern.
This is a video discussing and demonstrating the 'Sea-Thru' (clever!) algorithm developed by oceanographer and engineer Derya Akkaynak that removes the blueish tint to underwater photography that occurs as a result of how sea water "selectively absorbs and scatters light at different wavelengths," making it difficult to discern the true colors of sea life, particularly reds and yellows. Some more info while I speculate if they used this for The Little Mermaid:
Sea-thru's image analysis factors in the physics of light absorption and scattering in the atmosphere, compared with that in the ocean, where the particles that light interacts with are much larger. Then the program effectively reverses image distortion from water pixel by pixel, restoring lost colors.
One caveat is that the process requires distance information to work. Akkaynak takes numerous photographs of the same scene from various angles, which Sea-thru uses to estimate the distance between the camera and objects in the scene--and, in turn, the water's light-attenuating impact. Luckily, many scientists already capture distance information in image data sets by using a process called photogrammetry, and Akkaynak says the program will readily work on those photographs.
Pretty cool. You know what would be even cooler though? "An algorithm that removed all the plastic waste from underwater photography." *touches tip of nose* "You're saying I'm right?" No, I'm saying you've got a boogie. Been there for about an hour, really hard to look away from, can't believe you haven't noticed the stares. But yes also you were right.
