Kitchen art

Fun with clouds

[Source: baraskit]

Various gummy bear shots

[Source: weirdomatic]

Take your shots!

Hobbysafarifilm

Mindscape

NEW link added

Boring Game

Extreme watches

When Our Galaxy Smashes Into Andromeda

When astronomers look into the night sky, almost every single galaxy is speeding away from us, carried by the expansion of the Universe. There’s one notable exception; though, the massive Andromeda galaxy (aka M31), which is speeding towards us at a rate of 120 km/s. And some time in the next few billion years, our two galaxies will collide and begin the lengthly process of merging together. Our Sun, and even the Earth should still be around, so it begs the question, what will happen to our Solar System?

Fortunately, T. J. Cox and Abraham Loeb from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics have done the math in their recent paper entitled The Collision Between The Milky Way And Andromeda. In this paper, they chart out their simulation of this massive collision, and estimate some future fates for our Solar System.

Our galaxy, the Milky Way, and Andromeda (M31) together with their 40 smaller companions make up the two largest members of the Local Group of galaxies. While most galaxies are hurtling away from us as part of the expansion of the Universe, the Local Group is gravitationally bound together, and will continue to interact over the coming years.

When our Sun was born, 4.7 billion years ago, Andromeda and the Milky Way were 4.2 million light-years apart. Steadily moving together over the billions of years, they’re now only 2.6 million light-years apart and clearly headed for a collision. But it won’t be a head-on collision, the two galaxies will take swipes at each other first.

The first sideswipe will occur less than 2 billion years from now. During that first interaction, there’s a 12% chance that the Solar System might get ejected from the disk of the Milky Way, and spun out into the tidal tail of material that will stream out from the Milky Way. And there’s a remote chance, less than 3%, that the Sun will jump ship, joining up with Andromeda, and leaving the Milky Way entirely.

Since the Sun and the Earth will still be around, future astronomers could witness the collision in all its glory. Since the Sun will be steadily increasing its output of radiation, life might not be able to survive on our planet if engineers can’t figure out a way to keep the Earth moving away from the Sun.

Then the galaxies will come back together for another swipe, and then another, and eventually settle down into a gigantic swarm of stars buzzing around a common center of gravity. Currently quiet, the twin supermassive black holes may flare up, becoming active galactic nuclei, feasting on the torrent of new material that was unlucky to enter their feeding zones. Colliding clouds of gas and dust will flare up in furious regions of star formation.

In all likelihood, these interactions will push the Sun out into the new galaxy’s outer halo, pushing us at least 100,000 light years from the centre, and safely way from those twin black holes.

And 7 billion years from now, when our Sun is in the last stages of life - a red giant - and our Earth is a burned cinder, Milkomeda will have formed.

(At least, that’s what Cox and Loeb are calling it. I coined Milkdromeda in an episode of Astronomy Cast.)

This future galaxy will be a massive, elliptical galaxy, losing any remnant of its familiar spiral arms. The furious star formation will settle down, and this new galaxy will live out its remaining years, slowly using up its remaining raw stellar material.

100 billion years from now, all galaxies not bound to the Local Group will recede from vision - now traveling away from us faster than the speed of light. The concept of extragalactic astronomy will end, and Milkomeda will account for the entire visible Universe.

Original Source: Arxiv

[Source: universetoday]

SlaveHack

Slave Hack is a virtual hack simulation game. This game does not support or encourage hacking in any way, the game is just a lot of fun !

Start playing and defend your own virtual-pc against intruders whilist you are trying you hack as much other players and webservers as you can ! New here ? For more information about the game check the about page.

iDo Wedding Couple Edition - "fun" product

iDo Wedding Couple Edition is wedding planning software designed to help save time and energy while planning a wedding. From compiling your guest list to mailing the last thank you note, your wedding will be a success. Brides and grooms across 41 countries have enjoyed using iDo to organize their wedding details.

The face, not the body, attracts a mate

Body builders and gym buffs, look away now. It appears that the opposite sex is much more interested in your face than your bulging biceps or elegant figure, especially if you're a man. At least that's the upshot of the first study to assess how much faces and bodies contribute to someone's overall attractiveness.

Twelve women and 12 men took part in a trial to assess the attractiveness of people in photographs, on a scale of 1 to 7. Some participants saw the entire person, some saw faces on their own, and some just bodies. Marianne Peters from the University of Western Australia in Crawley and colleagues assessed the face-only and body-only ratings to see how well they predicted the "entire person" ratings.

They found that faces account for more of the variation among ratings than do bodies; in other words, faces are more important. For women rating men, 52 per cent of the attractiveness score was made up by the face rating, while for bodies it was 24 per cent. The trend was similar when men rated women, with 47 per cent of a woman's overall attractiveness accounted for by her face, and 32 per cent by her body (Animal Behaviour, DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2006.07.012).

Peters says that women focus especially on the face because they are better at picking up emotional cues which are key to partner suitability.

[Source: newscientist]

Video Exclusives From NGC Wild

Nature comes roaring into life in dozens of heart-pounding new clips and a full-length show every week.

Joost invitations available..

You can get joost invitations by me (http://funatics.blogspot.com/2007/05/joost-p2p-tv.html)

13 Gigapixel panorama

13 Gigapixel panorama. Taken by Gerard Maynard with Nikon D2X and a Nikkor 300 mm/F4. More than 2045 RAW pictures stitched in a single panorama. It's the biggest known panorama stitched at this time. It's a collaboration between artist Gerard Maynard and Kolor, creator of the software used for that, Autopano Pro.

Panorama

Gerard Maynard

AutoPan Pro

Crazy Jumps Of Faith

Painter

The Carina Nebula: Star Birth in the Extreme

[JPG 6000 X 2906][JPG 29566 X 14321][TIFF 29566 X 14321]

In celebration of the 17th anniversary of the launch and deployment of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, a team of astronomers is releasing one of the largest panoramic images ever taken with Hubble's cameras.
It is a 50-light-year-wide view of the central region of the Carina Nebula where a maelstrom of star birth — and death — is taking place. This image is a mosaic of the Carina Nebula assembled from 48 frames taken with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys. The Hubble images were taken in the light of neutral hydrogen during March and July 2005. Color information was added with data taken in December 2001 and March 2003 at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. Red corresponds to sulfur, green to hydrogen, and blue to oxygen emission.
[Source: hubblesite][All images from this news release]

Paper buildings

Storm

Joost the p2p TV

Joost, the online television service from Skype and Kazaa founders Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, launches today.

While you still can’t go to the site and sign up for the service, Joost is supplying current beta testers with an unlimited number of invites (they were previously limited to five). In addition, the plethora of big brand advertisers including Coca-Cola, Nike, General Motors and Visa will start their ad campaigns this month. Looks like Joost is ready to get its engine revving. The service should be available for everyone later on this month, and their latest version is available for download from existing users and those that are invited to join.

Joost is currently focusing on the English-speaking market; most of their content provided is targeted to U.S. and U.K. audiences. They do, however, plan on expanding their offerings to the global community, including Asia and Latin America. As they’ve partnered with several film and broadcasting networks to offer a wide array of premium programming, it’s sure to gain some traction. While it may be difficult to view Joost on your television set, I don’t think it will be too long before devices and services meet a happier medium.

[More: wikipedia]

PS: Today i've got an invite for joost. Today evening i'll check the details about inviting and then i'll try to send limited invites. Information will be shown here.

If you need invite, leave me a comment with informations:
First Name:
Last Name:
Email Address:
---------

Another possibilities: You can find free invites at technorati search
or at http://aujoost.com/?p=15

Bank Robber

Remove your phone number from Google Search

Concerned about your privacy? One proactive step you can take is to remove your phone number from Google PhoneBook.

As you may know, typing a residential phone number into a Google Search bar (though not the Google Toolbar) performs a reverse lookup that lists your name, address and even a link to a Google Map of your address. Fortunately, Google gives you the option of removing all your residential listing information--all you have to do is fill out a short form and wait 48 hours. Granted, there are countless other services out there that offer reverse phone lookups, but Google is a household name and therefore a good place to start. Thanks, Suzi! —Rick Broida

Google Phonebook Name Removal

[Source: lifehacker]

Cat and dog under water

Threesome

Cyberbox

Brainteaser Interview Question: Defeating the 12-Ball Question

Some interview questions are notoriously difficult. This particular logic problem has made its appearance at various consulting, investment banking and tech firms (including McKinsey and Microsoft). Will you be prepared if your interviewer springs upon you the knotty "12 ball" dilemma? Thanks to Vault, you can answer in safety!

Here's the question:

You have 12 balls. All of them are identical except one, which is either heavier or lighter than the rest - it is either hollow while the rest are solid, or solid while the rest are hollow. You have a simple two-armed scale, and are permitted three weighings. Can you identify the odd ball, and determine whether it is hollow or solid?

[The complete article/solution]

[Other interview related article]

Newborn Hedgehogs (cute!)

Texas Instruments announces cell phone DLP projector

The small screen on our portable device can sometimes prove frustrating and eye numbing. If Texas Instruments has their way, we’ll all be ‘gorilla projection artists’ and no longer will be all attempt to huddle around small handheld device in hopes of catching a glimpse of ‘Sasquatch’ in the wild. Apparently at this year’s CTIA Wireless 2007 show, Texas Instruments showed off its mini DLP projector, called the Pico; small enough to fit in a cell phone – they had it inside a replica device. According to TI the projector will display in DVD quality (course it depends on the source) and is composed of a DLP, 3 lasers, and a power supply. No word when this thing will hit the street, but I’d expect the ‘power supply’ issue to be their last major hurdle.

Texas Instruments announces cell phone DLP Projector [M&C]

[Source: gadgetreview]

Xbox 360 Elite

It’s official. Microsoft will begin selling its new Xbox, called Xbox 360 Elite, come April 29th. No HD DVD drive, but the ‘new’ machine will sport a larger hard drive (120GB), an HDMI out. Other items included are a matching black wireless controller, a black Xbox live headset, and a hi-def cable. Price is set at $479.99 and it will be finished in black. Microsoft’s current top Xbox 360 goes for $399 and MS says they’ll continue to sell this version with an option to purchase the 120GB hard drive separately for $179.99.

Official page here.

[Source: gadgetreview]

Springtime

HD DVD cracks: there's no going back

When AACS was revealed as the encryption format of choice for HD DVD and Blu-ray, bets were placed on how long it would take for it to be cracked. Since the first HD DVD and Blu-ray discs began shipping, hackers have been hard at work figuring out how to break the encryption; DVD Jon even registered DeAACS.com. We've covered both crackers' efforts and the attempts by the AACS Licensing Authority to keep those cracks from seeping into the public consciousness. Yesterday, all of that came to a head.

A submission on Digg which contained the recently uncovered encryption key for HD DVD discs was removed yesterday by the site's admins after the site was served with a DMCA takedown notice, according to Digg CEO Jay Adelson. Such takedown notices are not uncommon. The AACS LA has issued them far and wide in an attempt to give the crack as low a profile as possible—Boing Boing blogger Cory Doctorow was the recent recipient of just such a notice after students of a class on copyright he was teaching at the University of Southern California posted the key and a link to the infamous Doom9 forum where AACS cracks have been openly discussed.

The futility of the AACS' actions was demonstrated last night when Digg was hit with a barrage of submissions containing the forbidden key. For a few hours, Digg's front page consisted of little more than a succession of links to the hexadecimal HD DVD key. After several hours, Digg cofounder Kevin Rose said that the site had received the message loud and clear, pledging that Digg would no longer kill stories and comments containing the key.

While the shenanigans at Digg were fascinating to watch as they unfolded, in the grand scheme of DRM it serves mostly as a reminder that the Internet holds no secrets. Like it or not for the AACS LA, DVD Forum (which backs HD DVD), and the Blu-ray Disc Association, Pandora's Box is opened wide. Not only is the key out in the open, but perhaps more damagingly to the HD lobby, public awareness of DRM and its cracks has been raised.

How will HD DVD, Blu-ray, and AACS LA respond? We don't know, and chances are that they don't either. Last night and this morning, Ars contacted all of them, along with the MPAA, to ask that very question. We haven't had a single phone call or e-mail returned from any of them.

We're nearing the point of ready availability of tools like DeCSS for HD DVD and Blu-ray, but Blu-ray has a couple of extra layers of protection (ROM Mark and BD+) that have yet to be deployed. Also, both HD formats have an antipiracy weapon in their arsenal that DVD lacks: the ability to revoke device keys, which has already happened to Corel's WinDVD. Unfortunately for both HD DVD and Blu-ray, that looks like it's going to be as effective as a suit of chain mail against a bazooka shell; Doom9 forum member arnezami claims that the hack at the center of the latest maelstrom is irrevocable. Even if arnezami is wrong in his evaluation, the AACS LA's vigilance in trying to keep the existence of HD DVD cracks out of the pubic eye has backfired in a truly spectacular manner.

[Source: arstechnica]

Mansion Impossible

Build your Own Moleskin Notebook External HDD

External hard drive enclosures tend to all look a like and are just a bit boring. If you are the DIY type that happens to have an extra notebook hard drive lying around and about $50 in fund for the project you can follow the instructions over at Zonageek and build your own Moleskin notebook external hard drive. This guy used the Moleskin sketch book for the project which involved cutting the pages out to hollow a place for the 80GB HDD to sit. Once glued up the drive was inserted along with the logic board from a commercial external enclosure for USB to SATA and the project was complete. Finished it looks pretty cool and perfect for those who like to make their own gear.
[Source: everythingusb]

LCD Clock With Built-In Spy Camera

This good looking LCD clock also has a hidden camera that can record 12 minutes of action.

This motion-activated camcorder will turn on and record full-motion video whenever someone moves into its wide field-of-view; then shut off automatically when activity stops.

Afterwards you just need to transfer the files to your computer via USB or use a memory card reader, the final files will be in .AVI format with a 320×240 pixel VGA resolution.

[Source: uberreview]

Sturdio Libertiny’s vase made by Bees

I’m a self-proclaimed Droog addict, and have touted the “je ne sais quoi” of the always-engaging and wryly humorous Dutch design ad nauseam. And this bee-made vessel by Tomas Gabzdil Libertiny of Studio Libertiny is no exception. Making its debut at Droog’s booth in Milan, the vase was made by 40,000 bees over the course of one week. Studio Libertiny constructed a vase-shaped hive that the bees then colonized, building a hexagonal comb to encompass the existing form. And in the usual dry yet oh-so-clever Dutch manner, Studio Libertiny calls this process “slow prototyping,” a more time-consuming, yet much more poetic alternative to CNC rapid prototyping.

Beautiful in its ephemeral nature, Libertiny’s “collaboration” with honey bees pushes the boundaries of so-called conventional design by defying mass production and enabling nature to create what would typically be considered a man-made product. In my opinion, one of the tenets of good design is that it should tell a story. Studio Libertiny’s bee vase, like so much other Dutch design, not only tells the story, but does so in an ecologically-derived, natural way that concedes the human manufacturing process to something simpler and more beautiful. The more I look at it, the more I am in complete and utter awe.

We found this quote from Tomas Gabzdil Libertiny via Dezeen:

I have been interested in contradicting the current consumer society (which is interested in slick design) by choosing to work with a seemingly very vulnerable and ephemeral material - beeswax. To give a form to this natural product it has occurred more than logical to choose a form of a vase as a cultural artifact. Beeswax comes from flowers and in the form of a vase ends up serving flowers on their last journey.

At this point I asked myself a question: “Can I make this product already at the place where the material originates?” My ambition to push things further led me to alienate the process by which bees make their almost mathematically precise honeycomb structures and direct it to create a fragile and valuable object – like a pearl. This takes time and time creates value.

[Source: inhabitat]

Dubai International Financial Centre launches DIFC Lighthouse Tower

• 400-metre luxury office tower to be constructed adjacent to ‘The Gate’


• External lighting features to make tower a new Dubai landmark


• Environmentally sensitive design to set benchmark for energy conservation

The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) announced today the launch of DIFC Lighthouse Tower, a landmark 400-metre luxury office tower that will be constructed in the heart of the DIFC District, adjacent to the famous “Gate” building. The gross floor area of the project will be 90,000 square metres.

A beacon of modernity, the Lighthouse will be characterised by special external lighting features that will distinguish it from all other high-rise buildings in Dubai. As well, the approved environmentally sensitive design of the tower will include provisions for various applications for renewable energy, reduced carbon emissions and energy saving techniques.

His Excellency Dr. Omar Bin Sulaiman, Governor of DIFC, said: “The launch of the DIFC Lighthouse Tower, the newest landmark on the skyline of Dubai comes in line with our objective with the ongoing expansion of the DIFC and concomitant growth of the emirate, this tower will help meet the burgeoning demand for high-quality office space in the heart of our thriving community.”

He continued: “The unique design of this slender tower will make it stand out, especially at night, when the external lighting will serve, like a lighthouse, to attract the admiration of residents and visitors alike. We are particularly proud of the project’s environmentally friendly and sensitive design, which will set a new benchmark for energy conservation in the region.”

[Source: difc]

Student design turns highways into wind farms

The great thing about collaborative design sites like Archinect is that they allow brilliant student ideas to escape the confines of studio and get the attention they deserve. Case in point is Arizona student Joe who posted this amazing idea on his Archinect school blog for a highway wind turbine would harvest the wind created by fast-moving automobiles to send power back into the grid. If feasible, this wind turbine project could be easily retrofitted to transform most of the world’s highways into endless power sources. Imagine highways being known for their power generation instead of their traffic!

Joe’s project proposes the installation of two wind turbines placed horizontally on the steel frames that currently hold freeway signs along the Phoenix Highway. According to his calculations, he reckons that each turbine would be able to generate 9,600kwh per year, which would be more than enough to power a few apartments, or, as he is proposing, more than a few community hubs along the freeway.

While there are a lot of technical issues that may prevent the project’s deployment (such as the amount of turbulence on the road, the actual wind speed generated at the head height, etc) we must applaud Joe for the great idea. Good job Joe! Keep us posted…

We’ve seen a similar idea from Mark Oberholzer, the runner-up of the 2006 Metropolis Next Generation Design Competition. Nice to see this sort of thinking gaining momentum!

Highway Wind Turbines

[Source: inhabitat]

Mouse Mouse - sick idea

Hacked travel-size (hardware) mouse + taxidermied (wetware) mouse = Mouse Mouse!
Fully functional, and furry!

Warning: this project involves taxidermy, dremels, and sometimes graphic pictures of dead animals. While there are no guts in this tutorial, viewer discretion is still advised. If you are offended by this entire idea, please peruse the wallet contest or the laser cutter contest instead.

Concept by noahw
Implemented by noahw and canida.

The winners of the photo contest

[National Wildlife Magazine]

PhD-certified Personality Test

• How do you compare to the average person?
• Your Personality - how was it developed?
• What is your relationship style?
• Which type of person suits you best?

(I've found it on an ad, but it seems interesting. You can check this link/url does not contain any referrer id or other, and this personality site does not belong to me)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: You can add fake email address, the result can be shown on page. (I would do the same if i could know it in time)

Fun pictures..

Moderate coffee drinking reduces many risks

Although the American Society for Nutrition’s popular “controversy session” at Experimental Biology 2007 focuses on the health effects of coffee drinking, panel chair Dr. James Coughlin, a toxicology/safety consultant at Coughlin & Associates, says that recent advances in epidemiologic and experimental knowledge have transformed many of the negative health myths about coffee drinking into validated health benefits.

Indeed, panel co-chair Dan Steffen, who follows coffee and health issues in the Scientific and Regulatory Affairs group of Kraft Foods, note that the “controversy” is often to educate a wider audience about this transformation in understanding.

Coffee is among the most widely consumed beverages in the world, and Dr. Coughlin says that the preponderance of scientific evidence - some by the panelists - suggests that moderate coffee consumption (3-5 cups per day) may be associated with reduced risk of certain disease conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease. Some research in neuropharamacology suggests that one cup of coffee can halve the risk of Parkinson’s disease. Other studies have found it reduces the risk of Alzheimer's disease, kidney stones, gallstones, depression and even suicide.

[Source & More: physorg]