by Eric Goldstein
I have yet to see Tim Burton’s rendition of Alice in Wonderland – but will see it in 3D. In the meantime – please sit back and enjoy a little historical film from 1903.
It’s short but memorable.
Enjoy.
Avatar 3D / IMAX
March 8th, 2010by Eric Goldstein
Here goes my quick overview of the film, which I feel merits an acknowledgement on Branch – not because it will become the highest grossing film of all time – but because it was so good. Now, if you ask 10 people what they thought of the movie, half will say, LOVED IT, the other half will say I DIDN’T LOVE THE STORY LINE. BUT without a doubt, 90% of the people you ask will say, VISUALLY – it blew me away.
I took my daughter to see this in 3D/IMAX last month and can honestly say, for me – it was not going to see a movie, but rather a destination. We put our glasses on, prepared for the unknown, as I had resisted on seeing or hearing anything about the movie, and had the pleasure of indulging around the 3D experiences by viewing the trailers of the new Shrek 3D (not a fan of Shrek, but looks entertaining), Alice in Wonderland (hope it is as good as the trailer), and a few other films taking advantage of the 3D wizardry.
Then Avatar began. Our popcorn almost finished, we watched the film unfold, providing us at first a pretty familiar story line, (think Dances with Wolves, think Bugs Life) – but soon after watching, the visuals took over and the 3D effects were subtle and super rich to the point, I didn’t want this to end. On several occasions, what we were seeing through our glasses and the impact the film had on us as theatre-goers – we turned to one another with our mouths echoing the word “WHOAAAA”. It seriously was a beautiful experience and film and again, a true destination.
We were transported away from the world as we know it, and it exceeded all of my expectations.
Kudos to all who participated on this project and accolades and cheers for James Cameron for the vision and perseverance to concept and complete such an ambitious piece of work.
360° LAMP BY PAVEL SIDORENKO
March 4th, 2010by Eric Goldstein
The 360° LAMP by Pavel Sidorenko for Estonia’s Adensen is a white plastic circle that bends into shape.
The other side is mirrored, so the choice of surfaces to expose is up to the user. The 360° LAMP is also available in four engraved patterns.
International Tokyo Toy Show 2010
March 3rd, 2010by Eric Goldstein
Firstly, I am a huge fan of Japanese type executions, where there is the exploration of scale, color, texture, animation, contrast and above all – visceral joy.
Although the site is not up yet for the 2010 show – here is the homepage, which already makes me want to go onto Travelocity and scope out some good airfare deals.
For some insight into the goings’on at the Toy Show, here is a little something from two years ago.
Although I don’t exactly know what I am looking at – I dig it A LOT.
Theme is PLUS 10, The Best is Yet to Come.
March 2nd, 2010by Eric Goldstein
About the Challenge
Michelin North America, Inc. (“Michelin”) created the annual Michelin Challenge Design™ to celebrate, promote, publicize and give visibility to original creative thinking and innovation in vehicle design.
By embracing and supporting design, Michelin aims to establish a closer relationship with the design community, combining technical innovation with transportation design to create vehicles that consumers want to buy and will enjoy driving.
Michelin Challenge Design is a collection of events and activities reflecting Michelin North America’s interest in and commitment to innovative design. Michelin’s corporate culture places a high value on design and innovation as important to consumer satisfaction and maintaining Michelin’s role as the industry leader.
Why the internet will fail (from 1995)
February 26th, 2010by Brian Carroll
Thanks to my friend Kelsey who came across this article in the “Three Word Chant“ blog.
Just came across this article from Newsweek in 1995. It lists all the reasons the internet will fail. My two favorite parts:
The truth in no online database will replace your daily newspaper, no CD-ROM can take the place of a competent teacher and no computer network will change the way government works.
Yet Nicholas Negroponte, director of the MIT Media Lab, predicts that we’ll soon buy books and newspapers straight over the Intenet. Uh, sure.
If Newsweek is as good at maintaining the journalism industry as they are at fortune telling, they should be around for a long time.
The Internet? Bah!
Hype alert: Why cyberspace isn’t, and will never be, nirvana
By Clifford Stoll | NEWSWEEK
From the magazine issue dated Feb 27, 1995
After two decades online, I’m perplexed. It’s not that I haven’t had a gas of a good time on the Internet. I’ve met great people and even caught a hacker or two. But today, I’m uneasy about this most trendy and oversold community. Visionaries see a future of telecommuting workers, interactive libraries and multimedia classrooms. They speak of electronic town meetings and virtual communities. Commerce and business will shift from offices and malls to networks and modems. And the freedom of digital networks will make government more democratic.
Baloney. Do our computer pundits lack all common sense? The truth in no online database will replace your daily newspaper, no CD-ROM can take the place of a competent teacher and no computer network will change the way government works.
Consider today’s online world. The Usenet, a worldwide bulletin board, allows anyone to post messages across the nation. Your word gets out, leapfrogging editors and publishers. Every voice can be heard cheaply and instantly. The result? Every voice is heard. The cacophany more closely resembles citizens band radio, complete with handles, harrasment, and anonymous threats. When most everyone shouts, few listen. How about electronic publishing? Try reading a book on disc. At best, it’s an unpleasant chore: the myopic glow of a clunky computer replaces the friendly pages of a book. And you can’t tote that laptop to the beach. Yet Nicholas Negroponte, director of the MIT Media Lab, predicts that we’ll soon buy books and newspapers straight over the Intenet. Uh, sure.
What the Internet hucksters won’t tell you is tht the Internet is one big ocean of unedited data, without any pretense of completeness. Lacking editors, reviewers or critics, the Internet has become a wasteland of unfiltered data. You don’t know what to ignore and what’s worth reading. Logged onto the World Wide Web, I hunt for the date of the Battle of Trafalgar. Hundreds of files show up, and it takes 15 minutes to unravel them–one’s a biography written by an eighth grader, the second is a computer game that doesn’t work and the third is an image of a London monument. None answers my question, and my search is periodically interrupted by messages like, “Too many connectios, try again later.”
Won’t the Internet be useful in governing? Internet addicts clamor for government reports. But when Andy Spano ran for county executive in Westchester County, N.Y., he put every press release and position paper onto a bulletin board. In that affluent county, with plenty of computer companies, how many voters logged in? Fewer than 30. Not a good omen.
Point and click:
Then there are those pushing computers into schools. We’re told that multimedia will make schoolwork easy and fun. Students will happily learn from animated characters while taught by expertly tailored software.Who needs teachers when you’ve got computer-aided education? Bah. These expensive toys are difficult to use in classrooms and require extensive teacher training. Sure, kids love videogames–but think of your own experience: can you recall even one educational filmstrip of decades past? I’ll bet you remember the two or three great teachers who made a difference in your life.
Then there’s cyberbusiness. We’re promised instant catalog shopping–just point and click for great deals. We’ll order airline tickets over the network, make restaurant reservations and negotiate sales contracts. Stores will become obselete. So how come my local mall does more business in an afternoon than the entire Internet handles in a month? Even if there were a trustworthy way to send money over the Internet–which there isn’t–the network is missing a most essential ingredient of capitalism: salespeople.
What’s missing from this electronic wonderland? Human contact. Discount the fawning techno-burble about virtual communities. Computers and networks isolate us from one another. A network chat line is a limp substitute for meeting friends over coffee. No interactive multimedia display comes close to the excitement of a live concert. And who’d prefer cybersex to the real thing? While the Internet beckons brightly, seductively flashing an icon of knowledge-as-power, this nonplace lures us to surrender our time on earth. A poor substitute it is, this virtual reality where frustration is legion and where–in the holy names of Education and Progress–important aspects of human interactions are relentlessly devalued.
STOLL is the author of “Silicon Snake Oil–Second Thoughts on the Information Highway” to be published by Doubleday in April.
Cold Weather Cool
February 25th, 2010by Stephanie Bayley
Im not sure where this would be stylish but you know somewhere it would be. Definitely could see me and my breaddome crew wearing these on the playa of burning man making quite the entrance at a late night party.
MintyBoost USB Charger Kit v2.0
February 22nd, 2010by Ally
If you enjoy any types of candy that come in little tins, then you probably toss away a lot of the tins. Sure, you can use one or two for storage, but sometimes it’s hard to find a use for them. Thankfully MakerShed has released a kit to allow for you to change your old tins into a USB charger for your various USB gadgets. At least it’ll make for one less tin sitting in a landfill.
The kit will help keep your iPod, camera, cellphone and any other USB gadgets charged. The charger uses 2 AA batteries and will allow for your iPod to run for hours, which is apparently 2.5 times more than you would get from a 9V USB charger. In order to make yourself a USB charger you will have to do some soldering, but that’s the most difficult part that you’ll come across. You can purchase the kit for $19.99.
Source: Technabob
Just for Fun: Animator vs. Animation
February 18th, 2010by Brian Carroll
I was browsing youtube videos the other day and came across this video. I am pretty sure it has been around for a while, but fun none the less.
Vancouver Olympic medals are one of a kind
February 17th, 2010Jonathan Hayward/canadian Press Via Associated Press
Have you looked closely at the medals being awarded to the Olympic athletes? If you think they look different, you’re right.
Unlike most medals in other Olympics, they are not flat, but have a wavy design that from some angles makes them look not perfectly round. This design represents the mountains of western Canada around Vancouver. The design on each medal is unique, part of a larger work of art created by a native Canadian artist. Winners get a scarf showing the entire work, so they can find where their medal — or medals — appears. The medals weigh between 17 and 20 ounces — a little more than a pound — and are just under four inches across. The gold medal is mostly silver but is covered in gold. The silver medal is all silver. And the bronze medal? It’s made of copper.