Za Za Zoom.

Friday game!

This one is called, simply 'Zoom' and it makes my job very easy by being the kind of game which is more rewarding to discover on your own. So I'm just going to shut up and let you get on with it!

Zoom.

What I WILL say though, is that if you like this, check out the other, equally impressive games by the same people Here. It seems they really know a thing or two about minimalist games with hidden depths.

Enjoy!

Palatable.

It works like this: Food is good. Art is good. Therefore, art made of food is doubleplusgood. QED.

With that in mind, take a look at this:

Any guesses what medium the artist used? No 'food' isn't a good enough answer. It is in fact comprised of thousands of Jellybeans! Pretty cool, eh? Check out some more works of sweet, sweet art HERE.

While we're on the subject, what do you suppose this is:

It's a cake! No lie.

Made by an artist called Debbie Goard, see some more of her work HERE.

While we're on cakes, I have one more to show you. Even though I'm telling you, right here that what you're about to see is a cake, you won't believe it when you click the link. I'm having trouble processing it myself.

Ready?

BAM.

Screw This.

It's Friday!
How about a bottle of wine, to ensure the weekend gets off to a good start?

I'll just grab my corkscrew.



Pretty cool, eh? It was made by Rob Higgs. I want one, even if it means building an extension on the kitchen to house it in.

Total Perspective Vortex.

It's not often I get to say this so I'm going to make the most of it with some italics.

This post contains the entire observable universe!


Today's plink is called 'The Scale of the Universe' and it's really quite impressive. It's a sliding scale that starts with objects the size of an average person and can be adjusted all the way down to the level of quantum foam or up to the aforementioned limits of the observable universe. Obviously, there are many, many things in between and as well as the more obvious (planets, man-made structures, creatures, atomic materials) there are some more esoteric items (earth's second moon, the combined space taken up by every instance of Minecraft, etc). Brilliantly, you can also click on anything within the scale to find out more about it. Did you know, for example that the largest recorded hailstone was comparable in size to a basketball?

All these things and more can be found in The Scale Of The Universe.

Neat!

Get What You Need.

It's Friday afternoon. Why not get yourself geared up for the weekend with a music video.

OK Go are at it again. Their videos are always worth a watch but this one really stands out due to the amount of work that must have gone into it. In a change of pace, the video is actually a live performance. In a car, hurtling through a stretch of Californian desert, with none of the band holding an instrument. Instead, the car is doing all the playing.

It's probably best if you just watch it:

Yep, they've done it again.

Have a nice weekend!

Scantastic.

I'm just going to say it; today's plink is about barcodes. Yeah... barcodes. Don't leave though, I am going somewhere with this. Also, you know I'm good for it. I've turned something dull into an interesting post before. Remember the post about Forklift Truck Safety? Exactly.

Anyway, I wouldn't be the first to try and jazz up the humble barcode. Remember Barcode Battlers?

But I digress. So barcodes are everywhere, yes? And they're pretty dull, yes? Just a dull arrangement of vertical black bars, some wider than others. Totally tedious, but then they're only there to fulfill a function. Nothing we can do to make them more interesting, right?

Wrong! They could look like this:

MUCH better. This seems to be mainly a Japanese phenomenon, mostly the work of a company called D-Barcode. Hooray for them!

More info and plenty more examples HERE, check 'em out.

The Ascent Of Van.

I don't know quite how to explain today's offering. I've just found it and I am somewhat taken aback.

Put simply, it's a program someone has written which shows the realtime evolution of a car.

Now, I don't mean it shows the stages of a car being built, or how a certain model of car has changed over the years.

No. This is a genetic algorithm enabling the selective breeding of randomly generated vehicles. Each one is spawned and then its progress is recorded. The ones that get the furthest in the fastest times live on to 'reproduce' and pass on their strengths to a new generation.

This is one of the weirdest posts I've ever had to write. Thinking about it is making my head hurt. I think it is best if you just see for yourself. If you can handle it.

BoxCar 2D.

Let it run for a while. See how some are more successful than others? Through subsequent generations, you'll see tweaked versions of those cars as they literally evolve. It's strangely heart-warming. I found myself really rooting for certain scrappy little racers and being emotionally crushed (well, a bit) when one of them spawned upside down. Removing itself from the gene pool by dint of pure dumb luck.

I still don't fully understand the finer points of this program, but I am finding The FAQ pretty useful.

The theory of Evolution applied to cars. THAT is why I love the internet.

On The 19th Day Of PlinXmas!

Hey, I'll have to make this quick as we are currently having a barbecue! Yeah, housemate James chiselled it out of the ice block it was in and fired it up. If I stay here too long, I might miss the burgers.

Anyway, do you remember back on day 5 when I said that Santa has 31 hours to deliver all the presents?



Well that wasn't just some made up number, that is the actual number of hours he would have, assuming he flew East to West, due to the rotation of the Earth and the different time zones.

That's just one of the conclusions drawn from this article called:

Is There A Santa Claus? - A Physicist View.

It's an interesting read, check it out.

Why does Santa Claus have three gardens?

So he can Hoe-Hoe-Hoe!

On The 4th Day Of PlinXmas!

Hello! Still having computer problems so I'm browsing the web in safe mode, which is really frustrating.



Unfortunately, this means these posts aren't as fleshed out as I'd like them to be, but hopefully things will pick up soon. Bear with me.

So what is behind door #4?

An absurdly talented, possibly mental artist is what!

His name is David Jablow, and he found a drawing exercise called 'Do It Yourself Doodle' which gave a partially completed drawing to act as a 'jumping off' point.

This is what he started with:



Pretty suggestive but surely you could only create a limited number of things with it?

Well, why not See For Yourself! (warning, contains some nudity)

What do you get if you cross Father Christmas with a duck?

A Christmas Quacker!

Save The Clock Tower.

Hello, I will be back with a proper post soon, but for now please just watch this video of an amazing projection onto the wall of a famous clock tower in Prague.

Why? Because it is incredible.

The 600 Years from the macula on Vimeo.

Yeah. I know, right?

Anyway, be back soon. Sorry to keep you waiting.

Science!

So the world is a pretty confusing place, right? That's why we invented Science! But soon, there was so much Science! around that people got pretty confused and started believing all kinds of stuff. I mean seriously... homeopathy? Come on now.

Anyway, thankfully some stalwart individuals have dedicated themselves to sifting through all the wayward Science! and drip-feeding us the essentials in handy blog format. That blog is... Fake Science and you can find such gems there as:

How Solar Power works!


How to stay cool!


and How to tell if you are Radioactive!


But the best and brightest evidence why these guys are worth your time is because they endorse this very blog. The one you're reading right now!

Now, as any proponent of Science! knows, you need proof if you're going to make claims. So here it is (click to enlarge):



Oh yeah, I've hit the big time.

So read up and tame the wild beast that is Science!.. today.

Pew Pew Pew!

Hello.
I'm not sure where you stand on graffiti. I think that it can either be a wonderful art form or senseless vandalism for the sake of letting people know that 'gary woz ere'.
One of the main arguments against it is the 'defacement of property' angle and yeah, that's fair enough. You might not like a sprawling mural depicting anti-capitalism if it was sprayed on the side of your bungalow. However, this is not a criticism that can be levelled at 'light graffiti'. However, the capacity to make impressive works of art is still there. It's by no means a new idea. People have been doing it for a while. It was the basis of a pretty sweet Music Video back in 2003, for example. But people are still finding new ways to dazzle us with its possibilities.

Case in point, the work of Freddie Wong who has used the technique to make this short film: Light Warfare. As you can probably tell from the screenshot below, it's pretty spectacular.



Watch to the end for a link to a 'behind the scenes' video as well. Sweet!

Hey You, Look Here!

If your eyes have alighted on this sentence, even for a second; Stop what you're doing and watch this.

Frankly, it's amazing. A collaborative effort featuring dozens of people and their webcams. It uses so many clever tricks, it'll make your head spin.

Ostensibly a music video, this is one of the greatest videos I have seen in ages. Enough blurb, just watch:


YouTube Link.

Bloody Hell.

Update.

Following on from the last post, a very talented friend of mine named Anne D. McManus has created this frankly astonishing picture for me.



Oh yes, good stuff!

I've had to use the cut down version here so it doesn't stretch the limits of the Plinx layout but you can see the whole shebang Here.

Ceci N'est Pas Un Halfpipe.

Hello. It's nearly home time so I don't have long but my eye has been caught by some clever website design. It's a Quiksilver site advertising skate wear that seems normal to start with, but Just Keep Watching.

170 P on a U B.

Evening. I feel like I've been a bit dumbed down lately. Games about vomit, videos of people playing with brightly coloured balls, bogus news stories about a 'zombie virus'.
Well, today that's going to change. You've gotta think!

It's an intelligence test. Basically, there will be some sentences like the one in the title of this post where the main words have been reduced to just their first letter. The example given is '24 H in a D' which is, of course '24 Hours in a Day' (let me know in the comments if you've figured out what the post title one is).

Right. Here you go, thicky.
The Intelligence Test.
Get to it. I managed 30 of the 33 there.

If you fancy a few more, harder ones. There are 4 more parts. Here are the links, along with my current scores.

Part 2. (16/24)
Part 3. (9/20)
Part 4. (8/18)
Part 5. (Not started this one yet!)

Déjà Vu?

Sorry for the prolonged absence. I've been on a brief camping holiday. It didn't rain the entire time which is an improvement on the last one! Went to Go Ape while I was away and as soon as I get hold of them, I'll post some pics. Was great fun.

Anyways, on to the serious business of today's link. I was really amazed by this. It's a video highlighting some striking similarities in Disney's animated films. There are more of them than you'd think. It's surprising that they're not more noticable. Check it out:



Weird, no? I can see why they do it as each of these films must be a colossal endeavour and a few reused frames here and there makes perfect sense. Kudos to the people who spotted them though, more eagle-eyed than I.

Oh, and additional kudos to Phill Jupitus for bringing it to my attention via his twitter feed.

Full Tilt.

Definite phocus on fotography today. For starters, if you're at all interested in my trip to Lisbon, firstly you need to get out more and secondly there are a bunch of photos on facebook now. Let's narrow the circle even further, if you're reading this blog, want to see my photos and are not a facebook friend, well then who the heck are you?!

Have Some Pics Anyway!
Oh, almost forgot to mention. The medals pic was taken by Katy Sprake and the one of us in running get-up was taken by Katie Ferrari, the 4th member of the posse in the photo. Thanks Katies!

Now for less egocentric stuff, have you heard of Tilt-Shift Miniature Faking? (click for explanation if not.) It's a nifty trick which makes photos of real people/objects look like miniature toy versions. Anyway, if you put together a load of these images, you can make an entire tilt-shift video, and chances are it'll look really, really cool. Just like this one!


Mardi Gras from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

I think it looks great. If you fancy making one yourself, there is an easy online tilt-shift maker Here! Give it a go, it's fun.

Animal Magnetism.

Geeky link today. Some slow motion videos of an array of magnets being struck my another falling magnet and going through magnetic self assembly.

It's neat. Honest!

Nerds click Here.

Everyone else, come back in a couple of days. There'll probably be a game or something.

There's No 'I' In Team.

This is an interesting one. A single player game involving teamwork. It's called Cursor*10. Part of the strapline for the game is 'Cooperate by oneself?!', which is charmingly bad translation but also very accurate. The premise is that you have 10 cursor icons, that are effectibely your 10 'lives' and a countdown for each. When the countdown expires, your next cursor is called into play and you have to start again. The object being to ascend through 16 'floors' to the top.

The catch is that you need to use the efforts of your earlier cursors to speed up your ascension, as each previous run through plays out again while you're on your current go.

Look, it's tough to describe so just try it for yourself, ok?

There are two installments to this game:
Cursor*10 (which I honestly can't remember if I have posted before)
and
Cursor*10 2nd Session.

So yeah, enjoy.

Also, it may be a while before my next update as I have to get moved into my new place. Woo! Hopefully be back and linking you up on Monday. Have a nice weekend!