Hubcap viperfish

viperfish.jpg

We have actually covered the work of British hubcap sculptor Ptolemy Elrington a couple times before (see below), but I couldn't resist posting again when I saw this viperfish sculpture, which appears among others in a gallery at The Telegraph.

My thought for the day? Viperfish are awesome. That is all.

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Source: http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2011/01/hubcap_viperfish.html

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Time: Free, But Priceless

?Time is free, but it's priceless.
You can't own it, but you can use it.
You can't keep it, but you can spend it.
Once you've lost it you can never get it back.?
~ Harvey MacKay
When we look back on our years, we don't count the money we spent and determine if it was a good or bad purchases, we think about the time we spent, both the good times and the wasted times.

Since time is a currency like money, though abstractly, then how we would spend it? At birth if we were given a watch that had the hours left of our life, what would we buy with our time? Many in the simplicity movement and in well regarded book, Your Money or Your Life, take a look at the impact our time has on the things we buy. Is buying the $1000 TV worth the 50 hours at work to pay it off or is the $500 TV a better investment of our time?

flickr/cc - sirspacepilot
This idea of buying and selling time is being made into a Sci-Fi movie to be released in Fall 2011. In the movie, the not-too-distant future "everybody has a clock on their left wrist. It doesn't start counting until you reach maturity, and then you start out with a year. The clock counts down how many years, days, hours and seconds you have to live, and as long as you keep adding time to it, you can live forever. Most people in this world only have a day to live at any given time, and have to keep scrambling to add more time to their wrists before it runs out."

In the movie, the time you have left buys you the basic needs in life like food, shelter, and transportation. And just like money, your time/life can be stolen by someone getting the "upper hand" on you. They do this buy putting their watch over the top of yours and sucking time from you into their life.

It is a interesting interpretation that I look forward to viewing next year because in my own life I consider these concepts on occasion. Is the money, and time at work, worth the extra cost a longer time in the hot shower for me? And since finding that table by the dumpster, it will save me from the overtime at work to pay for a new or used one.

In the movie, called Now, we see the affects that thieves, inflation and greed play on this currency of time/life, and this is where the value of time finally comes home. With our currency of money,when there is a bank error, we know the money is not ours and have no troubles about giving it back because we can still go on with our lives. But with the movie, this is the time left on your life that you are fighting for.

As I was reading through the spoilers for this movie, I considered different advantages to leading a life in the now or waiting and then flip on the scarcity switch as my time ticks to a close. What we have around us in possessions and memories, have they been worth giving up a precious life in order to get what we want?

Other movies with a similar plot:
? Logan's Run - In the year 2274, the world's urban centers have been abandoned due to ecological disaster, and the remaining population has forged a society in a domed city, where no one is allowed to live past age 30. Michael York stars as a population control agent who, nearing the age of 30, goes on the run to avoid certain death, and Richard Jordan plays his ex-partner determined to hunt him down.

? The Island - Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson as members of a strictly regulated indoor futuristic colony who hope to win the lottery, a contest in which the grand prize is a trip to a Utopian island. It's reportedly the last uncontaminated place on Earth. But a startling discovery about the true nature of "the Island" -- and their very existence -- leads the two to stage a desperate escape to the outside world.

? Clockstoppers
? Click


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/IpRp/~3/tx2VxxKy3Sw/time-free-but-priceless.html

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Take a tour of the Arduino... but watch your step

engineerzero was kind enough to give a guided tour of a ginormous Arduino Uno to a handful of faceless Google SketchUp denizens recently. Highlights of the tour included a short stroll down Power Street to Analog Alley, where many different kinds of sensors can be connected. The group also had the incredible opportunity to see a red LED being airdropped from a helicopter into digital pin 13. There's no doubt that it was an extremely dedicated group of Arduino fans making pilgrimage to this site since these daring visitors risked life and limb climbing to the top of the crystal oscillator to get a view of the various components below.

Tours depart every 15 minutes from just north of the USB port. [via Adafruit]

Read the Full Story » | More on MAKE » | Comments » | Read more articles in Arduino | Digg this!

Source: http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2011/01/take_a_tour_of_the_arduino_just_wat.html

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Crytek discussing possibility of TimeSplitters 4, needs Crysis 2 shipped first

Our anticipation for Crysis 2 just skyrocketed for a terrible, terrible reason. See, in a recent interview with CVG, Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli responded to a query about the possibility of a new entry in the TimeSplitters franchise by saying, "Yeah, we have been discussing it, but nothing has been confirmed yet, so let's see after Crysis 2." The developers of the chronologically unstable series, Free Radical, were purchased by Crytek back in 2009, and now have their hands full with developing Crysis 2's multiplayer component.

Don't get us wrong -- we're definitely looking forward to Crysis 2 based solely on its own merits as an innovative first-person shooter. But we also want a new TimeSplitters, and if that means we have to ship Crysis 2 before it's ready to free up resources, then, well, that's an egg we're willing to break.

JoystiqCrytek discussing possibility of TimeSplitters 4, needs Crysis 2 shipped first originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 30 Jan 2011 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.joystiq.com/2011/01/30/crytek-discussing-possibility-of-timesplitters-4-needs-crysis-2/

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Alex Lee added a blog post

Alex Lee added a blog post
After 6 months of watching the rest of you, I finally had a free weekend to begin the build of my own ArduCopter. I really was inspired by Markus's H-design of his eight engine quad copter.   When I checked the store, they only had four of the 2836?

Source: http://diydrones.com/xn/detail/705844:BlogPost:265252?xg_source=activity

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Things to Re-Use You Had No Idea You Could

When I was growing up, my frugal-to-the-core mother was the master of ?re-using.?  Now, first, I must say that I love my mother more than anyone on earth and my respect for her knows no bounds.  However, as a child, this whole concept of ?Don?t throw that away!  You can RE-use it!? was first annoying and then just ?not cool.?  Ironically, now a few years out of college and attempting to make ends meet, that concept has suddenly become ?genius!?  If you?re in the mindset of save, save, save and you?ve got the whole recycled thing under your belt, fantastic!  But, I?d venture to say that even better than recycling sometimes, is simply re-using.  And, yes though it may have seemed annoying and uncool to my child-like/teen mind, this really isn?t nearly as terrifying as you may think.  It?s actually incredibly easy, and in some cases, fun!  So here goes, from my mom and from my own endeavors, is a Top 10 List of some easy things to re-use that you may have not considered before.
Flickr/CC - moonlightbulb

  • Teabags ? one of my mom?s favorites.  She easily gets three cups from one tea bag.  Not going to drink that many cups in one day?  She puts hers in a glass dish and places in the fridge till the next time she wants a cup.
  • Tinfoil ? another mom idea.  For used tinfoil that doesn?t come in contact with food, she simply refolds into a square when done and stores it until the next time she needs it.  She can make a roll of tinfoil last forever, people!
  • Coffee grounds ? you can stop throwing them away!  And, no, I?m not going to tell you to make another pot of coffee, I?m too much of a caffeine addict for that.  However!  They do make an excellent addition to your compost bin for fertilizer.
  • Plastic bags ? you can easily re-use all types of plastic bags: bread bags, sandwich bags, produce bags, etc.  If they?re clean, all the better, just fold up and store away, and if not, just wash in soapy water, rinse out and let dry.
  • Glass jars ? these make great storage containers for leftovers!  If they?re airtight, you can even store dry goods like sugar, pasta, and flour in them.  I also use the ?pretty? ones around the house for fun ways to hold pens and pencils and even toothbrushes!
  • Brown paper bags ? hello wrapping paper!  Brown paper with a little red ribbon looks fantastically classy.
  • Egg cartons ? ideal for starting seedlings if you?re a gardener.  Just cut off the lid, fill the cups with your favorite potting soil and go to it!  The best part?  Once your seedlings are ready, you can cut each cup out and plant the whole thing; the carton will disintegrate.
  • Food containers ? think butter dishes and cool whip containers.  Wash out and use for storage (no more buying plastic Tupperware).  My mom always used hers for dishes for feeding pets outside.
  • Glass soda bottles ? okay, disclaimer: I?m not promoting drinking soda!  BUT, if you?ve got some around, these make really fun flower vases.  You can also fill them with scented bath oils and salts and decorate with just a simple bow.  Great gift idea!
  • Greeting cards ? save your Christmas cards this year (or any fun cards for that matter!), cut out the picture, (fancy scissors will make this even more unique) and place on matching cardstock.  Stamp or print out your saying of choice inside.  Now that beats $3.25 for a generic card doesn?t it?

  • Have some fun, pick the ones that work best for you, and see just what you can re-use that you might not have considered before.  Do you have some ideas I?m missing?  Please share, I?d love to hear them!

    Author Tara Alley is a freelance writer from Montana who is very passionate about healthy cooking living a more eco-friendly lifestyle.  When not in the kitchen or working on her own writing, you can find her promoting green coffee for Coffee Home Direct.


    Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/IpRp/~3/NsPrPHkrI_k/things-to-re-use-you-had-no-idea-you.html

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    Coupons: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

    Coupon Sherpa recently post the top 10 coupon stories of 2010 and I have a few things to say about this last year as well. The good, the bad and the ugly part of coupons.

    1. Groupon goes viral -
    I am one of those people who signed up and has bought a few things through them. I bought a good deal for a subscription to the newspaper (for the Sunday coupons) and I have been milking that subscription for as long as possible - when there are no coupons in the Sunday paper, I put a hold on the paper to push the subscription out another week or two.  I also bought a teeth cleaning and checkup at a dentist across town and was happy to find out that I am taking good care of my teeth while I'm underemployed without dental insurance. And then finally I bought a holiday lights trip to a local museum but didn't end up going - I chalked it up to donating the $8 to the museum.

    The Groupon deals are out there, it just takes a few weeks or months to find one that fits your lifestyle. I can understand how Groupon has gone viral, it is a good idea. And in comparison to other group coupon sites, they would be worth my time checking out.

    flickr/cc - sdc2027

    2. Newspaper coupons are dying
    Though I see the newspaper subscriptions dropping and the girth of the paper slimming down, I have never thought about the Sunday coupons dying out. But thinking about it, I would have to agree that out of 10 coupons I use, only 2-3 are going to ones from the newspaper and the rest will come from printing them off from coupon sites.

    I have also noticed that the Sunday coupons appear to be more and more high end cleaning, beauty products or B1G1 free items, though even the buy one get one coupons are diminishing or going to B2G1 coupons.

    Unfortunately, this does appear to be bad news for some of us, though not the end of the world. We have always wanted to influence companies and this is one way we are, by printing our coupons online and making the newspaper one less important.

    3. Online coupons are taking off
    Coupon Sherpa said that, "In 2009, close to 397 billion printable coupons were distributed online, a figure that grew by nearly 25 percent in the first half of 2010." That is an impressive amount and I'm sure that many people, like myself print out 2 or more coupons for more savings and stocking up. But with online coupons have come the ugliness of coupon fraud and even I have been embarrassed by this.

    Because of the coupon fraud stores may be taking some more conservative approaches to online coupons. In 2009 1% of 3.3 billion coupons were fraudulent, which isn't a lot, but if you consider that it is a 14% increase over 2008 and who knows where we stand for 2010.

    The Coupon Information Corp. updates daily, fraudulent coupons that come out. It's quite amazing the business that is out there for these and unfortunately stores and manufacturers don't have a way to "void out" the bar codes on these fraud coupons. Until then, please be aware that you may be stopped from using them.


    Those are my good, bad and ugly from 2010 - read the remaining 7 over at couponsherpa.com


    Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/IpRp/~3/4AIbMti6F3E/coupons-good-bad-and-ugly.html

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    Fish Where the Developers Are (2011 Digital Trends Part I)

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    Note: This is the first in a series of posts on some of Edelman Digital's eleven trends to watch for 2011. David Armano and I will release the full deck later this week.

    One of the oft-repeated maxims in digital and social media circles is to fish where the fish are. Jeremiah Owyang gets due credit here for coining the phrase in this context. In 2011, this doesn't change. But as it gets harder to place bets, a smart play is to also fish where the developers are. 

    If you need a starting point, follow developer API trends - and how they're being adopted. According to Programmable Web, the top five types of APIs in 2010: social, Internet, mapping, search and mobile. Some of these are overlooked. Also notice the appearance of Sears on the graphic below. That's a sign of things to come. Marketers will start building their own APIs this year and also more actively courting developers.

    The logic is simple. Time and again we've seen that the most successful digital businesses are those that have become platforms - part of the Internet fabric. Consider these examples...

    Facebook isn't just a social network, but also a platform that conceivably can make every web site hyper personalized and social. Similarly, Twitter isn't just a web site but an entirely new platform for information that has spawned a tremendous ecosystem of applications and services. The trend is broader, however. Dropbox, Evernote, Bump and Instapaper are becoming essential services that mobile developers across platforms are adding to their apps. PayPal, in much the same way, is becoming the Bank of the Web. (PayPal is part of eBay, an Edelman client.)

    Marketers typically don't try to become platforms or court developers, but that's all about to change. An ever-changing array of platforms will erode our fascination with single venues and get us thinking about how we can hedge our bets by helping developers succeed across a portfolio of them.

    Our recommendation here is to dedicate some resources (and it can be small) to working with programmers - particularly those in the mobile and social space. Get in early while you can.

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    Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/steverubel/~3/f4DW4G460RM/fish-where-the-developers-are-2011-digital-tr

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