August 2008 - Posts
NOTE: Rather than change the headline here and get complicated with updates I wrote a second Gustav entry here .
When Katrina struck three years ago, the means of conveyance of choice for digital information was blogging and we used tools like Technorati to search for relevant material. With Gustav's arrival at hand, a new tool, Twitter, is helping spread important information and put people in touch. It'd be wrong to say that Twitter has replaced blogging - in fact I'm finding it's helping find relevant blogs - but it has certainly changed the online information landscape.TweetScan . Here we see that the small pieces of information that might be lost in the blogosphere fit in well with the stream to tid-bits. We can see everything from traffic tips to animal charities .gustav versus one for #gustav it looks like the #gustav takes some of the noise out of the channel and gives more useful results (by which I mean, there's less slogging through posts like "I hope Gustav doesn't do too much damage" that show up in a simple search for the storm name.Twitturls , a site that lists the most popular links being sent on Twitter is Katrina vet Andy Carvin 's Gustav Information Center . He's put together a feed of government alerts among other useful links.Brendan Loy should ring a bell if you spent a lot of time online through Katrina. He's weatherblogging Gustav as well. Don't miss that massive blogroll/linklist on the left.McCain's choice of VP drew discussion from Obama only to have Gustav take the discussion from McCain . Republican planners were probably right to think no one would be watching on Monday.Poynter has set up a site that is aggregating Gustav reports from the mainstream media and a variety of citizen sources.The GustavFeed is rounding up news coverage, citizen media (like YouTube clips and Flickr photos) and informational links . You could probably spend your whole time here and get all the coverage you need.liveblogging his experience . Lesser reports may come through his Twitter feed , which you can also see in the right margin of his blog.NOLA.com staff is staying. Their Katrina efforts were widely celebrated. It's hard to imagine them fleeing from Gustav.live video streams of five local TV stations in the New Orleans area . (I just saw one local weatherman point out the dangers of the post-hurricane tropical depression stalling slightly inland and dumping tons of rain, likely compounding any problems from the storm itself. See the 5-day track he's looking at on the National Hurricane Center site .)
I'm half way through my annual trip to the New Jersey shore to perform the ritual burning of the tops of my feet and center part of my back that I can't reach. As per tradition, Internet connectivity is not as abundant as I expected (that expectation having been based on nothing but forgetfulness of the last time I over-expected connectivity at the beach) and so it's the familiar realization that my vacation is not going to be super-productive-get-things-done time that prompts me to finally post here and report: I'm almost back.
Marc Ambinder wins the prize for most creative use of the Web for clues as to Obama's V.P. pick. He used
FlightAware to check for charter flights between Chicago and Biden's nearest airport in Delaware.
I guess because Roseanne Barr has decided to pick on Brangelina in her blog . Some gossip outlets have turned their attention to it, creating a cascade that has brought the link onto the Clicked radar.
The Britney mic feed video may be scandalous to some but it makes perfect sense to me and it's something I always wondered about those dancey singers with the headset mics. How do they exert themselves physically like that and still sing clearly? Hell, I can't even walk fast and talk without sounding winded. Of course the next question is why bother with the illusion if all they're really doing is gasping and croaking?
You may have read about the David Hasslehoff social network this week. Apparently the guy thinks that love for him can be a point of bonding and unity between strangers. On the one hand it may be the most absurd idea ever. On the other hand, doesn't it seem like people who are so fanatical about David Hasslehoff that they'd join his social network might actually share some hard-to-define commonality?
What's remarkable about this video of Tiger Woods walking on water isn't the video trick or even the naked blasphemy but that it is apparently a video reply from a massively popular and powerful video game company starring a massively popular and powerful athlete to an utterly unremarkable video game fan YouTube clip. Here's the original video . A new twist on the ancient lesson: You never know who's reading what you put online.It Ain't That Hard, Folks. Make Better Cars. He's not Michael Phelps but I guess being a tall white guy is close enough as far as some Chinese are concerned. (I should say, a tall white guy with a camera crew, which probably flags him as famous whether he's Phelps or not.)
And depending on whose campaign ads you believe, Obama may qualify for the celebrity list. He's now the most followed Twitter user . His Tweets are just announcements of where he is, usually with a link to watch him online. I confess I signed up for his vice presidential text message announcement. So far no spam but I find it hard to believe they're going to amass that database and not try to make use of it later.
Speaking of politics and celebrities, W. the film has a site now - and posters and new trailers and stuff.
Oh, and of celebrity Twitterers? How 'bout John Cleese ?
I actually heard about this one at the water cooler before I saw it online - which sort of makes sense since it's not really a Web video, it's from a local Miami news station.
Here's the original but I don't see a way to make the player bigger. The latest update on the guy's condition is that he was able to leave the hospital today.
Contrary to the IOC's conclusions about the age of Chinese gymnast He Kexin and their belief that the matter will be "put to rest," the investigative work displayed on one blog and the magical "gotcha" authority that comes with the phrase "search engine cache" ensure that those who don't want to buy it don't have to.
These guys are pretty clever for figuring a way to turn some white water river churn into a surfable stationary wave. I'm still trying to figure out the structure of what lies beneath. From my very limited and pretty clumsy white water canoeing experience, the bumps are where the rocks are (I know this because we hit just about every rock the Delaware River put in front of us). So when these guys fall off their boards, are they hitting the rock that's creating that turbulence?
I've got a few links in my notes that I've yet to read about scientists working at conducting faster-than-light experiments but until I get around to reading those, here's another way to tinker with time:
Yearbook Yourself .
Upload a photo of a face and it applies a frame in the style of the year you specify.
Also works on comic book faces. Wolverine circa 1964:
As you may have heard,
a Bigfoot corpse has been discovered and the details, including DNA information
will be revealed today , just a few short hours from now, at a press conference in California.
Now, you may point out that this isn't the first time such a claim has been made or that the photo of the body looks an awful lot like a gorilla suit in a box but that's no reason to miss the opportunity to indulge in a lot of "If true..." journalism. My favorite part of the coverage of this story is the way the question of the creature and it's description is secondary to whether the "hunters" can produce it. If they don't produce an actual Bigfoot body at the press conference, it's doesn't mean there's no creature, it just means they haven't caught one yet. Anyway, I'd better stop before I get carried away and ruin my paranormal buzz.
And you science bloggers, no ruining the fun this time! ADDING: The Tech section is carrying
the AP story on this so presumably it'll update once the press conference happens. (I helped Helen write
the Newsvine discussion question . :) )
ONE MORE: This is
a pretty thorough debunking but it dates back to before the press conference. It follows the "Halloween costume theory" mentioned in the Cryptomundo link above.
Speaking of questioning whether something is real, I had to ask around about this movie poster for
The Dark Knight Returns coming in 2011 that includes a glimpse of the hand of the Riddler. (We think it's real.)
Did you see this
time line of Internet memes ? Note the little plus signs along the line that let you zoom in. Looks like someone is keeping it up to date.
Uni. Washington and Microsoft Research collaborates on (yet another) mindblowing 3D photo viewer - The version of this video
at the University of Washington site has some supplementary material as well. I'm not sure but
this appears to be related (at least in so far as it's from the same university). What's most unexpected about this kind of research is that I generally think of video as being a kind of evolution of the still photo, at least in terms of conveying information. Breaking away from the linearity of video also takes the mind in a new direction (to which the entire community of video game environment designers say, "Duh!")
Hit me later enables you to have your e-mail resent to you at a later time of your choosing. I'm having trouble thinking of how this is better than just ignoring it.
Cancer cured headline of the day:
Patients 'free from cancer' after immune-boost treatment . Well, I guess that's it then.
In the comments of a post from the other day Caren reminded us of the
My Early Muir Owl video (and sent me on a morning digression of watching marriage proposal videos - very heartwarming) in connection with the anamorphosis item. Coincidentally today I ran into what is basically an anamorphosis game called
Coign of Vantage .
In addition to getting a lot of mail about the Bigfoot item, a few folks, aware of my enthusiasm for lightning porn, have sent in links to some version of
this ultra slow motion video of a lightning bolt . I wasn't able to get that BBC video to play, so I don't know how much real time the clip represents but still pretty amazing.
This video is also the best use of YouTube's comment bubble feature I've seen yet.
Full story .
I'm generally resistant to the wiles of
Cute Overload and it's ilk but this "
puppy whisperer " video is spreading through the cube farm like a spine-softening plague.
I don't know, I don't think it really looks like her.
That breaking news spam you got from msnbc.com or CNN is
outlined here . Short version: Those mails aren't coming from us and don't click anything on them.
Bob explains it here .
I'm trying to imagine a culture where
this is what a commuter parking lot looks like and I just can't. It must always look like an Earth Day parade.
How to make a suction cup tire bike Mouse over the images to see the movie poster version of the Watchmen comic art.
I've heard of "manscaping" but literally
coating your head in landscaping is taking things a bit far. I do love the idea that he's wired himself with electricity though.
Oh no, when the right accuses the left of being "unhinged"
this is the sort of thing they're talking about . Not everything is a sign that George Bush has ruined the country and the planet - and I say that fully aware of all of the evils of George Bush and the precarious situation our environment is in, so spare me the angry mail. Going all Henny Penny over sprinkler rainbows sets the whole cause back.
Mathway not only solves your math problems but explains the steps to you. As much as this would be a nightmare for teachers and a blessing for cheating students the people who I think would really benefit from this is parents who are trying to help their kids with math homework using faded memories of 10-20 year-old math classes.
The future is now.
15 buildings that have brought us closer to a Blade Runner present .
Speaking of Oobject links, here they have a collection of
really tiny projectors which caught my eye because I was recently looking at
this "world's smallest" projector . What's the deal with tiny projectors? (Actually, I know the answer. As technology gets tinier, screen sizes can't keep up because they have to actually be readable. So if you can project the image on something else, the technology can keep shrinking (provided the projector technology can shrink better than screens.)
xkcd divines some pretty
good life advice from Google . I love that Google trick for seeing what the Web-public thinks about things. In entering other decisions we can also learn that there are only two results for "I never should have taken the money" versus 5,720 who suffer the opposite regret.
In spite of not really having the time today I ended up fitting in
this entire mulit-media report on a feral girl saved from a neglectful household in Florida . It's very powerful but be prepared to be depressed for the rest of the day. Studying psychology in college the idea of a feral child was sort of a research gold mine, so clicking this I was expecting something more scientific about how intertwined nature and nurture are in human development. There's not much of that at all here. Instead it's a very personal, powerful human story.
Here's a cool but simple toy from the New York Times showing
Olympic medal winnings over time .
New buzz tracker: "
Polymeme helps you discover intelligent content that lies beyond the usual echo chambers of tech news, celebrity gossip or American politics."
Cool use of anamorphosis for
navigating a parking garage . Where have you seen this before? Probably in
that collection of anamorphosis that's been floating around the Web.
I thought the
Animasher would be too simplistic to do anything really complex but go ahead and play with it and you'll see that there's really quite a bit you can do if you're creative enough. I've recently begun to look at animation software and this bodes very well for what else is out there.
You might not think it's a slow news period with the Olympics and wars going on but how else can you explain the sudden fame of Sink Bath Guy?
After watching that you either hate this guy or ou think he's cool. For the latter of you, there's also his MySpace page that includes some of the songs that are now his sole source of income. What you may not have anticipated: it's rap. (Well, yes, that too, but no, I said, "Rap.")
Never mind general human decency but don't they at least have some form of political correctness in Spain that would discourage posing for a photo while
using your fingers to make your eyes slant??
I killed my morning with links and stories related to
this story of the MIT students blocked from giving their presentation at the hacker convention because they reveal security flaws in the Boston subway's fare system and other security. I had thought the First Amendment issues surrounding matters like this had been settled back in the days of publishing bomb-making recipes on the Internet but
apparently not .
In any event, more interesting than the legal implications is the presentation itself (first on
this list of related documents ). I just can't be bothered to make my own Metrocard. Laziness is the best security strategy I guess. But I do wonder what information like this means to more valuable RFID applications. What about those gas station speed pass key chains? Might we expect a black market in those (assuming one doesn't already exist)? I wonder how many counterfeit hits the EZ-Pass toll collection systems get.
Sickest video of the morning:
Roller Suit in Swiss Alps - When the video first started playing I thought the guy would do well to find a way to mix in some larger wheels because those little ones must be seriously screaming - but then he started taking corners and I reckon whatever limit those wheels are holding him to is probably for the best. P.S. At 4:12 he actually passes a motorcycle. Can you imagine?
Speaking of dancing with death on the road:
According to the court, Mellin tied one end of a rope to a tree, climbed into his DB7 and wrapped the other end around his neck. Mellin then jammed the pedal down on the $173,000 car, driving into a busy main road, forcing other drivers to watch his horrific death . I thought I'd heard of something like this before but while I didn't find the case I was thinking of, I did find another instance of "drive your head off" just
recently in Poland .
I had to call a colleague over to confirm that this isn't some kind of hoax. Google Maps
captures a house on fire - pretty dramatically on fire. UPDATE: Thanks to reader A.G. Pym for pointing out that Google killed the image. Strangely, if you move
just a little bit down the road you see basically the same thing. I wonder if they'll dispatch the street view truck to re-shoot it.
Speaking of being suspicious of real things,
the Gumball 3000 is apparently not some kind of marketing trick for a racing video game.
The rally's official site doesn't really settle the question very well but further searching has convinced me it's a real, if cartoonish and elaborately expensive, race.
The hysterical results of automatic language filters. In case it isn't clear, it is apparently very common to do a mass search/replace of the word "tit" with "breast."
How to watch the Olympics online .
In case you didn't have a computer in your lap when that Target commercial with the roommates came on the air so you could search what song that is, it's Calabria 2007 by Enur featuring Natasja .
A lot of these Olympics commercials are really clever and I'm sure they're expensive buys. I wonder why we don't see them hyped like Super Bowl commercials.
Oh, and if you clicked that link and listened to the song, you can sit back down now.
While today's news John Edwards' confirmation of his extra-marital affair couldn't really be described as a Web story, it's interesting that Elizabeth Edwards chose to
use her Kos account to speak to the public .
"I found him." (Well, it's slow-action for me because it took a while for the link to load in addition to the time it took my brain to figure out the punch line.)
Who's alive and who's dead? I couldn't imagine how they could structure a site like this. What, a big list of famous people? No, the site groups the names by show or band or other category and then lists the cast/members and who's alive and who's dead and the ages. Morbid, but I bet you can't click just one.
If you haven't seen this yet you will. It's got all the ingredients to be one of those things that every level of media has to play until you're insane. But in the spirit of keeping up the "that thing in the news" category, here it is.
See
Paris Hilton Responds to McCain Ad and more
funny videos on
FunnyOrDie.com
Name the accents . I manged 42 points. You can cheat a little buy guessing what country the person looks like they're from. Then again, I psyched myself out a couple times and over-thought the answer, getting it wrong.
I think the idea behind
HearWho is that you can paste the text of news stories into the field, have them encoded as mp3s and then listen to them later, sort of like turning your news into
a handmade podcast .
Of course, what it's really good for is making the robot say funny things and sing that banana-fanna name game song.
I know it seems like there are a lot of stories about missing girls in the news lately. This one is the mother of the girl taken by
the mysterious Rockefeller fellow - if that is his real name.
