Union for a Popular Movement (Union pour un Mouvement Populaire [wiki] or UMP) is a French conservative political party. During the summer, besides handing out leaflets, activists for the party also wore this clever flip-flop that imprinted the party’s initials on the sand.
Posted by Alex in Art, Pictures on October 18, 2006 at 3:45 pm
From Interactive Architecture:
Hello world is an installation by Yunchul Kim that contains a codified audio signal that circulates in a closed (feedback) system, consisting of a computer, a speaker, 246 meters of copper tube and a microphone. By using the acoustic delay of the tube system, it is possible to store data. The longer the tube, the greater the time delay, which leads to greater memory capacity. In addition to this a screen shows a visual representation of the information traveling around the system. If a participant makes noises near the installation or hits the copper piping it interferes with the audio signal loop. For me what was most interesting was the play on standard architectural materials as a way of transmitting data and the way that anyone can experiment with creating interference within the system by simply making different noises.
Metro has got the story on Tina, the off-roading tortoise of the Longleat Safari Park, Wiltshire, UK:
Tina the tortoise has been given a lift after being fitted with a suspension system and a pneumatic tyre to help her cope with muddy terrain.
The three-legged reptile can now go ‘off-road’ after the 4×4-style system was attached to her shell. Tina was fitted with a plastic wheel four years ago to replace her rear right leg.
But our increasingly warmer autumns mean Tina hibernates later in the year, leaving her battling to cope with muddy grass and slopes and dead leaves. So the rudimentary wheel has now been replaced with an air-filled tyre and a spring suspension system with shock absorber.
eBay Motors has a M400X Skycar VTOL Prototype Aircraft for sale. Bidding was at $2.5 million last I checked.
The prototype M400 Skycar®, is powered by eight air-cooled Rotapower® rotary engines; two in each of the four nacelles. Each nacelle contains two engines and two independently rotating fans and is capable of generating approximately 500 pounds of vertical thrust. The nacelles rotate 45 degrees and have thrust deflection vanes that provide for an additional 45-degree change in direction of the airflow to produce the 90-degree (vertical) thrust required for takeoff and hovering. Both the nacelles and deflection vanes are intended to operate in the horizontal position while at cruise speeds.
I don’t understand a bit of this, but it looks pretty cool. Link
Former circus artist Eskil Rønningsbakken performed this handstand on the edge of the Pulpit Rock, Norway’s most famous cliff (with a 604 m. or 660 yd. drop to the Lysefjord):
Simply doing a conventional handstand on the edge of the cliff wasn’t quite exciting enough for Rønningsbakken, though, so he added to the suspense by perching on a four-rung metal ladder that in turn teetered on the edge of Norway’s famed Pulpit Rock (Prekestolen).
Posted by Alex in Advertising on October 18, 2006 at 9:37 am
As an encore for bouncing 250,000 superballs down the street of San Francisco to promote its new Bravia TV, Sony blew up over 70,000 liters (18,500 gallons) of paint from a building in Glasgow, Scotland.
The ad took 10 days and 250 people to set up and film. The clean up took 5 days and 60 people to scrape the paint.
From the Top Ten Best Ghost Photo Ever Taken, last year’s (2005) post at The Knight Shift:
Freddy Jackson was a mechanic in the Royal Air Force in World War I. Freddy Jackson’s squadron served onboard the H.M.S. Daedalus. Freddy Jackson was killed in 1919 when an airplane propeller hit him. Two days later when the squadron assembled for a group photo, Freddy Jackson faithfully showed up, grinning behind the ear of a fellow comrade. Guess nobody bothered to tell Freddy Jackson that he was dead. His face was widely recognized in this photo by members of the squadron.
Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.), Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Former Rep. James Traficant (D-Ohio)
It’s close to election time, and Radar Online has the scoop on the thing foremost on voters’ minds: the politicians’ hair.
In the end, however, the pivotal decisions Americans face may all come down to hair. "It’s one of the first things voters notice," says political image consultant Sherry Maysonave, president of Austin, Texas-based Empowerment Enterprises, who has masterminded the appearance of congressional and presidential candidates from both parties. "Hair is a strong indicator of a candidate’s position and politics. If it’s distracting in any way, it can seriously reduce the power of the message." To avoid such dips in rhetorical potency, Maysonave eradicates frizz ("perceived as instability"), stamps out comb-overs ("not trustable"), and tries her best to wean male Conservatives, a group only slightly less conformist than teenage girls, of their dependence on poorly-parted helmet hair. "An overly low side-part," she warns, "can make you look as if you’re not even living in this decade."
Actually, the company has more than just this casket pool table, they have casket sofa, phone booth, pet bed, coffee table, and so on: Link – via 2dayBlog
Humanity may split into two sub-species in 100,000 years’ time as predicted by HG Wells, an expert has said.
Evolutionary theorist Oliver Curry of the London School of Economics expects a genetic upper class and a dim-witted underclass to emerge.
The human race would peak in the year 3000, he said – before a decline due to dependence on technology.
People would become choosier about their sexual partners, causing humanity to divide into sub-species, he added.
The descendants of the genetic upper class would be tall, slim, healthy, attractive, intelligent, and creative and a far cry from the "underclass" humans who would have evolved into dim-witted, ugly, squat goblin-like creatures.
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