http://www.henrylim.org/Harpsichord.html

With the exception of the wire strings, this instrument is entirely constructed out of LEGO parts(…) approximate 150 lbs. weight, and an estimated 100,000 LEGO piece count (…) It’s taken two years of theorizing, designing, collecting parts, building, testing, and rebuilding.

I first knew of the Lego Harsichord after an article in make magazine, and have been wanting to write about it since then. From my point of view, this project stands on its own not only because of the sheer amount of lego blocks used, but because Henry Lim has overcome the very specific problems that arise when designing and building a music instrument, plus the added challenge of making every single part of it out of Lego (well, obviously not the strings), departing with no previous knowledge on the field!

It is true that, if you Read the rest of this article »

http://www.loop.ph/twiki/bin/view/Loop/BioWall

A Synetic building is an airy and lace-like basketry of thin arcs patterned in curvilinear triangulation.

What?

The structure is based on the principle of self-similarity enabling it to work from the nano to the macro scale.

oh… that must be the wall… but, where´s the Bio?

(…) reactive surfaces inspired by botanical life that reflect and Read the rest of this article »

Tags:3D , design , experimental , organic , springs

There is nothing in the mind that has not been before in the senses.

I hate fighting games. My first contact with them was the Street Fighter 2 coin-op, and already then I thought it was a ridiculous game. That´s strange, because I could finish the first Double Dragon without blinking, but there was no chemistry. It was a game without power-ups, where in order to get the control dynamics you had to Read the rest of this article »

Probably there are as many types of humour as there are people. Our sense of humour is like a fingerprint: it identifies us and represents us socially; it singles us out. We can think of it as a collage of circumstances that we try to match with our personal values. Due to this fact, we tend to remember comical situations and gags that fit us somehow. It’s almost an aesthetic matter (intangible, but aesthetic).

Today I would like to show you some pieces of my particular collage. This will be a movie scenes collage, featuring five –in my opinion- memorable moments. Read the rest of this article »

http://www.glest.org/

Since rc3 and rc4 were released very close to each other, I´ll include here both versions´ features:

rc3:

- Final icons for the new units (you will not be able to see that until the data rc3 is uploaded, which should be soon).

- Shared vision for allies: This has a very nice side effect, CPU controlled factions will support each other, this will not always happen though, only when they have enough soldiers on their bases.

- Now you can play in every start location even with 2 or 3 factions in 4 player maps.

- Improved results screen, now it has a score and the team of each faction.

rc4:

This version includes increased projectile accuracy, ranged units now hit moving slow or close enemy units.

Don´t forget to share your thoughts on Glest in the Forum

a self-sustainable shrimp tank

http://www.eco-sphere.com/home.htm

(…) the world’s first totally enclosed ecosystem - a complete, self-contained and self-sustaining miniature world encased in glass(…) you never have to feed the life within.

The Ecosphere is not only a water tank with a few red shrimp, bacteria, and some algae. Actually, it is the succesful result of serious research on managing closed ecosystems.

In brief, an ecosytem is a community of living beings, plus their habitat. When an ecosystem exchanges energy, but only energy with the outside, it is said to Read the rest of this article »

For a few months after I started this site, I kept the original partial feed. However, I didn´t like the way the articles were displayed (especially the links in the beginning), so last month I decided to change to “titles only” mode while at the same time I made use of the feedburner plugin so that all the feeds were centralized and I could effectively control their look. Finally, this month I will test the “full feed” option, so you will get the full articles in your aggregator -or by email, in case you subscribe via feedblitz (scroll down a bit and you will see the subscription form in the left, just over my face ). After some time (one or two months for instance) I will decide whether or not to keep the full RSS or go back to partial or “titles only” mode. Quick update: After Tete´s comment, I have made available the three versions (Full, Summaries, and Headlines), so that you can choose which one you like. They are located at the top of the sidebar, just beside “home”. Default is Full, and email subscribers will receive the full articles too.

Since the purpose of RSS is to make the reader´s life easier, I would like, if possible, to know your opinion about this issue. Are the titles enough? Would you like to receive part of the articles and then decide whether to go for the full article? Or do you prefer to have all the content at hand? I´m not much biased towards one option or another (well, I would turn off “full feed” in case someone blatantly stole the content, or if the bandwith usage increased so much that I couldn´t afford it, which I don´t think will happen), so I count on you to tell me what you want.

ps. I´m assuming everyone knows what a feed is, when actually I didn´t know much about them not so long ago. As always, wikipedia comes to the rescue.

ps2. Two views on the matter from Scobleizer and Pirillo. The latter is almost one year old, but still makes a nice counterpoint.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/totm/index.php

It is no wonder why Pieter van Suijlekom’s reef aquarium has been chosen as “tank of the month” by the Reefkeeping online magazine. With a lenght of 6 metres and weighing 8000 kg, this is the largest private aquarium I have ever seen, and I guess it must be one of the most impressive ever constructed. (My dentist has an impressive aquarium, too: a very good idea to soothen up the patient´s nerves before the torture). It is so big that a 22-mm thick safety glass sheet had to be custom made by Tetterode Glass so that it could stand the tremendous pressure of the water inside.

The number and kinds of fish and corals lodged inside this tank is by no means less impressive. To mention a few, you will find here examples of Seriatopora hystrix, Poccilopora verrucosa, one Halichoeres chrysus and three Naso literatus (naso literatus? this must be the Cyrano de Bergerac among the fish, I guess). The tank has been accomodated on the second floor of the “Open fireplace Center”, a shop in Vlaardingen, Netherlands. As you may see in the pictures, the room has been fitted with two comfortable armchairs (I have to talk to my dentist about it), and I´m sure that if I lived nearby I would probably grab some popcorn and go to the dock of the tank to watch the fish roll in, instead of spending my money going to the movies.

ps. I have just found the monster-megatank. Still, if not in size, I think that Pieter´s aquarium is much more impressive in terms of style.

Related Article: The minitank!

Related Article: The Ecosphere

http://www.oscar.com/

“Brokeback Mountain” (8 nominations) is the hot favourite to the Oscars, which will be handed out tomorrow. There´s a high level of competition this year, with the magnificent “Crash” as the outsider and “Munich” by the always great Spielberg. George Clooney, willing to shake off cliches, has caught three nominations: best director and script for “Good night, and good luck”, and best supporting actor for “Syriana”. I would like the cowboys (Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal) to win because of their sober and felt performances, but the same may happen to them that happened to Thelma and Louise (Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis), since the competition is big. Another wish: that “The corpse bride” wins the Oscar for best animation film. To me, it is one of this year´s big movies.

Art is the idea of a piece, an idea which exists without matter.

Today we are going to finish this two-chapter series about Spaghetti Western. We will review the “punch” of this genre by means of some titles that shape it.

Let´s begin with my favourite film in the genre: Leone’s “Once Upon a Time in the West” (obvious choice). Leone had already shot the “Dollars trilogy” (the previous three films), although this is the movie in which he reaches the greatest refinement and technical perfection. Without leaving the peculiar characteristics of these kind of films, Leone obtains his most personal movie, tinged with a slower narrative tempo than previous ones. Read the rest of this article »