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Magic Leap Launch

posted December 21, 2017 #

It certainly seems like it's been a long time coming but the VR outfit Magic Leap has launched... a new site. The intro interaction is an undeniably impressive, immersive, beast - as you'd expect from a company hellbent on being the frontrunner for augmented reality.

Aside from a pretty new site, the real story is that the Creator Edition of their goggles, controller and Lightpack (puck shaped computer) will be available in 2018, along with an SDK to get some "real world" application of the hardware out there.

Reading sci-fi for the majority of my life has made me apprehensive on too much escapism into digital worlds but, despite that, I can't help but be excited by the prospect of some executed AR. Hopefully Magic Leap is able to deliver.

posted December 20, 2017 #

@jamiebradley @yewknee Why would you question me on that?

posted December 20, 2017 #

Every December I have to re-learn that if I’m going to start a candy cane, I’d better be prepared to finish it.

Santa's gay husband

posted December 20, 2017 #

If this does anything but delight you, please take a good look at yourself

Google Maps’s Moat

posted December 20, 2017 #

how far ahead of Apple Maps is Google Maps? tldr: use Google Maps

posted December 20, 2017 #

Your Star Wars name = put a space randomly in your favourite pasta dish. Mine is Carb Onara.

The Autumn Man

posted December 20, 2017 #

Smart Objects is a new band out of Nashville that released exactly one song, The Autumn Man. Despite not having much of a body of work to dive in to, this song is good. It's been in heavy rotation for me since its release in August and now they've unveiled an official video for the track.

The endeavor is actually comprised of work from nine different animators, each using a consistent "character" through their piece but going off on their own wild tangent of style. Long story short, if you're watching the video and feel yourself getting bored, wait 15 seconds and you'll get a brand new eyeball treat.

posted December 19, 2017 #

Adding the Star Wars ending to any video makes it 10x funnier. https://t.co/rorhPVpMFY

posted December 19, 2017 #

The more I see of Disney's 'Hall of Presidents' Trump, the more I'm convinced they made a Hillary one first and had to redo it https://t.co/vJTMnZPak8

posted December 19, 2017 #

Our 2017 Client Gift https://t.co/XX7cFb0wLr https://t.co/FoKAn8n9Up

posted December 19, 2017 #

Friends and bandmates of @jessizazu plan a tribute and benefit show at @mercylounge. https://t.co/6mvXhpPdwT https://t.co/SdWsh0SYH9

posted December 19, 2017 #

I just sang “thank you for dressing our son” to my wife like the Golden Girls theme and don’t you wish you lived with me too

Nicolas Dehghani

posted December 19, 2017 #

I can't say enough effusive things about the work of French illustrator Nicolas Dehghani. The expressive characters, the color palette, the textures - every single thing is absolutely compelling to my eyeballs. I particularly love that it can be cartoony, hardcore sci-fi or simply weird and it all still works great.

Plenty of newer work to see on Instagram and a treasure trove on Tumblr.

yk Records, Year End Mentions

posted December 19, 2017 #

I'm sure I'll have some more elaborate posts about the Year in yk Records as the end of the year closes in but I wanted to take a moment to point out two articles that were particularly worthwhile:
  • Aquarium Drunkard: Year in Review 2017 - the debut album from Skyway Man made their list with an extremely flattering review:
    Seen Comin'... is exquisite psychedelic pop overflowing with vivid imagery and lush arrangements. Seriously, everyone should have written about this record.
  • Alex the Great - a lengthy interview with Alex Caress, aka Little Bandit, on the impact and reception of his debut album, Breakfast Alone.

Super Nt

posted December 19, 2017 #

First, some background: Super NT is a console that recreates the Super Nintendo experience, not via emulation but with the same hardware originally available; souped up to 1080p. It's "video game preservation" - a SNES console for purists that also want their games to look good on the big screen. Honestly, it's an admirable endeavor and it looks great.

For me, the real story is that Phil Fish, designer of Fez and controversial tweeter, was involved in the Super NT's interface, including the boot sequence that depicts the Analogue logo in 30 random pixel variations set to a Squarepusher ident. You can read more about it here, as well as see a bunch of the variations on the embedded sequence above.

Couple this news along with the Fez Mobile news and maybe 2018 will be a full-on Fish Resurgence.

posted December 18, 2017 #

Thanks @aquadrunkard for throwing us on their 2017 year in review Spotify playlist (link in… https://t.co/9yX2EzTxiH

The Pentagon's Mysterious UFO Program

posted December 18, 2017 #

The NY Times recently reported on The Pentagon's Mysterious UFO Program - the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program - a 2007 initiative that has been confirmed to have received a decent chunk of funding to investigate unknown objects in the sky. The funding, $600 billion, "dried up" in 2012 and not too many details are known about what work was actually done in those five years.

Sra Seager, an MIT astrophysicist, cautions against reading too much into it:
"When people claim to observe truly unusual phenomena, sometimes it’s worth investigating seriously," she said. But, she added, "what people sometimes don’t get about science is that we often have phenomena that remain unexplained."
That's entirely fair and agreeable but the US government rarely acknowledges anything to do with UFOs - alien or otherwise - so it's vaguely refreshing to hear this talked about a bit more openly.

It's a good read and, hopefully, just the first of many pieces to discuss the work and findings of Bigelow Aerospace, the company contracted to research the data. Here's my favorite quote from Mr. Bigelow himself:
"Internationally, we are the most backward country in the world on this issue. Our scientists are scared of being ostracized, and our media is scared of the stigma. China and Russia are much more open and work on this with huge organizations within their countries. Smaller countries like Belgium, France, England and South American countries like Chile are more open, too. They are proactive and willing to discuss this topic, rather than being held back by a juvenile taboo."


At the very least, watch the accompanying video.
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