This article reports that a Japanese construction firm, Shimizu, has dreamed up a rather ambitious plan for harvesting energy from the Moon:
It’s a large-scaled, seemingly inconceivable plan that involves remote-controlled robots building thousands of photovoltaic panels out of moon dirt, assembling the panels into a gigantic lunar girdle belt, and laser-beaming 220 terawatts of annually collected voltage toward Earth.
Supposedly this is actually possible but a plan that involves robots turning Moon Dirt™ into solar panels seems beyond "seemingly inconceivable" and lands in "downright ludicrous." Maybe one day Shimizu will prove me wrong but this is craziness! (of the best variety)
Over the past few months Netflix has gone through a myriad of changes. Their recent price hike caused a great deal of Internet Outrage™ but it seemed unfounded because similar services - i.e. Comcast / Mega ISPs - offer so much less for so much more. Then the news came that they'd no longer be able to carry Starz / Disney / Sony films - an understandable unpleasing bit of news as content is king in their game.
All that being said, it seems that Co-Founder Reed Hastings has apologized for his lack of communication and transparency on the subject. Then he goes on to announce that the DVD-by-mail service will be split off to its own service called Qwikster and integration of DVD and Streaming Queues will no longer be an option.
My gut reaction is to think that they're losing their minds and just going to infuriate more of their customers. However, I can't help but think there's got to be some tactical advantage to the split. Netflix will become synonymous with "streaming" and having the DVD service off on its own may somehow give them leverage to work with more studios (between the two). Basically, I just hope Netflix isn't falling apart as they seem to have a good thing going... I just hope we aren't watching them screw it all up right before our eyes.
VHX API - it just recently occurred to me that VHX has an API already in place for serving up custom playlists and embeddable players (with JS). I'm thinking this guy might come in real handy soon.
Carbyn Apps - an Operating System built with HTML5 that just so happens to run HTML5 apps. Granted, it's probably more of a launch pad than anything else (I've not tried it yet because I refuse to tweet my referral link) but the concept is sort of a merger of MyFav.es and Chrome OS if you think about it.
Feel free to watch this weeks playlist over on VHX. They're damn close to my perfect vision of an embeddable player so it's just a matter of time before I start using it all the time anyway.
SR - The Faceplant - terrible Metallica cover? Check. Ridiculously drunken fan? Check. Perfect Faceplant? You bet.. wait for it.
Osaka Station City - you wouldn't think waterfall technology was really an area that was getting a lot of love but based on this video you can tell that there have been some serious breakthroughs lately.
Panda Ying Hua on Rocking Chair - it's been awhile since I posted a pure, unadulterated cute animal video. This fills the quota a hundred times over.
Much like the Music Video Genome, Show Me Nonstop uses a combination of search engine and the VHX player to present you with nonstop anything. Just type in a concept, hit Return and watch the results nonstop. I started with Faceplant but that can get pretty gruesome pretty quick.. maybe try something tamer or just entirely ridiculous. The possibilities are endless.
French photographers Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre have compiled a book of images entitled The Ruins of Detroit that captures the devastating abandonment of Michigans finest. The Denver Post has a great best of photo set that gives an idea of the crushing state of things. I'm always blown away by these photographic undertakings that capture absolutely beautiful buildings (interior and exterior) that have encountered such massive disrepair.. it's often hard to imagine it's real!
Daniel clued me in to the great offerings of Just Another Foundry - a type foundry who not only has a great selection of faces but also has a novel approach to presenting them on the web. Instead of just purchasing the font file for your Library they also offer a "Subscription" service that allows you to embed the font on any pre-determined domain for a year. Basically, a web license for the type built right into the shopping cart. I've not seen anyone do this before but imagine it will become standard practice.
Last Call for Delicious - if you aren't interested in making the switch from Yahoo! Delicious to AVOS Delicious, you need to do nothing. If you are interested in bringing along all your settings and bookmarks, make sure you've clicked the Opt-In or you'll lose everything on Sept. 23rd.
Responsive Video Embeds - this little plugin makes it possible to have your video embeds resize properly with responsive layouts. It's possible to do this with approximately 3 lines of code but if you're more prone to plugins and pre-written goodness, go snag it!
If you did not realize it, Everything - my favorite web series of late - is a Channel 101 undertaking. Or, rather, it was. Because of the nature of Channel 101, it wasn't renewed for anymore episodes after the 19th installment. It's a shame it didn't reach the twentieth volume and even more of a shame that the only version of the episode that you can watch is here. I've embedded the David Lewandowski segment of the show - "Going to the Store" and I'm sure you'll enjoy it. It's ridiculous but be sure to watch the entire episode.
Farewell Everything, it was a pleasure knowing you.
Looks like the Jez BurrowsShop is closing down (presumably because he's focusing on The Manual). It's unfortunate but there's a 15% off code for all the goods in there, so if you've been hankering for some sweet prints, now is the time.
I've seen lots of illustrations of the 1964-65 Kodak Pavilion at the New York World's Fair but never stumbled upon this model of structure before now. The end result turned out quite well.
CoverJunkie is a repository of creative magazine, book and newspaper covers compiled together for your inspiration. If you're paying attention you may even see a cover from someone you you know. There is a ridiculous amount of inspiring type and illustration throughout - definitely worth considering for your "design" bookmarks.
Add to Home Screen - handy little Javascript snippet to show a "Add to Home Screen" floating bubble for iOS users with the capability to do such. Granted, it's not hard to do this on your own but it's nice that the functionality exists out there for the less code savvy.
Google tracking relevant "next" / "prev" - basically a long article on how Google is now rallying for link tags in the head of your document that point to the relevant next and previous pages.. for tracking, ya know?
A Farewell to CSS3 Gradients - basically a debate for ditching CSS3 gradients and embracing SVG. Frankly, it's hard to argue with when dealing with more robust and complex gradient needs.
Mouth-Taped-Shut is, apparently, the production blog for the new US version of The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo. The posts are, mostly, ambiguous images of sets and locations but it's a very nice tease for the forthcoming film (as if the trailer wasn't enough).
Their Twitter feed seems to indicate that they're doing some test screenings in a number of markets - seats are filled but if you know somebody, try to make it happen!
Jeremy pointed me in the direction of Diego Gravinese and I must thank him for that. The paintings are great but I can't stop staring at this photo - right place, right time.
I do my best to avoid posting every little Star Wars related thing to crosses my desk but, occasionally, an item pops up that can't be denied. As you likely know, the original Star Wars films are being re-released on Blu-Ray and Lucas made a few more "creative" edits - you can read about them all here. Among them is the addition of Vader screaming No in the climax of Jedi. Aside from being dumb and unnecessary it's also hilarious.
Long story short, CineWeekly took it upon themselves to stick that scream into other Classic Movies. The results are perfect.
Assuming you're old enough to have experienced a dial-up modem you likely remember the handshake tone that occurred when connecting to whatever service you were committed to. Bleeoo.com helps you to recreate that familiar sound; which your own interpretation. Yep, it's a repository of videos of people making the noise as they remember it. It's mostly terrible but that's part of the charm. If you participate in this, please let me know...
Webstagram - finally, a site to browse and explore Instagram without having to have an existing account. The Heroku site is nice but having to supply an Instagram permalink to explore a particular user is aggravating at best. Webstagram makes it possible to just browse straight to a particular user with no hoops to jump through.
Kendo UI - framework for mobile development potentially worth exploring. I'm typically not a fan of these kinds of layered AJAX experience with zero SEO support but it looks well done enough to consider.
What happens when you crossbreed Last.FM with a custom YouTube search and the power of continuous VHX playback? You get the Music Video Genome - a phenomenal way to watch (or listen to) a ridiculous plethora of music with next to no effort. It's incredible that Casey knocked this out in just a few days and even more pleasing how entertaining the results are.
Hanging Up the Moon is a promotional site for an 11-track album from Sean Lam featuring minimal, folk-y, "campfire songs." Even if the music isn't up your alley be sure to take a moment to browse around the site. Each track from the album is represented by a pleasingly subtle animated gif - I mean, this is perfect! - and should not be missed.
