Giant Ginkgo

Oh happiness and joy! I just came across an archive of the original Emergency Broadcast Network music videos, which star President Bush (Sr). How can you ever forget the classic We Will Rock You?

In other related good news, the creator of EBN, Joshua Pearson, has also created some other videos here at OTV News. Another classic edit job is The Reagans Speak Out On Drugs, where Ron and Nancy talk about their serious pot smoking habits. Unfortunately it looks like there aren't any copies of the video online to view.

Now if I could just get a copy of the second EBN Music Video collection, Telecommunication Breakdown. The CD is amazingly well done, and the few videos on it are very well produced.

I took some pictures of the ice on Lake Michigan near my home. My legs nearly froze off doing it, but it was worth the shots...

People like to think that they are consciously in charge of their decisions, that rational and emotional thought provide an 'objective' basis for how they like others. A lot of research has shown that there are many invisible factors influence who we are interested in. For instance pheremones have been shown to steer us to people who have the right subliminal smell. This study found that birth control pills changed the type of men that they visually were attracted to.

Here is one of the all time best User Interface designs ever made... The Fly UI. Found in urinals all over Amsterdam. It is such a simple and elegant solution to having a clean bathroom. From what I understand it is considered a very proud achievement by the Dutch. (Talk about a small but significant improvement to the world.)

Personally I really wish somebody would import them, or get the rights for the design in this country. Just imagine how much nicer bathrooms would be!

I've been reading Steven Levy's Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution, which is a history of the computer programmers and hardware tinkerers which helped shape computers into the form that they are in today, the people with the vision to see that everyone could and should have their own machine. It's a great book, especially for those who aren't aware of the real meaning of what it is to be a 'Hacker.' (A term which was coined in the late 50s at MIT, a 'hack' was "a project undertaken or a product built not solely to fulfill some constructive goal, but with some wild pleasure taken in the mere involvement." )

One of the fascinating things about computer history is just how much of our current computing environment and the origination of the different software ideas is actually quite old. (As well as computer jargon!) One classic example of this is the research done by Douglas Englebart, his 1968 technology demo showcased the mouse, hypertext, video conferencing with interactive document collaboration, object addressing, and dynamic file linking. It wasn't until the 80s and 90s that the vision shown during that demo would become a part of daily life for millions of people.

And then there is the first video game, Spacewar. It was developed in 1961 at MIT, using one of the first micro-computers. The game originated with the idea of creating a good demo, the original group decided on using the space warfare scenes in E. E. Smith's "Lensman" series as a start. Spacewar spread like wildfire through the computer complexes around the country, and inspired amazing amounts of tweaking and coding to add new innovations to the game.

Spacewar continued to turn people onto computers into the 70s. This in-depth article from a 1972 Rolling Stone does a great job of summarizing the history and gameplay of the game. The article also takes a look at what was going on in the computer world around that time, including the original development of the Dynabook. (There is even a picture of an early prototype in the article.)

The Dynabook was developed by Alan Kay, who wanted "a portable interactive personal computer, as accessible as a book." It was going to be a true multimedia machine that would be wirelessly networkable, and very easy to use. It was going to be a slate design, with a built-in keyboard and a stylus controlled touch screen. It was intended as a tool, or instrument for children to use. Unfortunately it was never actually produced. The Apple Newton was the first real machine to embody many of the concepts from the Dynabook, which isn't surprising since Alan Kay had been working for Apple at the time. (The Newton also drew heavily from this amazing 1987 concept video of the "Knowledge Navigator") Today Microsoft's Tablet PC is slowly heading in the Dynabook direction.

Johnny Cash's version of Hurt, one of my favorite Nine Inch Nails' songs.

I was chatting with a friend earlier today while surfing one of my favorite blogs, Follow Me Here and came across an item about a giant squid attacking a boat that was participating in a Jules Verne Around-the-World sailing race. (My first thought on reading the article is that this must be a hoax... Let's see. Jules Verne. Boat. Giant Mollusk Attack. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.... Hmmmmm).

This reminded me of the discovery of the remains of a truly giant octopus in the late 19th century, a story that has always fascinated me. So I did a quick google search and came across some nice articles about it. (Including the convoluted scientific history.) There are even some pictures!

Last week I was telling a few people about the this guy who had gotten a whole bunch of weather balloons, some helium and a lawnchair. He brought a pellet gun to pop the balloons so he could land. I mentioned that he had gotten so high up in the air that he was being passed by a jet liner who saw him...

Unfortunately they kinda thought that it sounded like an urban legend. (Plus they figured they would have heard about it.) So for those out there who don't believe it, check this out.

I finally put up the picture galleries of San Francisco. I visited there last November, a week before Thanksgiving. It was a great trip, nobody does tourist trips a week before a major holiday. So everything was nice and quiet, and I got to have a fantastic time running around like a crazy man. I met some interesting people and stayed up till the wee hours of the morning most of the nights that I was there.

Boingboing just reposted a link to a gallery of mainly food products from around the world. Anybody for a Spice Girls Sucker or a Hello Kitty Douche to go along with your Hello Kitty vibrator? (I want to see a catalog of Hello Kitty stuff from Japan... I bet there are some other lovely items in it that you can't officially get in the US.

How about some fresh changes to well known history? It will be interesting to see whether or not this pans out...

A friend of mine just pointed me to this European airline... Ryanair. The prices they offer are incredible, to say the least. Right now they are 10 £ or € to go to most major cities in Europe from London. If those are the regular prices, I could see so many of the cities without bankrupting myself!

According to a friend of my friend, it was actually a pretty good experience to. I can't help but picture a fleet of rusting DC-3s.