BBC nature behind scenes
Last modified on 2012-02-16 11:36:11 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Here’s a nice little insight into how the BBC gets some of those spectacular wildlife shots. I like the bit where the hot air balloon ploughs into a tree!
Dark side of the web
Last modified on 2012-02-03 17:03:59 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Most of us see the web through the eyes of a Google or Yahoo search.
But there’s a whole other side to the net which few know about.
BBC 5live investigates the ‘dark web’.
Scooters! Everyone wants one
Last modified on 2012-02-03 15:54:52 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Well, according to this feature on the BBC website, they’ve never been more popular, thanks to the ‘recession’.
Mark Coyle’s feature does a good job of pointing out the safety issues, especially in London too.
Take a look at this picture of my hand after I had a 20mph collision and you’ll see what I mean.
Sony photography awards
Last modified on 2012-02-02 19:08:19 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Forget about pictures of kittens and piglets on cuteoverload.com. Here are some proper photos.
Sony’s World Photography Awards competition sees entries from all over the world.
Check them out over at the Guardian.
Printers doing cool things
Last modified on 2012-01-19 14:58:42 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
I love the idea of ordinary tools being used for extraordinary purposes. Here’s an example. Linked printers, synced up, making pretty pictures. Lovely. By Matt Robinson and Tom Wrigglesworth.
Spoof news from Occupy LSX
Last modified on 2011-11-21 10:26:32 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
This brilliant spoof news report from the Occupy LSX camp made me laugh a lot. Those demonstrators really do take themselves very seriously, don’t they.
Inside Bank of England vault
Last modified on 2011-11-02 09:03:14 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
The BBC’s Simon Gompertz got to go inside the Bank of England’s vaults to have a look at a lot of new £50 notes. Just like winning euromillions. Actually, think I’ll go and buy a ticket now.
BBC’s eerie Life and Fate trail
Last modified on 2011-10-03 09:50:03 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
This excellent little animation was created by Daniel Binns for BBC Radio 4′s dramatisation of Life and Fate. Daniel has produced some other real nice films, including this one about control and panic.
Fancy French rail advert
Last modified on 2011-09-24 14:55:40 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Here’s a pretty advert for Réseau Ferré de France, the firm that maintains France’s rail network. Nice use of the tilt-shift effect, which everyone still loves. Network Rail are now asking the government for ‘giant hand’ funding.
BBC 9/11 video project
Last modified on 2011-09-07 16:02:30 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
From the team that brought you Life with the Lancers and Three steps to build a wind farm, here’s the latest BBC News multimedia special.
This slick BBC News On Demand production focuses on seven people whose lives were changed forever following the 9/11 attacks.
Cute animals on the brink
Last modified on 2011-09-02 15:55:53 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Even my hardened, journalist’s heart was ever so slightly softened by these photos on the BBC Nature site.
Baby animals from around the world whose species are facing extinction. Cute and sad all at once.
Freestyling in The Barbican
Last modified on 2011-08-25 00:33:37 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
London’s Barbican complex has urban sport written all over it, and here’s the best of them; Parkour, skateboards and BMX. Via Kottke.
How to build a wind farm
Last modified on 2011-08-16 13:42:51 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Ever wondered how those massive off-shore windfarms are built?
This great BBC explainer covers three stages: docks, transport and planting.
Check out the ace view from the top.
London riots mapped
Last modified on 2011-08-09 00:21:46 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
As London goes up in flames here’s a clever map showing the areas you may want to stay away from. One of them is right outside my house. Nice.
The mini motorway project
Last modified on 2011-08-08 08:57:42 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
You know what it’s like looking out of a plane window at all the little buildings, cars and roads below. Well, US artist Chris Burden creates a similar experience with Metropolis II. Hundreds of toy cars navigate their way around a mini motorway. Interesting idea, beautifully filmed.
Buying milk from a billboard
Last modified on 2011-07-27 11:35:46 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
A certain, major supermarket chain has launched a new way of doing your weekly shop. It’s put posters in South Korean subways showing actual store shelves which you point your phone at to buy milk, veg etc. Wonder how it’ll go down on the northern line?
Extreme macrophotography
Last modified on 2011-07-22 00:17:55 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
This is a photo of a pineapple leaf using an electron microscope at 85x magnification. Pretty, isn’t it.
Want to see more close-ups of our food, including chocolate cake and an oreo biscuit ? Click on the image.
Oscillating guitar strings
Last modified on 2011-07-19 11:06:13 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
What do you get if you drop your iPhone 4 into your guitar? Well, a rather interesting view of wavy guitar strings, and maybe a few missed calls. The guy who shot this says the effect is due to the rolling shutter which “is non-representative of how strings actually vibrate”. Shame. Via stellar.
John le Carré spy film
Last modified on 2011-07-05 18:41:04 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
So, I finally get a copy of John le Carré’s spy classic Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and then find out there’s a new film being made. Typical. The trailer’s just been released and it looks pretty damn good. The all star cast includes Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman and Colin Firth.
Abandoned theme parks
Last modified on 2011-06-06 14:51:58 GMT. 1 comment. Top.
With Jack Black’s awful version of Gulliver’s Travels still blotting the movie landscape, here’s another failed attempt to cash in on the famous story.
Gulliver’s Kingdom was a theme park in Japan conceived mainly as a job creation project, and funded by a bank which didn’t actually have any money.
Its neighbours added the final nails in the coffin. They included Japan’s ‘suicide forest’ and the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult.
Earth from space in HD
Last modified on 2011-06-03 16:04:06 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Everything seems to be in HD these days, although obviously it works best for things like Jeremy Kyle and The Only Way is Essex. That said, every now and then something else pops up, like these views of Earth’s most impressive landmarks filmed by astronauts.
Downhill bike race in Chile
Last modified on 2011-06-02 00:11:44 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Here’s a little video for all you cyclists out there. The legendary Valparaiso Cerro Abajo urban bike race. Now wouldn’t your journey to work be more interesting if it was like this?
Is this the best CV ever?
Last modified on 2011-05-25 09:44:56 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Need tips on writing the perfect CV? Look no further. This guy has got it all figured out.
These are my favourite bits: “I have pinpoint accuracy. I killed a hawk once with a ninja star.”
And: “I am ridiculously smart. I can solve any rubiks cube in front of your face with my magic fingers.”
I would definitely hire him.
Camera lens cross section
Last modified on 2011-05-19 09:52:55 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Ever wondered what goes on inside a camera lens? Well, turns out it’s rather a lot.
This lens was sliced in half by some camera students as part of a graduation project.
For the geeks out there, it’s a Leica Tri-Elmar-M 28-35-50mm lens.
Probably best not to try this at home. (Photos courtesy Duncan Meeder)
Unabomber clothes auction
Last modified on 2011-05-18 09:25:02 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
The US Marshals Office is putting a load of Unabomber Ted Kaczynski’s belongings up for auction, to raise money for his victims.
Sixty items are for sale, including this hoodie and shades, axes, crossbow arrows and a rather cool typewriter.
Kaczynski carried out a string of bombings from 1978 to 1995, killing 3 people. The auction starts today, 18 May until 2 June.
South London alien invasion
Last modified on 2011-05-09 12:02:35 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Film plot: Aliens invade south London and meet their match in the form of a bunch of hoodies from a council estate. Produced by the Shaun of the Dead folks and all filmed up the road from me, on the soon to be demolished Heygate estate. It looks proper nang, innit. Attack the Block, May 11.
Parkour playground opens
Last modified on 2011-04-30 14:15:59 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
A new ‘parkour playground’ has opened in the US. Here are some of the sorts of moves you too could be pulling off in your local car park. Yeah, right.
Tim Hetherington’s war
Last modified on 2011-04-30 14:11:32 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
War photographer Tim Hetherington covered some of the bloodiest conflicts of the last 20 years. His work in Liberia and Afghanistan provided a fascinating insight into the lives of people involved in those wars. Here he is discussing a film he produced about US soldiers, and his book Infidel.
Cool 3D building projection
Last modified on 2011-04-10 17:47:48 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
You may have seen some of these large-scale 3D building projections before, but this one is really rather impressive. The German designers say the aim was to ‘break through the fabric of the building’.
A history of time zones
Last modified on 2011-04-10 16:01:01 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
The BBC News website has produced this excellent multimedia feature on the history of time zones.
It includes a video trip to the Arctic Circle where the time zones of Russia, Norway and Finland all meet.
There’s also an interview with an astronaut on the International Space Station about space time.
Tiny cameras go mainstream
Last modified on 2011-03-23 13:12:54 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Until recently, small, high quality video cameras had been the preserve of pro sports people and broadcasters. Not any more. Have a look at this promo for the GoPro HD cam. Amazing angles, stunning quality. I want one.
An introduction to genetics
Last modified on 2011-03-22 12:16:06 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
I was always quite into science at school (even if I didn’t understand most of it), so this little genetics explainer caught my eye. Maybe if cool animations like this had existed when I was young I might have learned more. Check out BBC Four’s Spark of Life if you’re into this sort of thing.
Google street view art
Last modified on 2011-03-03 07:44:27 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
It seems google street view is useful for more than just stalking your friends /enemies /neighbours.
The 9-eyes project pulls together some arty shots captured by google’s roaming camera cars – and they’re pretty damn good.
Inside Gaddafi’s bunker
Last modified on 2011-03-01 11:06:21 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Al Jazeera has been taking a look around one of Col Gaddafi’s palaces and the secret bunker beneath it. Swimming pool, jacuzzi – it’s all there. Interestingly the air system was built by Swiss and US firms.
Architects and projections
Last modified on 2011-02-20 11:20:52 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Most architects build little models of their work for clients and tenders. These guys included some rather lovely projection mapping on their proposal for residential flats in Turkey.
NoteSlate tablet causes stir
Last modified on 2011-02-07 12:32:29 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
The NoteSlate is a 13″ digital tablet for drawing and writing and it’s generating a lot of buzz online.
The big question though, is whether it’s real. It’ll reportedly cost $99 and go on sale in June. (Via Kottke)
The musical subway map
Last modified on 2011-02-02 21:36:13 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
A rather clever conductor has created the video below which turns the NY subway map into a stringed instrument. The animation is based on a realtime MTA schedule, mapping trains that departed in the last minute, gradually speeding up to cover a 24 hour cycle. Lovely.
CES: Interactive packaging
Last modified on 2011-01-13 17:23:35 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
There were so many cool things at CES 2011, it’s difficult not to go crazy posting stuff up here. So, here’s the second and last thing I’m going to mention. Interactive packaging. Looks good but is it just a gimmick?
Decade’s best performances
Last modified on 2011-01-07 21:23:10 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
The New York Times has lined up a pretty strong panel of film stars to give their verdict on the last decade’s best performances. Oh, and what’s going on with Sandra Bullock’s hair?!