Snip from an item I filed for Wired News today:

After gliding 100 million miles and plopping on the red planet's surface inside a giant puffball, the robot Spirit unfolds, then basks in sunlight like an origami bird.

Back on Earth, a NASA control room is jammed with scientists. They alternately cringe, calculate and cheer while Spirit and its younger sibling, Opportunity, meander on Mars and snap photos like bug-eyed robot tourists.

And that's just the first 20 minutes.

An eye-popping documentary about NASA's Mars Rovers is about to hit IMAX screens, and it's directed by George Butler, most famous for introducing the world to Arnold Schwarznegger in Pumping Iron.

"It's like Star Wars meets The Right Stuff," blurted one audience member at a Los Angeles press screening of Butler's Roving Mars.

Image: I think this was my favorite scene, because it was just so darn weird -- and accompanied by awesome swoosh-ker-PLUNK sounds that made the whole theater shake. Here, the rover Spirit plops down on the Martian surface, protected during landing in a gigantic airbag. (courtesy Walt Disney Pictures).

After you see it (or before!), you should read the book Roving Mars by Steve Squyres. There's an audio version now, too.

Copyright Jiji

Horiemon has been rubbing old-school Japan the wrong way by challenging the establishment with clever financing and takeover attempts of the media etc. I can see how he would get targeted. On the other hand Japanese companies like his tend to be sloppy so I wouldn't be surprised if they find something. It would be unfortunate if they end up slapping Livedoor down since I think he was serving an important function in Japanese business and this looks like a typical set-up.

Thanks to iMorpheus for reminding that I should probably blog this.

UPDATE: I haven't confirmed this, but I just heard a rumor that the National TV Network (NHK) was reporting the raid before people at Live Door knew they were being raided. ;-)

UPDATE 2: Live Door is Skype's Japan partner.

UPDATE 3: Apparently the first notice Live Door got of the raid was when Network TV called for an interview. TV knew before they did.

Dan posts one of this infrequent updates, titled "A Time Comes When Silence is Betrayal". It's a great perspective on Dr. King's work and legacy on the day when we honor him.

The various ways King's words can be interpreted help remind me of one of the most valuable things I've learned from reading and hearing his speeches and writings. It's that Dr. King represents the best of what public faith can be. I've always been of the strong opinion that one's faith should be a private matter. (Our current President gets it exactly backwards: One's history with substance abuse is completely relevant to one's qualfications and judgement as a public servant. But one's spiritual life prior to age 40 should probably be respected by the press as a private matter.)

But Dr. King shows the best possible way to testify, the highest calling of declaring one's faith publicly. Most public declarations of faith are unseemly, full of preening and judgement. I grew up in an area where it seemed most Christians acted anything but, so it was a revelation to me for a public figure to have championed his religion so humbly, honestly and respectfully. Before I encountered Dr. King's speeches, I didn't understand that true manifestations of faith could cause someone to embrace those who were different or those with whom we disagree. It's obvious why so many, regardless of their own faith or lack thereof, found common cause and a comfort in Dr. King's values.

So, of course, I have profound respect for Dr. King's work in civil rights. But I also thank him for teaching me that, even though I don't have a religion of my own, there's value in others' faith, especially when used to build up instead of to tear down. I still have a lot of work to do to get rid of my own prejudices in this regard, but the fact that I'm trying is just more proof that King's legacy is alive today.

this is why it's called "reblogging" --dj

"I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that the 'isness' of man's present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal 'oughtness' that forever confronts him. I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsom and jetsom in the river of life unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality."

Martin Luther King Jr. - Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech

untitled (deli strips) 2005

Filed under: Cellphones

ABC News is reporting on several incidents around the country wherein retail employees have been notifying local and federal authorities about bulk prepaid cellphone purchases (which, as in the 2004 Madrid train bombings, can be used as detonators). After the December 18th purchase of some 60 prepaid handsets by six individuals, Midland, TX Wal-Mart employees decided to call the local po-po, who turned the case over to the Feds when the men began acting suspiciously in custody. ABC had reported that the six were later linked to a Metroplex-based sleeper cell, although local news sources dispute that claim

Amazing video of Japan's superconducting maglev trains hitting speeds of up to 502 kph. Watch for the part about halfway through when the trains shoot by. Found via digg.

Who needs FilmLoop (sorry, Guy Kawasaki) when there's tickr for flickr? Just download it to see how great this is - takes about 10 secs over broadband to be up and running. also via digg. See also: screensavr.

Animaris Rhinoceros Transport

The Animaris Rhinoceros Transport is a type of animal with a steel skeleton and a polyester skin. It looks as if there is a thick layer of sand coating the animal. It weighes 2. tons, but can be set into motion by one person. It stands 4.70 meters tall. Because of its height it catches enough wind to start moving.

Watch the video!

More at strandbeest.com; I've linked to Theo Jansen's freaky wind-powered walking machines before, and they're still kind of hard to believe...

Recently at work we had a Big Name console manufacturer come in to do a demo of their latest hardware. The post-event Q&A included a question from a lovely bloke who works in our mobile department: "how about a cooking game?".

There was a mixed reception - some hilarity over the idea of a cooking game right now (concerns that the current target market wouldn't be Ready For This), but also some seriousness that certainly one day there would probably be a cooking game on this console. Maybe.

Meanwhile, over in the Nintendo camp right now: Cooking Mama for the DS (and of course everyone's seen the chefs at work in the Revolution video, right?). Different target market, or just a different set of core beliefs in who gamers are?

4colorrebellion reports:

The game will let you cut, cook and fry all kinds of food to make these real recipes a success. ... The game will also have you work on the presentation of your food in your plate, and also it will let you try your own recipes with the items provided in the game.

If this teaches me to cook japanese food, especially fun things to do with soya, I'm so getting it.

Note: Cooking Mama doesn't actually let you cook your mother.

Yes! --dj

Well predictably at two weeks into the New Year my resolution to be more organised in 2006 hasn’t quite taken effect yet. Being organised takes a lot of effort, it also means doing things like filing – arrrghhhhh – so boring! So it was with great effort that I made it to the stationers this week to pick up some filing bits and bobs and look what I found! Schwartz, who do a very smart line in recycled stationary. It was at this point that I forgot all about the filing and began thinking about the aesthetics of filing – my inner designer always wins over my inner organiser! Schwartz is a family run company based in Barcelona. They enlisted architects to design their products with architects in mind, although they useful for everyone. We really like their clean, minimal aesthetic. The folders, files and containers are made from recycled paper or recyclable polypropylene. I was also pleased to note the intro on their website. They are quoting great eco-inspired literature - Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities no less: “Convinced that every innovation in the city influences the sky’s pattern, before taking any decision, Andria’s habitants calculate the risks and advantages for themselves and for the city and for all worlds.” Well if anything is going to inspire me to do some filing that certainly will, I have to admit I haven’t got around to yet, although my new Schwartz files do look very smart sitting on my desk! ::Schwartz

AP - A 20-year-old California Institute of Technology student set a new world's record Saturday for solving the popular Rubik's Cube puzzle, turning the tiled brain-twister from scrambled to solved in 11.13 seconds.

By Thomas Crampton
As a journalist, I admit to having more than a passing interest in the future of media/publishing. For "next generation" publishing, I currently see two main technical developments...

-wireless connections for ubiquitous Internet, and

-smaller and easier-to-read screens,

...that are bringing two main social changes...

-increased trust/reliance on peer-to-peer communication, and

-a more conversational style of journalism that contrasts with the previous model (that more resembled lecturing).

You can see the changes already having a concrete effect, with U.S. news magazines responding to the Internet -- in part by cutting back their foreign staff and editions.

What other broad forces (social or technical or others) will lead the next generation of publishing?

(I cross-posted this conversation on the International Herald Tribune blog)

I think Joi Ito's blog is generated by a buzzwords madlibs engine nowadays --dj

I got this pouch for keeping hot drink warm. It was the bells and whistles of the hot drink.
Although usually bells and whistles are wasted things, this's useful.
I'm embarrassed to write like this, first I like this panda. :)

Comments

Filed under: Desktops

Dude, can't you guys even wait until the Intel iMac has its official coming-out before you're all over it like a hound of ravenous dogs trying to get it in the buff? Sheez. Pervs.

[Via TUAW

From -> Mike Rosenthal
BENT 2006 CIRCUIT BENDING FESTIVAL OPEN CALL The Tank is currently accepting proposals for: Bent 2006 : The Third Annual Circuit Bending Festival April 19-23, 2006 Proposal Deadline: February 10, 2006 Each year the festival features daily workshops, art installations, and evening concerts from a wide variety of international performers and artists. ... [more]

James Clar, an interactive lighting designer, is currently working on scaled-down version of an L.E.D mesh structure that will eventually appear around the Habitat Hotel, near Barcelona. Working for experimental company Cloud9, Clar is using his expertise to build a working prototype for a model of the hotel, to be shown in New York. As he puts it on his site:

It is a hotel with a light mesh that wraps the whole building. The light mesh has sensors that will read the daylight sun amplitude and then at night each node will give off color according to how much that node collected sun. Therefore, the mesh reflects the energy levels of each day, it will change over seasons and due to weather. It’s very nice since the mesh itself is raised off the building and forms its own see-through structure. Also, each node is self-contained with it’s own sensor and LEDs, there is no central computer controlling the whole structure.

The model, along with many other works, will be on display at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) NYC from Feb 12th for the New Spanish Architects show.

[UPDATE] James has now posted some photos and a great project PDF.

Animaatiokone (Animation Machine) is an installation that turns you into a master clay animator. It's built of a potato peeling machine, a laptop PC and pinball machine buttons.

First you sculpt clay actors. When you're happy with your cast, you locate the characters inside the mini-studio (inside the Animaatiokone machine), move the actors and capture frames. An overhead display allows you to check the shooting, you can also delete or add frames on the touch of a button. When you're finish, you can add a soundtrack.

Movies.

By Animaatiokone Industries, famous for Kick-ass kung fu.

Check also their no-potato-machine version: Animaatiokone Studio, a program for creating stop motion animation using only a PC and a camera. Take anything you want to animate, put it in front of a camera and get started. You can use 3D techniques like puppet or clay animation; or 2D stop-motion techniques like cutout or collage animation, crayon/sketch animation, etc.

Animaatiokone Industries will present their work at dorkbot Berlin, on Monday, February 6, at C-Base in Berlin. Other guests include Troika (SMS Guerilla projector, etc). The MC of the evening will be the magnificent Jussi Angesleva. Last year's dorkbot was brilliant, i met tons of fantastic people and had loads of fun.

From a téte-á-téte with superstar designer Jonathan Adler to one of the first reports from inside Nike iD's invite-only store, Cool Hunting's features in 2005 were exclusive looks that went a little deeper into the places and people that inspire. Here are five faves in no particular order.

1. Inside 255
2. My Prescription for Anti-Depressive Living by Jonathan Adler
3. Where the Ladies At?
4. Greg Foley of Visionaire, 6 Questions
5. Haute Sex