Satellite dishes as decorative objects

Cory Doctorow: A local artist and his pupils decorated the dishes of Amsterdam's "satellite city," an immigrant neighborhood. Link (via Neatorama) (via Boing Boing)

Giant Bird-Like Dinosaur

New York Times has an article today from staff writer John Noble Wilford about scientists that "have uncovered a huge surprise in the Inner Mongolia region of northern China: the fossil skeleton of an unusually robust bird-like dinosaur that lived 70 million years ago." According to these scientists "the animal appeared to be a young adult 25 feet long and weighing 3,000 pounds and, if it had lived longer, would probably have grown even larger." LINK (Registration with the New York Times is required to view this article.)

Nautilus-inspired office space

David Pescovitz: San Francisco game company Three Rings Design commissioned amazing makers Jillian Northrup and Jeffrey "Toast" McGrew of Because We Can to convert an open studio space into a marvelous immersive environment modeled on the Victorian submarine The Nautilus from Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. Jillian and Toast's main tool-of-choice is a ShopBot, a computer-controlled router (for cutting, not networking) in their dining room. Wired News is running a photo essay showcasing the office suite.

From the article:

The offices have an attacking octopus couch, a secret lounge hidden behind a bookcase, captain's quarters and a steampunk bike rack, plus a ton of other Victorian details...

For the Three Rings project, Because We Can referenced Victorian photo books, appearances of The Nautilus in film and, of course, Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. "We didn't want ours to be a direct copy of Disney or League of Extraordinary Gentleman," says McGrew...

Originally, the back wall (seen here) was going to host a mock submarine bridge, but Three Rings didn't want to sacrifice the work space for a nonfunctional design element. "We decided to make a fake ladder and ceiling hatch," explains Northrup. They plan to add a sign reading: "This way to bridge: authorized personnel only."

Link (via Boing Boing)

Warped custom wallpaper

Cory Doctorow: Send the Warp Your Room people an exact plan for your walls, showing where your doors, windows, pictures, and electrical outlets are, and they'll generate a custom wallpaper for you that "warps" the pattern around everything that protrudes through the paper. Link (via Negatendo) (via Boing Boing)

Collaborative Learning

Collaborative learning is becoming more prevalent and well it should be. In order for students to truly own the process of learning, they should be integral parts of the process; not merely sponges sitting around absorbing the knowledge of the past. Through an educational forum I subscribe to I read about the site: Contested Knowledges. According to the site authors..."In the process of developing the unit[s], we have tried to 'practice what we preach' and implement a way of studying this unit which encourages you and the other students to be part of the learning process. Rather than being passive recipients of the knowledge we might possibly be able to pass on, we are keen for you to be an active agent in the learning process, contributing your ideas and understandings to the whole gamut of issues we address. The point is that we consider you to have experiences and knowledge that we may not have that would be a valuable contribution to the learning of the group. The problems are huge in doing this. First of all we need to get across to you that we really mean it! We want you to contribute and be an active learner in this unit."

So, check it out - this may be the school-of-the-future....

LINK

Building with oscillating exterior

David Pescovitz: As part of the Liverpool Biennial, sculptor Richard Wilson designed a system that rotates and revolves part of a building's façade. The piece, titled "Turning the Place Over," is running at Cross Keys House, Moorfields, until the end of next year. From the Liverpool Biennial press release:

The revolving façade rests on a specially designed giant rotator, usually used in the shipping and nuclear industries, and acts as a huge opening and closing ‘window’, offering recurrent glimpses of the interior during its constant cycle during daylight hours.

The construction programme started in February 2007 and involves the careful deconstruction of the façade across three floors of the building, which is then reconstructed and fixed to the enormous pivot installed at the heart of the building. This astonishing feat of engineering will stun audiences on many levels. Disturbing and disorientating from a distance, from close-up passers-by have a thrilling experience as the building rotates above them.

Link to YouTube video, Link to press release (Thanks, Lindsay Tiemeyer!) (via Boing Boing)

What The World Eats

FASCINATING!!!! … link

David Pescovitz:
What does a family of four in North Carolina eat in a week? How about in Cuernavaca? Or Konstancin-Jeziorna? Several years ago, photographer Peter Menzel and journalist Faith D'Alusio--creators of the fantastic Robo sapiens book--traveled the world documenting what 30 families in 24 countries eat in a week. (Seen here, the Ayme family of Tingo, who spend $31.55 on food in a week.) In 2005, Menzel and D'Alusio published Hungry Planet: What The World Eats, but Time has just now put a selection of the photos online. As interesting as how much each family spends on food are the variations in diet. Link to the photo essay, Link to buy Hungry Planet (Thanks, Eric Paulos!) (via Boing Boing)

A peek at this year's must-have toy (2007)

Picture the scene: It's the holiday buying season, and ever since summer, consumers have been itching to get their hands on a 6-inch-tall robot with a quirky personality that evolves as its owners interact with it. The creature goes on to sell 50 million units, earning a stunning $1.2 billion. (via CNN)

Ugly mailboxes blog

Mark Frauenfelder: A few years ago, someone knocked my mailbox off its post, and I went around taking photos of fortified mailboxes around my neighborhood (Part 1, Part 2).

Today, Linda F. alerted me to her new blog, "Your Ugly Mailbox," which sports photos and snarky comments about tacky mailboxes. It's gone on my must-read list. Link (via Boing Boing)

Preview of Hi-Fructose Vol. 5

Mark Frauenfelder: Attaboy has posted a few pages from the forthcoming issue of my favorite art magazine, Hi-Fructose. It just keeps getting better and better.
The critically acclaimed under the counter culture art magazine Hi-Fructose returns this summer.
Featuring: cover artist Amy Sol, the awe inspiring art and interview with James Jean, the undisclosed locations of Mars-1, the beautiful paintings of Lori Earley, the punch drunk art of Brendan Danielsson and the ever curious bipeds of Travis Louie.
Multi-Page Exposes on: Pars Kid, The Murals of Aaron Noble, the Packaging Tape Baby Street installations of Mark Jenkins, Friends With You's Rainbow Valley, Josh Keyes, Designer Vinyl, and much more yet to be revealed!
Hi-Fructose is co published and edited by artists Annie Owens and Attaboy.

Vol. 5 ships at the end of June.Link (via