It’s interesting to see what happens when you let algorithms run amok, free to accomplish whatever distant folly their architects never intended. In this particular case, Sebastian Schmieg of the Netherlands made the above video by feeding Google’s Image Search a transparent PNG, asking it to find the closest match, taking the top result and feeding that back into the loop 2,951 times. The result is an unpredictable, ever evolving metamorphosis that features a lot of stars and galaxies in its infancy, but eventually blossoms into a cacophonous sea of images with occasional seas of similarity. The images are then turned into a 12fps video
Aside from being interesting from a purely nerdy standpoint, I believe it does show a fascinating point of biology: that evolution doesn’t occur towards something specific and it is, as Dawkings would say, the conceit of hindsight that places us humans at the pinnacle of life. This video does a good job of illustrating that.
As the old joke goes “there are only 10 types of people in this world: Those who understand binary, and those who don’t.” If you happen to fall into the latter group (and consequently don’t get the joke), you might want to pass on this LED Binary Watch. Mostly because you aren’t going to be able to read it without a bit of studying. Otherwise, you might find this little timepiece amusing, and wear it proudly as a symbol of your geek pride.
I’ve seen a number of other binary watches before, but they usually try to hard to look futuristic for my taste. This one keeps the usual round face outlined in stainless steel with a leather band. The face is still pretty geeky, what with the exposed circuitboard and LEDs. The nice thing is that even if you’re not fluent in binary, you should be able to read the time, as they’ve conveniently placed the numbers by their respective LEDs. Just add up the numbers under the lights and you’re good. Just $70 puts one of these on your wrist.
When it comes to cosplaying, some people like to go all-out. Whether it be crafting a life-size Buster sword or a Transformers costume that can actually transform, countless hours will be poured into these props. If that’s the sort of thing you enjoy, then you might want to check out this awesome repulsor beam blaster, inspired by Iron Man.
The arm-mounted contraption is constructed from a xenon bulb coupled with the flash capacitor and charge circuit from a disposable camera. Of course some other necessary parts are there to get them all to work together nicely. The ring itself has a constant glow from a set of LED bulbs, but the real power comes from the xenon one. A press of a button starts it charging, then you need only touch one of your fingers to a trigger on the ring. It may not physically harm your foe, but it will very likely blind them.
When I first saw the Iron Man movie a couple years back, I thought it would be cool to have that original arc reactor sitting on my desk like Tony Stark did. I figured that in no time Marvel would cash in and start selling replicas. Apparently they decided to wait until the second movie was getting ready to come out, as they’ve finally decided to put one on the market.
For $150 you can have your own aluminum and stainless steel replica arc reactor. It’s even got a number of LED’s to give it that wonderful glow, if you’re into that. The full-size prop replica comes in the same plexi-glass case that you saw in the movie, though you can take it out if you wish. Sadly, it will not power your own homemade Iron Man suit.
Not that this really relates to anything, but it’s geeky enough to mention. Mathematics Professors Christopher Danforth and Peter Dodds, of Vermont University, analyzed 2.4 million Tweets, looking for words that connote both happiness (think “rainbows (really), free and fun”) or gloom (think “cruel, hatred and suffocate”) and concluded that the worst day of the week seems to be a Wednesday.
The three posters hanging in my living room are evidence enough that I’m definitely a Star Wars fan. I can appreciate Star Trek, but I’m not exactly a huge fan. Knowing how much I would give for a perfect replica of a lightsaber, I’m sure that fans of the Trek might be interested in this spiffy Type-I Phaser Kit, which lets you build a prop worth of the original show.
It’s a little strange that this is only being offered in kit-form. I guess assembling your own phaser will give you a bit more geek cred at the next con. All you need is $200 and a a free afternoon to be the envy of all your geeky friends.
I don’t consider myself to be the tree hugging type, but I do try any recycle when I can. By that I of course mean when it takes no additional effort on my part. Hey, at least I’m honest. Anyway, you don’t usually find me out trying to persuade others to do their part for the environment. However, with the release of these Green Star Wars Tees, I might just start spreading the word.
Zazzle has a collection of Star Wars shirts that each have a simple message about being being more environmentally friendly. The shirts don’t look too cheesy, so your average Star Wars geek won’t think twice about wearing it outside. Not that we go outside that often. There are six designs that can be found on several different shirt styles for around $27 each.
I’m something of a geek and (as you might have noticed) a writer too. I think there’s something about both of these qualities that attracts one to the game Scrabble. I love learning new words, but even more I enjoy using those words as powerful tools on the Scrabble board. Granted, I don’t actually play all the time, but one aspiring fanatic went well out of their way to show their devotion to this wordsmith’s game.
Apparently one day it dawned on a few people that the little wooden game pieces were small squares, roughly the same size as the keys on an average keyboard. So why not use them to create a custom keyboard? Well there are several obstacles here. Namely, there’s no “Enter” piece in the game of Scrabble. Instead they contacted a friend and persuaded him to hand-craft this masterpiece laid out before you. Each key was hand-beveled, and he went so far as to make the Caps Lock and Num Lock keys have lights that shine through when enabled.
This was originally just a one-off piece, but yesterday the creator put up a little note on his site. Since so many people have taken an interest in his work, he is considering making a small batch of these to sell. The biggest hurdle is whether or not he’s going to have Hasbro banging on his door for doing so.
I’m a Star Wars guy, but my love of Sci-Fi lets me understand why others are such fans of Star Trek. I carry my lightsaber, you have your pointy ears. Well, for those Trekkies out there that want to make their home just a little more like the USS Enterprise, here are a couple of face plates that might help you out.
There are three different plates, which really do look like something you’d expect to see on the Enterprise. One is for your standard electrical outlets, another for a regular light switch and a third for a light switch dimmer. Each one of these 24th-century plates will set you back $18.
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