hippoblog

Borg Return

The Las Vegas Hilton has a new Star Trek ride. Sounds fun. $30.
Wired News: Vegas Steels for Borg Invasion

In Borg Invasion 4D, a Star Trek: Voyager-themed adventure ride opening March 18 at the Las Vegas Hilton, part of Star Trek: The Experience, the room itself never actually moves. And yet, thanks to both a new approach to filming 3-D footage -- used in the ride's film, the world's first 3-D movie both shot and projected entirely digitally -- and theater chairs loaded with gizmos that poke, prod and contort in innovative ways, viewers are 'about to have the most immersive, the most intense simulated experience available anywhere."
...
Watching the new 3-D movie will be easier and less disconcerting as well, Thornton said, thanks to the use of a Christie CP 2000H projector, a $500,000 machine that eliminates some of the shaky, flickering qualities that plague other 35-mm projectors. Current 3-D projection often leaves viewers dizzy or tired because the mechanical projector shakes the film and prevents the two images from laying on one another properly at all times, a problem eliminated in the digital world where the images are not physical bits of film but data files that can be placed with greater exactitude.
...
The theater's 48 gray-cloth armchairs are similarly complex devices. Each, at a cost of $25,000, has new means of making the viewer feel simulated perceptions, including air bladders that fill up and release against various parts of the back to give the sensation of speeding up or slowing down. It's technology the U.S. military uses now for its simulated training exercises, Thornton said. The seats also have ways of shaking and poking the people sitting in them, and have individual surround-sound speakers.

* Ray, 3/12/2004 02:13:44 PM

Earth, as seen from Mars

* Ray, 3/12/2004 02:05:17 PM

Rapid Prototyping for Giants

Big, big 3d putty extruder: Contour Crafting

"The goal is to be able to completely construct a one-story 2000-square foot home on site in one day without using human hands."
...
The materials can be plaster, concrete, adobe, plastic or even wood particles mixed with epoxy into a paste. Guided by computer programming based on analysis of CAD-CAM representations, the Contour Crafting nozzle-and-trowel system molds these materials into shape while semi-liquid.

main site here

Nifty.

* Ray, 3/12/2004 02:04:48 PM

You have dishonored my temple...

Learn fighting techniques from the master secretary (of defense, that is). Thanks to Jef for the forward...

* Rami, 3/12/2004 10:49:31 AM

CPU=SUV

A new book by the United Nations University says computers have a gigantic environmental footprint, bigger than anyone thought. I suddenly feel very Green for having reformatted all our office's old machines. I'd previously been feeling cheap.
Wired News: Short-Lived PCs Have Hidden Costs

The average desktop PC and 17-inch CRT monitor takes an SUV-sized 1.8 tons of water, fossil fuels and chemicals to make, the book reports.

As for energy use, a computer's lifetime energy impact is about the same as a refrigerator, they report. While a computer doesn't use much energy while it's running, its short lifespan and the large amounts of energy needed to construct it make it one of the more energy-intensive appliances.

* Ray, 3/11/2004 06:16:53 PM

Jews know fun, especially in bag form

Jewish.com Store

Bag of Plagues

A fun and educational way to involve children in the Passover experience. Symbols for each of the 10 plagues are included.

* Ray, 3/11/2004 02:22:27 PM

As macho as the spoon-fork combo

Swissbit's USB knife

The USB Swiss Army Knife is available with 64 or 128MB memory, plus all the usual extras - knife, corkscrew and tin-opener.

* Ray, 3/11/2004 02:19:28 PM

deep.ASCII

A gem I found on Fleshbot: 55 minutes of Deep Throat reproduced in ASCII. Mesmerizing, and I haven't even sat around to wait for the nekked parts.

I have to re-recommend Fleshbot for the ultrabored. Always three or four things you can't wait to tell your friends about.

* Ray, 3/11/2004 11:48:19 AM

Boxing with the Thurmond

Near and dear to my heart: The Random Masturbation Synonym Generator... random generators are near and dear, that is.

* Ray, 3/11/2004 11:46:28 AM

TED Prize

I've always resented the masturbatory idea of TED, but apparently they're trying something new this year:

...As if to underscore a new other-directed definition of happiness, Anderson, who has funneled the roughly $1 million proceeds from the conference - formerly a profit-seeking venture - into various worthy causes, announced the creation of the TED Prize, "an award program like nothing else out there," in which three "remarkable people" will be granted three wishes, presumably to be fulfilled by zillionaire, clout-heavy and intellectually supercharged TEDsters.

As a backup, each winner will also be awarded $100,000. The plan is for the winners, who will be communally nominated and announced later this year, to unveil their wishes at next year's conference, where they will be anointed as "the most perfect TEDsters we can find," Anderson said. They will also be given a three-year pass to TED (worth $12,000).

Let's hope idealism wins out over cutesy.

* Ray, 3/11/2004 10:22:17 AM

Slam

Must be a real bummer to read Herbert say this about your work:
Critic's Notebook: Let the Design Sprint Begin

The Smith-Miller & Hawkinson submission is almost unaccountably dull. I say almost, because I suspect that the design's pedestrian quality may be calculated. This is one of those mysteries that can occur when you hold a competition while denying that it is a competition: nobody really knows the rules. You can tell architects to go all out for innovation and imagination, but when the time comes to pick a winner you throw all this rationale in the air about budget, feasibility, community preference and so on.

It shouldn't work that way. It's somehow less than obedient to the Olympic spirit. If you want architects to compete on the level of architecture, that is the sole basis on which a winner should be chosen. Then, should New York be fortunate enough to be host to the games in 2012, there will be more than enough time to deal with the pragmatics. This is all just fantasy, right?

See all the finalists here. Wacky, wormy buildings. So hip. So ridiculous. Is it in the rules that whatever gets built becomes a huge, regrettable eyesore for the next generation? Is that what "middle-income housing" means, in truth?

* Ray, 3/11/2004 10:03:09 AM

xcuse me?

One boring day in Somerville (as if there is any other kind), Enrique Ramon and I invented a series of new extreme sports concepts. Smoking, for example, became "Extreme Breathing." But whereas our gag was all verbal over-statement, it took a bunch of crazy Welshmen to actually reach into their own history and landcape to create The Ben and Jerry's World Bog-Snorkelling Championship. I suppose we'd have called this "extreme swimming," but that would just be overshadowed by how unpleasant it looks...

* joshua, 3/10/2004 10:25:12 PM

kicking the cack

"Talking cock" is Singlish for "engaging in idle chatter"--or bullsh*tting, as we Americans would have it. This website is one of the most brazen sources of Singaporean social and poiltical satire. Some of the postings are ham-fisted, others incomprehensible--but many are actually hilarious.

* joshua, 3/10/2004 09:20:48 PM

Pretty Pictures

Nice Music, too: Carl de Keyzer

* Rami, 3/10/2004 05:56:45 PM

Somehow, seeing your text printed is entertaining

The Bush/Cheney '04 team offers free customizable posters in pdf format. The Custom Text field won't let you type in "Hitler" or stuff like that, but you can put whatever you want in the City field. For example, "Suck on it, Massachusetts."

* Ray, 3/10/2004 02:28:09 PM

The Million Dollar Question...

... that being, wtf?

[added 11mar by ray]

''You can't keep up with the U.S. Treasury,'' said Alice Pike, speaking from jail.

Pike, 35, was arrested last week at the Wal-Mart. The bill was a novelty item that can be bought at gag shops. Pike told police she got it from her estranged husband, who is a coin collector.

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/071/nation/Woman_who_tried_to_pass_fake_1:.shtml

* Rami, 3/10/2004 09:50:13 AM

Forward Flash

Rori sent me this portfolio site: intentionallies.

It's slick. Very, very slick. Makes me want to outdo it.

* Ray, 3/10/2004 08:51:37 AM

How the Digital Divide works sexually

Noticed this on Gizmodo: 'Toothing!

'Toothing is a form of anonymous sex with strangers - usually on some form of transport or enclosed area such as a conference or training seminar. 'Toothers meet by first connecting suitable equipment - such as a modern phone or palmtop computer. Users 'discover' other computers or phones in the vicinity and then send a speculative message. The usual greeting is: 'Toothing?'.

If the other party is interested, messages are exchanged until a suitable location is agreed - usually a public toilet, although there are tales of more adventurous spots such as deserted carriages or staff areas. What happens next is up to you!

Take that, craigslist.

That reminds me, Best of Craigslist is very, very funny sometimes. Great for those times when you are so bored you can't even think of what to Google.

* Ray, 3/09/2004 01:57:58 PM

Extinguishers

I wish I got a little closer to take this picture. It's a green shopping cart filled with red fire extinguishers, mysteriously unattended in the middle of our building's lobby. There's a dude in the corner coming toward me, too. I didn't notice him until after I took the picture. Creepy.

* Ray, 3/09/2004 01:40:41 PM

STD Standard

Abstinence, a disease in itself?
BBC NEWS | Americas | Virgin teens 'have same STD rate'

Young Americans who pledge to remain virgins until they marry have the same rates of sexually transmitted diseases as those who do not, a new study says.
...
"It's difficult to simultaneously prepare for sex and say you're not going to have sex."

Now, check out these numbers:

According to the study, the STD rates were:

Whites who pledged virginity 2.8% - did not 3.5%

Blacks: pledgers 18.1% - non-pledgers 20.3%

Asians: pledgers 10.5% - non-pledgers 5.6%

Hispanics: pledgers 6.7% - non-pledgers 8.6%

There are more Asians getting STDs after pledging abstinence. Hm.

* Ray, 3/09/2004 01:37:56 PM

A Letter from George

Zoe sent this charming letter today.

It's Election Time Again.

Just so you know: I attacked and took over 2 countries.

I spent the U.S. surplus and bankrupted the US Treasury.

I shattered the record for the biggest annual deficit in history (not easy!).

I set an economic record for the most personal bankruptcies filed in any 12-month period.

I set all-time record for the biggest drop in the history of the stock market.

I am the first president in decades to execute a federal prisoner.

In my first year in office I set the all-time record for most days on vacation by any president in US history (tough to beat my dad's, but I did).

After taking the entire month of August off for vacation, I presided over the worst security failure in US history.

I set the record for most campaign fund raising trips by any president in US history.

In my first two years in office over 2 million Americans lost their jobs.

I cut unemployment benefits for more out-of-work Americans than any other president in US history.

I set the all-time record for most real estate foreclosures in a 12-month period.

I appointed more convicted criminals to administration positions than any president in US history.

I set the record for the fewest press conferences of any president, since the advent of TV.

I signed more laws and executive orders amending the Constitution than any other US president in history.

I presided over the biggest energy crises in US history and refused to intervene when corruption was revealed

I cut health care benefits for war veterans.

I set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously take to the streets to protest me (15 million people), shattering the record for protest against any person in the history of mankind.

I dissolved more international treaties than any president in US history.

I've made my presidency the most secretive and unaccountable of any in US history.

Members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in US history. (The poorest multimillionaire, Condoleeza Rice, has a Chevron oil tanker named after her.)

I am the first president in US history to have all 50 states of the Union simultaneously struggle against bankruptcy.

I presided over the biggest corporate stock market fraud in any market in any country in the history of the world.

I am the first president in US history to order a US attack AND military occupation of a sovereign nation, and I did so against the will of the United Nations and the vast majority of the international community.

I have created the largest government department bureaucracy in the history of the United States, called the "Bureau of Homeland Security"(only one letter away from BS).

I set the all-time record for biggest annual budget spending increases, more than any other president in US history (Ronnie was tough to beat, but I did it!!).

I am the first president in US history to compel the United Nations remove the US from the Human Rights Commission.

I am the first president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the Elections Monitoring Board.

I removed more checks and balances, and have the least amount of congressional oversight than any presidential administration in US history.

I rendered the entire United Nations irrelevant. I withdrew from the World Court of Law.

I refused to allow inspectors access to US prisoners of war and by default no longer abide by the Geneva Conventions.

I am the first president in US history to refuse United Nations election inspectors access during the 2002 US elections.

I am the all-time US (and world) record holder for most corporate campaign donations.

The biggest lifetime contributor to my campaign, who is also one of my best friends, presided over one of the largest corporate bankruptcy frauds in world history (Kenneth Lay, former CEO of Enron Corporation).

I spent more money on polls and focus groups than any president in US history.

I am the first president to run and hide when the US came under attack (and then lied, saying the enemy had the code to Air Force 1)

I am the first US president to establish a secret shadow government.

I took the world's sympathy for the US after 9/11, and in less than a year made the US the most resented country in the world (possibly the biggest diplomatic failure in US and world history).

I am the first US president in history to have a majority of the people of Europe (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and stability.

I changed US policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts.

I set the all-time record for the number of administration appointees who violated US law by not selling their huge investments in corporations bidding for government contracts.

I have removed more freedoms and civil liberties for Americans than any other president in US history.

I entered office with the strongest economy in US history and in less than two years turned every single economic category heading straight down.

RECORDS AND REFERENCES: I have at least one conviction for drunk driving in Maine (Texas driving record has been erased and is not available).

I was AWOL from the National Guard and deserted the military during time of war.

I refuse to take a drug test or even answer any questions about drug use. (wink, wink)

All records of my tenure as governor of Texas have been spirited away to my fathers library, sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.

All records of any SEC investigations into my insider trading or bankrupt companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.

All minutes of meetings of any public corporation for which I served on the board are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.

Any records or minutes from meetings I (or my VP) attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public review.

With Love,
GEORGE W. BUSH
The White House, Washington, DC

Note: this information should be useful to voters in the 2004 election. Circulate to as many citizens you think would be helped to be reminded about this record

* Ray, 3/09/2004 12:16:06 PM

cruisin'

Shing and I recently took a tour of Crystal Cruise Lines' newest and largest boat, the Serenity. We were posing as rich folk in the market for a cruise. Please note that this is already funny, and I haven't even shown you the photos yet.

The boat is astounding. It has everything: two discos, a full-size theatre, eight restaurants, a screening room, cigar lounge, "art" gallery, two bars and a casino run by Caesar's. The style is a sort of hotel po-mo gothic, and looks vaguely like the scenery from the Myst video game series. The service is amazing, and bizarre--even though the fleet is owned and operated by Japan's NYK, the culture of the service is a sort of personalized "down-homey" politeness you'd expect in Atlanta's Peachtree Center. They have staff who actually attempt to memorize the names of as many as 1,080 passengers at one time. It's also staggeringly expensive--a round-the-world booking in a first class stateroom will run you around $200,000 per person.

Here are a couple of choice design moments:

fig. 1: the "Crystal Cove," symbolic frontispiece of the Serenity, near the main gangway entrance. Marc Chagall meets Jon Jerde in an explosive victory for mauvais gout. And it's creepily religious, too. As if the ferry across the Styx had a lobby...

fig. 2: A cunning transparent piano finally reveals how Neil Sedaka tunes are made...

fig. 3: the Disco of Damocles. This room is actually about twenty by twenty. I think the tour-guide finally realized that we weren't in the market for a cruise when I blurted out, "do you think they have enough f**kin' lights in here?"

fig. 4: Yes. It actually exists. I was astounded also.

* joshua, 3/09/2004 07:37:28 AM

and on a lighter note...

...here's a Frenchman who plays horns with his whole body. Just to show that we're not above a little low-brow vaudeville and eyebrow-waggling here at the Hippo. Incidentally, this fella's outfit somewhat reminds me of Ray's blowfish-suit from a Halloween of yesteryear...

* joshua, 3/09/2004 05:59:35 AM

The American Candidate

I don't have the expensive cable channels, but I do read about them. [Now that I think about it, that's no better than listening to the radio about the Internet. I should go get the expensive cable channels. But now that I think about that, who has time to watch tv?] This summer Showtime is going to run a reality series to discover the next Presidential candidate:
Showtime - American Candidate

SHOWTIME becomes the campaign headquarters for
American Candidate starting Summer 2004!

Unscripted and unprecedented, American Candidate is a reality series in which the viewing public will select a People's Candidate who will then have the chance to run for president of the United States.
...
The show will debut in Summer 2004 with 12 contestants from all walks of life. Over the course of the series, those 12 will face off against each other and will be narrowed down through audience participation. The final episode will be a showdown among the remaining contestants, and one person will emerge victorious--the 'American Candidate.'

Is it just me, or are you also overwhelmed by the layers and layers of pathetic/righteous irony/seriousness going on here? What's there to say?

Has the FCC been coddling the media companies because in truth [warning: trite conspiracy theory] media run the White house?

Would you want a presidential candidate produced by Showtime? (Non-premium-channel-viewer I, for example, am disenfranchised.)

Is the Presidency cheapened by shows like this, or is the Presidency already cheap?

...but these aren't new or interesting things to ask. What a strange world we live in.

* Ray, 3/08/2004 01:45:57 PM

from Abad to worse, har har

I think it's interesting that there is no forensics of bad taste; although we're all quite good at pointing out kitsch, we're less accomplished at pointing out specifically WHY something is so bad. I'm quite good at dealing with mediocrity, but when I encounter something truly obscene I tend to be a bit gob-smacked. Recently, this has begun to frustrate me. Today, the particular excresence that is pictured below completely ruined my fish and chips as I sat along the Singapore river.

Why is the Alkaff bridge, recently (and expensively) covered in 900 litres of krazy kolor by Filipina artist Pacita Abad, so depressing? Is it the rediculous muscularity of the bridge--or, as Shing put it, "do you really need that much structure to keep a Chinaman in the air for twenty meters?" Is it the grim insistence on technicolor fun that gets me? There's no real enjoyment in this thing, and the Easter-Egg treatment doesn't help--it's like putting body-paint on someone in traction. In fact, the whole kiddie carnival aesthetic is so aggro and unnerving that people actively avoid this bridge, and it's perpetually empty. It's a big, authoritarian joke without any humor, but with teeth lurking somewhere behind the smile. For god's sake, it even looks like a risus mortis on stilts.

Hey, now I think I'm starting to cheer up. He heh. Go figure...

* joshua, 3/08/2004 05:53:32 AM

mean machine

This highly eccentric bike is used to make deliveries from the famous Sin Hoi Sai seafood restaurant in Tiong Bahru, Singapore. This amazing vehicle is covered in a highly personal array of small icons, most centrally Buddhist figures and Hello Kitty characters. The owner is a surprisingly sedate looking character in a golf shirt and dark sunglasses. Incidentally, Sin Hoi Sai's most famous dish is Alaskan snow crab for $120 a pop. Cooked in a wok. In CHEESE.

* joshua, 3/08/2004 01:58:04 AM

loose lips sink ships?

Okay, so here's a question:
What has lips and weighs 50,000 metric tonnes? You might answer "Wail's mama," but you'd be completely wrong. It's the Chrystal Aida, the world's most luxurious all-German-speaking cruise liner. It's extremely unnerving that there is actually something vaguely erotic about it. Our instinct for anthropomorphism must be stronger than I thought... or maybe just mine.
And sorry, Wail, just wanted to see if you were reading this blog...

* joshua, 3/08/2004 01:40:42 AM

X

Search hippoblog's favorite design sites

archives:
08.24.2003... 08.31.2003... 09.07.2003... 09.14.2003... 09.21.2003... 09.28.2003... 10.05.2003... 10.12.2003... 10.19.2003... 10.26.2003... 11.02.2003... 11.09.2003... 11.16.2003... 11.23.2003... 11.30.2003... 12.07.2003... 12.14.2003... 12.21.2003... 12.28.2003... 01.04.2004... 01.11.2004... 01.18.2004... 01.25.2004... 02.01.2004... 02.08.2004... 02.15.2004... 02.22.2004... 02.29.2004... 03.07.2004... 03.14.2004... 03.21.2004... 03.28.2004... 04.04.2004... 04.11.2004... 04.18.2004... 04.25.2004... 05.02.2004... 05.09.2004... 05.16.2004... 05.23.2004... 05.30.2004... 06.06.2004... 06.13.2004... 06.20.2004... 06.27.2004... 07.04.2004... 07.11.2004... 07.18.2004... 08.01.2004... 08.08.2004... 08.15.2004... 08.22.2004... 08.29.2004... 09.05.2004... 09.12.2004... 09.19.2004... 09.26.2004... 10.03.2004... 10.10.2004... 10.17.2004... 10.24.2004... 10.31.2004... 11.07.2004... 11.14.2004... 11.21.2004... 11.28.2004... 12.05.2004... 12.12.2004... 12.19.2004... 01.02.2005... 01.09.2005... 01.16.2005... 01.23.2005... 01.30.2005... 02.06.2005... 02.13.2005... 02.20.2005... 02.27.2005... 03.06.2005... 03.13.2005... 03.20.2005... 03.27.2005... 04.03.2005... 04.10.2005... 04.17.2005... 04.24.2005... 05.01.2005... 05.08.2005... 05.15.2005... 05.22.2005... 05.29.2005... 06.05.2005... 06.12.2005... 06.19.2005... 06.26.2005... 07.03.2005... 07.10.2005... 07.17.2005... 07.24.2005... 07.31.2005... 08.07.2005... 08.14.2005... 08.21.2005... 08.28.2005... 09.04.2005... 09.11.2005... 09.18.2005... 09.25.2005... 10.02.2005... 10.09.2005... 10.16.2005... 10.30.2005... 11.06.2005... 11.13.2005... 11.20.2005... 11.27.2005... 12.04.2005... 12.11.2005... 12.18.2005... 12.25.2005... 01.01.2006... 01.08.2006... 01.15.2006... 01.22.2006... 01.29.2006... 02.05.2006... 02.12.2006... 02.19.2006... 02.26.2006... 03.05.2006... 03.12.2006... 03.19.2006... 03.26.2006... 04.02.2006... 04.09.2006... 04.16.2006... 04.23.2006... 04.30.2006... 05.07.2006... 05.14.2006... 05.21.2006... 05.28.2006... 06.11.2006... 06.18.2006... 06.25.2006... 07.02.2006... 07.09.2006... 07.16.2006... 07.23.2006... 08.13.2006... 08.20.2006... 08.27.2006... 09.10.2006... 09.24.2006... 10.01.2006... 10.08.2006... 10.15.2006... 10.22.2006... 10.29.2006... 11.05.2006... 11.12.2006... 11.19.2006... 11.26.2006...

LINKS
Search hippoblog
Hippogoogle
Ray

FRIENDS LEKKERdesign
ditherdog

DESIGN
WMMNA
Future Feeder
Kaliber10000
Pruned
things magazine
Archinect
Inhabitat
int'ive architecture
arcspace
MoCo Loco
R.E.
dezain
IDFuel
CORE77
Simplicity
Thinking
designboom
Architecture Buzz
Record News
Arbitare
A Daily Dose
agglutinations
atlas(t)
Infosthetics
Jalopnik
Cartype

TRICKS
Lifehacker
MAKE

MUSIC
createdigitalmusic
City of Sound
Aurgasm
Zoe Radio

TRAVEL
SideStep
Mobissimo
Gridskipper
NY Airfares

STRONG NEWS
Foreign Policy
3quarksdaily
CSMonitor
News Dissector
Atrios
Tom Tomorrow
Dreyfuss Report

MILD NEWS
Boing Boing
MetaFilter
Wired
Slashdot
Gizmodo
Cin-o-Matic

ADVERTISEMENTS