Google Glass Gets Into The Music Game

As soon as it came out, the $1,500 futuristic eyewear known as Google Glass became something of a punchline. But the technology now has some music apps that go along with it, and those apps seem pretty fucking cool. Using voice-activated commands, you can now identify a song that you might hear, find that song, buy it, and even search out a place to find that song on vinyl. And in the promotional video below, Jay-Z sound engineer Young Guru does exactly that, hearing a song in a Mexican restaurant and then finding that exact same song on vinyl.

Later this month, Google Glass will get its own cusomized earbuds, and you can read more about the glasses’ music functions at Rolling Stone.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Commercial With Lionel Messi (Watch Kids Sing Lorde’s “Royals”)

This is where I’d say “Lorde, Lorde!” if the “e” wasn’t silent. Lorde’s “Royals” has been just about everywhere lately, and now we’ve officially moved on to the Kidz Bop version. Well, not quite — kids do sing the song in this video, but it’s a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 commercial starring four-time defending FIFA Player of the Year Lionel Messi. No sign of the New Zealand teen queen, though. Here’s the plot:

A mysterious stranger arrives in a low income neighborhood and captures the imaginations of the children who live there. He is “The Developer” and the children view him with a deep suspicion.

I wanted to hate this, but both the kids and Messi are so irrepressibly charming that I couldn’t help grinning, and the kids do the song justice. It does have a certain nursery rhyme quality to it.

Evolution of the F1 Car

An animated timeline of all Formula 1 cars from 1950 to 2012.

Guardian open journalism: Three Little Pigs

This advert for the Guardian's open journalism, screened for the first time on 29 February 2012, imagines how we might cover the story of the three little pigs in print and online. Follow the story from the paper's front page headline, through a social media discussion and finally to an unexpected conclusion

Perpetual Motion Machines

Perpetual motion describes hypothetical machines that produce more work or energy than they consume, whether they might operate indefinitely or not. There is undisputed scientific consensus that perpetual motion in a closed system would violate the first law of thermodynamics and/or the second law of thermodynamics. So, are perpetual motion machines possible or not? The best way to be sure is to build one.

Zeitgeist 2011: Year In Review

See how the World Searched with Google's 2011 Zeitgeist:
http://googlezeitgeist.com

Music: "Sooner or Later" by Mat Kearney
Produced by Whirled Creative with Director Scott Chan

"Soldier surprises mom" clip courtesy of the National Geographic Channel, Siskell/Jacobs Productions and Joseph Desira.

Amazing Screen Technology : Samsung Flexible AMOLED

Check out this flexible AMOLED tablet concept from Samsung (via)

New and Improved ASIMO Robot

A brand new version of ASIMO – Honda’s humanoid robot, which has been in development for over 10 years now – was recently demonstrated. The new model can jump on one leg, pour drinks and much more.

Via Reddit

Ph.Diddy Is One Super Fly Doctoral Candidate

"The Ph.Diddy is on the scene" - Animation of life in the biotech lab

I suspect that Alex’s grad school life (remember, the owner of this site is a fully credentialed mad scientist) was like this. Except for the female groupies.

This video was produced as a promotional spot for the firm Invitrogen.

More: Youtube.

Productivity Future Vision (2011)

Watch how future technology will help people make better use of their time, focus their attention, and strengthen relationships while getting things done at work, home, and on the go. (Release: 2011)

Introducing Galaxy Nexus. Simple, beautiful, beyond smart

Galaxy Nexus is the next generation of Nexus devices co-developed by Samsung and Google. Nexus combines innovative hardware with the newest version of Android, 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, and the latest Google mobile services.

Bolshoi Cosmological Simulations

Astronomers have completed the Bolshoi simulations - the aptly named supercomputer simulations of the cosmos (bolshoi means "great" in Russian), and the result is fantastic.

Here's a video clip of the Bolshoi Fly-Through by Anatoly Klypin and Joel Primack, visualized by Chris Henze at NASA Ames Research Center. I gather there's a Pale Blue Dot somewhere in there ...

Schrödinger's Cat

No cats were harmed in the making of this video.

New Scientist produced a new One-Minute Physics animation to explain the Schrödinger’s cat thought experiment in a hurry. As if you could explain “collapsed realities” in one minute. Still, it’s a cute cartoon. Link

Encyclopedia Britannica's Animated Guide to Drugs (1951)

An excerpt from an anti-drug film produced by Encyclopedia Britannica in 1951 uses lovely black and white animation to illustrate how opium, heroin, cocaine, and marijuana work.

To watch this film in its entirety, visit the Internet Archive.

Compressed 02

Kim Pimmel placed a magnet in the middle of a pile of soap bubbles and then poured ferrofluid along the outer edge. Watch magnetic forces pull the ferrofluid through the bubbles! It’s an amazing demonstration of the use of macro lenses and time-lapse photography.

Receipt racer

The receipt racer combines different in and output devices into a complete game. It was made during the "Let's feed the future workshop", part of the OFFF Festival in Barcelona on June 8th 2011.

Introducing the Chromebook

Chromebooks are built and optimized for the web, so you get a faster, simpler and more secure experience without all the headaches of ordinary computers. Take a look: http://www.google.com/chromebook

Moby - After (hello, future.)

In a sterile and controlled future, suicide rates have risen and the powers-that-be are looking into the cause. An operator resurrects a female victim and sifts through her psyche, trying to understand the mechanics of her suicide.

Concept, Direction and Editing by John Irwin

Featuring: Ashley Sawyer

Planetary

YOUR MUSIC IN THE STARS WITH PLANETARY BY BLOOM

Planetary by Bloom is a pretty cool way to browse your music: Stars represent artists, planets are albums, and moons are songs whose orbital speeds are determined by the lengths of the tracks. All I have to say is my Radiohead System is going to be huge.

Download Planetary from iTunes

Oil'd

Oil’d by Chris Harmon, a visual essay that reminds us of our dependence on black gold

A year ago, a massive oil spill began in the Gulf. The entire country was glued to the news until the well was capped, and then we forgot about it.

As the year anniversary was fast approaching I became curious, just how much oil was that exactly? Where would it have gone? What I found was shocking.

So in an effort to further our discussion on oil dependency I created this short animation. I've spent all of my free time in the last month putting this together to help illustrate just how dependent we truly are on oil.


Designed, animated and written by Chris Harmon

Voice Talent: Kim Estes

Music: Billy Perez & Todd Stambaugh