Monthly Archives: November 2008

Smile! Look at the Pinhole!

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Pinhole Camera Solargraphy at Astroengine.

[The] solargraphs are taken by a compact camera film cartridge (plus tiny pinhole) strapped to an inanimate object for long periods of time. However, due to the low speed of the camera film and light restriction (plus, as this is Bristol, plenty of overcast days), the six-month exposure brings a surprising amount of detail to the shot. Every day when the Sun was shining (and days when it was struggling to get through the clouds), the path it made through the sky every day was captured.

The original site is Pinhole Photography and has some very interesting pictures and information. Also check out the Solargraphy site.

A Little Help

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Pictures of Numbers

Pictures of Numbers is a book-project-in-progress, consisting of practical tips and techniques for busy researchers on improving their data presentation, and is updated in intermittent bursts of regularity

In particular, there are

Better Axes

A good rule when making graphs is to remove needless impediments. Every extra act of interpretation we ask of the reader is a chance for them to misunderstand, be baffled, or get frustrated and move on. There should be as little standing between the reader and the data as possible. One level of interpretation all readers have to grapple with is the humble axis

Fixing Excel’s Charts, which need fixing, and

Reflections on the Planets, which improves a plot of the albedo of the solar system’s planets

via Kottke

Under Down Under

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Scenes from Antarctica

Down in Antarctica, November marks the end of spring, the beginning of austral summer, and the beginning of Antarctica’s cruise season. The Sun just rose for the first time in 6 months on September 22nd, and is now visible in the sky all the time. Recent studies in Antarctica have brought new insights into the origins of deep sea octopus species (a 30 million-year-old ancestor from Antarctic waters), volcanic contributions to disappearing antarctic ice, and the effects of increasing numbers of icebergs scouring the seafloor. Collected here are 32 photographs of Antarctica from the past several years. (32 photos total)

Worst … Idea … Ever

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Worst Idea Ever: Ridley Scott is Directing Monopoly

Ridley Scott is now OFFICIALLY attached to direct a big screen movie based on Hasbro’s popular board game Monopoly. Corpse Bride/Monster House scribe Pamela Pettler has been hired to write the script. Scott had been developing the project with plans to produce since June 2007.

Whaaaa?

I’m having a hard time imagining the scene where the doggie rolls doubles to get out of jail.

Illusions: Tricking the Eye or Fooling the Brain?

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Optical illusions: caused by eye or brain?

For the past 200 years, researchers have debated whether the illusion of motion in a static image is caused by mechanisms in the eye, in the brain, or by a combination of both. Because measuring these kinds of physiological responses is difficult, no study has successfully measured direct and tightly timed correlations between a kinetic illusion and a physiological precursor.

Something From ACME Worked!

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Long ago I had the idea that someone should do a film called “The End” where all of the serial stories finally get terminated. Batman gets killed by some combination of the Joker, the Riddler, Catwoman, the Penguin, et al. The Roadrunner finally gets eaten by Wile E. Coyote. Tom Cat gets Jerry Mouse.

Here’s an exhibit displaying the ‘toon part of that.

Cool Stuff: Splatter Exhibition in London

The multi-media art show focuses on “the plausible impossibility of death in the mind of cartoon characters”.

A bit of gore, but it’s ‘toon gore.