denyingphoenix » 5 Things I Love for Friday

5 Things I Love for Friday #214 (Stubborn Edition)

Brian — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 13:12:14 +0000

I refuse to give up on this, even if I’m obnoxiously derelict in my writing. So here are five links to peruse until I get my stuff back together:

New Software System for Realistically Adding Objects Into Photos – Prepare to have your mind blown. Or panic. Either, really.
Rugs by Linus Dean – I’d love one of these rugs for my office, especially the Melbourne.
Coffee Made Me Do It – Inspiring work of Hyper Island student Simon Ålander
Beautiful Cabins – I’ve always wanted a small, humble, one-person cabin in the woods somewhere. Photos of these make me drool [via]
Michael Winslow of Police Academy fame covers Led Zepplin with his voice – This guy is nuts. He came to Xavier when I was a freshman. He’s hilarious and talented.

5 Things I Love for Friday #213

Brian — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 12:54:08 +0000

The Illusion of Asymmetric Insight – They don’t make social psych experiments like they used to. Fascinating read (from a consistently enjoyable site) about human bonding and mental bias.
Mute Watch – Touchscreen-meets-chronograph in this minimalistic watch.
Ring Watch concept – Speaking of watches, even though this one doesn’t exist yet I dig the fresh concept.
Gorgeous astronomy timelapse photoshop behind the scenes – Taking long exposure photographs at night can yield some breathtaking results. Taking timelapse night shots while moving the rig and then animating them together to make a film of the Sierra Nevada region? Well, watch the video to find out.
The Mission to Get Bin Laden – New Yorker article that I have no idea where the reporter gets his facts, but still an enjoyable read nonetheless

5 Things I Love for Friday #211

Brian — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 12:02:17 +0000

Archipod – If a spaceship landed on Martha’s Vineyard, I imagine this is what it’s disguise would look like. Instead, these pods are actually tiny stand-alone offices. I love it. Though the price tag is high, I suppose if you ran your own business it would be worth the tax write-off and loan.
‘Transparent’ rug – Neat idea for an area rug that would go stunningly well especially in an all-white room. Kill the annoying signature on the rug, though.
Tele-present water – At first I called BS on the legitimacy of this installation piece until they showed the overhead shot. I’d love to see it with even more vector points.
They Might Be Giants perform ‘Tubthumping’ – I love The Onion’s AV Club and their AV Undercover series. TMBG prove that they can slay even a ridiculous song. Don’t miss some of the other wonderful performances like Rocky Votolato and Matt Pond PA covering the ’80s classic ‘Don’t You Want Me’.
Monkey self portrait – Here’s the setup: macaque monkey steals wildlife photographer’s camera and snaps hundreds of photos, including a priceless self-portrait. That monkey rules.

5 Things I Love for Friday #210

Brian — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 12:21:59 +0000

Stuxnet: Anatomy of a Computer Virus – Motion graphics like these are a dime-a-dozen these days but Patrick Clair does a great job of letting the visuals enhance the storyline instead of detract from it. Also: good info for people not in the IT industry to learn about in 3 minutes.
Zombies Ahead - We had tornadic activity here in the Midwest this week. Some construction workers on I71/I75 saw an opportunity for laughs.
Wood block type – I love old printing block letters. I love them alot, in fact. Scott Albrecht is a guy who makes pretty things out of painting them.
Scrabble for type geeks – View all nine pictures and tell me that’s not a damn fine lookin’ board game.
Bookcases galore – I heard you liked to store things in cubbies. So I hired an architect to construct Shelf-Pod, aka a house with more room for books than your local library.

5 Things I Love for Friday #209

Brian — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 12:09:28 +0000

How Cooking Gave Me Purpose – An excerpt from the book Man With a Pan, former food writer for the New York Times Mark Bittman talks about how he reluctantly got into cooking. A wonderful read, and the third or fourth recommendation I’ve come across for this book.
The Bräuler – Building a better growler. For those who aren’t beer geeks, growlers are traditionally glass jugs that in days of ‘yore would be carried to the brewery to haul home your beer. Today they’re used much the same way, except a few smart people are looking to improve upon the design. Neato.
Red Pop – Love using your iPhone as a camera but find it’s slim body a bit awkward to hold? Try the Red Pop (assuming their Kickstarter project gets funded).
Green With Envy trailer – New movie coming out. If you haven’t seen the trailer I won’t ruin the surprise except to say my inner child is doing cartwheels.
The new user interface direction for Windows 8? – I applaud the vast departure from ‘regular OS ui’. I could see it being annoying for non-touch-based terminals, though. And most importantly, how does Clippy feel about this?

5 Things I Love for Friday #208

Brian — Fri, 20 May 2011 12:31:30 +0000

From brewmasters to craftmakers – A short video on a bunch of Denver-area folks who collaborated on a pretty neat projects. Designers, letterpress artists, videographers, bee keepers, craftbrewers…it’s like a big creative love-in.
Camera Capture Clip system (aka DSLR holster) – Absolutely perfect. I almost never find the need for a bag, but something like this is what I’ve been waiting for. Nice to see his Kickstarter project got funded. Via Swiss Miss.
Everlasting gin & tonic – Geeky article via Boing Boing about the science behind the perfect time and temperature for consumption of a G&T. If you like your cocktails with a few charts and graphs, indulge in this nerdery with me.
Stylish Rain Barrel/watering can hybrid – I’ve got one barrel up and running at our house, but admittedly it’s not the most attractive thing in the world. This design, however, is stunning. Tear-drop shaped with a built-in watering can solution.
Photo of the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute in Las Vegas – Great exposure, great composition, surprising architecture. Although methinks this angle is a bit more flattering, as other shots seem to show a bit more of a mess. Not quite as graceful as some of Gehry’s other wild buildings, in my opinion.

5 Things I Love for Friday #207

Brian — Fri, 06 May 2011 12:28:03 +0000

Every Delicious Calorie – Great food tumblr blog to flip through when looking for inspiration of what to cook or bake. Discovered the site after realizing that half-pound Reese’s peanut butter cups exist in some other delicious, alternate universe.
Folded paper designs – How cool can folded paper be? Simon Schuster shows you just how wrong your pre-conceived notions are.
Fully automatic slingshot crossbow – So apparently there’s an entire community of folks who dig homemade slingshots. This guy made an automatic gatling-style gun. I’m simultaneously awed by the ingenuity and perplexed by the motivation. Regardless, my inner seven year old is applauding.
Mint Julep ice cream – It’s Derby weekend here in the ‘Ville. And while I do enjoy a well-made mint julep while the city goes bonkers, I’ve found that I prefer a spoonful of this ice cream more. It’s my third year making it and if you’re a julep fan, I highly recommend you keep some in your freezer too.
Rabbits jumping hurdles – WTF and you’re welcome.

5 Things I Love for Friday #206

Brian — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 13:19:15 +0000

This whole “one post a week” thing is getting stale, I know. Regardless:

Obol – A bowl that compartmentalizes liquids from solids. For type A personalities like my wife who are truly bizarre strangely only want an essence of milk in their cereal. The Oreo idea is golden, though.
Seating wedding guests according to commonalities – Genius idea. As a designer, I applaud that their solution did not result in “Quaker-style shunnings,” as that is a lofty goal. [via]
Iron and Wine covering New Order – And what a great New Order song it is.
12 Year Old Twin Skaters – These kids have serious talent. The one stomps it at 1:11! Methinks the Easter Bunny might be bringing Liam a skateboard this weekend.
Two floor library – Yes, please. (I’d love to find the original source, but thanks to the wonderfully non-attributing ways of most Tumblr users, alas…)

5 Things I Love for Friday #204

Brian — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 12:30:13 +0000

Weekender bag – Korean War-era canvas bag that is prohibitively expensive but still oh, so cool.
The OCD cutting board – For the chef in your family who is obsessed with cutting things on appropriate angles and lengths. [via]
Sheex – Sweaty sleeper? Temperature control issues in bed? These fancy spaceman sheets seem interesting in theory as they claim to be more breathable, soft and wick away moisture.
How To Steal Like An Artist – Numbers 5 and 9 especially. When my hobby became my job I found hobbies that were just for me away from committee critiques and snarky anonymous emails.
Taylor Swift covers Mumford & Sons – I can’t believe I’m linking to a video of Taylor Swift, but it’s a rather nice rendition of a great song. Nothing mind-blowing, but nice on a cloudy Friday morning.

5 Things I Love for Friday #203

Brian — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 11:51:27 +0000

Cheeky poster design for the Smithsonian – Great writing makes all the difference. Also: apparently Andrew Jackson’s parrot was awesome.
Post modern chicken coop – Forget the chickens, I’ll live there. Please join me in convincing my wife that I’m allowed to have one chicken? (thanks Ray)
The people behind Photoshop – A surprisingly interesting video about the people involved in making Photoshop, an application I use everyday and have for over half my life.
WeatherSpark – Weather data on steroids. I’ve spent over an hour on this and am still finding new things. Eat your heart out, Local On The Eights.
Homemade tonic water – I had only tasted one gin & tonic in my life (and hated it) before I got the wild urge to make my own tonic water. Let me just say that of all the things that I make from scratch, this is by far one of the most “change your perception of an entire food/drink” experiments. Imagine if you thought all cake tasted like Twinkies. Jeffrey’s recipe is a good start, and I’d recommend pairing it with Hendrick’s gin, thanks to the kindess of my friend Andrew and his bottle.