KONY 2012 is a film and campaign by Invisible Children that aims to make Joseph Kony famous, not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his arrest and set a precedent for international justice.
Pledge your support by donating here: bit.ly/konydonate and continue to share this story. GOAL: 500,000 shares
It’s rare for me to find a video that makes me smile with absolute awe; but tonight folks I have found just that. The University of Pennsylvania’s General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception (GRASP) Lab have been the stars of the Quadrotor scene, by first showing the extremities of quadrotor flight, and now with this perfectly executed musical number #007. The video was revealed to the world yesterday at the TED2012 conference based in California.
Here’s your debriefing on how they managed to make it all come together: Firstly, the room was heavily equipped with infrared lights and cameras, which was used to get an exact barring on where each quadrotor was. The data received was then relayed wirelessly back to the machines to make them aware of their own location, and of their flying comrades.
All the Quadrotors were programmed to follow three-dimensional waypoints, which they had to reach at precise moments in time. Even though the coordinates had been programmed by skilled operators, it was entirely up to each robot to figure out a way to reach it’s appointed waypoints on time, and without disturbing the rest of the mechanical orchestra. I can’t wait for what else they’ll dish out in the future!
Do you know what a master equipment operator is capable of? The video above flaunts Youtube user Bobcatninja2124‘s amazing ability to manipulate his mechanical dinosaur (a Bobcat E50) with utmost accuracy- he’s so good at what he does he manages to do this feat on his first try. What a boss.
Finally, i have the time to write again! Sorry for my long absence, I’ve been on a backpacking trip around Japan and have finally arrived in Indonesia for some R&R with my family. I still wont be posting as often as i used to but that will all change once i arrive back to the nest i call my home. Hope all of you had a wonderful New Years! Also would like to wish you all luck with your resolutions; let’s make this the year we actually follow through with them (i don’t know about you, but the promises i make to myself are the toughest ones to keep.) Lordy lord, if it weren’t for the miracles of the computer I’d literally have a room called ‘posts’ filled to the brim with Sticky notes of topics i have to write about. I suppose i have to bite the blogging bullet and start writing away- don’t get the wrong impression, i enjoy this greatly.
Make some room in that big brainy head of yours because SillyReverie is going to pack it in with some genius new talent, fascinating new inventions, philosophical conundrums, stunning deigns & much much more!
I found this unbelievably amazing video today of Charlie Chaplin giving one of the most impressive monologues; I was left with my jaw agape, this was the first time i ever heard him produce any sort of sound- I feel obligated to watch the rest of his works. I nabbed a transcript of it and posted it below (With another bonus video!):
“I’m sorry but I don’t want to be an emperor. That’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible; Jew, Gentile, black men, white. We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each others’ happiness, not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone. And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men’s souls; has barricaded the world with hate; has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in.
If you haven’t heard, for four nights last week Warsaw echoed the whomps and hisses of exploding tear-gas bombs, the thuds of rubber truncheons and the taunting cries of “Gestapo, Gestapo,” which came from the throats of thousands of rioting polish university students. It has been the most severe civil disturbance since the Poznan rebellion of last year. Latajacakamera -a YouTube user- uploaded this amazing footage of the riots, using his RC Helicopter to soar above the barricades; this vantage point gives you an interesting look into the mechanics of an organized police force and the severity of the riots.
If there are any sociopaths out there who want a step-by-step guide on destroying civilization, you’ve come to the right place. This hilarious 3D animation created with motion capture technology guides you through all the things needed to culture an unstoppably destructive strain of nanobots and additional information on how to loose your soul; so you can go through with your diabolical plans! Nukes- boring. Incurable virus- boring. Nanobots are where it’s at. Enjoy!
I have my psychology exam coming up and along with the enormous amounts of cramming being done, is the rekindling of my passion for Jungian and Freudian thought. I decided today to spend some time building up my science category, to even out the site a bit; the artsy side of my mind has been subduing the more rationally oriented parts it seems. Here in this lecture we have Alan Watts (a legend) discussing Jung’s “enduring contributions toward the science of psychology”. In the first part of this three parter, he expands upon the influence Jungs’ work had on himself, and exposes the reality of good and evil as a part of the internal structure of an individuals psychology, which we unconsciously project outwardly- truly fascinating stuff!
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the extraordinary mind of the psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung. In 1907 Sigmund Freud met a young man and fell into a conversation that is reputed to have lasted for 13 hours. That man was the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung. Freud is celebrated as the great pioneer of the 20th century mind, but the idea that personality types can be ‘introverted’ or ‘extroverted’, that certain archetypal images and stories repeat themselves constantly across the collective history of mankind, and that personal individuation is the goal of life, all belong to Jung: “Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart… Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens”, he declared. And he also said “Show me a sane man and I will cure him for you”.
Holymotherofgod, this is shocking! Ian Millhiser, Center for American Progress joins Thom Hartmann. Is the Supreme Court about to give corporations the right to commit genocide? Believe it or not – that may happen. The High Court has agreed to hear the case of Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum which could give corporations immunity from any lawsuits for their employees murdering, raping, or torturing people in the areas where they’re drilling for oil or fielding mercenary armies – just as long as they’re carrying out the atrocities under the heading of corporate business.
These guys have done it; in one hilarious music video, they have single highhandedly captured every meme on the internet. If you go online more than once a year you’ll still know at least one or two of these memes. To name a few: Nyan Cat, Rage guy, Troll Dad, Trololo, O RLY, Keyboard Cat, Chuck Testa, Numa Numa, Rick Roll and Chacarron.
Decided to gather the videos about LSD that have a scientific/philosophical approach and expanded on the powerful effects it has on the human mind. Found this really fascinating clip from a 1956 television program on mental health issues. Dr Sidney Cohen at the time was dosing random volunteers at the Veteran’s Administration Hospital in Los Angeles; he is the one sitting at the table wearing a lounge suite asking the housewife all the questions. The housewife’s last remarks are what get me, “if you can’t see it, you’ll never know about it. I feel sorry for you.” The doesage she took, if you didn’t catch it was 100 gamma of LSD 25- one tenth of a milligram, the equivalent of one 600th of a grain. It’s interesting to see her accept this ‘new’ reality so readily and how she feels whole, unified with everything and everyone; I wonder if our sense of empathy is related to the DMT that’s naturally made in our brains. Not so keen about the message at the very end though, once you read more about the leaders of the psychedelic movement you’ll find that they had good intentions, which were shot down by the strictness of the Nixon era.
God, i love this man. Richard Alpert before he became the famed Ram Das, talks about the shifts society could have taken to become more collaborative, motivational and whole. I loved the slogan the presentor saw, which said “all wars are civil wars because all men are brothers.” It’s quite saddening that a powerful psychological tool like this would have such a negative stigma labeled onto it. Keep it in the labs and off the streets, no need to ban it from science as well. Then maybe we can start to recreate Huxley’s more utopian society that he wrote about in Island; a civilization that is truly ‘civilized’ without the “I’ve got to fuck you over to get where i want to get” mentality.
This video is so great, it shows the effects of LSD on military personnel during a military training exercise. Some of the things they do are just straight up comical, it’s almost like they’re children again.
Another experiment tested LSD with artistic ability, a series of 9 drawing were created during the trip; the test was conducted by the US government during it’s dalliance with psychotomimetic drugs in the late 1950′s. The artist was given a dose of LSD 25 and free access to an activity box full of crayons and pencils. If you want to see the results go to this link!
A friend showed me this interesting video on how to make a laser microscope; with three simple steps you’ll be exploring the microscopic world at home- makes for a fun project to do with your friends or kids! Check it out and try it out.
A short story about the Semantic Web. Some Internet experts believe the next generation of the Web – Web 3.0– will make tasks like your search for movies and food faster and easier. Instead of multiple searches, you might type a complex sentence or two in your Web 3.0 browser, and the Web will do the rest. For example, you could type “I want to see a funny movie and then eat at a good Mexican restaurant. What are my options?” The Web 3.0 browser will analyze your response, search the Internet for all possible answers, and then organize the results for you. That’s not all. Many of these experts believe that the Web 3.0 browser will act like a personal assistant. As you search the Web, the browser learns what you are interested in. The more you use the Web, the more your browser learns about you and the less specific you’ll need to be with your questions. Eventually you might be able to ask your browser open questions like “where should I go for lunch?” Your browser would consult its records of what you like and dislike, take into account your current location and then suggest a list of restaurants.
Found some shocking images taken from London’s Great Smog of ’52 which i had no idea happened. The whole ordeal lasted for four brutal days as the city of London was flooded with poisons smog; a haze so heavy it reduced visibility to only a few meters.
This phenomena was the cause of over 12,000 fatalities, which is unbelievable in itself and reminds me of the start of a post-apocalyptic film where things go real bad. This horrible event, however, did trigger the wheels of change as the public’s eyes opened up to the horrors of pollution, which then lead to developments in research, government regulation, and public awareness of the relationship between air quality and health.
The National Public Radio announcement during the time says: “Roads were littered with abandoned cars. Midday concerts were cancelled due to total darkness. Archivists at the British Museum found smog lurking in the book stacks. Cattle in the city’s Smithfield market were killed and thrown away before they could be slaughtered and sold — their lungs were black. On the second day of the smog, Saturday, Dec. 6, 500 people died in London. When the ambulances stopped running, thousands of gasping Londoners walked through the smog to the city’s hospitals. The lips of the dying were blue. Heavy smoking and chronic exposure to pollution had already weakened the lungs of those who fell ill during the smog. Particulates and acids in the killer brew finished the job by triggering massive inflammations. In essence, the dead had suffocated.”
The last day of the fog, Dec. 9, 1952, took 900 more lives, but then the merciful wind swept in unexpectedly and it all vanished like a bad dream.
“Everything about it would be bad,” says Mark Hammergren, an astronomer at Adler Planetarium in Chicago, starting with the sad attempt to scoop some of that star candy up. Even though white dwarfs are fairly common throughout the universe, the nearest one is still 8.6 light-years away, which is roughly 81,360,544,300 kilometers. So assuming you’ve got a light-speed spaceship, a bunch of books and videos to keep you amused for 8.6 years and that the heat and radiation emanating from the star didn’t kill you on your approach you might be able to get somewhere. “You’d have to get your sample—which would be very hard to carve out—without falling onto the star and getting flattened into a plasma,” Hammergren says. “And even then, the high pressure would cause the hydrogen atoms in your body to fuse into helium.” (This type of reaction, by the way, is what triggers a hydrogen bomb.)
Now that you have your super volatile sample and have somehow removed it from the superdense, high-pressure star; you got the problem of containing it on Earth’s low-pressure environment, which would cause it to explode if not encapsulated properly. Let’s just say it didn’t blow up or vaporize your entire being, since the teaspoon sample temperature would range about 5538˚ and 55538 C˚- and you somehow got it to your kitchen table, it’d be pretty damn hard to feed yourself: A single teaspoon weighing in excess of five tons!
“You’d pop it into your mouth and it would fall unimpeded through your body, carve a channel through your gut, come out through your nether regions, and burrow a hole toward the center of the Earth,” Hammergren says. “The good news is that it’s not quite dense enough to have a strong enough gravitational field to rip you apart from the inside out.”Ouch. If you observed your friend doing all of this and still wanted a taste for yourself, but don’t want to travel the 8.5 light-years or die, you can always open your fridge since it’s full of the stuff. Most of the elements that make up our bodies and everything we see around us were formed in the cores of stars. We fall in love, play with, eat and live on star poop.
Andrew Goldie is a Sydney, Australia based photographer and filmmaker with a knack for creating some amazing footage. Of this time-lapse movie he filmed along New Zealand Alps, Goldie writes: ‘With amazing landscapes everywhere ‘the land of the long white cloud’ is a feast for the eyes and senses’.
Very interesting drawings by 14th century gun-master Martin Merz; I’ve got to say, that’s one bad ass title to hold. He served Frederick I, the ruler of Elector Palatinate, which was the historical territory of the Holy Roman Empire.
In 1469 he became the supreme canon master of Frederick’s entire army and remained in service after Fredericks reign had ended, with his successor, Philip the Upright, Elecotor Palatine of the Rhine.
During this time, he created his Feuerwerksbuch which was around 1460-1480.
