HOWTO make your own automated compressed earth brick making machine

HOWTO make your own automated compressed earth brick making machine:

Tristan from Open Source Ecology sez, "This comprehensive, user friendly video shows you how to assembly the Liberator CEB Press; the worlds first open source, automated compressed earth brick making machine. Made from $4000 worth of parts, this machine sets a new standard in affordability, allowing users to build almost any type of brick structure out of dirt."

The OSE Wiki page has full instructions for building your own:

CEB Press

(Thanks, Tristan!)

“As the broken city thinks big and radically about its...

“As the broken city thinks big and radically about its...:

“As the broken city thinks big and radically about its future, a developer is stepping forward with a revolutionary idea: Sell the city’s Belle Isle park for $1 billion to private investors who will transform it into a free-market utopia. The 982-acre island would then be developed into a U.S. commonwealth or city-state of 35,000 people with its own laws, customs and currency.”
Developer pitches $1B commonwealth for Belle Isle | The Detroit News | detroitnews.com, via Will W.

Excellent drive-thru "invisible driver" prank, caught on video

Excellent drive-thru "invisible driver" prank, caught on video:

Self-described "Magician Prankster!" Magic Of Rahat produced this clever video demonstrating an effective "invisible driver" prank to play on hapless fast food attendants. (thanks, Joe Sabia!)

Thoughtful and thought-provoking article about the mechanization of coffee

Julian Baggini – The art of coffee
http://www.aeonmagazine.com/being-human/julian-baggini-coffee-artisans/

(via Instapaper)

Bird sings dubstep, convincingly

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Bird sings dubstep, convincingly

About this cockatiel giving Skrillex a run for his money, Youtuber Rainykauke says, "Just my bird Harvey dropping some fat beats. Sorry about the poor cropping filmed this on a phone." (thanks, Chris!)

Eric Standley’s intricate laser-cut "stained glass" paper windows

[Damn. -egg]
Eric Standley’s intricate laser-cut "stained glass" paper windows:


Jane Kenoyer of Hi-Fructose says:

Eric Standley works with hundreds of layers of colored paper creating intricate laser cut stain glass windows. These beautifully constructed works are made up of interlacing positive and negative spaces that seem to “float” in a fabricated suspension. He begins with a drawing, this helps him create the complex range of imagery needed to make a workable design, before cutting and assembling the paper pieces.

Eric Standley’s intricate laser-cut stained glass paper windows

Cat plays shell game, wins every time

Cat plays shell game, wins every time:

(Via Laughing Squid)

BotBusters. An algorithmic web service to help you assess the...

[The last sentence is the interesting one. -egg]

BotBusters. An algorithmic web service to help you assess the...:



BotBusters. An algorithmic web service to help you assess the likelihood of a twitter account being run by a bot. It takes one to know one. The service was used to help identify “suspicious Twitter accounts that were posting identical messages, always in support of the same political party, Mexico’s Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).” Source
The service is being misused by bots to measure their own bot-score, and through recursive genetic algorithms, work towards lowering that score to the human end of the scale.

Open the Future: The Future Isn't What It Used to Be

[On the difficulties of social futurism. -egg]

Open the Future: The Future Isn't What It Used to Be
http://www.openthefuture.com/2012/01/the_future_isnt_what_it_used_t.html

(via Instapaper)

[this is aaronland] The "Drinking Coffee and Stealing Wifi" 2012 World Tour

[This is just an incredibly important essay for anyone interested in the shifting role of the museum (and for that matter, art and design) in our culture. Really, really good. -egg]

[this is aaronland] The "Drinking Coffee and Stealing Wifi" 2012 World Tour
http://www.aaronland.info/weblog/2012/12/01/coffee-and-wifi/#timepixels

(via Instapaper)

Short documentary about The Art of Creative Coding

[Really great 5-minute introduction to code-as-art. -egg]

Short documentary about The Art of Creative Coding:

Lisa of PBS Off Book says:"We just released our first episode of 2013, 'The Art of Creative Coding.' This one was really interesting to work on, since I hadn't previously been aware of the platforms and libraries available to creative programmers. And the projects they create are beautiful."

Programming plays a huge role in the world that surrounds us, and though its uses are often purely functional, there is a growing community of artists who use the language of code as their medium. Their work includes everything from computer generated art to elaborate interactive installations, all with the goal of expanding our sense of what is possible with digital tools. To simplify the coding process, several platforms and libraries have been assembled to allow coders to cut through the nitty-gritty of programming and focus on the creative aspects of the project. These platforms all share a strong open source philosophy that encourages growth and experimentation, creating a rich community of artists that share their strategies and work with unprecedented openness.