Since the last national swearing-in ceremony, America has become a much more net-centric country. Obama’s inauguration was not only watched by a large portion of the US, but by millions (perhaps billions?) in countries all over the world. For this reason, the people on the scene wielding the tech were extremely important. Personally, I watched the ceremonies from my TV and updated on the #inaug09 Twitter hash code. Many others used the CNN/Facebook mashup for combined viewing and status updating.
There were lots of other ways people shared their inaugural experience. Pictures were an obvious favorite. Here is a one [via Gizmodo] of Malia Obama capturing her father during his stupendous speech.
Mark Winkler decided, in infinite wisdom, to spend six months building a full-scale trebuchet. In the next installment of Geeks Are Sexy’s series on crazy inventions and crazy inventors, we introduce Mark’s brainchild, “Mongo, the Trebuchet.”
Mongo often launches watermelons, but the 25Gs of force put on the melon as it launches often causes it to burst in mid-air. In the video, Mark throws a 16 pound (7.25 kg) fireball – yes – fireball – about 250 meters or so with 1200 pounds (550kg) of counterweight. (Mongo can handle up to 1600 pounds/725kg of counterweight.)
Three things you should know if you try this at home.
First, don’t try this at home.
Second, these things go a long way – don’t do this near anything flammable.
Third, launching fireballs have a tendency to launch kerosene everywhere – so stand back.
(I can tell you that when I was filming, I was genuinely concerned for my own safety and considered how stupid I was being. On the other hand – how often do you get footage like this?)
If you’d like to see the video in full HD resolution, just hit this link, which will take you to the video’s high-def page on YouTube.
Other installments of Crazy Inventions and Crazy Inventors:
Remember The Electric Company? It was part of the Children’s Television Workshop on PBS through most of the seventies, and it used skits and songs to help kids with their reading skills. It also featured a pre-film-star Morgan Freeman and the Franklin Gothic font. This might jog your memory:
Well, a new version of the show is premiering today, with a plan to help a whole new generation of six-to-nine-year-olds who are still struggling to sound out “cat.” But don’t tune in expecting a dose of nostalgia–because apparently the language of learning for today’s kids is rap. I wonder if Easy Reader would approve?
WARNING: This clip from the season premiere of Battlestar Galactica contains spoilers. If you follow the show and haven’t seen it yet (which is unlikely at this point), you may want to watch the entire episode at Hulu first.
You’ve seen unfortunate ad placements before, but you’ve never seen anything as unfortunate as this commercial break during Friday’s Battlestar Galactica. There are other words I could use besides “unfortunate”, such as shocking, disgusting, or hilarious, but I couldn’t decide between them.
In this unmissable look at the magic of comics, cartoonist Scott McCloud bends the presentation format into a cartoon-like experience, where colorful diversions whiz through childhood fascinations and imagined futures that our eyes can hear and touch.
Most of you have probably already seen the trailer for Watchmen by now, and if you’re a fan, you’ve probably been on pins and needles knowing that the film might not actually see the light of day. The two studios have been waging a battle for a year over the distribution rights, stemming from Fox’s allegation that they had already optioned Alan Moore’s graphic novel, and Warner Brothers producer Larry Gordon had failed to obtain the rights before beginning his own Watchmen project.
On December 24, a District Court judge (working on Christmas Eve?) granted Fox’s copyright claim. This must have been pretty scary for Warner Brothers, since they’ve already been advertising like mad, and slated the film for a March 9 release.
Of course, no matter whose name ended up on it, the real tragedy would have been if the film simply languished in litigation and negotiations for years. Luckily for the fans, the studios apparently realized that neither of them would make money if that happened, and came to a settlement. They haven’t announced the exact details, but various news sources have reported that Warner agreed to pay Fox as much as 8.5% of the film’s gross receipts and $1.5 million to cover the development costs.
The studios did do a nice job of patting each other on the back in a joint statement: “Warner Bros. acknowledges that Fox acted in good faith in bringing its claims, which were asserted prior to the start of principal photography. Fox acknowledges that Warner Bros. acted in good faith in defending against those claims.” They probably figured that bad PR for either one of them would only hurt the film.
I think this is great news, and I can’t wait to see the film. Alan Moore has been notoriously disappointed in the previous adaptations of his work (including The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and V for Vendetta), to the point where he’s said he doesn’t watch them. I’ve still got pretty high hopes for this one, though, just based on the buzz and the trailer.
Meet TOFU, a funny little robot that has been developed by a team of MIT researchers.
Cute little fellow isn’t he? TOFU has been built as a mean to explore new ways of applying social expressions to robots. I can only imagine that one day, a new generation of toys will use the same techniques to interact with kids in a whole new ways.
Since the last national swearing-in ceremony, America has become a much more net-centric country. Obama’s inauguration was not only watched by a large portion of the US, but by millions (perhaps billions?) in countries all over the world. For this reason, the people on the scene wielding the tech were extremely important. Personally, I watched the ceremonies from my TV and updated on the #inaug09 Twitter hash code. Many others used the CNN/Facebook mashup for combined viewing and status updating. 
Most of you have probably already seen the 