Year: 2009

Categories
Featured Science & Technology

Take The Face Memory Test

I have trouble remembering names, and cover it up by telling people that I never forget a face. I haven’t had to test that theory, until now. The BBC has a face memory test up on their website to determine how good you are at remembering things. It’s composed of three parts, and at the end of it, you are scored on two things – how well you remembered the photos you were presented with (this tests your recognition memory),  and how well you matched the photos to the section they were taken from (this tests your ‘temporal’ memory).

Sleep scientists say that your recognition memory isn’t affected by sleep loss, whereas your temporal memory is. I went to sleep at 1:41 this morning (thank you Batman: Arkham Asylum) and my test results seems to prove that theory – recognition score: 95%, temporal memory score: 82%.

Take the face memory test and drop us a comment with your scores.

[via Plime | Image credit: “Electronic Faces” by Anton van Dalen]

Categories
Arty

Shelter: House of Cards

For their House of Cards campaign, UK homeless charity Shelter invited 52 of the country’s leading artists and designers to create a unique collection of playing cards. Including creations from Alexander McQueen, Damien Hirst, Vivienne Westwood, Sir Terence Conran, and many other UK designers I have no clue about, the full deck was on display at the Haunch of Venison gallery in London.

As part of Shelter’s effort to raise awareness of Britain’s housing crisis, the cards were auctioned off on the closing night of the exhibition. Have a look at some of them below.

See the full deck at Shelter: House of Cards.

[via Narrylikes]

Categories
Link Loving

Link Loving – September 28, 2009

I’ve been on leave since last thursday and it’s been great. I’ve tried to spend more time away from the computer and play outside on my console instead ;-)

Today is my last day of freedom before I head back to the office so it feels like Sunday almost. Normal blog transmission shall resume tomorrow but have a look at some interesting things in the mean time.

Categories
Awesomeness Featured Music Video Clips

Total Eclipse of The Heart: Literal Video Version

A literal version video is like an official music video with one main (and potentially hilarious) difference – the original lyrics are replaced with ones that describe what is happening visually in the video.

The 1980s lends itself perfectly to this kind of thing, more specifically, the music video for Bonnie Tyler’s 1983 power ballad “Total Eclipse of the Heart”. The literal video version of Tyler’s hit has been viewed over 4 million times. Why? Because it has dancing ninjas who know how to twirl. Honest. Check it below.

That was most amusing. Find more literal video versions at YouTube.

[Thanks for the tip Andrew]

Categories
Arty Video Clips Weirdness

COMBO: A Collaborative Animation From BLU & David Ellis

Italian graffiti artist BLU of Muto fame has teamed up with like-minded David Ellis to create a most amazing (and equally oddball) time-lapse animation called COMBO.

The video was made for this year’s Fame Festival.

[via The Awesomer]

Categories
Featured Movies Video Clips

The Age of Stupid

Hey, I’m in a movie. And so are you. Unfortunately, it’s not a thrilling Hollywood adventure flick where you or I save the world, get the girl, and live happily ever after. It’s quite the opposite.

In The Age of Stupid, the year is 2055 and climate change has devastated the earth, and the last surviving person, The Archivist (Pete Postlethwaite), has assembled an archive of all of humanity’s works of art, literature, and culture in a giant library. He combs through series of documentary footage from 2008, pondering the actions (or inactions) that have brought on the bleak future he lives in. He asks the question: “Why didn’t we stop climate change when we still had the chance?” Take a look at the trailer below.

Directed by Franny Armstrong, the drama-documentary-animation hybrid took three years to make and was financed through “crowd-funding” – 220 people donated between £500 and £35,000 in exchange for “shares”. The Age of Stupid was released internationally on September 21st and 22nd, in a live-via-solar-powered-satellite premiere in over 45 countries, including South Africa. I’m always late to the party so I missed it at The Labia in Cape Town, and I can’t seem to find it on the SterKinekor listings neither. Pity.

Find out about The Age of Stupid on their website, and read the reviews at Rotten Tomatoes.

[via ErnstLass]

BONUS: The Huffington Post has an interesting article discussing the good and bad points of the film. It’s well worth a read. Click Here.

Categories
Arty Awesomeness Featured Inspirational Designs

Inorganic Flora By Macoto Murayama

Digital artist Macoto Murayama makes the most detailed computer-generated illustrations of flowers. Murayama dissects real plants and observes them under a magnifying glass before rendering the geometric structures on his computer.

Murayama takes anywhere from three days to a month to create each piece. The results are truly incredible, showing the beauty and complexity of flowers. Take a look at some of them below.

See the full list of images and descriptions at The Telegraph.

[via Pink Tentacle]

Categories
Mindlessness Video Clips

Tour de Mob: French Pranker Organizes Amusing Flash Mob

A French prankster by the name of Rémi Gaillard has taken the social phenomenon of flash mobbing to a new level by organizing an amusing trick for unsuspecting cyclists. Take a look at it below – it’s slight NSFW as bare male buttocks are exposed towards the end of the clip.

[via Current via Jellyboots]

Categories
Mindlessness Video Clips

Cross Country Timelapse

If we could ever afford an international holiday (cue sympathy nod here), Lucy Furr and I would love to take a roadtrip across the USA. It seems we can do that now, albeit through the eyes of Chris and Mike.

These two gents decided to drive from San Francisco in the West Coast to Washington DC in the East Coast, snapping a photo every 10 seconds. Take a look at the time-lapse video of their trip below.

[via TheAwesomer]

Categories
Arty

Remember This Name

Remember this name for you shall be screaming it later. Wait, what? Never mind, moving swiftly on…

Kicked off by Adam Fuhrer of PICDIT, “Remember This Name” is a project on Flickr where users can submit their best photos into a group pool. Every so often Adam chooses the most interesting ones, prints them off, and creates a booklet. If you happen to be selected, you’ll receive a free copy of the issue that you are featured in.

If you’re interested, submit your photos to the REMEMBER THIS NAME Flickr pool.

[via Design You Trust | Image credit: Luminous Lu]