Coming to Kindle and Smashwords

Coming to Kindle and Smashwords
November 2013

Nov 29, 2013

Caricatures of Breaking Bad Characters by Anthony Geoffroy

Breaking-Bad-Guys
French artist Anthony Geoffroy has put his signature brilliant caricatural spin on the characters of the now-concluded colossal television series Breaking Bad.
Walter & Jesse
MikeSaul Goodman

ASAC SchraderGus Fring
HeisenbergJesse
Anthony Geoffory BB Process
illustrations

Nov 28, 2013

The Final Season Of "Breaking Bad"
BREAKING BAD
An obvious gift to mankind, Vince Gilligan's seminal series closed its final chapter with an eight-episode arc that had our adrenaline racing and our tear ducts lingering on the brink of eruption. Where "Breaking Bad" ranks among the greatest drama series of all time will be debated for years to come, but thanks to masterful writing and stellar performances from Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, the meth drama ended on a high note in every way we hoped. (See what we did there?) Walter White's blend of villainy and deeply entrenched humanity came to light in layers upon layers, from his final moments with Skyler and Jesse to his desert showdown with Hank to his devious reunion with Gretchen and Elliot. Not only did "Breaking Bad" solidify itself as the finest character study in television, but it helped to reimagine what it means to craft novelistic programming that has us obsessing over its every step. To Vince Gilligan and the entire "Breaking Bad" team, we are indebted for a series that rattled our minds, stirred our hearts and crafted the best chemistry we've seen on TV in, well, perhaps forever

Nov 27, 2013

Dumbest cops in America video themselves laughing at and tasing mentally-ill, handcuffed man

When mushrooms go to war

Nov 21, 2013

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Nov 15, 2013

Soviet particle accelerator control panel, 1968

Jean-Claude Van Damme does the splits. Between reversing trucks.

Nov 14, 2013

inFORM, 3D Display Can Form Moving Shapes and Interact with Physical Objects


inFORM is a dynamic shape display that allows users to interact with digital information by rendering it in three dimensions. The display is equipped with a grid of “pins,” long square-topped rods, that can be rapidly moved up and down to form 3D shapes. A remote user’s hands can be rendered by the display, allowing the user to manipulate an physical object from a distance. The display can also be used to create 3D data visualizations and models. inFORM is a research project by the Tangible Media Group of the MIT Media Lab. We previously posted about the display earlier in November.
inFORM Dynamic Shape Display
inFORM Dynamic Shape Display
inFORM Dynamic Shape Display
via Colossal
still photo

Nov 8, 2013

Homeless U.S. Army Veteran Gets a Makeover in a Heartwarming Time-Lapse Video


Homeless United States Army veteran Jim Wolf gets a makeover from Dégagé Ministries and Design 1 Salon & Spa in this heartwarming time-lapse video made

A Rock-Paper-Scissors Robot That Wins Every Time


Researchers at the University of Tokyo have created a new robot that plays Rock-paper-scissors and wins every time. Of course, the robot’s cheating. It uses a high-speed camera to recognize the human’s play, and then chooses a counter and forms that shape almost instantaneously using a high-speed motor. While humans take about 60ms to form the shape of rock, paper, or scissors, version two of the robot can do it in just 20ms. Previously, we wrote about the first version of the unbeatable Rock-paper-scissors robot.
via

Beautiful Space Images From NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory

Chandra Data Archive
To celebrate American Archive Month in October, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory has released beautiful photos and descriptions of eight celestial objects stored in the Chandra Data Archive. To see more of the breathtaking images and learn about them, head over to NASA and the Chandra X-Ray Observatory.
Chandra Data Archive
NGC 6946 is a medium-sized, face-on spiral galaxy about 22 million light years away from Earth. In the past century, eight supernovas have been observed to explode in the arms of this galaxy. Chandra observations (purple) have, in fact, revealed three of the oldest supernovas ever detected in X-rays, giving more credence to its nickname of the “Fireworks Galaxy.” This composite image also includes optical data from the Gemini Observatory in red, yellow, and cyan.
Chandra Data Archive
This image provides a view into the central region of a galaxy that is similar in overall appearance to our own Milky Way, but contains a much more active supermassive black hole within the white area near the top. This galaxy, known as NGC 4945, is only about 13 million light years from Earth and is seen edge-on. X-rays from Chandra (blue), which have been overlaid on an optical image from the European Space Observatory, reveal the presence of the supermassive black hole at the center of this galaxy.
Chandra Data Archive
When radiation and winds from massive young stars impact clouds of cool gas, they can trigger new generations of stars to form. This is what may be happening in this object known as the Elephant Trunk Nebula (or its official name of IC 1396A). X-rays from Chandra (purple) have been combined with optical (red, green, and blue) and infrared (orange and cyan) to give a more complete picture of this source.
images via