Theo Jansen’s Kinetic Sculptures – A New Form of Life

By Amy Thibodeau, February 27, 2010, 3:32 pm in Art, Past

I am absolutely spellbound by the work of kinetic sculptor Theo Jansen. He builds mind-blowing, intricate, skeleton-like structures that are so light weight, they come to life in the natural environment – animated by wind. They remind me of something from the Dark Crystal. In his own words:

Since 1990 I have been occupied creating new forms of life.

Not pollen or seeds but plastic yellow tubes are used as the basic material of this new nature. I make skeletons that are able to walk on the wind, so they don’t have to eat.

Over time, these skeletons have become increasingly better at surviving the elements such as storms and water and eventually I want to put these animals out in herds on the beaches, so they will live their own lives.

When describing how they actually function, Jansen talks about “Storing the Wind”, a process that is really a feat of modern engineering, using very rudimentary materials:

Self-propelling beach animals like Animaris Percipiere have a stomach . This consists ofrecycled plastic bottles containing air that can be pumped up to a high pressure by the wind. This is done using a variety of bicycle pump, needless to say of plastic tubing. Several of these little pumps are driven by wings up at the front of the animal that flap in the breeze. It takes a few hours, but then the bottles are full. They contain a supply of potential wind. Take off the cap and the wind will emerge from the bottle at high speed. The trick is to get that untamed wind under control and use it to move the animal. For this, muscles are required. Beach animals have pushing muscles which get longer when told to do so. These consist of a tube containing another that is able to move in and out. There is a rubber ring on the end of the inner tube so that this acts as a piston. When the air runs from the bottles through a small pipe in the tube it pushes the piston outwards and the muscle lengthens. The beach animal’s muscle can best be likened to a bone that gets longer. Muscles can open taps to activate other muscles that open other taps, and so on. This creates control centres that can be compared to brains.

Amazing.

STRANDBEESTEN_TRAILER from Alexander Schlichter on Vimeo.

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Good Wine – A Matter of Taste or Perception?

By Amy Thibodeau, February 23, 2010, 8:48 pm in Past, Psychology

Last week a group of twelve wine executives from France were found guilty of fraud when they substituted the more expensive grapes typically found in Pinot Noir for a cheaper variety. Their label – Red Bicyclette – is a fairly popular brand in North America and the worry is that following this conviction, their deception will be detrimental to the wine industry, particular in the Languedoc region of France where the company is based.

The thing I find interesting about this case, and wine in general, is that the consumers of Red Bicyclette didn’t seem to notice the difference between the expensive grapes and the cheaper ones. There were no notable customer complaints and no one is saying that the wine didn’t taste pretty much the same as it would have if they’d done things properly. The fraud was uncovered during an audit when it was found that the company could not have been turning over as much profit if they were also spending money on the expensive grapes.

Even though consumers couldn’t tell the difference (or at least, if they did it wasn’t significant enough to report), there is almost no doubt that there will be a retaliation against the wine industry from Languedoc. Research suggests that a good deal of our decisions about which wine to drink is actually based on abstract psychological reactions and cultural context rather than on a genuine ability to discern superior grapes by taste. Two examples:

  • After the film Sideways was released, Merlot sales in the US dropped by 2%, while Pinot Noir sales increased by 16%, presumably as a response to the character Miles’ appreciation of one and denigration of the other. (via Wikipedia)
  • “Restaurant owners will often price the wine they buy cheapest at wholesale as the second-cheapest wine on the menu. Why? Because people generally don’t order the cheapest wine and thus often turn to the second cheapest.” Presto – either because consumers don’t want to appear cheap or because we imagine the cheapest option will have the worst taste, we predictably buy the second-cheapest. (via Lone Gunman)

How many of you can really tell the difference between a good wine and a mediocre one?

Rocket Bar Wine image by Mr. T. in DC

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Unorthodox Ships of War

By Dan Zambonini, February 14, 2010, 4:21 pm in History, Past

Concrete Ships forming the Kiptopeke Breakwater

During the First World War, steel shortages forced President Wilson to commission the construction of 24 cement war ships. The war ended less than a year later, at which time the first 12 ships were still under construction. These were eventually completed and sold to private companies. Many of them can now be seen slowly decaying off the coast of the U.S., and one has even been converted to a 10 room hotel off the coast of Cuba.

Almost 25 years later, Geoffrey Pyke recommended the construction of a huge aircraft carrier – the equivalent of a floating island – made from ice and wood pulp, during the Second World War. The material, dubbed Pykrete, possesses incredible tensile strength – more than concrete – at less than half the density. The project, named Habakkuk after a biblical quote (“I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe“), underwent a number of prototypes and tests, from secret lairs under Smithfield Market in London, to Lake Louise in Canada, but was never fully realised due to a number of engineering and cost concerns.

Wikipedia recounts an entertaining anecdote about a demonstration of Pykrete’s strength:

… at the Quebec Conference of 1943, Lord Mountbatten brought a block of Pykrete along to demonstrate its potential to the bevy of admirals and generals who had come along with Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Mountbatten entered the project meeting with two blocks and placed them on the ground. One was a normal ice block and the other was Pykrete. He then drew his service pistol and shot at the first block. It shattered and splintered. Next, he fired at the Pykrete to give an idea of the resistance of that kind of ice to projectiles. The bullet ricocheted off the block, grazing the trouser leg of Admiral Ernest King and ended up in the wall.

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World’s Smallest Postal Service

By Amy Thibodeau, February 10, 2010, 7:47 pm in Art, Past

handful

I am a bit obsessed with miniatures, and this idea is lovely:

The World’s Smallest Postal Service (WSPS) is a teeny tiny transcription service and roaming post office based in the San Francisco Bay Area and also available online.

Lea Redmond is the Postmaster, setting up her tiny mobile office in cafes and shops where passers-by can write a letter and have it turned into a “world’s smallest letter.” The letter is transcribed on a miniature desk in the tiniest of script, sealed with a miniscule wax seal with the sender’s intial pressed into it, packaged up with a magnifying glass in a glassine envelope, and finished off with a large wax seal (see above). It is a double delight: for both the sender and the recipient, and the WSPS is very happy to provide this important service to the world.

Beautiful.

Handful image from the World’s Smallest Postal Service

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Passion for the Pong

By Amy Thibodeau, February 6, 2010, 4:46 pm in Past, Sport

marty

Last year a group of youngish New York hispsters (and actress Susan Sarandon) opened what appears to be the world’s first nightclub devoted to the sport of ping pong. SPiN, located in Manhattan, ensures exclusivity by having a niche group of members who pay $650 per year individually or $900 for a family to be afforded access to the club during special member-only nights. Non-members can also book tables and use the club during weekly open-house hours. According to their website,

SPiN New York is a 13,000 square foot table tennis social club on Park Avenue in Manhattan’s Flatiron District. The club offers unparalleled table tennis courts with Olympic quality cushioned flooring and 13 individual tables, including a stadium-like center court. In addition, SPIN New York houses a pro shop, lounge, bar, private room … and over a dozen internationally known professional coaches and players who are available for private and group instruction.

One of these coaches is Wally Green – a 20 something, freestyle rapper and ping pong savant. He is one example of how the profile of ping pong has evolved from that of the bow tie wearing Forrest Gump to a new breed of young, hip urbanite. Although some of the old pros like Marty Reisman (pictured above) still chew up the tables, you are more likely to run into the likes of the Beastie Boys or model Verionica Webb tossing back a martini while hitting the ball back and forth in their Vans and Manolos (respectively).

Image of Marty Reisman (table tennis champion) by Tyler Askew of Maround.com.

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How Roger Ebert Got his Voice Back

By Amy Thibodeau, March 9, 2010, 9:55 pm in Film, Medicine, Present

Recently, Esquire published an exquisite cover story on film critic Roger Ebert, who is best known for the decades he spent debating great and not-so-great films with his counterpart Gene Siskel on the popular television programme, At the Movies. Since the article came out last month, people can’t get enough of Ebert. His blog, which was already popular, has developed cult popularity, he has well over 100,000 followers on Twitter, he’s recently created a Fan Club (inspired by an old friend who also happens to be a successful web porn entrepreneur) and he was a guest on Oprah.

Although there are hundreds of hours of footage of Ebert’s voice in At the Movies, it seemed very unlikely, if not impossible, that he would ever be able to speak again, using anything other than an artificial voice that bears no resemblance to the original. Recently, a Scotland-based company called CereProc used archival recordings to recreate an artificial voice that sounds like Ebert. Although it is still in beta, it even has the potential to eventually take on emotional inflection. CereProc is “an advanced voice synthesis company… [which] creates customized text-to-speech software. Instead of producing flat computerized voices, the company says its voices include realistic, animated and emotional dimensions.” (source)

The company undertakes a great deal of research on, what they call, the emotional continuum to stimulate realistic emotional states in voice reproductions:

CereVoice uses two separate techniques to simulate emotional states. The first is to select tense or calm voice quality. This compares closely with the perception of negative and positive emotional states (however, it also has an active/passive effect to some extent). The second is to use digital signal processing (DSP) techniques to alter the speech to active or passive states. Active states involve: faster speech rate, higher volume and higher pitch, Passive states involve: slower speech rate, lower volume and lower pitch. (source)

Pretty inspiring stuff!

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Butch Bakery – Home of the Manly Cupcake

By Amy Thibodeau, February 28, 2010, 5:14 pm in Culture, Cupcakes, Present

Recently, a New York based company has sought to redress the embarrassment manly men apparently feel when indulging in their love of cupcakes.

Founder David Arrick became agrieved when he read a magazine article that described cupcakes are “pink, sweet, cute, and magical.” His response is Butch Bakery, where “Butch meets Burtercream”. There are currently 12 flavours of cupcake available ranging from Rum & Coke (rum-soaked madagascar vanilla cake with cola bavarian cream filling) to the Beer Run (chocolate beer cake with beer-infused buttercream topped with crushed pretzels).

Butch Bakery is a delivery-only service and although they recommend you order at least 72 hours in advance of when you want your cupcakes delivered, they are currently fully booked and not able to deliver new orders until the end of the first week in March. To quote their website, “Whoa!”

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Why Are Post-it Notes Yellow?

By Dan Zambonini, February 25, 2010, 8:27 pm in Business, Design, History, Present

A thought occurred to me as I stared at the Post-it notes on my desk: why are they yellow? I turned to Google, but could find no answer on the web. On the off-chance, I decided to ask 3M – inventors of the Post-it – via Twitter.

After much effort on their part, I received a detailed response via email, which included a transcription of an interview that had been conducted to specifically answer my question:

TRANSCRIPT OF DISCUSSION BETWEEN HUGH MURPHY (BUSINESS MANAGER, E-CHANNELS) AND DR GEOFF NICHOLSON (RETIRED, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT TECHNICAL OPERATIONS), 3M RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
(23rd February 2010)
HM: Why were Post-it Notes originally yellow?
GN: “Great question – fantastic question. “
“Guess what – we were in the labs and if you imagine, this is my lab here, and then there’s a corridor, and then there’s another lab. They happened to have some scrap yellow paper – laughs – it’s absolutely true. “
“Now afterwards we had a lot of people who said well it’s got a good emotional connection or…” (pauses) “that’s a load of … whatever.”
“They had some scrap yellow paper – that’s why they were yellow; and when we went back and said ‘hey guys, you got any more scrap yellow paper?’ they said ‘you want any more go buy it yourself’, and that’s what we did, and that’s why they were yellow.”
“To me it was another one of those incredible accidents. It was not thought out; nobody said they’d better be yellow rather than white because they would blend in - it was a pure accident.”
“Just like the adhesive was a pure accident. They are the best kinds of accidents to have, but you have to recognise it – which we did.”
HM: “So who actually invented the Post-it note?”
GN: “There were three people. Spence Silver invented the adhesive by accident. He was trying to make – he was in the business of trying to make stronger better adhesives to stick aeroplanes together –  and we do stick aeroplanes together.”
“He came to my office about 48 hours after I joined the commercial tapes division from the overhead projectors part of the business.”
“I’d been made the new products laboratory manager, and they hadn’t had any new products in about 15 years. They hadn’t had a new product since magic tape, and magic tape was about 15 years old.”
“So he knocked on my door. There were two guys – Spence Silver and another guy called Bob Oliveira. They had discovered this adhesive in 1968 – that’s when the patent was filed – and here we are five years later in 1973.”
“He’s saying ‘Geoff would you be interested in this adhesive?’ And I said yes. Why? Because I’m naïve – I’m naïve about adhesives. I don’t know much about it. And I also believe a certain naivety is important. He asked me if I was interested.”
“He had been trying for 5 years to get any business unit interested in this adhesive so he gave me samples and we started playing with things and we started making bulletin boards. “
“As we were making bulletin boards, and tapes and things like that, another guy who worked for me was Art Fry. He was making tapes for skis – ski tape – things like book arranging tape- Things that you’d put on a bookshelf and it would hold books in place”.
“And he said ‘why are you putting the adhesive on a bulletin board. Why don’t you put it on a piece of paper and then we can stick it to anything.’”
“You know – and that was the three of us that came good. And I was in a management role primarily to defend and go fighting for it”.
“When you get down to it with innovation – a lot of people are required to make it successful. Marketing sales, even the accountants.”
“But you sometimes have to fight for it – and that’s inevitable in something that changes the basis of competition. People resist change.”

So there you have it. Not just a fascinating piece of history, but evidence of a company that are willing to go above-and-beyond for no immediate profit or benefit to themselves. 3M (and Hugh in particular), you rock.

Post-it image by Flickr user zarprey

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Where’s The Love? Comparing Lyrics from 2010 and 1960

By Dan Zambonini, February 21, 2010, 10:26 pm in Culture, Language, Music, Present

The two images above (click for larger versions; created with Wordle) show the most popular words used in the US Billboard Top 10 songs from February 21, 1960 and February 21, 2010. I’m sure you can work out which is which.

(Note that this includes repetitions within the same song, hence the Imma.)

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Types Of BBC TV Programme

By Dan Zambonini, February 7, 2010, 11:35 pm in Culture, Present

Types of BBC TV Programme

The BBC make the data available for their TV and Radio output. The graph above summarises the type of output you’d be exposed to by watching BBC1-4 for the 7 days that started on 5 February, 2010. There are many more categories mentioned in the data; the graph only includes categories that make up 1% or more of the output.

We have to conclude that the BBC know what the people want, and this reflects our needs. We want more soap opera than insight, more quizzes than programmes that inform, and more sports than advice. A cynic might suggest that this is a poor reflection on modern society, yet it more likely points to the main use of the TV medium, as an easy escape at the end of a stressful day.

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