tech@vedella

Snip from a terrific long-read by Aaron Bady, aka zunguzungu, on his experience at the OWS-inspired "Occupy Cal" protests at UC Berkeley, after campus police violently attacked peaceful fellow student demonstrators (see video above). At about 11:30 a.m. yesterday, a police officer told me and about eight other students that, and I quote, “the grass [...]

"I haven't been so inspired since 1994," an Italian friend of mine posted on her Facebook page. Well, I too can remember the year 1994, when I was in Milan, giving a public speech among some so-called intellectuals, soon after Berlusconi was elected. I had come there directly from Serbia, struggling in the thick of [...]

TaiStar42 accomplishes a jaw-dropping feat of dexterity, balance, and impractical engineering in this clip in which he balances 3,118 coins on a single, thin dime. balancing tower of change 3118 coins on a single dime. 600 quarters, 501 dimes, 313 nickels, 1699 pennies, 5 foreign coins, and 7 hours of building. all real time clips, [...]

[Video Link] From the description for this video by photographer and military veteran Adam Plantz: Bob O'Grady being arrested in the San Diego Civic Center Plaza for laying inside of his sleeping bag to stay warm while a group of non-violent occupiers from San Diego, Los Angeles, Irvine, Encinitas, and other transplants from various locations [...]

The video for Australian indie band Hudson's song Against the Grain is a fun piece of stop-motion animation using a whole ton of sharp pencil crayons; I thought the pencil/graphic equalizer stuff was very nice, and looks technically challenging to pull off! Hudson - Against The Grain (via Reddit)

Zeon Santos of Neatorama says:"The New Yorker rejected this great same sex marriage cover art by Robert Crumb, so he subsequently declined to do any more work for the magazine. I think Robert Crumb is an unlikely candidate for New Yorker cartoonist, because his illustrations are neither boring nor conservative enough for the average subscriber, [...]

National Underwriter Life & Health Magazine has the insanely depressing story of comics legend Bill Mantlo, an incredibly prolific comics writer who created ROM and wrote Micronauts before getting a law degree and taking a huge pay cut to work as a crusading New York public defender, right up to the time that a hit-and-run [...]

A New Yorker with a $235,000, 450sqft studio apartment in Manhattan paid $70,000 to remodel it with a series of clever, well-thought-through dividers and pull-out furniture that makes very good use of the space, effectively giving him a guest-room as well as a good-sized kitchen and bedroom Tiny Origami Apartment in Manhattan (via Runnin' Scared)

Johannes sez, "monochrom's Johannes Grenzfurthner gave a short presentation about traditional narrative cinema, the problems of storytelling in the digital age -- and monochrom's feature film project 'Sierra Zulu.'" Sierra Zulu at TEDxVienna: Video online (Thanks, Johannes!)

According to analysis from economist Michael Mandel, the average wages of US college grads have experienced sharp declines in the last decade. On the other hand, college keeps getting more expensive, and the collection of student loans has become much more aggressive. Sounds like a recipe for disaster. By my latest calculations: * Real earnings [...]

This 1920s ad for a Molby "revolving hammock" promises to "make your spine young" and give you "a full chest and a small waist." My cup runneth over - with poorly named products!

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is continuing its series of in-depth analysis of the Stop Online Piracy Act, the most dangerous piece of Internet legislation ever introduced, which is set to be fast-tracked through Congress by Christmas. Today, EFF's Corynne McSherry and Peter Eckersley look at the way that SOPA attacks innovation and the integrity of [...]

Dearie me, that's some freaky illustration in this 1952 Karo corn syrup ad -- that belligerent, half-naked moppet in his Village People cowboy suit is clearly experiencing some kind of blood-sugar rollercoaster as a result of dipping into the product. Someone take his guns away before he does something we all regret. My cup runneth [...]

This weekend, Silicon Valley's premier convention venue is hosting a job fair -- for people who want to work in India: A job fair at the San Jose Convention Center this weekend is focused on helping companies recruit Indian workers who may in the U.S. on a visa by informing them about the professional and [...]

La Receta de la Felicidad, a Spanish-language site, has Sandeea Cocina's great little HOWTO for baking brownies inside blown eggshells. You make a hole in the shell with a corkscrew, stand the shell up in a muffin tin with tin-foil supports, and fill the egg with brownie batter using a piping bag and bake (make [...]

The crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant's upper part of the No.3 reactor building is seen from a bus window, November 12, 2011. REUTERS/Kyodo. On Saturday, Japanese government representatives and TEPCO officials escorted a group of Japanese and foreign journalists inside the badly damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant for the first time since March 11. [...]

The Fayetteville Free Library is installing a hackerspace/fablab with 3D printers, CNC routers and other equipment, available free to the public as a community space for making. The project is led by librarian Lauren Smedley, who is basically MADE OF AWESOME. Earlier this year, MAKE Magazine’s Phillip Torrone wrote a provocative article asking “Is it [...]

Back in May, I linked to the perverse tale of Byron Sonne, a Toronto hacker and security researcher who was caught up in the G20 dragnet, part of the overall campaign of illegal harassment, arrest and violence against protesters in the city. Sonne's trial is underway now, and Denise Balkissoon is covering it in depth [...]

A dog dressed for carnival is pictured in the streets at the start of the carnival in Cologne, Germany, on November 11, 2011. In many parts of Germany, at 11:11am on November 11 people mark the official start of Carnival, a season of controlled raucous fun that reaches a climax during the days before Ash [...]

Police are raiding the Occupy St. Louis protest encampment. According to their Twitter, at least two dozen have been arrested tonight. "People are chanting, 'Our passion, our freedom, is stronger than your prisons!'" Here's their live web stream.