tech@vedella

Shapeways user Tedparsec has created a wide assortment of 3D printed, colorized Settlers of Catan tiles that you can have printed and shipped to you in a wide variety of materials. He's also got a good line on handcrafted, 3D printed RPG miniatures. tedparsec's designs (via Wonderland)

A few years ago, artist Maki Naro drew a comic explaining why the Moon appears larger on the horizon than it does way up in the sky. Recently, he got a helpful email from astronomy blogger Phil Plait. Turns out, the original comic was just a bit wrong and Phil Plait had a much more [...]

Is this really the final end of the Berlusconi era, or just another pause for the Cavaliere to catch his breath? Will he return on a fresh horse as the savior of an ever-crumbling Italy, as he has done repeatedly for the past 20 years? Will my Italian friends finally be able to travel abroad [...]

The Edison Memorial Tower; the Basilica; the Golden Gate Bridge; the Eiffel Tower; the Vatican; the Globe Theater; and Fallingwater.

[Video Link] Genius work from Joe Sabia, for the nonprofit Mama Hope. This is the second video in Mama Hope's "Stop the Pity. Unlock the Potential" campaign. This video campaign is about telling the story of connection instead of contrast and potential instead of poverty. Directed by Joe Sabia and Bryce Yukio Adolphson. Shot and [...]

SOFIA—the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy—is a telescope unlike any other. It's not mounted to the Earth's surface. And it's not floating in space. Instead, SOFIA travels the skies, rigged up to a dedicated 747 flying at 40,000 feet. The idea is to have a telescope that gets a better view than the ones on [...]

SOPHIA—the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy—is a telescope unlike any other. It's not mounted to the Earth's surface. And it's not floating in space. Instead, SOPHIA travels the skies, rigged up to a dedicated 747 flying at 40,000 feet. The idea is to have a telescope that gets a better view than the ones on [...]

Dwight Arrington Myers, the Jamaican-American musician and actor known to fans as Heavy D. passed away in Beverly Hills last night at the young age of 44. Cause of death is unknown, but there is no evidence of foul play: his death is reported to have been "medically-related." Here's a good YouTube playlist with selections [...]

[Video Link]. (Thanks, Tara McGinley!)

In a New Scientist op-ed, Henry Farrell and Cosma Shalizi take aim at the trendy idea of "nudging" people towards healthy, socially beneficial choices. The authors find the evidence for the effectiveness of nudging isn't supported by the literature, and policy-by-nudging misses the key to good governance: an informed citizenry who are part of the [...]

Prisma 1666 involves beams of light, prisms, and an app to control them. [Wonwei via The Verge]

An Atlanta police officer sent an email to Occupy Atlanta protesters asking for help with his house, which is under threat of foreclosure (when the family tried to refinance their mortgage, the bank responded with a foreclosure notice). Dozens of Atlanta occupiers shifted their camp to the house's lawn, erecting "This home is occupied" signs [...]

Debutante plagiarist Q.R. Markham's temporarily-lauded spy thriller, Assassin of Secrets, is in fact a string of passages lifted from other books in the genre. No-one noticed until it was released, at which time readers noticed at once. The book's been recalled by publisher Little, Brown, whose president, Michael Pietsch, apologized in a prepared statement: "We [...]

Adobe is finally giving up on Flash in mobile browsers, according to Jason Perlow at ZDNet.

If you like Minecraft and you like spaceships, you may like Blockade Runner. [RPS]

Harrison Jones created this fabulous green army man costume (which included a coating of green latex paint on his skin, yowch, suffer for your art!), and worked a full shift at a grocery store while so attired: Harrison started by picking out the perfect green tarp, then taking it to the hardware store and having [...]

"The kids that were victims or whatever they want to say, I think we all ought to say a prayer for them."—Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno, on the child sex abuse scandal in which he is looking more and more like a knowing enabler for a child rapist. His former colleague Jerry Sandusky [...]

The It's Alive project features unique artists' reinterpretations of the classic Frankenstein's monster bust. There's some great pieces there, including 34-FRANCISCO DE LOS MUERTOS by P.J. Tamayo and 47-HALF MAN HALF TONE by Kristen Anderson. It's Alive! (via Neatorama)

Here's an innovative automotive child-restraint system from 1961. Clearly this little tyke is enjoying her crash-webbing. Wonder why it never caught on? Contest Entry--Easybaby Car Belt, 1961

Kayvan Sabeghi, a veteran of the US Army Rangers, is in the ICU at Oakland's Highland General Hospital after a clash with Oakland PD during the Occupy Oakland protests. Sabeghi claims he was "jumped" by OPD officers who severely beat him and subsequently denied him medical treatment. The group Iraq Veterans Against the War said [...]