tech@vedella

All I can say is, it's about goddamned time: Creators of the original Singing Tesla Coils, the crew of ArcAttack uses high tech wizardry to present music in a whole new light. ArcAttack employs a unique DJ set up of their own creation (an HVDJ set up) to generate an 'electrifying' audio visual performance. The HVDJ pumps music through a PA System while two specially designed DRSSTC's (Dual-Resonant Solid State Tesla Coils) act as separate synchronized instruments. These high tech machines produce an electrical arc similar to a continuous lightning bolt which put out a crisply distorted square wave sound reminiscent of the early days of synthesizers. The music consists of original highly dance-able electronic compositions that sometimes incorporates themes or dub of popular songs. Joe DiPrima and Oliver Greaves are the masterminds behind the design and construction of the Tesla Coils while the music is developed by John DiPrima and Tony Smith. ArcAttack! (Thanks, Mary!)...

Wagner James Au sez, "I just published a short interview with the Purchase Brothers, the Toronto guys who made that great 'Escape from City 17' movie featured on Boing Boing last week. They explain more how they did it, and what they spent their $500 budget on. As it turns out, that's 500 *Canadian* dollars, so even less than most of us first assumed." He said all of the visual effects were done from scratch. Many of the elements (the background, the gunships, etc.) were extracted from Half-Life 2, then graphically enhanced, and incorporated into the live action with “a lot of complicated tracking and rotoscoping.” Though the movie itself was made independently of Valve Software, the developers and publishers of the Half-Life franchise, David said the game company got involved with its promotion, plugging its premiere on Valve’s user community channel, Steam News. The brothers plan to release part two of City 17 in 6-8 weeks, though the storm of attention over part one has delayed that somewhat. “We have been getting a ton of emails and phone calls, which has slowed things down,” said David. Judging from the brief teaser clips at the cliffhanger end of the first video, a spunky heroine joins the team — as do hordes of headcrab zombies. (The Purchases promise to reveal details about their cast after that goes online.) Interview With David Purchase, Co-creator of Escape From City 17 Previously:Indie Half-Life 2 miniseries with a budget of $500 - Boing Boing...

• Guest blogger Mat Honan railed against the evils of Microsoft Word. Word. • Ricoh's CX1 is a point and shoot you can believe in. • A dubious image of the new Mac Mini surfaced. • Rob determined that a head-mounted camera is best used as an eyepatch. • Dell launched an attack on Psion's "netBook" trademark; a former Psion staffer remembered his company's glory days. • Solar-powered batteries! But will they work well? Commenters say no. • A lady made wonderful SD-card sized memory books. • We bathed with Nintendo Entertainment Soap. • We saw a disappointed critique of Windows Mobile 6.5. • There was the USB Cat Bar, which has to be seen to be believed. • Pet harnesses by Solvit let your pup ride in comfort and safety. • Soundshelves put the speaker inside the shelves, not simply on them. • A strange black-and-white LED video array. • Wondered who would get 4G first. • There was the cuddliest box Brownie ever. • You can now buy Android apps....

Three cheers for Terry Pratchett on receiving a knighthood, joining the ranks of genre authors like Sir Arthur C Clarke who've pleased the Queen enough to get daubed with the magic scimitar. Author Terry Pratchett has been knighted by the Queen at Buckingham Palace for services to literature. Sir Terry, 60, was named in the New Year Honours list. Best known for his hugely popular Discworld series of comic fantasy novels, he has sold more than 55 million books worldwide. In 2007 Sir Terry was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease and has since campaigned to raise awareness of the condition. Novelist Pratchett becomes a Sir (Thanks, boeotian!) (Image: BBC)...

$300,000 is the starting bid on this eBay listing for a three-bedroom home built in a 15,000 sqft cave in Festus, MO, formerly a roller-rink/concert venue that entertained the MC5, Ike and Tina Turner and Ted Nugent. Sounds like a hell of a place to live (and you gotta feel for the family that's losing their dream). It's got three freshwater springs and there are fourteen waterfalls on the property. Yowza. On May 19th, 2008, the City of Festus approved our occupancy inspection for the cave. Officially, this completed our project. There are still projects that can be started, completed and developed. Plenty of room in our 17,000 square foot home. This is now where we live, work, raise our family and celebrate life! Here are a few of the details about the place: Historic, regionally famous cave: 15,000 square feet, divided into three main chambers. The front chamber houses the main part of the 3-bedroom finished house. The middle chamber holds the laundry room, storage, and a spare bath. The middle chamber made a great party room. 80 feet by 80 feet. The back chamber still has the stage where Ted Nugent, Bob Seger, Ike and Tina Turner, the MC5 and many other bands performed. Property: 2.8 scenic, partially wooded acres provide excellent privacy and the feel of the country right in the middle of town, just several blocks from shopping, dining, and other conveniences. Energy efficiency: Geothermal and passive solar keep the home comfortable year-round without a furnace or air conditioning. In spite of the vast size of the home, our energy costs here run about the same as they did in our 800 square-foot starter home. The home naturally stays a little cooler than the average above-ground home, but we found that we acclimated quickly and easily. Unique Cave Home over 15,000 sf. Beautiful setting Caveland US (Thanks Fipi Lele!)...

You sit down at your computer. You blog, "Research published in the journal Psychological Science suggests that, while frequently annoying, the use of the second person in fiction compels readers to form more vivid identification in literature." You save the blog post. In these experiments, volunteers read sentences describing everyday actions. The statements were expressed in either first- ("I am..."), second- ("You are...") or third-person ("He is..."). Volunteers then looked at pictures and had to indicate whether the images matched the sentences they had read. The pictures were presented in either an internal (i.e. as though the volunteer was performing the event him/herself) or external (i.e. as though the volunteer was observing the event) perspective. Yours, mine, ours: When you and I share perspectives (via Futurismic)...

Tomek Pietek created this anatomical cycling gear -- not sure if it ever went into production or just existed as a portfolio piece, but it's sure striking. Finally, a good use for elasticated athletic wear! Muscle - Skin suit (via Street Anatomy) Previously:Detailed anatomical t-shirts - Boing Boing Patchwork anatomy t-shirt - Boing Boing...

Over on Boing Boing Gadgets, our Rob's found these delightful mini-scrapbooks bound in the husks of old SD cards: "I discovered some old smart media memory cards from an ancient digital camera," writes Sheila at Cheeky Magpie. "You know, the kind that was as big as an air conditioner and took photos about as well? The memory cards have little memory and even less usefulness these days so I was going to pitch them. But I hate just throwing things away." So she made this from the contents: a permanent hard copy of the thoughts therein. Upgraded them to SD format, too! Handmade SD card-size memory books Discuss this on Boing Boing Gadgets...

Love Mikero's Charles Darwin/Shepard Fairey/Barack Obama mashup graphics -- collect the whole set! Sample Darwin graphics (via Thoughts from Kansas)...

Cops in Northern Ireland have finally solved the mystery of "the worst driver in Ireland," a man called Prawo Jadzy who had rackedup many infractions but had never been brought to justice because he'd given a string of fake addresses: "Prawo Jazdy is actually the Polish for driving licence and not the first and surname on the licence," read a letter from June 2007 from an officer working within the Garda's traffic division. "Having noticed this, I decided to check and see how many times officers have made this mistake. "It is quite embarrassing to see that the system has created Prawo Jazdy as a person with over 50 identities." The officer added that the "mistake" needed to be rectified immediately and asked that a memo be circulated throughout the force. The mystery of Ireland's worst driver (via William Gibson)...

Danny Choo is a guestblogger on Boing Boing. Danny resides in Tokyo, and blogs about life in Japan and Japanese subculture - he also works part time for the empire. So, you've been getting along well with your new Japanese business client but suddenly get told that they are not interested in doing business with you after meeting them on your arrival in Japan. Well it could have been due to many a reason. One of the reasons could be that you started to eye up your clients lover secretary. It could also have been because you stepped in poo and didn't wipe off before leaving steaming skid marks all over your clients office carpet. Another reason could be because you slipped and stabbed a pencil in your clients left knee. The most likely reason however is because you didn't hand over your business card properly and to do business in the land of the rising sun, you just need to know how this is done. Luckily, there is being a tutorial floating around the Tubes which you can see below. Do also remember that you need to learn how to bow properly too - this flash tutorial (click on the thumbs at the bottom) will help you - I've seen people bow down to 90 degrees but 45 degrees for gratitude and apologies is acceptable. The photo is a collection of some business cards collected during my work in Japan - see more designs of Japanese business cards in my previous "Meishi" article. dannychoo, japan...

Thought I forgot Tweet Week? Well, I sort of did, but it's because I've been busy today getting ready for my move to Eugene, Oregon. (More on that tomorrow!) But in the meantime, let me give out some more stuffs. Up first is a NeatReceipts, a scanner designed specifically to get your documents, receipts, and business cards in order and slurped into your PC or Mac. (I've actually got one in here for review, but this whole moving thing has got me in the weeds.) Tonight I'll also give away a SleepTracker Pro watch that monitors your night thrashings and wakes you at the most opportune time for restfulness. (I did review that and liked it quite a bit.) Haven't put in your entries for Tweet Week yet? Here's how: Follow us on Twitter and you'll be entered to win. Here are our accounts again; Each follow is an entry: • @joeljohnson; @xenijardin; @beschizza; @brandonnn; @doctorow; @johnbattelle; @frauenfelder (By the way, it's been awesome to get to know so many new people over the last few days. I am a very lucky person to be able to get to know so many quick and clever people. The lesson: It's easy to make friends when you give away prizes!)...

Danny Choo is a guestblogger on Boing Boing. Danny resides in Tokyo, and blogs about life in Japan and Japanese subculture - he also works part time for the empire. Ladies and Gentlemen, are you fed up with the side effects of breast enlargement medication? Does that third eye that sprouted up on your left knee really bug you after taking your latest prescription? Well we has some good news for you. Watch the video below (is in English with Japanese subs) to learn how Dr Tomobechi managed to enlarge a woman's bust size by 3 centimeters just by getting her to listen to particular ring tones over the period of 10 days - was on the Discovery Channel so it must be true. And as for the first picture - its a bra for men which you can buy at Rakuten for 29USD - for men who are happy with their breast size. Thanks Henry! dannychoo, japan, science...

Danny Choo is a guestblogger on Boing Boing. Danny resides in Tokyo, and blogs about life in Japan and Japanese subculture - he also works part time for the empire. A collection of Japanese Bento boxes that will starve you - because they are just too adorable to eat - See more pics at Ai Bento. dannychoo, food, japan...

A quick heads up: over at Offworld we've got the first look at the just-launched official T-shirts for Noby Noby Boy, the also-just-launched new PS3 game by Keita 'Katamari Damacy' Takahashi. The shirts are again being manufactured and sold by Portland software design house Panic -- the same studio that teamed up with Takahashi for his Katamari shirts, all of which are gorgeous. Head over to Offworld to see all the designs and let us know which one you're grabbing (I am terminally frozen in analysis paralysis between the brown, fuschia and gray). Only on Offworld: your first look at Panic's Noby Noby Boy T-shirts...

Flash video embed above, click "full" icon inside the player to view it large. You can download the MP4 here. Our YouTube channel is here, you can subscribe to our daily video podcast on iTunes here. Get Twitter updates every time there's a new ep by following @boingboingvideo, and here are the archives for Boing Boing Video. In today's episode of Boing Boing Video, director Zack Snyder and visual effects supervisor John "DJ" Des Jardin give us a preview of the forthcoming movie "Watchmen" (Wikipedia, IMDB, trailer). On March 6, the hallowed graphic novel deemed "unfilmable" will hit theaters. Will the long-awaited adaptation of writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons' dark eighties comic soar, or stink? The more intense the fandom around a classic, the more intense the fear that a filmmaker will screw it up, and few titles are as revered as this one. From what we saw during this preview with fans at the Apple store in Santa Monica, I am inclined to be very optimistic. Both Snyder and Des Jardin spoke with us about the challenges of bringing "Watchmen" from novel to CG-driven feature form. In today's episode we explore that challenge through the making of one character: Dr. Manhattan. The filmmakers contended with interesting creative and technical obstacles, which involved the fact that Manhattan is (a) pretty much nude, and (b) luminous. Actor Billy Crudup plays the stoic, white-eyed protagonist, and they used a sort of LED bodysuit to create the melded "real"/CG persona we see on screen. Blue superhero man-junk was a subject of serious discussion. Snyder revealed that a 3 hour and ten minute long director's cut of "Watchmen" will come out in July. A DVD will follow in the fall, which he described as the "Crazy Ultimate Freaky Edition" to include extras such as "Tales of the Black Freighter," the death of Hollis Mason, extra scenes with Dr. Manhattan on Mars, and more. MTV News has an item with details. The event at which this Boing Boing Video episode was taped was a part of Apple's ongoing "Meet The Filmmaker" series hosted at Apple Stores throughout the US. The series is free, and this one was packed with trufans clutching copies of the comic, or wearing "Watchmen" smileyface shirts. It was fun to see fans get a chance to ask questions directly. There will be another event with members of the cast at the Apple Store SoHo on March 5. Apple also has some cool "Watchmen" content offered through iTunes (trailers, cast video journals, a cool iPhone/iPod touch application available in the App Store, and so on.) And you can search for "Meet the Filmmaker" in the iTunes store for a podcast series which includes the raw audio feed from this event (I think it's about 2 hours long?) as well as podcasts from other "Watchmen" events. As an aside: Des Jardin was the associate visual effects supervisor on Matrix 2 and 3, with John Gaeta, who has appeared in previous original video episodes on Boing Boing (parts 1, part 2). Special thanks to all the Boing Boing friends on Twitter who submitted questions for Snyder and Des Jardin. Many of these made it into the episode! And one more goodie: lots of photos at the Official Watchmen flickr stream. Update: Wil Wheaton says the movie is "awesome," and here's his review, sans spoilers....

Jim Leftwich made this playlist of great movie themes using SeeqPod...

When you are feeling blue, you should visit this website. FMYLIFE.COM or follow @fxxxmylife on Twitter. "Capsule-sized doses of schadenfreude to help you feel better about your life any time you need it," says our pal Nate Torkington. (Thanks, @Gnat!)...

The primary purpose of this blog post is to celebrate the beauty of that headline. There is also purportedly a real news story there. Snip: Police in Kansas City, Mo., said a woman's tight hair weave stopped a bullet, rescuing her from injury and likely saving her life. Officers said they arrived at the Country View Market at about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday to find the woman's boyfriend had allegedly shot out the back window of a car, KSHB-TV, Kansas City, reported Thursday. Speeding bullet stopped by hair weave (UPI, thanks Glen E Friedman!)...

Peter Lunenfeld says: Thought Boing-Boingers might like this info-viz on the mortgage meltdown, which one of my former grad students (Jonathan Jarvis) at Art Center just released. I love it when talented designers use their skills in the public sphere. The HD version (which takes a few minutes to load) is worth the extra time....