Links-plosion!

The Giver was one the few (like 2) books I read on my Kindle before coming to the conclusion I cannot read books anymore... and I declare that to be a medical condition! Another reason why I switched over to audiobooks. I have been an avid audiobook listener for over 2 years now, and I absolutely love it - no better way to multi-task when doing menial tasks such as robotic acts like driving, moving stuff, etc.. And now back to the point, there is a movie in making for the book - as per The Mary Sue!!!

Lightning storm rains upon the Grand Canyon - zap!

Moore's Law still on track... Carbon Nanotube Computer is a go with 178 transistors - an important proof-of-concept.

Most unisex names in U.S. history - a visualization of the list.

Meanwhile iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S came out, Google turned 15, and I'm sleepy. Nightio!

Video-plosion!

Soo many interesting videos this week... and after parsing through them, I bring to you the best and interesting ones:

Few reasons why I'm posting this video:
 - Starts off with Tennant (10th Doctor in Doctor Who - honestly if you are following this blog watch Doctor Who!!!!) fixing the TARDIS
 - Has couple(lots) of Doctor Who scenes
 - And we all do this at some point in time and get things working

Percussive Maintenance from Duncan Robson on Vimeo.
Music by Joel Robson. http://joelrobson.bandcamp.com
Thanks to tvtropes and everyone else who helped me to collect these. If there's a good clip I missed, let me know in the comments.
http://dunk3d.tumblr.com
@dunkr
Courtesy : The Mary Sue


This video blew me away! Amazing performance!

Box from Bot & Dolly on Vimeo.
Box explores the synthesis of real and digital space through projection-mapping onto moving surfaces. The short film documents a live performance, captured entirely in camera. http://www.botndolly.com/box
CREDITS
Production Company: BOT & DOLLY
Executive Producers: Bill Galusha, Nick Read
Creative & Technical Director: Tarik Abdel-Gawad
Design Director: Bradley G Munkowitz
Lead Graphic Designers: Bradley G Munkowitz, Jason English Kerr
3D Artists: Scott Pagano, Bradley G Munkowitz, Jason English Kerr, Conor Grebel
2D Animators: Conor Grebel, Ben Hawkins, Pedro Figueira
Director of Photography: Joe Picard
Lighting Designers: Joe Picard, Phil Reyneri
Projection / TouchDesigner: Phil Reyneri
Robotics Animation: Tarik Abdel-Gawad, Brandon Kruysman, George Banks, Michael Beardsworth
Robotics Operator: Michael Beardsworth, Brandon Kruysman
Prop Fabrication: Matt Bitterman, Ethan Dale
Script Supervisor: Ian Colon
Sound Engineers: Joe Picard, Michael Beardsworth
PAs: Sean Servis, Dakota Smith, Nico Mizono, Eric Wendel, Patrick Walsh
Editors: Ashley Rodholm, Ian Colon
Music / Sound Design: Keith Ruggiero
Sound Mix: Joel Raabe
Performers: Tarik Abdel-Gawad, Iris, Scout
Courtesy: io9


What if all the people in Paris just disappeared...

hypocentre -short film- from Claire&Max on Vimeo.
Imagine an empty worrying Paris.
Imagine that human action is more harmful to our fragile planet.
First, "hypocentre" was a technical exercise for us. Then we decided to focus the film on the environmental side. It's new for us, more specialists in the travel video, to try to do a short film.
All the technical side of this film is explained on our website (with english translator) here: http://menilmonde.com/projet-hypocentre/
Feel free to join us on our dynamic facebook Fan Page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Menilmonde/143123885787492
and our twitter account : https://twitter.com/Menilmonde
Music: "Scathe" by Reid Willis, licensing through the Vimeo Music Store https://vimeo.com/musicstore/track/144244/scathe-by-reid-willis
And Reid Willis website : http://reidmwillis.wix.com/reid-willis-website#!home/mainPage
NASA last footage: Images courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center, http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/hd/
Old footage form http://archive.org/
Sounds from http://www.freesound.org/ ans specially Felix Blume http://www.freesound.org/people/felix.blume/
Stephen Hawking's quote from the voice of Google translator
Thanks to Vanguard (http://vanguardworld.fr/) for their support.
Courtesy: io9


So first we(not me) had Teddy Ruxpin, a delightful animatronic pal for little kids. Then we(I was there) had Ted, the CGI-based, foul-mouthed, binge-drinking pal once those kids grew up. And now there's apparently a gun-toting, Sock Monkey-slaying, cyborg-bear vigilante roaming the streets. Stephen Colbert was right, these things are terrifying....

The Mega Plush from Matt Burniston on Vimeo.
Set in the shadows of a gritty underworld, a war is brewing. The Mega Plush, a group of four plush toy vigilantes, are struggling against the uprising of the SOC (Society of Chimps) army. Good vs evil. Bear vs sock monkey. The question is "who has the stuffing to survive?" Watch the first episode of this epic showdown and meet the crew at www.themegaplush.com
Facebook - facebook.com/TheMegaPlush
Website - www.themegaplush.com
Twitter - twitter.com/TheMegaPlush
YouTube - http://youtu.be/j9o1Ey4ZNT4
Music & SFX by www.cassinisound.com
Get a t-shirt - http://shop.heshereallweek.com
Courtesy: Gizmodo

And I've decided to another fun video, a music video, Radioactive by Imagine Dragons, one of my favorite song:


And finally the best for the last - Doctor Who Series 7 DVD Box Set Minisode "Rain Gods":

Courtesy: io9

First Month of 2013 Fall Semester

My last and final semester at UNLV as an undergraduate started off with dealing with humid climate in a desert! I am not kidding, for claiming to be a dry desert, Las Vegas has been cloudy and humid for roughly 3 weeks with occasional rain here and there! FYI the following paragraphs are being written as I recollect what has occurred they may or may not be in chronological order.

First week was filled with the hassle of finding where the classes are located, getting to know new professors, calculating how much effort to put into each class and organizing my time for each.
The prof for compilers was in Scotland attending a conference so we had a sub for the first week. Analysis of algorithms is being taught by a prof I know and he is REALLY good! Tennis is located at the end of the campus so walking there and back is not an option.... Logic Design lab started with safety lab.... Biometrics is a small class of 7 people - 4 graduate students and 3 undergrads. And my final physics class - the dreaded Physics Senior Project. And top this off, working at Slickdeals!!! Oh... also deal with ACM club... since being a Treasurer aka an officer means I need to be present at meetings and do stuff! And my brother didn't get to drive because of the rain and cloudy weather >__> Also the week-long lent that is part of celebrating the birth of St. Mary started on Sunday.

Second week started off with Monday being a holiday and was more or less hunting for parking spot at various hours of the day.... It is literally Hunger Games at the parking lot!!! You fight with horns and lights to get a parking spot from others. Not to mention, Wednesday when my brother decided to finally drive to campus by himself, it started pouring like no end. Prof for the compilers showed up finally, and started assigning phases for building a Java 1.2? compiler in Java.... No, this is not like the - which came first, the chicken or the egg? - problem. And getting together to layout the club meetings and plans. Oh! Also the Friday, the research group along with the prof got together and had 4-5hr long meetings. Then again on Saturday afternoon, and then attending the wedding reception of the ex-PhD member of our group who moved to Arizona for his postdoc. That wedding reception was really fun - food, drinks (I did try Captain Coke... just because the groom insisted that it was his first drink and that how he got into drinking... And by the end of 3rd hour... I still had half the drink with me... and while rum has a unique taste, I didn't like the drink and decided to remain a non-alcoholic drinker), dance, and fireworks. Friday evening ended with a prayer meeting and Saturday morning started with a mass to celebrate the birth of St. Mary. Also I got the ball rolling for my graduation on Friday... papers were signed and the checkbox was clicked on Friday!

Third week was when things got really crazy! Latter half the week I had to deal with a family emergency on top of working and taking classes. I did get to spend time at a hospital in town... and let me say... the service provided wasn't all that great there. And thanks to my good teammate, I didn't have to worry about the phase 1 of the compilers. Oh Tuesday, my brother decided to drive again, but Mother Nature decided to throw another tantrum and flood the streets, so I had to drive him home after classes, leaving behind his car in the garage (and for the whole trip he was weeping about his precious (his car) being left behind). Wednesday was the start of the family emergency, and Mother Nature threw another fit, flooding the streets really bad this time. Saturday was spend on campus working on research and project. Aside from that, my schedule for the semester is now fixed.

Fourth week was more or less working at work, on class assignments, my project, club stuff, etc.... Far too occupied that I managed to watch all aired seasons of the Big Bang Theory. And Bones started airing their 9th season... which means the Fall seasons are coming!!! First exam of the semester - did bad... 75th percentile... yuck! Another 6 day week with Sunday spending on working on my research.... Officially I am totally occupied, no time for breaks or social events or to myself. Oh! I also started posting in the Lounge at SD (as the impossible moderator) :P and met CC... my target for next foreseeable future - hehehe.

World's 10 Biggest Cities

The World's 10 biggest cities based on population as per 2009 study by Richard Forstall, Richard Greene and James Pick.



Courtesy: Gizmodo

The Slothocalypse!!!

Albert Einstein sloth: 

Sloth of the 11th Doctor (Matt Smith) along with Amelia Williams and Rory Williams...

Good gracious.... the weeping angel sloth....

Oh great!... Even a minion sloth!!!!

Ahhh... here is the Harry Potter sloth collection:

For more sloth collection check out the artist's home page.

Courtesy: The Mary Sue

Heist!!

While I have watched some of THE best heists being performed in the TV show, Leverage (which I highly recommend for those hunting for a good TV show to watch), Rob 'n' Ron (two brothers) plans out and performs a western-y heist with hobby horses and piggy banks....


Rob 'n' Ron from Tumblehead on Vimeo.

Courtesy: io9

Proteigon

Remember the dance/battle with light video called Nuance? Here is a similar version that uses paper.


PROTEIGON from BURAYAN on Vimeo.
Directed by Steven Briand - briand.steven@gmail.com, at partizan during a two months intership.

Festival selections
South by Southwest (SXSW) 2012 / Austin, Texas, 2012
Moving Silence 2012 / Athens, Greece, 2012
Disposable Film Festival 2012 / San Francisco, USA, 2012
Very Short International Film Festival 2012 / Paris, France, 2012
Brasil Stop Motion Festival 2012 / Pernambuco, Brazil, 2012
Cortoons Festival 2012 / Rome, Italy
ANCA International Animation Festival 2013 / Zilina, Slovakia, 2013
Anima Mundi 2013 / Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 2nd, 2013 & Sao Paulo, Brazil, 2013

with Luca Fiore

music by Nodey & Omar
sound design by Moritz Reich

Produced by Partizan Films

with the help of Nathalie Lapicorey, Zeynep Gizem De Loecker, Benoit Masson, Vincent Nguyen, François Colou et Fabien Chambert