Rob Beschizza

Technical illustrations by Karl Hans Janke

An entire world could be built around them. More at Biblio Odyssey.

Rob Beschizza

Analyst predicts Apple TV will become a television set

Can you guess which one? [Fortune Brains]

Analysts research and write for paying clients in a similar way to how reporters research and write for the general public. But whereas reporters tell stories about things that have already happened, analysts sell stories about the future.

Their clients gamble that analysts know more. And sometimes, they do. As often as not, however, analyst clients end up paying someone with few real contacts to tell them the same thing that bloggers with few real contacts have already told the whole world, for the lulz.

By way of illustration, the pic above was made by some random twit about a year ago.

Steven Leckart

Money Origami: Star Wars, Star Trek

Gorgeous work, AndrewWan Park! (...nice photos, Andrew!)

[via Drawn!]

Steven Leckart

Contest Winner!: Fighting Space Chicken

Well, I really had no idea so many BBG readers would want to get their hands on my fighting cock bot.

In the end, the winner was a reader by the name of Paul (aka Misterfricative), who won us over with a beautiful, succinct jingle.

Interesting side note: Paul lives in Taiwan, where the fighting cock bot was constructed some 20 years ago. Apart from the fact his tune is fantastic, the notion of returning the bot to its homeland certainly influenced our decision.

And without further adieu, here's the bot-winning song:

Enjoy the cock bot, Paul. And remember, "Never let a child swallow the bullet."

Of course, other BBG readers submitted some wonderful entries. Below are a few of the highlights. Thanks to everyone who entered!

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Steven Leckart

Tron-Watch '09: LED Handrails

A concept by Croatian designer Zoran Sunjic, these LED handrails could help light dark stairways to prevent commuter spills, tumbles, or muggings.

Should these handrails ever see the light of day (har), I trust they'll be available in teal or turquoise. From LED bikes to RAZR-like radar detectors, Tron-like aesthetics really are in full effect.

[Toxel via Design Launches via New Launches]

Rob Beschizza

Power On Self Test: Tron Legacy

James White, the brilliant designer responsible for BBG's spectral background and much else besides, created this gorgeous poster for the forthcoming movie, Tron Legacy.

This isn't official by any means, but it would certainly be a dream job to design a poster for the film, especially since they slated the mighty Daft Punk to create the score. So if anyone at Disney reads this, give me a call :)

End of Line.

Steven Leckart

Contest: Last Chance To Win The Fighting Space Chicken

The fighting space cock-bot contest ends today, August 7 at 11:59pm PST.

So far, my fave was submitted by Alli.

For more info, check here.

Good luck!

Steven Leckart

Tron Turquoise Is The New Black

With Tron Legacy set to debut in 2010, don't be surprised if turquoise and, more specifically, turquoise LED strips get slapped onto anything and everything.

Exhibit A: The Pulse, a concept fixed-gear with electric turn signals and a luminescent frame...

Personally, I'm into it — as you can probably tell from my use of the color on BBG posts.

[via Core77]

Steven Leckart

Stargate Babes Do Chewbacca

Check out Stargate cast members, Alaina Kalanj, Elyse Levesque and Ming-Na doing their best Chewie impersonations.

The footage is from an interview the actresses gave to Wired at Comic-Con. The editing is compliments of my pal Fernando Cardoso.

Can you do better? I'd love to see this sucker get remixed again and again...

[via Underwire]

Steven Leckart

It's The End of the Non-Augmented World As We Know It...

As with the Internet itself, some of the coolest tech trickles down from the military. Case in point: years after non-commercial aircraft started using HUDs to overlay flight data in front of pilots, video games followed suit. And, for the last five years, the hype and promise for augmented reality — a hybrid of virtual and actual reality — to spread into virtually every aspect of our daily lives has only grown.

From consumer HUDs, clunky wearable computer packs, hilarious helmets and goofy goggles now to small web cams, portable gaming devices, integrated GPS, and near-free cell phone apps (this is the big one), are we finally on the cusp of the breakthrough that's been buzzed about?

Above is a demo of TwittARound, an iPhone app that was unveiled recently. The AR app displays live tweets, allowing the viewer to see from where the 140-character message originated. Kinda fun, but also potentially useful: After a natural disaster, rescue workers could hypothetically locate any persons trapped inside buildings or under rubble.

That's why AR has so much potential to become ubiquitous: 1) the applications for it fall everywhere and anywhere on the spectrum between totally useful and just plain silly (thus, it targets anyone and everyone). 2) the tools required to partake are getting cheaper, smaller, and easier to use.

After the jump, see where you can expect to see a lot more augmented reality, and why:

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Steven Leckart

Video: Tron, Astro Boy & Cloudy w/Chance of Meatballs

Wired is hosting a special Cafe at Comic-Con, where I've been interviewing some pretty fun folks in film and TV, including Kristen Bell of Astro Boy, Tron Legacy's Olivia Wilde, and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs co-directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller. You don't get to see my face or hear my voice. But take my word for it, I was there!

Steven Leckart

Vampire Fangs Flytrap, Headgear

I'm a sucker for all things miniaturized and oversized. So I'm especially fond of JAAAHWS, a big version of those classic novelty vampire fangs. Use them to build your own maneating flytrap (above) or put the fangs on your noggin', like so... (adults can wear them, too)

Interesting tidbit: JAAAHWS were created by Brian Morishita who also works with Rick Baker at Cinovation Studios, which means he has two super cool jobs.

Available in white ($20) and glow-in-the-dark ($28 - limited).

Steven Leckart

Video Gallery: The Humanimal Kingdom

Using bodypaint, makeup, teeth and other prosthetics, people are succeeding at some pretty mind-blowing transformations. Not to knock furries, but there's a big difference between putting on a fuzzy suit and adding prosthetics and silicone to alter the bone structure of your face. These folks, namely Russian Model Alex Kovas, really go the extra mile:

(Not the best artistry, especially compared to Kovas, but bonus points for doing everything himself quickly and opting for the Rolling Stones as a soundtrack.)

Steven Leckart

Movie Makeup Tip: It's OK To Go Old School

Movie makeup and special effects wizardy is very much a study and exercise in materials science. Since the dawn of film, artists have been been toying with synthetic appliances, pigments, and all kinds of organic matter. Through the years, new materials, digital tools and rendering software, like ZBrush, have boosted efficiency and creativity.

Rick Baker, the legendary makeup artist behind films like An American Werewolf in London, Thriller, and those Eddie-Murphy-fat-guy films, isn't a purist when it comes to adopting new technologies. He's stated very clearly that he embraces the use of CGI because it can accomplish what's literally impossible &mdash even for him.

And yet, for the upcoming film The Wolfman, starring Benicio Del Toro (pic above), the guru of gore decided to go old school. As an homage to makeup artist Jack Pierce, who created the effects in the original film from 1941, the Academy Award-winning special effects master decided to ditch silicone and other newfangled materials for the stuff of yesteryear &mdash foam rubber, acrylic teeth and yak hair. Yes, yak hair, which Pierce used along with kelp to transform Lon Chaney into the o.g. wolfman.

So how does Baker's wolf compare?

Not sure. The film was originally due in April, got bumped to November. Color me curious to see the transformation and F/X, but concerned about everything else.

Steven Leckart

Contest: Win My Fighting Cock-Bot

I stumbled on this Fighting Cock-bot at a junk shop in San Francisco that was having an everything-must-go sale. The box is dated 1986 and indicates the robo-chicken was manufactured by the Chi Land Plastic Manufacturing, Co in Taiwan.

Aside from stumbling on a .gov that lists the manufacturer, I haven't had much luck tracking any more of these down online. (Feel free to Google "fighting cock" and let me know if you find one.)

Battery-operated, the 12-inch toy is supposed to fire little plastic discs ("bullets") that you store in little plastic "eggs." To be honest, I don't really care what the thing does.

The packaging is what sold me on it [sic for everything below...]:

• Head with colorful lamp

• Chest with colorful lamp

• Attached with 2 eggs. There are 12 bullets in each egg.

• Walkable feet for advancing

• Wings can wave and shoot the bullet.

• The cock can turn it body for 360°

• Never let a child swallow the bullet

Enter To Win:

Get creative. PhotoShop the art (here's a larger version). Create an original painting, drawing, watercolor of or inspired by the Fighting Chicken. Write a song. Shoot a video of yourself singing said song. Create a claymation music video for said song.

Post a link to your stuff in the comments below or email me: steven AT boingboing DOT net ; The winner will be chosen based on the merit, effort, and originality of his/her creation. Go nuts.

...And remember: never, ever swallow the bullet. Unless, of course, you are an adult.

Steven Leckart

Gruesome Face Mask For Outdoorsy Goreheads

Airhole manufactures face masks for cold weather and outdoor protection. Apart from their use of "ninja polyester" (?!) on the outer shell, the company is known for choosing subtle graphics and prints.

[via The Goat]

Joel Johnson

Trailer: 2012: It's a Disaster!

A spot-on parody that does nothing to diminish the fact that I'll be watching this Day 0, high as a DEA surveillance kite. [via io9

Joel Johnson

Video: Wagglemax Zombocalypse Survival Toolkit

Rob Moffet's other commercials are quite a treat. ("Because problem + chainsaw = no problem!")

Joel Johnson

Video: George Lucas: Maker of Films

Binary Bonsai has secured this 1971 interview with a young George Lucas, whose first major film, THX 1138, has flopped at the box office and who is disillusioned with Hollywood entirely. I haven't actually watched this thing yet—it's nearly an hour— but BB's write-up makes it sound fascinating. (He's got a directly download link to a 650MB version, too, which I'm caching for later.)

How this has managed preservation until now is a small media miracle in my book. It offers rare insight into both Lucas as well as American Zoetrope's position following THX's release. And remember, this is before Lucas goes on to make American Graffiti and later Star Wars, and the fact that this at the time relative nobody is interviewed at all, is probably because of Gene Youngblood himself was at the forefront of film, though in a journalistic capacity, and thus in touch with what was coming out of student films and also what was going on with this prodigious young filmmaker.

The rarity of any footage of Lucas from this period makes this amazing in itself, but more than that, this is also very soon after Lucas had his first film taken away from him, something which would happen again on American Graffiti, and one of the prime reasons that Lucasfilm came into existence at all. Had things fallen out differently, he may well have continued working with Coppola at American Zoetrope.

Rob Beschizza

Legs

Rob Beschizza

PSP Phone mockup challenge furrows internet's brow

Mockup designs for Sony's rumored PSP Phone are nearly are unappetizing as the pre-iPhone iPhone mockups were.Take this one, for instance, published in foreign-language "Phone Mag." It went for the "boring enough to be convincing" cachet.

The mushrooms kicked in long before T3 found its way to this next idea's awful D-pad -- it's based on a patent Sony itself filed.

It isn't clear where the next one came from. My hunch is that the artist isn't going to be around any time soon to request attribution...

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Joel Johnson

Ghostbusters and the Angel of NYNEX

Geoff Manaugh:

Thing is - spoiler alert - halfway through the film, the Ghostbusters realize that NYNEX isn't a phone system at all: it's the embedded nervous system of an angel - a fallen angel - and all those phone calls and dial-up modems in college dorm rooms and public pay phones are actually connected into the fiber-optic anatomy of a vast, ethereal organism that preceded the architectural build-up of Manhattan.

Manhattan came afterwards, that is: NYNEX was here first.

Joel Johnson

Video: Michael Jackson's Captain EO

Goodbye, Michael. Even with all the problems, you were one of the greats. [via Karina]

Joel Johnson

Transformers 2: "Have you ever fallen into a city-sized Cuisinart?"

Choire Sicha reviews Transformers 2:

Have you ever fallen into a city-sized Cuisinart that is grinding its way through a vast Chinese scrap metal field and had your face abraded with shards of aluminum and eyelash-size scraps of rusty torn iron, so all the skin is peeling off your face, your delicate nose-bones being flayed by grinding gear bits and yesterday's shredded microchips and at the same time that song "Citizen Soldier" from the National Guard commercials is blaring at top volume, and somewhere in the distance you can see that "The Hurt Locker" is screening for no good reason and there is sand inside what remains of your teeth and then Megan Fox float-flounces by (like the cow in "Twister"!) with her nipples nearly pouring out of her crop-top camisole and some kid is trying to give her a flower but she is like "I am sooo busy getting highly paid and even though the makeup department set their mirror to 'evening' instead of 'day' and so my beautiful perfect skin is sort of plastered needlessly with foundation, I am still the hottest sex doll on two legs," and so she doesn't take the flower, the poor sad flower, which stands for natural beauty, a flower which is then blenderized like a sad goose sucked into a jet turbine?

Joel Johnson

Lego Voyage dans la lune

Joel Johnson

Very Sophisticated

Rob Beschizza

Wallpaper

Steven Leckart

Gallery: A Visual History of The Artificial Dog

Sony's four-legged entertainment bot AIBO launched a decade ago. At left is a figure from patent #6458011, which was filed in 2001 by inventors Makoto Inoue and Emi Kato:

A walking-on-four-legs type robot whose body is connected at the front right, front left, rear right, and rear left with legs is adapted so that its action saves the user trouble and increases the user's affection for, and curiosity about, the robot.

I find the evolution of the artificial dog fascinating. Check out more patented pooches &mdash from analog to animatronic, including more iterations from Sony &mdash after the jump...

[top right image via Sony]

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Joel Johnson

Power On Self Test: S.H.E.R.L.O.C.K.

Joel Johnson

LEGO Ghetto Blaster Yoda