Skelton yourself with Kinect

XBox Kinect OSCeleton 

OSCeleton is basically a DIY motion capture system.

It sends 3D tracked body skeletons trough the OSC protocol so you can build anything easily.

So...

"Grab the drivers:

github.com/​avin2/​SensorKinect

Follow the install instructions:

ros.org/​wiki/​ni

Download OSCeleton and run the binary:

github.com/​Sensebloom/​OSCeleton

(use "OSCeleton -h" in the command line for more options)

and the Processing examples in the video:

github.com/​Sensebloom/​OSCeleton-examples

Try Animata too:

animata.kibu.hu/​

  

... and enjoy ;) ...

  

SenseWall

This is the latest multi-touch installation by SenseBloom. It’s located in the campus bar at the Computer Science Department of Coimbra University, Portugal.
...SoundTrack: KC & The Sunshine Band, Shake Your Booty sensebloom.com"

sources: (SenseBloom) vimeo.com

Very interesting post by Peter Kirn >> createdigitalmotion.com

Cities at Night: An orbital tour around the world.

video: wimp.com
more info: earthobservatory.nasa.gov

Cobwebbed and Frozen

Now who cares about the pigeons?

BANG! The Anatomy of Explosions

"The aim of this information is to inform the reader about the variety of explosions that exist and to give a visual framework for animating them. The article has been researched from many places on the Internet and is here purely as animation reference..."

via features.cgsociety.org

 

Simplicity is efficiency

 

How Large is the Universe?

 

"The mind-blowing answer comes from a theory describing the birth of the universe in the first instant of time. The universe has long captivated us with its immense scales of distance and time. How far does it stretch? Where does it end... and what lies beyond its star fields... and streams of galaxies extending as far as telescopes can see?"

Have some snow!

December 2010 Blizzard Timelapse. Canon DLSR on tripod with remote timer taking a photo once every five minutes.

Approximately 20 hours in 40 seconds.

No comment...

On Cyber Monday, Amazon Sold 158 Items Per Second (13.7 Million In Total) 

"Amazon this morning announced that on its peak day for this year, November 29, customers ordered more than 13.7 million items worldwide across all product categories, which translates to a – self-proclaimed – record-breaking 158 items per second...

techcrunch.com

Storing Solar Energy would change the World

A prototype solar device has been unveiled which mimics plant life,
turning the Sun's energy into fuel.

Luz verde a la construcción de una planta solar de 185 hectáreas en Andalucía L.O.

New solar fuel machine 'mimics plant life'
"The machine uses the Sun's rays and a metal oxide called ceria to break down carbon dioxide or water into fuels which can be stored and transported.."
Article by Neil Bowdler bbc.co.uk

Luz verde a la construcción de una planta solar de 185 hectáreas en Andalucía

laopiniondemalaga.es

3D TODAY: Storing Solar Energy would change the World http://bit.ly/icbfoi

Tricky Cromagnon

Bison-mammoths

1. Early cave art researcher Henri Breuil copied this image of overlapping bison and mammoth from the walls of Font-de-Gaume in France.
2.  Unlike other bison-mammoths that depict two distinct but overlapping images, this carving from a spear-thrower features one image that can be seen two different ways. Above, the artifact in its natural state. Below, red ovals highlight the position of the two eyes. 
3. The two sides of a figurine from a site near Cambrai show very different details. On one side (left), the high back leg and short front leg are characteristic of depictions of bison. On the other, the tall straight front leg and grooves depicting long hair in the midriff are typical of mammoths. (Image courtesy of Duncan Caldwell)

World's Oldest Optical Illusion Found? >>   blogs.nationalgeographic.com

3D TODAY: Tricky Cromagon http://bit.ly/gPgjGQ

Easy Transportation

Plane delayed, slow bus, traffic jam, crowded train... So we are complaining!

Source: The 6 Most Terrifying Work Commutes in the World

by Rohan Ramakrishnan  cracked.com

3D TODAY: Easy Transportation http://bit.ly/gye4HQ

Blast from the Past 11|Tribute to Amsterdam

 3d-today.org #Blast from the Past

Blast from the Past 10

Life Under the Bubble
"Biosphere 2 was one of the most lauded experiments of the 1990s, then one of the most ridiculed. Now it is back, offering a unique way to put theories about climate and environment to the test."
Article by Jordan Fisher Smith; Photographs by Douglas Adesko

discovermagazine.com

 “Nothing ages faster than the future“

   3d-today.org #Blast from the Past

The Refrigerator Effect

There's a mini ice age coming, says man who beats weather experts.
"Piers Corbyn not only predicted the current weather, but he believes things are going to get much worse, says Boris Johnson, London's mayor..." 
smh.com.au

Footprints remain after people walked on the snow-covered beach at Weston-Super-Mare, England. 

Photo: Getty Images

To generate heat, you need cold and vice-versa. While global warming has become an iconoclasy/ iconoduly debate, could we not face the very simple fact that heat and cold are the two birds of the same stone?

Time-speculative Grey Matter

Scientists find evidence for 'chronesthesia,' or mental time travel


"Researchers have found evidence for “chronesthesia,” which is the brain’s ability to be aware of the past and future, and to mentally travel in subjective time. They found that activity in different brain regions is related to chronesthetic states when a person thinks about the same content during the past, present, or future."  physorg.com

credit: Lars Nyberg, et al. ©2010 PNAS.

You know she's waiting
Just anticipating
For things that she'll never never never never possess, yeah yeah
But while she's there waiting, without them
Try a little tenderness (that's all you gotta do)

[Otis Redding “ Try a little tenderness”]

News from the Front

Assange to become MEAA member

"WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is set to become a member in good standing of the Australian journalists' union, the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA)..."

au.news.yahoo.com

Photo: AFP ©

Rythm, He's got it!

Make a Simple and Modern Web UI Button in Photoshop

Tutorial > designinstruct.com

DEMO

via 3d-today-links

Love has no frontier

Baby Owen became an orphan when a tsunami struck the Kenian coasts. Luckyly rescuded but sad and lonely he found a surrogate mother in Mzee, a century-old tortoise (albeit a male). They eat, swim and sleep together in Mombasa, Kenya at the Haller Park preserve.

Meanwhile on Earth: Travelling through Time

My Grandmother: Same location 1920 & 2010 

Making Aliens Giggle

This is a pretty easy project. If you're interested in doing it yourself, here are a few pointers to get you started:

•  Get an amateur radio license. If you're in the United States, you want to get a Technician's license. This will let you run the type of radio we used to track our balloons, an APRS beacon by Byonics.
•  Paul Verhage's ebook on near space ballooning is very helpful, although a bit out of date.
•  If you're in the United States, read FAR 101. FAR 101 has all of the regulations that you'll need to follow if you're launching a balloon. Sorry, I don't know the regulations for different countries.
•  Telemetry is by far the most important part of this project. Send up a good radio, good antenna, and good GPS. Don't compromise on these things.
•  Weather balloons can be bought from Kaymont.
•  Hacking cameras is best done with CHDK, check to see if your camera is compatible.
•  Radar reflectors can either be made or purchased from West Marine
•  You can get a rough idea of where your balloon is going to land using flight prediction software or just by looking at the wind charts.
•  You might get caught up looking at the wind charts and weather patterns for high altitudes. It's also important to figure out what your surface winds are at your launch site. Launching is hard if it's windy on the ground.
• Don't be afraid to move the launch site or cancel the launch completely if the weather conditions aren't right.

android.hibal.org

Neanderthal, Denisova, and...the French!

Ancient humans, dubbed 'Denisovans', interbred with us
Article by Pallab Ghosh  >bbc.co.uk

Solstice

Let us rejoice and Sing and Dance 

and Ring in the News: The new Solstice is here! 

Happy Solstice to All!

 

Phasing the Moon

via i.imgur.com

Nano Christmas Cards

The Christmas card is so small that more than 8,000 of them could fit on a first-class stamp

"The card produced by the University of Glasgow, said to be the smallest in the world, is invisible to the naked eye..."

We wish you a mini Christmas: World's smallest greetings card that is invisible to the naked eye >> dailymail.co.uk

 Nano Etching on a Hair: 3d-today.org  (Professor Martyn Poliakoff)

 http://bit.ly/gSWAHf

Get Mooned

Earth and Moon to Scale >>  freemars.org

Neutrino pickabooing is ON!

The last Digital Optical Module (DOM) deployed in the IceCube array

icecube.wisc.edu

BMW Macht Frei

Falling down

Since we learn from our mistakes and failures, it is probable that the robots will too...

engadget.com

History of Europe

euratlas.net

How To Make a Candy Cane Text Animation In Cinema 4D

 Tutorial >>greyscalegorilla.com

via: 3d-today-links

Happiness is NOT a warm corpse

Please do not turn holidays into nightmare.

3D TODAY: Happiness is NOT a warm corpse: http://bit.ly/eaoAHr

Sober men can't walk straight

3D TODAY: Sober men can't walk straight: http://bit.ly/hIxXYA

Nano Etching on a Hair

Professor Martyn Poliakoff gets a tiny periodic table etched  onto one of his hairs.

Jumpin' Jack Flash

Kimberly Bostwick

African Architecture

In this western part of Africa, the dry climate allows construction with adobe. We are accustomed to stone/ wood/ steel architectures which do not allow such a rich plasticity. Still, nowadays' materials should be adapted to cold/ humid conditions together with enough solidity to see such brilliant, inspiring, sensitive architectures...

Meanwhile on Earth: Contemporary Archeology

17 lost minutes of 2001: A Space Odyssey FOUND!

"In the process of producing their now-canceled documentary on Stanley Kubrick's landmark film, Douglas Trumbull and David Larson have uncovered 17 minutes that Kubrick cut from 2001 just after release—in perfect condition..." Article by Marc Bernardin.

blastr.com

Source: forgottensilver.wordpress.com

Hello there...

Polar Bear Ship Norway

 images.nationalgeographic.com

 

3d-today.org/search/label/zoolife

 

Thank you Mr Berlusconi

Julian Assange free!

Julian Assange Free! Gives A Statement After His Release From Prison

ZooLife

To our cousins with tenderness, laughter and love...

It don't matter how many fingers, legs or fins you have, 

what matters is spirit and trust.

"Allison, a green sea turtle who lost three flippers to sharks, swims with the aid of a fin attached to a neoprene suit at Sea Turtle Inc. at South Padre Island. When an attempt to build a prosthetic flipper failed, researchers came up with a carbon-fiber dorsal fin."

source: 9 inspiring animals that use prosthetics

mnn.com

Allison >>Photo: Eric Gay/AP

3d-today.org/search/label/zoolife

Kung Fu Bear

Shadow of cloud falls

And with it a chill

High o'er heather

Hawk hover the hill

Just begun is my journey

And Danu's my name

I am the juggler of fortune and fame 

(Donovan Leitch)

 

3d-today.org/search/label/zoolife

 

Global Eruption Rocks the Sun

"Locations of key events are labeled in this extreme ultraviolet image of the sun, obtained by the Solar Dynamics Observatory during the Great Eruption of August 1st. White lines trace the sun's magnetic field."
Credit: K Schrijver & A. Title.

"The August 1st event really opened our eyes," says Karel Schrijver of Lockheed Martin's Solar and Astrophysics Lab in Palo Alto, CA. "We see that solar storms can be global events, playing out on scales we scarcely imagined before..."Author: Dr. Tony Phillips 

science.nasa.gov

 NASA Science http://bit.ly/fz3ZTi 

No Jesus?

Printing machine: Coffee, latte

Coffee Printer / Latte Printer

"A home made hobby latte art printer. Prints photo quality images on top of the foam. Can be used to print on top of beer foam head."

Latte Art Printer: Can your latte do this?

Latte Art Printing Machine

A Huge Solar Filament Erupts | Nasa

" Click the arrow and watch an unusually long filament explode out from the Sun. 
The filament had been seen hovering over the Sun's surface for over a week before it erupted earlier this month. 
The image sequence was taken by the Earth-orbiting Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) in one color of ultraviolet light specifically emitted by helium, and another color of X-ray light specifically emitted by iron. 
The explosion created Coronal Mass Ejections which dispersed high energy plasma into the Solar System. 
This plasma cloud, though, missed the Earth and so did not cause auroras. 

The above eruption and an unusually expansive eruption that occurred in August are showing how widely separated areas of the Sun can sometimes act in unison. 

Explosions like this will likely become more common over the next few years as our Sun moves toward Solar Maximum activity. " >>  apod.nasa.gov

APOD: 2010 December 15 - A Huge Solar Filament Erupts http://bit.ly/gdZbJv

Credit: NASA's GSFC, SDO AIA Team, ESA JHelioviewer Tea

Cherish and Protect Each and Every Leaf

 "This global map shows total consumption by region of photosynthetic plant material as a percentage of the plant material grown by region. Scientists call the plant "supply" net primary production, or NPP, and refer to the "demand" as Human Appropriation of Net Primary Production (HANPP)."

(Credit: Trent Schindler, Scientific Visualization Studio, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center)

Dr. Marc Imhoff discusses the implications of increasing plant carbon consumption in this short video.

(Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center).

via>  How Hard Are We Pushing The Land? nasa.gov

Free tool to calculate expenses for freelance artists | Blender 3D Architect

Article by:

Blender 3D Architect

The FEAT (Freelancer’s Estimation Assistance Tool) is a free tool created using Adobe AIR to aid in the process of calculating expenses and set a profit margin for your work.

Posted by Allan Brito >>>  blender3darchitect.com

Raytheon XOS 2 Exoskeleton

Raytheon Unveils 2nd Generation Exoskeleton Robotic Suit

Agent Phil Coulson Meets XOS 2

"Clark Gregg, the actor known for his recurring role in the Iron Man movies, was on hand to witness the unveiling of the XOS 2 robotic suit at the Raytheon Sarcos research facility in Salt Lake City, Utah. Paramount Home Entertainment prepared this video to coincide with the release of Iron Man 2 on Blu ray and DVD on September 28, 2010."  Raytheoncompany 

Raytheon

"Raytheon’s second-generation exoskeleton (XOS 2), essentially a wearable robotics suit, has been named one of the Best Inventions of 2010 by Time Magazine. The suit was unveiled for the first time in September during an event at the company’s Salt Lake City research facility. XOS 2 is lighter, stronger and faster than its predecessor, yet it uses 50 percent less power, and its new design makes it more resistant to the environment..."
raytheon.com

© Copyright 2010 Raytheon Sarcos

APOD: 2010 December 14 - Launch of a Delta IV Heavy

via antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov

The Keyboard of Evolution

Richard Dawkins Plays the Piano - "Earth History in C Major"

Chi va piano, va sano e va lontano.

Astronomic Cheese

Chris Thompson/SpaceX

Sending cheese to space is the cleverest way to give aliens a serious hint about humanity (strategically chosen as not French (I mean the cheese)). 

Then referring to Abraham, Zucker & Zucker's movie "TOP SECRET" is simply brilliant as one of the most outstanding movie ever (albeit accidentally). 

Toping it with Monty Python will keep us safe from invasion unless some dumb astronomer sends some silly engraving showing how dumb we are...


The Cheese Shop sketch, Monty Python

Articles / Links:

NPR

Article by Mark Memmott.

It Went Where No Cheese Had Gone Before, Thanks To 'Monty Python'
"When we heard that a wheel of cheese had been sent into space this week aboard the first ever launch into orbit and return to Earth by a private company, we were curious.."

 npr.org

 SpaceX

 "Yesterday’s historic launch had a secret payload. It was a payload so secret, SpaceXers made it Top Secret (think Val Kilmer 1984, not official US Government). So what was inside the mystery package?
Photo credit to Chris Thompson of SpaceX.."

facebook.com/SpaceX

spacex.com

Turning Waste to Green Profit

Architect Måns Tham

Driving in the Solar Serpent

"Turn the freeways into urban powerplants! With solar-technology and an efficient narrative design, the freeways will re-emerge as structures for the future."

"Urban oil wells have made the link between energy and daily life unusually appearent in Los Angeles. The Solar Serpents introduce a new level of site specific urban energy production."

manstham.com

A 360° camera that sees in 3D

Photo © LTS2/LSM

Inspired by the eye of a fly, EPFL scientists have invented a camera that can take pictures and film in 360° and reconstruct the images in 3D.

"Surround sight has come to the camera. Inspired by the eye of a fly, EPFL scientists have invented a camera that can take pictures and film in 360° and reconstruct the images in 3D."

"It will be the ideal tool for videoconferences, video surveillance, movie making, and creating backgrounds for video games. Researchers from two EPFL laboratories have invented a revolutionary camera that can film everything around it, simultaneously and in real time, and then reproduce the images in three dimensions, distortion-free. A patent application has been filed."

"The camera was inspired by the structure of a fly’s eye, and works without resorting to mirrors or mechanical parts of any kind. Over one hundred cameras, similar to those used in mobile phones, are crowded onto a metallic hemisphere the size of an orange. Because they are so close together, their range of vision overlaps slightly. A second, miniature prototype has also been developed. It’s about the size of a golf ball and has 15 cameras. The user can choose to have them all work together to obtain a panoramic image that covers a 360° range of vision, or individually to capture a particular point of view. The cameras were designed and built at EPFL in a collaboration between the Signal Processing Laboratory, led by Professor Pierre Vandergheynst, and the Microelectronic Systems Laboratory, led by Professor Yusuf Leblebici." 

Author: Sarah Perrin

actu.epfl.ch

Links/ Articles

ramilcvaliente.blogspot.com

gizmag.com

Massive Collection of Best Photoshop Tutorials from 2010 - Noupe Design Blog

noupe.com

via 3d-today-links

25 Most Recommended Wordpress Alternatives for Bloggers

1stwebdesigner.com

via 3d-today-links

The Difference Between Web Development and Web Design

via techwench.com

Untitled

via i.imgur.com