:: GussetBLOG ::

:: Sunday, October 04, 2009 ::

Link Dump

What sort of man wears mantyhose?
"Skinny trousers for men are everywhere. But how many will take the trend for figure-hugging legwear one step beyond, and wear tights? We road-test the look."
The video is well worth a watch for the reactions. And this is nothing like as eye-catching at the man tights from We Love Colors

Audio slideshow: Art and politics in China
"As China marks the 60th anniversary of Communist rule, Katie Hill, Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Chinese Art at the University of Westminster in London, looks at how art has moved from the realm of propaganda to the international marketplace."

Dark Nostalgia
"A new tome by design correspondent Eva Hagberg, Dark Nostalgia coins a nickname for the cozy vintage trend in interiors."
Click through for some great interior images.


Fisheye gives new route to perfect images
"A fisheye lens proposed over a century ago can produce perfectly focused images without using any exotic "negative refractive index" materials, a physicist in the UK has calculated."

Pop Life at Tate Modern: the glorification of greed?
"The new Tate Modern show puts a post-Warholian generation of artists, adept at self-promotion and at ease in the world of mass media and commerce, into an art-historical context"

Labels: Art, China, Design, Fashion, Physics

:: Dan 4.10.09 [Arc] [1 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Stuff I've found recently but haven't found time to write about:

Roomba, Economics and Long-Exposure Photography

Edit: Thanks to Tania for sending this iRobot Create Roomba hack link.

Dream: The Big Art Project
Watch the C4 series on Sunday evenings

New Scientist: You are made of space-time

BCS vs Singh - Astonishingly Illiberal Ruling

Behind the label: Recycled Toilet Tissue

BBC5 TV
"We are NOT the BBC. In an era when the majority of media corporations are subservient to ruling elites, new forms of underground media have to emerge. BBC5.tv would not exist if journalists were always allowed to publish the truth. The fact is that many are silenced."

Newsnight – Immigration Song Contest

BLDG BLOG:
Man unexcited by his own possessions
How the other half writes - In defence of Twitter
The Hills Have Eyes



Bacon is a health food!

Richie Hawtin's 10 most ridiculous ideas

Labels: architecture, Art, Electronic Music, Environment, Food, Gadget, Humour, Law, Photography, Physics

:: Dan 16.5.09 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Charles and Ray Eames: A Communication Primer


[via smashing telly]

"The Eames’ showed that films could be approached as a design exercise and as such were the forerunners to much of today’s information design, which has had a resurgence as a result of the Web. Their best known piece is Powers of Ten [below], but this is another little beauty.

"The film is nicely self-referential since it deals with Shannon’s information theory. However, the astounding thing is that the Eames’ were savvy about Shannon’s groundbreaking work which was published only 5 years before. To put this in context, its as if Frank Lloyd Wright had written a book about Einstein’s Special Relativity in 1910, when it wasn’t fully endorsed by the physics community."

Powers Of 10

Labels: Art, Communication, Design, Film, Maths, Physics

:: Dan 15.3.09 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Sociologists are too sceptical of science…

Labels: philosophy, Physics, science, sociology

:: Dan 13.3.09 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Goatlab Radio Feb 2009 [61MB MP3]
Tracklist etc

The Battleground Bristol gig is tomorrow night at Motion Skate Park. Remarc, Bizzy B, Parasite, Shitmat, Ladyscraper and may others on the line up. New DJ mixes from Demon Cabbage, Ebola and Parasite are now streaming from the website.

sadra hemati says:
"heyhey! here's my latest release, some proper lofi experimental
chiptune breakcore beats. I have added the front and back cover.
Thanks for everything & cheers from holland!"
Heres the link

From the Physics Web mailing list:
"I have just heard what has to be the longest string of physics jokes ever uttered on the radio. I was listening to the BBC Radio 4 programme “Old Harry’s Game”, in which the comedian Andy Hamilton plays Satan and is set in hell. Early in the episode we learn that Einstein is detained at Old Harry’s pleasure — indeed all deceased scientists are there it seems. What follows is a string of gags on everything from Schroedinger’s Cat to Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle — and a joke of dubious taste about Stephen Hawking’s ability to play table tennis.
CULTURAL WARNING: Like most early-evening broadcasts on Radio 4 this programme could be a bit too “jolly-hockeysticks” for the non-British listener."
Listen on the BBC iPLayer

From Bottle Imp
"I don't have any exciting news this week, but I want to share a cool interview with BLÆRG by The Headphone Commute, a music blog all of you should check out anyway. They turn me onto all kinds of good, new music."
( Read The Whole Interview )

Also, remember, these albums are still available, and still entirely free:

Click Point, "EXP 1" - Industrial / Ambient from Detroit

AMNION, "EXP 1" - Experimental dark ambient

Labels: Comedy, MP3, Physics

:: Dan 27.2.09 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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César A Hidalgo - Thinking outside the cube on physicsworld.com
"The discovery that many complex systems are actually well structured networks has not only changed the landscape of physics, but also how we visualize patterns in science."

See some of César's visualisations on his own website.


[large]

Labels: Art, Maths, Physics, science, Visuals

:: Dan 2.12.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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CERN engineer Sergio Cittolin depicts the Large Hadron Collider as Leonardo da Vinci might have seen it

Labels: Art, Physics

:: Dan 1.11.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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flikr2846
Originally uploaded by flikr.
Image made by flickr user flikr using agony, which he wrote and is available for free download (although it's not open source)

Physics World: Did a Chinese calligrapher use ‘fractal expression’?

In the scientific world, fractals were first identified in the mid-1970s by the mathematican Benoît Mandelbrot.

However, it’s possible that artists and artisans have long been using the fragmented shapes in their work.

In 1999, two Australian physicists famously showed that the “paint-drip” canvasses of Jackson Pollock could be dated by computing their fractal dimension — which tended to increase as Pollock matured as an artist.



Now, Yuelin Li of Argonne National Lab in the US has posted a paper on the arXiv preprint server claiming that calligraphy done by the “maniac Buddist monk” Huai Su more than 1200 years ago contains fractals. Li analysed a request for “bitter bamboo shoots and tea” written by the monk and found that it can be characterized by two different fractal dimensions.



Li believes that the fractal nature of some artworks “can be attributed to the artist’s pursuit of the hidden order of [the] fractal”.

Also in physics related art, Physics World are trying to pick their favourite cover image from the last 20 years to celebrate their anniversary. You can see the 20 short listed images and vote on the link above.

Labels: Art, Flickr, Maths, Physics

:: Dan 24.10.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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The world's most powerful loudspeaker, the WAS-3000, at Wyle Laboratories acoustic test facility.

"The WAS-3000 is no spring chicken. It was built back in 1967 and remains, as far as anyone knows, the most powerful loudspeaker ever built, able to generate sound pressure levels up to 165 dB with just a single modulator. No, it wasn't designed to blast Buffalo Springfield or Procol Harum (which would not sound like music at all at that level), but rather to do acoustic wave testing on equipment via a "linearly controllable electro-pneumatic noise source." (What would you test with such a speaker? In part, it's been used to test whether jet engines and space shuttle components will fall apart when exposed to extreme noise and the vibrations that go along with them. It was built originally to simulate noise from the Saturn V launch.)" [yahoo]



A space shuttle taking off generates 150 dB. It is more than loud. It is outright dangerous. "That large bath of water coming down the side of the main engine when it launches is not for cooling, which is what most people think," explains Rich McKinley, an acoustics expert at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio. "It is to break up the acoustic waves so they don't damage the shuttle." [Popular Mechanics]

Labels: Acoustics, Noise, Physics

:: Dan 20.10.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Betraying the fact that I bought a Sunday Observer a few weeks ago and circles half a dozen articles for blogging, then put it aside until now, here's a link dump I should have published a month ago.

Alex James on making cheese

Plea to save vanishing art of the pub sign
(I notice The Victoria in St Wurbergs replaced their Victoria Beckham pub sign with Vicky Pollard last month, perhaps a couple of years too late.)

Warning to advertisers on 2012 cash-in

Einstein fridge design can help global cooling
"Scientists relaunch a 1930 invention that uses no electricity and would reduce greenhouse gases"


Isle of plenty
"In the past 10 years, one Danish island has cut its carbon footprint by a staggering 140%. Now, with a simple grid of windfarms, solar panels and sheep, it's selling power to the mainland and taking calls from Shell. ... 'Shell heard about what we were doing and asked to be involved - but only on condition they ended up owning the turbines. We told them to go away. We are a nation of farmers. We believe in self-sufficiency.'"

Labels: Advertising, Art, Environment, Food, News, Physics

:: Dan 17.10.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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"A slight difference in the sounds created by neutrons and alpha particles as they travel through a liquid could lead to the first direct detection of dark matter, say physicists working on the PICASSO experiment at SNOLAB in Canada."

Labels: Acoustics, Physics

:: Dan 17.10.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Nuclear fallout used to spot fake art

"Scientists and art historians have developed what they say is a foolproof way of identifying forged works of art. They can distinguish between art created before 1945 and that produced after that date by measuring levels of the isotopes caesium–137 and strontium–90. These isotopes do not occur naturally but are released into the environment by nuclear blasts."

Labels: Art, Physics

:: Dan 11.7.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Goatlab Radio with Dan Gusset, Ana Kissed and special guest James Binray - Jan 2008 [60MB MP3]
Tracklist:

• Robot Ninja Dinosaur Bastards - Come and Get Demented with the Dino Bastards (Wrong Music)
  
• Bernard Cribbins - Gossip Calypso
  
• Datach'i - I'm Not Afraid To Watch You Die (Planet Mu)
  
• Frog Pocket - Heavy Grunts (Planet Mu)
  
• Jimmy Soul - If You Want To Be Happy For The Rest of Your Life
  
• Bogdan Raczynski - Lowlands (Rephlex)
  
• Portishead - Machine Gun (ATP bootleg)
  
• The Tuss - Shiz Ko E (Rephlex)
  
• Lily Allen - Smile (acoustic)
  
• Hot Roddy - Crust Mantle Hell (Wrong Music)
  
• Phthalocyanine - Breakfast Beer (Planet Mu)
  
• DJ Lumpy's Penis Song (title not known)

I was feeling ill for this one so it's a bit more downbeat this month. Sorry to Chris Cook (Hot Roddy) who I couldn't remember what other artist name he went by, as his Same Actor work eluded me temporarily.)

WoBcast Unplugged - The return of the West of Bastard podcasts with DJ Lumpy, Andrewherring and Juxtaposeur. Worth the download for The Bony King of Nowhere from Bagpuss, Maypole (the oldest song in the English language, as heard in the Wicker Man soundtrack) and Destroying Something Beautiful's beautifully fragile acoustic version of Word Up.

Grimonmbiet: The best of 2007 mix [direct download and torrent]

CERN Poscast
Thanks to Bristle for pointing this out in the comments to the previous post. A chat-show style podcast of people visiting the CERN Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland, including the likes of Dean of Guildford Cathedral the Very Reverend Victor Stock, comedians Kevin Eldon and Simon Munnery, and Torchwood / Shark Attack 3: Megalodon star John Barrowman. I think this is about as internet as it gets. Even the greatest of the surrealists never dreamt of shit like this.

If you're interested in what's going on with Addict Records (as I mentioned in the Goatlab radio show) have a listen to Meatsock's interviews with Dan Doormouse [70MB MP3] and Billy Stunt Rock [51MB MP] he recorded for the whus.org show.

New net-lab releases "available to download today for zero pennies..."

NL35 - X&Trick - Planes, Trains and Highways
X&Trick on top form presenting his unique blend of Drum ‘n’ Bass, Industrial, Hardcore and Breakcore with plenty of fantastically obscure noises, thick bass and dischordant synths. Introduced by a collaborative track with Chevron, “Brighton”, each track on the release is recorded in a different location around the world and named accordingly. Dark, hard hitting and at times definitely summarising the euro/belgium scene, the release is also quite diverse, with the more melodic starting track through to “Dubai”, which is reminiscent of an Evol Intent / Current Value style dark drum and bass, and then completed by the pounding techno of “Gent”

NL36 - Mully - Dalston 2066
A collection of delicate pieces constrasting Mully’s previously heard style of work, each track an amalgamation of flowing melody, micro-beats, and ambience. Many of the tracks have a warm, contemplative feel, though also with a melancholy vibe throughout. “Icelandia” and “Beach” are definite first listen favorites, with tracks like “She Will Lose” that take a few more listens to really appreciate.

Labels: GoatLab, MP3, Physics, Sci-Fi, science

:: Dan 18.1.08 [Arc] [2 comments] [links to this post] ::
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'Cloak of silence' design is unveiled
Two independent teams of researchers have come up with a recipe for making special materials that could completely cloak an object from sound. Although the “acoustic metamaterials” have yet to be made, a third team is now trying to create a real cloak. These metamaterials promise to guide sound waves around an enshrouded object as if the object wasn’t there. As well as being used to conceal submarines from detection by sonar, such metamaterials could be used to improve the acoustics in concert halls.

Pope calls off university visit
The protests of nearly 70 scientists, including former CERN director general Luciano Maiani, have forced Pope Benedict XVI to cancel tomorrow’s visit to La Sapienza University in Rome. The scientists, who expressed their objections in a joint letter to the university’s rector earlier this week, deemed the visit would be “incongruous” with the Pope’s previous support of the persecution of Galileo in the 17th century.

Labels: Acoustics, Physics, Religion

:: Dan 18.1.08 [Arc] [1 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Stephen Hawking LEGO

Labels: Lego, Physics, science

:: Dan 17.1.08 [Arc] [1 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Noise might cause huge ocean waves - physicsworld.com
"Every so often mariners report the sighting of a huge wave towering up to 30 m above the regular swells of the ocean surface. No one is sure why these rogue waves form, but now physicists in the US and Germany have managed to produce equivalent optical rogue waves by launching laser pulses into photonic-crystal fibres. Having performed computer simulations of the optical system, the researchers suggest that optical rogue waves, and therefore oceanic rogue waves, are seeded by noise."

Labels: Acoustics, Physics

:: Dan 21.12.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Started
Originally uploaded by coconinoco.


Slashfood reports on the possibilities of Solar Cooking; with a pot, a sheet of glass, and a solar reflector you can have a slow cooker without any power requirements other than the light of the sun. There is a How To guide to building one here and downloadable plans at solarcooking.org. Coconino has some flickr photos of his solar cooking experiments in the UK.

Labels: Cooking, Environment, Food, Physics

:: Dan 20.8.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Wellington Grey -- Articles -- A physics teacher begs for his subject back: An open letter to the AQA board and the UK Department for Education

Labels: Physics

:: Dan 9.6.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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"The mess of electrical cables that recharge our laptops, mobile phones and PDAs could soon disappear altogether -- at least according to a team of US physicists, who have shown how power can be transmitted without wires using special "resonant" antennas. The researchers used the system to power a 60-W light bulb placed two metres from a wireless transmitter, and say that it could be scaled down for use in portable devices without a loss of efficiency"

Labels: Physics

:: Dan 8.6.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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"A curious phenomenon responsible for the "singing" made by hot glass vessels during the glass blowing process could soon provide the world's poorest communities with everyday conveniences such as a cooker, a fridge and a generator -- all combined within one unit and powered by simple biomass fuels such as wood."

Thermoacoustic refrigeration

Labels: Physics

:: Dan 2.6.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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"The Fibonacci sequence -- in which each successive number is the sum of its two preceding numbers -- regularly crops up in nature. It describes the number of petals around daisies, how the density of branches increases up a tree trunk, and how a pine cone's scales are arranged. Now, having performed "stress engineering" to create Fibonacci-sequence spirals on microstructures grown in the lab, physicists in China think they may have found the reason why the sequence is so ubiquitous -- with a little help from a seemingly unrelated physics problem posed over 100 years ago"

Labels: Maths, Physics

:: Dan 30.4.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Molten sodium mimics Earth's magnetic-field flipping
"It has long been known that the Earth's magnetic field flips direction every quarter of a million years or so resulting in the north and south poles changing places. Now physicists in France have witnessed this phenomenon of magnetic-field reversal for the first time in the laboratory, by monitoring a 160-litre vat of swirling molten sodium. Their observations could eventually lead to a better understanding of "dynamo action", which is responsible for celestial bodies like the Earth being able to generate their own magnetic field"

Labels: Physics

:: Dan 10.3.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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"Chemical origami" shrinks 2D discs into 3D objects
"Physicists in Israel have invented a neat method of making elaborate 3D structures from flat 2D discs. The trick is to pre-treat a gel disc half the size of a beer coaster with a monomer solution "blueprint" that selectively shrinks when heated. The technique, which cleverly demonstrates the link between 2D and 3D geometry, could be used by engineers to create self-assembling prototypes."

Labels: Origami, Physics

:: Dan 24.2.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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