Public Oddities

Odd Public Sculptures

Public sculptures can get pretty weird.

Give Thanks for the Gobbler

The Gobbler Supper Club

We give thanks today for architects and interior decorators, who bring us such memorable works as the infamous Gobbler Hotel and Supper Club.  A truly funny website courtesy of the talented James Lileks.

Flicking Flickr

Flickr above, CoolIris below

My friend George Parks shared a great tip today: the CoolIris add-on for Firefox.  It changes the dreadfully slow and outdated photo previewing system in Flickr (and some other websites) into a three-dimensional scrolling photo wall you can flick along and zoom in on at will.

It reminds me of a still photo version of the Apple TV’s boot video.  This add-on would be even more fun with a touchscreen interface.  We are in an exciting age of transition and innovation for computer interfaces.

Extrasolar Planet Images

Extrasolar Planets around HR 8799

For years astronomers have been identifying planets around other stars by observing star wobbles created by Newton’s Third Law of Motion.  Today the first direct images of extrasolar planets were released.  NASA showed a planet orbiting the star Fomalhaut, while the Gemini and Keck observatories released images of a three-planet system around star HR 8799.

Fomalhaut b

Faraday Freakout

Faraday Cage

Goodness gracious, this fellow has great faith in his Faraday Cage!