Animated drawings—stunning - The brilliance here is that he used a whiteboard to do this animation.
Amazing… there’s no need to redraw each frame, just take a photo for each modification.
I marvel at the seemingly unlimited bounds of this guy’s imagination.
West Photo - They were a bit snobby to me at West Photo when I visited.
I had just purchased a not-inexpensive camera bag by Lowepro. Nevertheless, as I struggled to mount Canon’s $1,100+ 24-70f/2.8L lens on my 300D, the sales lady commented “haven’t you ever done this before?” Thanks. And no, I haven’t.
Still, I link them because it’s the only place in the Twin Cities I know of that will rent camera equipment. And rent is what I will do, as I look forward to covering Matt and Shayla’s wedding with some photographic specialities.
Slashfood’s best peanut butter and jelly sandwiches - I should at least try fluffernutters.
Keillor Writes about the holidays - Keillor’s written tone swings like a pendulum between stinging, acrid, political pieces barely containing his rage … and much more pleasant prose, as seen here. This has been waiting to be uploaded to tumbledry since the middle of December.
Penthouse triplex of the Hotel Pierre - While the $70 million price tag is the “highest ever listed for a city residence,” I find the price, for once, to be justified. This isn’t any price-inflated handbag—this house is the real deal:
The primary selling point is the 3,500-square-foot grand salon, the former ballroom of the Pierre Roof. Occupying most of the 42nd floor, the room is bordered by 20-foot-high Palladian windows and topped by a curved 23-foot ceiling. On each of the room’s two west-facing corners, soaring French doors open onto terraces offering breathtaking views of Central Park and beyond. The master bedroom suite has two additional corner terraces.
French Paper Company - Let’s say you are printing a poster, and you want it to appear on nice paper. These would be the guys you go to. I’d almost like to buy some of their bright white paper, just so it’s available for later projects. About that white paper:
Smart White
Programmed for maximum opacity, brightness of 98 (independent lab tested), and an ultra-smooth uncoated surface. 10 pts. whiter than a LCD monitor can display.
I can’t figure out what a point is. But that’s bright!
When your head is buried in scientific literature, from the “Alarming Increase in Ciprofloxacin- and Penicillin-Resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae Isolates in New Delhi, India” all the way to “Serum IgE response to orally ingested antigen: A novel IgE response model with allergen-specific T-cell receptor transgenic mice”, you begin to look forward to studying DNA metabolism and its associated reactions for a biochemistry test. So sure enough, this past Sunday night found me studying away from my biochem test on Monday. While perusing Wikipedia (which I generally use as a sort of scientific dictionary for studying—it saves time for basics, compared to looking them up in the book), I found an amazing illustration.
Above is a fantastic picture of the DNA ligase I enzyme. Computer generated imagery has been used to provide the viewer with a great understanding of how the enzyme interacts with DNA—the details of the protein’s structure can clearly be observed as they mesh with that of the DNA. I think that’s pretty cool.
A recent article in PC World about the top 10 worst computers of all time names Packard Bell machines (specifically, those built between 1986-1996) to be the worst ever. Guess what brand of computer we bought in 1992? That’s right! A Packard Bell! It is funny to recall those days, though, when computers were the Next Big Thing. It was amazing that our computer was “multimedia”—pumping out sound and video at the same time! It printed! The screen was in color! We marveled at clips from the San Diego Zoo, and later entertained ourselves playing Where in the World is Carmen San Diego. I learned about ctrl+alt+del, too.
And as with all good stories, there’s more:
And odds are good that if you bought a new Packard Bell system in 1994 or 1995, at least some of its components had been previously owned. The company was sued several times for selling used parts as new, ultimately paying out millions of dollars in settlements.
Regardless, that old lemon took us from 3.1 all the way through 95.
A peptide that helps fight antibiotic resistant bacteria - The peptide spurs immune response—basically leveraging our own intricate systems to fight off an infection. This is in contrast to direct chemical inhibition, which is how all antibiotics work. From the article:
The team found that a peptide, or chain of amino acids, they have dubbed innate defense regulator peptide (IDR-1), can increase innate immunity without triggering harmful inflammation, and offer protection both before and after infection is present.
…
In addition, the peptide did not produce harmful inflammation and toxicity often seen when the immune system is stimulated and, in fact, actually reduced the potentially harmful septic response. Sepsis, a consequence of a ravaging inflammatory response associated with infection, kills as many as 200,000 annually.
Messes can be a good thing - Spawns creativity/productivity, etc.—an idea advanced by Lewis Kornhauser, an NYU School of Law professor.
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