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Sunday, March 18, 2012
Encyclopedia Britannica vs. Wikipedia [INFOGRAPHIC]
Encyclopedia Britannica vs. Wikipedia [INFOGRAPHIC]:
The Encyclopedia Britannica officially announced it would scrap its print edition on Tuesday in the face of plummeting sales. For many, this was a foregone conclusion. In a world of infinite and instant knowledge, the idea of owning a $1,395 32-volume hardcover library that’s outdated the moment you crease the spine is laughable.
Wikipedia certainly had a hand in Britannica’s print death knell. The crowd-powered reference site is arguably the greatest knowledge experiment civilization has ever seen. And while its critics are the first to point out its unreliability, advocates would counter that a self-correcting collective is more reliable and scalable than a room full of scholars (who, on occasion, also make mistakes).
Our friends at Statista have taken a look at the economics of Wikipedia and Britannica. The timeline and stats below give a good overview of how these two sources diverge, and the inevitable dominance of the web.
Are you sad to see the print version of Britannica go? Do you feel it’s still worthwhile to pay for its digital offerings?
Infographic courtesy of Statista.
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, AnthiaCumming
More About: encyclopedia, features, infographics, Tech, wikipedia
Thursday, August 6, 2009
15 Examples Of Awesome Automotive Art
15 Examples Of Awesome Automotive Art:
Our cars, ourselves - and if tattooing our bodies is desirable, arting up our cars is as well. These 15 artistic automotive expressions illustrate how some are driven to put a personal stamp on the steel skins of the 4-wheeled objects of our affection.
(images via: World Car Fans and Jiazi)
It seems only natural that an artist known for creating mobiles would choose the ultimate mobile as his medium. Such is the case with Alexander Calder, commissioned by Herve Poulain to give his 1975 BMW 3.0 CSL “Batmobile” a new and distinctive look. Poulain, an art auctioneer when he wasn’t racing at Le Mans and other touring car circuits, took his Calder-ized Bimmer racing. BMW bigwigs were so impressed that the German automaker decided to commission more Art Cars in the Calder mode.
(images via: Look Into My Owl, Daylife and Autofiends)
Art ain’t cheap - at least corporate art sure isn’t, and when you’re BMW you can afford to bring cool cars and famous artists together. A unique series of four BMW Art Cars featured acclaimed artists like Andy Warhol, Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein and Robert Rauschenberg doing what they do best on sheet metal canvasses.
(image via: Wooster Collective)
Someone is driving this rolling statement of raw power around Berlin, Germany. Combining classic trompe l’oeil with a dash of surrealism, this is one piece of car art that’s a hands down winner.
(image via: Cartype)
As a great sage and eminent pitchman once said, “You know the Germans make good stuff”. They also have a thing for making their cars stand out in, ahem, unusual ways. Take this brace of Beetles, for instance, designed for the Volkswagen Olympic Art Car Campaign. Both full-size cars and fourteen 1:4 scale New Beetles were daubed up for display in a traveling show to help promote the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
(images via: VW Vortex and N1yln)
Any color you like, as long as it’s 4 colors… on each car. That’s what you’d get if you ordered a 1996 Harlequin Golf, one of the few painted art cars built for sale to the general public. Not al that many WERE built - 264 to be exact - but if you’ve ever seen a Golf with what seem to be mismatched body panels then that’s one mystery solved. If you actually own a Harlequin Golf, be sure to join the VW Golf Harlequin registry formed by Ross VW. Just 91 original Harlequins have signed up, plus one Harlequin wannabe in Japan who painted his regulation Golf in Ginster Yellow, Tornado Red, Chagall Blue and Pistachio Green just for the hell of it.
(image via: Artcar)
Some folks really like the Harlequin paint scheme, so much that they’ll modify their own rides just to get that eye-catching, schizoid look. So-called Harlequin Wannabes are few and far between but if you do see one it tends to stick in your memory - which is likely what the owners have in mind.
(images via: Josh Spear, SURFING Magazine and IGN)
Mazda took a page from BWM with a gnarly series of art cars designed to promote the 2005 Mazda 5. Partnering up with west coast surfwear & surfware seller Quiksilver, the wild paint-jobs on the 5’s are meant to evoke the free-wheeling aesthetic of the surfing lifestyle.
(image via: Steelworks)
You might ask, who would take a classic Jaguar E-Type and paint it up to look like, well, a jaguar? Not many would today, but this purr-fect paint job was applied way back in 1961 when the first E-Types arrived at American Jaguar dealerships. One such dealer thought it would be a good idea to tart up one of his stock and park it in the showroom as a promotional gimmick. It appears this car has been mildly restored over the years but its wild, animalistic “skin” still looks fresh.
(image via: Artcar)
Staying with the animal kingdom, creatures like zebras use their unique black & white striped coats to help them blend into the background. Oddly, cars painted in a similar style stick out like a sore thumb! It remains to be seen if driving a car with stripes helps you find better parking spots.
The Kozmic Dream Machine is one of three - yes, three - painted art cars conceived and executed by a young woman who believes “Creating art fills me with an unsurpassable joy. The psychedelic and surreal qualities of my work encourage the viewer to explore other places beyond their imagination.”
(image via: DreamArtTeacher)
No arguments there, nor with our contention that if a well-worn Pontiac 6000 could dream, it would dream kozmic.
Normally, taking a Sharpie to your bright, shiny new sports car would result in a trip to the local asylum and later on, the 5th circle of Hell. For a member of the E46Fanatics forum on the other hand, it was a quest not unlike a mission from God. The exquisitely hand-decorated 2001 BMW 330ci shown above is the result of 12 hours of non-stop drawing, literally “until there was no more metal to draw on.”
http://www.bmwblog.com/2009/05/07/bmw-fan-turns-his-330ci-into-an-art-car/
What a tragedy, then, that about an hour after the car was deemed complete, the car was vandalized in a restaurant parking lot and a significant portion of the art was destroyed.
Some people yearn to ride in a Lamborghini, others prefer to write on one. The Sharpie Lamborghini is what happens when you combine Sharpies, Espresso and OCD - LOTS of each - and then pour the resulting goop all over a fresh from the factory Lamborghini Gallardo.
(images via: Lysergid and Automotive Addicts)
In actuality the brilliant creation of artist Jona Cerwinske, this one-of-a-kind Lambo has definitely got the write stuff.
A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away… in this version it’s not a Galaxie, but a Chevy Cobalt done up like a rolling tribute to the franchise that launched a thousand geeks to film fandom. Although stunningly executed and faithful to Lucasarts, er, arts, this cinematic sensation is the ultimate babe magnet… that unfortunately happens to be set on “repulse”.
(image via: Great White Snark)
In the image above you can just make out the window well from Mom’s basement.
(image via: Freshpics)
You just can’t top the Russians when it comes to painting cars in a, shall we say, exuberant fashion. Maybe it’s the vodka, maybe it’s an overreaction to the lack of Soviet-style repression, who can say? Whatever the reason, Russia rules the roost - where else (outside of Jersey) will you find a cheetah airbrushed onto a red Japanese sports coupe?
(images via: Buckets and Spades and Paradoxoff)
3D graffiti artists Manfred Stader and Edgar Müller painted the Smart Car above… well, in a matter of speaking. They DID paint it - onto a cobblestone parking lot. Stader and Müller have done this kind of thing before, though the Smart piece may be their most famous car-related effort.
(image via: Pantoffelpunk)
How do they do it? See above, at the risk of deconstructing the illusion.
They say that beauty is only skin deep and that may be the case with most of these artfully painted cars - not that there’s anything wrong with that, just the opposite in fact. Car art takes many shapes and forms but painted cars exist in a rarefied realm rife with risk and rust. Enjoy them while you can.
Our cars, ourselves - and if tattooing our bodies is desirable, arting up our cars is as well. These 15 artistic automotive expressions illustrate how some are driven to put a personal stamp on the steel skins of the 4-wheeled objects of our affection.
Mobile Maker Meets Mobile Machine
(images via: World Car Fans and Jiazi)It seems only natural that an artist known for creating mobiles would choose the ultimate mobile as his medium. Such is the case with Alexander Calder, commissioned by Herve Poulain to give his 1975 BMW 3.0 CSL “Batmobile” a new and distinctive look. Poulain, an art auctioneer when he wasn’t racing at Le Mans and other touring car circuits, took his Calder-ized Bimmer racing. BMW bigwigs were so impressed that the German automaker decided to commission more Art Cars in the Calder mode.
Bimmers That Glimmer
(images via: Look Into My Owl, Daylife and Autofiends)Art ain’t cheap - at least corporate art sure isn’t, and when you’re BMW you can afford to bring cool cars and famous artists together. A unique series of four BMW Art Cars featured acclaimed artists like Andy Warhol, Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein and Robert Rauschenberg doing what they do best on sheet metal canvasses.
Fender Bender
(image via: Wooster Collective)Someone is driving this rolling statement of raw power around Berlin, Germany. Combining classic trompe l’oeil with a dash of surrealism, this is one piece of car art that’s a hands down winner.
V-Daub
(image via: Cartype)As a great sage and eminent pitchman once said, “You know the Germans make good stuff”. They also have a thing for making their cars stand out in, ahem, unusual ways. Take this brace of Beetles, for instance, designed for the Volkswagen Olympic Art Car Campaign. Both full-size cars and fourteen 1:4 scale New Beetles were daubed up for display in a traveling show to help promote the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Exclusive Golf Club
(images via: VW Vortex and N1yln)Any color you like, as long as it’s 4 colors… on each car. That’s what you’d get if you ordered a 1996 Harlequin Golf, one of the few painted art cars built for sale to the general public. Not al that many WERE built - 264 to be exact - but if you’ve ever seen a Golf with what seem to be mismatched body panels then that’s one mystery solved. If you actually own a Harlequin Golf, be sure to join the VW Golf Harlequin registry formed by Ross VW. Just 91 original Harlequins have signed up, plus one Harlequin wannabe in Japan who painted his regulation Golf in Ginster Yellow, Tornado Red, Chagall Blue and Pistachio Green just for the hell of it.
Harlequin Romance
(image via: Artcar)Some folks really like the Harlequin paint scheme, so much that they’ll modify their own rides just to get that eye-catching, schizoid look. So-called Harlequin Wannabes are few and far between but if you do see one it tends to stick in your memory - which is likely what the owners have in mind.
A-Mazda-ing Art Cars
(images via: Josh Spear, SURFING Magazine and IGN)Mazda took a page from BWM with a gnarly series of art cars designed to promote the 2005 Mazda 5. Partnering up with west coast surfwear & surfware seller Quiksilver, the wild paint-jobs on the 5’s are meant to evoke the free-wheeling aesthetic of the surfing lifestyle.
Goood Kitty!
(image via: Steelworks)You might ask, who would take a classic Jaguar E-Type and paint it up to look like, well, a jaguar? Not many would today, but this purr-fect paint job was applied way back in 1961 when the first E-Types arrived at American Jaguar dealerships. One such dealer thought it would be a good idea to tart up one of his stock and park it in the showroom as a promotional gimmick. It appears this car has been mildly restored over the years but its wild, animalistic “skin” still looks fresh.
Earning Your Stripes
(image via: Artcar)Staying with the animal kingdom, creatures like zebras use their unique black & white striped coats to help them blend into the background. Oddly, cars painted in a similar style stick out like a sore thumb! It remains to be seen if driving a car with stripes helps you find better parking spots.
The Kozmic Dream Machine
The Kozmic Dream Machine is one of three - yes, three - painted art cars conceived and executed by a young woman who believes “Creating art fills me with an unsurpassable joy. The psychedelic and surreal qualities of my work encourage the viewer to explore other places beyond their imagination.”
(image via: DreamArtTeacher)No arguments there, nor with our contention that if a well-worn Pontiac 6000 could dream, it would dream kozmic.
Write On! Part 1
Normally, taking a Sharpie to your bright, shiny new sports car would result in a trip to the local asylum and later on, the 5th circle of Hell. For a member of the E46Fanatics forum on the other hand, it was a quest not unlike a mission from God. The exquisitely hand-decorated 2001 BMW 330ci shown above is the result of 12 hours of non-stop drawing, literally “until there was no more metal to draw on.”
http://www.bmwblog.com/2009/05/07/bmw-fan-turns-his-330ci-into-an-art-car/What a tragedy, then, that about an hour after the car was deemed complete, the car was vandalized in a restaurant parking lot and a significant portion of the art was destroyed.
Write On! Part 2
Some people yearn to ride in a Lamborghini, others prefer to write on one. The Sharpie Lamborghini is what happens when you combine Sharpies, Espresso and OCD - LOTS of each - and then pour the resulting goop all over a fresh from the factory Lamborghini Gallardo.
(images via: Lysergid and Automotive Addicts)In actuality the brilliant creation of artist Jona Cerwinske, this one-of-a-kind Lambo has definitely got the write stuff.
Car Wars
A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away… in this version it’s not a Galaxie, but a Chevy Cobalt done up like a rolling tribute to the franchise that launched a thousand geeks to film fandom. Although stunningly executed and faithful to Lucasarts, er, arts, this cinematic sensation is the ultimate babe magnet… that unfortunately happens to be set on “repulse”.
(image via: Great White Snark)In the image above you can just make out the window well from Mom’s basement.
Czar Art
(image via: Freshpics)You just can’t top the Russians when it comes to painting cars in a, shall we say, exuberant fashion. Maybe it’s the vodka, maybe it’s an overreaction to the lack of Soviet-style repression, who can say? Whatever the reason, Russia rules the roost - where else (outside of Jersey) will you find a cheetah airbrushed onto a red Japanese sports coupe?
Smart Art
(images via: Buckets and Spades and Paradoxoff)3D graffiti artists Manfred Stader and Edgar Müller painted the Smart Car above… well, in a matter of speaking. They DID paint it - onto a cobblestone parking lot. Stader and Müller have done this kind of thing before, though the Smart piece may be their most famous car-related effort.
(image via: Pantoffelpunk)How do they do it? See above, at the risk of deconstructing the illusion.
They say that beauty is only skin deep and that may be the case with most of these artfully painted cars - not that there’s anything wrong with that, just the opposite in fact. Car art takes many shapes and forms but painted cars exist in a rarefied realm rife with risk and rust. Enjoy them while you can.
Chrome Releases New Beta, Improves New Tab Page, Adds HTML5 Functionality [Downloads]
Chrome Releases New Beta, Improves New Tab Page, Adds HTML5 Functionality [Downloads]:
Google has released a new beta for Chrome, featuring changes to the new tab page including the ability to pin web site thumbnails, hide pages, and other improvements.
You can now use 'the new New Tab page' to pin web site thumbnails to a designated spot to keep better track of them. Another addition is the ability to use the layout buttons to hide parts of the page. Additionally, the Omnibox now shows icons next to each site in the drop down menu. Google has also started to implement HTML5 capabilities like video tagging into this release. And yes, the new release promises even more speed in the form of JavaScript improvements and optimizations in how Chrome fetches pages.
All these new features are available for testing on the beta channel. While you're updating, make sure to take a look at Chrome's new theme gallery.
Google has released a new beta for Chrome, featuring changes to the new tab page including the ability to pin web site thumbnails, hide pages, and other improvements.
You can now use 'the new New Tab page' to pin web site thumbnails to a designated spot to keep better track of them. Another addition is the ability to use the layout buttons to hide parts of the page. Additionally, the Omnibox now shows icons next to each site in the drop down menu. Google has also started to implement HTML5 capabilities like video tagging into this release. And yes, the new release promises even more speed in the form of JavaScript improvements and optimizations in how Chrome fetches pages.
All these new features are available for testing on the beta channel. While you're updating, make sure to take a look at Chrome's new theme gallery.
A New Beta: Why Slow Down When You Can Speed Up? [Google Chrome Blog]
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Diamond thermal paste
Diamond thermal paste:
[Jared Bouck] over at InventGeek writes about his experience making his own thermal paste. Diamonds can be up to five times as thermally conductive as silver, the primary ingredient in most popular thermal compounds. He combines 60,000 mesh diamond dust he ordered off eBay with non-conductive silicon grease using a special mixer he constructed to keep down the dust. After some experimentation he achieved a max load temperature of 38 degrees Celsius versus a leading silver paste’s temperature of 57c on the same system.
[Jared Bouck] over at InventGeek writes about his experience making his own thermal paste. Diamonds can be up to five times as thermally conductive as silver, the primary ingredient in most popular thermal compounds. He combines 60,000 mesh diamond dust he ordered off eBay with non-conductive silicon grease using a special mixer he constructed to keep down the dust. After some experimentation he achieved a max load temperature of 38 degrees Celsius versus a leading silver paste’s temperature of 57c on the same system.
Miro 2.5 Improves Speed & Performance for Windows, Linux, and Mac Versions
Miro 2.5 Improves Speed & Performance for Windows, Linux, and Mac Versions:
"If you’re looking for a free and easy to use desktop application for managing online audio & video content, it’s worth checking out the newest version of Miro. The last time we looked at the Open Source video player and podcast client was just under a year ago and they have since improved it a lot.
Using Miro 2.5
When installing you can choose Easy or Custom installation where the biggest difference is being able to select which files to associate with Miro with a custom install.
After installation is complete you get a First Time Setup Wizard where you setup how it will work with video downloads and content.
If you have used previous versions the first thing you will notice is a more slick user interface that loads a lot faster.
The video player has a nice refined look and includes a pop-in or out options when watching.
It allows you to download videos from YouTube, Torrents, Music Blogs, and other video download sites. To download content from YouTube you first need to create a link on the sidebar by clicking Sidebar and New Site.
Type in the URL for YouTube and click OK.
Now that it is included in the sidebar when you watch videos on YouTube there will be a Download this video button at the top of the browser.
This newest version of Miro is much faster, supports more ways to download content, and a new audio podcast category.
While it is not perfect yet…version 2.5 is definitely a great improvement over the previous versions and worth checking out. Miro is a cross platform app that will work on Windows, OS X, Ubuntu and other distributions of Linux."
![sshot-2009-08-04-[14-20-34]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_t0JeQ8nxONwgo5MjM1Q4qDfQYq7UWMflyjdaXQgywF8BHLU0_0buF5CD6An6aqydZSFQ3Q_g52ClaGyrGtLeQu_CNYHo4DwlBIfHWpYwkHlT9o_AOfQDOqKa2QgJnSWlBjDvNWtGicEFSNNnKF7g=s0-d "sshot-2009-08-04-[14-20-34]")
Download Miro for Windows, Mac, or Linux
Using Miro 2.5
When installing you can choose Easy or Custom installation where the biggest difference is being able to select which files to associate with Miro with a custom install.
After installation is complete you get a First Time Setup Wizard where you setup how it will work with video downloads and content.
If you have used previous versions the first thing you will notice is a more slick user interface that loads a lot faster.
The video player has a nice refined look and includes a pop-in or out options when watching.
It allows you to download videos from YouTube, Torrents, Music Blogs, and other video download sites. To download content from YouTube you first need to create a link on the sidebar by clicking Sidebar and New Site.
Type in the URL for YouTube and click OK.
Now that it is included in the sidebar when you watch videos on YouTube there will be a Download this video button at the top of the browser.
This newest version of Miro is much faster, supports more ways to download content, and a new audio podcast category.
While it is not perfect yet…version 2.5 is definitely a great improvement over the previous versions and worth checking out. Miro is a cross platform app that will work on Windows, OS X, Ubuntu and other distributions of Linux."
Download Miro for Windows, Mac, or Linux
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