Week 1 - Initial Parti and Poché Drawings (Project 1)

HMK 561 Carbon Fiber Electric Bike

The HMK 561 Carbon Fiber Electric Bike strength seem same it’s from added planet, but sight as there’s already a image in place, maybe humans did become up with it after all.

The HMK 561 has special electrical properties that hold power right inside the frame. Since Carbon fiber is conductive, the designers are using it to distribute power instead of wires. The power will be used to power the lights and the motors between the rims. The bike also uses the energy to turn the wheels using a counter-turning axel in lieu of gears and chains, which hopefully means less maintenance as well.

Designer: Ralf Kittmann






If you liked this bicycle, you would also be interested in:
www.yankodesign.com

BabyBot & BabyBot-R

BabyBot is a humanoid robot built to mimic a 1-year old child, which developed by KIST’s Biomimetic Robotics Lab. It had limited speech recognition, and image processing capabilities based on a unique vision system that had a higher resolution in the center of the image and a lower resolution for the outer edges.

The BabyBot system was designed to mimic the way our eyes work by focusing on what is being directly looked at. The researchers hypothesized that a such a system could reduce the image data processing speed to a 10th of its normal rate. The robot was able to walk and could perform a dance.

The original BabyBot is 75cm (30″) tall, weighs 15kg (33 lbs), and has 24 degrees of freedom (2 legs x6, 2 arms x5, neck x2). In 2003, they created a refined version of the robot called BabyBot-R which weighs less than 10kg (22 lbs) including its battery. A few videos and photos follow after the break.

Developer: KIST’s Biomimetic Robotics Lab

If you liked this robot, you would also be interested in:
www.plasticpals.com

Book Review: This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer

The third book in Susan Beth Pfeffer's series of young adult post-disaster novels, This World We Live In attempts the daunting task of bringing together characters from the previous books (Life As We Knew It and The Dead and the Gone). At that task, it succeeds with flying colors and provides another character-driven novel in world gone horribly wrong.

Miranda and her family have survived the worst after the moon was knocked into a closer orbit around the Earth by a meteor, but they're not out of the woods yet. Food is scarce, electricity is on-again-off-again at random, and the sudden arrival of Miranda's father and stepmother, and a few unexpected guests, is making things more difficult. But with these new guests is Alex Morales (The Dead and the Gone), and soon Miranda and Alex find themselves in conflict with their growing feelings for one another and the harsh reality that is their future in a world brought to its knees by nature.

Much like Life As We Knew It and The Dead and the Gone, This World We Live In captures the essence of family in all the right ways. Miranda's family is an amalgam of the kinds of families we see in the world today (here in the West, anyway): we have the divorced parents, the stepmother, the turmoil between brothers and a daughter in a world no longer founded upon the same equal opportunity we take for granted today, the injection of other people into the social stratum of the family unit (much as friends become members of the family, even though they aren't). Pfeffer continues to make family, social structures, and character the central focus of her novel, despite being set in an future where one could have a heyday with action and violence. Her characters are (still) flawed, and yet lovable regardless. We might not like the way they all act from time to time, but throughout the narrative (and the series as a whole) we come to understand how humanity often needs copious amounts of time to properly adjust to a catastrophic event.

In a way, I can't help seeing the analogy between the Great Depression and Pfeffer's out-of-place-moon future, where mankind is thrust into awful situations where even those who were moderately fortunate before are forced to change against strict, horrible social/cultural/physical pressures. Perhaps that is what makes This World We Live In, and the previous two novels, engaging and real. It's not Doomsday or I Am Legend, but an unintentional response to that kind of action-focused post-disaster genre--a response that seems to work without becoming preachy or too geared towards a particular gender or age group (even though it is a young adult novel).

It would be pointless to sit here repeating what I have already said about this series. This World We Live In is as much a thrill to read as the previous two novels, and much of the praise I have for this latest edition can be found in those previous reviews (here and here). The epistolary format continues to work surprisingly well, the characters are surprisingly human (they irritate, they amuse, and they make good and bad decisions), and the ambiguity of the ending is both a warm, if not morbid, moment, and a reminder of our fragility as a species. Hopefully Pfeffer will show us more of this world, either through the eyes of her previously established characters, or via the introduction of new characters from entirely different situations (it would be interesting, for example, to see how the richest people of the world are coping with the "end of the world"). We'll see.

The only recommendation I have for anyone interested in this novel (besides the obvious suggestion of picking it up and reading it) is not to read the back cover. This may be isolated to the uncorrected proof I received for review, but the synopsis on the back cover of my edition essentially gives away the ending. Don't read it.

If you want to learn more about This World We Live In, head on over to Harcourt. The novel is due for release in April on Amazon or anywhere you buy books. Susan Beth Pfeffer can be found on her blog.

Academy Award Winning Movie Trailer

219th

this is a prelim ilustration i drew & colored in prep for the story "curt connor's in shed; prologue" writen by zeb wells and colored on the book by mat hollingsworth published in web of sipider-man #6

Giveaway! "Shadow Prowler" by Alexey Pehov

I have a copy of "Shadow Prowler" by Alexey Pehov up for grabs on my giveaway page. This one looks good, so be sure to CHECK IT OUT.

"A360" Concept car from UFO

UFO, the vehicle is mysterious extraterrestrial be can't float especial in the sky. Because, now it can run on the road is like general car. but, it doubtful that if come true as though, how is it will can run?

The designing vehicle idea that the figure is like UFO this call that "A360". It was designed looks like a crossbreed between a UFO and some stealth fighter jet. The triangular body has a panoramic glass roof, and then there is the camera system on the exteriors that works to provide the driver with additional feedback. The car moves on three spheres, not wheels, which actually make some sense considering that it is capable of moving in any direction on the ground.

"A360" design the wheels are spherical, resembles a ball. If need not move as the car makes a radical change in angle. To settle well with the new direction, the cabin is capable of a full rotation. To accommodate these functions, the steering wheel has undergone a bit of a change. A control ball takes the role of a steering wheel, with integrated functions for right, left and rotation.

Designer: Huynh Ngoc Lan


If you liked this vehicle, you would also be interested in:
www.local-motors.com

Book Review: Ray In Reverse by Daniel Wallace

Most of you probably remember Daniel Wallace as the author of Big Fish, which was eventually turned into a fantastic movie staring Ewan McGregor. Fans of Big Fish will likely get the same sense of enjoyment from Ray in Reverse. I found this book on a bargain shelf at Books-a-Million and decided to read it. You'll see why I'm glad I did.

Ray in Reverse is a downright strange narrative with a unique and stunning conclusion. Ray Williams is dead and in heaven, where support groups collect people together to discuss various aspects of their lives. But Ray is in the Last Words group, where everyone is discussing the last things they said before death, and embarrassment is setting in: Ray's last words weren't all that interesting, let alone complete. What follows is a chronologically reversed narrative about Ray's life, starting from old age and taking leaps further and further back in time to his childhood, before finally returning back to Heaven. We learn about his triumphs and failures, his wants and desires, and, most of all, the kind of man he came to be through all the trials and tribulations of life.

Daniel Wallace has a pension for telling strange and engaging stories. I only saw the movie for Big Fish, but much of the magic and wonder that made that movie shine is also at work in Ray in Reverse. While the narrative does leave many questions open to speculation, the way Wallace has tried to capture the essence of a man, rather than the brilliance of a plot, is something worth noting. The narrative cannot possibly capture every moment in Ray's life to put together some sort of cohesive plot, but it can look into what makes Ray tick, and does so to great effect. We see Ray's life in glimpses in much the same way that we remember the most vivid moments of our pasts in glimpses. Certain memories stick out for us--just as they do for Ray--and when you put them all together they paint a unique picture of you. Ray's backwards motion glimpses do just that, and, by the end, we start to understand who he is, especially in terms of his faults. We also come to understand why the beginning of the novel is so prescient: Ray is the everyman looking back upon himself and wondering, "Who am I?"

Ray as everyman is a key thing to note about the novel. He's not perfect--not by a long shot. Ray cheats, thinks ill of other people, and succeeds and fails in much the same way that all of us do. Wallace doesn't pull punches for Ray, because to do so would take away from Ray's tragic, yet painfully average life. Flawed characters are strong characters. I think this is part of what makes the novel so enjoyable to read, because it takes what is so normal and everyday and makes it glamorous in its normality and flaws, for good or for bad. Wallace has a knack for doing just that, because even Big Fish has that kind of normality-turned-to-glamorous feel.

Wallace's adept storytelling, however, makes difficult for me to find fault with this novel. On the one hand, I loved the way the narrative was pieced together with glimpses; on the other hand, the glimpses also left a few too many holes for my liking, leaving me with a lot of questions at the end. But, at the same time, those questions are part of how the ending comes together, because even Ray is questioning his life. It's a Catch 22 for a reader, I suppose. Regardless, perhaps a few more glimpses could have made for a more rounded picture, but only if doing so wouldn't detract from the ending.

Needless to say, I loved Ray in Reverse. Ray is memorable, the structure of the narrative and the two Heaven scenes framing it make for a fascinating and engaging read, and the everyman has, finally, a little magic attached to the title. Hopefully we'll see more of Wallace in the future. For now, we have Big Fish and Ray in Reverse (and, apparently, a couple other novels I've never heard of before).

Ray in Reverse can be found on Amazon or your local bookseller. If you'd like to learn more about Daniel Wallace, visit his website.

"Tron Legacy" Trailer

Flexible Cellphone, bracelet wrist idea

Cellphone bracelet wrist idea have designing comes out variously by the objective easy portable and beautiful

Flexible Cellphone Concept this be designing by do to is from high-flexibility material, can curve bend bilateral end meets, use wrist bracelet, it can easy portable

"Simple, non pretentious, the phone is a very basic device that is devoid of the fancy stuff. This makes its cheap to manufacture and market. Another point in its favor is the portability factor; you can simply wrap it around your wrist. Leaving the connectivity issues aside, the phone has the potential to make its mark" (yankodesign)

Designers: Shirley A. Roberts

If you liked this mobile, you would also be interested in:
www.yankodesign.com

Book Review: Runt Farm (Clovis Escapes) by Amanda Lorenzo and Mark Evan Walker

When you go to your mailbox, you expect to find one of three things: bills, things you bought or requested, or garbage. Imagine my surprise when I opened my mailbox and found a package with a book in it that I not only didn't buy, but also didn't request. Who sent it and for what purpose? Such is the story of how I came to read the third book in Amanda Lorenzo's children's series, Runt Farm.

Clovis Escapes (the title of the third book) begins with a precarious situation: Clovis has been imprisoned by the NAARF, an evil organization manned by humans and weasels which takes pleasure in imprisoning the cute and fluffy critters that make up the Runt Farm family. When a letter is smuggled out of NAARF, the Runt Farm family swings into action, sending their trusty bunny companion, Beatrice, to mount a rescue.

Clovis Escapes is less a novel than a collection of short moral tales for children. Upon further investigation, it seems that the mission of the author is to create a series of fun and fantastical books for kids that portray more of the mixed and unique families that make up the world we live in today (at least from a Western viewpoint, but that's my commentary, no hers). With that goal in mind, I think she succeeded. The Runt Farm family is a mixed bag of characters, all with little individual personalities (albeit, undeveloped ones, since this is both a series and a book for kids), and all of different animal species (which some might consider to be a little arbitrary). One of its flaws, however, is that each "chapter" (or story) has some sort of moral to portray and does so a little.

On the one hand, Clovis Escapes' focus on mixed families is a noble mission; on the other, it leaves out a cohesive narrative for a hodgepodge of stories, some of which are related to the initial premise, and some which are not. The focus on morality at the expense of character development, even in a children's book, makes for a novel that is a little too aware of the fact that it is discussing morality. For example, the middle story, which tells about the wrongs of stealing identities (to purchase cheese), is quite point blank about its message, but, in the process, spends far too little time discussing the consequences or the solution in a way that sets right the wrong being committed. I get that it's for kids, but it's not for the age group that reads Dr. Seuss; this novel is for slightly older children (6-10), an audience that isn't all that interested in being preached to.

Having said the above, I do think there are some noticeable positives. First, the characters are, despite the flaw in the storytelling, quite cute and enjoyable. Beatrice, the rabbit, and even Clovis, the initial plot point of the novel, are each easy to engage with and fun to read. Second, the illustrations are gorgeous. Mark Evan Walker provides a series of pencil-style drawings throughout the book; their inclusion makes the interior and the cover come to life in the way picture books do. I sometimes wish more books for younger kids had these kinds of images, and hopefully this is the sort of thing that exists throughout the series.

Seeing how I haven't read the earlier books in the series, I can't say whether there is an overarching narrative or improvement over previous books. I do think that, despite Clovis Escapes' flaws, it would be a fun and silly book to read to your kids, but that all depends on whether you're interested in morality tales or stories with other goals. One thing is for sure: a focus on diverse families in children's literature is a good idea--hopefully we'll see more of it in the future.

The Runt Farm series is available on Amazon or through your local bookseller. If you'd like to learn more about the author, artist, or series, visit their website.

Was "Avatar" Too Successful to Win an Oscar for Best Picture?

Let me just confess up front: I don't watch the Academy Awards. I haven't been interested in years. When I was a kid there was still a certain glamor to the biggest award show in Hollywood. It was also a time in which I had actually heard of most of the films nominated.

Looking back at years past the Academy Awards looked a lot different than they do today. Take 1988-- a year I picked at random-- and you've got "Rain Man," "The Accidental Tourist," Mississippi Burning," "Working Girl" and "Dangerous Liasons;" almost all of which I saw before the awards show. Compare that list with this year: "The Hurt Locker," "Avatar," "Precious," "The Blind Side," "District Nine," "Up," "Up in the Air," "An Education," "A Serious Man," and "Inglourious Basterds;" how many of those titles had you not even heard of prior to this awards season?

Not every year is all about vehicle movies. But more often than not the biggest grossing films are generally not in contention for Hollywood's biggest prizes. And science fiction & fantasy have long been the neglected stepchildren of the movie business despite their huge audience appeal. Just last year "The Dark Knight" was snubbed for an Oscar nomination while being regarded by many as being, far and away, the best movie of the year. When the nominations were announced the oft-repeated meme was that genre films don't get awards; specifically science fiction.

Science fiction and Hollywood do have a strange relationship. Producers and directors know that scifi is the go-to genre if you want to make money. The top ten list of the top grossing movies of all time is virtually all scifi/fantasy-- with the sole exception of "Titanic." In fact, take a look at the top 50 highest grossing films-- there are very few movies on that whole list that don't fit into the scifi/fantasy category. "Avatar" now sits on top of the list with over 2 billion dollars in gross revenue. That's almost 1 billion dollars over the next film on the list-- which just happens to be "Titanic;" another film by James Cameron.

King of the World indeed.

While there are a few top-grossing films that have received award recognition only one, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," took home the award for best picture. Why is that?

It's hard not to feel a bit disgruntled, as a fan of science fiction and fantasy, that the genre I love is so overlooked. It's as if the sheer popularity of the genre is the reason it's so disparaged. One has to wonder if the Hollywood elite recoil from entertainment that has such broad appeal. If you look at the vehicle movies the crop up award awards season you see films that make very little money. "The Hurt Locker," this year's winner is going down as the lowest grossing film to every win for best picture. It seems as if you and I like a movie, well, we must not be that sophisticated.

That isn't to say that "Avatar" should have won this year simply due to it's tremendous success. As I have said before, I am one of the very few people out there who still has not seen the film. I have probably read too many reviews that say "Avatar" is little more than a visual spectacle. I've seen, and posted, parodies of "Avatar" that compare it to "Pocahontas" and "Fern Gully." So maybe it wasn't the best film on the list of nominees. But how could I know for sure?

I'm biased. I get that. But I suppose most moviegoers are biased as well since the films we like rarely match up with films the movie industry recognizes. Sure science fiction is good for awards in costuming, cinematography and art direction, but it is seldom recognized beyond that.

I could get further into the nitty-gritty behind the reasons "Avatar" lost to "The Hurt Locker." Heaven knows there has been a plethora of articles on the subject today. But I wonder if "Avatar" was doomed from the get-go due to the genre and the final nail in the coffin was its huge popularity?

Or maybe I'm just bitter "The Dark Knight" never got the recognition it deserved.

"How to Train Your Dragon" Trailer

"Iron Man 2" Trailer (Newest Edition)

Hummingbird robot

Biomimicry be not new story, even if Hummingbird robot to advise this time. But, the works of research and development team from Chiba University in Japan, make think of the project develops Nano Air Vehicle of DARPA. Which, must be regarded as Hummingbird robot miniature this can copy flapping for float middle the air has great very much

Hummingbird robot miniature this weigh 2.6 g only and control the work with infrared sensor, with four-wings small-sized can spread with high-speed until born the air is enough, to make it has drifted middle the air is like Hummingbird really. It can fly 10 foot high, and can fly long continual to 6 minute. Which, if compare with DARPA, still develop a robot has light 10 g

Which, the advantage from the development a hummingbird-style flying robot that could be used to find people trapped in collapsed buildings, search for criminals, or even explore other planets.

The Chiba University project cost has already topped $2.1 million.

Developer: Chiba University

If you liked this robot, you would also be interested in:
www.em.eng.chiba-u.jp

Movie Review: "Alice in Wonderland"

I was never a fan of the original "Alice in Wonderland." It wasn't as psychedelic as "Fantasia," but it still never fit my perception of what Disney animation was supposed to look like. I suppose I was too busy looking for the singing princess and the forest-animal companions to appreciate the Cheshire Cat.

But when I heard that Tim Burton had decided to remake the old classic, I began to rethink my prejudices toward the strange tale. I thought Burton's colorful, twisted vision just might be a good fit.

Taking a chance on the PG-rating, I decided to take my kids, with a couple of their friends to a 3D showing of the film-- and promptly discovered that I am not a fan of 3D. But more on that in a minute.

Opting for a continuation of the original story, Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland takes place well after Alice's original trip down the rabbit hole. Now a young woman of 19, Alice (Mia Wasikowska) is still haunted by dreams of her trip to Underland as a child. Convinced she is suffering delusions, Alice is often sleep deprived and somewhat sickly. But that doesn't stop the unwanted attention from a rich suitor who corners Alice in front of a crowd of high-society types as he proposes marriage.

Seeking a distraction from her predicament, Alice chases after a white rabbit she has seen lurking on the fringes of the party she is attending. And just as she did when she was a little girl, Alice falls down the rabbit hole into another world. Soon after she arrives in Underland Alice discovers that the world's inhabitants have been awaiting her return because it has been foretold that Alice will slay the Jabberwocky and defeat the Red Queen once and for all. Alice is quick to assure the inhabitants of Underland that she is not "that" Alice but she is swept up in the battle between the White and Red Queens against her will.

The story is really very straightforward. The Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) is tyrant who repeatedly reassures herself that it's better to be feared than loved and rules accordingly. Fond of yelling "off with their head!" she is quick to take offense at any slight and is rather sensitive when it comes to her own very, very large head. The White Queen (Anne Hathaway) is the benevolent ruler who vows to never hurt a living creature and seeks a champion to fight for her and return the kingdom to her control.

The Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp--looking like a deranged Elijah Wood) is the narrator of the film in a sense as we learn what happened between the two Queens through his eyes. But it's tough to grab a hold of the narrative when the voice that delivers it often mutters incoherently.

And that's ultimately the problem with Burton's film. Despite a simple plot, the film still darts here and there. The 3D, rather than enhancing the film, adds to the sense of confusion and creatures shoot across the screen in a headache inducing blur. The characters have very distinct characteristics superficially (Anne Hathaway is a hoot as the goth White Queen and seems to have a great deal of fun twirling her way through all her scenes) but are completely lacking in any kind of backstory. We end up knowing more about a bloodhound named Bayard than we ever do about The Mad Hatter.

I'm reminded of a description I read about "Avatar" that seems accurate to describe "Alice in Wonderland;" it's a supermodel of a movie: beautiful but not deep.

"Alice" is recognizably a Tim Burton film. Stylistically it's hard to fault and it's far less graphic than bloodier films like "Sleepy Hollow;" though some kids might find the loud, charging animals to be alarming (my kids loved it). I enjoyed this version of "Alice in Wonderland" more than the original, but it's hard not to wonder why Burton opted for another remake when his own films have had far more depth to them. As it stands right now, his films seem like little more than vehicles for Johnny Depp to try on new costumes and adopt even stranger speech patterns.

Whether you enjoy "Alice" or not will likely depend on what you expect to get out of it. If you're content with a visual spectacle, you won't be disappointed (though I think the 3D is entirely unnecessary). But don't come into the film with high expectations of plot or character development. That's not what "this" Alice is all about.