Blogs

Check out Free Music Archive's New Happy Birthday Song Contest and help "dethrone the old ditty!"

This year, there have been a record number of journalists imprisoned worldwide simply for trying to disseminate information to their fellow citizens. The video below exposes modern censorship in an age where one would assume that this shouldn't be an issue. This was presented by the Committee to Protect Journalists (www.cpj.org). Thank your lucky stars for having unrestricted access to PEG access!

10 Most Censored Countries from Committee to Protect Journalists on Vimeo.

Way more often than I would have thought upon taking this job, is the amount of time I end up searching for "daguerreotype" on Flickr. The site has a great section for Creative Commons attribution-licensed content, which means I can use any of those so-specified photos/pictures for free, as long as I note who created/owns the material. It's amazing how clear and immediate and strange the family dynamics are in those long-ago freeze-frames.

With that, thanks to Flickr user Tekniska museet, I share this awkward old-timey family portrait...

NASA's JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) just released this video about the new mars rover, Curiosity, that will be hitting Martian soil on August 5th. This will be the most advanced rover yet to drive on the planet. The short video below explains how JPL engineers (theoretically) will land the rover on the Martian surface. Space nerds, rejoice. If only Ray Bradbury were still around to see this.

Here's a short video of some beautiful time lapse photography. I had to watch the lighthouse scene at least 3 times because it's unbelievable. May it inspire your summertime!

For those of you in need of some (free) higher education, I have the solution...well, sort of. For those unfamiliar with open courseware, the concept is quite simple. Many big-name colleges and universities have made a portion of their undergraduate courses available for free, online. Of course this is merely for educational and entertainment purposes, but hey, how often does one get to sit in on and entire MIT physics class, free of charge? Academic Earth (http://www.academicearth.org/) is an online utility designed to let you easily search through dozens of courseware videos linked to the site. Enjoy! After all, it's good for the brains... BRAINS!!!

For ages, film formats have generally been recoded at 24 frames per second; 6 frames slower than video. This gave movement in the frame a special "film" look that you didn't get with video. Director, Peter Jackson just announced that his prequel to the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Hobbit, will be shot at 48 frames per second. This 100% increase in film speed will make action scenes easier on the viewer's eyes, as well as allow the audience to see a lot more detail in any given scene. Check out the article here

This video showcases the efforts of people who utilized iPads to create very unique lighting effects. With the application of custom iPad software, these folks were able to create haunting and ethereal real-life lighting compositions in their video and animations. Enjoy!

And they're accepting orders for only $300,000.