Tinselman

Melodyne Sci-Fi

I recently emailed a link of the the "Melodyne Direct Note Access" demo to a dear friend; he responded almost immediately with the following reaction:

Melodyne is crazy cool!  Have you actually installed it and tried it out?  I watched the demo, and it's like I'm watching an audio version of one of those eye-rolling effects in a sci-fi, where they snapshot and image and then extrapolate a 3d model out of it, or "enhance" the bit depth of an image =).  If I had seen this in a movie, I would have definitely laughed.

Click here to see the demo.

Old Tech

This bizarre (and grossly oversized) alarm telephone looks like it's about 100 years old. It never fails to catch my attention when in the Paris Musee d'Orsay RER stop: I always wonder if it even works. And why it has to be so big!

Click on the above photo for a wallpaper-sized version (though I apologize for the graininess of the photo: it was dark).

This photo (to left) may give some context.

A New Eye

A few years back, I discovered a box of false glass eyes in an antique store. Their detail – down to the smallest capillary – was near perfect. I bought one of the eyes for only a few bucks.

For a long time, I kept it sitting around on my desk: it's craftsmanship was somehow inspiring. But the best part of my glass eye: it was perfect for playing pranks on unsuspecting friends and relatives, many of which were horrified as one of my eyes seemed to inadvertently pop forth from its socket (a favorite of my kids)!

Then, one day, the eye smashed to pieces. Shattered. I don't remember how. A sad day indeed. (I probably punched a hole through the nearest wall or something).

How would I ever get another false eye? It was impossible. I was bereft. I was lost. My inspiration was gone. My pranks... shattered (sort of like my glass eye).

And just today, I discovered the answer! Occularist, Kim Erickson: he labors with the same level of dedication and craft as those occularists of old. Take a look at this amazing video journal describing his work.

Highway in the Sky

Do you love mod streamline? Do you love elegant 1960s duotones? Do you love vintage Disney? If so, If so, The Republic of Tinselman highly recommends this 1966 Disney Story Guide and Operating Procedures manual. A handsomely designed, 31 page pamphlet: it's the finest kind of manual for Walt Disney's finest kind of Disney attraction. I promise, you'll get your fill of some fascinating reading. Like this paragraph from page 5, "The Story Behind the Story:"

The Disneyland-Alweg Monorail System was unveiled at Disneyland June 14, 1959 by Walt Disney and Vice President Richard M. Nixon. Mrs. Nixon and their daughters, Tricia and Julie, also participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremonies, which were viewed by a national television audience watching the special "Disneyland '59'" TV show. Since that time, the Monorail trains have carried most of the heads of state–kings and queens, presidents and prime ministers–who have visited Disneyland, as well as millions of other Disneyland visitors from every state and nearly every nation.

Of course, this is just the beginning. There are also the intriguing (and detailed) procedures. And maps. And diagrams and photographs throughout. Stuff from the park has posted this Disney treasure in its entirety. Take a look!

Note: Stuff from the park's server is now overloaded and the operating procedures are temporarily unavailable. However, Tinselman has kindly saved a few photographs from the manual for your viewing pleasure (click all images to enlarge). Enjoy.

• Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean Operating Procedures
• Disney's Haunted Mansion Operating Procedures
• Previous Tinselman Disney posts

Splash

Night at the Fair – click to enlarge

It was grand. It was colorful. It was futuristic. It was the 1964-1965 New York Worlds Fair! In a 25 page photo spread, National Geographic called the fair, "A journey round the world. A look back in time, and a window on the future. A treasure house of religious faiths. A procession of products. And a dream of 'Peace through Understanding.'" Modern Mechanix has been kind enough to post the article in it's entirety, and it's stunning.

Looking through the photos, you can't help but notice It's a Small World, the Disneyland ride which made it's premier at the fair and is still popular at Disneyland. It wasn't the only Disneyland attraction (or technology) that made it's premier at the fair: Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and Carousel of Progress, introduced at the fair, were popular at Disneyland for a long time after. Most importantly, the animatronics and the omnimover transportation, introduced at the fair, are still in use today at all the Disney parks.

• Previous posts – Disneyland
• Previous post – Rides and Attractions

 

Defining Our Future, Yesterday

On the left is HDTV. On the right, is the much beloved, piece-o'-crap TV (standard 525 scan lines). What's surprising is that these comparison photos were made in 1981, only a few years after HDTV was developed.

This fascinating Popular Science article (Nov,1981), describes the "cinerama-type" style HDTV sets and the "extraordinary clarity—more than five times the detail of television pictures you see on conventional home receivers."

Birth and Evolution

Having been an early Apple Newton adopter, I've been waiting for something like the announcement of yesterday for a long time. Here's some links you might find interesting...

• Old Newton T.V. advertisement.
• Iphone advertisement at Apple website.

Still curious? Here's some more links...

• Early Newton design studies, by Apple.
• Apple Newton "Cadillac", by Apple.
• Apple Newton "Bic", by Apple.
• Newtonmania... sonnyhung's photoset.

Paper Storage

This is my favorite kind of invention; it breaks the mold. I assume Sainul Abideen had to completely unthink everything he knew about high-capacity storage before he invented the solution to all his problems.

And his problems were these: how could storage be made dirt cheap... and biodegradable. His "Rainbow Format" proved to be the answer, which is as simple as printing a big, colorful barcode onto paper. According to The Arab News...

A high quality DVD, which is very expensive can store only about 4.7 gigabyte (GB) of data. In contrast, the Rainbow Versatile Disc (RVD) can store 90 to 450 GB.*

Now let's hope his technology catches on; soon we'll all be "printing" high-capacity storage onto biodegradable paper (if it really works)!

Note: Oh no! Was it really a scam? Well, at least it was fun while it lasted... (thanks Xenmate).

* Engadget reported storage amounts less than those reported by The Arab News.

Ride the Skies in Luxury

Believe it or not, this behemoth is not lighter than air! As this Popular Science article explains,

Its 14 million cubic feet of helium hoist only two thirds of the craft's weight. The rigid and surprisingly aerodynamic body—driven by huge rearward propellers—generates enough additional lift to keep the behemoth and its 400-ton payload aloft while cruising.

Of course, the size of the "Aeroscraft" has some obvious benefits. It's practically a flying cruise ship and is being designed to accommodate luxury staterooms, restaurants... even a casino!

But you have to admit... it sure is ugly. Looks like a giant bean.

I'll be sticking with Norman Bel Geddes Airliner No. 4.

• Aircrafts that never flew
• Bel Geddes Futurama
• Bel Geddes Futurama II
• Bel Geddes Futurama III
• Rail Propeller Train (1931)

 

Killer Robotic Chair

The terminator is finally amoung us... in the form of this deadly Robotic Chair.

It may look innocent enough. Not so. I warn you... if you see this Robotic Chair, DO NOT make yourself comfy! This furniture is programmed to destroy all of humankind! And then regenerate itself to do it again!

It's creator, Professor Raffaello D'Andrea, feigns innocence: "It has no utilitarian value. It is an art piece."

Take a look at this death-dealing "art piece" in action!...

Living Blimps

Can blimps learn, adapt and evolve? Yes... when they've been designed by Qarl. After senseless pillaging by certain vicious Second Life land owners, Qarl had finally had it up to here! His solution: artificial life. Now his blimps lead much happier lives (sort of). Qarl explains:

blimps who (by chance) wander into dangerous areas will die, and their genes will disappear from the gene pool. blimps who (by chance) avoid danger will reproduce more often, and their genes will dominate the gene pool.

the blimps will “learn” to avoid danger.  they evolve.  by some definitions, they are alive.

Read more on on Qarl's blog.

Reader comment: Qarl adds,

one of the most compelling examples of artificial evolution was done by Karl Sims in the early 90s. he created virtual organisms comprised of simple boxes, each box having a virtual muscle between them.

from generation to generation, he allowed both the body shape and the muscle motion to change - he rewarded creatures that could move.

from these simple rules his system created snakes and fish and creatures with legs - rediscovering the forms created by mother nature millions of years ago.

Very impressive animations! If only these creatures lived within Second Life!

Praise You, Kuretake!

Kuretake Brush Pen refill cartridges

A couple weeks ago I fell in love with a Japanese brush-pen that's quickly becoming my all-time favorite drawing tool. Blick Art describes the Kuretake pen on their site as follows:

Technology meets tradition in this sumi brush fountain pen. The Kuretake Brush Pen is exquisitely designed in Japan, with super-fine nylon bristles for smooth, controlled strokes.

Now I can't help but look for every chance I can get to work with this brush-pen! Like a great brush, its lines are alive and dynamic but, unlike a brush, it never leaks, never dries out, and seems to never need a refill. I love this thing!

As of today, I am an official Kuretake evangelist! Buy it... and all your past bad drawings will be forgiven.

Paper Music

Yes records are undeniably cool. Now, with this working paper record player, they're simply too cool. It's designed and built by Simon Elvins and here's what he has to say about it...

To play the record the handle needs to be turned in a clockwise direction at a steady 33^1/3 rpm. The paper cone then acts as a pick up and amplifies the sound enough to make it audible.

• Drinking From Your Voice – Previous post

(via: Make)

Don't Visit Tinselman

I rarely visit my favorite blogs. Instead I enjoy them "remotely" with my favorite RSS reader. I did not know about RSS for too long a time. This was a bad thing. I was left out. I was in the darkness – a cold and ignorant place of longing. But a couple years ago RSS turned me into a information superhighway god. Now I command the knowledge that I desire – almost instantly it arrives on my screen – all in one convenient place. Without my trusty RSS reader, I'd never manage to keep my finger on the pulse of the multiverse.

Surprisingly, most blog visitors (my wife's a great example) still don't subscribe to blogs via RSS, despite the fact that this may be the best way to rapidly and easily gather up gigantic amounts of one's favorite information, with no more bouncing around from site to endless site. News organizations also routinely offer RSS feeds in a much broader variety of flavors than most blogs. The New York Times. BBC. NPR.

So don't visit Tinselman anymore. Just subscribe to it using a great RSS reader (emphasis on great, or you'll be disapointed).

For OSX, I recommend Newsfire. This elegant newsreader is well worth the $16.99. I'd be lost without out it. And it puts Apple's built in reader to shame.

Screenshot of Newsfire in action. (Click to enlarge)

I'm sorry I can't recommend an RSS reader for windows or Linux environments but I'm sure there are plenty of good great ones out there.

Sorry for all the tech talk. Now to get back to things of a more Tinselman nature.

Reader comment: Patter says,

I find the Sage extension for Firefox handier than anything else.

Giant Space Mirror Ball Thing

The Echo 1, NASA's first communication satellite, was launched on August 12, 1960. It was round, sleek, and mean. Probably the coolest satellite we've ever had (the soviets always had the upper hand on coolness). And the simplest: it was just a big mirror that reflected radio signals across the ocean.

• Echo 1 color photo and info
• Ugly NASA satellites
• Photos of NASA scientists with Echo 1
• Echo 1 – Wikipedia Entry

 

Fun with Wires and Tubes

Computers were big in the 50's. This really big vacuum tube synth at RCA's Princeton Labs in 1956, was designed to be controlled, not by a keyboard, but by punch-paper roll. If you're interested in this sort of wonderful musical nonsense, you can read all about it at 120 Years of Electronic Music by Simon Crab. It's a fascinating and extraordinarily well-researched site which manages to cover a slew of electronic instruments (many of which are legendary) from 1870 -1990.

(via boingboing.net)

Goodbye, to the Wind

You might not want to be standing here when they turn these fans on. Because they're big. They're furious. They are death-generating engines of annihalation that will pick you up like a toothpick and carry you into their rapidly rotating steel jaws. Goodbye... instant vaporization of the human body.

So let's not stand here, okay?

But to wander around the place in safety, take a look at these fullscreen QTVR pamoramas.

Amplifier as Art, Part II

"The aluminum case is hand-polished, the acrylic front and back are hand-cut and polished (including hand fire-polishing), and the silkscreening is all hand-done as well. All of the electronic subassemblies are hand-assembled and hand-soldered. Our team has been working together for almost 10 years now, building guitar effect and amplifiers, and this is my first hi-fi piece. I considered it originally to be something just for myself but so many people said they loved it that I decided to go into production."

– Zachary Vex, founder of ZVex, and inventor of the Impamp

After about two weeks with my new Impamp, I can report that all that hand-assembly is worth it... the sound is absolutely amazing! And for those of you who are instrumentalists, ZVex makes a slew of cool effect boxes. My favorite... the Wah Probe.

Amplifier as Art

The vast majority of stereo amplifiers are ugly behemoths – giant black and silver boxes that invade your living space. The Impamp is a one-of-a-kind analog tube amp solution that breaks all the rules. With a footprint about the size of an Ipod, the Impamp is killer good-looking (as you can see), and nothing can beat that warm, analog sound. Smooth...

• Impamp info movies

Communicator II

The Star Trek communicator is finally a working reality! And there's only one of them – only one – in the entire world! It was built by Jamie O'Brien and it works via a bluetooth link to your celphone... no wires involved! No need to ever answer the cel phone again: just open the communicator, Captain James T. Kirk style.

Oh... never mind. It already sold.

Porsche Uber Pipes

Watch out! When Porsche restores a historic organ, they're not about to be conservative with their design. We're talking dashboard and gauges. We're talking brushed stainless steel. We're talking uber-streamlining. How does the restored organ sound? Does it matter?

This is not the first of Porsche designed high end instruments. They've also recently teamed up with Bosendorfer to reinterpret the piano. It's hard to believe anyone could improve on Bosendorfer's acclaimed sound and design, but tinselman is always open to a new instrument.

All of this brings to mind the Porsche smoking pipe. Evidentely, non-smokers thought it was beautiful. Smokers hated it. The cooling "ribs" did adequately disapate heat away from the tabacco, as they were designed to do. Unfortuantely, the ribs themselves grew unbearably hot to the touch. So when one smoked the Porsche pipe, one had to be holding it carefully by the stem... or there'd be some serious fried fingers. Ouch!

Drinking From Your Voice

Stop dreaming. Start believing. Now you too can record your very own Edison-esque cylindrical recordings with the all-new Gakken Edison Phonograph Kit. The phonograph is not only guaranteed to be simple to set-up and use, but your plastic cup recordings will easily sound as wonderful as Thomas Edison's own historic phonographs (not that his sounded any good at all – in fact, they're a scratchy mess... but do you really care about sound quality when you've done something as fantastically cool as record your voice onto a plastic cup? I thought not.)

The Super T.V. Invisible Globe

This is the Ultra-hi-tech Invisible Globe, prototyped by globe-makers extraordinaire, Greaves & Thomas. To create the (patented) illusion of a stationary earth requires 256 multi-colored LEDs, spinning (like mad) within a glass sphere. Though, according to Greaves & Thomas, that's just the beginning of the fun you have with this thing. They say it also makes a nifty T.V. or computer screen and...

It would be a perfect source of light in the room where it is being viewed. One would never need to turn it off, as one would be able to transform it into anything: Giant aquarium; Ants nest; Happy monkey in a jungle; Sad monkey in a zoo; etc. Or turn it off to reveal a steel rectangle, row of lights and a bundle of wires attached to a motor in a glass vacuum.

I'd like to know if it could display current satellite imagery, weather, little wars breaking out here and there. What are the possibilities?

As you think about these things, browse on over to Greaves & Thomas. They've got some other amazing globes. I especially like their Alice in Wonderland Globe.