Your Daily Awesome

Buttons is a camera that will capture a moment at the press of a button. However, unlike a conventional analog or digital camera, this one doesn’t have any optical parts. It allows you to capture your moment but in doing so, it effectively seperates it from the subject. Instead, as you will memorize the moment, the camera memorizes only the time and starts to continuously search on the net for other photos that have been taken in the very same moment.

Essentially, it is a camera that - using a mobile communication device - takes other’s photos. Photos that were created by someone who pressed a button somewhere at the same time as its own button was pressed. Even more so, it reduces the cameras to their networked buttons in order to create a link between two individuals.

After a few minutes or hours, depending on how soon someone else shares their photo on the web, an image will appear on the screen. In a way, it belongs half to the person who had pressed the button and still remembers that moment. Because of that connection, the photos are never dismissed as random, no matter how enigmatic they may be.

Watch the video to see how it happens, or read more

You know those cars with that keyless entry pad? The one under the driver’s side handle? Well, if you look closely you will see that there are really only 5 buttons, labeled “1/2″, “3/4″, “5/6″, “7/8″, “9/0″. In an effort to avoid a little confusion, I’m going to call those buttons 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9, respectively. I am going to give you a sequence of minimal length that, when you enter it into a car’s numeric keypad, is guaranteed to unlock the doors of said car. It is exactly 3129 keypresses long, which should take you around 20 minutes to go through.

9 9 9 9 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 5 1 1 1 1 7 1 1 1 1 9 1 1 1 3 3 1 1 1 3 5 1 1 1 3 7 1 1 1 3 9 1 1 1 5 3 1 1 1 5 5 1 1 1 5 7 1 1 1 5 9 1 1 1 7 3 1 1 1 7 5 1 1 1 7 7 1 1 1 7 9 1 1 1 9 3 1 1 1 9 5 1 1 1 9 7 1 1 1 9 9 1 1 3 1 3 1 1 3 1 5 1 1 3 1 7 1 1 3 1 9 1 1 3 3 3 1 1 3 3 5 1 1 3 3 7 1 1 3 3 9 1 1 3 5 3 1 1 3 5 5 1 1 3 5 7 1 1 3 5 9 1 1 3 7 3 1 1 3 7 5 1 1 3 7 7 1 1 3 7 9 1 1 3 9 3 1 1 3 9 5 1 1 3 9 7 1 1 3 9 9 1 1 5 1 3 1 1 5 1 5 1 1 5 1 7 1 1 5 1 9 1 1 5 3 3 1 1 5 3 5 1 1 5 3 7 1 1 5 3 9 1 1 5 5 3 1 1 5 5 5 1 1 5 5 7 1 1 5 5 9 1 1 5 7 3 1 1 5 7 5 1 1 5 7 7 1 1 5 7 9 1 1 5 9 3 1 1 5 9 5 1 1 5 9 7 1 1 5 9 9 1 1 7 1 3 1 1 7 1 5 1 1 7 1 7 1 1 7 1 9 1 1 7 3 3 1 1 7 3 5 1 1 7 3 7 1 1 7 3 9 1 1 7 5 3 1 1 7 5 5 1 1 7 5 7 1 1 7 5 9 1 1 7 7 3 1 1 7 7 5 1 1 7 7 7 1 1 7 7 9 1 1 7 9 3 1 1 7 9 5 1 1 7 9 7 1 1 7 9 9 1 1 9 1 3 1 1 9 1 5 1 1 9 1 7 1 1 9 1 9 1 1 9 3 3 1 1 9 3 5 1 1 9 3 7 1 1 9 3 9 1 1 9 5 3 1 1 9 5 5 1 1 9 5 7 1 1 9 5 9 1 1 9 7 3 1 1 9 7 5 1 1 9 7 7 1 1 9 7 9 1 1 9 9 3 1 1 9 9 5 1 1 9 9 7 1 1 9 9 9 1 3 1 3 3 1 3 1 3 5 1 3 1 3 7 1 3 1 3 9 1 3 1 5 3 1 3 1 5 5 1 3 1 5 7 1 3 1 5 9 1 3 1 7 3 1 3 1 7 5 1 3 1 7 7 1 3 1 7 9 1 3 1 9 3 1 3 1 9 5 1 3 1 9 7 1 3 1 9 9 1 3 3 1 5 1 3 3 1 7 1 3 3 1 9 1 3 3 3 3 1 3 3 3 5 1 3 3 3 7 1 3 3 3 9 1 3 3 5 3 1 3 3 5 5 1 3 3 5 7 1 3 3 5 9 1 3 3 7 3 1 3 3 7 5 1 3 3 7 7 1 3 3 7 9 1 3 3 9 3 1 3 3 9 5 1 3 3 9 7 1 3 3 9 9 1 3 5 1 5 1 3 5 1 7 1 3 5 1 9 1 3 5 3 3 1 3 5 3 5 1 3 5 3 7 1 3 5 3 9 1 3 5 5 3 1 3 5 5 5 1 3 5 5 7 1 3 5 5 9 1 3 5 7 3 1 3 5 7 5 1 3 5 7 7 1 3 5 7 9 1 3 5 9 3 1 3 5 9 5 1 3 5 9 7 1 3 5 9 9 1 3 7 1 5 1 3 7 1 7 1 3 7 1 9 1 3 7 3 3 1 3 7 3 5 1 3 7 3 7 1 3 7 3 9 1 3 7 5 3 1 3 7 5 5 1 3 7 5 7 1 3 7 5 9 1 3 7 7 3 1 3 7 7 5 1 3 7 7 7 1 3 7 7 9 1 3 7 9 3 1 3 7 9 5 1 3 7 9 7 1 3 7 9 9 1 3 9 1 5 1 3 9 1 7 1 3 9 1 9 1 3 9 3 3 1 3 9 3 5 1 3 9 3 7 1 3 9 3 9 1 3 9 5 3 1 3 9 5 5 1 3 9 5 7 1 3 9 5 9 1 3 9 7 3 1 3 9 7 5 1 3 9 7 7 1 3 9 7 9 1 3 9 9 3 1 3 9 9 5 1 3 9 9 7 1 3 9 9 9 1 5 1 5 3 1 5 1 5 5 1 5 1 5 7 1 5 1 5 9 1 5 1 7 3 1 5 1 7 5 1 5 1 7 7 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As with his other projects, Mr. Davidson needed entry, and he got it in the form of the gang leader, known as Bengie.

“He was kind of a brilliant visual guy,” Mr. Davidson said. “He took me to this roof, and I remember thinking, ‘This kid’s going to throw me off the roof and then rob me,’ but he’s pointing down at the stickball game and saying, ‘Get that,’ and saying: ‘Oh, there’s the Statue of Liberty. You can see it through all these television antennas.’ ”

The images of that summer have an eternal quality to them, as if the gang might still be drinking beer in paper cups on the beach, but the Jokers’ world was already beginning to change. Heroin was making an entrance; one gang member died from an overdose at 19.

A few years ago, Bengie got in touch with Mr. Davidson.

“I went out with him to the old neighborhood,” the photographer said. The candy store where the gang used to hang out was gone. “He took me for a cafe latte.” The neighborhood had changed, and so had the Jokers; Bengie is now a drug counselor, and Mr. Davidson’s wife is writing a book about his life.

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Bactroban, 2005, Record cover collage with yarn
Installation View, Solo Show 2005
Tasmarm, 2005, Record cover collage with yarn

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“Bischoffs is a taxidermy warehouse that services the movie industry in LA. It’s huge and cluttered and fucked.”

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Powell Peralta has an amazing searchable archive of their old ads and tons more nostalgia wank stuff on their site

When the renowned Japanese sculptor Hananuma Masakichi learned that he was dying of tuberculosis, he vowed to leave behind a life-like portrait of himself for his beloved. He carved his likeness out of wood while studying himself with an adjustable mirror. The hair, fingernails, teeth, and toenails of the sculpture were all pulled from his own body. The statue is composed of over 2000 seperate pieces being hollow with the exception of the feet. The head, thighs, calves, and every member of the anatomy was carved separately and the whole put together…

read on/via

Things get so punk at 1:09
The Young@Heart Chorus

The Smithsonian has a really beautiful archive of illustrated letters, dating from the 1890s to the 1980s. These are (top to bottom): Reverend Howard Finster (1981), Joseph Lindon Smith (1894), and Eero Saarinen (1953). From Winslow Homer to Andy Warhol, each letter is lovelier than the next—plus there’s the added bonus of reading stranger’s mail.

In the absence of atmospheric pressure water will spontaneously convert into vapor, which would cause the moisture in a victim’s mouth and eyes to quickly boil away. The same effect would cause water in the muscles and soft tissues of the body to evaporate, prompting some parts of the body to swell to twice their usual size after a few moments. This bloating may result in some superficial bruising due to broken capillaries, but it would not be sufficient to break the skin.

Within seconds the reduced pressure would cause the nitrogen which is dissolved in the blood to form gaseous bubbles, a painful condition known to divers as “the bends.” Direct exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet radiation would also cause a severe sunburn to any unprotected skin. Heat does not transfer out of the body very rapidly in the absence of a medium such as air or water, so freezing to death is not an immediate risk in outer space despite the extreme cold.

For about ten full seconds– a long time to be loitering in space without protection– an average human would be rather uncomfortable, but they would still have their wits about them. Depending on the nature of the decompression, this may give a victim sufficient time to take measures to save their own life. But this period of “useful consciousness” would wane as the effects of brain asphyxiation begin to set in. In the absence of air pressure the gas exchange of the lungs works in reverse, dumping oxygen out of the blood and accelerating the oxygen-starved state known as hypoxia. After about ten seconds a victim will experience loss of vision and impaired judgement, and the cooling effect of evaporation will lower the temperature in the victim’s mouth and nose to near-freezing. Unconsciousness and convulsions would follow several seconds later, and a blue discoloration of the skin called cyanosis would become evident.

At this point the victim would be floating in a blue, bloated, unresponsive stupor, but their brain would remain undamaged and their heart would continue to beat. If pressurized oxygen is administered within about one and a half minutes, a person in such a state is likely make a complete recovery with only minor injuries, though the hypoxia-induced blindness may not pass for some time. Without intervention in those first ninety seconds, the blood pressure would fall sufficiently that the blood itself would begin to boil, and the heart would stop beating. There are no recorded instances of successful resuscitation beyond that threshold.

keep reading

1. Bartolomeo Eustachi (d. 1574) [anatomist]; Giulio de’Musi [artist]
2. Bernhard Siegfried Albinus (1697-1770) [anatomist]; Jan Wandelaar (1690-1759) [artist]
3. Juan Valverde de Amusco (ca. 1525 - ca. 1588) [anatomist]

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This flickr gallery is full of one keen-eyed camera-toter’s photographs, which they’ve cleverly tagged as “incidentalsculptures.” There are some great ones and some just OK ones, but it’s going to be a lot of fun to start keeping my eye out for incidental sculptures of my own. Plus, the photos are like a more vernacular version of Gabriel Orozco’s great images (if that’s possible), which is quite charming in its own right.

directed by Run Wrake

Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power” was a quantum leap for rap music. In the late ’80s, hip hop songs used only a few samples each, with the beat often created with single break from an old funk recording (frequently, at the time, Clive Stubblefield playing on James Brown’s track “The Funky Drummer”). But “Fight the Power” featured a large number of samples that were layered and altered so heavily that it was hard to identify the sources. (Two of its creators, when pressed to remember, could only name a few.) Recorded not too long before the legal clampdown on sampling, “Fight the Power” was a masterpiece of sound collage.

The song, along with the success of Public Enemy’s previous album, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, also helped usher in a brief period when radical black politics pervaded mainstream hip hop. Politics had certainly always been in rap (Grandmaster Flash’s “The Message” and early Run-DMC), but Public Enemy was arguably the most politically extreme group to achieve sustained commercial success. Their backup dancers wore combat berets and held fake uzis, emphasizing the group’s militant views; their raps were filled with pointed criticisms of the white establishment. On “Fight the Power,” rapper Chuck D labels Elvis Presley a “racist,” with Flavor Flav chiming in “Yo, motherf*****, him and John Wayne!”

read the whole article
listen to “Fight the Power”

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Incredible

Great gallery of one man’s collection here.

The Incredible Bongo Band’s 1972 album Bongo Rock was just reissued on (what else?) Mr. Bongo Records, and it’s pretty damn amazing. The Bongo Band and Bongo Rock were critical and commerical failures, doomed to the dustbin of studio musician history—until early hiphop DJs revived the album just a few years later. The New York Times ran an interesting article about the band, and in particular, the song “Apache.”

“Bongo Rock” is significant, however, for being one of the musical cornerstones of rap. While it’s hard to measure these things accurately, it is certainly one of the most sampled LP’s in history, if not the most sampled. Most every history-minded hip-hop D.J. has a copy, and the first few bars of its signature number, a driving cover version of the 60’s instrumental number “Apache,” can send crowds into overdrive. The Bongo Band’s “Apache” has been recycled continually in rap songs over the years; just this past August, Missy Elliott won an MTV video award for the clip to her song “We Run This,” whose central motif is lifted wholesale from “Apache.” According to Kool Herc, the stylistic pioneer many people consider to be the father of hip-hop music, the Bongo’s “Apache” is “the national anthem of hip-hop.”

So without further ado: “Apache.”

What do all the kids say now? “OMG?” Then OMG, this is my favorite website ever. Because of its super advanced A/V components, I can’t represent it accurately here, so I have to just encourage the hell out of you to go there. And laugh a little. And love a little.

And since nobody loves a threadbare post, I’ll leave you with this photograph, which I snagged from the fantastic Nasty Nets, and has nothing to do with the aforementioned website of awesomeness.