SXSW 2016 Unofficial Torrent

SXSW Torrent reports: [edited]

These torrents contain 1,593 music tracks that can be previewed on the SXSW 2016 website.

[Ed. The South by Southwest Music and Media Conference (SXSW) is ‘a six-day event held every March in Austin, celebrating 30 years in 2016. The conference offers access to ideas and global viewpoints on an increasingly borderless industry. It aims to educate and inspire musicians and professionals alike, with sessions attended by over 30,000 registrants and showcasing artists.’

If you're intimidated by the huge number of tracks, visit NPR Music for a link to a mere 100 songs curated from the festival.]
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Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge - Best Mobile Camera

DXO reports: [edited]

The 26mm f/1.7 lens delivers very accurate and repeatable exposures, which helped the S7 edges achieve an outstanding Exposure & Contrast score of 90 during our tests. Even in tricky high contrast scenes, it captures great exposures thanks to its built-in auto HDR feature, making it a great choice for landscape or backlit photography.

The new Samsung S7 edge ranks in joint first place for still photos alongside the S6 Edge and Sony Z5. The main strengths of Samsung’s S7 edge photos are its excellent and repeatable exposures in all conditions, fast and accurate autofocus, and a very good compromise between noise and detail.

Samsung’s latest flagship smartphone also offers notable improvements to its video performance, capturing nice exposures, with pleasant colour and excellent video autofocus and stabilisation.
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Moby Dick – Available As An Audiobook

‘The Moby-Dick Big Read’ is an audiobook version of Herman Melville’s ‘Great [unread] American Novel’, with its (count them) 135 chapters read by a mixture of the well-known (including Tilda Swinton, Stephen Fry, David Attenborough and Benedict Cumberbatch) and the not-so-well-known, all freely accessible via iTunes and SoundCloud.

Thanks to Kottke for the link.
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Nik Photo Editing Collection Available Free

Digital Photography Review reports: [edited]

Google's Nik Collection of desktop image editing plug-ins is being offered free of charge.

Compatible with Photoshop, Lightroom and Aperture, Nik's Analog Efex Pro, Color Efex Pro, Silver Efex Pro, Viveza, HDR Efex Pro, Sharpener Pro and Dfine apps are all available as a free download from Google, a substantial savings over the previous $150 price.

- - - - - - -

[Ed. Grey Learning has kindly made a number of previously 'paid for' training videos available free.]
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Our Easter Story

The story of Easter as told by the children of Christ Church Tunbridge Wells UK.

Thanks to Tim Roberts for the link.
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Bandai Body-kun & Body-chan

Rocket News 24 reports: [edited]

Bandai has announced they will be selling these 150mm male and female posable figures from April 2016.

Named ‘Body-kun’ and ‘Body-chan’, they will be accompanied by dozens of accessories, making it easier to draw someone using a laptop, wielding a sword, or a cellphone.

What sets these figures apart from other posable art models is that they are built to bend in a 'natural' fashion, in over 30 different places.

Price: from £30, depending on accessories.

Images courtesy of ITmedia News and @INSIDEjp.
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9.7-inch iPad Pro

Essentially a smaller/slightly slower/lighter (437g vs 713g) version of its 12.9" predecessor, it features an upgraded display with less reflective glass, a wider gamut and sensors that adapt the display’s colour balance to complement the ambient light.

It supports the Apple Pencil, there's an optional Smart Keyboard, and it comes with an improved 12 megapixel, f/2.2 camera (12.9" = 8 megapixel, f/2.4).

Price: from £499 - 32GB WiFi, up to £839 - 256GB WiFi + Cellular.
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iPhone SE

If you've been thinking of upgrading from your iPhone 5/5S/5C, but don't want the extra bulk of the 6S/6S Plus, your wish has been granted.

The iPhone SE is almost identical in form-factor to the 5S, as fast as the 6S, with a decent main camera.

As long as you're not worried about its low-quality 'selfie' camera, slower Touch ID sensor and lack of 3D touch, and want an iOS smartphone, you'll be saving nearly £200 over purchasing an equivalently specified 6S.

Price: £359 - 16GB, £439 - 64GB
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The Colour Thesaurus

Ingrid Sundberg writes: [edited]

‘I love to collect words. One of my ongoing collections is of colours. I love to stop in the paint section of a hardware store and find new names for red or white or yellow. Having a variety of colour names at my fingertips helps me to create specificity in my writing.’

‘So for fun, I created this Colour Thesaurus.’
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Look Into My Eyes

Bored Panda reports: [edited]

My name is Andrei Mogan, I’m a photographer from Romania, and I started this project in the summer of 2014.

The idea behind it was to capture not only the unique pattern every eye has but also the person behind it. Every person is different in its own beautiful way and you can see that in their eyes, which are also unique from person to person.

If you want to see more detailed eye images and aren't 'Mail Online allergic', click here.
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Atlas, 2016 model

Boston Dynamics reports: [edited]

The latest version of Atlas is specialised for mobile manipulation. It uses sensors in its body and legs to balance and Lidar (Light Radar) and stereo sensors in its head to avoid obstacles, assess the terrain, help with navigation and manipulate objects. It is about 5' 9" tall and weighs 180lbs.

[Editor's Note: Is it only me who cringes when the humans push Atlas around?]
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Microsoft proposing Xbox Live/Playstation Network compatibility?

Forbes reports: [edited]

Microsoft just extended what felt like an open invitation to Sony and the PS4. ID@Xbox director Chris Charla wrote a release on the Xbox News wire...

“...in addition to natively supporting cross-platform play between Xbox One and Windows 10 games that use Xbox Live, we’re enabling developers to support cross-network play as well. This means players on Xbox One and Windows 10 using Xbox Live will be able to play with players on different online multiplayer networks – including other console and PC networks.”

It’s a perfect dare from Microsoft’s point of view. The company has nothing to lose by offering their network of players: the Xbox One is second place in the current console war, and access to the PSN player base be massive for any games that allowed cross-play.

Sony, however, has everything to lose my breaking down that particular wall. The PS4 has a massive lead in the console war, and that means anyone looking to buy a new machine has to consider that games on PS4 are likely to have more players, and statistically speaking, their friends are more likely to be on PSN.

I’d be surprised if we saw any sort of cross play between Xbox One and PS4 players, for all the reasons above. But by putting the idea out there, Microsoft continues to make its company look ahead of the curve, and that’s good business for a gaming division that was in a pretty bad place just a few years ago.
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Lee Sedol Fights Back

Google's AlphaGo Project has seen Lee Sedol, one of the world’s top Go players, beaten by a computer. This has come as a shock to many ‘experts’ in the Artificial Intelligence field. Earlier in the year Elon Musk, a big investor in AI, predicted that a feat like this was at least ten years away.

Lee has since played, and won, the fourth game in the five game tournament. An online search will give you plenty of commentary on this, but for the lazy/time challenged, click here for a fascinating and accessible look at how Mr Sedol went about it.

[Update: final score, 4-1 to AlphaGo.]
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London - Somerset - London, 30 & 31-01-16

London - Somerset, 30-01-16
Spring / Sun / Winter / Dread - Everything Everything
No Light, No Light - Florence + The Machine
Two Hearts - NZCA Lines
Help Yourself - Tom Jones
The Best Damn Thing - Avril Lavigne
The World Should Revolve Around Me - Little Jackie
Vogue - Madonna
Everything Is AWESOME!!! (feat. The Lonely Island) - Tegan and Sara
Kung Fu Fighting - Cee Lo Green & Jack Black
Emmylou - First Aid Kit
Who Were You With In The Moonlight - Dollar
Staying Out For The Summer - Dodgy
Don't Save Me - HAIM
WTF (Where They From) [feat. Pharrell Williams] - Missy Elliott
White Lines (Don't Do It) - Grandmaster and Melle Mel
Rocket - Goldfrapp
The Wire - HAIM
18 with a bullet - Pete Wingfield
Freak Of The Week - Marvelous 3
Girls With Guitars - Wynonna Judd
Return to the Moon (Political Song for Didi Bloome to Sing, with Crescendo) - EL VY
Give Me Just A Little More Time - Chairmen Of The Board
Taking In Water - Jessie Ware
I Try - Macy Gray
Shiny Happy People - R.E.M.
Freaky Friday - Aqua
Where's me jumper - Sultans of Ping
Rock the Casbah - The Clash
The Story Of The Blues (Pt 1) - The Mighty WAH!
Happy - Ned's Atomic Dustbin
Amigo - Black Slate
Filthy/Gorgeous - Scissor Sisters
Monster - The Automatic
Paper Planes - M.I.A. (XL)
There's Nothing In the Water We Can't Fight - Cloud Control
No Social - The Shortwave Set
I'm a Believer (radio version) - Smash Mouth
You're Moving Out Today - Carole Bayer Sager

Somerset to London, 31-01-16
Feel This Moment (feat. Christina Aguilera) - Pitbull
On Fire Tonight (feat. Myron Glasper) - Blackalicious
Annie I'm Not Your Daddy - Kid Creole and the Coconuts
Loco-Motion - Little Eva
I Just Can't Wait To Be King - Jason Weaver
Give It Up - Steve Miller Band
Tthhee Ppaarrttyy - Justice
Go West - Village People
I'm Waiting For The Man - The Velvet Underground
Seven Little Girls (Sitting In The Back Seat) - Paul Evans
Ready for the Floor - Hot Chip
Tribulations - LCD Soundsystem
Dance Floor - The Apples In Stereo
Nuthin' But a G'Thang - Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg
You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' - Righteous Brothers
Put a little love in your heart - Annie Lennox & Al Green
Cruel To Be Kind - Letter to Cleo
What Took You So Long - Emma Bunton
Rockaria - Electric Light Orchestra
I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) - The Proclaimers
Take a chance on me - A-Teens
Atomic - Blondie
Where Are You Baby - Betty Boo
Hyperventilating - Peppercorn
Tell Him - Vonda Shepard
Colonel Hathi's March - Jungle Book
FAKE ID - RAT BOY
Drop dead gorgeous - Republica
We don't have to take our clothes off (ext) - Jermaine Stewart
Icarus (Radio Edit) - Madeon
I Feel The Earth Move - Carole King
Hey There Lonely Girl - Stylistics (w/Eddy Holman)
Pretzelbodylogic - Prince & 3RDEYEGIRL
What Did the Hippie Have In His Bag? - Cornershop
Birthday - Katy Perry
Living On A Prayer - Bon Jovi
Hey Baby (Drop It to the Floor) [feat. T-Pain] - Pitbull
Easy Lover - Phil Collins & Phil Bailey
It Hurts to See You Dance so Well - The Pipettes
Don't Bring Me Down - Electric Light Orchestra
Mickey - B*Witched
Are you Gonna Be My Girl - Jet
Pass Out - Tinie Tempah
Sylvia - Focus
Charlemagne - Blossoms
God Gave Rock 'n' Roll to You II - Kiss
You're History - Shakespear's Sister
Stronger - Kanye West
I Beg Your Pardon - Kon Kan
Murder on the dance floor - Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Me No Pop I - Coati Mundi
Too Much Wheelin' And Dealin' - Mel & Tim
Don't Go - Hothouse Flowers
Run (Radio Edit) - Gnarls Barkley
Pretty Pimpin - Kurt Vile
Robot - The Futureheads
Justified and Ancient - KLF & Tammy Wynette
Rosanna - Toto
I'm Your Man - Wham!
Human Fly - The Cramps
Lip Up Fatty - Bad Manners
Hitchin a Ride - Vanity Fare
Robert De Niro's Waiting - Bananarama
Birdhouse in your soul - They Might Be Giants (TMBG)
Afternoons And Coffeespoons - Crash Test Dummies
Why Do Fools Fall in Love - Alma Cogan
Fireflies (UK Radio Edit) - Owl City
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Somerset to London, 28-12-15

Hugging My Grudge - The Boy Least Likely To
Nu Flow - Big Brovaz
Jaded - Aerosmith
There Ain't Half Been Clever Bastards - Ian Dury & The Blockheads
Cry Just A Little Bit - Shakin' Stevens
Tongue Tied - Farrah
You are everywhere - Michelle Branch
Part of That World - The Little Mermaid
Mixed up, shook up girl - Val McKenna
Scribble (Radio Edit) - Underworld
Rum and coca cola - The Andrews Sisters
Catch You - Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Song 4 Mutya - Groove Armada Ft. Mutya
Another First Kiss - They Might Be Giants (Tmbg)
Silence (single) - Delerium
Mixed Up World - Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Benny Hill [TV Theme] - Benny Hill
This Is Love - George Harrison
Pokemon Theme - Nightcore
Catacombs - Fionn Regan
C30, C60, C90, Go! - Bow Wow Wow
April Skies - The Jesus & Mary Chain
Reelin' In The Years - Steely Dan
Sweet Caroline - Elvis Presley
Grazing in the grass - Friends of Distinction
Fooled Around And Fell In Love - Elvin Bishop
(I Just) Died In Your Arms Tonight - Cutting Crew
Johnny reggae - The Piglets
Run - Sandie Shaw
Little Yellow Spider - Devendra Banhart
Starry Eyed - Ellie Goulding
Wild Young Hearts (Edit) - Noisettes
Dolce Vita 2003 (Marco De Jonge Remix) - Ryan Paris
I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman - Whistling Jack Smith
Here I Go Again - Whitesnake
When Smokey Sings - ABC
boys, boys, boys - Sabrina
My Girl - Madness
Neighborhood #3 - Power Out - Arcade Fire
Driver's Seat - Sniff 'n' The Tears
That's What I Said - Dave Clark Five Featuring Mike Smith
Last Christmas - Wham!
Empire (Single Edit) - Kasabian
Shut 'em Up - The Prodigy, Public Enemy & Manfred Mann
I Think We're Alone Now - Tiffany
Don't Stop Believin' - Glee Cast
Bingo Bango - Basement Jaxx
You'll Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties - Jona Lewie
Nothing On But The Radio - The Alice Band
Don't Talk To Me About Love - Altered Images
So Good (radio edit) - Rachel Stevens
Venus - Bananarama
Sedated Girlfriend - Avril Lavigne/Ramones (Arty Fufkin)
Human Fly - The Cramps
We Still Got the Taste Dancin' On Our Tongues - Wild Beasts
Everybody Needs Somebody To Love - Solomon Burke
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London to Somerset, 27-12-15

Look Of Love (Part One) - ABC
Jump - Van Halen
Strict Machine - Goldfrapp
You Can't Judge a Book By the Cover (single) - The Strypes
I Believe In A Thing Called Love - The Darkness
Angel With A Shotgun - Nightcore (original by The Cab)
Tie Me Up With Jackets - Fight Like Apes
Fish Heads - Barnes & Barnes
Hold Your Head Up - Argent
Ain't That A Shame - Fats Domino
Santa Claus Is Coming to Town - Jackson 5
Back to Basics - Shapeshifters
Three Cheers for Pooh - The Divine Comedy
The Bitch Is Back - Elton John
Angel of Darkness - Nightcore (original by Alex C. feat. Yasmin K.)
I Just Can't Help Believin' - Elvis Presley
Little Red Corvette (single) - Prince
All That I've Got - The Used
One Vision [2011 Remaster] - Queen
So What the Fuss (Radio Edit) - Stevie Wonder
Tribulations - LCD Soundsystem
Opportunities (Let's Make Lots Of Money) - Pet Shop Boys
Please Dont Get Me Anything For Christmas - Shaun Keaveny
Bellissima - DJ Quicksilver
Castles in the Sky - Ian Van Dahl
Just Abuse Me - Air Traffic
Back When You Were Good - The Hours
Have I The Right - Dave Clark Five
1901 - Phoenix
Love the Way You Lie - Eminem & Rihanna
Man! I Feel Like A Woman! - Shania Twain
Private Eyes - Daryl Hall & John Oates
Goodnight Sweet Prince - Brandtson
Hold On - Alabama Shakes
Let Me Take You Away (Club Mix) - Jenn Cunetta
Empty Threat - CHVRCHES
Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon [2011 Remaster] - Queen
Dam Dadi Doo - Nightcore (original by Fantasy Project)
Make It Holy - The Staves
Hand Held in Black and White - Dollar
Sugar And Spice - The Cryan Shames
This is not a love song - PIL
Don't Believe in Christmas - The Sonics
Iron Leaguer - Eternal Mission - Yoko Ishida
Louie - Ida Maria
Ready Teddy - Gene Vincent
Call It Love - Deuce
Ziggy Stardust - Bauhaus
We Built This City On Rock And Roll - Jefferson Starship
I Love You - The Volumes
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Free Font - Fira Sans

Fira Sans is a humanist sans-serif typeface designed by Erik Spiekermann, Ralph du Carrois, Anja Meiners and Botio Nikoltchev of Carrois Type Design for the Firefox OS.

Fira Sans Condensed adds 16 (count them) condensed weights, going from 'dont-use-at-anything-less-than-headline-sizes' (DUAALTHS) skinny to satisfyingly chunky, along with corresponding italic versions.

Available to download from Font Squirrel.
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Free Font - Montserrat

Montserrat is a well-constructed, clear, contemporary typeface, in the style of Gotham and Proxima Nova. Designed by Julieta Ulanovsky it is available in 8 weights (no italics) from Font Squirrel.
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Free Font - Argon

Inspiration Hut reports: [edited]

Tom Anders Watkins has created this font. A free download is available but if you are interested in buying the full download it is only $8. To download, simply click one of the links at the bottom of the article.
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Share The Meal

ShareTheMeal is an initiative of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).

WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger. Each year, WFP reaches 80 million people with food assistance in around 80 countries. WFP is 100% voluntarily funded, so every donation counts. WFP’s administrative costs are among the lowest in the non-profit sector – with 90% of donations going directly to WFP operations.

ShareTheMeal is an app from the World Food Programme that enables people to "share their meals" with children in need. Available on both iOS and Android platforms, it allows you to effortlessly donate 35p (the amount it costs to feed one child for a day) any time you decide to do so. You can, of course, donate more if you want.
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Hewlett-Packard HP-01

Louis Westphalen has published a fascinating article on Hewlett-Packard's 1977 'smartwatch'.

"...it is 1977, quartz watches are still less than 10 years old; it's the year Star Wars hit theatres for the first time... and you are looking at... nothing less than the most technically advanced wristwatch ever produced."

"Remember the Casio calculator watch? – the HP-01 could be considered its mastermind ancestor, reaching an unprecedented level of complication, back in 1977. Its technical feast has to be put in perspective: imagine fitting three batteries, and six chips in a wristwatch some 30-plus years ago! As its advertising puts it: "With the HP-01, you can compute and then count down the time it takes for a command to reach a spacecraft several hundred million miles away.""

"The 7-digit screen has the bright red LED display that were popular in the 1970s. To compute all its functions, it featured a 28-button keyboard; you could access to the main six functions with a tap of your fingertip. For the remaining 22 actionable buttons you needed a stylus. HP engineers had found a very astute way to always have the stylus handy, is ingeniously fitted into the bracelet buckle."

"The HP-01 definitely qualifies as bulky on the wrist (it's a massive 40 mm x 45 mm x 15 mm). It is not on the light side, weighing a respectable 170 grams or 6 ounces. At the time it was introduced, it was sold for $695 on its steel bracelet – more than a Rolex."
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10,000 wax cylinders digitised

boingboing reports: [edited]

The University of California at Santa Barbara library has undertaken an heroic digitisation effort for its world-class archive of 19th and early 20th century wax cylinder recordings, and has placed over 10,000 songs online for anyone to download, stream and re-use.

The online database boasts recordings from the late 1800s to the early 1900s, ranging from hit singles to operatic arrangements to vaudeville songs. There’s also spoken word — including speeches and readings — and everything is searchable by title, genre, instruments, region, and even subject.

To visit the library, click here.
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EverBlock Systems

EverBlock Systems reports: [edited]

EverBlock Systems offers a modular building system of oversized plastic blocks that facilitates the construction of all types of objects. It's quick and easy to build nearly anything, by stacking and organising the universal blocks in nearly any shape, pattern, or size.

Anything you've constructed can be taken apart and re-assembled again, and the pieces can be re-used to build other objects, making EverBlock a unique green building method.
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Vurtego Pogo Sticks

Vurtego reports: [edited]

Our goal is to bring back a little bit of that childhood joy that seems to be missing from today's world. We make the best quality pogo stick that we possibly can with the hopes of putting a smile on our customers' faces as they achieve personal flight - if only for a heartbeat.


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FREE-IMAGES.CC

FREE-IMAGES.CC reports [edited]

It is with great pleasure, that we announce our new service: free-images.cc!

There are several aspects that will make free-images.cc superior to many other sites out there. Not only do we curate the images, but every image is tagged for better discoverability. And every photographer is named and honoured.

Every free image uploaded here will be under the creative commons public domain license.
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Light L16

PetaPixel reports: [edited]

Light L16 is a point-and-shoot camera that aims to transform the way we think about cameras. It packs 16 separate cameras across its surface that simultaneously expose photos at different focal lengths. The resulting images are combined into high-resolution, 52-megapixel photos.

“The L16 is the first multi-aperture computational camera that packs DSLR quality and capability into a device that fits in your pocket,” says Light. “The L16 is smaller, lighter, less expensive, and provides better image quality than any camera in its price class.”

The L16 will hit store shelves in late September 2016 with a not-so-small price tag of $1,699.
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ICON A5

Wikipedia reports: [edited]

The ICON A5 is an American amphibious light-sport aircraft being developed by ICON Aircraft. The first production aircraft made its first flight on July 7, 2014, and made its public debut at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh on July 27, 2014.

The A5 is a high-wing flying boat-type amphibious monoplane with a carbon fibre airframe and retractable undercarriage. It seats two people in an enclosed cockpit and is powered by a single 100 hp Rotax 912 iS engine driving a three-bladed pusher propeller.

Dornier-style sponsons provide hydrodynamic stability, housing the retracted main landing gear, and act as a step for crew and passenger. The wings can be folded aft for ground transport and storage.

Available to order now, $189,000.
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Guggenheim puts 1600 artworks online

Guggenheim reports: [edited]

Featuring nearly 1600 artworks by more than 575 artists, the Collection Online presents a searchable database of selected artworks from the Guggenheim’s permanent collection of over 7,000 artworks. The selected works reflect the breadth, diversity, and tenor of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation’s extensive holdings from the late 19th century through the present day, and are continually expanded to include a larger representation of the museum’s core holdings as well as recent acquisitions.

In addition to highlights from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, the Collection Online includes works from the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. Visitors may browse by artist, date, artwork type, movement, or by several of the major groups of acquisitions that have entered the holdings of the foundation since its inception in 1937.
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Chameleon Pens

Core 77 reports: [edited]

Industrial designers and ID students need to carry a lot of markers. But now Indiana-based Chameleon Art Products reckon you can reduce your collection and perhaps gain some desk space by going with their Chameleon Pens, single markers that can produce the gradations you'd normally achieve with a handful.

The dual-chambered, dual-tipped Chameleons pull this trick off through a combination of alcohol ink and toner, which react via opposing, specially-designed nibs.


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Lucy

Lucy is a 30cm sphere that tracks available sunlight and uses a mirror to reflect and disperse it into the darker areas of the room it is in.

Priced at £130, it is predicted to be available early 2016.

For more info, click here
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Google Nexus 5X & Nexus 6P

The Guardian reports: [edited]

Google has launched two new flagship smartphones, the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P, to demonstrate what its new version of Android 'Marshmallow' can do.

The two new handsets feature fingerprint scanners, the new Nexus camera and Google’s improved personal assistant 'Now on Tap'.

The LG Nexus 5X features a 5.2in 1080p screen with a density of 423 pixels per inch (ppi), protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The smartphone features the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 hexa-core processor as the LG G4, 2GB of RAM and the choice of either 16 or 32GB of storage within a relatively compact frame.

The 16GB Nexus 5X will cost £339 – £379 for 32GB of storage – and replaces the now two-year-old Nexus 5. It will be available on 16 October in the UK.

The Nexus 6P features a 5.7in 2K AMOLED screen with a pixel density of 518ppi, which is protected by Gorilla Glass 4. The Huawei smartphone features the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 octo-core processor, 3GB of RAM and a choice of 32, 64 or 128GB of storage in an aluminium unibody shell available in silver, black and white.

The Nexus 6P will be available from 26 October costing £449 for 32GB of storage, £499 for 64GB, and £579 for 128GB in the UK.
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Tesla Model X

Wired reports: [edited]

The world's first luxury electric SUV is gorgeous. It’s futuristic. And once again, Tesla Motors is redefining the electric vehicle.

It is a $130,000 (£86,000) electric vehicle that will go 250 miles on a charge, carry seven people and haul more stuff than anyone but a hoarder might want. And although the X shares much of its DNA with the Model S P90D sedan, in many ways it eclipses that phenomenal car. It’s not just the design, which is futuristic without being weird. It’s not just the performance, which is very, very fast. And it’s not even the dramatic 'falcon' doors that lift like the wings of a bird.

It’s how all of those features come together in a vehicle that somehow makes an SUV not just cool, but desirable.

The big drawback of doors that open like wings is they require a lot of room to open, so you’re always worried about hitting something. Tesla got around this by double-hinging the doors, and fitting each with an ultrasonic sensor and putting a third on the roof. They scan the area around the vehicle to determine how much space there is, then adjust the 'span' and open accordingly.

The X is cavernous. This thing will swallow as much cargo as any normal person would carry. Tesla offers an accessory hitch that holds four bikes or six pairs of skis, and can be attached to the back of the car in just a few seconds.

The estimated delivery for new reservations is the latter half of 2016.
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Biomason Bricks

Inhabit reports: [edited]

It takes an enormous amount of energy and resources to produce simple building materials such as concrete, bricks, and asphalt – however Ginger Krieg Dosier has developed a way to grow building blocks from sand and bacteria.

Dosier starts with sand as a substrate. A liquid cement is prepared that includes bacteria to provide an environment for crystals to form, a nitrogen source, food for the bacteria, a calcium source, and water. The solution is placed over a bed of sand in a mould and repeatedly added over five days until a solid material has formed.

Once the food and water source run out, the bacteria die. The irrigation solution is then fully recycled in a closed loop system to save water resources and recapture a byproduct of the bacteria as a natural fertiliser.
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Pebble Time Round

The Guardian reports: [edited]

The Pebble Time Round is a new version of its highly-rated Time smartwatch. It is 7.5mm deep and weighs 28g (cf: Apple Watch 10.5mm/40g).

The colour epaper screen is always on and always readable, including in direct light or the dark thanks to an LED backlight. It connects to iPhone and Android devices, displaying notifications, controlling music and other smartphone features remotely and running Pebble apps.

The Time Round comes in three colours and with either a 14mm or 20mm band. Unlike the Time or the Time Steel, which lasts up to 150 hours per charge, the Round’s battery only lasts up to two days – but charges in 30 minutes as opposed to the Time Steel’s two hours.

It will be available in the US from November costing from $249 (£163), with a UK release coming later this year and Europe in 2016.
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Sign of the times

Who'd've thought?

For larger image, click here.
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Free Font - Clear Sans

Font Squirrel reports: [edited]

Clear Sans is a versatile OpenType font for screen, print, and Web.

Clear Sans has minimized, unambiguous characters and slightly narrow proportions, making it ideal for UI design.

Clear Sans supports a wide range of languages using Latin, Cyrillic, and Greek scripts. The font family includes Medium, Regular, Thin, and Light weights with upright, italic, and bold styles.
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BioLite HomeStove

Siemens reports: [edited]

The BioLite HomeStove is an advanced forced ventilation biomass cook stove. It uses thermoelectric technology to convert temperature differences between fire and air into an electric voltage. A fan-assisted chamber achieves a 90% reduction in toxic indoor smoke and 50% better fuel consumption.

Surplus electricity generated during cooking sessions can charge USB-powered devices such as mobile phones and LED lights.
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London-Somerset-London 11-09-15 & 13-09-15

London - Somerset
The Sun Has Got His Hat On - Ambrose and His Orchestra
Black Skinhead - Kanye West
Queen Of Clubs - K.C. & The Sunshine Band
Angel of the Morning - Juice Newton
That's Alright - Laura Mvula
Brandy (you're a fine girl) - Looking Glass
No Hope (single) - The Vaccines
Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down - Alicia Keys
Send Me a Postcard - Shocking Blue
Are You My Woman? - The Chi-Lites
It's Better To Have (And Don't Need) - Don Convay
That's My Girl - Dee Clark
Inner City Pressure - Flight Of The Conchords
Shit Makes The Flowers Grow - Folk Uke
Girl Anachronism - The Dresden Dolls
Merlin's Masterplan - Vandervleuten
Kiss With A Fist (single) - Florence + The Machine
It’s In His Kiss - Vonda Shepard
Wild Ones - Flo Rida Feat. Sia
Jungle Drum - Emiliana Torrini
Madison - Joanna Gruesome
Fade To Grey - Visage
Sheena Is A Punk Rocker - Ramones
Let's Dance - David Bowie
Master And Servant - Depeche Mode
This One’s Different - Howler
technologic - Daft Punk
Start Wearing Purple - Gogol Bordello
No Particular Place To Go - Chuck Berry
Zola - Wonder Villains
Breezeblocks - Alt-J (∆)
Celebremos (Original 12" Spanish Version) - Kool & the Gang
Prodigy Medley: Jericho/Out of Space/No Good - Hackney Colliery Band
Days Of Pearly Spencer - David McWilliams
Soul Man - Sam & Dave
Jungle - Electric Light Orchestra
Born To Run - Bruce Springsteen
Hombre - M.I.A.
I Could Easily Fall (In Love With You) - Cliff Richard & The Shadows
Banquet - Bloc Party
Burn Baby Burn - Ash
Let's Twist Again - Chubby Checker
Barbra Streisand (UK Radio Edit) - Duck Sauce
Static On The Radio - Chronic Future
Word Crimes - "Weird Al" Yankovic
Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover - Sophie B. Hawkins
Changes - Alan Buxton

Somerset to London
Don't Bother - Shakira
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da - The Beatles
Hit Em Up - Afrikan Boy
The New Girl In School - Jan & Dean
What A Way To End It All - Deaf School
Spitfire - Public Service Broadcasting
Beat Control - Tilly and the Wall
Rudie Can't Fail - The Clash
The Importance of Being Idle - Oasis
Leave This Island - Maxïmo Park
Half In Love With Elizabeth - Mystery Jets
Ruby - Kaiser Chiefs
Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto - Polysics
Walk Idiot Walk - The Hives
Seasons (Waiting On You) - Future Islands
O.P.P. - Naughty By Nature
25 Miles - Edwin Starr
Goodbye To Love (Remix) - The Carpenters
One Nation Under a Groove - George Clinton/Funkadelic
Never Miss a Beat - Kaiser Chiefs
Girl - Jamie xx
Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town - Cake
As - Sister Sledge
Freak Scene - Dinosaur Jr.
Where Have All The Cowboys Gone - Paula Cole
You Should Consider Having Sex With a Bearded Man - The Beards
Tonight's The Kind Of Night (RAC Mix) - Noah and the Whale
Kiss the Girl - Peter Andre
Just a Gigolo - I Ain't Got Nobody - Louis Prima
You Spin Me Round (like a Record) - Thea Gilmore
You Are My Sunshine/Open Up Your Heart - Frente!
He Was Really Sayin' Somethin' - The Velvelettes
Pull It to Pieces - Elektralow
Reet Petite - Jackie Wilson
It's Getting Better - Mama Cass Elliot
Don't Phunk With My Heart - The Black Eyed Peas
(There's) Always Something There To Remind Me - Sandie Shaw
Since You've Been Gone - Rainbow
Rhiannon - Fleetwood Mac
This Time (I'm Gonna Try It My Way) - DJ Shadow
Poker Face - Lady Gaga
The Blues Are Still Blue - Belle and Sebastian
The Love I Lost (Single Version) - Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
Daydream - The Lovin' Spoonful
Pharaohs (feat. Roses Gabor) - SBTRKT
Gilly Gilly Ossenfeffer Katzenellenbogen By The Sea - Max Bygraves
Mountain Sound - Of Monsters and Men
The Snake - Al Wilson
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Ion IT34 Duo Deck USB Turntable/Cassette Deck

Uncrate reports: [edited]

There are better cassette players, and there are better turntables. But none of them can match the versatility of the Ion Duo Deck USB Turntable & Cassette Player. It can play your old cassette mix-tapes and vinyl, with built-in speakers making it an all-in-one affair.

There's a output jack if you want to crank it up with external speakers or listen privately through headphones, and thanks to the included software, you can hook it up to your computer and rip both formats straight to your digital library.
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Lenovo Phab Plus

cnet reports: [edited]

The 220g Phab Plus has a 7 inch metal unibody design with a 1,920 x 1,080-pixel display and octa-core Snapdragon 615 processor, a 13-megapixel main camera (the front-facing camera comes in at five megapixels), and a 3,500mAh battery.

It runs Android 5.0 with 32GB on board and 2GB RAM. You can expand storage up to 64GB. It comes in gunmetal, gray titanium and silver honey colors.

The Phab Plus will cost $300/£195.
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Wileyfox Smartphones

The Register reports: [edited]

New British mobile maker Wileyfox has launched a pair of Cyanogen smartphones.

The £199 SIM-free Storm has an eight-core 64-bit ARMv8 Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 system-on-chip running at up to 1.5GHz, 32GB of storage and 3GB of RAM, a 20Mp Sony EXMOR main camera and an 8Mp front-facing cam, 1920 x 1080 5.5” touchscreen display, and a 128GB microSD card slot.

The Swift costs £129, and has a quad-core 64-bit ARMv8 Snapdragon 410 system-on-chip running at up to 1.2GHz, 16GB of storage and 2GB RAM, 13Mp camera, a 1280 x 720 5” display, and a 32GB microSD card slot.

Both devices can do 4G, and have dual SIM slots, and run Cyanogen 12.1 – a customized Android build. Each phone has a 2500mAh battery, which is removable in the Swift and not in the Storm.

The company has used Cyanogen to replace the default dialer app with the Truecaller app, which has a crowdsourced 1.7 billion contacts.

If you use the Truecaller integrated dialer, and receive an incoming call, a heads-up notification appears that identifies the number and how many people have marked as spam. You can choose to block spam callers, or phone numbers you choose not to receive calls from.
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Mando Footloose IM

gizmag reports: [edited]

The IM utilizes the same unique drivetrain as the original (folding) Footloose. Instead of being transmitted along a chain, the rider's pedalling power is used to charge the bike's 36-volt, 8.2-Ah lithium-ion battery via an alternator in the crank. That battery in turn powers the 250-watt rear hub motor.

The IM is sleeker, lighter and shorter than its older sibling. With pricing starting at €2,690 (about US$3,050), it's also cheaper than the €3,999 Footloose.

Other features include the ability to remove the battery for charging; a polished aluminum alloy frame with a protective plastic coating; built-in rear flashers; and a removable HMI (human-machine interface) bar-mounted LCD control unit. Along with displaying information such as speed and battery charge level, the HMI also allows users to choose between different levels of electric pedaling assistance, varying from none to throttle-only – as an added bonus, the bike won't work when that unit is removed.

Depending on how much assistance riders use, the IM can reportedly cover up to 60 km (37 miles) on one charge of its battery. It has a maximum speed of 15.5 mph, and tips the scales at a little over 21kg.
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Free Font - Cormorant

Font Squirrel reports: [edited]

Cormorant is a free display type family developed by Christian Thalmann (Catharsis Fonts). It comprises a total of 30 font files spanning 6 different styles (Roman, Italic, Upright Cursive, Roman Infant, Small Caps, Unicase) and 5 weights (Light, Regular, Medium, Semibold, Bold).

For more information about the typeface, click here.

Thanks to Conrad Gempf for the heads-up.
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Huawei Honor 7i

Engadget reports: [edited]

The Honor 7i has a camera that can flip around for some quality selfies. The imager in question has a 13-megapixel resolution, an f/2.0 aperture, a 28mm wide-angle lens and dual-tone LED flash. The Honor 7i can utilise the screen to brighten your selfies in the dark. There's also a fingerprint reader located on the left side of the mid-frame, and it doubles as a camera button for left-handed selfies.

Specifications include an octa-core Snapdragon 616 chipset (4 x 1.5GHz + 4 x 1.2GHz), a 5.2-inch 1080p IPS display, up to 3GB of RAM, up to 32GB of internal storage, a 3,100 mAh fixed battery, dual-Nano SIM slots (one of which can take a microSD card) and a colour option of either silver or gold.

There's no word on global availability just yet, but the base model in China (2GB RAM, 16GB of internal storage, for China Mobile) costs 1,599 yuan or about $250, whereas the top model (3GB RAM, 32GB of internal storage) goes for 1,899 yuan or about $300.
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WonderCube

Trusted Reviews reports: [edited]

WonderCube has a built-in Lightning and microUSB cable, a micro-suction phone stand, USB key and microSD card reader, a USB connection, emergency 9V battery connection and mini torch. And all in a package no bigger than one cubic inch.

In other words, it can charge your phone, sync files and prop your phone up in either landscape or portrait by sticking to the back. In order to charge your phone 'on the move' you slot in a 9V battery, giving you around three hours extra talk time for Android and iOS devices.

It is a neat little device that packs a lot into a small package. And for $69 (£46), or $49 if you buy from Indiegogo, it's very affordable too.

Shipping in October 2015.


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Ecocapsule

Vision Times reports: [edited]

The Ecocapsule is the latest in tiny home living, where you can live off the grid for up to a year. A Bratislava-based architectural studio called Nice Architects came up with the idea.

It is powered by a retractable wind-turbine, and is also equipped with solar panels. It captures rain water and inside has a hot shower, kitchenette with running water, and a flushing toilet.

The dual power system and a high-capacity battery ensure that you will have enough power during periods of reduced solar or wind activity. The spherical shape is optimised for the collection of rainwater and dew, and the built-in water filters allow you to utilise any water source.
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Nebia Shower

Kickstarter reports: [edited]

Nebia is a fully self-installed shower system with an adjustable bracket and a portable wand. Nebia atomises water into millions of tiny droplets with 10 times more surface area than your regular shower.

With Nebia, more water comes into contact with your body, leaving your skin clean and hydrated all while using less water than a typical household showerhead. Nebia uses 70% less water than a typical household showerhead.
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Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 IV

Digital Photography Review has published a full review of Sony's fourth iteration of its high-end compact digital camera.

Snippets from the conclusion follow:

"The RX100 IV is an incredibly responsive camera; fast and ready to churn out high quality images and video with tools designed to help you achieve your vision."

"The quick and responsive RX100 IV has a number of features that make candid photography easy, including face and eye detection, a tilting LCD, silent shutter, and a fast continuous shooting mode in Raw with AF."

"If your end goals are the pictures and video, there isn't a better pocketable camera, and the RX100 IV offers compelling capabilities that easily surpass its predecessor and allow it to punch well above its weight."

"The RX100 IV garners our top award for its pure ambition. Its class-defining image and video quality raise the bar even further, widening the gap between it and any potential competition. As such, the RX100 IV is, today, peerless."

Price: £800
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BauBax Travel Jackets

Entrepeneur reports: [edited]

The BauBax jacket is a multi-purpose jacket intended to keep travellers organised with 15 features that include a built-in neck pillow, koozie drink pocket and iPad pocket, among others. So far, it has raised nearly $3 million from over 15,000 backers on Kickstarter.

The jacket comes in four different iterations (sweatshirt, blazer, windbreaker or bomber) and ranges from $109 to $129.


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Danish Wind Farms becoming increasingly viable

The Guardian reports: [edited]

On an unusually windy day this July, Denmark found itself producing 116% of its national electricity needs from wind turbines yesterday evening. By 3am on Friday, when electricity demand dropped, that figure had risen to 140%.

Interconnectors allowed 80% of the power surplus to be shared equally between Germany and Norway, which can store it in hydropower systems for use later. Sweden took the remaining fifth of excess power.

“It shows that a world powered 100% by renewable energy is no fantasy,” said Oliver Joy, a spokesman for trade body the European Wind Energy Association. “Wind energy and renewables can be a solution to decarbonisation – and also security of supply at times of high demand.”

A surge in windfarm installations means Denmark could be producing half of its electricity from renewable sources well before a target date of 2020, according to Kees van der Leun, the chief commercial officer of the Ecofys energy consultancy.
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