The original Batmobile from the 1966-68 television series began as a 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car. It sat in the lot of George Barris, a car customiser, until television producers needed a Batmobile on very short notice. If you have enough money, it can be yours. The Batmobile will be sold at auction at a car show in Scottsdale, Arizona in January — via Neatorama
Peter Kostelov has refurbished a fifth-floor Moscow apartment — via Dornob
Kawasaki has aligned itself with the English workshop Spirit of The Seventies, and commissioned a custom W800 for its stand at the UK’s Motorcycle Live show — via Bike EXIF
A scheme to help Hollywood movie studios catch online copyright infringers is on the verge of collapse after iiNet, the nation’s third-largest telco, abandoned plans to trial the new system.
The trial — which had been devised in consultation with Australia’s three largest telcos, Telstra, Optus and iiNet, and representatives from Hollywood’s major movie studios — would have seen internet service providers pass on notices of alleged online copyright infringement to their customers.
But Hollywood’s hopes that the proposed notice system would be up and running in the new year have now been dashed, after iiNet withdrew from the trial following its landmark defence of a High Court legal battle with 34 of Hollywood’s biggest movie and television studios earlier this year.
iiNet has informed the Communications Alliance, the government and the other ISPs involved in the discussions that it does not intend to participate in an industry-led trial, as currently envisaged, designed to test methods to deter online copyright infringement,
Communications Alliance chief executive John Stanton told The Australian — via redwolf.newsvine.com
The corruption to which I am referring is the phenomenon of money in politics.
Lawrence Lessig’s Republic, Lost, details many of the distortions that occur as a result of all the money sloshing around in the political system: how elected representatives are being forced to spend an ever-increasing amount of their time chasing donors for funds, for example, as opposed to chasing citizens for votes. Former congressman and CIA director Leon Panetta described it as legalised bribery,/q>; something which has just
become part of the culture of how this place operates
.
But of all the negative impacts this phenomenon has had, it’s the devastating impact it has on US competitiveness that should be most concerning.
One of the prime drivers of economic growth inside America over the past century has been disruptive innovation; yet the phenomenon that Lessig describes is increasingly being used by large incumbent firms as a mechanism to stave off the process. Given how hard it can be to survive a disruptive challenge, and how effective lobbying has proven in stopping it, it’s no wonder that incumbent firms take this route so often — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Give your home a refreshing coastal feel with this Turquoise Octopus Pillow from Dermond Peterson Design. This playful octopus design is block-printed by hand in environmentally-sensitive turquoise ink onto a linen cover. Filled with soft down feathers, this coastal style throw pillow is as comfortable on the back as it is easy on the eyes! Bring deep sea style home with this Turquoise Octopus Pillow — via Pure Home
Axel Budde’s Hamburg workshop, Kaffeemaschine, has finished his seventh custom build, Caffettiera d’oro
— meaning golden coffee machine. But ‘caffettiera’ can be a nickname for an old or derelict vehicle, too,
he says. I like the double meaning
— via Bike EXIF
New linguistic research has concluded that residents of the British Isles didn’t just borrow words and expressions from Norwegian and Danish Vikings and their descendants. Rather, claim two professors now working in Oslo, the English language is in fact Scandinavian.
Jan Terje Faarlund, a professor of linguistics at the University of Oslo (UiO), told research magazine Apollon that new studies show English as we know it today
to be a direct descendant of the language Scandinavians used
after settling on the British Isles during and after the Viking Age. An article by Apollon’s editor Trine Nickelsen was published in Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten on Tuesday — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Ever fancied living underground? Well, this Pauline Karminski-designed earth-sheltered house in Elham Valley, Kent doesn’t quite offer that, but you suspect it gives a hint of what it might be like.
Designed for the architect’s own occupation back in 2009, the house takes full advantage of its location, blending into that rural setting and offering up those amazing views of the rolling countryside beyond. It took Pauline Karminski 12 years to find the perfect location — and I think it’s fair to say that she chose well.
The asking price is £900,000 — via WowHaus
Happy foxes playing, originally uploaded by asbimages.co.uk.
Six more countries have been added to the list of nations that have eliminated the scourge of landmines
.
Congo, Denmark, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Jordan and Uganda have declared all mined areas in their territories cleared of the deadly weapons.
The news was announced at a five-day meeting in Geneva, aimed at evaluating progress since the signing of the 1997 Ottawa Convention — via redwolf.newsvine.com
New laws could be introduced to crack down on the sale of pets over the internet, amid concerns that sick and illegal animals are being sold to unsuspecting buyers.
Hundreds of cases have been documented of puppies and kittens being sold online that turned out to be underage, sick or not properly socialised. There have also been cases of illegal dog breeds, such as pit bull terriers, being advertised through the internet.
It is feared that many unscrupulous breeders take advantage of the Christmas season to make money, and potential owners do not receive the same animals advertised — if indeed they are sent anything at all.
The Scottish Government says it is now considering new legislation to deal with the issue — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Takeshi Hirobe Architects have designed the Villa SSK in Chiba, Japan — via CONTEMPORIST
— via Toonhole
In this renovation from Dublin based architecture firm Peter Legge Associates, a pair of dilapidated cottages have a glass entry connecting the two into one larger home — via Home Design Find
Ouch. Google Apps has ditched its free version, meaning anyone who wants to use the business version of Google’s mail, calendar and office suite will now have to pay $US50 a year per user for the privilege.
Google’s announcement, via a blog post, makes it clear that the change doesn’t affect individual Google users, who can continue using Gmail and its sibling for free with a personal account. However, the previous option which allowed companies with less than ten employees to use apps for free (while utilising their own domain) has been retired — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Complaints have prompted mobile phone game developer Gameloft to reduce the cost of playing My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
The freemium
game is free to play or gamers can pay to progress faster. But some players say it can take years to finish without spending cash.
Campaigners worry about the number of such freemium games aimed at children.
But Gameloft said the complaints were from older users known as bronies
, not from children or their parents.
A brony
is the term used to describe the adult fans of the My Little Pony game and of the TV show of the same title.
The game can be downloaded free from Apple’s App store or the Android equivalent, Google Play.
It involves building and managing the town of Ponyville. Despite being free, players have the option to pay to progress faster, using the game’s premium currency, gems — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Australia’s largest pay TV provider, Foxtel, has told the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) that Australia should follow the UK and block sites that offer copyright infringing content, such as The Pirate Bay.
Foxtel, the pay TV network that is owned by Telstra and News Limited, said in its submission (PDF) to the ALRC’s review of copyright law that the film studios should be able to go to court and force internet service providers (ISPs) to block specific websites that host infringing content.
We submit that parliament should provide the courts with the power to order ISPs to block specific sites. This power would be exercised after application by a rights holder and result in the issuing of an injunction that applies to all ISPs,
Foxtel said. This legislation would be similar to that used in the UK to block piracy sites, such as The Pirate Bay
— via redwolf.newsvine.com
Belfast Zoo keepers are hearing the pitter patter
of tiny webbed feet as parents, Charlie and Lola, have welcomed baby Sheila, the Capybara! Capybaras are found in South America and are, in fact, semi-aquatic, with webbed feet (hence their scientific name is hydrochoerus
which means water hog
). Capybaras can actually stay underwater for up to five minutes which allows them to hide from predators — via ZooBorns
One of the world’s creepiest creatures may be the source of new kinds of petroleum-free plastics and super-strong fabrics, according to research by scientists in Canada studying the hagfish, a bottom-dwelling creature that hasn’t evolved for 300 million years and produces a sticky slime when threatened. The gooey material is actually a kind of protein that turns into choking strands of tough fibres when released into the water.
A research team at Canada’s University of Guelph managed to harvest the slime from the fish, dissolve it in liquid, and then reassemble its structure by spinning it like silk. It’s an important first step in being able to process the hagfish slime into a usable material, according to Atsuko Negishi, a research assistant and lead author on the paper in this week’s journal Biomacromolecules.
We’re trying to understand how they make these threads and how we can learn from that to make protein-based fibres that have excellent mechanical properties,
Negishi said. The first step is can we harvest the threads. It turns out that is doable
— via redwolf.newsvine.com
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