Wiley vs Rhodes

Apache Pictures made a short film that imagines Wile E Coyote and the Road Runner as human beings. It’s called Wiley vs Rhodes. The special effects are impressive for an independent short film — via Neatorama

Strange ‘long-whiskered owl’ spotted in Peru

A group of twitchers in Peru have caught a rare glimpse of a bizarre-looking bird not seen for 26 years.

The bird-watchers spotted a long-whiskered owlet, a species first discovered in 1976 that has remained largely out of sight since.

The tiny species, Xenoglaux loweryi, has long bristles around its beak, and delicate feathers that extend into whiskers.

Its formal Latin name actually means strange owl — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Ventilating Mines with Repurposed Airplane Engines

Ventilating Mines with Repurposed Airplane Engines

I had never heard of a Gorniczy Agregat Gasniczy apparatus prior to the Pike River Mine disaster still unfolding in New Zealand, where one such device is about to be deployed.

The GAG, as it’s known, is a jet engine inertisation unit developed for use in mines, controlling and suppressing coal seam fires, Wikipedia explains—another way of saying that it is literally a jet engine that you plug into one end of a sealed mine in order to blow high-powered chemical winds (carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and water vapor) into the tunnels below. These gases then lower the oxygen levels, suppressing fires and forcing methane out of the mine — via BLDGBLOG

Media Alliance warns of muzzling of Australian media over Wikileaks

Journalists union The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance has come to the defence of anonymous disclosure site WikiLeaks.

In a statement this afternoon, the union accused Amazon, which withdrew hosting services from WikiLeaks, of caving in to hysteria.

It follows the release by Wikileaks – which is led by the Australian Julian Assange – of a huge amount of diplomatic exchanges involving the US.

Federal secretary Chris Warren said: Amazon’s decision is extremely disappointing. We need to take a step back from the hysteria. It is not known whether WikiLeaks has broken any law. It has – via a free media – upheld the public’s right to know — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Google Search Engine Now Detects Bad Businesses

In an uncharacteristically public way, Google has acknowledged modifying its search engine so it can identify businesses that provide bad service and lower their search results rankings accordingly.

Google took action after a recent story in The New York Times detailed the tactics of an online eyeware store owner who claimed his site’s high Google rankings were directly proportional to the many complaints posted by upset customers — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Gabriel Dawe’s Thread Installations

I’m completely enthralled by these colorful thread installations by Gabriel Dawe. I had the good fortune to spend some time with Fred Sandback when I worked at the Dia Center many years ago, and this seems like an exuberant reinterpretation of those minimalist string sculptures. It’s incredible the way the thread just looks like colored mist from a distance, but is incredibly complex up close — via CRAFT

Much Much Go

Much Much Go

I spent most of last Saturday at Australia’s top custom shop, Deus Ex Machina, as one of the judges of the inaugural Boundless Enthusiasm Bike Build-Off. There were over thirty bikes in the yard, with chrome and paintwork glinting under the unseasonably hot sun. Before the judging officially started, I wandered around incognito and checked out the bikes. Four machines immediately jumped out at me, and of those four, just one appeared to meet the primary judging criteria: Making the most with the least. That bike was Much Much Go, built by industrial designer Nick Eterovic. And by the end of the day, Nick had won not only the First Prize, but also the People’s Choice award — via Bike EXIF