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A hypothetical

jwray (http://jwray.videosift.com) — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 09:11:01 -0700

(1 comment - 10 views)

If the USA had preempted Pearl Harbor, might the reconstruction of Japan have turned out as badly as present day Iraq?

The sheer propaganda value one gains by being on defense vastly outweighs any small military advantage that might be obtained through preemption.

- jwray

Dr. Horrible (Joss Whedon, Felicia Day)

Thylan (http://grindhouse.videosift.com/member/Thylan) — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 04:00:55 -0700

(4 comments - 27 views)
Stolen shamelly from Penny Arcade

//:-

I didn't post a link to it because I see links to it everywhere, and you've already seen it anyway, because you're a cool person who is perpetually in the know. Even so, I couldn't take the chance, because the one thing most links to Dr. Horrible don't include is a dire warning about its ephemeral nature.

That's correct: it will be dragged off the Internet very soon, to be placed on a DVD and made available for purchase. Parts one and two are already avaiable at the site, and part three comes out on Saturday. After that, it all gets pulled down on Sunday. It's a supervillain musical written by Joss Whedon, starring a bunch of awesome motherfuckers.

Why are you still here.

(CW)TB

//:-

He's right. I would be failing you if i did not do the same.

Mutant Enemy Productions (Joss Whedon)
Starring:
Neil Patrick Harris
Nathan Fillion
Felicia Day (*- We like her in The Guild)

Available on iTunes for a couple of dollars each, 3 parts. or free on the site right NOW.

Go there. Uses some kind of Hulu powered thing that works for me in the UK

- Thylan

What is Plurk?

dotdude (http://dotdude.videosift.com) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:12:07 -0700

(3 comments - 14 views)

One of the downsides of Twitter is that the site is often down. Some of us, in our frustration, have turned to another site called Plurk. It has similar features, but it set up for threads.

Here is the FAQ. There is a blog that chronicles features that are added.

Plurkers seek higher states of karma. The higher you go, the more perks you earn - including more lively emoticons.

Plurk highlights Interesting Plurkers.

Here's my profile on Plurk.

Some new features were just added on Friday. I'm still learning about how the site works, too.

- dotdude

The Problem of Cross-Genre Covers on Slate

dag (http://dag.videosift.com) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 20:01:47 -0700

(1 comment - 16 views)
Here's a very interesting article on cross genre covers - (actually one of my fav. kinds of music) and the last link in the article is to a VideoSift post. Goulet baby!

- dag

History of the Jeep, full show

kronosposeidon (http://kronosposeidon.videosift.com) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:20:28 -0700

(0 comments - 41 views)

Thanks to syncron for putting this playlist together. This is in reference to my post "History of the Jeep, Part 2 of 5": http://www.videosift.com/video/History-of-the-Jeep-Part-2-of-5-1002

- kronosposeidon

Why So Serious? Because Heath Ledger is Amazing!

blankfist (http://blankfist.videosift.com) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 09:11:17 -0700

(2 comments - 56 views)
Go see The Dark Knight (like you needed me to tell you that!). Heath Ledger lives up to the hype. He's amazing as the Joker. I saw it last night at 3:30am at the Arclight in Hollywood. What an incredible movie! The score was amazing, too!

Anyone else see it? Let's hear your thoughts! Possible SPOILERS inside.

- blankfist

Giving Twitter another try

dag (http://dag.videosift.com) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 05:40:24 -0700

(4 comments - 57 views)
Following on Lucky's post - I'm giving Twitter another try. I used to think that micro-posts like "I'm riding the train home from work" were kind of pointless- but I've since been following a few Twitter feeds, and it is kind of fascinating to get some insight into people's every day happenings. I've posted the applet in my blog sidebar ---->

Link to me here.

- dag

Invisibility Carpet Possible in 1-2 Years

lucky760 (http://lucky760.videosift.com) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:32:48 -0700

(2 comments - 56 views)

Invisible Carpet Idea Close to Actual Invisibility
Eric Bland, Discovery News

July 17, 2008 -- Invisibility cloaks are cool, but an invisibility carpet is more practical.

That's according to scientists from Imperial College London, who recently published a paper detailing the creation of a material that would be the first to hide objects in visible light, something no cloaking device has ever achieved.

"We've given a prescription for how to cloak something in visible light," said John Pendry, who, along with Jensen Li, wrote the paper that appeared recently on ArXiv.org. "It will be difficult to make but it is also practical."

Cloaking an object requires structures, often referred to as metamaterials, that channel light in a specific way.

The only way to channel light in that fashion is by using structures smaller than the wavelength of light being used to detect an object. In 2006, Duke University scientists cloaked an object from light centimeters long by creating a metamaterial with structures millimeters in size.

To cloak an object in visible light, which has a much smaller wavelength, around half a micron, scientists would have to create structures nanometers in size, which, according to Pendry, "requires some clever nanotechnology."

That nanotechnology would come from combining special layers of common silica and silicon, each of which reflects light differently.

"It's a lot like a mirage," said Pendry. "The sun heats the air above the desert and creates a temperature gradient, so when light from the sky comes down the graded refraction bends the light and it enters your eye and you see a mirage the looks like water."

....

Read the rest of the story at Discovery News.

- lucky760

From the Darkest Jungles of the Uncanny Valley

NicoleBee (http://nicolebee.videosift.com) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 03:58:17 -0700

(3 comments - 65 views)

Here be bad tinkering with Zbrush/etc! Maybe this blog will be a WIP sketchbook. Maybe. Mostly to arrange progress for myself, but if you'd like to take a look at bad, lumpy sculpts, by all means!

Blarg. Vaguely for the purpose of Face-Anatomy practice. But While I'm halfway pleased with how this is turning out, as an anatomy study she's still a -long- ways away. I'm not entirely sure what to try to resculpt, though the eyes seem to need attention of.. some sort, and the mouth should be widened I think. The ears will need to be joined at the head in a more natural fashion, but I want to leave that for a little later when I have them polygrouped properly...

I sure hope snip works.

EDIT: July 17, 2008, 4:20AM

Just a couple of minor tweaks in three crucial areas - eyes, mouth and ears. They aren't even big ones - but I'm hoping to introduce more natural proportions and then resculpt them properly once I feel I'm doing more than flailing in random directions trying to fix this study

*try compressing sides of head a little more at ears

- NicoleBee

Llama Costume Contest Highlights...watch 3rd one if you watch one at all

swampgirl (http://swampgirl.videosift.com) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 18:22:49 -0700

(9 comments - 88 views)

Here are three clips from the costume contest. The first one is our entry. Unfortunately, he got caught on the gate coming in and almost lost his costume. The second is the return at the end for ribbons...you can see he almost ripped a whole side off there. He stepped on it outside waiting after bolting from a loud vehicle riding by.

The last video though is the one to watch though. It's announcements of the winners and Sterling the Llama is hungry after his long day and decides to snack on Bethany's hat in front of the audience. Comedy ensues!

The Viva Pinata music Lucky helped get for us.. Thanks Lucky! We dedicate our 3rd place ribbon to you

- swampgirl