soma

Crimson Sun

crimson sun

pale orange light

pierces and echoes

spreads like a virus

I'm surrounded

wrapped in color

rose tinted air

encapsulating and engulfing

hazy sky
surrounds faux landscapes

fires rage far beyond

reach my eyes and burn

I can hear myself breathing

I close the window to breath

I hide to breathe the air inside

nature no longer safe

I escape

I lay down and watch the red crawl along the wall until the walls return to white

it falls below the great mountain and into the sea

it dies a slow death and returns each morning to crawl along my walls

Hannes Broecker - Drink Away The Art

Hannes Broecker has brilliantly invited the cultural elite to grab a glass at an exhibition in Dresden, Germany, and drink away the art. Broecker has aroused our sense of taste by hanging flat, glass containers with a variety of cocktails in the exhibition space. As the night progressed, the levels of the multi-coloured infusions diminished. By the end of the event, the art, itself, ran dry, and empty drinking glasses were returned to where they were originally placed.
By Andrew J Wiener (spotted by CH reader, Chris Bothge)
http://www.thecoolhunter.net/art/

Oscar, you will be infinitely missed

Oscar Wickman
Rescued: November, 26 2001
Passed: June 15, 2008

Masaru Tatsuki’s Decotora Photo Op

Cold neon signs in a dark cityscape... It's a "Decotora," one of the decorated trucks that light up Japan's highways in a vivid amusement park style. From Masaru Tatsuki's photo book "Decotora, 1998-2007 Japanese Art Truck Scene" published by Little More. © Masaru Tatsuki
http://pingmag.jp/2008/01/31/decotora/http://pingmag.jp/2008/01/31/decotora/http://pingmag.jp/2008/01/31/decotora/

New iPhone, not all that...

What's missing?
Unfortunately, we hoped for an even larger bundle of features in this round. Apple still leaves multimedia messaging out of the mix along with voice dialing and video recording. We still don't understand why Apple can't include these basic features, many found in even the cheapest and simplest cell phones. We were also hoping for a landscape keyboard, the capability to cut and paste, Flash support for the Safari Web browser, expanded memory, and additional Bluetooth profiles. Apple, you left us hanging in a big way. It's also disappointing to hear that the dock is now sold separately for $49, but we suppose that helped cut the price. No, you don't need the dock, but it's nice to have. Even the power adapter and the SIM card removal tool that now come in the box won't make up for its loss.

Should you buy it?
If you're an iPhone fence-sitter, now's the time. The addition of 3G and GPS, the affordable price tag, and extra features from the iPhone 2.0 software update make the iPhone 3G a worthy prospect. Unlike the previous iPhone, which we liked and recommended with reservations, we're much happier with what this new handset has to offer. iPhone 3G isn't perfect, but there's a lot to like here and we approach the device with much anticipation. We'll update this page with a full, rated review once we get our hands on the hardware.



User opinions:
1/10 Abysmal June 10, 2008 by
"Lol 3G iphone outdated even before release"
4/10 Mediocre June 10, 2008
by akiraazn15 (see profile)
"apple's second epic FAIL"
9/10 Spectacular June 10, 2008
by SpringCleric (see profile)
"Advancements can only be better"

http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/apple-iphone-3g-8gb/4505-6452_7-33064709.html

test

Dark Matter in a Galaxy Supercluster

The Violent Lives of Galaxies: Caught in the Cosmic Dark Matter Web.

Published as a NASA news release in January, 2008.

Dark Matter Map: Astronomers assembled this photo by combining a visible-light image of the Abell 901/902 supercluster taken with the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope in La Silla, Chile, with a dark matter map derived from observations with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The magenta-tinted clumps represent a map of the dark matter in the cluster. Dark matter is an invisible form of matter that accounts for most of the universe's mass. The image shows that the supercluster galaxies lie within the clumps of dark matter.Hubble cannot see the dark matter directly. Astronomers inferred its location by analyzing the effect of so-called weak gravitational lensing, where light from more than 60,000 galaxies behind Abell 901/902 is distorted by intervening matter within the cluster. Researchers used the observed, subtle distortion of the galaxies' shapes to reconstruct the dark matter distribution in the supercluster....

http://geology.com/nasa/dark-matter-in-a-galaxy-supercluster.shtml

Ultra Mod Marimekko heels!!! Gimme!

Mars Lander Is Poised to Begin Digging for Ice

Mars Lander Is Poised to Begin Digging for Ice

By KENNETH CHANG
Published: June 3, 2008
The scoop on the Phoenix’s 7.7-foot-long robotic arm will dig three trenches side by side and carry the dirt samples to instruments on the lander. The first analysis will be done by an instrument called the thermal and evolved gas analyzer, or TEGA, which heats and vaporizes the soil and then identifies the vapors....

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/03/science/space/03ice.html?ref=science

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton will endorse Senator Barack Obama on Saturday

Above: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton at a rally in New York on Tuesday.
By ADAM NAGOURNEY and JEFF ZELENY
Published: June 5, 2008
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton will endorse Senator Barack Obama on Saturday, bringing a close to her 17-month campaign for the White House, aides said. Her decision came after Democrats urged her Wednesday to leave the race and allow the party to coalesce around Mr. Obama....

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/us/politics/05dems.html?_r=1&ref=politics&oref=slogin

Obama Clinches Democratic Nomination (with the help of 26 year old genius speach writer, Favreau)

By MICHAEL LUO and JEFF ZELENY Published: June 5, 2008 With Senator Barack Obama crossing the threshold of delegates he needed to claim the Democratic presidential nomination on Tuesday evening, party leaders began to move on Wednesday to bring their lengthy primary battle to a close and unite the party, even as questions swirled about Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s next move.http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/us/politics/04cnd-campaign.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Mr. Favreau, the campaign’s 26-year-old head speechwriter, found himself in the hotel lounge with less than three hours to revise what was to have been a victory speech. What made it particularly strange was that his words were being challenged. Mrs. Clinton had helped turn her campaign around by discounting Mr. Obama’s elegant oratory, saying, “You campaign in poetry, but you govern in prose.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/fashion/20speechwriter.html?ref=fashion

The coveted Frankfurt peace prize goes to Anselm Kiefer

June 4, 2008
Euromaxx, Deutsche Welle
The coveted peace prize of the German Booksellers' Association will go to German artist Anselm Kiefer this year, the organization announced on Wednesday, June 4. The Frankfurt peace prize, which comes with 25,000 euros ($38,600), was first awarded in 1950 and usually goes to novelists, and sometimes to scholars, whose writings are deemed to improve understanding between rival nations and ethnic groups. Recent winners include historian Saul Friedlaender, sociologist Wolf Lepenies and Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk.
Kiefer, who lives in Paris, will receive the prize at a ceremony on Oct. 19, which takes place during the Frankfurt Book Fair.

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,3388067,00.html?maca=en-aa-cul-865-rdf
http://www.sfmoma.org/exhibitions/exhib_detail.asp?id=234

Worldwide Earthquake update: predictions check

My Predictions from May 23: "My predictions for upcoming activity are: Northern India region, in and off the coast of Japan, continued activity off the south-east China border, and off the coast of Oregon and Washington"

Result: Mild activity in Northern India, excessive activity in and off the coast of Japan, continued but moderate activity in south-east China, mild activity off the coast of Oregon and Washington, and excessive activity in/off coast of Alaska. Basically, I was only partially correct...further observations needed.
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/

Arrrr! Warships vs. Somali Pirates

Somalia: Puntland Authorities Laud UN Resolution Against Pirates
Shabelle Media Network (Mogadishu)
4 June 2008
Posted to the web 4 June 2008

Regional autonomy of Puntland has welcomed the decision of United Nations Security Council to send foreign warships to fight against Somali pirates in Somalia waters. Puntland Fishing and Marine Resources Minister Ahmad Said Aw Nur has said that the Puntland administration greatly welcomes the decision, adding that Puntland territory is the mostly affected area by pirates who hijack commercial and food aid vessels....
http://allafrica.com/stories/200806040737.html

Share music without hacking...I know, not as fun...

"Here at The Cool Hunter we are always on the look out for innovative gadgets that as well as being aesthetically pleasing, are also practical and can be used in real world situations. miShare is such a product. One of the biggest problems that people have with iPods is that unless you have a diploma in hacking, it is extremely difficult to share your tunes, especially without getting a computer involved. That is of course until now. Want the latest album from your friends' iPod? Simply connect both iPods to the miShare unit, press the button and away you go. It's kind of like swapping football cards in the playground, although much cooler...."

http://www.thecoolhunter.net/gadgets/

Shit...RPT-Apple iPhone encore expected next week

By Scott Hillis
"SAN FRANCISCO, June 3 (Reuters)
June has arrived and for Apple Inc (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) fans and investors that means just one thing -- a new iPhone.
The encore to the original iPhone, which launched nearly a year ago amid unprecedented industry buzz, is widely expected to be the main attraction when Chief Executive Steve Jobs takes the stage at Apple's developers' conference next Monday..."
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN0231900820080603

Jansen's "Strandbeests"

Artist Theo Jansen demonstrates the amazingly lifelike kinetic sculptures he builds from plastic tubes and lemonade bottles. His creatures are designed to move -- and even survive -- on their own.
Theo Jansen is a Dutch artist who builds walking kinetic sculptures that he calls a new form of life. His "Strandbeests" walk the coastline of Holland, feeding on wind and fleeing from water.
"We approached BMW because of their passion for technology and design (BMW Group Design Chief Chris Bangle spoke at TED2002) and because they had a strong history of supporting innovative media (BMW Films are a case in point). They came on board when TEDTalks was just an idea -- and a risky one at that. In June 2006, we launched the groundbreaking podcast series TEDTalks with BMW as our exclusive sponsor."

(Image below: Test driving the Hydrogen 7; Dr. Frank Ochmann, BMW's VP of Clean Energy, discusses hydrogen at a special lunch; The Hydrogen 7 in the conference's
Simulcast Lounge)

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/162
http://www.ted.com/index.php/pages/view/id/127