I know there are people out there who don’t like Star Wars. I also acknowledge there have been far too many art projects online lately that involve people dressing up in various Star Wars costumes and posing for ironic effect. But I really like this one:
via FFFFound
I came across a post on CrunchGear about some University of Washington students experimenting with a new video manipulation technique using still photographs to enhance or alter video.
The results are unreal. Check this out:
Did you see the part where they used a layer mask to remove a No Parking sign? That would usually take forever to do in After Effects.
Amazing.
Aegir Hallmundur from the Ministry of Type has a fascinating article on the math that goes into making geometric patterns on currency. The math is definitely way above my head, but it’s interesting to think about the detail that goes into making money look the way it does — including anti-counterfeiting ‘flaws’ that are introduced into the patterns.
From the Ministry of Type
This got me tinking a little more about all of the techniques that go into making money more difficult to counterfeit — and counterfeiting in general. As color printing has evolved, it’s become harder and harder for the Treasury to make bills with details that could not be replicated when the bills were scanned and printed. To help curtail counterfeiting, I know that the Treasury has worked with printer manufacturers and providers of image editing software to make sure their technology doesn’t allow users free reign to make high-quality fake currency.
You learn all sorts of fun facts when you start digging into this stuff. A friend of the family who works as a consultant to the Treasury Department on anti-counterfeiting once told us just how many points of reference there are in a banknote. I can’t remember precisely how many, but it’s a lot. She also said that nearly all $100 bills in circulation have traces of cocaine on them.
Fascinating.
More fun currency morsels:
So after the show, I was walking back through Brooklyn and came across this amazing antiques store called Junk.
I have never felt lust for furniture before. But I guess there’s a first time for everything.
It wasn’t even that they had anything particularly mind-blowing. Or maybe it felt like everything they had was nibs-bowing. I’m not sure.
What I can definitely tell you is that i’ve never felt that strong a nesting impulse before. The overwhelming desire to buy an old loft way off the beaten pathname furnish it entirely with cheap, worn out, mismatching antiques.
God. Is this what it’s like to be a hipster?
I’m waiting for the Regina Spektor concert to start. I’m sitting in McCarren Park Pool in Brooklyn and I swear it has never looked more like the sky could open up at any second.
Rain or shine baby. Rain or shine.
PS – there’s not anything particularly geeky about this post except the fact that I wrote this post from WordPress’ iPhone app. Including the pic. Pretty sweet if you ask me.
… Meanwhile the opening act (some wanker from The Strokes) == tres boring.
And now … It’s raining. Maybe if it keeps up we’ll be able to swim in the pool!
So a friend just sent me a link to this blog dedicated to the worst possible tatoos. Some of these can be excused by late-night liquor-driven decision-making. And others… who knows? Like this:
Oh! Chewie is Irish! That explains so much!
What?
There’s more. It really just keeps getting worse as you go.
Check it out: Awful Tatoos
Ok. I know. This shouldn’t be my own personal reading list — I don’t want this blog to turn into an interminable list of ‘The Books Jeff Wants to Read But Probably Won’t Get Around To For Like 5 Years’ … but if this blog were to turn into such a list, this book would be it. Sounds cool:
The Amnesiac by Sam Taylor
You can read more about it on VSL