BenQ Black Box Concept Takes on Apple iPhone

After seeing this concept phone, I sure hope Apple has something cool up their sleeve for the iPhone announcement expected in January of ’07. The “soft” interface on the BenQ Siemens Black Box is amazing. It’s not really a phone, it’s a black candy-bar canvas with infinite possibilities. It’s a calculator, it’s a video game system, it’s email, it’s a radio, it’s a phone! If this thing becomes real and even approaches the looks of the concept version, it will be obscenely popular. I love the interface design. And I love the idea of adaptable interfaces that change to suit your use. The Fly and the Optimus Keyboard are two other examples of kick-ass interface ideas.

Tempbot – Can Multitask

Neill Blomkamp is a remarkable film maker. He specialises in making the near future into his latest film project. He also loves robots. And after the Honda fiasco below I thought a little faith restoration was in order. Check out his other work on YouTube (remember that Citroen C4 dancing car? Here’s the warm-up.). He’s apparently the director for the Halo film as well.

Asimo Suffers Embarrassing Fall On His Head

Well folks, we are a looooong way off from having these things clean our houses and perform light yard work. Not only is this cute little guy unbearably slow, but he can’t make it up a simple flight of stairs. I like the way the Honda team immediately blocks the view of the robot, like some twisted Japanese version of the restaurant scene in Brazil. Suddenly the lights are dimmed, dividers are unfolded around Asimo, and the young girl just stands by the stage the entire time. It sounds like the robot keeps talking, even after he smashes his head, but I can’t speak Japanese. Can anyone translate? I think my favourite part is when Honda turns off their sign that reads, “Honda: The Power of Dreams”. It’s all kind of sad, but I’ll say it again: I don’t think robots are going to take over the Earth any time soon.

Get Mortified Online

Hailed a “cultural phenomenon” by Newsweek and featured frequently on This American Life, Mortified is a comic excavation of teen angst artifacts (journals, poems, letters, lyrics, home movies, schoolwork) as shared by their original authors… in front of total strangers. As the largest and longest-running project of its kind, our grassroots comedy collective has spent years sifting through hundreds of otherwise forgotten notebooks while paving the way for a strange new brand of entertainment.

Marmeduke = Not Funny. Marmeduke Explained = Hilarious

My brother and I used to make fun of Marmeduke as the least funniest “Funny” in the Funny Papers. I remember getting far much more pleasure mocking the strip than reading it. Such must be the case for Joe Mathlete and his side-splitting blog entitled Joe Mathlete Explains Today’s Marmeduke (in 500 words or less). Here’s a sample:

Marmaduke is wearing a pair of specially-modified dog skis on his daily walk through his neighborhood, where it has recently snowed. His owner-lady pleads with him not to get carried away and attempt any dangerous maneuvers, but truth be told, Owner-Lady forfeited any and all rights to her own physical well-being the moment she allowed herself to be dragged behind a monstrous Great Dane on skis who lives to torment and humiliate her. The shit-eating grin on Marmaduke’s face indicates that fancy slalom stuff was a foregone conclusion.

One would think Joe Mathlete might be a mild-mannered geek who loves poking a little fun at something while building a niche-cult following. The answer, according to Joe’s MySpace blog, couldn’t be further from the truth:

While I am very flattered and encouraged that my blog is being blogged about by other blogs that blog about other blogs (“blog blogs,” as I refer to them (as of right this moment)), I have noticed that I have no readily apparent way to make money from this endeavor without opening myself up to potential litigation from Marmaduke’s publisher, Marmaduke creator Brad Anderson, or Marmaduke himself.

This perturbs me.

I have always been one to create art for art’s sake and nothing more, but “Joe Mathlete Explains Today’s Marmaduke (In 500 Words or Less)” is not art, nor is it in any way pleasurable to create. I agonize over each and every explaination, and the soul-crushing and mechanical drudgery of updating a blog on a somewhat regular basis is crushing my soul in a drudgily mechanical fashion. Also I’m working this office job nowadays, which is similar but takes up slightly more time, and is infinity percent more lucrative (in the sense that something is infinity percent more than nothing).

Joe also enjoys drawing pictures of nipples on Ziggy’s nose, and has just completed a strange Danniel Johnston-esque album called Fort Awesome by The Mathletes. You can pick it up for 5 bucks through Asaurus Records. He does a pretty cool cover of the Cranberries “Linger“. Damn I love the internet!

Viral Video Chart Countdown on YouTube

I love the Viral Video Chart. I check it daily to see what the most popular online videos are from MySpace, YouTube, and others. We even link to their cool RSS feed in our sidebar (look to your right). It looks like the guys over there have begun to compile all these hits into a short TopTen countdown. Check it out.

2.0 Many Logos

Nathan Fox – King of Technicolour

Nathan Fox is a ridiculously prolific and talented illustrator/art guy.
And his website is in 3D! You should visit the self-proclaimed Technicolour Art King.

Link.

Rabbit: Best Animated Short of 2006?

A psychedelic storybook come to life, Rabbit spins an eerie childhood fable of the consequence of greed. I would vote this as the most enjoyable piece of animation I have come across all year.

Watch the quicktime version courtesy of motionographer.com.

The Watchismo Times: Blog for Watch Fetishists

Watchismo describes himself thus:

Obsessively punctual, horologically verbose, Watchismo, flouts the rules of physics — he collects Time. Specializing in unusual, vintage wristwatches of the 1950s-1980s, he is currently germinating his blog, The Watchismo Times, a reliquary of obscure timepieces from bygone eras as well as the cutting-edge designs of today. Watchismo’s affection for Oddity was evident from childhood, then nourished during his first job — in the art department of Pee-wee’s Playhouse — before he was even old enough to order his own absinthe. As his vintage watch collection grew, so did his eccentric vision, which pupated during his years as a dimensional illustrator for the likes of Rolling Stone, Absolut, Taco Bell, Warner Bros, and Budweiser. Finally he emerged from his chrysalis as the time-sensitive man he is today. Watchismo.com is the website where you can purchase vintage timepieces from his personal collection. At this moment, he is winding up for the genesis of his own creation — the first original Watchismo watch.