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Flash spider toy

Al — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:34:21 +0000

This is a very realistic looking spider. All created in Flash and capable of following your mouse pointer, or of being controlled by you. I think this is a very good piece of animation, and it just shows how far we have come to be able to have such a realistic piece of animation running inside an ordinary browser.

Do you have a facebook?

Al — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 22:09:59 +0000

If so you might want to stop using it after watching this short video. Who would have thought that Facebook had so much capital invested into it by people who might be very interested in knowing who you are and what you are up to? Watch and decide for yourself.

Wim Delvoye – weird artist, clever website

Al — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 21:41:08 +0000

I’m not sure I like this guy’s art, although some of it is definitely more to my taste than the rest, but I rather like the way he has designed his website. He’s built a nice orthogonal 8-bit town to provide meaningful links to various aspects of his work. His Art Farm is clearly visible as a farm, and his more scatological pieces are hinted at by having a toilet to click on. Definitely a clever way of presenting your work to the viewer.

Electric Oyster

Al — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 21:24:34 +0000

If you’ve ever fancied flying across an Arctic landscape to the sound of Jean Michel Jarre then your luck is in. Electric Oyster are a design team keen to show off their Flash based talent, and this is how they would like to do so. I found it quite relaxing, and I’ve always liked Oxygene or Equinox – whichever the track is that is played during your flight. Have a look here and see if you like it too.

50GB of online storage for free

Al — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:39:37 +0000

Storage and bandwidth just keep getting cheaper, which means that more people keep offering online services for free. The latest that I’ve become aware of is this offering from Adrive.com, who offer 50GB of storage for free, with a more secure setup running at $6.95 a month and up to 1TB of storage available, but at a price. If you want basic online, offsite storage then the free option might suit you nicely.

epMotion – possibly the most bizarre product site in a long time

Al — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 00:29:39 +0000

I never knew that pipetting caused such strain on your thumbs, or that an automated pipetting system would be such a boon to an overworked lab assistant. And I would never have guessed that to sell such a system the makers would consider bringing in a boy band to entice the attractive lab assistant into considering saving her thumbs. Really, quite bizarre.

„So put down that pipette, I got something that will set you free“

How old is very old?

Al — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 00:09:29 +0000

This is an interesting website – full of data on ages of various living creatures. If you follow this link then you should see the ages of some of the longest lived creatures, with a sponge weighing in at 15,000 years old! Quite how you measure the age of a sponge is a mystery to me, but I’ll trust the guys who measured it had some form of scientific method. Number 4 in the list is a quahog, which means Family Guy lives in a town named after a clam.

A Nazi bunker in the garden

Al — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 00:02:46 +0000

If you live on Jersey then a) you have lots of money, and b) you have the chance of uncovering a Nazi bunker on your property. Fortunately, this is a good combination, as the lots of money bit allows you to excavate and explore the Nazi bunker bit – which is exactly what this gentleman has done. I’m pleased that he has spent the money well, has documented the process with some good photographs, and that he is techy enough to blog the entire process. Keep up the good work is what I say.

Virgin’s stunning news feed viewer

Al — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:23:30 +0000

This is a beautiful piece of Flash animation, that polls various Virgin sites and projects the newest and latest feeds from those sites into a bejewelled radar effect. I really like it, it seems usable and responsive. It could do with a zoom option, although saying that, it does tilt slightly towards your pointer as you move around. Very pretty indeed.

Walkscore – how walkable is your home?

Al — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 02:50:31 +0000

I quite like the idea of this site, which looks at your location (providing you live in North America or the UK) and works out how many conveniences there are local to you which are within easy walking distance. It does quite well, although I think that its reliance on Google Maps means that it can be let down at times. I live within easy walking distance of the city centre, and have every possible convenience within half a mile of me, however since some cinemas and gyms have not listed themselves with Google Maps my score is a paltry 67%. Also, it lists my nearest park as 2 miles away, but I have a fantastic beach less than half a mile from me, a river 100 metres away and hillside walk less than half a mile away as well. Still – I like the idea and I plan on walking, or cycling more. Visit Walkscore.com and find out how walk friendly your home is.