A very slick (and free) online chess game built in Flash. You can even download it and play it offline, too. LINK→
A 10-second fragment of a person singing Au clair de lune and recorded on April 9, 1860, has been discovered and played back. It was recorded with smoke and paper 17 years before Edison invented the phonograph. LINK→
Another very cool and unusual clock from Sander Mulder. This one rolls around on your desk and gives you approximate times, like “around seven, or maybe more like about eight.” A bit pricey at close to $200 in the few places I’ve seen it for sale but very nifty. Thanks Barb for calling this to my attention! LINK→
Marcel Bergmann is working on an adapation of Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells for 4 pianos. LINK→
Improve your vocabulary and help end world hunger at the same time. LINK→
NASA has wisely extended the Mars Rover mission for an unprecedented fifth time, supporting these amazing machines until 2009. LINK→
Today marks the 10th anniversary of the launch of the Cassini probe. LINK→
For the new director’s cut, the special-effects footage was digitally scanned at 8,000 lines per frame, four times the resolution of most restorations, and then meticulously retouched. The results look almost 3-D.
A nice article on the upcoming “ultimate” director’s cut of Blade Runner from the NYT. Cannot wait! LINK→
Vladstudio, run by digital artist Vlad Gerasimov, has a nice collection of digital artwork, including the rather unique item—wallpaper clocks. He offers “low-quality” one-resolution-only wallpapers for free download, and “high-quality” all-resolution wallpapers to registered users ($$$). I came across this site while checking out some of the desktops in the Lifehacker Desktop Show & Tell series, one of which was using a Vladstudio wallpaper called Telescope that I liked a lot (and am now using myself!). LINK→
Lifehacker has been running a Desktop Show & Tell series where people submit screenshots of their desktop to show off customizations and style. Its pretty neat to see how other people configure their desktops. The screenshots include Windows, Mac and Linux sets. LINK→