Burning Man Costume 2.

Because of the Burning Man ticket poopstorm (you can read about it here and here if you haven’t been made aware of it) I may not get to go this year, which is a bit of a bummer. However, I chose the theme of my costume with the intent of wearing it to a bunch of different events. For example, it’s an ocean theme, so I could march in the Mermaid Parade in Coney Island next June. And the Halloween Parade in New York in October. And maybe I can go to Burning Man next year if I don’t make it in this year. It’s all good. This costume’s gonna get worn.

In the meantime, I’ve been making more components. I took one of my father’s old crappity herringbone jackets and cut it all up to hell, then painted it. It now looks like this.

I painted it various shades of brown, then did some sponging of gold on the shoulders to give it some texture. I’m attempting to mimic the crusty complicated ocean floor. Why gold you ask? Well, I’m using gold throughout this costume because I read somewhere that there are nine pounds of dissolved gold in the ocean for every man, woman and child on Earth, which I thought was a neat scientific fact. I then added the magenta dots to increase the visual…stuff. I bet you think I splattered the magenta paint, but no, I painted each and every dot because I am a control freak and splatter-painting is too chaotic for me. I went and bought nearly identical herringbone material to make the skirt so it will look like a set. Here’s a shoulder for more detail.

I need to put weights on the two points in the front because with the rest of the jacket cut away the points stick straight out ahead. Also, I’m perfectly aware that I am the worst seamstress in the entire world, but remember two things – one, I sewed this whole thing by hand so shush; and two, trim will be going on most of the raw edges and that will cover up the shreddy bits. There’s going to be dangly bits of seaweed on the sleeves and barnacles and seastars all over, no one’s going to be looking at my awful sewing technique.

In addition to the jacket, I bought polytubing, and with assistance from Snorth (God bless you Snorth, with your bodkins and whatnot) we constructed a hoop skirt base. I need a hoop skirt because if I have lights all over this thing there needs to be a place for the battery packs to go, and I am going to hide them under the skirt. See? See what I’m doing? Very smart.

So for the hat I have made a sea anemone (or, as I call it, a sea menemenem). It’s basic structure are two cheap Indian gold bracelets, a manipulated coat hanger and a ivory-colored knee-high stocking. I used a stocking because, once again, if I can light it up it needs to be translucent. Then there are the ribbons and the wire and the plastic beads and layers and layers and layers of Mod Podge.

And finally, the scales that go on the corset. They are made out clear packing tape and sequins. That’s it. I’ve made about 120 of them, and it takes ten minutes to make one, but it’s worth it because I sewed one half of the corset and it looks super-rad. Seriously. I’m very proud of myself.

Next is sewing the skirt and painting it, and after that is making a crab, two more seastars (bigger! pinker! sparklier!), some coral, some worms, maybe a nudibranch or two, a face mask with tentacles (or maybe it will look like a wee manta ray, I haven’t decided), seaweed for my sleeves, and an umbrella/jelly.

from design-newyork.com http://design-newyork.com/blog/2012/03/13/burning-man-costume-2/

Discovery shows hit Amazon Prime Instant Video, because it's 'Dirty Jobs,' but someone has to stream it

Amazon today announced a deal that will bring a slew of content from Discovery Communications to its ever increasing selection of streamable Prime videos. The partnership includes content from such properties as the Discovery Channel, TLC and Animal Planet, amongst a handful of others, with shows like Dirty Jobs and Whale Wars coming along for the ride. At present, the total selection of videos on the service is up to more than 17,000 titles, which can be viewed for free by Amazon Prime members in the US. Press info can be found after the break.

Continue reading Discovery shows hit Amazon Prime Instant Video, because it's 'Dirty Jobs,' but someone has to stream it

Discovery shows hit Amazon Prime Instant Video, because it's 'Dirty Jobs,' but someone has to stream it originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Mar 2012 09:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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from Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/14/discovery-shows-hit-amazon-prime-instant-v...

Smallest 3D Replicas Print Out in Four Minutes

Austrian researchers broke the world record for quickest printout of a three-dimensional object in the fast-evolving field of 3D printing.

Smaller than a grain of salt, 3D replicas of cathedrals, national landmarks and race cars were printed out layer by layer in about four minutes. Looking at the photo of the blown-up replicas (see video above), it’s hard to imagine these intricate details are on a nano-scale and not full-sized.

“Until now, this technique used to be quite slow,” said Professor Jürgen Stampfl from the Institute of Materials Science and Technology at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Vienna). “The printing speed used to be measured in millimeters per second – our device can do five meters in one second.”

The researchers at TU Vienna used a process called two-photon-lithography. The technique utilizes plant resin that turns into a solid after being glazed over by a laser. The race car was made by placing 100 layers on top of one another.

The researchers say 3D printing is a product of mechanics and chemistry. A team of chemists at a lab developed the materials needed to activate the special resin.

The research team plans to take these innovations and hopefully use them in hospitals. Researchers want to apply the two-photon-lithography print process to make biological tissues.

Other 3D print-out innovations in recent months have included models of chocolate, a jawbone and miniature dinosaurs.

Would you use biological body parts or organs developed from 3D printing technologies? Tell us in the comments.

Image courtesy of the Vienna University of Technology

More About: 3d printing, innovation, Tech

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Aereo TV broadcast-streaming service launching today... in NYC

Aereo TV broadcast-streaming service launching today... in NYC
Despite getting served by a mighty squad of TV networks, Aereo's keeping its original plans of launching on March 14th. However, the broadcast-streaming service will only be available to folks living in the Big Apple -- at least for now. If you're unfamiliar with the startup's offerings, $12 a month gets you all major network and local TV channels on any Cupertino-born device (iPad, iPhone, MacBook Pro, etc) and Roku boxes, though with HTML5 support you can tune in on most anything with Safari as the browser. Meanwhile, native support for the green robot army is said to be "coming soon." Aeroe's letting all newcomers in on a 90-day day free trial, so those of you in the land of bridges and tunnels can head over to the source link below.

Continue reading Aereo TV broadcast-streaming service launching today... in NYC

Aereo TV broadcast-streaming service launching today... in NYC originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Mar 2012 12:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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from Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/14/aereo-tv-broadcast-streaming-service-nyc-l...

Can a Startup Renaissance Fix Young America?


A “startup renaissance” could finally shrink America’s record-high youth unemployment rate. At least that’s how John Harthorne, CEO of startup accelerator MassChallenge, sees it.

Harthorne is the founder and CEO of MassChallenge, a successful Boston-based competitive startup accelerator that grants $1 million to startups that have the “highest impact.”

Those high-impact startups end up growing and hiring young talent, he says.

“America has lost its creative edge. How do we restore it? It’s created by startups.”

“America has lost its creative edge,” Harthorne says. “How do we restore it? It’s created by startups. All recent net job growth has been created by companies under five years of age.”

Harthorne’s plan to ignite a worldwide rebirth of startups comes in three stages, modeled on the template of MassChallenge.

First, Harthorne calls for the design of “a massive startup accelerator based on input and support from experienced leaders.”

A startup accelerator is an organization that provides startups with early funding, office space or connections with influential people that can help bring a startup idea to fruition.

In building MassChallenge, Harthorne wanted to go big: at least 100 startups at a time. And he recognized that he didn’t have the expertise to do it alone, so he enlisted the help and advice of top entrepreneurs and startup owners in the Boston tech community.

Next, Harthorne suggests turning the accelerator into a competition. A competitive format helps MassChallenge address the challenges of attracting attention and engagement, it helps the tech community identify startups with the potential to succeed, and it celebrates and helps connect the most successful entrepreneurs with the resources they need to keep working.

Finally, Harthorne’s plan calls for celebrating startups that create something of value for everyone’s benefit rather than those that focus on maximizing profits for themselves. He says this belief will encourage startups to serve as a rising tide that that lifts all boats, helping to reduce youth unemployment in the U.S.

“Startups are vital for value creation in the economy,” he says. “They are new businesses by definition, and as innovators, startups sometimes invent or redefine whole industries. We wanted to do our part to help re-emphasize sustainable value creation. Something pretty amazing happened when we made that decision. The community rallied around our tiny, unknown organization with an overwhelming outpouring of support.”

MassChallenge accelerated 111 startups in its first year, and another 125 the next. Those first 111 startups have gone from having fewer than 300 employees to more than 800 in a year’s time. If MassChallenge’s template could be applied to other places around the U.S., it may have the potential to make a serious dent in youth unemployment.

Harthorne’s full plan will be published in the #FixYoungAmerica book, available in May.

For that book, the #FixYoungAmerica campaign has asked the top thinkers in technology, business and education to come up with ideas for alleviating youth unemployment and underemployment through entrepreneurship. Mashable has been given an inside look at some of the ideas that focus on technology’s role in helping to get more young people hired to do innovative work. For the next several weeks, Mashable will be highlighting these technology-focused ideas to create jobs for American youth.

What do you think of MassChallenge’s model as a way to help Fix Young America? Sound off in the comments below.


BONUS: How Do Co-Founders Meet? 17 Startups Tell All



1. Airbnb -- Nathan Blecharczyk, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia


I moved to San Francisco in early 2007 and found an apartment and a roommate through Craigslist -- that's how I met Joe. He was a designer, and I was an engineer at another startup at the time. I later moved out, and Brian -- who knew Joe from the Rhode Island School of Design -- moved in. That was the initial connection for the three of us.

While I lived with Joe, I came to appreciate two things about him -- he worked just as hard as I did, and his skills complemented my own. I have the technical abilities, and he had the creative design skills.

In the summer of 2008, there was a design conference in San Francisco, and there was a hotel shortage. We needed to make rent and thought a good way to make a little additional cash would be to rent out our air mattresses in the apartment. We made a website and got an incredible amount of responses, and we realized we could be on to something.

- Nathan Blecharczyk

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Thumbnail image courtesy of iStockphoto, lisegagne

More About: fixyoungamerica, masschallenge, Social Good, Startups, US

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from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2012/03/14/startup-renaissance/?utm_source=feedburner&utm...

Peel App Reveals Most-Booed ‘American Idol’ Contestant


TV discovery app Peel on Wednesday launched Idol Interactive Experience, a second-screen engagement platform that lets viewers “cheer” or “boo” contestants and judges in real time.

Peel data from last night’s top 12 performance show reveal which singers are most likely to be eliminated during tonight’s results show. Leading the chorus of boos were not-so-stellar performances from Heejun Han, DeAndre Brackensick and Shannon Magrane.

The graphic above depicts the intensity level of cheers (in blue) and boos (in orange) for singers as they performed, or as in Jermaine Jones’s case, as he was disqualified for his recently surfaced criminal past.

Peel users pressed buttons on their iOS devices to express how they felt about the performances and judges’ comments. And before host Ryan Seacrest even opened voting to the masses, users got to see the sentiment results from other Idol viewers.

For example, the results updated in real time as the contestants sang and the judges gave their critiques. Hollie Cavanagh topped the Idol Interactive Experience’s leaderboard for her rendition of Celine Dion’s “The Power of Love” (pictured left).

Front-runner Jessica Sanchez — who wooed America last week with Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” — didn’t impress the judges this week with “Turn the Beat Around,” but the Peel community still put her in third place just behind Cavanagh and Joshua Ledet.

Interestingly, judge Jennifer Lopez garnered the most cheers of the night but also the most boos out of the three judges.

Fellow judge Randy Jackson got the most love with 70% positive rating.

SEE ALSO: ‘American Idol’ Judge Turns To Pinterest After Sparkly Pin Ignites Buzz

“We think we’re still just in the first inning here as far as what social TV is capable of,” Peel’s vice president of marketing Scott Ellis recently told Mashable.

Mashable will be bringing you Peel data every week until a winner is announced, but do you think a tool like this can accurately predict who will be eliminated? Sound off in the comments.


Watch the March 14 Performances and Judge for Yourself



Phillip Phillips Sings "Hard To Handle"


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Thumbnail image courtesy of iStockphoto, powerofforever

More About: american idol, apps, Entertainment, mobile apps, Music, second screen apps, Social Media, social tv, TV

from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2012/03/15/american-idol-peel-app/?utm_source=feedburner&...

HBO GO teases vocal controls via Kinect, coming soon to Xbox 360 (video)

We knew it'd be arriving on April 1st, but now we're actually longing for it. HBO has just released a half-minute teaser propping up the impending release of HBO GO on Xbox 360, and while it's available on a plethora of other platforms, being able to verbally command HBO (through Kinect, of course) to play your favorite shows just takes the enticement up another level. Care to see for yourself? Tap that video just after the jump.

Continue reading HBO GO teases vocal controls via Kinect, coming soon to Xbox 360 (video)

HBO GO teases vocal controls via Kinect, coming soon to Xbox 360 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Mar 2012 16:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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from Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/15/hbo-go-xbox-360-kinect-control-video/

'Dueling Banjos' Performed By Two Tesla Coils

tesla-dueling-banjos.jpg This is a video of two Tesla coils going at it hillbilly backwoods style and performing 'Dueling Banjos'. Which one wins? Neither, they were both unplugged immediately afterward and spent the next four months collecting dust in the corner of some dude's garage. Not gonna lie, I probably would have thrown the competition and made a run for it. "Tesla coils can't run." But they can dance. "Let me guess -- the electric slide?" The electri-- YOU. RUIN. EVERYTHING. Hit the jump for the zip-zapping like a pig.

from Geekologie - Gadgets, Gizmos, and Awesome http://www.geekologie.com/2012/03/dueling-banjos-performed-by-two-tesla-co.php

Why There Will Never Be One Social Network to Rule Them All


Mashable OP-ED: This post reflects the opinions of the author and not necessarily those of Mashable as a publication.

Jeff Tinsley is the founder and CEO of MyLife.com, the leading social service for connecting your social networks and email services all in one place.

Every other week, it seems a new stat pops up, released to prove that social network X is more popular than social network Y. Whether it’s Facebook dominating the market, Google+ adding users fast, or newcomer Pinterest grabbing 11 million visits in one month, the battle of the social networks shows no sign of letting up. Many ask, “Who will be the ultimate winner?” But perhaps this is the wrong question.

Mounting evidence suggests that the battle of the social networks isn’t a zero sum game. Both Facebook and Google+ are growing in popularity and activity. Tumblr continues to demonstrate it’s more than a fad for millennials. And let’s face it, Twitter is a mainstay.

The staying power of social networks — big and small — proves that there needn’t be a “best” social network, or even a “most popular.” Instead, there ought to be a bit more social networking diplomacy. While the public battle for “most liked” social network carries on, trends point to a far more satisfying outcome: diversity of choice.

The truth is, people aren’t using just one social networking site — they are embracing a dozen. ComScore’s latest digital usage study, 2012 U.S. Digital Future in Focus, found that social networking accounted for 16.6% of time spent online in 2011. In December alone, Twitter drew 37.5 million uniques, while LinkedIn and Google+ drew 33.5 million and 20.7 million, respectively. In that same month, the average user spent 151 minutes on Tumblr, 80 minutes on Pinterest, and 423 minutes on Facebook. Oh, and MySpace just gained one million users — in a month.

The true focus of social networking sites should be less about seeking popularity, and more about helping a user live his life.

People have proven that they will access multiple social network sites, if they have good uses for them. The top sites have already proven themselves worthy. Twitter broke the news of Whitney Houston’s death 27 minutes before the press. Pinterest users are showcasing and caching items collected across the web. Facebook users are posting family photos. Google+ users are learning to play guitar via video hangouts.

The fact is, no matter how great, no one network is able to deliver on every front. For instance, can any platform match Twitter when it comes to short, instant global communication? Or will any network ever equal Facebook when it comes to making and sustaining connections the world over? Users will embrace a variety of sites, each of which excels at its unique method of connecting, sharing and more.

For the future of social networking, that means tolerance is key, and integration and management tools will have essential roles to play. Those that succeed will offer users simple, comprehensive solutions to maintain their connections and make new ones.

Sure, users recognize that a definitive, end-all platform to communicate may be ideal. But it isn’t essential. People will share, friend, link, circle, pin, like, tweet and post — and they’ll do it happily. They know that when it comes to making quality connections, “more” is always better. Social networking, it turns out, isn’t a zero sum game after all.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, TommL

More About: contributor, features, Opinion, Social Media, social networking, trending

from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2012/03/13/one-social-network-rule-all/?utm_source=feedbu...

20 TV Shows With the Most Social Media Buzz This Week [CHART]

The U.S. was all ears and eyes last week, tuning in as more election results streamed in on Tuesday, March 6. Each presidential election cycle has a Super Tuesday, the day during which the most states nominate their presidential favorites for the primary election.

This year, candidates campaigned for the attention of 419 delegates across 10 states. And they also jockeyed for viewership, which you can see proved heavily social. In the end, Mitt Romney won 6 out of the 10 states, but his victory hasn’t elbowed candidates like Rick Santorum out of the race just yet.

In other news, My Crazy Obsession snuck up on the social TV chart this week. The show documents people who maintain rare infatuations with objects, foods and lifestyles outside the norms of society. Last Wednesday was the show’s season premiere, which profiled two households: a couple who collects Cabbage Patch dolls (5,000 to be exact) and has built a custom “fortress” to house their “babies,” and a woman who maintains an “all-pink” lifestyle (complete with a pink dog). Yep.

The data below is compliments of our friends at Trendrr, who measure specific TV show activity (mentions, likes, checkins) across Twitter, Facebook, GetGlue and Miso. To see daily rankings, check out Trendrr.TV.


Image courtesy of iStockphoto, subjug

More About: features, Social Media, social tv, social tv charts, Trendrr, TV

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from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2012/03/13/social-tv-chart-3-12/?utm_source=feedburner&ut...