iNFORMATiON FARM

Bentley Skijoring

2012-02-02T17:09:00.001-10:00

Cool Hunting—If you have a Bentley and are looking for something fun to do in the winter snow, consider skijoring.

Swap-o-matic

2012-02-02T17:06:00.001-10:00

The Swap-o-matic is a vending machine that encourages users to trade rather than buy! Users can donate, receive, or swap using the touch screen interface on the front of the machine.

Chris Dyer | Positive Creations

2012-01-29T13:43:00.002-10:00

En Masse

2012-01-29T13:01:00.000-10:00

enmasse.info—Montreal-based art initiative EN MASSE is best described as an ongoing exercise in irreverent, improvised collaborative drawing — a boundary-blurring cocktail of high and lowbrow culture, pop imagery fragmented like shattered glass in a spontaneous, multi-genre, black-on-white collision.

EN MASSE is a platform for artists who have found themselves in an awkward relationship established protocols and sensibilities in the contemporary arts worlds, which has resulted in their work often being excluded from mainstream galleries, museums, and funding agencies. Likewise, it offers an unthreatening approach to contemporary art that is refreshing, engaging and even exciting to the general public.

Aaron Sims | ARCHETYPE

2012-01-29T12:47:00.000-10:00

archetype-movie.com—Aaron Sims is a prominent creature/conceptual designer who has helped bring filmmakers’ visions to life for the past 25 years.

He has worked with visionary directors such as Steven Spielberg, Zack Snyder & Martin Campbell on the projects WAR OF THE WORLDS, SUCKER PUNCH, GREEN LANTERN and many more.

The latest short film from Aaron, ARCHETYPE is his directing debut.

RL7 is an eight-foot tall combat robot that goes on the run after malfunctioning with vivid memories of once being human. As its creators and the military close in, RL7 battles its way to uncovering the shocking truth behind its mysterious visions and past.

Vogue/CFDA Fashion Fund

2012-01-27T10:09:00.001-10:00

cfda.com—The Council of Fashion Designers of America and Vogue magazine created an endowment to support the next generation of American fashion designers.

Revenge of the Electric Car

2012-01-27T09:49:00.000-10:00

SBU (Self Balancing Unicycle)

2012-01-27T07:39:00.002-10:00

focusdesigns.com—The SBU (Self Balancing Unicycle) is a revolutionary gyro stabilized, accelerometer driven, battery powered, clean “green” vehicle that is easy to ride—it takes the average rider about 20 minutes to learn.

The rider controls the speed by leaning forward or backward to speed up or stop. There is no need to pedal, in fact there are no crank arms, just foot pegs. The SBU stays upright by utilizing advanced electronics including accelerometers and gyroscopes with sophisticated balancing algorithms.

A powerful 1000 Watt BLDC hub motor propels the rider forwards and backwards at up to 10 MPH. This advanced motor is built right into the wheel and is maintenance free.

A full charge is about 2 hours with a range of 12 miles at 10 mph.

Touch

2012-01-26T20:10:00.000-10:00

Stephen Colbert Interviews Maurice Sendak

2012-01-26T18:05:00.000-10:00

Robert Irwin | Talk at University of Virginia

2012-01-26T16:55:00.001-10:00

“I wake up in the morning. I open my eyes—and the world appears for me totally formed.” ~Robert Irwin

University of Virginia—Artist Robert Irwin speaks about his body of work and its influences in this presentation at the University of Virginia. Known internationally for pushing boundaries of art and perception, Irwin is the 2009 Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medalist in Architecture.

Wilson Miner | When We Build

2012-01-26T16:04:00.002-10:00

wilsonminer.com—In this talk in Belfast, Wilson Miner explains how new mediums change the world.

“We shape our tools, and our tools shape us.” ~Marshall McLuhan

Jonny Corndawg

2012-01-26T09:25:00.000-10:00

Sean Dunne—Meet underground country-music legend Jonny Corndawg—the man, the motorcycle, the guitar and a pair of running shoes.

Jonny has played on five continents in as many years, and every state in the lower 48.

Thom Browne | Menswear 2012-3

2012-01-26T09:06:00.001-10:00

Thom Browne’s latest collection could be Hannibal Lecter meets The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo or the cast of The Incredibles.

The Largest Record Collection on Earth

2012-01-26T07:09:00.001-10:00

Sean Dunne—Paul Mawhinney built the world’s biggest record collection (more than twice the size of the collection at the Library of Congress) and it is currently for sale.

In 1997 CD Now offered $28.5 million for the collection plus a $100,000/year job to Mawhinney to administer the archive. The sale fell through three weeks later when CD Now went to bankruptcy court.

The library of Congress was set to purchase the collection for several million dollars in 2002 but the agreement fell through because of budget cuts and difficulty in justifying the purchase using taxpayer dollars.

The collection went on sale on eBay in February 2008. A winning bid of $3,002,150 came from Ireland but the bid turned out to be a fraud. The collection was again offered for sale on eBay in March 2008 but did not end in a sale.

Mawhinney was a significant help in restarting David Bowie’s career by getting RCA boss Tom Cossie to re-release the album Space Oddity in 1972 after its initial release in 1969 failed to hit (see video below).

Here Comes The Neighborhood

2012-01-25T08:55:00.000-10:00

In Episode One of Here Comes The Neighborhood, the parking lots, loading docks and factory walls of the Wynwood Arts District in Miami are transformed into “The Wynwood Walls”.

Episode Two: Gaia painted a mural of Henry Flagler, the powerful oil and railroad tycoon who is responsible for modern day Florida.

Episode Three: Kenny Scharf returns to Wynwood to expand on a piece he started in 2009.

Episode Four: A cast of young up-and-coming international artists are in the spotlight for their contributions to the Wynwood Walls and the district at large.

Episode Five: Mexican artists Saner and Sego collaborate on a mural for the Wynwood Walls.

Episode Six: Kunle Martins aka EARSNOT, founder of the IRAK CREW, along with Jesse Geller aka NEMEL break down the importance of good penmanship, the difference between murals and graffiti, and the concept behind their “tagging mosaic” in Wynwood.

Episode Seven: Legendary photographer Martha Cooper has been documenting graffiti and graffiti writers since the late 1970s. Her and Henry Chalfant’s book Subway Art, originally published in 1984, was largely responsible for the globalization of graffiti.

astonyshine

2012-01-24T10:23:00.000-10:00

astonyshine is Italy and France’s solar home concept for the 2012 Solar Decathlon Europe.

The higher efficiency and a lower price concentrated solar power system provides 100% of the power for the home.

French Bank Forgives Debts of Paris’ Poorest

2012-01-24T10:13:00.000-10:00

GOOD—Thousands of lucky French people had their financial obligations forgiven after the country’s oldest bank decided to simply wipe their slate clean.

The 3,500 clients who benefitted from the bank’s largesse had debts of 150 euros or less (about $190) with the Crédit Municipal de Paris, also known as the “Mont-de-piété,” the bank of the poor, which has for centuries allowed the needy to get loans against their valuables—a kind of ethical pawnshop, or the original microlender.

The unexpected gift is a way for the bank to celebrate its 375th anniversary. The Crédit Municipal de Paris was created in 1637 by Théophraste Renaudot, a doctor, journalist and philanthropist who wanted to combat poverty by giving the needy access to fair banking.

“The goal was to combat usury,” explains Thierry Halay, who authored a history of the Mont-de-piété.

“Interest rates at the time could go up to 130 percent.”

The good doctor’s idea was to give the poor people of Paris loans they could reasonably hope to repay, at decent rates for the time (about 10 percent annually) against whatever collateral they could produce: pots and pans, linens, silverware, artisans’ tools. Halay found evidence of a 19th-century woman so destitute her only possession was her mattress. Every morning, she would carry it to the bank and pawn it. With that money, she’d buy potatoes, sell them for a profit during the day and buy back her mattress at night.

Today, the bank stores more than a million objects, from the puny piece of jewelry to the grand masterpiece, in headquarters covering a city block in the historical center of Paris. With a capitalization of 60 million euros, the bank had 93 million euros in pawn-broking loans outstanding in 2010.

If your valuable is sold for more than you owe, the profit is yours.Similar city-owned, not-for-profit banks opened all over the country on the same principle: Pawn an object and you get a yearlong loan. Pay off the interest (4 to 8.9 percent annually) and you can extend the loan; pay off the principal and you get your property back. If your valuable is sold for more than you owe, the profit is yours. These banks were eventually granted a state monopoly on pawn-broking loans, which continues to this day; France is thus a country without pawnshops.

Celebrities of the day secretly used the bank: Victor Hugo, Claude Monet and Napoleon’s first wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais, among others. Prince François d'Orléans, third son of King Louis-Philippe, once pawned his watch to settle a gambling debt.

Nearly 700 people come through here every day, on awkward hallways and too-small waiting rooms. Some are clutching a jewelry pouch, others have a letter, which the bank started sending out last week, notifying them to come claim their valuables for free. The operation will continue in waves through the end of February.

Free Online University Courses

2012-01-23T16:01:00.000-10:00

Learning and education are changing. Someday anyone, anywhere may be able to access classes from the world’s most prestigious teachers for free.

Already a number of top tier universities offer online classes at no charge. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT Open Course Ware offers courses in many disciplines including aeronautics, architecture, chemical engineering, Earth science, economics, foreign languages, literature, physics, writing and many more.

National Public Radio—Last year, Stanford University computer science professor Sebastian Thrun—also known as the fellow who helped build Google’s self-driving car — got together with a small group of Stanford colleagues and they impulsively decided to open their classes to the world.

iNFORMATiON FARM

Bentley Skijoring

Swap-o-matic

Chris Dyer | Positive Creations

En Masse

Aaron Sims | ARCHETYPE

Vogue/CFDA Fashion Fund

Revenge of the Electric Car

SBU (Self Balancing Unicycle)

Touch

Stephen Colbert Interviews Maurice Sendak

Robert Irwin | Talk at University of Virginia

Wilson Miner | When We Build

Jonny Corndawg

Thom Browne | Menswear 2012-3

The Largest Record Collection on Earth

Here Comes The Neighborhood

astonyshine

French Bank Forgives Debts of Paris’ Poorest

Free Online University Courses

Miniatur Wunderland

The Virtual Revolution

Intergalactic Nemesis

Suze Orman’s Prepaid Debit Card Could Increase Your Credit Rating

True Stories Wikileaks Secrets And Lies

PIPA and SOPA Will Break the Internet

FBI Shuts Down Megaupload

What is This SOPA?

David Hertz | McKinley House

The Textbook Revolution

Cathy Cowgirl

PBS Arts | The Evolution of Music Online

Indie Game The Movie

Newly Discovered Molecules Could Naturally Offset Global Warming

Peter Bahouth’s Treehouses

On the Brink of a Networked Society

PressPausePlay

Computers Are Learning to Pay Attention to, Watch and Listen to Us

New Yorker Creates His Own Business in Response to Bureaucratic Inefficiency

Mehran Keshe Says He is Taking Orders for Low Nuclear Power Generators

Mike Daisey Travels to Foxconn Factory to Interview Workers

How the Dutch Got Their Bicycle Paths

Trading on Thin Air

Mogees

How to Sell a Banksy

Marshall Mcluhan in Australia

Neil Postman

The Future of Media

Eben Rey Interviews Bob Neveritt

What Do RnA Drops Do on the Physical Level

Banks Agree to Cut Losses & Save Homes from Foreclosure

Interview with Bob Neveritt

Cold Fusion Arrives With Dr. Andrea Rossi’s E-Cat

James Martinez | New Global Economy

With a Robot You Can Be in Two Places at Once

Neil Young | Lincvolt

Maurice Sendak | Short Documentary

SIM-LEI Gets Over 300km On a Single Charge

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey | Video Diaries

Jean-Yves Blondeau | Rollerman

Touchscreens | Future of Technology

spnKiX | Motorized Shoes

Lexus Fashion

Walter Isaacson on Steve Jobs

Akash Tablet Computer | $35 for Students

$25 Raspberry Pi Personal Computer

Human Intelligence | St Nicholas

IBM Next 5 in 5 | 2011

There Goes the Neighborhood

Santa Gets An Assist From Siri

Pickin’ & Trimmin’

Shea Hembrey | How I became 100 artists

Wolfram|Alpha an Introduction

Food Rules

The Art of Doing It Yourself

Steve Jobs Documentary

PBS Arts | Product Design

Anliker McLaren SLR

Marc Manceaux | ‘La Mer De Pianos’

Kent Chilcott | House With a View