[Via Memex 1.1]

Signal To Noise isn't that sort of time lapse video. It's flashier and is clearly going for visual impact rather than trying to impart information to the viewer,¹ but it's so beautifully done that I enjoyed it quite a bit anyway. Definitely worth a look.

[Via Bad Astronomy]

1. True, the overlaid graphics are nothing but information. But they're mostly displayed too briefly for a viewer to catch them at first glance so I do class them as being there for effect.

In short

Born: Pittsburgh, 1952

Jeff Goldblum will turn 60 later this year. 60! How the hell did that happen?¹

1. Yes, this is basically yet another "I feel so old" post. But can you blame me?

I swear that when someone tossed a discarded drive motor in to finish it off at the 3:45 mark I was half expecting the poor beast to send it right back with interest.

[Via kottke.org]

[It is...] rare for us to reflect on funeral arrangements, although there are exceptions. It may be fitting to note that a Spitfire will fly over the church where a Battle of Britain fighter pilot is being buried, or that the proprietor of a famous haunt for sozzled actors has asked for mourners to come to his funeral in costume and make up. Rob Buckman, the doctor who died last October after a career which was devoted to improving the way medics counsel the terminally ill, left instructions for a recording to be played at his own interment. It was to run: "Thank you so much for coming. Unlike the rest of you, I don't have to get up in the morning."

I only got 5 out of 20. Pretty poor, really, considering that I reckon 4 out of the 20 are blindingly obvious or easily guessable.¹

[Via LinkMachineGo!]

1. Though one of those 4 requires you to know the name of the source novel rather than that of the film.

Thomas Watson was a respectful man. He was working as an assistant to Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 when his name became the first to be uttered into Bell's new invention, the telephone. "Mr. Watson, come here," Bell famously said. "I want to see you." Even before this monumental moment, however, Watson had proved his worth – and his neighborliness. While working out the telephone's kinks with Bell from his apartment, Watson initially had to shout to be heard over the early equipment, prompting complaints from the neighbors. So Watson, ever the courteous gent, wrapped himself inside blanket during these initial telephone trials, creating a tunnel, and, thus, the world's first phone booth: society's great unused invention. [...]

A. Let's take a hike on the coast from San Francisco to Los Angeles to visit our friends in Newport Beach…

[Via Marco.org]

Comparing WEF to any other event is hard, but I cracked a smile when Nick Bilton remarked that WEF is a lot like Burning Man. In so many ways, he's right. A lot of people overwhelm one extreme weather location and battle non-normative conditions (Davos is crowded, covered in ice, and extremely difficult to navigate) to interact with others. In both events, there are so many different kinds of communities colliding – sometimes interacting and sometimes not. And both cost gobs of money to attend, thereby excluding all sorts of people.

Alain de Botton plans to build a series of temples for atheists. Apparently he has never heard of Apple Stores. dezeen.com/2012/01/25/ala…

[Via Crooked Timber]