See also another video of human vs. robot Rubik competition here.
Today's pictures & links: Click to enlarge images.
Russian Vintage Robots
Some of them were truly ugly:
Here is the famous American vintage robot, just for comparison.
(original unknown)
However Russians had a concept of nearly Japanese-style walking mecha-suit, which they would use in Siberian taiga (wild forest):
(source: TM, Russia 1974)
Russian vintage robot toys were much cuter:
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Folk-style painted cars:
Pakistan trucks:
covered with keyboard keys:
(originals unknown)
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Steampunk Computer Mouse
Very cool little device: "The Bug", made by Jacob Hildebrandt. See more info here, including a creepy eyeball connection. Also see this flickr set for more pictures.
Koopa is a professional painting turtle. Koopa's created over 750 original abstract artworks over the last 5 years, and he's got at least one painting in each of the 50 U.S states.
This wonderful turtle is not alone in such creative expression, by any means. There are a lot of painting animals...elephants, chimps, dolphins, seals, penguins, cats, dogs, roosters, etc. Here is a site full of drawings by an elephant:
A collection of brilliantly colourful abstract works by a chimpanzee named Congo whose work was also believed to be owned by Picasso:
The toy robots in that last picture are not vintage Russian. In fact they are of current Chinese manufacture. The one in the back is a reproduction of the Atomic Robot Man, which the original was one of the first toy robots ever made and originated from Japan.
I am missing one particular event wich shaped history: The great tornado that struck the English invaders in France in the 14th century: It eventually led to a ceasefire wich in turn gave french the oppertunity to regain strenght.
Your brief summary on the Dunkirk story leaves out the important bit - the sudden calming of the weather that allowed all the small boats (even canal barges) to safely cross the Channel.
The overwhelming bias seem to be toward for recent and less significant events. In 1588 the Spanish Armada was the most powerful military force in the world. Its invasion of England was unsuccessful partly due to some clever maneuvering on the part of the English. As the Spanish were trying to escape, the decisive blow was dealt from a powerful storm that wrecked many of their ships on the Irish coast. This would be a welcome addition to the Weather Channels's 'history shaping' narrative, one that truly helped shift the balance of power from the Spanish to the English. Or maybe when they said History they meant something else.
from the book Washington Weather: http://www.weatherbook.com/order.html
During the summer of 1814,4,500 British soldiers landed and marched towards Washington. A force of 7,000 Americans was hastily assembled near the Potomac River to defend Washington. During the afternoon of August 24, in 100°F heat, the two armies clashed. The British Army quickly routed the less disciplined American volunteers. It was noted that the 100°F temperatures added to everyone’s discomfort.
After the battle, the British Army marched quickly into Washington. The British admiral ate dinner in the White House, then gave the order to set fire to Washington. Within hours, the White House, the Capitol, and many other public buildings and residences were burning.
On the morning of August 25, Washington was still burning. Throughout the morning and early afternoon, the British soldiers continued to set fires. As the soldiers spread fire and destruction throughout the city, the early afternoon sky began to darken and lightning and thunder signaled the approach of a thunderstorm. As the storm neared the city, the winds began to increase dramatically and then built into a “frightening roar.” A severe thunderstorm was bearing down on Washington, and with it was a tornado.
The tornado tore through the center of Washington and directly into the British occupation. Buildings were lifted off of their foundations and dashed to bits. Other buildings were blown down or lost their roofs. Feather beds were sucked out of homes and scattered about. Trees were uprooted, fences were blown down, and the heavy chain bridge across the Potomac River was buckled and rendered useless. A few British cannons were picked up by the winds and thrown through the air. The collapsing buildings and flying debris killed several British soldiers. Many of the soldiers did not have time to take cover from the winds and they laid face down in the streets. One account describes how a British officer on horseback did not dismount and the winds slammed both horse and rider violently to the ground.
The winds subsided quickly, but the rain fell in torrents for two hours. (There may have been a second thunderstorm that followed quickly after the first thunderstorm.) Fortunately, the heavy rain quenched most of the flames and prevented Washington from continuing to burn. After the storm, the British Army regrouped on Capitol Hill, still a bit shaken by the harsh weather. They decided to leave the city that evening.
As the British troops were preparing to leave, a conversation was noted between the British Admiral and a Washington lady regarding the storm: The admiral exclaimed, “Great God, Madam! Is this the kind of storm to which you are accustomed in this infernal country?” The lady answered, “No, Sir, this is a special interposition of Providence to drive our enemies from our city.” The admiral replied, “Not so Madam. It is rather to aid your enemies in the destruction of your city.”
Hours later, the British forces left Washington and returned to their ships. The war ships that lay waiting for the British force had also encountered the fierce storm. Wind and waves had lashed at the ships and many had damaged riggings. Two vessels had broken free from their moorings and were blown ashore.
President Madison and other government officials returned to Washington and began the difficult process of setting up government in a city devastated by fire and wind. Never again would the British Army return to the city, and only rarely would Washington suffer damaging tornadoes.
The second picture from Salamanca, Spain is not from the cathedral but from the old university facade. The university facade is also well known for its hidden image of a frog sitting on a skull, said to give good luck to students on their finals if they were able to locate it.
I also met and sat with a Lao guy in hospital who had made a barbeque between TWO unexploded bombs using a casing from a third as the barbeque plate. UNFORTUNATELY the bombs on the bottom were NOT cleared and one of them promptly blew up! He survived but in much worse condition than he had previously been in.
Bombs are however used for loads of thing across Laos. Most of them ARE cleared of UXO before being given back to the villagers and the majority of villagers and children are aware that bombs are bad, but some sadly still aren't and get blown up.
Those pictures of chains of transportation vehicles reminded me of my first summer as a camp counselor. The camp had received 30 or so new aluminum canoes to replace the remnants of the previous canoe flotilla. The problem was that there was no road into camp, and canoeing up three miles one at a time was an unacceptible solution. So they tied all of the canoes together, bow to stern, and tied them to the back of a power boat— with the waterfront director in the very last one as a rudder. It worked pretty well, actually.
And that reminds me of when we got the new fridge and freezer to replace the vintage 1950s ones, especially as they arrived on a Thursday afternoon and the entire staff, bar three of us, went across the lake to fetch them. Evening flags had the three of us doing the whole routine, and suddenly looking up to see the missing staff members, saluting— in the backs of tiny little power boats, with a large appliance barely balanced across the front. (They were all standing as far back as possible, so as not to lose the appliance off the front.)
Incidentally, the fridge and freezer wouldn't fit through the front doors. We had to move them into the kitchen through the side shed after removing the stairs.
Ah, memories. Pity I didn't have a camera on me either time.
Those were in fact bombs; the yellow stripe is standard NATO colour coding for high explosives. Besides, external fuel tanks are made of much thinner metal and wouldn't last very long like that.
Ivan Rerbrov is a German Singer. His real Name is Hans Rolf Rippert. Back in the 70s he also was on TV as a commedian. There is even an english Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Rebroff
That 'strange Russian Army unit', as you are calling it, is a simple Bell SK5 Army hovercraft used in the Vietnam war. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PACV http://www.quicktechhobby.com/Hovercrafts/Hovercrafts/SK-5%20HOVERCRAFT.htm
My mum grew up on Romney Marsh during the 1920s and 30s. Some time around 1930 the whole school went on a trip to the seaside (which was only a few miles away) and travelled by flat car drawn behind a traction engine. Because of the very flat terrain, from their perch on the school wall they could see the puffs of steam and smoke and hear the chuffing for nearly half an hour before it arrived. The excitment for a bunch of rural children few of whom had ever been near a car let alone ridden in one must have been intense. Can't imagine the safety lot liking kids riding on an open flatbed but of course they only travelled at walking pace.
Smoke and ashes, yes. Loud, no. The old timers here preferred them for threshing because a man on the tractor could talk to a man at the rear of the threshing machine, 60-80 feet away. Try that with a gas tractor let alone a diesel. Besides, the fuel (straw) was free.
Keep in mind that 100 horsepower is a *lot* for a steam engine. They are the kings of torque. In most US tractor pulls team traction engines are ineligible to compete. Given their torque and weight, they go about as fast with the sled as without it. :-)
I've seen several of these vehicles. The Lake District steam bus was built up as a bus literally 1 mile from here. Fantastic vehicles. I'm a steam boat guy myself.
Great photos, thanks. However I really have to wonder why you think steam is in any way toxic or noxious - it is just hot water! Far, far less toxic than even the most cleaned-up catalytic-converter equipped gasoline or diesel motor.
As another poster pointed out, steam power tends to be quieter than internal combustion engines of equivalent power, and modern steam engine designs are remarkably fuel efficient.
Sentinel and the other steam lorry makers depended on tax-breaks given to coal as a fuel for goods hauling--it was mined in Britain, but petroleum was imported. Around 1950 (or thereabouts) this lower taxation was abolished, and Sentinel (though they'd hired Abner Doble to modernize design) decided they couldn't compete any more. Last production run ca. 1952.
Haha, that Global Subway map is an epic failure. According to it, Melbourne is in the middle of South Autralia, when in reality it's actually just south of Sydney. Whoever made it is obviously a fool.
You're an epic failure, the map wasn't made to be proportional, and if it was, who would care about Melbourne being in the wrong place when Africa is only a little bigger than that of Spain.
That's a cool transit map. If you enlarge the image, and read the text at the bottom, you will see it is from a new book that looks like it might be worth a look, too.
I wonder if our genius first poster noticed any other subtle distortions in the map. :)
Well I guess tehfix0r's confusion stems from the fact that Australian cities do not have a proper subway system, and is why he/she didn't get the inherit joke of the geographically compromised map. For instance the London Tube map is wildly out of scale, and makes understanding London's layout very difficult. I would suggest in future that you be a little less quick to judge others, tehfix0r. In accusing others of being fools, you brutally revealed your own ignorance...
About Flannery O'Connor: "a view of the world that mocks justice, that mocks philosophy, that mocks marriage, that regards these and all other human aspirations as not merely vain, but corrupt."
Flannery O'Connor was a devout Christian. Her fixation of human baseness and the vanity of human wishes is most likely a reflection on our fallen nature or something like that.
Or maybe, as a fervent catholic living in the South, she just disliked protestants!
Nice work. I prefer the near-future fiction pictures-- lots of great ideas. The retro future pic of the pyramid skyscrapers is really inspirational-- because it's actually feasible... with some urban planning-- what a skyline!
Flannery O'Connor is a writer about still-flawed future saints, and a God-haunted world awaiting its remaking by God. The grandmother story, for example, is the story of what it's like to suddenly be in the position of a martyr, from the point of view of the outside world. It is a naked sort of faith, shining in shards against the darkness, but with tons of darkness. She was pretty much sick, dying, and/or in pain during the bulk of her writing life, and she apparently had no taste for writing about people not in such condition.
O'Connor's letters are a great deal more approachable and gentle, although still challenging. Probably her most famous quote from them was her emphatic denial that the Eucharist was a symbol. "If it's a symbol, to hell with it!"
I am profoundly grateful that I did not read any O'Connor short story until middle age. She is all about hard grace. Hard like rocks upside the head.
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The toy robots in that last picture are not vintage Russian. In fact they are of current Chinese manufacture. The one in the back is a reproduction of the Atomic Robot Man, which the original was one of the first toy robots ever made and originated from Japan.
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