June 10, 2008
I really like this genre of art — maybe it’s because of my early love of Anime and Myst. Enjoy!
This piece was built by Alex Holden. Alex says of the project…
The pictured device is a prototype of Joseph Bazalgette’s patent sewer maintenance machine, as demonstrated at the Great Crystal Cyberdrome Exhibition. Its boiler is fired by miasma and it is fitted with a variety of cleaning and pest-control ancillaries. Unfortunately the high manufacturing cost and the temperamental nature of their modified rat brains meant that after the initial batch of fifty had escaped Bazalgette was forced to employ men to maintain London’s sewers. Even today, you can put your ear to a manhole cover in our capital city and hear the distant clanking of brass wheels on brick walkways and the squeal of exterminated rodents.
Related Articles
- Weta® Gets Punk’d
- Steampunk: Old is New Again
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Posted by ebrown
June 9, 2008
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Posted by ebrown
June 8, 2008
I came across this old drawing that my friend, Jeff at Jaggedsmile, did after a conversation we had. You see, when my wife and I used to travel, in the BK (Before Kids) days, she told me about a game she used to play with her sister when they traveled. They used to look out their side of the car and count cows. The person with the most cows at the end of the trip was the winner. On a particular trip we took in through southeast we revived this old game for fun. At the end of our trip, my wife informed me she had counted several hundred cows. Not to be outdone I told her I has counted about a hundred that were visible, while the remaining several hundred were “ninja cows” practicing their camouflage skills. Chick-fil-A would have loved it!
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Posted by ebrown
June 8, 2008
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Posted by ebrown
June 6, 2008
How’s this for creative computing? To see all the steps in detail, visit
Random Access. Now, go build your own and send me your images to post here. Have fun!
Body armor for the case?
I wanted this case to incorporate aspects of several types of Iron Man armor, starting with his original dull gray steel. Although rivets were not always in evidence, these would add to the effect of heavy plate on the panels. Starting with the case itself, I anchored short lengths of aluminum angle (L brackets) to the top and front edges of the chassis. These were used as anchor points to attach two curved steel panels at the bottom front and top rear of the case. To strengthen the sheet metal, I riveted ribs of aluminum bar stock to the outer edges using two rows of heavy nickel wire for the pins. |
| To create a layered articulated armor on the top, sections of PVC plastic were cut and then anchored to the aluminum angle with sheet metal screws. A final PVC panel was attached to the front and a piece of foam rubber trimmed to fill the gap between the sections. The foam was trimmed to a smooth shape with a razor blade, and then covered with a layer of epoxy |
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Several layers of shredded fiberglass-reinforced epoxy were built up over the surface of the PVC with only a light sanding in between. I wanted a slight ripple effect to simulate hammered metal. I prefer to add pigment to the epoxy so that if the surface gets scratched, there is a solid color exposed. The color layers also make it easier to visualize the final effect and in some cases, can be used as the final finish instead of paint.
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Ribs made from strips of half-round wood trim were cut to fit the drive bay opening. Two at the top were glued in place; one was attached to the front of the DVD drawer; the fourth rib was attached to the front of the DVD drive using foam mounting tape (this allowed the rib to flex; pressing on the right edge opens the drive tray).
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For the mask, I went to a recent version of Iron Man - the 2005 and 2006 release of “Extremis” (also available as a graphic novel of the same name). I used the circuit-style lettering in the title for the IMD plaque. To make the case more than just an armored shell, I wanted to give it a purpose - even a fictional one. Readers rarely see Tony Stark testing his armor. He always seems to rush off, slap something together that works perfectly and is well finished, miniaturized, and usually violating several laws of physics - but hey, it’s fiction, right?
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But what if he had to troubleshoot something? That’s what we do in real life… so I came up with the concept of an Iron Man Diagnostic Unit. Since Tony no longer keeps his identity secret, it means we needed to identify that the unit came from Stark Laboratories. Letters were cut from sheet brass, then dots drilled, edges filed, and lines chiseled. The background was printed on a laser printer, then glued between two sheets of 1/8″ high impact plastic. The brass letters received a soft satin finish, then were glued to the plastic. Four small magnets (Tony has always been big on magnets, although his are usually transistor-powered) were glued to the back to allow placement of the plaque on any flat ferrous surface. I was going to stick this on the top of the CPU heat sink, but there wasn’t enough clearance between it and the side panel. So that became the title - Stark Industries IMD.
But what to run diagnostics on? The Iron Man mask is probably one of the most characteristic parts that while frequently changed still has similar features, such as no nose, slitted glowing white eyes, and a slash of a mouth.
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The mask was attached to the mesh panel, then the clamps positioned and anchored from the rear with short screws. Two holes were drilled in the mesh behind the eyes. A pair of white LEDs were hot glued onto the mesh to cause the eyes to flicker when the hard drive is accessed. A heavy duty stainless steel switch was located in the side panel, presumably to open and close the clamps (or turn on the power in reality). The bottom of the case was anchored to the base plate treads. The rest of the system components were installed, and cables organized a bit, but spiffed up with some chrome convoluted (AKA split loom) tubing. Then it was time to tear it all down and switch out the stock Intel heatsink with a big blocky Peltier cooled one. Then I stuffed it all back together, and took these final pics.
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Posted by ebrown
June 4, 2008
If you missed it, here is the presentation Leah Buley, from Adaptive Path, did at the IA Summit ‘08. I think you will find it informative and encouraging. Enjoy!
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Posted by ebrown
May 31, 2008
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Posted by ebrown
May 26, 2008
By E. Brown
Former Apple employee, Andreas Haas, thinks he has a niche market. He’s taken the MacBook and modified it into a tablet PC. Is the market ready?
Haas founded Axiotron in January 2005. The official ship date for the Modbook was Decemnber 2007. How many units have the they sold? I could not find the answer to that. How does Axiotron intend to stay in business? From their own Web site comes this insight:
Axiotron determines a potential project or market to be a viable case of Solution Hardware if all of the following characteristics are met
- Off-the-shelf hardware is insufficient.
- Market size warrants full product cycle.
- Profitability can be achieved early in product life cycle.
Could I also use the Modbook as a digital notebook? Yes! Take a look at how to use Inkbook as a way to write notes and then transcribe or export them as you’d like.
But, the question stills remains, “is the market ready?” Just because you build it does not guarantee they will come. The buzz may be out but unless the dollars are coming in, Modbook may go the way of the Apple Newton.
Related Links
To see what others are saying you can visit links to CNet, Mahalo Daily, and more.
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Posted by ebrown
April 21, 2008
The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas.
- Linus Pauling
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Posted by ebrown
April 18, 2008
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Posted by ebrown
March 15, 2008
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Posted by ebrown
March 13, 2008
Have you seen Kukuburi? My friend Jeff turned me onto it and it rocks! The illustrations are wonderful. The author and illustrator, Ramón Pérez, does a masterful job of capturing energy in every frame. The attention to detail and subtleties keep readers coming back every Tuesday for another update.
Admittedly, Pérez has had a time trying to keep up. The site has recently been updated and several of the pages still need fleshing out. For instance, the Cast page is to be updated on Fridays, but it is not easy to hold down “real” work and continue with projects like this on the side. Nevertheless, he has developed quite a following and readers are patient while waiting for updated strips.
As for those who have not read Kukuburi, you have a treat in store — head over and start at the beginning. I think you will be hooked like many others.
Have fun!
Illustration from Kukuburi© by Ramón Pérez
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Posted by ebrown
March 13, 2008
Want to see an influence on modern cartooning and animation? Head over to Bob Camp’s blog and spend hours scrolling through the art and illustrations that have made him famous -and- made you laugh.
Illustration by Bob Camp
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Posted by ebrown
March 10, 2008
By E. Brown
I first wrote about “Peach” last December around Christmas time. I was inspired by the collaborative approach the film makers took in creating this 3D movie. Afterward, some of you asked me to keep you updated on the project. So, here we are…
In February ‘08 the movie was christened with the name Big Buck Bunny after it’s main character — Big Buck, of course. The producers and developers were very excited to make this announcement — the project had become much more viable.
Now, after much work and rendering, the movie is about to be premiered. If you happen to be in Amsterdam on April 10th you might stop by the doors of Cinema Studio K and beg for them to let you into the showing, dinner, and party. If you’re like me and will not be anywhere near the Netherlands on that date, feel free to stop by the Peach blog and pre-order your version of the movie. While there, you can also catch up on the final details of the making of the film and watch several videos about the collaborative effort.
Have fun!
Related Links
- Peach Open Movie
- Elephant Dreams
- Blender
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Posted by ebrown
March 9, 2008
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Posted by ebrown
March 4, 2008
By E. Brown
While at dinner last night with some friends the topic of children came up. I have two children and love them both dearly. The couple we were dining with are newly weds and have been thinking about having children. I wish I had seen these books prior to last night. From Wry Baby comes two hilarious parental training books: Safe Baby Pregnancy Tips and Safe Baby Handling Tips. The authors, David and Kelly Sopp, use creativity and illustration to equip expecting and new parents with the do’s and dont’s of child raising. Grab your own copies today and start learning!
Oh yes, remember - have fun!
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Posted by ebrown
March 2, 2008
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