Under the rainbow: an introduction to the off-kilter world of Mark Jenkins. [more inside]
posted by Potomac Avenue on Sep 11, 2009 - 17 comments

Before the mouse, there was the trackball. Built for DATAR in 1952, DATAR turned out to be a complete failure. The next user interface device that used a ball was the mouse at Xeroc Parc in 1972. Trackballs are a dying breed of interface devices. But sometimes a trackball just seems more natural choice for certain applications - not so obvious for others. Would you sit on one?
posted by bigmusic on Jun 17, 2009 - 65 comments

Hand-drawn holograms. [more inside]
posted by hippybear on May 2, 2009 - 20 comments

The Zine Library has hundreds of zines in pdf format for your perusal. They are organized into categories ranging from the common political (anarchism, political prisoners & animal liberation) and identity based zines (indigenous, race & gender) to the more esoteric (anarchist history, primitivism & theory) as well as the useful (cooking, DIY & organizing manuals) and arty (art, comics & music). Now, zines are by their very nature hit and miss but there are some real treasures to be found. I recommend these three: [all links pdf] The Rebel's Dark Laughter - The Writings of Bruno Filippi, Barefoot in the Kitchen and Delivery from Below, Resistance from Above - Electricity and the Politics of Struggle in Tembisa, South Africa. Note: Many if not most zines are set up to be printed out and bound together in chapbooks. That requires a bit of going back and forth when reading in pdf-format, but they wouldn't be real zines if they were straightforward to read ;) Don't know what a zine is? A pretty good overview is provided by zine librarian Jenna Freedman in Zines Are Not Blogs: A Not Unbiased Analysis. [This site has been posted previously but was buried deep in the weeds of more inside]
posted by Kattullus on Mar 10, 2009 - 16 comments

Paradise: The Gardens of Tokyo. A collection of amazing photographs of Japanese gardens as taken by Tim Porter. [more inside]
posted by Effigy2000 on Apr 10, 2008 - 6 comments

Scandinavian Grace's beard cap has inspired the internet. Now plans are available to make your own bearded cap. Have a large head? No problem! Skeleclavas lack a beard, but make warming your head a little more hardcore
posted by betaray on Feb 17, 2008 - 15 comments

Clockwork steampunk rideable tiger. (via YouTube.) Flickr photos here. Artist's site here.
posted by loquacious on Oct 21, 2006 - 23 comments

Asphalt mosaics: Forget spraypaint, a DIY to a more permanent form of public art.
posted by edgeways on Nov 17, 2005 - 15 comments

Impossible Objects
via del.icio.us
posted by thatwhichfalls on May 22, 2004 - 20 comments

Do it yourself art projects – a how-to manual (by Yoko Ono, Bruce Nauman, Gilbert & George, Nam June Paik, Matthew Barney and more). I can't wait to try and turn my washing machine into a pinhole camera, to create a photo "in the time it takes to bake a cake". (warning: Quicktime)
posted by hypnorich on Jan 11, 2004 - 5 comments