The most ridiculous slow motion footage ever

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The Next Web:

This video is from the Danish TV show Dumt & Farligt. It takes a Phantom Flex, a camera that can run anywhere from $50k-$150k, and applies it to some of the silliest and most awesome 2500 Frames-per-second slow-motion footage I’ve seen.

Talk about “fun with explosives and a high speed camera”!

Apple Stores have 17 times better performance than the average retailer

Written by

Asymco:

RetailSails compiled a table of the top 20 chains by sales per square foot. Annual store sales in the range of $300 per square foot is considered respectable in the US. The US national average for regional malls is $341. The average for specialty apparel retailers is $400 per square foot. The average for jewelers is in the range of $600 per square foot. The median for the best 20 US retailers is $787/sq. ft.The data shows Apple leading by a significant margin. It’s more than twice as efficient as the second place Tiffany and Co. It’s also more than seven times the median of the top 20 and seventeen times better than the average mall retail space.

By any measure, the Apple Retail Stores are a remarkable success story.

Fotopedia offers National Parks iOS app for free

Written by

TUAW:

Since it’s almost National Parks Week in the US(April 21-29), we’re seeing some iOS apps offered for free that normally have a cost to them. I’ve already mentioned the Chimani series of National Parks guides, and now I want to call your attention to Fotopedia National Parks, a universal iOS app that contains almost 3000 superb images taken by renowned photographer Quang-Tuan Luong.This app is not a detailed guide to the National Parks, but rather the equivalent of a coffee table book filled with dazzling photographs.

This app is two of my favorite things – free and about National Parks.

The lost Steve Jobs tapes

Written by

Fast Company:

If Steve Jobs’s life were staged as an opera, it would be a tragedy in three acts. And the titles would go something like this: Act I–The Founding of Apple Computer and the Invention of the PC Industry; Act II–The Wilderness Years; and Act III–A Triumphant Return and Tragic Demise.Rummaging through the storage shed, I discovered some three dozen tapes holding recordings of extended interviews–some lasting as long as three hours–that I’d conducted with him periodically over the past 25 years. (Snippets are scattered throughout this story.) Many I had never replayed–a couple hadn’t even been transcribed before now.

Austrian village to vote on name change

Written by

The Telegraph:

The 104 residents of the village will cast their votes later this week on whether to alter the name.“People are now willing to discuss changes to the spelling of the name,” Franz Meindl, the village’s mayor, said in a television interview. “But first all Fuckingers have to agree on whether want to change it or not.” For centuries the tiny village in northern Austria lived life in happy obscurity, but life changed when US troops, stationed in the area at the end of the Second World War, discovered it, and since then the village’s name has been a constant source of amusement for tourists and irritation for locals.At least 13 £250 road signs bearing the village’s name have been stolen, and the sight of semi-naked women posing for photographs beside signs has become a common sight.

Brings to mind the “interestingly” named Canadian town of Dildo.

11 “modern antiques” today’s kids have probably never seen

Written by

Mental Floss:

Even though I’m fairly ancient, I’ve never seen a Model T outside of a classic auto show. So I realize that there are many things that have been obsolete since the elastic waistband was invented and would confound anyone under age 70. But what about some common items that have come and gone within the last 30 or so years? See how many of these you recognize, and how many of them would puzzle your kids or grandkids.

Interestingly, while I have heard about all of them, five of them I’ve never actually seen in real life (#2, 4, 6, 8, 10). How about you? And which ones would your kids not be able to recognize?

The “Coca-Cola Hug Machine” takes hugs instead of money

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NY Daily News:

This vending machine cares more about love than money.A new Coca-Cola machine at the National University of Singapore dispenses free beverages in exchange for hugs. The red-and-white machine has the word “Hug Me” written across the front in Coke’s signature font.The machine is programmed to dispense a Coke when a person wraps their arm around it.

The video accompanying the story is very sweet but it’s hard not to be cynical and think there’s no way this campaign would work in the US.

Crazy expensive audio gear from The New York Audio & AV Show

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[caption id="attachment_22903" align="alignnone" width="470" caption="This is what a $28,000 turntable looks like"][/caption] Cool Material:

Every year, unbeknownst to most of the public, the most outrageous and amazing pieces of audio equipment are tossed (see: very carefully placed) into one hotel for The New York Audio & AV Show.This is not the kinda stuff you get at Best Buy or hook up to the turntable you bought from Urban Outfitters. This is the stuff for the hardcore audio fan who happens to have deep pockets.

“Deep pockets” and maybe a pathological need to spend insane amounts of money on audio gear. Some of it is really cool looking though.

Meet the Filmmakers of the Tribeca Film Festival

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If you are lucky enough to live in the New York City area, Apple is sending out invites to their “Meet the Filmmakers” series in conjunction with the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival. Filmmakers like Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Brad Hall, Morgan Spurlock and Will Arnett wil be on hand, talking about their latest projects.

The 2012 Tribeca Film Festival runs from April 18th to the 29th.

Sizzling Bacon Candles

Written by

ThinkGeek:

Short of whipping out a skillet and doing a quick fry-up, how can we enjoy that wonderful meaty sweet and smokey aroma without the temptation and subsequent belt-busting and heart-clogging richness of actual cured-pork ingestion? Bacon scented candles, of course!These premium scented candles are long-lasting and made from actual rendered bacon fat using a top-secret process that preserves bacon’s natural aromas and essential oils.

Mmm…Bacon. I have to imagine the only people who would buy these would be single guys. Would any woman allow you to fill up her home with the smell, however delicious, of bacon?

FoxTrot for iPad

Written by

Bill Amend:

Announcing my simultaneous first steps into the worlds of e-books and self-publishing. I’m pretty excited. If you’re an iPad user who likes FoxTrot or who has a kid who likes FoxTrot, these are for you.I’m calling them FoxTrot Pad Packs, because I like the metaphor of collectable cards and how you build up your collection via booster packs. I made them myself using Apple’s free iBooks Author software. Each $1.99 book contains 100 strips, some old, some new, some story lines, some stand-alone jokes, some black and white dailies, some color Sundays. The idea is to create mini books that take maybe 20-30 minutes to read and which aren’t bogged down with a ton of outdated references, as happens with my older, chronologically arranged print books.

Most of us are fans of the strip and this looks like an interesting way to collect a variety of them.

Now THAT’S a conversion van

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Becker Auto Design is offering luxury conversion vans that’ll set you back $400K. It’s a lot of money, but boy, you’d be riding in luxury.

Instarchive, by Recollect

Written by

Instarchive:

There’s been a lot of talk about Instagram lately. We’re pretty sure the sky isn’t falling, but you should always have a backup, so we built this little tool for you.It’s called Instarchive, sign into your Instagram account and we’ll send your photos down to your computer in a convenient zip file. It’s quick and easy, we hope you like it.

Hat tip to Daring Fireball.

Pebble: E-Paper watch for iPhone and Android

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Pebble E-Paper Watch:

The Pebble is an “electronic” watch with an e-paper display. It vibrates, has a three-axis accelerometer and contains Bluetooth 2.1+ EDR for connecting to your phone. Battery life is seven days and is charged via USB.The beauty of the Pebble Watch will be the apps and customization – everything from different styles of watch faces to all kinds of apps.

Amazingly, this Kickstarter project is fully funded already with over $2 million dollars pledged and still 35 days left to go.

Craft Beer App

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Cool Material:

The Craft Beer App has (deep breath): an enormous database of craft beer (from all 50 states), beer podcasts, beer videos, beer descriptions, reviews, ratings and food pairing recommendations. Most importantly, it will locate your favorite craft beers around your location. Want an Allagash White, like, yesterday? Done. Left Hand Milk Stout? No problem.The availability obviously depends on your location, but it’s easily the best use of geo-location to date. Besides, what else are you going to do in the car/bus/cab? Draw something? This is obviously better.

Mmmm…beer.

New Livestream Broadcaster will let you stream from almost any camera

Written by

TechCrunch:

Livestream, the live video streaming service, is announcing an interesting new product: a $495 hardware encoder that can be connected to virtually any camera and that can stream HD video directly to the Web through a WiFi connection or most USB wireless modems.The small device is fully integrated into the new Livestream platform. The purchase price includes three months of free access to Livestream’s ad-free HD streaming service (normally $45/month). Livestream describes the device as “the industry’s first affordable unlimited ad-free HD live streaming end-to-end solution.”

This could be a very exciting piece of tech for broadcast geeks. It would allow them to quickly and easily get high quality video streamed live to the web.

Cut in eBook pricing by Amazon set to shake rivals

Written by

The New York Times:

The government’s decision to pursue major publishers on antitrust charges has put the Internet retailer Amazon in a powerful position: the nation’s largest bookseller may now get to decide how much an e-book will cost, and the book world is quaking over the potential consequences.Amazon, which already controls about 60 percent of the e-book market, can take a loss on every book it sells to gain market share for its Kindle devices. When it has enough competitive advantage, it can dictate its own terms, something publishers say is beginning to happen.

This is a story with a lot of different angles and repercussions depending on your point of view.

Apple begins enhancing ID security in iTunes and iOS

Written by

The Next Web:

In the past 24 hours, Apple appears to have started prompting iOS devices owners and those with Apple IDs within iTunes to make their accounts more secure, requiring them to pick three security questions and enter their answers when they download a new app.Whilst the new prompt will undoubtedly help secure accounts, many Apple device owners are confused by the new pop-up message and believe it is a phishing attempt.

Great idea from Apple but “springing” this on users without prior knowledge has caused a lot of unnecessary confusion and consternation among users.

What is ‘Agency Pricing’?

Written by

The Wall Street Journal:

At the heart of the U.S. government’s suit against Apple and some publishers over e-book pricing is something called “agency pricing.”It’s a term for a new way of setting e-book prices that came about as Apple prepared to introduce its iPad in 2010. Under the traditional “wholesale” pricing model, publishers had long charged booksellers around half the cover price of a book, leaving booksellers to discount the books if they wanted.When Apple entered the fray, it offered publishers the ability to set their own prices.

Good explanation of what the two different pricing models are and how the effect book prices.

The people behind your iPad: The workers

Written by

Marketplace:

Last week, Marketplace’s Rob Schmitz actually got inside a Foxconn factory in the southern city of Shenzhen. He didn’t meet anybody who was poisoned on the job. He didn’t meet any 13-year-old workers. Nobody he talked to had been hurt in an explosion. He says the stories he heard were more about China than Apple.In the first of two reports, Rob introduces us to the people behind our iPads.

The hanging monasteries of the world

Written by

Dark Roasted Blend:

Dizzying heights, pervading mists and isolation seem to invariably fuel humankind’s spiritual quests and lofty aspirations, so it comes as no surprise that we find monasteries and other sacred architecture suspended high above deep valleys, perched on impossible rocks and looming over gorges. The air is certainly clearer there, though at these heights, it’s often much foggier.Serving partly as castles and almost always as unconquerable fortifications, these ancient sites were built on steep cliffs and daring promotories, often accessible only by secret paths – and thus provide the utmost seclusion amid serene surroundings, so valued in true spiritual devotion.

As a Canadian, all I can think of is, “It must be a bear to get beer up there.”