bookofjoe

Every nuclear bomb detonated from 1945 to 1998

The animation is an art project by Isao Hashimoto.

Some 2,000 blasts, "contaminating atmosphere and darkening the sky."

It's good news week.

[via discovermagazine.com, pekingspring, astronomyblog, Wired UK, and Milena]

Unagi iPhone case

 

Apply

within.

If you want one, it would be advantageous to know Japanese.

[via Fancy]

Universal Icons: Walk and At Work

Excerpts from a June 4, 2011 Wall Street Journal story follow.

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Across the world, figures on street signs and traffic lights offer guidance and warnings to passersby, such as "don't walk" and "men at work." These icons transcend language and culture, yet from place to place, they still have their own unique identities.

In a series of public art installations, artist Maya Barkai is exploring the different representations of the universal man (or, in some cases, woman). The idea began nearly a decade ago, when New York City began replacing its "walk" and "don't walk" traffic lights with a more "pedestrian-friendly" figure of a person walking (for walk) and an open hand (don't walk). Ms. Barkai, who was born in Jerusalem and now lives in New York, began photographing similar figures from other countries. Now her collection of photos—taken by herself or submitted by others—numbers about 230 figures.

For her first project, "Walking Man 99," the artist made reproductions of the walk figures on traffic lights—from a stick figure in Marseilles to a ponytailed woman in Utrecht. The figures were printed on vinyl then mounted to plywood walls. Installations are currently up in Perm, Russia, and New York; 25 new figures were added to the New York site last week and will be up for another year. A second project, now up in Bat Yam, Israel, as part of the Bat Yam International Biennale of Landscape Urbanism, reproduces more than 55 "men at work" icons. Some wear hats. One from San Francisco depicts a woman.

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Above and below, exemplars of the artist's work.

Slide show here.

[via designboom]

 

 

 

AccuSharp Knife Sharpener: One of the best tools I've ever used

One Amazon reviewer called it the "sharpening tool of the century."

I won't argue.

My knives have been getting progressively duller over the years but I'm not about to try to sharpen them myself with a stone nor am I taking them in anytime soon for professional sharpening.

I've been content to use them as they are.

Then I came upon the AccuSharp somewhere and read the Amazon Reviews (below)

and decided to pony up $9.10 for one.

"Amazing" would be an understatement for the ease of use (once I figured out I was doing it backwards [Doh! Look at the picture, joe],

in yet another demonstration of weltklasse TechnoDolt™ery) and the results obtained from a few swipes of the device along the blade.

I cannot recommend this tool highly enough.

$8.50.

I'm anticipating an onslaught of flak from readers pointing out how I'm wrecking my knives (Henckels 5-Star) by using it but you know what?

There's an Arab proverb for that:

The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on.

FunFact: That saying is the source of the title of Truman Capote's 1973 essay collection, "The Dogs Bark."

Capote heard it from André Gide.

Cat Burglar Commercial for Travelers Insurance

Though not as magical as the first in this series, it's still very heart-warming and bears — at least to this sappy, sentimental soul — endless rewatching.

Travelers had the great good sense to feature the same perfect-in-every-way dog as in the original.

Quarter Screw

Wrote Malcolm Gladwell, "The [Quarter Screw] was capital (the quarter) fused to labor (the screwdriver), with (as always) capital at the head and labor getting the shaft."

"This screwdriver is a #2 Phillips-head bit welded to a U.S. quarter. A red leather string is included for optional use as a necklace."

Even money the TSA confiscates it if you choose to wear it as such.

$150.

By artist Tom Sachs, a man (below) after my own heart.

At least when it comes to the manqué of Alfred E. Neuman, one of my icons since very early days (I'm talking elementary school).

 

50 Italian coffees to choose from (before you leave your lover)

Wait a minute... what's that music I'm hearing?

[via Milena and Charming Italy]

Lobster Claw Claw Crackers

Is there an echo in the room?

[via WHATTHECOOL and Svpply]