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Posts Tagged ‘Dreams’

Film Fridays: Dreams come true – discovering a stash of untouched Soviet-era cameras

10 Oct

To any collector/enjoyer of old cameras, the idea of stumbling upon on enormous stash of mint-condition gear, from a long-gone era, is the ultimate dream. And that dream recently became a reality for one lucky gentlemen in Kazakhstan, who discovered hundreds of “brand-new” Soviet-era cameras – including the Smena 8M (shown above) – packed inside wooden crates and stored in a warehouse, untouched likely since the early 1990’s. Read on…

Read: A secret stash of hundreds of Soviet cameras found in a Kazakh warehouse

About Film Fridays: We recently launched an analog forum and in a continuing effort to promote the fun of the medium, we’ll be sharing film-related content on Fridays, including articles from our friends at KosmoFoto and 35mmc.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Pipe Dreams: 15 Totally Tubular Scaffolding Creations

18 May

[ By Steph in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

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Though typically seen as eyesores obscuring architecture and blocking sidewalks, scaffolding is more than its most basic function, with its modular network of pipes reclaimed for parasitic architecture, temporary pavilions, retail displays and sculptures. In fact, repurposed scaffolding is practically free, easy to assemble and surprisingly versatile, and it’s been used for everything from transforming an abandoned fountain into a spa to growing fresh edible plants in the middle of the city.

Monumental Scaffolding Stairs by MVRDV
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Large enough for hundreds of people to access at once, this crazy-high staircase is made almost entirely from scaffolding, offering visitors direct access to the roof of the Groot Handelsgebouw in Rotterdam. Designed by MVRDV, the installation references the city’s spirited rebuilding efforts after World War II and aims to encourage “a new, much more interactive, three dimensional and denser urban topography for the next city generation.” The 180 steps lead to a temporary observation deck and rooftop cinema, and will be open through June 12, 2016.

Bow-House Parasitic Home
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In another example of parasitic architecture, the Bow-House is a scaffolding framework covered in reclaimed doors and windows, perched on a windowless brick wall in Heerlen, The Netherlands. French architect Stéphane Malka erected the guerrilla structure as a free open shelter where anyone can temporarily live. Based on a flexible system, it can be adapted for any public space with an empty wall, and it’s made from free, reclaimed and easy-to-assemble components.

Pop-Up Urban Spa at an Abandoned Fountain
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Add a scaffolding structure and a pallet deck around an abandoned public fountain and you’ve got a fun urban spa where kids and their families can escape the heat of Chihuahua, Mexico. PKMN Architectures reclaimed nearly all of the materials used for this revitalization project in Urueta Park, where the central fountain has been broken for years. It took just two weeks to design and build the pop-up creation, and the scaffolding towers that surround it support hammocks, resting platforms and textile shades.

Open-Air Scaffolding Residence for Artists
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Playing on the concept of an artist residency for muralists while also making commentary on the availability of affordable housing in urban districts, this installation by Milan-based artist Fra.Biancoshock is less than private, and that’s the point. ’24/7’ highlights the difference in working conditions between street artists and studio artists, and the often impoverished living conditions of nearly all visual artists, with a four-story open-air scaffolding residence.

Pavilion Humanidade 2012
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While it’s not unusual for events to make use of scaffolding for temporary structures, the Pavilion Humanidade exceeds just about all of them in scale and complexity. Created for Rio+20, the UN conference on sustainability in Rio de Janeiro, the pavilion won its architect Carla Juaçaba the 2012 arcVision prize for women in architecture. Layered and translucent, it’s almost completely constructed from previously used scaffolding and fully recyclable, erected on the site of an old fort overlooking the Copacabana and Ipanema beaches.

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Pipe Dreams 15 Totally Tubular Scaffolding Creations

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[ By Steph in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

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Sweet Dreams: Nightmare Robots Replace Hotel Employees

11 Aug

[ By Steph in Boutique & Art Hotels & Travel. ]

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In this edition of ‘Androids Are After Our Jobs,’ a Japanese hotel replaces all of its front desk clerks, porters and other employees with robots, including a hairy nightmare dinosaur wearing a bellboy cap. In fact, should you choose to stay the night here and approach the desk furthest to the right in the lobby, you might question for a moment whether you accidentally ingested some LSD and are mentally recreating a scene from “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.”

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Don’t want to face this guy when you check in? Too bad, because he’s the only one who speaks English. “If you want to check in, push one,” he says, and you type your information into the touch screen and let it snap your photo. The porter robot accompanies you to your room with all of your luggage onboard, and you’re allowed entrance once your identity is verified with facial recognition software. Is that cute little bedside concierge watching you as you sleep, or evaluating your performance in other activities? You’ll never know.

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The Henn Na hotel is a real place in Nagasaki, Japan, that aims to slash costs by automating nearly all services with a whole lot of help from technology. Owner Hideo Sawada runs the hotel as part of an amusement park, and says that while the robots may be a tourist draw, they’re not purely gimmicks. Cutting down on staff enables the hotel to rent rooms for as low as $ 80 a night, a rarity in the country.

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The technology that makes this actually work is still in progress, so naturally, the robots can’t do nearly as many things as human employees, like calling cabs or giving you directions. You’ll have to figure that stuff out yourself. Mentioned almost as an aside is the creepy fact that the few human employees who are present in the hotel are hidden, watching you silently  through a series of security cameras as you pass through the hallways and common rooms. Please enjoy your stay!

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[ By Steph in Boutique & Art Hotels & Travel. ]

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Architecture of Your Dreams: 11 More Surreal Fantasy Structures

10 Jul

[ By Steph in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

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While a spaceship-like pod balancing upon four impossibly tiny poles may not be the most realistic architectural concept ever proposed, some of these innovative fantasy structures from artist Dionisio Gonzalez make us wonder, ‘why not?’ Curving cast concrete forms interact with geometric volumes tilted at odd angles, and faceted glass and metal shapes hover off the ground in what look to be modular parametric designs. Other homes seem like contemporary buildings that have been taken apart like building blocks and put back together slightly off-kilter.

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Perhaps architects and engineers could confirm whether or not any of these surreal architectural visions could actually be built. Entitled ‘Trans-Actions,’ the new series consists of raised residences with complex shapes, some seeming to take a common motif from contemporary architecture and simply repeat it over and over again in slightly different ways. Many seem to balance precariously upon the earth, as if one strong wind could blow them right off their foundations.

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Each one is a bit past its prime, with surfaces that have gotten dirty or weathered over time. Half-dead vegetation clings to balconies as if nature is beginning to take back over, suggesting that what we are looking at is actually the remains of a structure no longer in use.

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Gonzalez previously released a series of post-apocalyptic shell-like structures envisioned for Dauphin Island, a locale off the coast of Alabama that keeps getting slammed by storms. Check out 35 more bizarre and intriguing examples of ‘impossible architecture.’

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[ By Steph in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

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Android Dreams: Google’s Neural Network Reveals AI Art

25 Jun

[ By Steph in Gaming & Computing & Technology. ]

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Those of us working in creative fields have often consoled ourselves that although automation may claim many other jobs, at least robots can’t make art. That’s not exactly true for a variety of reasons (depending on how you define ‘art’), but it really goes out the window when you look at these astonishing images released recently by Google. The landscapes produced on the company’s image recognition neural network reveal the answer to the question, “Can artificial intelligence dream?”

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It turns out that it can – sort of. Google created a method to ‘teach’ its neural network to identify features like animals, buildings and objects in photographs. The computer highlights the features it recognizes. When that modified image is fed back to the network again and again, it’s repeatedly altered until it produces bizarre mashups that belong in a gallery of surreal art.

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Suddenly, an image of a knight on a horse is filled with ghostly impressions of frogs, fish, dogs and flowers. The knight’s arm seems to have sprouted a koala head, while the head of another unrecognizable animal emerges from beneath the horse’s tail. In another image, a tree and field turn cotton candy pink, and the clouds transform into conjoined sheep monsters.

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Technically, it’s more like the computers were fed psychedelics and asked to paint, rather than capturing random images that might flash through their artificial ‘minds’ when they’re idle. The computers look for patterns and edges within the photos and paintings when they’re trying to identify objects and shapes, leading to those strange ghostly images scattered randomly throughout. Those edges are brought out more in each successive layer until the network starts thinking it sees all sorts of things within them.

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Google describes it as “inceptionism,” saying “We know that after training, each  layer progressively extracts higher and higher-level features of the image, until the final layer essentially makes a decision on what the image shows.”

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“So here’s one surprise: neural networks that were trained to discriminate between different kinds of images have quite a bit of the information needed to generate images too. Why is this important? Well, we train networks by simply showing them many examples of what we want them to learn, hoping they extract the essence of the matter at hand (e.g., a fork needs a handle and 2-4 tines), and learn to ignore what doesn’t matter (a fork can be any shape, size, color or orientation).”

“If we choose higher-level layers, which identify more sophisticated features in images, complex features or even whole objects tend to emerge. Again, we just start with an existing image and give it to our neural net. We ask the network: “Whatever you see there, I want more of it!” This creates a feedback loop: if a cloud looks a little bit like a bird, the network will make it look more like a bird. This in turn will make the network recognize the bird even more strongly on the next pass and so forth, until a highly detailed bird appears, seemingly out of nowhere.”

Check out lots more examples on Google’s research blog.

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[ By Steph in Gaming & Computing & Technology. ]

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Day 3 Deals – Turn your Dreams of Going Pro into Reality

15 Dec

Day 3 of the 12 Days of Christmas sale is all about inspiring and equipping people keen to turn pro. Secretly wish you could be a full-time photographer?  Not sure where to start? No problem – Digital Photography Santa has all the answers in these mega-special Day 3 deals.

Deal 1: Save 60% Off our popular eBook – Going Pro

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Learn first-hand from experienced magazine photo editor Kelly Kingman about selling your images the way YOU want. Going Pro covers everything from choosing the right business model to teaching you the practicalities of building a successful business.

For just $ 20, it’s guaranteed to pay for itself many times over!

You can read about what’s included in Going Pro here.

Deal 2: Total Training in Commercial Photography – Online Course by Charlie Borland for only $ 124 ($ 499RRP) Massive 75% off!

Day3Bundle

Download this fantastic deal now and save 75% off!

Commercial photography is one of highest paid areas in the industry. It’s true; rates can run $ 1000, $ 2000, and even $ 5000 per day plus expenses.

After watching 125 lectures by veteran commercial photographer Charlie Borland; you’ll be fired up, totally prepared and ready to compete in the lucrative commercial photography market.

Start 2014 with a real plan to start living your dreams.

But don’t hesitate… both these incredible deals are only available for the next 24 hours.

The post Day 3 Deals – Turn your Dreams of Going Pro into Reality by Darren Rowse appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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Piano and Violin Duet – Dream of Dreams – Brian Crain

13 Jan

Click here to purchase song on iTunes and get Sheet Music: iTunes: itunes.apple.com Sheet Music: briancrain.com Violin performed by Rita Chepurchenko. Extreme High Quality Smooth Slow Motion Retime in HD. Brian Williams Rock Center NBC Nightly News ?What does it feel like to fly over planet Earth?? This video was produced by Rob Crain. http The song is “Dream of Dreams” from the album “Piano and Violin Duet” by Brian Crain. Image courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center eol.jsc.nasa.gov These images were shot with a Nikon D3S with 17-35mm F2.8 and 14-24mm F2.8 lenses
Video Rating: 4 / 5

 
 

Martin Stranka and Music of His Dreams

09 Nov

Martin Stranka is one of my most favorite photographers. I decided to open his inner world made of fragile subtle senses filled with poesy and sounds of beautiful music to readers of PhotoDoto. All this gives us opportunity to enjoy visual side of this whole universe in one person. J.B.: Martin, I know that most of readers are waiting to Continue Reading

The post Martin Stranka and Music of His Dreams appeared first on Photodoto.


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Animusic – Pipe Dreams

07 May

This is rather nifty. It’s an animation done to some music, by a company called Animusic (www.animusic.com). The song for this one isn’t as cheesy as most of the other videos they’ve done (though it’s still a little cheesy).

 

Focal Meditation for Lucid Dreams (Binaural – 3D Stereoscopic)

15 Sep

Powerful blend of Anaglyph Stereoscopic Visual and Binaural audio stimulators designed to induce Lucid Dreams BinauralFX.com Electronic devices that use light impulses to promote transcendental meditative states have been around for a long time. The technology is based on the fact that brainwaves have a tendency to change with light based stimulation of certain frequencies. This phenomenon is known as entrainment. Utilizing the entrainment effect on the human mind, the BinauralFX team has designed Stereoscopic Visual Stimulators that are able to induce a deep meditative state in a very short time. These visuals are tailored to awaken hypersensory perception, which ultimately allows the mind to further evolve. It’s truly fascinating how the human mind interprets visual rhythmical patterns, ones hypersensory perception are engaged mind starting to tune on repeatable visual patterns with a similar algorithm it tunes to music in the normal state, distortion of that pattern are gets interpreted as an alternate reality. People who are able to see the 4th dimension in stereograms would really understand that idea. BinauralFX stereo visuals are a multidimensional experience program, where the mind can tune to visual patterns presented on many visual layers as well as a binaural sound beat. The deeper the concentration the further the Rabbit will go down the hole. Anaglyph 3D is the best medium founded so far to present described experiences. Meditators need to wear red and blue

Please use a red blue eye glasses.(Left-Red/Right-Cyan)
Video Rating: 5 / 5

 
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