It was my honor to work with the team that developed Virtual Reality photography back in 1996.
It’s wonderful to see how far the technology has come and the way it is being used.
Use your mouse to pan around the image. Use your Shift Key to Zoom In and Command Key to Zoom Out.
The Chapel is incredible when you focus on the detailed work and remember how it was created.
-Robert
CLICK IN THE IMAGE to have it load for viewing. Or click here.
We’re suckers for beautiful libraries here at Flavorpill. Public libraries are important to the culture at large — they’re places where anyone can enter and partake of knowledge they offer, where anyone can engage with history, literature and culture. And while we know it’s the books that are important, everyone likes to read in a beautiful space, so we decided to take a look at the most beautiful public libraries in the world. -Flavorwire
CLICK HERE to visit the web site and see all 25.
Thanks to Cathy B. for sharing this link with us.
Feed your soul and watch this 5:50 minutes of incredible photography by Sebastiao Salgado.- Robert
Thanks to Doug B. for bringing this to our attention.
Since 1946, the Bregenz Festival ‘Opera on the Lake’ in Austria has been home to some of the most incredible outdoor stages ever built. Set on the gorgeous Lake Constance, the 6,800 capacity ‘Seebuhne’ Stage has been the setting for some of the world’s most famous operas.
During the 2007 performance of Tosca, the producer and director for the James Bond film Quantum of Solace were so impressed, they filmed a 10-day scene in Bregenz where Bond meets his adversary for the first time during a performance of Tosca.
CLICK HERE to view the original web site and see more incredible shots. – Robert
Okay, yes… it’s a commercial. But what a unique and fun one. Enjoy!
-Robert
Thanks to Curt S. for bringing this one to our attention.
Full Moon Silhouettes is a real time video of the moon rising over the Mount Victoria Lookout in Wellington, New Zealand. People had gathered up there this night to get the best view possible of the moon rising. I captured the video from 2.1km away on the other side of the city. It’s something that I’ve been wanting to photograph for a long time now, and a lot of planning and failed attempts had taken place. Finally, during moon rise on the 28th January 2013, everything fell into place and I got my footage.
The video is as it came off the memory card and there has been no manipulation whatsoever. Technically it was quite a challenge to get the final result. I shot it on a Canon ID MkIV in video mode with a Canon EF 500mm f/4L and a Canon 2x extender II, giving me the equivalent focal length of 1300mm.
Music – Tenderness by Dan Phillipson : premiumbeat.com/royalty_free_music/songs/tenderness
-Mark Gee
One thing I encourage you to do is watch this on the biggest screen you have – don’t waste it on an iPhone screen. – Robert
Thanks to Mary M. and Ann R. (both) for passing this along to us.
By now you have probably seen Google Map’s “Street View” feature. Here is an incredibly creative use of those images to create an amazing “Hyperlapse” (super time-lapse photography) video. Taking each individual image from Street View and assembling them in a video editor takes the idea of time lapse photography and turns it upside down.
Hyper-lapse photography – a technique combining time-lapse and sweeping camera movements typically focused on a point-of-interest – has been a growing trend on video sites. It’s not hard to find stunning examples on Vimeo. Creating them requires precision and many hours stitching together photos taken from carefully mapped locations.
Enjoy!
-Robert
CLICK HERE to see the source web site with more information.
An invisible, ancient source of energy surrounds us—energy that powered the first explorations of the world, and that may be a key to the future. This map shows you the delicate tracery of wind flowing over the US.
CLICK HERE to view the animated map.
Thanks to Cathy B. for bringing this one to our attention.
In the words of Shel Hall: ” Remember when we used to think that playing Classical Gas correctly was something to which we might aspire? ”
With a tip of the hat to the original composer, Mason Williams, enjoy this performance by Tommy Emmanuel.
Thanks to Shel H. for passing this along to us.
Spirit, MER-A (Mars Exploration Rover — A), is a robotic rover on Mars, active from 2004 to 2010.
This clip is taken from the IMAX movie ”Roving Mars” from 2006. This is an edited short version. 16,468,900 people have already viewed this, at the time of this posting. I hope you’ll find it thought provoking and worthy of your time as well.
If you have a system capable of HD then I urge you to select the highest quality in the usual way. Full Screen is the best! – Robert
Thanks to Peter B. for bringing this link to our attention.
How does the Internet really work? The World Science Festival created this short video explainer as a setup to Internet Everywhere: The Future of History’s Most Disruptive Technology, a sold-out program featuring Internet pioneer Vint Cerf of Google, MIT’s Neil Gershenfeld, lawyer and Internet advocate Elizabeth Stark and Alex Wright, director of user experience at The New York Times.
The video lets you ride shotgun with a packet of data—one of trillions involved in the trillions of Internet interactions that happen every second. Look deep beneath the surface of the most basic Internet transaction, and follow the packet as it flows from your fingertips, through circuits, wires, and cables, to a host server, and then back again, all in less than a second.
CLICK HERE to view the short video.
Thanks to Chuck P. for passing this along to us.
Now that April Fools day is past, here’s a REAL product that catches my attention. – Robert
Double is the simplest, most elegant way to be somewhere else in the world without flying there. The minimalist design and intuitive touchscreen controls allow you to freely move around without inconveniencing others. You can stay at eye level, whether sitting or standing, by adjusting your height remotely, which makes conversations fluid and real. Retractable kickstands will automatically deploy to conserve power when you are not moving around. Efficient motors and lightweight design give Double the ability to last all day without recharging the battery.
Thanks to Bob P. for passing this one along.
Bob added the comment: “ William Gibson said: The future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed.”
Thanks to Cathy B. for this one.
Watch this video and see our story compressed into two minutes.
Thanks to Richard D. for passing this link along to us.
Watch this in HD if you can. Simply beautiful. – R
CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO WATCH THE VIDEO.
Thanks to Kevin W. for bringing this to our attention.
On the 40th anniversary of the famous ‘Blue Marble’ photograph taken of Earth from space, Planetary Collective presents a short film documenting astronauts’ life-changing stories of seeing the Earth from the outside – a perspective-altering experience often described as the Overview Effect.
The Overview Effect, first described by author Frank White in 1987, is an experience that transforms astronauts’ perspective of the planet and mankind’s place upon it. Common features of the experience are a feeling of awe for the planet, a profound understanding of the interconnection of all life, and a renewed sense of responsibility for taking care of the environment.
‘Overview’ is a short film that explores this phenomenon through interviews with five astronauts who have experienced the Overview Effect. The film also features insights from commentators and thinkers on the wider implications and importance of this understanding for society, and our relationship to the environment.
Watch it in HD if your system permits. 20 minutes of wonder-full perspective. - Robert
Thanks to Bob A. for bringing this to our attention.
Thanks to Carol W. for giving me the book Overview when it first came out in 1987.
A documentary film titled Chasing Ice is up for an Oscar.
Watch this 4+ minutes of unbelievable video and see how our world is changing in real time.
Prepare to be amazed.
Seek out Chasing Ice through your normal channels to learn and see more. The reviews and awards are stunning. My hat is off to world class photographer, Jim Balog and his team for devoting their time, talents, and energy into bringing Balog’s vision to the screen. I spent a week with Jim back in 2005 at a photography workshop in the Tetons. When I asked why he drove a Honda Element instead of something more predictable, like a Land Rover, he replied “I don’t believe it is everyone’s God given right to drive up steep mountain roads at 70 mph. This carries all my gear, I can hose it out when it gets dirty and it gets decent mileage.” — This is a nature photographer who actually cares about the environment instead of just taking great pictures of it. – Robert
CLICK HERE to view the Official Trailer for the film.
Thanks to Mark Szulgit for bringing this link to our attention.
Sometimes you see a great performance and you know, from experience, that it was well honed and timed, presented and embellished through the artistry of the performers. Many times we see the slick polish of stadium filling extravaganzas. These come from time tested “show people” who know what is expected and how to deliver it on a grand scale. These are truly memorable moments, when you witness such a feat with a live audience and know it is unique and special.
Once in a long while you also get to see some young people who have worked hard to bring their passion and love of something out into the light.
I saw this duo called Shovels & Rope on the Letterman show and enjoyed their sheer musical enthusiasm as much as the wonderful sounds that two creative people can make. If you have a moment to change gears, turn up the volume and enjoy Shovels & Rope.
As a former folk singer, I can bear witness to the difficulty in generating the sense of authenticity this team achieves.
-Robert
CLICK HERE to see the performance on David Letterman.
UPDATE January 21, 2013 : For those with an iPad the iBook versions are for you. For everyone else, download the PDF (Portable Document Format) version and view it on your computer, or tablet. - Robert
Soar through the universe with the Hubble Space Telescope, exploring some of its most significant discoveries – from dark energy to colliding galaxies. Decend to Earth, where Hubble’s successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, readies for the future of astronomy. Image galleries, video, and interactives bring home the telescopes’ science and engineering in this pair of free books available through the iBooks® app on the iPad.
CLICK HERE to get these iBooks and PDF’s.
Thanks to Verna G. for this link.
Though often overlooked, Graphic Design surrounds us: it is the signs we read, the products we buy, and the rooms we inhabit. Graphic designers find beauty within limitations, working towards the ultimate goal of visually communicating a message, be it the packaging of a product, the spirit of a book, or the narrative of a building. Utilizing a language of type and imagery, graphic designers try to make every aspect of our lives defined and beautiful.
Anyone who understands and loves Rock and Roll will want to see this over the top performance by Heart. Singing “Stairway to Heaven” as the Kennedy Center Honors include Led Zeppelin this year.
CLICK HERE to view the clip. If you can find an HD version, it is recommended.
Click Here to enter a search using this clever hack. Use your keyboard even when you see a keyboard on the screen. While it is a functional IBM interface, the joy for me is how far we’ve come in interacting with digital devices. And so it goes.
Thanks to Bob P. for sending this one along to us.
We have all walked by the Red Cross sign in airports indicating where a heart machine is located. Do you know what is in them and how to use it? I did not.
Watch this video and see what you think. If you pick the wrong choice — the man dies — choose wisely. You may save a life. I just watched this video twice.
This is an ingenious way to get people to imagine they can do something on the spur of the moment that they’ve never tried before. I didn’t realize that the box actually talks to you.
Thanks to Ann R. for bringing this one to our attention.
A new animation highlighting the phases of the Moon has been released by the Scientific Visualization Studio at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
CLICK HERE to view the animation.
Thanks to Mary M. for this link.
This is a short video, 2:39 minutes, that says a lot. It was created by the teacher and students at Warren T. Jackson Elementary School. While the video focuses on iPads, really the message is : It’s time for a change in the way we approach education.
It’s just common sense. – Robert
Thanks to Mitch S. for passing this along to us.
In the words of Sheldon H. “Makes you want to fly Air New Zealand” and I agree with him. — Robert
I previously posted my strong recommendation for the HBO series “Newsroom.” To those who doubt something bad is happening to our “media”, I urge you to watch this story by Ted Koppel. This aired on September 21st, 2012 I hope you’ll share it with your friends. There are TWO links below for part one and part two. -Robert
From Bill O’Reilly describing how some media pundits “smash” politicians, to Ann Coulter describing why O’Reilly isn’t opinionated enough, Rock Center Special Correspondent Ted Koppel investigates the role of the media in the degeneration of politics into an ugly war of words.
CLICK HERE to view Part One of the story from Rock Center.
CLICK HERE to view Part Two of the story from Rock Center.
I was born 30 years too early. All the 16mm film I shot from helicopters, motorcycles, sky diving and hot air balloons, not to mention moving cars, would still be awesome to watch today, if I had one of these cameras back in 1970.
The video is a commercial promo for the product. I make no apology for that. This is not a paid endorsement. I have no financial interest in this camera.
In the words of my good friend Jay: “Another wow.”
Indeed. WOW!
-Robert
Thanks to Jay A. for passing this along to us.
CLICK HERE to see Felix Baumgartner makes record-breaking skydive from space.
Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner jumps from more than 24 miles above Earth, breaking the speed of sound before he releases his parachute. The 43-year-old broke the record for highest jump set by Joe Kittinger at 19.5 miles in 1960. Kittinger was in the control room in Roswell, New Mexico, together with Baumgartner’s family.
In a companion story:
Chuck Yeager retraced history on Sunday, 65 years to the minute, as the first test pilot to break the sound barrier, taking to the skies once again to fly faster than the speed of sound.
The 89-year-old Yeager broke the sound barrier in a U.S. Air Force F-15 at 10:24 a.m. over the Mojave Desert, the same location where he first flew past Mach 1 on October 14, 1947, the military said in a statement.
When was the last time you watched something on your television that made you sit up and focus all your attention on the screen, and when it was over, you and everyone else in the room broke into applause? That’s just what happened to me tonight with HBO’s new series The Newsroom. — Script by Aaron Sorkin, starring Jeff Daniels in his best role ever, theme music by Thomas Newman, with Sam Waterston and a genuinely wonderful cast that made this show something a bit beyond great.
“A must see” is far too little praise for what the show says about us, our nation and the dysfunctional way we currently learn about what’s happening in our world.
I recommend, endorse and implore you to find a way to watch the Pilot episode. It’s already had 3 episodes on the air. You MUST see the pilot to understand what is going on. But it is well worth your time. We’ve become unwilling victims of the corporate infotainment machine. We should be demanding more.
This is not a paid endorsement – it’s a loud hurrah for something finally worth watching.
-Robert
CLICK HERE for the Complete Calendar of events.
With nearly 500 events comprising Artown’s July 2012 calendar, we’re making it easy for you to be in the know.
For those who are unfamiliar with the Artown Festival – here are some highlights of this year’s amazing celebration of the Arts.
If you can be here, you’ll find a lot to be excited about. It’s not too late to book a flight and join us during the month of July. You’ll never regret it.
-Robert Barnes
Fly above the Earth on the International Space Station at night.
Thanks to Peter B. for passing this along to us.
On Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012, I told my girlfriend to meet me at my parent’s house for dinner. When she arrived I had stationed my brother to sit her in the back of an open Honda CRV and give her some headphones. He “wanted to play her a song”…
What she got instead was the world’s first Live Lip-Dub Proposal.
Enjoy!
Rory Hoffman, Nashville studio musician, two time winner of the ICMA Musician of the Year award, and blind from birth, demos the Paul Reed Smith Modern Eagle LTD guitar! Listen to Rory demo all seven possible pickup combinations on this amazing guitar!
Now you may not want to watch the whole 12 minute demo, but you can’t watch even 5 minutes of this without being reminded that we all do far less with the talents we’ve got than we could or should.
Here is one gentleman who exceeds my wildest dreams of guitar performance. Enjoy!
-Robert
CLICK HERE to view the video. Turn up your sound.
Thanks to RTW for bringing Rory to our attention.
Amazing and impressive! – Robert
Welcome to Samso, an island off the coast of Denmark. Here is an example of something so remarkable: a community pulling together, investing together, and succeeding at becoming completely energy independent.
Thanks to Melanie T. for sharing this one with us.
New iPad Magic Act — On behalf of Stockholm — The Capital of Scandinavia and Step2 Communication. Performed at MIPIM in Cannes by Charlie Caper and Erik Rosales. Magic with technology.
As part of an upcoming documentary commemorating the one-hundredth anniversary of the Titanic disaster, National Geographic has released this updated animation of the sea-liner’s collapse by noted detail stickler James Cameron. Using forensic data from the wreckage, Cameron and his team have amended the ship’s 1912 foundering. The sinking was not adjusted for the Titanic 3D rerelease, unlike certain historical events.
Suggestion: Best viewed in full screen mode if your system allows.
Thanks to Scott R. for bringing this one to our attention.
A TED presentation on Filter Bubbles and how they are changing our world in ways you never imagined. You will want to know about this if you spend anytime on the web using Google Search, or Facebook. 9 minutes. – Robert
CLICK HERE to watch the video.
Thanks to Kevin W. for bringing this link to our attention.
Here at Pixel Harbor, we celebrate the “good stuff”. After the tragedy in Florida that has saddened our country this week, here’s a different kind of story. It is important too. This story comes from my father’s home town of Picayune, Mississippi. – Robert
(CBS News) PICAYUNE, Miss. – In Washington Thursday, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts honored 10 teachers for their power to inspire. CBS News correspondent Wyatt Andrews spoke to one of them as well as the student whose life she changed.
CLICK HERE to watch the three minute video.
Thanks to Carolyn T. for bringing this story to us.
Jason Mraz’s new song, I Won’t Give Up, speaks to us as individuals and as a Nation. — Robert
CLICK HERE to visit YouTube for his video.
Thanks to Cathy B. for bringing this link to our attention.
A few YEARS ago — I recommended the music service PANDORA to you. Pandora is still great. Still useful. So is iTunes. 220,000,000 active members proves it. And NOW I want to point you to a new service that is an alternative to the first two — it actually compliments iTunes because it includes your current iTunes Library in the player controls. You see the details at their web site.
Try it out. It’s FREE. There’s a lot to explore on their web site.
This is not a paid endorsement. I just like it a lot!
-Robert
Sometimes a picture / video is worth a million words. I’ll let “Kara” speak for herself. – Robert
Jackie Gleason once said “What is a Critic? A Critic is someone who relaxes on the rim of the valley and watches all the effort that goes into fighting a battle below and when it is finished, the Critic rides down and kills the survivors.”
So many movies are trying to get made. Green lighted, funded, etc. If you survive the first steps, then actually making the movie has been compared to war. The Producer and Director move an army of production people through all the steps up to release of the film.
Making good movies is hard. Making good movies takes all the elements which include story first and foremost, but then all the craft work such as acting, directing, sets, music, ALL of it.
So my experiment today was this: I bought a ticket to see the movie John Carter. After I watched it, I bought another ticket and watched Safe House. Both were roller coaster rides. Both were lavish with locations and action. Both made me care about the outcome and the lead characters.
Tin Tin and Hugo — which I admit were brilliant productions — were a feast for my eyes. I marveled at the effects and construction of the films. But I DID NOT CARE about the lead characters nearly enough to FORGET the world outside the theater.
I want to suspend time and stop the noise of everyday life and enter a theatre and be taken away for just a couple of hours. Then I want to be returned safely to my home and remember the films that suspended time for me.
Remember how you felt after seeing Avatar, and latest Star Trek remake, and The Matrix and you said silently to yourself – Wow! that was something really different. And then you remember how you felt seeing the first Star Wars and now years later, you realize that George Lucas is a master of visuals and sets and effects and has absolutely NO plot writing skill. He steals every plot element and has stilted characters deliver the lines instead of letting them “act”. Star Wars is a money machine (and was a visual treat for every science fantasy lover out there in the 1977). Lucas’ Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Ark was the exception.
So what I got out of my experiment today was this: I’ve read a lot of pre-release reviews about how the Disney Movie (PG-13) John Carter is going to fail at the box office. It might. Simply because of terrible marketing. I just read one review in the LA Times. (Don’t read it if you hate spoilers.) And so I’m here as ONE SINGLE ticket buyer to tell you this: IF you decide to take a two hour break from life this weekend, John Carter is every bit as much fun as you can have at a movie and it delivers that suspension of time in grand, magnificent style.
I recommend it to you NOT as a “must see” film but as a genuine good use of your movie dollar.
Celebrate the excellent. A lot of people worked very hard to create this two hours and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Everyone’s a critic. Your mileage may vary. -Robert Barnes
PS: In case you wondered… Safe House was excellent as a Bourne Identity style action movie. But John Carter was “Fun” and exceptional and really benefits from the big screen. Don’t wait for this one on your TV. John Carter is based on the series of books by Edgar Rice Burroughs who later wrote Tarzan.
Robyn shares her personal story and how it inspired her current path as a “Real Food” evangelist. Grounded in a successful Wall Street career that was more interested in food as good business than good-for-you, this mother of four was shaken awake by the dangerous allergic reaction of one of her children to a “typical” breakfast. Her mission to unearth the cause revealed more about the food industry than she could stomach, and impelled her to share her findings with others. Informative and inspiring.
About this speaker
Robyn authored “The Unhealthy Truth: How Our Food Is Making Us Sick and What We Can Do About It.” A former Wall Street food industry analyst, Robyn brings insight, compassion and detailed analysis to her research into the impact that the global food system is having on the health of our children. She founded allergykidsfoundation.org and was named by Forbes as one of “20 Inspiring Women to Follow on Twitter.” The New York Times has passionately described her as “Food’s Erin Brockovich.”
CLICK HERE to go directly to the video.
Thanks to Kevin W. for sharing this very relevant link with us.
Last May, Jetman achieved a beautiful and memorable flight in the Grand Canyon in Arizona, USA… and here’s the official souvenir video! Many thanks to all who were involved in that adventure!
CLICK HERE to view the flight.
Excellence comes in many forms with levels of danger and difficulty. In your heart of hearts, who wouldn’t want to do this just once. (assuming you lived through it) — Robert
Thanks to Dr. Jones for the link.
Motion Induced Blindness
Applicable for anyone who drives.
When you do the demonstration, if you think the yellow dots are being removed, start moving your eyes around and you will discover that the yellow dots do not disappear. Keep your eyes scanning when you drive!
It works exactly as described and is one major reason people in cars can look right at you (when you’re on a motorcycle or bicycle) — AND NOT SEE YOU.
From a former Naval Aviator: This is a great illustration of what we were taught about scanning outside the cockpit when I went through training back in the ’50s. We were told to scan the horizon for a short distance, stop momentarily, and repeat the process. I can remember being told why this was the most effective technique to locate other aircraft. It was emphasized (repeatedly) to NOT fix your gaze for more than a couple of seconds on any single object.
The instructors, some of whom were WWII veterans with years of experience, instructed us to continually “keep our eyes moving and our head on a swivel” because this was the best way to survive, not only in combat, but from peace time hazards (like a midair collision) as well.
We basically had to take the advice on faith (until we could experience it for ourselves) because the technology to demonstrate it didn’t exist at that time.
Click on the Image or Click Here to experience the actual demonstration.
Source: Provided by Prof. Michael Bach PhD, Ophthalmology, University of Freiburg, Germany, from his collection of Optical Illusions & Visual Phenomena.
Thanks to Carolyn T. for passing this one along to us.
A team from Georgia Tech, led by Post Doctorate Fellow Mario Romero (School of Interactive Computing) has designed BrailleTouch for touchscreen mobile devices. The prototype app allows visually impaired people to easily type and opens the door for everyone to text or type without looking at the screen.
Click the image above to view … or
CLICK HERE to go to the original YouTube video.
Thanks to Dr. Jones for passing this one along to us.
Google has launched the Art Project site. It’s a collection of famous museums and galleries. You can visit amazing venues from the Met to Versailles. Using Street View technology, you can interactively move through the buildings. You can focus on famous paintings you want to view. Paintings are captured in high-resolution, so you can see unbelievable detail.
CLICK HERE to visit and explore the Art Project
Thanks to Sally C. for passing this along to us.
