Home-made video by @jonbowyer and I of a giant oil rig towering over Dundee, Scotland
On the 2nd September 2010, Dundee awoke to the sight of a 550ft (167m) oil rig towering over the city. (I’m currently visiting Dundee for the HCI 2010 conference and to visit my brother).
The Rowan Gorilla VII was in the harbour for unusual maintenance. Basically the platform normally floats on the water and then they jack the legs down to the sea bed to install the rig.
But when they want to work on the top of the legs, they have to jack the legs down while in dock – thus pushing the platform way above the city.
It’s quite an imposing sight and since it’s very unusual, Jon and I thought it would be fun to make a video of it, so we drove around Dundee and the Tay taking snapshots then had a play with iPhoto and iMovie to put something together.
When it came to choosing the music, there was one very obvious choice!
(More info on the YouTube page).
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The Complete History of the Soviet Union, with Tetris as Melody and Metaphor
Ever since I heard this, I can’t get it out of my head. Incredibly catchy, but more than that, it’s incredibly clever, using the never-ending stream of blocks as a metaphor for the Russian worker class and even the Berlin wall. It covers the whole history of the Soviet Union and Russia, from the Russian revolution through Lenin, Stalin, WWII, 80s westernization, the fall of communism and the recent drift back towards communism.
What are you waiting for? Watch it!
You can learn more about the artists at http://www.pigfaceboy.co.uk/
Hooray for organic SEO – Human 2.0 has hit the number one search result spot on Google!
Over recent months Alistair, Angela and I have been putting a lot of energy into our site Human 2.0, which looks at the ways in which technology is transforming society, and us as humans. Through the black art that is Google PageRank, we have finally managed to rise to the top of the Google search results page for Human 2.0, beating the BBC, MIT, Wikipedia and an obscure Swedish punk band!
Our neighbour’s cat finds all sorts of places to hang out in our apartment…
It being summer we tend to have the back door open and next door’s
cat, which we have christened Smokey since we don’t know her real
name, just loves to wander in and make herself at home. She loves to
come and rub against our legs or get a bit of attention. I guess when
the owner is out. I suppose for a cat, they just see it as all one
home, they probably don’t distinguish between apartments!
now, without any of the hassles of looking after it! Read More
Tweeting from the air
Eric is taking Mrs Alex and I for a flight to celebrate our anniversary. Beautiful views over Montreal, Mont Tremblant and the Quebec countryside.
The Daily Mail Song
Well this sums up my feelings about the Daily Mail perfectly. Inflammatory, sensationalist drivel that does a lot of damage to society. Great song by Dan & Dan. Check out the other Dan & Dan videos too.
A big sink-hole opened up on Rue St Catherine yesterday – Now that’s unexpected!
This is totally bizarre. The main shopping street in Montreal had a
big hole open up yesterday. Apparently some guy in a Volvo almost fell
in, car and all!
gather some sewage too. Lovely.
Update: Now they’re sending a scuba diver down! Even more bizarre!
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