04-30-09

Steve Eves, I Salute You – (World’s Largest Amateur Rocket)

Having made and launched a few (much smaller) rockets as a kid, I have total respect for this. And also for the name too . . .

A 1/10th-scale model of a NASA Saturn V rocket launched successfully on Saturday, becoming what is thought to be the largest amateur rocket ever to take off and be safely recovered. The feat could herald the arrival of the first amateur rockets to reach orbit.

The 11-metre-tall, 750-kilogram rocket took off on Saturday from a field outside of Price, Maryland, near the eastern shore. It flew for roughly 20 seconds to an altitude of more than 1300 metres before segmenting and falling back to Earth beneath multiple parachutes (see video).

The rocket, built by rocket hobbyist Steve Eves, replicates the look of the Saturn V rocket used to loft Apollo crew capsules into space. But its interior boasts newer electronics and significantly less fuel.

(via New Scientist)

04-21-09

Social Media Conspiracy Theory #1

People just want to be recognised online – using any means necessary to get links, followers, respect, love, admiration, fame etc.

Brands just want to sell people stuff online – using any means necessary to get people talking about their stuff and selling more of it.

People and brands do a merry jig with each other working out how they can use each other to get what they want.

People exchange a little bit of their soul in exchange for the opportunity to get a little bit more of whatever they are looking for to make them feel all nice inside.

So brands just need to work out the best exchange rate.

I think I should go to bed now . . .

PS – I’m not saying this applies to everything, is fact and should be taken as any kind of I believe this to be 100% true statement. It’s just a thought.

04-19-09

Festo and the future

OMG, etc. Check out these two great videos of some of the amazing creations from Festo, as blogged over at the always excellent Rubbishcorp. I spent a good hour this evening freely surfing the web, which I haven’t done in absolutely ages and just had to share.

04-15-09

Examples of ‘Human’

I’ve blogged before about being human, have been mentioning it a lot on Twitter, have a heap of bookmarks saved under ‘human’ on Delicous and use the (beta) strapline for what I do as ‘web participation for human brands and beings. You could say it was something very close to my heart.

So, on a similar vein to my previous post which seemed to go down pretty well, I’d like to share some examples of ‘human’ from over the past few weeks/months that have caught my attention. It’s all those things, big or small, mostly online, that brands (and people!) do that makes the web a more human place. Little reminders of who we are that help us to engage with each other. And make stuff better. More human. And just nicer to interact with. Oh and just plain funny too.

Elliot Kember > Lovely little disclaimer (and awesome twitter-app-disguised-as-a-spreadsheet idea too)

Hype Machine > Disclaimer and general site copy, including the thank-you section

Twitter > Sign telling people where the new office is (Obligatory Twitter mention in a blog post? Complete)

Field Notes > general web site copy, especially the contact us page

“Peace, Love, Unity, Respect” receipt > from somewhere in New York

Starbucks > Sara (no h)

Digg community > Bohemian Rhapsody, in Digg comments!

Forum banter > Forum members have fun with photoshop (not sure this really fits in with the theme but I reckon it’s very funny – click through for the whole thread)

Any more examples? Let me know in the comments or @me. And in the meantime, remember that behind those screens isn’t just a pair of eyeballs . . . we’re all human beings.

middledigit_

If technology doesn't seem like magic, it's probably obsolete . . .

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