Happy Banking. An initiative from BankWest. Some sort of a viral ad disguised as a scientific research. Definitely interesting and I can see how it’ll get people talking about Bankwest. If only more brick and mortar establishments played around with the potential of the web…
Tifa Lockhart is a female protagonist from Square’s (now Square Enix) role-playing game, Final Fantasy VII. She was designed by Tetsuya Nomura. She is an expert in Zangan-Ryu martial arts and uses her fists and feet as her weapons. Tifa has long black hair with the ends parted like a dolphin’s tail and brown eyes (source).
By far the best version of Tifa that I’ve ever seen. She’s terribly, terribly cute.
What do you do when you have tons of free time and a fervent wish to see something pretty above your kitchen window? Build a landscale model out of plywood and fill it up with over 700 miniature lights. Ryan Hoagland spent 5 months of this life building the picture you see above, just so he could look out at the Manhattan skyline while washing the dishes. See how he did it.
Russia’s Expobank recently released a calendar featuring its femail employees in scantily clad lingerie, leaving little to the imagination. The awesome thing is that these women are absolutely gorgeous. Why are they working in banks? They could definitely be doing some lucrative modeling work.
And this culture of getting office women to pose in revealing attire. I do like because I enjoy seeing beautiful women, especially those comfortable with themselves. It’s a little different from getting professional models to do up adverts. Sexist? Nah…. it doesn’t feel that way to me.
The women, aged between 20 and 33, peeled off to reveal an unexpected side to the world of commerce, with their pictures accompanied by provocative slogans doubling as advertising messages.
The models include the bank’s chief economist for super-rich VIP clients, Anna Pogodina (Miss March), and her boss, Julia Kovyneva (Miss April), who is sprawled across a bed. Senior manager Maria Guterman begins the year with her modesty protected by only a tray of cakes. (source)
SurveillanceSaver is a screensaver which shows live images of over 400 network surveillance cameras worldwide. Yep, when your computer is idle you’ll get to see a live feed of what’s going on in other parts of the world. It’s quite fascinating because of the voyeuristic element involved but also surreal because it compresses time-space.
Something is happening right at the moment elsewhere and you are a witness to it. It is real but since it’s only an image, you tend to question its verity a little more than what you see with your eyes. Sometimes I can’t bear to look away from the screen because I’m always expecting something to happen just that moment, maybe a car accident or a cute girl would enter into the frame.
It’s these thoughts that make this screensaver (and surveillance) quite an intriguing process.
Download Links
1. OS X version
Since I’m running a Windows setup, I installed the screensaver for a test. Ran a check and there weren’t any spyware or viruses. Everytime the screensaver runs, it shows a different image. It cycles through the cameras so you can actually sit down at your desk and look at multiple cities/locations at once.
I really like that fact that city, location and longitude/latitude is included in the bottom of the screensaver. The images aren’t very clear and some of them are difficult to see in the night but most of them are rather interesting. You’ll get to see traffic stops, shopping malls, residences, playgrounds, pools, churches and backyards.
It’s definitely a lot more interesting than the usual screensavers, especially when you get to see people walking around and doing stuff.
Here are some examples of images you’ll see through the cameras:
Looking at this library staircase makes me feel all studious and smart. An architect mentioned to create a staircase which stores books at the same time. Great use of a skylight to infuse the staircase with reading light… although I think looking for books can be a little pain in the ass eventually.
We created a ’secret’ staircase, hidden from the main reception room, to access a new loft bedroom lit by roof lights. Limited by space, we melded the idea of a staircase with our client’s desire for a library to form a ‘library staircase’ in which English oak stair treads and shelves are both completely lined with books. With a skylight above lighting the staircase, it becomes the perfect place to stop and browse a tome. The stair structure was designed as an upside down ’sedan chair’ structure (with Rodrigues Associates, Structural Engineers, London) that carries the whole weight of the stair and books back to the main structural walls of the building. It dangles from the upper floor thereby avoiding any complicated neighbour issues with the floors below.
Something I would like to read. The art and style somewhat reminds me of Afro Samurai:
Ajinbayo Akinsiku wants the world to know Jesus Christ, just not the gentle, blue-eyed Christ of old Hollywood movies and illustrated Bibles. Mr. Akinsiku says his Son of God is “a samurai stranger who’s come to town, in silhouette,” here to shake things up in a new, much-abridged version of the Bible rooted in manga, the Japanese form of graphic novels. “We present things in a very brazen way,” said Mr. Akinsiku, who hopes to become an Anglican priest and who is the author of “The Manga Bible: From Genesis to Revelation.” “Christ is a hard guy, seeking revolution and revolt, a tough guy.”
Recently discovered Mark Bryan’s art and liked what I saw, particularly because I’m a fan of satire.. especially when it borders on the surreal. From his artist statement:
In my paintings I see the world as a cosmic stage for human activity. I’m in the audience like a court reporter taking notes with my sketchbook and brushes, playing the critic, here to observe and make comment. I usually begin a painting with a beautiful natural landscape, but can’t seem to leave it at that.
Because of my need to make comment, I feel compelled to fill it up with depictions of absurd human activities and/or violent acts of revenge by Mother Nature. These depictions are full of symbolism, exaggeration and parody, much in the manner of political cartoons. I like to show men involved in their own tiny dramas while oblivious to greater and more powerful forces around them.
With colourful make-up of bright yellows, startling whites and rich earth-reds, flamboyant accessories and extraordinarily elaborate decorations, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the designs in these images originated in the fevered mind of some leading fashionista. Yet far from the catwalks of New York, London or Paris, these looks are the sole creation of the Surma and Mursi tribes of East Africa’s Omo Valley.
Inspired by the wild trees, exotic flowers and lush vegetation of the
area bordering Ethiopia, Kenya and Sudan, these tribal people have
created looks that put the most outlandish creations of Western catwalk
couturiers to shame.
Out of Africa: The incredible tribal fashion show inspired by Mother Nature
