To add to our past post about the fabulous mimicry of the lyrebird, here’s another sample from Chook, a male Superb Lyrebird from the Adelaide Zoo in Australia. There had been a lot of construction nearby, and now Chook faithfully reproduces everything from hammers and power drills (having heard a lot of power-driven screws in …
Category Archive: Cool Stuff
Mar
16
Mar
03
Real Rube Goldberg machines
Who doesn’t love Rube Goldberg machines? Those improbable contraptions where one moving object sets off another, which then causes another object to move, and on and on until some (usually simple) action is performed. These very silly devices started out as cartoons by Reuben Goldberg in the early 20th century. (The British equivalent were drawn …
Feb
08
A post about coffee
Most coffee drinkers I know acquired the caffeine habit during university all-nighters. I never did—only to start succumbing during my umpty-ump-year stint at a boring downtown office job. I followed the usual course: sweet, milkshake-like frappuccinos became the gateway drug to the harder-core stuff. After getting an espresso maker for Christmas a few years ago …
Feb
01
Manky Wool Is No Good To Us
I like this little ad for a sweater—erm, jumper—manufacturer in Scotland. Enjoy.
Jan
30
An iPhone app I already love (and I don’t even have an iPhone!)
With all the talk these days about the iPad it seems a bit 2009 to talk about an iPhone app, but this one makes me cackle with malicious glee. A couple of Western Canada software developers (one with cerebral palsy) created an iPhone app that not only helps people find handicap-accessible municipal parking spots in …
Jan
19
Weather Network Music
The weather network is changing the music for the Local Forecast. They’re letting people choose between five different pieces of music. You can vote for your favourite song at www.theweathernetwork.com. until January 24th. Vote Now!
Dec
13
Blitzkrieg visit
Just back from a lightning-fast visit to Vancouver, courtesy of Dad, to see his Legacy Lecture at UBC—one of those “If I had one last lecture to give, what would I say?” events. It was a Big Thing: The lecture tickets were pricey and it was being filmed for theatre release next year by Sturla …