Flame – an abstract Java painting program

Ever wonder how those neat abstract desktop backgrounds are created? Well one way to try making one yourself is with a webpage-embedded Java application called Flame. Flame allows you to use different brushes, colors and various other tricks to create abstract brushes to paint with. The interface is fun to play with and will yield some interesting results. Just a hint: the faster you move your mouse, the more random and wide your brush gets.

Try it out for yourself: Flame.

A Very Small Contribution to LastPass

Woot! We got to make a small – very small – contribution to the latest version of the LastPass plug-in. A couple of the new icons were made by me including the Safari-themed ones to match the look and feel of Apple’s Safari web browser.

If you don’t know what LastPass is, well, you should. It’s a hugely helpful password manager that has all sorts of plug-ins for different web browsers and mobile platforms. If you still use “PASSWORD123” for every login you have then you should probably consider getting this plug-in and making your life a little less hackable. I’ve used competing products and I have found LastPass to be the most feature-complete and easiest solution.

Avatar: yes, it changed everything after all

A review from Gizmodo…

Put simply, Avatar is the most visually fantastic film I’ve ever seen. It will be hailed as the groundbreaking 3D release of its time while setting a new standard by which all blockbusters are measured. Yes, it’s that good.

I’m not going to talk about plot (or that I thought to myself, Dances with Wolves in space more than once). I’m not going to talk about dialog or pacing (or that the limited narration was totally unnecessary). There are other reviews, more reviewy type reviews, that have all that covered. I’m not going to spoil anything, either. Heck, I’m not even going to talk about Avatar…not just yet.

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Google urges Web adoption of vector graphics

Some seeds for overhauling Web browser graphics were planted more than a decade ago, and Google believes now is the time for them to bear fruit.

The company is hosting the SVG Open 2009 conference that begins Friday to dig into a standard called Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) that can bring the technology to the Web. With growing support from browser makers, an appetite for vector graphics among Web programmers, and new work under way to make SVG a routine part of the Web, the technology has its best chance in years at becoming mainstream.

New Web programming standards are hard to nurture, but they do arrive, said Brad Neuberg, a Google programmer and speaker at the conference.

"First they’re ignored, then they’re hyped, then they’re written off for dead, then they start getting real work done," Neuberg said.

Vector graphics describe imagery mathematically with lines, curves, shapes, and color values rather than the grid of colored pixels used by bitmapped file formats such as JPEG or GIF widely used on the Web today. Where appropriate, such as with corporate logos but not photographs, vector graphics bring smaller file sizes and better resizing flexibility. That’s good for faster downloads and use on varying screen sizes.

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The Frankenstein MAME cabinet — it's alive!

It’s cool enough to build your own MAME (multiple arcade machine emulator) cabinet – imagine having thousands of classic games ready to play. Mix in a little monster-movie magic and some steampunk styling and you have yourself a fantastic toy, albeit a pretty large one.

The only thing I can think of that it’s missing are some Tesla coils – now that would be a show-stopper!

See the project at Frankencade (via Gizmodo).

Augmented Reality Goes 3D, Gets Even More Awesome

Remember Layar and their augmented reality app for Android devices? It uses your phone’s camera to display a layer of real time meta data on top of the physical world around you.

Until now, that reality was just a bunch of 2D tags, but with Layar3D it also includes virtual 3D objects. If you have trouble imagining what those might be, just look at the video below. That’s right, it’s Pacman, and it happens in the real world! Of course, the potential uses for this technology go far beyond gaming, but in our geeky eyes, it all boils down to awesomeness (and, potentially, looking very strange as you roam around, looking at the world through your Android phone).

Android embedded 3D

Here’s a bit on how it works: the 3D goodness is created with the help of OpenGL, while the positioning is calculated with the accelerometer, the GPS and the compass of the phone. The application will support live downloading and rendering of 3D objects. These objects will be active, in the sense that you’ll be able to assign actions such as “open link” or “play music” to them.

See the article at Mashable.

Photos of Chelsea Market

Here are some neat HDR shots (mostly) that I took at Chelsea Market in NYC:

[flickr album=72157617864623406 num=30 size=Thumbnail]

20 Crazy Cool Cupcake Designs

Check out some amazing cupcake designs at My Modern Met!

Lamborghini Insecta concept

Playing a quick game of automotive-animal word association, you’d probably link Lamborghini to a bull. Between the emblem on the hood, supercars named after famous fighting bulls and the farming roots of the company, the association is well established.

This concept, called the Insecta, the radical concept’s design elements were borrowed from bugs instead of bovines. Combining organic shapes with Lamborghini’s trademark geometric angles, the Insecta concept integrates themes culled from the body armor observed on certain species of insects. With its dimensions and powertrain borrowed from the Gallardo, the Insecta would pack a sting as sharp as its buzz, and it could make a compelling successor to the current LP560-4 – but Lambo would have to drop a load of bull first.

See more photos and the full article at AutoBlog.

Bus Ad Shames You Into Joining a Gym by Showing Everyone Your Weight

This bus ad for Fitness First in Rotterdam, The Netherlands gives you the hard sell via shame. It uses a scale in the seat to display just how fat you are to everyone around.

I, for one, would be pretty pissed off if I didn’t know about this thing and sat down to wait for the bus, only to notice people laughing at my weight. It’s an attention grabbing ad, to be sure, but one that might just cross the line into ruining the bus stop rather than just advertising via it. But hey, if it’s getting people to work out at Fitness First, it’s effective.

See the original article at Gizmodo.