Gilbert Harding › Likes

Being up in the clouds is AMAZING - Simon Wicks from email

Love that last one, though it looks a little frightening! - Charlotte M

"He is the man who brought us the vacuum cleaner without the bag. Now Sir James Dyson has unveiled his latest household invention - the fan without the rotor. Called the Dyson Air Multiplier, it is able to create a powerful, cooling breeze seemingly from thin air. Launching the product yesterday, Sir James explained that he got the idea while developing his Air Blade hand dryers, which force air though a tiny slit to 'brush' water from wet hands. 'We noticed that the hand dryer was drawing in a lot of air from its surroundings,' he said. 'So we started to think about how we might be able to put this effect to use. We thought about creating an air moving device with no propeller or fan blade. Three years of development plus another year of testing later and this is the result.' The Air Multiplier works by pushing air through a 1.3millimetre-wide slit that runs along its circumference. As it is forced through the circle, the volume of travelling air increases by up to 15 times and its... more... - RAPatton from Bookmarklet

With fans like these we never would have had great movie moments like "La, la, la Luke. Luke, I am your father." - Steve

"Long gone since the 80s (finished by gasoline prices and "imports" competition) these dinosaurs still hold power over public imagination and true car connoisseurs; their outrageous size and engine's unbridled power give off a statement of pure excess, and some wild optimism. The world has moved on, but the vintage styling (transformed into a sort of "retro fantasy") is preserved by such sites as Plan 59 (former "Ephemera Now"). With their kind permission, we present the AMERICAN CAR of the 50s and 60s AD RETROSPECTIVE, a showcase for the American Dream of Happy Motoring (make sure to visit their site for loads more of great automobile ephemera)." - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

Ross and Dan made this video to illustrate the advanced technology we use behind the scenes at FriendFeed. (Ross and Dan, you are amazing - I can't believe how awesome this thing turned out) - Bret Taylor from Bookmarklet

FULL OF WIN - Jac Falcon

I'll take the small blond guy, a leg of that guy and some fries. - CW™

سلام کن خلاص... - مصطفام

"Two of the so-called Bermuda Triangle's most mysterious disappearances in the late 1940s may have been solved. Scores of ships and planes are said to have vanished without trace over the decades in a vast triangular area of ocean with imaginary points in Bermuda, Florida and Puerto Rico." - M F from Bookmarklet

"In this quirky dark comedy inspired by a real life story you will hardly believe is actually true, astonishing revelations about a top-secret wing of the U.S. military come to light when a reporter encounters an enigmatic Special Forces operator on a mind-boggling mission. Reporter Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) is in search of his next big story when he encounters Lyn Cassady (Academy Award®winner George Clooney), a shadowy figure who claims to be part of an experimental U.S. military unit. According to Cassady, the New Earth Army is changing the way wars are fought. A legion of “Warrior Monks” with unparalleled psychic powers can read the enemy’s thoughts, pass through solid walls, and even kill a goat simply by staring at it. Now, the program’s founder, Bill Django (Oscar® nominee Jeff Bridges), has gone missing and Cassady’s mission is to find him. Intrigued by his new acquaintance’s far-fetched stories, Bob impulsively decides to accompany him on the search. When the pair tracks... more... - Kol Tregaskes from Bookmarklet

This will either be a hugely entertaining hit, or a huge Turkey. Or both. Either way it's intriguing enough to put on the watch list. - Gilbert Harding

As more and more artists are choosing to work abroad, we ask them why In 2007, Tony Blair went to Tate Modern to give a speech to the great and the good of the arts world. As prime minister, it was his first and last pronouncement on national cultural life – a surprising fact, given that in the speech he advanced the idea that the UK was in the midst of an artistic golden age. But if Blair was right, it is worth asking this: why do so many significant British artists now live and work overseas? Liverpool's Simon Rattle is at the helm of the Berlin Philharmonic, and unlikely ever to move back to the UK. London-born Steve McQueen, who represented Britain at the Venice Biennale this year (and won huge acclaim for his 2008 film Hunger), lives in Amsterdam. Glaswegian artist Douglas Gordon is in Berlin, as are Tacita Dean and Ceal Floyer. M.I.A., the singer-songwriter-artist, is resident in New York. Daniel Harding, an outstandingly talented young British conductor, calls Paris home and... - M F

Reports of Facebook's death are greatly exaggerated but the concern about corporate control of online spaces is real Facebook is done. The New York Times has declared an exodus from the popular social networking site started by two enterprising Harvard University students in 2004. "If you ask around, as I did," writes Virginia Heffernan in the New York Times, "you'll find quitters." Why this disillusioned departure? "It was suddenly clear that Facebook was not just a social club but also an expanding force on the web, beholden to corporate interests," says Heffernan. If this concern doesn't sound familiar, it should. Consider GeoCities, the online homesteading service which debuted in 1995. When they were purchased by Yahoo in 1999, users bemoaned the new corporate owners, who disbanded a popular community leader programme and declared ownership over anything users posted to their pages. "They wanted our 'community' but they pretty much have altered it and made it into something else... - M F

And so it goes. What will be the next big thing we'll all have to belong to, and how long before whoever controls it finds the costs involved too much to bear and starts selling the content. To expect online storage to be free is to wish for the moon on a stick. - Gilbert Harding

I vote for Cherokee as America's official language. - Tsali, The Native of FF

Yep, Steven, and then they all get bunged up when the international view is that we're "all" ignoramuses. Yeesh - English is the "official language" of international business and it's embarrassing to me when people who are not native English speakers have better written grammar and diction than our American brothers & sisters. Bob the Angry Flower needs to address this. - ProsePetals (aka Denise)

I am seeing more and more evidence of this in the political/pr sphere - alot of my friends tell me they do not feel their needs are getting fully met - i chalk this up to the fact that many of the "experts" in these spheres may know tech but they have very shallow understandings of the strategic needs of a campaign/organization etc - Marco(aureliusmaximus)

This mirrors the Web Development arena. There are no end of Expert web designers. Anyone can build a website these days, but make a website say something? That's a whole different ball game most of the 'designers', who migrated from the graphic design arena, have no clue about. Because they can't write. They may be expert graphic designers, that does not make them any good at web design. - Gilbert Harding