Instagram account Fine Art Simpsons mashes up fine art with The Simpsons. They’re all pretty great, but the one above featuring Cy Twombly’s ‘Untitled’ on the chalkboard really shows the absurdity of the art world, since that thing sold Sotheby’s for $70,530,000 USD. That’s $70.5 million. For the thing that if nobody had pointed out you really would’ve thought a cartoon delinquent scribbled on a chalkboard.

Keep going for one more shot and check out @fine_art_simpsons for the rest.

Source: Geekologie – Fine art but with The Simpsons

Because 2020 has decided it hasn’t screwed with us enough, California is currently on fire and has turned San Francisco into a scene from the apocalypse. Well somebody took drone footage from the Bay Area fire and set it to the Blade Runner 2049 soundtrack. It’s insane that this is what San Francisco actually looks like right now. It’s weird seeing it covered in an orange hue as opposed to what it’s usually covered in: homeless people’s feces.

Keep going for the full video. It’s haunting and eerie and weird that reality is currently stranger than science fiction movies.

Source: Geekologie – Somebody took drone footage from the Bay Area fires and set it to Blade Runner 2049

The first trailer for Denis Villeneuve’s Dune is here. I’m not sure what the human limit of anticipation is, but I think I hit it. Although the Pink Floyd cover they chose kind of sucks and I feel like there was a missed opportunity to use Darude’s Sandstorm.

Source: Geekologie – The first trailer for Denis Villeneuve’s Dune

Twitter user Mike Mika modified the Kung Fu fight between Neo and Morpheus in The Matrix so that his polarized 3D glasses would show one side as the raining Matrix text and the other as the fight to simulate how it might look to the characters watching it in the movie.

Been playing with the polarized 3D TV and got the idea to convert the Matrix so that one pair of glasses sees only the Matrix Raining Text effect and the other pair sees the Kung Fu fight between Neo and Morpheus, to feel like the characters watching it in the movie. pic.twitter.com/8M3DexcDXr

— Mike Mika (@MikeJMika) September 8, 2020

And Mike explaining the process:

Polarized lenses and screen. I authored the video in after effects as compressed side-by-side, the TV interprets that into a mixed image, even-odd lines polarized which gets picked up differently by each lens.

— Mike Mika (@MikeJMika) September 8, 2020

Now that I know you can embed video in other videos, obviously I’m going to figure out a way to watch porn while my girlfriend is watching Selling Sunset. “Dear, do you mind if we watch while wearing these glasses? Also, keep your left eye closed the entire time. Whatever you do, don’t open your left eye.”

Source: Geekologie – Modifying ‘The Matrix’ so polarized 3D glasses show raining Matrix text

Visual effects engineer Jonty Pressinger (who previously fixed The Lion King remake by deepfaking it to look more like the cartoon version) was testing out Wav2Lip and put together this compilation of movies lip-syncing Smash Mouth’s All Star. Wav2Lip basically takes any video and syncs the lip movements using just an audio file. They even have an interactive demo you can use to test it out.

It’s just crazy that after decades of hearing about artificial intelligence and how the computers would think for themselves and take over the world, it turns out we’d just be using the technology to make videos of Tom Hanks lip-syncing to terrible songs. I mean, I’m not complaining. Dumb internet videos totally beat being hunted down and murdered by Terminator robots.

Keep going for the full video, as well as some examples of terrible dubbing that this technology would actually be useful for.

Source: Geekologie – Using artificial intelligence to make movies lip-sync Smash Mouth’s ‘All Star’

It was just a matter of time, but Twitter user Foone managed to get Doom running on a digital pregnancy test.

I tried zooming in and turning up the in-game gamma a bit, so you can see what’s going on slightly better.
(It’s a 128×32 pixel monochrome display, it’s never gonna be great) pic.twitter.com/dAU7LZ1pkT

— foone (@Foone) September 7, 2020

Although to be clear, it’s not running on any of the pregnancy test’s actual hardware. Foone swapped out the display and microcontroller so it’s really just Doom running inside a pregnancy test shell. It’s still a neat project though because of the unique form factor. Plus, who doesn’t want to play video games on a device that people pee on? I know I never pick up my Nintendo Switch without peeing on it first. It’s just how gaming is supposed to be.

Source: Geekologie – Doom running on a digital pregnancy test

Pareidolia is an art project that uses a fully automated robot to examine grains of sand and look for faces. The name of the project comes from the word “pareidolia” itself, which is defined as “the tendency to perceive a specific, often meaningful image in a random or ambiguous visual pattern.”

In the artwork Pareidolia facial detection is applied to grains of sand. A fully automated robot search engine examines the grains of sand in situ. When the machine finds a face in one of the grains, the portrait is photographed and displayed on a large screen.

I’ve got a project of my own, and it’s finding human faces that look like grains of sand. And yes, that means I just go around taking pictures of bald people.

Source: Geekologie – Machine that finds grains of sand that look like faces

Researchers at Northwestern University and the Delft University of Technology have developed a Game Boy that uses solar power and the energy generated from mashing buttons to run forever.

As the device switches between power sources, it does experience short losses in power. To ensure an acceptable duration of gameplay between power failures, the researchers designed the system hardware and software from the ground up to be energy aware as well as very energy efficient. They also developed a new technique for storing the system state in non-volatile memory, minimizing overhead and allowing quick restoration when power returns. This eliminates the need to press “save” as seen in traditional platforms, as the player can now continue gameplay from the exact point of the device fully losing power–even if Mario is in mid-jump.

On a not-too-cloudy day, and for games that require at least moderate amounts of clicking, gameplay interruptions typically last less than one second for every 10 seconds of gameplay. The researchers find this to be a playable scenario for some games–including Chess, Solitaire and Tetris–but certainly not yet for all (action) games.

It clearly still has some kinks to work out since it has to pause every 10 seconds, but it’s a clever idea to use the button mashing to power the device. It seems like the kind of thing that could be applied to keyboards or, say, the energy generated by teenage boys’ wrists. If you could harness the energy being generated from all that vigorous motion you could probably power a small country.

Keep going for video of the Game Boy in action.

Source: Geekologie – Researchers develop battery-free Game Boy that can run forever

This is the announcement trailer for Nintendo’s Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit , an augmented reality Mario Kart game that uses actual physical Karts with cameras attached to them to turn your physical living space into a Mario Kart track. According to Nintendo:

Created in partnership with Velan Studios, Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit brings the fun of the Mario Kart series into the real world by using a Nintendo Switch or Nintendo Switch Lite** system to race against opponents using a physical Kart. The physical Kart responds to boosts in-game and in the real world, stops when hit with an item and can be affected in different ways depending on the race. Players place gates to create a custom course layout in their home, where the only limit is their imagination. Race against Koopalings in Grand Prix, unlock a variety of course customizations and costumes for Mario or Luigi, and play with up to four players in local multiplayer mode.*** Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, which is available in a Mario Set or Luigi Set, launches on Oct. 16 at a suggested retail price of $99.99.

Assuming it works as advertised, this might be the most brilliant thing I’ve ever seen. Sure, the iPhone is great and this whole “internet” thing is pretty interesting, but combining Mario Kart with physical remote control cars might be the pinnacle of human achievement. The only problem is most of us don’t live in mansions so I don’t know how fun a racing game can be when each lap only takes four seconds.

Keep going for the full video.

Source: Geekologie – ‘Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit’ turns your living room into a Mario Kart level

Simon Berger is a Swiss street artist who makes portraits by shattering glass. I mean the dude literally just squats over a piece of glass with a hammer and then keeps hitting it until a portrait appears. And obviously now that I know this is a thing, I’m going to be keeping his videos saved to my phone to explain to any authorities or concerned citizens when they see me smashing things on the street with a hammer. I’m just making art. Don’t even worry that your car’s windshield is my canvas.

Keep going for some of his portraits as well as a timelapse of him literally hammering out a piece. You can check out his official site here.

Source: Geekologie – Street artist makes portraits by hitting windows with hammers

Photographer Arjun Menon shot this incredible image on his Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra using household objects and action figures. From Arjun:

The theme for this image was time travel, I wanted to show an ancient abandoned landscape, imagine Mad-max with an Indian twist. We see Batman, looking at himself in the past, entering the time portal. I have always been fascinated by time travel, this scene was inspired by the OG “Back to the Future” scene where Morty sees himself using the DeLorean as a time machine and disappearing.

BTS (video coming up on my instagram) The whole idea came about when I realised my photography ring lights could actually pull of looking like a time portal. I used a mist spray for the smoke and a bunch of other props. Used bedsheets with flour on it to recreate a desert look. Used a lot of decorative props at home to give a ancient abandoned civilization look. Had to rack focus from 3 exposures to make one final image 🙂

I’ve been finding creative uses for the random things I find around my home as well. And by creative uses I mean I’ve been smashing them with a hammer. That’s sort of like what this guy did, right? I think it’s safe to say we’ve both been equally creative and productive in quarantine.

Keep going for one more behind the scenes shot and check out more of Arjun’s work on his Instagram.

Source: Geekologie – Incredible Batman landscape shot using action figures and a phone

Earlier today, magician David Blaine completed his latest endeavor called Ascension, where he held 52 helium balloons and floated off into the sky until he reached 24,900 feet before skydiving back to the ground. The stunt was originally planned for NYC, but was moved to Arizona due to the apparent complexity. For reference, normal skydiving altitude is 10,000 feet. Tom Cruise’s HALO jump in Mission Impossible: Fallout was at 25,000 feet, but that was done with an oxygen mask and helmet.

Honestly, this might be the most visually appealing but least physically impressive stunt that David Blaine has done. He’s harnessed to the balloons so there’s little risk of him falling, so the most challenging aspect would be avoiding hypoxia due to the altitude and passing out. And even then he was using an oxygen tank as needed. I’m not saying I could do it, but I think everybody is in agreement that we wish he was literally just holding onto the balloons with his hands like he was in Up. Also, it diminishes it a little since we just saw a little girl fly off into the sky for real on a kite and she did it without a harness or parachute.

Keep going for the full livestream. It’s three hours long though so bring a snack.

Source: Geekologie – David Blaine floats away holding a bunch of helium balloons

Andrew Christensen got up at a Lincoln, Nebraska city council meeting to make a stand for a pressing issue we’re all aware of but nobody has had the guts to address. No longer content to sit idly by as kids are indoctrinated, Christensen made an impassioned plea on behalf of society’s greatest menace: boneless chicken wings.

“I propose that we as a city remove the name boneless wings from our menus and from our hearts. These are our reasons why: Number one, nothing about boneless chicken wings actually come from the wing of a chicken. We would be disgusted if a butcher was mislabeling their cuts of meats, but then we go around pretending as though the breast of a chicken is its wing?” said Christensen.

“Number two, boneless chicken wings are just chicken tenders, which are already boneless,” Christensen continued. “I don’t go to order boneless tacos. I don’t go and order boneless club sandwiches. I don’t ask for boneless auto repair. It’s just what’s expected.”

“Number three, we need to raise our children better. Our children are being raised to be afraid of having bones attached to their meat. That’s where meat comes from, it grows on bones. We need to teach them that the wing of a chicken is from a chicken, and it’s delicious,” Christensen said.

The man’s not wrong. Sure, the world is currently on fire, but these are the little changes we can actually do to make a difference. Boneless chicken wings are just chicken tenders, which are already boneless. I don’t go to order boneless tacos. I don’t go and order boneless club sandwiches. I do, however, ask for my auto repair to be boned. It’s made for some awkward interactions but I want what I want.

Source: Geekologie – Hero proposes renaming ‘boneless chicken wings’ at city council meeting

The circulating seal enclosure is cool and all, but is nobody going to address the fact that this guy seems to have a pet seal in his pool? Is that a thing that’s allowed now? Because the last time I asked about it I ended up on a list.

Keep going for the weirdly mesmerizing video.

Source: Geekologie – This guy built a circulating seal enclosure

YouTuber Jez Burrows put together this 30 minute video of rain compiled from 30 different games. The video is exactly what it sounds like. No fluff, no narration, just 30 minutes of video game rain. Is it the most important thing you’ll see today? Obviously. Considering how the year’s been going, I’ve decided to put this video on loop for the next three months.

Keep going for the full video.

Source: Geekologie – Thirty minutes of rain from thirty different video games

Sandra is a zoo-born, Borneo and Sumatra hybrid orangutan currently living in the Center for Great Apes in Florida and this is a video of her washing her hands and scrubbing her enclosure after seeing her caretakers doing the same thing. It’s always eerie when primates act like humans. Like that one time I saw a chimpanzee throwing its poo at a passerby. It threw its poo in exactly the same way as I throw my poo! Uncanny!

Keep going for the full video of an orangutan that’s more hygienic than most other primates I know.

Source: Geekologie – Sandra the Orangutan washes her hands and enclosure after observing zookeepers do it

This is an insane video of a 3-year-old girl being lifted into the air after getting tangled in some kite strings at a kite festival in Taiwan:

Footage shows a girl, 3, in Taiwan being lifted high into the air after becoming entangled in the strings of a kite. The unidentified girl was taking part in a kite festival on Sunday in the seaside town of Nanliao when she was hoisted several metres into the air by the giant, long-tailed orange kite. News reports said the girl was frightened but suffered no physical injuries in the incident.

The footage is so crazy it looks fake. Like it’s behind-the-scenes footage of a live-action Up adaptation or something. The only way it could look more cartoony is if when people tried to hold her down they each got picked up as well, until some really fat person in the crowd finally managed to grab a hold and anchor it down. Now I kind of wish that happened.

Keep going for the full video. Nobody gets hurt, but it’s still a little disturbing seeing a little girl fly through the air like that.

Source: Geekologie – A 3-year-old girl lifted super high into the air by a kite

In addition to Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk is also running Neuralink, a company working on developing high bandwidth brain-machine interfaces. In layman’s terms, he’s making a device that implants into the brain to theoretically help with things like paralysis and blindness. It’s been a bit of mystery so far, but yesterday Neuralink had a live demo of where they’re currently at.

If you don’t feel like watching the entire hour, the most interesting things happen at at 15:35 where they demo detecting the neurons firing when a pig sniffs something with its snout, and at 18:20 where the Neuralink is predicting where the limbs of a pig will be based on the neuron readings. Assuming they aren’t cheating their demo, the results are pretty impressive considering they aren’t even at version 1.0 yet. And kudos to the first lunatic to actually purchase and get this thing implanted. Sure, it doesn’t appear to kill a pig, but best of luck letting the guy who named his kid X Æ A-12 put a machine in your brain.

Keep going for yesterday’s full livestream of the Neuralink progress update.

Source: Geekologie – Livestreamed progress update on Elon Musk’s Neuralink

Architecture firm ​GómezPlatero​ has designed and will build the first monument for victims of the pandemic to be located in Uruguay.

The massive circular structure will serve as an affecting sensory experience that bridges the gap between the urban and natural worlds, creating an ideal environment for introspection. It will sit on the edge of an untamed section of urban waterfront located in Uruguay, accessible only by a long pedestrian walkway that draws the visitor gradually away from the sounds and sights of urban life until they are fully immersed in the presence of nature.

At the center of the platform, an open void to the rolling ocean beneath allows people to observe nature in its most majestic, purest state, reminding us of our own fragility. At 40 meters in diameter, with an open center that is 10 meters in diameter, the memorial can welcome up to 300 visitors at a time (while obeying current social distancing guidelines), allowing for moments of shared grief and solidarity in addition to solitude.

And this is why architecture firms get paid the big bucks. If they had gone with my idea they would’ve ended up with a big frowny-face made out of used N95 masks, which I guess is less of a memorial and more of a, uh, literal pile of garbage.

Keep going for more photos of the design as well as the promo video released by the firm.

Source: Geekologie – The first large-scale COVID-19 pandemic memorial

Last year LEGO announced a collaboration with IKEA to create a set that would appeal to both grown-ups and children in the hopes of getting parents to play more with their kids. This week they finally unveiled the result of that collaboration:

In tidying up and reorganizing children’s creative space during playtime, we not only disrupt their play but also their creative expression and growth. Therefore, we wanted to create a storage solution that itself offers a fun playful experience. As the BYGGLEK boxes are equipped with LEGO studs on the top and the front, kids can integrate the storage boxes as part of their LEGO builds. They can store their stories inside them, and proudly display their creations on top of them.

So what all of that mumbo jumbo means in practical terms is they built a storage box with LEGO studs on the top and a few pieces inside. It’s honestly a bit underwhelming for a product that came out of so many uppercase letters.

The prices of the sets are:

• Bygglek Box with lid (large): $14.99 / €14.99

• Bygglek Box with lid (smaller): $12.99 / €12.99

• Bygglek Boxes with lids (set of 3): $9.99 / €9.99

• Bygglek 201-piece Lego brick set: $14.99 / €14.99

Keep going for a few more pictures of the actual BYGGLEK set at an IKEA Germany.

Source: Geekologie – LEGO and IKEA team up to create BYGGLEK LEGO set