Archive for December, 2011

Physicist Builds Large Hadron Collider Out Of Legos – Forbes

Posted on December 31st, 2011 • Filed under DIY, Learn, Look, Play • No Comments

 

 

 

 

 

Physicist Builds Large Hadron Collider Out Of Legos – Forbes.

 

Verizon drops $2 payment fee in face of FCC scrutiny, public outcry

Posted on December 30th, 2011 • Filed under Learn • No Comments

On Thursday, wireless telecom giant Verizon Wireless said it would begin charging consumers a $2 “convenience fee” for some bill payments starting January 15. That decision, which Verizon said was necessary to cover the costs of processing some payments, caught the attention of the Federal Communications Commission. Verizon then decided the fee wasn’t such a hot idea after all.

In a press release posted Friday afternoon, the wireless provider announced that customer feedback had led to a change in plans. “At Verizon, we take great care to listen to our customers. Based on their input, we believe the best path forward is to encourage customers to take advantage of the best and most efficient options, eliminating the need to institute the fee at this time,” said Dan Mead, president and chief executive officer of Verizon Wireless in a statement.

An FCC official told the New York Times on Friday that it would “look into” the $2 charge, which would apply to any customer making one-time payments online or over the phone using credit or debit cards. Even as it took a beating on Twitter, Verizon initially defended itself, saying it would go ahead with the fee. “Customers have a number of alternatives to pay their bill and not incur the convenience fee,” Verizon spokesperson Brenda Raney told Bloomberg. “Paying the fee is an option, not an absolute.”

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Read the original post on Ars Technica

 

Vanitas Drawing Featuring Real Human Skeleton, With Classically Trained Artist Lado Pochkhua: Observatory, 6 Mondays Beginning Jan. 9

Posted on December 30th, 2011 • Filed under Learn • No Comments

We have a new art class beginning on Monday, January 9th that I am very very excited about. Lado Pochkhua, an accomplished classically trained artist from Eastern Europe (see following bio) and artist in residence at our sister space Proteus Gowanus will, using a variety of artifacts drawn from The Morbid Anatomy Library, teach students to create and draw their own “vanitas”–or mortality-themed still life–compositions. The main star of said Vanitas composition will be the genuine human skeleton recently donated to the library, which you can see in the photograph above.

Full details follow; this is sure to be a awfully terrific class. Hope very much to see you there!

Vanitas Drawing Class with Classically Trained Artist Lado Pochkhua
Date: 6 Mondays, January 9th through February 13th
(Jan. 9, Jan. 16, Jan. 23, Jan. 30, Feb. 6 & Feb. 13)
Time: 7:30-10:00 PM
Admission: $110 (classes can also be taken individually on a drop-in basis for $20 per class)
*** This class has a 10 person size limit; Please RSVP for full course at morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com
This class is part of the Morbid Anatomy Art Academy

Vanitas is a genre of still-life painting that flourished in the Netherlands in the early 17th century. A vanitas painting contains collections of objects symbolic of the inevitability of death and the transience and vanity of earthly achievements and pleasures, exhorting the viewer to consider mortality and to repent.

This Vanitas course will comprise six drawing lessons in which, using artifacts drawn from The Morbid Anatomy Library, students will learn how to create and draw their own “vanitas” composition. The ultimate goal of the class will be not only the creation of this particular drawing, but also understanding of the principles of classical drawing. The instructor will also share historical images throughout the course.

No previous drawing experience necessary; all levels are welcome!

MATERIALS
Please bring with you to class:

• One drawing pad at least 18″ X 20″ with a firm back; paper Fabriano or Arches, or Strathmore 400
• Pencil: HB, 2B, 4B, simple graphite pencils, (no charcoal !!!)
• Eraser

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR
Lado Pochkhua was born in Sukhumi, Georgia in 1970. He received his MFA in Painting and Printmaking from Tbilisi State Art Academy in Georgia in 2001. He currently divides his time between New York and Tbilisi, Georgia.

Selected Exhibitions:

• 2011 “Works from the Creamer Street Studio,” at the Literature Museum, Tbilisi Georgia (solo show)
• 2010 “Paradise ” at Proteus Gowanus, New York
• 2009 “Prague Biennale 4,” Georgian pavilion
• 2009 “The Art of returning Home,” Arsi Gallery, Tbilisi Georgia (solo show)
• 2008 Gardens, Ships, and Lessons, K. Petrys Ház Gallery, Budapest, Hungary (solo show) Exhibition of Georgian Artists, Festival OFF EUROPA ditorei Gallerie NBL, Leipzig, Germany
• 2004 Artists of Georgia, Georgian Embassy, London, UK
• 2003 Curriculum Vitae: a retrospective of 20th century Georgian art, Caravasla Tbilisi History Museum, Tbilisi, Georgia, Waiting for the Barbarians, Gallery Club 22, Tbilisi, Georgia (solo show)
• 2001 21 Georgian Artists, UNESCO, Paris, France
• 1998 Magical Geometry, TMS Gallery, Tbilisi, Georgia (solo show)

There is a 10 person limit for this class; you can sign up by sending an email to morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com. This class is one of the newest installments in the series newly termed The Morbid Anatomy Art Academy; to find out more about that–including a full class list thus far–click here.

Images: Top image: Still-Life with a Skull, “Vanitas” by Philippe de Champaigne (1602–1674) via Wikimedia; Bottom image: Skeleton from The Morbid Anatomy Library who will be featured in our Vanitas compositions

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The Making of The Fiberglass Chair

Posted on December 30th, 2011 • Filed under Look • No Comments

Watch as the original craftsman makes Eames Shell Chairs recreating the same process they used a century ago. Film shot at Century Plastics. Using authentic material, a nearly lost art form is revived.

Read the original post on swissmiss