Tuesday, March 31, 2009

ESPV Nutshell: April


April Fools is upon us once again; hope your day is full of kick-ass practical jokes. PHilfy in Melbourne has witnessed a gang of ‘Glad Wrap bandits’ who have completely Glad Wrapped over 400 cars, top to bottom, in the city area over night.. that’s some funny shit.

Below is our ESPV nutshell for April

Listening to: The Qemists – Join The Q (awesome DrumNBass meets rock band, female vocalists, new album out now, see ninjatune.net for more info or search via YouTube for new Join The Q video).


Reading: The Watchmen, original 1980’s comic (very good! 4/5 stars rating)


Watched: There Will Be Blood (4/5 stars), and The Ruins (3/5 stars)



Have witnessed: Some seriously funny prank calling today – guy in the office calling the office manager and telling her that her car was caught on a surveillance camera last night doing a runner from a petrol station without paying, and could she please come into the station to have a chat. Which she did, before realizing she’d been pranked. That’s some funny shiiit! (See Friday Night Cranks on YouTube for a long list of prank call madness)

Gaming: Seriously dying to try new Total War Empire on PC, new chapter in the long Total War series by the Creative Assembly. Eagerly awaiting previews for GTA China Town on Nintendo DS, not to mention the sexy new looking DS (Reviews coming soon).



What’s hot? The clever dude that invented the Conficker worm

What’s not? The G20 in London



Ashley Wood 3A Oyabun 12inch Sold Out

Toy-legend & artist, Ashley Wood has managed to sell every 12" Oyabun figures in both the white and black characters within days! Not surprising with super detailing on the parkas, utility belts underneath and a couple of very sharp samurai swords. Ashley is responsible for the scary WWII-looking robot, Bramble MK2 as well as the smaller Bertie Pipebomb Robot. Every time his designs/illustrations are realised in 3D, the outcome is always amazing and highly exclusive!

Yama (Black Version)


Naga (Arctic Version)



[VIA]

YHWH Toy By Mark Ryden


The incredible painter, Mark Ryden has just released his first toy; called 'YHWH'. It's actually based on one of his paintings for the bunnies and bees show he did.




[VIA]

Human - Robot Interface


If you're one of the many fans of The Surrogates comic book (soon to be a Bruce Willis movie), then Honda's new human-to-robot brain interface technology will be welcome news. The Honda Research Institute Japan, ATR and Shimadzu Corporation have come up with a non-invasive control mechanism called the Brain Machine Interface (BMI).
The technology uses electroencephalography (EEG) and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to allow a human to control a robot, in this case the Honda ASIMO, using mere thought. The technology offers up to 90 percent control accuracy without the use of physical implants, a huge milestone in human-to-robot interface that the research group hopes will yield new advances in robotics and artificial intelligence.
Read more HERE

[VIA]

Monday, March 30, 2009

Awesome Tags

REVOK

MEANS

METRO

VARIOUS PEOPLE

BERST INSANE GBAK

VARIOUS PEOPLE

Pics [VIA]

Vote For Me!

This is my 'Dont Panic' entry for theme 'Home'.
If you like it please vote for me HERE



Supersoldier Exoskeleton HULC



Lockheed is pleased to announce the unveiling of its newly-acquired powered exoskeleton intended to confer superhuman strength and endurance upon US soldiers, called HULC (Human Universal Load Carrier). Its almost like a budget version of the robot suit from Aliens.


4Lb of lithium polymer batteries will run the exoskeleton for an hour walking at 3mph, according to Lockheed. Speed marching at up to 7mph reduces this somewhat; a battery-draining "burst" at 10mph is the maximum speed.
The user can hump 200lb with relative ease while marching in a HULC, however, well in excess of even the heaviest combat loads normally carried by modern infantry. There'd be scope to carry a few spare batteries. Even if the machine runs out of juice, Lockheed claims that its reinforcement and shock absorption still helps with load carrying rather than hindering.
There are various optional extras, too. The HULC can be fitted with armour plating, heating or cooling systems, sensors and "other custom attachments".

AND.....remote-controlled gun mounts weighing as little as 55lb are available, able to handle various kinds of normally tripod- or bipod-mounted heavy weapons.

[VIA]

Dog Lady Gets Pimped


RIME, PIMP MY TRAILER! from Young & Balding Productions on Vimeo.

This is the best thing I've seen all year hands down...

Bizarre Japanese Inventions

The Japanese have made some seriously weird and almost pointless inventions in their time and it makes me wonder if any of these images below were made into mass production....







Thanks to Lloyda for the info!

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Nice To Know: Fun facts


Random curiosity is nothing to be ashamed of.. we all engage in it on a daily basis and there’s plenty out there to be curious about. Ever wondered which country has… the most beer drinkers, murders, smokers or prisoners? Well, you may be surprised.

The 2009 edition of The Economist Pocket World in Figures has some interesting facts and stats indeed. Published by Profile Books Ltd. 2008, the little pocket book (no I don’t carry it with me everywhere I go) includes statistics on everything from which countries have the highest fertility rates, to cities with the highest living costs. 

Below, ESPV has included stats from p.101 Drinking and Smoking / Crime and Punishment. The world figures show the top 10 countries in the categories of: Beer Drinking, Alcohol Sold, Wine Drinking, Smoking, Murders and Prisoners.

Enjoy! 


(off-trade sales, liters per head of pop., 2006)


1. Czech Republic        81.9

2. Venezuela               76.7

3. Australia                 69.3

4. Germany                 67.9

5. Austria                   66.2

6. Finland                   65.4

7. Russia                    62.6

8. United-States          62.5

9. Slovakia                 62.4

10. Denmark              60.8


Wine Drinkers

(off-trade sales, liters per head of pop., 2006)


1. Portugal                                    33.1

2. Switzerland                               29.0

3. Italy                                          28.7

4. France                                       26.7

5. Denmark                                    26.4

6. Argentina                                   26.2

7. Hungary                                     24.3

8. Netherlands                                23.7

9. Germany                                    22.6

10. Belgium                                    21.1


Alcoholic Drinks


(off-trade sales, liters per head of pop., 2006)

1. Australia                                 100.8

2. Czech Republic                        97.7

3. Germany                                 96.4

4. Finland                                    93.3

5. Austria                                    90.2

6. Denmark                                 89.5

7. Hungary                                 88.3

8. Russia                                    86.4

9. New Zealand                          81.3

10. Netherlands                          80.4


Smokers

(Av. ann consumption of cigarettes per head per day, 2007)

1. Greece                                  8.2

2. Slovenia                                7.0

     Ukraine                                7.0

4. Bulgaria                                6.7

5. Czech Republic                     6.5

6. Macedonia                            6.4

     Russia                                 6.4

8. Moldavia                              6.3

9. Spain                                   6.1

10. Bosnia                                5.8


Murders

(per 100,000 pop., 2004)

1. Ecuador                               18.9

2. Switzerland                         13.6

3. Mongolia                             13.1

4. Suriname                            10.4

5. Lithuania                            9.3

6. Latvia                                 8.5

     Zimbabwe                          8.5

8. Belarus                                8.2

     Kyrgyzstan                         8.2

10. Turkmenistan                   8.1        


Prisoners 

1. United-States                      2,528,983

2. China                                  1,565,771

3. Russia                                  885,014

4. Brazil                                  419,551

5. India                                   358,368

6. Mexico                                 217,436

7. South Africa                        166,267

8. Thailand                              165,316

9. Iran                                     158,351

10. Ukraine                              150,950


Death Row

(Number of prisoners sentenced to death, population, latest available year)

1. Pakistan                        7,436

2. United-States                 3,246

3. Thailand                        1,140

4. Kenya                             946

5. Bangladesh                      860

6. Burundi                           533

7. Uganda                            417

8. Tanzania                         389

9. Nigeria                             341

10. Sudan                             300