Allan Resmungo Edwards

Most janitors are satisfied with keeping things clean. This junior high school custodian might be, too, but also has a hankering to do something else: Draw incredible pictures.

Spotted on a school cafeteria whiteboard, these awesome drawings depict things like Link from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

Here's Midna and Wolf Link from Twilight Princess.

These aren't just eye candy! There's also a friendly reminder about recycling one's trash.

Bravo, Janitor Artist. Bravo. You've impressed more than the lunchroom. You've impressed the whole damn internet.

This was in the lunch room yesterday [)(-EY GURL]

the janitor at the junior high drew these in the cafeteria [Daves of Our Lives via Obvious Winner]

To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft.

This fan video of Nicki Minaj's "Starships" — packed with clips of your favorite spaceships and their crews — will fill you with love for the great, big universe.

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Artist Joseph Alvernaz created this 10-foot-tall by 12-foot-wide replica of Gondor's capital city without adhesives, using only sand, water, and a single brace to reinforce the top tower. (Birds kept hitting it.) He says this was his first major sand sculpture, but it's impressive enough that we can almost believe it's real at sunset:

He has several more shots of the White City from various angles in his deviantART gallery.

Sand Sculptures [Joseph Alvernaz via Geekologie]

There's not a lot we know about Katsuhiro Otomo's upcoming film Short Peace, but we do know this:

It'll be a four-part anthology, with chapters directed by Otomo, Morita Shuhei (Kakurenbo), Hiroaki Ando (co-director of Tekkon Kinkreet) and Hajime Katoki (mecha designer for a billion things, including most of the good Gundams). We also know it'll debut in Japan on July 20th, and that it will be freaking gorgeous, although given Otomo's oeuvre, I supposed we could have guessed that one anyways. Thanks to Dave C. for the tip!

[Via Halcyon Realms]

Like many parents, Bela Xavier and Andres Escobar wanted to get their family out of an urban environment and into a roomier house with space where their kids could roam. After finding a house close to the water off West Island in Montreal, the couple began to overhaul the complete mess. "We removed layers...

Nestled on a cliff overlooking the ocean in the prime real estate locale of Jalisco, Mexico, Casa ALMARE is an Elías Rizo Arquitectos-designed contemporary haven with awe-inducing views of those coveted Puerto Vallarta beaches.

Four floors make up the residence, with careful attention made to building vertical to make the most of the million dollar, uninterrupted views of the bay. The house screams luxury vacation with patios on every floor to soak up the ocean air and look out to the infinity pool below.

The size of the house is not apparent from the street, as only the top floor is street level. As soon as you arrive, you see an uninterrupted shot of the horizon, piquing curiosity of what else may come.

It continues to get better…

The residence boasts five bedrooms and six bathrooms spread out over 9000 square feet.

Yep, I’d never leave.

Loving the white and wood motif spotted throughout the home, perfect for the beach environment.

What?!

There are no words…

Photos by Marcos Garcia.

Share This: Twitter | Facebook | Discover more great design by following Design Milk on Twitter and Facebook. © 2013 Design Milk | Posted by Caroline in Architecture | Permalink | 2 comments

Rian Johnson's Looper was a pretty rad movie, and here's a couple of great videos that give us an amazing breakdown of some of the special effects that were created for the film. I love the magic of special effects, and if you do too, you're going to enjoy these. I've also included the full uncut Shanghai scene.

 

Sunken living rooms have a significant history that goes back at least in the contemporary sense to conversation pit designs by the likes of architect Bruce Goff, who incorporated a sunken...

Just how many other uses can a French press handle? As it turns out, far more than I realized.

• 5 More Uses For Your French Press
  The Kitchn

Update: Pocket-Lint has photos of what the cases will look like.

Accessory manufacturer Belkin announced a multi-year licensing partnership with LEGO today. Belkin will be creating a new line of cases that use LEGO bricks as inspiration for what the company is calling a "buildable case experience."

While no products have been announced, you can just imagine what these two companies will come up with to protect your iPhone and iPod touch.

Show full PR text Belkin announces licensing deal with The LEGO Group
Belkin to create new line of cases inspired by the iconic LEGO(R) brick

Playa Vista, Calif. (Feb. 11, 2013) - Belkin, creator of people-inspired consumer technology products, today announced a multi-year licensing partnership with The LEGO Group to create innovative and fun accessories for mobile devices.

Starting in spring 2013, Belkin will launch a variety of smartphone cases incorporating Belkin's quality product design with LEGO(R) bricks for a unique "buildable" case experience. Designed for LEGO fans of all ages, the initial product line will focus on iOS devices, including the iPhone and iPod touch, with plans to expand to other platforms over the course of the partnership.

"The LEGO company is a renowned global brand, synonymous with quality, design and most importantly, fun," said Patrick Sullivan, director of product management at Belkin. "This partnership opens up a whole new audience for Belkin and we are extremely excited to work together on a line of cases based on iconic LEGO toys that will inspire creativity and promote individuality in people of all ages."

About Belkin
At Belkin, we make people-inspired products. With more than 200 patents, Belkin invents products that harness the power of technology to enrich people's lives. From wireless home networking and entertainment, to mobile accessories, energy management, and a broad USB and cable mix, Belkin products connect the dots between people and the things they love. Belkin also provides public and private sector organizations with high-quality security, infrastructure, energy, and server-room solutions. A privately held company founded in 1983, Belkin has more than 1,200 employees in 21 countries. Headquartered in Playa Vista, California, Belkin can also be found on the Web at Belkin.com, on Facebook at facebook.com/belkin, and on Twitter at Twitter.com/belkin.

Belkin, LEGO partner to make "buildable" iPhone, iPod touch cases (updated) originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 11 Feb 2013 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wind energy was the single largest source of new electricity generation capacity in the US during 2012, according to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). With 13,124 MW of new infrastructure, wind accounted for 42 percent of all new capacity, from renewable sources or otherwise, according to a press release put out by the organization.

The new growth takes America’s total installed wind capacity to 60,007 MW. This is sufficient, by AWEA’s estimation, to meet the electricity needs of 15 million homes. The US remains second to China, which had 62,000 MW of installed wind power at the close of 2011.

Though a bumper year, the rate of expansion is susceptible to the prevailing winds in Washington, DC. The fourth quarter of 2012 was the US wind industry’s strongest ever, seeing an additional 8,380 MW of capacity. But this has been attributed to the expectations that the Production Tax Credit (PTC) would expire on December 31, 2012. The PTC provides a tax credit of 2.2 cents per kilowatt-hour of electrical energy generated from a renewable source during its first decade in operation. As part of a last-minute budget deal, Congress extended the credit for another year, so the boom in new projects may continue.

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If you've given up on life to the extent that wiping your own iPad or iPhone screen is simply too much effort, you'll be happy to hear that there's now a robot dedicated to just that task. Called the AutoMee S, it's similar in appearance to one of iRobot's Roomba floor-cleaning automatons, although obviously much smaller. Coming to Japan on March 28 from toy maven Takara Tomy, it's also considerably cheaper.

Costing 1,575 yen (US$17), the AutoMee is a mere 2.75 inches across and runs on one AA battery. The minuscule bot's underside is adorned with two motorized, replaceable cleaning discs, so it's not simply dragging a cleaning cloth around and it's "smart" enough to recognize the edges of your device and do an about-face so as not to drive off.

Its novelty cleaning process takes about eight minutes for an iPad, or approximately seven minutes and 55 seconds longer than an old-fashioned cloth. Then again, you'll have more time to spend doing something more important, like pondering how your life got to this point.

[Via Engadget]

The AutoMee is a tiny robot that cleans your iPad screen originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 05 Feb 2013 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Back in September the Dalai Lama told his Facebook friends that "grounding ethics in religion is no longer adequate," and that religion alone cannot foster values such as integrity and compassion. Since that time, the Tibetan Buddhist leader has taken his somewhat surprising message on the road, and is now calling for a global system of secular ethics. More »

In a bid to remove any and all distractions from your gaming, these budding engineers have come up with the Game Tank, a (relatively) small pod that cuts you off from the outside world and leaves you with nothing to focus on but the screen and controls. More »

giancarlovolpe:

rufftoon:

korranation:

Check out the cover of the new LoK art book - arriving from Dark Horse in July. More from MTV Geek here.

Korra Art Of Book!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!

I believe the term is “shut and take my money”

Yes, it is true! We are excited to announce that we are currently working on an art book, with Dark Horse again, for Book One of Korra (in fact, I have to work on it tonight). This *is not* the cover, though. We just used the press art from the finale as a temporary cover for solicitation purposes. Joaquim and I are still cooking up the real cover…

Ever since Darth Maul took center stage in the most recent Clone Wars arc, we've been waiting for Chancellor Palpatine to step out of the shadows and school Maul as Darth Sidious. Finally, Palpatine has arrived to enforce the Rule of Two, while Obi-Wan Kenobi decides to take a page from Anakin's playbook. S More »

X House is an X-shaped house built into the side of a steep hill on the outskirts of Barcelona, Spain. Designed by Cadaval & Solà-Morales, the 2-story residence was designed around several site restraints and desires of the homeowners like wanting to maximize the views of the sea and the mountains on opposite sides, needing access to the house from the street, and saving a pine tree that was at the top of the lot.

The unusual shape solved all of the previously mentioned obstacles, while also helping to maintain privacy from the neighbors.

Windows really open the house up where privacy is not a concern and solid walls with minimal openings are built close to the street and on the sides with neighboring homes close by.

This part of the facade is covered in windows giving both floors views in all directions.

The house overlooks the pool, which is built lower down the hill. The house also incorporates a outdoor balcony to allow the homeowners to enjoy the view.

The interior of the house is built around the sweeping city views, making the outdoors the artwork of the home.

While mostly black and white on the inside, they do throw in a bit of color like this red rug.

The profile of the house is almost invisible from the street but you can still see the massive rooftop patio that sits atop the residence.

Photos by Sandra Pereznieto, Iwan Baan, and Santiago Garces.

Share This: Twitter | Facebook | Discover more great design by following Design Milk on Twitter and Facebook. © 2013 Design Milk | Posted by Caroline in Architecture | Permalink | No comments

shoomlah:

My piece for Pixel Drip’s I’m the Avatar, Deal With It! art show coming up later this spring.

-C
)GET IT it’s like an old SEP cover because the show’s all old-tymey, I’m so brilliant)

I love it!  I grew up admiring Norman Rockwell’s art.  Never thought I’d see an Avatar/Rockwell mash up, but it works somehow.  Looking forward to this art show.