Shared posts

05 May 17:27

Landscapes Altered by the World’s Largest Statues

by Christopher Jobson

Landscapes Altered by the Worlds Largest Statues monuments landscapes
The Motherland Call, Volgograd, Russia, 285 ft, built in 1967

Landscapes Altered by the Worlds Largest Statues monuments landscapes
African Renaissance Monument, Dakar, Senegal, 161 ft, built in 2010

Landscapes Altered by the Worlds Largest Statues monuments landscapes
Ataturk Mask, Buca, Izmir, Turkey, 132 ft, built in 2009

Landscapes Altered by the Worlds Largest Statues monuments landscapes
Christ Blessing, Manado, Indonesia, 98.5 ft, built in 2007

Landscapes Altered by the Worlds Largest Statues monuments landscapes
Christ the King, Świebodzin, Poland, 120 ft, built in 2010

Landscapes Altered by the Worlds Largest Statues monuments landscapes
Grand Byakue, Takazaki, Japan, 137 ft, built in 1936

Landscapes Altered by the Worlds Largest Statues monuments landscapes
Guan Yu, Yuncheng, China, 262 ft, built in 2010

Landscapes Altered by the Worlds Largest Statues monuments landscapes
Mao Zedong, Changsha, China, 105 ft, built in 2009

Landscapes Altered by the Worlds Largest Statues monuments landscapes
Mother of the Fatherland, Kiev, Ukraine, 203 ft, built in 1981

Landscapes Altered by the Worlds Largest Statues monuments landscapes
Dai Kannon, Sendai, Japan, 330 ft, built in 1991

Towering above cities and carved into mountainsides, the gargantuan statues captured in Fabrice Fouillet’s series Colosses were designed to dwarf everything in proximity, to stand as timeless monuments of religious and political icons. Though unlike the tourists and pilgrims who travel great distances to witness these towering structures up close, Fouillet is more interested in how the landscape around each monument has been transformed. He shares via his artist statement:

The series “Colosses” is a study of the landscapes embracing those monumental commemorative statues. Although hugeness is appealing, exhilarating or even fascinating, I was first intrigued by the human need to build gigantic declarations. Then, I asked myself how such works could be connected to their surroundings. How can they fit in the landscapes, despite their excessive dimensions and their fundamental symbolic and traditional functions?

That is why I chose to photograph the statues from a standpoint outside their formal surroundings (touristic or religious), and to favour a more detached view, watching them from the sidelines. This detachment enabled me to offer a wider view of the landscape and to place the monuments in a more contemporary dimension.

Fouillet references a wave of “statuemania” in the 1990s in locations mostly around Asia where many more sculptures are still under construction. The world’s tallest monument, a tribute to the the independence hero Sardar Patel in India, will soon reach a soaring height of 182 meters, nearly twice that of the Statue of Liberty. You can see much more of the series over on his website. All photos courtesy the photographer. (via Slate)

05 May 17:19

10 GIFs Of Deep-Sea Creatures Encountering A Sub

by Rose Pastore

For the past three weeks, we've been following an incredible livestream of the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, filmed from a submersible operated by researchers aboard the Okeanos Explorer. The expedition, led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, ended this week. Using the sub's high-def camera, the scientists captured footage of parts of the ocean floor never before seen by humans, including ancient shipwrecks, unidentified species, and rare geology.

We'll have much more coverage of this expedition next week, so stay tuned. But in the meantime, enjoy these animated GIFs of deep-ocean creatures that wound up in the sub's LED beams—many of them likely experiencing bright light for the first time.

Note: To avoid crashing anyone's browser (or our servers) we've split these 10 GIFs over four pages. Choose single-page view at your own risk.

This is a dumbo octopus using its ear-like fins to swim. According to NOAA, this coiled-tentacle posture has never before been witnessed in this species.

 

Here's another view of the same dumbo octopus.

 

This was an exciting moment. A bright red creature—a Humboldt squid?—swam right past the sub's cameras before disappearing into the darkness.

 

Here's a gorgeous sea cucumber.

 

A rat tail fish suddenly realizes it has an audience.

 

A jellyfish swims in a current.

 

Hello, fish. Behold human technology.

 

A little red shrimp swims away from the sub.

 

At first, the researchers couldn't tell what this creature was, only that it was rapidly fleeing the ROV. Turns out to have been some kind of ray or skate.

 

Here, oil naturally bubbles up from the ocean floor amid sea urchins and mussels.








05 May 17:18

[keerwashere]

05 May 17:17

[eleminohp]

05 May 17:17

[artjcf]



[artjcf]

05 May 17:16

Photo



05 May 17:16

Gif of the Day: Size Matters When it Comes to Passwords

Gif of the Day: Size Matters When it Comes to Passwords

Submitted by: (via jeffbk95)

Tagged: gifs , intel , security , passwords
05 May 17:15

[jaxengrey/ninecircles]

05 May 17:10

Bill Moyers: Obama’s Latest Assault on Democracy – Undermining Net Neutrality

by Yves Smith

“Net neutrality” is one of those brilliant coinages, like chained CPI, with a technocratic sheen designed to deter ordinary citizens from taking interest in policy proposals of fundamental importance to them.

Bill Moyers interviews David Carr of the New York Times and Susan Crawford, a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, about the how the biggest service providers like Comcast and Verizon have been pushing hard to balkanize the Internet by creating more stratified service tiers based on speed of access. This change is anticipated to hurt both lower income consumers and specialized websites, like not-for-profits, cultural and scientific sites, and…independent blogs.

So who did Obama put in charge of the FCC? Tom Wheeler, a former cable lobbyist. And of course, Wheeler hand-waves and professes that he just can’t oppose those powerful operators, he lost in court. Susan Crawford debunks that idea:

BILL MOYERS: And Tom Wheeler says that, look, the FCC’s tried twice to rewrite the rules of Net neutrality. And the appeals court, federal appeals court, has turned thumbs down twice. He’s saying, I’m only doing what I can do to write rules that are consistent with what the court has said.

SUSAN CRAWFORD: What’s not right about that is that he can do something. The FCC has tried to simultaneously deregulate by not labeling these guys as utilities. And yet, adopt Net neutrality rules. All he has to do is relabel these services as utility services. And then he stands on firm legal footing. He can forebear from any details of those rules. He doesn’t want to apply. The courts have struck this down because it’s incoherent. That’s the problem. If he marches forward on a clear legal path, he’ll be fine. But he wants to avoid World War III on the cable institutions.

So the real issue isn’t that public interest couldn’t prevail but that the Administration isn’t about to declare war on communication providers. And this almost-certain death net neutrality isn’t bad just in terms of diversity of content and democratic processes, it’s also bad for the health of the Web as system. The intent is to produce a more balkanized Internet, with the various local monopolist creating nodes that they increasingly control. Craig Heimark’s remarks in a recent post on high frequency trading apply here:

The old exchange system was a hub and spoke model, which was a stable system architecture. The internet was an outgrowth of a DARPA project to make a communication system so decentralized that it could not be taken out by a nuclear strike. Hub and spoke models are stable, but subject to an outage, say by a nuclear bomb or electrical failure. What chaos theorists have found is that highly decentralized networks are stable, as are single node networks (like exchanges), but that slightly decentralized networks are fragile…So regulators have left investors with the worse possible market structure.

And they are about to do that to the Internet.

Please call or write your Congresscritters, particularly if they are up for reelection this November, and tell them that this is a make-or-break issue as far as your support of Democratic party candidates is concerned.

You can read the transcript here. Please circulate this video widely.

05 May 17:09

jadethemerman: did he give her 2 thumbs up?



jadethemerman:

did he give her 2 thumbs up?

05 May 17:03

[scorpiones]

05 May 16:20

Tumblr

by e5by11
05 May 16:20

Star Wars | 7b9.jpg

7b9.jpg
05 May 16:20

I'll just change this one line...

by sharhalakis

by Artur

05 May 16:19

Photo



05 May 16:11

I’m just saying

by Ian

I’m just saying

05 May 16:07

05.05.2014

Cyanide and Happiness, a daily webcomic

Copy this into your blog, website, etc.
<a href="http://explosm.net/comics/3548/"><img alt="Cyanide and Happiness, a daily webcomic" src="http://www.flashasylum.com/db/files/Comics/Rob/videogames2.png" border=0></a><br />Cyanide & Happiness @ <a href="http://explosm.net">Explosm.net</a>

...or into a forum
[URL="http://explosm.net/comics/3548/"]
[IMG]http://www.flashasylum.com/db/files/Comics/Rob/videogames2.png[/IMG][/URL]
Cyanide & Happiness @ [URL="http://explosm.net/"]Explosm.net[/URL]
<—- Share this comic!

05 May 16:07

Photo



05 May 16:06

Journalism Warning Labels « Tom Scott

by gabrielfigueiredo
05 May 15:54

Yo cuando bajo un bordillo con la bici lo hago despacio por si...



Yo cuando bajo un bordillo con la bici lo hago despacio por si me caigo.

05 May 15:50

cerebralzero: bolt-carrier-assembly: Luger - Guns of the...



cerebralzero:

bolt-carrier-assembly:

Luger - Guns of the World

Toggle Action FTW

04 May 14:42

Morse Code

Oh, because Facebook has worked out SO WELL for everyone.
03 May 19:54

Photo

Cooper Griggs

wow. what's next the crescent moon and five point star?



03 May 15:17

New Absurd Animated Portraits by Romain Laurent

by Christopher Jobson

New Absurd Animated Portraits by Romain Laurent portraits humor gifs

New Absurd Animated Portraits by Romain Laurent portraits humor gifs

New Absurd Animated Portraits by Romain Laurent portraits humor gifs

New Absurd Animated Portraits by Romain Laurent portraits humor gifs

New Absurd Animated Portraits by Romain Laurent portraits humor gifs

New Absurd Animated Portraits by Romain Laurent portraits humor gifs

New Absurd Animated Portraits by Romain Laurent portraits humor gifs

Photographer Romain Laurent (previously here and here) continues to create a new looping animated portrait each week. The photographer began the project as a way to break free from the pressure of commercial work, and we’re glad to see the project is still ongoing. These are some of the best portraits since the new year, but you can see lots more on his Tumblr.

03 May 06:03

Photo



02 May 22:18

http://www.lememe.com/archives/34832

by daniel

hot shit

02 May 22:18

Photographer Spotlight: Cuba Gallery

by Matthew Roth

His Photoshop and Lightroom tutorials are immensely popular, giving the new photographer an insight into the elements of good design and processing.

According to CubaGallery, his busy schedule means he only has time to shoot when on vacation and in scant free time, making his portfolio even more remarkable.

We’re very excited we can share this interview with the wider Flickr community, and we hope his insights help you as you approach your next composition.

How long have you been taking photos?

I started taking photos back when I trained as a designer years ago. It was part of my degree and has always been a sideline obsession.

What types of photos do you most like to shoot?

Well, I’d love to say I’m a fashion photographer or a cool urban street photographer, but the reality is I just shoot in the “in-between moments.” I don’t really have much free time, so I tend to photograph the things that are around me. I carry my camera with me on business trips and almost any outing or holiday. This approach forces you to be really innovative, you need to think about your environment in a unique way, or you can end up with a lot of cat photos — and yes, my cat has had way too many portraits!

What’s your background in design?

I trained as a designer for four years and have always been drawn to imagery and graphic design. I’m fascinated with composition and finding powerful design elements within imagery. I really consider myself a designer with a camera as opposed to a photographer. I currently head up three design studios across two countries as a creative director, so I really have my hands full. Photography provides me with a fantastic creative release, it allows me to do fun, self-contained, fast-paced creative projects. It keeps me sane.

Landscape
►CubaGalleryLandscape

What are your inspirations for your photographic style?

I have been heavily influenced and mentored by some very talented photographers, but my application of core design principles within a photographic environment is really what helps define my style. For a long time I used to photograph empty scenes, aesthetically beautiful spaces without a person in sight. A friend of mine who was a talented people photographer suggested that I introduce a few people into the scene. He suggested it would be like welcoming a person onto the stage. I think that was great advice, and to me this helped add more of a story and personality to my images.

You use blues and greens in unbelievable ways, is this your dominant color palette? Is there a special attraction to those colors for you?

I really love these colors, possibly it’s an unconscious reference to the New Zealand environment, everything is green here and we are surrounded by a lot of blue ocean! But I do love the depth you can achieve with this palette. It also fulfills my love of moody, cool cinematic film tones.

Flickr has a strong tradition of surfacing EXIF data and giving other photographers a view into your creative approach. Can you tell me why you’ve decided to share so many of your processes with others?

Yes, I have a number of Lightroom Presets and a Lightroom video tutorial, which explain some of my processing techniques. I try and share as much as possible with other that photographers. I think it’s good practice to do this, it can be very time consuming but it also helps me crystallize in my own mind why something works (or why it doesn’t work). I have a before and after blog that is a pretty basic way to show how you can bring an image to life simply with color and good editing; some images just need a bit of encouragement. I think it’s key to remember that processing an image is an extension of the photographers ability to create something special. You can add a certain mood, tone, or personality to your image that will often help communicate the original scene.

How did you get this amazing photo?

This shot was taken a month ago while I was staying on Rarotonga, an island in the South Pacific Ocean. I shot this with my 14-24mm lens in the shallow lagoon water. The sunset reflection almost makes it appear like the dog is walking on top of the water. The wide angle lens really helps add some drama to the cloudy sky and visually leads your eye to the dog. I also love how the lighting shows off some great detail on the dog’s fur. The processing with this image was pretty simple, I just brightened up the overall saturation. The only downside was I dipped my Nikon D800 in the sea while I was shooting it.

What is your favorite part of Flickr?

I have a soft spot for Flickr, I believe it has tuned up my ability to produce a better body of work. I love looking at the overall photostream page along with the stats page. It helps me gauge how well an image has been received. To me seeing a large cross-section of work in one place is a real achievement for a photographer — I believe Flickr has helped me to do this. I have gained a lot from other members, there are some incredibly talented people out there, and it continues to inspire and push me further.

What makes the Flickr community unique?

I think once you spend time on Flickr you realize there is a certain type of enthusiastic personality that comes with the community. It is a very real and passionate group of people who are connected together by their common love of photography. I really like the mixture of work, from enthusiasts through to pro photographers, it’s great. I honestly believe this cross section of talent is fundamental to any great community.

What has been the most interesting interaction you’ve had with another Flickr member or in a Flickr context?

One person emailed me saying they wanted to sell all their possessions and move to New Zealand to be my assistant… Well, I advised them that wouldn’t be wise, but you can’t fault their enthusiasm!

What would you recommend to Flickr members who have just joined the site?

Ummm, that’s easy, just type: http://www.flickr.com/cubagallery

Vintage / People / Photography
►CubaGalleryVintage / People / Photography

What was your best photographic moment?

I think this shot was a real triumph. I went back to this location five times trying to capture the people in this scene. I’m very proud of the final piece, basically I just saw a shaft of natural light (just for a moment), a puff of smoke, a parting amongst all the people, and in walked a random girl in a cool red beret, just pure luck. I took 6 shots in about 3 seconds before this moment disappeared.

Cuba Gallery Website: http://www.cubagallery.co.nz


02 May 21:41

05.02.2014

Cooper Griggs

Corporate Culture.

Cyanide and Happiness, a daily webcomic

Copy this into your blog, website, etc.
<a href="http://explosm.net/comics/3545/"><img alt="Cyanide and Happiness, a daily webcomic" src="http://www.flashasylum.com/db/files/Comics/Rob/lamp.png" border=0></a><br />Cyanide & Happiness @ <a href="http://explosm.net">Explosm.net</a>

...or into a forum
[URL="http://explosm.net/comics/3545/"]
[IMG]http://www.flashasylum.com/db/files/Comics/Rob/lamp.png[/IMG][/URL]
Cyanide & Happiness @ [URL="http://explosm.net/"]Explosm.net[/URL]
<—- Share this comic!

02 May 21:39

EIKNARF

by eiknarf
02 May 21:39

This is how i picture my friend making a translation of 10k or...

Cooper Griggs

Ah Ghost in the Shell. Such a great flic



This is how i picture my friend making a translation of 10k or so with an impossible deadline.