This vintage vampire hunting kit, by Guy Himber, has it all! From Holy Water to Silver Bullets, from a Crucifix to Steampunk-styled Stakes, this kit is fully stocked and ready to go. Housed in a stylish case, this kit will fit seamlessly into anyone’s busy life, on hand to deal with any pesky vampires that may pop up at any moment.
All kidding aside, this kit is beautiful. I’m a sucker for vintage “things in cases”, so this hits all the right notes for me.
Here’s your meta moment for the night: the astronauts aboard the International Space Station are having a movie night, and their flick of choice is Gravity, according to Scott Kelly. Wonder how the line “I hate space!” will go over with this crowd?
Robe Sword (with scabbard and baldric)
The gold hilt consists of a pommel made of two lions’ heads back to back, the one looking outwards the other inwards, with a collar charged with six stars of six points, and a pair of quillons formed by the wings of a naturalistic eagle displayed and holding in its talons the thunderbolt of Zeus. The slightly barrel-shaped grip of oval section is made of lapis lazuli.
The straight, double-edged blade, which is of mechanically-watered steel of flattened lenticular section, with a pair of wide contiguous fullers flanking the central line start from the hilt, and an obtuse tip with concave edges. Incised and overlaid with gold sheet on a matted and blackened ground, on each face with candelabra ornament, including a military trophy and laurel branches entwined, a stylized sunburst within a circle, all on a lyre-like base.
The scabbard has a wooden lining overlaid with plaques of mother-of-pearl framed in gold, and has four gold mounts. The locket is engraved on the front with the arms of Godoy, and on the reverse with ‘Manufacre Impériale, Versailles, Entreprise Boutet’.
It has a loose-ring on each side for the baldrick. On the reverse are the following marks: a man’s head viewed from the front between the figures 88, all in an oval punch; a cockerel viewed in profile from his right with the number 3 over his back, all in an oval punch, its longer axis horizontal; a pistol fesswise with the letter N above and an illegible letter below, all in a diamond-shaped punch with its longer axis vertical.
The marks are the poinçon de garantie for gold and silver in the Department of Seine Inférieure, for the period 1798-1809, the third standard mark (poinçon de titre) for gold in the Departments for the same period; and what is presumably the maker’s mark of Nicholas-Noël Boutet.
The two transverse bands are cast and chased with pateræ each with a star of six points at its centre framed by a pair of acanthus scrolls. The chape, which has a lobate end flattened in the plane of the blade and a prominent terminal button, is cast and chased in the form of a bundle of spears tied with fillets. The same three marks appear on the side of the chape where it can be seen that the second letter in the third punch is B.
The leather baldrick is covered in crimson velvet (now very faded), and the outer face completely overlaid with seventeen rectangular frames of gold within which are various cast and chiselled devices, also of gold, enamelled with translucent enamel in basse taille technique. Alternate frames are pierced with laurel branches framing elaborate symbolic trophies. The remaining frames are each divided into three transverse compartments each containing one or more devices.
The lunette-shaped terminal mounts, which are of gold enamelled deep blue, are each set with a gold eagle displayed on a trophy of flags cast and chiselled in relief. Each supports a gold swivel in a bell-shaped mount, chiselled with acanthus tips, for the rings of the scabbard.
Plaques:
The sword is part of the regalia of the Legion of Honour sent by Bonaparte to The Prince of Peace with the 'grand aigle’ (Great Eagle) of the Order. The Prince of Peace, Don Manuel de Godoy Alvarez de Faria, Rios Sanchez y Zarzosa, Duke of Alcudia (1767-1851) served Charles IV, King of Spain in various political and military roles. It is not known when he was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, the Order created by Bonaparte on 19 May 1802. A letter from Talleyrand to Godoy written in 1799 refers to the intention of sending Godoy a present of weapons from the foremost national manufactory.
The sword was purchased for Lord Wellesley in 1809 from the Supreme Junta at Seville at a sale of the effects of The Prince of Peace following his exile to Rome after the failure of the Treaty of Fontainebleau.
Richard Colley Wellesley, the 1st Marquess (1760-1842), was the Duke of Wellington’s elder brother. He had been a successful Governor General of India and, in 1809, was appointed ambassador to Spain. The sword was presented to The Prince Regent by Lord Wellesley and entered the Carlton House Armoury on 18 March 1811; it was subsequently sent to Windsor Castle on 26 March 1842 where it remains.
The sword was made at the Manufacture de Versailles, then under the direction of Nicolas Noël Boutet (1761-1833). Boutet was the son of Noël Boutet, 'Arquebusier des chevaux-legers du Roi’. He followed his father’s profession and married the daughter of Pierre Desaintes, the 'Arquebusier Ordinaire du Roi’.
Desaintes passed on his royal appointment to his son-in-law who subsequently worked for Louis XVI at Versailles and, after the Revolution, was employed by Napoleon Bonaparte as general manager of the Manufacture de Versailles in 1798 where weapons of the highest quality were produced. When he left Versailles in 1818 he traded from premises at 87 Rue de Richelieu in Paris but continued to use the signature 'Boutet à Versailles’.
The sword resembles the glaive of a Maréchal d’Empire, a rank inaugurated by Bonaparte at the time of his coronation in 1804. The painting by Jacques-Louis David of the Imperial coronation, now in the Louvre, shows a similar sword worn by the Emperor.
The baldric, also by the Manufacture de Versailles, was presented separately to The Prince Regent by the Earl of Fife and entered the Carlton House Armoury on 7 July 1813. Lord Fife served with distinction as a volunteer in Spain during the Peninsular wars against Napoleon; he achieved the rank of major-general in Spanish service.
Source: Copyright © 2015 Royal Collection Trust/Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Left-hand Dagger
The dagger features a straight, double-edged blade of lozenge section with one side of the blade marked “GG” with a cross at the centre, the other “SS” showing a cross, too. The iron hilt is chiselled with floral motifs, while the grip has iron wire binding and engraved ring-nuts.
Source: Copyright © 2015 Czerny’s International Auction House S.R.L.
We don’t need to mention that flip-dot displays are awesome. They use no power except in transitions, are visible on even the brightest of days, and have a bit of that old-school charm. So then it stands to reason that the flip-dot display that [AncientJames] made out of LEGO is awesome-plus. Heck, it even spells out “awesome”.
The display is programmed by arranging single-unit bricks on a template to either turn on or off a pixel. A set of fingers raise up, the new template slides in, and the fingers are lowered onto the template to set the display dot discs. Sounds easy, right?
The single pixel mechanism is interesting enough on its own:
But then the transfer mechanism’s choreography is really sweet. If you’re interested in the mechanics, read through [AncientJames]’s explanation, and don’t skip the animations of Chebyschev’s Lambda Mechanism on Wikipedia.
It’s truly amazing what one can get done with a single crankshaft. Nice work, [AncientJames]!
If we can beg, any chance you’d make a video of the transfer mechanism on its own?
Thanks [Daniel Kennedy] for the tip.
HP Virtual Museum: Hewlett-Packard-01 wrist instrument, 1977.
The HP-01 wrist instrument looked like a digital watch but was smarter than many pocket calculators. It performed more than three dozen functions to manipulate and interrelate time, calendar and numeric data. With six interactive functions (time, alarm, timer/stopwatch, date/calendar, calculator and memory) the HP-01 had 28 tiny keys that the user operated with a stylus built into the bracelet.
The HP-01, code-named “Cricket,” was not a successful product for HP. It was too bulky and heavy, and HP sold it though upscale jewelry stores. But miniaturizing the math functions was quite an engineering feat, and when HP discontinued manufacturing the HP-01, its inner workings were destroyed so no one would copy the extraordinarily small package engineering. The HP Archives has a few of the remaining elements.
The HP-01 currently is one of the most sought after collectibles in the antique electronics market, often fetching two or three times its original price ($650 for the silver color, $750 for the gold version).
With delicate lines, dots, and geometric patterns, L.A. tattoo artist Dr. Woo creates some of the coolest tattoos we’ve seen in quite a while. The 33-year-old artist first started experimenting with tattoos when he was only 13 and would later work as a fashion buyer and designer before he apprenticed with Mark Mahoney at the Shamrock Social Club where he’s now based.
Woo is now one of the most in-demand tattoo artists in L.A. with a waitlist well over six months. There’s often a line out the door of people just making appointments in-person (a professor recently showed up with an entire class in tow). You can join a half million others and follow him on Instagram. All photos courtesy the artist. (via Quipsologies, My Modern Met, The New York Times)
Bunker.jordanROBOTBIRD
Since 2007, researchers at the Maryland Robotics Center have been steadily upgrading Robo Raven, a super-realistic robotic bird that’s so lifelike it even fools the real thing . Its developers recently unveiled two new versions, including one that can take off by itself.
I love Zoobots (or animal-like robots or bioinspired robots or Biomorphic Robotics or biomimetics robotics - call it what you want), just because of the creepiness. Here’s another new manufacturer:
LuBotics is working to build legged robots to assist first responders, bomb squads and military personnel. ARCHie (All-terrain Remote Controlled Hexapod ie) is a proof-of-concept demonstration robot, capable of climbing over obstacles equal to its height.
The company is a spin off of a research project at University of South Florida by Luther Palmer and LuBotics co-founder Brad Savon.
Bunker.jordanShared for topic of biological privacy projects.
Hong Kong has a problem with litter. (That sucks. Put it in a dumpster, where it belongs, zombies!) To face that problem, environmental organization Hong Kong Cleanup, The Nature Conservancy and Ogilvy are using DNA analysis to create digital renderings of the faces of actual Hong Kong litter idiots to denounce them in public (posters along the Hong Kong transit system, social media & print media).
The digital renderings are based on collected DNA found on litter samples, which are processed by an advanced Snapshot™ DNA phenotyping (only authentic with ™) method. The visual representation is then combined with demographic & geolocation factors for greater accuracy.
Littering and excess waste is an ongoing problem that needs to be faced, once and for all. Taking this statement literally, the Hong Kong Cleanup used DNA phenotyping to put a face to litterbugs. The campaign can be seen around the city, warning people not to litter, at the risk of becoming the next face of the campaign.
Don’t get me wrong, nature is sacred and you should do everything to keep it as it is. But I’m not sure if this anti-littering campaign is generally appropriate. I mean, the use of DNA phenoytping to display dirty slobs is a post-minority-report-state. I’m not sure if we are ready for this?
Future noir: All-embracing Genetic Surveillance
Whether intentionally or unintentionally, you lose DNA at any time. Shed hairs and lashes, dropped cigarette butts or saliva left on glasses. The speed of Genomics is increasing (up to a analysis-in-real-time), the collection of personal data is ubiquitous and the mugshot visualization will be performed by a bot in the near future without human input. In addition, your genetic information is stored in governmental or privat databases (-> for personal health reasons, because you had problems with the law, due to edgy early adopter shit or anything else). Now, count two and two together.
Possible Solution: Genetic Privacy
If you’re seeking biological privacy, you should check out biogenfutur.es from Heather Dewey-Hagborg and Biononymous.me, a new community research hub. Btw: The “Face of litter” project is a lame rip-off of Heather Dewey-Hagborg’s project Stranger Visions. But that’s another long story.
However, biononymous has three excellent DIY guidebooks for erasing DNA, extracting DNA and replacing DNA. Plus a lot of further reading material, legal references to genetic and DNA policy and hyperlinks to stealthware supplies and related blogs.
[read more] [via the creators project] [more about DNA profiling] [pictures from laughingsquid & deweyhagborg]
Bunker.jordanActually really excited for this movie. The book was *amaaazzzzing*
Holy hell, the adaptation of Andy Weir’s The Martian looks good. True, this movie is also about Matt Damon trying to survive alone on distant planet, but unlike Interstellar, no one is crying the whole goddamn time. Seriously, it looks amazing.
Never get sick of cyber-maids.
A construction crew working in Heyuan, China have stumbled upon a remarkable batch of fossilized dinosaur eggs. Of the 43 discovered, 19 remain completely intact.
Bunker.jordanTime to re-watch again!
via firehose
Streaming on Netflix now: HD versions of the first 13 episodes of the greatest TV show of all time. You know, The X-Files.
The baker's dozen is appropriate for the 90s paranoia-fest, which stars David Duchovny as Agent Fox Mulder and Gillian Anderson as Agent Dana Scully, the two detectives attached to the titular files — which concerned all things paranormal. Though it originally aired in 4:3, the HD version suggests it was shot in widescreen and cropped for broadcast. Scully's furrowed brow and Mulder's pouty lower lip never looked better.
The first two seasons of The X-Files were extremely low-budget; many of the special effects were essentially strobe lights and tarp. But the special effects were never the point — when you know you have to create scares on a bare-bones budget, you write tension into the script. Early episodes like "Ice" work precisely because of the financial constraints placed on the show.
It's not clear why only the first 13 episodes are being offered in HD, but I'll take what I can get. Just look at how amazing Scully's skeptical face is in the pilot:
I mean.
Thanks, Erin!
Bunker.jordanI enjoy this forensic investigation of old alcohol.
TL;DR - The bottom of the ocean is a good place to store champagne, but make sure you let it breath for a while after you open it or it will taste like a wet dog.
In 2010, divers rescued some amazingly old alcohol from a shipwreck off the coast of Finland. They’ve already published some detailed tasting notes about the beer —but now they’ve carried out an in-depth analysis of the champagne they found, too.
Bunker.jordan"The fledgling parties have science fictional names like Transhumanist Party, Space Party, Longevity Party, and Futurist Party. That’s just in the US."
These sound like parties that I'd love to attend, but I'm not yet sure about voting for them...
The day is coming when designer babies are the norm, space travel is available to everyone, and robots have personhood and even pay taxes. It may not be coming soon, but a number of futurist political parties have emerged in the last few years to make sure we’re ready when it does.
Bunker.jordanWooo! Fast trees!
Bunker.jordanI know that feel
Bunker.jordanMany of you know how much I dislike spiders... but this thing is adorable. It makes me wonder... am I OK with some spiders? If so, why?
Bunker.jordanWoooo! Guess I have some shopping/reading to do.
The 2015 Eisner Awards nominations are out! See if your favorite comic book writers, artists, colorists, letterers, and comics made this year’s list. The winners will be announced during San Diego Comic-Con.
Bunker.jordanSeriously, this is fucked up. It feels wrong that someone can dupe so many vulnerable people and not face any legal ramifications.
“Wellness Guru” Belle Gibson lied about having terminal brain cancer and made a killing peddling bogus cures. At Boing Boing, Xeni Jardin excoriates Gibson and “the culture of magical thinking and hero idolization that built her myth into a profitable business, ignoring decades of real science, and placing vulnerable people with cancer at real risk of death.”
