tech

Everyday Edisons pbs show TV aaron tang

Hey all! I’ve got a little secret to spill that I’ve been keeping hush for almost a year! I’m in a TV show and it premieres on PBS today!!!!

The shows called “Everyday Edisons“:
Everybody has a great idea that could change the way we work, the way we live or the way we play. Everyday Edisons documents the development process of 14 inventions and the parallel stories of the people who invented them. Selected from thousands, the 14 Everyday Edisons learn how their extraordinary ideas are taken from a sketch on a napkin to a store shelf.”

Check out the EverydayEdisons.com page or the PBS page. Find out your local PBS air dates and times here. (I’m in the 2nd half of the season but will appear at the beginning I think)

It’s a thrill to be one of the dozen inventors hand picked from thousands to be on the show. This adventure continues a project I invented while at RISD back in 1999 which made the blogsphere rounds in 2004-5.

I’m not sure what to expect nor how the show ends (good or bad) but that’s all part of the fun. It might not be as entertaining as reality TV, but you’ll get to see my goofy serious self!! And no, it’s not like the “other” reality show I’ve been on… this one is much more professional. There is no competition, the US patent office sponsors the show, and they actually spend over a year developing each inventors idea!

I’ll post a few articles that have been published about the show and myself after the jump (fun pictures)! Please watch and let me know how it goes, cause I don’t receive the channels it’s being broadcast on (booo).

update: episodes posted after jump
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LA Silver Lake Ivanhoe lake black balls
Sweet goodness, this rocks! Tossing 400,000 plastic black Caviar like balls into a reservoir with 3 million to follow in an attempt to shade off the reservoirs exposed water from sunlight for the next 4-5 years.

The water needs to be shaded because when sunlight mixes with the bromide and chlorine in Ivanhoe’s water, the carcinogen bromate forms, said Pankaj Parekh, DWP’s director for water quality compliance. Bromide is naturally present in groundwater and chlorine is used to kill bacteria, he said, but sunlight is the final ingredient in the potentially harmful mix.”

Reminds me of the beautiful Sony Bravia Bouncing balls commercial. I want to by a pool of spheres now!

Tons of fun pics after the jump.
Source via LA TIMES with video, Curbed, and CBS and video.

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Dreaming of Flying

Here are some semi super hero links…. I saw Iron Man finally which was awesome. Later on Indiana Jones, Incredible Hulk, Batman, Hancock, Kung Fu Panda, Get Smart, Love Guru, Hellboy II, and filming for Transformers 2 just started! What a Super Hero summer this is going to be!

– Japaneses Talking watch!($20)
– Finger Blasters or Finger Missiles! (Makes anyone a kid again)
– Explore the Universe through World Telescope!
Skin Footwear!
Crazy Fun Slip n Slide!(video)
– A poorly designed Batman squirt gun… haha


A tour of Times Square from Keyframe on Vimeo.

hmmm… I want to make use of that empty space! The owner should convert it into his mansion or something! I hate wasted prime space!

“The One Times Square building is empty. Why? Because the owner can afford it by selling ad space alone. It costs $300,000/month to advertise on that structure — one of things you’ll learn in this behind-the-LED-screens look at Times Square. ”

via boingboing

wikipedia about Building, yup, it’s empty!!!

acrobat.com webtop

Wow! Acrobat.com’s webtop page looks amazing, incorporating the sweet Buzzword (Word online), ConnectNow for sharing screens, PDF maker, file sharing, and file storage (5 gigs free). Every thing is going to the web! Whoohoooo! If only Photoshop Express (psd online) and Illustrator could be online now as well as any 3D program via Solidworks, catia, maya, 3d studio, blender, Rhino, Zform, Sketchup, etc..! Programs online rock! Did I say online yet!
via TechCrunch

Here’s a informational video about the always controversial Net Neutrality issue whom many of us learned about back in 2006 through Ask a Ninja here!

Pass it around, be in the know, and fight off this corrupt political crap… make information free to enable creativity and progression. Reminds me of Larry Lessig‘s Great TED lecture on “Creativity being strangled the by law.”

via ipower.ning

Erik Nordenankar biggest drawing in the world dhl

Artist Erik Nordenankar has created the “Biggest Drawing in the World” according to his webpage.

In short, he had a grand vision to draw a huge self-portrait. He sent away a briefcase containing a GPS device around the world through DHL which plotted it’s journey in 55 days. The end result, a pretty sweet self-portrait. The GPS container became his pen and the world became his canvas.

However true or fictional this may be, it’s a pretty cool idea. He has a good documentation of it online, and a youtube videos here.

via hackaday

shock aero 3d application

I’ve been playing around with the free “Shock Aero 3D” application that mimics the pretty cool Vista Rolodex feature and somewhat offers the Mac Expose feature as well. I’ve custom mine to launch by pressing my middle mouse scroll button which also navigates the rolling effect. Pretty sweet if you love the Vista features but hate Vista… I’ve got it on XP running… it was buggy at first, but working fine now. Isn’t it great how innovative ideas on certain platforms can be added to almost any other platform. It’s not about who copied who, but more about embedding great ideas across the world.

via lifehacker

PicLens creates a 3 dimensional experience in browsing images and videos. Install the plug-in and PicLens gives you an option to view image+video searches via their zippity fun matrix gallery. It’s a bit slow but visually cool, especially after a few hundred images upload. The visual browsing experience gets more appealing everyday…hopefully bandwidth isn’t an issue =) (thanks dfresh)

Reminds me a bit of TiltViewer or Searchme.com

Filmmaker and 2006 TED prize winner Jehane Noujaim made a wish to “Create a day in which the world came together through film.”

That exciting day is this May 10th, gathering a global audience to watch a series of films made by the world for the world, which will broadcast around the globe live at the same time.

Gather a community of your family and friends and watch this amazing inspirational film together. Host an event in your home, backyard, office, or any other location to share this extremely rare experience with all.

Watch Jehane’s wish during TED here, host an event, check out the Pangea Day webpage, or watch a few more videos on their Youtube site.

I’ll be in LA during this event… this is a must do, watch, spread event.