My first LED diabolo in darkness test

Since the Firejam 2 weeks ago, I’ve been getting more into the diabolo with lights or even fire thing. Today I hit the garden to try out the LED kit on my old diabolo. The results are not bad, but it’s not quite what I was after. I’d like to see more blur with the diabolo moves really but I guess I can do this in post if I like.

Added some music and uploaded to youtube. Of course Youtube doesn’t like the music and theres a flickr version too incase youtube removes it from different regions.

I shot the whole thing on my Nikon D3200 using the standard kit lens, manual settings and gorillapod. Next time I’ll mess with the settings and try it during dusk, because then at least you can see what I’m up to and I can see what the heck I’m actually doing!

Fun times ahead!

Especially as I’m starting to crack the Vertex!

Light!

Light Trailer from Theatre Ad Infinitum on Vimeo.

LIGHT

Inspired by Edward Snowden’s revelations and the ensuing debate on state surveillance, Theatre Ad Infinitum conjures an Orwellian future where a totalitarian regime monitors the thoughts of its citizens through implants.

I just experienced Light at the Lowry Theatre and I was blown away. Its all experienced in the darkness of no light and the setup is incredible, especially with only 5 people! The story is interesting but its the amazingly smart setups using light and dark which steal the show.

If you get a chance to see it, go experience it! You will love it..

I bought into the Philips Hue system but why?

Philips Hue Bridge

After my blog post asking about which smart lighting system works best for me… I choose the Philips Hue system but why?

  1. Philips made its simple REST API public! Yeh!
  2. Seen activity of people hacking around with the Philips hue lights.
  3. Replace my aging and dying Philips Light/wake-up clock.
    It keeps waking me up at the wrong time of the night and missing the alarm time! I barely use it because of this. Looking forward to combining my sleep pattern with my wake up. May even help with my alertness?
  4. Have better control over my living room lighting.
    I like warm lights at night and hate the way the lights are in my living room at the moment but don’t want to do the massive alterations to change it at the moment.
  5. I really want to experiment with XBMC and a Ambelight style setup

Lytro’s light field camera

I first heard about Light Field Cameras from a industral trainee called Matthew Shotton. Although as Tony points out on Twitter, it was the idea of using it for video which drive the project.  He built a system for Makerfaire 2010 which pushed a DSLR along a short track and take pictures at certain intervals.  Once taken he pulled them into a application he built which turns them into a camera which has endless focus points… (we really should have documented this better, oh well next time for sure)

Of course theres many people working in this area and my focus is more about the grassroots and open, but its interesting to see the commercial play.

Lytro are going to release a product soon they say

Wake up to light in the mornings

Philips Wake up light

I heard about these light alarms which wake you up using daylight from a large bulb instead of a nasty buzzing noise like traditional alarms. So in an aid to improve my wake up routine I invested in a Philips Wake-up Light HF3463. Of course I never paid 100 pounds for it, actually I picked it up for 20 pounds because I knocked the retailer down again and again due to the bad state of the box, paint on the power lead and that it was a return product.

So far I got to say its working pretty well, I do feel better waking up to the bright light and I tend to wake up about a minute or two before the set time or the noise of blips (which I have mine set to). It all sounds like marketing crap but there is something about the bright light which does work even in my room with lots of glowing leds from machines and mobiles.

Will this be a path to a more healthy lifestyle of waking up early and feeling full of energy? I doubt it, I still feel very rough in the mornings and feel so much more alive at night but anything which gets me up without that jolt has got to be pretty good.

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Yum Yum – Sheer Kitchen and Gravity Chair

Sheer kitchen

If I was building a new house, this would be in it.

The most gorgeous use of design and space for a kitchen I've ever seen. It seems as people get older, they want bigger rooms for everything – the kitchen is no exception. I see beautiful kitchen showrooms all the time but in reality, the space in my home and many others is limited. The Sheer Kitchen addresses those issues by becoming the centerpiece, the light source and the utilitarian work top all in one.

And the Stokke Gravity Balans Chair

Stokke gravity chair

The Stokke Gravity balans chair is the first chair of its kind to simulate zero gravity in multiple seating positions. Although technically, gravity is still there, the design uses your own weight as a counter balance making it feel as if your're floating in the chair – whether upright to get some work done or reclined for a quick nap.

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