Clipmarks | wildcat's Pops

OpenLearn is now in its third year and its time for a change. OpenLearn will soon be expanding to become the hub for all Open University materials that are freely available to the public, including videos, podcasts and lots more interactive content.

Top five units

This month's five most popular OpenLearn units are:

the Treachery of image - Magritte pipe's diversity

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:49:27 GMT

clipped by: syncopath

Clip Source: neurologicalcorrelates.com

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

The Treachery of Images (La trahison des images 1928–29) is a series of paintings by René Magritte, the most noted of which is famous for its inscription Ceci n'est pas une pipe

As Magritte himself commented: "The famous pipe. How people reproached me for it! And yet, could you stuff my pipe? No, it's just a representation, is it not? So if I had written on my picture 'This is a pipe,' I'd have been lying!"

Clip Source: ezinearticles.com

With "The Treachery of Images" Magritte questions, the inherent tendency of the human mind to habitually label everything we see, overlooking the need to find a deeper meaning. Magritte presents a very simple example to convey how our perceptions and the habitual use of language can falsely manipulate our thinking. "The Treachery of Images" was a powerful work with which Rene Magritte challenges the common norms of communication and interpretation. It was a great influence on many conceptual artists.

Clip Source: twistasaintbrieuc.unblog.fr

Clip Source: farm4.static.flickr.com

Clip Source: poosk.com

Clip Source: www.freakingnews.com

Clip Source: www.forum-auto.com

Clip Source: imagecache2.allposters.com

Clip Source: www.kovacevic.nl

Clip Source: fc07.deviantart.net

Clip Source: sitearm.wordpress.com

Clip Source: search.it.online.fr

The Average Color of the Universe

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:08:10 GMT

clipped by: Mohir

Clip Source: antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov

Explanation: What color is the universe? More precisely, if the entire sky were smeared out, what color would the final mix be? This whimsical question came up when trying to determine what stars are commonplace in nearby galaxies. The answer, depicted above, is a conditionally perceived shade of beige. To determine this, astronomers computationally averaged the light emitted by one of the largest sample of galaxies yet analyzed: the 200,000 galaxies of the 2dF survey. The resulting cosmic spectrum has some emission in all parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, but a single perceived composite color. This color has become much less blue over the past 10 billion years, indicating that redder stars are becoming more prevalent. In a contest to better name the color, notable entries included skyvory, univeige, and the winner: cosmic latte.

Tags: astronomy

ART : 21

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:04:11 GMT

clipped by: syncopath
clipper's remarks: Art21 Access '09 is an international screening initiative that provides opportunities to increase knowledge of contemporary art, ignite dialogue, and inspire creative thinking through hundreds of public screenings and events celebrating the premiere of the fifth season.

Clip Source: video.pbs.org

"Art:21–Art in the Twenty-First Century” is the only series on television to focus exclusively on contemporary visual art and artists in the United States. Fascinating and intimate footage allows the viewer to observe the artists at work, watch their process as they transform inspiration into art, and hear their thoughts as they grapple with the physical and visual challenges of achieving their artistic visio...

Clip Source: beta.art21.org

Art21 Access '09 is an international screening initiative that provides opportunities to increase knowledge of contemporary art, ignite dialogue, and inspire creative thinking through hundreds of public screenings and events celebrating the premiere of the fifth season.

What new grammars and logics do artists invent in today's supercharged, information-based society? Why do we find comfort in some systems while rebelling against others?

Clip Source: video.pbs.org

ART:21 | Systems

ART:21 | Transformation

ART:21 | Compassion

ART:21 | Fantasy

ART:21 | Identity

How it feels 2b Free - Nina Simon

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:47:17 GMT

clipped by: syncopath
clipper's remarks: "anyone must be free.. cause otherwise we're murderers .. " ....

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Happy Birthday to Science Fiction's Oldest Film

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 23:42:09 GMT

clipped by: Mohir

Clip Source: io9.com

Science fiction cinema turns 107 today with George Méliès A Trip to the Moon, which debuted in France on September 2, 1902. Watch as silent astronauts construct a rocket ship, put out the moon's eye, and fend off irate aliens.

[Video]

Tags: movies, sci-fi, science fiction, history

Personas

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:42:34 GMT

clipped by: Fast T friend
clipper's remarks: In a world where fortunes are sought through data-mining vast information repositories, the computer is our indispensable but far from infallible assistant. Personas demonstrates the computer's uncanny insights and its inadvertent errors, such as the mischaracterizations caused by the inability to separate data from multiple owners of the same name. It is meant for the viewer to reflect on our current and future world, where digital histories are as important if not more important than oral histories, and computational methods of condensing our digital traces are opaque and socially ignorant.

Clip Source: personas.media.mit.edu

Personas is a component of the Metropath(ologies) exhibit, currently on display at the MIT Museum by the Sociable Media Group from the MIT Media Lab. It uses sophisticated natural language processing and the Internet to create a data portrait of one's aggregated online identity. In short, Personas shows you how the Internet sees you.

Enter your name, and Personas scours the web for information and attempts to characterize the person - to fit them to a predetermined set of categories that an algorithmic process created from a massive corpus of data. The computational process is visualized with each stage of the analysis, finally resulting in the presentation of a seemingly authoritative personal profile.

Tags: mit, lab, media, social, online, identity

What Your Choice of Words Reveals about You

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 08:53:27 GMT

clipped by: abailart
clipper's remarks: Interesting. Quite short article but difficult to encapsulate in a clip. The article refers mainly to political rhetoric and to observing medicalised patients over time. It does not factor in emotional lability which often removes the degree of conscious control over expression.

Clip Source: www.scientificamerican.com

No one doubts that the words we write or speak are an expression of our inner thoughts and personalities. But beyond the meaningful content of language, a wealth of unique insights into an author’s mind are hidden in the style of a text—in such elements as how often certain words and word categories are used, regardless of context.

It is how an author expresses his or her thoughts that reveals character, asserts social psychologist James W. Pennebaker of the University of Texas at Austin. When people try to present themselves a certain way, they tend to select what they think are appropriate nouns and verbs, but they are unlikely to control their use of articles and pronouns. These small words create the style of a text, which is less subject to conscious manipulation.

Clip Source: www.scientificamerican.com

studies have shown that words that are used to express balance or nuance (“except,” “but,” and so on) are associated with higher cognitive complexity, better grades and even the truthfulness with which facts are reported.

Tags: words and personality

Video appears in paper magazines

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 12:58:20 GMT

clipped by: Mohir

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

The first-ever video advertisement will be published in a traditional paper magazine in September.

The video-in-print ads will appear in select copies of the US show business title Entertainment Weekly.

The slim-line screens - around the size of a mobile phone display - also have rechargeable batteries.

The chip technology used to store the video - described as similar to that used in singing greeting cards - is activated when the page is turned.

Each chip can hold up to 40 minutes of video.

The first clips will preview programmes from US TV network CBS and show adverts by the drinks company Pepsi.

They will appear in 18 September editions of the magazine distributed in Los Angeles and New York.

Tags: technology, video

vintage surgical instruments

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 08:23:00 GMT

clipped by: bumcheeks

Clip Source: www.surgicaltechnologists.net

20 Scary Old School Surgical Tools

Hemorrhoid Forceps (1800s)

These forceps were used to grasp a hemorrhoid between the blades and apply pressure to stop the blood supply, causing the hemorrhoid to drop off.

Tags: bizarre, history

400 Million-Year-Old Male Sex Organ ID'd

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 21:49:43 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: dsc.discovery.com

July 14, 2009 -- Scientists have confirmed the oldest penis-like structure in an ancient fish specimen.

The discovery of the 400 million-year-old reproductive organ is one of the earliest examples of internal fertilization in vertebrate animals. Understanding the anatomy of these ancient fish could reveal further details in the evolution of vertebrates -- including humans.

The research is published in today's advanced online ahead of print edition of Nature

Clip Source: www.nature.com

Pelvic claspers confirm chondrichthyan-like internal fertilization in arthrodires

Clip Source: dsc.discovery.com

"when we announced we'd found some structures in the pelvic fin that suggested copulation, we hadn't found the business end of how they were doing it."

On closer inspection, Trinajstic said they realized it was a sexual organ.

"We were surprised because it's so big," she said. "We were expecting something smaller."

Trinajstic said the clasper, which was attached to the pelvic organ would have been erectile.

Does Free & Open Video Equal Change/Democracy?

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 23:29:55 GMT

clipped by: Djiezes
clipper's remarks: Found this via wildcat.

In my opinion, it does not equal democracy or establish an utopia. But surely it can help & support it if done the right way.

http://openvideoconference.org/videos/

Clip Source: rhizome.org

Does free video uploading and downloading equal democracy?

The mission statement for the conference reads, “Open Video is a movement to promote free expression and innovation in online video." The conference and its affiliates aimed to respond to outdated copyright law in an attempt to open the limits on the circulation and distribution of copyrighted material.

The situation is nicely summed up by media scholar Geert Lovink, in his recent manifesto written with Ned Rossiter.

he utopianism of “open and free” video culture, it seems, is correct in that it allows people to do things they could not do before. But this does not automatically equal change or democracy in itself. Any proclamation of social utopia deserves a second look

As László Barabási points out, the majority of internet traffic still flows through major hubs—hubs like Amazon and Yahoo, which means that online content generally continues to rely on traditional media channels for distribution.

Tags: change, democracy, free, innovation, open, video, copyright

10 Stunning Photos That Look Like They are Photoshopped But Are Not

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 21:39:01 GMT

clipped by: cosmic_kitten1
clipper's remarks: my fav is the last one. oh and if you don't believe that one is not ps-ed,
here is her page

http://alexiuss.deviantart.com/art/Water-fairy-128204062

Clip Source: www.smashingapps.com

Fan’s Eye by LauHi

Fire Dancer by Gordon Bowbrick

Heart Shadow by brikon

New miracle by Guillaume Ducarme

She loves to dive by Raphael Guarino

Shadow suicide by JanuaryVictim

Uprise of tourism by martinb1

Heavenly lights in by G2K2007

Love Will Come Through by ArhcamtIlnaad

Water fairy by alexiuss

Tags: no ps, photoshop, stunning, amazing, photography, cool