Ulysse Sabbagh

RIP Ravi Shankar, here is a video of him teaching George Harrison how to play the Sitar. (He knew already but only a little bit.)

RIP Ravi Shankar, here is a video of him teaching George Harrison how to play the Sitar. (He knew already but only a little bit.)

In a fairly important number of car-related videos (accidents, crashes, races), the cameraman is Russian. Go on Snotr and find car videos, you’ll see for yourself. 

According to Marina Galperina of Animal New-York, there are rational reasons for this:

Dash-cam footage is the only real way to substantiate your claims in the court of law. Forget witnesses. Hit and runs are very common and insurance companies notoriously specialize in denying claims. Two-way insurance coverage is very expensive and almost completely unavailable for vehicles over ten years old-the drivers can only get basic liability. Get into a minor or major accident and expect the other party to lie to the police or better yet, flee after rear-ending you. Since your insurance won’t pay unless the offender is found and sued, you’ll see dash-cam videos of post hit and run pursuits for plate numbers.

And sometimes drivers back up or bump their pre-dented car into yours. It used to be a mob thing, with the accident-staging specialists working in groups. After the “accident,” the offending driver – often an elderly lady – is confronted by a crowd of “witnesses,” psychologically pressured and intimidated to pay up cash on the spot. Since the Age of the Dash-cam, hustle has withered from a flourishing enterprise to a dying trade, mainly thriving in the provinces where dash-cams are less prevalent.

Now, I know. 

In a fairly important number of car-related videos (accidents, crashes, races), the cameraman is Russian. Go on Snotr and find car videos, you’ll see for yourself. 

According to Marina Galperina of Animal New-York, there are rational reasons for this:

Dash-cam footage is the only real way to substantiate your claims in the court of law. Forget witnesses. Hit and runs are very common and insurance companies notoriously specialize in denying claims. Two-way insurance coverage is very expensive and almost completely unavailable for vehicles over ten years old-the drivers can only get basic liability. Get into a minor or major accident and expect the other party to lie to the police or better yet, flee after rear-ending you. Since your insurance won’t pay unless the offender is found and sued, you’ll see dash-cam videos of post hit and run pursuits for plate numbers.

And sometimes drivers back up or bump their pre-dented car into yours. It used to be a mob thing, with the accident-staging specialists working in groups. After the “accident,” the offending driver – often an elderly lady – is confronted by a crowd of “witnesses,” psychologically pressured and intimidated to pay up cash on the spot. Since the Age of the Dash-cam, hustle has withered from a flourishing enterprise to a dying trade, mainly thriving in the provinces where dash-cams are less prevalent.

Now, I know. 

But roads and highways alone don’t define the character of a place, and they aren’t always sufficient to help you get around. So Google Maps also integrates information such as walking paths, ferry lines, building outlines, park boundaries, university campuses and more—providing a richer, more comprehensive and more realistic experience for locals, visitors and armchair travelers alike.

But roads and highways alone don’t define the character of a place, and they aren’t always sufficient to help you get around. So Google Maps also integrates information such as walking paths, ferry lines, building outlines, park boundaries, university campuses and more—providing a richer, more comprehensive and more realistic experience for locals, visitors and armchair travelers alike.

Crashpad, a free service to find a roommate or an available room

Crashpad, a free service to find a roommate or an available room

www.gocrashpad.com

Cool idea, nice design. For now, it only works in the United States and specifically in the SF Bay Area, in NYC and in Boston. 

The world’s most and least corrupt countries, mapped. 

Common Physics Misconceptions (by minutephysics)

Another great video by Minute Physics. 

Common Physics Misconceptions (by minutephysics)

Another great video by Minute Physics. 

Rethinking the iPhone lockscreen

Rethinking the iPhone lockscreen

thetechblock.com/rethinkin…

Good ideas by Brent Caswell. The iPhone lockscreen desperately screams for an updated interface. Suggetions like these are welcome.  

Color photography of Paris in 1914.

Over the last decade, Google VP Vint Cerf teamed up with NASA to develop something called the Disruption Tolerant Network (DTN), an Internet that works in space. This month, they made the first successful test. 

Fast Company:

How does DTN differ from the Internet that enabled your computer to load this page? In simple terms, Cerf’s so-called Bundle Protocol tells machines to save incomplete data they’ve received, even if the transmission is disrupted by interference. DTN instructs recipient machines to save the bundles until they’re completely transmitted, no matter how long that takes. Then, the data packets are forwarded to the next recipient, in a system NASA calls “store-and-forward.” “[It’s] similar to a basketball player passing the ball down the court to other players nearer to the basket, who hold it as the team assembles to await the final pass to a player who has a clear shot at the goal,” explains Adrian Hooke, manager of NASA’s Space DTN project at NASA headquarters.

Over the last decade, Google VP Vint Cerf teamed up with NASA to develop something called the Disruption Tolerant Network (DTN), an Internet that works in space. This month, they made the first successful test. 

Fast Company:

How does DTN differ from the Internet that enabled your computer to load this page? In simple terms, Cerf’s so-called Bundle Protocol tells machines to save incomplete data they’ve received, even if the transmission is disrupted by interference. DTN instructs recipient machines to save the bundles until they’re completely transmitted, no matter how long that takes. Then, the data packets are forwarded to the next recipient, in a system NASA calls “store-and-forward.” “[It’s] similar to a basketball player passing the ball down the court to other players nearer to the basket, who hold it as the team assembles to await the final pass to a player who has a clear shot at the goal,” explains Adrian Hooke, manager of NASA’s Space DTN project at NASA headquarters.

Last fire-related post, promised.

This is called Matches a photo series that mixes matchsticks and fire, by Russian artist and photographer Stanislav Aristov.