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Being the closet space geek that I am, it wasn't difficult to rate this as not only the coolest live video stream supplied by our good friends at NASA, but the coolest in the world. I mean, when you're broadcasting live images from the International Space Station showing you our little blue planet spinning around in all its glory, there's really nothing on Earth that can top it. Here's the description from NASA:

Live video from the International Space Station includes internal views when the crew is on-duty and Earth views at other times. The video is accompanied by audio of conversations between the crew and Mission Control. This video is only available when the space station is in contact with the ground. During "loss of signal" periods, viewers will see a blue screen. Since the station orbits the Earth once every 90 minutes, it experiences a sunrise or a sunset about every 45 minutes. When the station is in darkness, external camera video may appear black, but can sometimes provide spectacular views of lightning or city lights below."

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Some rule-defying Russians climbed the pyramids in Egypt and snapped some photos, with pretty stunning results. From boingboing:

The Pyramids of Giza close to tourists at 4:00 pm. Recently, a group of Russians managed to hide out at the site after closing time and scramble up the Great Pyramid of Cheops in the fading light. Naturally, they took photos.

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Ever tried listening to your favourite tunes while doing sports? You likely discovered early on that the clearer the music, the less you heard ambient sounds. When a 4 year old boy keeps screaming, that's a good thing. Other times, when you don't realise that a Range Rover is about to mow you down when you cross the street, it's a little less convenient. Enter the earHeropro, a tiny speaker designed to fit into your ear canal while still allowing external sounds to be heard.

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Star Wars Prequels Condensed Into 85 Minute Film

Apparently, hard core Star Wars fan Topher Grace spliced scenes from all three prequels and condensed approximately 7 hours of footage into an 85 minute cut entitled Star Wars: Episode III.5: The Editor Strikes Back. According to this lucky bastard guy that managed to see this cut, this version is more entertaining and focussed than the original movies. Of course, Lucas himself admitted that much of what ended up in the prequels was eye-candy filler, so it won't come as much of a surprise that excising all the fluff scenes didn't alter plot or character development. So where can you see this? Apparently nowhere. This was a one off, one time deal which apparently took place in Hollywood and included "filmmakers, editors, actors, actresses and only a few press friends". I mean really? Someone goes through all that effort, gets Star Wars fans all whipped into a frenzy but no one gets to see it? Unleash the film, screaming are the fans demanding.

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While waiting for Google's augmented reality glasses to actually go into production, here is a video which showcases some of its potential uses. The current design concept of the glasses looks like a terrible April fool's joke. Mainstream adoption will only come about if the tech is either integrated into a decent pair of glasses or can be unobtrusively retrofitted onto your current pair of spectacles.

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Buddy Greene playing some classical pieces at Carnegie Hall... on a harmonica.

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What could possibly beat watching Star Wars and eating pancakes at the same time? Yup, you guessed it: Star Wars pancake moulds.  

(via Geekologie)

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An entertaining presentation by Kevin Allocca, YouTube's trend manager, on why videos go viral. 

Via Gizmodo

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The Free Key is an absurdly simple antidote to the classic nail-cracking key ring. Just pinch the Free Key in the right place and the end bit lifts up so you can painlessly slide your key of choice into it.

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Glowing Man by Jacob Sutton

Pro boarder William Hughes dons a glowing LED outfit and hits the slopes at night. Cool, surreal and beautfiul.

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BBC news, hilariously remixed by cassetteboy. Most definitely not suitable for work, especially if you happen to work for Hillary Clinton, Boris Johnson or any UK government office for that matter.

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Reddit user everethill does a pretty fine job of inserting A-list celebrities into his holiday party photos. 

Via Reddit

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My thoughts on the Windows 8 logo design

I'm not going to beat around the bush, every iteration of the Windows logo has been pretty terrible. I've always found them to be symbolic of the operating system they represent- busy, inelegant, and typographically clunky. So at first glance the Windows 8 logo design is an incredible breath of fresh air. After decades of overly complicated, garishly coloured and amateurish logo permutations, the sight of a super clean, monochrome Windows 8 logo that not only is light years ahead of its predecessors in the beauty department, but also a truer reflection of the product it represents, really is a sight for sore eyes. Other than the earliest versions of Windows, which visually referenced a physical window, all subsequent designs, for reasons more mysterious than the creation of the universe itself, converted the window graphic into a wavy, multi-coloured flag, and in the process diluted the mental association between the Windows operating system and its product branding. The Windows 8 logo, however, returns to a more literal window representation, while also mirroring Metro, Microsoft’s new approach to the user interface for both desktop and mobile platforms.

Despite all the improvements, the Windows 8 logo still fails to impress. The angle and design of the window graphic still feels too close to an illustration of a flag. The oversized "Windows 8" type appears to be locked in a perpetual fight for visual dominance with the window icon. What about those pesky little trademark symbols, they are about as welcome as a pair of flies landing on your favourite painting. Some of the world's most famous logos don't contain trademark symbols, so can't Microsoft let them go? Now this is not in any way meant to knock Pentagram, a world renowned design studio tasked with creating the new logo, as I sincerely believe they worked to the best of their abilities within the design brief limitations imposed by Microsoft.

Beyond colour, composition or typography, there is a bigger issue here, one of corporate strategy and philosophy. This new logo reflects a company desperate to reinvigorate its iconic Windows products but too afraid to let go of a name and a branding scheme from a product line that has generated so much revenue. Some of this branding inertia is also evident with Windows Phone, Microsoft’s foray into the mobile phone market. Pitting the name “Windows Phone” against “iPhone” or “Android”, isn’t it clear why it’s difficult for consumers’ interest to be piqued by a phone with a Microsoft operating system? Both Apple and Google have generated enormous excitement for their mobile products, and while great branding will not make a poor product better, it can certainly help a great product appear more attractive and approachable to potential shoppers. “Windows Phone” is completely uninspiring- it sounds drab, generic and, most importantly, is far too reminiscent of the older and more convoluted Windows Mobile operating system.

For the first time since the birth of Windows 27 years ago, there is a clear intent by Microsoft to go beyond the traditional window metaphor as the main method of interaction. This is also the age of the social web, of mobile devices and touchscreens, and clearly Windows 8 is an attempt to confront our new computing paradigms with great courage and confidence. If Microsoft is willing to be brave and take its operating system in brand new directions, why not be equally bold with it branding strategy? Why not simply wipe the slate clean and drop the “Windows” name altogether. Would Microsoft’s highly successful gaming console, the Xbox, have generated as much buzz before its launch if it was called something along the lines of “Microsoft Windows Gaming Hub”? Most certainly not. Believe in your new operating system, Microsoft, be proud of what it stands for and reflect that in a name and a logo that will get people talking about your brand… in a positive way.

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Science off the Sphere: Knitting Needle Experiment (by ReelNASA)

I love this kind of stuff. A simple experiment- water droplets released from a syringe close to a knitting needle - may sound yawn inducing at first glance. But when an astronaut is showing you this experiment from the International Space Station, it becomes fascinating. If only we could get the Mythbusters to do a show out in space.

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Yes, yes. More megapixels doesn't necessarily mean better quality, blah blah blah. But c'mon... it's still a DSLR with 36 freakin' megapixels!

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Heath Frisby, X Games 2012 competitor, lands a front flip on a snowmobile.