A few pranksters installed swings in a BART train Monday night. According to witnesses, a team of six or so people hopped on to a north-bound train from 24th Street station in San Francisco around 8:30 p.m. [Monday] night, installed three matching red swings, and then exited at 16th Street leaving their swings behind for public consumption.. See photos of the BART swingers.
Finalists for the Turner Prize 2009 have been announced. Enrico David, 43, a surrealist who creates paintings, drawings and sculptures; Roger Hiorns, 34, a site-specific artist whose 2008 work “Seizure” filled a derelict London apartment with blue crystals; Lucy Skaer, 34, who creates drawings, sculptures and films from found photographs; and Richard Wright, 49, who creates wall paintings in unexpected locations. Tate Britain will exhibit works by the finalists beginning Oct. 7th and the winner will be announced Dec. 7th.
Some nights you just wish you had a few more minutes to stare into the inky-black depths of Jim Lehrer’s doe-y eyes. And now it’s gotten easier as PBS has launched a new video portal for lots of their full-length programs and documentary series. Get that kettlecorn ready for that 3-hour documentary on Nixon.
The Foundation for Peace and Unification wants to connect Russia and America. Like, really connect them with a bridge. Actually it’s not that far, the 50 mile-wide Bering Strait could be spanned with three bridges. Read more about the technical challenges.
While you were obliviously enjoying your sammy in the Spring sun, big things were shifting. Years from now if we look back to today, it might turn out to have been quite important. During the height of The Great Nerdom Apogee, Twitter seems to have forthrightly jumped the shark.
You’re not doing anything for the rest of the day, right? Then you’ve got time for the Tone Matrix.
Watch shoes being bought in real time on the Zappos Shoe Map. It’s nice real-time data visualization and more fun than watching paint dry, I guess.
Tim Tevebaugh spotted some snow rollers near Lewiston, Idaho a few weeks ago.
Swiss Architect Peter Zumthor has won the 2009 Pritzker Architecture Prize. Saying his architecture expresses respect for the primacy of the site, the legacy of a local culture and the invaluable lessons of architectural history, the Pritzker jury will award the 65 year-old architect their $100,000 prize on May 29th. To see photos of his buildings, take a look at this Pritzker image library, a Guardian slideshow, or to get the full picture of Zumthor’s work, download the Pritzker photobooklet of his work (5MB .pdf).
You should go full-screen on the map above (top-right). Information Architects has come out with the (beta version) of their fourth Web Trends Map. A design firm with offices in Japan and Zurich, Information Architects has produced an annual visualization of web trends that reflect growth in traffic and branding. The map is modeled on the Tokyo Subway with heights representing traffic and branding and train lines colored by area of interest. Check out a final version of the Web Trends Map from last year.
Wah? Obama is seeking to expand the government’s wiretapping powers.
Here’s a nice set of vintage computer ads.
You still just twitter about lunch or happy hour plans? Step up and see how to get stuff done with Twitter. And– careful with this link, it’ll hurt your brain a little– here’s how to do everything with Twitter.
There’s a new guide in town. From the good people who brought you The Onion and their A.V. Club, comes a new food, music and nightlife guide to San Francisco. Decider’s already conquering eight other U.S. cities with its good balance of listings and features. And with Yelp’s clueless-d-bag to knowledgeable-insider ratio climbing everyday, Decider may have shown up just at the right time. I’m especially fond of The Drink Finder, which is probably one of the best Google Map guides for drinking available.
It looks like there might be one more gasp of intelligent life in the rattling death spiral that is broadcast television. Kings is great stuff and it’s on NBC. I have no idea when it’s on tv, but who cares when you can watch ‘em two at a time on Hulu.
As a part of last weekend’s Roppongi Art Night in Tokyo, sculptor Kenji Yanobe unleashed a 24-foot tall Giant Torayan robot that sings, dances and spits fire. See more pictures of the giant fire-spitting baby robot.
If you’ve still got a job, it would also be a good time to buy a boat. Or just pick one up that’s beached in some slough.
