Category Archives: Tech

A sample of the teeny-tiny delights on offer at the Journey To The Microcosmos channel – in this case a fascinating chapter called “Microbes Don’t Actually Look Like Anything’ wherein we learn that light and microscopy create visions of teeny-tiny life that don’t actually look like that in teeny-tiny reality.

Hey, it’s no biggie.

kottke

‘Girl With a Pearl Earring’ – Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer’s most-recognised artwork – was recently subjected to two years of detailed research which, while failing to shed light on the identity of the subject, has revealed all manner of hidden detail including eyelashes (only visible under a microscope) and the fact that the grey background is actually a green curtain.

The surface condition of the painting (which has been subject to multiple restorations over the years) was studied by researchers Emilien Leonhardt and Vincent Sabatier, of Hirox Europe using a custom-mounted microscope.

The resulting 10 billion pixel panoramic scan – a gigantic stitch of 9,100 individual microscopic photographs, is available here in 2D and 3D for your perusal.

colossal

A video for Nashville-based electronica artist Makeup And Vanity Set (Michael Pusti) by Saman Kesh and Justin Daashuur Hopkins in which a tech enthusiast attempts to scam a retail platform by claiming his new monitor was never delivered, requesting a refund.

At first, the site’s AI reacts politely to the scammer’s increasing rudeness, then it exacts sweet revenge.

Whys and wherefores here.

shortoftheweek

 

The incoherent, unsettling but strangely familiar works of an AI programme ‘schooled’ in the street art style of Banksy. To wit

GANksy was born into the cloud in September 2020, then underwent a strenuous A.I. training regime using hundreds of street art photos for thousands of iterations to become the fully-formed artist we see today. All of GANksy’s works are original creations derived from its understanding of shape, form and texture. GANksy wants to be put into a robot body so it can spray-paint the entire planet.

Explore further, become confused and angered, buy prints, etc. here.

kottke

In case you missed it: excerpts from the live stream of a recent SPFL Championship match (in an empty stadium on account of lockdown) between Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Ayr United.

Caledonian stadium has no camera operator, relying instead on an AI controlled tracking camera programmed to follow the ball.

Except it’s not following the ball is it?

kottke