[This is absolutely and completely the future. -egg]

“Everyone is out having a great time — no, not just great, an amazing time — and you’re on the couch,…”: “
Everyone is out having a great time — no, not just great, an amazing time — and you’re on the couch, hovering on the border between pajamas and underwear. Suddenly, the quick, the beautiful and the fully dressed invade: chirps from phones and pop-ups on screens are announcing their social media check-ins, mapping out the lands of awesome times. None of those places, needless to say, are your living room. […]

Now Mr. Fountain, Mr. Isaf and two other friends have come up with an app to ease this malady. Called CouchCachet, the app finds all the coolest places in your neighborhood, then automatically uses Foursquare to check you into them — with none of the irritation of actually leaving the couch. […]

More than simply creating a geo-mirage, CouchCachet will also tweet lyrics by indie bands that people haven’t heard of. “It will wax poetic about local microbrews that you just discovered at some cool speakeasy,” said Mr. Fountain, 36, of Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. “It will also upload low-fi pictures of 20-somethings in skinny jeans to your Instagram.”

In short, he said: “It will live the lifestyle that you need to project to others. You can finally be who you want people to think you are. They don’t know you’re sitting at home, getting caught up on ‘Downton Abbey.’ ” […]

Suppose, someone asked, a friend using CouchCachet was checked into the same places that CouchCachet has also checked you into? “This is fine!” Mr. Fountain said. “This is robots talking to robots. This is the future.”
”

– CouchCachet App Gives New Meaning to Lying on the Couch – NYTimes.com, submitted by Ben S.

[That’s right, folks. We’re living in a future with animated blooper reels. -egg]

Blooper reel from LA Noire reveals its excellent motion capture technology:

(Audio NSFW)

Matt Richardson says: “These are actual outtakes from the voice actors of LA Noire, rendered out.

These hilarious screw-ups were generated as a natural side effect of the MotionScan animation process used to create the game.

Unlike other motion-capture systems that use shiny, reflective dots to track key points as an actor moves, MotionScan generates 3D models, texture maps, and meshes directly from a stereo camera recording of an unadorned actor’s performance. The result is an instant virtual copy of that performance that captures mis-timed laughs, a tongue sticking out, and errant sneezes, with only minimal touch-up needed from an animator.

Ars Technica: L.A. Noire blooper reel chips away at the uncanny valley (Via Boing Boing G+ Community)

The Source Family, documentary about 1970s Los Angeles freak cult/commune:

The Source Family, a magnificent documentary by my friend Jodi Wille and Maria Demopoulos, will see nationwide distribution this spring, starting with a May 1 premier at the IFC Center in New York City. The film tells the story of Father Yod and his Source Family, a radical, utopian social experiment that emerged from the Los Angeles freak scene in the 1970s. Boing Boing is delighted to premier the trailer above. Far fucking out.

The Source Family’s outlandish lifestyle, popular celebrity hangout restaurant, rock band, and beautiful women made them the darlings of Hollywood’s Sunset Strip; but their outsider ideals, controversial spiritual leader Father Yod, along with his 13 wives, instigated local authorities. They fled to Hawaii, leading to their dramatic demise. Years later, family members surface and the rock band reforms, revealing how their time with Father Yod shaped their lives in the most unexpected ways. These personal accounts, along with interviews with outsiders, make up the interviews in the film. However, the story is largely cinematic, expressed through the use of the group’s extensive film and audio archive maintained by Isis Aquarian, one of Father’s wives, Family documentarian, and a central character in the documentary (as well as being associate producer). The film’s soundtrack is composed entirely of original Source Family music produced from 1971-1975.

The film was inspired by The Source: The Story of Father Yod, Ya Ho Wa 13 and the Source Family, a fantastic 2007 book written by family members Isis Aquarian and Electricity Aquarian, edited by Jodi Wille, and published by our pals Process Media.

The Source Family: A Documentary

These 2 simple changes helped hundreds of people lose weight:

Putting down your utensils between bites and allowing yourself an afternoon snack only if you’ve first eaten a piece of fruit are two small but significant changes that helped hundreds of people lose weight. That’s what a new report has to say about the National Mindless Eating Challenge, a Web-based healthy eating and weight loss program that was made available to the public from 2006-2009.
The program was set up to see if “small behavioral and environmental changes based on simple heuristics may have the best chance to lead to sustainable habit changes over time.” The people who reported adhering to the program at least 25 days a month lost an average of 2lbs a month. Although that might not seem like, much, over the course of the year that would add up to 24lbs without much effort.
Another suggestion that helped people lose weight was “Any time you think you might eat when you’re not hungry, go ahead and do so, but only if you first say (out loud): “I’m not hungry, but I’m going to eat this anyway”.” I imagine most people didn’t do that one in public restaurants though.
Check out the link above to the full report for more tips.
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Disabled goldfish swims around in cute goldfish sling:

The goldfish owner who uploaded this video in 2010 says, “My disabled goldfish scooting around in her newly redesigned sling. She has trouble maintaining buoyancy on her own. She looks a little silly, but it is better than lying at the bottom of the tank all day!” (via Boing Boing Google+ community)

Bridge:

Study: Light activity throughout the day provides same benefits as gym:

Good news Weighthackers! You already know that fidgeting more can help you lose weight, but now new research out of Oregon State University says that simple things like doing chores and taking the stairs instead of the escalator can be just as beneficial to you as going to the gym. The study looked at 6,000 people nationwide and found that even activities that take only a minute or two count toward your health as long as you end up being active for at least 30 minutes in total by the end of the day.

“Our results suggest that engaging in an active lifestyle approach, compared to a structured exercise approach, may be just as beneficial in improving various health outcomes,” said Paul Loprinzi, lead author of the study. “We encourage people to seek out opportunities to be active when the choice is available. For example, rather than sitting while talking on the phone, use this opportunity to get in some activity by pacing around while talking.”

People who did so-called “short bout” movements improved their blood pressure, cholesterol and waist circumference, and were less at risk for developing metabolic syndrome (which is basically a slew of health-related problems that overweight people experience). The study also suggests that incorporating short bout movement might be more beneficial than going to the gym in the long run since it’s easier to fit into your existing lifestyle and doesn’t cost anything, so you’re more likely to keep at it.
If this sounds like something you want to do, I suggest getting a movement tracker like one of the ones in this list to help you out. Knowing how much you move each day can help you see if you need to add something new to your routine (like parking further away from the entrance to your job so you walk more) to get more activity in, and it can also inspire you to reach specific goals. For instance, thanks to my Fitbit I know today is my 151st day in a row of walking 10,000 steps or more, which makes me more likely to take 10,000 steps again tomorrow.
The post Study: Light activity throughout the day provides same benefits as gym appeared first on Weighthacker.

Zambia’s fictional 1960s space programme:

Rick sez, “Spanish photographer Cristina De Middel’s fictional documentation of a failed 1960s space programme in Zambia – The Afronauts – has just been nominated for the 2013 Deutsche Borse photography prize.”

Zambia’s first (unofficial) space programme

Grateful Dead Kennedys t-shirt:
I kind of want one. $20 (Via The World’s Best Ever)

showslow:

Michael Ostermann is an illustrator based in Vienna,…:

showslow:

Michael Ostermann is an illustrator based in Vienna, Austria. He has been creating digital art for several years and enjoys experimenting with surrealistic concepts, always striving to improve his work.