Sticking with the 'pdf' theme for this week - PrimoPDF is a website which will convert your own files into PDF format. Simply upload the file - up to 10 MB - tell them your email address and then it will post the pdf-version back to you.
Free online PDF creator
URLs into PDFs
This is a handy little site - PDFmyURL.com
It does "exactly what it says on the tin" - namely, it turns a webpage into a PDF file which you can save to your own system. The file includes all the links from the page.
Here's the Chace School website that has been saved as a 'pdf'.
It does "exactly what it says on the tin" - namely, it turns a webpage into a PDF file which you can save to your own system. The file includes all the links from the page.
Here's the Chace School website that has been saved as a 'pdf'.
Optical illusions
Watch the video and be amazed that the grey diamond shapes in the pattern are actually all the same shade of grey.
The previous posting made note of the use of fibre optic cables which use light to transmit data - this post concerns the use of light - or at least the way our eyes and brains interpret light - in an optical illusion.
Originally found via BoingBoing here.
Here's another illusion which I came across since I first prepared this post a few months ago.
Routing bits around the world
Wired magazine produced a short article showing a little bit about the journey of data bits from the UK, across the Atlantic Ocean and USA mainland to a destination in California.
And all via fibre optic cables.
The map below shows Southport on the north-west coast of England where the data leaves these shores via the Hibernia Atlantic UK network.
Wonderfully detailed miniature brass models
In the picture above, on the right, you can see a small, working, solar-powered, brass engine. (The spectacles are to provide a proper appreciation for the size of the model.)
These are the work of Syzmon Klimek from Poland. He has a website with pictures and videos of his astonishing work. The 'Internet Craftsmanship Museum' also has a page about him.
I have embedded one video of the brass engine below.
Originally found via the Make Blog.
Gaming goodness
Half-term has gone and I expect I've been playing some games on the console (I'm writing this in November 2009) and one of the games is likely to have been Little Big Planet. (Wikipedia entry here.)
A lovely game that is vastly enjoyable due to the ability to create levels AND to play levels created by other players. And, by golly, some are incredibly inventive and many - like the one shown above - are humourous.
This article at BoingBoing discusses the game and its appeal but best of all, it has some great pictures of both designs and finished levels.
The Portable Film Festival
This is a nice site to feature for the half-term holiday - the Portable Film Festival.
They feature a new film every day and all their material is freely downloadable to PCs, laptops, netbooks, smartphones, etc. - hence the "portable" in the title.
I only came across this website towards the end of last year and thought I'd save it for posting now as they are likely to be opening up a new competition for budding film makers. Even if you don't feel ready to enter your own work it should give you some good ideas.
I'm guessing at the timing for this competition from a date - 1st March 2009 - in their current site.
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