Nasa's Ramblings in Space

Google released another way to visual search: Google Goggles. How it works: You take a photo of something with your cell phone and the app will search it. Cool idea, though fairly limited at the moment. The video below summarizes some uses and mentions future uses.

If you like the idea of visual search, don’t forget to also check out Bing’s beta @ http://www.bing.com/visualsearch. My fav (and what I found most useful) was the ability to search, discover & learn about top iPhone apps. I just re-reviewed the list and noticed iFarm is now a top app. Seriously!? What’s the craze?

Papa Johns has committed to donate 100% of their profits from Dec 8 & 9th to the four families of the slain police officers. Buy a pizza and support the families.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, December 8th and 9th, every Papa John's Pizza in the Northwest,
from Everett south to Lacey, from the Kitsap Peninsula to Snoqualmie, Greater Seattle
and the East Side, will donate 100% of all profits to the four families of the slain officers.

See other ways you can provide your support.

Yesterday, Bing released a beta of Bing Maps + Photosynth. While checking this out, I noticed someone has posted a synth of the Marymoor Park’s “Pinnacle” Climbing wall. The synth consists of 390 pictures, which provides great detailing of the wall. Marry this to Gordon Schryer’s Marymoor Route Guide, and you’re all set for a day of climbing!

Checkout Bing Maps (beta) & the Marymoor Park Pinnacle Synth! Pretty cool feature, don’t you think?

A recent article from our local climbing gym, Vertical World, turned my attention to a short documentary by Josh Lyons. His short film follows two dedicated rock climbers from Boulder, CO who have a different approach to life. Very cool vid. Check it out!

Lifers
By Josh Lyons
About three years ago I moved to Boulder, CO from Seneca Rocks, WV where I was a rock climbing guide for ten years. During my time at Seneca Rocks, I was fortunate to be mentored by very traditional ethics and styles. Since I moved to Boulder those lessons have served me very well and I have been able to carve a bit of a niche for myself in the world of documentary film making.

As many of you know, in most rock climbing documentaries filmmakers emphasize grades and numbers, and show some of the most talented athletes on the planet spraying about their new routes. Some of us climbers fondly refer to these films as climbing porn. Now, don't get me wrong, I love my climbing porn just as much as the next guy, but I felt like there was room to take climbing documentaries in another direction. My idea was to explore the side of climbing that most people see, the regular, everyday climber. I wanted to tell a story that explains why people choose to climb, especially if they are not getting paid for it, or know they will not become famous by doing it. I wanted to show how diverse the world of rock climbing can be, and explore the similarities we share that take us out to the crags. I wanted to tell the story of the soul climber or the "lifer".

Over the last couple years living in Colorado, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Boulder was home to a big collection of transplants from Seneca. Two of the climbers have been living in Boulder for almost a decade, but were living very different lives. One was couch surfing and living out of his truck, working when he wanted and climbing all the time. The other is a father of four and is very involved with sharing his passion for climbing with his kids. I was fortunate to be able to climb with both of them (at separate times) and loved the contrast between their lives. When I decided to get into documentary film making, I looked for a topic in the rock climbing world to make a short film about and thought that these two guys were perfect. I hope you enjoy.
Cheers,
Josh

(via verticalworld)

Just re-watched some of these massive flash-mob gatherings. I totally want to do this. :D