Miss Bikini Fitness Vladivostok 2012

Contestants pose during the “Miss Bikini Fitness 2012”. Russia, Vladivostok. April 7, 2012. (Photo by Don-Sera; Source: LiveJournal)

My name is Spyros and I am a MALAKAS!

World's oldest computer

This documentary investigates the Antikythera Mechanism, a computer-like device that may have been used to calculate the movements of stars and planets. It also highlights ancient inventors Archimedes and Ctesibius. The Antikythera mechanism is an ancient mechanical computer designed to calculate astronomical positions. It was recovered in 1900--1901 from the Antikythera wreck. Its significance and complexity were not understood until decades later. Its time of construction is now estimated between 150 and 100 BC. Technological artifacts of similar complexity and workmanship did not reappear in Europe until the 14th century, when mechanical astronomical clocks were built in Europe. Jacques-Yves Cousteau visited the wreck for the last time in 1978, but found no additional remains of the Antikythera mechanism. Professor Michael Edmunds of Cardiff University who led the most recent study of the mechanism said: "This device is just extraordinary, the only thing of its kind. The design is beautiful, the astronomy is exactly right. The way the mechanics are designed just makes your jaw drop. Whoever has done this has done it extremely carefully ... in terms of historic and scarcity value, I have to regard this mechanism as being more valuable than the Mona Lisa." The device is displayed at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, accompanied by a reconstruction made and donated to the museum by Derek de Solla Price.

Google Art Project Offers Digital Tour of Greek Museums

Google is extending its artwork collection by including, among others, theMuseum of Acropolis, theMuseum of Cycladic Art and the Benaki Museum, in itsGoogle Art project. This project offers a virtual and online presentation of hundreds of museum exhibits from around the world.

The upgraded edition of Google Art Project now hosts exhibits involving 151 museums from 40 countries. For 46 of the museums, Google is also offering visual tours with the Google Street View technology.

Any Google Art Project visitor will now be able to get a 360 degree tour inside the Museum of Acropolis in Athens from the comfort of their own home. Moreover, online visitors can zoom-in and discover details in the artworks thanks to the 2 Gigapixel-sized pictures.

"They certainly wouldn’t let us get this close inside the galleries," said Google engineer Piotr Adamczyk, who is on the company’s team that developed the project, according to AP.

The president of the Museum of Acropolis, Dimitris Pantermalis, told daily Ta Neathat the museum is looking for as many communication channels with the public as possible. “The three dimensional and ultra-high resolution of the sculptures allows the user to get a full view of the exhibits and study art in a most profound way,” added Pantermalis.

Google Art Project was first launched in February 2011 with 1,000 works of art from 17 museums in 9 countries, including the Tate Gallery of London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York, the Uffizi Gallery of Florence and the Van Gogh Museum of Amsterdam.

The upgraded edition of the Project was officially launched last Tuesday in the Art Institute of Chicago.

The three Greek museums will participate in the Project with 693 exhibits.

Source

Official Site:  Acropolis Museum View

The Cutest Baby Dream Photography

Adele Enersen is an author, amateur photographer and blogger living in Helsinki, Finland with her daughter, Mila, her composer husband, and another baby on the way. She’s currently on maternity leave from her day job as a copywriter and concept designer. While she spends most of her time looking after her daughter, creativity is still a big part of her life, whether that means writing and illustrating stories or avoiding housework.

Stereo Images (Black and White)

Avengers Too Lame for the Movies

Captain America officially opens Friday and word has it there’s a trailer for the Avengers at the end, which you may have seen online in all its poorly lit, pirated glory. While the movie promises to be the biggest damn thing in the history of comic book movies to date (and that includes the two kick ass Swamp Thing movies from the 80’s) there’s still some important decisions that have to go into making sure it doesn’t tank like so much Howard the Duck. And that means making sure a handful of Avengers are scheduled to be out of town during filming. Fact is, not everyone on the team’s roster is as cool as the Hulk or Iron Man, but they do make good movie trivia fodder. And no, we will not mention anyone from the Great Lakes Avengers, because those clowns don’t count.

D-Man

Are you familiar with D-Man? Of course not. D-Bag perhaps is a better name, but D-Man (aka Demolition Man) was a second string Avenger who, quite on purpose, looked like the bastard love child of Daredevil and Wolverine. Why? Because they were both epically more popular than this jobber could ever be and D-Bag’s parents couldn’t be bothered to give a shit either way what he wore outside.

B-Man’s powers consist of the standard mix of uncreative powers that literally every lazy character has – super strength, speed and stamina, but with the added bonus of a mild drug addiction and a heart condition. Because who cares why.

In the books, after working with him on some cockamamie scheme in the past, Captain America invites D-Bag to be the first new Avenger after the old team disbands. Then he promptly blows up in a plane crash. But fear not, because much later he does return, apparently have suffered a mental breakdown and bunking with Eskimos. Avengers, ho!

Two Gun Kid

If there’s one thing modern comics don’t have enough of it’s novelty cowboys. Like, the X-men are cool and all, but wouldn’t Iceman have been way more awesome if, instead of being able to freeze things, he wore a blue cowboy hat and a red neckerchief and his superpowers consisted of no actual superpowers whatsoever, but he was really good with a lasso? No? Huh.