Awesome Etc

We can’t help but draw comparisons between South Park’s prescient Guitar Queero episode and Chris Chike, but the latter is the real deal: a true Guitar Hero in our midst.

Available at Vladstudio.com, Planet Earth Inversed is one of those wallpapers that has you poring over the creative details. The neutral color scheme is easy on the eyes, too.

If sitting down tends to make you squirm, a Webble may alleviate at least part of that tension. It’s essentially a mobile footrest that allows your feet to fidget away while you work.

Biofueled engines? Check. Ice penetrating radar? Check. Propellers? Lotus’ Concept Ice Vehicle is an Antarctic explorers’ dream; it scouts ahead for heavier support vehicles.

3D printing is here: Philips’ Shapeways site will take just about any 3D model you submit and “print” it using one of four materials; they charge by the cubic centimeter.

PatternTap.com is a boon to web designers; it compiles examples of common website parts (borders, comments, backgrounds). It’s a great place to get ideas and inspiration.

Springfield Punx is a pet project of artist Dean Fraser; he does an amazing job creating Simpsons styled versions of popular superheroes and celebs. Our fave: The Dark Knight‘s Joker.

The BBC’s “Britain From Above” uses satellite data and jazzes it up with computer graphics. Jaw dropping: watch thousands of taxis, boats and planes go about their business.

Like something out of Minority Report, this two-seater BMW concept by Italian design students sports suicide doors, zero emissions and a glass greenhouse. Tom Cruise not included.

Just in case you haven’t had a chance to catch the 2008 Olympics opening ceremonies in Beijing: Boston.com has a fantastic collection of photographs here.

We generally think of smoke as the byproduct of some other process, but these photographs highlight the seemingly chaotic wisps and curls. The result is intimate, artistic, and awe-inspiring.

We’re almost out of the uncanny valley with these digital faces, created by Pendulum Studios’ AlterEgo. Their facial expression software gets the timing down so well that it’s … uncanny.

Boomboxes have been called many things, from ghetto blasters to jam boxes. We can’t help but feel a bit nostalgic as we view the photos in Lyle Owerko’s Boombox Project.

It’s tough not to like Christian Lorenz’s sci-fi and fantasy-themed art. The scenes are imaginative, colorful, and often thought provoking. Gallery Nucleus carries several of his prints.

This spectacular lightning video was taken at 10k frames per second by Tim Samaras. The initial tentacles are electrons heading down; the final stroke is electrons heading back up.

Paying homage to early Egyptian astronomers, Sheaffer’s Stars of Egypt features intricate engravings of Sirius and Orion. Choose from 18 karat solid gold or sterling silver.