London Bringing Digital ‘Cloud’ to 2012 Olympic Games November 12, 2009
Posted by johnthrasher in Geek Talk, iPhone, Movies/Film, Personally John, Sports, technology, Television, tennis, Travel.Tags: 2012, Google, London, Olympics, Raising the Cloud, The Cloud, Twitter
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This is quite possibly the coolest thing I have ever seen so far in my life! The construction of a 400 foot tower to be built over the London skyline has been proposed for the 2012 Olympics. This ‘cloud’ they are calling it, will ‘float’ above both the Olympic stadium and the city itself. The bubbles of the cloud, which all interconnect and can be used as observation decks, have digital LCD displays on the outside that can relay such information as scores and results of the Olympic games, as well as photos and videos.
The coolest part of this project could come after the games are over, when the cloud’s displays could be used to relay the city’s mood (using Google searches):
“We could provide a custom feed of… searches made by Londoners during the Olympics to give a real time ‘barometer’ of the city’s interests and mood,” said Google, one of the supporters of the project, which has also offered to provide the information feeds.
I could totally see Twitter being a part of this as well. Or seeing certain parts of the cloud change based on the mood of the city. This concept could be viral in other cities in the world and create some very artistic forms of architectural expression.
Here is the official video of the proposal:
The mayor of London has yet to decide on a design, but I am really hoping he chooses this one. I have every intention of going to London for the Olympics in 2012, so maybe I’ll get a chance to float in the cloud!
Check out the project’s official Twitter here: http://twitter.com/raisingthecloud and their official website here: http://www.raisingthecloud.org
My Wimbledon 2009 Predictions June 22, 2009
Posted by johnthrasher in Geek Talk, Personally John, Sports, tennis, Travel.Tags: Andy Roddick, England, London, Novak Djokovic, predictions, Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Sports, tennis, Venus Williams, Wimbledon, Wimbledon predictions
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Every year my summer is consumed by the French Open and Wimbledon. And every grand slam of the year, I fill out a bracket (as most do with March Madness) to determine who I think will win each slam. Back in 2004 when Maria Sharapova was just an up and coming, I pitted her against Serena Williams in the Wimbledon final, even when Sharapova was the No.13 seed. That was unheard of, but it came true! I had Serena winning, but Maria won convincingly to become the lowest seeded player to ever win Wimbledon. That stat was changed the very next year when Venus Williams was seeded No.14 and won.
I’ve filled out the entire draw sheet based on what I think will happen. I will update later with how many of the first round matches I got right (and the percentage) in hopes of keeping a record here on my blog for those of you who are tennis fans. I’ll say that I know the women’s game better and predict that my percentage of correct guesses will be much higher in that bracket. We’ll see!
So after a few tough decisions, a lot of consideration, and a lot of time and paper wasted, here are my predictions for the semifinals, finals, and champions of both the men and the women’s draws for the 2009 Wimbledon Championships.
Men
Semifinal 1: (6) Roddick vs. (3) Murray
Semifinal 2: (4) Djokovic vs. (2) Federer
Final: (6) Roddick vs. (4) Djokovic
Champion: (6) Andy Roddick
Women
Semifinal 1: (5) Kuznetsova vs. (3) V. Williams
Semifinal 2: (12) Bartoli vs. (2) S. Williams
Final: (3) V. Williams vs. (2) S. Williams (repeat of 02, 03, and 08 finals)
Champion: (2) Serena Williams
Single Ladies Flash Dance! April 22, 2009
Posted by johnthrasher in Geek Talk, Movies/Film, Music, Personally John, Television.Tags: Beyonce, England, Flashdance, London, Picadily Square, Single Ladies, Trident
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This is heaven for me, as most of you know. Thanks to Julien for sending it my way!
