A friend pointed this out to me. I’m very into lightbulbs.. (Clicky Enlargey)

They are, apparently, repurposed lightbulbs, salvaged from bins (whatever…) and the set above costs in the order of US$650. I asked how they’re fixed to the base - apparently, using neodymium magnets (’scary’ magnets) which is quite clever. He might try and make one, so we thought about perhaps using a dense liquid (or even pouring in a molten metal like lead) to keep them stable - because you don’t really want them rolling away from you…
While the concept is great (though I’m not sure where I’d put it..) I’m not sure if I like the execution - I know from experience (pulling apart lightbulbs myself, okay?) how fragile and thin the glass is, and how difficult it is to separate from the base. I also can’t see any mechanism to pull the wick through. Should it be classified as art? Do you like it?
By the way, there’s 64 left (out of 70) so get buying.

Edit : Oh look :) (They don’t seem to realise I’m being gently critical)

Don’t watch this :

This was on the 28 bus going into Perth the other day. For most of the journey I sat reading it, and silently questioning its existence. Who wrote those words? Are they are real motherfucker? If they catch you, what exactly will they do to you?

I also questioned its effectiveness because as I stared I began to feel irresistebly compelled to scribble something juvenile in cheeky response - like “okay”. Or “Thanks for saving my soul TransPerth”, but I didn’t - If I had it might have raised some crazy chicken-and-egg conundrum. The tone of the writing seems to fluctuate between an exasperated, tired, “we’ve had enough” sort of feel, to sombre, “It doesn’t even, like, really matter” to a slightly aggressive and quietly hilarious “so do you hate the world, or just yourself?” to your standard high-school leaflet “your life, your choice” sort of ultimatum.

It thoroughly entertained me for 20 minutes so I took this photo.

I don’t know how effective it will be on the ‘graffidiots’ - because I think they’ve 1) fundamentally overestimated their audience - that article is wayyyy to long and who can be bothered reading that? and 2) graffiti-ists don’t really do it for the ‘guts’, I think, they do it for the same reason dogs piss on trees or people start useless blogs - they’re trying to make themselves visible. My solution would be to use shatter-proof glass which can’t easily be scratched, or to install some sort of microphonic scratch-sensor on the window that alarms when it’s triggered.

As for it costing loads of money, well, I don’t know. A plexiglas panel has only gotta cost about a hundred bucks or so. I think they real waste of money is probably the riduclously retarded and utterly stupid smartrider system, the actual expense being to great a number to fit on the internet, not to mention the cost of 20 train ‘cops’ to slouch all day at the Perth station and harass me because my Student Card with Photo is not sufficient to demonstrate that I am a student.

That’s all…

Edit : (more…)