Google Street View Hyperlapse Experiment is a New Way of Going Outside from Inside

A new project from Toronto UX design firm Teehan+Lax combines Google Street View imagery to create a time-lapse animation called Hyperlapses.

You can choose from a pre-defined rought route set up by Teehan+Lax, like a trip across the Golden Gate Bridge or wander across the Australian outback. You can also simply search for a location, point A and point B, and generate your own. You get the enjoyment and awesomeness of Street View while being able to enjoy the scenery quickly and beautifully along the way.

The project is just a tech demo, but provides tons of potential as a fun time waster and interesting tool for noticing landmarks on simple trips from A to B. The source code has been made freely available on github.

The tool works best in Chrome. TechCrunch recommends that you listen to some of The Postal Service while you zoom down the streets of your desired paths. I’d say that’s a pretty good idea.

Source: TechCrunch

The Brand New Legoland Hotel

The fact that I’m working 10 minutes away from this place makes me so happy I can’t even begin to define the joy it brings me. After much anticipation, the all-new Legoland Hotel open on April 5th right next to the theme park in Carlsbad, CA. The 3-story 250 room hotel is a wonderland of Lego meant for kids, but c’mon you know everyone will love it. There are 3,500 Lego models scattered across the hotel made from more than 3 million Lego bricks showing off themselves as individual works of art. The hotel itself is a wonderful piece of design rarely breaking the fourth wall, making you think the entire hotel is made of Legos.

Follow the source link for more images and the full story behind the opening of The Legoland Hotel!

Source: Gizmodo

The Tree Art Museum in Beijing by Daipu…

The Tree Art Museum in Beijing by Daipu Architects.

(Want more? See NOTCOT.org and NOTCOT.com)

Source: The Tree Art Museum in Beijing by Daipu…

Facebook Establishes and Easier Way To Use Emoticons

It seemed as though an elite few knew how to use emoticons on Facebook. Typing a <3 turned into a heart and you suddenly felt like you stumbled upon a hidden treasure lying deep within the social media giant. Now, all of that has changed, you are one of the people again.

Facebook has made it much simpler for it's users to express their emotions in their status updates. Honestly, I would probably appreciate less emotion on Facebook, but the goal here is to express emotion for the links that you post, the TV shows that you watch and artists you discuss. Surely, emoticons will help Facebook filter out the responses certain links, artists and movies are getting. Reporting and sorting data just got a little bit easier for them. I'm sure soccer mom's will love it, too.

Source: Engadget

Google Play Store 4.0 redesign on it’s way, Android phones and Tablets be ready

A new design of Google’s Play has been promised to come through today. The 4.0 update has been officially acknowledged by Google and is read for distribution starting today. The focus is on images, which provides a cleaner look and easily spotted recommendations.

The update will be coming to any Android phone or tablet running 2.2 or better of the OS. The update is going out worldwide, so there’s a pretty good chance that you might not get your update right away.

Source: Engadget

What Would Happen If We Lost All of the Oxygen on Earth?

I would hope you are aware that we all need to oxygen to live. But, are you aware of why we need oxygen? I mean, all of the different ways we need oxygen? Buzzfeed takes the time to explain what would happen if we lost all of the oxygen on the planet. Kinda makes you appreciate it just a little more.

Batman: Arkham Origins Revealed

Game Informer’s cover says it all. Batman: Arkham Origins is coming this fall. For those who wanted Arkham World, well, sorry about that. Warner Bros. Games Montreal is taking up the mantle of Mr. Wayne from Rocksteady Studios this time. WB Montreal has full access to all of the assets it needs to get the job done and to make it feel like previous Arkham games (or post-Arkham games?). This is a sequel, but it’s not necessary a re-telling of Year One. The game takes place years before the other Arkham titles when a young Batman encounters many of it’s classic rogues gallery for the first time. I wonder if this will somehow push the Arkham story forward somehow by having this be an entire flashback sequence. This will be the first Arkham game that takes place in Gotham City.

Nonetheless, the premise is very interesting and could provide some alternative gameplay styles. The lead designer of open world action hits The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction and Prototype, Eric Holmes, will be taking the Creative Director role in this title.

Batman: Arkham Origins will be on October 25th, 2013 on WiiU, PS3, XBox 360 and PC. I wouldn’t be surprised if it landed on Next-Gen consoles as well.

Game Informer has more information on Batman: Arkham Origins, as well as a partner game, Arkham Origins Blackgate, being released on Vita and 3DS. The source link also includes a developer featurette.

Source: Game Informer