Miniature Thailand – tilt-shift video

by Justin Delaney on


Bustling Bangkok never looked so tiny and cute. Tilt-shift video makes everything look like a miniature play set, and this video of various Thailand locales employs the technique perfectly. The Chao Phraya river that runs through Bangkok looks like a tiny stream in some sort of elaborate diorama, and people taking to the sea in the Phi Phi Islands near Phuket look like small articulated action figures. The effect is both interesting and surreal. Be sure to check out Gadling’s guide on the similar tilt-shift photography technique. “Toy Thailand” was shot in Bangkok, Phuket, Ton Sai, and Railay in Krabi.

Toy Thailand from joerg daiber on Vimeo.

Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii continues to spew lava

by Justin Delaney on

Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii has been erupting since January of 1983, but a new fissure called Kamoamoa cracked open last weekend and began spewing loads of lava and gas. Lava has been seen shooting up to sixty-five feet in the air ever since. Park Ranger Mardie Lane claims that 2.5 million cubic meters are spewing out of the fissure daily – enough to fill 1000 Olympic swimming pools of the molten goo. The video above provides a glimpse into the magnitude of the eruptions and the 120 acres currently covered in lava on the island of Hawaii.

So far, no major issues have been reported due to the volcanic activity. According to MSNBC though, sulfur dioxide emissions have gone from 300-400 tons per day to roughly 10,000 tons per day, meaning that the volcanic activity may have some environmental implications. The southerly trade winds have provided protection from the gases, but if the winds stop or shift, nearby civilizations could become blanketed in volcanic smog, or “vog” as it is known in Volcanologist circles.

Visitors to Hawaii are being kept away from the volcanic area, and the National Park Service has shut down all east rift and coastal trails as well as the Kulanaokuaiki campground.

Video of the Day – San Francisco fog timelapse

by Stephen Greenwood on

San Francisco and the outlying Bay Area is widely known for its natural beauty. Today’s Video of the Day is a collection of timelapses that captures a slice of the remarkable scenery in and around the best that “NorCal” has to offer.

Photographer Simon Christen collected the various scenes over the course of a year by taking 4-5 second exposures on a Canon 40D. He named the video the “Unseen Sea” after the famous rolling fog that blankets San Francisco on a regular basis.

Do you have any videos or pictures from the Golden State? Share them with us! Add it to our Flickr Pool or leave a link in the comments below and it could be our next Video/Photo of the Day.

Abandoned Caracas skyscraper is home to 2,500 squatters

by Justin Delaney on

In downtown Caracas, thousands have found home in an unlikely structure. The “Tower of David,” a one time symbol for Venezuela‘s economic growth prospects, is an unfinished 45 story skyscraper filled with idle Venezuelans and enterprising small business start-ups. According to the New York Times, a housing shortage in Caracas has led many to make the most out of the housing opportunity provided by this massive abandoned structure.

A relic of the Venezuelan banking boom, the slum-scraper is one of the tallest buildings in Latin America and houses roughly 2500 squatters. The tenants have wired electricity, created makeshift shops, and installed DirecTV satellite dishes that cling precariously to the exterior of the re-purposed tower. Many residents have set up businesses, including a PlayStation home-brew arcade, a beauty salon, and a suspicious sounding dentistry operation.

The DIY housing solution is currently inhabited up to the 28th floor, though residents plan to push higher towards the incongruous Helipad that rests atop the tower. This video by the New York Times provides a candid glimpse into life within the dilapidated tower.

Who is the world’s most typical person?

by Justin Delaney on

Who is the world’s most typical person? This enlightening video by National Geographic attempts to answer that question. By profiling the most typical person in the world, Nat Geo has unearthed several interesting statistics about our earth’s population and disparities between the ways different cultures live. Some are obvious, some are strange, and some will make you feel like you use way too much water. One thing is certain, of the seven billion inhabitants on the planet, most do not live the way that we do in the West.

So what does the most typical face on the planet look like? National Geographic has created a composite image to showcase the world’s most typical face. Check out this video to catch a glimpse of the most common man on the planet. Spoiler alert, he does not come from the United States.