Funny GIFs

Take a break...

Rotating globe GIF

Some of the funniest GIFs, according to Richard James at BuzzFeed:

Never accept a weird ball from a stranger.

I'll fix those pesky kids.

Oops.

 

Here, I'll do it.

Over the top.

 

Musical Moments: Handel, Zadok the Priest

Hallelujah...

Queen Elizabeth II

  

Queen Elizabeth will mark the 62nd anniversary of her coronation on Tuesday.

Today's Musical Moments' selection is Handel's Zadok the Priest, the British coronation anthem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW9Uudkx42g

For more on Zadok: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zadok

 Handel monument, Westminster Abbey

Home Buyers Busy in Darien

Weekly update...

Breezy outing

Home buyers were active again in Darien in the week ending today.

Twelve accepted offers and two properties going under contract were reported on the Darien MLS.

Other MLS results:

-- 14 new listings of property for sale;

-- 11 price changes, and

-- Two closings.

For more:

The Tax Assessor is Watching From Above

Useful tools...

 

Aerial photo of Manhattan

 

A growing trend among municipalities is to hire aerial photography companies to track local real estate changes, Suzanne Woolley reports on bloomberg.com.

 

"We've been using aerial photography in Darien for a decade," Anthony Homicki, town assessor, told The Allen Report today.

 

"With tools like Google and Bing maps and aerial updates from photo companies like Pictometry, we can zoom down on a property to check dimensions or changes," Homicki said.

 

"These tools provide 100 percent confidence in the detail of each parcel when needed," he added.

 

Homicki said "most all New England municipalities are using similar tools."

 

For more, Bloomberg's Suzanne Woolley explains how it works in a new video:http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2015-05-28/the-tax-man-is-watching-your-home-from-above

 

Most Expensive Homes For Sale

Pricey...

Gloria Vanderbilt mansion, Manhattan

What are some of the priciest properties on the market so far this year?

For a slide show by forbes.com:  http://www.forbes.com/pictures/emeg45eflke/gemini-the-195-million-z/

IBM Apps for New Apple Watch

Ping...

Apple Watch

IBM's partnership with Apple to bring business applications to iOS devices continues to grow, this time with support coming for the Apple Watch, Jonathan Vanian reports on fortune.com.

Apple updated its website this week with new details on a variety of IBM apps that can now function on the smartwatch, Vanian wrote.

The apps target the healthcare sector, field-service technicians and public safety officials, he added.

For more: http://fortune.com/2015/05/22/ibm-business-apps-apple-watch/

GIFs as Art

Remarkable...

Blinking girl

When Sam Cannon began studying at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, she was torn between photography and video, David Rosenberg reports on slate.com.

During my junior year, I was shooting video, she told Rosenberg, and I liked the space between still and moving images and trying to explore that space, which is why I got into GIFs.

For more, including a selection of Cannon's remarkable creations: http://www.slate.com/blogs/behold/2015/05/24/sam_cannon_turns_gifs_into_fine_art.html?utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_content=5563344204d3015cbf000001&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

Musical Moments: Intro Theme, Band of Brothers

In memoriam...

National World War II Memorial, Washington, DC

Musical Moments features music and artists I've enjoyed over the years.

I hope you'll enjoy the Intro Theme to the Band of Brothers in honor of those we remember on Memorial Day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gec7OUrj87M

Darien Real Estate Keeps Rolling Along

Weekly update...

Forest beauty

Darien's residential real estate market kept rolling along in the week ending today.

Results, according to the Darien MLS, were:

-- 17 new listings of property for sale;

-- 19 price changes;

-- Nine accepted offers;

-- One property going under contract, and

-- 15 closings.

For  more:

For Rent: Stunning East Side Townhouse

Magnificent...

Townhouse parlor

If you're thinking about a place in town, don't miss this grand, five-story townhouse with four bedrooms, five and a half baths, terraces, wood-burning fireplaces and access to the largest private garden in New York.

The price?

Asking is $21,900 a month.

For a neat video: Sadie Bass and Justin Beach on bloomberg.com: http://bloom.bg/1LozIxG

For an excellent slide show:  http://www.townrealestate.com/rental/id-471914/238-East-49th-Street-Midtown-East

Secret Space Plane, Solar Sail Launch Today

Orbital test vehicle...

Boeing X-37B orbital test vehicle after record-setting first flight, 2012

The Air Force's mysterious X-37B space plane is back above the Earth after its successful launch today, Amanda Barnett and Jason Hanna report on cnn.com.

Included in the secret plane's cargo is Bill Nye's solar sail, cnn added.

For more of the cnn report, including a video:  http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/20/us/ual-space-plane-planetary-society-solar-sail-launch/index.html

For an excellent video of today's launch:  http://www.space.com/29446-x37b-space-plane-launch-watch-live.html

For more about today's launch and the X-37B: http://www.seattletimes.com/business/air-force-launches-hush-hush-boeing-built-x-37b-to-space/

 

  

New Shakespeare Farrago

Stuff and nonsense...

The Bard's face?

The story of how William Shakespeare’s face was revealed through symbols in a 1597 gardening manual is a concoction worthy of Dan Brown, Jonathan Jones reports today on the guardian.com.

The image caused quite a farrago (what a great word), Jones wrote.

Has the only authentic portrait of Shakespeare been recognized, hidden in plain sight, in a 16th-century garden book? That’s the story that has swept the media this week, with huge excitement about the cracking of the “Shakepeare code”.

Don't miss the rest of Jones' well written and engaging article: http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2015/may/20/the-shakespeare-code-garden-book-portrait-discovery-art-symbols

It conjures up an image of a very British and incredulous colonel Blimp blustering, Stuff and nonsense, sir: 

Hundreds of Companies Join IBM to Fight Cybercrime

 Bold step...

IBM: combating cybercrime 

IBM's Caleb Barlow talks with Bloomberg's Betty Liu about the company's X-Force Exchange, an initiative to fight cybercrime.

More than 1,000 companies -- including top banks, retailers, auto and health organizations -- have recently joined IBM to combat cybercrime, Barlow said yesterday.

For more:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quXD06_3Xvk

Amazing Architecture From Above

New views...

Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, St. Petersburg 

Photographer Amos Chappelle used a drone to capture new views of some architectural wonders around the world on architecturaldigest.com.

For Stephanie Waldek's report and a slide show of Chappelle's photos: http://www.architecturaldigest.com/architecture/2015-05/amos-chapple-drone-photography-slideshow_slideshow_item20_21

Where Did Cloud Computing Come From?

In the beginning...

Cloud computing

Where did cloud computing come from?

Turns out it's actually the result of something common in computing years ago.

“We’ve gone through, shall we say, phases of centralization and decentralization in computing since the 1950s,” says Danny Sabbah, IBM’s chief technology officer for the company’s cloud computing efforts, John Patrick Pullen reports on time.com.

In fact the first phase of cloud computing was already coming to a close around the 1960s, Sabbah added, Pullen wrote.

Yes, cloud computing, which is super-powering many of our devices today, got its start before President John F. Kennedy took office, according to Pullen.

For more:  http://time.com/3750915/cloud-computing-origin-story/

Musical Moments: Claude Debussy, The Girl with the Flaxen Hair

Great...

Claude Debussy

Musical Moments features music and artists I've enjoyed over the years.

Here's Debussy's great The Girl with the Flaxen Hair: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JYPVMuMEBw

Darien Real Estate Market on a Roll

Weekly update...

Keeping a weather eye on a mighty scene

Darien's residential real estate market was on a roll for the week ending today.

Results, according to the Darien MLS, were:

-- 17 new listings of property for sale;

-- 17 price changes;

-- 13 accepted offers;

-- Two properties going under contract and,

-- Three closings.

For more:

CNBC's 2015 50 Disruptor Companies

Innovation on the move...

Dropbox, one of this year's disruptor companies

In the third annual Disruptor 50 list, CNBC features private companies in 16 industries—from aerospace to financial services to cybersecurity to retail—whose innovations are revolutionizing the business landscape, cnbc.com reports.

These forward-thinking upstarts have identified unexploited niches in the marketplace that have the potential to become billion-dollar businesses, and they rushed to fill them, the website wrote.

In the process, they are creating new ecosystems for their products and services. Unseating corporate giants is no easy feat.

For more:  http://www.cnbc.com/id/102609977

Jim Cramer on IBM: 'Watson Is a Fantastic Sales Call'

Making a business better...

 

Watson capabilities coming soon to your smartphone

 

 I think Watson, basically, is a fantastic sales call, Jim Cramer said on Real Money, Andrew Meola reported today on thestreet.com.

 

 As someone who sold at Goldman Sachs and taught selling, I would love to be able to demo Watson for people, Cramer said, according to Meola.

 

I would love to show a company the capabilities that Watson has to figure out ways to make a business better, he added, Meola wrote.

 

IBM CFO Martin Schroeter appeared on Jim Cramer's Mad Money show on CNBC on Tuesday night, Meola reported.

      

Schroeter appeared at the base of IBM's cloud-based analytics platform Watson and touted how the tech giant constructs solutions to their clients' most difficult problems, Meola reported.

 

Watson is the most recent instrument to achieve that goal, he said, and represents several hundred patents.

 

IBM currently operates a $17 billion analytics business, and the company is integrating Watson into that business, according to Meola.

 

For more:  http://www.thestreet.com/story/13149797/1/jim-cramer-on-ibm-watson-is-a-fantastic-sales-call.html

Restauranteur Joe Bastianich Selling Greenwich Home

Manhattan bound...

 

Joe Bastianich's Greenwich home

 

 

Joe Bastianich, whose many restaurants include New York’s Babbo and food and wine market Eataly, is moving to Manhattan and selling his Greenwich, Conn., home, which he built to be “a serious wine and food guy’s house,” Candace Taylor reports on wsj.com.

 

Listed for $3.495 million, the five-bedroom house’s centerpiece is its sizable eat-in kitchen, which contains a custom-made table that can seat about 16 people, a center island and Viking appliances, Taylor wrote.

 

Mr. Bastianich said in addition to his mother, Lidia Bastianich, and his partner Mario Batali, chefs who have cooked at his home include James Beard Award-winner Dave Pasternack and the Spotted Pig’s April Bloomfield, according to Taylor.

 

For more, including a slide show of the house:  http://www.wsj.com/articles/babbos-joe-bastianich-lists-a-greenwich-conn-home-for-3-495-million-1431021154
 

Neat New Gifs

Enjoy...

Six- year-old electric skateboarder;

great expression at end of his ride:

http://i.imgur.com/krWwbic.gifv

For a change of pace...a few neat new Gifs

Three-D football throw:

http://fat.gfycat.com/MatureEmotionalIcelandgull.gif

Farmers market getting ready for the day:

http://i.imgur.com/WHf4XFy.gifv

Flying a jetpack through Dubai:

http://i.imgur.com/Jem7mFM.gifv

Sleepy pooch:

http://i.imgur.com/X7aH2XI.gif

 

 

Bjarke Ingel's New Building Designs for Tomorrow

New concepts...

Ingel's new West Side "Pyramid" in Manhattan

Bjarke Ingels, the Danish architect, has his hands full these days with new creations for tomorrow.

Ingels is the architect for Google's remarkable new headquarters in Mountain View, CA, and W57, his uniquely designed residential and commercial construction rising on Manhattan's West Side.

Ingels spoke with bloomberg.com recently about his design philosophy and goals in this video by Jennafer Savino and Justin Beach:  http://bloom.bg/1GDxsUy

For another interesting video on W57:  https://vimeo.com/68835784

For a good slide show on the new building in New York:  http://www.durst.org/properties/west-57th-street

Within the past few days, Google's Mountain View project has been delayed by the city of Mountain View.  For an update video and additional information about the Ingels' design and its features:  http://bloom.bg/1cbtTaN

And here's the latest  BusinessWeek's with a report on Ingles and his projects:  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-05-07/google-s-new-campus-architects-ingels-heatherwick-s-moon-shot

Musical Moments: Samuel Barber, Adagio for Strings

Happy Mother's Day...

  To our Moms

Today's Musical Moments' selection -- Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings -- is dedicated to our Moms.

I hope you and they will enjoy this video, combining Barber's famous composition with

a beautiful slide show:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KylMqxLzNGo

Darien Spring Home Market Rolls On

Weekly update...

 

Woodland path in spring

 

 

Darien's spring residential real estate market rolled on actively in the week ending today.

 

Results, according to the Darien MLS, were:

 

-- 23 new listings of property for sale;

-- 14 price changes;

-- 18 accepted offers;

-- Three properties going under contract and,

-- Eight closings.

 

For more:

 

 

 

 

 

Vineyard Vines' Stylish New Home in Stamford

 On the water...

Vineyard Vines' vintage whale doing double duty

Vineyard Vines, the preppy fashion label, has a shiny new home overlooking the harbor in next door Stamford, Kim Bhasin reports on bloomberg.com.

Shep and Ian Murray, the company's owners who grew up in Connecticut, recall their former office space.

It was an abandoned clutch factory that we fit up as nice as we could, says Ian.

Shep adds, Our old office was a concrete bunker with razor wire around it.

See the company's lavish new space on the water in this interesting new video:  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-06/vineyard-vines-lavish-new-hq-is-the-preppiest-office-in-America

  

Ventless Fireplaces Spark Interest

Smokeless...

A ventless fireplace

A New York City ban on new wood-burning fireplaces has sparked interest in clean-burning units that run on bio-ethanol isopropyl alcohol or simply plug into a wall outlet, Beth Decarbo reports on wsj.com.

For more, including photos of examples of novel, smokeless designs: http://www.wsj.com/articles/ventless-fireplaces-burn-alternative-fuels-bio-ethanol-isopropyl-alcohol-1430841055

Your Favorite Store and Your Personality

Fun survey...

Banana Republic in Milan

You may unknowingly be sending signals about yourself as a result of your shopping, Michell Persad reports on huffingtonpost.com.

Whether you're a die-had Zara shopper, a Gap fanatic or a Banana Republic regular, where you shop actually says a lot more about you than you might think, Persad wrote.

For more of what Persad calls her fun and totally unscientific survey:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/28/fast-fashion-store-personality-quiz_n_7151800.html

Update: The Cronut -- A Surprising Success

Award winner...

Behold the croissant-donut aka the Cronut

The surprising success last year of the cronut continues to keep its inventor Dominique Ansel in the spotlight.

Last year he won the James Beard Outstanding Pastry Chef award for the cronut.

Not bad for a guy who came the US eight years ago with nothing more than two suitcases, dominiqueansel.com noted about Ansel's winning of the award.

For an update on the Ansel, the cronut and his bakery in Manhattan:  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2015-04-14/the-cronut-s-unexpected-success-story

Dominique Ansel with a fresh batch of cronuts

Other Ansel pastries