Google Desert View

Frank Gehry tells off contemporary architecture, Google maps the desert on camelback and Marcel the Shell returns in our weekly look at the web

While a robot-operated car is Google’s vehicle of choice for mapping streets, a 10-year-old camel named Raffia is doing the job of mapping the Liwa Desert in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Equipped with Google’s Trekker camera, the guide-lead camel takes to the sand at 6am to capture the best light upon the barren landscape.

The Single-Brick Lego Pinhole Camera

Frank Gehry tells off contemporary architecture, Google maps the desert on camelback and Marcel the Shell returns in our weekly look at the web

While Lego cameras are not new, the one graphic design student Ryan Howerter made for himself sets the bar quite high. The entire pinhole camera was crafted from a single standard size 2×2 Lego brick—and it works. Howerter hollowed out the brick, added a brass shim and cut out a pinhole. A little bit of photo paper sits inside and the rest is mini-photo history.

Prizm Environment Adapting Speaker

Frank Gehry tells off contemporary architecture, Google maps the desert on camelback and Marcel the Shell returns in our weekly look at the web

If you ever casually laptop-DJ’d a dinner party or backyard get together, you know how hard it can be to read a crowd and play just the right music. Now a French startup is designing a streaming device called Prizm to save you from the awkwardness of playing 2 Chainz when your friends are feeling Coltrane. Prizm will mix and match music based on its …