Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Rebuilding The World Trade Center




On the morning of September 11th, 2001, two commercial jet planes struck the Twin Towers, causing their collapse and the destruction of the four other WTC buildings. The attack killed 2,750 people at the Trade Center, many of them emergency responders. The collapse of 7 WTC, which had already been evacuated, followed at 5:20 p.m. that day.

The new 7 World Trade Center is the first office tower at the site to be rebuilt. According to architect David Childs, it “serves as the gateway to the World Trade Center and Lower Manhattan...and sets a new standard of commercial building design and construction in New York and across the country.” Opened on May 23rd, 2006, the 52-story building is taller and narrower than its predecessor, and is the first certified “green” building to be constructed in New York City.

Across Vesey Street, Childs’ innovative designs appear again at the Freedom Tower, which the Port Authority began building in April 2006. The tower marks the 1,362- and 1,368-feet heights of the original towers with a metal and glass parapet, and will rise to 1,776 feet with its illuminated antenna.

The Freedom Tower already is the most famous element of architect Daniel Libeskind’s WTC Master Plan. That scheme, finalized in 2003, proposed a descending spiral of towers beginning at the site’s northwest corner and ending at the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum, where the Twin Towers’ footprints will be memorialized.

Designs for the remaining WTC Towers Two, Three, and Four were unveiled in September 2006 at 7 World Trade Center. To create individually distinct towers that fit within the Master Plan, Silverstein brought together an unprecedented group of architectural talent: Norman Foster, Richard Rogers, and Fumihiko Maki. A fifth office tower on Liberty Street, the Santiago Calatrava–designed WTC Transportation Hub, performing arts center, memorial and museum will complete the vision for the site.

After several years of insurance disputes and construction negotiations, Silverstein Properties and the Port Authority are now moving forward with full steam to open all of the new WTC skyscrapers by 2012. The Port also is building a new “east bathtub” like that of the original west bathtub, where Towers Two, Three, and Four and the Transportation Hub will rise—a project that alone requires a full year of construction.

The redeveloped WTC site, including the reduced footprint of 7 WTC, will restore Greenwich Street through the site, reuniting the Financial District with Tribeca and supporting the renaissance of Lower Manhattan. In this respect, the new WTC fulfills those ideals set forth by the Downtown-Lower Manhattan Development Association at the site’s conception nearly 50 years ago.

Criss Angel Mindfreak Bloopers




Oh my God! I can't stop watching the kiss...and the hearing the mom! i never thought this show had so hilarous and cute content XD!

When Extreme Sports Go Wrong (Bloopers Collection)!




Wipe-outs, funny crashes, stunts gone wrong and other extreme sporting bloopers....

Awesome Truck Drifting In The Slippery Turn Road




This truck driver should go to the rally Grand Prix!

Never a Year Like 2009 - Great Animation Review by JibJab




Octomom. Balloon Boy. Tiger Woods. If there's one thing for sure in this world, it's that as long as people are acting reckless, insane and just plain stupid (i.e. like people), there will always be plenty of material available for JibJab's annual "Year in Review" videos!

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

The Life and Death of a Pumpkin




WINNER: Best Short Film and Best Concept, 2006 Chicago Horror Film Festival, October (Chicago, IL)

A cherished holiday from a new and horrible perspective. Brought to you by Blame Society Productions.

Directed by Aaron Yonda
Voice of Pumpkin...Matt Sloan
Demon 1...Ouisia Whitaker-Devault
Demon 2...Maya Whitaker-Long
Demon 3...Carmen Prater-Bellver
Demon 4...Sara Prater-Bellver
Kidnapper 1...Nick Drake
Kidnapper 2...Aaron Yonda
Disemboweler 1...Matt Sloan
Disembowler 2...Aaron Yonda
Produced by...Erik Gunneson, Aaron Yonda
Cinematographer...Erik Gunneson
Assistant Cinematographer...Doug Chapin
Written by...Aaron Yonda, Benson Gardner
Sound Recordist...Erik Gunneson
Music By...Alpha Consumer-JT Bates, Michael Lewis, Jeremy Ylvisaker
Sound and Video Editor...Aaron Yonda
Set Design and Props...Tona Williams
Grips...Stew Fyfe, Meg Hamel, Nate Matteson, Justin Sprecher
Special Thanks...Julie Whitaker, Hermanson Pumpkin Patch, University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Communication Arts
2006

A Look at the Animation Techniques of AVATAR




Not the best story in the world, but holly hell the visuals. it's a shame this sort of thing is prohibitively expensive.

Hopefully future movie makers will take a lesson and the technology will get cheaper!

Musical Carol of the Bells From Corona Beer Bottle




He (or she?) play Carol of the Bells on perfectly tuned corona bottles (they make the best sound), by "plucking" them with his finger!

Mudhole Water Skiing from South Carolina




Now this will be your alternative for pomping the adrenalyne!

Monday, December 28, 2009

Top 10 Best Goals 2009 - FIFA Puskas Award




FIFA announced the ten goals nominated for the Puskas Award, given to the scorer of the best goal of the year. The winner will be chosen by votes cast on the FIFA website and criteria for the award include the quality of the goal and the importance of the match in which it was scored.

Australian Idol Beat Box




What is the crowd going crazy about? He isn't that good!

He doesn't really do anything an average beatboxer couldnt do with some practice. I mean i haven't been beatboxing for a couple years, but damn.. i can still do most of that, and i wasn't even considered good enough to continue doing beatboxing!

Joey Jordison (Slipknot) Drum Solo




kids and people who shit on this video need to know that this is a soundcheck, and not really a solo. :P

Fireworks vs Remote-Controlled Aircraft




Aircraft: Multiplex Easystar
Motor: 200W brushless setup
Control: 72Mhz Futaba
Video Link: 900Mhz 500mW 
Camera: KPC-VSN500NH 
OSD: Remzibi OSD

Super Slow-Motion Maru The Cat




I love Maru, and in this video, he really shines. Slow-Motion makes everything better!

Sunday, December 27, 2009

The Known Universe From 3D Perspective




The Known Universe takes viewers from the Himalayas through our atmosphere and the inky black of space to the afterglow of the Big Bang. Every star, planet, and quasar seen in the film is possible because of the world's most complete four-dimensional map of the universe, the Digital Universe Atlas that is maintained and updated by astrophysicists at the American Museum of Natural History. The new film, created by the Museum, is part of an exhibition, Visions of the Cosmos: From the Milky Ocean to an Evolving Universe, at the Rubin Museum of Art in Manhattan through May 2010. 

Superhuman tape measure skills




At 0:24 ... how did the tape measure push the light switch down? and the tape measure looks CGI. im preeeetty sure this is fake :/

Wounded Referee At The Football Game




Poor referee... But what a fast ball!!!

Big Guy Scared by Maze Game Prank




This guy shows some surprising agility as he springs from his chair in terror. Break.com Clip of the Day!

The Luckiest Kid on "The Price Is Right" Game!




This isn't your typical day on The Price is Right. Watch what happens as Taylor's celebrates his 19th birthday!

I don't know what his life had been like up till now. But at least for that day this kid was DA MAN!!!

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Video of US Infantryman Bowe Bergdahl In The Hands Of Taliban




Bowe Robert Bergdahl (born March 28, 1986 in Sun Valley, Idaho) is an American soldier who was captured by the Taliban while serving in southeastern Afghanistan in June/July 2009.He is a Private First Class and a member of 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, based at Fort Richardson, Alaska. Bergdahl went missing on June 30, 2009. The Department of Defense reported on July 2, 2009 that he went missing, attributing his disappearance to "walking off his base in eastern Afghanistan with three Afghan counterparts". Nothing else is known about the three Afghans. Bergdahl is still being held. The Taliban has released two videos of Bergdahl in captivity. They are demanding the release of several prisoners in exchange for Bergdahl's release.

On July 18, 2009, the Taliban released a video showing they had captured Bergdahl. In the video, Bergdahl appeared downcast and frightened. A Department of Defense statement issued on July 19 confirmed that that Bergdahl was declared "missing/whereabouts unknown" on July 1 and his status was changed to "missing/captured" on July 3.

In the 28 minute video his captors hold up his dog tags to establish the captured man is Bergdahl. Bergdahl gives the date as July 14 and mentions an attack which occurred that day.

Accounts of his capture differ. The version offered by Bergdahl, in the video, is that he was captured when he fell behind on a patrol. CNN, in its report cites both Taliban and U.S. military sources, the former alleging he was ambushed after having become drunk off base, and the latter denying that claim stating: "The Taliban are known for lying and what they are claiming (is) not true."

A Department of Defense spokesperson, Lieutenant Commander Christine Sidenstricker called the video of the captured man a violation of international law:

    "I'm glad to see he appears unharmed, but again, this is a Taliban propaganda video. They are exploiting the soldier in violation of international law."

According to the Associated Press, General Nabi Mullakheil of the Afghan National Police said the capture occurred in Paktika Province. Their other sources inform them that he was captured by a Taliban group led by a "Maulvi Sangin", who has moved him to Ghazni Province. The Guardian quoted sources who speculated about the increased difficulty of a rescue mission if Bergdahl had been smuggled across the nearby border into Pakistan.

The Associated Press also quoted Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, as saying: "the militants holding the soldier haven't yet set any conditions for his release."

CNN described two leaflets the U.S. military was distributing, in seeking Bergdahl. Both leaflets were written in the Pashtun language. One showed a smiling GI shaking hands with Afghan children, with a caption that called him a guest in Afghanistan. The other showed a door being broken down, and contained a threat that those holding Bergdahl would be hunted down.

In December 2009, five months after his disappearance, the media arm of the Afghan Taliban announced the release of a new video of "a U.S. soldier captured in Afghanistan". The video is said to be titled, "One of Their People Testified." In the announcement the Taliban did not name the American, but the only U.S. soldier known to be in captivity was Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl.

U.S. military officials have been searching for Bergdahl, but it is not publicly known whether he is even being held in Afghanistan or neighboring in Pakistan, an area off-limits to the U.S. forces based in Afghanistan.

On Friday, December 25th, the said video was released. The video features Bergdahl wearing his combat uniform, included helmet.

Amazing Double KO In Thai Boxing Game!




ONE IN A MILLION!!!

Pope knocked down by woman at Christmas Mass in Vatican City




What are the hottest topics on Twitter, YouTube and social media sites this Christmas Eve? While “Merry Christmas” and “Happy Holidays” are trending high, a full 0.83% of Tweets at 5pm ET tonight mentioned the word “Pope”.

Pope Benedict was unfortunately knocked down by a woman before the Christmas Eve mass – he was unhurt, and completed the ceremony. Of course, we can rely on user-generated content to capture such remarkable events: in this case a bystander with a cellphone caught the moment on film while the TV cameras were pointed elsewhere.

It’s only the latest in a string of events – from the Hudson plane crash early this year, to the passing of Neda in IranIran Iran – where people on the ground captured shocking moments the media would otherwise have missed.

Cool Stop-Motion Student Project by 300 French Students




Over 300 French students at the ESCP Business School used stop-motion techniques to create a film designed to represent the spirit of their school.

German Guy Passes Out During Interview With Hot Blond Chick!




The reason of this 'super' moment :
- He didn't eat his breakfast before the interview
- He just love to passes out everywhere anytime
- He love her, and that is just one way to make her hug him
- He just want to be put to YouTube!

Friday, December 25, 2009

'Green Screen' (Also Known as 'ChromaKey) On Film




I didnt realise they used these techniques so much. But then again when you think about it must be much cheaper than filiming outdoors in the streets.

Falling Dominoes Art For Happy New Year




From the uploader :

Just a quick follow-up to my initial domino video to say season's greetings and happy new year.

With this second video I wanted to be more personal, but I also really wanted to see if I could get the dominoes to hit bells and play a song.

And of course, there's no better time of year for bell songs than the holiday season. I specifically chose "Carol of the Bells" because it's not just a Christmas song. Believe it or not, its origin goes back to an old pagan New Year's chant from the Ukraine.

So with that, I hope you enjoy it, and again happy holidays.

My Little Frog Pet




That is the cutest frog I've ever seen!

Grand Prix In Town Street By Remi Gaillard




Nice one. This is original I think! :)

Monday, October 12, 2009

How To Make Star Wars Sound Effects From Slinkies




Now you can make your own sci-fi movie!

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Michel Lotito - Mr. Eats All, Even Metal!




Michel Lotito (June 15, 1950 - June 25, 2007) was a French entertainer. Lotito, who was born in Grenoble, was famous for eating undigestables, and was known as Monsieur Mangetout ("Mister Eat Everything").

His performances were the consumption of metal, glass, rubber, and so on, in items such as bicycles, televisions, a Cessna 150, and smaller items that were disassembled, cut up, and swallowed. The aircraft took roughly two years to be 'eaten' from 1978 to 1980. He began eating unusual material as a child and performed publicly from 1966.

Lotito did not often suffer from ill effects due to his diet, even after the consumption of materials usually considered poisonous. When performing he consumed around a kilogram of material daily, preceding it with mineral oil and drinking considerable quantities of water during the 'meal'. He said, however, that bananas and hard-boiled eggs made him sick. It is estimated that between 1959–1997 Lotito had eaten around 9 tons of metal.

'Rubberboy' Daniel Browning Smith, World's Most Flexible Man!




Contortionist Daniel Browning Smith, known world-wide as ‘Rubberboy,’ is the most flexible man in the world, and a 5-time Guinness World Record holder. Browning’s Guinness feats include ‘The Fastest Time Getting INTO a Locked Straitjacket’ in 2 minutes and 8 seconds with 13 feet of steel chain and ‘Most Number of Contortions in a Box’ for 2 minutes and 14 seconds with a total of 3 contortions.

Pushing the envelope to the max, the 135 pound and 5 foot 8 inch Rubberboy performs near-impossible feats of handstands, acrobatics, 180 degree torso twisting, escape artistry, dislocating his arms and hips to crawl through an unstrung tennis racket or a toilet seat, and warping his body to squeeze inside a 13.5 by 16 by 19.5 inch trunk with an 18 gallon capacity — which he coins as enterology (getting into confined spaces).

Daniel Browning Smith discovered his natural ability for flexibility at an early age, and literally ran away to join the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus in Florida in May of 1998, selling all of his worldly belongings. He began training extensively in order to expand his limits and bend his body in unimaginable techniques, studying at the San Francisco School of Circus Arts to train under Master Lu Yi.

Daniel went from there to achieve his Guinness World Record for his De-Escape feat on ‘Guinness World Record Primetime’ in which he gets into a locked straitjacket, chains himself up, and then crams himself into an 18 inch by 16 inch box. He has traveled world-wide with his jaw-dropping performances, appeared in documentaries for Discovery Channel, Ripley’s Believe It Or Not, more than 100 TV appearances including CSI for the Blood, Sweat and Tears episode, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and movies such as Men in Black.

Ben Underwood, The Boy Who Sees Without Eyes




Ben Underwood is blind. Both eyes were removed when he was just three years old, leaving him with no vision at all. So how on earth does he play basketball, rollerblade and cycle his bike? Ben lost his eyes to retinal cancer but, unbelievably, he's taught himself to see; with sound.

Ben Underwood and his family live in Sacramento, the state capital of California. It's an old city with roots in the Wild West, but Ben and his family live in the new, outlying suburbs.

Ben uses many common aids for the blind, like speaking software for his computer so he can jot down his rap lyrics. He's also written a book and does his schoolwork on a hi-tech Braille writer. But what's unusual, what's totally unique, is what he doesn't use. Ben has no guide dog and never uses a white cane. He doesn't even use his hands. Instead he sees with sound, he makes a sharp click, with his tongue, which bounces back off nearby objects. Amazingly, Ben's ears pick up the echoes and he can precisely locate where things are. Ben is the only person in the world who sees using nothing but echolocation.

Ben's echolocation is so good, that at home his mum, Aquanetta Gordon, and his brother make no allowance for his blindness at all. Aquanetta has refused to allow the loss of Ben's eyes to overshadow their lives.

Ben was born perfectly healthy, with dark eyes like his mum. But, when he was two she looked into his eyes and saw something was terribly wrong. In Ben's eye was a rapidly-growing, malignant tumour; a retinoblastoma. This is a rare infant eye cancer that affects only one in every six million. Dr James Ruben, Ben's paediatric eye surgeon, explains "If left to it's own devices it would be lethal. It would spread along his optic nerve and into his brain".

In an attempt to save his sight, doctors immediately began intense chemo and radio therapy, but after ten months there was still some scattered tumour. Aquanetta had to make a critical, heart-rending decision; try to save his eyes or try to save his life.

To this day, Aquanetta describes the world to him so that Ben can experience life to the full. He is currently on his fourth set of prosthetic eyes and Aquanetta still treasures the ones he had as a little boy.

Just one year after the operation to remove his eyes, Ben astonished his mum when he performed what seemed like a miracle. While in the car he asked his mum what the big building was that they were passing. Ben's ears were picking up the sounds of the city traffic reflecting from the building's surfaces.

Seeing with sound transformed Ben's life. His mum let him play in the street because his sound pictures seemed to make him more aware of danger than his sighted friends. Ben's super-sense amazed everyone, but this was just the beginning. When he was seven, Ben discovered a new power, he began to click. Ben learned to bounce his clicks off objects around him, giving him an even clearer picture of his surroundings. Over the years Ben has developed his clicking into such a fine art, that he can skate freely. He has the confidence and fluidity of movement through space other blind people can only dream of.

There's nothing his friends can do, that Ben wont attempt, and conquer.

Doctors suspect that Ben has developed super-hearing to compensate for his loss of sight. However, tests reveal he has only normal hearing. So, has Ben's brain learned to translate the sound he hears into visual information?

Sonar uses echo location to detect underwater objects. In water, even a small noise can be heard for many miles. In air, echoes are much harder to detect. They're so faint it's a miracle Ben can echo locate at all.

Scientists at the University of California in Santa Barbara want to see and study how Ben navigates with such a faint signal. They test him to see how small an object he can detect and how well he can differentiate the shape of different objects. He excels by detecting a thin upright tube and correctly identifying two like objects from four placed on the table in front of him.

School hasn't always been a happy experience for Ben. Three years ago, Aquanetta was advised to send him to a residential school for the blind. She was told it would be good for Ben to mix with other blind kids. As soon as he arrived he knew it was a big mistake. He recalls "I didn't like the blind school because it was like a school full of handicapped kids. I don't belong here, there ain't nothin' wrong with me". Many of the students, as it turned out, had multiple disabilities. With so many vulnerable students around, staff were naturally protective, but Ben wanted to run around and play games, just as he did at home.

Ben is a typical teenager; he thinks he knows it all. Aquanetta knows there is only one man he might listen to. Daniel Kish is a unique mobility instructor; like Ben he lost his eyes to cancer as a baby, he also discovered clicking as a child. Unlike Ben he's perfected a mobility system that combines echolocation and the cane. He has Ben's no-limits philosophy too, taking students hiking and mountain biking. For Daniel, "The Blind Leading The Blind" is a campaigning vision.
Of Ben he says "In terms of echolocation he's probably one of the finest, if not the finest, I've ever come across. But he could achieve so much more if he would swallow his pride and learn to use the cane". Ben is the best self-taught echo locator in the world.

Daniel has experience of travelling quickly and safely all over the world; alone. Just the sort of independence he wants to teach Ben. A need he forcibly demonstrates when he let's Ben get completely lost on a walk in the local park.

Daniel Tammet - The Boy With The Incredible Brain!




Daniel Tammet is an autistic savant. He can perform mind-boggling mathematical calculations at breakneck speeds. But unlike other savants, who can perform similar feats, Tammet can describe how he does it. He speaks seven languages and is even devising his own language. Now scientists are asking whether his exceptional abilities are the key to unlock the secrets of autism. 

Daniel Tammet is talking. As he talks, he studies my shirt and counts the stitches. Ever since the age of three, when he suffered an epileptic fit, Tammet has been obsessed with counting. Now he is 26, and a mathematical genius who can figure out cube roots quicker than a calculator and recall pi to 22,514 decimal places. He also happens to be autistic, which is why he can't drive a car, wire a plug, or tell right from left. He lives with extraordinary ability and disability.
Tammet is calculating 377 multiplied by 795. Actually, he isn't "calculating": there is nothing conscious about what he is doing. He arrives at the answer instantly. Since his epileptic fit, he has been able to see numbers as shapes, colours and textures. The number two, for instance, is a motion, and five is a clap of thunder. "When I multiply numbers together, I see two shapes. The image starts to change and evolve, and a third shape emerges. That's the answer. It's mental imagery. It's like maths without having to think."

Tammet is a "savant", an individual with an astonishing, extraordinary mental ability. An estimated 10% of the autistic population - and an estimated 1% of the non-autistic population - have savant abilities, but no one knows exactly why. A number of scientists now hope that Tammet might help us to understand better. Professor Allan Snyder, from the Centre for the Mind at the Australian National University in Canberra, explains why Tammet is of particular, and international, scientific interest. "Savants can't usually tell us how they do what they do," says Snyder. "It just comes to them. Daniel can. He describes what he sees in his head. That's why he's exciting. He could be the Rosetta Stone."

There are many theories about savants. Snyder, for instance, believes that we all possess the savant's extraordinary abilities - it is just a question of us learning how to access them. "Savants have usually had some kind of brain damage. Whether it's an onset of dementia later in life, a blow to the head or, in the case of Daniel, an epileptic fit. And it's that brain damage which creates the savant. I think that it's possible for a perfectly normal person to have access to these abilities, so working with Daniel could be very instructive."

Scans of the brains of autistic savants suggest that the right hemisphere might be compensating for damage in the left hemisphere. While many savants struggle with language and comprehension (skills associated primarily with the left hemisphere), they often have amazing skills in mathematics and memory (primarily right hemisphere skills). Typically, savants have a limited vocabulary, but there is nothing limited about Tammet's vocabulary.

Tammet is creating his own language, strongly influenced by the vowel and image-rich languages of northern Europe. (He already speaks French, German, Spanish, Lithuanian, Icelandic and Esperanto.) The vocabulary of his language - "Mänti", meaning a type of tree - reflects the relationships between different things. The word "ema", for instance, translates as "mother", and "ela" is what a mother creates: "life". "Päike" is "sun", and "päive" is what the sun creates: "day". Tammet hopes to launch Mänti in academic circles later this year, his own personal exploration of the power of words and their inter-relationship.

Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, director of the Autism Research Centre (ARC) at Cambridge University, is interested in what Mänti might teach us about savant ability. "I know of other savants who also speak a lot of languages," says Baron-Cohen. "But it's rare for them to be able to reflect on how they do it - let alone create a language of their own." The ARC team has started scanning Tammet's brain to find out if there are modules (for number, for example, or for colour, or for texture) that are connected in a way that is different from most of us. "It's too early to tell, but we hope it might throw some light on why we don't all have savant abilities."

Last year Tammet broke the European record for recalling pi, the mathematical constant, to the furthest decimal point. He found it easy, he says, because he didn't even have to "think". To him, pi isn't an abstract set of digits; it's a visual story, a film projected in front of his eyes. He learnt the number forwards and backwards and, last year, spent five hours recalling it in front of an adjudicator. He wanted to prove a point. "I memorised pi to 22,514 decimal places, and I am technically disabled. I just wanted to show people that disability needn't get in the way."

Tammet is softly spoken, and shy about making eye contact, which makes him seem younger than he is. He lives on the Kent coast, but never goes near the beach - there are too many pebbles to count. The thought of a mathematical problem with no solution makes him feel uncomfortable. Trips to the supermarket are always a chore. "There's too much mental stimulus. I have to look at every shape and texture. Every price, and every arrangement of fruit and vegetables. So instead of thinking,'What cheese do I want this week?', I'm just really uncomfortable."

Tammet has never been able to work 9 to 5. It would be too difficult to fit around his daily routine. For instance, he has to drink his cups of tea at exactly the same time every day. Things have to happen in the same order: he always brushes his teeth before he has his shower. "I have tried to be more flexible, but I always end up feeling more uncomfortable. Retaining a sense of control is really important. I like to do things in my own time, and in my own style, so an office with targets and bureaucracy just wouldn't work."

Instead, he has set up a business on his own, at home, writing email courses in language learning, numeracy and literacy for private clients. It has had the fringe benefit of keeping human interaction to a minimum. It also gives him time to work on the verb structures of Mänti.

Few people on the streets have recognised Tammet since his pi record attempt. But, when a documentary about his life is broadcast on Channel 5 later this year, all that will change. "The highlight of filming was to meet Kim Peek, the real-life character who inspired the film Rain Man. Before I watched Rain Man, I was frightened. As a nine-year-old schoolboy, you don't want people to point at the screen and say, 'That's you.' But I watched it, and felt a real connection. Getting to meet the real-life Rain Man was inspirational."

Peek was shy and introspective, but he sat and held Tammet's hand for hours. "We shared so much - our love of key dates from history, for instance. And our love of books. As a child, I regularly took over a room in the house and started my own lending library. I would separate out fiction and non-fiction, and then alphabetise them all. I even introduced a ticketing system. I love books so much. I've read more books than anyone else I know. So I was delighted when Kim wanted to meet in a library." Peek can read two pages simultaneously, one with each eye. He can also recall, in exact detail, the 7,600 books he has read. When he is at home in Utah, he spends afternoons at the Salt Lake City public library, memorising phone books and address directories."He is such a lovely man," says Tammet. "Kim says, 'You don't have to be handicapped to be different - everybody's different'. And he's right."

Like Peek, Tammet will read anything and everything, but his favourite book is a good dictionary, or the works of GK Chesterton. "With all those aphorisms," he says, "Chesterton was the Groucho Marx of his day." Tammet is also a Christian, and likes the fact that Chesterton addressed some complex religious ideas. "The other thing I like is that, judging by the descriptions of his home life, I reckon Chesterton was a savant. He couldn't dress himself, and would always forget where he was going. His poor wife."

Autistic savants have displayed a wide range of talents, from reciting all nine volumes of Grove's Dictionary Of Music to measuring exact distances with the naked eye. The blind American savant Leslie Lemke played Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No1, after he heard it for the first time, and he never had so much as a piano lesson. And the British savant Stephen Wiltshire was able to draw a highly accurate map of the London skyline from memory after a single helicopter trip over the city. Even so, Tammet could still turn out to be the more significant.

He was born on January 31 1979. He smiles as he points out that 31, 19, 79 and 1979 are all prime numbers - it's a kind of sign. He was actually born with another surname, which he prefers to keep private, but decided to change it by deed poll. It didn't fit with the way he saw himself. "I first saw 'Tammet' online. It means oak tree in Estonian, and I liked that association. Besides, I've always had a love of Estonian. Such a vowel rich language."

As a baby, he banged his head against the wall and cried constantly. Nobody knew what was wrong. His mother was anxious, and would swing him to sleep in a blanket. She breastfed him for two years. The only thing the doctors could say was that perhaps he was understimulated. Then, one afternoon when he was playing with his brother in the living room, he had an epileptic fit.

"I was given medication - round blue tablets - to control my seizures, and told not to go out in direct sunlight. I had to visit the hospital every month for regular blood tests. I hated those tests, but I knew they were necessary. To make up for it, my father would always buy me a cup of squash to drink while we sat in the waiting room. It was a worrying time because my Dad's father had epilepsy, and actually died of it, in the end. They were thinking, 'This is the end of Daniel's life'."

Tammet's mother was a secretarial assistant, and his father a steelplate worker. "They both left school without qualifications, but they made us feel special - all nine of us. As the oldest of nine, I suppose it's fair to say I've always felt special." Even if his younger brothers and sisters could throw and catch better than him, swim better, kick a ball better, Daniel was always the oldest. "They loved me because I was their big brother and I could read them stories."

He remembers being given a Ladybird book called Counting when he was four. "When I looked at the numbers I 'saw' images. It felt like a place I could go where I really belonged. That was great. I went to this other country whenever I could. I would sit on the floor in my bedroom and just count. I didn't notice that time was passing. It was only when my Mum shouted up for dinner, or someone knocked at my door, that I would snap out of it."

One day his brother asked him a sum. "He asked me to multiply something in my head - like 'What is 82 x 82 x 82 x 82?' I just looked at the floor and closed my eyes. My back went very straight and I made my hands into fists. But after five or 10 seconds, the answer just flowed out of my mouth. He asked me several others, and I got every one right. My parents didn't seem surprised. And they never put pressure on me to perform for the neighbours. They knew I was different, but wanted me to have a normal life as far as possible."

Tammet could see the car park of his infant school from his bedroom window, which made him feel safe. "I loved assembly because we got to sing hymns. The notes formed a pattern in my head, just like the numbers did." The other children didn't know what to make of him, and would tease him. The minute the bell went for playtime he would rush off. "I went to the playground, but not to play. The place was surrounded by trees. While the other children were playing football, I would just stand and count the leaves."

As Tammet grew older, he developed an obsessive need to collect - everything from conkers to newspapers. "I remember seeing a ladybird for the first time," he says. "I loved it so much, I went round searching every hedge and every leaf for more. I collected hundreds, and took them to show the teacher. He was amazed, and asked me to get on with some assignment. While I was busy he instructed a classmate to take the tub outside and let the ladybirds go. I was so upset that I cried when I found out. He didn't understand my world."

Tammet may have been teased at school, but his teachers were always protective. "I think my parents must have had a word with them, so I was pretty much left alone." He found it hard to socialise with anyone outside the family, and, with the advent of adolesence, his shyness got worse.

After leaving school with three A-levels (History, French and German, all grade Bs), he decided he wanted to teach - only not the predictable, learn-by-rote type of teaching. For a start, he went to teach in Lithuania, and he worked as a volunteer. "Because I was there of my own free will, I was given a lot of leeway. The times of the classes weren't set in stone, and the structures were all of my own making. It was also the first time I was introduced as 'Daniel' rather than 'the guy who can do weird stuff in his head'. It was such a pleasant relief." Later, he returned home to live with his parents, and found work as a maths tutor.

He met the great love of his life, a software engineer called Neil, online. It began, as these things do, with emailed pictures, but ended up with a face-to-face meeting. "Because I can't drive, Neil offered to pick me up at my parents' house, and drive me back to his house in Kent. He was silent all the way back. I thought, 'Oh dear, this isn't going well'. Just before we got to his house, he stopped the car. He reached over and pulled out a bouquet of flowers. I only found out later that he was quiet because he likes to concentrate when he's driving."

Neil is shy, like Tammet. They live, happily, on a quiet cul-de-sac. The only aspect of Tammet's autism that causes them problems is his lack of empathy. "There's a saying in Judaism, if somebody has a relative who has hanged themselves, don't ask them where you should hang your coat. I need to remember that. Like the time I kept quizzing a friend of Neil's who had just lost her mother. I was asking her all these questions about faith and death. But that's down to my condition - no taboos."

When he isn't working, Tammet likes to hang out with his friends on the church quiz team. His knowledge of popular culture lets him down, but he's a shoo-in when it comes to the maths questions. "I do love numbers," he says. "It isn't only an intellectual or aloof thing that I do. I really feel that there is an emotional attachment, a caring for numbers. I think this is a human thing - in the same way that a poet humanises a river or a tree through metaphor, my world gives me a sense of numbers as personal. It sounds silly, but numbers are my friends."