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*welcome ;)
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Show your stuff!!
*I enjoy watching people freak out over the cognitive dissonance provoked by this guy’s contemporary lifestyle.
*Just for the record, this is the avant-garde. Corny notions of dollar-savings and/or materialist minimalism have never worked and are never going to work against consumerism. However in short order, there will be big favela-chic smart-mobs of real-life people living like he does.
*Why? Because he’s enjoying it.
*RFID fans are aware that “Verichip” implantable RFID chips have not exactly been jumping off the shelves and into human flesh, lately. For years there, though, Verichip Corp was the howling scarlet beast of the RFID industry, an outfit that never saw a headline it didn’t love.
*At the moment, the name “Verichip” is apparently owned by this obscure Korean company, while the former Verichip Corp now does business as “Positive ID.”
[investors.positiveidcorp.com]
*So, these are no longer Verichip’s arphid glory days. But boy did it ever leave a spectacular urban legend. Have a look at the harvest of a mere ONE MONTH of wingnut New World Order RFID paranoia, now with an exciting Obamacare-Nazi spin. In today’s stormy atmosphere of hysterical McCarthyite Lysenkoism, “Verichip” is the gift that keeps on giving.
[www.sovereignindependent.com]
*Then look a this poor handwringing arphid industry guy beefing about “irresponsible reporting on RFID.” “Reporting?” None of that fanatical stuff up there is “reporting,” and it bleeds from its pores all over RFID’s shoes. RFID has drifted right into Obama Birth Certificate Land. It moved straight from huckster to hysteria, and it’s horrifying.
(…)
“An intelligent discussion serves the interests of everyone. But an intelligent discussion means being objective about both the potential positive impacts of a new technology, as well as the potential negative effects. I pointed out to Kathrine Albrecht, the founder of CASPIAN and a well-known RFID opponent, that there was not a single positive use of RFID mentioned in her 300-page book, Spychips. She responded that it was not her job to point out the positive uses. I found that odd. How can you claim to be acting in the best interests of consumers if you don’t tell them how this new technology might benefit them? How does that help them make smart decisions?”
(((How can you wax all indignant about journalistic accuracy for two pages, and still manage to misspell Katherine Albrecht’s name while attacking her? Lord knows we’re never blog punctuation Nazis here at BEYOND THE BEYOND, but, well… Well, that’s like bailing back the sea with a fork, and the fork is plastic.)))
I was happy to hear from ID grad student Roger Zhu about the work of RISD alum Jay Brett as I was just admiring the conceptualization work of the “light cycle” — a motorcycle made out of light that can turn at 90-degree angles — concept done for the upcoming remake of the movie Tron. Seems like everything extraordinary that I’ve seen this summer has been somehow made by the hands of a RISD graduate … -JM
*Well, that spares me from having to write this entirely necessary novel myself.
*Way to go, Luca Masali:
Titolo: La Vergine delle ossa. Cesare Lombroso indaga
Genere: Gialli, Horror, Thriller, Noir
Autore: Luca Masali
Editore: Castelvecchi
Anno di Pubblicazione: 2010
Collana: Narrativa
Informazioni: pg. 332
Codice EAN: 9788876154133
Prezzo di copertina: € 18,00
*Have at it, Google Translator:
“After drawing a personal gender gap in dell’ucronia (also known as alternative history) with a trilogy about World War I , the Turinese author Luca Masali again bares his hands to dig into the historical record to manipulate the characters and forge an unusual narrative. This time he decided to tear up the real stories of Cesare Lombroso and Emilio Salgari to reconstruct a mosaic narrative new and terribly convincing. 

Thus, “The Virgin of the Bones” (440 pages, Castelvecchi) throws us into a significantly different from the 1890 reported in the history books.
“The anthropologist and jurist Cesare Lombroso is now a star who, after having received the glory of his Criminal Anthropology, is delighted to investigate intricate murder cases. Emilio Salgari, creator of Sandokan, has been incarcerated in a mental hospital after attempting suicide, now believes himself to be one of the characters in his own books (Yanez de Gomera). To bring together the two characters involved UG., a mysterious ex-policeman… ”
*Looks like Dr. Awab here is undergoing the adventure of his life.

Headed back - sucessful mission - amidst mobs and heated exchanges - we are back - thank u to all volunteers #pkrelief 28 minutes ago via SocialScope


Control as much as u can the mob gets u - but we have control #pkrelief [twitpic.com] about 5 hours ago via SocialScope

†[twitpic.com] about 5 hours ago via SocialScope


#pkrelief [twitpic.com] about 5 hours ago via SocialScope


Lines being formed #pkrelief [twitpic.com] about 5 hours ago via SocialScope


Heading towards keenjhar lake 
about 6 hours ago via SocialScope


Situation generally tense - mobs chasing trucks on motorbikes - await it to stop and nibble / we’re in action territory #pkrelief about 6 hours ago via SocialScope


Each mob that we cross we hold our breath 
if we get mobbed then allah khair else we push deeper #pkrelief about 6 hours ago via SocialScope


First truck getting ready #pkrelief [twitpic.com] about 6 hours ago via SocialScope


Fun to hear first hand narration on how the mob attacked Zulfiqar Mirza no-good mobsters may have gotten a taste of his own #pkrelief about 6 hours ago via SocialScope


Planning to tempt one truck to chalia a deeper region where food is scarce escorts will guide us #pkrelief about 6 hours ago via SocialScope


There is a CM meeting so all security resources diverted - their protection is far more important than the people #pkrelief about 7 hours ago via SocialScope


Be street smart - come into thatta baby eyed u will get screwed / come with support on trucks and a little help u will make it #pkrelief about 7 hours ago via SocialScope


Preparing support team to head towards chalia desperately needed relief #pkrelief about 7 hours ago via SocialScope


Lol organized mobs one person gets on the truck and throws bales down a rickshaw follows and stocks them up #pkrelief about 7 hours ago via SocialScope


Taking a breather and planning what to do next - target remote locations one truck at a time and feed the needy #pkrelief about 8 hours ago via SocialScope


In safety whew [twitpic.com] about 8 hours ago via SocialScope


Escorts in all shapes and sizes ambulance also works [twitpic.com] about 8 hours ago via SocialScope


Support on trucks [twitpic.com] about 8 hours ago via SocialScope


Mini looting but we are making our way #pkrelief about 8 hours ago via SocialScope


@sarelief 5 km from thatta bad after gujjar about 8 hours ago via SocialScope in reply to sarelief


2 trucks barely got robbed escort took them threw - we are with 3 awaiting forward protection about 8 hours ago via SocialScope

Reports of rioting in thatta worrisome decisions about 9 hours ago via SocialScope


Pulling socks up & ready waiting for 1 or 2 late lateef then to start towards #thatta #pkrelief about 12 hours ago via SocialScope


Starting off again Live GPS & CoveritLive coverage of Flood Relief Mission #3 to Thatta > [bit.ly] about 17 hours ago via TweetDeck


Pictures of today volunteer effort for packing over 7000 food pkts > FB [bit.ly] about 18 hours ago via TweetDeck


Hisab time #pkrelief [sarelief.com] @sarelief about 18 hours ago via TweetDeck


WOW 7155 food packets within 4 hours - Powered by Patriotic Pakistanis wanting to help fellow Pakistanis #pkrelief [twitpic.com] about 18 hours ago via TweetDeck


RT @faisalkapadia: 7155 ready made meals packed..wow backs killing but so proud of our entire team of volunteers #offroadpakistan #pkfloods about 19 hours ago via SocialScope


7155 is the total WOW thank u every volunteer that worked for Pakistan #pkrelief about 20 hours ago via SocialScope


7000 pkts forced to stop as we ran out of large bags - Pakist about 20 hours ago via SocialScope


Pakistan may this force be with you - #pkrelief proud of each volunteer [twitpic.com] about 22 hours ago via SocialScope


Need fresh legs and arms half way done - who can help? NOW #pkrelief [twitpic.com] about 23 hours ago via SocialScope


All I can say WOW - a brilliant team that emerged out of the blue for Pakistan #plrelief [twitpic.com] about 24 hours ago via SocialScope


Chain at work paking 10000 food pkts we will do it #pkrelief [twitpic.com] 27 agosto 2010 18:57:19 via SocialScope


#pkrelief at work [twitpic.com] 27 agosto 2010 18:15:05 via SocialScope


10k looks huge - but for the thousands of fellow pakistanis suffering WE WILL DO IT #karachi don’t let me down - I dream big #pkrelief 27 agosto 2010 17:10:41 via SocialScope


@StellaSoares disaster tourists - I mean by people who go to the area stand back and watch without lifting a finger / its fashionable!! 26 agosto 2010 16:35:17 via SocialScope in reply to StellaSoares


Totally Detest Disaster Tourists - #pkrelief #pkfloods 26 agosto 2010 16:24:47 via SocialScope (((And I can’t say that I blame him.))


*He may be the brightest and most inventive electronic artist ever. I strongly urge a look at this. Yeah, it will take you all day to parse the sprawling riches of this guy’s unique genius. So what.
*Poetry recitals would be a booming enterprise in Britain if it were willing to transform itself into Somalia. I bet, in Shakespeare’s day, the GNP of Britain was pretty close to modern Somalia. One wonders if other failed-state areas aren’t similarly breeding influential bardic poets; Chechnya, Afghanistan, the floodplains of Pakistan?
(…)
“Portrayed abroad as a land beset by gunmen, pirates and famine, it is also known by those who live there as a Nation of Poets. Somalia had no written language until 1972 and poetry has always been the country’s core form of mass communication - whether the spoken word or, more recently, via cassettes and radios.
“Verse has, in many areas, taken the place of history books, newspapers and television as the main means of spreading news and comment. Poets who have real skill - the true bards - have the power to shape current events and receive both social and political privileges.
“Can we integrate any of these elements into British poetry? Instead of one Laureate, should we have hundreds of bards reflecting the diversity of our nation - people we can turn to for everything from the poetic equivalent of a Times leader to the latest gossip around the parish pump? Can poetry be integrated into our daily lives as successfully as in Somalia? …”
(((Since a picture is worth a thousand words, there’s no Somali bard like a Somali photographer.)))
[changeobserver.designobserver.com]
*Looks like some kind of busted business-deal with a magazine that got leaked to a website. So a couple of pics have surfaced from what was presumably some kind of in-depth interview, or maybe a career re-launch?
*Manipulating the media isn’t as easy at it looks.
(…)
“Tonight the Russian news portal lifenews.ru published a video, in which Chapman, wearing a sequinned turquoise mini-dress, poses with a pair of suitably spy-like dark glasses. In another frame, she sits by the window with the Kremlin’s spires and towers in the background.
(…)
“Since returning to Moscow on 9 July, Chapman has vanished from sight – while making it clear via intermediaries that she was ready to sell her story if the right offer came along. (((I doubt this — Anna’s a hardworking girl, she’s gonna want a job, not just a payoff.)))
“A diplomat’s daughter, Chapman was the most high-profile of 10 Russian “sleepers” arrested in America in June after being caught trying to embed themselves in American society while secretly reporting to the Kremlin and leading double lives.
“The first clue that Chapman was in Moscow surfaced this week when she posted a photo taken during the session on her Facebook page.
“According to lifenews.ru, Heat is now taking legal action against Chapman, accusing her of breach of copyright. It is not clear when the magazine’s exclusive with the 28-year-old spy, who spent several years working in London and is a former employee of Barclays Bank, will appear. (((She’s even getting sued. What gives with that.)))
“It is also uncertain whether Chapman’s employer, Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence service, gave its blessing to the session.
“None of the other nine Russians have broken cover; reports suggest they are being kept at a safe house in the capital….”
(((I’m not expecting much activity on the Chapman front… but I’m not gonna stop waiting and watching, either. Sometimes you just have to crouch inside the duck-blind. For instance, I used to write about Asil Nadir. You probably never heard of him. Awesome guy, though. International mogul, publisher, swindler and spook, Asil’s been hiding in the outlaw Republic of Turkish Cyprus since 1993, and then there’s a change of government in Britain, and, huh, whaa? Asil’s back in action! Wow!)))
(((You know what would be great? An Asil Nadir-Anna Chapman team-up! She becomes his executive secretary! Ailing mogul plus red-headed bombshell. Kind of like IRON MAN II with Tony Stark and Pepper Potts.)))
At ISEA 2010, the International Symposium on Electronic Arts, media artists and media researchers from all over the world present their work in Dortmund (Germany). This year, many projects focus on the relationship between man and nature and man and technology. An overview of contemporary artistic practices of NextNature at ISEA 2010.
For media artists, in short, technology can be a tool, a methodology, an object of research and a thing of beauty in itself. Apart from the creative use of technologies, such as sensors, video-screens, GPS, sound technologies and so on, many works also explicitly question our relationship with technology. Some critically refer to the hidden control and surveillance society and the informational overkill, such as the Sentient City Survival Kit (by Mark Shepard), Desire of Codes (by Seiko Mikami) or Otondro Prohori, Guarding Who (by Naeem Mohaiemen). Other works show our dependence upon technology or explore the autonomy of technology such as Diary of a Cyberbabe (by Anna Gonzalez Suero), Ein Tag Ohne Handy by Eve Arpo & Riin Roos) and Lonely Record Sessions (by Joan Leandre).
Issues of sustainability and climate change are a popular trend – also among media artists. Some art works criticize our urge to control nature, while others show our dependence on technological mediation in these debates. Many try to reinvent our ‘broken’ relationship with nature by either changing its function or its appearance. Plants become musical instruments, adopted children, or are genetically remodifiyied to their ‘original’ state’, such as the project Common Flowers/White Out (by Shiko Fukuhara & Georg Tremmel).The freezing of water or the decomposition of dying leaves are transformed into sound scapes in the works Inhale Exhale; Succesion (by Terike Haapoja) and Permafrost (by Aernoudt Jacobs).
An intriguing project is BioModd by Belgian artist/scientist Angelo Vermeulen. His installations aim to fuse a living ecosystem with a modified computer network. In collaborative workshops with local people from the Philippines, Brasil and Belgium, used computer systems are recycled and turned into interactive sculptures. A nice project that blends biology, electronics, and cross-cultural dialogues.
The art works at ISEA play with the appearance and our sensory interpretation of nature, using technology as a mediator, enabler or criticized object of research. When wandering through the many exhibitions and performances, it seems that contemporary media artists as no-other understand and explore the notion of NextNature in creative and critical ways.
Next week: NextNature at Ars Electronica (Austria).
At ISEA 2010, the International Symposium of Electronic Arts, media artists and media researchers from all over the world present their work in Dortmund (Germany). This year, many projects focus on the relationship between man and nature and man and technology. An overview of contemporary artistic practices of NextNature at ISEA 2010.
For media artists, in short, technology can be a tool, a methodology, an object of research and a thing of beauty in itself. Apart from the creative use of technologies, such as sensors, video-screens, GPS, sound technologies and so on, many works also explicitly question our relationship with technology. Some critically refer to the hidden control and surveillance society and the informational overkill, such as the Sentient City Survival Kit (by Mark Shepard), Desire of Codes (by Seiko Mikami) or Otondro Prohori, Guarding Who (by Naeem Mohaiemen). Other works show our dependence upon technology or explore the autonomy of technology such as Diary of a Cyberbabe (by Anna Gonzalez Suero), Ein Tag Ohne Handy by Eve Arpo & Riin Roos) and Lonely Record Sessions (by Joan Leandre).
Issues of sustainability and climate change are a popular trend – also among media artists. Some art works criticize our urge to control nature, while others show our dependence on technological mediation in these debates. Many try to reinvent our ‘broken’ relationship with nature by either changing its function or its appearance. Plants become musical instruments, adopted children, or are genetically remodifiyied to their ‘original’ state’, such as the project Common Flowers/White Out (by Shiko Fukuhara & Georg Tremmel).The freezing of water or the decomposition of dying leaves are transformed into sound scapes in the works Inhale Exhale; Succesion (by Terike Haapoja) and Permafrost (by Aernoudt Jacobs).
An intriguing project is BioModd by Belgian artist/scientist Angelo Vermeulen. His installations aim to fuse a living ecosystem with a modified computer network. In collaborative workshops with local people from the Philippines, Brasil and Belgium, used computer systems are recycled and turned into interactive sculptures. A nice project that blends biology, electronics, and cross-cultural dialogues.
The art works at ISEA play with the appearance and our sensory interpretation of nature, using technology as a mediator, enabler or criticized object of research. When wandering through the many exhibitions and performances, it seems that contemporary media artists as no-other understand and explore the notion of NextNature in creative and critical ways.
Next week: NextNature at Ars Electronica (Austria).
Click here to view the embedded video.
“Owning the Weather” is a documentary about geo-engineering by Robert Greene. It’s about whether or not we should engineer the weather and the different impacts that this has. And not only because we can, but also because actually we are already doing so.
“There are more than fifty active weather modification programs in the United States alone. Through the eyes of key individuals on the front lines of a crucial but largely unknown debate, the film introduces the cloud seeders struggling for mainstream recognition, the ‘legitimate’ scientists who doubt them, and the activists who decry any attempts to mess with Mother Nature.”
-Source: www.owningtheweather.com
*Now that’s some good clean visionary fun.
(…)
6. Neurocentric Futures
Finally, a bonus “industry,†and the one in which I live and work: foresight and futures studies. Neurocentric futures research is needed because humans have had a very hard time imagining and acting on alternative futures. In many ways our biological brains are stacked against us. We envision the future within the same cognitive frameworks, and brain regions, as our past experience. This makes sense evolutionarily. The lion that ate your friend a year ago will probably try to eat you if you get too close today or tomorrow. But in times of accelerating change and increased uncertainty, where the past is not as useful to understanding a complex and abstract future, our cognitive biases and neurological limitations can lead to personally and socially negative outcomes, as our collective response to climate change illustrates.
A movement of futures research and media techniques, going by the names of experiential futures, design fiction, ambient foresight, and human-futures interaction is attempting to correct for the limitations in how we think about the future. Futurists are designing experiences that bring alternative futures into the present through objects and imagery that we might see in the future, and through participatory scenarios that create a brief scene or lived experience from a possible future.
And we can imagine a future in which the distinct neural patterns of effective foresight can be observed and reproduced reliably, with the hopes that this knowledge can lead to better decisions today, and a better world for current and future generations….
Climate change is often thought to have its winners and losers, with Canada, Nordic countries and Russia being portrayed as among the lucky few chilly nations where moderate climate change could mean net benefits such as lower winter heating bills, more forest, longer crop growth and perhaps more summer tourism.
Russia’s two-month heat wave, which wrecked a quarter of Russia’s grain crop and may cut $14 billion from gross domestic product, is dimming prospects that northern countries will “win” from climate change.
While Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in 2002 joked that less icy weather would enable Russians to buy fewer fur coats, President Dmitry Medvedev now blamed the heat wave on global warming – even though most experts say it is impossible to link individual weather events to climate change.
People in Nordic nations and Canada are becoming aware that climate change will not be a simple blessing for them. Possible damaging side-effects of less chill weather, including the risk to forests and crops of insect pests normally kept in check by winter frosts.
Via Reuters, Thanks to the Canary Project. Image via English Russia.
SPIRAL_WALL: PROCESSING+ARDUINO+SERVO from P&A LAB on Vimeo.
“This project is called “Spiral Wall” which used Processing to control Arduino board. Pressing the keyboard(or mouse) to control the servo to rotate clockwise or counter-clockwise. You can see how the silk-line rotate and make the diversity of the patterns.”
blog: pandalabccc.blogspot.com/2010/07/spiralwall-final-arduino-processing.html
Click here to view the embedded video.
At the beach, I’m always on the look-out for seashells big enough to hold against my ear to hear the sound of the sea. This child-like behavior still resonates with me. But I got really puzzled when I saw this movie on wired.co.uk.
How it it possible that I can look at an installation, created by Nils Völker using 108 plastic bags, two CPU cooling fans. MDF, relays, countless screws and an Arduino controller and all I can think of is the sea?
After getting my permission slips signed, bringing my lunch box and wearing my best casual clothes an excursion was had last week to the Synchrotron. I lie about the packed lunch part, the Rotary club had a sausage sizzle. I kept on asking for hotdogs and the nice old lady kept on correcting me and calling them sausages, a mistake of the vernacular I'll happily admit to. For some reason the tour was laid out in reverse order, beginning at station 13 and ending at station 1. This made the whole machine somewhat harder to understand until the end, despite the huge amount of overly enthusiastic information panels. The amount of information on each station was a tad overkill at times, which only added to the bizarre machinery and their purpose. My stupid camera ran out of batteries as soon as I got there, leaving me with the unfortunate decision to use my phone.Â
Trying to understand the function of each machine was semi-pointless. Not that I didn't understand (to some extent) how it worked, but I merely forgot about it as soon as I moved on to the next station. Treat these photos as they are, meaningless testaments to feats of engineering, technology and scientific understanding.Â
The machinery there is so fantastical, so utterly ridiculously sciencey that no amount of context helps. Does X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy ring a bell? Powder Diffraction? Macromolecular Crystallography? Most likely not. The beauty of the scientific method is the level of reductionism we've reached at this point in time. This stuff makes not one bit of sense to you everyman, but nor should it. It only makes sense to those who have specialised in their field to the point of gibberish. And lordy does this make it interesting for everyone else, at face value at least.Â
I've put these all up on flickr if one were to want a better look.
Nanotechnology has been hailed for its benefits because of the potential ability to create drugs that could cure cancer and radiation poisoning, make miniature pollutant filters resulting in healthier air and even produce better tasting food. Excitement over these benefits has led to corporations heavily investing in the technology for their products.
However, the same properties that allow nanotechnology to be valuable give it the potential to cause unforeseen consequences for ecological and human health. To date, it’s unclear whether the benefits of nanotech outweigh the risks associated with environmental release and exposure to nanoparticles.
Environmental Health News reports that nanoparticles in sunscreens, cosmetics and hundreds of other consumer products may pose risks to the environment by damaging beneficial microbes.
Researchers Cyndee Gruden and Olga Mileyeva-Biebesheimer from the University of Toledo added varying amounts of nanoparticles to water containing bacteria. The bacteria were grown in a lab and stained with a green fluorescent. It turned out the nano-titanium dioxide – also used in personal care products – reduced biological roles of bacteria after less than an hour of exposure. The findings suggest that these particles, which end up at municipal sewage treatment plants after being washed off in showers, could eliminate microbes that play vital roles in ecosystems and help treat wastewater. Oops!
Nanotechnology is yet another example of mankind playing with fire: It requires enormous care and restraint, yet on the other hand, playing with fire is perhaps one of the very special abilities that defines us as humans.
*Ten rough years for the RFID biz… but use-cases always spring anew.
“ThingMagic is a 10-year-old technology company whose core idea seems as fresh today as when it first started. The bad news: that means it may have been too far ahead of its time. The good news: times are changing.
“The Cambridge, MA-based firm was founded by five MIT Media Lab alums, who had the goal of “adding magic to everyday objectsâ€â€”hence the company’s name. This “magic†came in the form of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, which enable wireless communication by way of tiny electronic chips that can be embedded in things, accompanied by readers and software to make sense of what each tagged item is, and track its whereabouts. The big vision was to create an “Internet of things,†so people could retrieve information about the objects around them—everything from product inventory on shelves to stuff in your home, office, or car.
“Sounds a bit far out even today, right? Well, it was far more so in the early 2000s, and the evolution of RFID ever since has been quite a rollercoaster ride. To make a long story short, the technology was strong but its business use was overhyped, so it got stuck on the adoption curve. Tech companies based around RFID have come and gone, but some have endured, such as Alien Technology, Impinj (which I wrote about here), and ThingMagic, which all have raised a fair amount of venture funding.
(((Keenly interesting but rather technical discussion of various things ThingMagic has done to survive, and then:)))
(…)
“OK, with their business issues seemingly under control, I could ask these MIT Ph.D. guys a little more about their grand vision and thinking.
“For instance, are Google, Bing, and other Web search companies getting interested in building a “reality search engine†that incorporates RFID data?
“Google is really interested in mapping, but they haven’t crossed the boundary from the street to the building,†says Maguire. “We’re starting from inside. There should be overlap quite soon.†(((That oughta be news for Katherine Albrecht.)))
Pappu took it a bit further. “Think about all the things you could look for. Think about the calculus of reality,†he says. “There’s a certain scale you can put Wi-Fi on—a laptop, phone. But the next level down does not admit batteries.â€
He’s talking about the idea that tiny sensors could be placed in all of the items you interact with every day, and information from those sensors could feed into a centralized database that keeps track of the physical state of everything in the world.
“The interesting premise is, don’t make any changes to the interface, especially the interface to the human. Let them be how they are, and see how you can do this calculus without affecting them.â€
It’s not really clear yet what the best applications of all this would be. But tying RFID into the exploding sector of location-based services and mobile applications certainly seems intriguing.
You can see this technology as a form of artificial intelligence, Maguire says. “The computer is there observing the world in a very distributed way. Every object is like a little Twitter feed, and something has to make sense of it.†(Depending on whom you ask, that last bit is either the most useful, or most annoying concept ever.)
But back to the founders’ own calculus of reality—specifically, the future of ThingMagic. Pappu and Maguire are squarely focused on their next big deals. Pappu talks about the big opportunities for sensors in healthcare, and posits that within five years, there will be at least one hospital that is completely RFID-enabled.
“Somebody has to place that bet and create that infrastructure, and prove to themselves it’s going to happen,†he says.
Maguire sees at least one short-term business trend that also bodes well. “Scale is one of the things we’re seeing,†he says. “The demand from customers is unprecedented this summer. For the first time, we couldn’t meet demand. 
*Projection mapping in the service of invisibility.
Durchsehen Exp. 01 (Docu) from Daniel Franke on Vimeo.
By Daniel Franke ( daniel-franke.com ) and Markus Kison ( markuskison.de ).
“Durchsehen, Exp. 01 (augmented perspective)
“D-2010. Concrete cube, PC, 2 projectors, webcam, servo motors, microcontrollers, C++ applications, tripods. 4 x 4 x 2 m.
“A camera fixed on the concrete cube sculpture recognizes the presence of human faces within its scope. With a randomized choice it will focus on one of the bystanders and adjust its movement to his; tracking the eye movements of the viewer, a software computes the corresponding angle of view projecting onto the cube the very section of the space the sculpture is blocking from the viewers eye; thus making the cube appear transparent….”
*Liking the haptic add-on that the sandpile provides.
Glowing Pathfinder Bugs from squidsoup on Vimeo.
“Glowing Pathfinder Bugs, a playful piece by Squidsoup commissioned by Folly, has been shown at several Portable Pixel Playground events in 2008 and 2009.
“The bugs analyse the shape (topography) of the sand around them, preferring to move gently downhill. This means they can be shepherded, enclosed within walls of sand, encouraged to meet each other (at which point strange metamorphoses happen; they merge into larger caterpillars then, if you’re lucky, into butterflies). If they get frightened, the pop and disappear. And with kids, this is what happens most often…
“More info:”
squidsoup.org/bugs
folly.co.uk/node/1358
(((This more recent Squidsoup effort is also quite jolly.)))
*Nobel Prize winners are always being asked to pontificate about stuff they know nothing about, but German literary composition is something Gunter Grass, in fact, knows rather a lot about.
(…)
SPIEGEL: Then you must be filled with dismay over developments in the book market. Sales of electronic books are growing rapidly in the United States.
Grass: I don’t believe that this spells the end of the book. It will assume a different value. Mass production will be reduced, and the book will once again take on the appearance of an object worth keeping and passing on to our children.
SPIEGEL: Can you imagine “Grimms’ Words” on an iPad?
Grass: Hardly. But I’ve also reached an agreement with my publisher that none of my books will be made available for that until a law protecting authors becomes effective. I can only advise every author to develop just as much self-confidence in this relationship.
SPIEGEL: Are you calling for a protest?
Grass: I would like to put a stop to this movement toward reading on computers, but it seems that nobody can do this. Nevertheless, the drawbacks of the electronic process are already apparent during the writing of the manuscript. Most young authors write directly on their computers, and then edit and work in their files. In my case, on the other hand, there are many preliminary steps: a handwritten version, two that I’ve typed myself on my Olivetti typewriter and, finally, several copies of versions that my secretary has input into the computer and printed out, and into which I’ve incorporated many handwritten corrections. These steps are lost when you write directly on the computer.
SPIEGEL: Don’t you feel old-fashioned with your Olivetti?
Grass: No. On the computer, a text always looks somehow finished, even if it’s far from it. That’s tempting. I usually write the first, handwritten version all at once, and when there’s something I don’t like I leave a blank space. I fill these gaps in the Olivetti version, and because of that thoroughness, the text also acquires a certain long-windedness. In the ensuing versions, I try to combine the originality of the first version with the accuracy of the second one. With this slow approach, there’s less of a risk of slickness and arbitrariness creeping in.
SPIEGEL: Has your language changed over the decades nevertheless?
Grass: At first, I tried to pull out all the stops. When I wrote “The Tin Drum,” “Cat and Mouse” and “Dog Years,” it was a time when many older authors felt that the German language should never be allowed to be used to excess again….
via @nilanjanaroy
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