Loosely Assembled » technology

Plugging in with Fingers and Eyes

fekaylius — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:29:50 +0000

Jim Stogdill writes very well about a compelling theme in his article entitled Skinner Box? There’s an App for That. I would have to sum it up as being about the nature of distraction in today’s networked world, and our role in its continuation.

There are a few tantalizing snippets that I just have to share hoping to lure you into reading the whole thing, if you can focus long enough.

A self licking ice cream cone of the mind
We’re pre-implant so I plug into the Skinner Borg with fingers and eyes
The very technology that makes our collective integration possible also distracts us from advancing it

(Via @timoreilly.)

Exponentially Exponential – A Thrilling Video About The Future

fekaylius — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 03:58:29 +0000

Wonderfully exciting presentation of the way in which our future is really going to change. If this video thrills you, you are aligned with the general values of NINE, that putting the brakes on is not a viable response to our new era.

Ok, the one bit that catches me as being potentially spun is the very last line about illegal downloads (can that stat even be justifiably estimated anyway?).

Thanks Garth

Human Ear is a Super Radio with 3500 Channels

fekaylius — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 06:20:54 +0000

It’s pretty amazing that simply looking outside our own fabricated restrictions can yield something so seemingly innovative. The article also has a video interview with this professor.

The chip is faster than any human-designed radio-frequency spectrum analyzer and also operates at much lower power.
“The cochlea quickly gets the big picture of what’s going on in the sound spectrum,” said Sarpeshkar. “The more I started to look at the ear, the more I realized it%u2019s like a super radio with 3,500 parallel channels.”

Via @mocost.

When Virtual and Actual Worlds Collide

fekaylius — Fri, 15 May 2009 18:26:24 +0000

(Via turbulence.org.)

Shooting Lasers Through the Earth

fekaylius — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 00:12:47 +0000

IF YOU shine a laser on the floor, where does the light go? With the right preparation, some of it might pop out at the other side of the world – an effect that could be exploited to transmit secret messages through the ground.

(Via New Scientist.)

Hacker Camp in a Missile Silo

fekaylius — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:09:53 +0000

toorcamp

On How to Speak Anonymously in Public: A Hacker’s Guide

Amory Lovins’ home

fekaylius — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 22:22:05 +0000

Super efficient when it comes to electricity use and heating/cooling technology.

(Via Remodeling Amory Lovins’ home | Yahoo! Green.)

Making New Realities

fekaylius — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 21:52:12 +0000

Learning to Make Your Own Reality – IGDA Education Keynote 2009

View more presentations from avantgame.

Struktable

fekaylius — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:04:25 +0000

via: vimeo

Virtually Yours

fekaylius — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:56:44 +0000

“We want to make a computer-generated body feel like your body,” says Ehrsson. The ultimate aim is to make the virtual world feel real.

(Via Body illusions: The virtual body – life – 21 March 2009 – New Scientist.)

GlitchBrowser

fekaylius — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 06:19:24 +0000

(Via dmtr.org . dimitre lima / GlitchBrowser.)

Exporting iMovie 09 Project to DV Camcorder

fekaylius — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 01:27:44 +0000

Ok, you ended up with iMovie 09 somehow, but need to get your movie onto a miniDV tape. How will you do this? 09 seems to have dispensed with the “export/save to camera” option that older versions had.

After a bunch of trial and error, here’s how I was able to get the job done.

Export your movie as a DV Stream (your_movie.dv)
Move that .dv file to a Mac that has a different version of iMovie (HD is what my friend had)
Create a new iMovie project that is compatible with the camera you plan to export to (I think iMovie HD was defaulting to an HD format, which my (borrowed) camera didn’t support, so I had to do this twice).
Import your_movie.dv into the new project, and make sure it’s in the timeline. (this step was much slower than I expected, for a 1 minute video, it took ~ 7 minutes, so anything significant might be painful)
Save/Export to camera…

Always double check that the tape has the video, and that it’s formatted properly, audio, aspect ration, etc.

Evolution of Space Suits Gallery

fekaylius — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 03:41:11 +0000

The Apollo suit had to be relatively light so that astronauts could move around in the Moon’s gravity and weighed about 180 lbs.

(Via Gallery: The evolution of the spacesuit – Image 5 – New Scientist.)

Related posts:
space collective gallery

Putting evolutionary theory into practice

Drawdio: Turn Almost Anything Into a Theremin

fekaylius — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 23:19:05 +0000

via: youtube

wow, so hackable, so rad

Thurlow’s Poltergeist

fekaylius — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 21:29:12 +0000

also, his blue bag video is well worth watching, if you feel like letting your anxiety level rise

(Via worms.)

Tweet Your Watts

fekaylius — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 08:31:59 +0000

Follow that thing here

(Via MAKE: Blog: Tweet-a-watt – our entry for the Core77 & Greener Gadgets design competition.)

Prix Ars Electronica – time to submit

fekaylius — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 20:44:47 +0000

Dear Friend and Participant of Prix Ars Electronica,

The 23rd Prix Ars Electronica – International Competition for CyberArts is open for entries now!

We kindly invite you to submit your latest projects! If you know any further interesting works we’ll be happy to get your recommendation!

Prix Ars Electronica 2009
Online Submission Deadline: March 6, 2009
Contact: info@prixars.aec.at
Total Prize Money: € 122.500,-
Categories: Computer Animation / Film / VFX; Digital Musics; Interactive Art; Hybrid Art; Digital Communities; [the next idea] Grant; Media.Art.Research Award; u19 – freestyle computing

More details about all categories and online submission are available only online at: http://prixars.aec.at

DIGITAL COMMUNITIES

The Digital Communities category is open to political, social and cultural projects, initiatives, groups and scenes from all over the world that display contentious commitment in coming up with smart, successful ways of deploying digital technologies to solve social problems. Particular emphasis is placed on a project’s degree of community innovation, its sustainability and its use of technology in a way that makes good sense and is attuned to the needs of the people meant to benefit from it. Digital Communities projects should make it easier for people to access technology, networks and the Digital Commons. We explicitely encourage community-related net.art projects to submit.

Please feel free to forward this to all interesting/ed parties.

With best regards,
Bianca Petscher on the behalf of the Prix Ars Electronica 2009 Team

Bianca Petscher
Producer Prix Ars Electronica
—————————————
Ars Electronica Linz GmbH
Hauptstraße 2-4
4040 Linz, Austria
Phone: 0043-732-7272-79
Fax: 0043-732-7272-674

abn or mal

fekaylius — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 17:51:18 +0000

going beyond what i can say, abnormal behavior child is making a great something!

More Monkey Tools

fekaylius — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 23:09:09 +0000

Just have to love it when animals use tools.

via new scientist

Cybernetic Government

fekaylius — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 05:39:32 +0000

We are fast approaching a time when human intelligence will be incapable of interacting with the rapidly occurring events in the physical world. The associative system of the human mind is far too simple to handle and put to practical use the voluminous information needed to operate a highly technical and advanced world society. The processing required would have to handle trillions of bits of information per second, far too complex for human systems to handle, particularly with the infusion of nanotechnology.

The Venus Project calls for a cybernated society in which computers could replace the outmoded system of electing politicians that in most cases represent the entrenched vested interests. This new technology will not dictate or monitor individual’s lives, as in The Venus Project this would be consider socially offensive and counterproductive. Books such as 1984 and Brave New World, and motion pictures such as Blade-Runner and Terminator 2 have spawned fear in some people regarding the takeover of technology in our society. The Venus Project’s only purpose is to elevate the spiritual and intellectual potential of all people, while at the same time providing the goods and services that will meet their individual and material needs.