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February 4, 2006

The Times on art, neuroscience and self-harm

razor_blade.jpgToday's Times has two short but interesting articles in its 'body and soul' section, both of which are available online: one on the neuroscience of art and another on self-harm.

Mark Lythgoe is a neuroscientist at University College London who has been involved in art / science projects for over a decade. He discusses the possible neural basis for why Dan Flavin's minimalist light-based artwork has such appeal.

The article on self-harm is inspired by a new book by Carolyn Smith, based on her own experiences of self-harm and recovery. It discusses the phenomenon, its emotional impact, and includes advice if you find out someone you know has self-harmed.


Link to article 'The light fantastic'.
Link to article 'Unkindest cut of all'.

Alan Watts Podcast

Rumor mill was right: Armstrong, Crow split

Statesman.com | Lance and Sheryl are no more

The Austin American-Statesman reports that “a spokesman for Armstrong's agent” confirmed that the pop-singer and the retired 7-time Tour winner have called it quits.

“After much thought and consideration we have made a very tough decision to split up,” the couple said in a joint statement. “We both have a deep love and respect for each other, and we ask that everyone respect our privacy during this very difficult time.”

Also:

ESPN.com | Armstrong, Crow announce they're breaking up

Flickr Coincidences

An all-time favorite thread in FlickrCentral is the legendary Flickr Coincidences (you have to read 'em to believe 'em). There something about the unexpected connection — where it is neither interacting with someone you knew "in real life" nor meeting someone online: it's a strange and unlikely and usually wonderful crossover point.

The Löbmann Family So a few days ago I was delighted to hear that Liz Lawley,  a friend from around the web, told a story that started with "In the fall of 2004, I posted on Flickr a series of century-old photos of my father's side of the family that he had scanned into digital form," and ended with:

My dad and I are totally astounded and delighted by this Flickr-fuelled family reunion, and I'm thinking about trying to find a time to take a trip down to Brazil to meet some of my long-lost cousins.

So, how cool is that?

  How cool is that indeed!? Read her whole blog post for more.

Firing Squad [Flickr]

weevil posted a photo:

Firing Squad

aubreyedwards.com

February 3, 2006

Neat "center of gravity" calculator for Google Earth

Neat "center of gravity" calculator for Google Earth. Inspired by Cory's map of the center of gravity of Manhattan's Starbucks.

RB on CSI

Here is another view of what it looked like when Amanda showed up on CSI last night from 2 of our servers:

Welcome Squid Overlords

welcomesquidoverlords.jpg

Take me to your leader.

Monday night I heard the most esteemed and funny neurologist Oliver Sacks speak at Columbia (he is a super naturalist: into ferns, squids, cuttlefish and stereopsis). It was a fascinating lecture, but his Welcome Squid Overlords shirt transfixed me. It was so strange, I had to find its meaning. Was it from an episode of Star Wars that I had missed? I need to sport one at all times.

With a little help from the internet, I found Mike Monteiro, the Creative Director of Mule Design and the creator of the overlord shirt. He is just trying to make squids a little more user-friendly.

He said that he and his son Henry were watching a Discovery Channel program about what animals might look like in the future and it theorized that cephalopods are best poised to be the next dominant species on the planet. Wow! Move over Cockroaches! Then he read that the squid biomass had surpassed the human biomass on Earth. That means that there are more squids than people. We have to make them feel comfortable. The only way to do that is to stop eating calamari and by wearing “Welcome Squid Overlords” clothing.

Get it for $20 from Mule Design.

Apple's patented the Tablet Mac (part II)

Wow. How long have I wanted this? Also from the diagrams it looks like it is much moch human-centred than tablets that require a stylus and perfect pointing... it looks gestural, casual...

And we shall call it "maclet" -dj

Video of Isaiah Rider's 1994 Dunk Competition Victory

This video clip is famous for the "East Bay Funk Dunk." But the main attraction to me is Rider following it up by telling TNT "I gotta love myself for that."

The Quiet Revolution

The Quiet Revolution, a vibration-free silent wind turbine developed by XCO2, slated for its first installation this March (2006), could produce 10,000 kWh per year at an average wind speed of 5.8 m/s.

The Popsicle Cartel

great unhinged craig's list rant on popsicles

Awwwstrich!

You will thank me for this being one of your first forays into the world this morning. Volume turned up please.

awwwstrich1.jpg

awwwstrich2.jpg

awwwstrich3.jpg

awwwstrich4.jpg

What Could Have Been.

Something caught my eye on Amazon UK that made me smile and wince at the same time.

Keeping SSH Sessions Alive

Scott Merrill writes in to say:

I noticed recently that ssh connections from my Ubuntu laptop to my
Debian server would time out and disconnect if I left the connection
idle for a long-ish period of time. This really annoyed me, because my
Debian desktop does not exhibit this behavior when connecting to the server.

I added the following line to /etc/ssh/ssh_config :
ServerAliveInterval 5

That seems to have fixed the problem, and my laptop can now remain
connected, though idle, to my server. Maybe this will help someone
else, too.

What this does, essentially is every 5 seconds, the client sends a small keep-alive packet to the server to make it look like the ssh connection is being actively used. The reason for Scott’s timeout could be a NAT firewall that seeks to minimize the nember of active connections to reduce its memory footprint, or to improve performance for other clients. Most firewalls and networks let you keep your connections alive for as long as you wish, but some may act up, and that’s when you can use Scott’s trick.

Tip: Change 5 to 240 or 300, so that instead of every 5 seconds, the keep-alive signal is sent only once in 4 or 5 minutes :)

Sorry it took me so long to post this useful tip, Scott.

Surveillance Prompts a Suit: Police v. Police

N.Y.P.D. officers are charging that the police procedures at their demonstrations violated their First Amendment rights.

This will make you chuckle...


Following my recent post of geeky Waka, Dav made this addition to one of the pictures.

Writing Ruby Extensions with RubyCocoa | RubyCocoa Documentation

Seen On The Streets of Duesseldorf, Germany

lesduss.jpg

Artist: "LET"

February 2, 2006

Test-Driving X11 GUIs

Brought-en 2

david posted a photo:

Brought-en 2

It may be a long night.

sigur rós live bittorrents

A fantastic sigur rós (legal) live performance bittorrent tracker sent to to me by Darren who co-runs the sigur-rós.co.uk site (which I've mentioned before for it's enlightened attitude to sharing live music), has a cool blog and is possibly the only Irish person who can speak Finnish (even as I write that I know it's going to come back and bite me).

Posted to

thursday, 6pm PST/9pm EST

Sources have confirmed that MoveOn is planning to use our map application tonight, at 6pm PST / 9pm EST. It's the one we presented at Where 2.0.

Go have a look!

Update, 5:30pm...

This. Is. Hilarious.

This. Is. Hilarious.

Joaquin Phoenix Pulled from Car Wreck by Director Werner Herzog - Los Angeles Times

Phoenix said he was thrown into the passenger seat when his vehicle rolled onto its roof. In the aftermath, the actor said he felt "a bit confused."

"I remember this knocking on the passenger window," said Phoenix. "There was this German voice saying, 'Just relax.' There's the air bag, I can't see and I'm saying, 'I'm fine. I am relaxed.'

"Finally, I rolled down the window and this head pops inside. And he said, 'No, you're not.' And suddenly I said to myself, 'That's Werner Herzog!' There's something so calming and beautiful about Werner Herzog's voice. I felt completely fine and safe. I climbed out."

Link

Mobile phone puzzle scores tracked online

service_MobileSudoku_64.gif The Guardian Unlimited and Solid State have announced the launch of a new Sudoku league which lets players solve puzzles on their mobile phones and submit scores to compete head-to-head in the online league. [via Tom Hume]

How'd They Do That? #3 - Faith71, Hetzer, and Mke Clark Collaborative Wall

From Mike Clark comes this "How'd They Do That?" animation. The wall was painted by Faith71, Hetzer, and Mke on Faith71's roof terrace.

mikehow.jpg
(Click above to view)

This Flickr user really likes photos of people at the dentist

This Flickr user really likes photos of people at the dentist. This one's my favorite. (via janelle)

Akira Kurosawa Poster Cards

Would spend ages watching them (his movies i mean). This way!

card15.jpg

Via Rashomon.

PerplexCity map

Perplexcitymap

Compiled from clues and sites...

Pretty, isn't it? See the draggable, clickable, zoomable, whole thing (to date) here.

XML.com: Fun with Amazon's Simple Queue Service

could be used as a tile server for example

Google's Submission to the Congressional Human Rights Caucus

This is the statement from Google counsel Andrew McLaughlin. It's pretty comprehensive. It reviews Google's approach, and states:

"We believe that our continued engagement with China is the best (and perhaps only) way for Google to help bring the tremendous benefits of universal information access to all our users there."

and

"Google supports the idea of Internet industry action to define common principles to guide technology firms’ practices in countries that restrict access to information. Together with colleagues at other leading Internet companies, we are actively exploring the potential for Internet industry guidelines, not only for China but for all countries in which Internet content is subjected to governmental restrictions. Such guidelines might encompass, for example, disclosure to users, and reporting about governmental restrictions and the measures taken in response to them."

I'd be very keen to hear about progress on this front.

And lastly, the statement concludes:

"There is an important role for the United States government to address, in the context of its bilateral government-to-government relationships, the larger issues of free expression and open communication. For example, as a U.S.-based company that deals primarily in information, we have urged the United States government to treat censorship as a barrier to trade."

Good luck there, guys.

Responses to People on the 6 Train That Hopefully Convey My Feelings in a Polite Way

Responses to People on the 6 Train That Hopefully Convey My Feelings in a Polite Way. "Thank you for so gently cupping my ass when we came to a stop."
Update: The author of this list has a blog with some quick-witted observations of NYC. (thx, robert)

Perl 5.8.8 released

nicholas writes "The Perl 5 developer team is pleased to announce the Perl Release 5.8.8, the eighth maintenance release of Perl 5.8. The CPAN ftp multiplexor will pick a mirror close to you, if you select either bz2 (10123359 bytes) or gz (12829188 bytes) here; or, you can choose your own from one of the 272 CPAN mirrors worldwide. "

Overheard: Burritos

"Fuck that shit, man. I still love New York better. Every single time people from Frisco compare cities with New York, you fools bring up your stupid burritos! Well I got news for you: our burritos are catching up."

C.L.A.V.E

Performance Collaboration through Virtual and Physical Space in max msp and jitter

NODE.London - Networked, Open, Distributed, Events. London - March 2006



NODE.London [Networked, Open, Distributed, Events. London] brings about a citywide cluster of events to ‘mark the ascension of Media Arts as the popular culture activity for London’.

Thomas Hawk's Digital Connection: An Open Letter to Myra Borshoff Cook, Tour Organizer for Jack Kerouac's On the Road Manuscript Scroll

Giant

Giant

One of my favorite graffiti writers of all time, hands down is Mike Giant, aka GIANT ONE. He’s got clean lines, bold colors, and a style that is hard to come by in the graff world: original. Thus, it makes sense that he would make one incredible tattoo artist as well. I’ve been told that he does his blackbook drawings without sketching it out. Just straight up amazing Sharpie skills. One talented guy. Oh, and I would suggest you check out his Skullz Press Compendium in his store section.

UPDATE: Mike has a blog with some great photos outlining some of his tattoo work as well as creating a nice piece on a wall for a friend of his. Check it: Count Trackula. (Thanks, Chris!)

Circles

Mobile Phone as Mouse

Kento Miyaoku, a research engineer of NTT and a visiting researcher at the University of Columbia, developed a technology called C-Blink, which makes mobile phone screen blink with different colors to control external devices (such as a large public display integrated with an image sensor). With this technology, people can for example use mobile phones as a mouse to move pointers on a public display. [reBlogged from WMMNA]

The GNE Mystery, a pre-Flickr interactive fiction game by Cal Henderson

Cal said I'm the first person to ever beat the game without hints  

Mars Rover Update: Sliding Into 'Home Plate', Onward To Victoria Crater

NASA's revered Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, are both on a roll toward new scientific objectives, but two years into their mission, the twin robots are each showing their age.

Cool composite photo of playing in the snow

Cool composite photo of playing in the snow. Take a look at the large size for the full effect.

Nam June Paik Memorial Services

Memorial services for Nam June Paik will be held in New York City Frank E Campbell Funeral Chapel 1076 Madison Avenue at 81 St. (phone 212-288-3500) in Manhattan, New York City, this Friday, February 3rd, at 3 PM. There will be a viewing at the same location on Thursday from ...

rb_06_feb_02

story links: ostrich mash via the huffington post aol contagious festival (thanks, kenyatta!) music by el-p, the sound of young america radio show podcast (direct mp3 link), csi, comment of the week by vinvin, andy carvin uses duct-tape to clean carpet [prior references 1, 2,3], broke mac mountain by mighty mcpilgrim

Awwwstrich! Awwwstrich!

Outsourcing to India No Longer a Bargain

If you're an IT business owner looking to offshore some of your work to cut costs, India may no longer be the best place to look.

High staff turnover and rising wages in India are prompting US and European businesses to look elsewhere to outsource -- namely to China, despite concerns about protection of intellectual property rights there. Says SAP CEO Henning Kagermann, "India is slowly getting expensive... We have decided to hire a certain number there, and then start looking at other locations."

In addition to the fact that businesses are realizing that offshoring is not a panacea to cut costs, and that process improvements at home can often yield as much or greater savings, outsourcing hubs such as India and (eventually) China will invariably become more costly as the laws of supply and demand play out, and the talent pools becomes stretched. Other less-costly regions will likely emerge, but they will need to offer clients the right mix of low-cost talent, technical savvy, easy accessibility, and political stability. India, meanwhile, will likely remain a key outsourcing destination, but because of its tech-savvy, English speaking workforce rather than low costs.

Sources: Techdirt, Network World

Microsoft Offers Its Own Online Option for the Poor

The idea of being the Henry Ford of global computing -- that is, creating an online device that nearly anyone on the planet could afford -- is very appealing these days. Perhaps inspired by the MIT Media Laboratory's $100 computer concept, Microsoft's Bill Gates is pitching the idea of a "cellular PC," a cell phone that could be converted to a PC by hooking it to a keyboard and TV... and that would be running Windows software, of course.

Originally, the MIT Media Lab sought agreements with both Microsoft and Apple to run their software on its $100 laptops. But when talks fell through in both cases, the Media Lab turned to the open source Linux operating system.

Gates contends that a cell phone would be an even cheaper solution than the $100 laptop, though no prices have been announced.

Developing such a device and making it successful is more than just a nice, altruistic idea. Because Bill Gates was effectively the Henry Ford of American computing, Microsoft products are nearly ubiquitous in US homes and businesses. Bringing that power to a global audience would provide the dominant device maker with untold opportunity for growth and profits.

Source: New York Times

February 1, 2006

Ted, Where Should I Host My Website?

"Where should I host my website? is a question I get a lot. Requested needs range from personal to small business to massive business plan estimations. So with no further ado here are my answers to where I would recommend you find hosting."

Tagged, at last

Thanks, AXT.

Four jobs I've had:

  1. hostess at Sanitary Restaurant
  2. barista
  3. inbound call center sales, selling internet dial-up access
  4. project manager

Four movies I can watch over and over:

  1. Amelie
  2. In the Mood for Love
  3. Babe
  4. Monsters, Inc

Four places I've lived:

  1. Cary, NC
  2. Atlanta, GA
  3. Adelaide, Australia
  4. New York, NY

Four TV shows I love:

  1. The Office (UK)
  2. Extras
  3. Six Feet Under
  4. Lost

Four places I've vacationed:

  1. Cape Cod
  2. Lake Tahoe
  3. Barcelona, Spain
  4. Taipei, Taiwan

Four of my favorite dishes:

  1. dumplings, esp. soup dumplings
  2. my roast chicken
  3. N. Carolina barbecue and hush puppies
  4. noodle soup

Four sites I visit daily:

  1. Flickr
  2. Livejournal
  3. NYTimes.com
  4. kottke.org

Four places I'd rather be right now:

  1. New York, NY
  2. New York, NY
  3. New York, NY
  4. somewhere with real weather

You're it!

O'Reilly Radar > Google Maps Extension for GeoRSS

Rails Migration Cheat Sheet

Strich Armstrong

The Huffington Post's Contagious Media Festival launched today, and my early favorite is Awwwwstrich. It's only thirty seconds and well worth your time. In fact, I claim that if you watch it twenty times it's a good use of ten minutes.

Ostrich! Ostrich!

Blackpool Tower

Another member of the World Federation of Great Towers is Blackpool Tower on the famous seaside Promenade. Obviously inspired by the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Blackpool’s version also features Britain’s highest post box and the ‘Walk of Faith’ glass floor, a two inch clear panel that looks straight down to the ground 158m below.

Just to the south is Coral Island, a pirate-themed amusement arcade with some Large Type on the roof to advertise to those visiting the Tower.

Thanks: Craig & Tom

Taking the Charge

82games.com ranks those best at drawing offensive fouls (with certain caveats--they're missing some little chunks of data, but who cares?). The resulting list is a wonderfully gritty set of players, led by Raja Bell and Jarron Collins. Rounding out the top ten are Andres Nocioni, Mike Dunleavy, Nenad Krstic, Allen Iverson, Desmond Mason, Kurt Thomas, Shane Battier, and Andrew Bogut.

82games notes something interesting though: drawing these fouls may not be the best way to win, it seems.

...it's worth noticing that of the top ten teams in offensive fouls drawn, only one of the six powerhouse clubs at the moment (.600+ winning pct) are in the list, and the mighty Pistons are actually 4th from the bottom. Indeed, a bunch of the top ten are likely to miss the playoffs!

RSS Advisory Board Goes Public

Rogers Cadenhead:

A new era begins today for the RSS Advisory Board, an independent organization formed in 2003 that publishes the Really Simple Syndication (RSS) specification, helps developers create RSS applications and broadens public understanding of the format.

The board is taking on eight new members: Meg Hourihan, Loïc Le Meur, Eric Lunt, Ross Mayfield, Jenny Levine, Randy Charles Morin, Greg Reinacker and Dave Sifry.

I’m glad to see this happen. I was on the first iteration of this board, along with Dave Winer and Jon Udell. A larger board is probably a good idea.

(Note that Greg Reinacker, one of the new board members, is the founder and CTO of NewsGator, where I work.)

(Fans of Mac Developer Extreme Trivia(tm) will recall that I did technical editing on Rogers’ book Radio UserLand Kick Start. (The only time I ever did technical editing on a book.))

15 RZA Videos

The Disappearing Act

What happened to Weldon Kees?

America slowly starts to wise up

Last night's State of the Union address saw our President somewhat less ambitious and cocky than in earlier speeches. Alessandra Stanley thought he looked "defensive". And as AP found during interviews with viewers across the country, Bush has good...

Plagiarism - or web 2.0 in action?

Top Ten Sources takes posts from RSS feeds and aggregates them in full for the public to see. Some take offence; some say it goes beyond expected usage; some call it plagiarism - others say it's legal, that detractors should get a life or are even thinking about investing. Some people don't appear to want their RSS feeds to be aggregated at all. Will this discussion set blogging policy for the future? Or will it block the web 2.0 pipe?

Parasitic Subway Projector

Parasitic Subway Projector: High concept German art students cram a Mac mini and a projector into a suitcase and mount it to the side of a subway car with suction cups. The resulting images, projected onto the tunnel walls, make for a fascinating work of public art. [QuickTime] Link via: The Unofficial Mac Weblog

Laser-etched PowerBooks

Laser-etched PowerBooks.

Nam June Paik

namjunepaik.gif

[Quicktime video] In memoriam Nam June Paik 1932 – 2006:
»There is no rewind button on the Betamax of life.«