randomwalks/dj

The thinning ranks

The Blazers' already depleted roster was even thinner Saturday at practice as guard Juan Dixon, forward/center Brian Skinner and center...

Originally from Behind the Blazers Beat, on March 11, 2006 11:13 PM

Pragmatic Rails Studio Comes to Portland

Mike Clark and Dave Thomas are bringing the Rails Studio to the Pacific Northwest. This is an excellent chance for anybody in this neck of the woods to get their hands deep into Rails. As well, if you're looking to check out a Rails Studio but aren't in this part of the country, come on out! Portland is a great city to visit and we've got lots to see and do. [link]

Originally from James Duncan Davidson, on March 11, 2006 11:13 PM

Aperture at ETech

4 days. Over 1200 people. Over 2000 images. Over 25GB of Data. 160 images posted to Flickr. 2 camera bodies. 3 flashes. 4 memory cards. 1 dual-core G5. Those are just a few of the statistics behind last week's photo shoot at ETech. But, more significant for me beyond the numbers is—now that I've been shooting the O'Reilly conferences for a year—how my tools have changed. The biggest tool changes have been in post-production. I've used several different workflows and found problems with all of them. All the while while suffering through broken workflows, I played around with thoughts of how to make the things better. And then, as a huge fall surprise, Apple provided what looked, at least on paper, like just the ticket the form of Aperture. [essay]

Originally from James Duncan Davidson, on March 11, 2006 11:13 PM

Understanding Infrastructure

If you want to understand the secret lives of cities, you have to look at the infrastructure that supports them. Infrastructure may not exactly be urban destiny, but the sunk costs we've invested in roads, sewers, pipes and wires exert tremendous influence over the kinds of urban innovations (like smart grids) we in the developed world can, in any realistic way, adopt. In other ways, the lack of established infrastructure in developing world cities both restrains and enables new possibilities.

One of the barriers to change here is that infrastructure is often hidden from our eyes, by choice or inattention. Because of this, resources which open our eyes to the systems which support us are inherently worldchanging. Explaining infrastructure is a form of making visible the invisible.

Geoff Manaugh has posted two excellent pieces illuminating New York's water system and the (heavily engineered)workings of the San Francisco Bay. I've been the San Francisco Bay Hydrological Model he profiles in the second post, and, while I am admittedly a geek for this stuff, I found it both riveting and revealing in a way that many digital tools sometimes are not. GIS-based mapping is obviously a wonderful tool for grokking systems, but there's something about physical models which appeals in a deeply visceral way.

Both posts are worth reading. Any other suggestions for insightful explorations of urban infrastructure?

(Posted by Alex Steffen in Pulling Back the Curtain Information and Knowledge Resources at 06:53 PM)

Originally posted by Alex Steffen from WorldChanging: Another World Is Here, on March 11, 2006 11:10 PM

KartMatch

Ning-powered app for finding other Mario Kart friendcodes. Fun!

Originally posted by infovore from del.icio.us/inbox/djacobs, on March 11, 2006 11:09 PM

Your Home: Wireless Web Access for Every Tenant

If a hotel can offer customers wireless Internet access, why can't co-ops and condominiums?

Originally from NYT > Technology, on March 11, 2006 06:05 PM

stamen design | beautiful things that build themselves

another proj from friends at stamen

Originally posted by anselm from del.icio.us/inbox/djacobs, on March 11, 2006 02:56 PM

Whitney Biennial PreReview No. 2

AFC sez, about the current Whitney Biennial:
It's hard to get past the feeling that rather than examining current trends, Biennial curators Chrissie Ilse and Philippe Vergne began with a set of concerns they were interested in and then sought out artists who met those interests. There's nothing necessarily wrong with this, but it does strike me as an intensely egotistical practice to be making the claim that contemporary art making is about the things you happen to be interested in. Old school political activism is not the pulse of nation.

Despite impressive resumes, having heard Ilse and Vergne speak I find it hard to believe the curators had a real understanding of what inspired the work they managed to find. The most engaging art in the show often used recycled imagery, or constructed fictional narratives, and the curators forward increased travel as the explanation for this phenomenon. I guess artists with nominal pre-Whitney success are making a lot more money than I knew, because I just assumed travel was as much a credit risk to these people as it is to me.
Hear, hear. No, I still haven't seen the show--take this for what it's worth as a preReview. An artist friend who had a frustrating studio visit from Vergne and Iles reports that they didn't look with their eyes, or even their ears, but with their mouths. And what is it with Europeans and the fucking spirit of '68? Catherine David took that same tack with Documenta a while back. Yes, a wild liberating time for young Parisians, running wild in the streets, believing for a few moments in the possibility of universal socialism---GET OVER IT! I mean, Deep Dish TV? As much of their politics as I might agree with, what they do isn't art, it's political activist media. This is like Larry Rinder touching Rural Studio with the curatorial magic wand a few years ago and saying "I have the power to make you an artist." It's just not fair to people who do art 24/7 and deserve some comprehension. OK, I will shut up until I see the show. We're quibbling about the themes and the people, not the work.

Originally posted by tom moody from Tom Moody, on March 11, 2006 02:55 PM

85% of U.S. troops in Iraq said the U.S. mission is mainly “to retaliate for Saddam’s role in the 9-11 attacks”

85% of U.S. troops in Iraq said the U.S. mission is mainly “to retaliate for Saddam’s role in the 9-11 attacks”. Says a survey of 944 military personnel in January and February 2006.

Originally from Social Design Notes, on March 11, 2006 08:24 AM

SXSW2006 Panel

I'm on a panel on quitting work and getting your own thing going later today (Saturday @ 5PM). Hopefully, I'll have some insightful contributions to make. We have a site for the panel where we've gathered some links and will be putting up info.

Originally from random($foo), on March 11, 2006 08:23 AM

How to pitch an idea [del.icio.us]

"This essay provides a primer on idea pitches, and although most of my experience is in the tech-sector, I pitch to you that the advice here will be relevant to pitching business plans, yourself (e.g. job interviews), screenplays, or anything else."

Originally from random($foo), on March 11, 2006 08:23 AM

American Express - Small Business Information [del.icio.us]

A nuts and bolts guide and some tools for helping to start a small business

Originally from random($foo), on March 11, 2006 08:23 AM

Street Art Exhibition This Week in Slovenia

Next week the first ever international streetart exhibition will open in Slovenia. It features a terrific group of artists from around the world including Space Invader from France, Flying Fortress from Germany, M-city from Poland, and The London Police from the Netherlands. The local Coatian artists will include Filjio & Kenova and the Slovene artists Lele, Rone84, Ioke42, Sektion 1.3, Tacek, Zek Advance, Skrana, Ratt One and Ash. Click here for more info.