Links for 06-02-2007
Macs = t3h suXx, lifelogging in detail, origami lens, Euro space budget, abandoned Russian factory images, emergent gameplay and the Something Awful Goons…
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1 – Charlie Brooker: I hate Macs
“Losing that second mouse button feels like losing a limb. If the ads were really honest, Webb would be standing there with one arm, struggling to open a packet of peanuts while Mitchell effortlessly tore his apart with both hands.”
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2 – On The Record, All the Time
Excellent in-depth journalism on lifelogging. Read this now and be prepared, before this technology sneaks up on us all.
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3 – Stanford Professor decodes life note by note
“What started out as a research hobby — trying to understand how people use sound in the world — turned into something more when he realized “the power of harnessing musical listening” to simplify complex information.”
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4 – ‘Origami Lens’ Slims High Resolution Cameras
“This technology may yield lightweight, ultrathin, high resolution miniature cameras for unmanned surveillance aircraft, cell phones and infrared night vision applications.”
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5 – Despite Budget Concerns, Europe May Solicit New Space Science Missions
“Managers of Europe’s space-science program will decide this month whether financial prudence or program ambition should be driving the mission-selection schedule.” My vote goes on ambition.
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6 – The Tension Between Global Warming and the Space Program
“There has always been tension between space exploration and everything else. Expect that tension to become visible again soon.” Food for thought.
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7 – Gore to Silicon Valley: You can save this civilization
Does what it says on the tin, believe it or not.
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8 – Bats in flight may provide military inspiration
“Engineers designing miniature flying machines for the military should look to bats for inspiration, researchers say.”
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9 – Indie Music Takes on the Majors
“If indie music were a major label, it would be the biggest in the world — and in a way, that’s what’s about to happen.” The times, they are a-changin’.
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10 – Two Robots On The Wheels Of Steel
“Now here’s an impressive bit of hacking. Someone has programmed two Kuka industrial robotic arms to function as scratch DJs.” Largely pointless; utterly awesome.
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11 – Abandoned Places
Huge derelict Russian factory in photos. Post-industrial decay at its finest. Link via Gabe Chouinard.
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12 – W-Hat is Emergent Gameplay?
“In Second Life, the Something Awful Goons are known as “W-Hats” [they] have been responsible for some of the most outrageous builds in all the virtual world — including satirizations of the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center…”
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13 – Interview With the Agoraphobic: Fighting the Fear in Second Life
“Roberto Salvatierra, aka SL resident Roberto Salubrius, is a medical student from San Jose, Costa Rica, who suffers from the fear of open places and being out in public that is known as agoraphobia.” Strange but true.
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“A PicoCricket is a tiny computer that can make things spin, light up, and play music.” Bruce Sterling spots spimes so we don’t have to.
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15 – Perens set to tackle open-source hardware
“Bruce Perens, an author of the Open Source Definition that codified elements of the collaborative programming philosophy, is set to bring the approach to hardware designs.” Via reBang.
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16 – The 140 Year-Old Nanomachine
“A nanomachine proposed by a famous scientist 140 years ago has finally seen the light of day, thanks to boffins at the University of Edinburgh.” Old-school high tech.
February 6th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
This is me stating my intention of not saying a word about the Brooker article.
This is me accepting that I’ve failed.
This is me feeling at least a little bit better having mentioned it.
Now back to Nintendo Wii