Well yes it has been many months since there has been any activity around here. At first I was busy trying to finish my thesis, then I was busy trying to find a job. But most of the summer I was hanging out saving money and being unemployed. Not really the most interesting stuff to write about. (Also since my site had my portfolio on it, I had been pointing potential employers to it… , which makes it hard to post my usual rants.) But then finally I found a job, and since then I have been crazy busy, and have not had time to really hang out and get back into the blogging groove.
I will try and do better.
I have begun doing a cool volunteer thing for the ADC, early on Saturday mornings. Although helping innocent high schoolers embark upon a career in the soul crushing field of graphic design is a little troubling. But only a little.
I am kind of bummed about the Red Socks losing last night. But the proved themselves the exact equal of the Yankees, so in the world series I plan to see how the damn Yankees do, and assume that that is how the socks would have done. (I really don’t care about Baseball that much, bit living in NYC, it is hard to not get into it, since it is all anyone talks about these days…)
Really though, I still don’t have a lot to talk about yet. Or I have too much to write about all at once. It will take me a week or two to get caught up. But here are some of my recent favorite online reads, for the meantime.
No news is good news
Well I have not updated much lately, since not a lot happens around here. The job search continues, even though I am having little difficulty finding freelance jobs. It is August in NYC, which means that nothing happens, it is muggy, and no one has energy.
This is cool. This sculpture is apparently going into the courtyard at the Rockefeller Center.
wandering eye
Well, I have gone all guerilla and have set up a Photo Moblog, so I can post pictures to the web with my camera phone. You can check it out at: Visual Static
Still here...
Well, School is well and completely finished, and currently I am looking in the 5 boroughs for a full time position. The market is pretty competitive right now, but hopefully I will find something soon. I miss having disposable income. :)
I found out that one of my all time short short stories by Terry Bisson is available on his website. It is less then 2 pages long, and was nominated for a Nebula in 1991. Check out They're Made of Meat.
Otherwise, my big plan is to pick up Declare by Tim Powers, and enjoy spending time reading strictly for fun. Alas, B&N does not carry it, so I might have to wait for Amazon to ship it to me. (Did I ever mention that there are no decent bookstores in New York City? Home of the publishing industry, but no stores anywhere near as good as Powells to be found. Go figure.) Tim Powers is up there with Walter Jon Williams as my top Sci fi Authors, by the way…
Anyway, sometime soon, I hope to put up a decent page documenting my thesis, but for the moment personal projects are taking a back seat.
On a side note, here is a link for an SMS game I worked on as part of a collaboration project. If it had come together, it would have been pretty cool.
Sleep is for the weak!!!
I was introduced to Señor Coconut this weekend. Tropical style remixes of classic Kraftwerk tracks. too cool!
Today's Quote:
"The insane have a terrific obsession for logic and order, as have the French"
—Henry Miller 1936
onwards and upward
Update: I successfully made it through final presentations, so now I'm moving on with the documentation, and preparing my thesis for the gallery. Lots of work to finish before June.
Hmm... today it is snowing. Hopefully this is the last of this winter foolishness.
Robert Byrd Speech
I felt a need to post this speech from 3/19 by Senator Robert Byrd WV-D (currently the longest serving Senator). He sums up my feelings better then anyone else so far.
---/
I believe in this beautiful country. I have studied its roots and gloried in the wisdom of its magnificent Constitution. I have marvelled at the wisdom of its founders and framers. Generation after generation of Americans has understood the lofty ideals that underlie our great republic. I have been inspired by the story of their sacrifice and their strength.
But, today, I weep for my country. I have watched the events of recent months with a heavy, heavy heart. No more is the image of America one of strong yet benevolent peacekeeper. The image of America has changed. Around the globe, our friends mistrust us, our word is disputed, our intentions are questioned.
Instead of reasoning with those with whom we disagree, we demand obedience or threaten recrimination. Instead of isolating Saddam Hussein, we seem to have isolated ourselves. We proclaim a new doctrine of pre-emption which is understood by few and feared by many. We say that the United States has the right to turn its firepower on any corner of the globe which might be suspect in the war on terrorism.
We assert that right without the sanction of any international body. As a result, the world has become a much more dangerous place.
We flaunt our superpower status with arrogance. We treat UN Security Council members like ingrates who offend our princely dignity by lifting their heads from the carpet. Valuable alliances are split.
After war has ended, the United States will have to rebuild much more than the country of Iraq. We will have to rebuild America's image around the globe.
The case this administration tries to make to justify its fixation with war is tainted by charges of falsified documents and circumstantial evidence. We cannot convince the world of the necessity of this war for one simple reason. This is a war of choice.
There is no credible information to connect Saddam Hussein to 9/11. The Twin Towers fell because a worldwide terrorist group, al-Qaeda, with cells in over 60 nations, struck at our wealth and our influence by turning our own planes into missiles, one of which would likely have slammed into the dome of this beautiful Capitol except for the brave sacrifice of the passengers on board.
The brutality seen on 11 September and in other terrorist attacks we have witnessed around the globe are the violent and desperate efforts by extremists to stop the daily encroachment of Western values upon their cultures. That is what we fight. It is a force not confined to borders. It is a shadowy entity with many faces, many names and many addresses.
But this administration has directed all of the anger, fear and grief which emerged from the ashes of the Twin Towers and the twisted metal of the Pentagon towards a tangible villain, one we can see and hate and attack. And villain he is. But he is the wrong villain. And this is the wrong war. We will probably drive Saddam Hussein from power. But the zeal of our friends to assist our global war on terrorism may have already taken flight.
The general unease surrounding this war is not just due to 'orange alert'. There is a pervasive sense of rush and risk and too many questions unanswered. How long will we be in Iraq? What will be the cost? What is the ultimate mission? How great is the danger at home?
What is happening to this country? When did we become a nation which ignores and berates our friends? When did we decide to risk undermining international order by adopting a radical and doctrinaire approach to using our awesome military might? How can we abandon diplomatic efforts when the turmoil in the world cries out for diplomacy?
Why can this President not seem to see that America's true power lies not in its will to intimidate, but in its ability to inspire?
I along with millions of Americans will pray for the safety of our troops, for the innocent civilians in Iraq, and for the security of our homeland. May God continue to bless the United States of America in the troubled days ahead, and may we somehow recapture the vision which for the present eludes us.
---/
Secret Projects
I have been recently launching into my final term here at Parsons. Big Thesis hootenanny.
I have been digitizing some old reel-to-reel tapes of my grandfather’s. I have made a site of some of my grandfather’s old radio broadcasts. I also made a site for an hilarious speech on the history of Cassius Clay (the abolitionist, not the boxer.) It takes a few seconds for the audio to buffer, so be patient after clicking on an audio track.
More info soon.
hypothetical cell phone features
from BoingBoing:
For example, the first phone, called SoMo1, gives its user a mild electric shock, depending on how loudly the person at the other end is speaking. This encourages both parties to speak more quietly, otherwise the mild tingling becomes an unpleasant jolt. Such phones, the designers suggest archly, could be given to repeat offenders who persistently disturb people with intrusive phone conversations. (...)
SoMo4 replaces ringtones with a knocking sound: to make a call, select the number and knock on the back of the phone, as you would on somebody's door. The recipient of the call hears this knock (cleverly encoded and relayed via a short text-message) and decides how urgent the call is. How you knock on a door, says Mr Pullin, is freighted with meaning: there is a world of difference between tentative tapping and insistent hammering. SoMo5 has a catapult-like device that can be used to trigger intrusive sounds on a nearby user's phone, anonymously alerting them that they are speaking too loudly.
link to story
Snow...
Nice bout of snow here last night. Of course now it is going to be below freezing for the next few days making for a fairly slippery experience.
Ada is visiting NYC right now, doing strange and mysterious things for her company up a the International Toy Center. Seeing her all professional reminds me that I need a real job.
Had the thought that the reason I abstractly enjoy programming, is the same reason I enjoy book binding. There is an artistry inherent in the technology that is facinating. But I would not wish to do either for 8 hours a day.
William Gibson is keeping a blog. I guess the Web is now offically 'old-tech'.
Happy New Years. (+/- 2 weeks)
things have been super slow and mellow around here. Have been relishing some time off, and now doing some freelance work. Classes start up in about 10 days, and then the long march toward thesis will hit high speed.
For the last couple of days, I have had a powerful bout of Deja Vu, about every 10 minutes. I think it means either I am getting premonitions of something big that is about to happen, or I have a brain tumor. Either way, its been giving me a heck of a headache. I think it has something to do with that new Indian restaraunt that opened up in my neighborhood…
I have been working on a secret project that will be revealed here soonish. It better be soon, or it will be shelved and forgotten, I think.
The Cartoon Network is showing Lupin III and Futurama at night. Life is good.
Neo-post Holiday stuff
Well, I survived the end of the term, which was followed immediately on its heels by Christmas, So I have not had much time to update. My presentations went well, and my papers and projects were adequate, so all is good. So now I am turning to earning some money over the break, since I am less then dirt poor. More on that and other stuff, as things progress.
I hope everyone is having a pleasant holiday
gimmie! gimmie!
Minor update- out of craven self interest, I have added a link to my Amazon wishlist to the sidebar. (In the off chance someone wants to send me material possesions…)
...one month later
Well, things have been busy around here. Lots 'o school work, thesis stuff, and some freelance has kept me busy. furthermore, I have been trying to wrap my brain around PHP. Also getting on Xbox Live has not helped. Been Playing Ghost:Recon online, which is kind of a FPS sim.
Not much else to report.
woo-hoo!
Well, Having passed my first hurdle in my thesis project, (proposal reviews) I can finally relax a bit. Not much else has been going on, except that I got to keep a friends cats for a week. I discovered that am apparently no longer allergic to cats, and while Shazi's cats are super sweet creatures, I am not going to run out and get a cat just yet. I also have launched into trying to teach myself PHP, which is going alright.
Found this article on improving the WiFi range on a TiBook. Pretty cool.
Shameless Plug!!!
As a follow up on Ian's many adventures up there in the wilds of Vancouver BC, that he now has a toy line out and available for purchase. The line of figures are called eMon Stars, and are now available for purchase here in North America as well as in Hong Kong. Definitely check them out, remember, Christmas is but a few short months away, and it is pretty hard to find traumatic episode inducing toys for kids these days. (Man, I miss those old Micronauts, that shot darts that could asphyxiate an 8 year old. That was living on the edge!)
howdy
Sorry for the silence. I had my friend Lilia visiting from Brazil for two weeks, (Happy Birthday Lilia!) followed in short order by my sister, and then my friend Sarah crashed on my couch for a couple of days before heading off to London and points east. It was fantastically wonderful to see all of them, and I just wish their visits had not fallen over the beginning of my thesis year, so I could have done more. Both seem to have landed in the Olde Country and not surprisingly are doing quite well, being both hideously well traveled.
Also props to Bill & Jody who are with child, as they say. Actually it is more accurate that Jody is with child, and Bill is with a cranky and nauseous Jody. But I am sure Jody will pull off this whole mother thing with panache. ...and a fair bit of bitching, but still a whole lot of panache.
In other news, I got into the Xbox Live Beta program, and have been able to play online with some beta games. There are some bugs, with the service, but when you do get into a game, it is generally rock solid, and the voice communicator is way cool. I highly recommend getting an Xbox if only for the online play.
I have made a pigLatin translator in flash. You can check it out here. You will need the flash6 plugin for it to work properly.
Also Ian has a site up for his student film The Palace of Broken Glass, which looks to be mighty ian-riffic, if you are familure with his work at all.
I have a new unit
Well, after months of saving, I finally got myself an iPod. It is a pretty sweet little firewire drive with a rechargeable battery, and heaps of space for my files I have to schlep to and from school. Plus I understand it plays music too. Actually, I do have to say that the box it came in is almost as cool. The people apple uses for their packaging design are obviously having a blast. I guess you could say it was an "enjoyable product opening experience" through how the box kind of unfolded around the iPod. Impressive work— for something that is going in the dustbin 20 minutes later.
Check out this new Nokia Phone. cool design. Also take a look at this weird + interesting Japanese Toymaker's site.
click click click click
Well, had a good weekend. I went to Virginia to see my sister and my Dad. I also took the opportunity to use my Lomo camera, and you can see the results here. The Lomo is a cheap plastic camera that has 4 lenses and takes 4 small shots on one piece of 35mm film, at about ½ second intervals. pretty cool, even if I did let my finger get in the way. Anyway, it was definitely good to get out of the city.
Otherwise, school is starting, and aside from the usual registration snafus, things are going rather smoothly. So of course I am waiting for the other shoe to hit any time now. Probably in thesis class. With a sickening thud.
ok, its late.