Recommended Viewing....

Infographic: Inception

A graphic designer in NY created an amazing graphic based on the movie Inception, charting each character's perception of time vs. real time through the various levels of sleep.

Moral Panic!

I've been "using" brainwave entrainment, nearly everyday, for over a year. I thought my meditation program was pretty tame and relaxing. Little did I know that I am a threat to the moral bedrock of America! (Link.)(Via.)

(Above) William S. Burroughs with his Dream Machine.
Selected Reading: The Clinical Guide to Light and Sound. (PDF) (Via.)

BIG BAG BIG BOOM

And I thought Clippy was annoying...

Simulated social interaction always seems hollow and insipid. Does it make anyone else nervous that this is a Microsoft project? "One of my programs has crashed and has lost your spreadsheet. I see by your expression that you are angry. Would you like to draw a fish?"

See also: Eliza, Little Computer People

The Mona Lisa Curse

Robert Hughes presents a survey of the rise of the contemporary art market, and its withering effects. (link) (via)

A Friday Afternoon Project

The Canon Hack Development Kit (CHDK) enables many Canon point-and-shoot models to do things like RAW image photography, bracketing, and remote capture for stop-motion animation or kite photography. I installed it this afternoon. Like most firmware hacks there is pain involved (using a hex editor, for instance). Ask me about this if you try to install it and get stuck.

Link.

On Getting Creative Ideas

This is a good talk. I especially like the part about knocking yourself out of shallow ideas to find the deeper ones. This isn't moralizing or hippie mysticism. The most worthwhile ideas are those with the greatest number of implications and associations to explore.

A quick tip

So the Amazon MP3 downloader binaries don't work on newer Linux distros because their dependencies are very outdated. Pymazon fits the bill, though. It's a good way to make sure you are clear of any DRM, real or imagined, as well.

Behold the computational power of my Text Editor.

Last week I finished a new website for the non-profit arts organization that I am running here in Berlin. I have finally managed to get around my own impatience and have learned a new language: XHTML/CSS. All of the code is hand written and is Strict XHTML with CSS style sheet, no Javascript or PHP used - even for the photo galleries. It is the first time that I have done any programming and digital design that I am not embarrassed of.

Take a look at the site, any tips or recommendations are welcome. We are still working on the content a bit.

The next programming bit that I will be tackling is integrating the PHP of the Wordpress event calender into the design of the main site.

w3schools has been incredibly helpful so far.

I am excited by the prospect of mentioning web development languages without having eyes glaze over and long blank stares, and since there has been some geeking out in that direction here of late . . .

Some of you might be interested in the project itself. As things develop further there could be an opportunity to show art with us in Berlin and/or do some sort of studio residency. After a period of about a year and a half of establishing ourselves we have been concentrating on professionalizing certain aspects of the project, hence my concentration on outside presentation of late. Major material improvements have been made recently to the main space, many artists are joining, we are taking over a second space around the corner for more studios, we will be receiving our first class of university students for a short workshop stint (from the U. of Northern Iowa), and we are starting to get grants from the city of Berlin for things like building an art network from the ground up in our neighborhood and administrating art festivals in the area.

So if any of you have some awesome art burning a hole in your storage space and you have time and funds to come out here, I am looking for quality work to exhibit.

http://werkstadt-berlin.com/