Archive for October, 2009
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[ Comments Off ]Posted on October 16, 2009 by admin in Technology
Friday, October 16th, 2009A cool touchscreen interface concept by 10GUI rethinks the window-based interface and explains why a standard touchscreen just doesn’t work for the desktop computer.
I’m always babbling about innovative laptops and cool user interfaces, but the video at left explaining a new user interface concept by 10GUI is probably the most insightful rethinking of the desktop that I’ve seen in a long time. As an interface designer myself, I think the iPhone (although I feel no need to own one myself) is probably the most brilliant personal computer interface to date. I’ve been dying to own a larger device that utilizes its multitouch features, which is why I’m always drooling over the idea of a Mac tablet or dual-touchscreen laptop, but have also often thought about how a lot of the features of a multitouch screen are actually antithetical to the realities of desktop use. This video by 10GUI references that, and offers a fantastic solution. I’d have to try the deeper levels of task and file management that they demonstrate in the video before I’d know if I agree with the solutions offered, but on the surface they make perfect sense. I’d love to see this interface integrated into a real device and try it. If you’re interested in this sort of thing, the nerd all the nerds love to hate (Michael Arrington) just (ahem) touched on this topic the other day over at TechCrunch. Read the rest of this entry »
Antichrist – Cinematic Genius? Or Pure Provocation?
[ Comments Off ]Posted on October 15, 2009 by admin in Popular Media
Thursday, October 15th, 2009Lars von Trier’s latest film has everything you need to grab some headlines: Misogyny, dying babies, genital mutilation, and demonic talking foxes.
When you’re trying to market a film these days, it’s hard to cut through the noise. If that’s what you need to do though, call your film Antichrist, be sure to include lots of misogyny, scenes of babies falling to their death while people have orgasms, use the latest HD cameras, and attach a big name like Willem Dafoe to the project. Apparently it helps if you seem to be having a nervous breakdown in the first round of casting, and claim in the press that you’re not sure if you’ll ever make another film. I sound like I’m pre-judging Lars von Trier’s latest film “Antichrist”, but I’m really not. Who knows, it may be the greatest thing since Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo, which also has stories about the production that rival the drama of the film itself; see for instance, this clip, in which Herzog explains how one of the native chiefs appearing in the shoot offered to kill Klaus Kinski. In all honesty, although I was very intrigued with von Trier’s approach to shooting Dogville, I’ve only seen miscellaneous clips of his work. However, the fact that Antichrist looks beautifully creepy in the clips I’ve seen, is so completely surrounded by controversy, and won an “anti award” at Cannes will probably compel me to see it. Antichrist is slated for odd US release dates; it’ll be available via Video On Demand on October 21, and in limited release October 23. See IMDB for the various release dates. Since it was shot with Red One HD cameras, the YouTube clip above doesn’t really do it justice; consider viewing the HD trailers at Apple.com Read the rest of this entry »
Tarot Cards Are Evil
[ Comments Off ]Posted on October 14, 2009 by admin in Lifestyle & Culture
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009Or so a good friend told me recently.
 This card pretty much sums me up. |
At least a friend surprised me recently by saying this when they noticed I had a deck of them. I didn’t know anything about this friend’s spiritual beliefs, so I was even more surprised when they described themselves as a “rational minded agnostic”. I asked them why they thought they were evil, and they said something to the effect of “silly fortune telling tools like that impede rationality“. Which underscored the fact that they had NO IDEA what Tarot cards are about, which is not surprising; the cards have a very murky history. Although the first documented mention of them is in 1367, The earliest documented use of them for divination wasn’t until 1781. Although many still use them in a predictive fashion, perhaps more people (like myself) use them as a reflective tool, to simply open up thoughts on a topic, much like Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies or Marshall McLuhan’s obscure Distant Early Warning Deck. Although the evidence is anecdotal, I think it’s safe to say that the more “occult” impression that modern people have of Tarot cards is a result of the same crazy British aristocratic types that would hold seances, go to India to get their personal gurus, and allow weirdos like Aleister Crowley to hang out with them. All of which I believe was driven at least in part by a sort of quiet Anglo rebellion against the stifling rules of the more repressive forms of Christianianity of the era. A more modern use of the Tarot is probably descended from the influence of C.G. Jung, who suggested that the images on the cards were “distantly descended from the archetypes of transformation“. Over the years I’ve personally used a few “conventional” decks. I started with the Rider-Waite
ELO: The Guilty Pleasure Of 70′s Symphonic Rock
[ 1 Comment ]Posted on October 13, 2009 by admin in Music
Tuesday, October 13th, 2009How friend helped me let go of my shame and rediscover the genius of Electric Light Orchestra.
  This Album Cover Looks Really Cool If You’re Sixteen & Stoned |
Thanks to the fact that my photographer friend Terry recently admitted publicly that he had been listening to Electric Light Orchestra, I can finally slither out of my little closet of shame and confess: I think ELO is one of the most amazing pop bands of the seventies. As long as Jeff Lynne’s hair isn’t blocking the sound (now I remember why Phil Spector’s hair looked so familiar a couple of years ago), any listener would probably acknowledge that tracks from albums like On The Third Day (1973), Eldorado
Where Have All The Heroes Gone?
[ Comments Off ]Posted on October 12, 2009 by admin in Politics
Monday, October 12th, 2009Do you have a hero? Do we need some?
The recent negative responses to Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize reminded me: I need a hero. I’m pretty sure everything they told us in grade school was a lie. George Washington probably didn’t cut down a cherry tree, but he may have been a gay pot smoker. Not that either of those things are bad, it’s just not what they told us as gullible children. So Columbus was a brutal slave trader, and Jefferson had children with his slave wife, Mother Theresa was a fanatic, a fundamentalist, and a fraud, and they even try to imply that Lincoln was gay. Which would be AWESOME if it’s true; that would make the first Republican president a gay man! But seriously, I think we need some heroic figures. We’re a mess. The neo-cons tried to use Leo Stauss’ belief in the noble lie to create an enemy to fill the void left by the end of the cold war, and that strategy has clearly failed. Not only did their proposed enemy never materialize, no heroes showed up to vanquish him. I say a lot of these things in jest, but I really do believe we have a crisis on our hands. This collage condensed from Bill Moyers’ “A World of Ideas” 