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[ Comments Off ]Posted on February 26, 2009 by admin in Clean & Green, Popular Media
Thursday, February 26th, 2009How Innovation Can Power The Future
Although I’m still convinced America would reap multiple benefits by fueling itself with its own fat, my mind is open to other possibilities. Which is why I’m intrigued with the Sundance Award winning documentary Fuel, directed by activist Josh Tickell, and based on his book Biodiesel America
KOMS.ru – Inspired Russian Flash Animation
[ 3 Comments ]Posted on February 20, 2009 by admin in Popular Media
Friday, February 20th, 2009I’ve always been intrigued with the amazing possibilities for new media that Flash offers, and a little disappointed that most things you see created with Flash are annoying ads or clever games. We’ve mentioned the eerie creations of Han Hoogerbrugge before, but yesterday I ran across a fantastic collection of Flash work, some interactive, some [...]
I’ve always been intrigued with the amazing possibilities for new media that Flash offers, and a little disappointed that most things you see created with Flash are annoying ads or clever games. We’ve mentioned the eerie creations of Han Hoogerbrugge before, but yesterday I ran across a fantastic collection of Flash work, some interactive, some not, at KOMS.ru. The screen grab at left (I couldn’t find an embeddable clip) is from the dark and macabre CHEVENGUR, an animated video based on the work of dystopian Russian writer Andrei Platonov , and featuring the music of one of my favorite composers, Arvo Pärt. There are many more clips at KOMS.ru, who describe themselves as a “non-commercial community of artists, which presents the new wave of russian flash-animation” adding ” This is not a sequel of flash junk-collections located all over the world, which don’t have any system or ideology. We want to introduce you intellectual flash-animations made of different styles: gothic, urban, vanguard, neo-psycho, etc.“. I love this kind of hip bad-assness in Russian pop culture. I haven’t seen anything this cool since the controversial Russian pop act n.A.T.o.
Discovering “Disfarmer: A Portrait of America”
[ Comments Off ]Posted on February 19, 2009 by admin in Popular Media
Thursday, February 19th, 2009A fascinating and amusing story about an enigmatic photographer
I have an amusing story about how I became familiar with the documentary Disfarmer: A Portrait of America, which is the amazing story of how the work of depression era photographer Michael Disfarmer was discovered. One of his photos captured my eye on a Turkish link site, of all places, and I made a mental note to take a closer look later. Later that day, while looking at the artwork of an old friend (Hava Gurevich) I noticed that of all the odd coincidences, she was involved with the very same project. Although I’m not an active photographer at this point, I’ve loved photography all my life. I had a Kodak 620 camera when I was six; just ask me for samples of my work…that may have been the apex of my career! In any case, I’ve always just sort of laughed off the question of whether or not it’s “art”; just look at work by bigger names like Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham, Edward Weston, or Hiroshi Sugimoto, and it becomes a moot point. That’s why it was an incredible pleasure to stumble upon the work of Michael Disfarmer. I’ve always been fascinated with depression era and WWII photos of the sort you might find on the Library of Congress’ Farm Security Administration site or the FDR Library site, but Michael Disfarmer’s photos capture an incredible inner something in almost every single subject. They’re powerful, magical, and many other words that won’t begin to do the images justice. The clip featured here is a one-minute teaser for the film that is slated for release this fall; you can catch another trailer and a 20-minute preview on Vimeo.
MTV Raises Programming IQ With “How’s Your News?”
[ 2 Comments ]Posted on February 6, 2009 by admin in Popular Media
Friday, February 6th, 2009If I’d known this crew was covering the Grammies, I might’ve actually tuned in this year…
Tired of the vain stupidity of the typical entertainment or news show hosts employed by major networks? Shake up your perception of television news with MTV’s new program How’s Your News?, hosted by people with disabilities. I have a sister with Down Syndrome (probably one of the nicer people I know) and I’m a bit of a ‘tard myself, so it’s refreshing to see a program like this. The potential for appearing to be exploitive is incredibly high, but as one of the creators (Matt Stone, of South Park fame) has been quick to point out: “We weren’t worried about being associated with them, we were worried about them being associated with us“. If I’d known this crew was covering the Grammies, I might’ve actually tuned in this year (see clip featured at left). After years of MTV basing most of their programming on “normally abled” people who act like retards, it’s a bold and dicey move (and probably a step up in quality) to air a show like this. Inspired by the 1999 film How’s Your News?
Recommendation Systems & The Napoleon Dynamite Problem
[ 2 Comments ]Posted on January 29, 2009 by admin in Popular Media
Thursday, January 29th, 2009When I Wanna Know What You Think I’ll Tell You
 Just kick back and let the software decide |
When you’re looking for some new music to listen to or a movie to rent, nothing beats the recommendation of a good friend. Except maybe a recommendation system. Yesterday a friend mentioned the music site Pandora while I was spending some time pretending I’m not addicted to Facebook (which uses recommender tools itself). Ironically, because of the consulting work I do, I often find myself telling clients to use things I don’t have time to use myself, and Pandora’s a good example of one of the things that you don’t know you’ll be using next year, but that you’ll be more familiar with than I am by the time it becomes pervasive. Recommender engines and software have been in use for some time; the most familiar version being the Amazon “if you like that, maybe you’ll like this” feature. What’s new in this field is that they’re getting REALLY GOOD at it. Something that used to be almost annoying will become something you actually demand. Why? As this CNNMoney piece puts it we’re “…leaving the era of search and entering one of discovery. What’s the difference? Search is what you do when you’re looking for something. Discovery is when something wonderful that you didn’t know existed, or didn’t know how to ask for, finds you.” With Google getting more and more spammed out every day, our mental processes getting more and more externalized, and our lives getting almost over-connected, I for one welcome our new media-recommending overlords. They just have to iron out that little Napoleon Dynamite Problem, and we’ll be all set (here’s a more in-depth look at problems faced by recommendation tools if you’re interested). So hey human, can you recommend a good book?