Gears.

I really need to get / make a bunch of gears. These motors I've got are fast, but they're really weak.

That being the case, even though I cut the conks, my pumpkins ended up having to go out as stationary devices. That's a shame. Of course, Tuesdays events have been kind of a distraction.

Joining the Party

Hey Zara

Just think you should know, there's something going on in your office.

[Cursing goes here!]

This could have been a good week, really it could.

But no, it's generally been a bad week.
Sunday night I broke my cellphone. Now I can only use it if I'm wearing a headset.

Tonight, I get off work and I find that the little triangle window of my car is smashed, there's glass all over the back seat, and my glove box and console are both emptied. As far as I can tell all they got was 1) my TomTom gps (sn: JQ5050JVQKQ ) and 2) my iPod (sn: Y14467D00333 ) , which was a 4gb mini, and fairly old. Still, what the hell?

(For the record, yes, I know you shouldn't leave those things in the car, but that's where I use them, and if I take them out, I almost always forget to bring them with me.)

First Things First

Okay, before I spend another 3 hours here avoiding actually writing about this stuff, let me take a quick moment to talk about the 1964 and 2000 First Things First Manifestos.

When I talk to people about being a digital arts major, I'm generally met with confused stares. It makes sense, "Digital Arts" is such a vague term that it seems to carry no inflection of what I do. In many ways I'm really thankful for this fact, since it also carries with it few restrictions on what I can focus on. When I was still in community college I leapt from Computer Engineering into Graphic Design because I felt that design would allow me a more meaningful means of interaction/communication. Like engineering though, pure design seemed to be missing something as well, sure I now had a means to engage people, but I had no substance to engage them with. After I transferred though, I found a means to backslide a bit, into a sort of middle ground between engineering/innovation and the tools of communication. So when asked what it is I want to do after college, I try to explain to people what it is I do now. Most think about this for a second, blink, and come back with "ok, but how do you want to use that after college." Not having the words to explain it in terms better than "I want to engage people" I start to talk about how it can be used for things such as marketing. Is this the noblest cause? Depends on the product or service really. But in any case it pays, and for many people what they really seem to be asking is "how will this secure you an income."

The First Things First manifestos are both declarations to use artistic/design skills for purposes other than mass marketing. What I find interesting is that the only difference between the two publications seems to be the suggested alternatives:

1964 There are signs for streets and buildings, books and periodicals, catalogues, instructional manuals, industrial photography, educational aids, films, television features, scientific and industrial publications and all the other media through which we promote our trade, our education, our culture and our greater awareness of the world.

2000 There are pursuits more worthy of our problem-solving skills. Unprecedented environmental, social and cultural crises demand our attention. Many cultural interventions, social marketing campaigns, books, magazines, exhibitions, educational tools, television programs, films, charitable causes and other information design projects urgently require our expertise and help.

If you compare the two the alternatives to advertising suggested in 2000 seem almost purely...I have no word for it other than noble causes. "Social Marketing," "educational tools," "charitable causes"...

I'm not scoffing at these suggestions, they're certainly positive things. What I find odd/unfortunate is the things they left off from 1964 like "signs for streets and buildings," "scientific and industrial publications," "and all the other media through which we promote our trade, our education, our culture and our greater awareness of the world." (I really like that last bit.)

The focus between 1964 and 2000 seems to shift from using design meaningfully to using design nobly. Noble is good, but meaningful is far more relevant.

Meaningfulness vs Nobility aside though, I feel like First Things First miss one important problem, especially when ending the 2000 manifesto with "Today, we renew their manifesto in expectation that no more decades will pass before it is taken to heart." I refuse to believe that there's a shortage of artists/designers out there who are uninterested in fulfilling more meaningful purposes. What I do believe is that there's a market shortage of demand, ie: people willing to pay, for them to do it. Most of the initiatives they offer as alternatives in the 2000 manifesto are things typically done by designers as pro-bono work, and while pro-bono work is vital to the soul, doing it exclusively can be troublesome for the landlord.

I should be...

talking about First Things First, the 1964 and 2000 manifestos, but as happens ANY time I should be doing something else, I just got distracted by Johnny Cupcakes.

I came across a NOTCOT.org entry showing that he's venturing tshirts into the land of belts.


I'll be honest, the man's Tshirt designs over the last 2 years have just been a bit too much for me aesthetically, often falling into the realm of gaudy. But these belts...they're glorious. Amazingly understated while still maintaining that slight edge that comes with indy brand clothing.

And the packaging is just beautiful. There's something about wooden boxes that is just nice, fun, and more lasting than cardboard/plastic packaging. I've got a collection of boxes from watches, wallets, and cufflinks that I just can't bring myself to get rid of. I have no need for them, but they still remain. Thinking about it, I even used to keep around the box from a package of smoked salmon until I tripped and broke all the joints.

I really shouldn't be surprised that JC has such nice packaging though, he and his pay really close attention to packaging, creating very memorable and lovable enclosures. (I didn't want to use the word packaging a third time in this sentence.) Just look at the boxes from his limited edition Halloween shirts:



Or for that matter, take a gander at what they use in store instead of "bags":



God, I'm in love.

"The discovery of the alphabet will create forgetfulness in the learner's souls,

because they will not use their memories; they will trust to the external written characters and not remember of themselves...You give your disciples not truth but only the semblance of truth; they will be heroes of many things, and will have learned nothing; they will appear to be omniscient and will generally know nothing." - Socrates, "Phaedrus"

I found this quote while reading Marshall McLuhan's "The Medium is the Massage" and as much as I want to, I can't say I disagree, at least not when speaking from the point of view of personal experience.

I have an awful, AWFUL memory when it comes to absolute facts. I used to joke that it took 12 introductions before I remembered my last girlfriend's name. My memory isn't THAT bad...but it's pretty horrible. However, what I do learn nearly instantly is WHERE to find particular pieces of information.

Is this the alphabet's fault?

Tumblr

Hate Tumblr. Soooo much. Mostly their rss feed. Far as I can tell there's no way to get it to give you more than the latest 20 posts. Their api has a read function that's more usable...but it's a really ugly xml file.

PHP Blog Aggregator

So here's a bit of what I'm working on for the backend of this year's Digital Arts BFA website.

It takes this xml (provided by my feed burner NewsLife) and dumps all the feeds into one very large xml file.

<blogs>

<outline text="Nina Pavlich" title="Nina Pavlich" description="" type="RSS" version="RSS" htmlUrl="http://www.ninalp.com/bfarts" xmlUrl="http://www.ninalp.com/bfarts/rss/"/>

<outline text="Zach Rose" title="Zach Rose" description="" type="RSS" version="RSS" htmlUrl="http://zachrose.tumblr.com/" xmlUrl="http://zachrose.tumblr.com/rss"/>

<outline text="Dominic C" title="Dominic C" description="" type="Atom" version="Atom" htmlUrl="http://dom4art225.blogspot.com/" xmlUrl="http://dom4art225.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss"/>

<outline text="Joe" title="Joe" description="" type="Atom" version="Atom" htmlUrl="http://contempjoe.blogspot.com/" xmlUrl="http://contempjoe.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss"/>

<outline text="Nathan Emerson-Verhoeven" title="Nathan Emerson-Verhoeven" description="" type="Atom" version="Atom" htmlUrl="http://nevpdx.blogspot.com/" xmlUrl="http://nevpdx.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss"/>

<outline text="Sarah Moore" title="Sarah Moore" description="" type="Atom" version="Atom" htmlUrl="http://smoore5.blogspot.com/" xmlUrl="http://smoore5.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss"/>

<outline text="Bryson" title="Bryson" description="" type="Atom" version="Atom" htmlUrl="http://gazzookabazookaz.blogspot.com/" xmlUrl="http://gazzookabazookaz.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss"/>

<outline text="Daniel Strong" title="Daniel Strong" description="" type="Atom" version="Atom" htmlUrl="http://danielstrongdesign.blogspot.com/" xmlUrl="http://danielstrongdesign.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss"/>

<outline text="Mac" title="Mac" description="" type="Atom" version="Atom" htmlUrl="http://macschubert.blogspot.com/" xmlUrl="http://macschubert.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss"/>

<outline text="Travis" title="Travis" description="" type="Atom" version="Atom" htmlUrl="http://thelightisfading.blogspot.com/" xmlUrl="http://thelightisfading.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss"/>

<outline text="Shawna" title="Shawna" description="" type="Atom" version="Atom" htmlUrl="http://shawna-x.blogspot.com/" xmlUrl="http://shawna-x.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss"/>

<outline text="Lindsay AuCoin" title="Lindsay AuCoin" description="" type="Atom" version="Atom" htmlUrl="http://sheddingthequills.blogspot.com/" xmlUrl="http://sheddingthequills.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss"/>

<outline text="Peter Baston" title="Peter Baston BFA 08" description="" type="Atom" version="Atom" htmlUrl="http://bastonbfa08.blogspot.com/" xmlUrl="http://bastonbfa08.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss"/>

<outline text="Dustin Design" title="Dustin Design" description="" type="Atom" version="Atom" htmlUrl="http://dybevikda1.blogspot.com/" xmlUrl="http://dybevikda1.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss"/>

<outline text="Andrew Parnell" xmlUrl="http://andrewparnell.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss"/>

</blogs>

the code in question:

<?php

header ("content-type: text/xml");

$blogfeeds = array(array(),array());

$doc = new DOMDocument();

$doc->load( 'blogs.xml' );

$blogs = $doc->getElementsByTagName("outline");

$x=0;

foreach($blogs as $blog) {

$blogfeeds[$x]["path"] = $blog->getAttribute("xmlUrl");

$blogfeeds[$x]["title"] = $blog->getAttribute("text");

//array_push($blogfeeds[0], $blog->getAttribute("xmlUrl"));

//array_push($blogfeeds[1], $blog->getAttribute("text"));

$x++;

}

$out = new DOMDocument();

$out->preserveWhiteSpace = false;

$out->loadXML("<blogs/>");

for($i=0;$i<count($blogfeeds);$i++) {

$docBlog[$i] = new DOMDocument();

$docBlog[$i]->preserveWhiteSpace = false;

if(strpos($blogfeeds[$i]["path"],"blogspot.com")!==false)

{

$tot = new DOMDocument();

$tot->preserveWhiteSpace = false;

$tot->load($blogfeeds[$i]["path"].'&max-results=0');

foreach($tot->getElementsByTagNameNS('http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearch/1.1/', 'totalResults') as $openSeach_totalResults) $total = $openSeach_totalResults->nodeValue;

$blogfeeds[$i]["path"] .= "&max-results=".$total;

}

$docBlog[$i]->load($blogfeeds[$i]["path"]);

$docBlog[$i]->formatOutput = true;



foreach($docBlog[$i]->getElementsByTagName("channel") as $chan) {

//$chan->setAttribute("auth",$blogfeeds[$i]);

$in = $out->importNode($chan, true);

$in->setAttribute("auth",$blogfeeds[$i]["title"]);

$in->setAttribute("path",$blogfeeds[$i]["path"]);

$out->documentElement->appendChild($in);

}



//echo $docBlog[$i]->saveXML();

}

$out->formatOutput = true;

echo $out->saveXML();

?>

Notes:
Nina's feed seems to be home brewed, so everything she has is there. AWESOME!
Blogger feeds are by default limited to only the 25 latest entries. I subvert that by first opening them empty, so as to get the value from the openSearch:totalResults node, and then reopen them with the query string max-results=[that total] appended to them.
Tumbler seems to also truncate its feed...but I can't find any way around that (it also doesn't make any mention of this truncation.)

Still a work in progress.

Looping wonder.

Taiwa-Hensokuki by Mohri Yuko is a text-to-speech-to-text-to-speech loop, where 2 computers constantly analyze the other's speech, convert it to text, and speak it back. Over time the text degrades and changes. A very interesting experiment in information mutation.

NES Cufflinks

When the weather starts to get colder, or I've failed to do laundry in a while, I switch from T-shirts to french cuffs. Cufflinks are far supperior to buttons as they're just much more stylistically interesting.

Being a giant nerd I LOVE these cuffs


...want.

[Via Unplggd]

Reverse Blog Crawling

In a way this is a self congratulatory post. (alternate title: Hey Look! Make picked up my NOTCOT post)

During this mornings blog crawl I spotted this post on Make




Following the via link brought me to this:

^Hey look, that's my moniker.

Which I'd also posted here a few months back.



...which I originally found at Make.



Apparently the sphere is a loop...

I build prototypes.

I find that instead of thinking about / drawing ideas I have a much easier time developing solutions if I prototype devices I'm thinking about. I think in many ways this explains why I did so well in physics labs when I was an engineering major, but so horridly in the lecture/theory classes. I need to do.

For my pumpkins I've found that the Evil Mad Scientist Snap-o-lantern article really necessitated a flatish pumpkin. (Well, at least one that was less tall than wide.) My pumpkins are round. Tiny, but almost perfect circles.

So I've been developing other means to mechanize the jaw.

Here are some of the prototypes I've worked out (click the image to see a b&w animation of them in motion):

I've been meaning to talk about this for almost 3 weeks now, but I only just now took the photo.

During the second week of our Contemporary Design class we talked about Charles and Ray Eames, going really in depth about their furniture designs, which I confess, are amazing.

After class that day, while walking to work I passed a store with a window full of...pretty much everything we'd talked about.

Unfortunately, since then they've moved some of the chairs out of the window, but you can still see them in the store:


I guess to be fair, I should point out they are a Herman Miller dealer...

Double-Taker (Snout)

Making his (Edit: well...his/their. Flong is "Golan Levin and Collaborators") second apperance in my blog Flong has done it again, with another great eye installation that follows the viewer. This time, a giant worm-eye that sits on top of a building and follows people as they come in, proving yet again that anything I can do, someone else can do a million times better. *sigh*

[via botjunkie]

[See also Opto-Isolator also by Flong]

Snap!

Last year for halloween I secretly carved portraits of all my roommates.
 
They didn't come out perfectly, but for a first attempt at pumpkin portraiture, I was pleased with the results.

This year, I was playing around with the idea of doing the same thing for my entire BFA class, but with miniature pumpkins, but honestly, I don't have the time, or the drive to. Instead what I'm making is my own version of these:


Robotic Pumpkins. Seems right up my alley. [via Evil Mad Scientist]

(Other news: I'm miserably congested. All I ask is to be able to breath again... please?)

What I'm watching right now:

Do I need to say more?

NEAT!

...god I find myself using that word a lot more now than I ever did when it was part of popular diction.

ANYWAY!
Techshop is coming to Portland! (Also: Membership is free in October at the HQ in Menlo Park...but I don't live down there anymore)

Back to Portland:


They're having an open house in a little over a week. If you're up in Portland, you should check it out, as TechShop is an excellent resource to have. You can click the image above to RSVP.(Totally for their purposes, not mine.)

I'll be there.

Part of a well balanced breakfast.

This is great! AirBed&Breakfast (which seems like a cool site in general) has released 500 boxes of Obama O's and Cap'n McCain's.

Personally I want the Obama O's, and not just because Cap'n McCain's probably tear up the roof of your mouth... but $39 for a box of cereal... yikes.

[via swissmiss because swissmiss finds all the cool stuff first.]

Julian Opie

Back when I first started exploring LEDs as a medium, I came across the work of Julian Opie on YouTube. Unfortunately, my propensity for forgetting names lead me to forget his.

Recently, through the wonder of the facebook news feed, I found his website, and now: I have the name! And since I have the name, I can share these videos of his work that I originally saw with you!

Crazy Process

So Mac just pointed out Bob Staake's New Yorker cover. There's a lot of buzz about the fact that Bob Staake still uses Mac OS 7 and Photoshop 3, but really, it's his process that amazes me. I mean, just watch this:




His additive/reductive method using simple geometric is just hypnotic.

I once read a "how to draw" book that started with something like "An artist sees objects not as whole objects, but a set of component shapes" but never have I seen someone who's method holds so true to that concept.

Amazing stuff.

As for the fact that he's using PS3: what advantage would CS3 really give him looking at his method?

[via Gizmodo]

Useful Design tool

The 960 Grid System is an effort to streamline web development workflow by providing commonly used dimensions, based on a width of 960 pixels. There are two variants: 12 and 16 columns, which can be used separately or in tandem.

Really great stuff. Applies one of the basic principles of print design to web design in a really simple way. Excellent.

Scott Pilgrim Gets it Together

I finally picked up Scott Pilgrim #4 - Scott Pilgrim Gets it Together

I've been trying to for a while now, but every time I went to Borders they didn't have it. But since I live in Portland now, I figured I'd give Powell's a try. It is a Portland icon after all. I'd heard about how big that place is before, but even so...dear lord, I was not prepared for that sheer mass of books. I mean seriously. Seriously. WOW.

But anyway, back to Scott Pilgrim: I picked that up at Powell's today, and just sat down and churned through it. I love this titled, and #4 is no exception. In fact, I think it may be my favorite thus far. Bryan Lee O'Malley's style of story telling, which combines 90s video game references with a coming of age story, is just great.

Oh, and the color pages? AWESTACULAR!

We really are related...

Contextual Advertising

Contextual advertising is really cool...conceptually. In reality though it can be be really annoying or fail horribly. I was reading an article about when Palin was Mayor and I've got to say, this is a great example of contextual advertising failing:

The Eye - Now a web app.

Before now The Eye, which is featured in my portfolio, has been limited to a "live, gallery only" experience, due to its hardware requirements (depending on the size of the space, 3 or more cameras were required.) Recently (today) however, I've rewritten a segment of the code so that anyone with a single camera can experience it.

Ideally, you should step about (making this number up on the fly) say, ten feet away from your computer, so that it's field of view is accurate.

System Requirements: a computer with a built in, or attached, webcam.
If it doesn't seem to be working, right click over the video, go into settings, and make sure you have your camera selected.