Tuesday, December 30, 2008

SiteLauncher (it's like Quicksilver in your browser)

Easily assign hot-keys to your favorite bookmarks using the Firefox add-on called SiteLauncher. Works for me in Flock too.



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Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Metaverse, same as the first...

For years I have loved the ambient musings of Brian Eno & Harold Budd among others. What always fascinated me about the audio soundtracks they create is how they blur the lines between music and the spaces between the music and live in that unknown void between holding your attention and losing it.


Derek Lerner (someone whose work I have also admired for over a decade) has created a video called metaverse that explores a similar grey area between virtual worlds and the real world.


Interestingly enough, when I started to watch the video my speakers were muted and the first thing that came to my mind was "I think this is what ambient music would look like." Then I turned the speakers up to discover that Lern was way ahead of me, brilliantly using La Muchacha de Los Suenos Dorados (composed by Harold Budd, Daniel Lentz, and Ruben Garcia) to compliment the feedback looping visuals.



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As inspiring as the first GHava stuff that blew me away and brought me back to the drawing board in the 90's. Thanks again Lern.


Metaverse on Vimeo


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Deck the Halls with bean burritos...

Innovative Christmas video from AKQA using microwaves.

Happy Christmas from AKQA



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Monday, December 22, 2008

Video Projection Monumentale: 3D Video Projector Showreel

French dudes with a 3D projector create some amazing urban visuals. And this is (probably) the only place today that you will see a dolphin chasing an eagle chasing a dragon. I hope.


VIDEO PROJECTION MONUMENTALE - MAPPING VIDEO 3D - IMAGES GEANTES


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Degrafa Data Visualization: US Trade Deficit

This Flex(Degrafa) based data visualization that looks like some sort of gay-pride jellyfish (of doom) depicts US Trade Surplus and Deficit for each month over the past 10 years.


The countries in the blue-green along the top represent surplus cash flows to the United States. The countries in the purple-red along the bottom represent defeicit cash flows from the United States.





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I think it's stinging us. -B

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From simian-antics to semantics: A glimpse at Web 3.0

Here is a video that explains in simple terms "The Semantic Web" aka "Web 3.0". Worth a look. -B


Web 3.0 Innovative Semantic Interactions with Spotlets



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Touch 2 much... UI on the backside.

An interesting NewScientist.com video shows some touch screen prototypes that utilize the backside of the screen to allow the user to interact with the interface without obstructing their view.



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