Saturday, September 15, 2007
Coudal Partners' Layer Tennis
Coudal Partners' Layer Tennis is a fun idea. Art "volleys" passing back and forth, with each artist given a fixed amount of time to embellish and improve while a writer provides the commentary. At the end, fans vote for a winner.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
It's Weird Al Wednesday!
The new tradition, starting today, is for me to limit my praise of Al to Wednesdays. It's the middle of the week, so here's a little something to get you over it in maniacal glee (if you're like me, anyway). Don't miss the guest stars.
P.S. The Biography Channel will premiere a bio of Al on October 11, 2007 at 10pm.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
4-D Cubes in Memory of Madeline L'Engle
Physicist David Morgan explains 4-D cubes, tesseracts, in an NPR interview. The interview was in memory of Madeline L'Engle, the children's author who wrote "A Wrinkle in Time", and who sadly died last weekend.
[via NPR]
Stamp of Security and yet No Security of Stamp
I don't see why electronic stamps cannot simply be generated, validated upon sale, and invalidated upon use. I know there's an address-space concern, but wouldn't that be more convenient (and effective) the the German and British systems?
[via Bruce Schneier]
Monday, September 10, 2007
Weird Al
If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend getting Weird Al's latest album. Or any Weird Al albums you don't already have. Or spare copies for the ones you do have. Or attend the next nearby tour date. Even if it isn't actually near.
Alright, I admit it, I like Weird Al Yankovic's parody music.
Do you miss Kwirk or Sokoban? Try Bloxorz!
Kwirk was a fun game (similar apparently to Sokoban) on the Gameboy. For a while there was an excellent Java version of the game by Hani Naguib. Unfortunately that version doesn't seem to be available online anymore, which is why I was delighted to come across Blockorz, an arguably more fun puzzle game.
On a side note, Albino Blacksheep also feature a Weird Al flash animation gallery.
[via Albino Blacksheep]
Sunday, September 9, 2007
The name and aim of the blog
While my nom de plume is entirely made up, "Argyderus" is not entirely fictional. The name was chosen out of respect for a body of work and a genre in art and fiction. Please leave a comment if you recognize the reference, it is very obscure.
As my profile mentions, I write under a fake name. The point is, if you're reading this blog you likely do not know me at all, and if you do (I have a more serious - i.e., boring - identity that is often required to maintain a web presence) I don't want you to be influenced, put-off, or otherwise inconvenienced by that knowledge. I don't blog about my work, though I do want to be helpful and bring the reader some use out of this blog. I will post the occasional rant on subjects about which I feel strongly. Some of those subjects are incredibly frivolous, while the occasional one will be serious (though in Argyderus and reality I try hard to never be really serious). One of those topics is writing. Not creative writing, or technical writing, or writing as a form of expression, but the preservation of memories and knowledge. The writing and preservation of any data, to any form, for any purpose. I am interested in any technology that deals with the enabling of more efficient expression, the realization of more robust and indelible memories, the easing of sharing memories, and even the ability to keep better secrets. And so it would be hypocritical of me if I did not maintain this open channel, even if it is only frivolous links, humor, and the occasional opinion made open to public ridicule and criticism. I hope you find the blog fun, if not informative.
Multi-touch interface for $2
The last post featured Jeff Han's TED talk, but the reason for this post is what Erling Ellingsen did with a plastic bag, some blue dye and an iSight. The result, the $2 dyeSight. I can't imagine it has a high resolution, but then again that doesn't make it any the less brilliant.
Jeff Han's TED talk - multi-touch is cool
You may have heard of multi-touch interfaces (assuming you've heard of the iPhone, then you definitely have), but might not realize just how impressive an interface development it is, or can become. To give a little background, take your old laptop trackpad and touch it with two fingers, or take an old touch screen and touch it in two places simultaneously. When you do that, a surface that isn't multi-touch capable registers your touch as being in one position central to the two contact points. A multi-touch interface notes the different locations of the multiple touch points "at once." Thereby allowing the interface magic seen here.
The great pyramid of ... Germany?
I'm not sure how I feel about the idea of the German great pyramid. I am biased (being of Egyptian origin myself), but it isn't simply a jealous reaction on behalf of a surviving wonder of the ancient world. First off, I love the idea of a monument that can be incrementally enlarged over time, and which serves a purpose useful to many people.
The illustration below predicts the projects growth over time increasing the size of the pyramid as more and more concrete blocks are added.
I like the idea of a growing monument, the words that bring me pause are "grave" and the (very noble) goal of building a monument/memorial/tomb that can be visited by those of any religion. That last point worries me because not all religions find the idea of cremation and encasement in a concrete block to be ideal. I guess the plan could be modified to include the option of encasing an entire burial plot (of whatever structural requirement) within a concrete block, which in turn would need to be much larger and more expensive than the 700 to 900 euros proposed for an ash-laden mini-block. Cost aside, I suspect many would not want to be buried first - as the pyramid would grow around the earliest blocks, thereby cutting off physical access to any specific block. I guess I'm being unreasonably put off by the subject of death, and will blatantly go with that line and suggest that it might be cool to have a pyramid built as the worlds biggest time-capsule repository. Encase anything you want and send it in ... I suppose people might want to send in ashes of loved ones, but somehow I feel suggesting that might be too disrespectful of the dead. I apologize for my thoughtlessness.
But still, a growing pyramid ... that is cool!
[thegreatpyramid.org]
