Shaun Tan’s ‘the Lost Thing’ as an animated short
Shaun Tan is one of my favorite authors/illustrator. His beautiful book The Lost Thing has been animated and I must say that it looks wonderful.
Have a look at the trailer:
Augmented Reality Magazines
Here is a very cool look at a new augmented reality magazine. Using an iPhone and an app from Junaio you can add features to magazine photos like 3D, video, animation and pop out text.
via: Beyond the Beyond
1945-1998 by Isao Hashimoto
Nuclear weapons and fuel are the greatest threats to our planet and all life on it. Here is a pointed reminder of the stupidity of the human race. In this piece Isao Hashimoto tracks nuclear tests over time showing the where, who and when of each event.
Nanobots to the Masses
One of my favorite books of the year is out today in paperback. Small Miracles by Edward M. Lerner is a story of nano-technology gone awry.
A company is successful in developing nano-bots able to isolate injuries and infections in the human body and then fix the problems. An early test is contaminated and then the nano-bots spread both inside the company and out.
Lerner is very convincing in his description of this near future technology. The events seem highly plausible and like most good science fiction there is an effortless discussion of the ethics of this new technology versus the high stakes risks.
pads, batterys, sliding maps and art mashups
Cool new toy and utilities
Apple Magic Trackpad
I love the multi-touch track pad on my Wife's MacBook. It turns mouse like actions upside down, sideways and inside out. I love it so much that I bought her the Apple Magic Mouse. It is like the track pad but only in mouse form. Now you can take it one step further and get the Magic Trackpad to replace your mouse. No lasers, no balls and no buttons. Just a slab of beautiful aluminum.
Also new from Apple is their new battery charger. Batter Charger from Apple? Trust me, just read up on it and buy one for you and your Dad.
Microsoft Street Slide
No one likes to give Microsoft props anymore. It's a geek hipster tradition that whatever Microsoft puts out is uncool. That said, the demo for Street Slide has my saliva running. We will see if this comes to fruition or not but for now it just looks awesome.
Community Calendar with Google Apps and WordPress
The Walker Art Center has this blog and on it they do the strangest of things. They give away their secrets. They actually tell you how they build their beautiful websites. The blog is called New Media Initiatives. I would recommend you go to this site but I think you should just read all of their blogs. You really need to get a well rounded experience. In this post they go into great detail explaining how they mash-up Google Apps with WordPress to make their community oriented Open Field site. While it is on your mind, go to the Walker and enjoy the activities of Open Field.
Get married on your way home
Today's Google Voice-mail transcription:
Events for July 9 – 15
There are some good events going on over the next week
Tomorrow (Sat July, 10th) is Twin Cities Zinefest.
open 10 to 5pm. I will be going at 10am.
After Zinefest, (July 10)I will be watching the 3rd place World Cup game most likely at home (1:30pm). I could also be lured away by the offer of a pint or 3!
Sunday (July 11) is the World Cup final! I will be watching it at some swanky bar (1:30pm).
Thursday July 15th, 7pm at the Walker Art Center is
How to Disappear in America
This is a talk Evan Ratliff of Wired Magazine. He is a guy who tried to completely disappear without giving up technology. He challenged people to try to find him within 30 days. He was found on day 20. This is tied to the Walker's Talent Show exhibit. If you haven't seen it you should. It ends on August 15th.
Also the Walker Open Field is a very cool idea. The website is a great example of tying together open source tools.
links for 2010-05-17
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This handy Facebook scanner will look at your privacy settings and tell you how open or locked down your account is. They don't have the ability to look at any of your actual personal data so it is safe to use.
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My list has Scalped, DV8, American Vampire, and the Walking Dead
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I have a 10 year old and am always interested in new techniques in teaching. I am really anti-worksheet and pro-project learning. This speaker at TED really seems to be on to something
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Looking for something inspiring. Go watch Twin Cities DIY community share their latest creations. Thursday May 20th. See link for details.
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This is a test to see if I can post my favorite reads for each day as a WordPress entry.
Distilling the Aurora Borealous to make Music
I've been a big fan of Guy Maddin for several years now ever since the Walker first started showing his films. Unlike a lot of experimental film makers he has a great sense of humor. He also has a good feel for making the narrative seam like a dream. As good as his features are I think his shorts are even better.
The Canadian National Film Board is streaming his new short "Night Mayor' on their site right now. Here is a repost of it.
Please watch it in HD and full screen. I know this can take a while but you could take a nap, call your Grandmother, read the paper or write some poetry. Then come back and watch this film.
Thanks to the Criterion blog for the tip.
Bonus: Guy Maddin's Top Ten Movies
We must protect the precious
This photograph perfectly displays the loyalty of most security/police/military.
Hate creator gets a TV Show!
The BBC is about to show a 6 part series, called Fallout, which is based on comic book creator Peter Bagge's Apocolypse Nerd. Bagge is probably best known for his comic book "Hate" featuring Buddy Bradley. His comics are full of shitty jobs, low-lifes, rock dudes, booze and drugs. I sure hope they get it right.
Fallout: Teaser Trailer from tupaq felber on Vimeo.
Tor.com shows off their free Science Fiction
Tor.com is a great source for news and original stories from the world of Science Fiction. They are loosely affiliated with Tor Books but publish stories online by authors who are not under contract with Tor Books.
That said, they have an awesome list of stories that they have featured on their site this year that are attributed to authors and artists nominated for the 2010 Hugo Awards. You can read these stories online or download them in various e-book formats.
These are amazing reads and if you have ever wanted to see just how wide this genre is then this is the perfect place to start. This list also include graphic novels and art work from the past year.
above image is from Tor.com and it was created by Jillian Tamaki