05. 5.2008
I’m hopeful, but with a healthy amount of cynicism. Intellectually, I like to keep things sweet and sour.
So, while I loved and devoured and praised Clay Shirky’s newest book, “Here Comes Everybody,” it was important to couch that experience with a dose of anxiety over the current and future states of the Internet with Johnathan Zittrain’s “The Future of the Internet – And How to Stop It.”
Web 2.0 is (to me) more of a social phenomenon than a technical feat. Living in New York there are social mixers around the Web 2.0 hype nearly nightly, and I guess because I’ve always been a happy malcontent, I’m more critical of what we’re all really accomplishing tossing back cheap chardonnay and exchanging business cards.
Zittrain reveals that the Internet and our production of technologies and devices around it are on a path to a “lockdown,” a day where we will stop innovating. I know a roomful of “Web 2.0’rs” who would scoff at the notion.
Continue reading "The Future of the Internet by Jonathan Zittrain"
Posted by chrissie
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05. 2.2008
Baz Luhrmann, the creative brains behind Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge! is innovating again: in an exclusive deal with Apple, the director has arranged for a series of video podcasts (I'm sorry, I can't bring myself to use the term 'vodcast' - it always sounds like there's something stuck in my throat) from the set of his new film, Australia.
The podcasts will feature Aussie actors Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman talking about making the film and are part of a bigger promotion, which includes the chance for students to win a set visit to Oz to learn all about movie production. Talk about the trip of a lifetime!
If you're interested in watching the v*dcasts and entering the competition, see the Set to Screen series on Apple's site for more details.
Via The Australian.
Posted by diane
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Tags: apple movies
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05. 1.2008
When I saw CNET's Natali del Conte (one of my top women in tech) recommending her favorite time-saving sites on the Today show recently, it tripped a memory switch and I realised there was something I should share with Popgadget readers.
That thing is a service called OpenTable, which I used when I visited New York last year.
OpenTable's website makes dining out a breeze by allowing you to make a reservation at any of 8,000 restaurants across the U.S. and Canada (from wherever you happen to be). Simply log on, select the restaurant plus the time and date of your choice, and you're good to go. On the day of your reservation, you'll receive a call to remind you of your dinner plans (at your hotel if you're on vacation - they'll even leave a message which there's no obligation to return). OpenTable basically makes it easy for anyone to reserve a seat - especially foreign travellers like myself.
Oh, and if you're wondering, the table I reserved was at the Marriott in Times Square, and it was one of the best meals of my life.
Thanks for the reminder, Natali!
Posted by diane
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Tags: dining
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04.21.2008
Do you know what "dark matter" is? I thought I knew what it was until I tried to explain it to myself and failed. But I no longer need to file away topics like this for later study (my ever-growing list of things I will learn someday in order to become a more cultured and informed human being) because I now know I can pick up knowledge about dark matter - enough to get by in a drunken conversation at a bar in any event - and other weighty scientific subjects in 60 seconds (or thereabouts).
As part of its 60-Second Science offerings, Scientific American has been running a video podcast series in which its editors explain big scientific topics of general interest, using common objects. I haven't timed the videos to see how close they come to just 60 seconds, but they are indeed short enough that I don't have time to get distracted like I did in high school science class. The editors at 60-Second Science know how to put together teaser headlines too, like "What can the Olsen twins tell us about telomeres?" You can subscribe to 60-Second Science on iTunes or in RSS. --- (continues)
Continue reading "Become an instant egghead with 60-Second Science"
Posted by Hoyun
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04.20.2008
Mimoco, maker of the popular Mimobot designer USB flash drives, has partnered with tokidoki, the brand created by pop fashion designer Simone Legno, to create the tokidoki for MIMOBOT series. This newest group of flash drives is part of Mimoco's MMOBOT Artist Series, and comes in three different characters, each priced at $39.95: Pirate Nero, Pistaio, and Meletta.
Mimoco has released tokidoki for MIMOBOT preloaded with the second issue if its mimoZine, the first digital magazine delivered via flash drive. This pop culture magazine features interviews with Japanese pop-rock artists, videos of art events, and musical videos.
See a preview of the mimoZine after the jump.
Continue reading ""tokidoki for MIMOBOT" USB drives come preloaded with mimoZine digital magazine"
Posted by lydia
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Tags: mimobot tokidoki
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04.10.2008
For anyone who grew up in the 80s or early 90s, mix tapes were an essential part of pop culture. Whole evenings were devoted to the practice of creating the perfect mix tape (and learning to apply liquid eyeliner) and we would make them for parties, for our walkmans and for our friends. What's more, if a potential love-interest surprised you with a mix tape, it was as close to a confession of undying love as a teenage boy was capable of. (Unfortunately, the only teenage boys who were that romantic existed in Hollywood screenwriters' heads. But never mind.)
Mix tapes were soon superseded by burning CDs and making iPod playlists, but neither has the same amount of romance and nostalgia. Which is why I was delighted to hear about a new application called Muxtape, which lets you create your very own mix tape, online.
You sign up for free and then upload up to 12 songs from your hard drive to create your perfect (virtual) tape. The upload process takes a little while, and the site only works with MP3s at the moment but it's much easier than the days of painstakingly rewinding and recording, and hopefully it will accept WMA files soon.
Posted by diane
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04. 8.2008
I visited NYC for the first time last November, and let's face it - that city has everything. Well, almost everything. While New York state can lay claim to some stunning water scenery, the water in Manhattan has always been a little... flat. I mean, it just kind of lies there.
So why not bring waterfalls to New York? That's what New York's Public Art Fund thought, and that's what they are about to do.
From July to October this year, you'll be able to see man-made cascading water features in lower Manhattan, Brooklyn and on the north shore of Governors Island. The specially-commissioned installations will be 90 to 120-feet tall, operate from 7 AM to 10 PM, seven days a week, and will be lit after sunset for an even more impressive effect. What's more, the waterfalls have been designed to protect water quality and aquatic life and could apparently bring an extra $55 million into New York's tourism economy (they certainly make me think about a return trip...)
Here's what the waterfalls will look like when they are up and running:
Via Pretty In the City and NYC Waterfalls.
Posted by diane
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04. 5.2008
There's something about the title "Blood Cell" that doesn't really appeal to me - maybe it's the use of the word "blood"...
Nevertheless, it's the name of a new internet-only TV show and I predict it will be a massive success with its target audience of action-hero obsessed teens and twenty-somethings.
Starring Jessica Rose, the New Zealand actress who made her debut in internet-only soap Lonelygirl15, it will be directed by Eduardo Rodriguez, who likes his titles creepy (his latest film is Open Grave) and will be shown first on web TV site 60Frames. Blood Cell will tell the story of a young woman who must save her kidnapped friend with the help of (of course!) her cellphone. Let's hope she has good coverage...
See the trailer (I haven't: I'm too easily spooked, so watch at your own risk) and find out more via Wired's Underwire blog.
There's no news on a release date yet, but you can stay posted via DeadCellDeadFriend. Call me paranoid, but something tells me this show may not end well...
Posted by diane
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03.31.2008
Legendary British nature documentary maker David Attenborough (you may be familiar with his work if you saw the groundbreaking and epic Planet Earth has developed an oddly effective new way to film his favourite subjects - reclusive wild animals - in their natural habitat.
For his new program, Tiger - Spy in the Jungle, currently showing on BBC1 in the UK (and no doubt in America and the rest of the world soon), he got exclusive footage of tiger cubs, and was able to follow them from newborns to adulthood thanks to an inventive new filming technique. Trunk cams.
Yes, somehow Attenborough and his team got elephants to film the action in India's Pench National Park, using cameras made to camouflage with their trunks. (I swear this isn't an April Fool).
You can read more about this revolution in nature documentary making here, but I still don't understand how the elephants were persuaded to participate. I hope they at least got union rates.
Posted by diane
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