Stunning Minds

Making Art out of Rivers and Tides

2006-07-08T19:11:00.000-07:00

I here share with you my most recent delight. If you love art, especially art of nature, especially nature's water, you'll be transported by this.

Andy Goldsworthy, a Scotsman, creates his art from and with nature. In this film, he works with, and talks about, rivers and tides. His Scottish voice is a pleasure to my ears, and I was ecstasized by an unexpected guest appearance of a herd of hairy coos (who interacted with the art). [I'm prejudiced in his favour, I'm sure, because much of it is the movie I made on the last Wester Ross trip.]

Other Goldsworthy films:
* Andy Goldsworthy: A Collaboration with Nature by Andy Goldsworthy
* Passage by Andy Goldsworthy
* Time by Andy Goldsworthy
* Hand to Earth by Andy Goldsworthy

Maugham on originality, Cohen on Cracks

2006-06-18T16:12:00.000-07:00

The world in general doesn't know what to make of originality; it is
startled out of its comfortable habits of thought, and its first reaction
is one of anger.

-- W. Somerset Maugham, writer (1874-1965)

There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in.

-- Leonard Cohen, musician (1934- )

Video: Manipulating Society through Technology

2006-06-12T00:10:00.000-07:00

From Microsoft's Devsource Video Series:
Great Minds in Development
Manipulating Society through Technology
Jeremy Bailenson, Director of the Virtual Human Interaction Lab at Stanford University, talks about virtual reality, avatars, Moore's law, how real world behaviors influence online reality, and societal manipulation through technology.

Tools: The Photographer's Right

2006-05-18T13:17:00.000-07:00

Contributed by Doyle:
The Photographer's Right - A Downloadable Flyer

Your Rights When You Are Stopped or Confronted for Photography
(Bert P. Krages II)
"The right to take photographs is under assault now more than ever. People are being stopped, harassed, and even intimidated into handing over their personal property simply because they were taking photographs of subjects that made other people uncomfortable. Recent examples have included photographing industrial plants, bridges, and bus stations. For the most part, attempts to restrict photography are based on misguided fears about the supposed dangers that unrestricted photography presents to society."
In addition to the flyer, there's also the book:

http://www.krages.com/phoright.htm

Assets: American Memory

2006-05-18T11:58:00.000-07:00

From WebReference Update:
American Memory:

This Web site provides free and open access to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience. It's a digital record of American history and creativity. These materials, from the collections of the Library of Congress and other institutions, chronicle historical events, people, places, and ideas that continue to shape America, serving the public as a resource for education and lifelong learning.

My beloved friend Lord Idehen: Moods

2006-05-17T19:33:00.000-07:00

Moods
and many other entrancing creations

http://www.myspace.com/apoeminbetweenpeople

Tools: LinkedIn

2006-05-15T14:31:00.000-07:00

3D: The Metaverse

2006-05-15T10:47:00.000-07:00

From ZDNet UK's Insight:

This week in Insight:

Experts met last week to discuss the development of the metaverse — an Internet dominated by 3D technology, social spaces and economies. Influential figures in video game design, geospatial engineering, high-tech research, software development, social networking,and telecommunications discussed the idea that the spread of online games, virtual worlds and services such as Google Earth and MySpace.com,means people may soon be spending more time, communicating and shopping more in complex 3D Web environments.

Mapping a path for the 3D Web
The Metaverse Roadmap Summit was intended to be the initial step toward an Internet dominated by 3D technology, social spaces and economies Full article

Inspiration: Angry Aliens

2006-05-15T08:29:00.000-07:00

I spotted this in the Washington Post -- it's a kick in the pants:

http://www.angryalien.com/ : Several 30-second animated versions of famous movies ("Alien," "Star Wars," "Pulp Fiction"), re-enacted by bunnies. As drawn and voiced by Jennifer Shiman and seen on the Starz cable network, the shorts prove at least one point: If every movie pitch can be condensed into three words -- "X meets Y" -- then every movie can be boiled down to 30 seconds. And told with bunnies.

Recommended: 100 Bullshit Jobs ... and How to Get Them.

2006-05-14T22:01:00.000-07:00

From the Publisher's Summary:

The scholarly discipline of Bullshit Studies has blossomed in the last several years, fertilized by a number of critical works on the subject and the growing importance of the issue across a wide range of professions. Now, best-selling author and lifelong practitioner Stanley Bing enters the field with a comprehensive look at the many attractive jobs now available to those who are serious about their bullshit and prepared to dedicate their working life to it. ...

Google Co-op (beta)

2006-05-11T09:59:00.000-07:00

From SlashDot (contributed by Doyle):

"The guys at the Google Press Center presented upcoming Google technologies at a press conference. Google Co-op beta is a community where users can contribute their knowledge and expertise to improve Google search for everyone. Google Trends builds on the Google Zeitgeist to help users find facts and trends related to Google usage around the world. Google Notebook is a simple way for users to save and organize their thoughts when conducting research online. This personal browser tool permits users to clip text, images, and links from the pages they're browsing, save them to an online 'notebook' that is accessible from any computer, and share them with others. Also, Google Desktop 4 is also mentioned." Googleblog has an outline of the new services.

Uncle Petey's Blog/Writings

2006-05-10T15:33:00.000-07:00

Uncle Petey's Blog/Writings

InfoWorld: Harnessing Collective Intelligence

2006-05-10T11:32:00.000-07:00

JON'S RADIO BLOG: A CONVERSATION WITH NATHAN MCFARLAND AND BENJAMIN HILL ABOUT HARNESSING COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE

Today's podcast, the fifth in my Friday podcast series, is a conversation with Nathan McFarland and Benjamin Hill. I met Nathan at ETech, where he demonstrated CastingWords, a podcast transcription service that uses Amazon's Mechanical Turk to distribute and coordinate work. Benjamin's project, Mycroft, packages up puzzle-like tasks in ways ...

http://newsletter.infoworld.com/t?ctl=1228267:26988A1

Tools: Desktop Sharing: Vyew

2006-05-04T20:07:00.000-07:00

Vyew (free till '07)

Comparison chart:
http://vyew.com/content/Main.ComparisonChart

On Our Way

2006-05-04T19:51:00.000-07:00

We start our journey, all the greatest minds in Northern California. Great love to Jan and Doyle and Tony and future friends yet unknown.