MonthJune 2003

Things I’ve been thinking about…

The Rise of the Creative Class
Cincinnati’s brain drain
The Memphis Manifesto

George Monbiot’s top 10 world-changing books

As Jorn says, this is an intriguing list:

1. The Future of Money by Bernard Lietaer
2. Soil and Soul by Alastair McIntosh
3. The Rights of Man by Thomas Paine
4. The Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire
5. The Good Soldier Svejk by Jaroslav Hasek
6. Selected Writings by Gerrard Winstanley
7. Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy
8. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell
9. Letters to a Young Activist by Todd Gitlin
10. The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

(he has more to say about why he picked them in the article).

Human-Computer Interaction Resources

This is a pretty extensive collection of HCI links.

Mobilizing the Movies

From a Wireless Review article:

If the list seems to contain pretty much every recent summer release except “From Justin to Kelly,” that’s the problem: When every movie has a wireless tie-in, it’s not so big a deal anymore. Each tie-in includes pretty much the same thing–games, ringtones and graphics–and Hollywood cachet aside, the promotions aren’t offering anything dramatically different from the standard content already available over wireless devices.

I think what this really shows is that wireless tie-ins are now as necessary as movie previews and fast food tie-ins. Every big summer movie needs a wireless presence. Of course, the success of a promotion will eventually depend on creating things that are new and interesting.

Temporary Autonomous Zone Live Show Online

The Incunabula crew have put online a recording of a live show featuring Hakim Bey, Robert Anton Wilson, Nick Herbert, Rob Brezsny and Joseph Matheny.

T.A.Z.: The Temporary Autonomous Zone

More details on this show can be found here.

Devil’s architect

BBC Radio 4 did a piece about Nicholas Hawksmoor, known as an occult architect by readers of From Hell. Apparently, they’ve taken it down. I Hadn’t finished listening to it yet, but it sounds like the point of the show is to disprove any occult connections Hawksmoor may have had. The link will take you to the BBC Radio 4, where the show was under “d” for Devil’s Architect. Maybe it will come back someday.

BBC Radio 4

(via City of Sound)

Virtual graffiti

I’ve been hearing about “virtual graffiti” systems for a while, but now there’s some stuff actually happening. The idea is to be able to place virtual notes in spaces that would be accessable through cell phones and the like.

Geonotes (via Many to Many) from Sweden have a wifi based solution, but it only works with Lucent base stations. Still, from my understanding of it, anyone with Win2k, Linux or Savaje OS, a wifi card, and the GeoNotes could leave a location specific note in a Lucent base station (even if the base station doesn’t have special software installed?).

And according to this report (via City of Sound) there’s a Finish company offering some similar service:

An experimental system in Helsinki called Flirt enabled mobile users to leaves virtual messages or ?hanging data? in specific locations which would be picked up by the next user to pass the same location. The experiment turned the city into a chatroom of flirty Finns.

And here are some fun things you could do with some of this tech: Location Aware Game Ideas

(via Head Map).

Man behind the curtain

I don’t usually post much about myself here, but since I haven’t maintained a personal blog in over a year, I figured I’d give it a shot. I just graduated college. Which is nice. What will it mean for Technoccult readers? Nothing right now. But since I don’t have a job or financial aid anymore, things could change in the near future. I’m on vacation in Wyoming right now and will try to blog as much as I can, but my parent’s internet acess is pretty unreliable. When I get back to Washington I’m not sure what I’ll be doing or how much time I’ll have. If anyone can hook me up with a job involving writing, editing, content managment, marketing, PR, or creative thought of some kind, let me know.

My friend Becca has posted some amusing pics from my graduation party.

I’m still planning on going to Burning Man. If you’re going to be there and a have need for help with a project, drop me a line.

I’m still guest editing STARE.

I did it for science

A Nerve writer evaluates the effects of viagra, ecstacy, cocaine, marijuana, and shrooms on his sexual performance:

Getting the drugs wasn’t a problem. I had a pretty good idea which friends and co-workers could hook me up with what. I put out the call, and during the next week, nondescript envelopes appeared in discreet areas of my desk like four visits from the drug fairy. Only Bob Dole’s little blue friend proved elusive. Online Viagra vendors were too expensive, and borrowing from someone’s prescription wasn’t an option: because my co-workers are women in the twenty-five to thirty age bracket, they aren’t exactly in the prime demographic for erectile dysfunction. I finally turned to Craigslist, an infamous online bulletin board where one can obtain “a slippery hand job, no questions asked,” from a bored stay-at-home mom as easily as one can acquire a used Thighmaster.

Full Story: Nerve: I Did It For Science: Sex on Drugs

(via STARE)

Thought Crimes: Scientists Map ‘Guilty Knowledge’ in Brain

UPI reports:

Emerging technologies that map the brain, reveal “guilty knowledge” and expose patterns associated with disfavored behavior raise thorny questions of law and ethics. Electrical activity in the brain can reveal the contents of a person’s memory, and the same electrical stimulation technologies that enable some deaf people to hear can be engineered to control behavior.

Full Story: UPI: Ethics and mapping the brain

(via STARE).

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