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Nick

From the Far Future

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A hot internet story yesterday was that of a new camera developed at MIT that allows researchers to capture video at 1 trillion frames per second. At this speed, the exact path of light particles can be accurately observed and even recreated. Though still very much a new concept in need of much improvement – and miniaturization – one of the co-creator points out the obvious potential for creating rich, expensive lighting simulations with nothing but software.

Certainly a major shake up for the traditional video studio, even if it’s still years off.

China, we have to talk

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This is a brand new, absolutely jaw-droppingly beautiful museum designed by some truly phenomenal architects in the middle of Ordos, a city in China…with a population of zero people.  Did I mention it’s also in the heart of the Gobi dessert?

China, dear, what are you doing?

I would also like to point out that it’s basically a set from the Charlize Theron reboot of Æon Flux, a fact that I have no problem with but still merits mentioning.

Come to think of it, though, if you were to construct the last city on Earth, you couldn’t really do much better than the Gobi, right?

(io9)

Drive-by observations

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As you know, I spend quite a bit of time on the highways of the Pennsylvania (and highway-ish roads of Maryland).  This affords me an opportunity to notice trends about travel – and lots of time to ponder them.  One thing that I’ve been seeing more and more are aerodynamic attachments to tractor trailers.  For instance:

The little flap under the trailer?  There to keep air flowing more smoothly and thereby make the truck more efficient (and less costly for its operator).  These are also taking the form of winglets on the backs of trailers and other coverings for the gaps between the actual truck and its cargo.

All of this got me thinking about the eccentric German inventor, Luigi Colani.  Who knows when ago, I watched a documentary on the future of travel on the Discovery channel and remember being floored by the crazy looking tractor trailer concept that Luigi had come up with:

At the time, I can remember the show’s host joking about how strange it would be to see such an odd looking vehicle on the roadways.  Now, I’m not so sure that kooky Colani wasn’t on to something…

New PKD adaptation

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Earth is trapped in the crossfire of an unwinnable war between two alien civilizations. Its leader is perpetually on the verge of death. And on top of it all, a new drug has just entered circulation a drug that whips its users back and forth across time.

io9 has news about the latest Philip K. Dick adaptation, Now Wait for Last Year.  Also in the report:  absurd hats are pondered and I’m reminded of the impending Gondry-fication of Ubik.  Hoorah!

Last Week of Class, Looking Back

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Well, this semester has soared right past, hasn’t it?  How’d we get to December already?!

As I’ve got a bit of a quiet spot in the day, I thought it might not be a bad idea to take a look back at last week’s Scholarly Storytelling workshop at Greater Allegheny.  On Tuesday afternoon, I presented with Courtney Young to a group of just four faculty members from Communications, Art, Education and Mathematics.  A relatively diverse group, to be sure.  The group also included media project veterans and newbies alike, all of them eager to learn how assignments could be made to draw on Library resources to foster more academic final productions.

Though Courtney and I had never presented the materials together, it felt incredibly natural to be talking our way through the slides we were each designated, even if it took a moment to code-switch into Ryan Wetzel and Ann Behler’s thought processes in a few places (the last iteration of the presentation was at Tailgate by my colleague and a UP librarian).  The truncated time allotment worked out well and I think the workshop actually gained from losing its hands on component in favor of an open and generous Q&A session with both Media Commons and Library on hand to provide joint answers.

I even booked a Spring class visit out of the deal.<

Learn more about the Scholarly Storytelling workshop and download the materials.

Orderin’ time

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Tomorrow sees me traveling to Pittsburgh to offer a workshop at one of my campuses, which is very exciting. However, the real excitement for the day will come after class when I swing by Bill Gray Volvo before heading back home for the evening. The reason for my stop will be to order what you see above you: a 2012 Volvo S60 T5 in Vibrant Copper. I am excited to see how the ordering process goes with Volvo as compared to Audi back in 2009 – and, of course, to start driving the new leased ride!

Things you learn

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This:

Might look familiar to you if you are a Mac user, as it is – and has been for years – the Command key icon.  Did you know what it actually represents?

A castle as seen from above.  It was apparently widely used to mark points of interest in Swedish campgrounds.

You can learn more fun facts like the one above by reading Steve Silberman’s article on the icons Susan Kare designed for the Mac nearly three decades ago.  It even includes some fun original sketches as she was brainstorming the visual language of the revolutionary little computer.

If I had $1000

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I might just consider buying one of the lithographs from the 1969 illustrated Alice in Wonderland to which Salvador Dalí lent his talents, as pointed out by io9.  Because, you see, they look like this:

In looking up the price of a copy of the actual book (not found), I also turned up a video or three about the project:

With Xmas time just around the corner, feel free to take this post into account when considering how best to splurge on me…