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Technology

From our minds to screen

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Well, this could certainly revolutionize videomaking in the (somewhat distant) future.  My mind is reeling – I wonder how visually – at the idea of simply thinking of the film you’d like to produce and having it produced from the raw thought-source.  Now, we just need to get cracking on doing the same for audio so that our brain masterpieces can have a kickin’ score…

(Engadget)

Childhood addiction

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A conversation with Lauren today reminded me how hooked on Tetris I was as a younger version of myself.  Not just the NES version (those damned penguins near the end) but also this really beautiful Apple IIGS iteration that I played non-stop.

Wired93: 8

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On tonight’s episode, pages 90 – 95:

  • an article – astutely – likening the cyberpunk movement to that of beatniks years early based on the number of true adherents (around 100) and the rapid mainstreaming of their signature looks, if not attitudes
  • from the same article: the prediction that the counterculture movement coming from cyberpunk would adopt “tekkie” as a moniker
  • Bruce Sterling’s testimony to the House of Representatives – in the voice of a Net operator from 2015 – as they voted on some “Information Superhighway” legislation
  • predictions for 2015 weren’t entirely off the mark
  • suggested websites from the first Net Surf column:
    • OTIS net-gallery with over 35 Megabytes of images
    • Cruise 2.0 internet tutorial, requiring 1.5 MB of disk space, 2 MB of RAM and Window 3.1 in enhanced mode
    • Nettrek, a real-time “videogame of the future” – which is probably accurate, considering it sounds like a low tech World of Warcraft
  • sidebar ad for StarNine, a company that could connect your Mac network to “15 million email users worldwide”

The saga continues

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The mixing of my email (emailnick) with those of other Nicks expands to the UK where a second email.nick has been losing messages to my inbox courtesy of Google.

See missive to Nick Burgess and his sister after receiving a scanned copy of his birth certificate:

Hello.

I’m not sure how to say this, but I think Google is somehow mixing our mail.  You see, I’m emailnick@gmail.com  and I’ve been receiving emails for email.nick@gmail.com  – mostly from Jessops.com  following an order confirmation from there sometime last year.  It’s not the first time this has happened to me, either:

http://www.nicholasjsmerker.info/2010/03/06/my-australian-email-mystery/
http://www.nicholasjsmerker.info/2010/04/01/australian-mum-writes-again/
http://www.nicholasjsmerker.info/2010/10/14/word-from-australia/

I haven’t got a clue as to what it is that Google might be getting wrong to confuse our email (and I hope it’s not a two way street – my apologies if you are getting my messages, too).  Just thought you might want to be aware.

Best,

Nick

I almost immediately got a reply – as tends to happen when one sends a birth certificate and it ends up in the wrong hands by accident:

Thank you for your honesty I will let my brother know

Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

I couldn’t make this up if I tried.  Now, how exactly does one get in touch with Google about their email?  I’d really prefer that my inbox not be eating the mail of every other Nick in the world.

Wired93: lucky seven

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I’m writing this from the living room in Maryland, where the power is resoundingly out this afternoon.  One conclusion that can be drawn from this incident is that, unlike 1993, there is very little reason to have a computer without internet connectivity in 2011.  I can’t even remember the last time I wrote while offline – how will I link?!

Pages 84 – 89 (review pages):

  • WatchIT!TV, a full-size, 16-bit PC expansion card that allowed for analog television tuning – and the author’s awesome VCR recording pass-through
  • “Information plugs us into the world of computerized productivity, but the open space of books balances our computer logic with the graces of intuition.” – The Metaphysics of Virtual Reality
  • Wired began using Music Access to provide samples of reviewed albums by 900 number at a cost of 95¢/min
  • Ambulance: An Electronic Novel, which came packaged on 2 high-density floppies and required 2 MB of RAM
  • touch tone dialer (?)
  • page 89’s ad for OMD’s new album – and that is all that needs to be said

Wired: hex

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Discovered on pages 72 – 83:

  • article on the birth of computer generated imagery in films which pays special attention to work on Jurassic Park and its divide between digital dinosaurs and analog automobile models
  • the Sega AS-1, a high end simulation contraption intended for arcades and amusement parks that featured virtual worlds designed by Douglas Trumbull
  • Morph’s Outpost on the Digital Frontier, a hacker/programmer magazine featuring a schlubby looking Bart Simpson style mascot
  • Monster Cables were being sold for the newly minted THX gear of 1993.  Wired thought they were a rip-off then, too

Wired93: musical accompaniment

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[listened to this and this and this during my read today, in case you care to replicate the vibe]

Onward to pages 60 – 71:

  • electrotecture as used to describe building (materials) that respond to the cacophony of digital signals surrounding us in our spaces every day
  • “Today’s crude systems in no way reflect the media hype and ‘Cyberspace NOW!’ mentality of the impatient computerized masses.”
  • mentions of 80s/early 90s bands I’ve never heard of like Clock DVA and Frontline Assembly – with which I’m now smitten
  • a look at the state of the Russian phone system – or lack thereof – including mentions of vacuum tubes and MCI (both obsolete)
  • really weird 3×4 grid layout that features photos and interviews with the founders of Survival Research Laboratories

Wired93: third read

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Pages 32 – 46:

  • a multi-sensorial bed at the Yucatan Interspecies Research foundation that allowed users to interact with dolphins visually and mentally (what was the fascination with dolphins, 1993?)
  • (above) the Xerox PARC Liveboard, a $50,000 device that allowed simultaneous videoconferencing, white board writing, interactive interface overlay and control from a pen – all in a gargantuan slab case – notable because I was looking at a $19.90 piece of software recently that does all of this and more
  • the Apple Multimedia Orientation Kit, some sort of membership that provided access to professional support for media creation (it’s probably safe to say that multimedia in 1993 = multitouch in 2011, at least in spirit)
  • Thunder 7, an OS-wide Mac spellchecker that instantly changed all typos while still inputting text – like Lion’s iOS-inspired implementation
  • article on the exploding economy of homemade BBS  businesses

Wired93: part the second

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Wherein we discuss pages 20 – 31.

  • a letter to the editor from Eric Kettunen (posted on America Online) discussing how wired his family home is with a 486 PC, a Mac, two phone lines and a 9600 baud modem
  • an ad for Dysan brand floppy diskettes – 5.25″ and 3.5″
  • a Tired/Wired inset featuring Schwarzenegger/Mystery Science Theater 3000 (still accurate)
  • the launch of a proliferation of cable channels including “Television Food Network”
  • interview with James Parry, who seems to have been a precursor to the likes of 4chan while operating his Kibo personality (which is still going strong)
  • DCC – Digital Compact Cassette – from Philips:  I had no idea what this was, either
  • Digital Queers:  “We’re here, we’re queer and we have E-mail.”