Spam Flood Blog

Interesting Stuff

2007-07-31T22:31:00.001-05:00

Regine

7/31/2007 6:17:55 AM

History will repeat itself. Strategies of Reenactment in Contemporary (Media) Art and Performance is probably the best exhibition i've seen this year. The show, which focuses on artistic strategies of re-enactment in contemporary (media) art and performance, has been set up by Hartware MedienKunstVerein, a platform for the production, presentation, education on and contextualisation of contemporary and experimental media art.

Gosh! was it good to be reminded that media art does not necessarily involve in-your-face interactive, flashy, entertaining installations (which i love except when they are nothing else than that.) This time, you have to sit down and engage with each work. Most of them are videos, usually not my favourite kind of media art but when the show is good, i sit down, shut up and enjoy. Not only is every single art work on display worth all your attention, but gathered in a single space they build up an intelligent and engrossing picture of what contemporary artistic re-enactments implies while providing you with many personal reflections about history, politics and society. There was way too many works for me to engage fully with so all i can do is look forward to see the exhibition again when it travels to Kunst-Werke in Berlin on 18 November 2007 - 13 January 2008.

History Will Repeat Itself is located in the superb PHOENIX Halle Dortmund. Built in 1895, the three-aisle ex-factory is standing on the area of the former Phoenix-West steelworks in Dortmund-HÃ¶rde.

In general, a re-enactment is a historically correct recreation of socially relevant events, such as important battles or other historical events. In a re-enactment, the audience become immediate witnesses of a (repeated historical) event or they become participants in an action.

Unlike popular historical re-enactments, artistic re-enactments are not performative re-stagings of historic situations and events that occurred a long time ago; rather, events are re-enacted that are viewed as very important for the present. They question the present via repeating or re-enacting historical events that have left their traces in the collective memory, while at the same time pointing towards the fact that collective memory is essentially mediated memory.

The most visible example of the power media has on memory is Unexpected Rules, by FrÃ©dÃ©ric Moser and Philippe Schwinger. On an empty stage, illuminated by coloured light bulbs, seven actors perform âThe Clinton - Lewinsky Affair: from 1995 to 1996.

The affair, which was the HG of the media at the time,led to impeachment proceedings based on the report of the Republican investigator Kenneth Starr and a public apology of Clinton for lying.

The re-enactmentâs script begins with the spreading of an intrigue and ends with the whispering of a lie, both by the character of the lawyer. In between, the story unfolds between Amanda (Monica) and Roy (Clinton), the lawyer, the Presidentâs family, and a secretary. Roy is shown as a victim of an intrigue out of political calculation, who only decides to perjure himself on the lawyerâs advice. The retelling of the event by the artists reveals the impossibility of arriving at a truthful analysis amidst the various interests surrounding the affair and their representation in the media.

Questions about the power of media to shape our memories and vision of an event get even more acute with Jeremy Dellerâs The Battle of Orgreave.

The movie recreates the violent clash between the Thatcher government and the British National Union of Mineworkers in 1984â"1985, near the coking plant of Orgreave in South Yorkshire.

After three years of intense research, Deller recreated the âbattleâ in 2001 with the help of âre-enactmentâ groups, miners, and policemen who participated in the event

Because the reports in the media at the time were strongly influenced by the government, and the workers and trade unions were described as âthe enemy withinâ (Margaret Thatcher), Deller did not use contemporary media reports. Instead, he used the memories of the protagonists â" miners and policemen alike â" as the basis of the re-enactment, correcting the (distorted) image projected by the media is corrected.

The re-enactment and the documentary, which film director Mike Figgis made for Channel 4 (he combines scenes of the re-enactment of 2001 with photographs of the clashes of 1984), generate a new and different practice of the histthe historicisation of recent, still sensitive English history, which remains relevant today for existing political and social conflicts.

Two videos you might want to have a look at: 1 and 2.

The exhibition is on view until September 23, 2007 at the PHOENIX Halle Dortmund.

Photo credit: image on top left corner is from Heike Gallmeier's series of photographies taken at the War & Peace Show; first image of Unexpected Rules (FundaciÃ³n Bienal de Sao Paulo); B&W photo of Battle of Orgreave by Don McPhee (found in The Guardian) All my images.

Related: The Port Huron Project, a series of reenactments of protest speeches from the New Left movements of the 1960s and '70s.

Regine

7/31/2007 5:08:33 AM

Can't believe that it was only last month that i was in London to blog the RCA Summer Show. Finn Magee graduated from Design Products' Platform 8 with a series of lights that i found fascinating. They reminded me of Paper Clock by rAndom international*.

Flat Light (image on the left courtesy of the designer)

LED in the poster illuminate the printed lamp or alarm clock. Finn bought standard electronic components off the internet and then mounted them behind posters, letting the light come through.

What were the challenges you met while working on the project?

It was really interesting trying to find the right objects for the portraits. All the products I used were similar to the cheap electronics that were around my house as I was growing up. Other than that I just tried to keep the whole product as simple as possible, letting the paper do the work to hold the cables running behind the poster and staying away from using picture frames or any custom parts as I want them to be easy to produce and buy.

Any plans to develop the lights further or market them?

The Flat Light is in development with Artemide, which has been a pretty interesting experience. Some UK design companies have approached me regarding the Flat Time Clock, which is positive, as I kind of prefer this project and wanted to get it into production.

Flat Time and CV Water (both images courtesy of the designer)

Finn was also showing some CV Water bottles. The project investigate advertising techniques of surprise, juxtaposition and saturation. These ad-objects aim to question our interaction with the images we consume.

What about the water bottles?

The water bottles are tied in with my other projects as they all explore advertising techniques of surprise and subversion. So instead of giving out business and postcards I decided to sell my contact details, by including them in something that people need, Water! Unfortunately the aircon worked really well in the tent so people werenât as thirsty as I hoped, but I cleared most of them anyway!

Thanks Finn!

Images.
* (Hannes Koch from rAndom is running the platform together with Gabriel Klasmer btw.)

7/31/2007 1:00:00 AM

Scientists breed world’s first mentally ill mouse - Times Online
Worldâs first schizophrenic mice in an attempt to gain a better understanding of the illness. Until now they have been bred only for research into physical conditions such as heart disease.
Lead us not into cyber-temptation as missionaries enter Second Life -Times Online
Father Spadaro urges Catholics to go out into the simulation game of Second Life, to lead the cyber-embodiments of their fellow men and women out of the many temptations that exist there.
emily’s playground
ompendium of people, places, ideas and things Emily Davidow love (or at least noticed). that girl's got good taste
b l o g . F A B R I C A: Type the Sky
Type the Sky was born from an instance of sky gazing in the middle of Barcelona from the narrow streets in between several buildings. An intersting cross between photography and typography
Bestiality May Be Knackered In Second Life
The Second Life Herald asks whether adults dressing up like animals and partaking in virtual sex with each other or with human shaped avatars (virtual bestiality) constitutes broadly offensive behavior.
Bottles of "Pet Sweat" water
Décès de l'acteur Michel Serrault dimanche soir - 20minutes.fr
Biocampus - free public conference Art and Biomedicine: Beyond the body
free public conference Art and Biomedicine: Beyond the body will give voice to the people practicing in this field â" artists, biomedical practitioners, exhibition curators, art historians, art teachers and funders
Conflux Festival » Make a Video Public Comment to Save Street Photography
New regulations from the Mayorâs Office on Film set absurd restrictions that would require you to have a permit, and a million dollar insurance policy. Fight back!
E-Flux The third Glasgow international Festival of Contemporary Visual Art
will run from 11 - 27 April 2008. The Festival continues to provide a platform for the best in contemporary visual arts as well as commissioning new work. Curated by Francis McKee.

Regine

7/30/2007 10:50:56 AM

N=1=NPK=KIMCHI=N, a project by visual and performance artist Jae Rhim Lee, is a mobile living unit which consists of a urinal, urine processing system, hydroponic napa cabbage garden (which uses mineral nutrient solutions instead of soil), seedling growing area, a foam bed in the shape of her body, and a kitchen table.

The artist undertook the task to grow food using her own urine, with her body acting as a filter to maximize nutrients for growing the cabbage. She first sent her urine to a floriculture lab, followed a customized vegan diet designed to transform her urine into the ideal nutrient solution for plants.

She then used the resulting cabbage to cook kimchi and fed her colleagues and gallery visitors from the living unit.

With N=1=NPK=KIMCHI=N, Jae Rhim Lee synthesize concepts of the self-body, narcissism, death, and ecology to arrive at a methodology for the long-term preservation of the self and planet.

PDF of the research project.
Via capsula.

Related: Wim Delvoye's Cloaca.

Regine

7/30/2007 3:29:17 AM

Over the past year, i've spent an impressive amount of time ogling a blog called Variable_environment. It had all the key ingredients that get my attention: pictures (many, lavish, big, most of them snapped by Milo Keller), inspiring collaborators (including architect Philippe Rahm, multimedia designer Ben Hooker, researcher and designer Rachel Wingfield and architect Christophe Guignard), mini robotic guest stars, and great content. The blog posts document a fascinating research project called Variable environment/ mobility, interaction city & crossovers. The project starting point is the fact that our living environment and the way we live have tremendously changed over the past few decades. The postmodern city made of signs and infrastructures that Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown have described in the '70s in their book Learnings from Las Vegas, have been progressively "enhanced" by new layers: more signs, spaces and objects, arrival of new technologies, increasing mediation of our relationship to space, intensification of transport.

Variable environment/ is a research project that explores the new challenges faced by our living environment, focusing on interaction design as well as architecture and environment design.

An activity report has been recently published that details the Variable_environment/ project. Selected images and texts have been entirely drawn from the blog and reorganized to allow a linear reading of the project. You can download a pdf version of it (161 pages mixing french and english.)

I contacted Patrick Keller and asked him to give me the lowdown on variable_environments/. Patrick is responsible for the coordination and art direction of the project but he is also one of the founder of fabric | ch, a studio for architecture, interactions and research, and a teacher at ECAL.

You wrote on the blog that "the interdisciplinary challenges and themes relating to the creation of contemporary environments should be tackled through a collaborative efforts of designers (interaction design, design product and graphic design), architects and scientists. This transversal approach hardly ever happens in Switzerland and Europe." Why do you single out Switzerland and Europe? Have you seen examples of interdisciplinarity and collaboration between design, architecture and scientists in other countries or continents?

Well, I shll, I should first say that I had to single out Switzerland because the project was done in the teaching and research context of Switzerland (the texts in the blog are the same ones that I snail mailed to the experts who funded the research): the Variable_environment/ project was linking the two high-schools of ECAL (Ecole Cantonale d'Art de Lausanne ---Arts & Design---) and EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique FÃ©dÃ©rale de Lausanne ---Sciences, Architecture & Engineering---), which was kind of a new education situation in Switzerland.

But this small country can in fact be considered as a good representative for the rest of Europe though (regarding education in design, architecture and sciences, there are quite good high-schools in Switzerland like ECAL, HGKZ, Accademia Mendrisio, ETHZ & EPFL) and especially because like in most of Europe, art & design disciplines (at the exception of Architecture) are usually taught in different schools, structures and locations (and btw with less money) than the rest of disciplines at university level like humanities, engineering, life sciences, etc.

Christophe Guignard and I did a round trip two years ago for ECAL, visiting lots of schools and universities in Europe and United States to see what kind of collaborations were going on between designers and scientists. So for example there is a clear difference between the way Design is being taught in Europe and in the United States or Canada: most of the big universities in the US (Stanford, Berkeley, UCLA, Harvard, MIT, Columbia, etc.) include Art, Design and Architecture schools on their campuses. This should allow for a common knowledge of the work of each other, a sort of base on which you can start, but it also mainly allow for potential easy collaborations on a daily basis. Of course, it is not because it is possible that people are taking advantage of it... Curiosity is still needed in this context because it is usually not part of any regular teaching cursus at the moment.
So, in a more general way, I should say that no, these kinds of collaborations are unfortunately not so usual yet (but I don't know the situation in Asian countries which might be different). They still remain more related to the work and initiatives of individuals, but it's naturally increasing though and will soon become a necessity and an evidence I think.

Architecture is a bit different, it has now a long history of collaboration with engineers: since the modern period and the industrial revolution, it's teaching has left the art schools and integrated the Universities nearly everywhere. Mainly all good architectural schools (with some few exceptions) are now part of big universities or polytechnical schools. In this sense, what has been done with this particular discipline and its teaching in the early 20th century could serve has a reference for some areas of contemporary design, even if the architectural field should also clearly rethink and instigate its relations to other disciplines now.

Lunatic Room by Eric Morzier & Camille Scherrer

Which challenges does such inter-disciplinary element face? Do you think that it would be easy for scientists, architects and designers to find a common language and work in synergy?

I don't really believe in the model of the "designer-coder" who would be formed in a design or art school. Design and code, these remain two different formations where different skills are needed if you want to reach a high level, unless you are ready to study in high-schools for 10 years to reach a Master level. But on the other side, it's hard for those disciplines to work together because the rhythm of work is quite different, especially in a research context. So what could be the solution?

Of course, it's now absolutely necessary that designers understand code and scripting, because design happens also at the level of code nowadays. And in a more general way, it's important that designers are regularly confronted and include/understand the works of scientists because major transformations of societies are now happening through the applied impact of scientific researches and developments, often without the (critical) input of designers. But I also think that it's absolutely necessary that each discipline keeps its edge and profile, its own goals (or lets say its own difference) so that collaboration can be rich. And that's true for any type of collaboration, might it be design and life-sciences, architecture and nanotechnology or whatever. Some collaborations are nowadays experimental (i.e. Architecture and life sciences), some are no more but were it hundred years ago (i.e. architecture and civil engineering that has built most of our contemporary landscape). So, those we need today in the transversal areas we are interested in are designers that understand code/some sciences and engineers that understand design, a common knowledge and then highly creative and critical collaborations of any type between them.

For this, the way we teach and the structure of teaching in Europe should me modified because we will never reach this common knowledge while keeping the high-schools in design and sciences separated as well as their budget so different.

Rolling microfunctions by Patrick Keller, Julien Nembrini, Christian Babski, Julien Ayer and Laurent Soldini

Could you tell us a few words about the AiRtoolkit and in particular about one of its application the "AR ready" project?

The AiRtoolkit project has three facets I would say: first one is the redesign (with interaction design considerations) of a known open source software (ARtoolkit, a marker based augmented reality application), second one are the " AR ready objects" while third are some uses you could have as an end user with such a software coupled with the "AR ready" objects. Each facet of the project is not so particular in itself. It is when you think about combinations of the three that it gets exciting.

When you think of a technology like the (now old) desktop computer, you usually think and focus on what you see, the screen and its content. You think less about what you don't necessarily see anymore: the way it has modified your daily working environment. As an exemple, think about the typical office table: the computer has "aspired" many objects into the screen (the famous "office" metaphor): pictures of relatives, music, mail, etc., finally even the table, that has been replaced by your own knees! Most of those objects or supports are now into the "black box", non material anymore. But what you have "gain" are hundreds of plugs and cables, a whole in the table to make way for them, a "bag" under it to hold them, headphones, remote controls, etc. So to say, a technology could be considered as the thing in itself and all its potential "collateral effects".

"mnemonic suitcase" with stickers and private text-based information

"AR ready objects" are abo are about these "collateral effects": the marker based Augmented Reality technology induces invisible/digital content (usually 3d) that you'll only see through the live eye of a mobile camera (would it be a cellphone camera or a hi-tech headset), on top of what this camera is capturing. But to see this invisible or "augmented" content, you'll have to put a visible marker in the physical environment. That's in fact what we thought was interesting in this technology (beside the possibility to mix the physical and the digital): to put a visible sign to say that there is something invisible, something you can't see with your eyes and that there is an all new visual and functional level that can only be reached through the vision of your camera. We were interested to examine how such a strange environment might look like visually and redesign or distort many known objects that would use this visual language for cameras. We knew at that time that AR technology without markers was under development, but we thought that keeping the markers was a more interesting approach for the physical environment.

Aude Genton's (web)cam objects

Don't you fear that our environment is getting too techno-mediated?

"Techno-mediated" is a subset of "mediated" and man probably maintains an increasing mediated relation to its environment since the time he built tools, his first shelter or cultivated its first seeds. He has put the natural environment "at a distance" and still tries to format it (or literally "inform" it) according to its needs, even if he fortunately still has to deal with natural conditions due to the limited energetic resources he can get.

Therefore a car, a house, a cellphone, a plane, a virtual environment, a space station, air conditioning, a computer, a tool, language, agriculture, etc., can all be considered as mediations to environment as well, or to inhabitable space, other humans, etc.

I agree with you that the mediations to environment are definitely increasing and that they get now for some decades "techno-mediated", provoking lots of perceptive interferences (with time, distance, location, relation to climate, etc.). These existing interferences created by those techno-mediations bring new design areas and challenges where designers could potentially work with time, distance, instant, climate, etc. and where, as architects, we are interested to work into (at least that's the area of work which we are exploring the most now with fabric | ch, the architecture, interactions & research agency I'm working with).

Is it getting too mediated already (I wouldn't make a distinction with techno-mediated)? I will tend to answer by the affirmative: any mediation has an energetic cost and we can all witness that there are energetic problems now and a clear negative impact of energy consumption on climate and natural environments, therefore on our fair existence as a group on this planet. This "climatic alarm" is probably a first strong sign telling us that we are living with too many mediations to our environment, mediations that consume too much energy (at least if we don't find new and cleaner sources of energy).
This is rapidly becoming another design challenge, at least for architecture (I mean, do we really need to live with A.C. all the time in offices? do we need to heat all rooms of our homes all day long in winter time when we spend just a couple of hours into them? do we need so many different mono-functional and space consuming rooms? do we need this and that?).

We'll need to redesign our relation to environment with less (techno-)mediations at less energetic costs, or maybe rather with variable densities of mediations over time and situations.

Angelo Benedetto went to Milan and checked out a spectacular exhibition i missed

Are you optimistic about the future of the "interactive" city?

The "interactive city" is with no-doubt already here, even if it's not looking so "sci-fi" at the moment or even remains quite hidden in fact. Shopping, transportations, banks, communication, voting, state management, etc. are already interactive-like experiences, even if most of them are consumer-driven, profiling and very functional experiences. At the moment, the interactive city is getting built mostly by the private market (and therefore private interests), a bit by the state and a bit by engineers. Nearly no architects or designers are involved in the conceptualization and realization of big public projects (at least I haven't heard of it, please let me know if I'm wrong). This probably also because most designers and architects are a bit conservative and remain kind of blind to contemporary stakes or don't get enough involved into it.

Anyway, I think that the "interactive city" will increase, still mostly driven by private interests at first (so no, I'm not so optimistic about its future). The "real" will certainly become more and more digitalized when all kind of computers, sensors and actuators will enter the building and urban design economy (see for example the ZigBee Alliance like consortium). Then we will get an enormous amount of data from these sensors (and to whom will belong those data, captured by which programs of which companies ---proprietary or open-- will become a big question!)

The city and buildings will probably first start to "speak" (i.e. "too hot" or "too many people" here, "too much traffic" or "too poluted" there, etc.) allowing for some kind of automated tasks, which is not a very interesting approach. But then, these data and spatial computing will also allow for crazy architectural projects and an all new condition for the contemporary space we will live in.

Do you plan to develop the VE project any further?

Variable_environment/ was a first research project between ECAL & EPFL with a special goal in mind: to make a first collaborative test and collect informations before the opening of a brand new EPFL-ECAL Lab. This laboratory will link permanently the two schools in the new big building that is getting renovated for ECAL in the west part of Lausanne, Switzerland.

So, from next October, this lab will be open and collaborations between the schools will increase. All kind of collaborations between design, architecture and sciences will be possible among many teachers and students (there will be no initial thematic limitations). Engineers from EPFL will follow courses in design (object, graphic, interaction), before, hopefully, designers start to follow some courses in computing and sciences.

The Variable_environment/ research has mainly served this "big picture" project for research and education in Switzerland. But in itself, the project will surely continue within this new academic context even if many opportunities are still open at the moment and if we don't know exactly which ones will go further yet (we might go to preproduction with the (Web)Cameras, continue to work on the "AR-ready" Objects and the AiRtoolkit and/or do a European research project as a big extension to what has been started with the Rolling Microfunctions (in collaboration with the Royal College of Art / Tony Dunne).

Thanks Patrick!

Photo credit: Milo Keller, ECAL.
Participants of the Variable_environment/ project: Aude Genton, Tatiana Rihs, Bram Dauw, Adrien Rovero.

7/29/2007 1:00:00 AM

vintage_ads: happiness
they are happy because they eat...
Sangmin Bae--RhythmFish, a device that explores biosonic and infrasonic sound.
Video capture is combined with the data from flow sensors inside the tank (measuring currents caused by the fish's swimming patterns). These inputs are combined to create audio and video output.
Normalising paranoia at fulminate // Architectures of Control
a catalogue accompanying a specially printed newspaper designed to be used with rose-tinted spectacles: Feeling brave? Read the paper as usual. Feeling fragile? The spectacles block out bad news stories which are printed in the same hue as the lenses so i

Regine

7/28/2007 4:52:29 AM

Camera Silens (1994) is an installation for one user at a time a completely sealed-off chamber equipped with a dentist's chair and a closed-circuit surveillance system.

The work refers to a research project at the university clinic in Hamburg Eppendorf, which was suspended in 1973 due to outraged public discussions. Psychiatrist Jan Gross and his colleague Peter Kempe had set up 3 years earlier a "Camera Silens", an anechoic and nearly soundproof chamber, to conduct investigations of the effect of "social isolation and sensory deprivation" on both healthy test persons and patients at the psychiatric hospital under conditions of total separation from natural surroundings (as wikipedia says [citation needed]).

Artists Olaf Arndt and Rob Moonen copied this "Camera Silens" to refer to experiments involving the complete control of the human consciousness.

The reference to the theme of sensory deprivation allows connections
to be made to the solitary confinement of prisoners, as well as to various methods of brainwashing. It indicates the possibility of regarding the human brain as a hard disk in a metaphorical sense, which can be deleted and re-written.

Related: Art Oriente Objet's The Museum of Natural Horror which references Harry Harlow's experiments on the "science of affection"; Timeline: Solitary Confinement in U.S. Prisons.

Images.

7/28/2007 1:00:00 AM

Design & Punishment chair - fulminate // Architectures of Control
by Ben Cunningham. the chair progressively collapses as the userâs home energy use becomes excessive, and restores itself when corrective action is taken (such as turning devices off):
In pictures: Stirling Prize
the contenders for the Â£20,000 Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba) Stirling Prize
Yhancik Magazine - Inside beauty
Disassembled videogame controllers, by garyflixer
SPAWN OF THE SURREAL - art projects in second life
Travel notes of an art critic lost in the dumpster of the imaginary
Elvis in Berlin
exhibition from mid august to early sept
Beyond the Beyond - RFID at the beach
visitors will wear wristbands that debit their bank accounts or credit cards to pay for beach access, food and parking. Garbage cans will e-mail cleanup crews when they are ready to be emptied. Beach checkers could scan the sands with handheld devices and

Regine

7/27/2007 3:21:05 AM

Last episode of the Biorama day in Huddersfield where Capsula and the Digital Research Unit had invited artists to present the way their work explores and blends notions of life, science and digital realities.

Biorama (Part 1) + Biorama (Part 2)

France Cadet, just back from an interesting-looking conference about theatre and robotics held in the framework of the 61st Festival d'Avignon, explained how she hacked robot dogs (she used I-Cybie which doesn't come with a software like the Aibo, therefore re-programming the robot is a long and complex process) and turned them into transgenic and chimerical animals inspired by the advances of (bio)technology, in particular cloning experiments. Each robot raises questions about possible accidents, animal and human behaviour, artificialisation of life, side effects of cloning, dangers of xenotransplantation, etc.
Video

COPYCAT is half dog, half cat. It is independent and clean like a cat while being affectionate and playful like a dog. The robot was inspired by "Cc" ta>" the first kitten cloned in December 2001 at Texas A&M university. The breakthrough has made it possible to clone your favourite dying or dead pet and to produce a pet "Ã la carte".

DOLLY has a more complex origin, half of it is a dog, then it is 30% ewe, 15% cow and a tiny portion of sheep. The dog is named after Dolly the sheep, the first mammal cloned in 1996. Both sheep and bovines specimens have encountered difficulties for their cloning: BSE: Mad Cow Disease, Progeria, premature ageing (because her donor sibling was six years old when the genetic material was taken from her, Dolly may have been genetically six years old at birth), abnormal size and various pathologies. This species aims to cure all the side effects of cloning and deterioration of DNA. However, not everything went according to plans and the dog-cow is suffering from BSE and eventually dies on its little pad of artificial grass.

GFP PUPPY had just 1% of Green Fluorescent Protein gene transferred into its genome. GPF is present at the natural state in jellyfish, and commonly used to mark the cells. In this case, the gene gave the dog a phosphorescent coat. After the fluorescent mouse and Eduardo Kac's Alba rabbit. "GFP Puppy" marks the beginning of a new age of animal cloning, that of more evolved and complex species.

XENODOG is half dog, 45% pig and has also 5% Nude gene.
While the pig is smart and sociable enough to make the perfect pet, it is also the best species to supply organs for xenotransplantations. XENODOG has also the same genetic defect as the nude mouse that prevents him from growing hair and from immunologically rejecting human cells and tissues.

JELLYDOGGY. This genetic mutant is 90% dog with 5% jellyfish and 5% chameleon. Its genome has been enhanced with the gene of a hydrozoan (jellyfish family) as well as the gene of the chameleon, well known for blending in with his environment. This peculiarly enables him to adapt to an aquatic life.

SCHIZODOG has worryingly been "enhanced" with 25% Dr. Jekyll genes and 25% of Mr. Hyde.
The cloning experiment helps increase our understanding of psychological disorders such as multiple or split personality disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenic disorder... it also makes us aware of genetic influence on the psychology of twins, Siamese twins and clones. The study of the two headed dog may suggest promising forms of treatment and perhaps, in the near future, may help predict the outcome of several mental illnesses.

Along with the dog genes, the FLYING PIG is 40% pig, and has 5% nude and 5% human genes.

Inspired by Stelarc's extra ear, Symbiotica's Pig Wings and the nude mouse with a human ear attached onto its back. Initialy designed to serve as a model for tissue and cartilage engineering and to replace a missing or malfunctioning part of the body, those ear-wings prosthesis, made out of muscles, soft tissue and flexible cartilage, can actually enhance the bodyâs fonctions. From now on reconstructive surgery belongs to the past, time has come for augmented surgery.

The last presentation of the day was from etoy agent Marcos who briefly recalled TOYWAR the most successful performance of the group. Toy retailer eToys.com sued etoy for having a similar domain name to their own (etoy.com.) They first offered incresingly big sums of money to get the domain and when they realized it wasn't to sell, they decided to launch a rather dirty legal battle. After several weeks, a market capitalization loss of $4.5 billion dollars, eToys dropped the lawsuit and the etoy website returned to operation.

But Marcos was mostly there to talk about MISSION ETERNITY, an ultra long term project started by etoy.CORPORATION in 2005. Its theme is the cult of the dead in the digital age, its chore idea is to create a digital portrait and make it eternal it through a p2p system and its main pilar is the arcanum capsule.
Video summary.

The ARCANUM CAPSULE is reserved for charismatic pioneers of the information age: the Mâ PILOTS (the process can not be offered to the broad public yet as it is too artistically intense, expensive, and requires the participation of a whole range of trained etoy.AGENTS). So far only 2 TEST PILOTS are in the pipeline (microfilm pioneer Sepp Keiser and writer Timothy Leary).

The Mâ ARCANUM CAPSULES contain digital fragments of the life and âsoulâ of the USERS and enable them to maintain a presence post mortem as data particles hosted in the shared memory of hundreds of networked computers and mobile devices such as cell phones of the so-called Mâ ANGELS, people who contribute a part of their digital storage space to the project. As long as humanity exists and people are connected, the memory will be preserved.

Mâ BRIDGES

Now how can you make the remains eternal in a more tangible way? By having them enter some art institution through physical aysical artefacts. They would get from the family ash once the pilot has died and incorporate it into sculptures called Mâ BRIDGES that link physical and memory spaces as well as life and death. Innovative technology and artistic quality might appeal to art collections, libraries and museums. Conservation would thus be outsourced to protected environments and experts financed by governments, foundations and private collectors. The ash of the deceased would be mixed with cement and then used as dead pixel on the big screen inside the sarcophagus.

Mâ TERMINUS

The first series of Mâ BRIDGES are dominated by visual output (SARCOPHAGUS and MISSION CTRL) and close to traditional art forms. The second series will be based on antenna principles: broadcasting radio signals (voices of Mâ PILOTS), WLAN, Bluetooth and cell phone content. They will introduce a new generation of public interactive art.

7/27/2007 1:00:00 AM

Elit Alice » Pac-Man crocheting
*Window | Interface* at Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum Aug. 31 to Nov. 5
Exhibition will highlight artistic projects that explore the roles of windows and interfaces as both boundaries and sites of transaction between machine and mind, data and perception, the world of the body and the world of the imagination.
World Monuments Fund Unveils 2008 Watch List of 100 Most Endangered Sites
This yearâs list highlights buildings and other heritage sites that are threatened by political conflict, unchecked development, and, for the first time, climate change.
How to Book a Cheap Flight - Mahalo
le cool * Milano
mostra Balkenhol alla pac
le cool * Milano
MOSTRA Hannah Dougherty
microRevolt reBlog: Trade & War in Columbia
'Spread the word that U.S. aid and trade should alleviate the humanitariaanitarian crisis in Colombia, not support a military solution to problems arising from political, social, and economic inequalities."
Pasta&Vinegar » Using movements from real sharks in a digital game
players control their ships, but the sharks are controlled by real-world white sharks with GPS units. Real-world telemetry data provides the position and movement of sharks in the game, so every shark that players encounter corresponds to a real shark in
Mr. Watson » Maverick Machines
Maverick Machines, an exhibition inspired by the work of Gordon Pask, opened in Edinburgh this week. wanna go

Regine

7/26/2007 12:12:48 PM

Detail from The Dining Room by Richard Jackson, a staunch friend of animals.

Check out The Dining Room and The Maid's Room (video explanation) until 31 July. at the Galerie GP and N Vallois, in Paris.

Via gogo paris.

Regine

7/26/2007 9:47:55 AM

Flexible, Architecture that Responds to Change, by Robert Kronenburg.
(Amazon USA and UK.)

Editor (Laurence King Publishing)'s blurb: Flexible architecture adapts to new uses, responds to change rather than stagnating, and is motive rather than static. Understanding how it has been conceived, designed, made, and used helps us understand its potential in solving current and future problems associated with technological, social, and economic change. This book explores the whole genre of flexible architecture buildings that are intended to respond to evolving situations in their form, operation, or location. Crossing the boundaries between architecture, interior design, product design, and furniture design, this innovative book is the first to deal with the entire scope of the topic.

The hologram of a football stadium on the cover of a book that deals --among others-- with responsive architecture! I was not sure at all whether it was a genius idea. The image does get your attention though but it also shouts "hey, i'm hip and a bit superficial". Fortunately the content of Flexible is nothing of the latter. And it is not any football stadium anyway.

The author, Robert Kronenburg, while he began working on the book in 2000, has actually been exploring the topic for two decades and it shows. The book is well-researched, precise and it encompasses all the aspects of flexible architecture: geographical, chronological and cultural. Although Kronenburg never hesitates to go into technological details, the explanations are always clear and easy to grasp. None of that puts too much strain on your grey cells yet you feel like you're getting much smarter with every page you turn. Me likey!

It's also one of those books you enjoy either by just flipping through to have a peek at the images and discover projects you had never heard of or by reading it religiously, from page 1 to 231.

The first part of the book goes beyond the swanky interactive screens and explores the historical, cultural and social context that has shaped contemporary design and architecture. Mobility reflects human civilization's tendency towards change and is nothing new, especially if you take a look outside our static Western culture... think about the Yurt ;/a> or the traditional Japanese home with its tatami and flexible items of furniture that can be moved around to better respond to the inhabitants' needs and which probably have them engaged in a more meaningful way with their dwelling.

Inside the book

The second part is organized around 4 key factors that characterize flexible architecture: Adaptation (to better respond to various functions, uses and requirements of the building), Transformation (with alterations of the the shape, volume, form or appearance of the building), Movability (an important aspect when you think that a building is one of the most immovable artefacts of our culture) and Interaction. The chapter about interaction encompasses both the inside and the outside of the house. The use of intelligent systems, whether automatic or intuitive, in architectural practice owes a lot to researches from other fields, in particular the automotive industry. That interactivity might be guided by many factors that range from the need to control the use of energy to a mere desire to change the appearance of the building by the overlay of changing images and patterns.

Inside 24H Architecture's "accordion" house

Image on the right side is Pika Pika Pretzel, by Klein Dytham architecture.

Regine

7/26/2007 2:54:30 AM

Davis & Davis, The Ralphs (Dad, Mom, Baby, Sis) 1999

Part of the exhibition âDangerous beauty â" Bellezza pericolosaâ, PAN â" Palazzo delle Arti Napoli/Naples, until Oct 23, 2007.

Via teknemedia.

More domestic bliss: the hairy family, the fetish one, the one in stockings

7/26/2007 1:00:00 AM

The Bauhaus Archive / Museum of Design presents Berlin Settlements from the 1920s
25 July - 8 Oct. 2007. Berlin possesses a rich architectural heritage in the form of residential developments dating from the period of the Weimar Republic. These settlements are not only exemplary works of modern architecture, but also bear witness to th
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Bio Artâ"Taxonomy of an Etymological Monster (jens Hauser)
ARTnews - Messaging the media
review of an exhibition about artistic uses of 'new media'
Archinect : Features : Blue Monday
Kazys Varnelis interviewed
Cool Hunting: Angela Singer
much of her recent artwork is made from discarded hunting trophies and other taxidermy that strives to illuminate human exploitive tendencies of the rest of the animal kingdom.
Gothamist: Andy Bichlbaum, Cultural Activist
interview of a Yes Men man
Drug users to get shop vouchers
Drug users are to get shopping vouchers if they stay clean and take part in treatment programmes
Boing Boing: Trailers from Hell: directors muse on schlocky movie faves
Each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, there's a new video segment in which a renowned movie director comments over one of their favorite b-movie / exploitation / grindhouse flick trailers.
silenzio - torino, fondazione sandretto - Exibart.com
Silenzio Torino, Fondazione Sandretto
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INSTANT URBANISM
link with the show on the Situationist International at the Tinguely Museum, by drawing upon the propositions made by the Situationists with relation to transforming architecture and city spaces.
CIAC's Electronic Magazine - Net art v1+2.0 - Genesis, figures, situations
As a result, the works of art produced there are multifarious-environments to be navigated, programs to be executed, forms to be altered-and sometimes go so far as to include the possibility of adding to or altering the initial artistic material.
graffonic by 3kta
Electronic Graffiti system using Video Tracking and a Laser Pointer, that's able to generate RGB images.

Regine

7/25/2007 3:46:50 PM

opensourcery is what you get when you throw a master of bewitching installations and a "real" magician right into a workshop dedicated to magic and illusion.

The workshop was Interactivos?, it took place in June at the MediaLab Madrid. The illusionists are Zachary Lieberman and Mago JuliÃ¡n ("Julian the Magician" in english.)

opensourcery is a performance which marries camera based technology with old fashioned close magic to manipulate a live video image seamlessly and create new tricks. The custom developed software is completely open-source (thus the title) and designed as a starting point for imagining a new language of tricks and techniques for magical expression.

A few questions to Zack:

The coin follows the finger, then moves on its own + The magic eye reveals the chosen card

I suspect that it was the first time that you worked with a magician. How did the collaboration go? Did Mago JuliÃ¡n come with an idea asking for some technical help or did you develop the whole concept together? And did he teach you a few tricks you plan to use in your future work?

First of all the collaborate came out from the excellent advice of JosÃ© Luis Vicente and Oscar Abril, two Sonar curators who noticed a similarity between how my performance Drawn works and how the magician Mago JuliÃ¡n uses an overhead camera to perform close magic.

It was the first time I've ever worked with a magician, and it was really surprising to see the differences in how we work and make work.
For example, magicians are very secretive about their techniques - it took a long time for JuliÃ¡n to warm up to showing me some of the "behind the scenes" while we were working together. I still have absolutely no idea how he does many of things he does live. In contrast, I was eager to demonstrate all of the techniques and hidden systems that make the projects I've worked on, like Drawn or Manual Input Sessions work.

However, there are many, many similarities too - Magicians are essentially hackers, in most cases of physical objects, but also mental processes, and my software hacking and his object hacking worked completely well in parallel and we completely understood each other from day one. Also, we both like to create in the audience a sense of wonder.

Since we didn't have a lot of time to develop the project during interactivos, we started with Drawn, and he spent some time learning and performing with it. I also spent time examining his close magic performance, and learning about the kinds of things he might need in a performance. What was amazing is that his magic is so good, he really doesn't need any help with technology, so it was a very nice starting point. We started to identify needs - for example, to take a snapshot of an object and reveal / hide that snapshot when it is covered, so that his act can have a certain amount of freedom. I recoded a great deal of Drawn (in order to make a clean, open source project) and we spent a lot of time just playing with different effects and ideas.

An amazing thing that happened was that Mago JuliÃ¡n and Punkie (his wife and partner in the act) started completely hacking the software. They would take different bugs or problems and flip them into remarkable tricks. Every day I would come to the workshop and JuliÃ¡n would be like, "We have to show you this!" The last trick, for example, when JuliÃ¡n reveals the card through a magic eye was completely based on bugs in the rendering. I cringed the first time he showed me (as a programmer I hate to see those bugs) but the cringe quickly became a huge laugh.

Video (excerpt) of the performance at Sonar / SonarMÃ¡tica 2007:

How does opensourcery work technically?

It's software that is programmed in C++, using the openframeworks library, that takes a live video image and composites it with synthetic graphics and then reprojects the results to create something which is seamless and looks just like live video. The software is based on Drawn, and is completely open-source.

During the performance a second operator (in this case the Magician's wife) works backstage to control the software, but it could be programmed to work with wireless devices or switches.

Do you plan to go any further in the development of this piece?

Yes, one of the nice outcomes of the Sonar performances is that we have been invited to several Magic festivals. For me this is very exciting because while I typically work in new media festivals, I have never even been to magic festival, let alone performed in one. We are going to develop several new tricks and refine the current ones.

Additionally, we have made the software completely opensource, and we will be making in early fall a manual and tutorials available so that anyone who wants to perform these tricks (or develop new ones) should be able to. We look forward to other people participating or using the software. While a magician almost never reveals his tricks, we want to do the exact opposite.

Thanks Zack!

*Previous episodes: I Thought Some Daisies Might Cheer You Up, Delicate Boundaries, Palimpsesto and Augmented Sculpture v 1.0. Interview with Marcos GarcÃa from MediaLab Madrid.

/div>

7/25/2007 1:00:00 AM

Day La Marseillaise became the new anthem of Belgium - Times Online
where is guy?
Nerve gas antidote made by GM goats
Scientists have genetically modified goats to make a drug in their milk that protects against deadly nerve agents such as sarin and VX.
coin-operated » PleaseSpam.Us - Collaborative Voting For Spam-Worthy Addresses
a web based collaborative filtering and voting system. people submit email addresses with reasons to persuade other users to vote on whether those addresses are worthy of attracting spammers.
Wooster Collective: JR and Blu Together in Berlin
hat am i doing out of berlin again??
Video of the nightingale poo facial
Cabinet Magazine Online - Not a Happy Fraction of a Man
"phantom limbs"

Regine

7/24/2007 3:32:43 AM

Back to my notes from Biorama, a one day event organized by Capsula and the Digital Research Unit on July 13 in Huddersfield. The event brought together an exciting bunch of artists whose work explores notions of life, science and digital realities.

Biorama (Part 1)

Laura Cinti (who is currently doing some research on the way plants can be modified in order to be visually responsible to touch) and Howard Boland from c-lab (interviewed then a few months ago) focused mainly on their fascinating Martian Rose project.

How would the aesthetics of the flower start to break down if exposed to the Mars environment? Would it still have petals? The project started as a very romantic idea: offering a rose to Mars. They worked with scientists from the Mars Simulation Laboratory, at the University of Aarhus in Denmark.

The artists and the scientists put roses inside a vacuum chamber built to simulate parameters such as temperature, gas and distribution, pressure and radiation.
Bacteria can go into suspension and survive after exposure to extreme environment, they will event produce new patterns. The roses, however, were not too happy with the experiment. After several hours of exposure the flowers were significantly darker in colour. As they warmed up, they would easily collapse having been exposed to low pressure.

One of the roses is currently exhibited at BIOS 4, a show on biotechnological and environmental art at the Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporaneo in Seville, Spain.

After Laura and Howard, it was the turn of Agnes Meyer-Brandis to present her work. I had her talk about her projects a few months ago, so i decided to drop the pen and paper and just enjoy her witty talk full of iceberg drifting along the Brazilian coast, elves and other mysterious phenomena. Agnes is currently working on her latest project the Cloud Core Scanner, an artistic experiment in weighlessness within the scope of the German Aerospace Center's parabolic flight campaign.

Brandon BallengÃ©e discussed his transdisciplinary approach towards increasing environmental awareness, how he sees his work as an interface between biological research and a much more experimental programme.

Brandon has spent the past decade studying amphibians which he defined as the "environmental canaries in the coalmine." They act as bio-sensors. Studies have demonstrated that amphibians are declining even in protected environments. Reports of discovery of frogs which are born with more or sometimes less than 4 legs. With such deformities, the animals have very little chance of survival and the phenomenon might partially explain the decline in amphibian population. Such reports emerged mainly from the US. But declines and deformities of amphibians probably exists on 6 continents. The New York-based artist is currently spending several months in the UK to have a closer look into declining amphibian species, through participatory lab and field-based research investigations. The project is organised by The Arts Catalyst and enabled by residencies at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Gunpowder Park, and SPACE. He not only works together with scientists but also organizes âeco-actionsâ fieldtrips that involve members of the public in his research projects.

One hypothesis that might explain amphibian deformities is that some parasite inside the body of the frog might hamper its normal development. When amphibians are mutating, they are very sensible to the environment. Brandon made experiments where he would cut one limb of the frog at different stage of its transformation and see it regrow until a rather late stage. If a parasite gobbles its way into the transforming tissues of the mutating frog, it would form a cyst and impede the normal growth of the limbs. The organism of the frog would try to compensate and grow an extra tow or an extra leg coming from the same tissue. This phenomenon of extra limbs is increasing and it compromises the immune system of the amphibian.

Brandon has discovered in North Yorkshire many amphibians with just one leg or no leg at all, this phenomenon is not described yet in England. The artist documents the deformities by creating hi-res images using a flat-based scanner (he built an aquarium on top of it).

Another of BallengÃ©e's project, the outdoor installation âLove Motels for Insectsâ, enables the public to study arthropod diversity in urban and natural areas. A blank canvas and ultra-violet (black) light enable the study and photography of arthropods (spiders, moths, beetles, etc.) and other nocturnal creatures. Attracted to the light, the creatures mate and feed on the sculpture. It is a "place for bugs to make more bugs." Moths release chemical pheromones to attract mates and consequently "paint" the piece, while spiders spin webs adding their own contribution to the work.

Brandon uses eco-projects to raise awareness of ecological issues and have people feel part of it. C-lab has a couple of very good images of Brandon Ballangee's work.

Regine

7/24/2007 1:44:54 AM

Today's easy reading:

Robbits, by Susanna Hertrich and Matthias Melitzki, aims to explore emotional qualities of interactive objects by inviting a human audience to interact play with Â»electronic creaturesÂ«. Robbits works as an installation consisting of a community self- and location-aware mobile robots.

Video, via bunnylicious.

Let's rabbit: PCBunny, The Coniglio Hat, myBio bunny, A field of inflatable rabbits, This must be designed by idiot.

7/24/2007 1:00:00 AM

Popoholic- Video Viewer- Entourage Medellin Video
apartment hunting :: hyperexperience
voyeur is an on-line interactive that lets you spy on an apartment building, unit by unit, as strange things seem to happen involving the residents.
Interactive Architecture dot Org » Performative Ecologies - Ruairi Glynn
so called âinteractive environmentsâ rarely enable the architecture to negotiate its behaviours , but follow pre-choreographed routines (...) a great deal of misuse of the term âinteractiveâ is common in art, design and architectural discourse
biotechhobbyistmagazine
"The place on the Web for biotech tinkerers, builders, experimenters, students, and others who love the intellectual challenge and stimulation of hobby biotech !"
Scotsman.com News - How monkeying around with diet affects reproduction
BABOONS in Nigeria are consuming natural contraceptives which, for around three months of the year, prevent females getting attention from males and falling pregnant.
Where are the gels who can talk proper and pirouette? - Times Online
next generation of British actors just cannot speak proper. The rise of âEstuary Englishâ has left children with the intonation patterns of Lily Allen and Jonathan Ross, regardless of their background.
hannah dougherty - milano, studio d’arte cannaviello - Exibart.com
Hannah Dougherty
Joint effort: Robotic ankle research gets off on the right foot - MIT News Office
Army veteran who lost part of his leg in Iraq unveiled the world's first robotic ankle -- an important advance for lower-limb amputees that was developed by a team at MIT.
www.Bioject.org » Blog Archive » Photophobes
Little analogue circuits are just like me; they cry when approached to sunlightâ¦ The only way to stop it is to cover it with something or put it in the shadowâ¦

Regine

7/23/2007 10:15:03 AM

I arrived last week at Documenta in Kassel pulling my suitcase along the bumpy pavement with one hand, while the other was busy crossing its fingers "Let's hope there is less video art than at the Venice Biennale!" Turns out that there is an acceptable proportion of videos at Documenta, some of which are worth mentioning:

In 1987, film director Hito Steyerl was 19 and agreed once to be a model for a bondage photo shooting in Tokyo. Lovely Andrea (dubbed "A La Recherche du Cul Perdu") narrates the search for that photography in the Tokyo bondage scene. Helped by self-suspension performer and guide Asagi Ageha, Steyerl and her team find the image in a sex archive and set out to meet the photographer. Along the way, people interviewed talk about freedom, shame (that "libido of the brain") and tell stories such as thch as the habit at the time of tricking young girls to bondage photo studios under the pretense of offering them some other kind of job. Once there the girl was so frightened that she worked for free, the promise that the men would let her go was enough of a reward. The plot is intertwined with images of performances by Asagi Ageha. While watching images of the performance, i never thought of sex, perversion or pain, just elegance, lightness and sheer beauty.

The lost photo shows the artist half naked and tied up, a bondage picture in the nawa-shibari style, characterised by women bound and suspended in the air. Today Japanese bondage has an unmissable sensual and erotic dimension. But it developed from the martial arts, Hojojutsu being the art of restraining a person using cord or rope.

It seems that a trailer (all i could find was this little interview with the artist) as kinky as befits the subject was available on the website of Documenta 12 before the opening of the exhibition, it was soon removed "due to terms of use violation.â The press and blogosphere immediately suspected that Documenta organizers were just looking for a cheap PR coup.

"But in a wider context, there is bondage all over the place", the video states at one point. In fact, the work entangles images of Japanese bondage girls with superheroes Spiderman and Spiderwoman (found those a bit easy cheesy) but also bound captives in the US-detainment camp at Guantanamo Bay. And pop music, there is a lot of pop music.

As i wrote there are videos all over the place, yet this room was one of the very few which was always packed. Sex has you sit for hours.

Images from Documenta presskit and HR online, more pictures of Asagi Ageha in TokyoBound.

Regine

7/23/2007 1:42:15 AM

Danielle Wilde describes her latest project, the hipDisk, as being possibly the most undignified musical instrument ever. hipDisk exploits changing relationships between torso and hip to actuate sound. Video 1 and 2.

Simple horizontal disk-shaped extensions of the body exaggerate the interdependent relationship of the hip and torso. Soft switches, strategically placed around the perimeter of each disk, allow the wearer to play a chromatic scale, and thus simple melodies, restricted only by flexibility and speed of swing.

In creating hipDisk, the interest was to move beyond limb- and digit-triggered switches and explore full-body movement for actuation.

Ultimately, three iterations of hipDisk will be developed so that a small orchestra of hipDisked women can play chord structures together, or harmonize and so accompany voice or another solo performer/player. A version of the instrument may also be developed for men. Yes, please, please Danielle, do make a version for lads!

Danielle lists in her paper (PDF) the various projects that hipDisk builds upon and relates to. Here are just a few of them:

- the interface is related to Kei Kagami's Head Holder (2006), a dress that explores dynamic structures by means of rods and strings that cause exaggerated movement of the garment by the motion of the model or wearer,
- the output of hipDisk is related to Danielleâs previous work Ange, which allows the player to trigger sound samples and control volume, so mix up to 24 samples in real-time, simply by manipulating their volume,
- the input/output relationship is also simple and direct, the tones triggered through core-body gesture, allowing us to make a correlation to physical interfaces like Dance Dance Revolution.

Also by Danielle Wilde: the periscope, the musical ribcage and the Dress.

Regine

7/20/2007 6:47:01 AM

Last month i was in Colombia for (and thanks to) the Pixelazo festival.

I then asked Alejandro Tamayo if he could point me to any artist worth meeting in Bogota. Several names came to his mind but when i had a look at the images of Adriana Salazar's machines, i just said "Stop! Stop! no more names, how can i get to meet her?" How could i not want to know more about a girl who creates delicate and elegant (but slightly ludicrous) machines that smoke, tie shoes, pull thread through the hole of a needle, relentlessly measure walls, switch the light on and off, on and off, on and off, dust walls, cry while another one dries its tears, etc.

What is your background? How did you start creating machines? Is "machine" the correct word to describe them by the way?

I studied fine arts at the Jorge Tadeo Lozano University, here in Bogota. At the very end of my career, just when I was starting to develop my last academic project, I came to the encounter of moving devices, by chance, or maybe because I just couldnât stand stillness. After that I decided to work with a more specific kind of movement: human actions that are performed repeatedly and without any awareness of what happens to the body meanwhile. I started thus with smoking, as an action with a very complex body movement involved. The idea of isolating this action, from its context, resulted in a sort of âmachine-like objectâ, but with the exact opposite functions a machine would usually perform: it just had no purpose, no practical value. Besides, the object that resulted was rather clumsy, simple and almost hand-made, so there is no fancy technological operations involved, and no industrial mass-produced object as a result of the process. The word machine seems then incorrect, in that sense.

Mademoiselle, MÃ¡quina fumadora (Smoking machine)

What fascinates you in the absurd and the useless?

The fact that it is precisely through the absurd and the useless that we can really get to understand what us humans are like: we can perform coherent and beautiful actions that still have no purpose. The purpose of our actions, or even better, their ends, somehow always escapes our comprehension, and yet we keep moving and doing things. It is fascinating then to see, as in a distorted mirror in front of us, what we do, but without our presence: just the action repeating itself over and over.

Porristas

What is your relationship with the machines you create? Do you see them as mere objects for galleries or do you develop a more personal relationship with them?

There is something I really like about them: Their design is always the result of very simple mechanical or physical processes, and it is conceived by the mind of an amateur: There is no engineering or high-tech involved. The result is therefore a very personal interpretation of a movement, so it turns to be more an expressive device than a robot or an automatic appliance.

On the other hand there are a couple of pieces that work very well with galleries, but not because they look good in them or because they are commercial. Both the smoking machine (Mademoiselle) and the careless machines (the ones that start making a toast, and end up drunk and unsynchronized) invert the social roles of the actors in an exhibition opening: When the guests drink and smoke while looking at the art pieces, these two art pieces drink and smoke while looking back at their beholders.

MÃ¡quina desempolvadora and La desapariciÃ³n de las necesidades

How do you develop them? On your own? or do you collaborate with someone else to build up the technical elements?

The whole process of designing and building these objects is rather interesting. I am becoming first of all very comfortable with the fact that they are created in sort of a naÃ¯ve way. I need to understand what is going on in there, and I need the viewer to do so too, so I tend to avoid complex operations or technological novelties that could leave you just amazed and overwhelmed. Nevertheless, I have always had the support of people that obviously know how to do certain thrtain things better than me, especially concerning working with metal or other industrial materials that require special instruments. The rest is just small disco ball motors working!

MÃ¡quina que intenta amarrar un zapato (Machine that tries to tie shoes)

Are your works a comment on technology, human beings or their relationship to technology? Maybe all of those?

Certainly all of those. I am not a moralist towards technology, but I love to show its ironic side, I love to laugh at the fact that we truly believe technology is progress, and that it is eventually going to save our lives: in my pieces there is always something that remains incomplete, some sort of imperfection that becomes an effective part of the work. It is as if our actions as well as our machines were always failing to succeed their task. Maybe what humanizes our technological world isnât its tendency to boost human form or function, but its constant failure, its fragility.

There is in fact one of my pieces that is actually a âtrying machineâ, a machine that makes an effort and always fails (machine that tries to thread a needle): it is small, modest, and stubborn as a man.

Is there any artists that has influenced you or that you particularly appreciate the work of?

I know I should probably be bringing influential figures here, such as Rebecca Horn or Jean Tinguely, or even Stelarc or Wim Delvoye. I discovered that the artists I love the most are those who are completely alien to my processes and those whose work is most disturbing and uncomprehensible. In the research process for my last piece âlloronaâ (crying woman), for example, I rediscovered some fascinating Man Ray pictures, and I fell in love with Hans Haackeâs Condensation Cube. I also truly related to this last piece in the sense that it is very complex, theatrically complex almost, and at the same time it is the simplest thing of all!!!

What is the reaction of the public when they see your art pieces?

Iâve seen all kinds of reactions. I like the fact that this kind of things tend to escape the discursive, enclosed, and elitist approach to contemporary art. I like, for example, when people laugh at them or when they become interested in how they work or in how they relate to certain human experiences. I had once a group of industrial design students that came with a very unexpected and interesting approach, from the designerâs point of view. I had never thought of my work as design, but I understood that definitely design played a very strong role in it: The human being is able to redesign its body and modify it to perform a certain function, and artists are mostly perception and body designers. I owe this discovery to the input from the public.

Thanks Adriana!

All images courtesy of Adriana Salazar.

Blogged by Hack41
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Adam Pash

7/31/2007 12:00:00 PM

Most people know Launchy as a simple and lightning-fast application launcher for Windows, but it's actually capable of much more than that. Using Launchy, you can append text to files, schedule...

Adam Pash

7/31/2007 11:30:00 AM

This week at Lifehacker Jobs: Small Office IT/Systems Admin - Mobilease, Inc, Houston, TXWeb Developer - Honest, New York, NYUser Interface Developer - Washington Mutual, Emeryville, CASenior...

Adam Pash

7/31/2007 11:00:00 AM

The Credit Card Survival tool packs a can opener, knife, screwsdriver, ruler, wrench, saw, and more into a convenient credit card-sized package. You can't always take your Leatherman multi-tool with...

Kyle Pott

7/31/2007 10:30:00 AM

Google is developing a digital fingerprint technology that purports to block the uploading of copyrighted material to YouTube within 2 minutes. With the goal of rolling out this technology by year...

Kyle Pott

7/31/2007 10:00:00 AM

Windows only: Freeware app VistaTweaker makes customizing Windows a breeze. Very similar to the previously-mentioned Vispa, VistaTweaker has easier to navigate menus and can be used (with limited...

Adam Pash

7/31/2007 9:45:19 AM

Designer Dustin Wax says you can bolster your design skills by learning four basic principles: Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity—or CRAP. The post focuses on how design affects our...

Adam Pash

7/31/2007 9:20:00 AM

Give web site BitLet the URL of a .torrent file and it downloads the file using its web-based BitTorrent client. Beyond that, BitLet is pretty simple: just paste the address of the .torrent file,...

Adam Pash

7/31/2007 8:30:00 AM

Frequent movers know that it's a pain to get used to the layout of a new kitchen when you move into a new home, especially if you live with other people who are putting away objects willy-nilly...

Kyle Pott

7/31/2007 8:30:00 AM

Microsoft is jumping on the BitTorrent bus by creating a knock-off peer-assisted download manager format. The torrents new protocol will be known as The Microsoft Secure Content Downloader (MSCD),...

Adam Pash

7/31/2007 8:01:00 AM

The Wall Street Journal talks to 3 IT experts to find out what risky computing they try to keep you from engaging in, then asks 3 productivity mavens (including our very own Gina Trapani) how to get...

Adam Pash

7/31/2007 4:00:00 AM

The folks behind Wikipedia are looking to put together a web search tool to rival Google. The search engine will be fueled by a community of editors much like Wikipedia. Will the "democratization of...

Adam Pash

7/30/2007 8:00:00 PM

Increase online shopping security with virtual credit cards conigs says: "I tend to use virtual CC numbers for small merchants I may not have heard of or seem to have no replutation... especially...

Kyle Pott

7/30/2007 7:00:00 PM

Linux users: You can turn your Linux machine into an automated masterpiece by wrapping a GUI around cron. The Ubuntu Geek weblog introduces Gnome Schedule which cuts the command-line out of the...

Kyle Pott

7/30/2007 6:00:00 PM

Windows only: Freeware app Outlook on the Desktop embeds the Outlook calendar directly into your desktop. Outlook on the Desktop creates a semi transparent layer that pins the Outlook Calendar on...

Kyle Pott

7/30/2007 5:00:00 PM

Linux only: Freeware utility CheckGmail now works with Compiz Fusion (and the Compiz/Beryl derivatives). CheckGmail has been a longtime Lifehacker favorite, and due to an incompatibility with Perl,...

Adam Pash

7/30/2007 4:00:00 PM

What's a good place to find a word's etymology?How do I build a data warehouse that scrapes data from public websites for my own use?How can I improve my interview skills?How can I successfully...

Adam Pash

7/30/2007 3:00:00 PM

The Wall Street Journal highlights several online tools designed to help regular people find a good lawyer. Alternately, if you can do without a lawyer, the article suggests a few tools that can help...

Adam Pash

7/30/2007 2:00:00 PM

Mac OS X only: A lot of us are excited about Time Machine, the new feature set to launch with Leopard that adds built-in file versioning to OS X. However, until Leopard is released (or until you...

Wendy Boswell

7/30/2007 12:00:00 PM

While most people are content with using Facebook to connect with friends and colleagues, Facebook can also help you get things done. With Facebook apps - third-party plugins - you can make Facebook...

Adam Pash

7/30/2007 11:45:00 AM

Popular Windows BitTorrent client uTorrent has relaunched as the rebranded BitTorrent 6.0, the official client of the BitTorrent, Inc. with a few tweaks to the backend. Meanwhile, you can still get...

Adam Pash

7/30/2007 11:30:00 AM

How-to web site wikiHow offers a beginner's crash course to predicting the weather with nothing but your wits and senses. For example: Take a deep breath. Close your eyes and smell the air. Plants...

Adam Pash

7/30/2007 11:00:00 AM

Firefox 3 is slated to add full-page zoom, which lets you enlarge or shrink the entire contents of a web page (including text, images, and flash) rather than just text,—handy for increasing...

Kyle Pott

7/30/2007 10:30:00 AM

At some point in your career you probably faced the timeless challenge of landing a job offer when you were capable but somewhat under-qualified for the position. With this uncomfortable situation...

Adam Pash

7/30/2007 9:49:24 AM

In a statement that pretty much sums up why Microsoft is so slow on innovation, Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer says they have "'no choice' but to embrace the web app revolution"—at least 2 years...

Adam Pash

7/30/2007 9:41:00 AM

DIY web site Instructables steps through making a slick DIY charging (and syncing) cradle for virtually any type of gadget on the cheap using an ergonomic, foam keyboard wrist support, a sheet of...

Adam Pash

7/30/2007 9:20:00 AM

Windows only: Freeware application ColorPic is a simple but powerful utility for designers that determines the HEX and decimal code of onscreen colors and manages color palettes for broad design or...

Kyle Pott

7/30/2007 8:30:00 AM

You stopped off for a two minute small-talk session with the boss/buddy/neighbor, they've yammered on for a 20 minute chat explosion, and you need to get out! Lifehack.org explains how you can wiggle...

Adam Pash

7/30/2007 8:00:00 AM

If you love tabbed browsing but your tabs tend to get a bit out of control, the Friedbeef's Tech weblog offers 10 suggestions for how you can better manage your Firefox tabs. Some of the suggestions...

Adam Pash

7/30/2007 7:59:00 AM

According to Google Operating System, Google is indexing many weblogs in (near) real-time, which makes finding the latest and greatest information on a topic or breaking news story that much more...

Wendy Boswell

7/29/2007 7:00:00 PM

Self-help site Life is a Journal has written up five reasons why having a pet is important. And no, my cat did not force me to write this post. All of us probably have different reasons for owning...

Wendy Boswell

7/29/2007 6:00:00 PM

OrganizedHome, a site that helps you get your, uh, home organized, has written up a few good ways to help with the decluttering. My favorite? The penicillin method. No, no shots necessary here....

Wendy Boswell

7/29/2007 5:00:00 PM

Self-improvement blog Pick the Brain has written up a list of ten ways to instantly build your confidence level. With a couple of exceptions, these are all things you can do on the fly. For...

Wendy Boswell

7/29/2007 4:00:00 PM

Making changes, no matter how big or small, can be difficult. Psychology Today has put together the six principles of change that can help you accomplish what needs to be done. Summed up, they...

Wendy Boswell

7/29/2007 3:00:00 PM

Yahoo has added a travel shortcut to their arsenal of search tweaks. Just type in your destination to the Yahoo search bar, and you'll get hotels, restaurants, flight information, Flickr slideshows,...

Blogged by Hack41
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Interesting Stuff

2007-07-31T21:29:00.001-05:00

Jesus Diaz

7/31/2007 8:16:03 PM

iPhone Firmware Update v1.0.1 is now available through iTunes, and it will "fix bugs." The JesusPhone is getting an apparently minor upgrade, but the consequences are huge to your security. Discover...

Karson Thompson

7/31/2007 7:59:06 PM

It's better to be safe than sorry: Baby Alert's Child Minder system (baby not included) replaces the generic strap on your kid's car seat, causing a keychain alarm to sound every time you move more...

Brian Lam

7/31/2007 7:24:56 PM

Next Tuesday, August 7th, at 10am PDT, Apple's holding an event which will be focused on the Mac. It'll take place at Apple's Cupertino HQ in the Town Hall. Guess those iPod nano rumors were wrong....

Adrian Covert

7/31/2007 7:23:43 PM

NASA has declared the iPhone not ready for business use by their employees. Instead, they're planning on supporting the Blackberry 8800 or Palm Treo 750. [InformationWeek] Image via Wired

Brian Lam

7/31/2007 7:11:20 PM

Philippe Khan, of Borland and Camera Phone fame, won the Transpac sailing race in the double-handed class, with and without handicap factored in. Congrats to team Pegasus. [Pegasus via Giz]

Brian Lam

7/31/2007 6:57:48 PM

Nokia is planning to launch a worldwide music store on August 29th. Fortune compares it to iTunes, and somehow works iPhone into the headline. Two things I notice: a) This isn't an application, it's...

Brian Lam

7/31/2007 6:26:47 PM

This concept washing machine by Reed Crawford saves water from one of the cleaner, later rinse cycles for use in a future wash. Smart, but only if there is an override that I can activate when...

Brian Lam

7/31/2007 6:25:59 PM

Some confusion from the Apple analyst community today. Apple shares down nearly 7% to 131.76, based on a circular sourcing loop (infinite) that Apple would cut its iPhone production in half,...

adam frucci

7/31/2007 6:00:19 PM

Solar cells just got a boost in efficiency thanks to a couple of scientists at the University of Delaware. The news cells can convert 42.8% of the light that strikes them into electricity, which is a...

Jason Chen

7/31/2007 5:20:44 PM

People are making the NES controller into optical mice and voice recorders, so why not make it into an MP3 player? Better yet, why not take an actual NES cartridge and make that into speakers and get...

Brian Lam

7/31/2007 5:11:54 PM

Ryan at Engadget has a great post about Bug Labs, a company planning to release DIY gadget hardware in the form of modular screens, QWERTY, GPS, Wifi/Bluetooth radios (sorry, no cellular radios)....

Brian Lam

7/31/2007 5:05:45 PM

Iomega's StorCenter NAS devices are shipping in sizes from 500GB to 1TB with 7200 RPM SATA-II drives. The 1GB uses two drives, so can work in RAID 0, 1, or JBOD (one large drive). Each has Gigabit,...

Jason Chen

7/31/2007 4:50:42 PM

Windows Mobile owners who own Macs will be familiar with Missing Sync, the app that lets you sync your smartphone to OS X's Calendar and iCal (among other things). The latest version is available,...

Brian Lam

7/31/2007 4:36:13 PM

Amp'd customers left with dead handsets after the company's death can take their handsets over to Verizon, Sprint, or other CDMA carriers, it is rumored. Or, where Amp'd officially recommends you go,...

Jason Chen

7/31/2007 4:20:20 PM

The gadget: Speedfreek, an add-on from Kontrolfreek for the Xbox 360's left analog stick to make racing games easier to play by making the cars more precise to control. The verdict: Pretty...

Jason Chen

7/31/2007 4:19:44 PM

Greg Joswiak, Apple's VP of iPod Product Marketing, tells a bunch of analysts that the first iPhone software update will be coming soon. Analysts then went on to speculate that the update could...

Brian Lam

7/31/2007 4:10:31 PM

In Japan, riding the train in a skirt is still an invitation to have your ass grabbed or photographed by some random perv. These days, there's a more advanced threat: cameraphones with IR night...

Jason Chen

7/31/2007 3:50:30 PM

The M500 GSM Watch from Australia isn't your only cellphone watch option now with the Cect Mobile watch from China. It's got a semi-decently large LCD, six hardware buttons, GSM support, Bluetooth,...

Brian Lam

7/31/2007 3:30:57 PM

OXO's kitchen gadget for taking corn off the cob combines a mouse-shaped handle with a blade and measuring cup. The only other way to get corn off the cob is with a huge knife (fun but not safe) or...

adam frucci

7/31/2007 3:22:32 PM

Bad news, office drones: That laser printer sitting in your cubicle might be doing some serious damage to your health. It turns out that one third of all laser printers emit tiny particles of toner...

Jason Chen

7/31/2007 3:00:02 PM

Akiba blog is reporting that the Nintendo Wii is showing up in Japanese retailers in "semi-normal" numbers, meaning that the incredible demand may have finally faded enough to match the supply. If...

7/31/2007 2:58:59 PM

Java Programmer - Simulex, West Lafayette, IN Webmaster - The Week Magazine, New York, NY Account Manager - Cisco Commercial Accounts - SoCal - Global CTI Group, Irvine, CA (LA, OC, SD, IE) Senior...

Jason Chen

7/31/2007 2:37:25 PM

New information on the Xbox 360 price drop detailed in the Toys 'R Us and Wal-Mart ads this weekend. Circuit City is bringing out a full two-page layout with price cuts of $50 for the Premium, $30...

Jason Chen

7/31/2007 2:32:46 PM

Similar to the way Zunes were discounted, Amazon is offering up $20 discounts on the 30GB iPod and $28 discounts on the 80GB iPod. We doubt it's related to the new iPods that may be coming, but it's...

Charlie White

7/31/2007 2:14:14 PM

Every once in a while the so-called Boy Genius actually nails a rumor or two, so we couldn't help but pass this one along: He's soothsaying now that the Motorola RAZR 2 V9 and Motorola Q9 will be...

Jason Chen

7/31/2007 2:00:29 PM

TiVo must be wanting to clear out its back stock of Series 2 machines, because we haven't see many of these free after rebate deals for a while. From now until September 8 (when the rebate expires),...

adam frucci

7/31/2007 1:46:31 PM

Those dudes at Apple sure love to patent things. For every patent they file that actually makes its way into a device that's sold to consumers, there have got to be 30 others that just sit there...

Jason Chen

7/31/2007 1:42:38 PM

The last few months of iPod rumors have all come down to this, a final push before the supposed launch next week. What's going to be new? Supposedly, a two-inch-square flash-based iPod that may be...

Charlie White

7/31/2007 1:33:43 PM

Intel and GPS chipmaker SiRF to team up for GPS and processor integration coolness [Press Release]

adam frucci

7/31/2007 1:15:03 PM

Sure, the Segway turned out to be a gigantic joke of a failure, but that doesn't mean the technology from the dork transporter is useless. Some clever high school kids from Canada have designed a...

Jason Chen

7/31/2007 1:00:42 PM

Apparently Microsoft has started adding extra GPU cooling to new retail Xbox 360 elites in order to stave off overheating problems (and the three red lights) the units may be having. These added...

Charlie White

7/31/2007 12:57:38 PM

LEDs are spreading all over the home, and now these Lumen LED Lights have found their way into every corner of your house, bringing a spot of color here and there and adding a little extra style on...

Charlie White

7/31/2007 12:17:06 PM

Sanyo's Rear View Backup Camera System claims to have a new twist on an old idea, "AirCam technology" that gives you a wide angle shot of whatever is behind you rather than some annoying fisheye...

Addy Dugdale

7/31/2007 12:00:46 PM

Yesterday on Gizmodo we brought you a pretty esoteric bunch of stuff. From seven-and-a-half-tonne bridges made of cardboard to fake iPhones, Samsung cameras, Harry Rotter T-shirts and how to frack...

Charlie Wharlie White

7/31/2007 11:40:48 AM

The Body Energizer Vibrating Exercise Machine claims to improve your muscle strength and bone density, using some magic high-frequency vibration. Doesn't this remind you of those worthless...

adam frucci

7/31/2007 11:20:14 AM

This strange sleeping bag can do two distinct things. First, it can provide a bunch of nice therapies to your body, such as a steam sauna, water jets and oxygen misting. Second, it can easily detect...

adam frucci

7/31/2007 10:55:00 AM

What do you get when you mix the nightmare-inducing early-'90s robotics of Chuck E Cheese's with Bubba Sparxxx? Slightly less nightmare-inducing robots. That may be because I'm older now and less...

Jason Chen

7/31/2007 10:50:44 AM

This week at TreeHugger: Once there was a little paper company in Finland called Nokia. They started making plastic boots, and that didn't work out too well, and then decided to give mobile phones a...

Mark Wilson

7/31/2007 10:45:59 AM

Men, we have been defeated. After years of struggle, battling for a simpler life with less purses to trip over, women have struck at our weakest point—our insatiable desire for gals holding...

Mark Wilson

7/31/2007 10:40:41 AM

The only way we could enjoy the self-explanatory Titanic Lamp more is alongside Celine Dion's severed hand reaching from the depths of our coffee table, grasping at air, and sinking to the cold world...

Matt Buchanan

7/31/2007 10:40:13 AM

iTunes Store sales hit 3 billion songs. Can we get a counter with spinning numbers in the top right-hand corner? [Apple]

Blogged by Hack41
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Interesting Stuff

2007-07-31T20:09:00.001-05:00

7/31/2007 8:50:05 PM

Hurray for mad science! The Haier WasH20 is a detergent-less washing machine, and this new washing machine has a very innovative way to wash your clothes !

7/31/2007 8:30:07 PM

The US Department of Justice has until mid-September to decide whether it wants to help the RIAA defend the constitutionality of its claim that it is owed damages of $750 for each copyrighted song infringed.

7/31/2007 8:20:35 PM

As of today Sony has announced the full Gran Turismo 5 car list. It consists of 10000 cars. At launch it will only have 340 cars while the others will be developed in the future. Polyphony Digital will also develop cars for individual clients. That means in the future we could have any car put into the game for a special price. Of course...

7/31/2007 8:20:16 PM

In Violation Of Federal Law...

7/31/2007 8:20:06 PM

The press are being invited to an Apple "product presentation for Mac" at Apple Town Hall in Cupertino on the morning of Tuesday, August 7th.

7/31/2007 7:50:07 PM

A little older of an article, but I just sat through a TLC special on this family and dugg a little more. Stumbled across this gem.

7/31/2007 7:40:31 PM

This along with the official announcement of 4player online co-op.

7/31/2007 7:30:19 PM

the Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales (who are also the people behind WISE - Wales Institute for Sustainable Education) have their sights set even higher â" they claim that Britain could be practically a zero carbon economy as early as 2027.

7/31/2007 7:10:05 PM

The White House has refused to comply with a Republican Sen. Arlen Specter's request for information about Alberto Gonzales's conflicting testimony on a secret surveillance program by a 12 p.m. Tuesday deadline. It is unclear whether the administration is refusing the request outright or is simply tardy in delivering its response. Developing...

7/31/2007 7:10:02 PM

Sony has been sued by a mysterious company over a 15-year-old patent covering parallel processing. The plaintiffs claim that the Cell CPU used in the PS3 infringes on a patent they own the rights to, but they chose not to go after IBM, which designed the CPU in the first place.

7/31/2007 7:00:02 PM

Following reports showing that up to one-third of all Xbox 360 consoles are afflicted with the fatal hardware error termed the âRed Ring of Death,â Microsoft extended its warranty on the machine to cover such a defect for three years.

7/31/2007 7:00:01 PM

The iTunes Store is on a roll and not slowing down any time soon. Apple announced this morning that over 3 billion songs have been sold through its online music store. The milestone not only marks a major feat for Apple, but also for the digital music industry as a whole.

7/31/2007 6:50:06 PM

"We know you don't really like having money. That's why we've put together these 10 tips that will help ensure you never will"

7/31/2007 6:50:03 PM

The FCC today announced its plans for the upcoming 700MHz spectrum auction. Neither Google nor the big telecoms are totally happy: the FCC failed to adopt Google's proposed ideas, but did support at least two kinds of open access that AT&T and Verizon aren't very enthusiastic about.

7/31/2007 6:40:10 PM

Ever imagine a building could be built from water? Brick, wood and steel are the materials one normally thinks of for building construction - hard substances that donât flow, change or move over time. Thatâs why we are amazed by the creativity and ingenuity of some architects from MIT who designed a building which is composed in large part by water

7/31/2007 6:40:07 PM

Back to the future fans dream come true, the Delorean may be coming back into production.

7/31/2007 6:40:02 PM

Rumors that Apple is wearing the pants a little too often in their iPhone relationship with AT&T have received a boost, now that the wireless carrier seems to have stopped promoting the pricey phone on their main page barely a month after its June 29th launch.

7/31/2007 6:30:09 PM

They say that "whatever can go wrong will go wrong, and at the worst possible time" and these hilarious pictures definitely prove that. I realize this isn't the newest thing around but I'm sure many people haven't seen it before and it's certainly still a good laugh.

7/31/2007 6:30:08 PM

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld appears to have refused to testify at a hearing scheduled for Wednesday on the friendly fire death of Army Specialist Patrick Tillman, RAW STORY has learned.

7/31/2007 6:30:06 PM

The "Off" light switch is pretty much what it looks like: a fully-functioning, combination light switch/hook, and therein lies the dilemma. Do you hang up your jacket or turn on the light? -- you can't do both, and nobody likes a wrinkled jacket.

7/31/2007 6:10:10 PM

Home Depot seems to have had a change of heart. They're now unequivocally telling their customers that they will not advertise on Bill O'Reilly's show. Oddly, however, they're now also claiming that they never advertised on O'Reilly's show. Uhhh... OK. Sure. Just don't start in the future, schmucks

7/31/2007 6:10:05 PM

US Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday came to the defense of embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales amid growing pressure from lawmakers for the Justice Department chief's resignation.

7/31/2007 5:50:08 PM

A group of high profile 'personal productivity' bloggers collected a list of the 100 best âtips to improve your life.â Leo Babauta, author of Zen Habits compiled the list. While not specific to creative professionals, the list includes tips that are likely to boost overall effectiveness and the impact we are able to make with our ideas.

7/31/2007 5:50:04 PM

MSN just ran a story about a lawn care company in Tennessee that uses girls in bikinis to do yard work. The owner charges a "premium" for the service, and apparently business is booming. What other businesses and services could benefit from a little blatant sexual exploitation?

7/31/2007 5:40:22 PM

Apparently most in Congress think it's ok to vote for more government spending ... as long as they don't have to pay for it themselves. One congressman took them to task and offered his _own_ money to support a bill (instead of using taxpayers' money), and asked the other members of Congress to match his funds. They declined.

7/31/2007 5:30:10 PM

She's wearing a ... garbage bag?

7/31/2007 5:20:08 PM

The title says it all. New technology which will 1/4 the cost of solar cells. Now where's my flying car??

7/31/2007 5:10:07 PM

It's easy to forget, but not every hot female celebrity is a braindead skanked out media whore like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. Here are ten gorgeous female celebrities who actually excelled academically and have something going for them apart from their good looks.

7/31/2007 5:10:04 PM

A great and useful collection.

7/31/2007 5:00:09 PM

There are many theories about how Oscar knows who is going to die, and some (mostly joking) remarks about how he may be causing the death. "im in ur hozpice, prediktin ur deths"

7/31/2007 4:40:07 PM

Air New Zealand is testing the waters for a new fuel made from the algae found in pond scums, which could have the capacity to reduce the entire carbon footprint of the airline industry to zero.

7/31/2007 4:30:20 PM

We've had rumors and spy shots before, but up until now we really didn't have any confirmation that Hyundai's new Tiburon replacement would switch from a pull-me to a push-me. With the new rwd platform that the company recently developed for its Genesis luxury sedan.

7/31/2007 4:30:09 PM

The list offers a nice point-counterpoint of why your IT department considers something a risk, how you can bypass their roadblocks and do it anyway, and perhaps more importantly how to get around it in a manner that won't completely freak out your IT department. (I'm not saying it won't just a little.)

7/31/2007 4:20:15 PM

Tried to visit Facebook today and had no luck? It appears that the social-networking site has been experiencing some growing pains. No one in CNET News.com's newsroom was able to access the site starting around 10 a.m. PDT.

7/31/2007 4:20:05 PM

This just in from Planet KDE. Includes screenshot. Some of the new features: An opengl playground at the bottom with an experimental"CoverFlow" inspired album selector; The big central area has just been switched to using Plasma, the cool new desktop and widget technology in KDE4; The new playlist.

7/31/2007 4:10:08 PM

A terrific website featuring nighttime photos of abandoned buildings, cars, and property. The "aircraft boneyards" section is really amazing.

7/31/2007 4:10:05 PM

If you've ever been frustrated in a search for books on nonbelief in your local bookstore or annoyed by their inclusion in the comparative religion section, Borders Books has remedied the situation. "Atheism and Agnosticism" has been added as a new section for the works of Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and many others.

7/31/2007 4:10:03 PM

Google takes to its blog to argue that the merger with DoubleClick is no big deal. After all, everyone else is doing the same thing.

7/31/2007 4:01:54 PM

Free agent quarterback Daunte Culpepper will work out for the Oakland Raiders on Tuesday, two weeks after being released by the Miami Dolphins.

7/31/2007 4:00:04 PM

Most Web users probably use at least one Yahoo product on a regularbasis. So let's take a look at 10 that are among the leaders in theirparticular market segment, or are particularly innovative. These aresubjective selections, because it's almost impossible to use objectivecriteria to judge such different web properties.

Blogged by Hack41
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Interesting Stuff

2007-07-31T18:32:00.001-05:00

7/31/2007 8:28:00 PM

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Looks like those rumors about new Macs on the 7th were true -- we were just invited to an Apple "product presentation for Mac" at Apple Town Hall in Cupertino next week. The event gets started on the morning of August 7th, and while we weren't promised an appearance by El Jobso, Apple was, shockingly enough, very open and clear about the fact that this is going to be a press gathering for Mac products (and Mac products only -- so stash away those iPhone hopes, fears, and rumors until next Wednesday).

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/apple-gathering-press-for-mac-event-next-week/#comments

7/31/2007 7:56:00 PM

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

We're not sure why Apple chooses to reveal such juicy tidbits to dry, uptight market analyst types before... oh, say us for example, but be that as it may, it seems Apple's VP of iPod Product Marketing has spilled some tasty beans in a chat with RBC Capital Markets this week. RBC's research note indicates that an "iPhone update patch is expected shortly," while "management expressed excitement at plans to increase iPhone value over time via new software features." We figure that doesn't mean that this very first update will fulfill all of our wildest dreams for the iPhone's true potential, but RBC is speculating that patches will eventually add MMS, Leopard-specific integration of some nature, location-based services, and -- naturally -- new widgets. We don't suppose this first update could have something to do with a particular vulnerability, could it?

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/first-iphone-software-update-growing-near/#comments

7/31/2007 7:20:00 PM

Filed under: Transportaansportation

Two clever Canadian teen-scientists have built a bizarre, eco-friendly electric bike which runs on principals similar to those of the Segway -- but looks way cooler. The motorized prototype (called either the "Uno" or "Tango," depending on who you speak with), sports two wheels side-by-side, sort of like a double unicycle which the rider sits directly above. The bike, based off of the frame design of a Yamaha R6 sport bike, can reach speeds of up to 40 MPH, and uses accelerometer technology to keep its balance. Inventors Ben Gulak and Jason Morrow say that the bike beats out the Segway in terms of speed, and delivers better maneuverability than Bombardier's Embrio unicycle concept. The whole package is surprisingly powered by amped-up wheelchair motors and 36-volt batteries. Next up, the young men plan to assemble a rag-tag band of colorful characters, get on their bikes, and ride into Neo-Tokyo during a riot.

[Via Ubergizmo]

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http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/teen-engineers-create-eco-minded-electric-unicycle/#comments

7/31/2007 6:49:00 PM

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

In today's edition of How Your Office is Slowly Killing You, a study emerging from Queensland University of Technology suggests that laser printers can emit clouds of ultra-fine particles that compare to "cigarette smoke and motor vehicle emissions." Reportedly, 13 out of 40 models tested were deemed "high emitters" of particles from the toner, and while office photocopiers failed to produce similar results, concentrations of microscopic particles near laser printers were found to be "five times higher than outdoor levels often produced by traffic" in a given investigation. Currently, no efforts have been made to actually study the chemistry of the emissions, but considering that such fine objects could easily sink "to the very lowest reaches of the lungs," we'd say that's reason enough to request an airtight office a few floors underground.

[Image courtesy of Gripguard]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/laser-printer-particles-as-dangerous-as-cigarette-smoke/#comments

7/31/2007 6:38:00 PM

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/fcc-approves-rules-for-700mhz-frequency-auction/#comments

7/31/2007 6:23:00 PM

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio

A standalone music download service which Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo hinted at in June is looking to be making its way out into the world sometime this August, according to a recent Fortune article. The mobile phone kingpin appears to be positioning itself as a direct competitor for Apple and iTunes before the iPhone makes its way into European markets sometime later this year. Sources rumor that the "worldwide" service will allow users to download and transfer songs to non-Nokia hardware, but will employ some form of DRM, and Nokia will be offering over a million songs at the outset -- a pittance when compared to Apple's five million and counting. Supposedly, news of the launch will be delivered on August 29th in London during a live music event at the Ministry of Sound. The company has sent out invitations to a mysterious "Go Play" event, which asks invitees to "Come and witness the next stage of the evolution of the internet and mobility," which we're pretty sure is code for "the president is announcing the biggest uphill battle ever."

Read -- Can Nokia beat iPhone at its own tunes?
Read -- Nokia "Go Play" invite hints heavily towards music download service

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/nokia-to-launch-itunes-like-download-service/#comments

7/31/2007 5:52:00 PM

Filed under: Cellphones, GPS

Just days after we Americans got a taste of BlackBerry with a hint GPS, now those in Germany can look forward to the same delicacy. The BlackBerry Curve 8310 will be picked up by Vodafone and sport built-in "GPS navigation and advanced multimedia functionality." Furthermore, the smartphone will include Vodafone Navigator software, a two-megapixel camera, microSD expansion slot, 320 x 240 resolution display, quad-band GSM support, Bluetooth 2.0, USB connectivity, and a media player to boot. Notably, the first 5,000 individuals to mosey on in and pick one up will reportedly be blessed with a 1GB microSD card gratis, and better yet, it will include the current 100 top chart songs pre-installed as MP3s (hooray!). So head on down to your local Vodafone outlet with €99.90 ($136), and be sure to navigate your return trip through all sorts of back roads.

[Via The Boy Genius Report]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://wwttp://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/vodafone-picks-up-gps-equipped-blackberry-curve-8310/#comments

7/31/2007 5:11:00 PM

Filed under: Announcements, Gaming, Home Entertainment

We've given away any number of Xbox 360s on Engadget in the past, but never one with the level of awesome turned up to 11 (or, in this case, 300). Today we're giving away one of just 20 super rare Xbox 360 Elite consoles printed with blood designs from 300 -- but rarer still since it's friggin' signed by Frank Miller. The details of what the winner takes:

300-Edition Xbox 360 Elite (120GB drive, wireless controller, etc.)
Console is signed by 300 creator and comic legend Frank Miller, as well as Zack Snyder, director of the eponymous film
300 combo DVD / HD DVD (which is, incidentally, out today) to go right along with it.

Look, we'll admit it, we really don't want to give this thing away -- so make sure you follow the contest guidelines, ok?

The rules (yeah, there are always rules):

Leave a comment below -- tell us your fave scene from the movie. (It's ok if you haven't seen it, but where the hell have you been?)
You may only enter this specific giveaway once. If you enter this giveaway more than once you'll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.) In other words, be careful when commenting and if you submit more than once, only activate one comment, ok?
If you enter more than once, only activate one comment -- otherwise we'll send Leonidas after you.
Contest is open to anyone worldwide!
Entries can be submitted until 11:59pm EDT on Sunday, August 12th.

Gallery: Win a super rare signed 300-Edition Xbox 360 Elite and 300 HD DVD

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/win-a-super-rare-signed-300-edition-xbox-360-elite-and-300-hd-dv/#comments

7/31/2007 5:06:00 PM

Filed under: Storage, Networking

Those in the market for a boost in storage now have a couple more options to consider from Iomega, which has beefed up its StorCenter line of network hard drives with three new models. Coming in 500GB, 750GB, and 1TB varieties, these each boast 3.5-inch 7200 RPM SATA-II hard drives (two in the case of the 1TB model), along with an 8MB cache to keep things nice and speedy and a pair of USB ports should you need even more external storage. The 1TB model will also give you your choice of RAID 0, RAID 1, or JBOD configurations, and all three pack a number of network features, including Active Directory support and UPnP AV media server capability (no WiFi though). Look for all three to be available immediately, with them setting you back $270, $360, and $390 for the 500GB, 700GB, and 1TB models, respectively.

[Via Electronista]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/iomega-intros-new-storcenter-network-hard-drives/#comments

7/31/2007 4:48:00 PM

Filed under: Gaming, Transportation, Wireless

Looking to collect a little acceleration / braking data on the cheap? Even if you're just scouting alternative uses for that oh-so-handy Wiimote, a recent project from klee just may suit your fancy. A proud owner of a 2000 Volkswagen Jetta managed to rig up a Wiimote-based tracking system that gathered information on g-forces, acceleration, turning, and overall speed, and thanks to a little Excel computation, the results are neatly graphed once the outing concludes. Of course, you may need a little help in the script writing department, by judging by the looks of things, most everything you need is awaiting you in the read link -- you know, except your own Wiimote and a Vee-Dub.

[Thanks, Matt]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/car-modder-repurposes-wiimote-as-accelerometer/#comments

7/31/2007 4:33:00 PM

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Last night we sat down for dinner with a company that, with the use of open source hardware, intends to invert the top down consumer electronics market as we know it -- a lofty goal, no doubt. But when Bug Labs (based in New York) introduces their modular gadget kits later this year, end users (read: tech enthusiasts) will be able buy interchangeable electronics components with a common interface capable of mixing, matching, and building custom devices (without having to lift a soldering iron). Sounds kind of out there, but here's the model:

Users snag a small Linux-based micro-PC with USB, WiFi, Bluetooth, and plenty of special ports for attaching these functionality modules.
Users can develop Java apps and load custom software onto the base device to take advantage of expansion modules for any usage scenarios they can dream up.
Users expand each portable's capabilities by adding modules, such as a small or large screen, QWERTY keyboard, GPS, camera, speaker, etc.; the user can add whatever is necessary to build the gadget that fits their purpose. (Sorry, no cell radio modules at launch.)
Each component is accessible and web addressable, meaning users can write and load software to / from their own or other users' components, as well as share their functionality or data (i.e. user A can use an app to remotely share his / her GPS locator or digital camera with user B).
Of course, all these hardware component schematics, interface protocols, etc. will be made available online if you want to build your own Bug-based gear.
Bug Labs might also allow users to submit novel and relatively marketable configurations for mass manufacturing, and serve as a storefront for budding gadget designers using the Bug platform.

Will a DIY open source hardware hacker's kit ever be enough to enable Joe Blow to develop the next RAZR or iPod? Probably not to start; effective portable electronics requires a very vertical design process, but if CE development is ever going to be democratized the way software development was over 30 years ago, then clear and open source components and systems is the kind of approach that could be capable of doing it.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/bug-labs-diy-gadgets-turn-consumer-electronics-on-its-ear/#comments

7/31/2007 4:07:00 PM

Filed under: Features

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment:

For all the attention on the love-hate relationship between Apple and Microsoft, there's another software superpower with which Apple is increasingly butting heads. Apple was an early investor in Adobe and an early supporter of PostScript, which drove the first LaserWriters and launched the desktop publishing market. When Steve Jobs left Apple and founded NeXT, that company used Display PostScript as the imaging engine for the company's black boxes.

Photoshop and other members of Adobe's Creative Suite remain some of the most popular creative tools on the Mac. For years, Photoshop made cameos at Apple keynotes as the company argued the superiority of the PowerPC architecture.

But the relationship has been strained at times as well. After going on lots of minor quests involving the slaying of forest creatures, Adobe released PostScript Level 2. But Apple surprised nearly everyone when it partnered with Microsoft in 1989 to position TrueType and the now-forgotten TrueImage as a rival to Adobe's technology. Apple would later try again to surpass Adobe's font technology with QuickDraw GX before adopting PDF as the graphics lingua franca for Mac OS X.

Continue reading Switched On: Apple's brash Flash clash rehash

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http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/switched-on-apples-brash-flash-clash-rehash/#comments

7/31/2007 3:36:00 PM

Filed under: Portable Audio

It looks like Apple has more than just 3 billion songs sold to celebrate, as it's now managed to bring longtime hold-outs Led Zepplin into the iTunes fold. The band isn't quite going all out, however, with it instead simply offering greatest hits of sorts called "Mothership," which will include 'Stairway to Heaven', 'Whole Lotta Love,' 'Dazed and Confused' and other songs personally selected Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones. Look for it to be available on November 12th. In other iTunes news, Apple appears to have found itself on Eminem's bad side (again), with the rapper and his music publisher now suing the company over, you guessed it, alleged copyright violations. As The Detroit News reports, Eminem's music publisher and copyright manager are claiming that they never actually authorized Universal to offer Eminem's music on iTunes in the first place, and they're now asking Apple to cease and desist its reproduction and distribution. Not surprisingly Apple doesn't appear to be quite ready to comply with that, although it's so far staying mum on the matter.

Read - Reuters, "Apple says iTunes sales top 3 billion songs"
Read - The Observer, "Led Zeppelin join the net generation"
Read - The Detroit News, "Eminem suit targets Apple" [Via AppleInsider]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/led-zeppelin-embraces-itunes-eminem-sues/#comments

7/31/2007 3:07:00 PM

Filed under: Gaming

And so we've come full circle. After accurately predicting that $100 PS3 price drop a few weeks back, Circuit City is back in the rumor game with a flyer that seems to confirm the $50 price cut for the Xbox 360, and even tosses in some info on price breaks for the Elite and Core systems. According to the flyer, on August 12th the 360 Premium will dip to $350, and include a copy of Rockstar's "Table Tennis," while the Elite will raid your wallet for $450 -- a $30 reduction -- and include zero free games. Finally, the Xbox 360 Core will get $20 lopped off, and sell for $280, which might be the end of the road for the stripped down console once stock runs out.

[Thanks, Sam]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/circuit-city-spills-all-the-xbox-360-price-cut-beans/#comments

7/31/2007 2:48:00 PM

Filed under: Robots

While these days robotics are no stranger to the battlefield, the UK Ministry of Defence is hoping to take things a step further with its "Grand Challenge" competition, which aims to bring autonomous, information-gathering robots to urban warfare situations. Fourteen teams have been picked as finalists, and the true test will come next summer when the robots roll into Copehill Down, an urban warfare training center built during the Cold War, and duke it out with mock targets. The MoD's hope is for a robot to be able to identify potential snipers, enemy vehicles and other human threats, with a minimum of human guidance, and then report that information back to ground troops gearing up for an assault. Approaches to the challenge include miniature unmanned planes and copters equipped with high-def cameras, and combination setups that include ground units with radar and thermal detection along with aerial units. Points will be awarded for accuracy of recon and autonomy, and the winning team will receive a fancy trophy and military funding. The robots are in it for the glory and the hefty retirement benefits.

[Via BBC News]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packgt; Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/uks-mod-grand-challenge-inciting-robo-warfare-next-summer/#comments

7/31/2007 2:31:00 PM

Filed under: Announcements

We know you've been waiting patiently to find out who won the super rare E Ink watch -- congratulations to Chris Garman, who's now the luckiest watch-wearer on his block! To everyone else who gave it a shot, thanks for entering. Oh, and stick close, we'll have another super rare giveaway shortly.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/e-ink-watch-giveaway-winner/#comments

7/31/2007 2:23:00 PM

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

While everyone's busy trying to figure out which particular shade of brushed metal Apple's new iMacs are going to show up in, a few major online retailers have quietly trimmed 5.5G iPod prices. Apple, who usually keeps a pretty tight rein on its product prices throughout various retail channels, hasn't matched the cuts on the Apple Store, but you can currently score a 30GB or 80GB iPod (with video) for about $20 off at Amazon, Best Buy, Circuit City and J&R online stores. Notable exceptions include Target's online store, and Wal-mart, which doesn't sell iPods online. It's anyone's guess as to what actually sparked these price drops. It could be a way for traditional retailers to compete with Apple's aggressive back to school promotions, an attempt by Apple to clear away excess stock in preparation for a brand new iPod, or perhaps just a good old-fashioned price cut. Perhaps we'll know more on August 7th?

[Thanks, Matthew]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/apples-5-5g-ipods-receive-stealthy-price-cuts/#comments

7/31/2007 1:55:00 PM

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Not that getting all up in our proverbial grills in order to provide specialized advertising is a new concept or anything, but Microsoft in particular has been on the warpath of late in this very realm. On the heels of a similar ad-based patent application comes documentation that reveals plans to use "biometric sensors, cameras, remote controls, or other accessories" to detect and identify an individual before doling out targeted plugs. Yes, this certainly does insinuate that your television would be watching you just as often as you viewed it, but unless it becomes lawful to stuff monitoring devices into our homes for the benefit of marketers, we'll consider ourselves safe -- for the time being.

[Via TechDirt]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/microsoft-envisions-invasive-approach-to-targeted-advertising/#commng/#comments

7/31/2007 1:30:00 PM

Arguments have surely ensued over the iPhone's polarizing touchscreen keyboard, and while you just knew it was lurking out there somewhere, the patent application describing the aforementioned device has finally surfaced. Dubbed "Keyboards for Portable Electronic Devices," the documents outlines an adaptive board with multi-symbol icons, and aside from using it solely on the iPhone, it looks like the technology could be implemented on nearly any handheld gizmo. Of course, the verbiage does mention handset mainstays such as word recommendations and predictive text entry, so it's hard to believe that all of this stuff is completely Apple's creation. Regardless, who needs license agreements when you can just hack one for your own good? [Warning: PDF read link]

[Via UnwiredView]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/apple-patent-app-reveals-intelligent-keyboard/#comments

7/31/2007 1:08:00 PM

Filed under: Cellphones

E-Ten's glofiish X800 has received recognition for doing its job in every band -- both GSM and HSDPA -- VGA-style. The X800 will mark the first in a series -- apparently four will be released this year -- in E-Ten's collaboration with Arima, and if this is a hint of what's to come, we're positively stoked for the closing months of this year. Like the Asus P750 hinted at a few days ago, it seems our manufacturing friends are finally catching on that all-flavored GSM and HSDPA sets are where it's at. Now if they could just turf out a similarly svelte set with QWERTY, we'd not even think of complaining.

[Via Phonescoop]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/e-tens-x800-gets-the-nod-from-the-fcc/#comments

7/31/2007 12:47:00 PM

Filed under: GPS

SiRF Technology Inc. (makers of the SiRFstar chip line, amongst others) and Intel (makers of everything else) have just signed a license and joint development agreement to collaborate on products which the companies hope will "help location and wireless connectivity become more mainstream in next generation mobile devices." As part of the agreement, SiRF will license some of its technologies to Intel, but the company will also co-develop new products which will be destined for Intel-powered gear like mobile phones and "mobile internet devices." So what does this mean for us? Well, we're probably about to see a lot of "you got chocolate in my peanut butter" scenarios, like GPS operability hardwired into Intel chipsets -- which will pretty much guarantee the mainstreaming of GPS, and open a lot of very interesting doors.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/sirf-and-intel-sign-license-and-development-agreement/#comments

7/31/2007 12:19:00 PM

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Voting machine makers scoffing at bad reviews? That's preposterous! Actually, it's not all that alarming to hear that Diebold, Hart InterCivic, and Sequoia Voting Systems all had less-than-amicable responses to a state study that "found that their machines could be breached by hackers." Of course, we're not exactly sure what all that groaning is about, as we've seen nothing but proof to back the investigation up. Nevertheless, Sequoia dubbed the review "an unrealistic, worst-case-scenario evaluation," Diebold kvetched that the study didn't look at its most recently developed software, Hart found "several inconsistencies, alternate conclusions, and errors," and Elections Systems & Software bypassed the rigmarole entirely by failing to provide their information to the secretary of state. Oh, the irony. [Warning: Read link requires subscription]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/voting-machine-producers-criticize-critiques/#comments

7/31/2007 11:58:00 AM

Filed under: GPS

If you're the type who just may be the victim of undercover GPS tracking (read: promiscuous), you should give some serious thought to this one. This simple cigarette adapter plug-in reportedly "knocks out GPS logging or GPS tracking systems that may be operating in your vehicle," and considering that it sports a two-to-four meter operating range, just about every automobile outside of an 18-wheeler (or limousine) should be covered. Unfortunately, there's no word yet on how much this potential life-saver will cost, but its slated to ship "soon" to the devious and uber-paranoid sects.

[Via NaviGadget]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/in-car-gps-jammer-subverts-mobile-tracking-devices/#comments

7/31/2007 11:29:00 AM

Filed under: Cellphones

The nation's second largest online music retailer, eMusic, is apparently announcing plans today to partner with AT&T to sell tracks by independent artists directly to mobile phones, without the need for the computer middleman. The music-seller will make nearly all of its 2.7 million songs available for direct download to the carrier's devices, although eMusic's rates will jump from $9.99 for 30 songs using their traditional service, to $7.49 for just five songs with the new mobile service. You would think AT&T would be hot-to-trot with Apple when it comes to selling music for phones, but the telco already has agreements with services like Napster, and since the iPhone-maker somehow failed to include iTunes direct downloads to its device, and doesn't offer them to other devices, AT&T clearly sees a window. Granted, eMusic's catalogue is somewhat more eclectic than iTunes, but with artists like Paul McCartney and The Pixies, the cash registers could start ringing.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/emusic-and-atandt-to-partner-for-mobile-music-downloads/#comments

7/31/2007 11:08:00 AM

Filed under: Transportation

Wee electric cars such as the one pictured to the right aren't exactly uncommon, but if Think CEO Jan-Olaf Willums can get his dreams to pan out, his version of the urban green car may actually gain some serious traction. Reportedly, the firm has garnered upwards of $78 million from Silicon Valley and European investors who see promise in the carbon-neutral whip, and moreover, in changing the way we all buy and interact with our cars. Ideally, Think will only sell its vehicles online, which would reduce overhead dramatically, and will equip the cars with WiFi in order to become "a rolling computer that can communicate wirelessly with its driver, other Think owners, and the power grid." Notably, Think plans to "to sell the car but lease the battery as a way to overcome one of the biggest conundrums of electric automobiles," and while nothing is set in stone, the "City" could arrive in select locales as early as 2009.

[Via Slashdot]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/think-hoping-to-deliver-web-enabled-electric-car/#comments

7/31/2007 10:47:00 AM

Filed under: Tablet PCs

Hopefully you haven't forgotten all about TabletKiosk's Sahara i440D Slate PC, because the time has finally come to lay down your hard-earned coin and snag one for yourself. Dubbed the first slate tablet PC with "dual pen and touchscreen input," the i440D can be ordered with Windows XP or Vista, and features a wide array of ports including PCMCIA, eSATA, USB 2.0, and FireWire. Additionally, you'll find a biometric fingerprint reader, an Intel Core Duo LV processor, and options for up to 4GB of DDR2 RAM and a 160GB SATA hard drive. The base configuration starts at $2,295, and just in case it somehow escaped you earlier, it is indeed shipping right away.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/tabletkiosks-sahara-i440d-slate-pc-now-shipping/#comments

7/31/2007 10:24:00 AM

Filed under: Cellphones

When the time came and your battery died, you were probably thinking you'd have to send your iPhone off to Apple as part of their expensive and complicated battery replacement program -- but now you've got a sketchy DIY option instead. Once again, a mysterious Chinese company has stepped in and "created" a "solution" to your problem with its iPhone battery replacement kit. For just $20, which is cheap enough to elicit genuine concern, you get a 1400mAh, 3.7V iPhone battery, some type of screwdriver-like tool, a strange plastic shiv, and an instruction manual (presumably in English, but you never know). All you have to do is crack open your $600 phone, de-solder your old battery and solder in the new one... and probably some other, more complicated stuff too. At this price, it seems unlikely that this battery won't explode, so buy at your own risk, and definitely try at your own risk.

[Via I4U, thanks Luigi]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/iphones-first-sketchy-battery-replacement-kit-appears/#comments

7/31/2007 10:03:00 AM

Filed under: Portable Audio

We've long since wondered how laptop manufacturers got away with claiming that a bonafide "subwoofer" was somehow crammed within those tight confines, but if Panasonic has anything to do with it, true low-range may soon fit within such an enclosure. The patent-pending Nano Bass Exciter reportedly enables compact equipment to "reproduce high fidelity low-range sounds," and while specifics have yet to be divulged, this technology can supposedly "reproduce low-end sound equivalent to that emitted by conventional speakers with larger cabinet volume." Furthermore, Panny even goes so far as to claim that this new sound reproduction method allows "ultra-compact speakers used for mobile terminals to produce a sound effect closer to that of home AV equipment speakers." Unfortunately, there's no word on exactly when the firm plans on implementing this into any future products, but until we get a listen in, color us cautiously skeptical.

[Via Japan Today]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/panasonics-nano-bass-exciter-adds-thump-to-compact-speakers/#comments

7/31/2007 9:33:00 AM

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

The wireless power business sure seems to be getting crowded these days, with upstart Powermat Ltd. only the latest company promising to free your gadgets from yet another cord. Unlike some similar products, however, Powermat's system looks to actually be ready to charge your devices, with the Loews Regency Hotel Business Center in New York City the first to put it to use. While the company eventually sees its technology being directly integrated into various electronic devices (like every other company), in the meantime you simply hook your device up to a so-called "puck," which in turn wirelessly picks up the signals from the power mat it's placed on. No word on when you'll be able to get a Powermat for yourself, but the company does say the system will be "inexpensive."

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/loews-regency-hotel-gets-outfitted-with-powermat-wireless-power/#comments

7/31/2007 9:03:00 AM

Filed under: Transportation

While we've already witnessed robotic submersibles take on fish-like sensing abilities, a team at MIT is hoping to equip autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) with a mechanical fin in order to nix the necessity of a propeller. In essence, the crew is looking to "create a more maneuverable, propeller-less underwater robot better suited for military tasks such as sweeping mines and inspecting harbors," and they are taking a note from the bluegill sunfish to make it happen. This particular creature sports a "distinctive swimming motion which results in a constant forward thrust with no backward drag," making it the ideal candidate to replicate. Current prototypes are being constructed with a "thin, flexible material that conducts electricity," and while we've no idea when the gurus plan on cranking out a finalized version, they've already got plans to study other aspects of the sunfish's movement in order to better design the bots.

[Via Physorg]

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7/31/2007 8:01:00 AM

Filed under: Cellphones

Hearing that a cellphone saved someone's life isn't exactly surprising these days, but it was the manner in which a bundle of handsets enabled doctors to continue on in a recent operation that differentiated this one from the rest. Reportedly, the backup generators at the Policlinico Juan D. Peron hospital in Argentina failed to activate after the power went out whilst an appendix surgery was ongoing, but rather than panicking, a family member gathered up a number of phones in order to provide enough light for the surgeons and anesthetists to keep on keepin' on. According to the hospital director, the operation went on without proper lighting for no more than 20 minutes, but thanks to the beaming LCDs, the fellow under the knife came through just fine.

[Via Switched, image courtesy of foto8]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/cellphone-lights-enable-operation-to-proceed-in-blackout/#comments

7/31/2007 6:56:00 AM

Filed under: Digital Cameras

It's probably a fact that your internet "dates" could turn up in a slightly higher resolution, don't you think? Well maybe it's time to turn on the Clique Communications' Clique Hue HD flexible webcam, which will broadcast or capture any variety of web-related video "activities" at the cushy resolution of 1280 x 1024 (but at a measly 10 FPS), or you can knock it down to 1024 x 768 for a decent 30 FPS situation. If you're just interested in still-framing it, this little dude can rock resolutions up to 2560 x 2048, although apparently it all happens via software trickery, which means your lovely date may still look somewhat... um, messed up.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/clique-hue-hd-webcam-ups-the-resolution-gets-colorful/#comments

7/31/2007 6:03:00 AM

Filed under: Gaming

Oh boy, another patent lawsuit filed in that litigious folly called the Texas court system. This time, the suit pits Parallel Processing Corporation of Newport Beach, California against that legal whipping boy, Sony. PPC alleges that Sony's Cell processor -- the horsepower inside the PS3 -- violates a patent for "synchronized parallel processing with shared memory." Filed on July 26th, the five-page complaint by PPC states that Sony's actions are causing "irreparable harm and monetary damage" to the company and are therefore seeking the usual: compensation for damages (with interest) as well as the impounding and destruction of all Sony products infringing on the patent. Good times.

[Via gi]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/sony-sued-again-for-patent-violation-injunction-sought-on-ps3-sales/#comments

7/31/2007 5:15:00 AM

Filed under: Peripherals

Here you have it: proof that convergence can never be stopped. We don't have any details on this optical mouse but really, what more do you need to know?

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/ezkeys-mouse-and-keypad-combo/#comments

7/31/2007 4:38:00 AM

Filed under: Laptops

Remember how Acer's chief, Gianfranco Lanci, slammed Vista as a disappointment to the "entire industry?" Apparently, he wasn't just fishing for sound bites. While there's still no official word, an Acer advert in Singapore offers their 15.4-inch Aspire 5710Z laptop pre-loaded with none other than the Ubuntu distro for SG$999 or about $660 of that US green stuff. However, we're not 100% clear whether the pre-load comes from Acer direct or via some third party tinkerer. Still, we wouldn't be surprised in the least to see Acer follow Dell's lead here and offer additional choice for consumers.

[Via The Inquirer]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/acer-about-to-offer-ubuntu-pre-loads/#comments

7/31/2007 2:52:00 AM

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

There was a time in the not-too-distant past when if your apartment, dorm room or palatial mansion smelled like Cheetos, Diet Coke and unwashed laundry, there was simply nothing USB-related you could do about it. Sure, there were wall outlet fragrance "plug ins," scented candles, canned air fresheners, and of course windows which could be opened -- but not one of those was USB-powered. Of course, those days are long gone, because a random Chinese sweatshop has dreamed up another modern-day marvel: the USB oil burner. If you're like us (and we think you are), there's nothing you want to do more than pour scented oil into something that plugs into your computer. Available in rose and peppermint, $7 each.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/31/usb-oil-burner-threatens-everything-you-hold-dear/#comments

7/31/2007 12:58:00 AM

Filed under: Networking

Well, it looks like Cisco CEO John Chambers spoke a little too soon last Friday when he said that the Linksys brand was going the way of the dodo -- Cisco is now saying that it will continue selling Linksys-branded products "in the near term," and that changes would only come "if and when these changes add value to our customers' decision making processes." In other words, Linksys ain't dead yet, but the axe is still mighty close.

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http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/30/linksys-branding-not-dead-after-all/#comments

7/30/2007 11:50:00 PM

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

The race to build a cheaper solar cell continues to produce results, as researchers at Ohio State have developed a nanotech solar cell with a unique pink color that they say will one day be able to produce as much power as traditional silicon cells for a quarter of the cost. The dye-sensitive solar cells, or DSSCs, get their pink color from a mixture of ruthenium and either titanium or zinc oxide particles that absorb sunlight, while nanowires link the particles to provide power transfer. So far the team have gotten the cells to produce half as much power as traditional cells, but the next step is to start using nanowire "trees" to improve efficiency to equal or surpass those levels. No word on when we'll see this tech hit the market, but surely the prospect of a hot pink solar Cadillac isn't too far off.

[Photo is of an unrelated DSSC concept from New Zealand]

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7/30/2007 10:44:00 PM

Although we're unabashed fans of super-complicated macro-and-touchscreen universal remotes, a lot of people just want to smack a button and have their home theater work without having to squint at tiny screens or worry about state-based macro operations. Niles Audio is hoping to to capitalize on that market with the IntelliControl IC2, an all-button RF remote that's optimized to control most home theater devices without the use of a screen. The included HT-MSU control unit / repeater has 8 IR / RS-232 outputs and connects to the IC2 via ZigBee, meaning the system can potentially be expanded further, although Niles hasn't announced such support yet. The company is expected to announce the IC2 at CEDIA in September, but if you're hoping to chuck your Harmony, you'd better start saving pennies: simplicity will cost you $999.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/30/niles-intellicontrol-ic2-remote-does-it-all-with-no-screen/#comments

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