I believe the screen is a Wacom Cintiq, by the way - they’ve been around for a few years.

Click to see the humour enlarged.

The Eyeballing Game

Test your Colour IQ

Scored quite badly on the colour one too - will have to sort out a way of cheating..

Beached from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

Bathtub II from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

Bathtub III from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

Did you cotton on yet? I really despise Windows/Microsoft. They do some genuinely nasty stuff to consumers and competitors.

Anyway, you don’t have to use it - it’s not the be-all and end-all of operating systems. There are alternatives out there - Mac OS X is one - and GNU/linux is another.

‘Linux’ is really an umbrella term to describe hundreds of different operating systems, all using the linux core (the kernel). The differences between them are beyond the scope of what I’m talking about, but suffice to say that the huge majority are :

• Free (in every sense of the word)
  
• Super Stable
• Easier to Install that windows
• Come with all the software you’d ever really need (office programs, paint programs etc)
• NOT susceptible to viruses or spyware
• Easy enough to use that you can jump right in.

One of the driving philosophies of GNU/Linux is that it is open source - meaning that the software is completely free to use, modify and distribute. You NEVER have to worry about licenses, Windows Activation, or anything like that. You can just get on with using your computer for actually doing stuff. The whole FOSS (Free, Open Source Software) movement is hugely interesting.

I just installed it on Amanda’s desktop. Here it is (that’s Google Gadgets in the sidebar) - click for full size :

Click the more tag to hear more.

The ubuntu desktop when you first install Ubuntu.

(Click to zoom)

I mentioned earlier that there are hundreds of different linux-powered operating systems - called distributions - and pretty much the most popular is one called Ubuntu. It’s flagship features are :

• It is targeted at newcomers
• It is based on an older, grandfather linux distribution called ‘Debian’
• It includes pretty much any bit of software you’d ever need
• It makes the transition from Windows to Linux as easy as it can get
• It has the best compatibility with your hardware (webcams, printers, etc.)
• It has a huge user support base (go online and ask questions, get immediate help)

Interested?

If not, please indulge me by watching this short clip. It shows some of the more ‘visual’ features that are available to linux users (and come with Ubuntu).

I really encourage you to give it a shot. You can install it alongside Windows, so you can switch between the two. A super-simple way of doing this is by using a Windows program called Wubi, which lets you install Ubuntu with virtually ZERO risk of fucking things up.

(When you run Wubi, it can download ubuntu for you - about 700Mb - or, if you already have Ubuntu on a CD, or .ISO file, it will use that.)

Another thing you can do is download the CD Image for Ubuntu, burn it to a disc, and then start up your computer. It will read the CD and load ubuntu entirely in the computer’s temporary memory, meaning you can get a feel for what ubuntu gives you without actually changing anything on your computer. This is really cool, as you’ll see that when you start Ubuntu, it will correctly identify and install the correct drivers for 99% of your hardware - remember that when you install Windows, you have to spend hours and hours hunting around for the right software.

One of the most important aspects of any linux distribution is that everything can be changed by the user. Nothing is ‘off limits’, and everything is infinitely customisable.

Here are 10 examples of attractive ubuntu desktops that people have customised - you can apply everyone one of these styles yourself, too. Example (click=enlarge):

I am more than happy to help anyone out installing this and giving it a shot!

Found these just growing out of my lawn one morning..

Ah, SmartRider - my nemesis. I found this one on the ground and in the spirit of scientific enquiry, cracked that sucker open.

Actually, I plan to try and embed this into a nifty resin bangle - or ring? - and I didn’t really ‘crack’ it open, I used acetone to dissolve the plastic card (and most of the chip too - see last photo).

Click the More tag to see some more pics (click to enlarge).

This is the chip itself - a bit messed up from the solvent, but still working. The way a RFID card like this operates, basically, is passively - all the chip contains is a serial number. The ‘reader’ produces an electromagnetic field, and when the card is moved close, the electromagnetic field induces a current in the coil in the card - a miniscule amount, but just enough to power up the chip and send the serial number back through that field. I understand it’s been around for ages - since the 70s perhaps.

9to5mac released a story on Saturday saying that Apple have now developed their own manufacturing plant/prococesses - “One of the biggest Apple innovations in a decade.” The innovation bit you’re wondering about is that they are using lasers to carve macbooks out of solid blocks of Aircraft grade Aluminium. Macbooks are currently made of polycarbonate plastic (and this morning I noticed a crack in mine!) while Macbook Pro’s are currently made of, I think, a magnesium-aluminium(-titanium?) alloy, probably machined and pressed into shape.

This is cool news for apple fans, because aluminium is damn nice. This is cool news for product designers, because they’ve invented a new manufacturing process, which doesn’t happen everyday (it has apparently taken Apple years to develop). I’m now interested in seeing which material - polycarbonate or aluminium - is more sustainable. Aluminium is a bitch to mine but lasts way longer and is recyclable.
9to5mac presents an interesting list of the advantages of this 3D manufacturing :

• - Carving out of aluminum eliminates the need to bend the metal and create weak spots or microfolds and rifts.
• - There are no seams in the final product, so it is smooth.
• - Screws aren’t needed to tie the products together.
• - The shell is one piece of metal so it is super light, super strong and super cheap.
• - You can be a whole lot more creative with the design if you don’t have to machine it.

Again, this puts apple a few years ahead of the competition. Like the Macbook Air, the company is pushing products at consumers that competitors won’t be able to match until sometime around 2010. If this rumour about the Aluminium is true (it probably is) then these macbooks will be available to buy in 8 days. This is why I like Apple.

My results were pretty sketchy, it seems like there’s some sort of distortion and an amazingly thin depth of field. It also seemed impossible to get everything focussed correctly; I guess it’s going through about 20 lenses!

Click more to see the video how-to and some more photos I ended up with (not edited at all, and sorry about the size).

quick video 4, extreme macro photography trick from Jim Talkington on Vimeo.

A bit of fluff in the carpet.

A button on a remote control.

Another Button.

Text on a newspaper. Turned out quite well!

Another button; this one’s in focus a bit more.

A leather tie. Check the D.O.F!

More leather.

A photo in the newspaper.

I made the cast of my thumb using a type of casting silicone called PinkySil - it’s amazing stuff. Unlike latex, it doesn’t stick to hairs - infact, it hardly sticks to anything. Except more PinkySil. I mixed about 20mL (it’s 2-part) and then, after double-pouring to de-gas, stuck my thumb in some polypipe and poured the PinkySil in.

PinkySil sets in about 5 minutes (like alginate, I suppose) but the advantage is that it can be reused after de-molding. I made the cast using a resin called SG2000, which is also pretty marvellous - it has a potlife of about 6 minutes and is very runny. It sets quick enough that I was able to simply hold the bare USB drive where I wanted, and it set hard around it.

This was a quicky and I managed to stuff up the mold of my thumb - by not getting enough pinkysil where it needed to go, and by holding my thumb at an angle.. Also, when holding the USB drive, I moved it slightly - meaning that the surface isn’t even.

Oh well.. next time.. :)

Look at the comments on that article too, because there links to more photoblogs.

Via Digg.com

SmashingMagazine has this list of 60 Concert Posters from 10 Amazing Artists. The spectrum of art featured seems to be pretty narrow; still can’t say I really enjoy 90s graphic design!

For $15 (60 x 25c), you could get these all printed on a 7×4 digital photo processor and make a big canvas of the things (5 high, 6 across?)

Edit : OK, this is a bit sneaky. I’ve been hunting around and found NO easily available high quality images that you could really print. This site sells actual posters (here’s a link to a pink floyd poster for $815) but you cannot save the image that is displayed in the preview box. However, if you ‘view source’ (Command-U on a mac in Safari) and scroll down you’ll see this line :

And, of course, “http://images.wolfgangsvault.com/images/catalog/detail/TSY680816-PO.jpg” is the location of the actual image used for previewing. This one is only 480 pixels high, which means can be printed about 2.5 inches high at reasonable quality (200dpi). 4 inches wouldn’t be much of a stretch.

If you open the JPG above in a new window/tab, you can just replace the ‘TSY680816-PO‘ part with the name of another poster you are looking at (found in the address of the page).

You could also simply do a directory listing of all the images in the detail folder on the webserver, but this crashed firefox for me - maybe there’s too many. There is also a lame watermark in the corner of all the images :(

result in zooming
will clicking of the mouse
on the image below.

Sony Ericsson K610i - I got this for $30 to replace my Nokia 6288. I love this phone - but it is new and I am fickle. I love the utilitarian design of it, the fact it’s pretty much unardorned* (and doesnt use cheap chrome plastic) and the condensed form (the buttons are squashed though, and a bit hard to press - so it doesnt get many ticks for usability). I am completely sold on sony ericsson - the phone’s operating system reminds me of the differences between a mac and a pc, and makes me draw parallels with Nokia’s stupid symbian-40 OS (what I’m saying is that if the Nokia is a PC, then the Sony Ericsson is a Mac. And Macs are great).

Things that suck : the camera (has no digital zoom and no ‘flash’), and the keypad. Also the battery life, but I have been playing with the thing constantly.
Things that dont : everything about the phone’s OS, and the physical space of the phone. The way it works with zero hassle with my macbook (iSync and bluetooth ObEX).

*Of special note is the blinking LED which is beyond praise. I love it. It’s like a little hearbeat.. It anthropomorphises the phone, as though it’s sitting on my bedside table winking at me, saying.. hello, jeremy.. hello..!
(It would be great if it gave more useful feedback, though - like changing colour or frequency if I have missed calls or messages.)

This is a $99 Laser L35 Navig8r GPS. Lewis pointed it out to me. It’s fantastic. I reckon after a few months of driving with it, I will save $99 in fuel - I am a really shit navigator. And this GPS is called Navig8r. A match made in heaven.

After a day I turned off voice promts and now it just sits on my dash, silently displaying the path to the various cool parties and social events that I find myself at.

Things that suck : the touchscreen and generally inputting data or trying to navigate/scroll on the map.
Things that dont : the actual quality/brightness of the display, the map routing, the saving of preset destinations, POI (points of interest).

The stickers are courtesy of Patrick, the local special needs child who works eats all the food at the paper with me (and managed to fuck up my ipod touch by using some linux ’skills’.

Oh yeah, and my favourite - the watch Simon gave me, from Israel :

It’s touch screen and completely badass. It has world time zones..

It’s pretty late, but this is so deserving of posting. The old Arcane Bookshop has been taken over by The Intercollective, who aim to reinvigorate empty, unused (wasted) urban spaces throughout the city. Their first project is SITE FICTION in the Old Arcane Bookshop until 3rd Oct (opp Brass Monkey on William St).
There are performances on every other night and changing temporary installations which greet me each time my inner-city bus crawls past there in the morning. How refreshing to get a fresh dose of public art every morn!
Basically their aim is to get passerby’s interested and interacting with these empty spaces. It’s all very topical for this period of land shortage! How cute is the photo of Claire above interacting with a common face in Northbridge! No amount of colour/light correction will do it justice!

The blog is great, and documents how hard it is to get your hand on land in the inner-city, even disused, empty space.
Here is a small smatter of some of the cool stuff they’ve already done. They are a dedicated bunch, a stroll down William St on any given evening might uncover some surprises… head down! Check out the Blog for more updates.

Playing with light and space.

An installation involving cut hands and salvaged bus shelter glass has an ethereal effect.

More….

 My favourite so far was a radiating circle of Jelly. Art and asian snacks in one place- who can ask for more?

Anna does a performance with Resin that looks like it comes alive.

Laura uses space and string to show perspective and the use of light was eery.

I believe this is a phot of Laura and Claire tirelessly trying to use chemicals to remove the years of built up gunk of the windows of the shop. That’s the kind of dedication this city needs in its artists…. it looks so much better than the 2 year old faded ‘Awesome’ Festival posters that were there before. I look forward to seeing what else this collective comes up with.

Check out the website for the complete programme. Better still, get your hands on the real thing, a beautiful full colour pamphlet to hold in your hands and to cuddle at night. When it’s all over, show the bitterness in your heart by pulling it apart and cutting it up.

Here is a selection of the banners used in the website. Nice… real nice….

There is no more… because the websites are so fresh, they speak for themselves. Navigate and fill your diary! Call me if we want to get a crew going.

This’ll be great - FLEXHAUX is doing a Windows on Williams piece, too - so keep your eyes peeled. - Jeremy

From Amanda’s Surprise Party Album

Click more to see a little slideshow :
Here’s a slideshow, where you can watch her try to cower in a corner like a rabbit caught in a spotlight.. but there’s NOWHERE TO HIDE!

Thanks so much to everyone who came, I hope you’ll agree it was worth it.

Anymore sightings, please post away! I want to find them,… and talk to them about cats.

Look on! For close-ups… Yeah you know you like it.

I only regret not getting down there to take these pics, maybe about 8 months ago, when I first saw them. They’re a bit scrappy now.

Here’s an excerpt :

“Color film was non-existent in 1909 Russia, yet in that year a photographer named Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii embarked on a photographic survey of his homeland and captured hundreds of photos in full, vivid color. His photographic plates were black and white, but he had developed an ingenious photographic technique which allowed him to use them to produce accurate color images.

He accomplished this with a clever camera of his own design, which took three black and white photos of a scene in rapid sequence, each though a differently colored filter. His photographic plates were long and slender, capturing all three images onto the same plate, resulting in three monochrome images which each had certain color information filtered out.

Sergei was then able to use a special image projector to project the three images onto a screen, each directly overlapping the others, and each through the appropriately colored filter.”

Damn those ruskies! How clever of Sergei. There’s a page here (Library of Congress) with a few more images, which I assume have been digitally restored back to perfection. Really amazing - have a look.