Sunday, June 13, 2004

2004 C2 EFC The Coke C2 product and marketing definitely has the EFC vibe going on. 9:42:52 PM

Mediaburn Mention: The Blacklist, Inaugural Issue The Blacklist } Under The Radar Operators Inaugural Issue 01 } June 2004 The Blacklist is a new bi-monthly web accessed magazine that provides an outlet and showcase for fresh progressive artists in Music, Design, and Visual Art. Based in Chicago, but global in reach, The Blacklist looks to feature a rotation of socially and politically conscience artists that have been operating under the radar of popular culture. Individuals who work behind the seen and out of the spotlight... You have been Blacklisted. ------- Sacred Spaces } Jerry Walker ------- Blacklist } + Osunlade + Joshua (Iz) + Nyame Brown + Juan Angel Chavez (Mud Studios) + George Estrada (Citron) + Wylie (Five73) + Jefrey Lacson + Mireya Acierto ------- Business Class } + DeeperSoul Recordings + Everso Press ------- Opinion Jockey } Reviews + Chris Quinn + Stephen P + Tone B. Nimble + Bleek's Corner ------- Upcoming Events } ------- Tech Support } How to Convert your Vinyl to MP3 ------- Preaching to the Choir } Neil Brown ------- plus free exclusive MP3s from } + DeeperSoul Recordings + All Natural Inc. + Hefty Records 20 days later... Check out what all the fuss is about! } http://theblacklistmag.com/blacklist/?The_Blacklist_Magazine:Masthead *Warning! - This site was designed for users of DSL or broadband. If your on dial-up, save yourself the headache. Don't even try. http://www.theblacklistmag.com 8:10:09 PM

Jim Grisanzio Comments on the Notion of The Singularity Singularity?. I went to see science fiction writer Bruce Sterling -- "The Singularity: Your Life as a Black Hole" -- on Friday nite. Now, I've never read a science fiction book in my life, and I have no clue who Bruce Sterling is. But when I read Simon's post directing me to WorldChanging for more Sterling info, well, then I was hooked. Gotta go. Especially since it was just 10 minutes from my apartment in San Francisco. And more importantly, I don't want my life to be a black hole, now do I? So, here's my take. I don't buy this notion of "Singularity" ... where in the very near future technology progresses so rapidly that life becomes incomprehensible to us. In other words, a super paradigm shift, a complete break from the past, so utterly complete, in fact, that it transcends our very understanding and ability to describe it (which begs the question, of course, how we could have so many articles attempting to do just that). WorldChanging has links to some interesting pieces on this. I skimmed 'em. Sorry. I don't buy it. Sounds like the preachers of "the new economy" and the "end of the business cycle" just around, say, mid-2000, just before absolutely everything that Silicon Valley promised collapsed under it's own hollow hype. But that's just me. To be fair, there are some interesting bits in those articles, but "the singularity" as a concept sounds like science fiction. Nothing more. Could make a good movie, I bet, but I probably wouldn't read the book. Sterling's speech, though, was excellent. He's an extremely clever guy and a great talker. Even though I don't know science fiction and didn't get most of his jokes, I found myself laughing at every turn. He's that good rhetorically. He spent most of his time poking fun at various Singularity proponents, carefully not going too far because, really, who knows, right? The guys over at WorldChanging summed up the speech up perfectly with this once sentence Sterling uttered near the end of his talk: "The future is a process, not a destination. The future is not a noun, it's a verb." I agree. However, driving home I found myself more and more disappointed. Sterling spent too much time undermining the Singularity only to end on the remarkably anti-climatic, "The future is a process, not a destination. The future is not a noun, it's a verb." Pretty ordinary (albeit profound) observation, I'd say. While at the same time he dropped bombs like, "We don't know what it means to be conscious" (rough quote), and "I'm not really concerned about a singularity as much as I am with the radical manipulation of human cognition ... because those people may have very little to say to us" (again, rough quote). Audience reaction? Silence. Wow. I would have loved for him to explore those issues because it seemed to me that was the real essence of Sterling's views. Maybe next time. Note: If I'm wrong and this Singularity thing is real, then this excellent article articulates how open source can help ensure that a Singularity occurs in a way that benefits everyone, not just the powerful. [Jim Grisanzio] 6:20:51 PM

VoIP Rising VoIP Rising. When it comes to making voice calls over the Internet, no company has gotten more attention lately than Skype. This is the service that lets people use PCs to make long distance and international calls for no additional charge. Skype's developers have earned the praise, given the service's high quality and ease of use. But they might not be winning such plaudits if it wasn't for some underlying software they have licensed from a company called Global IP Sound. More... [Dan Gillmor's eJournal] 6:14:15 PM

Emerging From the Past: Eno's Visionary Future Pop Emerging from the past: Eno's visionary future pop. In 1973, Brian Eno was not yet the superstar producer of groundbreaking albums by David Bowie, Talking Heads, and U2. He hadn't become a prime architect of the "ambient" genre that pulses underneath the dance music, film soundtracks, and TV commercials of today. [Boston Globe -- Living / Arts News] 9:30:25 AM

The Cartoonist's Short Story of the week [2] Short Story of the week [2]. [The Cartoonist] 9:13:56 AM

Gonzalo Fuenmayor, 27, Painter, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Gonzalo Fuenmayor, 27, painter, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. "I paint still-lifes of plantains. For me, they're a cultural icon, and I've blown them up to a human scale, so the plantain speaks of something else other than the plantain, or the usual still-life. "I did my BFA at the School of Visual Arts in New York. I was looking for the chance to have a multidisciplinary engagement with ... [Boston Globe -- Living / Arts News] 9:11:04 AM

Timothy Horn, 39, sculptor, Massachusetts College of Art Young masters. Timothy Horn, 39, sculptor, Massachusetts College of Art "MassArt is the last [free-standing] public art school in the US, and has this social philosophy about it. It's a funny school, a bit beaten up, but it has an energy and sense of opportunity you wouldn't get at a big fat art school, and an anarchistic spirit. [Boston Globe -- Living / Arts News] 9:07:49 AM

Summerhaven, Arizona Summerhaven reborn. SUMMERHAVEN - On the anniversary of its destruction in the Aspen Fire, this village beneath the Santa Catalina Mountains' highest peak will celebrate its partial rebirth Saturday. One of its burned... [Arizona Daily Star: Front Page] 9:04:15 AM