# ::navigammatron.org::: screen capture gallery #
I finally got around to starting a still image gallery of a half dozen
video projects. While I prefer it if visitors download the actual video
files, a lot of my work moves so fast it is easy to miss the complexity
of each frame. I now have galleries up for original_copy,
auto.bus.bike, NXT_MSG, the Purge Edits, Witty's Lagoon and Tribune Bay.
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# KerPlonka!: Just as an addendum #
>
> Voilà:
If the BCTF wants to improve the School Act, we're willing to do that. If the BCTF wants to talk with government outside the collective bargaining process about how to address class composition, we're willing to do that through the learning round table. We're open to finding new ways of talking with them and establishing a positive relationship with B.C.'s teachers.
>
>We have already said that the next multi-year collective agreement, which will take effect next July, will include wage increases. To get there with a negotiated settlement, we need to fix the bargaining process, and we need to do that quickly. That's why we appointed Vince Ready as the industrial inquiry commissioner. So let's stop the illegal action, start meeting with Vince Ready on how to fix the bargaining system so that we can enter into fruitful negotiations for the next contract, nine months from now.
>
>Could I find this in the media, considering that they covered his speech? NO. I had to go and find it on the BC Liberals' webpage. Wonder why.
# KerPlonka!: And so it goes #
>
>D'ya ever get the feeling that the goons leading the BCTF may not be up to scratch? Consider...
>Bill Good: Mz Sims, how many classes are actually over-crowded?
>
>Jinny Sims: I would say ..many many.
>
>Bill Good: How many special needs students aren't being cared for properly in classrooms?
>
>Jinny Sims: Also very many and that's tied to the over-crowding.<blockquote>She's nothing without her talking points.
>
>I particularly loved this bit (in the CBC story):She said her earlier optimism that Ready might be able to broker a deal was starting to disappear. "What he is reporting back to us is what we have been hearing from government for the last 16 months."Isn't that the equivalent of a couples' counsellor going, "It's all your fault"? If the disinterested negotiator looks at the facts and goes, "The government's been right all along," how badly do you have to have been conducting yourself?
>
>What people who support the BCTF don't seem to understand is that this isn't just a "Gordo and his Libranos" thing here. They're not culpable, simply because the BCTF has a record of having contracts imposed on them - even by the NDP, fercrissakes, since, well, since Kim Campbell was Prime Minister. That's a long freaking time. The BCTF has been giving nothing but headaches (to use a euphamism) to provincial governments for years, regardless of who's in power.
>
>So, not to put too fine a point on it, I don't think the government has anything to do with it.
>
>Now, this in mind, look at what else Simms said:"This government seems to have no interest, no interest whatsoever, in working with the teachers of this province and I find that sad," said Sims.Hah! Hahahahaahah! Oh, potential comment overload.
>
>So, let's recap: they say they want to negotiate, and the government tries. They go on strike, and the government has to make striking illegal just to try and keep them there. The teachers say they want a lot of new things, the government tells them that they have to negotiate in good faith. The teachers go on strike - which is the strike we see now.
>
>The teachers go through claiming they're all about the good negotiations...
>
>So the government hires a mediator who specializes in negotiations.
>
>And the teachers reject it. Not only that, how do they respond to a hired mediator to facilitate negotiations?Union leaders warn that cities in the southwestern B.C. Interior will be Thursday's target.
>
>...
>
> CUPE Local 338 president Brent Soroka regrets the inconvenience to the public, but says the province has left public-sector unions with little choice.
>
>....
>
>Union leaders in the Interior say this action is just a warmup for a larger protest they expect will affect the Lower Mainland on Friday.
>
>So, to recap once more, the union reacts to the government's hiring of a professional negotiator to bring the two sides together by... holding even more massive strikes?
>
>D'ya ever get the feeling that strikes are like crack to these people?
>
>You have to hand it to the government for bargaining in good faith this whole time and still posture themselves as receptive. That takes legs.
>
>If I were the premier, I'd ignore the teachers and get right along with governing the province and just ignored them. The same way parents deal with a kid having a tantrum.
# XenNet: Revenge of the Moderates #
Reading my daily feeds I came upon Mossberg Takes on DRM, Urges CD-DRM Boycott. Just reading Mossberg's excerpt makes this guy sound very reasonable.
Most technologists don't ever seem to be arguing the middle ground. I know, personally, I take offense to the ways DRM is used to punish the average consumer, but I never mention the other side--rampant theft. I suppose I handle that side by not really stealing anything. The closest I think I come to stealing anything these days is downloading shows that I've missed (including ones that aren't broadcast here... like Spy and Mind, Body, and Kick Ass Moves on BBC3).
# KerPlonka!: "You know why you'll never find any higher truth in math? Because it's boring!" #
Over at the 'Progressive [sic] Bloggers,' they're mocking conservatives - well, Blogging Tories specifically - for not discussing poll numbers. Apparently we're cowards or something, or maybe party hacks who just can't accept bad news against the Conservatives. (Funny that they should think that and ignore their own avidité...)
Now, aside from the fact that it appears many Blogging Tories actually DID get to commenting, I think it's worth noting that many of us - I include myself in this category - don't comment because we don't care.
Poll numbers have already shown themselves to be highly inaccurate. We can dissect them all we want - be we left, right, green, brown, whatever - but in the end, it doesn't matter a bit. Only one poll counts, and you know which one that is. And, at the risk of sounding like a high school gym teacher by that previous sentence, let me just state for the record that while dissecting and deconstructing polls is all very interesting, I really don't care.
Because all things considered, it really comes across like another post on Liberal corruption from the right, or another post about how Stephen Harper eats blended puppy smoothies in a mug made of clubbed baby seals ... from the "progressives," of course.
As in, it's beaten to death.
Every time a new poll comes out, everyone touts their side if they're winning, or rationalizes any downturn if they're not. And the results haven't really deviated significantly from their place in the last election.
I don't know about anyone else, but every time someone gets excited about new poll numbers, I imagine a screaming monkey in a cage, flinging its crap, and swinging the cage back and forth. An inmate chimpanzee.
I've got one for you:
When the next election comes around, the results will be as follows:
Shares of the national vote as following, give or take 5%:
35% - Liberals
30% - Conservatives
20% - NDP
10% - Bloc
The rest is divided among Greens (~5%) and others.
Now, if this turns out to be correct, don't claim that I have ESP. But please please please realize that I spent a lot less of my life on polls than you did.
# KerPlonka!: A pox on eBay! #
>
>Of course, while bidding on said thing, I started to look at all the other things available. And now I'm sitting here, bidding on some long-lost DVD series because nobody else has 'em. And the prices are so good I can't NOT buy from them. Can't ... help ... myself!
>
>Damn eBay and their mercilessly, ruthlessly efficient capitalist hides! Oh, if only some massive government-backed group would come along and try to regulate them to the point where it's useless to participate!
>
>Seriously, though... know how in economics, the supply/demand charts show intersections of the two? How at a high price, a larger section of demand is unwilling the price and would rather go without such-and-such a product?
>
>Well, I'm deep in that there section of demand.
# KerPlonka!: We're so mature and leet... #
>
>Anyhoo, we were discussing elements of Eksteins' book... is he postmodern? Is he modern? Does he synthesize elements? What about his use of the metanarrative? What about progress? Equivalence? Connection to Canada?
>
>All these things...
>
>Now, you have to understand, there's a kickass Nova Scotian who sits beside me who tolerates crap less than I do. He eventually put forth, "I don't give a rat's ass if the thing is postmodern or now. What I care about is the message and the tools he uses to convey it. Damn classification." Classification was another theme.
>
>Anyway, we're in the middle of another boring stretch in this three-hour class, discussing one of the above themes, and I hear a noise. I look over to my right and see Tom and Sarah, another student, chuckling. I look over, and Tom - who's obviously tired of this petty discussion - turns his notebook so I can read it:
>
>"Why can't a bicycle stand up on its own? Because it's two-tyred."
>
>Somehow, incredibly (although I forget exactly), this joke was related to the discussion. And immediately, there were not two, but three people, giggling hysterically in the corner of the room as the prof was directing a discussion on the metanarrative themes.
>
>You have no idea just how hard it was to keep a straight face as I pushed a further observation.
>
> The Giggle Loop is an evil thing.
# KerPlonka!: Desjardins gone... #
>
>I wouldn't make too much of it, as it's pretty clear that there's a distinct difference in opinions here.
>
>Party faithful - those who buy a party membership and bother to show up and vote in nomination races, for example - are probably going to be far more willing to toe the party line than anyone else. Even in a rural riding, it's enough to find an organization that unifies a few hundred like-minded individuals. So it's not too hard to see how a deviation from what appears to be an issue of extreme importance for many NDP supporters might result in this result.
>
>That being said, though, I believe Desjardins actually was representing her constituents. Plain and simple, it's a fact that support for gay marriage decreases radically as you get out into rural ridings.
>
>I did, however, find this bit quite interesting:
NDP Leader Jack Layton also would not comment on the development last night. His spokesman told The Sun "the leader's office does not get involved in the local democracy of the party."Pardon me, but how do they enforce a 50% women, 50% men rule?
# KerPlonka!: Marxism in the classroom? Shocked! #
The symphony orchestra is the epitome of capitalist oppression. The élitist, aristocratic conductor imposes his will on the musicians, who similarly impose their product on an audience. The audience itself has no potential for any input in the process - it is simply forced to accept the product of music produced by the orchestra, and has no involvement. Symphonies are, in effect, music factories.And here's the conversation I had with a classmate after the exam:
Me: Did you notice anything strange about that exam?
>
>Student: Yeah... those sentences were long winded, eh?
> <blockquote>
# d2r: serenity rocks #
Comment on this entry 18/10/05, 18:04
# Mikey (Blog): Building My Network #
Melis and I are in the process of building a network...a network of Canadians to call upon to join us in our Canadian ways of igloos and "eh's". Before yesterday, we had 1 other in this network.
Yesterday, Melis and I met up with our hair stylist (who is in London to do a fancy hair stylist class at Vidal Sassoon), and she called one of her friends, who just happens to be Canadian and is living in London for 6 months, to join us for drinks and eats. Good times were had and good eats were eaten.
After the exchanging of phone #'s, we now have an additional Canuck to add to our circle of friends (or as I like to call us the "Special Friends" Network).
Soon my Canadian network will be so large and powerful, I intend to use it to over power the UK by force. Then I shall rename it "Baby Canada".
All hail Emperor Mike and his army of "Special Friends", conquerors of Baby Canada!
# KerPlonka!: Le temps passe #
>
>I spend an hour on this project or that, just as I planned...
>
>... and find that six hours've gone by.
>
>And to think that when I was in grade school, I became extremely restless because I was there for a whole six hours a day.
>
>Someone should invent time in a can. Hell, I'll settle for sleep in a can.
# Jeff Werner: Links for 2005-10-17 [del.icio.us] #
- Vjeko Sager
Visual artist, and one of my Emily Carr instructors
# KerPlonka!: "Fiscal federalism doesn't work" #
>
>Hey, Ontario? Got news for ya: nobody likes this system. Well, that's not true. The North (which gets money from the feds anyway because they're territories) get money out of it. And Quebec gets money out of it, though they act like they'd rather not. In fact, separatists appear to want a divorce from that.
>
>And the Maritimers want money from it because, well, who doesn't want money when you get it.
The report says the biggest problem is that most of the money is being used for current consumption – mostly through health and social service programs – rather than boosting productivity and long-term economic growth.Hmm... you give a group more than it deserves - essentially free money - and they became dependent. Um... ya think? This is a surprise?
>
>The principle of dependency is the same in any circumstance. Take, for example, poverty in the US. To paraphrase Fred, if I were smarter, I might see a correlation between those who've been receiving the most generous handouts in the last 40 years (Aboriginals in Canada, blacks in the US) and these people's subborn poverty rates and incessant crime rates. Mexicans and other Hispanics, who've had hardly any kind of comparable programs, have flourished. So have Asians. If I were smarter, I'd see a lesson here. But since I'm not, I don't.
>
>The same principle operates everywhere... Cuba and North Korea with its Soviet subsidies, the money pit of colonial Canada, businesses and their employees (especially unionized), and in this case, our current fiscal arrangement.
>
>The problem is, it's a constitutional issue. The feds have to transfer money to the provinces, because of the agreement set back in the day when provinces were concerned about control of resources (to all the NEPmen out there, that mean's Alberta's oil is its own by the rules upon which Canada agreed), education and healthcare. Since any real provincial income taxes came in, the system is redundant.
>
>If it's broke, fix it. But we've painted ourself into a corner.
>
>Ontario: welcome to "feeling like Alberta 101".
# KerPlonka!: Unions screwing the little guy #
The BCTF had a one-day protest today. Of course, a lot of other unions went on a sympathy strike.
You're gonna hear nothing but "The BCTF", but I'd like to point out some effects regarding this "sympathy" strike, a show of support to the "working man".
Looking at the last link I posted, I've explained how hundreds of students are affected.
Beyond that, non-tenured profs at my university were not allowed to show up, as they were part of the same union as grad students. Say I had a three-hour class today. If my prof wasn't tenured, we're losing a week's worth of material. That's huge. It's basically 10% of your class time, lost.
Say your profs were tenured, as is the one who teaches my first class today. Good for you. You showed up. But... you could.
In a city where universities mandate that students use their bus passes, in a city where transit use is almost enforced, the transit workers went on strike. A lot of students - and I mean a lot - live way out of the university's way precisely because they can get a bus to take them right there without a problem. (And in Victoria, you take what housing you can get.) How are they going to get to the university otherwise? Bike? In this rain? And take three times as long (minimum)? If they have a bike, that is. Walk? Hah! Drive? Only if you have a car, and probably only if you have a parking pass.
So you have those people showing up, being taught by tenured profs, not being taught because 3/4 of the class isn't there. Can't. Make. It. So whatever you were taught that day gets flushed down the loo - not for credit, the unimportant stuff, end early, etc.
Or you have a situation like a friend of mine who lives a 45 minute DRIVE away from her college. At least 45 minutes. Guess what? She has no car. She has to take an infrequent bus. Now, she's doing a hospitality program, and the thing is, much of her classwork isn't traditional lectures, homework &c. It's, you know, group projects. They have to be done regardless. A day of lost work is a day of lost work.
As my afore-mentioned prof said at the start of class, "I have no problem if students don't come to my class because they're out supporting the strike. An strike by a group that's not striking, supporting the illegal strike of another union. Myself, I actually support the teachers ... quite strongly, actually ... but it does seem a silly form of logic."
Indeed. So let's continue with the transit idea and note that it's not just students who use transit. Or rather, those who use transit don't just do it to go to school. Many use it to go to work. The entire idea behind the transit system is eliminating the need for clogged roads by putting people on busses. And when the busses don't run, how does one get to work? As generous as my previous employer was, they didn't take crap. If you missed a day for being sick, you were absent and didn't get paid. You got vacation pay, great benefits, and generous wages, but you sure as hell didn't get sick leave.
Some people are without a whole day's wages because of this.
Or, to think a little more in-depth, what about the immobile? Seniors? Say they needed to get to a grocery store to buy food. Say they can't drive. What're they gonna do?
I just have to wonder. I'm sure it's for a "good" cause... 15% pay increase to those who already earn an average of $60,500. That would bump average teacher earnings to a mere $69,500 a year or so. What they make now is only like, TWICE the average wage in BC. After all, if teachers are only in the top 12% of wage earners in the province, how're they gonna survive?
Good for you, BCTF. Way to help all workers and the "poor" with whom you identify.
The only good thing about today was that it pissed rain for the morning. It was wonderful to realize that so many protestors were caught in it.
# Jeff Werner: Links for 2005-10-16 [del.icio.us] #
- The World As Flatland
Stumbled on this while researching inforgraphic design. Interesting presentation and content
# Jeff Werner: Materials Project: Process #
Materials Form and Space Project #2: Mixed Media Assemblage with Wood.
I went out material hunting on the weekend to get some ideas. Hover mouse over thumbs for description.
At the same time I've been spewing out some idea sketches. Click the thumbs to enlarge.
Inviting Forms
- bed
- sofa
- chaize lounge
- arm chair
- pillow
- bicycle
- utensils
- jacket / gloves
- slippers / shoes
- tree fort
- sleigh / sled
- steering wheel
- ipod / macs
- kitchen table
- bread
- tea pot
- movie theatre
- pop corn
- 's' curves
- spiral / double helix
Uninviting Materials
- fibre glass
- barbed wire / fencing
- glass / plexi / crushed glass
- steel / metal
- poison ivy
- adhesives
- rocks / marble / granite
- concrete
- plastics / resins
- shrink wrap
- graphite powder
- styrofoam
- coarse wool
- burlap
- spray foam
- flourescent lighting
Other Materials
- cermaics
- porcelein
- toilet
- shrink wrap
- plastic bags
- racquet strings
- carbon fibre
- fibre glass
- model airplane shrink wrap
# Jeff Werner: Mask: process [Flickr] #
Jeff_Werner posted a photo:
For a Creative Processes assignment
17/10/05, 03:42# Jeff Werner: Links for 2005-10-15 [del.icio.us] #
- Concrete: Scientific Principles
Research for a possible new project
# Jeff Werner: Light Drawing III [Flickr] #
Jeff_Werner posted a photo:
An in-class exercise for Drawing and 2D Language.
16/10/05, 02:46# Jeff Werner: Light Drawing: Face [Flickr] #
Jeff_Werner posted a photo:
An in-class exercise for Drawing and 2D Language.
16/10/05, 02:40# Jeff Werner: Light Drawing - Set-up [Flickr] #
Jeff_Werner posted a photo:
An in-class exercise for Drawing and 2D Language.
16/10/05, 02:34# d2r: give me back my focus! #
<rant>
I am sick and tired of Windows stealing my focus away from the current window to show me a helpful message about some dramatic action that an app would like to take, exactly while I'm doing something else where I type the letter that ends up triggering something I don't want to do. I have no issue with apps "suggesting" actions (e.g., "would you like to autoarchive your old items now?") but it's high time Windows stopped sucking focus away from the current window. This is particularly bad if you touch-type (as I do).
Most X-Windows window manager don't do this (I can't remember if the OS X does it... it very well may in some cases) but Windows is definitely the worst at it. The only message acceptable when stealing focus is an information window for something really important, without buttons for confirmation (otherwise you may click "Ok" and never see it again).
Can you tell that I just triggered something bad in the middle of typing furiously?
</rant>
I feel much better now. Thank you. :)
Comment on this entry 15/10/05, 19:49
# Jeff Werner: Current Culture #
Music
Vancouver/Montreal DJ Kid Koala’s single Skanky Panky (mp3) is in constant rotation, and I’m also reading his “paperback movie” (large comic book) with accompanying CD, Nufonia Must Fall. Architecture in Helsinki’s In Case We Die is overall just excellent. It’s on right now. I also love the opening track from their Fingers Crossed album.
The new Xiu Xiu singles are just what I wanted from him, and the new Books' Lost and Safe will do just fine. I introduced my Visual Communications professor to The Books with this album and he thinks they are very smart. Fiery Furnaces EP is like, almost prog rock, and I’ve grown to like it quite a bit, too, esp. the first five tracks.
And on this workstation at school where I write, some fine young student left a couple albums on the harddrive, Massive Attack’s 100th Window, DJ Shadow’s Endtroducing and two albums by an intriguing hip-hop act called Clouddead. I rather like all these albums a lot, as of two three listens through. Would this be considered illegal listening? Cover thyne ears?
Oh almost forgot I saw Dan Bern in concert earlier this month. It was excellent, he is a very good New American Folk Singer with lots of energy and originality and faith.
Reading
That same professor who digs The Books recommended I read some Umberto Eco fiction after I brought the semiotician up in class. The Name of the Rose was OK, but I bet reading it again would enlighten some of the deeper signs in it. It’s still sinking in, anyways.
I read both the Malcolm Galdwell musts, Tipping Point and Blink; the former I thought was rather great, but I find myself thinking about both when discussing a cultural theory or like, why Flickr is so popular, or how we can read a personality indirectly in 15 seconds.
The Moms lent me Joe Simpson’s mountain climbing epic Touching The Void and the actual writing was OK in addition to the compelling true tale of survival. I like how, on the pragmatic end, it all came down to not bringing enough fuel. I am currently reading Siddhartha by Herman Hesse.
Film
Got both the Harry Potter’s under my belt. Significant the time period it’s set in. You know that Jonathan Strange and Dr. Norrell novel? It really is like the adult’s HP. Anyways, the movies were alright. Made me wish I was a kid again.
Cremaster III The Order was extremely interesting and I’m constantly thinking about it. Esp. the custom resin prosthetics. Listen to the director’s commentary to get more out of it. Hope to watch all the film’s in the series soon.
I think I watched Rushmore another couple times. When I feel overwhelmed or under-involved at school I think Max Fischer. On a similar note, have you seen the Intern Documentary on the Criterion release of Life Aquatic? I watched it for a third time the other day and it is a perfect little student film to aspire to. Oh hey, if you buy/rent Life Aquatic, get the two disc Criterion version. Not the one disc Criterion version. It is hard to tell the two apart.
Saw Akira for the first time and I didn’t expect it to be the most epic sci-fi ever. “So the movie is about a cool motorcycle gang, right? It is, and it’s also about the source of the human soul."
OK so Do the Whirlwind by Architecture in Helsinki just came on and did I mention this is a very good album? Oh, and now, an hour later, The Books are on. No more talking or moving about until tomorrow.
# d2r: synergy: wow #
Here's something really cool: synergy. A GPL'ed tool to share mouse and keyboard across different systems with Windows, Linux, or OS X. A virtual KVM, if you will. You need two monitors, and two machines. But if you've got that, this tool is a must-have. Most excellent.
Comment on this entry 13/10/05, 17:25
# Mikey (Blog): We Have A Butler? #
I got all dressed up today. I have my nice shoes on, a collared shirt with stripes, my fancy new blue and brown cord blazer with a hoodie, and of course I have my fancy pants!!!
The reason for playing Mr. Dress-Up today is because Melis and I are going to see what the butler saw. You see, we have a butler, and he went to see something, and told us all about it...and now we want to see it for ourselves.
Ok. We don't have a butler. I lied.
But we are going to see What The Butler Saw tonight! It is a play (comedy of course) that is currently running in London...in a theatre just down the road from where I work. This will be our 1st theatre experience, and I am really looking forward to it!
On a different note, the tube I take to work was shut down this morning because the workers went on strike. They went on strike because they want the line to be fixed...so it is more safe. Kudos for them to stand up for safety, but Boo for the bus service that took forever to get me to the nearest tube station with a running train. Hopefully they will get things repaired soon...I don't want to have to take the loser cruiser if I don't have to!!
# Mikey (Blog): Good Bye Little Bastard! #
I was going to have some cereal for breakfast. I got my bowl, poured in the Cheerios, grabbed the milk and poured it in. Everything was just like normal, except for the sound of the milk pouring into my bowl. Instead of the regular smooth swish of liquid milk, I was getting the glup glup, plop plop of really stanky chunky thick clumpy milk.
The reason for this is our stupid fridge. It was working and working and working, and then last night, decided it had had enough work, realized that it wasn't going to get a holiday anytime soon and concluded the only way it would get some rest is if it died. So it did.
What is with Melis and I and crappy lazy fridges that don't have a good work ethic? When we were at Battery St, we had 2 fridges...both had problems...bad attitudes if you will. When we arrived in London, we saw our little fridge and we thought...what a cute little fridge...hopefully we can forge a good relationship with it....treat it well, and hopefully it will keep our food nicely cool in return. Turns out this fridge had a different agenda...which was not to do what we want it to do. Little bastard! I hope it enjoys it's resting place with all the rats at the dump!
So once again, Melis and I are fridgeless and our landlord is working on getting us a new one, which could take a while. Until then, I guess I better get used to sour milk in my Cheerios :(
# Jeff Werner: Altered Cast: The Big Deal #
After a basic in-class introduction to plaster casting my Materials, Form and Space instructor encouraged us to experiment with casting fragments of our bodies. I asked classmate Andreas if he'd like to try casting a handshake.
We spent an early September afternoon in the sunlit plaster room holding each other in a ritual greeting that normally lasts no longer than a few seconds, while Thomas layered wet plaster bandage over our grip. Once it dried we pried it off, put the two halves back together and filled it with a bucket of plaster, which hardened into the finished product.
Even before we started Andreas and I shook hands a couple dozen times trying to determine what sort of complications we might encounter, what sort of materials we could work with, how we would need an assistant, etc. It was already interesting the way we could grab each other’s hands and look at them as objects, as a technical problem, without feeling uncomfortable about repeatedly touching someone you’ve only known a week.
The actual casting was tedious, uncomfortable work. What I didn’t expect was the way the process changed the meaning of the handshake. After three hours, with the plaster hardening and our arms aching, my hand felt fragmented, apart from myself. Our hands no longer belonged to us and at the same time they were now a single unit unto themselves, one hand inseparable from the other.
(This photo courtesy and copyright Andreas Brændhaugen)
Keeping this experience in mind I then incorporated the cast of our handshake, which I call “The Big Deal,” into my next assignment, which required altering a body cast.
My intention was to completely deconstruct the handshake. I made four more casts of my hand, alone, and cut them into multiple fragments, then compartmentalized them in a plastic utility organizer. I now had a sort of binary of meaning, the completed handshake and the fragmented tools to rebuild it.
I realized there was a second side to this concept: the personal and the impersonal. A handshake, despite its ritual as a public, cultural greeting, is still a very personal act, an intimate, physical union between two people. And the fragmented components I made are void of this meaning: they are sterile tools, the building blocks for something more significant.
So I made a fifth cast of my right hand, shaped as if expecting a handshake and left it intact. It was the intermediary step and, I hoped, the unifying link to the overall piece, the point halfway between the components of the shake and the completed sign, between the private and public.
(This photo courtesy and copyright Karen Kazmer)
# XenNet: Time For A New Email? #
Is it time for a new email? I read an analysis of one guy's email from the last 8 years and it really does seem like we're being overrun with email. Has it become too accessible? Too easy to just flippantly toss out an email? Or is this the result of more globalization?
Some people think email has had it's day and we need to make way for newer better things, like IM. But what did we have before email? USENET and email are pretty much the same thing, the difference is that one's public and the other's private. Before that we pretty much just had the phone. People started using email more because the phone was a) too invasive, b) too real-time, c) not easily multi-taskable. Email became the perfect substitute. Things that weren't extremely time sensitive could be sent, read at a later time, and replied to; all while the original sender was busy doing other stuff.
IM does have an improvement over the phone: easily multi-taskable. While you talk to multiple people over an IM, you can be do lots of other things. But, in my own personal experience, IM is still too real-time and (depending on implementation) too invasive. Some (AIM, MSN) IMs don't let you send messages while someone's offline. I know that I've forgotten many a message because a friend wasn't online. Those that do make it difficult enough to send messages to people offline.
It's only a matter of time till IM networks get infested by spammers much like USENET and email. Is this a technological fault or something else? If you consider the email space a group, then you can apply the A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy principal. The ones who care aren't given enough control to police the ones who don't. The big problem is that no one has enough control over any aspect of email to be able to police it at all. The same can be said for IM. All of the onus is on the receiver to do their policing. It's really looking like email has seen its day.
So what could we replace it with? I'm of the mind that all currently proposed solutions aren't adequate. I also believe that any new solution has to integrate (as well as possible) with our current infrastructure (HTTP, FTP, IM, etc), but minimize the risks of that technology (spam, phishing, etc).
Roedy Green thinks that email should be replaced with some globally encrypted and verified system that lets the user have a lot more control over the display of the messages they receive. It seems like a good idea on the surface, but let's drill down a bit.
If everyone's conversations were encrypted and verified (assuming little to no problems with the algorithms or implementations), things would be better. We already have a framework to do that though, with key servers and smart mail clients. Mr. Green figures that part should be totally transparent. If it's transparent, you'll always know that it's being used, but how can you verify it? I made the original assumption that there are no problems with the algorithms or implementations of the encryption infrastructure, but there always will be. If the encryption and verification happens in the background, it's as good as not happening because you might not have any indication that it isn't working.
My other big concern with validation before communication is that meeting people becomes much more difficult. Right now I have my email address on my blog. Anyone and everyone can send me an email unsolicited. I think that's a great idea because I'm breaking down barriers to communication. If I had to give people permission to talk to me before they could send me anything, I'm sure I'd get a lot less email. On the flip side, I don't like that people abuse my "generosity" and spam me. I don't hate the technology because of the abuses; I hate the abuses.
Mr. Green does mention a couple of other things that would be neat: fully referenced quotations (to the line number), full internationalization (support isn't 100% in the current email infrastructure), and message retraction up until it's actually read. The system he describes really sounds like a centralized server would be needed to manage this sort of thing, whereas we'd need something decentralized to fully scale. When the trust/responsibility is pushed out to the end points, policing and overall control are very difficult.
What does this mean for email? I don't know. I don't actually have an answer for this one. I'm hoping that maybe some of the people reading my blog can help out. How can we change the current communication system so we a) don't waste so much time on it and b) have more control over it without making it c) impossibly cumbersome to use?
# Mikey (Blog): Images of Happiness! #
Just posted some pics we've taken around here...take a look!
PS: After 4 weeks, I'm still not used to cars being on the wrong side of the road. And after looking at this traffic signal...I have decided that I will not even attempt driving here!
Update: Here are some pics from our make-shift Thanksgiving dinner!!! YUMMY!
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# Angels in the Architecture: "Dear Boxholder" #
by Kristy at 08/10/05, 20:00# Jody Garnett's Blog: Where in the world? #
Sonny Parafina recently derided the state of extent information in the free data available on the web. Let's see what can be done despite the data providers.
One of the great turning points of the web (yes I remember) was when we stopped trusting data providers. Seriously keywords were only filled out by those seeking to mislead you, or a few keeners.
Spatial data today is in the same boat - 90% of the searches you do for anything turn up the "Important Bird Areas". Why is this .. because the provider of that data got annoyed, so annoyed he actually filled in all his metadata (and keywords), and now shows up all the time. Search for water? You get information about water birds, search for Canada, you get information about our wonderful Owl population.
enjoy that - it is your token java content
This is silly, this is the web of 1993. Only now we have maps.
As talked about in a previous blog, the big three search engines are just cottening on to the power of location. It will be a bit before the start to help us with this problem.
I should mention the nice email that started this thinking (from Sonny Parafina):
For those folks who are setting up public OGC WMS/WFS/WCS services, I have a request:
PLEASE STOP SETTING YOUR BOUNDING BOX TO THE ENTIRE WORLD!
(unless you actually are providing coverage for the world)
I agree - lets see what can be done.... but first some background information.
How is Spatial Data Published
Spatial clients often work directly with a single URL (this is called a Capabilities URL, and the result is a GetCapabilities document describing the service, and the data provided). It is this document that is often inaccurate, or more specifically not usefully accurate.
Clients use this Capabilities Document as a "table of contents", in addition to providing information about available data it also tells you what URLs can be used to obtain the data. As an example Web Map Servers will have an entry for their GetMap request.
Can we trust Data Providers
Um - apparently not. Seriously data providers are kind of done at the point where they have collection information. They know what it was good for, we are kind of lucky they decided to publish it at all.
One thing we can do is go back the the Yahoo of old, filled with hapless people looking over the pages and treating everything like a library.
Yes - a manual process may tide us over until something smart comes along. It is after all how this stuff is cataloged right now ...
Back to Sonny's email:
The reason is that it makes spatial queries in a Catalog absolutely
useless. For example, I loaded Refractions Research list of OGC
services into our catalog, a query for roads with a world bounding
box returned ~220 results, the same query with a bounding box around
Boston yielded ~210 results.
That is right he is hitting a Refractions service for this information, and that is constructed by a series of targeted searches of good old google .
Yahoo for Spatial Information
And this is the idea - construct a "metadata look-aside service". One that all us client apps can consult for a second opinion, basically it would serve up user supplied corrections for specific WMS/WFS/WCS Layer information.
There are some technical difficulties, these standard based web services are not the best at marking their generated content with the appropriate HTTP modification information, and the standards themselves only recently started sticking in generational version information (so you can tell when the document contents changed).
Still we need to think of something to trust. If not the capabilities document itself ... perhaps we should just record the original bounding box and the correction. As long as the service is showing us the original value we will know that they have not fixed the problem ... and our correction is still "good". Actually lets not say good lets say "better".
Social hacking time - why would people do this? At least the users of data have an interest in fixing the problem (by definition) and would probably like a way to "fix" the data (by the convention of using this look-aside service).
How about the server providers? If we record the number of hits to this look-aside service we could at least provide the data providers with a figure of how many users they are annoying, along with an email of the fix ... that is not bad.
The alternative is giving users a "you suck" button set up to email based on the contact information. Oh wait we can't trust that either ...
This idea does have a draw back, some WMS server providers (using software by a nameless commercial vendor) have an annoying habbit of "Cascading" layers. This means that the same (possibly wrong) information will be trickled around the web.This look-aside service would annoy those with cascading WMS servers, as they would get bothered about extent information they have no direct control over. But then again they annoy me (often by removing their cascade layers the moment there is a problem, and then pretending they never heard of the information they knew a few moments before...).
Still there is something here ... fight fire with fire.
Cascading Corrections
Remember how spatial data is published? Those are XML documents and can be hacked by the daring.Since these are well understood formats, we could make our look-aside service take the URL to the capabilities document. If it is known it can patch the document as it is returned, if it is unknown it can pass it through unmodified ...
So how about some social motivation? This does sounds like a great way to lazily generate a catalog of layers ... so a catalog provider should have motivation. How about data users, why should they supply the corrections? Well they do use the data, and this information does add value to the data making it more useful to them - that is a good trade.Any more technical issues? A few clients would not enjoy the experience. Very early clients expect to hack at a single URL and provide different request parameters. That is they don't expect a separation between entry points for the capabilities document, and getMap requests, etc ... I am pretty sure we have disappointed that assumption often enough on the wibbly wobbly web by now that these issues have been fixed.
Sounds like we have an idea? Any takers ....
by jive at 08/10/05, 05:27# Mikey (Blog): Toys Toys Toys #
Today Melis and I went to the Apple store on Regent St...and I was BLOWN away! There were tonnes of people using all the different Macs (Power Macs, PowerBooks, iBooks, iMacs and MacMinis alike). Most people were just using the computers to browse the internet, but still, it was quite a sight! I must say, Mac makes some very impressive and eye-pleasing machines. Some of the computers were hooked up to some very large, very impressive screens. I started drooling when I was looking at the 30" Cinema HD screen....I want one!!
But you know me, I can't go into a computer/electronics store and not come out thinking I really need to buy something new. This time, what really peaked my interest were the speakers they had on display hooked up to iPods. After playing with some, and turning up the noise...I have decided that I would like to have a nicer set of speakers to hook my iPod and Laptop up to. I currently have the inMotion speakers which are nice, but I really only use them for portability (when I go camping or out to the beach). I am happy with the inMotion, but I think I need something with a bit of a fuller sound for in-home listening. Something where you can control the bass and treble...something that will knock your socks off when you listen to it!
After reading reviews (and looking at prices) I have narrowed the choices down to 3 different possibilities.
1. The JBL Creature II 2.1 speakers. The cheapest of the 3 in consideration and is currently at the top of my list. I listened to this model at the store and it really had a full sound when the volume was set soft or loud. It really impressed me. And the reviews I have read indicate that it has just as good sound quality (if not better) than it's more expensive competitors. Not to mention it looks like Darth Vaders helmet!!
2. Next on the list is the Altec Lansing iM7. More than twice the price of the Creature II and with similar sound quality (I listened to this one at the store as well). A few added bonuses with this one are the built in iPod dock, as well as an international power adapter (so it will work in London and in Canada...no prob). It also has the portability factor, but I'm not as interested in that since I already have the inMotion portable speakers. I like this one a lot, but I'm trying to figure out if it is worth the extra cash...I'm not sure.
3. And the last one is the Bose SoundDock. This is the most expensive of the bunch, and it has amazing sound quality as well (of course...it's Bose). But the issue is the price. It is uber more expensive than the Creature II which has comparable sound quality. And I have heard that the iPod dock for the SoundDock doesn't support the iPod very well, so the iPod will "wobble" when docked...which eventually could damage the docking port. I think this one is pretty much out of consideration, but I just thought I would mention it...just to fill up the post :P
This may just be a passing phase and eventually I will forget about the amazing sound the speakers produced and not get anything at all. But then again, I might own some new speakers in a few days...only time will tell!
# d2r: more-ning! #
Ayayay, I'm at risk of turning into a monothematic weblog. Oh well.
Yesterday there was the News.com article. But my favorite for some strange reason is the brief mention of Ning as "the thing" over at USA Today's hot sites section. Sadly, no permalink, so I need to take a screenshot of that, or something.
Speaking of permalinks. Check out the latest post by Gina over at the Ning blog -- I think it's a cool summary of the kinds of things we'll start seeing more of in the playground. Krazydad has also been doing some cool cloning/retargeting/etc (Check out his user pivot). He started off with a great post a couple of days ago and since then he's been cloning and repuposing a bunch of apps for his own interests, for example spot the geek (a clone of this or that), or KrazyBooks (a clone of bookshelf).
Oh, and this one's special for Scoble: Tablet PC Duel! :-).
PS: the "user pivot" I linked to above only shows hits for public, not private, content.
Comment on this entry 07/10/05, 18:29
# Angels in the Architecture: Scrumpy Time #
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>Registration has begun for NaNoWriMo 2005 and I am logged in and ready to roll. Reading the forums and various comments by newbies and veterns alike has boost my confidence in this venture a great deal.
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>Sweet challenges ahead. Hold On.
# XenNet: Spin Doctors #
This article just came up in my feed reader (BTW: the CBC has rss feeds). Bush says 10 terrorist plots have been detected and disrupted since Sept. 11, 2001.
I'm sure lots of people (51%?) are like, "Wow! We stopped 10 terrorist plots! We're much safer now!" The analytical among us should be asking a couple of questions though: how many plots would we have stopped without changing the methods used before Sept. 11th?; what cost was there to stop these 10 plots?; and how many weren't detected or disrupted?
The only people who may know the answer to the first question are in government positions. It's in their best interest not to tell everyone if there were the same number or more plots disrupted. People are stuck on one incident getting through. Sure, it was bad. I'm as sad as the next person about everything that happened. But you can't stop everything. One day you'll miss that punch and it will hit you. The only time you should change your strategy is if you're getting hit more often than not.
To answer the second question you have to look at the current state of homeland security in the US. Airports, subways, arrests. How many people were arrested without a chance to defend themselves between Sept. 11 and now? What's the ratio of wrongful arrests to justified arrests? How much inconvenience do we go through to stop how many plots?
The final question is the most important one. It tells us exactly how meaningful the number 10 is. If the answer is anything below 10, then that's awesome and I'd congratulate them. Even if the number is above 10 but below some decent bound, say, 100, I still think that's pretty good. Taken without considering the other questions, stopping 1/10th of the terrorist plots sounds alright. But what if there were more than 1000 terrorist plots hatched between then and now? It's been more than 4 years. There are a lot of days (1457) for "bad people" to plan attacks. Does stopping less than 1% of them sound all that good anymore?
Basically what I'm saying is, "yay... 10 plots... but, let's look at the bigger picture". Then again, 51% of the public eats this stuff up...
# d2r: slashdotted! #
Also, a bit earlier tonight, digg. MeFi was the first one to pick it up though, early yesterday.
Comment on this entry 05/10/05, 14:08
# Jeff Werner: Links for 2005-10-04 [del.icio.us] #
- adam baker | portfolio
This guy worked for Apple, RIM (Blackberry) and goes to my school. He is 22.
# d2r: ning live: day one #
What a day. Overwhelming, in a sense--an explosion of discussion around the blogsphere and beyond. Ning shot up to #1 search in Technorati by around noon, and to the #1 tag in del.icio.us popular, currently at 755 links or about 4 times as much as the second most popular item. Wow.
We spent the day working on some improvements: login wasn't working consistenly, and it took us a few hours to pin down the problem. We also updated some links and such... and fixed a few other things. Somehow the day just flew by.
Now to wait for the inevitable slashdotting...
del.icio.us popular, currently at 755 links or about 4 times as much as the second most popular item. Wow.
We spent the day working on some improvements: login wasn't working consistenly, and it took us a few hours to pin down the problem. We also updated some links and such... and fixed a few other things. Somehow the day just flew by.
Now to wait for the inevitable slashdotting...
Comment on this entry 05/10/05, 04:18
# Mikey (Blog): Stompy McStomp-Ass and Princess Nasty-Stank #
I'm getting extremely pissed off with our neighbours above us. It sounds like the guy there is practising to be an elephant in his next life. How heavy footed can you be? Hardwood floors and inconsiderate people make me sad. TAKE YOUR FREAKING SHOES OFF JACKASS!
I'm also not so happy with our neighbour below us...she keeps her door open and some really nasty fowl smells emanate from the catacombs below into the hall. I guess that's why she keeps her door open. Really nice of her to share her super stanky smells.
Boo for apartment living.
# d2r: ning! #
About an hour ago tonight we took the covers off ning: a playground for building and using social applications on the web (how's that for a brief description?). A super simple way of getting personalized social apps up and running, or a way to experiment without having to worry about all the stuff that's usually, well, way too hard (like, say, DB setup--look ma! no DB!).
It's been an incredible year so far, lots of work but lots of fun too, working with a fantastic team. The last few weeks have been... intense. A million of things I want to write about, which for obvious reasons have been sidetracked.
Anyway, you can bet I'll be writing more about this later! :-)
Comment on this entry 04/10/05, 06:02
# Jeff Werner: Links for 2005-10-02 [del.icio.us] #
- 50 most cited works of 1976-1983
from the Humanities - Vintage Mex wrestler fotonovela scans
Ross, you'll like this - Japanese Vending Machines
A plethora of past and present crazy-ass vending machines - A Shoggoth on the Roof
A parody of Fiddler on the Roof that never made it - NYT on the science of dirty words
You get a kick and a rise out them. Good fodder for a project idea - gelitin.net
Viennese art collective, resp. for a very large pink rabbit. I also like their website design - Bollywood film posters as t-shirts
Another one for Ross - Coopstuff Entry
Pop artist named Coop. Did an Atari-inspired porno illustration, etc. (Via BB) - Pizza fork with cutter
Ha. Sweet and specific and I would never buy it but I love it - Блогга - факты и эмоции » Русские мыши
i.e. Russian Hand-Painted Mice - Emily Carr - Industrial Design
I am considering applying to this program over the graphic design one - Graduates of the ECIAD Design Program
Former Communication and Industrial Design students share their experiences while they were at school and relating it to their current work. - Ron Burnett's Personal Weblog
The president of Emily Carr
# Jeff Werner: Popular Entries #
It can get bizarre/hilarious/intriguing, blogging. Articles pertaining to niche-market food products are certainly generating some comments. Maybe I'll do a spin-off site.
A lot of people in Ontario are desperate for Hy's Seasoning Salt. People who BBQ with a Weber Charcoal BBQ strongly recommend using a starter chimney. A lot of people love the nostalgia of their Postum: Coffee Substitute (though a couple people think it is total crap). If you're interested in learning more about peanut butter read the comments on Keep the Oil In.
The pics I grabbed of Eugene Levy from a DVD get hotlinked so much and account for a disproportionate chunk of my bandwidth. I made a little Ken Jennings note back when, trackbacked by the Kottke, thus some disproportionate Google rank and traffic.
Nickel on some guy's underwear always gets hits from searches for "men's underwear."
My link to a page of hockey fight videos has been consistently Googled. A tiny post about a former classmate dying at the hands of rival drug dealers was picked up by a local reporter who actually phoned me for a comment.
And the rest of some of the "top" entries:
First Impressions of iTunes
Kryptonite Locks Open with Bic Pen
Japan Package Design
Sand art video
Turnpike Films
Chad Vangaalen
Maya Angelou
Nary a Hair: Why Cyclists Shave Their Legs
Squash BC photo
My typical Syrian day
The Village: An analysis
# Jeff Werner: Card Size Standards, People! #
It's fun looking for ways to improve existing designs, critique them, look at solutions and drawbacks, etc. Then there're the designs that warrant an immediate reaction. I want to start cataloguing instances that illicit a teeth grinding "What the Hell People!?".
First up this week: The Vancouver Art Gallery membership card, which I recently purchased and received in the mail and cannot put in my wallet. It is one of those damn cards that is too wide. What the hell?
A VAG member card (top) and the standard (below).
My old-school Mountain Equipment Co-op membership, and my mini birth certificate, suffer from this, too. They don't fit in my wallet's slots. If I shove them in the main money compartment the wallet doesn't fold in half properly, or the card sticks out the side for rapid wear-and-tear.
Cards (business, credit, debit, ID, etc.) are be about 9.5 x 6.5 centimetres.
03/10/05, 00:28# Mikey (Blog): iSight #
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The other day, I saw someone "iPodisize" one of their photos, and I thought it might be a fun project...so I have created iSight (the original photo can be viewed here!! I think it turned out pretty well.
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I also quickly created the Happy Shadow (original photo here)...not the most artistic creation, but I think it gets some points for creativity :P
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UPDATE:
After some thought, I modified this photo to look like this:
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# Mikey (Blog): Knock 'Em Dead...Eh! #
Melis has an interview today with a Temp Agency that finds part/full time work for it's clients. I am sure once they see Melis and her Canadian work ethic, they will find her a position right away!
Good Luck Melis! I hope you find a fun place to work at!!
# Jeff Werner: Links for 2005-09-29 [del.icio.us] #
- Karate Fighting Dogs
Excellent photo, via Flickr Blog - Total Immersion Swimming: How to swim like a fish
A short review of a book about how we can swim faster with lass energy
# XenNet: Anti-MMORPG Ad #
(Click for bigger version)
Apparently someone else thinks that MMORPG are just a little senseless, addicting, and anti-social...
# Mikey (Blog): R U Entertained? #
I look at London as a big play ground - my big play ground!
The other day, we went to see Howl's Moving Castle at a cute little art house theatre that is about a 3 minute walk from our flat. It's from the same guy that did Spirited Away, but Howl's was even better! I loved it! Then yesterday, we went to one of the cheap theatres to see Revenge of the Sith again. Dingy little theatre, but the price is right! We are going back on Monday to see Kingdom of Heaven for only £1.99...Amazing price!
Now Melis and I are looking at TKTS to try to find some cheap seats to go to a live performance. Hopefully we will get some soon, 'cause feel like I need some theatre in my life :)
And last, but definitely not least, there are the music concerts. Last night, Melis and I bought tickets to go see Franz Ferdinand with The Rakes and The Editors. The Ad said the show was sold out, but when we checked it out online, tickets were available! I am totally looking forward to this show...I can't wait, but it isn't until Nov 30.
On another note, Elbow is playing on Nov 25; I am tempted to get tickets for that one too, but I'm not sure if they would be worth the expense. Tom...any suggestions? Also, what is Elbow’s new album like?
I’m still trying to find a site that lists Radiohead's tour dates...'cause I really really really really want to see them here...I hope they're playing a few gigs while we are in town!
Then there’s all the other stuff in the city that you can play with and be entertained, but I can't remember what all that stuff is...I'm too distracted with the thought that we are going to see Franz...WICKED.
# Jeff Werner: Links for 2005-09-28 [del.icio.us] #
- Fuchikoma
Design firm, run in part by a fellow Emily Carr student from Sweden. Slick. - Meta Design
German design from Erik Spiekermann, famous type designer. Recommended by Adam Baker, fellow student
# XenNet: Biggest Career Choice Ever #
Today I told my boss that I was going to be leaving my current job and working for this startup with my friend. My life's in quite the turmoil right now.
# Angels in the Architecture: Sharks with frickin LASER BEAMS! #
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Armed dolphins, trained by the US military to shoot terrorists and pinpoint spies underwater, may be missing in the Gulf of Mexico.
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>This is from the Guardian.
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>These little fellows are equipped with tranquilizer darts and trained to shoot at people in wet suits.
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>I haven't stopped laughing yet.
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>HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
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>just to review, there are military trained dolphins of mass destruction swimming free in the Gulf of Mexico.