By Scott Patterson - December 1, 2006
GWEI - Google Will Eat Itself
"We generate money by serving Google text advertisments on a network of hidden Websites. With this money we automatically buy Google shares. We buy Google via their own advertisment! Google eats itself - but in the end "we" own it!
By establishing this autocannibalistic model we deconstruct the new global advertisment mechanisms by rendering them into a surreal click-based economic model.
After this process we hand over the common ownership of "our" Google Shares to the GTTP Ltd. [Google To The People Public Company] which distributes them back to the users (clickers) / public."
http://www.gwei.org
Check out the news section.
See also: They are encountering similar resistance that Jonah Peretti's Nike Sweatshop project received. Read the email correspondence with customer service representatives at Nike iD, an on-line service that lets people buy personalized Nike shoes. The dialog began when Nike cancelled an order for a pair of shoes customized with the word "sweatshop."
By Fabio Sergio - December 1, 2006
Quite a few bytes were wasted to predict the success of Nintendo's Wii way before its recent launch.
For those of you who have just come back from a six-month trip to the moon the Wii happens to be Nintendo's new video game console.
Rather than playing the tech-spec war that Sony and Microsoft are still busy waging Nintendo has gone the "keep it simple and fun" route. Instead of the button-laden gamepad typical of other last-gen gaming platforms the Wii uses an innovative motion-sensitive, sensor-packed controller that enables players to have actions on screen follow the controller's movements in space.
In a pinch: to swing a pixelated sword just swing the controller mid-air. That easy.
A few days have now passed since its commercial release, and it's becoming clear that most of the promises for the Wii to be somewhat of a gaming revolution (pun intended) have been met.
Described by early (and lucky) adopters as "pure fun in a beautiful tiny box" or "fun like baby laughing hysterically for no reason other than he's a baby and he's alive fun" the Wii has been showing, to paraphrase The New Yorker, that "third place" is not such a bad place to be in after all.
To me the interesting thing these days is that while many commentators have been rightly asking themselves if the Wii will create new styles of gameplay, what has happened instead is that players have been reporting innovative side results to their video gaming activities, side results more commonly associated with sporting circles.
Couch-potatoeing video gamers are getting a workout.
You know it must be serious when even the Wall Street Journal reports on cramped muscles and "more exercise than some players bargained for".
All of this not to mention broken TV sets or even unlikely Wiinjuries caused by excessively active gameplays enabled by the Wii's magic controller.
The fun has gone beyond the screen it seems, in more ways than expected.
What did Olivia Newton-John sing when I was young... er younger? Oh yes: "Let's Get Physical".
It's all good obviously.
What I envision and covet though is the next step.
When the same natural language of interaction that's making the Wii so attractive will be applied to all the crazily complicated techno-gizmos that surround us today.
If you've made the mental leap from the Wii's controller to the mobile phone you're likely holding in your hand or keeping in your pocket right now you've been reading my mind all along.
Welcome to our upcoming mixed reality world: one giant playground.
Now Nintendo, just one last question.
Why do poor Europeans like me have to wait for another week or so before we can also put our greedily twitchy hands on the wondrous little thing?
Now that's no fun!
By Scott Patterson - December 1, 2006
from: Update for Committee on Technology in Gov't of the NYC Council
*****
Broadband Advisory Committee
With Council Member Gale Brewer as the prime sponsor, the New York City Council passed Int. No. 625-2005, now Local Law 126 (http://nyccouncil.info/issues/intros_act.cfm?intro=Int%200625%2D2005), in December 2005 to establish a Broadband Advisory Committee. The committee will review the ways and methods of using municipal resources to accelerate the build-out of current, any emerging or newly developed broadband technologies and other advanced telecommunications and information services, such as cable, broadband over power lines, or wireless technologies within the city of New York. The Committee will report its findings and recommendations to the Mayor and the Speaker of the Council as well as hold public hearings in each borough to educate the public. Council Member Brewer and I have been working diligently with the Speaker's office and the Mayor's office to appoint a diverse group of qualified individuals to this Committee. We are working closely with the Office of the Bronx Borough President to hold the first Advisory Committee hearing in the Bronx. The first meeting of the Broadband Advisory Committee has been tentatively set for mid-January. Please stay tuned for forthcoming details.
*****
Nokia's Park Wifi Website
Nokia is helping to bring free Park WiFi networks to 10 major parks in New York City. Central Park and Battery Park launched in August followed by several other parks, including Union Square Park, Prospect Park and Corona Flushing Meadows, to be launched in Fall 2006. Access to the Park WiFi network and services is possible with Nokia Nseries products that have Wireless LAN capabilities built in.
To learn more go to www.parkwifi.nokia.com.
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Computer Recycling/Reuse Survey
As part of a national effort, Computers for Youth is trying to measure the impact and awareness of ewaste (computers and peripherals) recycling within the corporate community and the effect that legislative mandates would have, should they be put in place. Please look over the following survey and help Computers for Youth get a better idea of how new legislation to monitor ewaste would affect the tri-state corporate community. This survey is modeled after an existing survey that has been administered in California by CompuMentor/TechSoup. It should take no more than 3 minutes. The link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=367441873636
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Wi-Fi Hotspot Survey
Laura Forlano, a graduate student in Communications at Columbia University, is conducting a survey on the use of wireless Internet at cafes, parks and other public places in New York in order to better understand how these networks are being used. It is hoped that the survey will help to inform public policy on the deployment of municipal wireless networks nationwide as well as contribute to the dialogue about a comprehensive broadband strategy for New York. The survey takes about ten minutes to complete. Participants will be entered into a drawing for a free iPod or a $300 donation to a charity of your choice.
Take the survey at:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=735302651119.
If you have questions about the survey, please contact Laura Forlano at wirelessinternetsurvey@yahoo.com.
*****
About the New York City Council's Committee on Technology in Government The primary goals of the Committee on Technology in Government are: (1) to expand digital equality by increasing access to broadband in underserved communities of New York City (2) to increase the strategic use of technology in government, thereby, increasing efficiency in government and enhancing the quality of public services, and (3) to promote the openness and transparency of government by making sure that public information is accessible to every New York City resident. Through its ability to hold oversight hearings over City agencies and introduce and hear legislation, the Committee on Technology in Government works to achieve its goals in partnership with the private, public and nonprofit sectors. More information about the Committee and the Chair of the Committee, Council Member Gale A. Brewer, can be found at the following link:
http://nyccouncil.info/issues/committee.cfm?committee_id=106<sbdkey=5121
All Committee briefing papers from the current session (beginning in January 2004) are also available at this link.
By Dave Hoffer - December 1, 2006
Yahoo News reports that NBC is deciding if it should air footage of Saturday Night Live rehearsals. George Kliavkoff, the Universal Chief Digital Officer states that, "Sometimes it's a lot more interesting than the show," in discussing the footage.
The same could be applied to out-takes/bloopers from taped television shows, shots not displayed in the broadcast from the multiple cameras at sporting events, additional takes of songs for musicians and a whole host of other ideas.
National Public Radio (among others) already has a great deal of additional materials from their radio broadcasts designed to enhance the information they're trying to convey visually.
DVD's have had a built in distribution vehicle for years and now, other media will have it's own vehicle for extra material.
By Adam Richardson - November 30, 2006
Google creates a lot of waste: wasteful product and service concepts, wasteful amounts of innovation. And that's OK.
Why? Because the waste is food.
This is how nature works. Nature is not super efficient (despite exhortations to the contrary), and creates a lot of waste.
It's just fine for two reasons:
1. It doesn't take many resources to produce in the first place
2. The waste becomes food for other parts of the ecosystem
By Scott Patterson - November 29, 2006
Public Art Fund presents
Nina Katchadourian
Office Semaphore
At One Chase Manhattan Plaza
Lower Manhattan, New York
http://www.publicartfund.org
November 16 - January 14, 2007
Ever spot someone in a distant office window and wonder what is going on in his or her life? Part message decoding, part small-scale reality show, artist Nina Katchadourianâs Office Semaphore is a signaling system in which one person, who works on an upper story of an office building, communicates messages to people outside on street level. A telescope is installed on the northeastern corner of One Chase Manhattan Plaza in a canyon of tall office buildings. Peering into the telescope, viewers will find it is trained on an office in a building a few blocks away. Each day, the person who works in that office â the anonymous protagonist of the piece â arranges a group of objects in his window. Each combination represents a specific message, which viewers down at street level can decode using a visual key located beside the telescope. The objects themselves â office supplies and personal knickknacks found in the participantâs workspace â form a portrait of this individual, although he will remain largely unseen. Over time, these daily dispatches will register shifts in the mood in the office and in the personâs workday life.
Office Semaphore is an adaptation of traditional marine flag signaling systems, which are used by ships at sea to convey urgent messages to one another such as âI require a tug,â âDirections received but not understood,â or âMust alter course.â Noting the day-to-day relevance and poetic resonance of these standard nautical messages, Katchadourian has used them as the basis for the project. Some are borrowed with little or no change, while others are written by the artist in the same language and tonality. The phrases, both existing and created, were chosen and developed with the office worker in order to express the kinds of problems, victories and challenges he might encounter in a day on the job. The work also relates directly to its site, which is in a neighborhood with a rich maritime history.
Bridging public and private realms, as well as the distinct activities of sightseeing and working, Office Semaphore draws together Katchadourianâs interests in communication, urban experience and everyday interventions. It offers the viewer a glimpse into one of the countless worlds that exist within the cityâs many office buildings, which typically seem so impersonal and impenetrable when seen from the outside.
About the artist
Nina Katchadourianâs wide-ranging, inventive conceptual practice encompasses sculpture, photography, video, sound, and public projects in which she highlights and alters familiar systems with unlikely observations,interventions and âimprovements,â resulting in irreverent, memorable works that are at once philosophical and accessible. She has created several works that relate to language, codes and translation, including Talking Popcorn (2001), a machine that uses Morse Code to interpret the sound of popping popcorn, and her ongoing series, Sorted Books (1993 - present), in which she selects books from a library or collection and orders them so that their titles communicate a broader message when taken together.
Katchadourian was born in Stanford, California, and lives and works in Brooklyn. She received a BA from Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island (1989); an MFA from the University of California, San Diego (1993); and participated in the Whitney Independent Study Program (1996). Her work has been presented in several solo exhibitions including a ten-year survey entitled âOpener 11: Nina Katchadourian: All Forms of Attractionâ at the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York (2006); âPlease, Please, Pleased to Meetâchaâ at Wave Hill, Bronx (2006); âNina Katchadourian: Natural Misunderstandingsâ at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin (2006); âWorks Made in Finland by Nina Katchadourian,â Turku Art Museum, Finland (2006); âThe Geneology of the Supermarket and Other New Worksâ at Sara Meltzer Gallery, New York (2005) and Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco (2006).
Location
The telescope will be installed on the northeastern corner of One Chase Manhattan Plaza, which is bordered by Pine, Liberty, Nassau and William Streets in Lower Manhattan. Stairway entrances to the plaza are located on Pine Street (at William Street), on Nassau Street (at Cedar Street), and on William Street (at Cedar Street). This exhibition is free and open to the public at all times. Subways: 2, 3 to Wall Street; 4, 5 to Wall Street; J, M,Z to Broad Street.
By Fabio Sergio - November 29, 2006
CNN Money reports on the first millionaire who built a fortune trading virtual assets on Second Life:
"Anshe Chung, a real-estate tycoon in the digitally simulated world known as Second Life, has apparently become the first virtual millionaire (someone whose holdings in a make-believe world are legally convertible into genuine U.S. currency worth more than $1 million).
Chung is the nom de keyboard of Ailin Graef, a former schoolteacher who says she was born and raised in Hubei, China, and is now a citizen of Germany.
Though you can buy additional Linden dollars from Linden Lab by paying U.S. currency, Chung says she has made all her additional Linden dollars via in-world buying, building, trading, and selling.
The lion's share of it, she says, has been made by buying, developing, and then renting or reselling 'land', control over the virtual real estate simulated by Linden's servers."
Anshe Chung, also known as "The Rockefeller of Second life", made the cover of Businessweek a few months ago, and has grown her interest in virtual property into a 20-people-strong company.
Not bad for bits.
By Adam Richardson - November 29, 2006
Here is an example of what a corporate feedback loop between customer input and corporate response should be like:
By Adam Richardson - November 28, 2006
I love these billboards that Helio has been running to advertise their wireless service. The service is targeted at Gen Y, with some custom phones done for Helio and a custom UI and set of capabilities. Helio appropriately breaks out of the minutes/month trap that all the other carriers bang on, and puts all the emphasis on benefits that are appropriate for their audience.
By Fabio Sergio - November 28, 2006
Businessweek's "Upward Mobility" offers a nice recap of current trends in the mobile arena:
"The latest phase of the mobile revolution is intimately tied to the abrupt rise of media-rich social networks such as Google's YouTube and News Corp.'s MySpace.com.
To participate, you used to have to sit in front of a computer screen. But a host of advances, including faster network speeds, exotic new batteries, and bright, energy-efficient screens for mobile gadgets, could cut some of the last tethers to the PC. The handset, stuffed with content you purchase or create, will become your personal television network, your music studio, your wallet for dispensing digital money and your personal location service.
Much of the credit for these shifts goes to the 'Thumb Generation', the twenty- and thirtysomethings who grew up with game controllers and cell phones glued to their hands.
Members of the Thumb Generation see their phones and music players as extensions of their personalities.
Not surprisingly, the Thumb Generation is also dreaming up some of the most interesting media-junkie mobile applications."
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