think or thwim

He got an A.

For more information see the MIT Media Lab Page.

:: MITAlum

final project, i/o brush, mit, the mit media lab

Partial transcript:

In a recent press conference, White House spokesman Tony Fratto was asked about reports that the president refuses to engage in any strategic planning to deal with the possibility of a Democratic takeover.

Mr. Fratto replied:

I think the President has been very clear that’s he’s preparing for a Congress that has Republican leadership and that’s the way we’ll continue to proceed, it’s the only way to proceed.

Asked why the president wouldn’t consider planning for both alternatives, Fratto said:

We’re still in the game and if you’re in the game, you’re in it to win.

The reporter, obviously an undercover sportsracer, responded by saying:

Government isn’t a game, and you are governing, and so your responsibility is to prepare for how to govern, regardless of how it turns out. So it may be a game in the political sense, but it’s really not a game to Americans who want their government to be ready to do what needs to be done.

Smack!

Mr. Fratto replied:

He’ll be ready.

See? It’s under control.

congress, george bush, humor, impeachment, the show, tony fratto, ze frank

Kevin Kelly posted a review of his Wacom Cintiq 21UX this morning.

The pen has three tips: Standard, Stroke, and Felt. It also has an eraser. Both ends have 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity. There’s also a switch on the pen to pull up a popup menu.

Cintiq implements unique LCD technologies to achieve a natural paper-like experience. The surface has two coatings, one to diminish glare and another to provide a texture simulating the feel of paper. These surfaces are also hardened to provide durability and longevity. The LCD itself has been structured to eliminate any screen distortion when the pen tip is pressed against the surface. The result is an incredibly natural and intuitive experience.

:: Wacom

$2500.
:: Kevin Kelly

art, computers, cool tools, design, displays, drawing, kevin kelly, wacom cintiq

In this video, two members of Front Design use motion capture software to record their “pen strokes” in 3D space. Then they use a 3D printer to materialize their sketches.

I can’t wait for virtual reality design. This is getting pretty close, but I don’t think they could see what they were sketching in the air when they did it. I think you would need a 3D hologram to see the object you’re working on to make this truly useful.

The rapid prototyping (stereo lithography) machine that produced the chair uses a UV sensitive liquid (photopolymer). As the laser hits the surface of the liquid, the top 1/10 millimeter turns to a solid. There’s a platform just below that layer that drops 1/10 millimeter, and the laser “prints” the next layer. It probably took a full day to build that chair.

The machine they used cost north of $200,000, and the photopolymer runs ~$800/gallon. If you can’t afford that, you can hire someone who already has one to print your designs. For $200 on Ebay you can have a small object (up to 12 cubic inches) printed if you send them your 3D CAD file.

Front Design is Sofia Lagerkvist, Charlotte von der Lancken, Anna Lindren, and Katja Savstrom from Stockholm, Sweden. Industrial designers all.

3d printing, art, front design, holograms, innovation, rapid prototyping, stereo lithography, virtual reality

She creates her songs on her keyboards and arranges them on her computer, alone. Hide and Seek was created at 3:00 am:

I had had a really bad “day at the office” as my shiny new computer blew up on me. Real puff of smoke and sparks material. I was about to leave the studio defeated, which is always a bad thing. Those days can spiral into weeks and it’s important to try to do at least one thing in a day you’re happy with.

Out of the corner of my eye i spotted my harmonizer (a little box that you hook up to a keyboard via midi so you can play in the notes you want your voice to transpose to in real time). I hadn’t yet written anything with this piece of gear but had always wanted to do an acappella on this album.

I had an idea of this hide and seek thing about the childhood reference, and I wanted to write something about that. So when I was kind of stream of conciousness singing along, this whole song, all 4.5 minutes, just arrived from start to finish in that 4.5 minutes. Right at the end you can hear the local train going by my window…

I went home and played it for my boyfriend… and he started crying when he heard it. So I was like, hmm… There may be something to this song…

-Imogen Heap

Beautiful.

:: Aurgasm :: World Cafe :: Imogen Heap

acappella, aurgasm, creativity, harmonizer, hide and seek, imogen heap, music, stream of conciousness

Here’s a screen shot from this morning:

---

Awesome. I can check that off my to do list:

1. Feed the cat.
2. Create 6th fastest growing blog on Wordpress.com
3. Mow the lawn.
4. Implement secret plan to bring about world peace.
5. Vacuum.
6. Get oil changed.

(This blog was called An Unreasonable Man until January 2007.)

blogging, cats, humor, wordpress, writing

It’s not in the same league as Jon Stewart on Crossfire, but Letterman does the kind of good job that you can only do when you’re in a strong enough position to not give a shit.

Here are a few of the gems:

O’Reilly: Do you want the Untied States to win in Iraq?

Letterman: First of all, I don’t -

O’Reilly: It’s an easy question, If you don’t want the United States to win -

Letterman: It’s not easy for me because I’m thoughtful.

Letterman: But I mean honestly - you’ve raised some points, uh, but the truth of it is a reasonable person can’t believe what you’re saying.

Letterman: I didn’t say he was an evil liar. You’re putting words in my mouth. Just the way you put artificial facts in your head.

O’Reilly tries to plug his book:

O’Reilly: Did you enjoy Culture Warrior - the book?

Letterman: I haven’t read the book.

O’Reilly: You really haven’t read it? Come on. You’re in the book!

Letterman: I know. I looked at it and I thought, ‘What is he? What is this? A book about sailing? And then I said, “No, I don’t need that.”

At the end:

Letterman: Uh … Oh gosh, where has the time gone? You know I appreciate you coming over here and indulging me because you know once again I’ll just end up saying I have no idea what I’m talking about, but I don’t think you do either.

Transcript
Video

bill o reilly, david letterman, humor, media

Help make our elections fair. VTV is looking for people with digital video cameras to [possibly] volunteer on election day. If they are notified of long lines, eligible voters turned away, voter intimidation, etc. they will call volunteers in the area to document it and upload the footage to YouTube.

In 2000 and 2004, problems plagued the polls in different parts of the country... They were underreported on Election Day. Days and weeks later, a more complete picture of voter disenfranchisement emerged—but it was too late. The elections were over and the media had moved on.

If the traditional media isn’t going to cover it, we can do it ourselves. You can volunteer, donate money or let them know if you see something wrong on election day at their website:

:: VideotheVote.org

Video the Vote was created by Ian Inaba of the Guerrilla News Network, John Ennis of Shoot First, and James Rucker of ColorOfChange.org. The three originally sought to provide a platform to help independent filmmakers coordinate their efforts on election day—documenting election problems and pushing those stories into the mainstream media. The idea morphed into a populist program where ordinary people could participate.

I just signed up, so don’t try anything fishy.

elections, fairness, media, video the vote, voting

0-60 in 2.9 seconds. Starting at $36,000 US. The video gets off to a slow start, but stick with it. It’s worth the wait:

As if this weren’t cool enough already, Ian Wright put an electric motor in an Atom and called it the Wrightspeed X1. Acceleration is similar for the electric and gas versions. The gas version gets about 25 mpg. The electric version should be more efficient. Here’s a video of the Wrightspeed walloping a Modena and a Carrera GT. You can’t buy a Wrightspeed X1 because its a concept car. The build cost was about $150,000.

I still like the Tesla Roadster better. It has a smoother suspension, a roof, a windshield, A/C, heated seats, and you can actually buy one. They sold the 200th one last week (anticipated delivery date is Fall 07).

ariel atoms, brammo motorsports, cars, electric cars, fast cars, speed, tesla roadsters, wrightspeed