Bruce Sterling's Blog, page 657
April 22, 2010
April 21, 2010
Archigram 1960s architecture-fiction
*Really, Archigram were the best. And a ton of obscure material, which practically no one ever saw during their own period, is now just sitting there, clickable, on the Web.
http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/archigram-archive.html
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"There would be temporary, inflatable additions to whole towns and cities; pyramidal diagrid megastructures squatting over dead neighborhoods like malls; dream cities like Rorschach blots stretched across the sky, toothed and angular Montreal Towers looming in ...
Augmented Reality: Winscape
*Always a pleasure to see Wired UK jump on something off-the-wall. A trompe l'oeil with a trackable necklace. Has the feeling of a mash-up across the centuries.
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2010-04/20/winscape-turns-plasma-tvs-into-bedroom-windows.aspx
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"It works by using two TVs mated to an Apple Mac, that is synced with a Wii remote and infrared necklace. The user wears the necklace, and information relating to your viewing position is beamed back via the Wii remote to the...
I feel real pity for musicians sometimes
*I mean, look at this mess. Listen to it. What the heck is left of them and their craft of music? Every aspect of production, distribution, socialization even, has been virtualized and network-distributed. Musicians have really been close to the fire there for a long time. And their troubles aren't over, either, not by a long chalk.
*When someone chooses to halt this potentially endless digital process, a stream of ones and zeros reverberates out of a speaker somewhere. Although that...
April 20, 2010
Participatory systems: moving beyond 20th century institutions
*I dunno. Maybe. If this participatory stuff even sorta works out, it oughta become a major magnet for backlash panic about "organized crime, terrorists, kidporn and drug dealers."
*Then again, my most recent science fiction novel is about a world in the 2060s dominated by post-national, global "civil society orgs."
*I'm kind of amazed that political parties don't do this. Why do they allow themselves to have their oxygen stolen by Obama fundraising nets and Tea Party insurgencies? You'd ...
More subvertising mayhem from the Yes-Men
*Oh lordy.
April 19, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DOW THROWS A DISMAL PARTY, FEW ATTEND
Underattended "Run for Water" plagued by death, zombies, and dozens of
"Dow spokesmen"; truth seems to run free
Video: Yes Men video coming soon here; other video here
Stills: Yes Men pictures coming soon here; numerous others here
Contact: Whitney Black (803)466-3786; press@theyesmen.org
Brooklyn, NY — Bucolic Prospect park in Brooklyn, NY played host to a
bizarre spectacle on Sunday, as a dramatically...
April 19, 2010
Prague Through the Lens of the Secret Police
http://www.bohemiannationalhall.com/index/viewevt/lang/en/ev/113/page/0
PRAGUE THROUGH THE LENS OF THE SECRET POLICE
EXHIBITION OPEN THROUGH MAY 7
April 7, 2010 - May 7, 2010, Opening Reception April 7
1/1
Prague's Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes and subordinate Security Services Archive opened their doors in February 2008, with a government mandate to study and evaluate the period of Nazi occupation and Communist rule and make public documents and archival materials from the...
Poor old Ted needs a wire transfer
*That's interesting. I've been hearing about these spearphishing attacks where some malefactor grabs an email account and spams all the contactees screaming for emergency money. This is the first time I've been hit by one, myself.
*It's a pretty typical phish attack, but I expect to see them refine this rather badly-punctuated pitch.
"Hi there,
How are you? we made a trip to London (United Kingdom) unannounced a few days back for a short vacation, unfortunately we got robbed at gunpoint...
Arphid Watch: RFID zapper
*It's always something. From RISKS DIGEST:
Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2010 14:04:21 PDT
From: "Peter G. Neumann"
Subject: RFID zapper made from a disposable camera! (Eurekalert)
[Thanks to Ken Nitz. PGN:]
Safer swiping while voting and globetrotting: Tel Aviv University security
expert finds security holes in America's passports and 'smart cards'
http://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/...
Since 2007, every new U.S. passport has been outfitted with a computer
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