Bruce Sterling's Blog, page 686

Bill Gates and his high-tech malaria hacks

https://intellectualventureslab.com/?page_id=563

*These are just super. I love these. Even if they never cure a single stricken kid, it's great to see these creative and off-the-wall hackerly efforts directed at this ancient scourge of mankind. Go get 'em, boys. Sic 'em.

Augmented Reality: CultureClic

*I'm a little vague on the app they're promoting here — it looks like a common or garden urban informatics tourism app. But — oh my gosh! — look at the way those two French réalité augmentée hipsters are dressed.

*You know what? They're dressed-up as "augmented-reality users." I knew somebody was gonna try that; first time I've seen it in practice. What is with that little radar aerial — or whatever it is — on her beret, or whatever that is?

http://cultureclic.fr/

*Also, check out the...

Unconventional Computing and Architecture

"Increasingly life-like buildings." Uhm… what if they're predatory?

http://www.buildingcentre.co.uk/events/event_diary_details.asp?id=510

Unconventional Computing & Architecture

Friday 26 February, 9.00am - 6.00pm

This one-day conference explores new materials for architectural practice in the 21st century. International architects and scientists will explore the decision-making properties of matter and how this may be applied to create increasingly life-like buildings.

Organised by The...

Favela Chic Trash Yurt

http://d-build.org/wordpress/?p=734

"This is the Gertee, a variation on the yurt developed by Niki Raapana, which is made of salvaged materials and scraps, a favela chic (((!))) portable housing structure. The wooden frame is made out of reclaimed lumber scraps held together with zip-ties…"

The BAMscape

*Looks like a great place to hang out and study dead media.

http://bampfa.berkeley.edu/exhibition/faulders_bamscape

"Constructed from brightly painted 3/8-inch-thick bendable plywood and 1/4-inch plywood sides, BAMscape is a shaped elevation of 150 individual curved modules, which were shipped and installed onsite. Each module was created using digital fabrication processes, which efficiently allowed Faulders to make all of the contours unique, based directly off of drawings. The modules are...

The Icelandic Modern Media Initiative

*Offshore data haven.

*I dunno. Maybe. It's sure not gonna be banking or cod for Iceland any more. They pretty much gotta come up with something.

*Maybe if they bought Wikipedia, took over administration of Creative Commons, and ran it all on hydrogen.

http://immi.is/?l=en&p=FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

What and where is Iceland?

Iceland, population 317,000, is a modern Western liberal democracy located in the north Atlantic. It is about the size of Ireland and lies midway between North...

Excalibur Alimaz

*A private Russo-British-American manned spaceflight company that is based in the Isle of Man and has gotten their hands on a whole bunch of leftover Russian space hardware.

http://excaliburalmaz.com/SP1/company-leadership.php

*I'm pretty sure that I read about this scheme decades ago in a science-fiction novel by Lewis Shiner.

*Look at that offshored Island-in-the-Net Isle of Man flag on that spacecraft. That is just… really, words fail me.

The Bruni Empire, and other realms

*Gosh, these European stereotypes of Europe are so illuminating. via @baffo

http://www.laboiteverte.fr/leurope-vue-par/

Augmented Reality Shoes

*No, really. Adidas and Metaio, together at last:

*Thanks for the heads-up there, @twitt_AR

Computer as furoshiki, here we come

*A perennial "imaginary gadget" fave:

http://www.wired.com/beyond_the_beyond/2008/07/gadget-watch-co/

*Now check this out:

http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2010/02/12_electric_nanofibers.shtml

New fiber nanogenerators could lead to electric clothing

By Sarah Yang, Media Relations | 12 February 2010

BERKELEY — In research that gives literal meaning to the term "power suit," University of California, Berkeley, engineers have created energy-scavenging nanofibers that could one day be...