Bruce Sterling's Blog, page 691

The web consists of malware and spam

*Getting scarier out in the digital favela. If the spooks don't jump you, the crooks will.

*One wonders how much of this it will take before feudal-corporate gated communities start looking attractive again. "CompuServe II," anyone?

http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2010/02/all-that-use-all-that-user-generated-content-95-is-malware-spam-r-generated-content-95-of-is-malware-spam.ars

"The latest research from Websense Security Labs paints a dreary but familiar picture of the state of online...

Music Break: Baloji — Karibu ya Bintu

*It's a young urban guy rapping, but I'm not seeing a lot of bling-bling 'round here.

http://vimeo.com/8907715

BALOJI feat. KONONO n1 - KARIBU YA BINTOU from BALOJI on Vimeo.

via @cibellecibelle

Nefertiti in Rome

*I'm the arm-candy in this particular literary junket.

A Sermon from Transmediale

*Left Berlin. In Torino. Heading for Roma soon.

http://www.transmediale.de/en/keynote-bruce-sterling-us-atemporality

The Global Neomedieval

*Not sure I'm buying this thesis, but as a future world it would make a heck of a scenario for a shoot-'em-up role-playing game.

*FOREIGN POLICY magazine seems to be getting increasingly weird under the Obama administration. It's like the mag is all foreign all the time and there's no domesticity remaining.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/04/15/the_next_big_thing_neomedievalism

"Many see the global economic crisis as proof that we live in one world. But as countries stumble to right ...

Star City

Star City

The Future under Communism

13 February – 18 April 2010

Nottingham Contemporary

Weekday Cross

Nottingham

NG1 2GB

http://www.nottinghamcontemporary.org...

http://www.nottinghamcontemporary.org...

Pawel Althamer, Micol Assael, Stano Filko, Diango Hernandez, Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, Julius Koller, Robert Kusmirowski, Goshka Macuga, David Maljkovic, Joanna Malinowska & Christian Tomaszewski Aleksandra Mir, Deimantas Narkevicius, Otolith Group, Tobias...

Generating cities

http://blog.neonascent.net/archives/computer-aided-architectural-design/

(…)

"The computer isn't a magic box. Just because the computer does something – something emergent – doesn't mean that the conditions of emergence will be in any way productive of anything useful.

"From (collective) experience, some architects seem to treat the CAD process this way. Imagine having a magic wand that you waved at stuff to transform it into something altogether weird-looking and different. We wouldn't wave it ...

Vale's Re/Search Newsletter

*Guy's in a realm all his own.

WELCOME TO V. VALE's RE/SEARCH NEWSLETTER #90, February 2010
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RE/SEARCH | 20 Romolo #B | San Francisco CA 94133 | 415.362.1465
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**TO RECEIVE LAST-MINUTE LOCAL S.F. BAY AREA NEWS OF RE/SEARCH-recommended EVENTS, reply to this newsletter & in subject line write "local...

I'm in Berlin for Transmediale

*Speaking here tomorrow.

*In the meantime, digging the Ken Rinaldo paparazzi robots. There are only two of 'em here, but those gizmos can whip it. Fastest-moving human-harassing robots I've ever personally encountered.

http://www.paparazzibot.com/

Steampunk weapons

*These are so subculturally trufan bonkers that I am actually enjoying this. I always thought that steampunk might someday venture past mere whimsy to the point of getting on one's nerves.

http://www.walyou.com/blog/2010/02/02/steampunk-weapons/

*With their complete lack of respect for ergonomics, economics, safety, utility and the laws of physics, these devices look like virtual online role-playing game designs oozing sideways into analog actuality.

*Imagine raiding a secretive terrorist...