Bruce Sterling's Blog, page 736

The PreFab Parasite

http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/09/25/prefab-friday-parasitic-homes-take-root-on-empty-walls/

*It doesn't exist yet. It's architecture-fiction. But I wonder if it is EVEN POSSIBLE to get any more "Favela Chic" than this.

*You'll want to blast some fully-appropriate theme music out the windows when you're up there squatting in your Pre-Fab Parasite. I think these guys can get the job done for you.

Mobile Web Best Practices in User Experience Design

"Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0

"Abstract

"This document specifies Best Practices for delivering Web content to mobile devices. The principal objective is to improve the user experience of the Web when accessed from such devices.

"The recommendations refer to delivered content and not to the processes by which it is created, nor to the devices or user agents to which it is delivered.

"It is primarily directed at creators, maintainers and operators of Web sites. Readers of this document are...

Georgia decrying cyberwar at the UN

*One long revanchist wail out of the President of Georgia here. Rhetoric of this kind ought to make that region a greenhouse for cyberwar.

http://georgiandaily.com/index.php?op...

(…)

"One year ago, my country was invaded: tanks, war planes, warships, bombs and state-directed cyber hackers descended upon our towns, (((

Augmented Reality: Miruko, your third eyeball

*This demo video sure takes its own sweet time getting started — mostly because it's not selling anything. It's a ridiculous design-fiction prank. It's also extremely funny. There's something sublime about Miruko. It's full of Nipponese chindogu un-uselessness.

*Augmented Reality fans here to track the rapid evolution of a young industry should be aware that, here on BEYOND THE BEYOND, we like Lovecraftian AR "wearabel" monsters that are "sticked to your face." Sci-fi jokes like this ...

Technotise

*It's a Serbian cyberpunk anime film, with Augmented Reality elements, set in a future Belgrade. Out this very month! And it looks great!

*Man, I couldn't have been more surprised if I'd walked down to the Danube and found a live coelocanth.

http://technotise.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technotise_Edit_&_I

"History

"The plot is set in 2074 Belgrade. The main character is Edit, a female psychology student. After failing the same university exam for the sixth time, she decides to visit a...

Augmented Reality: Total Immersion's Six Flags Bumper Cars

*Looks like the gang at Total Immersion have reached the level of the arcade game here.

*Presumably, in tomorrow's version, the little cars creep around the living room.

Bits versus Atoms: the Daniel Rohr "Colander" table

*I'd be guessing that this insanely gorgeous "Making of" viral video sells more of these Colander tables than the mainstream-media promotional budget (assuming it has one).

*A making-of video link ought be be *engraved into each table* with a 2D code.

*More:

http://www.wired.co.uk/photos/wired-things/2009-09/01/100-per-cent-design-london/photo-10.aspx

Cry Havoc! and let slip the dogs of Bollywood viral video

*Oh my heavens. A YouTube Bollywood dancing contest with star tie-ins.

*Whatever next?

*Naturally Prof. Henry Jenkins has some useful ideas about all this:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/henry-jenkins/in-a-social-networking-wo_b_292014.html

(…)

"Whedon had produced Dr. Horrible as a personal project during the television writers strike, circulated it for free via the web for the first week, and then began selling it on iTunes (and now through DVD, not to mention screenings and singalongs at movie ...

Kurbaan, produced by Karan Johar

*Holy cow, Karan.

*That is surely the most provocative Bollywood poster ever (especially considering that Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan are lovers, a fact known to all since he's got her name tattooed on him). Furthermore, I just got a link to this poster direct from the producer himself, @kjohar25.

*A new day for the Bollywood industry: they're naked, bleeding, and in your Twitter stream.

"kjohar25 First Look of KURBAAN guys!!!! Waiting for your thoughts http://yfrog.com/0co82j"

The Coalition on Political Assassinations Presents

*What the heck kind of society have I lived long enough to see? It's like being live at the witch trials.

The Coalition on Political Assassinations presents:

OPEN SECRETS: THE ASSASSINATIONS OF THE '60s

15th Annual Regional Conference, November 20-22, Dallas, TX

Latest evidence and research, authors, medical and ballistic experts, academics and researchers into modern political assassinations, including Malcolm X, John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert Kennedy. Resource room w...