IA Cocktail Hour @ Media Catalyst
Tonight, for one night only... Media Catalyst HQ is proud to host the IA Cocktail Hour - a get-together of Information Architects and Interaction Designers from in and around Amsterdam.This time the theme is 'mobile', so attending IA's will be treated to our very own Olly Wright talking about mobile web application design, Boyd de Groot from Satama Interactive presenting two mobile case studies, and Kars Alfrink from Info.nl will also talk briefly about design principles for (and examples of) one-button games, location-based games and interface design for mobile phone based gaming.
After the talks there will be the usual chance to socialise on our sunny roof terrace, consuming drinks and snacks and discussing the finer points of Omni Graffle, scent and whatever else IA's talk about when they're not organising and arranging things... Eastenders maybe?
Image © Laura Thorne, 2006
You can get a flavour of these evenings by checking out this Flickr Photoset of a previous IA Cocktail Hour.
Check back here later for an update about how the evening went.
Keywords: IA,Information,Architecture,Amsterdam,Media,Catalyst
The internet and environmentalism - Bruce Sterling speaks
Well hello there! Allow me to introduce Bruce 'Cyberpunk' Sterling - Sci-Fi author, journalist, and founder of Viridian, an online community promoting high-tech, stylish and ecologically-sound design.
Now see this! The Big Picture website has 3 short clips from May 2006 of Bruce holding forth about environmental activism and how he is working to address the challenge of climate change. It's especially interesting to hear him talk about the role the internet plays in supporting global activism: global systems for global change, etc.
Check the clips out here:
- Effective Activism
- Affecting Action
- Shaping Things (the most interesting for my money)
And when you've watched that. nip back up to the Big Picture homepage and cruise around the video clip archive of "global leaders in sustainability [...] including scientists, environmentalists, politicians, journalists, academics and activists."
(Thanks to Anton for the link)
Keywords: Bruce,Sterling,activism,climate,change,internet
Test websites in different browsers
Quote from browsershots.org:
Browsershots is a free online platform where you can test your web design in different browsers. When you submit your web address, it will be added to the job queue. A number of distributed computers will automatically open your website in their browser. Then they will make screenshots and upload them to the central server here.
Visit browsershots.org
Today, let us pause and reflect on evolution
In our fast-paced world, there has been little, if no room at all, for slowing down. We want results right here, at this very instant. Patience is a lost virtue. But what happens if you stop and wait? Some pretty good things says Guinness: http://www.canneslions.com/winners_site/film/winsat10pm_1_1.htmThe land of new media provides fertile ground for all sorts of innovations: interactive artefacts, social software, mobile advertising, digital identities, online lifestyles, rich media, web 2.0…so what’s next in line? No, not advertising on the moon. It’s something less grandiose, something small but carries a big stick! The Barcode Revolution! http://www.canneslions.com/winners_site/titan/
Amen.
OK, back to work slaves! Move it, move it I say! (*sound of whip lashing across your backs!) ;-p
Intellectual property: From friction to freedom
I found Aula's Exposure book last week thanks to this post on gapingvoid - merci Hugh!
It' s a collection of essays by various thinkers, artists and geeks, divided into three main sections: The future of copyrighted media, Riding the wave of personal publishing, and Creating celebrity, protecting privacy. (Read more...)
Top-100 music videos
Always fun and many thanks to YouTube. The top-100 music videos. Thank you my friends at Pitchfork Media. Enjoy A-Ha, Van Halen Adam & The Ants and many more!
So have fun and enjoy yourself!
They're dreaming
As an expat it’s easy to get overly nationalistic. This office is full of different nationalities, and today us Scandinavians are feeling a little special. It’s Midsummer’s Day, and we know that today our fellow countrymen will consume more vodka than is good for them, and in nine months the birthrate will peak.
I was under the impression that the reason for all the festivities was some sort of harvest celebration, but the Dane and the Finn stubbornly claim it has got to do with burning witches. Well, I certainly never saw any of that going down. We were busy dancing around a pole with flowers in our hair, and had absolutely no time to burn people. But they are adamant that now, RIGHT NOW, is the time that we have to burn witches. And I let them have their way. Swedes are big that way. Also, the Finn claims this is the only way to save your soul (by burning out bad spirits, in a spiritual way, not as in alcohol).
So – here are our Midsummer’s wishes to all of you!
Mailscanner Panda wrapper modification
Today we encountered a problem with MailScanner in combination with Panda. The Panda viruschecker kept hanging when processing mail. I modified the panda-wrapper to work with the new versions of CommandLineSecure.
All your mailbox are belong to us
Read on for details, and to download the new panda-wrapper file.(Read more...)
The Beautiful and the Bizarre at the Waag Bazaar
Anyone for a workshop on lock picking? Might be interesting for all you hacker fans since it’s the most analogue form of hacking, so says Barry Wels of the lock picking club, Toool.Or how about doing a jig with the robot MOBI who would just love to show you his moves? If that’s not your cup of tea, then perhaps it’s Vodka-cocktails mixed by the robot shaker?
After all that dancing and drinking wears you down, line up for a meal served by the cooks of the Sonic Kitchen, whose gestures and movements produce an artwork of sounds and images. Or take a seat in the Presence Chair and talk live with people from all over the world as if they were just seated next to you.
These are just some of the stuff that Waag Society is doing in celebration of their 10 year anniversary. The Waag Bazaar will be held tomorrow (June 21) at the Nieuwmarkt. Program starts at 13:30.
(Read more...)50 AJAX Reference Websites From Around the World
Here's an interesting reference page I found if you're into AJAX. This is a collection of links to the most interesting websites about ajax, including:- UI patterns
- Tutorials
- Discussions
- Code libraries / patterns
- examples
Check out the list of 50 ajax reference websites from around the world.
Thank you Max Kiesler!
Advertising giant talks nonsense
So, the other day I was reading this article about Sir Martin Sorrel's view of traditional media vs the internet, and I couldn't let it pass without comment.
The reportage is someone else's blah, but Sorrel is quoted thus:
"Slowly, the new media will cease to be thought of as new media; they will simply be additional channels of communication. They will earn a well-deserved place in the media repertoire."
No problem with the first bit - "new media" always was a daft label. But the rest is codswallop. The couplet "media repertoire" betrays a way of thinking that is all top down/ broadcast snooze/ dumb consumers. (Read more...)
NYC Creative Social 2006
"therapy for creatives".. indeed. (http://www.creativesocial.com also http://spaces.msn.com/creativesocial)
The creative social in April was another great event. Attendees were from all over the world and speakers were from many different strands of media and culture. This time the event ran for 2 days in the rather bling Soho House in NYC. (Read more...)
