:: Friday, February 18, 2005 ::

New at Turbulence Grafik Dynamo

"Grafik Dynamo is a net art work by Kate Armstrong & Michael Tippett that loads live images from blogs and news sources on the web into a live action comic strip. The work is currently using a feed from LiveJournal. The images are accompanied by narrative fragments that are dynamically loaded into speech and thought bubbles and randomly displayed. Animating the comic strip using dynamic web content opens up the genre in a new way: Together, the images and narrative serve to create a strange, dislocated notion of sense and expectation in the reader, as they are sometimes at odds with each other, sometimes perfectly in sync, and always moving and changing. The work takes an experimental approach to open ended narrative, positing a new hybrid between the flow of data animating the work and the formal perameter that comprises its structure."

Grafik Dynamo is a 2005 commission of New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc. (aka Ether-Ore) for its Turbulence web site. It was made possible with funding from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
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Via Nettime: "Organisers of the art exhibition "Beware religion!" in Moscow, face prosecution under pressure from religious fanatics and politicians."

When the law comes into play, the role of the blogger enters a stage of evaluation: "Now, with two reporters from established news organizations facing jail time for defying an order to divulge confidential sources to a federal grand jury, bloggers are clamoring for the same legal protection that journalists are accorded under the First Amendment."

Google and yahoo extend search capabilities to your harddrive. Now you can search your files through a similar interface that both companies offer for the web: "Los principales buscadores de internet quieren utilizar su imagen y su tecnología para ayudar al usuario a localizar rápidamente información en el disco duro, y de paso llevar su negocio a una nueva área."

Internet connectivity is expected to become part of Air travel by 2006: "El sistema, que entrará en funcionamiento en 2006, facilitará a las compañías aéreas que lo contraten el que sus viajeros puedan hablar por teléfono móvil de tecnología GSM, así como conectarse a internet con su propia computadora personal, recibir o enviar correo electrónico y otras operaciones electrónicas durante el vuelo."

How are journalists taking blogging? The French journalists, at least, are appropriating it head on. Check out Le Monde's impressive list of blogging correspondents: Le Monde Blogs
:: Eduardo Navas [+] ::
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Brief Recommendation

Anyone interested in the history of old/new media should know about vasulka.org. The site offers documenation of all the artwork by the well known video art pioneers, the Vasulkas. Material from the legendary times of the Kitchen in NYC can be found on the site as well. Worth your time.
:: Eduardo Navas [+] ::
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For those interested in Conferences, the panels at Siggraph 2005 look quite interesting this time around. The deadline to submit papers is March 1, 2005. In particular check out
Networked Performance: How Does Art Affect Technology and Vice Versa?

Outsourcing CG: Is It the Problem or the Solution?

The Open-Source Movement and the Graphics Community: How Can Open Source, Third Party, and Proprietary Software Models Coexist?

WWAI: How is the Web Growing? Into a Social Super-Organism or a Mass of Disconnected Information?
:: Eduardo Navas [+] ::
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O primeiro Guggenheim da America Latina no Rio?

(English abridged version follows)
Pode ler aqui o artigo publicado no UOL a 27 de Janeiro acerca da reabertura das negociacoes - que tinham sido interrompidas em 2003 - promovidas pelo actual prefeito para abertura do Guggenheim no Rio de Janeiro . Muitos artistas e academicos estao revoltadas com a manobra politica e de propaganda que dizem estar por detras destas "renegociacoes". Com museus da cidade como o Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro em condicoes precarias de funcionamento muitos estao mais preocupadas com a sobrevivencia de instituicoes fundamemntais da cidade, mais do que com a abertura do Guggenheim que tem sido planfeto de campanha do novo prefeito Cesar Maia. Comente no Aticar a Brasa.

in English:

Will Rio de Janeiro have the first Guggenheim of Latin America?

The new city mayor Cesar Maia has reopened negotiations (that had been blocked in 2003) to have the Guggenheim in Rio. Many artists, academics and the public in general are concerned that this is a political manoeuver with political impact in the election of the mayor rather than a wise strategy, given the state of degradation of core museums of the city such as the Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro (Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro). If you can read and write in Portuguese, read the article about the renegotiations in UOL and you can comment on the "Aticar a Brasa".
:: ana boa-ventura [+] ::
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Selected News

Microsoft decides to take on the Cell phone market: "This morning the software company announced that it plans to develop a series of Windows-based mobile devices with Flextronics Corp, one of the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturers. "

Viagra SPAM on the run: "Don't expect Viagra spam -- or Ambien spam, Cialis spam, Vicodin spam, or spam in general -- to stop completely. But the increasing numbers of legal actions filed by Microsoft, other Internet service providers and state law enforcement authorities against spammers represent an encouraging development. They could change the economics of spam, making it increasingly difficult for spammers to turn a profit."

Macromedia and Nokia join forces to bring Flash graphic features to cell phone technology: "As part of the collaboration, Macromedia and Nokia will also provide integrated mobile development tool sets that will enable developers to more rapidly and efficiently create compelling Flash content for mobile devices, while leveraging their existing expertise and brand assets. In addition, the companies will also collaborate on technical documentation and other technical support areas.
"

Firefox is redhot: "It has now been seven months since Firefox emerged as a real threat, and [Microsoft has] done nothing but issue ad hoc patches for individual holes," said Eric Raymond, an open-source software advocate and consultant in Malvern, Pa. "There will be no IE 7 until Longhorn, which isn't scheduled for general availability until 2006 and will probably slip further."
And yahoo is down with it as it publishes a navbar for the browser: "La barre d'outils Yahoo pour Firefox permet aux internautes d'accéder plus rapidement au moteur de recherche de Yahoo ainsi qu'à différents services Web (courriel, rencontres, magasinage, jeux, musique) du géant d'Internet."

Linux also takes on the cell-phone explosion: "Le fabricant allemand de semi-conducteurs Infineon et le groupe sud-coréen Samsung vont lancer un smartphone aux normes UMTS/EDGE fonctionnant avec le logiciel libre Linux, une première mondiale, ont-ils annoncé."

Love coffee? Then check out an online auction where you can bid on coffee from Central America, a strategy aiming to improve the economy: "Buscamos fortalecer la demanda de cafés excepcionales para crear un mercado alternativo separado de los precios de la Bolsa de Nueva York, y Guatemala se destaca por sus cafés de calidad", comentó al respecto el delegado del CQI, Gerry LaRue."

Artificial Intelligence is being tested to help online shopping: "UN GRUPO de científicos y emprendedores españoles presentaron en Madrid MusicStrands, una iniciativa internacional "spin-off" del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) que pretende ayudar a los internautas a acceder a los contenidos musicales digitales mediante técnicas de inteligencia artificial para la recomendación independiente de música."
:: Eduardo Navas [+] ::
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