Mocking Dockers

My friend Meredith just sent me a Popular Science article, Little Robots in Your Pants, about the use of "nanotechnology" in Dockers. I can't decide if this conversation with a customer service person is funny or just sad.



I "disagree"

I read an article this morning about the president's switch from traditional email to a web form for accepting messages from the public. I figured I'd check it out, and maybe send a message to voice my disagreement with the change. But the new form is so restrictive, forcing visitors to agree or disagree with the president on a small group of pre-selected topics, that I couldn't even send my message. (None of the selected topics were appropriate, and there is no option for "other.") I'm a freakin' American citizen, and I can't email a simple comment to the president. I thought the web and email were supposed to be about connecting people to each other, not blocking people out. Apparently I was wrong.

[UPDATE] Apparently so many people freaked out about this restrictive method of contacting the president that the powers that be decided to keep the president@whitehouse.gov email address after all. The site's FAQ explains that you won't get a real response, but at least you can now express opinions on something other than the listed topics.

Robots are friendly

I misread the schedule and missed most of the ArtBots show, but I did go to the closing party last night, which still featured a few exhibits. Wired has an article with a few photos and a description of the whole event.

Fast lane/slow lane

So this week, I finally got a cable modem, and for the first time in my life I have a high-speed web connection at home. It's nice. If you are trudging along at 56k, I say, "Call Earthlink! It's cheaper than you think!" Hehe, that was an unintentional rhyme. Maybe I should go into advertising.



Also this week, I got this little cell phone/ laptop connection gadget thingy, so now I can even get online when I'm someplace with no electricity and no internet connection. But don't get jealous! It runs like a 14.4. modem. (56k sounds pretty damn speedy now, huh?) I suppose if I'm lost in the wilderness and I really need to check my work email, it could be good to have around, but I won't be using it on a regular basis.



For love of Google

I liked the title of this NY Times article, Is Google God? I wouldn't say Google answers my prayers, but I turn to it for help several times a day. It's always there for me whenever I have a question, and it usually offers an unbiased, fact-based answer. That's more than I can say for organized religion.



Robot art

I've been painting lots of robots. I think it's because they're unemotional and bring me some sort of stability in an otherwise insane world. The other day I unintentionally painted one that looked like a futuristic cave painting. I kind of liked it, so I was thinking maybe I should do a whole series of robots inspired by cave art. I did a search on Google to see if anyone else was doing this kind of thing (I have a Google addiction; see above). I found a few cool things. First of all, the cave paintings at Lascaux in France were apparently discovered by a dog named Robot in 1940. I think that's a sign that I should move forward with my robot cave painting idea. I also found this site, which doesn't have any robots (or dogs), but is useful if you want to get a bit lost in a dark Flash environment.

When good 3D goes bad...

Earlier today I went to see Ghosts of the Abyss, James Cameron's 3D Imax documentary about the Titanic. It was only about an hour long and I stupidly went into it expecting about an hour of cool 3D shots of the sunken ship. But way too much of the movie was just the crew sitting around on the boat, or shots of Bill Paxton offering insightful comments like, "It's so creepy," as he peered out the porthole at something amazing. I wanted to shout "Turn the camera around!! Show us what he's looking at!!" There were a few good 3D sections, but most of the underwater photography was done with these tiny submersibles that weren't even equipped with 3D cameras. I guess it might be worth seeing if you're obsessed with the Titanic, but as a 3D movie it felt like a rip-off. I'm glad it was only an hour long.

Why I need a digital camera

If I had one, I could have taken a picture of the giant vending machine I used yesterday in DC. I stepped out of a cab in my sister's neighborhood, and there it was in front of me, this big, square, employee-less store from the future. Normal vending machines don't thrill me like this, because I can live without soda and junk food. But the giant, super-miracle vending machine carries stuff like milk and eggs and Tropicana Pure Premium orange juice with no pulp, my favorite beverage in the world. I got to buy a half-gallon of O.J. from a freaking vending machine and it was cheaper than it is at my stores in Brooklyn. Oh, and when I walked around this miracle machine I discovered that the other side is an automated DVD rental store. I searched around online a bit and couldn't find any pictures, but here's a CNN transcript that mentions it, just so you know I wasn't dreaming...



A favor

Does anybody want to send me to space?

Unbrand America

Adbusters has a new campaign. I agree with what they are saying (and I like the NY Times ad), but I think I might have liked the concept even more if they had narrowed the focus. It's both anti-consumerism and anti-Bush, and while I realize it's easy to tie those things together, I think the campaign might have been stronger if they just chose one.



The anti-consumerism side makes me think of William Gibson's book Pattern Recognition. I can't remember if I've written about it here before, but it has some great stuff about being sensitive to logos. I paid full price for the hardcover at Barnes and Noble (something I don't usually do) and I thought it was worth every penny. Plus, it has a pretty cover and looks nice on my shelf...

Astrobots

Why are you reading my site when you could be here reading a weblog by two Lego people about their trip to Mars? My favorite quote: "I'm in space. Yaaaaaaaay!"