deadtech

Cutest fight ever!

A really awesome video created by the Light Surgeons with the waste from a creative workshop.

Total "Security Theater" move by the TSA. Even less effective than "the war on liquids."

Ugh.

In a press release issued on Thursday with little fanfare, TSA announced a major change in its rules.

"Beginning Saturday, June 21, 2008 passengers that
willfully refuse to provide identification at security checkpoint will
be denied access to the secure area of airports. This change will apply
exclusively to individuals that simply refuse to provide any
identification or assist transportation security officers in
ascertaining their identity."

This new procedure will not affect passengers that may have
misplaced, lost or otherwise do not have ID but are cooperative with
officers. Cooperative passengers without ID may be subjected to
additional screening protocols, including enhanced physical screening,
enhanced carry-on and/or checked baggage screening, interviews with
behavior detection or law enforcement officers and other measures."

To clarify: Passengers who refuse to show ID, citing a
constitutional right to fly without ID will be refused passage beyond
the checkpoints. Passengers who say they have left their ID at home,
will be searched, and then permitted to board their flights.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13739_3-9962760-46.html?tag=nefd.top

Like read sort-of-recent back issues of Wired magazine. The newish
layout STILL sucks and its written more and more like an in-flight
magazine. But at least its an in-flight magazine I like. Some
highlights.

• They have a one-pager on Curtis Roads
  - pioneer of the now quaint but still cool microsound. He has a funny
  quote I disagree with (but still find funny.) "The ravers create some
  beautiful sounds, but they don't have a narrative."

• They have a blurb on Santogold
  who I kept hearing about so much I had to check out. Thumbs down. Gwen
  Stefani meets M.I.A. - with less personality than either. "I run the
  streets and I break up houses." Not with
  baltimore-house-meets-grime-in-an-old-folks-home production you aren't.
• They also, strangely, feature Dizzee Rascal's Maths + English
  which is like a year old or so? I shouldn't look to Wired for new
  music, but this is a bit odd. Anyway. I hadn't checked out this record
  yet and their mention prompted me to (so maybe i SHOULD be looking to
  them for new music. yikes!) Its a solid record. His 2003 "Boy in Da Corner"
  record released on Matador is nearly without par when I'm pissed,
  cleaning my shop, and/or over-caffeinated. So I can't expect it to live
  up to that. And it doesn't. But at first listen is decent.
• They talk about the success of Leinad Zeraus's "badger-the-blogger" marketing techniques he used when pimping his book "Daemon."
  Not just Joi Ito and Stewart Brand but also 10 of my friends have also
  told me to read it. So I just put it on my Amazon Wish List (But I'll
  check Myopic first.). This Wired article,
  though, is required reading for anybody who is doing interesting things
  and wants the world to know. In summary... Pimp it your friends, pimp
  it to your sort-of friends, and pimp it to people who are "famous on
  the internet."
• Dr. Dre has a pair of branded $399
  headphones manufactured by the choads at Monster Cable called "Beats".
  Nothing says "I'm a wanna-be rap producer" like a pair of Dr Dre
  Headphones. Zzzzzz...
• They have an article on Amazon's Cloud Computing infrastructure
  they offer via Amazon Services. I tried reading this article 3 times
  and gave up - even though it's something I'm really interested in.
  Maybe I need to be at work to be in the right mindset for this one.
• A decent infographic on various cognitive enhancers
  and their downsides. I hadn't considered that Adderall can be
  addictive. They also debunk Ginkgo Biloba, Ginseng, and Gotu Kola - but
  give some creedence to the efficacy B Vitamins and Huperzine A.
• A very cool write up on Errol Morris!!!!
  He's doing a documentary on the Abu Ghraib photos called "Standard
  Operating Procedure. Looks to be awesome. Brings up some really
  interesting aspects of that whole situation. And mentions that Susan
  Sontag was the first to figure out that the photos are "crafted" by the
  participants in the photos - they aren't just some random photos that
  happened to be laying around. His movie "Fog of War" blew me completely away. I'm looking forward to this one!!!!
• and, finally, a scary article on Manhattan's "Defense Perimeter" - a surveilance system under construction that is going to make London's system look like a webcam.

wow! I'm digging the bloodspray!

Hey all,

My piece "Psychological Methods of Sell: A Memorial Day Bicycle Tour of
Kenilworth, IL" is going to be installed as a part of GARDENfresh's
"Spirit of the Age" show opening this Friday.

Come check it out!

Event date: Friday May 30th, 2008
Artist reception Friday May 30th 6 - 10pm
Exhibition continues through June 28th

GARDENfresh Gallery is pleased to finish out the season with a dramatic
show by three of its core members. Husband and wife team Burtonwood
& Holmes are paired with artist Alain Douglas Park and each offer
their unique take on war, history, consumerism, and the act of making.
Park is best known for his large-scale literary inspired paper maché
work that addresses the origins of meaning and the worth/futility of
expression. For this exhibition, Park continues this drive and adds
large scale drawings and murals of overlaid images. In the run up to
the Iraq war, artists Holly Holmes and Tom Burtonwood began a body of
work to protest the upcoming conflict and explore the wider
implications of materiel culture. B & H have invited over 20
Chicago artists to participate in "Spirit of the Age," a survey of art
practice by a nation at war.

GARDENfresh http://www.gardenfresh.org
119 North Peoria #3D
Chicago, IL 60607
312-235-2246

Ha! I got Xeni Jardin's pic on Carnegie Mellon's gwap.com's "ESP Game" today. I got a screenshot before we both guessed "blonde."

via the venerable monochrom, The Black/White Doll Tests.

these zipties are pimpin. sometimes something this retarded is all it takes to make me ok with the world.

I stumbled upon this great CAPTCHA on the Chicago Reader site while looking for information about the rockin' FREE STORE coming up in Pullman.

Select from I am: "A Living Being with a Valid Comment" or "A Bot Sent to Spam"