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November 30, 2005
A Timepiece, City Style
Zurich's new Christmas Illuminations, "The World's Largest Timepiece" have replaced the hundreds of light bulbs that were installed along the Bahnhofstrasse 33 years ago. As Christmas day nears, the illumination(s) will gradually alter until New Year's Eve when the row of lights will emit sparks of lights almost like a fireworks display.
The entire installation is made up of 7 meter long fiber optic tubes. Within each tube are 28 sections to give off varying patterns.
lookie here for more pictures
Posted by tranism at 2:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Lunatics
The Lunatics - a six and a half minute interactive fairy tale about consumption, exploration, and creativity.
Told by an elder Lunatic in an almost Native American chieftain storyteller way, this interactive experience guides you through the Lunatics' transformative journey from being consumers to becoming creators. The Lunatics have always worshipped the moon, but during more precarious times, they ignored it in favor of a more consuming light. They wanted more and more and their once cherished moon slipped away. By the time they realized what had happened, it was an uphill battle to get the moon back. Lesson learned - excess can destroy you.
The interactive part of the story plays out by including you, the viewer, blending the role of audience and participant. While wearing masks, you are transported onto the screen and into the story where you see, hear, and physically engage with the tale's themes. Your movements trigger animations empowering you to affect the world on screen. The cool thing is you're not just watching the story, you are the story and with that, you walk away with a deeper understanding of the story's underlying themes and morals.
Posted by tranism at 12:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
November 28, 2005
The Eskimo-Inuit Civilization IF?
Out of the swirl of cold white air and the haze of powered snow, an eery glow emanates from the horizon in the far north. As you trek closer, you realize you've stumbled upon something amazing. Frozen blocks of water stacked in elliptical and organic shapes communicate a great civilization exists here. Its form and design evokes something ancient, but yet its sparseness feels perfected. Just like in nature, nothing in excess; only what is needed exists. When I saw these forms, I couldn't help but write stories to go along with them. No these aren't the ancient cities of the inuit civilizations, they are The Snow Show exhibition.
The Snow Show is an exhibition of contemporary environmental art and architecture that replaces familiar, permanent materials like wood or concrete with the unusual, ephemeral element of water it its froze form.
This outdoor exhibition presents huge extraordinary architectonic structures of snow and ice, some over 5 meters tall. Some of the participants in the exhibition are some of today's most exciting artists and architects. It is a place that is magical, playful and unforgettable.
more pictures after the jump
Posted by tranism at 1:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Marty McFly's Nike's
Call me a shoe whore, I don't care but there's an online petition going around for Nike to actually reproduce the famous futurist high tops in "Back To The Future 2".
With nearly 2000 signatures already, there's obviously a demand for a limited production run. Please help me by signing the petition so I can get to rockn' my new Marty McFly's!
another picture after the jump
Posted by tranism at 12:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
November 26, 2005
A Paradigm Shift
Electro & Plankton just want to thank everyone for reading, leaving comments and sending those wonderful emails full of links and stories. And if you don't see something you've recommended posted, don't take any offense. It could be we already knew and just didn't wanna write about OR we loved it but somehow lost the email. SIGH. . . we are trying to become more organized. We are doing all we can short of throwing down the hammer of Scandinavian efficiency and Asian consistency.
On to the blog post topic. Electro has noticed a major shift in stats of the kind of people that visit this blog. Electro's original blog (some of you may remember as "tranism"), was heavily gay supported. In fact, nearly 80% of all visits were from gay blogs. Since the launch of electro^plankton, a paradigm shift has occurred. Less than 30% of all visits are from gay blogs. The majority of visits come from edu's, Europe and other tech/art/science blogs.
The only major change with this blog is the purposeful exclusion of scantily clad hot boys and personal tales of gay sutra. Have we lost appeal to our gay audience? Have we fallen out of favor with our original readers? Or is this shift only a natural causality of what we now choose to write about?
Let us know!
Posted by tranism at 12:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
November 25, 2005
Lions, Pumas, Gators OH MY!
Helmut Smits took some pretty cool photographs by placing home made acrylic logos of iconic brands all around the Netherlands. I would image people passing by must have did a double-take, like WTF???
more photos after the jump
Posted by tranism at 11:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Zubbles Story
The story of a struggling toy maker and his 11 year battle to solve what veteran toy manufactures said couldn't be done; make colored bubbles.
To summarize, Tim Kehoe had always been fascinated with bubbles. I mean who wasn't? There is something mystical about their transparent aloofness and yet their temporary existence makes them all the more magical. Most of us out-grow their novelty but Tim Kehoe saw a future in bubbles. He wanted to bring them to life and in full technicolor, but the laws of physics have made that next to impossible . . . or so they thought.
A bubble is basically surfactants (a material found in all soap) interacting with water to reduce surface tension. This allows the fluid to spread across a bubble without breaking. You would think all you have to do to add color is to add some dye or food coloring. Two major problems exist with both those methods. First, color dye and food coloring is heavier than water so instead of spreading evenly across the bubble, it just sits and collects at the bottom under the whim of gravity. Secondly, they leave nasty stains once the bubble pops.
So the question became, is it possible to create a colored bubble that doesn't stain or leave any mark at all. After 11 years of home experimentation, Tim Kehoe finally consulted a molecular chemist (very few of them in the world) from India and with half a million dollars, a dream, and some of the most challenging work they have ever embarked on, they finally figured out the holy grail of bubble making.
The same toy manufactures who at first shunned Tim, regarded him as a toy making mad man are know clamoring to carry his latest invention - "Zubbles". Due out just in time for the Holiday season, Zubbles are posed to make the world's best selling toy even better. They making beautiful vibrant colored bubbles that last longer and once popped, leave no stains on anything. The color simply disappears once it interacts with air.
There is something intricately hot and incredibly appealing about a 30+ year old man never giving up on his kid dreams. Make sure you read the full story here. It's inspiring and better than any lifetime channel movie. Believe dat!
Posted by tranism at 1:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Murakami Flickr
Check out the Murakami gallery posted on near near future's flickr blog. AWESOMENESS I TELLS YA! In case you didn't know, I love Murakami's work.
Posted by tranism at 12:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
November 18, 2005
Almost!
I don't know why, I just like this picture.
via nubablog
Posted by tranism at 5:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
BEI JING HUAN YING NI
No those aren't the new Powerpuff Girls. They are the official mascots for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. As I have said many times before, Asians LOVE LOVE LOVE to make EVERYTHING CUTE. It's in our blood and the latest icon to be swept up in Asian aesthetics are the Olympic rings - turned cute cuddly animals.
They are called "Five Friendlies". Beibei a fish creature, Jingjing a panda, Huanhuan a malevolent fire demon, Yingying an antelope, and Nini a swallow. When halved and strung together, their names mean Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni meaning Welcome To Beijing!
note: the reason why Asian often double their names is because it denotes cuteness and youth
Of course that isn't it. Although the five mascots may look cute and cuddly, they can do something that will probably translate to some amazing opening Olympic show. Kiddies, these five can combine to form a giant robot! GO VOLTRON!
Man, once the marketing machine gets a hold of them, expect to see them sell out everywhere. Watch out Hello Kitty, there's a new gang in town.
Posted by tranism at 9:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Creating A New Language
What would happen if you were locked in a room with a bunch of strangers, not allowed to speak and all you had were four to sixteen symbols to work with? How would you all communicate?
To find out, Yale cognitive scientist Bruno Galantucci decided to run an experiment. He set up a computer game in which two people wander through a virtual space with several rooms - each marked with a geometric symbol on the ground. Neither can see the other, but they can communicate by drawing symbols on a rapidly scrolling chalkboard that each can see. To figure out where the other person is, they must develop a system of communication that is linked to the symbols on the ground, yet also which communicates complex concepts like relative position and direction someone is heading in.
Then he plopped a few subjects down to see what would happen. Nine out of ten pairs developed a communication system of three or four symbols and solved the puzzle in three hours. A more complex version of the puzzle was solved in six hours with sixteen symbols created. The interesting thing was, each language was different. You would think people would come up with the same solutions and conclusions.
The good doctor expected the pairs would build their language on elements on the icons that appeared on the floors of the rooms. A few did, but they extracted features of the icons - the number of vertices or some abstraction of the shape for example. Others adopted a numbering system for the rooms - such as slanting one line for the first room and two for the second. Another technique involved labeling the rooms by their relative position in space by placing marks on different parts of the screen.
So how do humans develop these language skills so fast? Intriguingly, communication was born as soon as one partner decided to copy another's symbols. There's something cognitively deep about the act of mimesis between two sentient beings. The one pair that didn't complete the game basically reduced themselves to the equivalent of screaming in frustration by scribbling all over chaotically.
Since this video game started as a study, I could image it extrapolated into a massively multiplayer game similar to World of Warcraft. What kind of language would 10,000 people online develop? How would language influence relationships, alliances and growth? What kind of languages will be the easiest to learn and spread rapidly and what kind will quickly die and be absorbed into others? If anyone can make this kind of game, it would be Nintendo, known for their passion to create games based on motives and ideas rather than just graphics. DO IT NINTENDO!
Posted by tranism at 12:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
November 17, 2005
Space Cadets
This is so fucked up yet so fabulous (yes I said fabulous). Our Brit friends are about to unleash a new reality show aiming to pull off the biggest hoax (I wouldn't say biggest, but damn near) in television history by persuading a group of people that they have been blasted off into space!
Nine people will be told they are set to visit the final frontier as space tourists and that in preparation they will undergo intensive training in Russia when in reality, it all takes place at a high tech secret location in the U.K.
Unbeknown to them, their shuttle will be a Hollywood creation, made originally for the film Space Cowboys. A giant custom built screen positioned just outside the shuttle will, it is hoped, provide the illusion of a view of Earth from space. The launch sound has been created by a Hollywood fx studio while the shuttle will tip and rock in the process.
To help keep the "lie" going, three actors will be placed among the group and will be able to report back on whether or not there are any suspicions.
Damn, this is a reality show I would watch!
Posted by tranism at 11:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
November 13, 2005
Run Little Reindeer, RUN!
Thanks to our boy Jorgen Arnor whom tipped us off to this cute cute commercial for Finnair.
Little reindeer is lost in the dark, looking for his family . . .
Thru the call of the wild, he looks up and notices the North Star . . .
Evasive the little reindeer is avoiding obstacles and predators . . .
Finally the North Star leads him to his family . . .
One last look, oh wait! That's not the North Star - that's Finnair!
Clever, very clever.
I don't know why, but this commercial gets me all warm and cozy inside. Perhaps it's that cute cute reindeer in the commercial, or maybe I'm just ready for Christmas and Winter already. A sense of home, a sense of family and friends, warming up to a cup of hot cocoa while the Los Angeles winter temperatures hit a burrr-chilling 67º. ;)
Posted by tranism at 6:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
A Day In A Life
The new PSP commercial directed by Chris Cunningham (worked on many of Bjork's videos) is nothing short of amazing. Think Transformers meets Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
check out the video here
Posted by tranism at 5:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
The Fountain
Hugh Jackman's latest movie (due sometime in early 2006) called The Fountain promises to be a cerebral experience with an excellent story. Spanning over one thousand years, and three parallel stories, The Fountain is a story of love, death, spirituality, and the fragility of our existence in this world.
Directed by Darren Aronofsky who also directed Requiem for a Dream; I have no doubt this movie will be just great if not greater.
I only wished I had the opportunity to work on this project. The trailer looks amazing so make sure you check it out for yourself.
Posted by tranism at 5:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
November 12, 2005
Garden Sculptures
My friends think I'm crazy everytime we drive by the local gas station decorated with garden serpents and unicorns. As these set of photos comfirm, I'm not the only one in the world that finds garden sculptures cool. The panda bears are excruciatingly cute.
Posted by tranism at 2:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Flickr Transparent Screens
Yet another cool set of community photos on flickr. This time, creative and time alotted individuals use laptops, pdas, cellphones - anything with a screen to create an optical illusion of being able to see right thru. Check it out for yourself and submit your own entry. Currently already over 300 photos.
Posted by tranism at 1:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
November 7, 2005
The Go Clean Solution
Anyone who has seen my bathroom must think it's some baby variant of Sephora because I just have way too much crap in there. A-midst all the products, there are a few items I can not do without and are a part of my daily "body renew" which is my phrase for getting yesterday off of today.
One of these items is Redken's go clean shampoo for men. It smells great because it barely smells at all. It does what it says, simply clean without feeling stripped and leaves hair soft. Recommended for everybody, unless you're bald.
Posted by tranism at 10:30 PM | Permalink
Green Screen Show
One of the hottest shows on TV (at least for me) is Drew Carey's Green Screen show on Comedy Central. The show's premise is improv but with a twist. Drew Carey and his comic friends create scenes out of whatever the audience suggests and with the aid of a green screen and some of L.A.'s top animators, create an improvised animated skit.
I tell you I am hooked. I haven't laughed that hard since Mariah Carey playing as umm... Mariah Carey told her DJ b/f with the horrible jersey accent that she never sleeps with guys on the first night in her bombed movie Glitter. The Green Screen show is something unique and refreshing and really highlights the talents of these comedians. Please make sure you program your Tivo's because missing one episode would really be a shame.
Posted by tranism at 3:35 PM | Permalink
Video Games & Emotional Highs
Wired News recently published an article about how the video game industry might someday mirror the movie industry in its ability to affect us emotionally. As next generation video game graphics approach a new level of realism, are we on the brink of interactive entertainment that can emotionally affect us as much as movies do?
Writer Clive Thompson mulls over whether games can go deeper emotionally. Like a good novel or a play, can games tap into the subtler feelings like sadness, envy and sadness?
According to market researcher Hugh Bowen they can. In his book Videogames: The Impact of Emotion, he asked 535 gamers to describe how deeply their favorite games trigger various emotions. Most of the answers were competitiveness and a sense of accomplishment which is no surprise since most games task you to achieve a goal. However, clear lear lines of how game genres affect emotional states became apparent when gamers into war games said they experienced feelings of honor, loyalty, integrity and other patriotic feelings.
Not surprisingly RPG's (role playing games) evoked the strongest emotions. In particular, a large segment of those questioned said the Final Fantasy series were the most emotionally potent. Again, no surprise here since RPG's rely on narratives to convey story and emotion. Many of the gamers chose Final Fantasy because it had genuinely caused emotional heartache. One noted scene was the death of Aerith in Final Fantasy VII. Just like in movies, the cut scene caused an uproar of reactions. As gamers everywhere watched her life drain from her body and then metaphorically leave in a crystal gem bouncing away to dramatic music, gamers actually felt disgust for the villain and remorse for the lead character who just watched the love of his life die at the hands of his enemy.
So as the dawn of next-gen consoles arrive with their hyper-realistic graphics, HD resolutions, multimillion dollar development and production budgets, will they replace current forms of entertainment that illicit strong emotional responses? Unless everyone in the world starts playing video games, I doubt it but I do believe there will be a time when the two will somehow merge. One key ingredient to strong emotional attachment is interactivity and that's something theatrical releases could never touch.
Posted by tranism at 2:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
November 2, 2005
GAYmobile
GAYmobile is a new mobile network provider targeting homosexuals in Denmark.
GAYmobile offers services that are "all gay all the time" and 24% of the profit goes back to the gay community via a special fund they set up called GAYtrust.
What separates GAYmobile from other providers are the specialized content such as wireless dating and chat. Other than that, it's just your run-of-the-mill mobile provider. And as with any provider, I want to see the hardware (no pun intended). What kind of phones will they carry?
Posted by tranism at 1:47 AM | Permalink
Ten Faces Of Innovation
There's a book called "The Ten Faces Of Innovation" and anyone whom is interested in the roles people play in society should pick it up. The book explores those roles in an organization and suggests how people foster innovation and new ideas while offering an effective counter to nay-sayers. From this microcosm, you can start to extrapolate how this might reflect society as a whole.
I find interest in topics like this because as humans, we have a need to categorize things. Although many people say classification can be dangerous, I see this more as reading that can help you better understand the complex social interactions in life.
The ten faces (personas) are;
more after the jump
THE ANTHROPOLOGIST
Rarely stationary. Rather, this is the person who ventures into the field to observe how people interact with products, services, and experiences in order to come up with new innovations. The Anthropologist is extremely good at reframing a problem in a new way, humanizing the scientific method to apply it to daily life. Anthropologists share such distinguishing characteristics as the wisdom to observe with a truly open mind; empathy; intuition; the ability to "see" things that have gone unnoticed; a tendency to keep running lists of innovative concepts worth emulating and problems that need solving; and a way of seeking inspiration in unusual places
THE EXPERIMENTER
Celebrates the process, not the tool, testing and retesting potential scenarios to make ideas tangible. A calculated risk-taker, this person models everything from products to services to proposals in order to efficiently reach a solution. To share the fun of discovery, the Experimenter invites others to collaborate, while making sure that the entire process is saving time and money.
THE CROSS POLLINATOR
Draws associations and connections between seemingly unrelated ideas or concepts to break new ground. Armed with a wide set of interests, an avid curiosity, and an aptitude for learning and teaching, the Cross-Pollinator brings in big ideas from the outside world to enliven their organization. People in this role can often be identified by their open mindedness, diligent note-taking, tendency to think in metaphors, and ability to reap inspiration from constraints.
THE HURDLER
Is a tireless problem-solver who gets a charge out of tackling something that's never been done before. When confronted with a challenge, the Hurdler gracefully sidesteps the obstacle while maintaining a quiet, positive determination. This optimism and perseverance can help big ideas upend the status quo as well as turn setbacks into an organization's greatest successes—despite doomsday forecasting by shortsighted experts.
THE COLLABORATOR
Is the rare person who truly values the team over the individual. In the interest of getting things done, the Collaborator coaxes people out of their work silos to form multidisciplinary teams. In doing so, the person in this role dissolves traditional boundaries within organizations and creates opportunities for team members to assume new roles. More of a coach than a boss, the Collaborator instills their team with the confidence and skills needed to complete the shared journey.
THE DIRECTOR
Has an acute understanding of the bigger picture, with a firm grasp on the pulse of their organization. Subsequently, the Director is talented at setting the stage, targeting opportunities, bringing out the best in their players, and getting things done. Through empowerment and inspiration, the person in this role motivates those around them to take center stage and embrace the unexpected.
THE EXPERIENCED ARCHITECT
Is that person relentlessly focused on creating remarkable individual experiences. This person facilitates positive encounters with your organization through products, services, digital interactions, spaces, or events. Whether an architect or a sushi chef, the Experience Architect maps out how to turn something ordinary into something distinctive—even delightful—every chance they get.
THE SET DESIGNER
Looks at every day as a chance to liven up their workspace. They promote energetic, inspired cultures by creating work environments that celebrate the individual and stimulate creativity. To keep up with shifting needs and foster continuous innovation, the Set Designer makes adjustments to a physical space to balance private and collaborative work opportunities. In doing so, this person makes space itself one of an organization's most versatile and powerful tools.
THE STORYTELLER
Captures our imagination with compelling narratives of initiative, hard work, and innovation. This person goes beyond oral tradition to work in whatever medium best fits their skills and message: video, narrative, animation, even comic strips. By rooting their stories in authenticity, the Storyteller can spark emotion and action, transmit values and objectives, foster collaboration, create heroes, and lead people and organizations into the future.
THE CAREGIVER
Is the foundation of human-powered innovation. Through empathy, they work to understand each individual customer and create a relationship. Whether a nurse in a hospital, a salesperson in a retail shop, or a teller at an international financial institution, the Caregiver guides the client through the process to provide them with a comfortable, human-centered experience.
Posted by tranism at 1:24 AM | Permalink