“Cars are the biggest – and most abundant – set of sculptures that we have in contact every day in our lives. Although they’re reproduced by machines and they’re computer milled stamps that make them, actually every one of them was originally carved by hand by men and women using techniques not a whole lot different than Michaelangelo.” – Chris Bangle, former Design Director of BMW
And that is precisely why I am so hooked on cars, neurotic about my cars and hopelessly devoted to the cult of cars. (Caught this in Objectified, a documentary on industrial design that is speaking directly to my soul.)
A conversation with Lauren today reminded me how hooked on Tetris I was as a younger version of myself. Not just the NES version (those damned penguins near the end) but also this really beautiful Apple IIGS iteration that I played non-stop.
an article – astutely – likening the cyberpunk movement to that of beatniks years early based on the number of true adherents (around 100) and the rapid mainstreaming of their signature looks, if not attitudes
from the same article: the prediction that the counterculture movement coming from cyberpunk would adopt “tekkie” as a moniker
Bruce Sterling’s testimony to the House of Representatives – in the voice of a Net operator from 2015 – as they voted on some “Information Superhighway” legislation
predictions for 2015 weren’t entirely off the mark
suggested websites from the first Net Surf column:
OTIS net-gallery with over 35 Megabytes of images
Cruise 2.0 internet tutorial, requiring 1.5 MB of disk space, 2 MB of RAM and Window 3.1 in enhanced mode
Nettrek, a real-time “videogame of the future” – which is probably accurate, considering it sounds like a low tech World of Warcraft
sidebar ad for StarNine, a company that could connect your Mac network to “15 million email users worldwide”
The mixing of my email (emailnick) with those of other Nicks expands to the UK where a second email.nick has been losing messages to my inbox courtesy of Google.
See missive to Nick Burgess and his sister after receiving a scanned copy of his birth certificate:
Hello.
I’m not sure how to say this, but I think Google is somehow mixing our mail. You see, I’m emailnick@gmail.com and I’ve been receiving emails for email.nick@gmail.com - mostly from Jessops.com following an order confirmation from there sometime last year. It’s not the first time this has happened to me, either:
I haven’t got a clue as to what it is that Google might be getting wrong to confuse our email (and I hope it’s not a two way street – my apologies if you are getting my messages, too). Just thought you might want to be aware.
Best,
Nick
I almost immediately got a reply – as tends to happen when one sends a birth certificate and it ends up in the wrong hands by accident:
Thank you for your honesty I will let my brother know
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange
I couldn’t make this up if I tried. Now, how exactly does one get in touch with Google about their email? I’d really prefer that my inbox not be eating the mail of every other Nick in the world.
I’m writing this from the living room in Maryland, where the power is resoundingly out this afternoon. One conclusion that can be drawn from this incident is that, unlike 1993, there is very little reason to have a computer without internet connectivity in 2011. I can’t even remember the last time I wrote while offline – how will I link?!
Pages 84 – 89 (review pages):
WatchIT!TV, a full-size, 16-bit PC expansion card that allowed for analog television tuning – and the author’s awesome VCR recording pass-through
“Information plugs us into the world of computerized productivity, but the open space of books balances our computer logic with the graces of intuition.” – The Metaphysics of Virtual Reality
Wired began using Music Access to provide samples of reviewed albums by 900 number at a cost of 95¢/min
Ambulance: An Electronic Novel, which came packaged on 2 high-density floppies and required 2 MB of RAM
Should this perfectly preserved, weirdly still-stocked 1988 Canadian BMW dealer ever open its doors to the public – and, more importantly, its storage area – I will be taking at least three days off work to embark on a pilgrimage. We can call it a religious obligation.
Why I went: article on creating fashion mood boards based on book covers – something that reeks of Kate
Why I stayed: the first look (above) was inspired by The Virgin Suicides <- te amo
Why I’ll return:
“Full Stop aims to focus on young writers, works in translation, and books we feel are being neglected by other outlets while engaging with the significant changes occurring in the publishing industry and the evolution of print media.”
article on the birth of computer generated imagery in films which pays special attention to work on Jurassic Park and its divide between digital dinosaurs and analog automobile models
the Sega AS-1, a high end simulation contraption intended for arcades and amusement parks that featured virtual worlds designed by Douglas Trumbull
