17 Jan

Media Commons at the AutoWeek Design Forum

Well, not really the Media Commons so much as me, but I did have a badge on with “Nick Smerker – Penn State University” while there this past Thursday.

The AutoWeek Design Forum is an annual event held in Detroit each January that brings together creative folks from within and around the automotive industry. This year was no different, welcoming the head of exterior design from Audi, chief executive of Johnson Controls, art director and director of Cars 2 at Pixar and more into the halls of the College for Creative Studies.

Aside from the obvious benefit to a car geek like myself, was the Design Forum worth the blustery drive across three states for those interested in media? Absolutely. The industry is chock-full of media from digital renderings in product brochures, magazines and websites to delightful animations in Pixar’s creations to the truly futuristic ideas of holographic sales consultations in showrooms and fully modeled concepts in the design rooms.

More than that, being in a room full of – quite literally: you should have seen the breakfast/lunch crowd – creative people at the top of their fields was a breath of fresh air. Even if you took out the car-focus, the Design Forum was a chance to listen to amazingly artistic people talk about nothing but the inspiration behind creativity.

17 Jan

Can I get an “amen”?

Cars, Rant, Want by Nick

We need more high-end hot hatches to change our perceptional relationship between size and value, or someday we’ll all be driving performance-chipped diesel pickups…

Over at Jalopnik, Mike Spinelli takes the Audi RS3 on a forbidden North American test drive and comes away with Ten Reasons America Needs the Audi RS3 Sportback. I could add a dozen other hot hatch models to that list, half of which don’t even stray out of the VW empire!

16 Jan

Watch: “Mouthful of Diamonds” by Phantogram

Music by Nick

15 Jan

In a dystopic & crime ridden Detroit

Cars, General Entertainment by Nick

After a solid nine hours of travel, a delirious trip to the grocery store and then unpacking before crashing hard, I have recovered enough to bring you these images of my trip to Detroit (which is kind of like a Robocop theme park):

NAIAS 2011

Of particular note in the set are is the casino photo which pretty much captures the blurry state of mind leaving Nero’s and the creepy pictures of the “indoctrinate an autoworker” Detroit Science Center.

Now with 100% more video:

10 Jan

Oddly brilliant

Art, Technology by Nick

“I imagined people playing with art around them, like they would do playing with pictures on their iPhone/iPad,” says Caillard.

French artist Leo Caillard has created a new installation at the Louvre – virtually, anyway – that recontextualizes the art as digital imagery inside an Apple UI space. Taking the concept behind Art Authority to its logical conclusion, I say.

(Wired)

10 Jan

Forum on Media + Gaming

General Entertainment, Work by Nick

Join the Media Commons and Educational Gaming Commons for the first in our series of regional events, the . This half-day gathering is intended to be a true forum, encouraging conversation between Commons staff, faculty, instructional designers, educational technologists, library staff and other interested individuals. Starting with an overview of the Media Commons and progressing through a faculty panel, introduction to the EGC and technology demonstrations with consultants on hand for questions throughout, the event aims to be informal and informative for attendees and organizers. We invite you to stay for our complimentary lunch as well, where participants can chat with colleagues from other campuses and Media Commons support staff can talk with University Park counterparts about their specific locations face to face.

Friday, February 25, 2011
9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Lunch 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
Morrison Gallery
Penn State Harrisburg

9:00 am – Welcome + Introduction
9:10 am – State of the Media Commons Address
9:30 am – Faculty Panel
10:20 am – EGC Presentation + Demonstration
11:00 am – Hands On with New Technologies
12:30 pm – Wrap Up Lunch

Register

Please register for the event here. It’s free and takes just a few minutes.

Directions

Penn State Harrisburg is located at 777 West Harrisburg Pike, Middletown, PA 17057. You may also want to download a campus map.

View Forum on Media + Gaming in a larger map

7 Jan

eCoupled induction charging

Cars, Technology by Nick

Imagine if apartment complexes and shopping centers started installing these things in every space. Or if you could power a car via an induction track built into the roadway. Electric express lanes would be another incentive to buy plug-in electric assist or full electric cars. Still waiting for a plug-in hybrid that uses a diesel reserve generator. If only Audi would marry TDI to their e-tron concepts…

(Jalopnik)

5 Jan

There arose such a clatter

General Entertainment, Unexplained by Nick

I found this on my computer this morning:

This is going to sound insane
because it’s 1:18 in the morning
but a motherfucking HELICOPTER just landed on our street
I can’t believe Bennet’s not outside, because it’s next to his house
I seem to be the only person awake to witness this. I don’t know how – the noise is deafening.
There seems to be some sort of massive emergency at the Dentention Center.
We’ve got the helicopter, ambulences, sherrifs vehicles, and a very large and unmarked BUS.
I knew it. This is how the zombie outbreak begins.
I cannot believe what I’m seeing.
They have taken someone OUT of the back of the ambulence
that came from ELSEWHERE
and are putting them in a stretcher on the helicopter
why do this transfer here and not at the hospital where there’s an actual landing pad for a helicopter?
It’s like E.T.
all i can see are the tall shadows of the men in suits
OMG
it’s taking off
all the trees are flattening in the wind
it’s swaying back and forth so much
it is SO CLOSE to bennet’s house
it could TOUCH
the men are running back now
it’s so huge up close
it’s rising up above the house top now
still swaying
now it’s going forward
and up
and i can see INTO it
and….
there it goes
off
into the darkness
just two lights blinking
WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?!
1:38 AM
I tried to get photos but it was over so fast….
You are going to be SO PISSED if this had to do with aliens!
1:45 AM
Well now I think I’m probably awake for the long haul…..

This is how I prefer to start my days always!

4 Jan

Okay, Syfy

Art, Movies, Rant, Television by Nick

I have been rather despondent over the transformation of the SciFi Channel into this abomination that is Syfy. It wasn’t so bad at first but then the cancelations began. Namely, the axing of Caprica which I moaned about earlier. Then SGU – a canceled Stargate series at that! Most recently it was the inclusion of increasingly ridiculous shows more akin to TLC (also a disappointment as a network lately). Take WCG Ultimate Gamer, the plethora of Ghost Hunters or WWE wrestling as examples.

My excitement, then, over the promo for Face Off is ludicrously boundless. A show that, while not strictly science fiction, at least features the world of making science fiction as it searches for the next great makeup artist. PLEASE DON’T SCREW THIS ONE UP, SYFY!

3 Jan

Accelerating the Crowd with Video

General Entertainment, Work by Nick

Screen shot 2011-01-03 at 10.27.43 AM.png

Wired published an essay by Chris Anderson (of TED, not Wired editorship) on the phenomenon of Crowd Accelerated Innovation. This concept is basically the idea that by giving individuals an audience, the pace of development and improvement for any idea can be quickened through feedback, appropriation and implied accountability. Anderson started seeing it in his own realm:

When we decided to post TED talks free on the web four years ago, something unexpected happened: Speaker behavior changed. Specifically, they started spending more time preparing for the talks.

After the TED talks became viewable, new presenters could use past examples as a starting place for their own talks, making it possible for individuals to stand on the shoulders of those that came before them.

Extending this idea further, Anderson looks at the burgeoning world of online video, where a global audience for any skills, art form, concept, etc. is readily available. Not only are eyeballs suddenly on posted clips but a host of like-minded commenters can offer criticism and a vast library of related content can offer tips and techniques for future endeavors.

To quote Anderson (again):

Perhaps the most miraculous element of online video is that, for the first time in history, it’s possible to assemble a crowd of people numbering in the millions and give every single member a chance to be seen and heard.

Equally miraculously, you can log onto the web day or night and take a look at the output of countless community members formerly known as strangers. […] It’s surprisingly easy to sift through the chaff for the wheat.

It’s a well and truly fascinating read full of examples and acrobatic connections – all of which makes me excited to be in the field of multimedia training in 2011!