Experiments in Cyberspace

This is probably one of my favorite things about the movie Anastasia was that song. One thing I wonder is this: in how much detail is okay to write about her on-line? I probably would've run over the damn thing and left its remnants in the parking lot here at work. Anyone who has been reading this web page for a while knows that I am a dedicated observer of human quirks and oddities, particularly the collection of human quirks and oddities that rides Chicago public transit. I guess I should thank them, really, for showing me that even a dedicated amateur anthropologist like me has limits.

I guess I just wish that I had that experience or that feeling that puts the little extra spark in someone's eyes, and makes their smile just a little wider, even at the mention of their name. I mean overall it was a good vacation, I got to hang out with my cousins CorCor and Kny and JB and Nato, but the other baby cousin that I have is driving me up a wall.

That just freaked me out for the rest of the time I was there so I had to put that in this journal so someone could feel the same way that I did when I found out, that person is fine though, they just walked away from the hospital with cuts and bruises which is something to praise God for cause it coulda been way worst then it turned out to be. And someone came by my grandma's house the next morning and told us that someone was driving down the road that night and fell asleep, lost control and ran into the pole and knocked all the power out on the whole street, and that noise we heard was that person hunched on over the horn of the car knocked unconscious.

Oh oh oh I have to say this too cause it freaked me out when I found out what the deal was.

And while all this was going on we heard a noise like someone was just constantly pressing on the carhorn of a car.

The thing is was that I was being civl to him as nobody else in the group will even talk to him because none of them like him. She was getting on my nerves.

Remember, he was being seduced by The Ring, as was his brother and other characters before and after. Read More......

"I experienced the web as a powerful tool of organizing life and at the same time as a toy for organized waste of time." These are the words I bookmarked[1] when I read Elliot's The Screen Generation at cDc.

Web as a medium of communication, hence a mere tool, cuts both ways. The underlying difference that sets it apart from other media is participating in content creation. Unlike TV for example, where you are forced to consume whatever the producers broadcast, content can be generated collectively.

I consider any attempt that tries to push content, a state where the user is passive just like a TV viewer, as hostile and destructive for Internet culture. Sharing, participating, recommending, including your own input, searching, etc are the trademarks of Internet, they are what make it tick, and wonderful.

I have recently come across a discussion about copyright, for comments to be specific. Who owns the copyright to a comment made for this post, the author or the domain owner, i.e. me? I believe neither does. Together, we have collectively produced something new. This is the area where the so-called tamers of the Internet fail to understand, or deliberately ignore. When they succeed, we will have a big toy organized by them so that we can waste our time while they reap the benefit. Sad...

[1] One of the reasons I have been using Opera since version 3.x is its Notes functionality. You highlight some text and copy it to your notes, just like a bookmark, but you know why you bookmarked it; an indispensable tool for researchers and collectors.

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The world wide web is rich. Even by the best estimate, search engines can only crawl one fourth of it. The rest? It is waiting for you to be uncovered by other methods so that they can see the daylight in the dark and dusty recesses of this cob web where they silently weep. Hidden treasures, interesting sites, rarely heard games, articles that few read... Some do not even use the hypertext, i.e. HTTP protocol. They are all waiting to be discovered, unhidden so to speak.

Some might have already been found by spiders or bots, if only you could type those weird keywords in a search form...

Some had their day. They cherished the victory, enjoyed the glory, only to be forgotten again. A spark, a momentary fame that did not last.

Some can only be accessed via Internet Archive; if they were fortunate to be archived, of course. The servers that hosted them have probably been scrapped or thrown to a junk yard.

They are all part of our culture. If we lose them, we also lose a part of ourselves, our history. They had their share in making us who we are today.

So let us venture to the land of the awkward without further delay. We have a long road to walk; before all trails disappear, all signs removed, when there is still a chance to ask someone for direction.

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Once a palm reader, a gypsy true to tradition said, "You will live until 2032, 80 years of age." She was wrong this time and a swan sang out sorrow.

Web is a strange place. You cry for a friend whom you never met; yet you like him, just as sure as you will miss him.

A +seeker has died yesterday.

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My fixation on digital video recording seems to open up new horizons and discoveries these days. While trying to hone my long gone theoretical knowledge on cameras, frames, slow motion and similar concepts, I come across such great artwork that it is impossible not to get distracted.

One such example I'd like to share with you is the chalk animation of Lucinda Schreiber and Yanni Kronenberg. The video took six months from start to finish, four of which being full time. With 1900 frames shot and variable rates of 12fps, 8fps and 6fps, music of Firekites, a band from Newcastle, Australia accompanies the video (Autumn story). Absolutely stunning.

Firekites - AUTUMN STORY - chalk animation from Lucinda Schreiber on Vimeo.

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