Inspired by the discussion here...

I found out that the URL ArtistOfTheCentury.com was available so I bought it. I decided to turn it into a little peer based art project. So, peers, let's get collaboratin'. Here's the deal:

The domain name ArtistOfTheCentury.com points to sites entered by you. Everytime you visit ArtistOfTheCentury.com, it's a different site. You can visit the control panel on my website to enter your suggestions for the ArtistOfTheCentury moniker. C'mon. You know you want to put your own site here...

Visit the site:

add a site:

So I just finished this. It might break somewhere along the line. If it does, drop me a note and I'll try to fix it.

I don't care that these "robots" aren't fully automated. They're radio-controlled, and that's OK. And anyone looking for evidence of higher thought processes in machines built to destroy is either just looking in the wrong place or working for the government. I'm all about the fact that with machines, we can let our bloodlust, or gearlust maybe is better, rampage unfettered. Even though boxers train for years and are well-paid in good fights, to see somebody take a severe beating still makes me cringe; there's just no getting past the fact that somebody is really being injured. Not so with ye R/C devices. Rip, tear, smash 'em. I want projectiles and fire. Lots of fire. Make the machines scream and spurt fluids when they get wounded. Adapt everyday objects into terrifying instruments and then pit them against each other. That's entertainment...

So, now I'm going to see if I can hotlink some images from my standalone photoblog. I should really set up a (e:strip) quicknote on the phone... I'm so lazy...



This is the best fight we saw. (e:Paul) 's friend with the propeller bot smacked this box around. We couldn't see any weapons on BoxyBot -- it was there purely to be destroyed. A second after I snapped this, Pro Pel Or (I just named it that) popped this bot's grape. Damn.



And check out this crowd -- I'm telling everyone, we need to do ArtWars or ArtSlam in a nice public venue like this...

This is in response to (e:Scud) 's posting ([inlink]scud,73[/inlink]):

Webspace is a premium commodity for anyone wanting to Podcast. There is no solution like just sucking it up and paying for it. There are plenty of places that will give you space for as little as $5/month (http://www.1and1.com is my hosting service and has a good deal for $5). Hosting services vary greatly in quality -- some indy hosters are great, others are crooks, but then again, some of the big companies are as bad as, well, big companies... phone companies...

There are also some blog services that allow you to post stuff for a premium fee. Blogger.com does this, I know. Of course, I don't really use those much, so I don't know a lot about them, but others are things like TypePad or MoveableType, all of which, I believe have audio posting plugins and will generate an RSS feed.

But if you have any savvy, then it would be easy to just get some cheap FTP space and then post links on (e:strip). But if you really want a podcast that people get behind, then you want to publish an RSS 2.0 newsfeed with <enclosure> tags, which denote a URI and type for a media attachment. Right now, it doesn't look like Elmwood Strip does that, but I bet we could lobby Paul to allow a field in posts where we could denote a link to a media file and choose a filetype from a pull-down.

The file format and stuff should just be something easily used. MP3 is good. If really going for iPods exclusively (something I wouldn't recommend), you might use AAC. Likewise, you could use WMA, but those won't play on iPods, so that's kind of a pain. MP3 is probably best. Or OGG for the 1337. What's most important is publishing your feed, because that's what people put into iPodder or what gets checked from Feedster.com or BlogDigger.com.

Here's a link to the D-Link DSM320 page:

The DSM320 is a UPnP device that uses a wired or wireless (54G) network. It has had a bumpy life so far but the latest firmware is pretty good and has been improving at a decent speed. It plays music, shows photos, and plays all kinds of video formats. It could play more formats, and various other improvements, but overall, if you're an early adopter, it's pretty awesome.

I run a mediaserver program on my main tower where I house my media. The DSM320 automatically sees stuff I place into the media directory. I can keep it very organized and use my home entertainment system to see and hear all the media on my computer. I've written more extensively about my network setup on my website, GamesFirst! -- here's a link: (http://gamesfirst.com/v4/index.php?m=l&i=372) We're working on a major article about setting up home gaming/media networks, networking between households (across the street) and lots more network hardware reviews.

Anyway, I hope that helps. Post your feed link on your journal.

I love the indy podcasting stuff. I gave a lecture about podcasting and broadsnatching (or broadcatching, for the squeamish) earlier this semester (http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~srrider/dms538/notes/week2.html), and a friend and I are working on an indy IPTV station. Check the link there for lots of links to more resources for this and related topics.

Anyway, this post is prompted by (e:Scud) 's post about wanting to start podcasting. I'd send everyone to check out iPodder, even if you don't have an iPod or Mac. I use iPodder to collect media from feeds on Feedster.tv (http://www.feedster.tv) and Blog Digger (http://www.blogdigger.com). I get the weirdest stuff. I use a D-Link DSM320 to stream the vids from my media server to my television, and I now have several channels of Internet content.

Also, I know we have lots of video people on (e:Strip). Check out Me-TV (http://www.me-tv.com) for an idea of where vBlogging is going to go. I'm also really stoked about Blog Torrent (background link - ) (download link - ), which just released a new version that now supports Mac OSX. That will really help it gain popularity. With Blog Torrent you can publish BitTorrent versions of your files to your website easily and quickly using a convenient little program. Then people can download from your site without incurring such dramatic bandwidth costs. This is a lifesaver to the indy media producer/distributor. Of course, visibility remains an issue, which is why we need nodes or IPTV "channels" to combine content of like types and interests, of good quality, etc.

It might be cool to integrate Blog Torrent into elmwood strip? Hmmm, (e:paul)???

Finally, I'm going to leave with a link to Channel 101 (http://www.channel101.com). Why? Well, it's indy/art tv series-making, and that's awesome. J'aime le TV. But also it's created by Rob Schrab and his friends. Schrab is part of the Dead Alewives a great sketch comedy troupe, and he made Scud: The Disposable Assasin, which is probably one of the best underground surreal robot spy comics ever written...

You know, if gay marriage is part of the "new ideology of evil" then covering up child sexual abuse, denying women equal rights, and late, half-assed apologies for helping the Nazis are certainly part of the "old ideology of evil." So it's kind of like an election here according to Popula, and I can tell you which evil is the "lesser."

I understand that the people who write the things the Poop says realize that progressive social stances weaken the foundation of a religious mythology as much as scientific advances. Once we figured out how lightning works, old Zeus and Thor just seem cartoonish. Popolito and his keepers just recently forgave Galileio (http://www.religioustolerance.org/pope_apo.htm) for making the Sun (a byproduct of God's seminal thrashing) and not the Earth (God's real great creation) the center of the universe. And once there is a more widespread notion of equality and human rights, all of this CEO spirituality of the past 2000 years will become the backroom kitsch that it is meant to be. God is a modifier, an adjective that strengthens, to be used (preferrably) before the word "damn" or after the word "sex." And Herr Popenstein is the figurehead of a very old (boys) club. If it became more like other social clubs, like the Elks or the Shriners, it would be a lot better and do much more good in the world. Everyone could keep their funny hats and shrouded rituals. It would be fun.

But the Popinator is not content to insult only the homosexuals. He compares the "extermination" of legal abortion to the Holocaust. Ummm... What can you say about that? Clearly he's nuts. Or the people who write his material are nuts. Or they want us to think that. Is there some progressive new P.I.T. waiting in the wings to swoop in and set the church on the right path? I doubt it. Mostly they seem nostalgic for Vatican I...

I guess in the end I just feel more sad for Ruth than (e:Paul), because she gets the double

I'm tired, but this still seems like a fun thing...



The Quillion is like a funky anti-org group blog... (e:Paul) definitely needs to see it if he hasn't already...

Well, Sarah and I are heading back to Idaho Falls for the Xmas. Maybe I'll finally get off my butt and post some phone cam pix from IF (that's what the hipstaz call it). Out my mom's kitchen window you see the Grand Tetons, although you'd have to be either very horny or very French or very drunk to see them as their onanistic counterparts. (Is that right? Onanistic? Or Oninistic?I know one of them means having to do with names and the other means having to do with masturbation... Hmm...)

Anyway, here's a link to a little game that's really just an offshoot of some tech experiment stuff I'm doing for my thesis. It's called Spud Huckers. It's available at (http://www.shawnrider.com/idahoGame). It's just a little Flash shooter. With lots of potatoes (hence the name).

The setting is behind my parents' house. In a potato field. The neighborhood is full of Mormons who have like 7-8 kids. These families are always getting the kids some kind of seriously dangerous Xmas present like dirt bikes, dune buggies, those little motorcycles, go-karts, etc. There's nothing more nervewracking than driving on icy roads with kids in go-karts whipping death circles around you. It's like they're trying to kill some of them off ever year...

Anyway, those are the kids throwing potatoes. Damn kids.

This is for (e:Paul) -- students in a course on online reading and writing have been researching Second Life players in secret. Of course, it's not a secret anymore, and the SL denizens are pissed. Here's a link: That sums things up a bit. And there's a bigger article at Terranova: And another link discussing SL specifically and the reactions:

A quote:

How ethical are you? How ethical is it to "play" in a metaverse like Second Life (SL) while you're taking notes on what everyone around you is doing and saying? Do you have an ethical obligation to tell the avatars around you that you're a student, experiencing SL and interacting with the others in SL just so you can write it and them up in an analytical paper?

---

(e:Paul), I know you didn't want SL to become your major research area, but I just wanted to reiterate that I think your story would not only be entertaining, but, especially now, highly relevant and revealing.

i was so shocked that mtv2 was showing the new eminem video i mentioned in the last post that i snapped this phonecam pic. this is my fave shot of the whole video, where osama bin laden is giving a speech and the backdrop falls away to reveal cheney and rummy shaking hands. super creep-tastic.

i can see it on election night now: "nobody counted the black-hoodie contingent which seems to be out in full force" At least mr. mathers had the good sense to state in no uncertain terms, FUCK BUSH, so his legions of bleached and bitter fanboys won't get confused... no offense to eminem lovers. i mean, i give him credit - he's got a thing and it's pretty interesting.

and for (e:terry) -- play the game for fun. and I'll post a new version of all these tracks when final mixes are done. I'll be building a site for the group in the near future, too. so keep an eye out for that. lots of fun free stuff will be there.

I thought I'd go with a headline that would get some attention...

I was talking to Paul V today and told him about one of my fave nerdcore hip hop fellas, MC Frontalot, a SF-based rapper who is SUPER cool. Check out his site (http://www.frontalot.com), and download all his music (it's free). And here's a link to the track I was talking to Paul about, I *heart* Fags --

And to compliment that, I thought I'd toss in a couple more rap music oriented links. First off, we finished some more tracks from the new DJ Funken Wagnalls feat. Cottonmouth demo. Here are two of them:

I Think The Government is Watching Me
Archeteuthis (Squid Hunter)

Sorry for the WMA on Archeteuthis, but it's a working mix... A bit raw, but fun nonetheless, i think... maybe not...

And, finally, I have to point people to the new Eminem video on Guerrilla News Network. Some dude at GNN loves Eminem, I guess. It's a cool anti-Bush video and song. Mainstream rebellion. Find it here: And if that link is too slow, check at iFilm's viral videos channel:

OK, is that all? I think so. Well, it's not. Go book a trip on and let me know whaddup...