04/16/05 10:21 - ID#34171

scanner camera part one

So begins the saga of the scanner camera -- skip below if you want to see the first two shots..

What is a scanner camera? Well, I'd link to the fellow's page who describes it, but it's totally down now. And the Google Cache doesn't have any photos in it (cuz the site is down). So I'll summarize -- basically, think of a pinhole camera with a really big pinhole and instead of a bit of film in the back, there's a scanner.

We bought the Canon LIDE 35 USB-powered scanner (no extra plugs, super light, small, and works great) at CompUSA (thanks Fred!) and got some boxes from Office Max. We kind of screwed up when we built it because we didn't realize we should get boxes larger than the scanner and put the scanner on the inside. We have gotten some new boxes and will build version two tomorrow morning.

We thought we'd be able to use a regular camera lens, but didn't realize that the fellow who thought this up had actually disassembled the second-hand lenses he found and got the lens itself out. So if anyone has an extra overhead head laying around, let me know. Or a camera lens you don't mind giving away. Otherwise, we'll hunt the SuperFlea next weekend and make due with the Viewmaster lenses we grabbed from the toy section at Target. Why don't kids have cool toys like telescopes anymore???

Anyway, here are the first two images taken with the camera. Well, technically we took some nice photos of "white" and "black" a few times. But you can actually see things in these. These are the houses across the street, shot through a pinhole this evening. I'll post more details about the camera when we get it working better, especially if the other guy's site doesn't go back up soon -- I know lots of people want to know more about this, so we'll share our experiences.

On with the images!

Permalink: scanner_camera_part_one.html
Words: 336
Location: Buffalo, NY

04/14/05 11:54 - ID#34170

GimpShop

I love open source stuff, but the prevalence of closed, corp software makes the decision something of a pragmatic one. For example, I run a videogame website. I cannot go All-Linux because then I wouldn't be able to play nearly as many games. Although there are some great games available for Linux, it's just not really an option. As a developer of internet media and multimedia, I also feel like it's essential to be able to simulate the user's experience as much as possible, and that means Windows.

But I appreciate being able to modify and customize software, and I believe in open source development and the creative commons and all that good stuff. I've tried to get students to use the free Photoshop alternative, Gimp (http://www.gimp.org) but its hard to justify -- there are like no jobs looking for Gimp skills and thousands looking for Photoshop skills.

So then I found GimpShop. (http://www.plasticbugs.com/) It ain't perfect, but it's pretty dang sweet. It definitely makes it easier to go between GIMP and PS. That's for sure.

Permalink: GimpShop.html
Words: 182
Location: Buffalo, NY

04/14/05 10:15 - ID#34169

Experimental Gameplay Project

The Experimental Gameplay Project: create 50 to 100 games in 1 semester. New games every week.

The Rules:

* each game must be made in less than 7 days
* each game must be made by one person, including all art, sound, and programming
* each game must be based around a certain "toy" ie. "gravity", "vegetation", "swarm behavior", etc.

Some really cool indy games here. Check it out:

Permalink: Experimental_Gameplay_Project.html
Words: 67
Location: Buffalo, NY

04/13/05 11:20 - ID#34168

Game of Nomic

My friend Steffan is always talking about doing a game where the rules change everytime. Then I always go, "CalvinBall!" and he sighs at me. Sorry Steffan.

But I found this Game of Nomic Wiki (http://www.nomic.net/~nomicwiki/index.php/GameOfNomic) which explains the Game of Nomic, which is a game where "changing the rules is a move." The game becomes less about aquiring points and more about twisting the rules. It sounds like what all of our politicians should be doing instead of playing Nomic with all of our culture and society.

Permalink: Game_of_Nomic.html
Words: 95
Location: Buffalo, NY

04/12/05 11:30 - ID#34167

So Random

So I made this thing last weekend. It's a dynamic short story called "So Random" (http://www.shawnrider.com/soRandom). I hope you like it. (e:paul) is helping me do cool things with it. Thanks (e:paul) -- you deserve your own day, like commemorating, like, your birth or something... hehe

Permalink: So_Random.html
Words: 52
Location: Buffalo, NY

04/12/05 09:12 - ID#34166

LARP Documentary "Darkon"

Wow. That's all I can say here. Not only is this some of the highest quality LARPing I've ever seen, but it's also phenomenally well-shot documentary footage. Really nicely put together to illustrate the seriouisness of this play. It's great. The juxtaposition of imagery is excellent, especially in the sample here (http://www.darkonthemovie.com/darkon_video.html) but there's another promotional video sample that is availalb here (

) and you should definitely check those out.

And I think, (e:paul), that this documentary shows why our project is a somewhat different thng than "LARP" proper. I would like to think that we're going to alter it and mainstream it so that, in general, it is a bit more flexible to provide the user experience people deisre at a range of levels. The technology will certainly take away somewhat from the fantasy roleplay element, but for other stories I think it will be excellent. What I think is crucial is that we tap into that energy the interviewees here talk about, which is that visceral quality of doing something in a location with a group of people. Facilitating community play.

I think our system could be better for some stories, too. For example, role-playing a Shadowrun or generally Cyberpunk/SciFi LARP would be very difficult without some kind of technology integration. Our system could be ideal for that.

Some thoughts... I'm so excited...

Permalink: LARP_Documentary_quot_Darkon_quot_.html
Words: 239
Location: Buffalo, NY

04/11/05 10:11 - ID#34165

Unintentionally Sexual Comic Book Covers

From BoingBoing (http://www.boingboing.net), but I can't resist this image -- woot, li'l cowpokes!

The artists who created these covers probably never meant for them to to be used as spank fodder, but being the mean-spirited, immature, asshole that I am, I've decided to do the only thing that a grown adult would do: point out juvenile observations of unintentionally sexual acts on comic book covers.Quoted from: Unintentionally sexual comic book covers: Part 1.

Permalink: Unintentionally_Sexual_Comic_Book_Covers.html
Words: 88
Location: Buffalo, NY

04/11/05 02:41 - ID#34164

Our Media

I just heard about this site, Our Media (http://www.ourmedia.org/), which apparently is some kind of relation to the Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org), which is one of my most favorite things in the world.

Anyway, Our Media seems real cool so far. I'm trying it out right now. here's my link (http://www.ourmedia.org/user/11582)

Permalink: Our_Media.html
Words: 60
Location: Buffalo, NY

04/10/05 11:50 - ID#34163

Not Cute Enough

The StorTroopers are back, after like a few year hiatus. The site is cool for generating little avatar images and stuff, and I appreciate those kinds of applications. StorTroopers has high "net.ster" appeal and a historical meme quotient to trade on (talk about advertising, eh?). But it's so sadly cute. The girls can't even have glasses. It's OK for guys to have glasses but not girls? WTF? I for one much prefer glasses. I don't need to wear glasses, but I have a pair just in case I want to look real cool sometime. I love to wear my sunglasses. Glasses are awesome. Read David Shield's excellent piece, "Girsl With Glasses" if you don't believe me. s-e-X-X-y, yo.

Anyway, here are the avatars I generated of me and Sarah:

Missing Image ;(

And here are some hipster images I did of us. Although I prefer my new coinage, net.ster for a net.hipster:

Missing Image ;(

And, just for comparison, here's a graphic I did to illustrate my love for Sarah last Fall on the occasion of her October birthday (you know, Halloween):

Missing Image ;(

Permalink: Not_Cute_Enough.html
Words: 207
Location: Buffalo, NY

04/09/05 07:05 - ID#34162

Atari 2600 ePoetry

Missing Image ;(

A friend of mine pointed me to this link (http://www.ocma.net/index.html?page=upcoming#Yucef_Merhi:_Poetic_Engineering) about an upcoming exhibit at Orange County Museum of Art which happens to be at the same time as E3... Hmm, I wonder if we'll be able to make it out? I gotta find out more about this. Let me know if anyone knows more about Yucef Merhi, the ePoet featured in the exhibition.

I love the interdisciplinarity of electronic literature and poetry. It's so great to me that people on the Electronic Poetry Center website (http://epc.buffalo.edu) range from Eduardo Kaz and his holopoems (which lead to his awesome inter-species communications exhibits and other super-rad things) and jodi (http://www.jodi.org) to John Cayley and Talan Memmott, who are working out of such a Lit and fiction mode. And many of these folks bridge the gap between writing critical essays, performing readings, publishing online and exhibiting in galleries.

Permalink: Atari_2600_ePoetry.html
Words: 173
Location: Buffalo, NY

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