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By Sheila Lennon
'Bottom-up'
journalism from the pros
Journal photo/ Sandor Bodo | The
Knitting Machine: Artist David Cole, using two backhoes equipped with 20-foot
knitting needles, will attempt to create a super-sized knitted object from hundreds
of feet of Kevlar on Sept. 7 as part of Providence's 15th Annual Convergence Arts
Festival. | August
30, 2002 Cool art looms:
The 15th Annual Convergence
Arts Festival runs from Sept. 5-21 in Providence and other areas of Rhode
Island. It includes film and jazz festivals, giant
robotic spider races, concerts, huge sculptures in public spaces, a street-painting
festival and knitting with backhoes. This is for real: Artist David Cole, pictured
above, was practicing today, and my colleague Sandor Bodo photographed it. Here's
the detailed schedule of statewide events, including Pawtucket's
dragon boat races. The Festival also needs volunteers
for some Providence events: Sat., Sept. 7 - An Evening
of Mayhem, Madness, and Provocative Prose: 3-7 p.m. for set-up, 7-11 p.m. for
events and breakdown. 9 p.m.: Read poetry aloud as part of a sculpture installation.
Sat., Sept 21 - Convergence Street Painting Festival - 3-hour shifts between
9 a.m. and midnight. To volunteer, email festival@ids.net
with the date and times you're available
Link
to this item | Comment
"...each
of us produces our own brain music, and each is different": We
intuitively know this, but our brain waves can be played back to us as
a lullaby, say researchers at the University of Toronto's sleep clinic.
News.com reports,
Of course, this "music," which consists of an audible "printout"
of sleep-inducing brain waves, doesn't exactly sound like Barry Manilow, and you
can't buy it at your local record store. "It sounds odd," (psychiatrist
Leonid) Kayumov says. "You wouldn't recognize it as music. Sometimes there
are harmonic frequencies, sometimes it's total cacophony." Sometimes, he
adds, it sounds a little like Chinese, sometimes it sounds a little like a melody. "I
find some people have nicer music," he says.
Link
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Join
us, Maher: "Now, there's a waste of talent. How well can you rant about
issues that are two months old?" asks JD
Lasica, responding to a NY
Post report that Bill Maher
will write a presumably politically incorrect column for Details magazine. I'll
second Lasica's invitation to Maher to join us in the blog bin.
Link
to this item | Comment
Ian
audio -- speaking:
Headlined "Why this Grammy winner gives away her music," David Coursey
at ZDNet interviews Janis Ian.
Link
to this item | Comment
Happy
Labor Day. See you Tuesday. August 29, 2002
Warwalking: JD
Lasica points a Wi-Fi
field trial by Staci D. Kramer, his colleague at Online
Journalism Review. By the end of Kramer's story, I'm tired. Her tenacious
pursuit of a persistent connection is in the finest tradition of dogged journalism.
It would be hell on deadline.
Link
to this item | Comment
Royal rock radio: It's '60s week on NPR's Fresh
Air, and archived
audio of yesterday's show is worth a listen: It includes interviews with
and tunes by The Kinks' Ray Davies, Marianne Faithfull, Pete Townsend of The Who
and the Zombies' Colin Blunstone. (Townsend describes smashing his first guitar.)
Individual segment links
are here. Today's show will have Patti Smith's guitarist Lenny Kaye. Other
interviews -- Ronnie Spector, Bobby Vee, Brian Wilson are among them -- are indexed
here.
Link
to this item | Comment
"You
Mean Everything Isn't Beautiful?": Morale is low at NASA because
the Agency is in utter chaos, writes William H. Jones, of the Glenn Research Center
in Cleveland, in an op-ed in a union newsletter, and he blames politicians.
One
of the things that always irritates me is how poorly the people at the top answer
those questions. Why do we need a space station? What is it going to do for us?
Why is it worth the twenty-four billion dollars we've spent so far and the four
or six or eight billion more they say it may cost? ... the answers always seem
squeamish and unconvincing: to do world-class science, to improve life here, to
extend cost overruns there, to boldly go home from this hearing alive (I may have
some of these mixed up). These are the answers of the politician talking to the
politician. To the technologist, the answer to why is far easier: to get
mankind off this rock. This planet Earth is finite: no matter how harmoniously
we live with our environment, no matter how thoroughly we utilize its every resource,
it will run out. If we do not find our way off this planet and into the infinity
of space, we will overpopulate this planet into a living hell in which the "mercies"
of Mother Nature will finally control all and force upon mankind the solutions
demanded by a finite world.
Link
to this item | Comment
Treats
for the right brain: Four fun sites discovered by Travelers'
Diagram: • Grand
Illusions, the site for the enquiring mind : With optical illusions, scientific
toys, visual effects, and even a little magic. • The
Museum of Fred, by Fred Beshid, who writes, The paintings
represented here were not created by well-known blue-chip artists. They were created
by ordinary people. For unknown reasons they were donated to thrift stores where
I purchased them. The previous owners felt they were not worth keeping.
•
Folk art in
bottles: We're way beyond little ships here. "Whimsey
bottles," or "puzzle bottles," are constructions or scenes assembled
inside bottles. The earliest examples of the art form date from the eighteenth
century, but most seem to date from 1890-1930. The most well-known form is a ship,
but almost anything that can be built or whittled has been put into a bottle and
can be seen here: crosses and crucifixions, fans, chairs, spinning wheels, wishing
wells, photographs, buildings, tools, saloon scenes, fanciful bird trees and complicated
interlocking puzzles.
• A
tricycle made for seven: Seats are arranged in a circle; one steers, the others
pedal or not, as they wish.
Link
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Strange
bed(sheet)fellows: Martha Stewart has acquired a surprising ally: the
Libertarian Party, which describes her as a "celebrity homemaker"
in a press
release that begins, Congress should prove that calling
Martha Stewart to testify about her financial activities isn’t just a cheap
publicity stunt, Libertarians say, by requiring Dick Cheney, Terry McAuliffe and
other politicians to testify as well.
Link
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'Happy
Mac' Killed By Jaguar, from Wired: Happy Mac,
the smiling icon that for 18 years greeted Apple computer users when they started
up their machines, is dead. A staid Apple logo illustrated in self-possessed
shades of gray has replaced the eager-to-please icon in the new Jaguar version
of the Macintosh operating system.
John
Markoff, in the the N.Y. Times (reg. req.), names the designer of the original
icon, Susan Kare, whose site is
full of Happy's relatives.
Link
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August
28, 2002 Burning
Man festival bosses demand to know reporters' story angles
Reporters
interested in covering the Burning
Man festival must register and go through a detailed screening process before
reporting the event. Lessley Anderson writes in SF Weekly, "In
their application for press credentials, print journalists are asked to state
their intended story angles. Angles that festival handlers strongly discourage
include depicting Burning Man as a rave, a nudist event, a drug event, or an event
that is 'like Mardi Gras' or 'like Woodstock.' Angles that are encouraged include
'Burning Man is a new kind of community,' 'Burning Man's gift economy, where nothing
is bought, sold or bartered,' 'Burning Man is an art festival,' and 'The birth
of regional Burning Mans springing up around the world.'If a journalist suggests
a 'wrong' angle, Burning Man's media team will suggest a 'right' one." via
Jim Romanesko
Link
to this item | Comment
Comics,
editorial cartoons anybody can view: Editor & Publisher reports
that Universal Press Syndicate has launched a Web
site with a searchable database of tens of thousands of cartoons and editorial
comics. (Doonesbury, Cathy, Auth, Oliphant and more).. Although targeted at those
who purchase, anyone may search (i.e. cats, dogs, politics) and view the panels
and strips that turn up in the results.
Link
to this item | Comment
Origins
of copyright: My recollection of the origins of copyright (in American law)
involves a tale about 19th-century authors in the East finding that their books
would be taken West and republished under someone else's name, with the credit
and sales receipts going to the thief. It was difficult to prove authorship when
both parties claimed to have written the book, and both had "witnesses"
swearing they saw the manuscript in early stages. Because
such plagiarism was rampant, authors were reluctant to publish at all, preferring
to circulate their works privately. In order to foster
the creation of a culture, copyright procedures were established that included
sending copies of your work to Washington, thereby establishing authorship and
date. In recent days, Wil Wheaton (the actor who played
Wesley Crusher on Star Trek - The Next Generation) posted
a speech he was to give at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco that said, Copyright
Law is not a tool of repression granted to an unaccountable corporation by a corrupt
congress at the expense of an ignorant public. It exists to protect and
promote artists. Don't ever forget that.
On Doc Searls website,
Timothy
Phillips took issue with that, writing "This is wrong. Copyright law
exists to enlarge the public domain. That's all. Don't you forget that, Will." Iain
Tucker responds to that: " I think Wil makes a fair point - at least
the primary purpose of copyright is for the benefit of artistic creators, to stop
people stealing their work." Which is why I posted the anecdote about
the origins of copyright: It was not to promote artists, but to promote the creation
of a publicly available culture. Does this shed any light on how to structure
digital rights to compensate composers, lyricists and performers in a way that
the market will also accept? The blogosphere is skeptical about the
company of Sarah Deutsch,
a vice president and associate general counsel at Verizon, in its digital rights
campaign, but Deutsch is dead on when she says, We also
want to see a law that's balanced and that the user community will also accept.
The copyright community has to understand the reality that if consumers are not
happy with the compromise... many of these illegal activities are going to continue.
Link
to this item | Comment
History
in the making: While
browsing The Green Papers, a non-partisan election news and information site,
I followed a a link that led me to a truly forward-looking site (it had given
GP an award) -- American Tricentennial (1776-2076).
I won't be around for the 110th National Football League Super Bowl that year,
but if you're into planning ahead... This site was launched
January 2000 to be a mini-time capsule and calendar of events for 2076. Obviously,
starting 76 years in advance, it will be a little difficult to give you the exact
date/time/place for some events. But, as the Tricentennial year and celebrations
grow closer and more specific information is released, we will publish it here.
Link
to this item | Comment
Satellite
tracker finds goose in freezer: (The headline is irresistible.)
A goose fitted with a £3,000 electronic transmitter to chart its migration
has been tracked 4,500 miles by satellite - to an Eskimo hunter's freezer.
My
condolences to the 15 people who had "adopted" this goose. Link
to this item | Comment
Crash
casualty: A corrupted prefs.js file turns out to have been responsible for
yesterday's browser crash, but there was a regrettable and unintended casualty
of the chaos: In blogging about the Ocean State Free-Net's $5,000 grant, below,
the link to the May story that caught the foundation's eye was bad. It should
be fine now: R.I.'s
free Internet service struggles to stay online, by Tim Barmann.
Link
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August
27, 2002 A crash today ate my saved mail (and makes the
blog small and late). If you were expecting a reply and didn't get one, please
write again. This is especially addressed to Lawrence, who had invited me to participate
in a group discussion. Sorry about the communications breakdown. Free-Net
gets $5,000 grant: The Ocean
State Free-Net, a statewide community network that offers free public access
to the Web and more, was in dire straits in May when it couldn't meet its bills
for net access and phone service. (R.I.'s
free Internet service struggles to stay online by Tim Barmann). Now the all-volunteer
network is out of the red and eying expansion, thanks to about $1,750 from private
donations, $750 from the sale of surplus equipment and a $5,000 foundation grant
which will allow it to continue operations through 2003. Mike Umbricht,
president of OSFN, today announced the grant from The Tatiana Simone Foundation,
which supports organizations that provide opportunities to persons with disabilities
and low-income families. OSFN came to the foundation's attention after a news
clipping service sent them a copy of Barmann's story about the Free-Net's plight,
he said. (We also blogged
it.) Among the new possibilities: A graphical user interface such as
CSuite, community network software developed by volunteers of
Chebucto Community Net (CCN) in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Link
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A
mighty voice dies: Driving home from work yesterday, pushing radio buttons,
an extraordinary male voice, singing, stopped me. Turns out it belonged to William
Warfield, whom NPR was eulogizing. The
4.5 minute audio is worth a listen. Here's the text:
We
remember singer, actor and teacher William Warfield, who died Sunday in Chicago
of complications after a fall. He was 82 years old. Warfield appeared in stage
and screen versions of Showboat. He starred in the touring company of Porgy
and Bess, opposite his then-wife Leontyne Price.
Link
to this item | Comment
Digital
age "freedom fighters": Paul
Andrews in the Seattle Times: ...there's a new movement
afoot — one that views technology as a keeper of the public trust. In this
digital-rights revolution, the heroes are fighting to preserve public access to
content ranging from books and print archives to music, images, videos and other
works comprising the intellectual treasures of humanity.
Link
to this item | Comment
Nun
blog: Glenn
Fleishman finds cloistered Carmelites
in Indianapolis ablog... "who have employed an ad agency, pro bono, and
the Web to reach out with their thoughts, as part of their efforts to bring in
(novices) and perpetuate the mission of the monastery they built with bulldozers
and their own two hands in younger days." The story originated in the
registration-required L.A. Times, but is readable without registration on
the Seattle Times site: "It's like we're raising our antenna, so if someone
out there has a calling to this life and is raising her own antenna, we might
be able to communicate," said Sister Terese Boersig, 69.
Link
to this item | Comment
Mystics'
numbers swell?: More than 70,000 fans of the Star Wars movies have
upset Australia's statistics agency by identifying their religion as "Jedi"
during last year's national census.
Link
to this item | Comment
This ain't war, it's driving: From Random-abstract,
a collection of links about finding wireless access, terribly misnamed "War
Driving." (Warchalking
is the other side of the equation -- leaving visible symbols to indicate access
hotspots.) • Wardriving.com
blogs the advancing movement.
• Software to help you find friendly folks
who'll share their net connection with travelers and passers-by: Seattle Wireless
Net is collecting program
names and links.
• Vacation
War Driving from Pasadena to San Francisco. Frank Keeney shares the fun with
the family.
Link
to this item | Comment
August
26, 2002
The World
Summit on Sustainable Development
in Johannesburg, S. Africa, opened today, to run through Wed. Sept. 4. Daily
Summit is a weblog by David Steven that is covering the proceedings:
It's busy, but not that busy here - so far 5730 government delegates are registered
at the main summit, along with 4335 representatives from the major groups (basically
NGOs), and 2560 media... via Burningbird Link
to this item | Comment
Today
is Women's Equality Day.
BlogSister Tish Parmeley points out: In the U.S. it
was a seventy-two year struggle from a tea party to the ratification of the right
to vote. There are other pages about this on the web but I liked this one
because of the
songs. Link
to this item | Comment
Tim
Barmann: Wowing my wife with a wireless network. My
newsroom colleague Tim, who
used to write the Providence Journal's CyberTalk column, published his tale
of installing Wi-Fi Saturday. I set up a mixed wireless
and wire-based network that links four computers. Two computers -- a laptop and
a desktop PC -- are connected wirelessly, and two others are connected through
wires. The printer is plugged in as well, so any of the computers can use it.
Total cost: about $235. Link
to this item | Comment
Substance
rocks: Veteran rock critic Wayne
Robins reviews Sleater-Kinney:
It's not enough for Sleater-Kinney to rag and rage: That's where they leave
the conformity and limitations of punk and rock behind. They strive to educate,
illuminate, and entertain, the way all good art should. Link
to this item | Comment
A
parody we could never have foreseen: From American
Pie to The
Day that WorldCom Died (An Ode
to MCI) Now, do you believe in bought and sold,
Can audits save your corporate soul
And can I teach you how to count …
real slow. The mp3
is here; the lyrics are by Jeff Wadler, recorded live in Ocean Pines, Md.
Performed by Fremela. Altogether
now, Bye, bye, WorldCom / MCI.
My portfolio was heavy,
when the stock was still high.
Now Wall Street boys got a poke in the eye,
Saying: This is what you get when you buy.
This is what you get when you buy. Link
to this item | Comment
Yet
another parody: Whitehouse.org
rivals The Onion. via
Ye Olde Phart
Link
to this item | Comment
Sean Lennon interviews Brian Wilson: At brianwilson.com,
a 48-minute interview, with tunes: Part
One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four via
MetaFilter Link
to this item | Comment
Eric
B. Hanson, blogging at Tyro, responds to Shelley
Powers' reservations about supporting web-friendly candidates regardless of
their positions on other issues:
Copyright is
probably my top issue because it will affect all 270+ millions of Americans in
their every day lives, and people may not even be aware of it. In a pluralistic
system, issues such as this get tackled when a big enough group organizes and
convinces people to vote a certain way. Everyone has to pick their battles, but
to me copyright/intellectual property is the most important because I believe
the control being sought now ultimately will result in control that tramples our
first amendment and other rights. People ought to worry about their freedom most
of all. Link
to this item | Comment
Endangered VCRs: Dan
Gillmor of the San Jose Mercury News writes, You still
have time to tell the Federal Communications Commission what you think about the
infamous "broadcast flag" Hollywood wants to put on all digital TV receivers.
This flag would, at the content owner's whim, prohibit you from making any further
use of the material -- including time-shifting your favorite shows. Here
is
the FCC announcement (PDF file) with information on how you can comment. The
deadline for comments is Oct. 30, Link
to this item | Comment
Subterranean
Homepage News
by Sheila Lennon
features
& interactive producer of projo.com | 
