Blogs



if mochipet’s remix wasn’t right for your, taste check the swanky lounge mix version of Jamie Lidell’s “Little Bit of Feel Good“

This is Mochipet’s entry in the Jamie Lidell Remix Contest to promote his latest album:

XLR8R:

        “Besides releasing his latest album, Microphonepet, touring the U.S., and further bending the boundaries of hip-hop, Mochipet has kept himself busy remixing for a number of different artists, the latest of them being none other than Warp wonder-kid Jamie Lidell. "Little Bit of Feel Good" is off Lidell's forthcoming Jim release, and Mochipet stamps his own twisted interpretation of neo-soul onto the track, adding some heavy bass and glitchy beats.”

direct download

A Nature News article describes the initial plans for an ambitious effort to begin mapping the complete human proteome: the set of all human proteins expressed in all of our cells at all points during our development and adult life.

This is a project of vastly greater magnitude and complexity than the sequencing of the human genome. Unlike the genome, which remains essentially static between cell types and over time, the proteome is tremendously dynamic, changing constantly in response to cell-cell signalling and environmental stimuli.

via

They Say...Half of the world's poor suffer from waterborne disease, and nearly 6,000 people - mainly children - die each day by consuming unsafe drinking water.

LifeStraw® water purifiers have been developed as a practical way of preventing disease and saving lives, as well as achieving the Millennium Development Goal of reducing by one-half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe water by the year 2015

I say.. Lets start giving 'em out ASAP. Start in Burma.

Councils across Britain are to start using lie detectors to catch benefits cheats claiming money they are not entitled to.

It is hoped the 'voice-risk analyser' system, which monitors speech patterns, could save taxpayers tens of millions of pounds.

The device looks for changes in the sound of a claimant's voice, a sign they might not telling the truth.
Officers using then are able to ask for further evidence to support any claims highlighted as being suspicious.

15 councils currently have access to the machines which are expected to be rolled out nationally.

Seems pretty heavy. It'll be finger up the bum next!

MAKE @ RobotBusiness 2008 Segway RMP - video powered by Metacafe

A little peek at the what is supposed to be the new Segway personal transport device. Its got more styles than the present contraption I'll say that much. It appeared at RoboBusiness - there isn't any information available about it at this time other than it "might" cost up to $50k and it can move in any direction (omnidirectional wheels, but the term was hyperdirectional?)

weeow... here is a dj set by Four Tet that was posted at thefader.com so check the link to their article, they pretty much cover the details and setlist better than i could cut and copy anyway... good times
http://www.thefader.com/articles/2008/5/1/exclusive-freeload-four-tet-s-dj-set-mix
http://thefader.cachefly.net/Four_Tet-DJ_Set.mp3

Is this the first fully open source future of web animation and possible flash killer? Well, if you've got a few hundred hours and a lot a patience it is. Either way, you know where you saw it first.

edIT, Boreta, Ooah, and Kraddy are awesome separately, but its really going to the next level now that they are putting out tracks as a group. I saw edIT play this track to close his set at winter music conference in miami this year.
free download of their first release at:
http://www.xlr8r.com/mp3/2008/04/monday-glitch-mob-remix

A French photographer, Cedric Delsaux, has created scenes similar to the one above which place Star Wars subjects against bleak urban backdrops. By using such stark urban settings, icons of the Star Wars franchise seem to fit into modern-day France perfectly.

Subjects which Delsaux has used in his collection include C-3PO and R2-D2 looking at a derelict Citroen, Darth Vader swiping his lightsaber against a building and Jango Fett holding up a car.

Delsaux used image manipulation software to merge the images of the subjects and backdrop; 'I decided to mix together the common suburbs and some fantastic characters, which I think has created something poetic,' he said.

Find Delsaux's photography here: http://www.cedricdelsaux.com

Melissa has been making plastic shoes in Brazil since the 1970's. They have been made to be durable, fashionable, utilitarian and recyclable --- since they're made of plastic, they're all of the above (plus they're cheap!) I found this cool article that discusses the attitude and future of the company http://pingmag.jp/2008/04/28/melissa-sweet-treats-for-your-feet/

Interesting fashion piece about the design of the school uniform in Japan, where the uniform has kind of transcended the schoolyard to become a symbol of youth and beauty. http://pingmag.jp/2008/03/31/japanese-school-uniform/

Chinese Graphic Design Explodes!

Interview with the writer of a book on contemporary Chinese graphic design. Graphic design in China hasn't been around for so long, but some great things are happening as the government loosens its iron fist a bit.

http://pingmag.jp/2008/04/14/new-graphic-design-in-china/

Constrution Wall becomes Mural Space in Tokyo

Tokyo has spruced up some of its bleak contruction walls by putting some clever artwork on its sites. What a clever city!

http://pingmag.jp/2008/04/21/constructional-fence/

Gift Wrapping, Japan-style

Sweet little piece on the ancient art of carefully wrapping parting gifts for departing visitors to a Japanese home. Even a bottle of wine looks beautiful with this delicate paper!

http://pingmag.jp/2008/04/24/origata/

Shop Giftwrapping a la Tokyo

Not breaking news, but still worth checking out, Google have released a series of 'artist themes' for the personalised iGoogle pages.

Some legit names have contributed, including Airside, Nigo, Jeff Koons and John Maeda.

Although some of the others are a little questionable, Lance Armstrong, Jackie Chan and Coldplay!?

If the embedded video doesn't show, you can see it here:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3950885883135205573

Huge cocoons have been found at locations around the world - the first reported one being at an infant school in Leicester UK.

http://www.nowpublic.com/culture/more-alien-cocoons-found-tokyo-washington-huge-cocoon-appears-infant-school-garden

Protein is helping put this on and we have a few free names on the list if anyone is interested in coming. Just drop me a line and I'll see what we can sort out.

Concern about the potential health effects of bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical widely used in consumer plastic products, is growing, following the release this week of a draft report from the US National Toxicology Program (NTP). That report says there's "some concern" about the potential negative health effects of BPA on infants and children and calls for more research to determine just what the risks of BPA exposure might be.

This has been bubbling under for a while now, and I for one have been trying to switch to metal containers...

Here's a little pre-release tipoff from my man Grubblemouse. Physically reminiscent of a Victorian cyclorama, The O2 Memory Project is a 10 foot high cylinder designed by Jason Bruges with eleven cameras placed equidistance around its perimeter. Each of these cameras takes a picture in sequence every five seconds, creating a 360 degree, digital panorama of the outside location very minute. Animated lights on The O2 Memory Project's exterior shell signal when each camera is about to take a shot.

Swift Wind Turbine is a quiet, rooftop mounted wind turbine. Unlike some designs you've seen previously, this one has an outer ring and five blades. The outer ring acts as a diffuser -- the wind travels down the blades and is dispersed along the ring, therefore eliminating noise and keeping the turbine quiet. The company estimates a noise of less than 35 decibels for all wind speeds. The 7 foot diameter ring needs a roof line clearance of a couple feet and in good winds, can generate up to 2000 kWh of power (1.5 kW @ 14 m/s).

check their slightly wiffy flash site here

via

Help is a new line of healthcare products designed by Richard Fine who was inspired when shopping for pain relievers for a headache. The experience only made his head hurt more: the ugly packaging screamed out slogans under the neon lights, adding to the confusion.

Fine’s response was to create simple packaging out of 100% recycled soft molded paper pulp, designed to be calming. The first two products are “help I have a headache” tablets and “help I’ve cut myself” bandages.

So now we know that 'help' is at hand!

I need to lay my hands on this little chap. He rolls around making beats, sampling himself and doing it again. He gets robot of the month award for sure.

What it does? Basically:

* Navigate around, collect some data, avoid obstacles, until it
* Finds something "worth playing on" (a single isolated object or a wide flat surface that it can find an angle onto)
* Snakes into place
* Plays some beats on what it have found, and samples this, checking it has a "good sound"
* Based on data collected in the area, and sample just made, then compose a little rhythm, and plays this along with the sample

SILLOF is a dude that takes Figure Modification to another level. I am really into his WWII mods at the moment, but it is all worth a peek.

The following is a possibly entertaining but highly unedited rant, thank you:

Brooklyn, NY: The inner-sanctum of Hipster-dom, along with it's spiritual annexes; Austin, Minneapolis, Seattle, Hollywood etc. tends to house avenues and streets that bleed fresh creative explorations before vulturous bacterias grow within and feed off of the collective right-brain hemorrhages. Well, maybe not Hollywood, anymore.

Hollywood seems to have been reduced to having it's heart valves that used to gush blood for the sake of flowing become clogged with festering deleterious dyssocial disease long-time go.
The reasons for why Hollywood, unlike some other metropolises that house a constant, age-old war of what reduces down to Jedi versus Sith, has chosen to become a breeding pen of cultural ouroboros remains unclear.

11 - the beautiful game is GRO design and Tim modelmakers's new table football table scheduled to be exhibited during Milan Design Week (from April 16th - 21st, Via Forcella 8, Milan).

For many of us, table football is a game that is close to our hearts, holding cherished memories of our childhood and youth.

It's all in the wrist action apparently!