Time Magazine recently featured a great article on Ray Kurzweil and the Singularity.

Illustrative as the article was, I especially liked the above graphic, which clearly shows how closely past technological changes have adhered to an exponential curve, which is the foundation for Kurzweil’s main argument.

Oddly, it was not included in the online version of the article, so… here it is.

After fiddling with the CSS for the WordPress-based commenting system on my site, I stumbled upon a nifty little plugin that replaces WordPress’ default commenting system with a Facebook commenting module that also allows visitors to “like” a page.

It seems to work pretty dern well, and since most of the modern world uses Facebook these days anyway, it seems like it may be a better option.

Thoughts? Comments work on any page, but this is kinda where I’m trying to test this out… so please, write a comment or hit like. Thanks!

For the past decade, I have been following my father’s lead by not drinking alcohol in January. The idea is never to give it up entirely, but to simply withhold for a month as a “check-in” with one’s self-control. Over the years, I have inspired some folks to join in on no-booze January in addition to making additional rules for myself, such as Meatless March.

It turns out that Buster Benson has had the same yearly tradition, and has turned it into a monthly online game called Health Month. The site is currently in beta, but the idea is simply to give yourself a set of rules, (no booze, 30 min of exercise / 8 glasses of water a day, etc) that you want to try to follow each month. You check in daily, and it provides statistics, reminders, and encouragement. I only started using it during the last 10 days in January, but I’m a big fan of data visualization and the idea of turning the mundane into a game…. and I really need to work out more. So at the risk of creating another digital distraction, I’ve started using Health Month.

But I still hate going to the gym, not that I’m a member of one anyway…

That’s where the second piece of the healthy resolution puzzle comes in: Still only in alpha, and started by a geeky sports enthusiast friend of mine, Gain Fitness already looks like it’s going to be great. At it’s core, (currently) Gain creates customized workout plans that take into account factors such as your sex, what type of workout you are looking for, what equipment you have on hand, and how long a workout you want. Each exercise is coupled with helpful diagrams (videos on the way) in a very clean, attractive layout. The coming beta will see updates that allow the site to track a user’s progress and make future recommendations.

Between Health Month and Gain Fitness, the tools for keeping your New Year’s resolutions year-round have never been better.
Now only if there was a way to download more time & willpower…

I remember seeing my first 3D printer at SIGGRAPH in 2002 and thinking to myself “Holy crap, this is going to be huge”. The ability to simply “print out” digitally designed objects in a single pass is already a clear boon to prototyping & manufacturing, but it’s still going to be a while before we have 3d printers atop every desk, ready to create for us whatever part, toy, or mug that we decide to download or create.

However, there are now two companies that are bridging the gap from “3D printing? What’s that?” to a fabricator in every home: Shapeways and Sculpteo allow users to upload virtual objects and order them as physical 3D objects. Additionally, both sites allow modelers to upload & sell their creations to be printed by others. Sculpteo is currently limited to white plastic and a color compound, while Shapeways adds the ability to print in glass and metal, such as the octopus ring on the right.

So to all you modelers out there: Start sellin your models as 3D objects for the world to enjoy…and feel free to send a print to me if you actually start makin some bucks doing this.

The theme used for this site is just the Nonameyet theme without a sidebar…

I just upgraded my server to WordPress 3, activated the multisite feature, and moved all my sites to one installation under argentumstudio.com. Some stuff is still screwy, but fixes, upgrades, and a new theme are on the way…

16 years ago I was thoroughly impressed by the power of Photoshop/Photostyler’s cloning stamp tool in the hands of a decent artist. Soon, however, we’ll have content-aware fill, which is really cool, despite the fact that I see myself uttering the words “back in my day” entirely too soon. (followed, of course, by “we had to manually sample/paint image elements!”)

The theme I designed for Amalia Morsi‘s site is actually just the Nonameyet theme with a custom skin, header, background, and logo image.

Put on your headphones.

Seriously. Go get them.

Ok, now take a listen to 3L3TRONIC playing at the Robot Heart Bus at Burning Man.

I recorded this using a Zoom H2 velcroed to my shoulder and converted it to binaural stereo using Vortex Zoom Encoder.

This is an unedited clip, hence why you can hear me adjusting the velcro at the beginning as I walk towards the bus. Stick with it, things’ll get more interesting in a sec

Why binaural stereo (simulated surround) and not true 5.1 channel surround audio you ask? Because I can’t stream full surround, and most likely you can’t play it. (The binaural surround simulation is very effective on (good) headphones, but will just sound like regular stereo when played over your computer speakers) Hear the those intermittent whooshes behind you? Yeah, big fire jets being shot from the latest sculpture by the Flaming Lotus Girls.

Anyway, this was really just a quick post to make sure everything works right. All systems go.

Stay tuned for lots more (edited) surround recordings.

I created the Nonameyet theme to be simple and modular with a wide area for presenting media, and to teach myself the CSS and PHP involved in creating WordPress themes. User-facing options include custom headers and backgrounds, and with a bit of CSS “find & replace”, the entire site skin and “logo” image can easily be changed. The Nonameyet theme will constantly evolve, as well as be the basis for for future custom sites.