Will somebody please create a program or script that randomly selects 5 items from a list of urls, offers them up for quick editing (or rejection) and then opens them in browser — alternatively, just cull n entries from list (w/ option to reject selection) into new file…

She talks about her creative process during composition.

creativity process

• musical ideas / sketches
• choose one as “main theme”
• choose style to apply to theme and get inspiration from previous work
• make structure – outline / form
• fill in structure w/ ideas
• Polish the details
• Polish the entire piece

It’s a very loopy calligraphic-looking effect. Quite a bit organic and bold, usually monochromatic.

I’m calling it Calligraphy Weeds until someone tells me otherwise.

Technorati Tags: design, graphic

What is Dorkbot?

• It’s a science fair with beer.
• It’s a geek talent show.
• It’s people doing strange things with electricity.
• Best of all, it’s fun, free, kid-friendly and hands-on.

We think dorkbot is exactly what Austin is all about. Nerds, artists, musicians all come together to show off their work in a casual environment. Previous dorkbot events have included singing robots, lightning bolt generators, hacked nintendos, and somebody crazy enough to electrocute a pickle. dorkbot was most recently featured on Austin Technology Matters, a new show on Austin cable access.”

Evangelizing Wifi in Austin

In that article, I said that coffee shops having WiFi would also have a competitive advantage on their dark, wifiless competitors.

That is, they would have an advantage until ubiquitous wifi became a reality. That has started to happen.

Today, the City of Austin announced the launch of its Downtown wi-fi network. Now, anywhere in the 6th street / Town Lake corridor (which hosts many meeting venues – some, previously wi-fied, many not), you can get online, for free.

This means, I should be able to pull out my laptop during any meeting in this area and connect.

There are plans to expand this into the East side and other ares of town as early as this summer.

I’d like to know more about who will be responsible for the uptime and expansion of this program past the few-year beta/novelty period.

I do not know what the city will do with the usage statistics.

Tread carefully: this is like the wild west – use precautions when connected wirelessly and assume people will be listening in on everything you do.

• What kind of gameplay and experimentation on this infrastructure (a la phreaking) is possible, now?

• How does broad connectivity that is possibly geography-aware affect pedestrian behavior / interaction / learning / enjoyment?

• Experiment: when you drive down six street, do you stay on the same SSID through the whole experience? What happens to your connection integrity as you move? (i.e. are there grey spots on the map? Do you seemlessly connect among access points).

  • My gut tells me that this kind of network is designed for stationary users (i.e. sitting at a cafe or at a kiosk)

• What art experiments could be created by connected kiosks, drive-by art vans, etc?

• How can downtown events change wrt anywhere-connectivity?