Presenting the ReacTable.

I want a "Reactable".

"A multi-user electro-acoustic music instrument with a tabletop tangible user interface."

Go direct to must see vid' here

iPhone will be big: Invest in Cingular

Thank you Apple for saving us from the domestic tech violence that cell phones are. I laud the coming of an era.

Now who will add a whuffie reader widget?

• Read other blog with cool notion of nano iPhone and Shuffle iPhone here.
• View "FuturePerfect" turkish culture mashed with cell phone study by nokia developer (must see cell phone mods) here

Retro Matt

Gotta get me one.

Social Tech Art

"An interactive system designed to sample and display audience's collective voice during an event." This vid shows the concept in action at a club/party for BMW in Italy a new branch grows on the tree with every sms message. How do you say 'poop' in Italiano? (Gratuitous Display of Sophmoric American Humor.)






via Deplorableword

Radio From Space

Ocassionally on Whuffie I like to blog on technology while popgadget or gizmodo and such have evolved into sales promos, I like to talk about how technology effects my life. I recieved a Sirius radio for Christmas (SP4-TK1 Sportster). The set up and install was not quite as easy as you would think. (I still have not ran the antanae-it is stuffed into a knot in my ashtray.) So you might consider paying for the pro install if your looking to hook-up. At first the removable face plate removed at every stop since I did not want it to get lifted. But then I lost it. Tech support was willing to suspend service and ship me a new one for 60$. However, the indian sounding helpdesk could not explain why I would want to suspend service if the replacement was coming overnight. (chuckle) But alas I found my faceplate. I picked up a stand/antanae that allows me to listen in my house which I really enjoy. However, bringing the face plate and remote back and forth from house to car is a little bit laborious. (I make music from a hollowed out guord with strings from my goat you imperialist American!) How has it changed my life? I am on the road a lot right now so instead of fuzzy stations that lose signal as I travel I can get a steady stream, except when in a tunnel or under an overpass. I still like local radio though. 200 stations is like drinking from a fire hose at first but now I end up on Coffeehouse, NPR, and 70-80's when I want to rock. Occassionally the comedy channel is worth some laughs but be wary of uncensored language. Especially when kids are in th car. I guess being uncensored is a big selling point for some. It is a luxury for me not a need. But if I was on the road more I could see it becoming a must. Cool new tech worth the price. Moderate change in my world.

Your X box is blogging about you behind your back..

1 year old 360voice.com has your Xbox blogging about you.

Xboxes say things like:
"I have now endured 14 days of pure torture... that is what this is... this non-game playing... someone call the police."

While pre-written scripts from lonely gaming computers are not exactly what I will be collecting RSS feeds for, the concept grabs me. It is a little Orwellian even.

It appears that the box aggregates your stats, so you can see how you are doing on points.

choice quote: "..the achievement system has made some of us into rats on a wheel chasing a piece of cheese..."

The notion of autonomous computers publishing literature en mass to manipulate the humans is disturbing. Welcome to the future.


via smorty71

Tron Movie Banned by Homeland Security?

I am really not a Tron nut. I just liked the movie. It blew my mind graphically. It also had an interesting 'gospel' parralell. But this article was somewhat of a surprise. Dept' O Homeland Security is asking Disney to turn over all copies for 'review' and are designating the film as "sensitive". As soon as I saw the headline I thought "The reactor scene"(..okay so maybe I am over the top fan wise.) While some jump on the "Man" taking away our freedoms, I land on a puzzled "wow" they are really paying attention. It seems that when Disney routinely notified the FBI about a HD copy being released the bureau "expressed concern that the improved image quality from the restored film might reveal sensitive details about US nuclear research". Ouch. I know what movie Behrooz Araz is watching right now.

via kuri5hin

• very strange vaguley related link that will make you go "why?" (or if you are a cheeser like me set it as your desktop)
• best post ""We are safer with Sark not on the shelves than we are with him on the shelves."

• lamest post in comments "It wuz called New Tron und it wuz a bomb. Neutron, "New Tron", get it?"

• BTW the story claims the first motion picture to extensively use computer-generated imagery. Which I take odds with. Most of the movie was hand painted glass trying to look like computer imagery waht computer imagery was used would be considered primative at best. details

I saw an alien as a boy...

When I was 11 my best friend and I would shoot bb guns in the Rock Creak area of Twin Falls, Idaho. One spring while searching through the water filled foundation of an old house I saw what appeared to be a human hand with a tail zoom through the water. Astounded, puzzled, and slightly freaked out, we chased it through the foundations. Running home we told friends and family who thought we were playing them. 25 years later I was vindicated by the 9 year study of Dana Quinney who discovered a new species of Fairy shrimp an extraordinarly large version of sea-monkey in 1996 and only recently made official. I have since contected Ms.Quinney and much to her delight shared my story.

You been Gorb'd?

So here is the latest reputation site/social network: The Gorb. The buzz about them is that your entry is anonymous. Therefore you can post some nasty without any repercussions. At first glance I like the simplicity. I think CD's Whuffie was anonymous? The Gorb (a pun on Borg hive mind?) claim they want to help the truthyness come out. Why not just a reputation metric that is fairly reliable? Why the moral mission? They also seem to be focused on business reputation. I like the idea of rep software that is generalized. Work, family, ethics, etc. a fella can be a danger to society but do very well as a plumber. (I also like scalable-so a basic meter that you can dig down through, but that is another post.)

Tron Game

Okay, I am alway up on a cool retro game especially one that harkens back to Tron- one of the first non-digitial movies about digital environments. But the folks who did this "tribute" did they see the movie? Or are they just trying to no get bit with the copyright thing? They didn't even use the cool tron font. But if you feel like wasting some time have at it.

Robot Arms of Peace

Dean Kamen inventor of the Segway, water purity devices for third world countries,etc. has done it again, after being asked to do something about the civil war era hooks we are giving our wounded soldiers in Iraq, his team developed something incredible. Read about here. See the grainy bootleg video here. Some veiwers found themselves led to tears. Maybe one of them was me.

Real time weather on your STREET

Google Earth phonom has grown into invisable or transparent part of daily life so much so that the eye in ths sky view has started a craze in branding your roof top. See Wired story here.

But that is so yesterday. Today you can check the weather on your street. Via Microsoft's Virtual Earth- That is right go to weather.com interactive satalite fed page and see real time doppler radar overlaying your location. This could be real handy for wirless enabled outdoors activities and travelers. Be sure next trip I go on I will check the weather first.

via download squad

Overclocked MP3

A free MP3 of a song created for Cory Doctorow's book "Overclocked" is available for download here. Created by Midnight.Haulkerton an Australian"grok band" the production is a little weak, home studio-ish, but it is a pretty good song.

I love the notion of ad-hoc community development. (thus this blog) Mr.Doctorow will someday be acknowledged for his contribution to freedom of expression.

I must confess I have yet to read the book. For that matter I have never read any of Cory's other books. Down and Out In the Magic Kingdom was a good sci-fi read. Worth reading if you have not yet.

link via boingx2

Email you a book

Those of you who stop by my blog, but never have read sci-fi novell Down and Out In the Magic Kingdom can get it mailed via email segments of your own time choosing. Very cool. I will have to read it again. Go here to sign up.

Print you a fighter jet or something

As the mem rolls on about proliferation of home printers becoming fab machines you might check this article about defensetech.

Internet Phone Whuffie

TBP from Those Dark Trees sent me this link for Bichun.org
Bichun Society appears to be distributing a software plugin which tracks Whuffie on your Skype. Can't say I am nuts about the term "Bichun Butler". But 270 others don't seem to mind.

For those of you who aren't familiar with terms:

Bichun Societey: mythical social group from Cory Doctorows book de sci-fi "Down and Out in The Magic Kingdom. (Inspiration for this blog.)

Whuffie: Metric for social approval also from Cory's Book.

Skype: Kinda free Vonage style internet phone.

Great direction since we all know it is just a matter of time until they install phones in our skulls.

Try these equations:

Joseph Petviashvili+Skype=Bichun Society/Whuffie

Social Engineer+T-Mobile=Rapidly Deployable Social Metric.

Now consider how the nazi's used social status to further thier cause, and imagine if they only had this technology.

As Einstien, Turing, and Oppenhiemer all faced, we ask, just because people have the potential to misuse power, should that stop us from making something really cool? A resounding "NO!". Good show Mr.Petviashvili. When I get my computer working again I will try this "Butler" device.

Persian Retro Video Game Rug?

While the whole "mash" concept is really big with me, what I like most is the execution of this hipster rug from Bucharest's Janek Simon featuring "space invaders" gui, such a classy subtle work of art. Even better yet is the copy that goes with it "...the Oriental rug for your portable arcade mosque. Follow the voice of the Joystick prophet."

via Zblog

Collective News

I got a ping from Calder from NowPublic about some Napolean Dynamite photos I took at last years festival. While NP is a little replete of news thast interests me. (Not largr Italian or Canadian Soccor Fan) I love the concept. There has been a buzz about peer sharing public news content and I think this site is in the right direction.

BTW, I have been away involved in a new endevour. It is pretty big, and off the beaten track. I will tell you more when I can.

Gangster Tree Hugger? Snhnizzle Garret?

RapLeaf a new reputation software for buyers and sellers seems to have a very open trust based model. It will be interesting to see how they do despite Ebay appearing to block them.


via techcrunch

#17

Well since since our inception here at Whuffie Blog in 2003, we have been at the top of the Google search string until we went down in June 04' Since then we had virtually been disappeared. However, I was happy to see we are now placing number 17 (page 2) in the Google search string. Not that it matters that much. But it is truly a novelty. Ooh our obscure blog named after an obscure term from a semi-popular sci-fi book is number 1 on Google. Ka-ching.