inkbluesky

slightly surreal blue dock 1024×768

I found this surfing the other day. There is a little noise, almost a blur effect, but its still a very effective scenic mood piece.

People Power

Previous industrial ages were built on the backs of individuals, too, but in those days labor was just that: labor. Workers were paid for their time, whether on a factory floor or in a cubicle. Today’s peer-production machine runs in a mostly nonmonetary economy. The currency is reputation, expression, karma, “wuffie,” or simply whim.

This can all sound a little like, well, ’60s-style utopianism. After all, Marx himself believed that the industrial proletariat would revolt against the bourgeoisie, creating a state where the workers own the means of industrial production. It’s easy to see an echo of that in blogosphere triumphalism.

But it’s a mistake to equate peer production with anticapitalism. This isn’t amateurs versus professionals; it’s each benefiting the other. Companies aren’t just exploiting free labor; they’re also creating the tools that give voice to millions. And that rowdy rabble isn’t replacing the firm; it’s providing the energy that drives a new sort of company, one that understands that talent exists outside Hollywood, that credentials matter less than passion, and that each of us has knowledge that’s valuable to someone, somewhere.

I don’t think of this people powered content as revolutionary as much as evolutionary and while there will be new business models, the changes in content origination will mostly change the old brick amd mortar businesses. In the end business is a product or service; what could and should be different is how the business is run. The flatter in terms of business hierarchy the better. I am constantly amazed how many people that perceive of themselves as edgey nonconformists are so quick to appeal to authority and hierarchical structure when they don’t get their way or there is a problem to work out. The net can’t solve some deeply ingrained tendencies for some people to want to be princes or kings.
I’m a little saddened by the reference to Marx. It is a little archaic. If you go far enough to the left you have people giving up their identities for the sake of the state, a problem that has never occurred in the U.S. unless you count the original settlers who were communalists. The American left and many programmers simply has a tendency to be more egalitarian. Then you have the far right in which the individual gives up their identity to corporations and to some extent organized religion. Maybe this will be a chance for people to be a owned a little less by “the man”. I am still withholding judgement on that score since many of the independent successes we see on the net are bought out by the traditionalists( Murdock and MySpace, flickr and Yahoo as for instances). Still, to have the kind of world wide access that the net provides is unprecedented and the potential for individual empowerment is incredible.

Embrio One-Wheel Concept

This hydrogen fuel cell powered, gyroscopically balanced, one-wheeled recreational and commuting vehicle provides an extraordinary vision of the kind of personal transport we could be using 20 years from now.

Photo at the link. This is a wild little concept vehicle. I could see it as viable transportation for those they only live a few miles from school or work.

slant city

MRI tests offer glimpse at brains behind the lies

Two companies plan to market the first lie-detecting devices that use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and say the new tests can spot liars with 90% accuracy.

No Lie MRI plans to begin offering brain-based lie-detector tests in Philadelphia in late July or August, says Joel Huizenga, founder of the San Diego-based start-up. Cephos Corp. of Pepperell, Mass., will offer a similar service later this year using MRI machines at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, says its president, Steven Laken.

Both rely in part on recent research funded by the federal government aimed at producing a foolproof method of detecting deception.

I love technology, or at I do most days, but I’m dubious about lie detectors. This one is already screwed right off the bat with a 90% rate of accuracy. If you have a job and there is some kind of brouhaha and have to take one of these tests and there is a false positive, kiss the house and BMW goodbye. Good liars or at least people that are serial liars don’t have much off a conscience so they are the ones that are least likely to show signs of nervous stress when accused of lying.

Who Will Stand Up for Freedom of the Press?

I love this house (photo at the link), but could never live in it. I’d make a terrible human goldfish, Thoroughly Modern but Downright Neighborly

Not much chance of that. If anything, the house is like an extrovert working the room. The two glass walls of the curtainless living room meet at a corner, without so much as a seam to obstruct the view. Half a dozen times a day, cars stop short so the passengers can admire the house, sometimes flashing a thumbs-up sign.

“I have to keep our bed made at all times,” Ms. Thompson said, because her husband often invites strangers in for a tour.

“It’s like living in a fishbowl,” said Mr. Thompson’s father, Richard, who is also an architect. “David and Jamie are perfectly happy to have that kind of openness. They’re genuinely friendly, and the house reflects that.”

Still, Mr. Thompson anticipated some grumbles from the bungalow purists down the street. He smoothed the way with pre-emptive community outreach, showing the neighbors the plans in advance and posting a rendering at the construction site.

This might be a good solution for high crime areas, everyone in the neighborhood would be a potential witness to a break in. If the perps took hostages the sharp shooters could get an easy shot.

chinese terracota warriors

I added some crosshatching and tint in Photoshop to give it a litte more depth. The photo reminds me of the scene in Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life where she is captured and held in a cave and has a big fight with one of the baddies.

Japanese body-art

I think that the pictures are tastefully done, but are not safe for work. We are talking about body art, complete picture narratives, not just tattoos.

Warner Bros. Sells Films Via Guba.com

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Warner Bros. began selling its movies and TV shows over the Internet video site Guba.com Monday, marking the second deal the studio has made to distribute content over Web sites that have offered pirated video in the past.

Guba.com has featured mainly user-generated video clips for free or as part of a subscription, some of which were unauthorized clips from TV shows or movies.

The site has since agreed to start filtering copyright and obscene content and institute tougher security measures after talks with the Motion Picture Association of America, a group that represents Hollywood studios.

In May, Warner Bros. agreed to start selling its movies and shows using peer-to-peer technology developed by BitTorrent Inc., which has been used to trade pirated copies of movies.

Both deals are aimed at appealing to younger consumers who watch shows on computers or portable devices.

“Kids in the dorm rooms don’t own TVs,” said Tom McInerney, co-founder and chief executive of Guba. “They’ve got computers and that’s their source of entertainment.”

Guba is one of a growing number of Web sites that offer short videos contributed by users who record song parodies and other short video content. Such sites have become popular, but have not yet developed a business model to make money off of such videos.

McInerney said that ultimately people will only pay for top quality shows produced by professionals.

“Nobody is going to pay for a video of a dog doing a stupid pet trick,” he said.

I do over to Guba and I have to agree that you can only watch so many stupid animal or human tricks and it gets old. The problem with all the video sites, especially with longer videos is that the last I looked it up about 45% of net users are still on dial-up. That is quite a commitment in time to download a 500 to 800mb movie.

Terror Alert: Severe Risk of Hype

curved dock b&w

Man Robbed by Teen Girls, Thought He was Meeting MySpace Friend

A Jacksonville man says he was duped and robbed by two girls after attempting to meet with a woman he met on the internet.

The victim says he chatted online with a woman, known on her MySpace.com profile as “Natalia”, for two weeks before deciding to meet with her. He says her profile showed sexy photos, and a blurb which said “just lookin’ for something fun”. That brief, friendly description was all he knew about her before they planned to meet.

“She sent me a message saying she thought she met me somewhere,” says the victim.

They decided to meet at what she called her home at the Bentley Green Apartments.

“I went to [the apartment] and knocked on the door, and there was no answer. So I called her and said, ‘I’m here’ and there was no answer.”

That is when two girls who were 14 and 15-years-old, approached him saying they knew Natalia, the girl he thought he’d be meeting. They also said they knew where he worked at what car he drove.

“This was not the girl that the picture was of on MySpace,” the victim said.

Now sensing something was wrong, he was ready to take off, but was stopped by a shocking discovery.

“[One of the girls] took [a] gun out and put it to my head and told me to empty my pockets.”

Everyplace else its men trying to prey on teens, but not in the home of gator and shark attacks. To be fair Jacksonville is only ostensibly part of Florida, its really more of a south rural Georgia culture until you get out toward the beaches. At least that was my experience. Hope these girls enjoyed their night out, while if they are minors their criminal records may eventually be scrubbed they’re really put a damper on their future. Like most states Florida has extra penalties for crimes committed with a handgun. They also haven’t done much good for MySpaces reputation. The management over their is probably buying Rolaids by the case at this point.

ExtremeTech is running this series, 10 Free Plug-ins to Enhance Photoshop I wasn’t aware there were so many good free plug-ins.

Fox News apparently deeply rejects the team concept when it comes to running a business, Olbermann Adds Ailes To His ‘Worst’ List

FNC chief Roger Ailes has officially joined his host Bill O’Reilly on Keith Olbermann’s list of The Worst People in the World. Ailes was named the worst for the very first time on MSNBC’s Countdown Monday night.

“Apparently, its position as the network of choice for those aged 70 or over, or those with IQ’s 70 or under, is insufficient,” Olbermann started.

“He is now threatening his own staffers, through ‘now hiring’ ads in trade publications, and through a statement issued by a spokesman. ‘Anyone who displays launch-type intensity will continue to have a job at Fox News. Those who don’t will not. And that includes talent.’”

He concluded: “This just proves the theory that even in hell, Satan will still periodically demand more productivity from you.”

I wonder if you would peel back the high collared shirts of all the talking heads at Fox we wouldn’t find one of those electric devices hooked uo to a buzzer in Ailes’ office. When the boss buzzes the dogs must jump. The anonymous spokesman has it wrong, the issue isn’t about productivity, it is about spinning like a top. Are the talent and producers spin hard and fast enough.

An ‘F’ For Antiterrorism