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“CO2LED”, an installation by artists Jack Sanders, Robert Gay, and Butch Anthony connects up 522 solar-powered LEDs on tall rods with plastic bottles at the top to light up a traffic island in northern Virginia. Built to promote sustainable urban luminance and recycling, all of the materials were reused after the project came down this fall.

CO2LED - Link, [via]

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Originally from MAKE Magazine on December 13, 2007, 12:00pm

My friends Adam Parfrey and Jodi Wille are the proprietors of Feral House and Process Media, the world’s most interesting book publishers. I had dinner at their house last night and they gave me a stack of fascinating books. I can’t wait to read them!

Dark Mission:
The Secret History of NASA,
By Richard C. Hoagland and Mike Bara

For most Americans, the word “NASA” suggests a squeaky-clean image of technological infallibility. Yet the truth is that NASA was born in a lie, and has concealed the truths about its occult origins. Dark Mission documents this seemingly wild assertion.

(Sample chapter PDF)

boingboing.net/_titles_moondog.jpg” height=”164″ width=”112″ border=”0″ align=”left” hspace=”4″ vspace=”4″ alt=” Titles Moondog” /> Moondog
The Viking of Sixth Avenue, The Authorized Biography by Robert Scotto, Preface by Philip Glass

Here is one of the most improbable lives of the 20th century: a blind and homeless man who became a famous eccentric in New York, and who rose to prominence as an internationally respected music presence. Moondog’s compositional style inspired the work of his former roommate, Philip Glass, who provides the preface. BONUS CD includes compilation of Moondog records spanning five decades, containing a dozen previously unreleased Moondog recordings, including performances with Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Jon Gibson, Stefan Lakatos and Paul Jordan.

(Sample PDF 1 | Sample PDF 2)

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The Secret Source: The Law of Attraction is One of Seven Hermetic Laws: Here Are the Other Six, Edited by Maja D’Aoust and Adam Parfrey

The Secret Source reveals the occult doctrines and the modern equivalents that gave birth to “The Law of Attraction” and inspired the media phenomenon known as The Secret.

If you recognized the power behind “The Law of Attraction” but felt ambivalent about The Secret’s materially-driven, hard-sell approach, you will appreciate this deeper understanding and examination of the Law’s true nature and the wisdom required to use it effectively.

(The Seven Hermetic Laws PDF)

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Tales of Times Square (Expanded Edition),
By Josh Alan Friedman

This classic account of the ultra-sleazy, pre-Disneyfied era of Times Square is now the subject of a documentary film of the same name to be theatrically released this year. With this edition Tales returns to print with seven new chapters.

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Big Dead Place: Inside the Strange and Menacing World of Antarctica
, By Nicholas Johnson

Is it the pristine but harsh frontier where noble scientific missions are accomplished? Or an insane corporate bureaucracy where hundreds of workers are cooped together in hi-tech communes with all the soul of a suburban office park?

Welcome to Big Dead Place, a grunt’s eye view of America’s Antarctic Program that shatters the well-worn clichés of polar literature. Here the heroic camaraderie and romantic desolation give way to sterile buildings populated by characters like a crazed manager who fills his boots with antifreeze, the greasepaint obsessed worker Boozy the Clown, ghosts that haunt the food freezer, and horny employees who grab rare private moments coupling on the altar in the Chapel of the Snows.

The Foreword is by Eirik Sønneland, who claims the longest unsupported ski trek in the continent’s history. Also included is a glossary of Antarctic slang and bureaucratese, and 16 pages of color photographs.

(Link to excerpts and media files)

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Sin-A-Rama: Sleaze Sex Paperbacks of the Sixties

Sin-A-Rama celebrates the forgotten world of erotic paperbacks from the 1960s, when sex acts were described with code words, writers used pseudonyms, and publishers hid behind mail drop addresses.

Sleaze paperbacks sold by the million throughout the decade. Their unorthodox content and inroads into the marketplace provoked new laws, FBI investigations, high-pitched court battles, and prison sentences for the crime of obscenity. Earl Kemp, the notorious Greenleaf Books editor, provides an insider’s perspective, profiling famous and little-known co-workers. In “My Life as a Pornographer,” science fiction legend Robert Silverberg divulges how he and other famous authors learned their craft and earned their keep pounding out softcore sin.

The bizarre glories of cover artists Robert Bonfils, Gene Bilbrew, Eric Stanton, Paul Rader, Ed Smith, Bill Ward, and Doug Weaver are seen throughout in lurid color.

Sin-A-Rama is the first book-length exploration into a shadowy but revolutionary industry. A useful appendix reveals the actual names behind the pseudonyms, and catalogues both established and fly-by-night sleaze operators.

(Link to exceprts)

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Struwwelpeter: Fearful Stories & Vile Pictures To Instruct Good Little Folks, By Heinrich Hoffmann, Introduction by Jack Zipes

Since 1845, millions of parents have purchased Struwwelpeter, a book that threatens their children with the consequences that befall the disordered and disorderly. Thumbs are sheared off, eyes fall out of sockets, faces are pecked to death and bodies waste to nothing.

Though castigated in recent years for its sadistic approach to child-rearing, Struwwelpeter remains a cultural phenomenon … translated into many languages, the subject of a popular German museum, and the unmistakable influence of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which also disposes of wretched kids in rhyme.

The Feral House edition includes Sarita Vendetta’s macabre illustrations to Heinrich Hoffmann’s verse, the entire original edition in color, Struwwelpeter-inspired wartime propaganda titled Struwwelhitler, and a revealing introduction by Jack Zipes, an authority on folklore and children’s literature, whose journal, The Lion and the Unicorn, devoted an entire issue to Heinrich Hoffman and Struwwelpeter.

dburner.com/~a/boingboing/iBag?a=IeZP8D”>

Originally by Mark Frauenfelder from Boing Boing on December 13, 2007, 4:35pm

a compelling split-screen infographic animation that tells both sides (in reversed visual styles) of the story of Earth’s origins in a provocative journey through human history & language.

while also enjoyable separately, the trick is to see both movies in parallel, either below each other (try to start both youtube movies simultaneously), or side-by-side on the duelity website.

[link: duelity.net (high resolution versions)|thnkx Armando]

Originally from information aesthetics on December 12, 2007, 12:21am

Originally from Pruned on December 14, 2007, 11:01am

a visual representation of a mammalian neocortical column, the basic building block of the cortex. the representation shows the complexity of this part of the brain, which has now been modeled using a supercomputer. the visualization is part of an ambitious project to create a biologically accurate, functional model of the brain using IBM’s Blue Gene supercomputer.

“the visualization of the neurons’ shapes is a challenging task given the fact that a column of 10,000 neurons rendered in high quality mesh accounts for essentially 1 billion triangles for which about 100GB of management data is required. simulation data with a resolution of electrical compartments for each neuron accounts for another 150GB. as the electrical impulse travels through the column, neurons light up and change color as they become electrically active.”

[link: technologyreview.com & epfl.ch & epfl.ch (movie)|via visualcomplexity.com]

Originally from information aesthetics on December 13, 2007, 5:55am

Feeling burnt out? Can’t seem to get yourself motivated? Two years ago, we suggested ways to motivate yourself.

Originally from Lifehacker on December 13, 2007, 6:30am

Mac OS X Leopard only: You already know how to view zip archive contents and even preview files in the Trash using Leopard’s handy Quick Look feature, and now you can look inside folders, too. Using a Folder Quick Look plug-in, instead of just looking at a big old folder icon when you Quick Look a directory, you can get a file listing of what’s inside. Here’s how to get it working.

1. "http://homepage.mac.com/xdd/software/folder/download/Folder.qlgenerator02.zip">
   Download the Folder Quick Look plug-in.
2. Extract its contents into
   /Users/YOU/Library/QuickLook/. Replace YOU with your
   username. You may have to create the final QuickLook folder. Make
   sure that the contents of the zip file go here (it’s four files
   total; two are readme’s.)
3. Relaunch Finder by holding down the Option key and click and
   holding on the Dock’s Finder icon. Choose “Relaunch” from the
   context menu.

Then, just select any folder in Finder and hit the Space key to
Quick Look what’s inside. Here’s the result when I Quick Look my
Applications folder: Notice you can
also see hidden files and show the file timestamp using the
checkboxes at the bottom, too. Handy! The plug-in is a free
download for Mac OS X Leopard only. (Don’t forget you can also
"http://lifehacker.com/software/mac-tip/quick-look-at-multiple-files-simultaneously-330341.php">
quick look multiple files at once as well, no plug-in
required.)

Originally from Lifehacker on December 13, 2007, 4:00pm

Good magazine has an interesting chart in their latest issue that details how much energy your vampire devices use, and how much it costs you to keep them plugged in. The guide differentiates between devices that are in “active” (ready to leap to life) and “passive” (just plugged in) standby modes, and some items are real shockers. A plasma TV, for instance, can cost about $160 per year just to keep plugged in. That Wii you got your hands on? $25 before you even hit one virtual tennis ball. The takeaway for me, at least, is thinking about putting some devices on power strips and turning them off if I know I won’t be using them for a day or more.

Originally from Lifehacker on December 14, 2007, 7:00am

What Would Jesus Buy? (2007, 16.6MB, 2:03)

Trailer for What Would Jesus Buy?,
a documentary about Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping,
produced by Morgan Spurlock.
I’m not convinced that Spurlock is the man to spread a good message,
but I sure would go to any church where Rev. Billy showed up.
DRIVE THE DEMONS OUT OF THOSE CASH REGISTERS!!

Originally from DVblog on December 12, 2007, 1:00am

The Cool Tools weblog features some neat-looking, refastenable cable ties for getting all those wires under your desk under control. The Millepede Cable Ties are basically reusable zip ties, and they sound strong! Cool Tools reader David Perry writes:

The holding strength is amazing. I use them for all my wiring harness applications, but I’ve also connected multiple ties (the larger burly ones) to fasten down car-top luggage.

Car-top luggage! I’m partial to Velcro cable ties myself, but I wouldn’t mind a package of these in my stocking. A set of 100 will set you back 25 bucks.

Originally from Lifehacker on December 12, 2007, 8:00pm

Originally from fulminate // Architectures of Control on December 14, 2007, 11:01am

In tune with the back to nature theme of the day:

For the Demoniac Babble series Estelle Hanania met 12 wild and demoniac creatures, gathering in the mountains of Switzerland and followed them through their ritual walk from farm to farm (via).

Demoniac Babble, Switzerland, 2007

Originally from we make money not art on December 13, 2007, 5:38am

Natural Architecture, by Alessandro Rocca (Amazon USA and UK).

Publisher Princeton Architectural Press says: Natural Architecture presents sixty-six site-specific installations that use raw materials, manual labor, and natural stimuli to create truly green architecture that is as organic as the materials with which it is created. Projects by Olafur Eliasson, Patrick Dougherty, Nils-Udo, Ex. Studio, Edward Ng, nArchitects, and many others are shown together for the first time. Selected for their commitment to the use of raw materials, manual labor, and natural inspiration, these works are vividly displayed in photographs, drawings, and models. These fantastical creations allow the changing landscape to naturally overtake each structure until it finally decomposes. Each project is accompanied by a series of photographs, drawings, and models. The rugged and surreal beauty of the projects in Natural Architecture question the wisdom of our ever accelerating construction processes and point a way forward, toward a new organic simplicity of structure and form.

Image on the right: Olafur Eliasson, Ice Pavilion, Kjarvalstadir, 1998

Natural Architecture is what the author calls a “little paper museum” which showcases the way artists and architects are creating small and medium-size buildings using the resources of the location and respecting growth process and natural phenomenon. Following the rules of nature used to be the only available option. That was a very long time ago. Today it’s more a matter of installation art. The works presented in the book are therefore in most cases not to be regarded as structures built specifically for the purpose of having people to live or work there. The creators featured in Natural Architecture are affiliated with Land, Earth, Environmental, Bio or Conceptual art and not so much with architecture. Which doesn’t mean that these works have no relevance for architecture as they provide a space for discussion about the conventions and process of architecture.

Niels-Udo, Child, wet petals of poppies, bracken, ilfochrome on alluminium

It’s a very quiet 200 page book. You get all the words right from the start, after that that’s just pictures after pictures with only a statement from each artist to open the chapter dedicated to their work. Inside the book, there are works i find downright awful and other which are so amazing that i promised myself that i’ll try to follow the field more closely. In the meantime two discoveries:

Nils-Udo who has been exhibited his site-specific all over the word since the 80’s.

Morioka Spider, Japan, 2002. Bamboo bars, branches, earth, grass planting, ilfochrome on alluminium

(more images of his work)

Patrick Dougherty is the glamorous one. Dougherty used to be a carpenter and creates fairytale experiments (see front cover of the book) using tree staplings, weaving and nest motifs.

Installation for a Melrose Avenue boutique, using tree sapling as construction material

Videos following the creation of some of the artist’s installations.

Originally from we make money not art on December 13, 2007, 2:57am

Originally from 3quarksdaily on December 11, 2007, 1:55pm

Originally from Life as an Artificial Lifeform on December 14, 2007, 11:01am

Originally from Life as an Artificial Lifeform on December 14, 2007, 11:01am

Originally from 3quarksdaily on December 12, 2007, 10:55am

Originally from 3quarksdaily on December 13, 2007, 4:56am

In my latest column for Wired, I take a look at the ever-fascinating intersection between engineering and biology. An electrical engineer-turned-ecologist uses the principles of circuits to track the flow of genes in endangered species. Remarkably, it works. Take a look.

Read the comments on this post…

Originally from The Loom on December 12, 2007, 7:06pm

Some of the blogs that I find most interesting are also the most sporadic. Fortunately, RSS feeds mean their occasional utterances don’t disappear off my radar. Rob Carlson’s blog, synthesis, is an excellent, deeply considered blog on the rise of synthetic biology. (Full disclosure–I interviewed Carlson for a recent article in Discover.) Even though a week or two may pass between posts, they’re always interesting. His latest entry, on the hype around Craig Venter’s development of artificial chromosomes, is like a very sharp needle poking a very fat balloon:

…the philosophical implications of constructing an artificial genome are overblown, in my humble opinion. It is interesting to see that it works, to be sure. But the notion that this demonstrates a blow against vitalism, or against other religious conceptions of life is, for me, just overexcitement. Venter and crew have managed to chemically synthesize a long polymer, a polymer biologically indistinguishable from naturally occurring DNA; so what? If that polymer runs a cell the same way natural DNA does, as we already knew that it would, so what? Over the last several millennia religious doctrine has shown itself to be an extremely flexible meme, accommodating dramatic changes in human understanding of natural phenomena. The earth is flat! Oh, wait, no problem. The earth is at the center of the universe! No? Okay, we can deal with that. Evolution is just another Theory! Bacteria evolve to escape antibiotics? Okay, God’s will. No problem. I can’t imagine it will be any different this time around.

Lots more here.

Read the comments on this post…

Originally from The Loom on December 12, 2007, 11:50pm