Just My Imagination

Brilliant little user interface thing on Google's new browser (this may not be a new idea):

Woooooooo!! Victory! :)
I finally got wireless working on my new computer (which, that reminds me, I haven't even reviewed on here yet). I had to replace the wireless card so I could put Linux/Mac OS X on it, and Windows was being silly and not recognizing any of the drivers I downloaded or even the one on the CD that came with the wireless card.
Anyway I'm very happy. I'm not really used to messing with computer hardware, I've only owned Macs and they haven't needed tinkering. Fortunately I waited a while to get this computer and all of the tricky bits I've run into so far have been documented. This is a good thing because these little green chips that keep coming in the mail and need to be plugged in in particular ways are still a total mystery.
(I wonder if English is the only language that makes you repeat words like that "in in" in the sentence above. Ha, there we go again.)

Pictures soon but it's one of those itty-bitty inexpensive computers ("ultra mobile pcs") all these companies have been coming out with lately. It's called the MSI Wind and it's pretty darn cute. They are really hard to get in the U. S., I suppose because the dollar is low and companies aren't really targeting the U. S. market anymore? The one I finally found was what they called the "Love Edition," so my laptop is shimmery white with little hearts on the back, hehe. I feel out of place in my computer science classes. :) Seriously it's the perfect computer, and if I can succeed at making it a Hackintosh I'll be even happier.

Ran into another clever media art installation. It's called Nuage Vert ("Green Cloud") again from We Make Money Not Art. A waste incineration cloud emits colored vapor that changes based on the amount of waste being incinerated, making residents aware of their collective impact.



I recently figured out my apartment complex bills us for water/trash/sewer usage by dividing the total amount per building by the number of residents in that building. There's quite a bit of turnover in the complex, and in general not a very communal feel or many neighbors seen socializing. This makes the incentive to reduce consumption rather low: since we're going to be penalized if our neighbors use a lot of water even if we try to conserve, might as well get our money's worth. I wonder if there's a way to get access to water use data sooner than the total at the end of the month. I wonder if I'd get in trouble for trying to build one of these. :) Only for water it would have to be a fountain, maybe with one of those LED faucets from Thinkgeek.

I had an insight today about different argument styles a friend and I have (actually know a few people like this, so it applies to all of them), and found yet another reason why I can never seem to make a decision.

My friend looks at the general flow and the big picture. He makes careful observations and collects data about the world, and then bases his conclusions on where the evidence points.
He's the court lawyer, looking to establish a viewpoint with overwhelming evidence in his favor.

I look at the logical structure of things. I can't make a final decision on what I think because the nature of logic is that if I have a million pieces of information that seem to say one thing, a new one could change that conclusion completely.
I'm the detective, looking for the tiny piece of evidence that will flip the case on its head.

He gets frustrated with me (all in good fun) for nitpicking at logical inconsistencies and for refusing to be certain about anything. I get frustrated with him for being so obnoxiously sure he is right!

I have learned from him that I get lazy about doing my research because it's impossible to have ALL the data. It's like refusing to sit down because the object to sit on doesn't fit the Platonic Ideal of a Chair. :)

I read about many conceptual technology/media arts installations, and I'm not impressed by a lot of them. This one I liked. It's a little desktop application that plays videos of computer mice being destroyed in rather cruel ways (water, a power drill...). While the video plays, the application takes over your cursor and replicates the cursor movements made by the dying mouse. The movement across the screen becomes the ghost of the mouse, a small preserved final scream. At one point I accidentally clicked on another window while one of the videos was playing, causing it to block my view of the video. Since I didn't have control of the cursor I couldn't get the application screen back, so I was stuck watching the cursor flail wildly while hearing buzzing and crunching sounds coming from the hidden video. Honestly think it added to the effect. If my trackpad ever goes bad, rather than seeming like a mechanical failure it's going to feel like ghostly possession. Perhaps by a mouse I used to own? If it weren't for serious invasiveness issues they should have their application automatically trigger another cursor hijacking a little time after it's first downloaded and played. It would also be interesting to see what it would be like to run the application without forewarning of what it was going to do.

Edit: Oh, right, source. Came across that on "We Make Money Not Art".