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unblog - the underground blog
Welcome to the underground blog© (http://spreadhead.virtualave.net/unblog.html). Here lies our rambling registry of random rummages, recently rescued readings, and restlessly renegade ruminations: as sifted, sorted, and saved by spread...


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In Praise of Melancholy
Western culture's overemphasis on happiness misses an essential part of a full life. We're in danger of losing a major cultural force, the muse behind much art, poetry, and music. We are blithely getting rid of melancholia. Here for
10:38 AM 2/15/08 | UNBLOG


Inside/Outside
This project examines how the ordinary handbag, as a computationally enabled object in a ubiquitous and wireless networked environment can provide new insights into what we carry, what we collect, and how we make sense of our inner and outer worlds. Here for
10:38 AM 2/15/08 | UNBLOG


The Mormon Bigfoot Genesis Theory
The Journal of Mormon History recently published a new investigation into stories suggesting that the giant Sasquatch monster is really Cain, the murderous second son of Adam and Eve. Here for
10:38 AM 2/15/08 | UNBLOG


Skinstrument
People are used to the sound of skin played by percussion instruments. Most of them consist of at least one membrane (skin) that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with parts of a player's body, or with some sort of implement, to produce sound. But what if the skin is human? Here for
10:38 AM 2/15/08 | UNBLOG


The Insurgency of Barrack Obama
There has been a lot of discussion recently about whether Barack Obama's candidacy poses a real threat to the political establishment. Of course, he has won the hearts and minds of the grass roots liberal and progressive communities, but can a person who has advisers like former national security advisors Zbigniew Brzezinski and Anthony Lake... really be that much of a revolutionary? Here for
10:38 AM 2/15/08 | UNBLOG


WindScale
Windscale is an artwork by Rob Smith that visualizes wind speed in a picture. It uses an anemometer (a tool for measuring wind speed) placed on Jaywick Martello Tower on the Essex Coast (East of England). Here for
10:38 AM 2/15/08 | UNBLOG


The Sex Diaries of John Maynard Keynes
John Maynard Keynes's sex diaries are written in still unbroken code. God knows they're trying to crack it... Evan Zimroth has been researching the life of J.M. Keynes and deciphering the great man's sex diaries. One is easy. The other uses a code which, if nothing else, helps break the ice at parties. Here for
10:38 AM 2/15/08 | UNBLOG


Tonics For The Aging Brain
Marian Conte's brain weighs 1,100 grams, according to Nintendo. "That's up from 800 grams when I started playing," jokes Conte, 52, a real-estate agent from Hamilton, N.J., who recently added the video game Big Brain Academy to her fitness regimen. Stay curious and keep learning, writing, going to talks and classes, gardening... Here for
10:38 AM 2/15/08 | UNBLOG


Transborder Tool for Immigrants
With multiple and distributed geo-spatial information systems (like Goggle Earth), GPS (Global Positioning System) and the developing Virtual Hiker Algorithm by artist Brett Stalbaum, the Transborder Tool for Immigrants is born. Here for
10:38 AM 2/15/08 | UNBLOG


The Impossible Art of Deciphering Manuscripts
Robert Frost's handwriting, like the man himself, was cramped and crabbed. But with care, it can be read... Robert Frost is hardly the first to give editors trouble. Here for
10:38 AM 2/15/08 | UNBLOG


Plink Jet
Plink Jet is a robotic musical instrument made from scavenged ink jet printers. The mechanical parts of four printers are diverted from their original function, re-contextualizing the relatively high-tech mechanisms of this typically banal appliance into a ludic musical performance. Here for
10:38 AM 2/15/08 | UNBLOG


Acousmaflore: Music Reactive Plants
The image of a fairy-tale landscape where plants welcome visitors with sounds and songs is a recurring element in literature, particularly in poetry. It's a fascination that has seduced the art world, too, where, melting with technologies, has encouraged the birth of a new genre: nature-themed interactive audio-installations. Here for
10:38 AM 2/15/08 | UNBLOG


Breaking The News - Be a News Jockey
Just tell us a headline or your favorite words and we'll create a modifiable streaming news-station for you. "Breaking The News: Be a News Jockey" is an interactive installation, transmitting in realtime information from the internet. The user becomes a live performer, a News-Jockey. Here for
10:38 AM 2/15/08 | UNBLOG


ISaidIf
SaidIf is a work in the very tradition of Lia, the famous Viennese artist developing abstract interactive art from a decade now on the web and other digital digital supports. Here for
10:38 AM 2/15/08 | UNBLOG


Sonic Wargame
In a quadrophonic arena, the battle for audibility is raging. While the referee keeps an ear out, musical gladiators engage in contrapuntal combat using a wide variety of electro-acoustic weaponry. Here for
10:38 AM 2/15/08 | UNBLOG


Not My Worst Nightmare: Rambo 2008
Perhaps it is the profound void created by the missing virile man in popular culture that has prompted the recent resurgence of testosterone filled heroes. Here for
10:38 AM 2/15/08 | UNBLOG


Hifi death
The death of high fidelity. In the age of MP3s, sound quality is worse than ever. It's gotta be loud, loud, loud... Over the past decade and a half, a revolution in recording technology has changed the way albums are produced, mixed and mastered-- almost always for the worse. Here for
9:21 AM 1/15/08 | UNBLOG


Mailer, Paley, Vonnegut: same era, different voices
American fiction lost three of its most warmly admired figures this year, all dead at the age of 84 after long careers. Critics love the idea of literary generations, but it would be a challenge to find themes or ideas to link the disparate work of Norman Mailer, Grace Paley and Kurt Vonnegut. Here for
9:21 AM 1/15/08 | UNBLOG


Slowdown Week: January 13, 19, 2008
Using a hybrid car for your two-hour commute to work, or eating organic food during your 20-minute lunch break isn't enough. In order to negotiate the ecological problems facing our planet, we need to slow down our way of life. The frenetic pace of the modern world is a hindrance to the kind of deep cultural change we need to ensure a healthy future. Slow Down Week is a great opportunity to take it easy and adopt a new perspective. Check out the video animation at adbusters.org:
9:21 AM 1/15/08 | UNBLOG


Ms Fix-It
The home-improvement industry has always been a no-woman's land known for its drab aisles lined with nail bins and mysterious steel objects whose purpose was understood only by grunting guys in flannel shirts. Now it is going designer pink. Women are becoming the new fix-it guys, with DIY tools replacing stylish totes as the latest female life-style accessories... Here for
9:21 AM 1/15/08 | UNBLOG


Sperm Font
"A type face base on the elements of human spermatozoa. Maybe once your designer friends get over their Helvetica crush, they will see the bizarre beauty of Typosperma.." Here for
1:13 AM 1/12/08 | UNBLOG


Honey, Smog Shrunk the Kids
As if we need more compelling reasons to clean up the air. A new study finds that exposure to air pollution significantly reduces the size of human fetuses. Ten years of research by scientists from the Queensland University of Technology in Australia and the Environmental Protection Agency in the US compared 15,000 ultrasound scans, and correlated fetus size with air pollution levels. Here for
1:13 AM 1/12/08 | UNBLOG


Mixed Realities
Mixed Reality is the merging of real and virtual worlds to produce new environments where physical and digital objects can co-exist and interact in real-time. Mixed Realities is an exhibition and symposium that explores the convergence-through cyberspace-of real and synthetic places made possible by computers and networks. Here for
1:13 AM 1/12/08 | UNBLOG


Exogenesis
Mind Children and Cultured Images in Battlestar Galactica: In "The Work of Art in the Age of Biocybernetic Reproduction," W.J.T. Mitchell claims that we live in an era where biocybernetic technologies such as cloning, genetic engineering, and artificial intelligence have actually made possible the uncanny fantasy of "the double" come to life. At the same time, we are dominated by another form of reproductive technology: visual media and the mass reproduction of images. Here for
1:13 AM 1/12/08 | UNBLOG


The $1.4 Trillion Question
The Chinese are subsidizing the American way of life. Are we playing them for suckers—or are they playing us? Here for
1:13 AM 1/12/08 | UNBLOG


The Five Coolest Hacks of 2007
Hackers are creative folk, for sure. But some researchers are more imaginative and crafty than others. We're talking the kind of guys who aren't content with finding the next bug in Windows or a Cisco router. Instead, they go after the everyday things we take for granted even more than our PCs -- our cars, our wireless connections, and (gulp) the electronic financial trading systems that record our stock purchases and other online transactions. Here for
2:11 AM 1/10/08 | UNBLOG


Top 25 Science Stories of 2007
The past year has been both tempestuous and exciting—from pet food, E. coli and toy poisoning scares to political fireworks over embryonic stem cell research to forest fires ravaging California. A controversial Nobel scientist (James Watson) went down in a blaze of infamy, tumbling from grace after putting his foot in his mouth one time too many, whereas a former vice president and defeated presidential candidate (Al Gore) rose from the ashes to become a Nobel Peace prize (and Oscar) winner for raising awareness on the urgency of global warming. The honor came on the heels of official worldwide recognition that climate change is not only a pressing problem, but one that was almost completely caused by humans—and one, too, that humans must fix. Here for
2:11 AM 1/10/08 | UNBLOG


AP Critics Choose Year's Best Films
It's never happened in all the time we've been doing this: Associated Press reviewers David Germain and Christy Lemire agree on the year's best film. Here's how the rest shake out... Starting with the Coen brothers' "No Country for Old Men" Here for
2:11 AM 1/10/08 | UNBLOG


Christmas Disaster Generator
Sadly, X-mas is often a time of drama, expense, sorrow, exhaustion, weight gain, drunken violence, dead pets, fake hugs, celebrating profits and oh yes, getting presents. So save yourself the time andf effort and use the Christmas Disaster Generator instead to create new ways to screw up your holiday season. Here for Jason Nelson's
2:20 AM 12/26/07 | UNBLOG


Happy Holiday Animated Balls
Here is something seasonal found with which to sink your holiday sweet tooth into. From Dan Zen. Here to view full screen swf file of and here to read the
2:20 AM 12/26/07 | UNBLOG


David Byrne's Survival Strategies for Emerging Artists
The fact that Radiohead debuted its latest album online and Madonna defected from Warner Bros. to Live Nation, a concert promoter, is held to signal the end of the music business as we know it. Actually, these are just two examples of how musicians are increasingly able to work outside of the traditional label relationship. There is no one single way of doing business these days. There are, in fact, six viable models by my count. That variety is good for artists; it gives them more ways to get paid and make a living. And it's good for audiences, too, who will have more-- and more interesting-- music to listen to. Let's step back and get some perspective. Here for
1:23 AM 12/22/07 | UNBLOG


The Minimalist's 101 Simple Appetizers in 20 Minutes
You want good food at a holiday cocktail party and you want to impress people? You don't want a caterer, you refuse to heat up frozen food, and you want to show that your expertise extends beyond buying perfectly ripe hunks of cheese and juicy olives? Then think about doing some cooking. Here is a collection of party foods that are as easy to eat as they are to make. Each can be produced in 20 minutes or less. Many can be served at room temperature. And none require a plate. Here for
1:23 AM 12/22/07 | UNBLOG


Wiki's List of Unusual Deaths
In 458 B.C., an eagle clutching a tortoise mistook "a bald head for a stone" and dropped its catch on the shiny cranium-- which, unfortunately, topped the body of the Greek playwright Aeschylus. Thus did the great bird bring to a close the life of the legendary philosopher-scribe. But what an ending! This tale and others like it may, just may, "be apocryphal." But that doesn't diminish the enjoyment to be found in reading through Wikipedia's list of outlandish historical deaths (or the rumors thereof). From burial by book to drowning by wine, the famous fatalities recounted here are sure to amaze you. We all know Isadora Duncan departed this life thanks to her overreaching scarf, but how many culturally literate folk know of Frank Hayes, the jockey who suffered a heart attack, but still won the race? Or that Henry I loved lampreys that much? Read, enjoy, and keep an eye out for large birds of prey toting reptiles and winging overhead. Here for
1:23 AM 12/22/07 | UNBLOG


Disinfo's 10 Other Missing Tapes
10. The Zapruder film director's cut
9. The extended edition of Dune
8. Early Doctor Who episodes from the 1960s BBC vaults
7. Alex Burns's Terence McKenna interview
6. Area 51 "black ops" footage
5. The Missing Tapes from Austin, TX
4. Apollo 11 moonwalk tapes
3. Guantanamo Bay interrogation tapes
2. The Doors live bootlegs
1. The Nixon-Kissinger conversations in the White House
1:23 AM 12/22/07 | UNBLOG


The Last Book: Open call for collaborations
(A Project by Luis Camnitzer, sponsored by the National Library of Spain) The Last Book is a project to compile written as well as visual statements in which the authors may leave a legacy for future generations. The premise of the project is that book-based culture is coming to an end. On one hand, new technologies have introduced cultural mutations by transferring information to television and the Internet. On the other, there has been an increasing deterioration in the educational systems (as much in the First World as on the periphery) and a proliferation of religious and anti-intellectual fundamentalisms. The Last Book will serve as a time-capsule and leave a document and testament of our time, as well as a stimulus for a possible reactivation of culture in case of disappearance by negligence, catastrophe or conflagration. Contributions to this project will be limited to one page and may be e-mailed to lastbook.madrid@gmail.com or mailed to Luis Camnitzer, 124 Susquehanna Ave., Great Neck NY 11021, USA. In case of submission of originals, these will not be returned. The book will be exhibited as an installation at the entrance of the Museum of the National Library of Spain in Madrid at some point of 2008. Pages will be added during the duration of the project, with the intention of an eventual publication of an abridged version selected by Luis Camnitzer, curator of the project. The tentative deadline is March 31, 2008.
1:23 AM 12/22/07 | UNBLOG


Top 20 Viral Videos of 2007
Viral videos are hard to resist: forwarding one is like telling a friend a great joke without worrying that you'll mess up the punchline. Plus, they're only a few minutes long, so you're not really wasting time, right? Luckily, that is not for us to decide. We've combed the web for the most conversation-worthy videos of the year. (If you're at work, you may want to stop reading now.) They star, among others, a toddler who loves the word "bitch," a vagina-obsessed TV host and a pair of hand-holding otters. Here for Nerve.com's
7:14 AM 12/20/07 | UNBLOG








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