In his book The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference Malcom Gladwell notes that one of the key factors important in creating a movement (in our language that =art) is the Power of the The Few. Over and over products, people, actions, and movements move from obscurity to popularity, from low parrticipation to celebrity status as a result of the actions of a few key players. He calls these people…CONNECTORS. … [Read more...]
Making the Logitech Harmony 620 remote work with a Mac
November 16, 2008 By Leave a Comment
I was buying a couple of items at my local Costco yesterday and saw the Logitech Harmony 620 sitting in a display for $99. I had been wanting a decent all-in-one remote that would help me integrate my primary entertainment set up down in my basement. The equipment is a bit dated but works very well, the only problem being the plethora of remotes that I need in order to make it all work properly. What looked interesting about this particular device was that it had a USB connector on it and … [Read more...]
Thoughts On Paradigm Shifts, Collaboration, Community, Tribes, and Open Source Art
November 13, 2008 By 3 Comments
Yesterday I received my preview copy of Seth Godin’s new book Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us in it he addresses a growing movement that I have been mentioning in previous posts when referring to social media. The subject of community and tribes and the role they can play in cultural growth and eventual paradigm shifts is something I have been chewing on for several decades, going back to my days in city planning. The power of the book stirred up memories, of the ‘60s and … [Read more...]
Invite Beauty To Remind Us Of Hope
November 10, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Ah, my last outdoor show — last weekend, in Peoria, IL –and it was actually quite good, considering… and I had to do a lot of grounding to keep myself from panicking — one of the things I did was write this piece – … [Read more...]
iShowU HD – capture that video easily
November 10, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Have you ever wanted to capture video that you see online? Say for example you want to capture a highlight play on NFL.COM—which has some very high quality video clips online—integrating the results into your own video. I was looking for just such a solution the other day and found iShowU HD, a nice little application that can capture virtually any video you can view on your Mac, including Flash based videos from YouTube, etc. Using the application is pretty straightforward - just set the … [Read more...]
PRACTICAL HDRI: High Dynamic Range Imaging For Photographers
November 5, 2008 By 2 Comments
Jack Howard should be a familiar name to many of you photographers as he is the Editor of PopPhoto.com/Popular Photography & Imaging where he tests and reviews cameras, lenses, software and a multitude of camera gadgets. HDRI photography (high dynamic range photography) is a growing phenomenon of interest in the photography field. Simply put, it is a method by which the photographer produces an image that has more dynamic range than that which is possible with normal film or … [Read more...]
How to lose an AirPort Express in under a minute
October 30, 2008 By Leave a Comment
A couple of friends mentioned the Apple Airport Express to me and it sounded compelling; a super compact 802.11n Wi-Fi base station that could not only serve as a wireless USB print server but could also be used to play my iTunes music on my stereo.I have long wanted a clean solution for accessing my iTunes collection from my stereo without a big hassle and this sounded perfect. I bought one on Amazon.com for $96 and used my Amazon Prime account to get it here in two days.The AirPort Express … [Read more...]
iWork! I swear!
October 29, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Okay, so I am a bit of a software snob. I can’t help it. I come from the “right before computers were cool” generation. My first experience with a computer was looking up the Dewey Decimal system on the library computer in High School. Then after flirting with a few PCs in the public lab while writing a few last minute papers for English Lit I moved on to my first Mac in the art lab. After that, there was only one true love in my life. The Apple! … [Read more...]
Quick tip – save your MacBook’s hard drive
October 25, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Recently I've gotten a couple of e-mails from folks that have had problems with hard drive failures in their MacBooks. While hard drive failures are a fact of life with nearly any computer it can be exacerbated in laptops and portable machines where the risk of drops while the drive is spinning is significantly higher.One of the features I really love about my MacBooks (both my original MacBook and my MacBook Pro) is how reliable the sleep function is; close the lid and the MacBook's screen goes … [Read more...]
Profile: Jim8ball
October 24, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Jim8Ball is such a prolific author we couldn't decide which of his work we liked best. Don't miss the slideshow after the questionaire- it has a story preview for his "Samurai Cat" series and covers to many of his other books. ::: Artist(s) Name::: Jim8ball ::: Title of Work(s)::: Samurai Cat ::: Publisher::: (self-published?) I self publish as Eight Ball Graphics ::: Website::: http://www.jim8ball.blogspot.com/ ::: Q ::: Tell us about … [Read more...]
Time Capsule creates a challenge
October 23, 2008 By Leave a Comment
I was thinking something was not right with my wife's MacBook. It wasn't because she was complaining about anything; to the contrary over the last week she didn't say anything about the machine. It was quiet. Too quiet.Last night while I was sitting down watching TV with Allison she finally let it out:"That new Mac is really slow. My Windows machine was faster."Wonderful I said to myself, let me see what's up. I grabbed her white MacBook and saw by the dock bar that she didn't have anything … [Read more...]
