Bright Eyes Light the Way

Artificial Luminescent Eyelashes - Nadya Lev @ Coilhouse


In probably my favorite posting of the day I present to you some cyberpunk fashion tech via the lovely women of Coilhouse. Ms. Lev notes the socio-political implications of the design in South Korean society as the push for biggers eyes through plastic surgery also pushed artist Soomi Park to create a design that does the very same while turning the strange 'big eye' fetish back on itself. Politics aside, I love it. This is the sort of tech I'd love to see take off in the States by the more fringe hipster crowd. Cyberpunk fashion mixed with hipster fashion could be quite interesting.

Obama in New Hampshire

Rallying For Obama - Ezra Klein

The renewed attention on Obama's pure campaign speech isn't surprising. What is surprising is the change in tone as Sen. Obama's win in Iowa has made what seemed like a laughable pitch for change and unity has proven a winning formula, at least for Iowa. Ezra admits his criticism has foundered a touch as Sen. Obama "speaks much more concretely" on his approach to politics and politicking. Ezra also points to
Sen. Obama's use of young volunteers as examples of how he acted as a community organizer holds a dual purpose. By lauding the actions of youth, Obama endears himself with the youth vote. Additionally, by talking about the process of community organizing itself Obama indirectly educates the audience on how to join, organize and vote in a primary. It's a subtle but clever stroke for pulling new voters into the Obama pool. This renewed attention for the next few days will, I believe, prove immensely beneficial to Obama's potential win in New Hampshire. Once this kind of wave gets rolling it becomes very hard to stop and only through some serious anti-Obama politicking from the Clinton campaign can stop it. But those sorts of actions can cut both ways by presenting Sen. Clinton in as much a negative light as Sen. Obama. This horse race just got very interesting.

Obama's Iowa Speech

Obama's Gift - Ezra Klein
Obama's Speech - Matt Yglesias
Believe It - Andrew Sullivan

While watching Sen. Obama's speech in Iowa tonight I realized I was experiencing the same feeling I do when I see a great band live playing to expectations. It's not the feeling of disappointment, but of aural satisfaction, knowing that you are witnessing something amazing even though you were never in surprise or doubt of that. Sen. Obama's speech was lyrical, rhythmic and spot-on. No hesitation or doubt in his voice, no moments of collecting his thoughts and no meandering bits. He was presidential (well, except for the moment when he gave thanks to his wife and then gave her a look that said, "I'm going to plow you so hard tonight"). His message was both directed at New Hampshire and the wider national campaign. He hit his policy points quickly and effectively without belaboring anything. Finally, his thanks to the precinct captains and other supporters who did the heavy foot work was a stroke of brilliance, calling upon his own experience and reinforcing it with the words 'calloused hands' that make you recognize he knows what he speaks of. It was a great speech and will play well when broken into sound bites. How New Hampshire shakes out for Sen. Edwards and Clinton is the key to what happens next. I can easily image an Obama/Edwards ticket if they both place the same in New Hampshire. As soon as Sen. Obama's speech hits YouTube I'll post it.

And here it is:

The Iowa Caucus

Iowa Democratic Party Caucus Results
The image and link are provided to you via Andrew Sullivan

I think Sen. Obama's victory in Iowa is an amazingly good thing in its own right, but with the possibility of Sen. Edwards edging out Sen. Clinton is even more astounding. The 'air of inevitability' that has surrounded Sen. Clinton is going away but a third place finish with do away with any hint of that so-called 'inevitability'. Sen. Obama now has the momentum needed to bounce into New Hampshire and continue on into South Carolina. I haven't forgotten, in all of the talk of hope and change in the Obama campaign, that the senator is still a politician, but he is the politician I would be proud of voting for. As for the Democratic party as a whole, Sen. Obama's win is a great thing as it pushes the establishment back on its heels and severely damages the 'netroots' belief that they can make or break candidates. It also means that there are Democrats who want something new more than they want revenge against the Bush administration and the rest of the Republican party. This is history in the making, perhaps the revolution being televised. It is the first sign that the American public want a change more than more of the same. I like it.

A Graphic Space

MySpace Visualized - Andrew Sullivan

I'd have to say that Felix Heinen is a genius with graphic design work. What he's done here is take the basic information of a social network (MySpace in this case) and created two navigable flash images of his data. I'm awash in information but it does visually make some sense. I'm not going to delve in too deeply though, I'm saving my brain for the zombies.

Apps, SDKs and Apple's Open Sauce

So I received an iPod Touch as a Christmas gift this year. I've played with it for about a week now and while I do love having a truly mobile web browser I do have to complain about the lack of apps for it and Apple's attempt to prevent me from using a different browser, say Firefox for example. I don't want to go through some messy process of unlocking it each time Apple releases a firmware update nor do I want to let my device lag in its abilities by refusing to update the firmware. I understand Apple's corporate position in wanting to keep users using Safari but it Apple wants to avoid looking like a small-time Microsoft then opening up its software just a little is necessary. The browser wars are over and locking users into only one option when it comes to browser software is what got Microsoft in trouble in the first place. So that's my pet peeve about an otherwise great device.

Perfect Gifts and Invisible Cities

It's been a week since Christmas so I think I can actually say something about my gifts without sounding like an ass. Actually, it's one gift in particular that has my interest. She'll probably never top it as my sister got me the greatest gift ever: a Viewmaster with slide cards made by Vladimir of images taken from Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities. Perhaps my favorite book, Invisible Cities continues to enchant and even educate me to this day. What the artist Vladimir has done is render the images of the cities in surreal and sublime 3-d slides. Her Vladmaster and slides will probably become one of those things I look at to pitch my mind out of itself for a while when it gets too messy and full. I adore it, I adore the artist and I adore my sister for finding such a perfect gift.

Falling Down on the Job

Poor Poor blog, I've ignored you all year so far.

All Your Hard Drives Are Belonging to Us

RIAA Now Filing Suits Against Consumers Who Rip CDs - Slashdot

Thank you RIAA for raising the bar on blatantly fucking stupid court cases. I raise a glass to you guys. I mean, really, I didn't think you could do it.