Monthly Archives: March 2012

pkd 30 years disconnected

Posted on by March 11, 2012
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Commemorating the 30th anniversary of his death, ↑to the best of our knowledge has put online a ↑selection of audio interviews on ↑Philip K. Dick: Nobody blurred the line between his life and his literature more than the legendary science-fiction author, Philip K. Dick. And that’s only fitting since one of the major themes of his fiction is, “What is reality?” This week we take a look at the life and work of the man who’s been described as “one of the most valiant psychological explorers of the twentieth century,” as we commemorate the 30th anniversary of his death. via … Continue reading →

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huxley to orwell

Posted on by March 10, 2012
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↑Letters of note has put online the following letter (Huxley 1970: 604-605) from ↑Aldous Huxley [on the right] to ↑George Orwell [on the left]: Wrightwood. Cal. 21 October, 1949 Dear Mr. Orwell, It was very kind of you to tell your publishers to send me a copy of your book. It arrived as I was in the midst of a piece of work that required much reading and consulting of references; and since poor sight makes it necessary for me to ration my reading, I had to wait a long time before being able to embark on Nineteen Eighty-Four [Orwell … Continue reading →

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the construction of social computing

Posted on by March 7, 2012
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Just yesterday I received an e-mail from ↑Maurizio Teli [whom I know from back in 2005, when we met at the Cyberspace conference in Brno, Czech Republic] containing a call for papers for a workshop he is organizing together with ↑Vincenzo D’Andrea and ↑David Hakken. The workshop will take place at this year’s annual meeting, called ↑Design and displacement—social studies of science and technology, of the ↑Society for Social Studies of Science (4S), taking place 17 through 20 October 2012 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Here is the workshop’s full abstract: In the last few years, the label “Social Computing” (SC) has … Continue reading →

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ralph mcquarrie

Posted on by March 6, 2012
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Last Saturday ↑Ralph McQuarrie died age 82 in Berkeley, California. What ↑Syd Mead ↵is for ‘Blade Runner’ (Scott 1982), Ralph McQuarrie was for ‘Star Wars’ (Lucas 1977)—the decisive conceptual designer. McQuarrie gave us the whole look and feel of Star Wars and e.g. the now since long globally recognized iconic figures C-3PO, R2-D2, and of course Darth Vader.     As a kid I was blown away by his early sketches of these characters, and I still am today. To my eye they have a somewhat darker quality than the versions finally to be seen in the movies.     … Continue reading →

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what is embarrassing?

Posted on by March 5, 2012
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zeph’s pop culture quiz #18 Why are the two gentlemen looking a bit off-balance, what is embarrassing in the scene depicted?     Just leave a comment with your educated guess—you can ask for additional hints, too. [Leaving a comment is easy; just click the ‘Leave a comment’ at the end of the post and fill in the form. If it’s the first time you post a comment, it will be held for moderation. But I am constantly checking, and once I’ve approved a comment, your next ones won’t be held, but published immediately by the system.] UPDATE and solution … Continue reading →

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forget your past

Posted on by March 2, 2012
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Last summer photographer ↑Timothy Allen met Alexander Ivanov, a colleague of his, at a photo festival in Bulgaria: ‘Back then he showed me some pictures of what looked to me like a cross between a flying saucer and Doctor Evil’s hideout perched atop a glorious mountain range.’ This winter Timothy went there, 250km from Sofia, and took ↑glorious pictures of the Buzludzha monument, a gigantic, now abandoned and decaying monument to socialism. The pictures show the building from the outside, the inside, and even from the sky. Goes well with the ↵cosmic communist constructions photographed by Frédéric Chaubin. via ↑entry … Continue reading →

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