Category Archives: Media Space

Politics and PBS

It’s good to have Bill Moyers back online at PBS after some pretty crude political shenanigans and yet another example of cultural conservativist hypocrisy about the “marketplace” of ideas. Nice interviews too with Josh Marshall and Jon Stewart. Moyers’ MO has always been to provide space for people to speak, a kind of media space that’s almost evaporated from conventional news’ formats.

American Life, This?

I caught Ira Glass on television last night. This American Life is an amazing radio program. I was a little leery of the visual version but was pleasantly surprised. TAL is an amazing offering. There’s nothing like it either on the radio or on television. Why, because even the modern pig farmer is trapped.

HDMI and Wire Strangle

So, we recently upgraded to a DVR. I figured why go with 5 component cables into the TV when you could just use one. I didn’t know that HDMI would force an analogue signal to 4:3 aspect and so we now have 2 HDMI cables going into the TV, on top of the 5 component, then A/V cable out to the speakers. We must also scroll through the inputs when seeking the proper signal. Does anyone have suggestions? I want less cabling not more.

TV Redux

At the moment, believe it or not, I’m watching Hawaii Five-0. I had forgotten about its stylized panorama. Drama of a different time.

Prior to play, my wife tried to turn the volume up by turning the black on/off circle on our Samsung television. She now lives in the world of the iPod. It was a great moment.

Transitions

Over the last couple of years I’ve been taking pictures of transitions. The other day, during a cold, sunny morning, I walked into the kitchen and saw light making it’s way over a corner. I ran for the camera, knowing that taking photos of light and the patterns it makes is a tough thing to keep up with. Transparency, reflection, and contrasts are important, too, but the found image doesn’t often make for a great center-point. The eye’s shape here is often out splashy but from the two photos duration can be detected.

MorningLightOP

MorningLight2

Photo Closure

After a game we usually stick around the table and play with the game goods, pieces, cards, chips, whatever. My son and I stack, arrange, and build.

DarkStack

So I decided to take some pictures of the results, a six stack pattern of Rummikub chips.

LightStack

Thirty chips where there should be thirty six. The pattern isn’t symmetrical because my son made sure he got most of the chips. Nevertheless, I thought the object strange enough to watch for a while.

TopStack

But there’s a story here too, an old story. The next photo is called “Ready.”

Ready

The next is called “SetGo.”

SetGo

Windows Vista and Dumb Machines

I don’t really want to harp on Vista but I’ve been working with it a little over the last week and am not enjoying the “easy of use.” For people unused to operating systems or basic design functionality since Windows 98, Vista will not make life easier. My first problem is with the desktop.

The Windows machine doesn’t seem to know what it wants: is it Vista or Google who’s running the show on the computer deck. In one instance, while working with desktop gadgets, I couldn’t tell whether Google gadgets or Windows gadgets were different or the same. I know the answer, but Vista apparently didn’t, which I found odd. This particular computer is for my mother-in-law. My mother-in-law hasn’t used a machine since about 2001. The question of what should be on the desktop shouldn’t be so complicated and one shouldn’t need a manual, CD, or help for this. The question for the desktop may not be light or heavy, but rather another kind of question that an OS may ask: “Are you new to this or are you pretty up on things? Let me help you get started.”

Mesa Dynamics’ converter is fine. But for a novice user, what is running on the desktop and why should be fairly straightforward. On a startup, Vista sidebar tanked and voiced an error. A computer error is a major interruption–still. I couldn’t figure out why the error occured. On the desktop, gadgets can be a major gain. Feeds can inform employees of an organization’s business and news. They provide a way for people to enter the conversation. If my students all had Vista, we could all share our forum posts and courses could be engaged from the deck.

In the future, perhaps computers will know who’s in the room. I can see this possibility clearer now. In the future, a smoke detector might figure the difference between a serious fire and a dirty oven, too.

I know what Wally would say about all this.