It’s up to you, New York, New York

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Rodcorp, on Calvino, on New York as a story-machine:

“Occasionally I decide spontaneously to set totally imaginary stories in New York, a city in which I have lived only a few months in my life: who knows why, perhaps because New York is the simplest city, at least for me, the epitome of a city, an kind of prototype of a city, as far as its topography, its visual appearance, its society is concerned. Whereas Paris has huge depth, so much behind it, so many meanings.”

Calvino’s so cool. Rodcorp rocks.

» Rodcorp: If in a continuous city a traveler

Wow

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Via BoingBoing, a remark of a Judge on the Grokster p2p vs Hollywood case to one of the content-industry lawyers:

“Let me say what I think your problem is. You can use these harsh terms [“piracy,” “theft”], but you are dealing with something new, and the question is, does the statutory monopoly that Congress has given you reach out to that something new. And that’s a very debatable question. You don’t solve it by calling it ‘theft.’ You have to show why this court should extend a statutory monopoly to cover the new thing. That’s your problem. Address that if you would. And curtail the use of abusive language.”

The adventure of Link

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wheen.jpeg

Link’s awakening

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SMS = Send Mappings Sharpish

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I’m not about to turn into one of those corporate evangelist bloggers, but I have to say this is pretty cool. Nokia have announced GPS snap-on covers for their 5140 model, which has the ability to send annotated GPS waypoints as SMS. Potentially connecting SMS hackery to geowankery.

If they are cheap enough, and could reach a sufficient mass of urban explorers, this could inspire a wave of ground-up collaborative mapping efforts.

The covers even make the jock-friendly ‘active sports phone’ acquire a geek-chic, in a kind of smokey-black Borg way…

Question*

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If I buy a cartload of Pepsi in the USA, and bring all the little yellow bottletops back to Europe – will I be able to finally download some songs from the iTunes Music Store?

The T’s and C’s seem to suggest I won’t:

“7. ELIGIBILITY: You must be thirteen (13) years of age of older and a legal resident of the United States residing in the fifty (50) states or District of Columbia to be eligible to win a prize(s). Employees of the Apple Computer, Inc., Pepsi-Cola Company, its bottlers, their respective parents, subsidiaries, divisions, affiliates, distributors, suppliers, printers and advertising, promotional and judging agencies (collectively, “Sponsor and Promotion Parties”) and the immediate family members of such employees (parent, child, sibling, spouse) and/or persons living in the same household as such individuals (whether related or not) are not eligible to win. No groups, clubs or organizations can participate in this promotion on behalf of the group, club or organization.”

So how will they enforce this? Pseudo-geographical IP range stuff? Or will I have to show my passport when buying Pepsi?

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* I cannot read, write or say this word without immediately repeating it in my mind in a Beyoncé voice. That’s all.

Stigmergy

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stigmergence.jpg

The sign above these two holes in a canteen says “please dispose of food waste separately from other waste” – but does not specify which hole to use for which. That is done by the debris around one of the holes and the relative cleanliness of the other.

Stigmergy at work.

I.G.Y.

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Elizabeth has a great post on her blog (which is rapidly becoming a favourite) about the orthodoxy of ubicomp future visions:

“I love the ways our visions of the future never quite see the real changes to come: who could imagine now a world in which female military officers wear miniskirts? We’re always crucially wrong on those small details — and the larger cultural changes that create them.

But one vision of the future seems to remain constant: the idea that somehow computers will magically read our hearts and minds, then respond appropriately”

My shorthand for this sort of thing:

“There’ll be Spandex jackets – one for everyone”

Then Chris finds this neat counterpoint:

“Aaron Marcus: 12 Myths of Mobile Device User-Interface Design

Developers share many illusions and delusions about mobile-device user-interface design. In the UI development world, there are many assumptions or myths floating around about the future of mobile devices. Myths are useful in civilizations. They summarize inherited wisdom and guide us to the future. Some become obsolete, like the ones about the flat earth and the sun as the center of the universe. Let’s make sure our ideas about mobile device UI design remain fresh and useful.A 35-year veteran of user-interface design pops a few conceptual balloons and puts a few new twists on others.

Myth: Users want power and aesthetics. Features are everything.
Myth: What we really need is a Swiss army knife.
Myth: 3G is here!
Myth: Focus groups and other traditional market analysis tools are the best way to determine user needs.
Myth: If it works in Silicon Valley, it will work anywhere.
Myth: The killer app will be games, er, no, I mean, horoscopes, or
Myth: Mobile devices will essentially be phones, organizers, or combinations, with maybe music/video added on.
Myth: The industry is converging on a UI standard.
Myth: Highly usable systems are just around the corner.
Myth: One underlying operating system will dominate.
Myth: Mobile devices will be free-or nearly free.
Myth: Advanced data-oriented services are just around the corner.”

Myth systems and orthodoxies in design and strategy for technology… Hmm. Kuhn I guess talks about it in science – what about design and technology, which goes through paradigmic change far more quickly I’d assume. Any notable thought and writing on this you know of? Peter?