I saw Amores Perros at the historic Tivoli Theatre tonight. It was intense, with the most believable acting I've ever seen. 3+ hours, and well worth it.

I just finished watching Living Edens, a nature documentary on PBS. Ultra-relaxing.

I drew up a great bitmap font last night, but I don't have the software to make it a TrueType font. Being poor sucks.

The alarm has been sounded; that is, people are saying that the weblog community is dying or dead. As a newcomer, I'm left feeling like Logan 5 in Logan's Run, piecing together the history. Internet communities have always seemed fragile to me, possibly because I've seen something similar fall: the BBS.

I started using BBS's roughly a decade ago on my first computer, a PS/1 w/ 2400 baud modem. The pre-web age.

A BBS was usually a dedicated PC and phone line in a hobbyist's basement. Users dialed in, one at a time, to access message boards, text games, and freeware. The interface was in ANSI (think ASCII art in 16 colors).

Users could be banned by their phone number, and there were few boards, so people acted responsibly. Users were all from the same area; we could meet for movies and spread the word on comic book shipments (I was only 12). By nature, BBS's were perfect for fostering communities.

Then came the Internet ... and we thought it would mean larger, better communities. We were fooled.

A Britney Spears video game is being developed for the PS2. The company promises "entertainment elements … that have never been seen before." Like, uh, a lowest common denominator plot and fake boobs?

I used my Gameboy Camera today, taking pictures of buildings and everyday objects. It's about as close to a digital camera as I'll ever get; having cost me only $10 at a local Best Buy. For $20 more, I'll soon be using a Gameboy-to-PC cable to show off my b/w lo-res artistry.

There are some neat galleries out there too, like 4shadesofgray, mono211, tapir, and dragan.

And no geektoy would be complete without a hacker's guide.

The Meta War

There exists a continual struggle to be the first to deride new trends. The latest definition of hip: to make fun of cultures not yet popular. This type of thought is found in music, art, fashion; any cultural output.

This short essay is an illustration of this trend, within itself. If you realized that before I said it, you're even one level of meta higher than I was during the last sentence; the critic-critic critic to my critic critic.

Is this escapable? Thought itself is simply the search for and application of patterns. Is Meta our natural direction? Most importantly: are there other directions?

Two indispensable films produced by former Monkee Michael Nesmith:

Repo Man (1984)
80's punk Otto (by Emilio Estivez) gets caught up in a conspiricy straight out of a B-Movie. Nonsensical plot, amazing sound engineering, and brilliant characters. Repo Man works best as a comedy, but has a gritty atmosphere.

Tapeheads (1989)
John Cusack and Tim Robbins set out to become famous music video producers. Funnier and more polished than Repo Man, Tapeheads failed at the boxoffice but isn't quite cult, either.

I laughed at this. And this.

iStockPhoto provides royalty-free photos and images for graphic designers. Good photos. This is the best idea ever.

I started learning Lingo today, using a trial copy of Director 8. Think object oriented Basic, and you've got it. Now that I know how to use it, I've lost all of my ideas; like when you go into a record shop and can't remember the releases you wanted. Drag.

Clippy, the annoying character in MS Office 2000, is being removed for Office XP. In this surprisingly fun game, the voice of Clippy is played by Gilbert Godfrey.

I recently tallied all of the ads in an issue of Wired, and it came out to 67% advertising. The rest? Business porn.

Online mags I enjoy:

Design - DesignIsKinky
Music - Pitchfork
Culture - Metamute
Literature - BornMagazine
Politics - Lumpen
Multimedia - Supersphere

Habbo Hotel is a great avatar chat program. After building an avatar, you walk around in what looks like a Lego universe, interacting with other avatars and stylish props. The Hotel is free to use, but a unique business model is in place: while private rooms are free, you've got to buy new furniture with real cash.

New in the gallery: Arco64. It is the first in [what I hope will become] a series of arcology designs.

My sister came home last night after a month in Kazahkstan. She has plenty of stories; but I was especially impressed by the 17 kg of strange candy she returned with.

I'm in a lot of pain. I have otitus externa ... which is only supposed to happen to swimmers and dogs. Now I can't work on music, so I have to work on design. I really enjoy it, but the design world feels intimidating ... I know I'm getting better all the time, but it's hard to stay motivated without the education and expensive toys.

I bought a new laptop on ebay last night: a Fujitsu i4190 for $825, brand new. It's a really, really good deal. cd-rw, 10gig, 64meg, usb, optical audio out, soundblaster, active tft, 600 mHz. It won't be here for a full month. I can't wait to smoove all the ladies with my Litestep themes.

TCUP is beautiful. Log your dreams; then traverse the collection.

This is from when I first started tracking MODs. Back then, my XI instruments had names like manimal, sine cloud, tabla blabla, and beeppak ..... no wonder the loop sounds like 7 seconds of a Takako Minekawa track.

The $5 bill in your pocket means more to a homeless man that it does to you; so in giving it up, you've instantly grown your profits.

Q: Wait, aren't I losing money without getting anything in return? Isn't he getting something for nothing?

A: Certainly, if you think in terms of individuals.

If you believe that all of our lives are interconnected, or have some relationship with the recipient, then giving is only logical: with only seconds of work, you've increased your collective wealth without really losing anything.

Japanese toy manufacturer Takara has released a line of robotic jellyfish, turtles, and ammonites. They cost about 5000¥ ($40) and swim realistically around an ordinary aquarium.

Such a beautiful yet inexpensive product could only come from Japan. American companies have already considered making a similar product, but have decided that they are too complex to be easily manufactured.

I'm done with finals.