Experience Design and The Design of Experience - Erik Davis

"Across the fields of art, architecture, media, music, pharmacology, even spirituality, we are moving towards the intentional and multi-dimensional stimulation and production of a complex range of increasingly immediate human responses, including the direct induction of classic "altered states of consciousness." These responses extend far beyond (and below) the traditional object of communication: the conscious human subject conceived as a rational agent and a reader of meanings. In other words, as science, pharmacology, and media technology deepen their understanding of how the human nervous system joins with the ever mercurial psyche to produce a lived sense of reality, these knowledges are becoming integrated into the engines of cultural production. To put it crudely, our cultural technologies are becoming less like books and songs, and more like rollercoasters or drugs."

An Open Letter To Musicians Everywhere

Via Kuro5shin. A deftly written critique of why it's not in your best interest to pursue a record contract.

Dynamism.com - Next Generation Japanese Notebooks and Electronics

So, you want a new laptop, eh? But the models that you see from Dell, Compaq, etc. just seem so .... well, normal. You want something state of the art, something no one else has, something ..... exotic. Well, Dynamism.com specializes in importing Japanese-only hardware from the world leaders in miniaturization. If you want the bleeding edge, they'll get it for you.

Know Your Place! Shut Your Face!

Speaking of propaganda, here are some excellent remixed propaganda posters for your viewing pleasure.

Refine your skills of Propaganda Analysis.

"As generally understood, propaganda is opinion expressed for the purpose of influencing actions of individuals or groups... Propaganda thus differs fundamentally from scientific analysis. The propagandist tries to "put something across," good or bad. The scientist does not try to put anything across; he devotes his life to the discovery of new facts and principles. The propagandist seldom wants careful scrutiny and criticism; his object is to bring about a specific action. The scientist, on the other hand, is always prepared for and wants the most careful scrutiny and criticism of his facts and ideas. Science flourishes on criticism. Dangerous propaganda crumbles before it."

Alfred McLung Lee & Elizabeth Bryant Lee, The Fine Art of Propaganda, 1939.

"William Dembski, a mathematician and philosopher at Baylor University and one of ID's (Intelligent Design) chief advocates, asserts that: ' . . . any view of the sciences that leaves Christ out of the picture must be seen as fundamentally deficient.'"

But the advocates of the view of science known as Intelligent Design don't think that this means that they are creationists, and that "biological evolution is a theory in crisis, fraught with numerous plausible-sounding failures, most of which are recycled from overt creationists. It is 'only fair,' the ID case continues, to present alternatives so that children can make up their own minds. Yesterday's alternative was 'Flood geology.' Today's is 'design theory.' "

Yahoo! News - U.S. Faces Peacekeeping Criticism

More on the international side. I don't understand the logic at work here. We (the United States) are all the time going on crusades to oust the leaders that we suspect of performing atrocities. But when there is a body with more authority than us on the subject of war crimes, we no longer want to play the game. I mean after all, if we're not planning on committing any war crimes, why should we be fearing the possibility of an organization that prosecutes war crimes?

Pravda.RU Bolivia: Interference in elections by USA

a quote:
"The US Ambassador to Bolivia has told the Bolivian people not to vote for the indigenous Indian candidate for the Movement for Socialism (MAS), Evo Morales Ayma. If he is elected next Sunday, the USA will suspend economic aid and will review its agreements. "

This is the kind of foriegn policy nonsense that's gotten us into as much international trouble as we're in today. I've got to worry about things like terrorist attacks during our nation's 4th of July festivities, and NOBODY'S LEARNED THE LESSON YET!

THE SECRET LIVES OF NUMBERS

This is a pretty cool little java applet that will show you the relative popularity of any integer number from 0 to 100,000. Complete with histogram to show the larger scale patters... notice the band across the range of 1900-1999 for instance. Note that 1 is the most popular integer.

Yahoo! News - Dog Runs for Office in Florida

On the local front, Florida once again demonstrates it's political savvy.