Ever tired of explaining what it means to be a hacker? Sick of the way the term “hacker” is persistantly and malevolently misused in the media? Well here is a little video you can point people to that may help them glimpse our world.
A rather excellent modern song performed on some very traditional Japanese instruments by some highly skilled and respected japanese musicians.
Shamisen1: Nami Kineie [http://www.kineienami.jp]
Shamisen2: Sakurako Satoh
Koto: Nahoko Ohata [http://music.geocities.jp/mizukawatoshiya/profile1.html]
Shakuhachi1: Makoto Takei [http://www.takeimakoto.com]
Shakuhachi2: Toshiya Mizukawa [http://music.geocities.jp/mizukawatoshiya]
Drums: Keiko Tada [http://blog.livedoor.jp/tara8/]
Wow! I mean really, wow!
It is so cool to see that there is actually room in this world for someone to create such art and actually be able to sell and (hopefully) make a good living out of it.
Now, OK, I can see some negative waves heading this way for the fact that it can be disassembled to create a gun, but take a look at the guy’s other work.
I really wish I had the money…
I wonder if airport security would figure that as a threat or not.
Anyway, a most marvelous piece of interactive art.
Find out more about GarE Maxton’s work here.
Brothers Ryoichiro and Kenichi Yoshida are a two very accomplished shamisen players. Check them out in the video above and at their website here.
On the morning of April 12, 1961, the Vostok spacecraft was launched into orbit carrying the world’s first cosmonaut, Yury Gagarin, a citizen of the Soviet Union.
The quote in the title is probably not all that accurate but succinctly encapsulates that which Gagarin repeated many times, that he looked and looked for God in space but did not find him.
A remarkable man and a remarkable acheivement.
There can only be one first, and in this case Yuri gagarin was and will always be the first human in space.
A seriously impressive piece of choreography from Japanese performance group, World Order, and a superb song to boot.
After the video link are some words of hope by the song’s writer.
The unprecedented disasters unfolding in Japan; earthquakes,
tsunami, and nuclear explosions, will somehow change things to come.
And to send my message about this, I have expressed it here with WORLD
ORDER.
These disasters can be interpreted as a turning point for civilization.
I think that we have arrived at a time of revolution, shared with all
the people of the world, in today’s society, economy, and political
systems.
Incidents themselves are neutral.
I believe that every single one of us, wandering through this deep
darkness,
can overcome anything, if only we let go of our fear, and face the it
all in a positive light.
The world is not going to change. Each one of us will change.
And if we do, then yes, the world will be changed.
It is darkest right before the dawn. Let’s all rise up to welcome the
morning that will be so very bright for mankind.
WE ARE ALL ONE
Genki Sudo
Well, here we are at a new Web Hoster.
The reason for the move was the repeated infection of sites hosted by the previous hoster (Bluehost) and their refusal to admit any responsibility at all for the security of their servers.
One thing that struck me as I moved some dozen sites was how simple and quick it is to do these days. It appears that consumer pressure and technology have resulted in a slick and speedy process.
When I first changed host providers, over a decade ago now, it involved a large amount of research, an exchange of snail mail, multiple phone calls, and almost a month to complete.
This week I did everything in a couple of days, and could have managed it in a day had I not had to work and sleep.
If you have any problems with the site please let me know via an email to phyxr at phyxr dot com.
Now here is a remarkable piece of robotics.
I wonder whether we will see a future where the street corner CCTV is replaced by something like this.
Aesthetically it is very appealing. The uses it could be put to, not so much.
This appeals to me. It’s the sort of information revolution I’d like to see succeed. Have a listen to the talk below, it’s worth a few minutes of your time.
Navigating the Age of Democratized Media conference keynote from FreedomBox Foundation on Vimeo.
The FreedomBox Foundation is a Delaware non-profit founded in February 2011 to support and coordinate work on the FreedomBox project, which aims to to return control of digital communications to individuals and take it away from the corporations that spy on people as a way of life and the governments that use control over communications to stifle political organization and dissent. More information and updates can be found at http://freedomboxfoundation.org
I had an Amelie moment the other day. My bathroom was ripped out and replaced and in the process I discovered a small stash of toy cars.
A bit of research followed and I guess that they were the prized toys of a boy who lived in this house in the 1960s and so is probably in his 50′s now.
Here is a photograph of them. A red fire engine, a green breakdown truck and blue bubble car.
They must have been well played with and, as they were together, may have been put there on purpose. Who knows.
It would be nice to find the guy and let him have them back, but non of the neighbours around here were around back then.
It’s nice just to look at them in their simple primary colours and remember back to my own less complicated, less cluttered, less possession filled life when I was a child.
