Fashion crazy - I guess I don't get it...

It is freezing cold outside and I need a new pair of winter boots. Well this girl looks so warm I think I’ll buy a pair of Uggs. I could never understand advertisements like this one. The girl is clearly really hot and the boots cost about 400$ so they must be really hot too, but why the need for no clothes? Aren’t they winter boots? This advertisement is or at least should be aimed towards women since they are the ones buying the shoes. I would much rather see her in a nice pair of long johns and a sweater sporting what it looks like an outfit I might be wearing with the boots.

Is practically out these days? To be in touch with high fashion women either have to be completely uncomfortable or naked? This is a very nice shot, beautiful actually yet I am suppose to be wanting to buy the bathing suit to wear to the beach. I would have to walk around trying not to move a muscle in fear of breaking my bathing suit and being naked. But oh, I guess then I would be in high fashion wouldn’t I?

On the runway fashion tends to be a bit extreme. I have always wondered if these designers actually sell the outrageous outfits they produce and who buys them? They are more works of art then anything else but why don't we call them works of art? I found this last image and I questioned how she even walked down the runway in her outfit.

http://images.china.cn/images1/200711/411849.jpg

Is this what women will be wearing in 2050?

Garbage as art

In our modern society almost anything to someone is a form of art. What I find the most interesting is when people are able to take garbage and turn it into something beautiful. It isn’t really a form of remediation since garbage really isn’t media unless it is clearly brand names displayed. Yet to use something old and turn it into something new is.

In this first photo the picture is a random sculpture from a pile of old junk but in the shadow is a silhouette of two people sitting.

While this is an independent project the use of this type of artistry is becoming very common. Justin Gignac is 25 years old and sells garbage for a living. He graduated form the school of Visual Arts in New York city. He goes around New York picking up trash and making into sell able pieces of artwork. Mostly he puts his garbage into clear boxes which he calls “cubes” and over 700 of them can be found in 41 states and 19 countries around the world. Each cube is sealed and will never smell or even leak so there is no worry about the aroma getting into your household.

Check out his site for more information on him.

http://www.nycgarbage.com/home.html

There are even people out there who don't just turn their garbage into art but actually turn their garbage can into art. I think this is a great idea because what once was an ugly plan garbage can is now in it's own category of something beautiful. And you know what, it might just make people want to litter less.

On the same general theme of garbage even clothing can be made from garbage and or garbage bags. This also proves that it doesn't matter what you were it is how you wear it. These woman are gorgoues probably sucessful women and they are willing to put on plastic for the shake of art. I would too if I could look that good.

I find this new creative from of art very inspiring. I guess the saying is true, "One person's trash is another one's treasure."

Make love not Warcraft

The World Of Warcraft

One of the most popular computer games on the market is called the World of Warcraft, known to people who play it as WoW. You buy the game and install it into your computer. Then you have the chance to create your own character with it’s own name and job and identity in the game. You can control and purchase clothing and weapons and make this character as real as you would like it to be. Then you pay 17 dollars a month to play with millions of people online. They have actually created a world inside the game. The size of the “playing field” if it were to be real would be the size of Switzerland. Sometimes it takes days for characters to run to different places in the world. People are able to buy and trade things, talk and join groups together. As any other game there is an aspect of the need to complete challenges and tasks to achieve higher levels. Fulfilling these missions gives the player a great sense of accomplishment because of the time and effort put into them.

The reason why this game is so influential is to some people it becomes a serious addiction and all other aspects of their real life disappear and the game becomes who they are. In this video (no need to watch the whole thing because it is very long) two people actually get married in the game. I do not know if in person they got married as well. This is very common, it is also common for boyfriends and girlfriends to be so addicted they will sit in the same room as each other on two different computers and play the game and talk to each other not in person but through the game.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6724632215622439110

This I worry will ruin relationships for some. Also that the character played online may come out through the person playing the game. It is fine to play games on the computer, this is not my point. My point is that it is overwhelming to hear that someone could get so caught up in there World of Warcraft that they forget about their World on Earth. The need for fantasy is understandable to humans, but when it takes over reality this is when we have an issue. This is not just speculation. I have actually encountered an ex-relationship where the person would inhibit characteristic from his character and use it in his day to day life. Not sleeping or eating, just playing the game for hours upon hours upon hours. To see such a great person be so taken by a computer game hurts the soul. I am not trying to judge a person’s lifestyle because of what they decided to play I just hope people start realizing the repressions and come back to society.

Whenever you have a little bit of time (and I hope the website works because sometimes it goes on the Fritz) but watch the episode of South Park called “Make love not Warcraft” and you will understand the obsession people develop with this game.

http://allabout-sp.net/?p=season10/1008

A must watch!!

Unveiling the genius of multi-touch interface design

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/65

I was absolutely blown away by Jeff Han’s design of the multi-touch interface. I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen for one second and truly wish he would have explained and show every application he could think of. This new technology could improve the fields of so many different industries. Using this tool could also make things faster and easier. The lava lamp application which he started his presentation off with completely won me over right away. I started thinking about the options and uses of what this application does. Using both hands to sculpt an object in the world of an artist would decrease time and cost of supplies. Using this you would be able to create and market your work to see if people are interested in the project. Then after the artist could proceed to make it out of whatever material they choose. This is also a great idea because is a mistake is made the corrections are effortless and time isn’t spent wasted on redoing the whole project. I would also play with my lava lamp when I have nothing else to do.

I think the application that would be the best marketing technique would be the photo application. Moving around photos quickly and easily, typing captions right on them and increasing size and decreasing it would make some jobs so much simpler. Imagine yourself working for a magazine company and needing to make an organized presentation, yet you have papers and photos everywhere and you are disorganized and frustrated. Now imagine you had this multi-touch interface and in minutes you are arranging all your pictures, controlling sizes and making a well designed presentation. There could also be a simple photo shop application added to the interface and the ability to take a model’s shot and airbrush and thin her out is right at your finger tips. Also for newspapers as well to simply insert text into a series of photos with any fuss would be ideal.

Jeff spoke about a technology perhaps coming in the future about a keyboard that follows you. He says “Interfaces should be conforming to us”. I think this is a very interesting idea. While I don’t know if I would ever need this option the fact that it one day may be available is outstanding. The fact that the keyboard can pop up when you need it too is an interesting tool and also adds to the aspect of saving space on a desk.

Lasting Jeff’s 3D map of the world was so real I could hardly believe my eyes. NASA has already been using something like this for tracking. The best part if the fact that it is 3 dimensional and you can angle what you’re looking at to see what kind of terrain you are looking at. It was so clear and colour coded so you could possibly know weather conditions, whether it is farmable or a large city.

All in all, this product is unbelievable and I am in awe that this is how far and advanced our technology has become. Bravo to Jeff and his team, and I am very looking forward to one day working with this.