May 2007 Archives

We want your soul

We want your soul video

by Adam Freeland

Show us Your Habits, Your Facts, Your Fears
Give us your address, your shoe size, your years
your digits, your plans, your number, your eyes
your skedule, your desktop, your details, your life.
Show us your children, your photos, your home.
Here, take credit, take insurance, take a loan.
Get a job, get a pension, get a haircut, get a suit.
Play the lottery, play football, play the field, score some toot

We want your Soul x5
(in background...Your Cash, Your House, Your Phone, Your Life, Your Cash, Your House, Your Life)

Here's programmes, here's matters, here's Britney, here's Cola
Here's pizza, here's TV, here's some rock and some rolla
Watch commercials, more commercials, watch Jerry, not Oprah
Buy a better life from the comfort of your sofa
Here's popcorn, here's magazines, here's milkshake, here's blue jeans
here's padded bras, here's long cars, here's football shirts, here's baseball caps
here's live talk shows, here's video games, here's cola lite, here's Timberlake
here's fingertips, here's colegen, here's all night bars, here's plastic

We want your soul x5
(In the background...Your Cash, Your House, Your Phone, Your Life, Your Cash, Your House, Your Life)
(Break)


Your cellphone, your wallet, your time, your ideas
No barcode, no party, no iodine, no beers
your bankcard, your license, your thoughts, your fears
no simcard, no disco, no photo, not here
your blood, your sweat, your passions, your regrets
your office, your timeoff, your fashions, your sex
your tits, your pass, your face, your ass.




Optimism

Humanity is unsustainable; designed for extinction.
The only sustainable solution is the eradication of the most developed (overdeveloped?) societies of humans on this planet. Yes, that means you and me.

Since we will not make that decision and take that action, nature will do it for us.

ying yang

So, what do we do?

;)




Chessbot

IBM's Deep Blue beat Kasparov 10 years ago. I remember it clearly.

Apparently, today the average PC has more processing power than DB had, which is simultaneously surprising and not. I mean, we're used to hearing stuff like "the Americans sent a man to the moon with the computing power of a pocket calculator", but this is somehow "closer". Then again, ten years is a long time ago... or so it seems.

Anyways, best part of this interview with one of the developers of Deep Blue, Murray Campbell comes after being asked how's human intellect doing in the supercomputer-versus-humans battle (with a grain of salt: chess can be reduced to math is all any of this has proven but anyways):

WN: So we can live in harmony? Campbell: Absolutely. Very nicely.

Check mate, Dave. ;)




Télépatexto

I just sent an empty text message ("SMS") to someone.

It happened because I was thinking the message as I went though the process of creating new message, adding contact...

and send. woops.

désolé Izo.




Kyoto Jazz Massive

Shuya Okino of Kyoto Jazz Massive is playing Montreal tomorrow night:

Shuya Okino of Kyoto Jazz Massive fame as he embarks on a North American tour supporting his latest United Legends EP. This stop in montreal is going down at Acadamy with support from Moonstarr and guests on the decks. Expect to dance to the sounds of dancefloor jazz, broken beat and deep house vibes. Starts at 10pm. Admission is $8.

Some tracks to sample.

It blows my mind they've booked Academy, which is a tango-or-salsa-or-whatever school by day... seems to be a rash of piss-poor bookings of world-class acts around here lately... Hello! Joakim at Main Hall?! WTF?

Anyways, for a good time... go. :)




Off to Paris

running out the door on my way to Paris for XTech 2007. Lots of good friends, great people and new folks to meet!

eh oui! ciao.




How Sarkozy won

With apologies to all my french friends. ;)

French version of "Who wants to be a millionaire".
What gravitates around Earth? a) the moon b) the sun c) Mars d) Venus
He goes to the pubic vote, which comes back 42% the moon and 56% for the sun!
Now, either they are stupid, or they are real jerks who really want to see this guy humiliated thoroughly. ;)

How no one in the audience flipped out, I don't know.




The whole world is watching

Sometime in the last 24 hours, Bangladeshi blogger and journalist Tasneem Khalil was arrested by "the Joint Forces". He's the CNN and Human Rights Watch representative in Bangladesh and had recently been covering extra-judicial killings these Joint Forces have been involved in.

Nasty.

Bangladeshi press and media apparently stood still. The Bangladeshi blogosphere however, erupted. From an email I just received:

While the Bangladeshi press kept mum (probably because of self censorship and the timing of publications) the Bangladeshi blogs broke the news within a couple of hours of the incident. Because of widespread amplifications we could get this heard to media, some US congressmen (through Diaspora bloggers) and pressuring the Bangladesh Government. Emails, blog posts demanding release of Tasneem were flying everywhere. Many Bloggers at a Bangla blogging platform suspended regular postings and declared that they will only write about Tasneem Khalil. A South Asian group Blog Pickled Politics was mobilizing a demonstration outside the Bangladesh embassy in London and an e-petition to UK Government. Some bloggers were knocking media sources like BBC through personal contact, why they were not picking up the story, which they did eventually.

Google Blog search gives 191 results at the moment.

The above email however came to announce that Tasneem had been released. It trumpeted the victory of engaged bloggers against forces of oppression.

A comment left by Jason Paz on the GlobalVoices post on the story put it in a way that nailed part of what we hope to do, right on the head:

It is of the utmost importance that we ordinary bloggers speak out against the injustice done Tasneem Khalil.
Each of us may only have a small readership, but the effect can be worldwide having an impact on Bangladeshi officials.
Oppressors thrive picking off individuals in the darkness of night.
We want them to know the whole world is watching.
We want their kids to confront them over breakfast. "Daddy, did you do this?"




Pecha Kucha Night Montréal

 Pecha Kucha Montreal

James and I are putting on Pecha Kucha Night Montreal at the S.A.T. on June 14th. Doors open at 7:30 and attendance is free.