nevermind the bricolage

End of the Page?

here

Bloom

Part instrument, part composition, part artwork. That's Bloom, an iphone application I downloaded this week. I am not big on games and gadgets and keep my phone pretty free of clutter, but I liked the idea of Bloom. It's a product that comes from the mind of ambient master Brian Eno, which is why I checked it out in the first place. You tap the screen and the application creates an ambient soundscape. You can pick a 'mood' background, and set delays, the timing and number of taps affect the sound pattern that emerges and the application also plays with your creation if you like. It reminds me a bit of my 'Buddha machine,'  another ambient device I got from China a while back.

Starfish Webcast

My friend Spencer Burke is hosting a live webcast this coming Thursday at 6 p.m. PST, with Ori Brafman, activist, peacenik and co-author of the indie business cult classic,  Starfish and the Spider. If you haven't read the book, then you are missing out on some insight into how to realize new models of community and engagement through self-generating, multi-cell organisms. The pervasive power of these "leaderless" groups are demonstrated. It should be a lively and inspiring chat, check it out here, just click the preview button and you're in.
 

iMadness

These photos don't really capture the madness surrounding the release of the iPhone on Friday. The Santa Monica Apple store was one location for the nuttiness, hundreds of people lined up all day to be among the first to get the new gadget---the scene was quite surreal, free coffee, a captive audience for the Hare Krishnas who do their thing every week on the promenade, trash all over the place and a celebratory feel to everything with official Apple photographer taking photos and high-fiving recent purchaser's. I say none of that with any malice or judgement--if I had a few hundred dollars to spare you might have seen me in the queue--a friend did make it and yesterday I had my first hand-son encounter with the latest gizmo-du jour. It is fantastic, it feels so good, reacts intuitively and changes the way you conceptualize a cell-phone--would I buy one? Absolutely, am saving up even as we speak.

Evolution

Zoom in and look around.