tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951101Tue, 10 Mar 2009 19:09:21 +0000ATTENTION AND ITS DEFICITShttp://www.distraction-economy.com/noreply@blogger.com (dr_k)Blogger531125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951101.post-1957057240089910813Wed, 31 Oct 2007 17:00:00 +00002009-03-10T12:09:21.973-07:00thoughtthinking about what to say and show for liz losh's panel discussion on blogs at UCI today, I decided to pull together a few of the major reasons that led to the end of this blog, distraction economy. (add to this list that I thought I'd blog this list before going into the lecture hall, and then tech glitches prevented that and I got to the panel late...) I look forward to a podcast of this panelhttp://www.distraction-economy.com/2007/10/top-10-reasons-i-dont-blog-anymore.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (dr_k)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951101.post-7478744940874142173Sun, 14 Oct 2007 20:50:00 +00002007-10-18T09:15:37.059-07:00machinimamobilepolarthoughtaudioecongaming... or why I don't blog anymore: it's certainly not for lack of material. there is plenty of gadgeteering, travel, and opining to keep me going on here... e.g.: a couple months in africa (including a stint on CNBC), a visit to mr jalopy's garage (see here, here, here, and here, and now here), plus norway, berlin, berkeley... and on top of it all, some of my obsessions (economics of new media, http://www.distraction-economy.com/2007/10/extending-hiatus.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (dr_k)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951101.post-5695791584706647732Mon, 02 Jul 2007 06:06:00 +00002007-10-14T14:18:18.958-07:00thoughtthis blog was great fun for the past years, but I'm travelling all summer for work, and I really should focus more on writing for academic publications. thus no more blogging until further notice... for while the idea of blogging from africa certainly has its appeal, I'm going to focus on things other than daily net access across the digital divide.http://www.distraction-economy.com/2007/07/blog-sabbatical.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (dr_k)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951101.post-5504182886498129223Sat, 30 Jun 2007 17:04:00 +00002007-07-08T22:05:35.146-07:00mobilethoughtThe formerly unglamorous shipping container is making appearances in a number of spots these days: in art galleries, in cultural history books and papers, and even in arts and humanities conferences. This weekend, a story about container leasing company Seaspan suggests three reasons to bet on this trend: as a China play, since Seaspan one of the largest container-ship leasing outfits serving http://www.distraction-economy.com/2007/07/containerization.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (dr_k)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951101.post-1516416687869381231Sat, 30 Jun 2007 01:14:00 +00002007-06-29T18:20:39.173-07:00audioeconbarron's has an interesting interview with greg maffei of liberty media on their plans - but I can't stop obsessing over gadgets I covet, like the upgraded power supply for my squeezebox from welborne labs or a DAC from channel island audio...http://www.distraction-economy.com/2007/06/liberty-media-interview.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (dr_k)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951101.post-1191848336293945059Fri, 29 Jun 2007 05:14:00 +00002007-06-28T22:20:17.780-07:00thoughtaudioJust now realized that U Penn's center for programs in contemporary writing features some truly surprising phoneme wangling - such as Kenneth Goldsmith singing Derrida and, of course, a number of other theorists (Adorno, Barthes, Baudrillard, Freud, Jameson, Wittgenstein...)http://www.distraction-economy.com/2007/06/kenny-g-sings-derrida.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (dr_k)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951101.post-4557541613359311489Thu, 28 Jun 2007 01:52:00 +00002007-07-02T10:02:44.067-07:00mobileecongamingWHAT'S UP: BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion Ltd. is expected to announce quarterly results tomorrow that come in ahead of expectations. And Bloomberg reports that Nintendo's market cap is about to surpass Sony at 6.57 trillion yen, roughly $53 billion, compared to 6.48 trillion for Sony. Nintendo's Wii game console outsold Sony's PlayStation3 by 5-to-1 in Japan in May; it beat Sony also in thehttp://www.distraction-economy.com/2007/06/media-biz.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (dr_k)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951101.post-8204301537420329671Tue, 26 Jun 2007 14:51:00 +00002007-06-27T19:04:44.777-07:00machinimamachinima will be a big part of 4 nearby shows in the coming weeks:- Anime Expo in Long Beach, 29th June to July 2nd- Sims 2 @ Otis College of Art and Design, LA, July 14th to August 11th- Comic Con in San Diego from July 25th to 29th- BlizzCon 2007, Anaheim Convention Center, August 3rd to 4thhttp://www.distraction-economy.com/2007/06/so-cal-machinations.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (dr_k)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951101.post-6742915106339062878Mon, 25 Jun 2007 08:01:00 +00002007-06-24T23:01:25.046-07:00machinimagamingThis should prove interesting: an entire company devoted to your machinimations. Matt Kelland of ShortFuze emailed me about his new machinima solution, called moviestorm, with an expanding range of add-on packs. They're now ready for you to join their beta testers.http://www.distraction-economy.com/2007/06/shortfuze.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (dr_k)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951101.post-4559813333422973161Mon, 25 Jun 2007 03:24:00 +00002007-07-08T22:07:19.767-07:00mobilethoughtaudiosome things I haven't blogged in the past week: four sumptuous BBQ meals - in the high desert, at newport beach harbor, in suburbia by the pool, in downtown los angeles - my wife's face in a photograph on page 26 of the latest art forum right in the front row - my iMod and the challenge from a colleague to see if his cowon iAudio sounds better - a friend's university shutting down its humanities http://www.distraction-economy.com/2007/06/things-i-havent-blogged.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (dr_k)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951101.post-4540861242283806520Sat, 23 Jun 2007 04:06:00 +00002008-11-23T21:10:11.167-08:00thoughtGoogle warned that they might disable Gmail in Germany should the German government insist on a newly passed law on record-keeping and supervision of internet traffic. This is not a privacy issue - it's a cost issue for Google. Will be interesting to see whether they can pressure a sovereign state into changing a law so as not to lose their business.Anyone who has to ask "what's a google and how http://www.distraction-economy.com/2007/06/whats-google-how-do-i-make-it-go-away.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (dr_k)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951101.post-4326818756199167881Tue, 19 Jun 2007 04:34:00 +00002007-06-18T21:55:14.587-07:00machinimaAs I gear up to teach my machinima class once again at UCI, it's nice to see that other places now offer similar courses, such as Kansas University who like us bought an island in Second Life to shoot in virtual reality. Will be interesting to see how they manage their island.So, the week in machinima: WoW fans meet CSI fans in this convergence bash. Other WoW machinima seems to get more popular http://www.distraction-economy.com/2007/06/week-in-machinima.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (dr_k)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951101.post-8918829172228303905Sun, 17 Jun 2007 16:44:00 +00002007-06-18T20:45:34.772-07:00cryptohttp://www.distraction-economy.com/2007/06/irresistible-jest.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (dr_k)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951101.post-1738083453954459761Sat, 16 Jun 2007 14:50:00 +00002007-06-16T07:51:45.255-07:00gaminghttp://www.distraction-economy.com/2007/06/chiptune-nerds.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (dr_k)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951101.post-8839326728244277597Fri, 15 Jun 2007 17:22:00 +00002007-06-15T11:20:51.300-07:00thoughthttp://www.distraction-economy.com/2007/06/beloong-2-who.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (dr_k)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951101.post-433187043541423499Fri, 15 Jun 2007 04:14:00 +00002007-06-15T21:18:14.119-07:00econGame publishers Id and Electronic Arts will offer new titles for the Apple platform, including Madden 08, which ought to be good for mainstream adoption of the Mac (getting more Windows switchers) - and it's a good move, I guess, because gamers like to buy fully tricked-out machines, so it might allow Apple to capture a bit of a lucrative up-sell market.http://www.distraction-economy.com/2007/06/apple-gaming.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (dr_k)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951101.post-5293753990254890838Wed, 13 Jun 2007 16:19:00 +00002007-06-15T21:22:03.469-07:00machinimaNow you can order the new feature-length Australian machinima project Stolen Life on DVD, and catch 8 Bit Weapon on tour. - And my summer class is online at last.http://www.distraction-economy.com/2007/06/machinima-course.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (dr_k)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951101.post-1751785781479257924Tue, 12 Jun 2007 11:38:00 +00002007-06-15T11:22:43.861-07:00gamingTake Two Interactive posted a bigger than expected loss per share for the quarter on lower year-over-year revenues, and said it expects to cut costs $25 million as well as 200 jobs by the end of next fiscal year. Profit forecasts for the publisher of "Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion" and the "Grand Theft Auto" franchise were getting progressively worse. Yet playing earnings is not just a matter of http://www.distraction-economy.com/2007/06/take-another-two.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (dr_k)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951101.post-7024356978734354138Mon, 11 Jun 2007 15:27:00 +00002007-06-11T08:31:53.821-07:00machinimaLocal machinima champ Ian Beckman is moving his new WoW series from Uncle Toms Cabin to its own site, Azerothian Supervillains. Meanwhile, don't forget to check out his Nintendo entry, Wii 9000.http://www.distraction-economy.com/2007/06/wii-9000.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (dr_k)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951101.post-7662469778649852900Sun, 10 Jun 2007 03:43:00 +00002007-06-18T21:34:02.256-07:00thoughthttp://www.distraction-economy.com/2007/06/halte-tu-serres-trop-fort.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (dr_k)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951101.post-2614445382430492722Fri, 08 Jun 2007 16:51:00 +00002007-06-08T10:00:18.207-07:00thoughtSun confirmed that its open-source file system, ZFS, will replace Journaled HFS+ to become the default for Mac OS X (for comments see techmeme). Rumors of Apple's interest in ZFS began in April 2006, when an OpenSolaris mailing list revealed that Apple had contacted Sun regarding porting ZFS to OS 10. The file system later began making appearances in Leopard builds.http://www.distraction-economy.com/2007/06/spookulations.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (dr_k)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951101.post-5931121660580410894Thu, 07 Jun 2007 18:03:00 +00002008-03-06T15:00:19.789-08:00thoughtThe podcast of Cory Doctorow's talk to my class at UCI is now up online (mp3).http://www.distraction-economy.com/2007/06/doctorow-podcast.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (dr_k)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951101.post-7449115236702643430Wed, 06 Jun 2007 19:39:00 +00002007-06-06T12:54:07.834-07:00thoughtToday, Cory Doctorow is visiting my class at UCI on new technologies. He will give a version of his talk at Google on trade policy and copyright. He calls it "Happy Meal Toys versus Copyright: How America Chose Hollywood and Wal-Mart--and why it's doomed us, and how we might survive anyway." His guest lecture is jointly sponsored by Film & Media Studies and HumaniTech at UC Irvine. Cory Doctorow http://www.distraction-economy.com/2007/06/cory-doctorow-talk.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (dr_k)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951101.post-5974891898064008368Tue, 05 Jun 2007 21:12:00 +00002007-06-05T14:19:48.800-07:00machinimagamingAs Information Week reports, marketing firm Picture Production Company launched an area in Second Life on Friday devoted to promoting the Bruce Willis vehicle "Live Free Or Die Hard" for 20th Century Fox - a kind of 3D press kit. It's not the first time they got together to promote a movie in Second Life; they also built an area to promote the movie "300" to those sneezers who spread viral http://www.distraction-economy.com/2007/06/2l-sneezers-podcast.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (dr_k)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951101.post-9199626149389273839Mon, 04 Jun 2007 17:26:00 +00002007-06-04T10:31:57.540-07:00cryptoThe Skype Developer Blog proposes using Skype to tunnel other TCP services over the network. The benefit would obviously be a secure connection established without having to configure any firewalls or NAT boxes, and without even having to have a static IP address or a dynamic DNS address for the remote computer. Since all Skype traffic is encrypted, an admin would have no way to know what was http://www.distraction-economy.com/2007/06/skypetunnel.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (dr_k)