Lumalive

From the press release:

"Eindhoven, the Netherlands -- Philips Research intends to impress the visitors at this year's IFA (Internationale Funkausstellung) with a world-first demonstration of promotional jackets and furniture featuring its innovative Lumalive technology. Lumalive textiles make it possible to create fabrics that carry dynamic advertisements, graphics and constantly changing color surfaces. The Philips stand in Hall 22 will act as a showcase for the Lumalive textile products that will be worn by Philips' hostesses and embedded into booth furniture of the Future Zone.

Although the technology has been developed only recently -- early prototypes were exhibited at IFA 2005 -- Philips Research has made immense progress in fully integrating Lumalive fabrics into garments demonstrated by the jackets worn by Philips' hostesses at the show. These first-generation jackets are ready for commercialization by companies partnering with Philips Research, particularly those in the promotional industry looking for a new, high-impact medium. Interested parties could use the technology to transform their event and enhance their visitors' experiences.

Lumalive fabrics feature flexible arrays of colored light-emitting diodes (LEDs) fully integrated into the fabric -- without compromising the softness or flexibility of the cloth. These light emitting textiles make it possible to create materials that can carry dynamic messages, graphics or multicolored surfaces. Fabrics like drapes, cushions or sofa coverings become active when they illuminate in order to enhance the observer's mood and positively influence his/her behavior.

The jackets are comfortable to wear, and the Lumalive fabrics only become obvious when they light up to display vivid colored patterns, logos, short text messages or even full color animations. The electronics, batteries and LED arrays are fully integrated and invisible to the observer and wearer. The jackets feature panels of up to 200 by 200 sq. mm, although the active sections can be scaled up to cover much larger areas such as a sofa."

[See the link for more info and a photo -- finally, some serious fun can be had with clothing. Clearly they need artists to apply the tech. - Susan]

If we are afraid, the terrorists win; if we are ignorant, the fanatics win

Great article from Kung Fu Monkey.
"There are a million factors in this New World of Terror. You weigh 'em, you process, and then you move on.

"You move on, building a better international society so that luddite fundamentalist criminal gangs/cults of personality are further and further marginalized.

"Or, if you don't understand 4th Generation Warfare at all, you move on, bombing the shit out of nation-states and handing your opponents massive PR victories. Either way, you move the fuck on."

Speaking of luddite fundamentalist idiots, it's so nice to hear something rational now and again here in the land where we argue about whether science has any merit or if instead you should believe whatever you like. Lawrence Krauss suggests the real question might be whether the ignorant and poorly educated should be in charge of schools and curricula. (nytimes):

"The chairman of the [Kansas, USA] school board ... has openly stated that he believes that God created the universe 6,500 years ago .....?

"... the age of the earth, and the universe, is no more a matter of religious faith than is the question of whether or not the earth is flat."

[Nay, indeed, it is testable. Science is fascinating and exciting, kids. Please look into it. Careers await you that can change the world for the better, really. Be both skeptical and informed.]

Roll your own Art Crimes gear

Announcing our new shirt shop!

+ Ship to USA, Canada, and Europe.

+ Print our designs, your designs (vector), or you can write some words and wear them.

+ Bulk discounts are automatic, starting at $100 in merchandise.

+ We need more "AC" and "Art Crimes" designs to put in the store.*

+ And you can open your own shop. See ours for details. It's free.


* Email yo@graffiti.org with designs you'd like us to consider (and your thoughts about the new shop, please). Final designs must be in vector format (EPS / Illustrator) in one or two colors (no fades, no tiny lines). Please send a JPG or screen capture for consideration, and if we like it, we'll send you more details. We pay royalties on the sales of your designs (50 cents each in USD).

Search logs show what people are thinking

Some AOL search records were published this week, in violation of their privacy policy. Although users' names were not released, it is obvious that many people could be identified by what they searched for.

News agencies, marketeers, voyeurs, and law enforcement can't help but want to dig around in it because it is so revealing -- like reading someone's diary, or their mind.

We are all potential victims of this kind of exposure. There is no reason to trust the search engines. They want to spy on us so they can sell us stuff, and privacy invasions like this are inevitable, because they keep the records around for some unkown amount of time.

Only one service is safe to use if you want your most private searches to stay private. scroogle.org, which anonymizes Google searching. Remember to donate some cash to keep them going now and then.

Of course, your Internet service provider can intercept anything you do online, but at least with Scroogle you're not giving up your secrets to a company run by advertising dollars, and they don't keep the search records.

More stories about the problem:

Google sees privacy threats

The Register points out the 600,000 AOL users' data were released intentionally for research purposes

"The only solution to the problem of data abuse - and it's only an inadequate, and very partial answer - is to ensure the data isn't there to abuse in the first place. If search engines were required to delete their users' queries as soon as they were made, and to leave no trace, this would greatly diminish the dangers of false inference by law enforcement officials, health companies, banks, HMOs, and anyone else seduced by the lure of a faulty algorithm."

This Firefox extension is aimed toward putting the privacy back into your Google searching: Customize Google

Bombing Beirut

Thanks to Stone.