The Week's Links: October 27, 2012

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All the links posted on social networks this week:

  • Making the right typographic choices ➞
  • “The Power of Storytelling,” Part 2: Jacqui Banaszynski on the future of stories ➞
  • “The Power of Storytelling,” Part 1: A bunch of American storytellers go to Romania… ➞
  • Musical tweets to save an orchestra ➞
  • In Brief: 2014 Winter Olympic Games Pictograms ➞
  • A Brief Wondrous Interview with Junot Díaz ➞
  • Fact-checking at The New Yorker ➞
  • All Hallow’s Read: A Parents’ Guide to Scary Books for Young Readers ➞
  • And consider gifting a book this Halloween for All Hallow's Read ➞
  • Get a new scary audiobook by Neil Gaiman for free and his publisher makes a donation to charity, until Halloween. Go: ➞
  • Joe Queenan: My 6,128 Favorite Books- Looking at the lifelong obsession with reading. ➞
  • The Making Of Beyoncé's "I Was Here" Performance For World Humanitarian Day 2012 ➞
  • Original Creators: Tech-Thriller Author And Director Michael Crichton ➞
  • L.A. Public Library inherits treasure of maps saved from dumpster ➞
  • Why Great Ideas Get Rejected ➞
  • 5 Educational Videos you should not Miss ➞
  • David Allen on How to Fix Your Life ➞
  • 20 of Tech's Most Underrated Founders ➞
  • Designer Kitchens and the People Who Don't Cook in Them ➞
  • Steven Spielberg, Doris Kearns Goodwin & Tony Kushner talk about what it takes to wrestle an epic presidency into a film... ➞
  • Teaching Physics with a Massive Game of Mouse Trap ➞
  • Should All Students Be Forced to Learn Computer Science? ➞
  • What Makes Temple Grandin’s Brain Special? ➞
  • What Do Nic Cage, William Gibson, Doctor Who & Justin Bieber Have In Common? ◉
  • Teenage Brains Are Like Soft, Impressionable Play-Doh ➞
  • The History of Trick Or Treating Is Weirder Than You Thought ➞
  • Dolphins Sleep With Only Half Their Brain at a Time ➞
  • A chicken and egg thing ◉
  • Have You Ever Tried to Sell a Stolen Painting? ➞
  • The Smallest Nonprofits Should Have The Most Powerful Brands ➞
  • MIT Technology Review Relaunches 'Digital-First' ➞
  • 10 Essential Books for Book Nerds ➞
  • Worth a revisit: How do our favorite tech companies make money? ➞
  • Turn Your Career into a Work of Art ◉
  • The ArtReview Power 100 2012 ➞
  • Books Change How a Child's Brain Grows ➞
  • My Walletless Month: Happier, Healthier and Ready to Ditch Cash Forever ➞
  • PBS Arts: Off Book - Episode 4: Steampunk ◉
  • Rejection bolsters creativity, researchers find ➞
  • Robert Atwan, the founder of The Best American Essays series, picks the 10 best essays of the postwar period. ➞
  • Video of Samuel Beckett Directing His Absurdist Play Waiting for Godot (1985) ➞
  • Book Design at Pentagram: A Symposium, Saturday, October 27 ➞
  • An Intimate Portrait Of Innovation, Risk, And Failure Through Hipstamatic's Lens ➞
  • Responsive Comping: Obtaining Signoff with Mockups ➞
  • The Effect of Color ◉
  • Hitchcock’s Storyboards from 13 Classic Films ➞
  • Mapping The Entertainment Ecosystems of Apple, Microsoft, Google & Amazon ➞
  • Paola Antonelli on Design as the Interface Between Progress and Humanity ◉
  • World Shakespeare Festival Presents 37 Plays by the Bard in 37 Languages: Watch Them Online ➞
  • Announcing 'Source': Where Journalism and Coding Collide ➞
  • Spectacular: National Geographic Photo Contest 2012 ➞
  • Teaching Writing for the 21st Century · A great Storify collection. ➞
  • AOL May Have Invented Email's Next UI Paradigm ➞
  • Creativity Top 5: October 23, 2012 ◉
  • Training the brain to stress less ➞
  • Great Resource: Datavisualization.ch Selected Tools ➞
  • Craig Mod on Intertwingularity and the "User Experience" of Printed Publications ◉
  • Why Are Elections On Tuesdays? ➞
  • In Praise of Slow Mastery: 10 Great Achievements That Took Time ➞
  • Why College May Be Totally Free Within 10 Years ➞
  • Behind The Scenes Of Dishonored: An Interview With The Creators Of The Epic Dystopian Game ➞
  • A Collection of Printable Web Browser Sketching and Wireframe Templates ➞
  • A Real-time Dance Performance Interacting With Intricate Projection Mapping ➞
  • The New Tao of Leadership (with John Maeda) ➞
  • How To Work Better ◉
  • Disney Research Aims To Revolutionize Design By Merging Optics With 3D Printing ➞
  • Neil deGrasse Tyson Delivers the Greatest Science Sermon Ever ➞
  • The 101 Most Useful Websites on the Internet ➞
  • From the TED Blog 10 talks on making schools great ➞
  • Grin and Bear It: How to Tackle Your Tougher Tasks ➞
  • code {poems} Is An Anthology Of Thoughtful And Moving Expressions Of Programming Language ➞
  • 10 Inventions You Haven't Heard About ➞
  • What Is It About People That Are Right A Lot ◉
  • Becoming Human: The Origin of Stone Tools ➞
  • The Top Ten Human Evolution Discoveries from Ethiopia ➞
  • World Shakespeare Festival Presents 37 Plays by the Bard in 37 Languages: Watch Them Online ➞
  • PBS Arts: Off Book - Episode 3: Visual Culture Online ◉
  • How Did Dinosaurs Sleep? ➞
  • The Traumatic Birth of the Modern (and Vicious) Political Campaign ➞
  • The Anti-Skyscraper Law That Shaped Sydney, Australia ➞
  • Predictions From The Father of Science Fiction ➞
  • How the Football Field Was Designed, from Hash Marks to Goal Posts ➞

Recommended this week:

 
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Antonio Ortiz

Antonio Ortiz has always been an autodidact with an eclectic array of interests. Fascinated with technology, advertising and culture he has forged a career that combines them all. In 1991 Antonio developed one of the very first websites to market the arts. It was text based, only available to computer scientists, and increased attendance to the Rutgers Arts Center where he had truly begun his professional career. Since then Antonio has been an early adopter and innovator merging technology and marketing with his passion for art, culture and entertainment. For a more in-depth look at those passions, visit SmarterCreativity.com.

What Do Nic Cage, William Gibson, Doctor Who & Justin Bieber Have In Common?

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They are amongst some of the topics covered by the very prolific and imaginative Idea Channel from PBS. It is time to catch up once again with all the talks we've missed so far, now they've gone to a weekly schedule, and ponder the unexpected perspectives they present, starting with the most recent: ​

If you've never seen a website, you are a liar! (You're on one right now.) Consciously or not, the first thing you notice when you visit a website is how the site LOOKS, which is controlled by the CSS Stylesheet. CSS is the fashion of the web- it makes sites pretty (or very very ugly). And as our lives migrate more and more onto the world wide web, our presence online becomes a central way to define and express ourselves. So before you lay out your outfit for tomorrow, take a look at your website and make sure you match!
 
At first glance, Pop Wunderkind Justin Bieber aka "The Biebs" and revolutionary 19th Century pianist and composer Franz Liszt don't seem to have anything in common. And while they might not have any musical or biographical similarities, they both have had a powerful psychological effect on their fans. Fits of hysteria, screaming, and fainting are all common traits of "Bieber Fever" & "Lisztomania." But why? What is it that will cause a person to be so tremendously moved by a performer, a piece of art, a cityscape or even, heck, light refracting off of bits of water in the sky? Watch the episode and find out!
 
There are some deeply ingrained stereotypes about Dungeons & Dragons, and those stereotypes usually begin and end with people shouting "NERD!!!" But the reality of the D&D universe is a whole lot more complex. Rather than being an escape from reality, D&D is actually a way to enhance some important real life skillz! It's a chance to learn problem solving, visualization, interaction, organization, people management... the list could go on and on. Plus, there are some very famous non-nerds who have declared an affinity for D&D, so best stop criticizing and join in if you want to be a successful at the game of life.
 
Dr. Who is one of the longest running TV shows on the BBC, and it's got a huge fandom surrounding it, called Whovians. And while it might not seem like, Whovianism, might just be RELIGION!!!!! Whovians, like other passionate fan cultures, create art & fan fiction and engage in a strong remix and cosplay culture. But it's more than that. Dr. Who provides a philosophy; a way of understanding the universe. Fans embrace this in ways that are similar to most world religions: a positive influence that changes their approach to daily life. Also, the Tardis makes a pretty great shrine!
 
Ah, the MP3, everyone's favorite friendly musical file format. But there's something you might not know about the Mp3 - it has a lot in common with the magical spell!!!! Both spells and music were born from a freely available folk culture, but are now sold as commercial goods. There are thousands of artists and witches trying to figure out how to make a living in an age where their products can be infinitely copied. And with commercialization, the morality and legality of sharing these once open cultural products has become quite complicated. How should we, as responsible consumers, handle this new digital age? Watch the episode and find out!
 
The U.S. economy may be in the dumps, but you can find solace in the fact that your Second Life avatar is living the life of the 1%. But what if the virtual economies of video games could be transferred to the real world? We're actually already seeing this in Diablo 3, where axes, swords, and other awesome gear have taken on real world value at the Diablo 3 Auction House. People are buying and selling them with real US dollar bills!!!!!! The idea that a collection of pixels can be sold for actual money might be confusing to some, as they are neither true "objects" you can hold nor "ideas" that can be considered intellectual property. But despite the lack of tangibility, real world economies have formed around these games and real world profits are being made.
 
Good old Facebook. With 955,000,000 worldwide users, it seems like just about everyone makes use of the social media giant to connect with friends, share photos, and update everyone they've ever met since grade school about their dinner plans. But what you may not realize is that Facebook's new timeline layout is enhancing the ability to construct our self identity by super-charging our memory. Philosophers have been arguing about the link between identity and memory since John Locke first proposed the idea in the 17th Century, but human memory has always been deeply flawed and limited. Now with Facebook's incredibly easy interface and ability to remember anything and everyone we want, people have a whole new way to understand their past and thus understand themselves!
 
If you're unfamiliar, Homestuck is a webcomic created Andrew Hussie that is over 5000 PAGES so far! And it's still not complete!! It has a strong cult following, even though it presents incredible challenges to its readers; including a giant cast of characters, huge walls of text, and animated flash games that you must beat in order to continue. In its own weird way, Homestuck is a lot like James Joyce's Ulysses, where only the strongest, most dedicated readers make it through to the end. Most people don't expect such expansive and daunting works to find a home on the internet, but Homestuck has done it, illustrating that its followers' time and effort may actually enhance rather than lessen their devotion.

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The science fiction writer William Gibson has not only written some fantastic scifi novels, but in the process predicted the internet, Miku Hatsune, reality TV, and a crazy amount of other technological and societal developments that have come into being. His impressive rate of accuracy seems almost mystical. Sure, he's essentially just an entertainer, but he's got a better batting average than Nostradamus, who was actually TRYING to predict the future. We may not need oracles as much as we did in the past (what with science and all), but a look into the future can be exciting and an awesome preparation for what's to come.
 
Here on the internet, we love us some memes. But where do they come from? Yes we know, they are user generated. But to an internet layman, they seem to just appear, in HUGE quantities, ready for cultural consumption. Are they a sign of a "cultural singularity"? Memes follow rules and code, are varied, self-referential, and seem to multiply at an ever increasing rate. It may seem like science fiction, but we're close to a world where culture automatically and magically creates infinitely more culture.
 
No one would argue that Nicolas Cage is one of the greatest actors of his generation, and simultaneously a very bizarre human being. It's not just his acting ability that makes us love him, it's his total willingness to dive head first into ANY role, with no regard for the quality of the script. He seems to have mastered the trendy YOLO philosophy before it was cool. Even deeper than YOLO, he might more of a Taoist, finding harmony with the now, foregoing calculated planning and strategy. Either way, Nic Cage's wacky life choices feel sincere, attracting a massive amount of fans, some of whom even saw The Wicker Man.
 

Turn Your Career into a Work of Art→

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First, you need a foundation of knowledge and skills. You can't be Picasso if you can't handle brushes. Second, you need to use those skills to express something that is both deeply personal and that resonates with an audience.

Success in art is not just making a living, or being famous and acclaimed. Those are consequences. Success is moving and being moved. It is opening vistas. Unsettling the status quo. Peeking beneath the veil of convention.

Making art is not an artist's job. It is an artist's life. This is why it is exciting. But it also creates anxiety, and second-guessing. Putting your passion on display can be scary. How do you know what is your true passion? What if your work is ignored, derided or misunderstood?

...​ being able to turn your career into a work of art, to thrive and lead with passion in a world in flux, requires finding a space, and I mean both a psychological and social space, where what you do is tied with who you are and what people around you care about — a community where commitment feels enabling, liberating, rather than just constraining.

​

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Antonio Ortiz

Antonio Ortiz has always been an autodidact with an eclectic array of interests. Fascinated with technology, advertising and culture he has forged a career that combines them all. In 1991 Antonio developed one of the very first websites to market the arts. It was text based, only available to computer scientists, and increased attendance to the Rutgers Arts Center where he had truly begun his professional career. Since then Antonio has been an early adopter and innovator merging technology and marketing with his passion for art, culture and entertainment. For a more in-depth look at those passions, visit SmarterCreativity.com.

The Effect of Color

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Yesterday I listened to a fantastic Radiolab episode on Color that aired recently. I also watched the latest episode of PBS Off Book, which serendipitously is also about color. 

Color is one of the fundamental elements of our existence, and defines our world in such deep ways that its effects are nearly imperceptible. It intersects the worlds of art, psychology, culture, and more, creating meaning and influencing behavior every step of the way. Most fascinating are the choices we make, both subconsciously and consciously, to use color to impact each other and reflect our internal states. Whether in the micro-sense with the choice of an article of clothing, or the macro-sense where cultures on the whole embrace color trends at the scale of decades, color is a signifier of our motives and deepest feelings.

Featuring:

Thomas Bosket, Parsons the New School for Design 
Leslie Harrington, Color Association
Doty Horn, ColorVoyant LLC, Fashion Institute of Technology
Mr. GIF

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Antonio Ortiz

Antonio Ortiz has always been an autodidact with an eclectic array of interests. Fascinated with technology, advertising and culture he has forged a career that combines them all. In 1991 Antonio developed one of the very first websites to market the arts. It was text based, only available to computer scientists, and increased attendance to the Rutgers Arts Center where he had truly begun his professional career. Since then Antonio has been an early adopter and innovator merging technology and marketing with his passion for art, culture and entertainment. For a more in-depth look at those passions, visit SmarterCreativity.com.

Creativity Top 5: October 23, 2012

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​Who better to teach you CPR than zombies. The Bodyform film is just genius. 

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Antonio Ortiz

Antonio Ortiz has always been an autodidact with an eclectic array of interests. Fascinated with technology, advertising and culture he has forged a career that combines them all. In 1991 Antonio developed one of the very first websites to market the arts. It was text based, only available to computer scientists, and increased attendance to the Rutgers Arts Center where he had truly begun his professional career. Since then Antonio has been an early adopter and innovator merging technology and marketing with his passion for art, culture and entertainment. For a more in-depth look at those passions, visit SmarterCreativity.com.