Kuja's Electronic Samizdat: 2005

Saturday, December 17, 2005

Thursday, September 22, 2005

Life imitates art, as the evidences abound one more time. At least it is what one might deduct over the group of consultants established by FEMA "to complement traditional intelligence-based threat projections by taking an 'out of the box' approach that is achieved by drawing on the talents of a broad range of individuals, such as best-selling authors, academics, the military, and pop musicians." Well, the fictional character Turner belonged to a group exactly likewise...

Friday, September 09, 2005

Real Fiction

In a dense singularity times, scientists should pay more attention to sci-fi writers, as they seemingly are the only ones capable of previewing to where technology are going to. Take a look at this obscure line, written by an obscure sci-fi writer from the 60's: Heading towards the mountains Drover switched the car radio to YBM*Sonic, which, in the interests of safe driving, transmits a 24-hour programme of shifting electronic patterns ("A Landscape of Shallows", Christopher Finch, Best SF Stories from New Worlds 5, edited by Michael Moorcock, Phanter Books, 1969). This dream comes true almost 40 years after, for Toyota Motor Corp. has announced that it has improved its pre-crash safety system by adding a driver-monitoring function that recognizes the orientation of the driver's face and warns of a collision. The system will be mounted on the new model of Lexus slated for launch in spring 2006. The principle is the same... Instead of a radio station that transmits anti-hypnotic beats in brain waves frequencies, a face recognition system.

Friday, April 08, 2005

American Politics Archeology

Robert Drew's Primary (1960) is an example of Americana cinema verité. The ones who are not political junkies will bash it as a great waste of time, but still it deserves some attention span. Using technologies new for the time - portable cameras and sync audio - Drew shows the critical points in 1960 Democratic primary in Wisconsin, between Senator Hubert Humphrey and Senator Kennedy (Nixon is just shadowy referred). Focusing in the urban constituencies, Kennedy anticipatedly conquers the hearth of the swing state. On the other side, Humphrey directs too much his chautauquan chanting towards the folksy people. Remarkable the scenes in which Draw capture the feet of the registered voters inside the ballots choosing the candidate for the party's nomination. Kennedy addressing a sort of Manifest Destiny is another great moment.

Thursday, February 10, 2005

Spongy Road Trip

If you can't afford the Miles and Jack Wine Tour in real life, you can try doing it through Google Maps application. Take the push-pins path and get all the add-on information in the info-popups. Probably you don't have a Chateau Cheval Blanc bottle to toast the special occasion, but you can get along with that old Piriquita though. For the braves, Los Olvidos Cafe is charging $29.00/per person (plus tax) for the SIDEWAYS Menu.

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