David / DTC 355 Multimedia Authoring

This cover by Al Jarreau strongly reminds me of Reggie Watts. I'd really like to know if Reggie was influenced by him. I can't see how he couldn't be. I love how Jarreau introduces the song, both verbally and musically, and I can see this as another possible influence on Reggie. On a similar note, Dutch rock band Focus released Hocus Pocus in 1970, which showcases similar verbal gymnastics.

This Axios article  talks about human rights vis-à-vis technology and artificial intelligence. "Uncanny Valley: Being Human in the Age of AI," which confronts exhibition goers with powerful images of data monetization, algorithmic bias and the loss of humanity, opens this week at the de Young Museum in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Trevor Paglen's "They Took the Faces from the Accused and the Dead" consists of hundreds of faces used to train an artificial intelligence engine, all without any of the subjects' consent. "What we are looking at here is dirty data," curator Claudia Schmuckli said.

Today I learned about Rockbox , a free firmware replacement for 'obsolete' mp3 players. You can even run Doom or Wolfenstein 3D! This is a perfect way to upcycle and repurpose these old devices you no longer use.

Today I learned about the Jefferson Bible , which Thomas Jefferson created by literally cutting and pasting (with a razor and glue) the moral teachings of the Bible. ( PDF ) From Wikipedia: The religious views of Thomas Jefferson diverged widely from the traditional Christianity of his era. Throughout his life, Jefferson was intensely interested in theology, religious studies, and morality. Jefferson was most comfortable with Deism, rational religion, and Unitarianism. Consistent with his naturalistic outlook and intent, most supernatural events are not included in Jefferson's heavily edited compilation. Even when this took some rather careful cutting with scissors or razor, Jefferson managed to maintain Jesus' role as a great moral teacher, not as a shaman or faith healer.  "I have performed this operation for my own use, by cutting verse by verse out of the printed book, and arranging the matter which is evidently his, and which is as easily distinguishable as...

Today I learned about Studio NAND , which "mak[es] data and technology inspiring and usable." Anyone Still Working Here ? examines the future world of work vis-à-vis robotics. Studio NAND investigates the relationship between humans and robots and attempts to create some understanding in humans for how robotics can improve their work, automating monotonous, precise, or dangerous tasks. The installation features the UR5 single-arm robot , which can be integrated into existing workflows. It can also work collaboratively alongside humans. Anyone Still Working Here? from Studio NAND on Vimeo .

Today I learned about using an oscilloscope to create animations from music. (O-scopes are typically used by engineers to perform diagnostics on electronics.) "The audio signal is fed directly into the oscilloscope, where vector graphics are drawn with sound," and "left/right audio channels trigger horizontal/vertical deflection of the cathode ray." If you don't have an oscilloscope, Austrian artists Hansi Raber and  Jerobeam Fenderson have created  software to turn your Mac or Linux box into one. Here's a cool one called "Shrooms": And here's an overview of the process. "You are looking at the sound you are hearing":

Time-lapse photo montage (2020) This collage is from a collection of family photos. Everyone is roughly in the same location as in the original photos, which range from the 1960s to today. The splintered radials capture the changing nature of identity over time.