Learning by doing

Project Waldo (Image by Nate Simpson)

Last fall, my roommate Hermann (who has since returned to Iceland, boooo!) sent me a link to a blog called Project Waldo, by a fellow named Nate Simpson. Nate quit his job back in January of 2009, and planned to create a storyboard for the film he'd been dreaming of making for ten years. But few months into the project, he scrapped the film and decided to create a comic book instead.

The blog has documented his progress as he has learned "how to make a comic by making a comic," and I think it's fascinating. I've often heard people say that they don't want to read work on making art - writing, making music, etc. - unless the artist is famous, or has attained some kind of recognition for their work. I think that what those people usually mean is that they don't want to hear pronouncements on how art ought to be made, unless it comes from someone they respect. But there are other ways to write about, and talk about, the process of creation, and I like to hear what it's like for other people who, like me, know that they don't have the answers, but can share their failures and successes as they try to figure out how to make their art live up to their dreams.

That's what I hope this blog will eventually be - a document of things that I've tried, strategies that worked, and snapshots of those occasions when I've fallen flat on my face.

Tally-ho!

Bio-Inspired Networks (Temporist)

My first post for futurist blog Temporist is on mathematical models that draw upon the efficiency and robustness of networks found in slime mold and leaf veins. Click for the full piece: Bio-Inspired Networks.

Brain-Machine Interface Technology, now with cute humanoid robots

Came across this posted on io9.com; Honda is testing new technology that allows humans to control machines using thoughts alone.

...and I have to say: NO, it would not be convenient for the climate control system to adjust itself based on my thoughts! Just because I'm warm, that doesn't mean that I want to use more energy and spend more money! I don't want my every impulse to be manifested in reality. I want to make the decisions.

But I do want one of those helmet/cute robot setups.