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| Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 | | 2:33 pm |
>Fashion
Travel to Rome killed my train of thought, but the point was... I am pleased by the idea of a shift in the uses and buying habits surrounding clothing to a situation where people own only a few "outfits" which are customizable in their appearance and function. These products would be expensive, perhaps ~$1000 upon the shift to mass adoption. Durable, waterproof, thermally insulating, power-generating things with chameleon-like customizability and built-in computers. Feasible? More a matter of time than likelihood I think. Might be one of those 50 years time-scale things though. | | Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 | | 5:37 am |
Fashion!
Anyway, I had a thought that we might see the end of the third facet of fashion one day by empowering the other two. In other words, by offering an increased range of functionality and methods of self-expression (not just buying someone else's), people might have enough motivation to purchase items solely for those qualities. I imagine this will take some serious applications of technology, and will require acceptance of a new paradigm, but the potential is there. Clothing is the most straightforward case. As it stands, clothing only functions as insulation and sometimes as storage space (pockets). One possibility that has been prodded at over the years is the potential for power-generation: either through kinetics (generates power as you move) or solar power (photovoltaics applied to surface). I don't think these have been developed much yet, and adoption remains low, but I think many people would be very interested in having portable power now that portable electronics are ubiquitous. The dead cellphone when you need it most is enough of a reason. From what I've read, developments in solar cells are now allowing printability and flexibility, which would be necessary for any reasonable clothing mainstay. If these could operate sufficiently well under things like streetlamps, then it might be sufficient to just use solar. Otherwise, kinetic power generation will work any time of day, and might be the dependable choice. Another option that I haven't heard anything about is thermoelectric clothing. This seems a reasonable avenue of attack, since the body is a pretty stable heat reservoir, and this source would be completely dependable (short of death!) Cont... | | Monday, November 2nd, 2009 | | 11:32 am |
Fashion?
Wandering around London and Paris, noting the amount of space devoted to selling designer personal effects, has made me consider the concept of fashion. Why do we engage in it? Does it benefit us as a society? How might it evolve? The primary goals behind buying clothing/accessories seem to be: function, aesthetics, social differentiation. By the first I mean things like insulation, shade, keeping time, increasing bodily comfort, etc. With aesthetics I'm talking about things that are simply pleasing to the eye. And lastly, we may seek things that give others information about our social class/groupings. This is what I understand to be "fashion". These things are often correlated, but this is not generally true. The first two goals make perfect sense to me, but it is the last that I think doesn't serve us. When I say this, I am coming from a perspective where we are given the option of caring about fashion. The crucial question to me is: does our support and subsequent expenditure of effort on fashion make our lives better than they could be if we didn't care? One argument I'd like to make is that fashion is tied to conformity. This may seem backwards, but to clarify, I mean that it measures people's ability to identify what it is they should conform to. The leading edge of fashion may itself involve creativity and individual expression, but the social phenomenon is more or less a critique and subsequent adoption/rejection of these creations. So, why are we interested in who is better able to conform? (Or have the resources to mimic this talent) There is the issue of social grouping, which arguably serves a role. If you are looking to find people of a certain mind, fashion helps transmit your identification passively. Fashion is certainly not the only avenue for this, and a lot of the useful grouping is done orthogonally to the type of fashion I am arguing against. The stores dotting the rich metropolitan areas do not tend to serve many of the groups that use clothing as identification. Cont... | | Tuesday, October 20th, 2009 | | 12:42 pm |
| | Monday, August 24th, 2009 | | 5:56 am |
| | Saturday, August 15th, 2009 | | 7:43 am |
| | Monday, August 10th, 2009 | | 6:39 am |
Just too much stuff...
to not post something. I haven't yet fully accepted that my school years are over. There is so much more to do, I can't be stuck in one place. So I've accepted that I will delay the inevitable for as long as I can, by running around without a home or source of income (besides the occasional nude photoshoot). Right now I am in Japan, I was in China, and I will likely be in California, Minnesota, France, Italy, and England within the year. China...it would be so easy to just crash there for a while. I was staying at a great hostel for around $8 a night, while food was about $6 a day. The language was coming to me rapdily--having figured out the pronunciation rules ahead of time helped. I made some local friends from day one, poked around Shanghai with them. It also seems like I would have no trouble with romance. There were some downsides, health and safety standards don't appear to be very high. And the fucking internet censorship. All told, I could see going again for a month or two. Japan has been awesome, again. Like before, I am amazed at the hospitality and goodwill. I ask someone a simple question about which train to get on, and 2 minutes later 6 people are huddling together to solve my problem. Sometimes it is too much! Other things that are too much: attracting the romantic interest of a 17-year-old friend of the girl who spent a year abroad and stayed with my parents in Minnesota. Anyway, I have a nice deal going now at one of the campuses for the University of Tokyo: I've been put up in a guest house for 3 weeks, paid for by the institute with which I'm applying for a postdoc. In two days I'll give a seminar at the main campus. Also, my second paper is being worked on, within a week or two of publication maybe. It seems there might be some further work, for another paper, that might ensue as well. This whole time I've been on vacation I have been able to meet people very easily, which I'm proud of. Coming from a completely introverted youth through high school, I feel like I've finally matured socially. There are at least 10 people who I've already exchanged multiple e-mails with since meeting them, not to mention the failed contacts, or people I just spent time talking to for a few hours. Buying baked goods from convenience stores in Japan is an adventure. You really don't know what the fuck will be inside. I tried to buy a plain roll, and it turned out to be already cut, honeyed, and buttered. Going for what I thought might be custard was one time some dark, semi-sweet bean paste and another time...egg and mayo. But they have all been tasty! So I read this book called Accelerando, by Charles Stross, which should be read by anyone who thinks about the technological future much. Not that I think it is particularly accurate, but just pretty damn cool. One of the main characters is a guy who doesn't hold down a steady job, but goes around thinking up revolutionary ideas and gets by on goodwill from everyone those ideas help. This is assisted by the existence of a global reputation system, kinda like Facebook or similar could be in a few decades. He's my new hero. Also, there are tons of interesting ideas in the book, things like Matrioshka brains and what you can do with consciousness uploading. This book filled me with such a feeling of...future awe, imagining the possibilities. Been reading everything from my Kindle, by the way. Love the digital age, though I imagine more could be done with the hardware here. So an interesting question is, how much "device" are we willing to keep on our person at a given time? The minimum seems a smart phone, which now can encapsulate: voice calls, playing music, taking pictures and video, GPS, internet browsing, and some etc. I guess I could see the Kindle becoming obsolete when fold-up, organic displays are cheap and reliable. Just pipe books to one of those from your smartphone. | | Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 | | 3:19 pm |
| | Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 | | 4:15 pm |
| | Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 | | 2:23 am |
Dissertated
I've turned in my more-or-less final dissertation to the reading committee. That felt good, especially since I still made it to Bay-to-Breakers. Preparing my defense talk seems trivial at this point, a matter of appropriately diluting the relevant portions of my thesis into slides. I'll rest even easier when that's all done as well. | | Thursday, March 26th, 2009 | | 4:46 pm |
A Degree of Excitation
Believe it or not, thinking about starting my dissertation makes me excited (in a good way)! I generally hate writing--this will be by far my largest written work to date--and there will be a lot of supporting busywork required as well--which we all hate--but trumping these terms is a motivation to get my PhD and go on to new things. My summer plans are looking great, I'm hoping to add more travel plans for Fall, and then after that I can see what the postdoctoral situation looks like. I submitted my application for PhD today, and am currently looking at May 25th for my defense; just waiting for the third committee member to verify their availability. I figure Monday is a good day for a defense and it lets me finish ahead of ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) spoonless by a day :) | | Tuesday, February 24th, 2009 | | 2:00 am |
| | Saturday, January 3rd, 2009 | | 2:08 am |
Obama
With inauguration looming, I'll share what I feel is my source of optimism for Barack: pragmatism. Ideals are easy to come by, but the ability and desire to see and make progress along the path towards betterment seem difficult for people--certainly politicians. More than any other political figure I've witnessed, Barack appears to have the pragmatism which gives him vision of the individual steps needed to achieve his goals and the will to take those steps. That said, Barack, DON'T BE FAKE! | | Friday, December 26th, 2008 | | 1:47 am |
| | Wednesday, November 12th, 2008 | | 2:11 am |
Odorprinting
It turns out our natural smell is unique. The picture with the article tempered my excitement... Pretty soon our doors are going to have noses instead of keyholes. | | Wednesday, October 29th, 2008 | | 2:20 am |
Proposition 7
I went as far as perusing the actual text of the amended Solar and Clean Energy Act, and I still have no fucking idea what is going on here. Ballotpedia seems a good source. Interestingly, both the Republican and Democratic parties of California support the no vote. Not that this necessarily means anything. I wish it were easier to know what sources to trust. Anyways, anyone have thoughts or clarifications on this? | | Thursday, October 9th, 2008 | | 5:08 pm |
Well well
Today I went to a reading and discussion of some translated works of Daniil Kharms. That might seem strange for me, and it is, but let's move onward. The editor and translator, Matvei Yankelevich, was there doing the reading and leading the discussion. He has roots in New York. By chance, Gogol Bordello was brought up, and it turns out Matvei knows Eugene Hutz, the frontman. He said he hasn't seen him much recently because Eugene is so busy with his new star status. The world is collapsing! :) | | Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 | | 3:55 pm |
Gogol Bordello
Wow, I saw them on Sunday at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival and I have to say it was my favorite live performance yet, certainly for a completely new group. Since then, I grabbed their breakout album off of iTunes and have been listening to it whenever I get the chance. The gypsy punk revolution has moved me! I must thank spoonless and luxvalence for laying groundwork namedropping, so I recognized them on the billing! Here's a link to a music video of theirs: Start Wearing Purple Current Music: Gogol Bordello - Mishto! | | Saturday, September 20th, 2008 | | 8:39 pm |
My Ancestral Castle
I returned to the castle inhabited by my Swiss lineage today. It could use a bit of tidying up--there's a reason why it's called the "Ruins of Farnsburg Castle". Nevertheless, it still has some structure remaining from which I snapped a few good shots of my fiefdom. I also levied some sausage, beer, and conversation from the castle guests having a picnic on a rubble wall. After all I have experienced in Zurich, I feel considerably more internationally inclined. Encountering new customs and traditions, learning new languages, meeting people with different perspectives on how to approach life, seeing new landscapes; these things give me energy. If I can manage it, I want to increase my international travel to twice a year or more. I've made new contacts based in Japan, Thailand, New Zealand, and Germany; the ideal is to meet a few contacts from each visit so I have a choice of places to go next time! | | Thursday, September 18th, 2008 | | 8:31 pm |
Quick Post
Great day today! And perhaps night... -First was a free tour of the Zurich Kunsthaus, or art museum, courtesy of a collaborator's year membership. It had a nice Impressionist section that I spent most of my time in. -Next, a stop at Spruengli, the high-end chocolatier owned by Lindt. Excellent chocolates for a not-outrageous price. I'm going back later to stock up. This was my first experience with the criollo chocolate variety, which lives up to the reputation I say. -Then a tour of Google's Zurich building. Really cool, I have never been to any of Google's locations before, but this one made me seriously consider applying. One of the main reasons I like academia is the work atmosphere, and Google seems to be the closest outsider to capturing that. Free lunch on top of it. -In a few minutes, meeting up with a 2nd order friend for dinner and a start-of-semester party. More on other Zurich later... |
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