Underwire

Artist’s ‘Transparency Grenade’ Wants to Blow Apart Corporate Secrecy

Julian Oliver's Transparency Grenade makes a not-so-subtle comment on secrecy.

Artist Julian Oliver has put together a “transparency grenade” that lets users leak information from closed meetings by just pulling a pin.

The grenade includes a computer with a microphone and powerful wireless antenna that captures network traffic and audio in a location and anonymously streams it to an external server that mines it for information — including e-mail excerpts, web pages, images and voice. The server then uploads that data to a public website and positions it on a map.

The body is the shape of a Soviet F1 Hand Grenade, made out of the sturdy Tusk2700T resin. The metal parts are created from silver, complete with an operational trigger mechanism that begins the recording process. “I wanted it to look elegant, a bottle of high-class perfume, as much as a weapon,” said Oliver in an interview with We Make Money, Not Art.

Inside, there’s a a “Gumstix” ARM Cortex-A8 computer, Arduino Nano, LED Bargraph (for wireless signal level), 802.11 board antenna, 3.7-volt battery, 64×32 pixel LCD RGB display, 5mm cardioid microphone and an 8 GB microSD card. The computer runs a modified GNU/Linux embedded operating system.

Continue Reading “Artist’s ‘Transparency Grenade’ Wants to Blow Apart Corporate Secrecy” »

Tags: Julian Oliver, secrecy, Transparency Grenade, Wired UK

Post Comment | Comments (3) | Permalink

Video: Autolux Visualizes Arty ‘Science of Imaginary Solutions’

By Scott Thill Email Author February 17, 2012 | 4:48 pm | Categories: music, video | Edit

[ http://www.youtube.com/embed/K7j9iiR1vrQ ]

A geometric multiverse of celestial monsters and drones with ice-cream-cone erections populate the imagery of art-rock band Autolux’s latest video.

In “The Science of Imaginary Solutions” animation director Thomas McMahan and artist Kill Pixie — known to his folks as Mark Whalen — get up to some weird business. The result looks nifty, but it’s kind of hard to actually figure out what it is.

Continue Reading “Video: Autolux Visualizes Arty ‘Science of Imaginary Solutions’” »

Tags: art rock, ATP Recordings, Autolux, Kill Pixie, Thomas McMahan, Transit Transit

Post Comment | Comments (1) | Permalink

Greatest Simpsons Cameos From First 500 Episodes

By Scott Thill Email Author February 17, 2012 | 2:00 pm | Categories: animation, television | Edit

<< Previous | Next >>

Julian Assange will pop up on The Simpsons this Sunday, landing the embattled WikiLeaks leader in the historic 500th episode of an animated show known for its quirky cameos.

"We specialize in finding people who can't be found, so we thought it would be unique for the 500th episode," said The Simpsons producer Al Jean in a conference call with reporters. "We had to record him over the phone. It was a cloak-and-dagger kind of thing."

Assange's unlikely cameo is just the latest celebrity "get" for the show's bookers, who have long specialized in lining up surprising special guests. (See the cameos we've selected as our favorite Simpsons guest stars from the first 500 episodes in the video gallery above.)

How did the controversial cartoon land the controversial WikiLeaks chief? Jean said he found out from Simpsons' creator Matt Groening that Assange, whose lines were recorded months before Sunday night's benchmark episode, wanted to be on the show. The task of coordinating the cameo was left to intrepid casting director Bonita Pietila, who previously located mysterious cultural heroes like Banksy and Thomas Pynchon.

(Spoiler alert: Details about the 500th episode follow.)

The Simpsons milestone is celebrated early in "At Long Last Leave," the 500th episode that airs Sunday at 8 p.m./7 p.m. Central on Fox. The show starts with a fast-forward glimpse at every couch gag The Simpsons has ever run. Then Springfield's most notorious family is banned for its hijinks, only to settle in with a ragged bunch of off-the-grid outlanders living adjacent to a sleek WikiLeaks compound inhabited by Assange, whose password is, hilariously, "1234."

Only time will tell if Assange's topical appearance as The Simpsons' "new Flanders" beats out three-fourths of The Beatles or any of the other essential Simpsons guest stars that have graced the series since its birth on The Tracy Ullman Show 25 years ago this April.

The sheer number of Simpsons cameos over the years is astounding. How much more can we expect?

"I donâ€™t know where the end is," Jean said when asked about the show's future. "Iâ€™ve jokingly said, 'Why not 1,000? Why not 2,000?' But that sounds as preposterous to me now as 500 did [when the show started], so I really donâ€™t know."

<< Previous | Next >>

View all

Blowback:

Who’s your favorite Simpsons special guest of all time? Doh!-nate your favorite memories in the comments below.

Tags: Alan Moore, Art Spiegelman, Buzz Aldrin, Daniel Clowes, Jack Black, James Taylor, John Waters, Julian Assange, Leonard Nimoy, Neil Gaiman, Patrick McGoohan, Stephen Hawking, The Beatles, The Simpsons, Thomas Pynchon

Post Comment | Comments (16) | Permalink

To Convert or Not to Convert? 3-D Arms Race Heats Up

By Angela Watercutter Email Author February 17, 2012 | 6:30 am | Categories: movies | Edit

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (above left) tested many 3-D rigs before opting to shoot in 2-D and convert in post-production. Photo: Egon Endrenyi/Sony Pictures

When prepping to film Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor put themselves through a hellacious fact-finding mission. The daredevil directors tried out nearly every 3-D camera rig on the market, at one point becoming convinced they would need to build custom hardware, bolt by bolt, to capture the type of comic-book action they envisioned.

“We were under the impression,” Taylor told Wired, “as many people are, that [shooting in 3-D] was inherently superior to post-converting.” But after their tests, they compared what they could do with 3-D cameras to what could be accomplished with computers — and the machines won.

“Now that the software guys are getting to the point where they can do incredible work with anything you shoot, then why wouldn’t you just free up filmmakers to shoot the movie they want to?” said Taylor, whose PG-13 Ghost Rider sequel opens Friday. “The hardware guys and the software guys are sort of in a race — it’s like an arms race for 3-D.”

These days, every director working on a 3-D film must face the inevitable question of whether to shoot stereoscopically or convert in post-production. While conventional wisdom holds that filming in native 3-D produces better results, ongoing technological advances are making directors give conversion serious consideration.

Neveldine/Taylor remain unequivocal about which faction is winning the war. (“Whenever there’s a race between hardware and software, software always wins,” Taylor said.) But bringing directors around hasn’t been easy. Conversion got a bad name after critics panned Clash of the Titans‘ hurried 3-D upgrade, but with more successful conversions in films like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger, the stigma is subsiding.

Continue Reading “To Convert or Not to Convert? 3-D Arms Race Heats Up” »

Tags: 3-D, Brian Taylor, Cameron Pace Group, Gener8, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, James Cameron, Mark Neveldine, Prime Focus, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Vince Pace

Post Comment | Comments (44) | Permalink

Alamo Drafthouse Plans to Bring Its Special Sauce to San Francisco

By Lewis Wallace Email Author February 16, 2012 | 7:57 pm | Categories: movies | Edit

The Alamo Drafthouse plans to renovate the historic New Mission Theater in San Francisco.
Photo: Tim League

The Alamo Drafthouse is expanding its geek-friendly movie empire to San Francisco, where the Texas outfit plans to renovate a Mission District theater.

“We were planning on making a formal announcement of our intentions to embark on a massive historic renovation of the New Mission Theater when more of the advance legwork is done,” wrote Alamo CEO/founder Tim League on the Drafthouse blog late Thursday, “but since the news has more or less broken, I wanted to fill everyone in on some of our plans.”

League, a Bay Area native who called San Francisco his “favorite city in the world,” said the Alamo’s planned West Coast outpost would preserve the venue’s massive screen downstairs and subdivide the balconies into smaller cinemas. The operation would follow the same template that has made the Drafthouse a huge draw for cinemaphiles in Austin, Texas.

Continue Reading “Alamo Drafthouse Plans to Bring Its Special Sauce to San Francisco” »

Tags: Alamo Drafthouse, New Mission Theater, San Francisco, Tim League

Post Comment | Comments | Permalink

Dirt-Cheap iPhone Trick Captures Great Ape Close-Ups

By Hugh Hart Email Author February 16, 2012 | 6:45 pm | Categories: video | Edit

Using an ingenious “gorilla cam” made with an iPhone and a cheap mirror, a NASA engineer with a DIY streak captured captivating close-up video of primates in a zoo.

The video was made by part-time viral video prankster and full-time rocket scientist Mark B. Rober, who noticed during zoo visits that apes don’t like being hassled by humans.

“People throw food into the exhibits to see the animals react,” Rober told Wired in an e-mail interview. “This is very bad for the animals.” By contrast, Rober said, his clever setup “turned out to be a noninvasive, fun way to achieve that interaction to an even higher degree.”

It’s a dirt-cheap twist on nature videos, offering a surprisingly intimate look at animals at the Los Angeles Zoo. And Rober’s more than happy to share his secret, as seen in the video embedded above (and a separate “make a gorilla cam” how-to video).

Continue Reading “Dirt-Cheap iPhone Trick Captures Great Ape Close-Ups” »

Tags: Mark Rober, NASA, primates, viral videos, YouTube

Post Comment | Comments (6) | Permalink

See the Most Complete, Unofficial Avengers Trailer Yet

By Angela Watercutter Email Author February 16, 2012 | 3:30 pm | Categories: movies, video | Edit

[ http://www.youtube.com/embed/3ltFgwZPMMQ ]

This new The Avengers mashup is not an official trailer for the highly anticipated Marvel movie — but it’s made from official trailers! And it’s pretty much two-and-a-half minutes of ass-kicking awesomeness.

Composed of clips from the individual movies featuring members of the Earth-saving team — Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Iron Man 2 and Captain America: The First Avenger — plus bits from the recent Avengers ad that aired during the Super Bowl, the massive clip is probably the most comprehensive video compilation for the film so far.

Made by the folks at Screen Rant and Synn Studios, the mashup is essentially what those of us salivating for the superhero team-up film need to hold us over for a couple months. Oh, and the soundtrack is “Animus Vox” by The Glitch Mob, which was dope already. We’ll shut up now and let you watch.

The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon, hits theaters May 4.

[via Topless Robot]

Tags: Captain America: The First Avenger, Iron Man, Joss Whedon, mashups, The Avengers, The Glitch Mob, The Incredible Hulk, Thor

Post Comment | Comments (1) | Permalink

Watch 12 Trippy Minutes of Creepy Cult Film Sound of My Voice

By Angela Watercutter Email Author February 16, 2012 | 1:58 pm | Categories: movies, sci-fi, video | Edit

An interactive preview of Sound of My Voice gives viewers an inside look at the film's creepy cult.
Screenshot: Wired

The first 12 minutes of Sound of My Voice, released online Wednesday in a cool interactive format, will bend your mind on two levels. First, it’s a stark and mesmerizing intro to life in a cult led by a supposed time traveler. Second, it’s a trippy experience that reveals the story behind the film’s narrative.

Sound of My Voice, written and directed by Zal Batmanglij, centers on a young couple documenting a mysterious cult led by a woman named Maggie (played by Another Earth star Brit Marling, who also co-wrote the Sound of My Voice script). The pair hopes to pull back the veil on Maggie’s bizarre group, but eventually begin to question themselves and their motives.

This isn’t all explained in the first 12 minutes of Sound of My Voice, but the super-cool interactive clip makes it obvious there’s a lot to know about this intriguing film. As the video (embedded below — be sure to watch in fullscreen mode) plays, magnifying glass icons show up, directing viewers to discuss the film and “Educate Yourself.” The links lead to videos that explain various events as well as the history of the cult and its adherents.

In short, it’s a brilliant way to get people interested in the film. And it seems to be working — the clip has been viewed more than 13,500 times since it went online Wednesday.

(Spoiler alert: Minor plot points follow.)

Continue Reading “Watch 12 Trippy Minutes of Creepy Cult Film Sound of My Voice” »

Tags: Another Earth, Brit Marling, Cults, Sound of My Voice, Zal Batmanglij

Post Comment | Comments (6) | Permalink

YouTube’s Nerdy Fiddlers Strike a Chord With Geeks

By Bryan Lufkin Email Author February 16, 2012 | 6:30 am | Categories: Games, internet, music | Edit

<< Previous | Next >>

Violinist Lindsey Stirling's amazing Lord of the Rings medley follows her earlier YouTube hit based on themes from the Legend of Zelda videogame series.

<< Previous | Next >>

View all

Instead of concertos by Beethoven or Bach, fleet-fingered young violinists are finding fame with a new repertoire — awesomely geeky performances of videogame themes and other nerd classics, uploaded to YouTube and viewed by millions.

“Violin and piano are generally associated with classical music,” says the young Australian musician known on YouTube as lara6683, who has dressed up as the pink Power Ranger, Pokémon‘s Misty, Lara Croft and Sailor Moon in her video performances. “Some people consider this type of music, and these instruments, to be boring or snobby. I think using the violin to play game covers definitely makes it seem more ‘hip.’”

Turning the four-stringed orchestral staple into a tool for self-expression, these nerdy fiddlers cover fan-favorite videogame and movie music, pairing their accomplished playing with internet smarts (and, sometimes, with appropriately geeky props or high-energy performance styles ripped from rock ‘n’ roll).

Self-described “hip-hop violinist” Lindsey Stirling, for example, debuted a strikingly professional video of herself this month, in which she prances through a New Zealand pasture in a white dress while emotively jamming out to a Lord of the Rings medley. It’s not her first brush with internet fame: Stirling struck gold with gamers last November, when she channeled Link and fiddled in the forest to a collection of tunes from The Legend of Zelda series, reeling in more than a million views.

“The music of Zelda is catchy and fun, and so many from my generation grew up with it,” 25-year-old Stirling told Wired. “I was able to get a whole new audience of fans. Not only violin players, but gamers.”

With around 170,000 subscribers, the former America’s Got Talent quarterfinalist is one of a coterie of popular violinists who’ve built a beefy following of gamers, music fans and lovers of general nerdery on the net. (See some of the most successful in the video gallery above.)

Continue Reading “YouTube’s Nerdy Fiddlers Strike a Chord With Geeks” »

Tags: Lindsey Stirling

Post Comment | Comments (22) | Permalink

Brilliant Video Star App Shoots a Music Video for Any Song on Your iPhone

By Eliot Van Buskirk Email Author February 15, 2012 | 3:38 pm | Categories: music, video | Edit

So-So the cat rocks out to Notekillers' "Airport" in the Video Star app through the app's tiling effect.
Screengrab: Evolver.fm

Here is one for the “How on Earth did nobody think of this before?” files. The Video Star app for iOS facilitates the creation of homespun music videos to go along with any song on your device. To use it, you simply choose a song from your music library and start shooting. You can act along with the song, lip sync, dance, shoot video of your dog or whatever.

Crucially, you can stop shooting at any time. When you start again, the app plays the previous bit of the song before it starts recording, so you can start right up again without the audio and video falling out of sync. Doing that manually would require lots of video editing and general annoyance. This is what technology is for: to sweat the details while we humans just do what we do.

Even better, Video Star is free for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Only effects like “Crazy Party,” “Split Screen” and “Advanced Auto Stop” (for jump cuts and timed-stop motion effects) will cost you. They’re $1 each, if you decide you’re so into making music videos that you want to add some next-level touches. And plenty of effects are included for free.

Continue Reading “Brilliant Video Star App Shoots a Music Video for Any Song on Your iPhone” »

Tags: Evolver.fm, iOS, music apps, music videos, Video Star

Post Comment | Comments (3) | Permalink