connecting*the*dots

From MetaEfficient:

This skyscraper, to be built in Dubai, is called the Burj al-Taqa (’Energy Tower’), and it will produce 100% of its own power. The tower will have a huge (197 foot diameter) wind turbine on its roof, and arrays of solar cells that will total 161,459 square feet in size. Additional energy is provided by an island of solar panels, which drifts in the sea within viewing distance of the tower.

[…]

The Crimson Permanent Assurance, indeed, but younger… and willing to work with their masters while sailing the high seas… and a happy ending?

Arrr!!!

(shot by taoruspoli)

Founded in 2000, The Los Angeles Filmmakers’ Cooperative is a mobile production company based out of a fully equipped school bus. Loaded with digital HD video cameras, 3 editing stations, a portable library, a screening room, and room to sleep 5, the LAFCO bus has seen countless adventures in the United States and beyond, producing dozens of music videos, documentaries, and narrative films.

Click To Play

LAFCO’s clients include Sony Music, Big Imagination Group, JVC, dead prez, The Outlawz, Talib Kweli, Yellowcard, and several others. LAFCO was awarded the Best Editing prize at the prestigious Ann Arbor Film Festival for work on their first feature film, Camjackers.

Can you say dream gig?

Chris Anderson and Will Hearst talking shop in May of 2006:

Publisher, Will Hearst, on the evolution of journalism:

[..] In the era of 20 years ago, there was a notion of a professional journalist — I’m not saying let’s race back to that era — what I’m saying is that notion is utterly gone. And what we are seeing as so-called professional journalism is really freelance material, shot in Baghdad, shipped to New York, somebody voice-overs it and that’s supposed to be “live news.”

And we’re covering Israel out of London and we’re covering Nairobi out of Tokyo, you know, we’re kidding ourselves. So in a way, I think the cure is not to go backwards, but to go forwards and to label that stuff and get more of that material and do away with this pseudo-professional news, which it really isn’t.

I mean if we’re gonna have “citizen journalism,” then let’s have it. […]

I completely appreciate the sentiment, but Will Hearst knows better than anybody that isn’t going to occur through the existing mainstream channels.

Mainstream news outlets — television and newspaper alike — are busy attempting to figure out how to keep the best parts of their old revenue model in place while leveraging the independent voices of the information age.

While the conglomerates look for new ways to count the same beans, innovative distribution models with decentralized reporting have already taken hold.

This shouldn’t be the cornerstone of the conversation, though. Even without an organized effort to distribute decentralized reporting, there are already 30 million active blogs in play around the world.

The news is becoming hyper-local and hyper-topical without the steady hand of industry drivers to guide it; traditional journalism is going the way of the stock broker.

Now traditional ethics? Well, that’s another story entirely…

And to think that I knew Jay when he was a non-drinking, two-car driving, mall-shopping, 25 year-old happy go lucky curmudgeon.

Now he’s a supa-star.

Matt and Jay built Futureme just after we all split from Billsville in 2000. In 2005, Forbes built their Email Time Capsule and pimped their “original” idea to the world, receiving a bunch of of great press. That corporate spotlight was corrected on sites like BoingBoing when me and a bunch of other folk gave props to the originators.

Now Futureme, the book, is about to be released and after Jay got dissed by NPR last year, it looks like he’s on point for an upcoming LA Times Sunday magazine interview. Niche celebrity status is on.

Bust out those shades, dog.

Ndesanjo Macha, the Central Unit Director for the Boys and Girls Club of Greensboro, pinged me about this earlier in the week:

Later today, The Central Unit is having a grand opening of the first recording studio for kids in Greensboro. The event will involve performances by club members, local artists, NC A&T university step team (Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity) and modeling group (Verge), etc.

The studio is for kids to learn news skills in digital technologies (sound engineering, recording, etc.). Their aim is to teach them how to be good producers of information and knowledge (since they are already very good consumers!)

(studio under construction)

Time: 6-8pm, February 23
Location: 840 Neal Street, Greensboro
Ticket: $3 (adults), $2 (kids - non-members of the B&G club).
Contact: 235-5236 (cell) or 274-1509 (o).

More photos of the studio in progress and their blog.