OPENSOURCE LONDON

Ipod Linux and Sleep techonology

I have been thinking about the future of entertainment and I have been dipping my toe into various pools of development.

I have been messing around with my Ipod and Ipod linux. Now this is pretty awesome. It basically turns your Ipod into a Mini computer w/ 60 gig hard drive(check this out youtube). One of the best things about this is that I was able to convert my IPOD photo into a Gameboy(iBoy), NES(iNes) and video player. There is an Opensource community, hence why I am writing about it. One of the best developments and something I am fascinated by is the Encylopedia technology, currently there is a tool called encyclopodia, which essentially puts wikipedia on your ipod. yes. I know. I felt the same way. : )

Besides geeking out on my ipod. I have also been investigating the science of sleep. Sci-fi moment coming up. I have been looking at technology to enhance dreams and create lucid sleep. In my opinion Lucidity and Lucid sleeping is like taking your ipod(your brain),putting it into disk mode and uploading linux. This is not a new interest, but something I have been curious about for ages. I dip in every now an again. I mean its out there, I know, but not so crazy. There are loads of people out there developing technology to aid lucidity. Naturally I wondered what would happen if someone came up with and ipod of sleep.........its sci fi for now. But nothing bad about fantasising a little. Its safe to say that if this form of entertainment is exploited over the next decade..........well, who know...now back to planet earth!

Lack of Blog time

I haven't been able to get into bloggin since christmas...

Lots to do...lots to do....

It's alive...IT'S ALIVE!!!

So I made Opensource maga(fan)zine V1.1 - Creating this Fanzine to ideas wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I had loads of submissions and I tried to include as many as possible- Anyway I will be uploading a PDF of the mag soon so you can check it out for yourself. There should be a number of copies winging their way around the globe to people that contributed. I sent a load to the contributors asking them to give a copy to someone they think will appreciate it or would like to contribute.  I guess this is META-PHYSICAL publishing....well if you want to contribute please go to the website www.wethemedia.co.uk and if you would like to recieve a free physical copy please sign up too!

My favourite being a ramble from DS in london:

My Life In Them
They’re blank pages you know, children that is.
You open them with all the anticipation of a diary
on new years day. For a while you think carefully
about every word. Use your finest hand. Craft
every syllable into well-balanced sentences,
with the most profound of meanings. Then, suddenly,
without noticing, you haven’t paid attention to them for
weeks and when you do the writing has been reduced
to your usual scrawl, unintelligible meanderings that tend
to repeat themselves over an over again. Embarrassed
you quietly decide to leave that one until next year, when
you promise to start a fresh. Then one day you’re old and
tired, your memories like your children are trying desperately
to get away from you. If only I’d paid more attention to them
DS

THE BUBBLE PROJECT!

I love ideas; Some Ideas I really love alot. This is one of them. Ji Lee put 30,000 empty speech bubble stickers on adverts around New York. The results were photographed. Not only able to come up with great ideas but organised too! You can learn more about this interesting thing at Ji Lees website http://www.thebubbleproject.com/

Its the juxtapostioning aint it! Plus its user generated content. Witty naughty people!

More about this kind of stuff can be found at Reason magazines blog.

Funny!

I am gonna do some myself....look out for empty bubbles around London!

Opensource v1.1 @ X-Party

 

TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT

Xhibitionism is tonight remember to bring yourself and friends and of course, peace and fun. The event will be kicking off at about 7pm and will run till about 2am. Well if you are in the area and need some excitement, come and celebrate.

If you have an early start tomorrow do one of twothings;
1) Take the day off
2) Make sure your alarm clock is plugged in and also has batteries.

Let us know your X-party manifesto's at opensource magazine www.wethemedia.com.uk and also check out the X party myspace here

Innovation requires restriction - hand made!

I am about to start putting together the third issue of OPENSOURCE Magazine. I have received about 100 interesting submissions and will try to include all of them. In order to give the magazine a distinct look I make it using MSPAINT and MSwordpad, a printer and a pair of scissors. I know that their are easier ways(computer programs)I choose print everything out and make it by hand because it gives it a zine feel! The process is quite heavy going but I love watching it come together! The first two mags took a while, hence I have developed the format to make creation alot easier. Once designed I scan the pages and turn them into PDF's and get them over to the printers and turned into a magazine. Its pretty simple really. Go pixel! go to www.wethemedia.co.uk now and submit, submit, submit.

wierd logic

A) power corrupts
B) knowledge is power

Does that mean Knowledge corrupts?!

A) Absolute power, corrupts absolutely

B) Absolute power is Absolute knowledge

Does this mean that any omnipotent being must be evil and inherently corrupted

:( My head hurts now!

Grass roots promotional activity

So I have been out and about the town promoting the Magazine to everyone and anyone. Its never easy trying to get a new idea out to the wild and wonderful. Here is a digital copy of the flyer I have been giving out to people. Its pretty low key, a photocopy on hot pink neon and lime green neon. I want to keep it personal. I figure that if I make up a couple of thousand glossy card like flyers the magazine will be percieved in the wrong way. I am definately interested in making this work and like everything you do, doing it right takes a little while longer than doing it quick.  

I am basically giving this flyer to people with the question "Do you like ideas?" It has been fun so far and I have met a lot of interesting people wanting to contribute. I have received lots of submissions from the greater good in london and am excited to be over in NY next week to promote my band, the magazine and to make a video blog. Oh I forgot...Opensource is global, well nearly.

Opensource magazine is more about the people that write it than it is about me. At the moment it has about 50 active members. I read somewhere that the communities and businesses can only retain the personal touch at a critical mass of 150 people. The difference between Opensource and the traditional model is that there is no hierarchy. The relationships are flat. So essentially that means that ever person in the Opensource net is able to connect with 150 people. There is no structure of control. People can find their own limits within the scalable social architecture.                                        

Another way I have been promoting this also is to us a cool little graphic. I think its awesome and really captures the ethic of what the magazine is trying to achieve. I have been putting it about on myspace and people seem too like it. Opensource is not about being one thing or another its just about having a good time and telling us your perspective. you know hanging out with clowns, wrestlers, eskimos, racing drivers, construction workers, freaks, disco kings, penguins, people who love fancy dress, mummies, surfers, priates, people in cardboard boxes and acid house nu ravers. Thanks to everyone who has contributed so far. I have a feeling the meta-physical idea is going to be a great success, some people laugh, some people look confused. But confusion will make you SMARTER! . Looking forward to the 23rd. See you there amiga-migos.

WETHEMEDIA.CO.UK

Okay,

So the idea that started out as an online collaborative writing project for stories quickly became the seed for the development of an o"ffline" concept online. Opensource magazine is born. This is still only version 0.1 and I am looking to gain some healthy criticism to put the magazine in Permanent BETA. I guess this is the first UK based 100% user generated content magazine. The interface is simple. Please go check it out and let me know what you think is great and what you think is rubbish.

Oh and leave something for me to stick in the Zine.

You can access the site by clicking here otherwise the link is www.wethemedia.co.uk

Happy Co-creation.....meta-physical becomes reality!

OPENSOURCE LIVES AND LOVES

Opensource

So I am just putting the finishing touches on the website and it will be live to anyone who fancies contributing to it. I am happy for people all over the world to get involved. I don't see why it should be limited to one country. How exciting!

The website address for this project is "wethemedia.co.uk" its not uploaded yet but I am hoping everything should be working by about wednesday.

Shallow ocean theory in action

I went to my first music festival last weekend. It looks like I made a good choice. Fia and I went to Bestival. Firstly I have to commend the organisors for organising something that was truly an experience. Everybody and I mean everybody was dressed up in costume. It was odd at times, seeing a group of 35 year olds prancing around the place dressed like smurfs. Odd but not unwelcome.  So we get to the festival on the saturday night and hang out with Alex(fat-cat), Norman, Marcus(fat-cat) and various other revellers I know by face but their names escape me! Sorry!

The night progress and we are in a tent full of about 150 people. I am dancing like crazy having fun when I realise that I have lost my phone! Under any other circumstance I would freeze, look at the floor and say Shit. Perhaps some good Karma but at the same moment the music stopped. I decided to say in a Shout out " I have lost my phone, anyone see it!". By some feat of awesomeness the majority of the crowd looked to the floor, perhaps motivated by some empathetic connection. Literally 10 seconds later a guy about 15 ft away stands up and shouts "is this your phone?!". "Yes I say, that my phone! He was happier than me  and as if by magic the music came on and the whole room went crazy. A moment I will never forget!

Shallow ocean theory applied can be a beautiful thing. Thankyou to the that faceless nameless character, but then that is the beauty of a network everyone works for the good of the everyone else

Opensource Magazine is about to be launched

So I had this idea a while back to develop a collaborative writing website. An opensource book club where everyone writes a chapter and then the story can be amended and edited. Unfortunately that idea didn't make it out of the workshop. Nevertheless a spark was ignited and I have decided to transfer the opensource magazine onto the Web. It works in exactly the same way. People upload pictures and writing and I format it and turn it into a magazine.

It embodies the spirit of Meta-physical production which is something concieved in the Meta-verse and read in the real world.

It is really exciting. The website is nearly finished and Everything is set. I will post the link on here when it is totally finished. Its quite a strange feeling. I am going to upload the first one so people can get a jist of what its all about.

Collaborative writing project

The opensource book club is going to be put out under the auspices of the title Creative ape. I thought about writing a book in an opensource way and I kept getting a picture or a monkey sitting at a typewriter. Once I made my perspective wider I discovered I was actually looking at the infinte monkey Theorum. I realised that not everyone has the patience and more importantly the time to write a novel, so this should give the fidgety amoung us the opportunity to write a best seller. I am still working out the small print but if a novel is published it would benefit everyone that participated.

With enough typewriters and enough monkeys we will get to hamlet god dammit!!!

What do you think?