Militant Geek Custom Shirts

Seen via the O’Reilly blog is a fantastic interview with Syuzi Pakhchyan. She’s the author of a book called Fashioning Technology. From the description:

Throughout her new book, Syuzi demonstrates how to blend sewing and assembly techniques with traditional electronics to craft a new generation of cool and fashion-forward items like LED bracelets and chandeliers, a Space Invaders tote bag, Aerial the Birdie Brooch (a brooch that actually reacts–and “chirps”–to sunlight!), color-changing blinds, creative toys, and so much more.

The video embed below (note, toward the end she notes that this isn’t her day job):

Roving the Interwebs I stumbled upon this light-up equalizer tee from ThingsYouNeverKnew.com. It seems extremely similar to the T-Qualizer shirt sold by BlueFishTShirts (seen in the video below - but, because of a site reconstruction, no longer seem available for purchase). Both shirts feature red and green sections that light up based on the frequency and loudness of ambient music. However, while the BlueFish shirt spikes upward the tee from ThingsYouNeverKnew.com spike downwards. It’s perhaps a quibble. But when you’re looking to rock the party as I do (I come with a cake and ice cream guarantee) every detail matters. The possibility of electrocuting yourself at the next rave will cost you $29.98.

Thanks to Begifty for the discovery.

I have no idea why its taken this long but finally one of the numerous geek video shows (starring Leo Laporte no less) has seen fit to rate online TShirt shops. As a reviewer, I’m not biased against any of the competitors named - Cafepress, Zazzle, and Spreadshirt. However, the video does confirm the hunches that I had while setting up my own store.

Thanks to HideYourArms for the original post.

Portal, an inclusion in Valve Software’s Orange Box game pack, should have been forgettable. With the second installment of Half-Life 2’s episodic content and a Team Fortress sequel ten years in the making Portal should have been a bit of shovelware. Instead, the first game to birth the genre ‘action-puzzler’ was better than it ever had rights to be - even ending up included as #2 on GameSpy’s best games of 2007 list. What’s more it shares a distinction that few games enjoy: fully transcending from game-land into the larger geekdom pop culture.

That’s why even non-games can appreciate this companion cube Tshirt direct from the Valve store. *sniff* On the front is a tribute to the precious inanimate object *hiccup*. On the back is a scrawled poetic eulogy. It’s almost as tender as Portal’s…. *sob* final theme song. Just watch this video while I go take this eyelash out of both eyes.

Microsoft has some odd promotional videos. Say what you will about the products but the hype machine usually make straw into a very odd sort of comedy gold (’Welcome to the Social’ ineptitude aside).

Then we have this seizure inducing promotional video for Microsoft Vista (hat tip istartedsomething.com):

From this video we learn that Vista:

1. Has Parental Controls
2. Had a lot of press saying something
3. Has one big-ass marketing budget to make these kind of self congratulatory videos

From TechCrunch comes breaking word that WallStrip, the hit or miss video blog about ’stock culture’, has been acquired by CBS News for $5 million. First, the good. Unlike most vlogs, Wallstrip manages to be entertaining more often than not. Lindsay Campbell is a great talent that a person can actually like (unlike other ‘web personalities’). And some bits are truly clever (and get cable business news notables to make a guest appearance):

Now the bad. According to TechCrunch the Vlog, for all its charms, has nearly no revenue. Sure, Lindsay would make a fine addition for any media organization that gets her. But given the woeful state of Wallstrip’s finances is she really going to add $5 million worth of value to CBS’s bottom line? It’s doubtful. A more likely reason is that vloggers are big media’s new shiny object. When their winds of fancy change I hope that likable pioneers like the folks at Wallstrip aren’t left up a creek without a paddle.

Early last week on our sister site mutednoise I bantered about how Digg’s user base rising up in revolt represented the hereto unmentioned side of social networks; that is, the crowd will bite the hand that feeds it if they think the hand is red. In the comments I mentioned that playing hardball with the entire Internet was absolutely the worst possible strategy. That action took a so-so bit of geek errata and firmly planted it in popular culture. Case in point is this most recent episode of Galacticast (it does get a bit slow in the middle and if you’re not familiar with the television program Lost some jokes might not make sense - but the end gag is killer):

Pick your metaphor: the cat is out of the bag, geni out of the bottle, the milk has been spilled and no amount of crying is going to put it back. Digg has since stopped censoring its users and has made the statement that it will ‘go down fighting’. The outcome of which, according to certain legal circles, doesn’t look good.

But, while your waiting for Diggnation to die a slow death, how about claiming your own sequence of digits as your god-given intellectual property? Ed Felten tells us how:

First, we generate a fresh pseudorandom integer, just for you. Then we use your integer to encrypt a copyrighted haiku, thereby transforming your integer into a circumvention device capable of decrypting the haiku without your permission. We then give you all of our rights to decrypt the haiku using your integer. The DMCA does the rest.

Then, when you need a quick bit of cash to help Paris out of a jam anonymously post your secret number to your social network of choice. Make sure to act shocked and outraged as you sue them for every venture capital dollar they have.

Remember kids: knowing is half the battle.

Sure, last week’s news of 1000 heads-a-rolling wasn’t as fearsome as last year’s 10,000-strong pink slip parade. Even so, we’re a little surprised to see that there isn’t much outcry over fellow geeks on the chopping block.

As Conan O’Brian points out during a recent trip to an Intel plant it might have something to do with the drab work conditions. His visit to the gray-on-gray cubical madness of Intel is in sharp contrast to the creative wet dream inducer of Industrial Light and Magic. After seeing the two videos side by side it may very well be the geeks are just looking for convenient ways out. (Quick, watch the video before NBC also decides to sue YouTube for helping build and spread its media brands.)

Well, this week has been extraordinarily heavy on videos so what’s one more to take us into the weekend? In this clip NBC’s Conan O’Brian visits the offices of Industrial Light & Magic. Hilarity ensues:

Yesterday we covered the incredible train wreck of a promotional/training video that was Microsoft’s ‘Cyber Sitcom’. Today we can see a training video done right: it’s entertaining, its humorous, its got muppets, and it was done almost four decades ago. Yikes. At least we know what happened to the green cookie monster.