Wired News spent some time with the foley artists for LucasArts' games, who were working on sounds for Bounty Hunter. LucasArts' Foley stage has a tiny room with resources for creating footsteps on different surfaces. Nearby Skywalker Sound has a more impressive studio with an assemblage of junk to recreate many sounds. Thomas Dolby Robertson's "mini" car, which he left at Skywalker Sound after "Howard The Duck", has been used to make every car noise there since 1985.
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"What walks down stairs alone or in pairs and makes a slinkity sound?." The Slinky was invented in 1943 by mechanical engineer Richard James and was the hit of the 1946 American Toy Fair. In 1960 James joined a religious cult in Bolivia and his wife Betty was left with his debt (from his cult donations) and six kids. But she led the company to continued profits, moving it to Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania where Slinkies are still made today. Her company, James Industries, was sold to Poof Products in 1998. Betty was inducted into the Toy Industry Hall of Fame in 2000. She finally retired (in her 80s!). Tom James (a son?) continues to manage the company. At $2.99 the Slinky is still a bargain among toys.
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Thursday, June 27, 2002

The NY Times is running a series called "Notes from Music Camp" which, I assume, will follow some young musicians as they attend The Perlman Music Program's summer camp. The first article in the series could be subtitled "The Stage Mothers" as it focuses on the sacrifices the mothers make for their budding Itzhaks and Midoris. "Every bit as competitive, protective, ambitious and self-sacrificing" as tennis moms (who apparently also go all out for their little Martinas), these music moms spend hours chauffering, thousands on instruments, and probably not a few lungfuls of air on words of encouragement and phone calls to get their kids into elite auditions. One mom is planning to drive containers of Korean food to her daughter every weekend of camp. One teen won't be going to camp because of a hand injury (my guess is that she practiced too much under stress; perhaps a prescription of less "encouragement" from mom would help?).
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I haven't found a corresponding news story about this yet (sadly, I can't read Spanish or I'd do more searching in news from Madrid), but I was very taken by this photograph of women parading in their wedding dresses. If you looked at the photo by itself, you would think perhaps it was a mass wedding or maybe a fashion promotion. The caption reveals that it is a march against domestic violence. Suddenly, the dresses and shielding veils take on a darker meaning.
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Wednesday, June 26, 2002

They Might Be Giants will be at The Fillmore on July 16 and 17. There will be a new Peter Gabriel album out this year, and, it appears, an accompanying tour. The Powerpuff Girls movie will be out on July 3rd. This has been a public service announcement. We now return you to your regularly scheduled weblogging.
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I didn't expect handwriting recognition to be a major selling point of Microsoft's new Tablet PC, but I did expect them to make it a little more intelligent and flexible. But according to David Coursey, their recognizer doesn't train itself to your writing, so it won't get better over time and learn how you write. Also, it is designed for cursive writing! So if you decide to print legibly, you are out of luck, though there is an input mechanism akin to Palm's Graffiti. Well, as Coursey discovered, the mantra from Microsoft is "Handwriting recognition doesn't matter." True perhaps, but it would be interesting to see what would happen if someone made it good enough to matter. When would we prefer to write? Sending a handwritten note to someone via instant messenger or email is an intriguing concept, though. Just think, you can draw your very own smiley faces.
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Tuesday, June 25, 2002

As Karl is pondering what fireflies eat, I find myself facing another summer without the blink-blink-blink of bugs outside my window. I associate fireflies with the 4th of July as we used to sit outside waiting for the fireworks display, watching tiny glowing lamps signaling in the darkness. Though I do not wish to destroy California's environment any further, I always think it would be nice to have these little bugs here. I speculated that they need a moist environment, but it appears that there are species that live in dry areas as well. However, little seems to be known about their habitat and food sources. Their bioluminescence has been studied closely, of course. But you won't see it west of Kansas.
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Check out FLIP, the Floating Instrument Platform. This strange boat is more like "a huge specialized buoy" which turns itself on end and becomes a research platform for up to 16 people. It takes 28 minutes for its empty compartments to fill with water and sink the lower 300 feet. The passengers stand on the outside decks during the flip, and I'll guess that Fred Astaire references are frequently made by newcomers.
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Monday, June 24, 2002

Herr's Changing Cheddar Magic Popcorn actually changes color from pink to green while you're chomping away at it. The metallic bag features a section that acts as a mirror so you can see your tongue turn colors. Someone set up Willy Wonka with snack foods.
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Luminex is a fabric that actually emits its own light. It's not just reflective. Of course this means it needs its own power source, so your next pair of pants for that rave may have a pocket with a battery in it.
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Thursday, June 20, 2002

I'm taking a few days off...we're moving to a new house. Back on Monday!
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Wednesday, June 19, 2002

There are finally signs of forward motion on trans fat labeling. The National Academy of Sciences is preparing a nutritional study that includes information on trans fats, and I doubt it will be in favor of them. The FDA is expected to go ahead with their delayed nutritional label changes after the study is released this summer. Their original attempt to get the label to list the amount of trans fats was stalled with opponents arguing that the research was flawed. I'm not wondering who those opponents were. Just take a look at most prepared food labels and you can see that the food industry will suffer greatly from having to expose an unhealthy number on their boxes of cereal, ramen noodles, crackers, diet cookies, bags of tortilla chips, tortillas themselves, the list goes on and on. Frito-Lay has a helpful page that lists their products which don't have hydrogenated oil (Smartfood cheese popcorn is very yummy).
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Why didn't the airlines think of this sooner (or did they)? Delta will be selling upgrades to first class at the gate, subject to availability of course. They are priced according to flight distance. Although budget travelers may not spring for the opportunity, many will find it an enticement as it appeals to a traveler's psychology. It spreads out the spending of money and is a much easier splurge to make then when you are buying your original tickets, especially if you're sitting right there, hungry and tired, unhappy from traveling. It's also a great enticement for business travelers whose companies paid for their original coach ticket. Unfortunately, the losers are probably those with frequent flier upgrades, though Delta says the most frequent fliers will still get priority on upgrade requests.
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Tuesday, June 18, 2002

Achoo! A new discovery may help alleviate allergies. The antibodies which cause allergies attach to mast cells, which then release irritants that cause allergy symptoms. They can stick to the cells for weeks and researchers have discovered that the usually bent antibody will unbend to secure itself to the mast cells. Genentech has a drug called Xolair which interferes with these antibodies, but it is a large molecule which must be injected. The new findings may help scientists create a design a pill that keeps the antibodies bent. Until then, I'm sticking to the cromolyn.
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Smith College's traveling exhibit "Corot to Picasso" has been making its way around the country. It includes an unfinished painting by Gustave Courbet which was titled "The Preparation of the Bride," until it was discovered that someone had painted clothes on the "bride" in order to alter a morbid, previously thought missing, painting called "The Preparation of the Dead Girl." It is thought that the bridal theme was considered more marketable when the painting was sold after Courbet's death, and thus the alteration was made. X-Rays revealed the truth underneath. The exhibit includes other unfinished works, appropriate for an educational institution's collection, which reveal the creation process.
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Monday, June 17, 2002

A "purple and crimson" diamond is being touted as "the world's most valuable natural object in existence, on a weight to weight basis." Its owner, who probably did not expect such a brouhaha over the gem, took it out for appraisal and it was subsequently publicized. Crimson diamonds have been discovered before, but no purple ones are known to exist. This one is between two and five carats, the jeweler won't say exactly. If the owner is intending to sell it, perhaps the publicity is welcome.
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Notes from Alton Brown's Booksigning in San Jose, 6/15/2002
Alton had to buy one of his own books at a signing in L.A. He signed it with the wrong name (Rick/Eric) so he is passing it around at his appearances for everyone else to sign, like a "yearbook" (he claimed not many people wanted to sign his high school yearbook). Someone outright asked if he liked Emeril. He replied (I'm paraphrasing): "If it wasn't for Emeril I wouldn't be here today. He opened up the television food business. Also, the steak I had at his restaurant in New Orleans was the best I've ever had." At one point during the lengthy signing session, Alton got up to yell at the people towards the end of the huge line, asking how they were doing, telling them that the supply drop would be arriving any minute. For photos, he posed everyone differently. For our photo, he turned his back to the camera. I asked if his daughter was the girl in the episode with the tea party, he said no, that was a neighbor's daughter, but his daughter was in the honey show, "she was much smaller then." Someone asked where he ate dinner last night and what he had. He said his driver, who was Chinese, dropped him off in a dark alley in Chinatown and he had yummy garlic prawns and other dishes I can't recall. He also said he was trying to get into Chez Panisse tonight (he's never eaten there). He joked that he was going to bring the poster for his book with him and hold it up next to his face. He may market a ready-made brine mix. His final meal request would be duck confit (it takes 3 days to prepare). To sum up, a really nice guy with a lot of wit and charm, very happy to meet and interact with his fans.
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Friday, June 14, 2002

Wired's July issue has an article on the construction of a new building at the South Pole. Consider the logistics of building a normal house at the South Pole, getting the supplies there, dealing with weather. Now consider the fact that the original, 1956 station is sitting somewhere under 30 feet of ice. The current central station's dome is slowly being crushed by snow. The new design is raised, to avoid snow drifts, and can be lifted up to counter the sinking that is occuring.
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Target is racking up the style points with yet another prominent designer on the payroll. Philippe Starck is designing a myriad of products for the affordable retailer, which also has Michael Graves and Stephen Sprouse on the shelves. Starck is perhaps best-known for his chic interior design of hotels, creating everything from rugs to sconces for a distinctly unified look. His Target designs include a curling iron, wearable baby monitor, food storage containers, and there is more to come.
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Thursday, June 13, 2002

Meowsers! Mice have been spotted snacking at the British Parliament. "Eight Liberal Democrat MPs" have signed a motion stating it would be "fiscally prudent for the Sergeant at Arms's department to invest in a House of Commons cat to try to tackle this problem." A mouse which appeared under a skirting board was described as "very brave, very bold and it looked extremely healthy." Thus they will need an equally brave, bold, and healthy kitty to solve this problem. But will it be like some cats and bring its successful catches to the feet of members of parliament as gifts?
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The world's fastest train is being tested in Japan and some lucky people have been able to ride it. It's a maglev, and can reach speeds of 500 kph (which I can't imagine even when I translate it from metric, ~300mph). Soon after departure, the train's wheels retract and it floats 10 centimeters above the track. Some say this is the key for the future of Japan, creating new economic growth, but some think the cost will be prohibitive . Regardless, the technology is fascinating and makes me feel more like that fictional future of the new millenium may actually arrive someday. (via SlashDot)
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Wednesday, June 12, 2002

What art makes you cry? There is much that I would not consider art that has made me cry, for example, many sappy episodes of Little House on the Prairie. There are those cheap tears and also the deeper ones that come from a purely beautiful experience. An emotional connection to art comes from an understanding that touches you personally.
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While the cooking show America's Test Kitchen is dry and bland compared to something like Good Eats, it still delivers solid, well-researched information. The accompanying magazine, Cook's Illustrated, is, as reported by the NY Times, discovering actual profit in avoiding advertising and creating loyal subscribers. They are the Consumer Reports of the cooking world. The company, Boston Common Press, "will have more than $20 million in revenue this year and profits of more than $4 million. It is also debt free." It is refreshing to see a publishing company with its consumers as customers instead of the advertisers.
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Tuesday, June 11, 2002

The Modern Library is a series of affordable reprints of classics, begun in 1917. 800 titles have been published and that doesn't count the different covers, styles, forewards, etc. which make the same titles unique. Do you sense a collectible? You sure do. There are even subcategories to collect: the "buckram reinforced" editions, the "giants" who weigh in at over 1,000 pages each, and all sorts of specific binding types and dustjacket artists. Publisher Random House was originally a Modern Library subsidiary, formed to print random titles outside of the M.L. charter. (via xBlog)
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Perhaps about a third of the people I knew from MIT graduated with an uncredited minor in the art of pen spinning. Learned and perfected during monstrous lectures and then performed without much thought in smaller recitations, tutorials, and study sessions, the 360 degree spin was legendary. Some started with their mechanical pencils, others with their white clicky erasers. Only the truly bored became ambidextrous. In the same vein (not recommended for class): ZippoTricks.com. (via antenna)
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Monday, June 10, 2002

Former Maxim editor Dave Itzkoff reveals The (not so secret) Formula that congeals into every issue. It seems more time and effort is spent on the attention grabbing cover lines than the actual contents (maybe they should have hired Helen Gurley Brown's husband who penned all of Cosmopolitan magazine's cover lines when she was editor). To make Maxim sell, they pumped up the page turning teases and never really delivered much. And when they couldn't get a recognizable woman for the cover they had to scramble to actually try something creative, to the derision of media critics. Well, at least it's reassuring to know that a men's magazine can be as content-free and formulaic as the average women's magazine. (via misnomer)
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Book Review - Love By the Glass : Tasting Notes from a Marriage
I am a rather impatient reader who forgets the concept of delay of gratification when reading books. I have to finish them immediately if they are good. I finished this book in two sittings and only because I became so involved in the writers' lives that I had to stop and take a breather at a certain point. Dorothy Gaiter & John Brecher, best known these days as the Wall Street Journal's wine columnists, have written a memoir which takes you through the moments of their lives that have been touched with wine. That was not entirely the intent, I'm sure, but as all the important events in their life together have been celebrated with a bottle of wine or champagne, you travel with them through all their defining events and the accompanying glasses. Before chancing into their current gig, the authors held prestigious positions at top newspapers, so this is not a book about the life of wine columnists, but a book about journalists who thought they could change the world and put in the hard work to do so. In their coveted spare time, they got to know wine and the Amtrak long-haul routes very well. The writing is slightly inconsistent, with warm passages about their lives interspersed at times with short biographies of winemakers and wine history. But even teetotalers may enjoy the sometimes poignant and often humorous recounting of the life of two soulmates who have survived dual careers in a tough occupation, an interracial marriage, infertility, a health scare or two, the loss of a favorite restaurant, and done it all with panache and many happy toasts.
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Friday, June 07, 2002

William H. Calvin, neurobiologist, author of fascinating books, has started a weblog. His June Science Surf has a nice piece on Stephen Jay Gould.
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Manhattan is sitting on a treasure trove of minerals and these NY Time writers went in search of them. First stop is Central Park where the mica schist that gives New York's buildings a strong foundation is visible. Then it's off to the shores where the material excavated from the construction of subways and skyscraper was piled along the edge of the island. There they find numerous garnets, not excellent quality, but sparkly red just the same, and a bit of black tourmaline. Last stop is the American Museum of Natural History where the New York Mineralogical Club's impressive collection is housed.
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Thursday, June 06, 2002

Take a peek at fashion magazines from the 1940s and 50s. Most of them have scans from a few inside pages as well (click on the covers). (via DesignWritings)
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Here's an update on nushu, the special script that was used by women from Jiangyong County, in China's Hunan Province. Efforts are being made to preserve knowledge about the language. Only a few women remain who can write and read the script. A museum is being built to collect and house the language's artifacts. A publishing house is compiling a nushu dictionary. Researchers continue to look for the origins of the characters, which have been compared to inscriptions that are 3,000 years old. (via provenance: unknown)
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Wednesday, June 05, 2002

Ever wonder how far your mouse or trackball travels as you point and click through your daily grind and surf? The Modometer (for Windows users) will track your cursor movements, button clicks and keystrokes. You may be surprised by the results. Things can really add up! I haven't tried it myself, but I am certainly curious. (mentioned in a Scientific American article about voice recognition software)
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This NY Times article discusses an interesting approach in anthropology, determining when humans started to cook their food and correlating expected body changes and social behaviors. Anthropologist Dr. Richard W. Wrangham postulates that the advent of cooking was 2 million years ago, 1.5 million years earlier than the standard belief. There's no evidence for skeletal changes at the time where most believe humans started cooking their food, but Homo Erectus had the smaller teeth, gut, rib cage, and larger females that could point to a shift to a cooking lifestyle. Wrangham prefers the cooking theory as cause for the evolution to Homo Erectus rather than the common view that the changes resulted from the hunting of big game. Why smaller teeth if they were eating more raw meat? Why did the Homo Erectus female evolve to be substantially larger but not the male? Did cooking help create monogamy and the family unit? The arguments, listed in detail in the article, are fascinating to think through, but don't have strong supporting evidence. Better tests are being developed to determine how long ago men made their own fires. Regardless of whether Wrangham is correct that cooking started with early Homo Erectus, the approach is fresh and provides new theories for anthropologists to sink their little teeth into.
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Tuesday, June 04, 2002

Looks like Discover Card is continuing along in the designer card trend. My husband got the kidney-shaped 2GO card I mentioned last month and he even used it at a point-of-sale terminal this weekend. Today I got a pop-up ad for what appears to be a see-through Discover Platinum card. I can't find it from their main site (only the Platinum and U.S. theme cards are available there), but here's the secure link that the ad led to. It's difficult to see how the card is transparent, but the ad reads: "Unique Clear Design". I've seen a couple people showing off their clear American Express Blue cards. Interesting that this one's blue too.
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I fell down the stairs so many times as a small child that my mother almost got used to the sound of my body bouncing its way down the stairs and the crying that followed. In her touching, personal memory of the late Stephen Jay Gould, photographer Jill Krementz recalls the time she was on the phone with Gould when she heard her baby daughter fall down the stairs. He waited patiently for her to return to the phone and comforted her with the information from the chapter in his book "Ever Since Darwin" that was about this very subject:

“If a child half your height falls down, its head will hit with not half but 1/32 the energy of yours in a similar fall. A child is protected more by its size than by a ‘soft’ head. In return, we are protected from the physical force of its tantrums, for the child can strike with, not half, but only 1/32 of the energy we can muster."

This is likely something my mother realized as I picked myself up, time and time again, unhurt, save for the residual damage of tears drying my face, which she fixed with Pond's Dry Skin Cream, and a lifelong fear of down escalators, which I haven't yet found a fix for.
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Monday, June 03, 2002

David Bowie is releasing a new album, titled Heathen, on June 11. The first single, Slow Burn, with Pete Townshend on guitar, is available for listening in Real Audio format. Bowie is headlining Moby's Area2 Festival this summer along with a happy surprise: Blue Man Group.
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The Natural Point trackIR follows a silver dot on your forehead so you can control your mouse cursor with your head. There's a special version for gaming and software packages to provide assistive technology for people who can't use a mouse or would like an ergonomic alternative.
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