From douglas at music.columbia.edu Tue Apr 3 18:51:36 2007 From: douglas at music.columbia.edu (douglas irving repetto) Date: Tue Apr 3 18:55:24 2007 Subject: [dorkbotnyc-announce] The self-replicating 3D wind virus: next on dorkbot-nyc! Message-ID: The 32,112th dorkbot-nyc meeting will take place on Wednesday, April 4th, 2007, at 7pm at Location One in SoHo. Please bring snacks to share! Featuring the lithe and fearless: Gabe McNatt "Wind-Composition" is a software program created in MAX-MSP that allows the user to adjust the volume and pan of nine different sound-layers. The idea is for the user to create his/her own soundscape, or composition; a completely original work that exists once and only once, and then disappears without recreation. He/she uses his/her ears and own sense of fancy to compose a throw-away-composition. The nine sound-layers consist of synthetically created wind-noises, and pre-recorded sounds created by wind. Despite the user's ability to control the overall volume and pan levels, each layer constantly and randomly modulates giving the sounds a more elusive, and thus more characteristic wind quality. Caitlin Berrigan: Viral Confections "Viral Confections" are edible chocolates shaped into the molecular structure of the hepatitis C virus. These designer chocolates illustrate the inventive protein structure of the hepatitis C virus. A model of the virus was printed as a rapid prototype from a 3D algorithmic illustration of the virus from the Protein Data Bank. The chocolates were then cast into this molecular form. These delicious truffles do not carry hepatitis C. Each one was lovingly handmade from 72% Belgian roasted cocoa. Desire to eat the enticing chocolates is mixed with a repulsion for the infectious virus. This unnerving dialectic has proved to be an exciting and approachable way to ignite discussion and create awareness about an extremely prevalent and underrepresented disease. Dorkbots will have the opportunity to consume the chocolates at the meeting. http://www.membrana.us Zach Smith: RepRap RepRap is an open source 3D printing technology that a Maker can truly appreciate. It uses a thermoplastic extruder to melt and lay down a fine stream of plastic. Feed it an object file, and it will hum to life. Line by line, layer by layer, your object slowly appears. Forget the cutting edge, the melted edge is here! http://reprap.org -- From douglas at music.columbia.edu Thu Apr 5 11:42:18 2007 From: douglas at music.columbia.edu (douglas irving repetto) Date: Thu Apr 5 11:47:08 2007 Subject: [dorkbotnyc-announce] thanks! Message-ID: Thanks again to Gabe McNatt, Caitlin Berrigan, and Zach Smith for their lithe and fearless presentations last night. Some pics from the meeting at: http://dorkbot.org/dorkbotnyc/04.april.2007/ Next meeting: 02 May 2007 See you there! -- From douglas at music.columbia.edu Fri Apr 27 17:13:34 2007 From: douglas at music.columbia.edu (douglas repetto) Date: Fri Apr 27 17:11:26 2007 Subject: [dorkbotnyc-announce] game labor, lock grooves, and spray painting robots! Message-ID: <4632677E.7010906@music.columbia.edu> The 20,007th dorkbot-nyc meeting will take place on Wednesday, May 2nd, 2007, at 7pm at Location One in SoHo. dorkbot-nyc meetings are free and open to the public. Please bring snacks to share! Featuring the well-groomed and GMO-free: Stephanie Rothenberg: School of Perpetual Training & other projects The "School of Perpetual Training" is a multi-faceted project that uses game-based models to examine invisible labor in the global computer video game industry. Using play as a format for addressing critical issues around inequitable wealth distribution, low-income, manual labor and specialized, information-based labor, the project aims to question the role of play and the current production of play in contemporary culture. Other recent projects including "The Zero Hour" and "Collective Simulated Synaesthesia" will also be discussed. http://www.pan-o-matic.com/ David Galbraith: lgOpre lgOpre (pronounced luh - GOP - ruh) combines vintage algorithms for visual grid patterns with vinyl LP lock groove audio to create a generative system for real-time image and sound. lgOpre features an application to graphically compose the images, a scripting language for lgOpre animations, and a message-based system to link the animations to sound. A driving motivation behind the lgOpre software is the use of structured graphics, created from the translation of other complex systems, as a controller for digital sound software to yield surprising and musically useful results. http://www.soundsokay.com/djg.html Juerg Lehni: Hektor, Rita, Scriptographer Juerg Lehni, visiting from Switzerland, will talk about three of his projects: Hektor (spray paint output device), Rita (whiteboard drawing/erasing device), and Scriptographer (scripting language for Adobe Illustrator, drives Hektor). http://www.hektor.ch/