Month: June 2003

ME DEA EX_

Post author By Dotan Dimet
Post date June 22, 2003

Israel is currently in Mannheim working on a avant-garde theater project called ME DEA EX_, which mixes VR with the actual performance. The concept is Neora‘s (obviously), and Nimrod Kerrett (twice as many r’s and t’s than his brother…) is also involved. Looks nice (but clearly VR is still an immature technology). Israel is speculating about the possible roleplaying applications.

I just experienced a run of the play, with K. giving the avatar audience guidance. I think the confusion of the VR experience was more interesting than the play’s content. The computer-generated chorus’ singing was haunting (best performance?) but monotonous.

Oddly, my girlfriend interviewed Heiner Muller (who’se work – Landscape with Argonauts, Medea Texts – seems to be what this production/festival is referencing), the year before he died.

Blather short

The Wrong Trouser Leg of Time

Post author By Dotan Dimet
Post date June 21, 2003

Charlie Stross:Can I have the real twenty-first century back now, please? I don’t want this one; it stinks and bits keep falling off it.

Science Fiction and Fantasy short

Rational

Post author By Dotan Dimet
Post date June 19, 2003

Rational is an Allen Varney parody of Greg Egan.

Software and Programming

Plat goes Splat

Trying out Aggreg8 (an RSS aggregator written in XUL, apparently as a school project), I discovered that Mark Pilgrim (or rather, his evil twin) has made his RSS feed particularly annoying for lowly aggregators that try to display HTML content in the feed’s description element. Aggregators like Aggreg8 and, oh, I don’t know… Radio, perhaps? Making true on this threat?

Here’s what Mark stuck in all his feed’s description elements:

<a href="http://www.ragingplatypus.com/"  

style="display:block; 

position:absolute;  

left:0; top:0; width:100%; height:100%;  

z-index:1;  

background-color:black; 

background-image: 

url(http://www.ragingplatypus.com/i/cam-full.jpg);  

background-repeat:repeat;"></a>

Software and Programming

Edit Live CSS

Post author By Dotan Dimet
Post date June 12, 2003

Bookmarklets for CSS is a set of bookmarklets that let you manipulate a page’s style sheets. They include an amazing “edit CSS” tool that lets you change a page’s style sheets just by typing. (via divintomark)