tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-331682062011-04-21T15:47:13.393-04:00Estilo calavera.Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.comBlogger1311100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-43329049336680921072008-03-17T15:25:00.002-04:002008-03-17T15:27:56.630-04:00

Ok, since I have little patience for double posting, I've failed at keeping this blog updated along with the new one. So, to wit:FROM HERE ON, ALL BLOGGING WILL BE HAPPENING ON WWW.DEFENDINI.COM/SLEEKNESSLinger here at your peril.That will be all.Goodbye.

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-42694352459431440682008-03-11T22:17:00.001-04:002008-03-11T22:17:50.066-04:00

Maldeamores [imdb] [crackspace] [movie site], a Puerto Rican film directed by husband-and-wife team Carlitos Ruíz Ruíz & Mariem Pérez Riera, produced by Benicio del Toro, and starring Luis Guzmán (among others), opens in NYC this Thursday. Maldeamores has been in the can for a while now, and has been floating around in Carlitos' and his crew's heads for longer still. It premiered last year at the

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-55667571918292115982008-03-07T09:57:00.003-05:002008-03-07T10:02:39.840-05:00

I've begun the migration to www.defendini.com/sleekness. You may want to start reading over there instead of here, as there's going to be a bit more content, namely a chronicle of my Digg activity and Pownce feeds, as well as updated 'Currently Listening' and 'Currently Reading' widgets, if you're interested in that sort of thing. Mind you, it's quite fugly right now, as I tweak and work on the

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-5486868002601445602008-03-07T08:12:00.000-05:002008-03-07T08:13:16.950-05:00

From The Guardian:In the philosophy journal Time and Mind, Benny Shanon states that key events of the Old Testament are actually records of visions by ancient Israelites high on hallucinogens. So, Moses was high as a kite when he had his close encounters with yahweh. Trippin’ balls. Stoned out of his mind. No wonder he heard disembodied voices and saw funny light. I mean, who hasn’t, right?Anyway

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-38594153202500699392008-02-11T22:30:00.000-05:002008-02-11T22:42:44.306-05:00

I've been workin', workin' on the new blog. It's actually going better than I expected it to from the get go. I got WordPress installed very painlessly, and all seems to be working correctly. Still very much in the dark regarding all this crazy CSS business that's gone down over the past years since I've been away from web design, but I'm getting there. I'm one paradigm shift away from

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-29892394465574301832008-02-02T15:32:00.000-05:002008-02-02T19:09:54.891-05:00

Beloit College has published their College Mindset List for the class of 2011, making the rest of us old farts feel even older and fartier. Among the nuggets of perspective gnawing at the Peter Pan inside me, the list assures me that people going into their freshman year in college this fall:#4. They never “rolled down” a car window.#8. General Motors has always been working on an electric car. (

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-50221649804381535692008-02-02T15:11:00.000-05:002008-02-02T19:11:06.721-05:00

I just discovered A Brief Message, via Subtraction.com. A Brief Message is a site that -according to its masthead- 'features design opinions in short form—200 words or less'. This is a great concept, and I've enjoyed trawling through previous entries over the past hour or so. Of note is this entry by Clay Shirky, on arrogance and humility in the life of a designer: Arrogance without humility is a

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-45602289922768367362008-01-28T07:46:00.000-05:002008-01-28T07:48:11.698-05:00

Happy 50th birthday, Legos. Far and away the most creative, fun, versatile, and long-lived toys I ever had (Thanks, mom).

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-37054478025183326562008-01-22T07:56:00.000-05:002008-01-22T08:06:00.906-05:00

Khoi Vinh has a great little piece on Adobe's CS3 suite here.One quibble: I have to disagree with Mr. Vinh regarding print dialog boxes in CS3. I find them very intuitive and handy, especially compared to the print dialog boxes on competing products (QuarkXpress, I'm looking at you, you slow, bloated, ugly, lo-res, counterintuitive piece of shit).Aside from that, I find this article to be spot-on

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-32704869792801612542008-01-10T10:32:00.000-05:002008-01-10T10:34:16.917-05:00

NetNewsWire, that badass, best in class, and my preferred feed reader, is now free. As in beer. If you're not using NNW for your RSS needs, do yourself a favour and get it now.

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-80332048282624855702008-01-10T10:11:00.000-05:002008-01-10T10:18:43.623-05:00

Good Morning. As soon as I iron out a few security issues on my machines, I've decided to open up access to my wireless access point at home (it's called Mothership X, just in case you're ever around). No password, no encryption, just free-and-clear internet access for me and my neighbours. I've been thinking about doing this for a while, for some of the reasons that Bruce Schnier outlines in

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-16897812728657474022008-01-09T15:41:00.000-05:002008-01-09T15:46:29.448-05:00

Here's a fascinating excerpt from Matt Mason's new book, The Pirate's Dilemma, via torrentfreak.com. To wit:We live in a world where it is legal for a company to patent pigs, or any other living thing except for a full birth human being, but copying a CD you bought onto your hard drive is considered an infringement of someone else’s rights. A place where an average law abiding citizen could owe

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-85908545190324261012008-01-02T01:21:00.000-05:002008-01-02T01:22:33.695-05:00

I'll be back, like the Terminator. Except without the shotgun and the kickass bionics, unfortunately.

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-64217691147578693812007-08-19T12:30:00.001-04:002007-08-19T12:30:38.012-04:00

Email has been restored, all is right with the world. For now....

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-70734141627913617812007-08-18T22:29:00.001-04:002007-08-18T22:32:01.192-04:00

I think I royally fucked up my email server on www.defendini.com trying to install Movable Type. So pablo [at] defendini [dot] com (and any other [at] defendini [dot] com address, really) is dead right now. Yippee.I'm giving up for tonight. Gonna chill out watching some Dexter, and try to forget that I'm flunking out of geekdom.fuck.

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-41571548452888833762007-08-18T00:54:00.001-04:002007-08-18T01:21:37.182-04:00

I cleaned my room today. De-cluttered, got rid of old papers, put some rudimentary order to my bookcase, filed shit away in my new filing cabinet with the handy hanging folders, cleaned out my desk drawers, dusted everywhere, swept, and wet-swiffered. I feel brand-fucking-new.ps: The iPhone takes crap pictures, I know. No MMS, no iChat, bad pictures, and EDGE is slow. It's not perfect, but it's

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-79175876755747152532007-08-18T00:23:00.001-04:002007-08-18T01:25:05.554-04:00

Hi, just posting to try out MarsEdit, part of the ongoing tweaking ("again with the tweaking!"). Carry on.This is a weblink: Over on Whatever, Scalzi asks what was your first CD. Let's put in an inline picture:no dice.Now?Success! But barely. It seems that Blogger won't allow MarsEdit to upload pics. This shouldn't be a problem when/if I migrate to MovableType, so I can live with it for now. Oh,

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-55379309107777089292007-08-16T18:43:00.000-04:002007-08-16T18:58:38.688-04:00

I've not been posting on here because I've been using Safari 3.0 Beta, and it doesn't play nice with Blogger. However, after a near-fatal hard drive failure on my MacBook (long story, the gist of it is that Oso and the iPhone saved my ass), I'm back on Safari 2.0.4. However, I wanna get the hell outta Blogger and put this blog where it belongs, somewhere on defendini.com. Nothing against Blogger,

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-34398815859983842512007-07-05T00:54:00.000-04:002007-07-05T01:05:47.478-04:00

So I stood in line for the iPhone last Thursday night and Friday at the Fifth Avenue Apple Store, and it was a blast. It was great to hang out with fellow Mac fans and geek out, speculating on last-minute iPhone announcements, discussing the imminent release of Leopard this October, and generally being Mac fanboys (and girls) at what could possibly be Apple's most important product launch yet.

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-71973844313959848282007-06-26T11:12:00.000-04:002007-06-26T11:15:58.552-04:00

From The Register:The government has announced that it will publish guidance for schools on how creationism and intelligent design relate to science teaching, and has reiterated that it sees no place for either on the science curriculum (emphasis added).It has also defined "Intelligent Design", the idea that life is too complex to have arisen without the guiding hand of a greater intelligence, as

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-34787359582978325532007-06-25T09:08:00.000-04:002007-06-25T09:17:25.601-04:00

PhD student Danah Boyd from the School of Information Sciences at UC Berkeley has recently completed a study which finds that users of the two main social networking sites on the internet, Facebook and MySpace, are divided quite rigidly along class lines. From the article on the Beeb:The research suggests those using Facebook come from wealthier homes and are more likely to attend college.By

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-1282685684167537262007-06-25T09:05:00.001-04:002007-06-25T09:08:08.313-04:00

If these quote-unquote bookends weren't so damned expensive, I'd get them. But since I'd saving up for the iPhone, no dice. They sure are nice, though.

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-58380218958684547352007-06-20T11:25:00.000-04:002007-06-20T11:58:28.897-04:00

On Tuesday, June 19th, 2007, Bush uttered:"My position has not changed [in regards to Iran]. All options are on the table. . . "And you know? He's right- his position has not changed. On August 22, 2002, he declared that 'all options' are on the table for Iraq. We all know how well that went.What is he, a five year old? Mentally retarded? Well, yes. But consider this: is this a highly

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-33929934082075339702007-06-14T11:35:00.000-04:002007-06-14T11:37:03.333-04:00

. . . and her name is Jessica Alba.* just kidding on the god bit- still as much of an atheist as ever.

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-37430300364540393342007-06-14T07:47:00.000-04:002007-06-14T07:54:29.401-04:00

Don Herbert, better known as Mr. Wizard, died on Tuesday. I have him to thank for my interest in science and the world in general, as do many other people who grew up watching his show on Nickelodeon. He was on NBC in an earlier incarnation of the show in the 60's, but I remember him as the understated and likeable old man on the unadorned show which introduced me the wonders of the natural world

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-3130213168230115802007-06-13T11:13:00.000-04:002007-06-13T11:35:09.336-04:00

I knew there was a reason I woke up in a good mood today: June 13th is the official Blog Like It's The End Of The World Day (BLITEOTWD).Something was off since the beginning of the day (apart from the aforementioned good-moodiness-in-the-morning)- none of my early-rising roommates were around, but I just chalked it up to late night partying. The house was quiet, too quiet. Once I made it out to

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-81797933663430764082007-05-23T13:56:00.000-04:002007-05-23T13:58:02.853-04:00

Via the Whatever, a link to a transcript of a panel at Penguicon 5.0, where John Scalzi, Nick Sagan, and Sarah Monette discuss science fiction author Godfrey Winton. I wasn't aware of Winton before I read this, but I sure as hell am interested now. Apparently Subterranean Press is coming out with an omnibus volume of his collected works, so I'll try to pick that up. Read up, enjoy, and marvel at

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-12910003487268166672007-05-18T10:52:00.000-04:002007-05-18T11:13:32.731-04:00

After a few weeks of non-stop action (hectic freelance schedule, houseguests, shows, and outings with friends), I finally have a weekend all to myself. So for today, an interesting article from Psychology Today: The Field Guide to the Loner. A great (if somewhat badly written) article about the 25% of us who prefer spending a weekend with a good book rather than going out and getting drunk at a

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-25074674035972294652007-05-07T13:57:00.000-04:002007-05-07T14:02:14.944-04:00

From Boston.com:Including the $124.2 billion bill, the total cost of the Iraq war may reach $456 billion in September, according to the National Priorities Project, an organization that tracks public spending.The amount got us wondering: What would $456 billion buy?Among the highlights:- Free gas for everybody for 1.2 years- With just one-sixth of the US money targeted for the Iraq war, you

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-47347292608967654622007-05-07T13:03:00.000-04:002007-05-07T13:14:09.660-04:00

ComputerWorld has a great short interview with mathematics professor and science-fiction author Vernor Vinge (yes, he's one of Tor's) on the coming technological singularity. Not too in-depth, but a nice quick rundown of main themes. The article also links to Vinge's seminal 1993 manifesto, The Coming Technological Singularity: How to Survive in the Post-Human Era, a short but fascinating piece

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-18936419549228612132007-05-04T14:10:00.000-04:002007-05-04T14:33:12.578-04:00

In the previous post in this series, I outlined the reasons why I prefer to pirate my media, as opposed to buying it outright from the thugs fine folks in the cable entertainment industry. Now it's time to get down and dirty, into the nuts and bolts of how I do what I do.Most TV shows nowadays are available on the internet very soon after they air, and a few enterprising pirates are dedicated to

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-45227129425845084962007-05-02T12:45:00.000-04:002007-05-02T13:06:00.049-04:00

09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0Give us REAL Fair Use, not lawsuits.Give us engaging content, not sequels and remakes.Give us the option to do whatever the hell we want with a product we legally buy. Read: I want to rip my DVDs into iTunes, along with its menus and extra features, without having to jump through stupid, stupid quasi-legal DRM-laden hoops. Or better yet, I want to '

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-91778818967429038732007-05-01T16:35:00.000-04:002007-05-01T16:38:28.825-04:00

It's on, baby. The singularity looms ever closer, and I say 'bring it on, bitch'. From the article on abc.com: Samuel Stupp has a bunch of mice that used to drag their hind legs behind them when they crawled around his Illinois lab, but they have miraculously regained at least partial use of their rear legs. Astonishingly, their severed spinal cords have been repaired, at least partly, without

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-63245741638955758192007-04-30T13:32:00.000-04:002007-04-30T13:40:32.406-04:00

My friend Natalia Yovanne has put up her cyber-shingle. Check out her website, where she's got a portfolio of her most recent work. Natalia is from Chile (by way of the D.F.), and she studied painting at SVA. I enjoy her use of graphic stencil-like imagery (although to the best of my knowledge, they're not stencils, per se, since she hand-draws each instance individually), her penchant for

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-88255568472782599212007-04-25T12:45:00.000-04:002007-04-25T12:48:33.971-04:00

Scott Mc Cloud (of Understanding Comics fame) has posted parts one and two of his online comic, The Right Number, online for free. From his site:The Right Number was originally presented in June 2003 using a micropayments system offered by a company called Bitpass, sold for 25 cents each. Since Bitpass ceased operations in January 2007, I'm offering Parts One and Two for free now.Part Three was

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-25394849731910978062007-04-24T16:14:00.000-04:002007-04-24T16:17:53.926-04:00

From the fine folks over at the Guardian:Fascist America, in 10 easy stepsBy Naomi WolfFrom Hitler to Pinochet and beyond, history shows there are certain steps that any would-be dictator must take to destroy constitutional freedoms. And, argues Naomi Wolf, George Bush and his administration seem to be taking them all.Fascinating article, and more than a little disconcerting. I'm tellin' ya: we

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-46091410626391444802007-04-23T13:40:00.000-04:002007-04-23T13:52:35.498-04:00

From the New York Times Magazine: A fascinating look at the U.S. Farm Bill, which is a five-year subsidy plan for the Agriculture sector, and its (mostly) adverse effect on nutrition, on the environment, on global poverty, even on immigration (NAFTA cakes, anyone?). A couple of choice quotes:"A public-health researcher from Mars might legitimately wonder why a nation faced with what its surgeon

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-84541855769921512032007-04-12T13:54:00.000-04:002007-04-12T14:42:03.802-04:00

We couldn't have asked for a nicer day for the steamroller print session: the sun was out, it wasn't too cold, and the wind was only a minor inconvenience. We pulled the first print at around 9:30 AM, and went right through to about 5:30 PM, inking blocks and printing them. I don't think Aristides, the steamroller driver, ever got off the steamroller, even for lunch!In the morning, we were

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-26954314038085738682007-04-10T10:34:00.000-04:002007-04-10T10:36:04.757-04:00

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-21573153878694093522007-04-10T10:32:00.000-04:002007-04-10T10:34:25.342-04:00

Taxes.Deathface.Fela.Tor.Strange lesions.Out of body.-----End report.

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-65200014589187531602007-04-04T15:22:00.000-04:002007-04-04T15:27:47.068-04:00

AU Students Protest After Karl Rove SpeechWhite House Advisor Karl Rove was the target of a protest on the American University campus Tuesday night, News4 reported. Rove was on the campus to talk to the College Republicans, but when he got outside more than a dozen students began throwing things at his car, an American University spokesperson said.The students then got on the ground and lay down

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-36432321919029364862007-04-04T13:43:00.000-04:002007-04-04T13:52:16.018-04:00

Via New York Magzine: Dr. Dickson Despommier, a professor of environmental sciences and microbiology at Columbia University, believes that “vertical farm” skyscrapers could help feed cities, and fight global warming. To that end, he's conducted a comprehensive study on the costs and projected benefits of 'skyscraper farms' in urban settings. These structures would not only provide organic crops

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-25952307704758905672007-04-01T22:55:00.000-04:002007-04-01T23:11:48.234-04:00

I've finished the carving the block for the zombie print, and I'm pretty damn pleased with it. I think I enjoy working large. I haven't done it too often (only three times that I can think of), but each time it's been a daunting, but very satisfying experience. I'm definitely doing more zombie prints (and possibly other monsters or characters). There's so much you can do with the undead. . . I've

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-51672241407340326052007-03-31T10:58:00.000-04:002007-03-31T11:37:00.945-04:00

I woke up early-ish this morning –around 8.30– resolved to go into the studio in the morning to work on the zombie print. Alas, I sat down in front of the computer with a joint to catch up on teh blogginsfear, and it's now 11 in the AM. But before I leave for Pratt, here are a couple of choice links from this morning's foray into RSSes:• Tobias Buckell writes about the whys and wherefores of the

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-66943622944702330392007-03-30T16:13:00.000-04:002007-03-30T22:24:49.238-04:00

Holy crap. This game looks in-fucking-sane. They've gone back to the Liberty City setting, which is a clone of NYC (you can actually see the Flatiron bldg, where I work, at 00:39 on the clip).I can forsee three things this fall:#1- I will be a few hundred dollars poorer, because this is the kind of game that will make me spring for a next gen console (should I go with Sony, and their overpriced

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-55730453411817630072007-03-29T21:20:00.000-04:002007-03-29T21:45:36.871-04:00

The commie zombie has gone the way of the Dodo, my friends. It just wasn't panning out too well, and after sitting on the sketch for a while, I realized that this zombie is much more roots- he's all about the eating of the brains, and who can blame him, really? I mean, that's what the undead are all about anyway: eating flesh. So I went with my gut –pun intended– and gave my zombie a true

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-26721246004686537572007-03-29T21:00:00.000-04:002007-03-29T21:18:33.463-04:00

Either Mark Cuban is batshit crazy, or our society is not paranoid enough. Either way, it makes for good conspiracy slingin'. Ok, put your tin foil hats on: Apparently, Cuban is bankrolling a limited theatrical release of Loose Change, the infamous 9/11 conspiracy documentary that's been making the rounds on the internet for a few years. Loose Change posits that the September 2001 attacks on the

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-70977451375002297882007-03-29T20:48:00.000-04:002007-03-29T20:59:25.784-04:00

This has got to be one of the saddest, yet funniest things I've seen in a while. Consider the pedigree of the song: written by Trent Reznor, originally performed by Reznor and NIN, covered by Johnny Cash in his Rick Rubin-produced American sessions. Now Kermit the Frog goes at it, and I have to say, he gives Cash a run for his money in the 'look at how fucked up I've gotten' department. I guess

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-88419800519297469092007-03-26T10:27:00.000-04:002007-03-26T16:14:22.617-04:00

It's been over ten days since I've posted, and frankly, that's too long. My apologies, blogosphere. Life sometimes happens offline. I've been spending a lot of quality time with my zombie in the studio, and I'm happy to report it's coming along swimmingly.So today, a couple of links to throw your way:1- Cory Doctorow (Craphound, BoingBoing) has an excellent short article in Locus Magazine about

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-46589255136579746192007-03-15T12:33:00.000-04:002007-03-15T19:22:07.802-04:00

OMFG, what have I done. . . I've opened a frakkin' can of worms. I just discovered the first podcast from www.scifismackdown.com, pitting the Enterprise (the original TV series Enterprise -NCC 1701-, mind you. This is Kirk's ship before the movie refit) against the new Battlestar Galactica. No sooner do I mention this to my boss, I get half the art department and some of editorial jumping out of

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-34565986411520026402007-03-15T09:57:00.000-04:002007-03-15T15:29:00.736-04:00

The zombie printmaking extravaganza continues! After some serious wrestling with the Photoshop sketch (clocking in at a gi-normous 400MB. . . serves me right for wanting to work at 100% on a piece of this scale), I was finally able to output my computer sketch yesterday as tiled prints on 11x17 paper, so I eagerly and somewhat giddily (to my shame) ran over to the studio at Pratt last night

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-57261281102716735092007-03-12T15:01:00.000-04:002007-07-10T16:48:51.175-04:00

A few people have asked me how and why I download TV shows off of BitTorrent so reliably and (seemingly) effortlessly, so I figured I would post about it here on the 'Sleekness for future reference. This first post outlines my reasons for pirating TV Shows, since the 'easy way out' would seem to be simply getting a cable subscription.I think it's fair to say that there are legal alternatives out

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-26588171753631236682007-03-11T18:21:00.000-04:002007-03-11T18:24:49.602-04:00

From Salon.com:As the military scrambles to pour more soldiers into Iraq, a unit of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Benning, Ga., is deploying troops with serious injuries and other medical problems, including GIs who doctors have said are medically unfit for battle. Some are too injured to wear their body armor, according to medical records.I knew there was a reason I kept my

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-12855025951476199922007-03-08T13:21:00.000-05:002007-03-08T13:23:01.828-05:00

From CNN.com (full story here):• Nearly 2 million Iraqis have fled violence to other nations• One U.N. official calls situation a "simmering crisis"• Syria, Jordan recently tightened borders• Jordan says it can't sustain refugee flow for long haulHeckuva job, Georgie. Heckuva job.

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-13039736093698505322007-03-08T09:54:00.000-05:002007-03-08T10:20:03.621-05:00

Well, it's that time of the year again, when Dennis McNett, one of my printmaking teachers a Pratt, rents a big ol' steamroller, and we spend a day printing large (really large) woodblock prints out behind Steuben Studios at Pratt. This is the third year in a row he puts this together, and for various and sundry reasons I've never been able to participate. Last year I told myself that this year I

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-43993731176675718102007-03-07T15:46:00.000-05:002007-03-07T15:59:55.944-05:00

From the AP wire, via Yahoo:An unknown number of new George Washington dollar coins were mistakenly struck without their edge inscriptions, including "In God We Trust," and are fetching around $50 apiece online.The US mint has been inscribing the phrase "In God We Trust" onto its currency since 1956, when Congress ordered it included as a counterpoint to the 'Atheist Communist Threat' (despite

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-4822703988632067752007-03-05T16:01:00.000-05:002007-03-05T16:09:04.996-05:00

From our friends at the Wooster Collective:In 1969, Rudolph de Harak designed and the sculptor William Tarr built, a a full-size model of a WWI Sopwith Camel on top of 77 Water Street, a 26 story building, in New York. It's sole purpose is to amuse the inhabitants of surrounding buildings and skyscrapers, most notably the former World Trade Center.And the requisite Google maps link is HERE, so

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-41567401448561592792007-02-28T18:07:00.000-05:002007-02-28T18:19:06.830-05:00

The Boston municipal authorities strike again. This time it's not ill-willed moon-dwelling pranksters who face the wrath of the Boston Bomb Squad, but a lowly traffic monitoring device placed by the Boston Transportation Dept. Yes, a traffic monitoring device. Apparently, the Boston Bomb Squad can't recognize the city's own hardware. This is bad comedy.Boston- 0The Terrorists- 2Let's go for

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-20491617282378354332007-02-27T09:50:00.000-05:002007-02-27T09:58:54.267-05:00

From the NYT:KABUL, Afghanistan, Feb. 27 — A suicide bomber blew himself up this morning outside the main gate of the United States military base at Bagram while Vice President Dick Cheney was inside the base. Mr. Cheney was not hurt in the attack.Damn, we just can't get a break. If only someone would take ol' Shotgun Dick out, we could impeach Bush with impunity. Come on, terrorists, you're

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-42684711475128680232007-02-27T09:48:00.000-05:002007-02-27T09:50:13.652-05:00

From Engadget:Some Thames Valley, UK cops claim it helps reaction times to have their onboard computer yell out Homer's "D'oh!" when it picks up on uninsured drivers, Jack Nicholson's "Here's Johnny" from The Shining when a stolen car zips by, and Dan Aykroyd's "People like this are a menace to decent society" for crime-linked cars.Now all they need is a donut dispenser in the squad car, and

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-59969708967914590772007-02-23T15:35:00.000-05:002007-02-23T15:43:29.601-05:00

Via Sentient Developments, here's a speculative montage of how the 21st century could play out. Personally, I think this is all very viable, given the way technology and society is developing. The possible caveat is, of course, that as humans we may screw it up through infighting, luddism, reactionary attitudes, and good old fashioned greed.That being said, I really do hope we get there. I can't

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-51878259716730586882007-02-23T11:09:00.000-05:002007-02-23T11:17:13.606-05:00

The only bill I don't handle at home is the power bill- Adriano's got that one. Last night he informed me that he'd switched us over to completely green power through a subsidiary of ConEd which generates power through a combination of wind, biomass, and solar collectors.This completely and utterly made my day. It's a few dollars more a month, but it's a small price to pay for not feeling guilty

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-29202128972629270622007-02-22T12:47:00.000-05:002007-02-22T13:34:22.228-05:00

Last night I went to a back-to-back screening of two documentaries: Afro Punk, about black (or otherwise non-white) punks in the US, and Beijing Bubbles, about punk and rock musicians in China. The directors of both films were there, so we got a (too) short Q&A period after the screenings.I first encountered Afro Punk on my stint as Art Director for the (as far as I know) now-defunct NRG Magazine

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-56414087000157441752007-02-21T15:52:00.000-05:002007-02-21T16:14:15.307-05:00

From The Sagan Diary, by John Scalzi:Sex is not a holy or sacred thing or a physical machine to express a separate emotion. I fuck to enjoy myself and to celebrate the fact I am alive. I understand the idea of making love, but it seems a bad way to go about it. I don't fuck to show my love. I love to show my love and let the fucking be its own thing. I love you and I love fucking you and I have

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-8173755784123506412007-02-21T11:25:00.000-05:002007-02-21T11:32:14.375-05:00

Facing the abysmal absence of actual content to post (I've been -em- busy), let's see if I can't de-lurk some of you fuckers. In keeping with the spirit of debate raging through tha intarrwebz these days, courtesy of Justine Larbalestier via John Scalzi, I'm going to add my own little piece of kindling to the fire. Down by the end of this post, that there is a comment button. Use it well.So I

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-62410947526178809772007-02-20T17:04:00.000-05:002007-02-20T17:11:10.869-05:00

I love George Takei. "Your big, chocolatey head glazed in man-sweat"? 'Nuff said.

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-78605512417967987972007-02-20T16:51:00.000-05:002007-02-20T17:00:40.374-05:00

From the Graffiti Research Labs via BoingBoing:Defense contractors say that within the next 10 years they’ll have a solid state laser mounted on a Hummer that can put a hole in sheet of metal from several miles away. Well Dutch graffiti writers can pretty much do that now with this Hymermobil rocking a GRL L.A.S.E.R. Tagging System.My fave has got to be the Mooninite. How long until marketing

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-21402732819813411822007-02-15T10:31:00.000-05:002007-02-15T10:35:22.017-05:00

Between a weekend trip to Boston with my cousin, a Photoshop seminar on Monday, catching up with work all this week, and now having caught a cold either from my roommate or from my boss, I've grossly neglected the blogging. My apologies to any readers (are you out there?). I'll be back with regular posts by this weekend. Promise.

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-7797121321353286192007-02-07T12:19:00.000-05:002007-02-07T12:39:28.817-05:00

I work in the Flatiron Building, which is that funny, triangle-wedge-shaped building on the corner of Broadway, 23rd street and 5th Avenue in Manhattan. The building is a landmark, having been built in the very early 2oth century, and as such, its piping and such are very very old and cranky. Monday morning greeted us with no heat from the boilers, as they take a while to 'warm up', and the

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-65638894516684485342007-02-06T22:44:00.000-05:002007-02-06T23:04:15.881-05:00

Today, Steve Jobs posted an open letter on Apple.com basically decrying Digital Rights Managment (DRM). From the column, which is a fascinating read:Imagine a world where every online store sells DRM-free music encoded in open licensable formats. In such a world, any player can play music purchased from any store, and any store can sell music which is playable on all players. This is clearly the

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-25203170142973409342007-02-06T22:35:00.000-05:002007-02-06T23:06:28.954-05:00

Fresh off of admitting that accepting censorship from China was a bad move, Google fucks up again. From The Times of India:Google Earth agrees to blur pix of key Indian sitesNEW DELHI: President APJ Abdul Kalam's concerns over Google Earth providing detailed and unhindered view of ‘sensitive' Indian establishments have been addressed, courtesy a formula which allows users uninterrupted access to

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-7410958150600004692007-02-01T13:15:00.000-05:002007-02-23T15:45:38.026-05:00

From the promo website for the new book, Imagining the Tenth Dimension, comes this little Flash video explaining the nature of the ten dimensions (and you thought there were only four. HA! You're soooo twentieth century- the future's all about quantuum physics and string theory, baby!). Physicists tell us that the subatomic particles that make up our universe are created within ten spatial

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-23768086591166491422007-01-31T23:43:00.000-05:002007-02-02T15:54:28.283-05:00

Havoc, fear, confusion, and panic. The Mooninites would be proud. From Making Light:Boston menaced by cartoon promo; traffic grinds to a haltMajor roads and highways around Boston, and everything along the Charles River, were shut down today after nine “suspicious devices” were spotted in various locations.The Turner Network has now confirmed that the devices, which look mysterious and have

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-83759569176396464582007-01-30T10:04:00.000-05:002007-01-30T15:15:18.135-05:00

I need to get back on a press, and soon.

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-14869773347151876002007-01-26T11:27:00.001-05:002007-01-26T11:27:59.389-05:00

Brilliant. There needs to be an ongoing series like this..

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-84475120477244621012007-01-24T16:01:00.000-05:002007-01-24T18:34:27.642-05:00

In keeping with what seems to be the theme for this week, here's another robot-related post. This time, it's a new picture of what is supposed to be passing for Optimus Prime on the much-anticipated (or dreaded, depending on your point of view), Michael Bay-directed 'Transformers' live-action/CGI movie coming out this summer.Here's my take on this: if this movie were called anything other than '

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-50665252768708906692007-01-24T13:02:00.000-05:002007-01-24T13:13:21.045-05:00

Masaaki Nagumo, an engineer at Japan's machinery maker Sakakibara Kikai, gets into a 3.4-metre tall, two-legged robot called Land Walker for a demonstration as part of an art exhibition. Looks like a prototype Star Wars "AT-ST Scout Walker" or some kind of small Mech.All he needs is a medium-sized plasma cannon, a big ol' energy sword, some type of anti-Ewok-attack system, and we're good to go.

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-83767074147401195692007-01-24T10:47:00.000-05:002007-02-07T11:14:58.173-05:00

From Making Light, co-workers Patrick & Teresa Nielsen Hayden's blog, I was directed to Mucha's Slav Epic.Anyone who knows me knows that I have a deep, deep love of Mucha's ouvre. His figure work, his linework, and his sense of space are only surpassed by his skill as a master draughtsman. Throughout the years, Mucha has informed my personal artwork –in one way or another, and in varying degrees

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-20743069491340639212007-01-24T10:37:00.000-05:002007-01-24T11:08:59.567-05:00

Grease Monkey: A Tale of Growing Up in Orbit by Tim Eldred has been selected by the American Library Association as both a "Best Book for Young Adults" and "Great Graphic Novel for Teens." Grease Monkey is one of Tor's titles –our first graphic novel, in fact– and I enjoyed it tremendously.Congratulations to Mr. Eldred and his editor Teresa Nielson Hayden.

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-60932574524594481232007-01-24T09:21:00.000-05:002007-01-24T10:03:22.057-05:00

From The Guardian, it seems that the British school system is getting at least half the story right: Teenagers will be asked to debate intelligent design (ID) in their religious education classes and read texts by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins under new government guidelines.I'm pleased that kids will be exposed to Dawkins' writing within the context of a so-called 'religious education'

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-46123124768228322902007-01-24T09:17:00.000-05:002007-01-24T10:03:56.595-05:00

I remember doing something like this when I was ten or eleven, after my parents took away my Prime toy for some reason or another. Needless to say, mine wasn't as clean, but it did transform. . .Anyway, check out the link for this and other really cool paper toys.

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-75006767104661113692007-01-23T14:09:00.000-05:002007-01-23T15:09:05.213-05:00

From the Houston Chronicle:A judge on Monday rejected the city's effort to keep secret most of the files and videotapes documenting the arrests of hundreds of protesters at the 2004 Republican National Convention. The New York Civil Liberties Union, which had brought the lawsuit, said it would not immediately release the information because the city may appeal. More than 1,800 people were

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-23643452551082295922007-01-22T11:03:00.000-05:002007-01-22T11:09:13.789-05:00

. . . to the singularity. From NewScientist.com, Neural 'extension cord' developed for brain implants:A "data cable" made from stretched nerve cells could someday help connect computers to the human nervous system. The modified cells should form better connections with human tissue than the metal electrodes currently used for purposes such as remotely controlling prosthetics. . . Connecting the

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-33170082247599794462007-01-21T12:47:00.000-05:002007-01-21T12:54:21.714-05:00

It's official. I haven't had a cigarette in exactly one week. No slips, no "I'll just have this one, because I've been so good", no asking roommates for a cigarette (they just figured out I hadn't been smoking all week last night), no nothing. I've even gone out drinking a few times this week, and haven't succumbed to the temptation of bumming one off my friends and having one with my beer. I've

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-15159199019989408112007-01-21T12:39:00.000-05:002007-01-21T12:46:53.011-05:00

Openculture.com has a great educational podcast collection on their site (among other things). They have audio books, foreign language lessons, news, commentary, college courses from BU, American University, Columbia, Duke, College de France, and on and on and on. All free, as in beer. Most deffinitely worth a look. I think I'm gonna make good on my resolution to learn French for real (

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-19762005122368056522007-01-21T12:31:00.000-05:002007-01-21T23:35:41.566-05:00

The Maru family hooked their little ones up over the holidays, with this life-size scale model of the classic Gundam giant robot. Here's a link to the step-by-step assembly photo essay on their family site. It looks like they had a blast. Or maybe that's just me projecting. Either way, it's a big giant fucking robot in their living room. I foresee Lego property damage in the future.Mad props to

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-82540761275804191992007-01-19T09:10:00.000-05:002007-01-19T09:12:51.840-05:00

From the Beeb: An investigation into the cleanliness of rivers feeding Washington's Potomac River has revealed the presence of sex-changing chemicals. Somebody get Colbert on this!

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-28688577830893112662007-01-18T10:03:00.000-05:002007-01-18T10:12:20.558-05:00

OK, so given:1) Steve Jobs' flaunting some Beatles tracks in his MWSF keynote demo for the iPhone.2) Apple Corps not crying (to my knowledge) about Apple's dropping the word 'Computer' from their name.3) Apple's forthcoming announcement at the Super Bowl, which many predict will be that the Beatles catalogue will -finally- be available online and exclusively at the iTunes store (at least at first

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-2501322457985444912007-01-17T22:02:00.000-05:002007-01-17T22:30:06.551-05:00

According to this New Scientist article, a team at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, have found that dichloroacetate (DCA) kills lung, breast and brain cancer cells, but not healthy cells. It sounds almost too good to be true: a cheap and simple drug that kills almost all cancers by switching off their “immortality”. The drug,

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-15538251527392230222007-01-17T13:09:00.000-05:002007-01-17T13:21:48.157-05:00

From Sci Fi Wire : It seems George Clooney is going to produce an adaptation of Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age as a six-part miniseries for the Sci Fi Channel. Now, Neal Stephenson is by far one of my favourite authors (The Barroque Cycle, Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon, etc.), and The Diamond Age is the very first novel of his that I read, so it's got a special place in my heart. From what I've

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-7753236858411841642007-01-17T13:04:00.000-05:002007-01-17T13:08:36.714-05:00

For all you Cthulu-heads out there: Check out these plush toys based on the works of HP Lovecraft. There's a plush Cthulu, Moon Beast, Deep Ones, hand puppets, etc, etc, etc. Of note, (and pictured at left): the plush Necronomicon Pillow. This is classic, classic shit.

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-39978020160093301872007-01-17T12:57:00.000-05:002007-01-17T13:00:02.577-05:00

I mentioned The Whatever earlier in the week, and here's a great post from this morning:How is Guantanamo like DRM, you ask? They're alike in two ways: First for what they are not, and then for what they represent. Let's begin with the first: Both are used by the people who have created them for purposes other than what they're ostensibly used. In the case of DRM, it exists not primarily to

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-87855952651272890152007-01-16T07:37:00.000-05:002007-01-16T07:44:58.459-05:00

Via Warren Ellis' blog, a list of must-know terms for the 21st century, from the Sentient Developments blog, by George P. Dvorsky. A fascinating list, covering terms and concepts from Bayesian Rationality to the Technological Singularity (my favourite). Definitely worth a read, and makes for a good half hour of link surfing. If anyone is curious as to some of the most important concepts in modern

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-44516736913723615152007-01-15T21:05:00.000-05:002007-01-15T21:27:37.900-05:00

Cannonball Press is home to some of the most badass woodcut and letterpress work I've ever seen. Martin Mazorra and Mike Houston's work is pure rock and roll. So I was very excited to find this invite in my Inbox today. I'm gonna be there. You should be too.CANNONBALL PRESSTreasure of the Black and White BrigandA Tale of Lost Loot Spanning the Centuries, told in woodcutsJanuary 16th – February

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-65099346372927571512007-01-12T16:11:00.000-05:002007-01-12T16:28:48.252-05:00

After successfully fighting off the RIAA, and coming to the defense of Allofmp3.com, the Pirate Bay is now trying to raise money to buy the microcountry of Sealand, off the British coast. Ostensibly, this would place the Pirate Bay in a sovereign country where no intellectual property laws are recognized, therefore allowing the 'Bay to keep doing what it does best without the constant shadow of

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-9172026325513370672007-01-11T18:34:00.000-05:002007-01-11T19:32:04.119-05:00

I've just finished reading Old Man's War and The Ghost Brigades, by John Scalzi (one of Tor's authors, and the man behind The Whatever). What a ride! These books rock. Scalzi rocks. Period.The premise of the Old Man's War Universe is simple: In the future, humanity has taken to the stars, and discovered that the neighborhood is rough. Human colonists must compete for interstellar real estate with

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-1948552476529710592007-01-10T21:49:00.000-05:002007-01-11T10:34:27.132-05:00

Now, who didn't see this coming? Yesterday, Cisco sued Apple over the iPhone trademark, ostensibly defending their new 'iPhone' branded VOIP Phone. For those not so pathologically glued to the internet as me, Cisco got shit from the blogosphere for their iPhone launch in early December, especially as it was linked to an Engadget iPhone prediction which turned out to be one of the worst off-season

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-34828964779816565442007-01-10T08:05:00.000-05:002007-01-10T08:08:43.279-05:00

These new posters outside of London Tube stations are disconcerting, to say the least. Considering London is one of the cities with the most public surveillance, one has to wonder whether the creators of this campaign have ever read 1984. . . Orwell was so right, he was just a little too premature.Welcome to the future. Try not to get arrested.

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-23924634774174664292007-01-10T07:58:00.000-05:002007-01-10T08:04:39.805-05:00

Via BoingBoing, a pin-up calendar for typographers by Taylor Lane Studios. What could be sexier than girls AND type? I don't know. I really don't know. While this aesthetic is nothing new, it's been put to great use here. It's kinda like Suicide Girls for the type nuts. Check the link for the rest of the months.

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33168206.post-72162178955443751892007-01-09T17:07:00.000-05:002007-01-10T08:10:38.670-05:00

It's here. Sort of. Apple announced their iPhone today, a full-service phone, internet, and music playing device. Although it won't be available until June, and then only through Cingular (or AT&T, rather), I'm still stoked. This device is gonna kick so many people's asses, it's not even funny.EDIT: I'll write a longer, more concise review of the announcement later, after I've stopped drooling

Pablo Defendininoreply@blogger.com0