Brick Factory - Conversation Starters PODCAST: Episode #3

Summary of week 39 - including Halo 3, Parallels Desktop, and Theo Jansen.

ART & INNOVATION: Theo Jansen

WHAT: Amazing sculptures that come to life. Theo Jansen is a Dutch artist and "kinetic sculptor" who creates "Strandbeest" -- beach creatures or beasts -- out of plastic electrical tubing. The beasts come alive with the wind, walking up and down the flat Holland beaches.

WHY: You just have to watch this video to understand: when I saw this, I thought a lot about this guy and how he has devoted his life to his art. Developing creativity and thinking outside the box is something I believe we all can incorporate to our own lives, and hopefully you'll find Theo to be a source of inspiration.

Thanks to Rob Connolly for sharing Theo's work with The Brick Factory. Today will be the first official weekly podcast summary of The Brick Factory's Conversation Starters, which you can subscribe to from the podcast link to the right (it launches in iTunes).

Happy Friday and we'll be back Monday -- and enjoy the video clips below:

YouTube: http://youtube.com/watch?v=FMqftVhOuTw

Official Website: www.strandbeest.com

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TECH: Parallels Desktop - Windows on your Mac

WHAT: Alright, so running Windows on a Mac computer is a little bit old news now; at least, the "concept" of it is. Apple had the "Boot Camp" beta program out shortly after launching the Intel chip Macs, but to get it running, you had to have a degree in computer science. No longer. Parallels Desktop runs on your Mac like any other program: once it's all installed - you install the program, then within the program, you install your own copy of Windows XP, you simply have to double-click the icon and launch Windows - without having to re-boot your computer everytime.

Or any other operating system that you have installed in the program, for example: Linux.

WHY: "So what," you say? "I got a Mac so that I wouldn't have to $#%&#@$ with Windows anymore." I hear you.

However, there are times you need Windows, like it or not. After I purchased a Mac (after a 10 year hiatus, during which I became a bit of a PC mechanic - out of necessity), I tried to install my Garmin MapSource software on my Mac. Whoops!

Seems Garmin only makes their software for the PC (and in my humble opinion, it's a rather archaic piece of software, at that). After running second PC only to handle the GPS software, it was taking up huge amounts of space - and being a bit of a pain switching between the two computers. Parallels Desktop helped solve my dilemma. I installed the Garmin program in the Parallels Windows XP environment on my Mac, hooked up the GPS unit with the USB cable, and bingo!

Parallels helps with other problems, too: if you're a Netflix subscriber, you can't watch the 3000 plus films on demand available to you from the website. It's a PC-only thing. But, launch Windows XP in Parallels on your Mac, open Internet Explorer and visit Netflix, and - bingo again - you've got your video on demand experience right on your Mac.

A final note: it's pretty darn fast. Last week I saw a USC student running Bioshock - a huge, graphics-intensive PC game - in Windows on Parallels Desktop. And it ran good. Until you don't need Windows any longer, it's a great, low-cost alternative to having two computers.

http://www.parallels.com/

ENTERTAINMENT: Halo 3 - The Hype

WHAT: Halo 3. You've probably already heard about it, even if you're not into games. It's the third and "final" installment in the mega-popular 1st-person shooter for Microsoft's X-Box game system.

WHY: It's amazing that Microsoft has sunk so much money into advertising Halo 3. It's everywhere. The previous games - Halo (5 million copies) and Halo 2 (9.2 million) - have sold around 15 million copies collectively. In the gaming world, that's Gold. Solid gold.

So let's do the math: Halo 3 is retailing for $59.99. 10 bucks more gets you a behind-the-scenes disk, a booklet, and a metal case. $129.99 is going to get you the Halo 3 "Legendary" Edition: TWO extra feature disks and a Spartan helmet! Sooo... let's just take the lowest price - $60 - and let's say that Halo 3 sales come up to around 15 million alone (taking into account the growth between Halo 1 and Halo 2, but we're being conservative...).

$900,000,000... and remember, I was being pretty conservative. That's not even counting new X-Box purchases for those who have been convinced that this is the must-play game of the year. Only three films have grossed higher: Titantic, The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.

I want one.

First, I'd need to get $399 to get an X-Box 360. Damn.

Will the game itself be worth it? Probably. Makes you want to get into game development.

www.halo3.com or www.bungie.net

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HEALTH: Pandemic Influenza

WHAT: Recently, I came across an article published by the World Health Organization about Pandemic Influenza; a pandemic happens when a new kind of influenza starts spreading as easily as the common flu, i.e. by coughing and sneezing. In an age of jet travel, the WHO (World Health Organization, not the rock band that sings "Won't Get Fooled Again") believes that an influenza can reach all continents in as little as three months.

Ten things you need to know about pandemic influenza
1. Pandemic influenza is different from avian influenza.
2. Influenza pandemics are recurring events.
3. The world may be on the brink of another pandemic.
4. All countries will be affected.
5. Widespread illness will occur.
6. Medical supplies will be inadequate.
7. Large numbers of deaths will occur.
8. Economic and social disruption will be great.
9. Every country must be prepared.
10. WHO will alert the world when the pandemic threat increases.

WHY: It's not just developing countries that are affected during a pandemic - in Hong Kong in 1997, 18 people were infected with a new influenza virus and six people died. Support initiatives to strengthen your country's health system, wash your hands, and - please - cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze.

http://www.who.int/csr/disease/influenza/pandemic10things/en/

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HISTORY: The Tower of Babel

WHAT: One explanation of why we all speak a different language comes from Genesis, Chapter 11, in the Bible: it's the story of the Tower of Babel. In a nutshell, the tower was built by a united humanity in order that they may reach their God. Annoyed by the human's arrogance and what they might do, God decided to disuade them from trying to do the same thing by screwing around with their language so that they couldn't understand each other.

Then they all set off in their seperate directions, inadvertantly creating langauge and translation businesses such as Berlitz. And the Swedish Chef, too.

WHY: Now you'll know when someone tells you to stop "babbling" where it comes from.

And then you can babble some more about how much you know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_bable

ENTERTAINMENT: Zap2it.com

WHAT: According to Zap2it, they are a website that is "a fresh and lively guide for millions of Americans who love TV and movies." It's basically a doped-out portal of film and television news, all in one place.

WHY: A comprehensive, fairly serious site to help weed out "what to watch" in television and film - and where to watch it. They collect data and make it freely available, so that, for example, you see: what the most searched for movie is, what shows received highest ratings, video clips - you can even sync the site up with your TIVO account.

I'll be watching the site for a Tribune Company bias - Zap2it is owned by the Chicago-based company, which also owns some network affiliate television stations that include The CW, ABC, and Fox. However, the site gets good marks for now, including recommending shows from non-affiliate nets. Oh, yeah: the Tribune Company also owns the Chicago Cubs.

TONIGHT: The following is an example from Zap2it.com, highlighting one of tonight's "best bets:"
Ghost Whisperer
8:00 PM - CBS
Why do prophets talk in riddles, anyway? Can't they just come out and say it? Melinda (Jennifer Love Hewitt) struggles to understand the cryptic, mythology-heavy clues from a prophetic ghost (Vivian Wu) about a disaster that's about to hit her hometown. She'sIn this episode, also having her own visions of death befalling someone close to her. Remember that saying about raining and pouring? Julian Sands also guest stars in "The Gathering."

LINK: www.zap2it.com

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ENTERTAINMENT/TECH: Joost

WHAT: Joost is a way to watch television and movie programming online for free. Content is paid for through a neo-traditional, ad-based model.

WHY: Joost is cool. From the inventors of Kazaa and Skype, these Scandinavian dudes are focusing their attention on a way to deliver full-screen content to your screen in a way that actually works. Major content providers have already teamed up: Paramount, Warner Brothers, VH1, MTV, etc., etc... the list goes on. I watched a full-length feature film called CLOCKSTOPPERS a few Saturdays back, and enjoyed the experience. It was sponsored by Mountain Dew, and a little Mountain Dew logo appeared occasionally in the lower right-hand corner. There were two or three short commercial breaks. If you don't have time to watch the entire program at once, it'll resume where you left off when you re-start the program. It's even got SCOTT BAIO IS 45... AND SINGLE. Groundbreaking.

HOW: Instead of cramming all of the video information down one pipeline, Joost breaks it up, so that your computer actually participates in the network of Joost programming. Think peer-to-peer streaming. This makes for faster network connections and very few streaming interruptions, or lag. Programs are ad-sponsored, but not intrusive. Best of all, it's not pay-per-view, so you can watch for free.

For now, Joost is a Beta program. However, if you go to the site and sign up, they'll send you an email shortly thereafter with a link to download the program. If that doesn't work, let me know... Joost is a "invite your friends" program, much like Gmail was for a very long time - you can be invited to use it. I haven't tried it on a dial-up connection, but who uses dial-up anymore? Oh, yeah, my brother does...

www.joost.com

TECH: iGoogle

iGoogle is a pretty cool, straight forward homepage: you add as much or as little content as you like, move the "modules" around simply by dragging on their headers and dropping them into place.

You can add a module that displays your most recent Gmail emails, calendars, sports scores, games, weather, etc... all in one place. You can even create tabbed pages on your homepage, so that all of your favorite stuff is easily accessible. Simply open your web browser's preferences and add www.igoogle.com as your "HOME" page.

You can also add The Brick Factory blog right to your iGoogle homepage, so you never have to worry about missing out on the good stuff.

HOW TO ADD THE BRICK FACTORY BLOG TO iGOOGLE

1. Go to iGoogle.com and log-on in the upper-right hand corner. Create an account if you don't already have a Google account.
   
   
2. After you've logged-in, select "Add Stuff" from the upper-right hand corner.
   
   
3. At the top-center of the page, you'll see a "Search Homepage Content" button. Just to the right of it, a tiny link says "ADD BY URL." Click it!
   
   
4. In the "Add by URL" box, type in http://brickfactory.blogspot.com, and voila! New Brick Factory blog postings appear on your homepage.
   
   

Pretty damn cool.

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FILM: The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford

Opens September 21.

In the second western-genre film for autumn 2008, this one actually looks promising. According to IMDB: "Robert Ford joins Jesse James's gang, only to become resentful of the legendary outlaw and hatch a plan to kill the fastest gun in the West." Alright, so nothing new there; it's a story we collectively know well. However, the look of the film from the trailer is inspiring: creative cinematography coupled with a human story reflected by the nature it takes place in (howling wind, stormy weather) seems like a potential winner.

However, the western genre needs fresh insight in order to create new classics. Not since the LONSOME DOVE series has an engaging, epic Western been made. I have my doubts that this film will become a classic, but I look forward to watching it.

http://jessejamesmovie.com