turtlethink.com » NYC

PSST!3: A collaborative film series

Paul Fayngersh — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 17:47:46 +0000

Wednesday night I was fortunate enough to attend a screening of PSST!3 at Galapagos Art Space in Brooklyn. PSST!3 is a series of 17 animated shorts, each made collaboratively by 3 distinct teams working on the beginning, middle, and end, each team taking over where the previous left off.

The resulting art quite possibly induces the most psychedelic visual experience one can have without resorting to chemicals. I was blown away by some of the young talent out there, and even more happy to see such work flourishing outside the big-budget corporate commercials, where one is most likely to encounter creative animation these days. Moreover, its great to see so many disparate directors, animators, and designers able to express their unique visual style, while also contributing to a larger cohesive project. To take this to the next level, I would love to see a feature-length project showcasing a singular story, yet have each scene directed by a different animation team. Either way, when it comes to the future of animated film production, large-scale collaboration will be integral.

The first 6 films are now available on their site — I highly recommend you check them out.

[PSST!3: A collaborative film series]

Madoff Social-Network Map

Paul Fayngersh — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:47:42 +0000

Orgnet.com has created a cool, interactive social-network map that illustrates the flow of funds between Madoff’s firms and his fleeced investors.

[Madoff Social-Network Map]

Google marches forward in taking over the world

Paul Fayngersh — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 19:59:13 +0000

When explorers eager to discover [plunder] the New World, where did they turn to? What was their most prized reference? Maps, of course.

As reported by O’Reilly, Google is continuing to heavily invest in GeoData on multiple fronts – from exclusive deals with satellite companies to their in-house projects such as Street View and Map Maker. The company has recently released a few images that illustrate their progress.

This image details what parts of the US are available on Street View. I was a bit shocked by this – it seems just recently many parts of New York weren’t available!

Speaking of our fair city, Google Earth just added photo-realistic buildings that actually make our skyline seem real. This is the type of news that scares many of my less technologically-inclined friends; what are Google’s long-term plans for Earth, especially considering they recently pulled the plug on Lively, their virtual world? Check out before and after shots of NYC at the Google Earth Blog.

Perhaps most interesting is Google’s strategy for Map Maker. The image above shows which parts of the globe are most active. In parts of the world where mapping data is unavailable, Google is allowing users to create their own maps – roads, lakes, local businesses, everything. The maps are moderated by more experienced users to prevent fraud and vandalism. It’s wonderful that Google is providing this useful service to people for free by crowdsourcing mapping data in the developing world; however, unlike OpenStreetMap, Google is retaining all intellectual property associated with the maps. Either way, it is yet another testament to the developing world’s embrace of new technologies and willingness to contribute and collaborate on social projects.

The video below is an amazing time-lapse of a Da Lat, Vietnam, being constructed in Map Maker.

via O’Reilly Radar and Google Earth Blog