The Nintendo Revolution Controller

Posted on 6:54 PM by James | 0 comments


The Revolution "Remote Controller"


The "Nunchaku" configuraion

There is something to be said about wanting to be innovative and think "outside the box," even if the ideas may not alway work for some of the time. The new Nintendo Revolution Controller looks like it will turn out to be something that will completely change the way one thinks about how one plays game on the console. For the past twenty years, nothing has much change about how controllers are design, even if the number of buttons increased, or if the device has a more tactile feedback through the rumble features. The paradigm of a remote control is an interesting one. Most consumers are used to handling said device, but one will have to question whether the consumers will in fact be used to that model as it applies to game controll. Old habits die hard, especially when it has been two decades.

 has attempted in the past to question the way we interface with the games. Think back to the Light Gun, the Power Pad, or even the Power Glove. Some has obvious success, while others can be said otherwise. A lot I think was partly due to the developers' lack of innovation in their own game designs. One can even look at today. The offers an interesting paradigm in how one can, again, interface with the game. That the developers are still grappling with how to best use the dual screens may not be completely Nintendo's fualt. One will have to see in the next coming years, how both the public and the developers respond to the Revolution Controller.

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Art In The Twenty-first Century Season Three

Posted on 12:51 PM by James | 0 comments

returns today for a third season on . For those who are not familiar with the program, Art: 21 is a show that features interviews with Contemporary Artists. Each one-hour episode follows a particular theme. The opener for the third season will be Power, featuring segments on Cai Guo-Qiang, Laylah Ali, Krzysztof Wodiczko, and Ida Applebroog. The other three episodes in this season will be Memory, Structures, and Play.

Air Dates: Power: September 16, Memory: September 23, Structures: September 30, Play: October 7

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The Artist's Book Collection At The Cerritos Library

Posted on 11:31 AM by James | 0 comments

Back in my high school days, the was the place where I would hang out for much of the time after school waiting for my parents to come pick me up. I would sit in their magazines area talking to my friends, or catch up on the news reading their collection of newspaper.

Sometime back they closed the library down for renovation. I must admit that I have never liked the design for the new building. However, I was enlightened about their design choices with a tour of the library yesterday.

One of the thing that I didn't know was that the library has quite and extensive collection of Contemporary Artist's Books. Below are some of the examples on view.



























Aside from the Artist's Books, the library also has some works of art that they either comissioned or bought during the renovations:


Hung Liu, Above the Clouds, 2001


Al Held, Quattro Centric XIV, 1990


A piece by Dale Chihuly in the hall of the library

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LACMA Redux

Posted on 10:40 AM by James | 1 comments

For some reason I think this topic will become like a broken record. Lately LACMA, a great encyclopedic art museum in Los Angeles, has been a little too cozy in branding some of their exhibitions as blockbuster shows. Over the past several years there have been no less than a handful of shows that LACMA has labeled as such--and charge special (higher) admission for them. The latest in this path is the upcoming Cézanne & Pissaro: Pioneering Modern Painting 1865-1885.

I understand that there are costs incured in any large exhibitions, but one has to wonder what criteria one uses to relegate a certain show into the "special" category. I remember going to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art a couple years back when the big (one can say "blockbuster") show of that time was the Diane Arbus exhibition. SFMOMA could have charged a higher admission price for that show, yet it was all part of your regular admission. Yet when it arrived at LACMA, it was now labeled as "special," requiring a higher admission price.

I really do not know what is happening on the higher-ups side at LACMA. I am sure they are struggling to secure funds to operate the museum just like any other institutions, but there is one thing to do one of these blockbusters once in awhile; however, to have these so often has become somewhat annoying. LACMA should look at other institutions--like the aforementioned SFMOMA and their neighbor Museum of Contemporary Art, who is offering a true blockbuster with the Basquiat show without charging extra admissions.

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GeekTV

Posted on 9:11 PM by James | 0 comments

I have been watching less and less broadcast television lately since most of my favorite shows ended last year. Most on my list of must-watch are mainly DVD's or Internets TV's. Since one of my interests is technology, I was dismayed when TechTV got bought up and turned into a Gamers Television. However, there is a groundswell of a movement going on in providing contents to possible audience on the Internets.

Systm -- An episodic show of DIY how-to segments spearheaded by ex-The Screensaver/Attack of the Show hosts Kevin Rose and Dan Huard. The first three episodes cover everything from Moster Cables to MythTV, the opensource PVR.

Digital Life TV -- Another show featuring TechTV's The Screensaver mainstay Patrick Norton. Somewhat of a Screensaver Lite, the show features news and segments on gadgets, games, and technology. It broadcasts live every Tuesday 9PM EST/ 6PM Pacific.

Diggnation -- The old folks from TechTV are all over this Internets TV thing. Hosted by Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht, this weekly show covers the news items posted on the technology/social bookmarking website Digg. A very simple setup with some real funny moments.

NerdTV -- It would seem even PBS is getting in on the act. Robert X. Cringely hosts an interview show with guests from all spectrum of the tech industry. The first episode features Andy Hertzfeld, the first Machintosh programmer. Other episodes to follow will feature the founder of Paypal and Bill Joy.

There are other good shows going on right now dealing with tech. Visit this list of tech shows that you can download.

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