Call for contributor to write Digital Artists’ Handbook article on “Video Editing with Open Source Tools”

The Handbook aims to give artists information about the available tools but also about the practicalities related to Free Software and Open Content, such as collaborative development and licenses. All this to facilitate exchange between artists, to take away some of the fears of artists when it comes to open content licenses, sharing code, and allowing them to have a look at various ways of working and collaborating. The focus is on practical consequences, not on political implications.

The Handbook was launched in March 2008. A number of articles were commissioned for this launch, including introductions to all the main handbook sections. One area we are seeking to increase the depth of content in is "Working with Digital Video", and we are looking for someone to write an article on the topic of "Video Editing with Open Source Tools". An introduction to "Working with Digital Video" has been published at www.digitalartistshandbook.org/node/28. We would like the article to pick up on the ideas introduced in the final paragraph of the introduction, using a number of tools in way of examples:

"When you start working with free software as a videomaker, it is likely that you need to invest some time and energy in understanding certain basics of the video production process. Sometimes this might mean you have to look for alternative workflows, to dive 'under the hood' of a digital tool, or reconfigure an existing solution to suit your needs. Investigating the tools you use as a video maker is an important part of the job, it can help gain insights, it can be an inspiration to explore new ways of working and imagemaking." Peter Westenberg, Working with Digital Video, Digital Artists' Handbook, October 2007.

More information
For application, fee and more go to: www.folly.co.uk/node/1132

CREATIVE BIOTECHNOLOGY: A USER'S MANUAL -

I do not like biology but I like biotechnology. Here is my long favorite artist book commissioned by Locus+.

Biotechnology promises to impact upon virtually every aspect of our lives, and yet the methods, techniques, and practices of biotech often remain closed off from the public, making it hard to understand exactly what it is and how it will impact our broader understanding of biology, politics, and culture. Biotech Hobbyism seeks to counteract this sense of alienation and fuel this curiosity through promoting an understanding of the means, what’s and where for’s of biotech.
Having worked with Locus+ to develop a series of prototype kits, the Biotech Hobbyist kits have been transformed into a publication in the form of a 'users manual'. In keeping with the open ethos of Biotech Hobbyist, these manuals will also exist in the format of an e-book that can be freely accessed via the Web
Includes commissioned texts by Denna Jones & Heath Bunting.

Recommended :"TIMES OF THE SIGNS" by ERIC SADDIN

The book just launched. It is a visual account of examples of Urban Space as a laboratory for observing and experiencing the density of signs and their multiple frameworks : Signage, Giant Screens, signboards,Flags, Poster Displays, Architectural advertisements, surveillance Technologies, Tracking Devices etc.

New Book : Imaginary Futures

Dr. Richard Barbrook's newest book Imaginary Futures traces the political history of the Internet, showing how this powerful tool's destiny was pre-determined by ideological leaders in America's 60s & 70s. Visit www.imaginaryfutures.net for more information.

The book of imaginary Media: Excavating the Dream of the Ultimate Communication Media

Have you ever wondered if one day Windows 2028 might just know what you're thinking and type it? In this collection of essays, a selection of today's top media and sci-fi theorists weigh in. The Book of Imaginary Media explores the persistent idea that technology may one day succeed where no human has, not only in space or in nature, but also in interpersonal communication. Building on insights from media archeology, Siegfried Zielinski, Bruce Sterling, Erkki Huhtamo and Timothy Druckrey spin a web of associations between the fantasy machines of Athanasius Kircher, the mania of stereoscopy and "dead" media. Edwin Carels and Zoe Beloff descend into the cinematographic caverns of spiritualism and the iconography of death, and renowned cartoonists including Ben Katchor depict their own visionary media fantasies. On the enclosd DVD, artist Peter Blegvad provides hilarious commentary in a son et lumie version of his On Imaginary Media.
PUBLISHED BY: NAi Publishers
FORMAT: Paperback, 6.75 x 9.5 in. / 292 pgs / 50 b&w / with DVD.
ISBN: 905662539X ISBN13: 9789056625399
PUBLICATION DATE: 03/01/2007
Price : $39.95

New Book :Fab: The Coming Revolution on Your Desktop - From Personal Computers to Personal Fabrication

"Renowned scientist and inventor Neil Gershenfeld describes how personal fabricators are about to revolutionise the world just as personal computers did a generation ago. What if you could put the manufacturing power of a car plant on your desktop? According to MIT scientist and inventor Neil Gershenfeld, the next big thing is personal fabrication (PF) - the ability to design and produce your own products in your own home, with a machine that combines consumer electronics and industrial tools. PF's will bring the programmability of the digital world to the rest of the world by being able to make almost anything. In "Fab", Gershenfeld describes how PF is possible today, and how it is being used to meet local needs with locally developed solutions. In "Fab Labs" created around the world by Gershenfeld and his colleagues, villagers in India have developed devices to monitor food safety and agricultural engine efficiency. Herders in the Lyngen Alps of northern Norway are developing wireless networks and animal tags so their data can be as nomadic as their animals. And students at MIT have made everything from a defensive dress that protects its wearer's personal space, to an alarm clock that must be wrestled into silence. These experiments are the vanguard of a new science and a new era of "post-digital literacy". In this ground-breaking book, the scientist who has pioneered the revolution in PF reveals exactly what is being done, and how this technology will allow all of us to create the objects we desire and the kind of world we want to live in."
Are we ready for DIY world?
Do we have the literacy ?