“Now let us begin. Now let us rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter, but beautiful, struggle for a new world. This is the calling of the sons of God, and our brothers wait eagerly for our response. Shall we say the odds are too great? Shall we tell them the struggle is too hard? Will our message be that the forces of American life militate against their arrival as full men, and we send our deepest regrets? Or will there be another message — of longing, of hope, of solidarity with their yearnings, of commitment to their cause, whatever the cost? The choice is ours, and though we might prefer it otherwise, we must choose in this crucial moment of human history.”

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the States. Check out the great feature on Democracy Now. As relevant and moving as ever before. Where are the voices like his today?

It’s my last day at work before the holidays, I’m slowly recovering from the christmas party last night when random browsing leads me to back to k10k’s issue 100 from Joshua Davis. I’m drawn in once again to the touching confessionary tale, one that brings me back to the heyday (or at least my heyday circa 2000-2001) in web design, when anything seemed possible, when the community was tightly knit and supportive, and the “cutting-edge” (irony partially intended) were sites designed with 45 degree angles, tiny nonsense type, and big fat arrows. Dik, surfstation, tDr, alt.sense, dreamless, etc. If you know what I’m talking about…

It seems strange to be feeling nostalgic about designing websites, but I am. Maybe its the season, maybe its the result of dancing my ass off last night like I haven’t in a while. Maybe its a twisted sense of hope that the excitement I felt back then in my “profession” can still be achieved. Because of or in spite of all the web 2.0 blather.

In a day before the popularity of blogs Davis recounts his personal struggles with addiction and poverty, and how Netscape 2.0 saved his life. Read on…

an oldie, but a goodie…

An amazing little application developed by Elie Zananiri that allows you to manipulate a live video feed as if it were mapped onto a physical cloth. Even cooler on a multi-touch screen with the trace effect. Check it out here.

Artwork by tomato for the forthcoming Underworld album. Gorgeous work.
Much more here…