How Apple's story is like 'Breaking Bad'

Okay, so this one got my attention!

Breaking Bad, one of my favorite television shows.  These days I'm a bit sick of Apple this and Apple that, blah, blah blah.  But use my favorite television show as a means to draw a correlation with Apple and you've got me again. 

 A few of the comparisons drawn:

1.  Apples relationship with it's rivals.  Walter and Jesse's relationship with the rival drug dealers.

2.  Steve Jobs fights cancer.  Walter White fights cancer.

3.  Apples signature colors - white, black and shiny aluminum.  Walters Blue Meth.

4.  Both - in the "Empire" business.

Hopefully there are a few more Breaking Bad fans in my class and if so, here is the link to yet another Apple article - this one a little more entertaining!

CNN Tech Innovation /apple-breaking-bad/index.html

iOS 6 map mess was no big surprise to Apple

Google Maps Out!

Did you get your iOS6 upgrade?

I guess we iPhone users kind of have a choice, we could just ignore the message prompting us to install the latest operating system.  We could take the time to research what the new upgrade will change and we will potential lose as a result of the upgrading.  But really?  I know only one person who is even slightly interested in going that far and it's not me!  I believe we all select the install now button and hope for the best.  Yes it's exciting to see what's new, what additional features do we get, but we never really think about what we may be giving up.  Looks like we lost our Google Maps this time.  I don't know about you but I was perfectly happy with it.  I'm not so sure how I feel about the new mapping ap that Apple has decided to replace it with.  I'm not really interested in the corporate interests either so putting that topic aside I'd have preferred my trusty Google Map!

Art Book: Books on Art and Culture

Have you visited ARTBOOK.COM?  If not, it may have just what you are looking for.  You can spend hours reading the articles, viewing the images and shopping for books.  To have everthing at our finger tips today is truly amazing.  You can learn so much and experience and access art in a way that generations before have never experienced.  This site allows you to find books about any art related subject from  fashion, architecture, design, music, curator, series, and the list goes on.  Keep this site in mind when looking for Christmas gifts this year.  We are now entering the age of the electronic book but there's nothing like a real book for viewing art.

Image Atlas

I just discovered a new website.  "Image Atlas  investigates cultural differences and similarities by indexing top image results for given search terms across local engines throughout the world. Visitors can refine or expand their comparisons from the 57 countries currently available, and sort by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or alphabetical order." 

When first entering the website it can be a little confusing.  You are presented with a mostly black screen.  On the upper left there is a text box for you to enter you search criteria, the search button and and some clickable text that will allow you to choose the countries you would like included in your search.   On the upper right hand side of the screen you have two radio button selections for alphabetical and GDP.  This will return your search results in either order.  Have fun, play around and see what similarities and differences you encounter.

More Interactivity

With the subject of interactivity being the hot topic this week I wanted to share a web-site with you.  ARKive is an ever-expanding multimedia database that contains a wealth of information about the world’s most endangered species.  Their mission is to promote the conservation of the world's threatened species through the power of wildlife imagery.

Animal, plant, and fungus lovers can explore the site by zooming in on specific classes (mammals, reptiles, etc.), eco-regions (such as South America’s Atlantic forest), continents, and countries. Be sure to check out the Google Earth 3D interface that helps viewers learn about threatened marine species, and the site’s educational resource pages are geared toward specific age groups. But wherever you land, you’re sure to see a wealth of images and videos—each of which serves as a reminder of how much we stand to lose by letting any one of these species disappear. 

ARKive's 3D Google Earth Interface 

Science and Art Fusion

Blueprint for Bacterial Life

The image above is the E.Coli 2 created by Elaine Shemilt.

Elaine Shemilt's chapter on science-art fusion was very compelling to me.  I am fascinated by the contributions that art is making in the field of science.  We all know that artists have drawn, painted and created many images of plants, animals, human etc. for hundreds of years.  These images were primarily used for teaching.   The unifying of digital art with science has now opened the door for new discoveries.  Scientists have traditionally used graphs, charts, massive amount of numeric data to make determination and find causes and solutions.  The fact that an artist can take the same data and create a work of art that is able to expose an area that the was previously not apparent to the scientist is incredible.  Perhaps we will begin to see faster advances in the field of medicine and hopefully some cures for life threatening diseases.

Face Finding

Pareidolia

Wiki - Pareidolia ( /pærɨˈdoʊliə/ parr-i-DOH-lee-ə) is a psychological phenomenon involving a vague and random stimulus (often an image or sound) being perceived as significant. Common examples include seeing images of animals or faces in clouds, the man in the moon or the Moon rabbit, and hearing hidden messages on records when played in reverse.

There is a new trend in photography - face finding.  Amateurs and professionals alike are now finding sport in finding faces in unlikely places.  Ner Beck is a New York artist who has spent many years finding art and beauty on the streets of NY.  Here is a link to more of his photographs.  They made me smile and I will look at some common items a little differently from now on.

Put on a Happy Face