Short film: Internet Machine - trailer

Trailer for Timo Arnall’s multi-screen film, Internet Machine, which documents the massive Telefónica data centre in Alcalá, Spain.

(via The Verge and elasticspace)

URME anti-surveillance mask

(via CNET and Leo Selvaggio)

PBS short: Is Code the Most Important Language in the World?

What is code and why does it matter? In this persuasive PBS Arts episode, several programming evangelists hold to the opinion that ‘everyone should learn to code’.

But as interface designer Bret Victor, in his 2012 essay ‘Learnable Programming’, points out:

Programming is a way of thinking, not a rote skill. Learning about ‘for’ loops is not learning to program, any more than learning about pencils is learning to draw.

You can read Victor‘s incisive essay here.

Knowledge sharing: Coders on GitHub collaborate on a definitive list of free programming books

Over 100 users on the popular collaborative code sharing host GitHub have resurrected and updated an A–Z of free programming books that first appeared on Q&A site StackOverflow. The list is a wonderful reading resource for enlightened coders and developers to delve into, perhaps looking to learn another programming language or to fill gaps in their knowledge.

If you’re searching for solid grounding in programming, then you might like MIT’s Harold Abelson and Gerald Jay Sussman’s influential ‘Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs’. Intermediate coders will enjoy the pearls of wisdom selected for O’Reilly’s ‘97 Things Every Programmer Should Know’ (available in its original text). My favourite, ‘The Nature of Code’ by Daniel Shiffman, explores ‘generative’ and computational design.

You can browse the exhaustive bibliography here on GitHub.

ASIDE: If you’re new to coding then you might start with Codeacademy’s interactive learning modules and Harvard’s OpenCourseware Introduction to Computer Science and Programming lectures, both of which are excellent and free, but not currently listed.

Listen to BBC’s Digital Human episode on emotional ‘Engagement’

Academic, presenter and Guardian tech-journalist Aleks Krotoski investigates real world experiences that cannot yet be replicated online.

Password Politics: What happens when you enter your password online in front of strangers

(via John Fass)

Bill Viola at MIT

Bill Viola, a pioneer in video art, concluded an artist residency at MIT, in 2009, with a thoughtful conversation about profound changes to sense perception and tactile experience brought about by technology.

In the above video, he talks about new research in computational photography, tangible media and ‘hyperinstrument environments’ which augment and mediate human experience at the edge between physical and virtual.

(via MIT TechTV)

The future of digital interactions: Connecting (documentary film)

A pragmatic 18-minute primer. By Bassett & Partners and Microsoft.

(via Fast Company)

Japanese vending machine

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

(via nationstudio)

3D ASCII Animated GIF

This sweet, 3D animated gif from Japan caught my eye this morning. Awwww.

(via Rhizome)

Alison, can you explain what ‘Internet’ is…

Some day in the not too distant future, billions of people will be able to express and communicate with each other via a network of computers — no way!

(via @bebebel)