COME AND PLAY, EVERYTHING'S A-OK!

Sesame Street is 39 years old today, debuting on November 10th, 1969.

And shortly thereafter, I learned "C is for Cookie"... and thus, cookie became my first word. One of countless influences that the show would have on me -- from counting ladybugs at their picnics, to learning the value of invisible/furry/monster friends.

Thanks, Jim. :)

SMOKE AND MIRRORS

Check out this AWESOME new 3D display developed at USC.

LINGER IN SHADOWS

I have just been introduced to the art subculture of the "demoscene", through an unassuming little $2.99 download from the Playstation Network on my PS3.

It's called Linger in Shadows, and it's a bizarre, dreamlike interactive art piece -- and although it's on a gaming platform, it's not really a game, per se. You do use the PS3 controller -- including its motion-sensing ability -- to explore a (somewhat) linear storyline, scrubbing backwards and forwards through time in fast and slow motion to discover details in the story that you might otherwise miss if you let the scene "play" at normal speed. It's quite beautiful and enigmatic in a waking-nightmare sort of way.

It's part graphics demo, part user-participatory-performance art -- fascinating stuff. A video and more in-depth explanation can be found here. But if you're a PS3 owner, just download it and try it -- I knew nothing about it, and it's only three bucks, and it's a pretty cool thing to discover and explore sight unseen.

I guess I always knew about the demoscene, because waaay back in the day, I remember downloading graphic demos for my C64 and Amiga from various BBSes to show off their hardware, but it seems to have evolved into an interesting art scene unto itself.