nick gaydos > thynk

What have I listened to over the past few years? An Infographic.

Here is a chart from data out of last.fm of my listening trends over the past few years. This only takes into account the artists I listened to the most (the top 20 or so out of 4000+), but in aggregate, I find it pretty fascinating.

 

goodgood's WinterHue in Boston Globe

Congrats to my brother for the write up in the Boston Globe yesterday:

"Hypnotic, too, is “WinterHue,’’ a project by the artist duo of Ben Gaydos and Karen Stein, known as goodgood, and Colin Owens of Owens Design. The understated banner of softly glowing lights made up of 36 LED light modules in a stack of windows at the corner of 368 Congress St. segues through a rainbow of colors. It would be easy to miss if you weren’t looking for it, but there’s an appeal to its meditative rhythm and tones."

via Illuminating the winter nights, Boston Globe

Label and Leaf

I happened upon Christoph Niemann's leaf cuts published in the New York Times Blogs back in November but hadn't posted about them until today.

Tongue-in-cheek and very inventive.

He's also recently written a children's book, The Pet Dragon.

Big Bright Lights in Rochester Michigan

Just a quick video we shot when we were down for the lighting of the town.

A Sleep Inducing Light, How to Build a Ring Light and an Awesome Tauntaun Costume

• LightSleeper, a sleep inducing light
  "LightSleeper is a device that projects a soothing light on the ceiling. The light moves in a circular motion above the bed. You follow the light with your eyes for a few minutes, and you begin to drift off. Following the light has the effect of relaxing the mind, a necessary prerequisite to entering a deep, refreshing sleep."
  
• Photography: How to Build a Ring Light for $10-$20
  "The assembly is built around a filter that attaches to his camera lens. Two rings of LEDs are then glued to a case made from the plastic of a CD-R container. To diffuse the light, he sanded both sides of the clear plastic housing to make it opaque.translucent."
  
• Scott Holden's Tauntaun Costume

Dinosaur Hill Nature Preserve wins Educator of Year Award

Congrats to Dinosaur Hill!

The organization won the Educator of the Year award at the Rochester Chamber of Commerce Pinnacle Awards.

"Dinosaur Hill Nature Preserve was honored with the Educator of the Year Award, citing 34 years in which the center has offered programs to the citizens of the greater Rochester area. Programs such as maple sugaring and Halloween events attract 30,000 visitors each year." (Full article at Oakland Press)

I serve on the board of directors at the nature center in Rochester, Michigan. It is a great organization and I encourage you to check them out if you live in Oakland County.

Their website is at http://www.dinosaurhill.org

media's echo chamber

Don't get me wrong. The internet is a fantastic place to communicate. The issue is that it is too easy to hear the things we want to hear.

Today, I was pointed at The Things People Say by Elizabeth Kolbert in the New Yorker by my friend Josh. 

The following struck a chord with me:

"...it is often argued that the Internet is a boon to democracy—if information is good, then more information must be better. But, in Sunstein’s view, the Web has a feature that is even more salient: at the same time that it makes more news available, it also makes more news avoidable."

"The most striking power provided by emerging technologies," he has written, is the "growing power of consumers to 'filter' what they see."

In essence, an Echo Chamber and everyone falls into it's trap.

Note: There is lots more to like in this article including: Rumors and How they spread, (Dis)Information Age and Cyberpolarization.

Social Engineering for Public Good

Over the past few weeks, I've seen a few videos that have been picked up by the blogosphere from a Volkswagen sponsored project called TheFunTheory.com.

The takeaway is that by hacking the public mind with fun, people can be gently encouraged to make better decisions.

Fun = behavior change

Here are a few of the videos they've released.

Bottle Bank Arcade:

Piano Stairs:

The worlds deepest bin:

Out in the snow

Out in the snow
Originally uploaded by thynkyr

I don't remember the last time we got this much snow in such a short amount of time. Needless to say, it didn't keep our little one in the house.

Thanksgiving in Midland