I recently spoke at TTI Vanguard’s NEXTGEN conference in Miami. Totally great experience to talk to some very high level folks about the work we are doing as Fabricatorz on the Qi Hardware and Milkymist Video Synthesizer project. Here are my slides. The first set I did on my laptop, and the second set I *performed* using the Milkymist! In 2012, I will try to use the Milkymist for any performances (no more presentations!).
I should note that the presentation title reflects popular interest in some of my topics, and not the specific words I would choose to represent what we are working on. In particular, we are staying away from using the words FREE, OPEN, COPYLEFT now in favor of Sharing, hence Sharism. Also, the word Hardware is a bit problematic because of what it conjures up for computer nerds as this an already manufactured piece of hardware, like the 400K iphones foxconn is churning out a day. We take it to mean more like the glass or metal that is part of a final product. To consider the Milkymist or our projects FROM CHINA is not completely accurate. While I spend a lot of time in China, the Milkymist in particular is manufactured mostly in Taiwan.
Oh well, words are words are words! Check out the slides below and please share. They are ✳ (shared by) me, aka: ✳ Fabricatorz.
(Click here for the SVG presentation or the SVG with outlines)
(Click here for the SVG presentation or the SVG with outlines)
Ask me about the event the next time you see me; I have some great stories to tell since this event was supposed to be mostly private during the conference.
In a more public showing, Yi from Qi Hardware is presenting about the Milkymist tonite (中文 at Xinchejian, the Shanghai-based hackerspace we held the first Sharism Presents Shanghai.
Don’t forget to Buy a Milkymist One for yourself or your friendz 
A few of us made it to Miami Beach this year for the hoopla that is Art Basel. It’s always nice to drop in occasionally to see what the art world is up to, and glean what it deems hot or not. Not surprisingly, vulgarity still reigns large. But as I’ve noted elsewhere, hyper-superficiality can provide a breath of fresh air: making snap judgments based on whether or not something simply looks good is comforting in the same way that spending a December weekend in 80 degree weather is comforting.
Art Basel is definitely the most glamourous of all the art fairs that set up tent in Miami Beach, but several others created a strong buzz. Nada Art Fair, the free fair that focuses on smaller, independently-run galleries, is the younger, hipper and more tech-savvy alternative to Art Basel. The art at Nada wasn’t exactly impressive, but their events were far more eventful and exciting than those being hosted at Art Basel. I was able meet the people who run Bad At Sports, a dynamic group of people who do podcasts on contemporary art and had built a makeshift hut inside the lobby of the hotel where Nada was staged.
Almost as entertaining as crashing private cocktail parties that weekend was watching Miami Beach return to normal after everyone packed up and returned to their own private corners of the globe. Minus the influx of well-heeled visitors and sensational party buzz, Miami Beach felt almost as drab as the mannequin pictured above—blank and confused after being disrobed of all the designer garb.
Wow Gandi.
What a great hosting company.
Fabricatorz has sure leveled up and we are confident that more people will benefit from Gandi’s services. What really makes Gandi unique is its position of openness.
It is refreshing to be a customer since so many companies seem to wall us off from any kind of visibility into what the company is and does.
At Fabricatorz we appreciate transparency and honesty. Check Gandi’s company statement out:
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Offering a world-class alternative to purely commercial registrars, and a low-cost, innovative, cloud hosting platform, Gandi supports a community of people working on technology that enables the Internet for business, but also for the free and unrestricted sharing of information, and for promoting the respect of individual and human rights.
So far Gandi has helped us migrate Open Clip Art Library and is also working with our friendz over at Identi.ca and many others including innovative projects such as Gnome, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and Debian.
Gandi’s service is impeccable, communication is prompt, and professionalism is consistent, we’re very happy to be supported by such a great host. Gandi truly lives up to their slogan, “No Bullshit”.
