The conceptual artist Jonathon Keats has been called a "poet of ideas" though you may be forgiven for thinking him a mad scientist. His work recalls an era before experimental philosophy was superseded by natural science. Among his many experiments, Keats has marketed a glass jar that creates universes, has dabbled in extraterrestrial abstract art, and once attempted to genetically engineer God. In 2003, he copyrighted his mind.

The latest (and arguably brightest) from the conceptual architect is the Electrochemical Currency Exchange Company, a "galvanic arbitrage" currency system that generates energy based off the metallic exploitative potential found in contrasting two different types of coins.

Electrochemex is a pun par excellence: playing off the reality that "money is inherently unstable," Keats actualizes this fact at the most fundamental level, and in the process détournés the foot-loose nature of capital by generating calculable, monetizable energy out of... money.

Electrochemex's first event was staged in the basement of the Rockefeller Center where the operation successfully powered a few handheld calculators based off the metallic differences between the U.S. penny and Chinese fen. Now the operation has moved to Hong Kong where the Chinese fen will duel Hong Kong cents in an HSBC lobby.

Visitors are welcome, so for those curious about the current wave in currency all the necessary information is available on the Fabricatorz constructed Electrochemex site (http://electrochemex.com). Go test the powers of simple math.

I spent the past week in Warsaw with some friends and the M1. I arrived on Wet Monday, an Easter tradition where Polish "boys awake girls by pouring a bucket of water on their head and striking them about the legs with long thin twigs". Apparently the tradition continues out into the streets where boys splash girls they have crushes on, but I didn't see anything of the sort. Probably because it was way too cold, but also because Warsaw has a tendency to take itself way too serious. (I was told plenty of flirtatious water fights would be happening in the smaller, more "traditional" towns outside the city.) Fortunately I was able to recoup the fantasy that evening when I did some (visual) splashing of my own with the Milkymist alongside Movie Star Junkies, an impressive blues/punk band from Torino, Italy.

Full disclosure: I've never vj'd previous to this show. But this goes to show how simple the M1 is to use: I just plugged it in, aimed the live-feed video camera at the band, toggled between its preset psychedelic patches, and Boom! an epic visual performance. Everything went so well that I got invited to perform again the next night at a different venue. Despite the change in setting and sound--from underground (literally in a basement) punk show to jazz/funk fusion jam band in a swanky loungey bar--it was just as easy to adapt and compliment the music due to the M1's smorgasbord of visual options. Check out the videos, see for yourself: http://vimeo.com/fabricatorz/videos

San Francisco and Beijing, April 5, 2012 – Open Font Library, the online library of community-generated fonts that promotes font freedom and sharing, announces its latest version. Fabricatorz, a global open production company, relaunched Open Font Library in 2011 and have contributed to its ongoing development ever since. The latest iteration of the site features a fresh design by Manufactura Independente, a simple and elegant touch that better reflects the beauty of Open Font Library's collection of quality typefaces.

The Open Font Library's no-frills site allows guests to browse the entire catalogue, which at the time of writing boasts a collection of 116 font families, 168 releases (includes updated versions of font families) and 388 font files (total number of TrueType Font and OpenType Font files). Through a simple registration process, guests can then become members of Open Font Library where they are encouraged to share their own fonts or remix and download those already in the catalogue. Members also gain access to the Open Font Library community, a group dedicated to sharing type and promoting its creative iterations.

Fabricatorz developer Brad Phillips says the site has become more liberating with its latest release. “Getting fonts onto other sites is really easy now since every font page comes with @font-face tags—HTML and CSS example-code for easy embedding—so all members have to do is copy and paste the tags into their own websites and boom!—their sites have a new attractive typeface.”

The @font-face tag embedding process is another step in helping Open Font Library accelerate its growth and usefulness for type designers, developers and font enthusiasts. It also encourages others less familiar with the technicalities of fonts and their use in websites to experiment with this transparent plug-and-play process.

“We're really hoping to get different types of people using the site, not just type geeks,” said Phillips. “I'm not exactly a type fanatic myself, but I've noticed my interest in the history and aesthetics of type grow just from using the site. Instead of “checking out” type like you would books in a traditional library, hanging out “in the stacks,” as it were, has been more educational for me. The Open Font Library community also plays an educational role; it's helpful with learning more about fonts and open fonts in particular.”

All the fonts in the Open Font Library catalogue are licensed under free licenses, including the SIL Open Font License, Creative Commons Zero license, and GPLv3 with font exception license. Every font in the catalogue is freely downloadable, just as anyone is free to join and become a member.

About Open Font Library

The mission of the Open Font Library (http://openfontlibrary.org) is to promote your freedom as it relates to fonts. All of the typefaces contained in the library are available under a free license, which gives you the freedom to use, study, remix and share each and every font. The site is powered by the Aiki Framework (http://aikiframework.org), a powerful web framework for building network services using the AGPL license.

About Fabricatorz

Fabricatorz (http://fabricatorz.com) is an open global production company that makes successful projects from start to finish. We specialize in developing software using Aiki Framework (http://aikiframework.org), hardware using Qi Hardware (http://fabricatorz.com/projects/qi-hardware), and community-building around the philosophies of Sharism (http://sharism.org).

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For more information, please write everyone@openfontlibrary.org, or visit http://www.openfontlibrary.org/
http://www.fabricatorz.com
http://aikiframework.org.

Press Contact

Spencer Young

press@fabricatorz.com

+49 1573 7430013

Berlin

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There isn't much video out there that does the Milkymist justice, an unfortunate circumstance because it really is an impressive little machine. In an attempt to remedy this Barry and I recently shot some video with the hopes of mirroring the representation of the Milkymist with it's actual ability. We (actually, I, since I'm the one responsible for the editing) fell well short of this mark. But despite the poor editing (I haven't edited video since the VHS days!) and poor image quality (who knew high-quality video required so many damn GB's?), you'll get to see how non-intimidating the set-up is and how fast this little guy can get a party started.

The drum clips are meant to demonstrate the Milkymist's integration with electronic instruments and external sound, both of which stimulate the visuals when plugged directly into the Milkymist or intercepted via the onboard microphone. And the club shots, well, those are testament to the Milkymist's party credibility. We actually smuggled the Milkymist into that particular party at a warehouse-like venue in San Francisco's Mission District, then set it up guerrilla-style and proceeded to project on the walls and dance floor despite the fact that there was already a house VJ. I was actually surprised how well our slapdash performance compared. During the short 15 minutes we were there the crowd turned away from the DJ and VJ projection on the far wall and towards each other in the middle of the room where we were projecting. The dancing and interaction intensified, and at one point one of the VJ's assistants came over all starry-eyed and intrigued.

I have to say, I was a bit skeptical about the Milkymist until I saw it in action. It has some incredible psychedelic and dynamic capabilities that will only continue to expand. Keep your eyes peeled, kids.

Footage here: http://downloads.qi-hardware.com/people/bonewolf/ and more to come.

For the last decade I had done most my computing on a PowerBook G4. How is this possible? I really have no idea. But surely it has a lot to do with me being so damned dogged. Since this was the first computer I ever purchased, I assume I was determined to run it into the ground like a first car or girlfriend. 'I don't need your pointless updates or hyped gadgetry,' went my thinking. 'This hunk of metal will do just fine.' And it did. It ran an entire ten years without any significant issues aside, of course, from slowing down relative to the rest of the world.

Around year six or so is when the embarrassment subsided and I started bragging about 'The Little Engine That Could'. I carried it with me around the globe, working with it in planes, cafes and hostels. (I even met a few die-hard PowerBooker's along the way.) The G4 did me well. During its last years, when it could barely handle a handful of webpages at a time--lest the infamous rainbow ball started a spinnin'--it taught me a great deal of patience. (No, this isn't a fable.) When everyone else was going coo-coo for youtube, I was forced to static websites, or, more often than not, reading an actual book.

Now that I've finally let her go--she actually went into a coma--I've transitioned not to the latest Apple device, but to a ThinkPad w/ Linux. I never thought this would happen, something about those last two pronouns always screamed TECHY/GEEKY in a way that is never SEXY. But this new setup with its minimal forms and simple functions is sexy in the same way that a manual transmission is always sexier than an automatic.

Here's to another decade of simple, sexy computing.