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(image source | twisted sifter)

Long before the cultural explosion we are now in the midst of with urban arts. And Long before the internet based graffiti and street art communities existed, there was one graffiti writer artist we all knew of - DAIM. The man, who is less commonly known by his birth name of Mirko Reisser, managed to cross borders and oceans simply by the magnitude of his work. Once again, many may be confused by the relevance of a rebellious hooligan has to the significance of the world we live, but I assure you DAIM is a definite exception. The ability of one man to transform four simple letters into such warped, yet beautiful renditions is astounding on it’s own. The way I, like so many others knew of DAIM’s work not having met him at the time, nor having a computer to surf the web on is an accomplishment deserving of immense recognition as well. However, beyond those two achievements DAIM has also managed to continuously push the boundaries of graffiti in both it’s self-expressive, destructive form and it’s beautiful, artistic and technological forms. Yes, technology too. DAIM has been at the forefront of making graffiti into a virtual art form, having cameras record his position and create virtual art pieces in mid-air (see the video here). I could go on about his artistic abilities across numerous genres and ability to push graffiti and art to new levels, while making it acceptable to more and more people, but I will just end with get on the internet and learn about one of the most important individuals of our lifetime.

daimgallery.com
mirkoreisser.de
twistedsifter.com

(image source | twisted sifter)

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(image source | Jeffrey Tsang @ AS|D LABS - All Rights Reserved)

The AS|D DROP blog now allows comments to be left on our blog posts. So, come on everyone and join in the conversation!

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(click on image for larger view) (image source | Edward Tufte)

Edward Tufte is an American Statistician and Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Statistics, and Computer Science at Yale University. With several books under his belt, Tufte’s work is highly regarded in the field of information design, where he is considered an unequaled expert. Tufte is famed for having introduced the term “chart junk”, referring to non-informative, or information-obscuring aspects of information displays, as well as for developing “Sparklines“. Tufte’s most notable books include; “Envisioning Information“, “The Visual Display of Quantitative Information“, Visual Explanations: Images and Quantities, Evidence and Narrative and his latest “Beautiful Evidence“. Having sold nearly 1.5 million copies of his books at around $40.00 a piece, well you can do the math on just how successful the writings of Edward Tufte have been. Beyond the millions of readers his publications attract, Tufte has also brought tens of thousands of students into his one day course, “Presenting Data and Information“, that tours around the United States annually.

Perhaps beyond all the success Tufte has experienced throughout his career, he may most notably, or notoriously, be known for his livid criticism of the use of Microsoft’s PowerPoint. Through the essay “The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint“, Tufte effectively criticizes the typical use of PowerPoint, amongst other things, for being used to reassure the presenter, rather than enlightening the audience.

Whether you walk away thinking Tufte to be a genius or fool, you will no doubt have a clearer vision and better tools for the analyzing and understanding of data and its presentation, by knowing the works of Edward Tufte.

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Don’t feel like dieing, ever? Well you just might not have to if acclaimed inventor, futurist and all around genius, Dr. Ray Kurzweil is right. Dr. Kurzweil isn’t just one of these guys that sits around talking about the potential of new technological advancements, but has been working to advance society since he was a little boy in killa’ Queens (shout out to Maspeth)! The NY Times is reporting on some of Dr. Kurzweil’s latest predictions for the future that include pills that allow you to eat all you want and not gain any wait, all energy coming from clean sources and getting to live to see the Singularity (an age where humans/machines transition into ever living beings).

Now I am known for being a bit of a pessimist when it comes to the future and advancement of technology (and ok, just about everything), but I have to say of all the wild tales I have read, Dr. Kurzweil seems to actually be able to back his ideas up. The good doctor was selling programs to IBM and raking in some serious cash by age 14 and inventing machines that could analyze and read text back for the blind back in 1976. Using his text to speech technology, that was the size of a washing machine, as an example, Dr. K predicted that by the early 21st century the technology would be able to fit in the palm of your hand. Last Thursday, he unveiled just such a device. Not only was the device the size of a cell phone, but it wasn’t even phased by shadows, marks on the page or creases.

Personally I can’t wait to be morphed into a RoboCop or Krang like cyborg, but there is one flaw in Dr. Kurzweil’s predictions, the pill that will allow people to eat all the Big Mac’s they want is sure to hurt his idea that the life expectancy of humans will grow at a faster rate then we can age. (Come on I had to be a little negative, otherwise no one would believe I wrote this)!

For the full NY Times article and to read more about the good doctor click the link below.

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