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Pif Magazine
ISSN: 1094-2726

Pif Magazine
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Seattle, WA 98122-3813

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The DVD Cam

(3/8/01) The new Hitachi DZ-M100A digital camcorder goes for $2k and records and plays back on a disc called 8-millimeter DVD RAM. This development is overwhelming proof that memory- or disc-based camcorders are the future.

Congressman to Address Congress on WBAI Crisis

(3/7/01) The crisis continues at the radio station which hosts hacker radio program, "Off the Hook." Rep. Major Owens (D-NY) plans to bring up Monday's actions at WBAI in front of the House of Representatives either today or tomorrow.

Relative Distance: Documentaries Investigate VideoSpace

(3/7/01) On March 20 in Boston, Jacqueline Goss, an artist who works with many electronic media, is presenting a program of experimental documentaries in which artists use video to traverse the cultural and personal divides they find between themselves and their family members.

Auction of Modern and Impressionist Paintings & Sculptures

(3/7/01) Etude Tajan is auctioning a rare collection online on March 28, 2001. Between now and then, browse the sale at eAuctionRoom.com, and place your absentee bids.

Dissolve: a Digital Audiovisual Installation

(3/7/01) Dissolve is a digital audiovisual installation and Web project which takes as its starting point Michelangelo Antonioni's film, Zabriskie Point. This is on exhibit online by the Institute of International Visual Arts (London) until April 6, 2001.

Used Bookseller Careless with Credit Cards

(3/6/01) "If the net seems somewhat slow to you in the next couple of days, don't worry. It's just the lag caused by 98,000 pieces of email being sent out to various Bibliofind customers, telling them that their credit card numbers have been compromised." More at 2600.

Translating: Denmark to Boston, an Installation by Line Bruntse and Andy Mauery

(3/06/01) Using audio and video, these exhibits document or map the space between Denmark and Boston with three-dimensional effects.

Ginger Is a Scooter

(3/6/01) Dean Kamen's mystery device, "IT," has been revealed in Inside Magazine's March 20th issue to be a two-wheeled scooter-like device and will run nearly emission-free using a hydrogen-based engine. In January, the leaked book proposal about the invention was all the buzz.

Tribute to Kirsty MacColl on BBC 2

(3/3/01) Singer and songwriter Kirsty MacColl died in an accident in Mexico last year. This BBC audio tribute to her includes contributions from Billy Bragg and Johnny Marr.

$10,000 Grand Prize for Writers

(3/3/01) WritingCompetition.com is now accepting entries for its Spring 2001 contest. Frist Prize is $10,000; Second Prize is $5,000; Third Prize is $2,500. Entries may take any form: short stories, micro-essays, prose poems, journal entries, etc. Sponsored by Blue Ridge Literary Services with an entry fee of $25. The deadline is April 15, 2001.

Napster Blocking Access to Copyrighted Files

(3/3/01) Napster, Inc., will block access to one million copyrighted music files this weekend in conformity with a new legal injunction expected at any time from a federal judge. Hank Barry, CEO of Napster, in a PR statement insists they are working to "come up with a solution that works for consumers and pays artists."

(6/14/00) For a cool aside, check out Salon's old interview regarding MP3, an artist's rights, and who the real pirates are — "Courtney Love Does the Math."

Napster's Replacement Is Thriving

(3/1/01) The Napster alternative, Aimster, has Version 3.21 now available and is attracting thousands of hits a day.

21 Dog Years: Doing Time at Amazon.com

(2/23/01) Actor and playwright Mike Daisey worked for Amazon.com during two of its tumultuous early years. Once his NDA expired, however, he turned the story into a one-man stage show, which debuted in Seattle this month. It's so popular, its run has been extended until March 31.

Bruce Yonemoto Exhibit Includes The Time Machine

(2/23/01) Well known for his collaborative videos and media installations with his brother, Norman, Bruce Yonomoto is having his first one-man American show at The Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania. The exhibit will feature video installations that employ conventional movie techniques such as claymation and time-lapse shots, as well as computer-processed images, and will include The Time Machine, which Yonemoto has based on the 1960 science fiction movie after the novel by H. G. Wells.

Futurism and Photography

(2/23/01) At the turn of the 20th century, parascientific experiments, spiritualist photography, "multi-portraits," montage effects, and the chronophotographs of Etienne-Jules Marey provided a rich background against which a Futurist photographic aesthetic gradually formed. The Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art in London presents a wide range of rare, vintage prints from this movement. (Until April 22)

Animated Rap Music Video Is Interactive

(2/22/01) Brilliant Digital has released the first interactive music video, called a Webeo. It is a full-length, three-dimensional animated video featuring the rapper Ja Rule and can be seen and heard only online.

Yahoo! Claims Free Speech over Nazi Items

(2/21/01) Yahoo!, Inc., does not intend to comply with the February 24 deadline of a court order requiring companies to block French users from accessing Nazi-related books, photographs, and other items on U.S. Web sites, which could cost the company 100,000 francs in fines per day. Yahoo! has filed a counter suit in California and intends to argue that a French court should not be able to impose its national laws on a U.S. company.

Napster Offers $1 Billion Settlement

(2/20/01) Napster, Inc., offered $1 billion to the recording industry to settle the copyright infringement lawsuit that may shut down the free music service. Here's Napster's media briefing.

Lorie Novak Has New Multimedia Installation

(2/15/01) The Center for Creative Photography is currently exhibiting Lorie Novak's Collected Visions multimedia installation until April 29. In it, juxtaposed images are combined with spoken word and music, conveying the psychological power of memory. Two floor-to-ceiling, simultaneous 17-minute sequences use high-resolution digital projectors and a new high-quality streaming media system.

Inkspot Shuts Down

(2/16/01) Despite many awards and much media attention, Xlibris will shut down Inkspot, the acclaimed resource site for writers, on March 14 as a part of the company's recent budget cuts. Negative press focused on these actions has possibly alienated as many as 100,000 potential Xlibris customers, as the Inkspot newsletter alone went to around 47,000 subscribers, according to Inkspot managing editor Moira Allen. Read MJ Rose's comments in Wired News.

Post-Photographic Vision at Ottawa Art Gallery

(2/15/01) An exhibition at the Ottawa Art Gallery of recent works by Canadian, American, European and Asian artists examines the implications of digital imaging and its reconfiguration of the city. Together, these works point to the ways the city is redefined, inhabited and performed in the era of the digital image and post-photographic vision. The collection will be on display until April 12.

Facemail Merges Voice, Photos, and Text To Create Emotions

(2/14/01) Eastman Kodak and other companies are working with LifeFX to develop software that allows digital photography to "read" email, communicating the emotions of the sender. Cyber artists clamor to explore the new possibilities of this technology.

Hacker Radio Show In Crisis

(2/01/01) Confrontation at the radio station WBAI is steadily increasing over the hacker show, "Off the Hook." Several employees have been fired, the station's locks have been changed, and an internal gag rule has even been imposed on all programs, forbidding any discussion of the crisis. See 2600, the Hacker Quarterly, for more information.

Milestone in the Development of Electronic Paper

An E Ink Corporation and Lucent Technologies collaboration has lead to the development of a flexible, paper-like electronic display prototype built on thin, plastic sheets. Their work proves that electronic ink, driven with printed plastic circuits, is a compelling design for electronic paper. Newspaper companies have taken an early interest in this project; investors include McClatchy Co., Gannett Co., Inc., and Hearst Newspapers, whose CEO, George Irish, sits on E Ink's Board of Directors.

Writing and the Internet Conference

The Sorbonne University in Paris will host an international conference about "Writing and the Internet" on March 15-16 2001. Contact 3AM Magazine for more information.

Leonardo Calls for Arts and Science Essays

Leonardo seek papers that address the role and work of artists and scientists in times of war. Go to their site for submission guidelines.


Tell us what you think. Email talkback@pifmagazine.com


Camille Renshaw is the Editor-in-Chief for Pif Magazine.

 

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