Since Flickr is just about my favorite web service and I use it a lot, it should come as no surprise that I also like to complain about it. Well, not so much about the service itself, just the lack of a few features and some of the more inexplicable things they’ve done. Some of my previous gripes (like black thumbnails) have actually been fixed. Others, like the stupefyingly bad SafeSearch feature are alive and well.

So here’s my current list of annoyances about my favorite web service:

• Flickr Uploadr 3.0 is a very buggy piece of software. In fact, it’s so bad it probably should never have been released. In particular, it should not have been released just before a big holiday when development teams would not be on hand to fix it. I’ve downgraded to Uploadr 2.5. It might be clunky, but at least it uploads your pictures.
• There is still no way to hide non-public images from yourself so that you could navigate the photostream the way other people see it. About 3000 pictures in my account are private, being either high-res backups or of a personal nature (not that personal, though…) Wading through them often becomes a chore, since I typically upload batches of 30-100 images for backup at a time. I’m almost considering opening a separate Flickr account just for backups, but that would become frustrating quite quickly.
• When you add photos to an existing set using the Organizr, the sets are listed in the order you’ve arranged them in for viewers. When you have 50 sets, it gets annoying to find one that might be number 20 on the list. The option to switch to alphabetical listing would have been very useful.
• The SafeSearch / NIPSA issue is still around, although Flickr seems less aggressive about enforcing it at the moment

On a more positive note, the new Flickr stats work just fine. I’ve been able to observe some interesting trends in how my photos are being viewed, including a better idea of what constitutes my “greatest hits” on Flickr. Great work indeed.

I don’t read many programming or tech blogs unless they are directly related to the fields of generative art or computational design. One of the few exceptions is Jeff Atwood’s blog Coding Horror, which I’ve found to be a consistently brilliant source of techy commentary and sound programming advice. Often it’s not really applicable to my own projects since I’m not building business apps of grand complexity, but it’s inspiring reading nonetheless.

It was therefore gratifying to see that Atwood just blogged about Processing in a post entitled Modern Logo. In reference to another blog post about rediscovering LOGO, Atwood suggests that while LOGO might have some depth to it, turtle-based drawing ultimately “sucks”. Instead, he points to Processing as an updated alternative with similar educational goals. Sweet.

Oh, and happy holidays, no matter how you’re spending the time between Dec 24-31…

Flickr now has statistics. See original size for a detailed view.

Flickr has introduced statistics as part of the feature set for Pro account holders. Like many bloggers, I suffer from obsessive-compulsive tendencies regarding stats, so this is probably the feature I missed the most on Flickr. Well, no longer will I pine for a detailed breakdown of my Flickr views.

Interestingly Flickr Stats looks and feels a bit like Google Analytics. The good side of that is that the analysis goes deep, as in breakdowns of referrers etc. which is probably more information than most people want to know. Still, it helps to explain why some of your pictures suddenly get a gazillion hits because they got Dugg or Stumbled.

Along with stats, Flickr has also released Uploadr 3.0, which adds some welcome new features such as being able to add new batches while you’re already uploading. Unfortunately, the new Uploadr seems to have quite a few bugs, so unless you’re desperate you might find it wiser to stick with the old 2.5 version until they’ve ironed out the kinks.

The AHO students needed a simple file uploader that would automatically transfer files from a local folder to a web server. The following application will simply watch a given folder and upload any files it contains to the FTP server. Note that it will delete the local copy upon successful upload, so be careful how you use it.

The code for the application is given below, but downloading the following ZIP will give you the required edtFTPj library files as well as a sample config file:

• FTPUploader.zip

Read the rest of this entry »

Club Transmediale.08­ - Unpredictable
Festival for Adventurous Music and Related Visual Arts

Generator.x 2.0: Beyond the Screen
24 Jan -­ 2 Feb 2008, Ballhaus Naunynstrasse / [DAM] Berlin
Workshop / Exhibition / Performance

Leander Herzog: thePhysicalVertexBuffer

Generator.x in collaboration with Club Transmediale and [DAM] Berlin presents Generator.x 2.0: Beyond the screen, a workshop and exhibition about digital fabrication and generative systems.

Digital fabrication (also known as “fabbing”) represents the next step in the digital revolution. After years of virtualization, with machines and atoms being replaced by bits and software, we are coming full circle. Digital technologies like rapid prototyping, laser cutting and CNC milling now produce atoms from bits, eliminating many of the limitations of industrial production processes. Once prohibitively expensive, such technologies are becoming increasingly accessible, pointing to a future where mass customization and manufacturing-on-demand may be real alternatives to mass production.

For artists and designers working with generative systems, digital fabrication opens the door to a range of new expressions beyond the limits of virtual space. Parametric models apply computational strategies to the analysis and synthesis of space, producing structures and surfaces of great complexity. Through fabbing these forms may be rendered tangible, even tactile.

Jared Tarbell: Spheroids and cubes

Call for participants

We are looking for 15 artists, designers and architects who have an existing practice based on generative systems and custom software, and who are interested in investigating physical formats through digital fabrication. The workshop will be practical in nature, and will produce a selection of works that will be included in the exhibition at [DAM]. Participants will have access to an on-site laser cutter, and an introduction to this technology will be part of the workshop.

The workshop is free of charge, but we will not be able to provide support for travel or accomodation. Participants are expected to have experience with programming software that will allow them to produce work suitable for production, such as Processing, VVVV or any other system capable of producing vector output. Previous experience with laser cutting or digital fabrication technologies is a bonus, but not a requirement.

Applications must be in PDF format and should including a CV and a short statement of intent, describing why you want to participate in the workshop and how fabbing relates to your existing practice. You should include a maximum of 5 images of relevant work, with a total file size of 2 megabytes. Feel free to provide links to web sites containing documentation such as videos or downloadable software, but please don’t send such content by email.

Please submit applications by email to generatorx [at] clubtransmediale.de. The deadline for application is December 21, 2007, accepted participants will be notified at the beginning of January 2008.

Theverymany (Fornes / Tibbits): Tesselated panels

Generator.x 2.0: Beyond the screen is supported by The Office for Contemporary Art Norway. We also thank our partners: Institut HyperWerk HGK FHNW and Lasern. .

3 Comments »

18:30 | December 2nd, 2007 | marius watz | +del.icio.us | +digg | trackback