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It has been quite a while and more strange things have happened. Lately I have been delighted to find out that my rarely used and ancient copy of 3DSMAX (2.5) is capable of reading files produced with my favorite software package (*). There also is the ability of converting 3ds files into STL format (STereo Litography). This was quite an exciting observation. This seems to be the last remaining missing link between me and printing 3D body parts. That is, production is no longer a problem to be solved.

What on earth is this babbling about?

In my case, designing and prototyping dolls. I have been much into dolls lately. Then I became aware of the  RepRap project. Generally it is about manufacturing complicateds physical shapes and things automatically at home.

3D printers can be used for creating physical replica of a 3d model created with software. 3D printers up to late times have been generally very expensive and bulky. RepRap is lightweight, relatively inexpensive and can be built and repaired by users. It can handle several types of plastics. It can also be used for making parts of a functioning replica of another RepRap (including spare parts of the improved versions of RepRap). All this comes with the ability to process stereo litography files and USB interface to connect with a personal computer and software.

RepRap is another child of the open source community. The design and software are given away for free. This is almost too good to be true. To a degree this is  the case. The thing is slow small and toy-like to start with, but there is great potential what these can become in the hands of huge crowd of inventive people. There is a silent post-industrial revolution under way.

(Originally posted in April 17 right after the seminar but I decided to make it little bit more readable.. cause I feel this is quite important.)

"This is really pathetic of me. I could be in Gamers in Society get together the social event but I'm not. What I did after the day's seminar was to take a nap and try to recover. I really want to be social but my gun powder of sociability is completely wet. It is not use to go into a social event if you are not sociable in the event.

I mean, is is out of proportion to use days of reading these presentation papers in advance scribbling notes here and there and then not being able to speak up, let alone to think aloud in the event? Not being able to contact anyone. Fighting against the fuzzy cloud of contradicting desires creeping into themind due to deprivation of sleep, struggling to be present but not really making it.

In the seminar there is room full of interesting people, even interested in the same kind of questions like me. It is plain unfair to be both introvert and depressed at the same time. But then again, life generally is uneven and unfair. Maybe I should just go back to Yoga breathing in concert with other people, give up, pass away with no fuss.

I spent some time with the book Success Built to Last (www.successbuilttolast.com/ ) lately. The  recurring theme in the interviews striking for me for me was that that of how people managed converting some handicap into solid motivation for change, (traumatic experience, gross misfortune or oppressed position in society). And then pushing for the change for the benefit for both oneself and the society.

In my case the handicap and motivation would be, clearly,  the difficulty of socialising with new people despite of all the years of trying to get around it. With setbacks and defeats. If it is this difficult for some other people they would really need any real help they can get. It is terrible waste of life time and effort if they can't put their other talents in fair use because of gap in sociability. World is full of meaningful things that are only worth something when connected together with other people.

How does all this connect with game studies? From the practical experience of university teachers it is known that some students are more agile in textual communication than spoken. Some tend to act out rather than speak or write. For some drawing is the thing. The stepping stone for each person is higher for some than some other form of communication. Knowing that, one can find different alternatives, some of which will be a lot easier than others.

In any case, it is helpful to have some impulse prior getting started, like this noncommunicative experience in the seminar.

Virtual worlds are designed to reduce the trouble of both getting started and escaping from the situations. If you go physically to some place it takes time and effort. Also it may be difficult to make a graceful exit. But.. it has been weeks when I logged in to Second Life for the last time. The current ability of engaging is suffering some serious burden somewhere there. Now it seems like, maybe, it is like a completely anonymous zero entry level forum is needed. Something  that requires absolutely no character development or body language or so would do the trick. like this letter pulling application http://web.okaygo.co.uk/apps/letters/flashcom/

Is there an equivalent for this in RL (real life) social life? Is it like this Yoga thing? I feel I'm returning because it happens to match with the requirements of interaction. The Asanas (postures) by themselves are not important, but the structure in which the experience takes place in the class, for example breathing together in unison.."

The silver screen used to be hooked to ceiling with two chains. This was all right for as long as the projector in the other end of the room remained in the center of the canvas. Unfortunately, one needs to to be able to move and turn the screen, which is not possible with only two hooks in the ceiling. I ended up installing 12 metres (39 feet) of steel wire to the ceiling between four hooks, eventually. Benefits: With no extra drilling the canvas can now be placed anywhere within the area surrounded by the hooks. The construction is lightweight and can be used for hanging some other things as well.

More pictures

It was some twenty years ago when I read the novel by Stanislaw Lem, Solaris. By then it didn’t impress me too much. I was intrigued with some aspects of it such as the relationships between people and their visitors fleshed out from their memories; What is exactly what constitutes a human being? What makes relationships tick of fail?

In 2002 the Solaris caught my attention again, this time in a movie theater. This Soderbergh adaptation of the Solaris was the first one that I had seen that far. The soundtrack got me hooked. After searching a while on the Internet it turned out that there was a CD available containing the Tarkovski (1972) version of soundscapes composed by Eduard Artemiev. Got that one, got impressed. Then, as said I had not seen the motion picture, just had some of the soundtracks.

The Tarkovski version seemed not to be available for rent. After long hesitation and reading encouraging comments I decided to acquire one specimen of the movie on a DVD for myself.

Now that I have seen this one, wondering what is this. There is something that resonates with me more than an average movie, maybe more than would be reasonable. The movie itself is intentionally slow and won't please those who look for action. It spans two discs, of which the second is more essential than the first one. The first disc is mostly for building the background for the Solaris mission on the Earth while the second takes place within the lonesome research station on the surface of the other planet.

Chris Kelvin, a troubled psychologist is sent to find out what it is that is happening on the research station. Three men are supposed to work there, only two of them turn out to be alive. However, there appears to be more people aboard. In no time Chris will also get his visitor.

More about it: Internet Movie Database

Photographs capture something of the passing moments of time. Some aspects of the reality in the situation are also captured, at least in the cases of news photos or holiday snapshots. But what can be said about photos that were planned? Planned pictures capture something of reality as well, although it may be difficult to decide of which reality.

Tens or hundreds of shots may be needed before one of the pictures is selected to deliver what the photographer strives for. This kind of picture has more choices deliberately made by the photographer; more than say, a single photo of a spontaneous situation, occurring without intervention and feedback. The presence of the camera and the photographer of course usually have some influence independently whether or not it was a planned or not. The in-camera effect may take place even if no other directions are given, altering the roles of those in the situation. In any case the work of setting up the stage before the shot and the number of rejected pictures after the photographic act are not directly seen in the selected photo. The pictures taken before, but not selected, have an effect for what the later pictures will become. This is why also unselected pictures can be considered necessary. The final picture has become something more than a snapshot by the method of educated guess, experience, trial and error. Maybe it could be called the directed evolution for photography. The time spent exposing the picture of an object remains the same, but the pictures are no more snapshots. The choices are becoming more deliberate before the click of the shutter.