Need a Halloween mask? Forbes magazine has some famous movers and shakers. Some are heroes, the kind of wealthy people we all aspire to be. Others are villains. And some are both. Click on the images for a full-size, printer-friendly color mask.
SlashDot has a strange Halloween Geek Test and iPod-O-Lantern.
InfoSync describes developments in Communicating clothes. Apparently France Telecom has invented a flexible fiber optic system that can be embedded in clothes. Static or animated graphics can be displayed.
The optical fibers are woven into fabric. Users can download all kinds of visuals or make their own. France Telecom sees the technology being used by public safety (firemen and police), advertising, the automotive industry, interior decoration (furniture and wall fitting applications), fashion and leisure activities (like roller blading at night).
They anticipate embedded textile screens will be in everyday ware, such as bags, scarves, clothes and furnishings. Then they may start communicating with each other.
ElWire is easy to work with and fairly cheap. Glowire.com and Coolight.com have more info. A 4 foot preassembled flexible EL cable and power inverter in choice of cool colors is $23.00. Five-foot PC Lightstrips are $35.
Electroluminescent Wire consists of a concentric series of layers. The phosphor is the key element of EL wire; it emits light when subjected to an AC field. Here’s a detailed description of making a Tron Costume. A life-size translucent skull with Elwire might make a cool AP for Halloween. Here’s Gadget’s Art Day.
- The AtoMIC from IRCAM is an analog-to-MIDI converter with 32 analog inputs, eight digital inputs, and eight digital outputs triggerable by MIDI system.
- Donald Buchla’s Lightning uses optical sensors to detect the position of light-emitting wands in space. Buchla’s latest instrument, the Marimba Lumina, has trigger pads and strips that can be played with mallets and includes a built-in synthesizer.
- The DIEM Digital Dance System is a set of wearable bending sensors that communicate with a wireless transmitter. The receiver outputs MIDI that can be processed with Max. Check out the detailed description of a piece by Wayne Seigel.
- Doepfer makes the CTM64 kit which can generate MIDI messages from up to 64 free contacts. It also supports up to four potentiometers for generating common MIDI controllers and pitch bend.
The goal of the standard is to allow personal computers to be better integrated within a musical performance, explains Member Phil Kerr, chair of the IEEE P1639 Working Group and a researcher at the Centre for Music Technology at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, U.K.
Poynter points to more Halloween resources.
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