My favorite vector editor, Inkscape, has a new version available. Sweet Gaussian blurring, nice new path effects, interesting additions to their calligraphy tool. I haven't had a chance to try out all the new features, but it looks like a pretty good update. And the version after this is supposed to start animation support for SVG! Wicked!

Imitating A Scanner Darkly | Illustrator Techniques - [My del.icio.us]
The set of basic design skills is an area I've been playing catch up on, so it's always interesting for me to see how various techniques produce effects that interest me. This includes the rotoscoping tricks put in place with "A Scanner Darkly."

The article points out some obvious procedures that nevertheless eluded me. I had tried, before this, to cheat and use software that pulls out color areas and converts them to SVG paths.

I crack myself up. No, really, I do. I sit around and twitter like a schoolgirl. I lack shame.

Based on this image.

Hsinping Dai and I made a non-verbal dictionary for communicating about a subject in an elevator. That subject? What to do when somebody farts.

The ultimate in deli interventions--the Restaurant Telegraph! Each half is place on a separate table. The switch lights up the lamp and sets off a sound. Cool, though much more fun in bars than in the Journal Square Deli, as it turned out.

Attached is the SVG file for the labels, in case anyone wants to repeat the experiment.

"Lot pots." Left on tables in the deli to get people involved in their tables and with each other. Each pot has a set of fortunes that require you to interact with other tables. Weird looking, but fun.

These are our presentations for the Journal Square deli project. They're huge downloads, but well worth it if you're fascinated by Jersey-City commuter dining. And, be honest, you know you are.

• First Presentation
• Second Presentation
• Third Presentation
• Final Presentation

Attached is the raw data from our deli observations. Over 600 entries. Never let it be said we aren't thorough.

Our first attempt to intervene in the Deli. Bingo! Like travel bingo, but with deli stuff.

I've long been an admirer of the Japanese renga, a collaborative poetic form. One of the major drawbacks, however, is trying to remember the rules. Each person participating must write a two- or three-line stanza using a pre-determined subject, usually a season of the year. In an autumn renga, shown here, the first writer begins with a three-line verse about autumn. The next writer completes a two-line verse about the moon, which is usually related to autumn.

The game board above really nicely condenses these rules. Even though this was just a simple assignment, it solved a long-standing problem for me.