Recreating the Digital World in the Physical World

As someone who loves crafts and paper and scissors and hands-on everything, I can't get enough of physical recreations of things that exist in the digital world.

Take the video game Little Big Planet. Ever play it? It's an adorable and addictive action-packed video game that appears handmade. I was pleasantly surprised when I came across this video from the folks at the Show about Games Show. They've essentially hand-made a hand-made digital experience. AHH, how post-modern, haha.

Another fun example of breathing life into the digital world would be the Google Chrome spot from BBH. The imagery has been so implanted in my brain that I sometimes consider my Chrome browser to be so flash-fast because there's a wild Rube Goldberg contraption propelling my Internet. 

Google Chrome Features from simpledog on Vimeo.

When it all comes down to it, my king of hand-made recreation is still Michel Gondry. His astonishing talent of making things work, click and spark really steal my heart. On that note, here is the trailer for Science of Sleep — a marvelous flick if you have yet to see it.

Now, go make something!

The Future of Paper Books

I recently added myself to a library waiting list to download the latest Jonathan Franzen novel Freedom. It's checked out everywhere so I figured I would try to get it anyway possible. Upon doing this, I instantly wondered:

1. Why do I have to be on a waiting list to download a file?
2. With the popularity of eReaders, when will the demand for eBooks outweigh the demand for bound books?

I, along with a fair amount of readers, love the physical book. I love the weight, the feel and the space it takes up in my bag. I relish in escaping into something that is as only as overwhelming as the reading level not the spiderweb of information vying for consumption all at once (the Internet). I don't have a eReader, and some people are surprised. How long will being an "old school" reader last? I don't want to make the switch.

Gary Shteyngart's latest novel Super Sad True Love Story touches on this topic. A dystopian satire set in a relatively near future, books are seen as disgusting old things that reek. The global economy has gone down the toilet and everyone is federally mandated to use omniscient communication devices (think Facebook on politically-induced mega-steroids). There's more plus a love story, but you get the gist.

Consumer-focused books and magazines have been moving their way toward digital since the 1990s. In conjunction, I'm nervously intrigued to see how libraries evolve. Many already have digital collections and moving to accomodate even more. I would hate to see libraries dissolved to an "app" when I'm 80, though.

But what will be the final reason for the end of the printed media? Convenience? A light-weight, portable lifestyle? Carbon footprint? A continuing whirlwind of digital proliferation? Probably a combination of it all.

Frankly, I'm waiting until my Twilight Zone-esque dreams come true. I want a microchip in my brain so I can download and absorb books, languages, scientific methods and more instead of today's fancy schmancy eReader.

A 2011 Christmas Challenge for Hunch Free

I'll say it. We're pretty good at Rock Band here at Hunch Free. I'd go as far to say that we kick ass on the hits. We've got Long Time by Boston, Wanted Dead or Alive by Bon Jovi and Won't Get Fooled by the Who DOWN PAT. Our high scores would make the best '80s mega-bands drop to their knees Wayne Campbell-style and cry, "We're not worthy!" Next year for Christmas, watch out! We're taking on the kid in the video below. And we're going to shred! We're going to blow the roof off with killer jams and a bodacious display that would make Clark Griswold shriek.

Now we just need to start stockpiling power strips and garland! Christmas 2011, here we come!