Google in China: The Big Disconnect

NY TIMES / CLIVE THOMPSON

Videodrome

When Max Renn goes looking for edgy new shows for his sleazy cable TV station, he stumbles across the pirate broadcast of a hyperviolent torture show called Videodrome. As he struggles to unearth the origins of the program, he embarks on a hallucinatory journey into a shadow world of right-wing conspiracies, sadomasochistic sex games, and bodily transformation. Starring James Woods and Deborah Harry in one of her first film roles, Videodrome is one of writer/director David Cronenberg’s most original and provocative works, fusing social commentary with shocking elements of sex and violence. With groundbreaking special effects makeup by Academy Award®-winner Rick Baker, Videodrome has come to be regarded as one of the most influential and mind-bending science fiction films of the 1980s.

Visiting Artist Rich Hauck & Code Tree

Can digital artists learn new techniques, be exposed to new coding structures, and better express themselves by working in tandem or in a group?

CodeTree is an attempt to create a worthwhile dialogue between new media artists of different skill levels and backgrounds. The project’s objective is to offer a social network that facilitates learning and artistic expression—a place where coders can dissect, share, and expand upon one another’s code.

Apple: XP on a Mac is here

Apple Computer said Wednesday it has released a public beta version of Boot Camp, software that lets Microsoft Windows XP run natively on Intel-based Macs.

Art School Confidential

Windows Is So Slow, but Why?

NY TIMES / STEVE LOHR and JOHN MARKOFF

Back in 1998, the federal government declared that its landmark antitrust suit against the Microsoft Corporation was not merely a matter of law enforcement, but a defense of innovation. The concern was that the company was wielding its market power and its strategy of bundling more and more features into its dominant Windows desktop operating system to thwart competition and stifle innovation.

Apple OS Gallery

On April 1, Apple celebrates its 30th birthday. Having created one of the first personal computers and the graphical mouse-and-menu interface most PCs now use, it is now reshaping the music industry with the iPod and iTunes.

Trouble in Toontown

WIRED / Robert La FrancoPage

Director Richard Linklater has a mind-blowing vision for his new Keanu Reeves movie, A Scanner Darkly. Making it a reality - that's another story.

Visiting Artist Scott Fitzgerald

Scott creates custom software and hardware for other artists including Leo Villareal and Toni Dove. He has been showing his installation and video work in galleries around NYC, performing at venues such as the Tank and Richard Foreman's Ontological Theater, and recently appeared in IDN magazine.

Dungeon Masters in Cyberspace

NY Times / SETH SCHIESEL

"There have been a lot of video games based on Dungeons & Dragons, but in the past they have been almost entirely solo, single-player experiences," Jeff Anderson, chief executive of the company that makes the online game, Turbine Inc., based in Westwood, Mass., said last week. "Now, with the Internet and advances in graphics, we can finally create an online version of that classic sitting-around-the-kitchen-table Dungeons & Dragons experience, without people having to actually go out."

The Fashion of Architecture

Architecture is making its presence felt in fashion as the pliable metals, membrane structures, lightweight glasses and flexible plastics used in building construction are creeping on to the catwalks. At the same time, architects and interior designers are borrowing the techniques of pleating and draping from traditional tailoring to design buildings that are interactive, inflatable, and even portable.

Disney buys Pixar in $7.4bn deal

Walt Disney has agreed a $7.4bn (£4.1bn) deal to buy Pixar, the animation firm behind films including Toy Story and The Incredibles. The all-share deal will see Pixar chief executive Steve Jobs join Disney's board of directors.

Tron: CG History

Pixar at MOMA: 20 Years of Animation

Featuring over 500 works of original art on loan for the first time from Pixar Animation Studios, the show includes paintings, concept art, sculptures, and an array of digital installations. These works reveal the intricate, hands-on processes behind Pixar’s computer-generated films—including Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, and numerous shorts.

Turning Games Into a New Kind of Art

NY Times / ROBERTA SMITH

The collage technique that helped ignite 20th-century modernism has mutated through photomontage, found objects, assemblage and appropriation. A recent manifestation, endemic to the expanding field of digital art, is hacking, and video games and their offshoots are ripe for the picking.