Media

A 30-foot metal sculpture of a mother and child walking side-by-side has made its way from Nevada's Black Rock desert to San Francisco's Embarcadero as part of a six-month public art installation. "Passage," dedicated in a public ceremony on Friday morning, was first exhibited at Burning Man 2005.

With the Bay Bridge as a backdrop, the exhibition--sponsored by The Black Rock Arts Foundation--has got onlookers interpreting its meaning, and also wondering how the 25 tons of metal are being supported. This video helps capture some of the responses to the dramatic art, created by Karen … Read more

A pair of designer/artists in San Jose, Calif., are trying an experiment in community technology: If they can find a couple of households to volunteer their Wi-Fi networks, they'd like to set up yellow chairs within range for the public to use for free wireless Net access. The idea is modeled after projects in some parts of Europe where yellow bicycles are available for community use.

Some people are so addicted to their iPods that they're willing to take them everywhere. That must explain the thinking behind the iCarta, the combination stereo dock and bath tissue holder.

TechEBlog has come up with another list, this time of the "Top 10 Strangest Mini-Sized Devices." Our personal favorite: the diminutive "Space Cube"--which, in its 2-inch cubed frame, packs more processing power and memory than our 30-pound-plus first PC.

Speculation about an Apple-Nintendo deal has been around for years, rekindled recently by fresh speculation since word leaked that Apple may be recruiting game engineers.

At first, we thought the idea might prove popular among supporters of the two companies, which could theoretically link arms and take on the empires of Microsoft and Sony. But many bloggers on both sides of equation--who could very well represent two of the most loyal constituencies on the planet--don't appear to think much of the idea.

A key reason cited among both Apple and Nintendo fans seems rooted in culture and independence. Each … Read more

Wikipedia's founder, Jimmy Wales, has asked that college students refrain from citing Wikipedia as a source of academic research.

Yes, some actually are...and then complaining to him when teachers give them failing grades for doing it.

While speaking at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, Wales said that he receives about 10 e-mails a week from complaining college students. While Wales thinks Wikipedia is useful for many things, he said that he would like to make it known that he does not recommend it to college students for serious research.

He also expressed little … Read more

One of the more popular homemade video subjects seems to be real-life videogames. And though nothing can compare with the virtuoso performance of Super Mario Bros. on stage, we still admire the hard work put into this clip of "Tekken with Actual Humans."

In a blog entitled, "The Rumors of our death are only slightly exaggerated," PubSub co-founder Bob Wyman writes that "Our days are numbered."

"A recent attempt to execute a merger has been blocked and we've been blocked from raising equity financing that would allow us to continue to pay salaries and pay off our $3 million in debt. Thus, our 'doors' will close soon if we can't find someone to pull us out of the current situation. Persons with fast access to cash and a desire for some of the industry's best … Read more

Much debate has taken place recently about the longevity of MySpace, especially since it has shown some early signs of stalling. But rather than engage in group hand-wringing rituals over the future, maybe parent company News Corp. and others should simply focus on the present.

"We've just scratched the surface of how to monetize it," News Corp. Chief Operating Officer Peter Chernin said this week. That slowness may turn out to be a case study for how not to run a social network.

The best way to approach the fleeting-fad syndrome is to treat all related businesses … Read more