Happy New Year faithful robots. To 2001 I say, "good riddance", (actually I shout, making violent kicking gestures, “GET THE FU*K OUTTA HERE 2001”) - bring on 2002. And for those of you who might be going to see the Human League tonight at Backflip, I'll see you there!

If you use Windowze, you need this. Absolutely indispensable.

First there was Michael Graves, then Mossimo - now add 'King of Whimsy' Philippe Starck and Todd Oldham to the list of designers doing an exclusive line for Tar-jé (Target). I've said it before and I'll say it again, I applaud Target for their 'design for the masses' approach - they know consumers crave design that's smart and interesting, and Target makes it accessible and affordable. In fact, I understand that Starck's line will consist of 65 exclusive household items all priced at around $10 US. Bravo!

The latest report is that Sarah's cat, Twiggy has a bad, bad habit. You see, she voices her frustrations by peeing on Sarah's pillow. Most recently, the cat-alyst was too many relatives sleeping over for the holidays. Not that I can actually blame Twiggy - when you think about it, it seems like the ideal way to get one's message across. Maybe I'll try it the next time I get frustrated at work. Nevertheless, I'm looking for a solution to help her out with this pissy problem. Got any ideas?

Until then you can visit some other cats that hate you.

There's a great photo album from last January's L.A. Fischerspooner concert over at glamourpimple.com - make sure you flip through every page as not to miss the candid shot of Ethan Hawke - here's an excerpt:

Spencer was in the bathroom taking pictures oh himself in the mirror, when who walks in? you guessed it! Ethan Hawke!, who proceeds to taked a dump, and NOT WASH HIS HANDS!!! And then he walks over to his table, and EATS! GROSS!

I've always liked QuickTime VR content and felt it's one of the underutilized media types on the web. Apparently VRWAY agrees - they have a neat site where they link thousands of real destinations across the globe using QTVR. It's a pretty cool proposition, being able to visit anything, anywhere on-demand. Check it out.

So you've witnessed your perfect mate from afar, but you just can't overcome your shyness and actually introduce yourself - what can you do? Try Coincidence Design. They claim it's not stalking, I'm not so certain...

Oh yes, and let's not forget a big, big thanks to my still secret 'Secret Santa' for the wonderful CD and bonus Legos. Thanks so much! You rock. Who are you? Tell me.

Hope all my fellow robots had a pleasure-filled holiday. Just a quick link today - an interesting article on how companies are able to use the courts, trademarks and copyrights, proprietary technology and deep corporate pockets to control what Internet users do and say, threatening the openness that made the Net unique. Read & enjoy.

In case you choose not to send an ImageStation eCard for your holiday greeting, you can try the nifty eCards at Evolution Bureau - trés cute.

Still trying to find the perfect holiday gift? Here's a suggestion from DWR worthy of passing on:

This has been a tough year for many arts-based nonprofits. Funding has been scaled back from national sources like the NEA, and contributions from individuals are at an historic low in the U.S. The gift of a membership to one of these organizations is a meaningful alternative for those of us with philanthropy in mind. Here are some direct links for organizations you can either donate to, or use to find other charitable organizations:

SFMOMA:
http://www.sfmoma.org
Exploratorium:
http://www.exploratorium.edu
Museophile:
http://vlmp.museophile.com/usa.html
Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum:
http://www.si.edu/ndm
Docomomo:
http://www.bk.tudelft.nl/docomomo

Tokyo first impressions:

- Everyone is so polite – almost to the point of absurdity. One example: At night, the taxi drivers turn off their lights at every red light and stop as not to blind the driver in front or oncoming traffic.
- Speaking of cars, they’re all totally spotless and dent free – and amazing as this sounds, what’s even more amazing is there are no apparent places to wash the cars. I don’t know what the secret is.
- Tokyo is HUGE. It seems to go on forever. I don’t think I could ever learn my way around this city.
- Vending machines are everywhere, selling water, soft drinks, beer and cigarettes. But I still haven’t been able to find any of the famed vending machines selling used panties, though. Maybe it's a myth.
- Soft drinks have the most disgusting names here. One popular brand, Pocari "Sweat" seems to be about as popular as Dr. Pepper. Yuck!
- The sushi and fresh, real wasabi (freshly ground from wasabi root) taste amazing. I'm spoiled forever. I don't think I'll ever be able to enjoy sushi in the states again.

All in all, I really love Tokyo. It's a beautiful, fun-filled city. More updates to come.

If I were a work of art, I would be M. C. Escher's Lizards.

I am a bizarre juxtaposition of the real and the unreal. Based in the realm of mathematics, my two-dimensional appearance belies a complex and free-willed behaviour which both delights and confuses people.

Which work of art would you be? The Art Test.

I'm off to the land of the rising sun tomorrow. Tokyo Go-Go! A week of future-filled excitement.

Attention all robots in the Detroit area; Must see show coming to your town (I wish I could go!):

ADULT. - live Detroit, USA : Friday, Dec. 7, 2001
Ghostly International presents... chapter II: Disco Nouveau.

Venue:
The Labyrinth
1703 Cass Ave.
Detroit, Michigan
$15.00, 18 and over.
Doors: 10pm-4am

featuring: ADULT., DMX Krew, Ectomorph DJ Set, Charles Manier.
http://www.ghostly.com/dn

The latest spam from my once beloved mp3.com boldly states at the top, "Get Signed! Get Heard!". Aside from the obvious questions about their egregious use of exclamation points, I have to wonder - has any band actually achieved any amount of serious fame as a result of being promoted on mp3.com, or is the idea of an online record label having the same sort of impact as a conventional label merely a pipe dream? I'm asking – this inquiring mind wants to know.

Since every website and news outlet seems to be awash with reports of the "revolutionary" Ginger/IT (henceforth officially known as Segway) transportation device, I feel obliged to throw in my $.02.

Pros:
- Environmentally friendly
- Easy to ride
- Intuitive controls and interface
- Inventive use of gyroscopic balancing system could benefit many future devices.


Cons:
- Chunky PlaySkool appearance
- 75 lbs!
- Top speed of only 12.5 MPH (slower than an electric Zappy)
- $3,500-4000!


Call me jaded, but I simply don't see the Segway heralding in a new era of human mobility. I mean c'mon, $4,000? Around these parts $4,000 will buy you a whole lot more transportation that's a whole lot more practical than the Segway. A $4,000 investment should at least buy you enough oomph to be able to cross a bridge. Not only that, but watching the videos on the Segway site, I can almost see the American population becoming more out of shape and more obnoxious (imagine your first experience almost getting mowed down on a public sidewalk by a Segway riding fool chatting it up on his/her cell phone). How 'bout we promote something with positive health benefits and zero environmental impact like biking, or even walking for that matter.

Neat idea. Neat use of technology. Just not what I'd call revolutionary - more like a solution looking for a problem. Wake me up when the personal VTOL hovercraft or jet packs are ready.

Better go download Queen's Antother one bites the dust so you can play it when music sharing system KaZaA finally does. It should be shut down in two weeks according to a Dutch court.

Blogsnob goodness:
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What's dumber and more annoying than the hampster dance? Not much, but Polka Time certainly qualifies as a potential winner.

Mirrorproject on the web - who's the fairest in my head? Moi or moi?

Saw Amélie again tonight - it's even better the second time around!

Battling depression? Maybe you need this book. Quite funny.

List magazine was one of the coolest in 2000. Their website has said another issue is coming soon for quite some time now. Anyone know what's up with them?

The Internet Archive Wayback Machine is sort of neat. It makes it possible to travel back in time and surf old versions of web pages, or sites that are no longer available. I typed in kozmo.com and almost wept.

The most charming movie award of all time goes to Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Amélie (in france known as Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain). I was fortunate enough to experience this genius work of art today and I'm still grinning with giddy satisfaction over they joyous feeling it left me with. It was so enchanting - I didn't want to leave the theater. And when I did have to leave, I wanted to immediately get right back in line and see it again as not to lose the magical feeling it left me with - it's the kind of feeling that you wish you could bottle up and carry with you forever. The film is simply sublime. The part of Amélie is played by the equally enchanting Audrey Tautou, who, in the opinion of this humble robot, is by far, the most charming and beautiful actress since the infallible Audrey Hepburn. Run, don't walk to see this film. It will change your life.

Props to my friend Sarah for bringing down the house at Sunday night's Small Press Soiree reading in Oakland. Naturally, I showered her with well deserved compliments after she read her wonderfully entertaining excerpts from To-Do List's upcoming "self-loathing" issue - although I didn't articulate it as well as Beth Lisick's article on sfgate.com. Nice job, Szzera.

Help, irobotnik has been pornolized!

Courtesy of pornolize.com

Some other victims:
whitehouse.gov
marthastewart.com
amazon.com
eHow.com

It's just wrong!

If you're a gamer, you're likely to recognize Bleem as the outfit that made software emulators so that consumers could play video games meant for game consoles on their PCs. Unfortunately, they've recently ceased operations as a result of prolonged legal battles - their website is the most heartbreaking dotcom shutdown design I have ever seen. Game over, guys - it was fun.

Cool.

Pixar short films are now available for download. In QuickTime format, of course.

ohmygod!

"My friends always said I had an incredibly long tongue - I could make lots of money with it one day," said Annika.

Honey, that's the understatement of the century.

First let me say I use both Macs and PCs, and each have their strenghts and weaknesses. That being said, I need to start thinking about a new über-computer. The finalists are this or this. Thoughts?

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the EP2 Trailer "Forbidden Love" has been online for a few days. Check it out.

Secret Santa is absolutely brilliant - I love it! Just sign up and on December 10th the Santa-bot will send out email to everyone who wants to join in. It'll include the name of the person you're getting a gift for, the address of their web site and the address of their Amazon wishlist. Of course, your name is in the hat as well, so someone else buys you a present! Everyone gets a present! Everyone's happy!

I can't wait to get mine! Via Jason

Tomorrow's night sky will feature the most brilliant meteor shower of our lifetime with the Leonids meteor shower. Astronomers predict 15 meteors a minute by 1 a.m. Sunday and more than 30 a minute by 2 a.m. Reportedly, the best place in SF to go see the show will be atop Mount Tamalpais - check out the SF Amateur Astronomer sponsored party and drop me an email if you plan on attending.

Saw the splendid Momus and the Stereo Total show last night at S.F’s ‘Bottom of the Hill’. Actually Momus, although just as witty as I had gleaned from interviews, transformed on stage from electrofolk pioneer to headache inducing twaddlemeister. I'd recomend for the sake of his audience he establish a 6 song cap on his live performances - one can only endure so many songs about his penis...However, unlike the enigmatic Momus, the moment the supercool, amazing Berlin duo Francoise Cactus and Brezel Göring appeared on stage the crowd lit up and was immediately won over. Francoise is so incredibly adorable, and her thick Teutonic-French accent made me swoon. Within moments I was transformed from jaded bystander to active and willing groupie. Of course, they played classics in all their trademark languages (German, French, English and Japanese) and got the dancefloor hopping with 80s inspired new wave-punk-disco classics such as “Ringo, I Love You”, “Moviestar”, “I Love You, Ono”, “Extremes Neutrales” and “Mein Beautycase ist mein Werkzeugkasten”. It made me very happy.

From the cool product department; watchmaker Fossil has announced a new twist on the concept of the information timepiece with their "wrist PDA". It's not a handheld computer in itself: instead, the owner uses the infrared transmitters built into your Palm or PocketPC to input read-only information like to-do lists, memos and contacts. Pretty smart. It's a wonder this hasn't been done before.

Unrelated: Would someone please give poor Odd Todd a job!

More on the subject of Star Wars: you've heard about it, here's the official fan site.

Okay, after viewing the trailer for a 2^nd and 3^rd time, I have to say it looks pretty damn cool. What isn't cool is that Apple requires QuickTime 5 Pro to view the large version - which costs a hefty $29.95! Now I've been meaning to buy QT5P anyhow since my video editing projects demand it, but I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority at being okay with this. Does this herald the end of free content from Apple? Are they changing to a tiered subscription model for QT Pro owners? This could get ugly.

Unlike Steve's other hype 'd jour, Monsters Inc. really did live up to it. Although I went in jaded, telling myself that it would probably suck and I was just paying $8.50 to see the new Star Wars, Episode II trailer, I walked out a raving fan of Monsters, Inc., and only mildly impressed with the Star Wars trailer. It looks promising, but then again so did the trailer for Episode I. Still, there were no traces of the unspeakable one, which inspires confidence.

Oh yeah, I think Jason said it best:
"Some sports team beat some other sports team. Or something."

5inch.com has some very nicely designed silkscreened blank CDs and cases.

My latest neologism: gadgerati
n.
One who is owns or covets cutting-edge gadgets; a member of the gadget-toting elite.

Unrelated: This is the 2nd time in less than 2 weeks that a random website has predicted erectile dysfunction in my future. Is the universe trying to tell me something?

You shall henceforth be known as:
Knight of The Meritorious Order of Erectile Dysfunction, BitBoy

From the Flywheel Random Title and Name Generator.

Happy Halloween!

Today I found a link to a nice Fischerspooner photo album by theblowup.com, designed by Jemma over at prate.com. I had heard Fischerspooner had parted ways and disbanded, but according to their website, they've got upcoming concert dates in Europe. Yay!

I think I'm going to head down to the Castro tonight (as per usual on All Hallow's Eve) with some friends from work to partake in the festivities. If you're there, make sure to say hi to the tall, dark and devastatingly handsome soldier...

What's more fun than dressing up as Scott Baio for Halloween? Well, maybe dressing up as Flipper, a Rubik's Cube or even Tatoo from Fantasy Island. All this and more childhood trauma is available at Retrocrush Costumes (via she).

An odd thing happened to the MiniDisc player on its tumble toward the ash heap of failed electronic products. The devices, developed by Sony, began getting popular. Very popular.

I couldn't agree more.

Read the NY Times article.

Nanopops feaures the story of pop's greatest groups, all told in tiny, little pixel art. Their "History of Kraftwerk" is better than a "Behind the Music" episode (from coudal.com).

I love google. Not only is it a superior search engine that incorporates web, Usenet & images, it also monitors the pulse of the internet and gives the average Joe like me the ability to reach huge audiences through their self serve Ad Keywords program. There are no minimum purchase requirements, all one needs to do is choose a keyword, enter ad text, specify a spending limit and supply a credit card –next thing you know my radio station is being pimped to everyone who searches for the keyword ‘Kraftwerk’. Brilliant!

Speaking of Kraftwerk, this weekend I read the book I was a Robot by former Kraftwerk percussionist Wolfgang Flür. In this revealing personal account, Wolfgang pulls back the curtain on the men behind the Mench-Machine and shares both his triumphant and not-so triumphant experiences working with the world’s foremost synth pioneers. It’s a fascinating read that shook the foundation of my worship for the boys from Düsseldorf –if you’re a Kraftwerk fan, it’s a must read.

More fun with drawings by the infallible ‘she’, the ubiquitous pocketpig. Her latest obsession: 3 words. Fun, fun, fun.

Must-see movie: Mulholland Drive. Allegedly, this was supposed to be another Twin Peaks-esque television series, but ABC turned it down (fools!). David Lynch has once again outdone himself with this inventive, smart and often hilarious plot, which twists and turns until finally climaxing in a notoriously Lynchian surprise ending. I thoroughly enjoyed it. If you’re lucky enough to live near one of the few theaters showing it, I recommend you run to go see it immediately. You can find out more here.

It would appear that I have a doppelganger

FYI, new content in /sounds

I'm thrilled that the new Sony DSC-F707 is equipped with nightshot. It produces completely freakish results when abused. Should be fun.

Over the past few months, you probably noticed that the frequency of updates has been, er, well, less than regular. It's partially because I've been incredibly busy, and maybe a little bit due to the fact I've been more introspective, even a bit of a recluse lately -- but mostly it's because I've been sick to death of the old irobotnik look. So with that in mind, I'm pleased to present irobotnik 2.0. A brand-spankin' new layout just in time for fall. Additionally, of special interest to those wearing pocket protectors, I've finally seperated my layout from content by using SSI (I had planned to get my feet wet with PHP, but I just haven't had the time - where does it all go?). I'm also 100% CSS enabled (death to the font tag!). The new site is divided up into sections, although the only part up and running at the moment is the homepage. I'll work out the odd bits and pieces over this coming weekend and get it fully functional in time for my trip to New York (I'm already cringing at the prospect). Anyhow, enjoy the new site and we'll see if it helps to rekindle my enthusiasm for timely and frequent posts.