Pictures of the new Saab Aero X concept car, plus VW wants to help you un-pimp your ride.

Radio Activity
In most urban environments a quick scan of the streets or public transit is more likely to reveal throngs of iPod-clad denizens than anyone listening to the radio. In our "mp3streamcasting" world, radio seems to be more and more of an anachronism and less socially relevant than ever before. But not in LA. Sure, LA has it’s share of pod people, but because of it’s overwhelming geographical size and dominant car culture, radio has the potential to be the glue that holds the social fabric in place. Why then does radio in LA suck so badly? In the eighties, before corporate control KROQ was a shining light of independent modern rock. Nowadays, KXLU and KCRW both have their moments, but there is no station dedicated to maintaining a discourse dedicated to music culture.

Enter Dave Conway and Little Radio. Broadcasting from a warehouse here in Downtown LA, Little Radio plays diverse music hosted by authorities from around the world, and the Little Radio warehouse serves as an adhoc gathering space where art and music coincide. Lucinda Michele Knapp just published a great piece on Little Radio in the LA Alternative, and we’d like to extend Dave and his collaborators a warm iRobotnik welcome and the best of luck with Little Radio. I’m sure you’ll be reading about Little Radio quite a bit here in the future. In the meantime, bookmark littleradio.com and look forward to their big website launch on March 1st.

What if Microsoft redesigned the iPod package?

Before the horrible disease, there was the appetite supressing candy. Lose weight with Ayds.

Thank you, SLAVES. [via chris at Burnlab]

This is Acid

A little Wednesday afternoon acid hit for you, with James T. Cotton's bew single Oochie Coo (his first new one since the Dancing Box LP almost two years ago).

UPDATE 2: Not the same flower, yes it's from Burning Man, but it's a fully articulated, LED filled creation from the artists at LA's The Do Lab. UPDATE: Mr. Doyle informs us that it is in fact the same flower (updated from the looks of it). Apparently we now know what Burning Man theme camp props do to make a living.

Lexus rips-off inspired by Lush camp at Burning Man?
You decide...

Lexus ES Giant Flower in Chicago, 2/7/06 (click on "giant flower")

Lush Camp at Burning Man since I've been going (2001-present)

Recommended LA show: Hot Chip at the Echo, 3/3.

Our friends at Vocode have posted their February Electro Showcase mix; a smokin' 56-minute bleep and twitch freak fest by Athens-based DJ Dynamons. Check it out.

Of all the traffic reports and web statistics available to me, this is the only one that makes complete sense.

A sad, sad day. R.I.P Index Magazine, you will be missed.

I’m a big fan of LED technology and an even bigger fan of ITP grad James Clar and LA-based Electric Artist Brian Stotesbery. Both have two new projects worthy of mentioning. First, James Clar has a new proposal to create a building with an 'energy mesh' wrapped around it. This 'energy mesh' has individual nodes that collect the sun's energy during the day and at night gives off a specific color according to the amount of energy collected. Second, you can see some of Brian Stotesbery’s amazing work at the new group show at the Museum of Neon Art in downtown LA. It will feature several of Brian's LED light sculptures, including the interactive artwork, Clover II.

Bit in Japan

Why so few posts lately? I've been a traveling bot, canvasing the cities of SF, Tokyo and Seattle for the past month. Check out a few of my snapshots from the last few weeks.

PS: New design coming soon...stay tuned.

Seamless Computational Couture

Seamless is a fashion event featuring innovative and experimental works in computational apparel design, interactive clothing, and technology-based fashion. Each project [re]interprets the conceptual goal of a seamless relationship between technology and fashion. These are real clothes that inspire and provoke.

You can view a streaming video of the fashion show, which includes Sonic Fabric from Alyce Santoro, and works from Diana Eng of Project Runway fame.