Very pointless...yet somehow compelling.

virtual bubble wrap

Rattle's comments:

For several months now, work has been underway building the next version of MemeStreams. It has been necessary to recode most of the site from scratch, so its taking awhile. At any given time the trials of life, lack of funding, bad timing, hardware failure, and general bad luck is screwing up the works. However, we _are_ making progress.

Just before the new year, I hit the point in the development process where new capabilities of mining and graphing social network data were becoming available. I decided to go off on a little tangent, embrace the milestone, and do something to show our technology's progress. The result is the Year in Graphs 2003. Over the course of putting this together I've wound up fixing all kinds of problems with our database conversion code and wrote much of what will become the new graphing engine. I even had a really good "eureka" moment in relation to some of our network theory.. Its been time usefully spent.

That being said, this is all very kludgy. I did not spend that much time crossing I's and dotting T's.. The fonts in the nodes are hard to read, some of the graphs look "squished", its missing the "Show Links" feature the current Social Network portion of the sites has, etc.. There is much room for improvement with our graphing. I look forward to additional feedback.. :)

While these graphs may be fun to look at, the data they are built with is what's really exciting.. The same thing that allowed me to make these graphs is what's going to lead to improvements in the capabilities of the Reputation Agent.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy browsing through this review of the past year!

MemeStreams - The Year in Graphs 2003

Producer Andy Raskin tells the tale.

Ramen everywhere today.

Ramen Jiro Noodles: A Test of Greatness

I can't beleive they're actually going through with this. It'll look cool anyway.

27 Live Action Weta Workshop Produced Designs For EVANGELION

Japan is a country filled with ramen fans, ramen connoisseurs, and certifiable ramen maniacs, and now the city of Yokohama has opened an entire museum devoted to the ubiquitous Chinese noodle. More than just an ordinary museum, it's also part historical theme park and part hyper-specialized restaurant mall. And, unlike your usual dusty museum, it stays open till 11pm to accommodate hungry concertgoers returning from the nearby Yokohama Arena.

Fun for everyone who has, at some point, lived off of Ramen.

Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum

They genetically engineered the two-headed fluorescent zebrafish during studies into muscular dystrophy.

Taiwan scientists accidentally develop two-headed fish

] Once prion diseases infect a body, the proteins change
] shape and, with a kiss of death, turn their neighbors
] into clones of themselves. Clumps of misshapen proteins
] form, overwhelming neurons and poking holes in the brain.
] Death is inevitable.

Wired News: Prions: When Proteins Attack

Here's a reason to accept that cat as your SAVlOR!!!!

Accept Jesus and receive a PS2!!!!!

] Doug Z's Art is a mixture of thought, creativity, spray
] cans and imaginations. His work is unusual, ethereal and
] even mind warping.

This is great! I've been wanting Doug to have some kinda online presence for YEARS.

I have know Doug since I was 17. He has been producing art constantly since then. He deserves the title "artist" more then anyone else I know, because he is _always_ producing.

Doug Z Art Gallery

Here it is, as promised, the video of the last Flipside gig.

I have the feeling that the site is slammed. I was unable to download it for awhile.

(Could someone please recommend a reliable public tracker? I can generate a torrent..)

Sunshine Flipside Last Show