Analog obsession

ASCII-art is art that is created (usually on computers) by combining upper- and lower-case letters and numbers, symbols and other ASCII characters. Here's an example:

Except that the above is what I would call retro ASCII-art. Why? Because it wasn't created on a computer; it was made using red and black coloured ribbons on a 1965 Olympia SG3 typewriter. The interesting thing about this sort of art is that it was inspired by new technology, but created using old technology. The artist's name is Andrew MacRae, and he has a blog with some of his artwork on it. There's a blog post on ABC.net.au called "Andrew Macrae's analog obsession" in which the author admits that he "thought it must be computer generated somehow" because it's so expertly done. The artist's own explanation of his fondness for analog is interesting, and I particularly like the fact that he points out that "There's no spell check, no internet connection, no Solitaire and no Microsoft Word paper clip to tell you it looks like you're writing a letter, would you like some help?" MacRae is obsessed with typewriters in much the same way and for many of the same reasons as people collect records or write hand-written letters to one another.

There's something unnerving about the 'perfection' of digital; analog, complete with all its imperfections and faults like the crackle and pop of vinyl or the slightly off-centre look of a typewritten page, just feels more natural. Record collectors buy records because they prefer the warmer more authentic 'feel' of the sound, as opposed to the harsh clinical sound of Compact Discs or digital audio files; people who use typewriters do so for similar reasons, I imagine. mp3s don't have that distinctive smell like vinyl does, and a laser-printed page looks the same no matter what computer or printer you use, whereas a typewritten page will always be different.

"Room 401" viral marketing web phenomenon

Disclaimer: I'm not entirely sure if this is at all relevant to anything that we're discussing at the moment in class, but I thought I'd post about it anyway since I find it interesting.

Xeni Jardin at BoingBoing posted an article yesterday [our time] entitled "Ashton Kutcher's doing some kinda ARG thing?" The article is about what appears to be some sort of ARG that may or may not have something to do with a (fake?) recent VOIP startup called Ooma which Mr. Kutcher has endorsed.

Room 401 is "a television series on MTV, executive produced by Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg. It is named after the room Harry Houdini passed away in at Detroit's Grace Hospital in 1926." (Wikipedia)

Someone has set up a wiki documenting all the bits and pieces that make up this strange puzzle. This is the first paragraph on it: "I was watching "Room 401" on my TiVo when I noticed some weird flashes. When I slowed it down frame by frame, I found a bunch of subliminal messages being held by Ashton Kutcher -- at first, they didn't make any sense..."

So far the online portion of the campaign comprises only a few short, very strange videos, and the starting point for all of it appears to be 43475359616771.com... The videos are all linked to in various formats from the 401wtf wiki, and it would appear that the people creating this large-scale prank are broadcasting their material episodically; there are clues being left in each episode of the TV show, and people are talking about it as if it were a video podcast.

Another piece of the puzzle is 812007.com, which as of right now (6pm NZST) reads as follows:
WELCOME TO 812007.COM!
The Secret Will Be Revealed On AUGUST FIRST TWO THOUSAND AND SEVEN.

There's a forum attached to 812007.com, but, in an ironic twist, it's been invaded by spam bots.
It's quite fun to watch an event like this unfold in real time; a marketing prank like this would not have been possible without the instantaneousness of new media technologies like the internet.

I'd be interested to see what other people think of all this...

--Hugh.