MachineMachine /stream - tagged with television

Cybernetic Sherlock

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 10:45:36 -0700

Cybernetic Sherlock

The secret messages written into the fabric of our world

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 04:40:00 -0700

I like the BBC test card, because it's a wonderful example of how practical industrial design can develop into an enigmatic work of art. But even better is knowing that the image isn't just art, it has an objective purpose worked into it, a secret meaning that reveals itself under scrutiny. The architecture of industrial design is filled with these subtle codes, and together they create a world around us filled with hidden meaning.

If we look at the BBC test cards, the colours and patterns framing Carole have a fairly obvious purpose, providing reference points for…

When the Meganovel Shrank

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 06:21:00 -0700

It seems significant, somehow, that Infinite Jest—the big buzzy signature meganovel of the nineties—was set at the end of the aughts. Most of the book’s action appears to take place in 2009, which means that we’ve all just survived the Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment. It also means that David Foster Wallace’s prophetic window has now (at least in the most literal sense) closed forever, in the same way Orwell’s did when we reached the actual 1984. And in fact Infinite Jest’s vision of the future does, these days, look slightly dated. One of the book’s nightmare scenarios is…

The Man Who Eats Badgers

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 06:27:00 -0700

To many, the A30 is just a road, but to retired civil servant Arthur Boyt it's more like a delicatessen. Arthur eats roadkill. He has sampled cat, barn owl, squirrel, hedgehog and badger. But his lifestyle is under attack. His isolated cottage on Bodmin moor has started receiving abusive calls from disgruntled locals. His wife, a vegetarian he met in Watford, is so afraid that she refuses to leave her bedroom. But Arthur refuses to change.

Is Star Trek A Religion?

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:22:00 -0700

Star Trek has long been described as a cult phenomenon…but is it an actual cult? Some anthropologists think so. Following the example of anthropologist Margaret Mead, they lived among the natives and studied their rituals-that is, they went to Star Trek conventions and fan clubs. Here's what they found. Their conclusions? Writes cultural anthropologist Michael Jindra in the journal Sociology of Religion: When I undertook this research, my first intention was to focus on how ST [Star Trek] draws a picture of the future that is attractive to many Americans. But early on I realized I was dealing with something…

Fish and Rice Cakes

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 08:58:00 -0700