(The purchase went very smoothly: I ordered it online and payed during the weekend; on Monday I received an SMS message saying they received the money and later another one saying the item was shipped and an order tracking code to track it on the web; Tuesday the phone arrived. Just thought I'd mention this because we usually only complain when things go wrong and don't give credit when they go very well. So, congratulations TMN for a good service on this one.)

Most of the times the workshops I attend are just excuses to start working on something and this one was no different. I don't have access to big screens like the ones at IAC, but we, at the School of Arts (UCP), do have a lot of small screens that can be used to create something interesting.

The MPE library is rather simple (which is good) and it basically does time and space synchronization among the several screens, which means that you can create a program that uses a display are that spans multiple physical displays.  It is well described here, but I'll summarize how it works:

for the past bandwidths...

Even without reading any of the arguments, saying that "video games can never be art" strikes me as the same as saying that "a coat hanger can never be art" or "a urinol can never be art" or "a robot can never be art". I know I'm being a bit unfair here because what Ebert says is that, in principle, video games cannot be art. Any object can be incorporated in a piece of art, but can a class of objects be considered art a priori? Ebert seems to think so. I disagree.

One of the latest extensions I installed sent a chill up my spine, though. 

"Emotional Design" is Norman's realization that his "The Design of Everyday Things " book was kind of incomplete. Not that it was wrong, but it lacked a fundamental aspect of how people perceive and use things: emotion. In "Emotional Design" Norman presents a framework for design based on three levels of processing at the human brain:

Here is a small set of notes from the workshop.

Unlike many other books that might be classified as personal development, self-help or self-management books, "The 7 Habits..." does not give you quick rules. The book describes a principle-centered approach to life and habits based on that approach. The title might suggest a time-management book, but it is not. It is not a GTD-like book and it will not keep your inbox at zero.

The habits are by no means quick and easy solutions, they require a lot of effort, strength and perseverance, but they all just "feel right".

However, there's a far better way to keep a list of publications on your personal web page if you use BibTeX (and you should, Google uses it!): Bibtexbrowser.

In a nutshell: the digital economy has made possible to take advantage of niche products in a unprecedented way. Products that don't sell enough don't make it to the stores because stores have limited shelf space. In the Web however, products don't need shelfs. Combine this with low delivery costs and the way to sell only a few of an imense variety opens up. 

A book to be read in a couple of hours. 

Maeda writes about how simplicity influences our perception of things and how simplicity can be achieved in many different ways. He describes 10 laws to achieve simplicity:

Law 1: The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction.

Law 2: Organization makes a system of many appear fewer.

Law 3: Savings in time feel like simplicity.

Law 4: Knowledge makes everything simpler.

Law 5: Simplicity and complexity need each other.

Law 6: What lies in the periphery of simplicity is definitely not peripheral.

Law 7: More emotions are better than less.

Law 8: In simplicity we trust.

Law 9: Some things can never be made simple.

Law 10:  Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful.

The book has a companion site where Maeda wrote about examples of simplicity: http://lawsofsimplicity.com

Another good paper on writing for academic papers with similar advice is The Ten Commandments  for writing academic papers by Dra. Julienne Hanson.