THE ANIMATION OF DOUG LITOS

A friend of the co-op (and Mike's brother!), Doug Litos, just launched a new website to show off his animation talents. He's in New York City, if you have animation jobs or connections for him, and he's super cool. So take a minute to check it out, inquire about his work, and let him know what you think.

PUBLIC EVENTS CALENDAR AND ACTIVITIES LISTINGS

WE WANT YOUR EVENTS:

The idea behind the public events calendar [see it] is that it is a directory of events for you, of you, by you. We want your artistic events, so let us know what is happening in your area, no matter how big or small.

Each listing on the calendar starts off with the closest largest city, if the event is not nationwide, so you can see at a glance if the event is applicable to you. The arrow in the upper right of the calendar screen gives you a dropdown key of calendar subjects by color, so you can narrow the calendar down to show only events that are important to you.

This calendar is a free, great, public place to list your artistic, social, political, or scientific event. Here's how:

Email us with:

• Closest big city to the event, if it is not national or Internet-based
• The who
• The what
• The where, as exact as possible
• The when, including time and time zone, and if the event repeats, etc.
• The why
• The how
• A copy of a flier or photo, if you have one, and photo credit name/link
• Any links/contact info where people can go to find more info
• Other necessary info: cost, 21+, sponsors, parking, etc.

Your event will show up as soon as we can upload it! We do reserve the right to refuse to list someone's event if it doesn't comply with our standards, ethics, or general overall good-for-the-peeps gut feeling, but if you're being cool, then we probably won't refuse it. Send in as many as you want (but please check to see if they are already listed, first! No repeats!)

RETRIEVR: THE BEGINNING OF IMAGE AND SKETCH RECOGNITION

So I had been wondering for awhile when I would be able to search for an image from an existing image that I already had, when I could upload an image to find its creator/origin, or when I could sketch out something and have an image-finder recognize it and pair it up with whatever seemed closest. The device isn't perfect by any means, in fact not even close, but the beginning stages are here in the first of its kind that I've seen: Retrievr, a Flickr-based image-recognizing search engine.

The idea is that you can sketch out a picture (in color, even), and Retrievr does a scan of Flickr images to match, in size, shape, and color, the sketch that you have created. You can also upload an image and find images that match yours, as closely as possible.

Now, clearly, it has a ways to go. The return images are sometimes not even close to the initial sketch, and, as a Flickr member, I should be able to load an image that I have in my photo archives, and, if it is scanning Flickr, then it SHOULD, in theory, be able to find my EXACT photo, something that I have had no luck with thusfar. It does, however, match the colors quite closely, if you use the sketch color palette. Flickr is also utilizing a smart tool, which is storing, rating, and using your created sketches [they each get their own url, too!] to better their matching.

One thing I would like to see here: a more structured list of results, like Amazon, where a query search returns a list of items, each one having another subcategory of items under it [i.e. "see the other 173 items like this," etc.]. Another thing I would like to see, of course, is this company (or ANY company doing this type of image-search) not limiting the results just to Flickr or to any one site. I want something that encompasses the entire expansive world of the Intertubez... is that so much to ask?

I hope that the awesome folks over a Google are looking at making something similar like this to be able to find images on the web; with their extensive and quite accurate search engines, I'm sure they could come up with something perfectly genius. Hint hint.

THE STORY OF STUFF - AWESOME VIDEO YOU MUST SEE

This teaser trailer is only the beginning. Please go to the site and watch the full video; it really is tremendously well done. Get involved in something good in this world. Stop the consumerism mentality cycle. Please do your part.

PLEASE WATCH THE REST OF THIS VIDEO.

GET BLUE SPRUCE TREES SUPER CHEAP - LIMITED SPECIAL OFFER

I am all about passing good deals along, especially when they concern helping the environment. I received a coupon in the mail that is an awesome offer, too good to pass up, except that I can't use it myself, so I want it to go to someone who can.

Here is the deal:
Colorado Blue Spruce
4-year old, 1-2' tall
3 for $5.50, 6 for $10.95, or 12 for $19.95
PLUS 2 free Burning Bushes with your order
and only $1.95 shipping and handling

THAT IS AN AWESOME DEAL!!
3 trees and 2 large red bushes mailed to you for only $7.50 total!!

Details: This versatile Blue Spruce makes a lovely single accent planting, privacy row or windbreak, and colorful corner grouping. You'll receive select, nicely-branched 4-year old transplanted trees that are at least 1-2' tall. Having been transplanted, the root system is well developed and will help the tree get off to a fast start.

The Burning Bush has the most brilliant red foliage of any shrub. Fiery red leaves of the Burning Bush are so spectacular in Fall that they look like a bush on fire. 2 free with a Blue Spruce order!

These are from Burgess Seed & Plant Co. in Illinois, which has great, great prices year round, but this offer is a special one, with free plants and a great shipping price!

I have ONE of these coupons/order forms, and ONLY ONE. If you want it, it is yours. I will mail it to the first person who emails me his/her mailing address and says s/he wants it. Please make sure you will plant the trees and that the trees can grow in your climate. Must be in the United States.


[Photo credit link]

NORTHWEST AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM OPENS IN SEATTLE

find out more information here.

NET NEUTRALITY : SAVE THE INTERNET

The continued attempts by certain corporations to create a "fast-lane" on the Internet, available only to high-paying groups or companies, and a defacto "slow-lane" for the rest of us needs to be addressed, and I hope you will join your voice with the many of us fighting for Internet equality.

The issue is "net neutrality," meaning that all users have equal access. This is a founding principle of the Internet. Some corporations, however, want to change that to benefit their bottom line, by creating pay-for-better-access laws.

If you are reading this blog, you are probably an Internet freak. Please check out Save The Internet and contact your Congresspeople so they will know to vote down any Internet-restricting legislation that would eventually affect you by slowing down your Internet access. (Unless, of course, you're rich, in which case, you are probably not reading our blog.)

ARCADE MAGAZINE LAUNCH PARTY IN SEATTLE

find out more information here.

BE THE FUTURE OF TRANSPORTATION IN SEATTLE

The mass transportation system in Seattle needs some help. If you care about this issue, help become part of the solution by taking a brief survey and voicing your opinions here about the future of Sound Transit System Expansion plans.

WATCH THE TOTAL ECLIPSE - FEBRUARY 20

For 51 minutes on February 20th, 2008, provided there is a clear sky, you can catch a total eclipse of the moon. The eclipse starts at 7:01 p.m. and ends at 7:52 p.m. PST. More information on the eclipse can be found here.

NOW FOR THE FUN PART:
If you are in Seattle, there is even more fun to be had. A few friends and fellow artists of the co-op will be getting together at Cal Anderson Park in Seattle for a karaoke-style 51-minute sing-along version of the song Total Eclipse of the Heart.

If you want to bring along music to sing along to with your boombox, feel free. If you want to play an instrument, feel free. If you want to bring your whole band, go ahead. The head of this insaneness, Corprew, will have a megaphone so that people can take turns on the top of the hill. If you bring your own megaphone, don't be a dick. That is, of course, always a strict rule.

This fun event will start at 6:30 p.m. (and will also celebrate Corprew's birthday, which is the next day!). Dress however you like: I suggest warm, festive, and moisture-resistant. Come to sing! You may wish to bring coffee.

The Seattle Total Eclipse of the Heart
Cal Anderson Park
1635 11th Ave, Seattle WA 98122
Event Start: 6:30 p.m. - End: ???
Totality Start: 7:01 p.m. - End: 7:52 p.m.

SUPPORT AMFAR - FOUNDATION FOR AIDS RESEARCH

In this day and age, it's hard to find a charity organization that isn't just out to bleed you dry. Small print and contest/congratulations-style marketing is the norm; and the facts are a thing of the past.

Remember a couple things about charities and organizations:

1.) They will give your name/address out to all kinds of people/organizations. If you do not want this to happen, you have the right to opt-out. Let them know you do not want your address shared with other organizations.

2.) It is also your right to request copies of their financial records - how they spend their money that you are sending them. Take a close look at how much of that money goes to marketing and to administrative costs. If it is a large chunk, then skip that organization.

3.) Read small print. And don't be afraid to check up on them, such as researching them on the internet. I get tons of requests for money from organizations because my address is out in public spaces; half of the requests I get all come from the same addresses or same cities, just with different organization names. Most of those organizations are the exact same "charities," all hoping you will be duped into sending them money each time.

4.) Good organizations will not inundate you with mail because they need their money to go to the worthy cause instead of mass marketing schemes. If an organization sends you mail, especially donation requests, more than once a month, skip that charity.

5.) Beware the fancy guilt tactics! Address labels, notepads, keychains, pens, lapel pins - there is nothing a crappy charity won't do to guilt you into giving money. If a charity is sending out thousands of personalized notepads and address labels, then my humble opinion is that there is not enough money going into the cause. If they have to fancy up their mailing packages with "gifts," then they are losing sight of the cause.

6.) Only give to the causes in which you firmly believe. There is a charity for everyone, but spreading out small change to a bunch of charities with causes that are not so important to you helps less than getting very involved with one main charity about which you feel impassioned.


With that said:

I would like to introduce you to an amazing research organization, if you are not familiar. It is called amfAR - American Foundation for AIDS Research. I went to school for musical theater; in the 90's, I watched several theater friends die of AIDS, so this is a cause close to my heart. AIDS has been around for over two decades, a disease that used to be a fear in the forefront of the minds of sexually-active individuals, gays, teenagers, and the nation [and world] alike. A nation that has since reverted back to the thing it does best: complacency. Today, AIDS is more deadly than ever; subsequently, this nation seems to care less than ever. How does that happen? I will never have an answer to that. But please don't let yourself become a statistic, either with complacency or with the epidemic, itself. Get educated now.

The amfAR organization is amazing, seldom sending crap mailings and never wasting their money on fancy guilt gimmicks. Let me tell you a little bit about them, and about AIDS, in general:

They launched a new research fellowship in 2007, to accelerate efforts to find new treatments, better prevention methods, and, ultimately, a cure for AIDS, which, over two decades later, still does not have a cure. They also launched an international initiative that is helping to check the spread of HIV among hard-hit communities in the developing world, as well as overseeing the approval of a brand new class of anti-HIV drugs that have their roots in amfAR-funded research.

More than 25 million people have died from AIDS since the virus first emerged in 1981. The United Nations estimates that 33 million people are living with HIV/AIDS today. Tragically, most do not even know they are infected. Right here in America, 1.2 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, and some of our communities have rates of infection that are on a par with hard-hit countries in the developing world. With nearly 7,000 more people worldwide becoming infected with HIV every day, the epidemic continues to grow at an alarming rate.

Until a cure for AIDS is found, we urgently need more effective, less toxic, and less expensive HIV/AIDS treatments. Powerful combination therapies have produced remarkable results for many people. But they don't work for everyone, and, even today, remain out of reach for most people in developing countries. Drug-resistant strains of HIV that do not respond to some or all of these drugs are also becoming more prevalent. Dedicated scientists worldwide turn to amfAR to fund crucial studies that offer hope to a world struggling against this ruthless epidemic.

amfAR provided the essential early funding for the research that led to the development of three classes of HIV medications: protease inhibitors, fusion inhibitors, and - just last year - CCR5 blockers. amfAR also supported pioneering research that eventually led to the use of AZT to block mother-to-infant HIV transmission, resulting in the near elimination of pediatric AIDS in the industrialized world.

Today, the organization is making seriously bold investments in the search for a cure, which is what must be done if we are to go out on a limb and find it:

A recent recipient of amfAR's funding, grantee Dr. Paul Bieniasz, is trying to solve one of the most frustrating mysteries surrounding HIV. Current anti-HIV therapy cannot completely eradicate the virus from the body. HIV hides inside cells where it cannot be destroyed by drugs. When the patient stops taking the drugs, the virus emerges from those cells and ravages the immune system. In an attempt to overcome this problem, Dr. Bieniasz is using sophisticated techniques to search through millions of chemical compounds called peptides for one that could lead the way to eliminating even dormant HIV.

Hope for a cure can also be found in the work of amfAR grantee Dr. Steven Deeks, who is studying why some HIV-positive people maintain low virus levels indefinitely without medication. With amfAR support, Dr. Deeks will test his hypothesis that these individuals harbor a defective strain of HIV that is incapable of reproducing. If his hypothesis is correct, he will set out to use these findings to pursue a cure for the disease by halting the progression of the virus.

These examples clearly illustrate why amfAR's work must continue. Their grants provide crucial "seed" funding for innovative scientists who can then take their research further with support from the government or private industry. On average, amfAR-funded scientists secure up to $12 in additional funding for every dollar amfAR rewards them, which is an impressive return on investment, made possible only by dedicated supporters and donors.

I continue to believe that we can and will rid the world of AIDS. But the pace at which we, as a nation and a world, make this happen will be measured in dollars. Please support amfAR with a donation of whatever you can give.

By mail, you can donate to:

amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research
PO Box 96635
Washington DC 20090-6635

Donate on the internet here.
Check out their website for more information.