Life from Above

Other than the Edinburgh Fringe highlights, and the re-runs of Jane Eyre (I am beguiled by men in breeches), I have been watching Britain from Above, a captivating aerial look at this country. What I find most interesting is the process of disseminating the land by studying it from a larger perspective, discovering what would otherwise have been imperceptible. Take, for example, the topographical marks left by neolithic settlements, only obvious from an elevated height (ep.3).


Photograph of Longleat maze by Jason Hawkes, who is involved in the program.

In life I stand on the ground, frustrated by my inability to transcend my limited perspective. Time to get high?

As Summer Dwindles..

I have a month left before the inception of my final year, so I thought I would review things. My job situation is sorted, albeit it temporarily. More importantly, I have gained a form of work experience. It might not be what is considered professional, but I don't have to sit at a damn desk. My dissertation research is well under way, and I have ideas for my final project. It seems I have performed a perfunctory ticking of boxes. Perhaps I still have time to do something exciting. I am aware that now is not the time to be resting on my laurels. Sitting around on shrubs is hardly ever a good use of one's time.

Stop Nudging Me!

Apparently this book explains the template for one way in which the powers that be coerce the public into making decisions. This means deciding what we do with our time and money. The theory is predicated on the fact that we are all lazy, requiring persuasion to act upon what we think we desire. Make the object easy to obtain, and a gentle nudging will do the trick. Sometimes I feel as though I am being jabbed.

Chomsky on how to Defend Yourself

“My personal feeling is that citizens of the democratic societies should undertake a course of intellectual self-defense to protect themselves from manipulation and control, and to lay the basis for more meaningful democracy.”

Where can I sign up?

3D Programs

So I've been looking into Architectural Visualisation and it seems that learning a 3D modelling program would be necessary, 3D Studio Max being the best of them. However, it is configured for Windows only, and I have a MAC. Apparently the platform above mine offers a program called BootCamp, which allows users to run Windows on their Mac. I found an article at MacWorld about the successes of doing this. This would mean I would have to get hold of Leopard, Windows and 3D Studio Max. Or I could learn a Mac compatible software, such as Maya. This is the program the Multimedia course use, but I'm not sure if it is used in the architectural industry. There seems to be a lot of chatter about this on the internet though, so I'll do some forum ferreting...

http://www.cgarchitect.com/vb/815-3d-max-vs-maya.html?=

Two days later and I am reliably told that AutoCAD is the program I need. Oh.