Stefano Mirtis

facebook wall
27/52
2013
timeline archive:
a personal collection
of curiosities
Stefano Mirtis
facebook wall
https://www.facebook.com/stefano.mirti.3
Stefanos facebook timeline 27/52 2013
Rottweil, Germany
Mindmaps
The other day, I was trying to explain this special
journey I did when I was in Amsterdam. To find
some material to come up with a description, I
discovered August Natterer, a fantastic artist,
unknown to me.
Here above, a mesmerizing inner / outer
landscape, by mr August.
Natterer explained:
"I saw a white spot in the clouds absolutely close
all the clouds paused then the white spot
departed and stood all the time like a board in the
sky. On the same board or the screen or stage now
images as quick as a flash followed each other,
about 10,000 in half an hour God himself
occurred, the witch, who created the world in
between worldly visions: images of war,
continents, memorials, castles, beautiful castles,
just the glory of the world but all of this to see
in supernal images. They were at least twenty
meters big, clear to observe, almost without color
like photographs The images were
Stefanos facebook timeline 27/52 2013
Crescenzago
A Green Dino
Yesterday, I was eating outside, when all sudden I
noticed a green dinosaur coming to me. Luckily it
was a cub dino. Very cute, very gentle.
I took my phone to take a picture. I took the
picture, but in the short time I put the phone
away, little dino swiftly disappeared in the grass
: (
Very curious to see how he grows up...
epiphanies of the Last Judgment. Christ couldn't
fulfill the salvation because he was crucified
early... God revealed them to me to accomplish
the salvation."
Stefanos facebook timeline 27/52 2013
Chicago, IL, United States
In a small school on the South Side of Chicago, 40
children between the ages of five and six sit
quietly learning in a classroom. In front of each of
them is a computer running software called
Reading Eggs. Some are reading a short story,
others building sentences with words they are
learning. The least advanced are capturing all the
upper- and lower-case Bs that fly past in the sky.
As they complete each task they move through a
cartoon map that shows how far they have
progressed in reading and writing. Along the way
they collect eggs which they can use to buy
objects in the game, such as items to furnish their
avatars apartment. Now and then a child will be
taken aside for scheduled reading periods with one
of the two monitoring teachers.
Keep reading this interesting article on the
Economist:
http://www.economist.com/.../21580136-new-
technology
But, even more interesting is to read the topmost
of the Readers' most recommended:
http://www.economist.com/.../21580136-new...
/comments
Education Technology:
Catching on at Last
Stefanos facebook timeline 27/52 2013
For instance, "Connect The Dots" writes:
From Wikipedia regarding MOOC Distance
Learning:
"Before the Digital Age, distance learning
appeared in the form of written correspondence
courses, broadcast courses, and early forms of e-
learning. By the 1890s commercial and academic
correspondence courses on specialized topics such
as civil service tests and shorthand were promoted
by door-to-door salesmen. Over 4 million US
citizens far more than attended traditional
colleges were enrolled in correspondence courses
by the 1920s, covering hundreds of practical job-
oriented topics, with a completion rate under 3%.
Radio was the exciting new technology of the
1920s, with millions buying sets and tuning in.
Universities quickly staked out their wavelengths.
By 1922, New York University operated its own
radio station, with plans to broadcast practically
all its subjects. Other schools joined in, including
Columbia, Harvard, Kansas State, Ohio State, NYU,
Purdue, Tufts, and the Universities of Akron,
Arkansas, California, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa,
Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Utah.
Journalist Bruce Bliven pondered: "Is radio to
become a chief arm of education? Will the
classroom be abolished, and the child of the
future be stuffed with facts as he sits at home or
even as he walks about the streets with his
portable receiving-set in his pocket?" The students
read textbooks and listened to broadcast lectures,
but attrition rates were very high, and there was
no way to collect tuition. By 1940 radio courses
had virtually disappeared.
Talking motion pictures was the technology of
choice in the 1930s and 1940s. They were used to
train millions of draftees during World War II in
how to operate all sorts of equipment. Any
number of universities had televised classes
starting in the late 1940s at the University of
Louisville. The Australian School of the Air has
Stefanos facebook timeline 27/52 2013
used two-way shortwave radio starting in 1951 to
teach school children in remote locations. At many
universities in the 1980s special classrooms were
linked to a remote campus to provide closed-
circuit video access to specialized advanced
courses for small numbers of students, and many
continue to operate. But this trend should not be
disconnected from the more general and historical
process of industrialization of education, in
particular through teaching machines, industry of
textbook and educational networks. There are
striking anticipations of the MOOC of the 2010s in
the CBS TV series Sunrise Semester, broadcast
from the 1950s to the 1980s with cooperation
between CBS and NYU. Course credit was even
offered for participants in those early video
courses. In 1994, James J. O'Donnell of the
University of Pennsylvania taught an Internet
seminar, using gopher and email, on the life and
works of St. Augustine of Hippo, attracting over
500 participants from around the world. By 1994
hundreds of colleges had distance education
undergraduate degree programs, and there were
150 leading to advanced degrees.
The short lecture format used by many MOOCs
developed from "Khan Academys free archive of
snappy instructional videos."
In April 2007, Irish-based ALISON (Advance
Learning Interactive Systems Online) launched its
massively free online courses for basic education
and workplace skills training supported by
advertising."
...."Many universities scrambled to join in the
"next big thing", as did more established online
education service providers such as Blackboard
Inc, in what has been called a "stampede." Dozens
of universities in Canada, Mexico, Europe and Asia
have announced partnerships with the large
American MOOC providers.
Nevertheless, by early 2013, questions emerged
about whether MOOCs were undergoing a hype
cycle and whether academia was "MOOC'd out.""
____________________________
Stefanos facebook timeline 27/52 2013
Design Museum Holon
Ronnie strikes back, once again
http://www.yatzer.com/ron-arad-in-reverse
If you like Fiat 500, these flowers (actually, much
more) are all for you!
Ron Arad's Pressed Flowers
(in White)
Sometimes the future is just a fad.
And the past is littered with 'revolutions in
education'.
Stefanos facebook timeline 27/52 2013
Rottweil, Germany
August Natterer | My Eyes at the Time of the
Second Coming, 1911/1912.
Given the pseudonym Neter by his psychiatrist,
Natterer was a schizophrenic German outsider
artist during the early 20th century.
This drawing represents the pivotal moment of his
first life-shattering hallucination.
My Eyes at the Time
of the Second Coming
Stefanos facebook timeline 27/52 2013
Cairo, Egypt
Lots of Things Happening
Here above: David Hockney, View from Nile Hilton
colored wax crayons and pencil on paper 12 x 10
in. (31.1 x 25.4 cm.)
Drawn in 1963
Link to the original (digital) image: http://mrkiki.
tumblr.com/.../david-hockney-view-from-nile...
Stefanos facebook timeline 27/52 2013
New York, NY, United States
29th Street Publishing
Very interesting link, received (via Twitter) by
Joseph Grima: http://www.29.io/
29th Street Publishing: they make the best mobile
magazines.
Here an article with an interesting description /
explanation of what they do: http://readwrite.
com/.../29th-street-publishing-remakes
Gianni Romano, Michele Aquila, check it out!
Stefanos facebook timeline 27/52 2013
United Kingdom
FutureLearn
FutureLearn will offer online courses from some of
the worlds best universities for free, enabling
everyone, everywhere to enjoy learning
throughout their lives.
Our aim is to increase access to higher education
for people around the world by offering a diverse
range of high quality courses and content from
great universities, educators and institutions
across multiple platforms. Partnering with the
British Library, the British Council, the British
Museum, 21 top UK universities, and 2
International Partners, our first courses will be
launched later this year.
FutureLearn Ltd (trading as FutureLearn) is a
private company owned by the Open University.
We are building on the OUs unparalleled expertise
in delivering distance and open learning to
hundreds of thousands of people and combining
this with online and mobile technology and the
best of the social web to reinvent the learning
experience. We hope to inspire people to continue
to learn throughout their lives.
Stefanos facebook timeline 27/52 2013
Muziekcentrum Vredenburg
Do you remember?
When the most important (and fashionable) Dutch
architect was Hermann Hertzberger?
Way before Koolhaas appearance
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/
Thanks to krokorr (on Flickr), 207 vintage images
of Hermann Hertzberger's stuff..
http://www.flickr.
com/photos/krokorr/sets/72157626003369047/
Keep reading at: http://futurelearn.com/
Thanks to Sandra Silipo for the link.
Stefanos facebook timeline 27/52 2013
Bocconi
Back to Grafton (and back
to #bocconidesign...)
After a year of pause, getting ready to go back to
design class at Bocconi University (Cleacc
department).
The new course will be completely different from
the one I ran in the last years. Nice feeling.
Various ideas, I like them all
Keep tuned for more, here the link to the previous
course:
http://designbocconi2012.wordpress.com/
http://designbocconi.wordpress.com/
Stefanos facebook timeline 27/52 2013
Atherton, CA, United States
Mr Mouse, byebye...
U.S. inventor Doug Engelbart, the man known as
the father of the computer mouse and a thinker
who helped introduce other key innovations, died
Wednesday morning at age 88.
A scientist and engineer who devoted himself to
find ways to use computers to improve people's
lives, Engelbart developed his idea of which also
became the name of a blog he ran with his
daughter, Christine to describe what he called
"a measure of how effective people are at
addressing complex, urgent challenges
collectively."
Keep reading at: http://www.npr.org/...
/inventor-of-computer-mouse-dies
In a video from 1968, Engelbart demonstrated the
capabilities of not only the mouse a
rudimentary, two-wheeled device in those days
but also of the power of networked computing.
Titled "A Research Center for Augmenting Human
Intellect", the presentation gained a more informal
name over the years:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfIgzSoTMOs
Stefanos facebook timeline 27/52 2013
Skogskyrkogrden
Woodland Cemetery
Pan Gu went to Stockholm, and once there she
went to visit the Woodland Cemetery, Stockholm
designed by Erik Gunnar Asplund and Sigurd
Lewerentz (1915-40).
Here the link to the folder with several
mesmerizing images:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/
..it was a cruel irony that the first funeral to take
place at the crematorium was Asplunds own. It
was also the only time that the magnificent
mechanical screen wall which runs the length of
the back of the crematorium has been lowered to
remove the division between the interior and the
woodland beyond. Asplund was buried beside the
Chapel of Faith under a simple stone plaque
bearing the epitaph His work lives.
Stefanos facebook timeline 27/52 2013
Bocconi
READY FOR A SECOND
ROUND?
We modified the room's challenges to make them
even more exciting for you!
DIARY ROOM: Create handmade notebooks,
booklets, diaries using various binding techniques
http://on.fb.me/17Xg1xo
TYPE ROOM: Discover the world of typography
through pretty incredible tricks and magic http:
//on.fb.me/1cY0JVX
TINKERING ROOM: Hack electronic gadgets in
order to create a special interactive object. http:
//on.fb.me/14WCJzH
COLLECTORS ROOM: Discover the world of user-
centered design and cultural probes http://on.fb.
me/14WCN2c
Start playing! Your works will be exhibited in a
special place that will be revealed soon!
See our first exhibition at the Milan Triennale
here: http://on.fb.me/12KHWf7.
www.whoami.it
Keep reading at: http://www.c20society.org.
uk/.../woodland-cemetery.../
Stefanos facebook timeline 27/52 2013
New York, NY, United States
Kafka 130's Birthday
Peter Mendelsund designed this special video to
celebrate Franz Kafka 130's birthday. Very nice!
http://vimeo.com/69584269
Very useful as a reference for our 101 design class
for Iversity
More about mr Peter at: http://fromyourdesks.
com/2010/10/20/peter-mendelsund/
Stefanos facebook timeline 27/52 2013
Palermo
Alfred von Escher
Palermo-based designer Alfred von Escher of
Studio247 reclaims old scaffolding and wood stock
and recycles every single piece to create Leftover.
Using nothing but the dismantled crates, the
simple design becomes a unique piece enriched
with subtle imperfections.
More at: http://inhabitat.com/milans.../alfred-
von-escher_leftover-1/
Some more (in Italian) at: http://blog.atcasa.
corriere.it/.../leftover-dal-legno-di.../
http://www.acasaproject.com/a-casa-2013-
leftover/
Thanks to Sarah Amatori for the links!
Stefanos facebook timeline 27/52 2013
Uwajima-shi, Japan
Shinro Ohtakes's Scrapbooks
Thanks to Ko Sliggers, I discovered the magic
world of Shinro Ohtake and his scrapbooks,
collages + a lot of other things
http://www.shinro-ohtake.com/
http://www.shinro-ohtake.com/magazines/idea.
html
http://www.flickr.com/...
/dutchfonts/sets/72157634503011369/
Stefanos facebook timeline 27/52 2013
Florence
Superstudio
...The end of architecture is neither to be found in
"architecture on architecture" nor in the possible
evasions of meta-projects or spiritual retreats.
The end of architecture is only a dawn, which we
know to be possible by now, with an enormous
luminous mushroom
Superstudio.
Keep reading at: http://www.domusweb.it/...
/superstudio-projects-and...
Stefanos facebook timeline 27/52 2013
Riga, Latvia
BerlinRiga. Scores for
Indeterminate Places
Very nice exhibition in Riga. Thanks to Gianni
Romano for organizing the meeting with Kristine
Alksne...
Here the link where you can see some more
images of Kristine's work:
http://www.kristinealksne.com/#/exhibition-set-
design/
Stefanos facebook timeline 27/52 2013
Milan
Expopoli(s)
Nice game, having Expo 2015 as a theme.
For the time being, in Italian only
Here the free download: http://www.inventati.
org/offtopic/expopolis/
Here some more: http://www.expo-polis.com/
Stefanos facebook timeline 27/52 2013
Knesset, Jerusalem
Journalist Prints Gun,
Point It at Israel PM
Reporters managed to smuggle a home-made
plastic gun into the Knesset with little difficulty,
and pulled it out only meters away from Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The correspondents from Channel 10s nightly
culture and technology program Tzinor Layla
printed the gun using instructions downloaded
from the Internet on a three-dimensional printer.
Keep reading at: http://www.timesofisrael.
com/journalists-print-gun-bring.../
Stefanos facebook timeline 27/52 2013
Fermanagh
The bizarre fake storefronts
Northern Ireland is building
for the G8.
Pay no attention to the dying economy behind the
curtain!
In two weeks, world leaders will convene for the
G8 conference at a Fermanagh county golf course.
So that the eyes of presidents and prime ministers
aren't burdened with scenes of pesky blight and
unemployment on their way to and from the
resort, the country is spending 2 million pounds to
make abandoned storefronts look like real live
businesses.
Keep reading (this lovely story) at: http://www.
theatlanticcities.com/.../bizarre-photos.../5793/
Stefanos facebook timeline 27/52 2013
Acireale
Gas Station. A Strange One.
Very strange gas station, in Sicily.
A lovely view, indeed
Thanks to Giulia Fiorista for the image!