#127 2001, remember the odyssey Did you know 2001 is being called the “binary" year? Many people rushed out to get married on 01/01/01. During Macworld in San Francisco I joined over 200 other kindred spirits to attend the annual “Netters” dinner, the buzz being a celebration of binary day: 01/11/01. The Netters are a loose-knit band of individuals who have been on the net a long, long time and come together once (maybe twice) a year to have dinner together. It’s a great crowd too... every walk of life represented from pin-strip suits to chartreuse hair and nose rings -- and of course the proverbial pocket-protector guys and gurrls! Besides binary year, 2001 means other things. Most people think of the famous 1969 move “2001: A Space Odyssey.” Isn’t the vision of Arthur C. Clarke amazing in what was predicted correctly and not? Yes, we do have computers the size of a wrist watch, but we don’t need room-sized computers to talk. Today, we have software available that allows you to tell your computer what to do, and type. Palm sized computers that can ‘beam’ information to and fro have become commonplace. Olympus has launched new eye glasses that project DVD movies into your eyes as if you were six feet away from a seventy-inch screen -- with full surround sound. __ Any time I think of 2001 I’m reminded of myself, thirty years ago, as a senior graphic arts and design student arriving in Boston to take part in a symposium on the dawn of multimedia and special effects. We went to study an awesome new ‘slit-scan’ technology taught by the ones who actually created the 2001 movie. We learned that technology, but also learned the more perspicacious teachings of Isaac Asimov. Yet look at where we are today. __ That slit-scan machine was a twelve-foot tall contraption of moving gears, dollies and baffles all tediously constructed to modify the way a 35mm movie camera ‘saw’ the images. Today we easily do the very same technique using a couple of software tools and a desktop computer. We’ve come a long way. __ Amongst all those wild dreams coming true, one thing really kind of stays the same: human nature. We still eat. We still sleep. We love, we hate, we learn and we dream. This ever changing yet predictably consistent human nature allows us... no, I take that back -- forces us, to pursue creative escapades. __ So as we embark into the days of 2001 set aside a little time each day, or each week to indulge yourself in creative dreaming. Keep notes. Make sketches. It’s good to remember where you’ve been -- but far better to dream about where you’re going. Just remember those famous words of Alan Kay: “The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” Have fun. We'll see'ya next month. Fred Showker is a designer, consultant, writer and speaker. He has published 60-Second Window and DT&G Magazine online since 1990, and is director of The Graphic Design Network which includes The Design & Publishing Center at www.Graphic-Design.com. (1994) He was a co-founder of both The User Group Forum on America Online (1987), The User Group Network at www.User-Groups.net, (1994) and the Designers' Bookshelf (1996) He originally founded Showker Graphic Arts & Design in 1972, has been an avid computer activist and supporter since 1984. Got Comments??? back to the 60-Second Window Index, 60-Second Lobby . . . or: The Design & Publishing Center. / . The User Group Network. / . Design University. / . The Designers' Bookshelf. / Would you like to carry the 60-Second Windows column in your newsletter or web site? Ask us about our syndication program... join hundreds of others who now publish 60-Second Windows! Thank you for visiting http://www.60-second.com/ DT&G: The Electronic Journal for Design, Typography & Graphics c/o Showker Graphic Arts 15 SouthGate, Harrisonburg, VA 22801 TAD, Voice, FAX: (540) 433-8402 Thank you for visiting 60-second.com, graphic-design.com, user-groups.net, and all of the sites including The Design & Publishing Center, The User Group Network, The Graphic Design Network. We bring you 100% spam-free content for designers, illustrators, publishers, photographers, and visual graphics arts professionals from all corners of the world. http://www.graphic-design.com/DTG/ -- Contents Copyright (c) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001. 60-Second Window is trademark, copyrighted since 1990. DT&G Magazine, and The Design & Publishing Center invite you to visit Photoshop Tips & Tricks at: http://www.graphic-design.com/photoshop/. Reproduction or reuse of parts or all of this manuscript without prior written permission is expressly forbidden.