The Beauty of Numbers

Southern California media theorist Lev Manovich has been busy adding content to the web with both the online publication of Software Takes Command and new contributions to his blog data beautiful, which include this visualization of the demographics of different professions set against a century and a half timeline of industrial and then post-industrial economics.

Manovich also puts in a plug for the new Radiohead video in which "no cameras or lights were used."

Instead two technologies were used to capture 3D images: Geometric Informatics and Velodyne LIDAR. Geometric Informatics scanning systems produce structured light to capture 3D images at close proximity, while a Velodyne Lidar system that uses multiple lasers is used to capture large environments such as landscapes. In this video, 64 lasers rotating and shooting in a 360 degree radius 900 times per minute produced all the exterior scenes.

Of course, the band is also known for their In Rainbows experiment in which their album was put online and fans were given free choice about the price they wanted to pay. Although many paid nothing for the download, In Rainbows generated healthy sales and served as a highly effective promotional vehicle.