My mission to win a Nissan Cube
and turn it into My Druplicon Cube

What a Blast! Hypercubers Rule!

As the peer voting portion of the contest has wound down, we hypercubers await judgment to see who among us 500 super talented Canadians actually get to take home a Nissan Cube.

Unable to update our canvases we can now reflect on the time we spent getting to know one another over the course of the past few months. It was in fact the social aspect of this 'contest' that made it such a pleasure to participate. I certainly enjoyed toying with creative ideas and working on Cube related projects, but in the end the thing I enjoyed most was interacting with the other participants. The daily discussions. The delight in seeing the fruits of everyone's labour. The regular tweetups and online chats.

Viewing this from the outside, you can clearly see how this was a one of a kind product launch. Showcasing talented people from across Canada and spreading awareness of a product strictly via social media. But, from the inside you forgot that this was about a product. It really felt like it was exclusively about the people. I felt honoured to be in the company of greatness throughout the entire event. And I suspect that the connections that were made between participants will not be lost.

Win lose or draw, I had a great time. I obviously want to win (after all it is such a sweet ride), but regardless of the outcome there will be no losers.

I wish everyone the best of luck.

Flashier Scroller

Very early on I created a novelty Drupal module that uses jQuery and a few images to create a scrolling effect. You can still see that code in action on this site..

During the contest I revisited the scroller for my canvas. But, there was now way to include my java script solution so I re-did it in Flash (with some fun modifications). And for a few days it could be seen on my hypercube.ca canvas. If you missed it, I bring it back for you here.

Painting with Druplicons

A little while back I stated tinkering with painting Druplicons in Photoshop. I made some brushes and just started mashing about aimlessly. Some things worked. Others didn't. But its not always about the end result. In fact so many things in life are about the journey and not the destination.

So here I present to you some playful painting.

To me, there is something that is just intrinsically likable about the Druplicon. Sure its been referred to as a 'creepy alien head', but you know deep down s/he's harmless. I'm not sure what it is. The smile? The giant eyes? Whatever it is, it makes for a fun subject.

Glowing Cube Project

Another break from my coding creativity. This is a little creative project done in my quest to win a Nissan Cube.

If you like these photos and want to help me win a Nissan Cube - vote for me daily at
hypercube.ca/en/Canvas.aspx?id=12606ebb-d78b-479e-a123-a9... Nissan is giving away 50 Cubes to creative Canadians - I want to be one of those 50 winners.

These pictures are of some stainless wire bent into a cube shape and wrapped in electroluminescent wire. After I finished making the object I decided to play with some longer exposures. Finally I took a few self portraits with the glowing cube. The last three photos provide an interesting effect.

I got Skillz like Susan Boyle

Yes, I've been known to be silly.

Nissan Cube Found Orbiting Jupiter

The Cassini space probe was dispatched to study the largest planets in our solar system on October 15th 1997. After finishing its mission around the ringed planet of Saturn in 2004, the probe went silent. Today, suddenly the probe began transmitting again, but this time the transmissions included photos it had taken eight years ago when it had passed Jupiter.

"Unbelievable," Dr. Loyd Montgomery exclaimed when the photos arrived from a long silent space probe. "Its literally like something out of a Kubrick film."

Dr. Montgomery was of course referring to 2001: A Space Odyssey a film which depicts the discovery of a monolith orbiting Jupiter.

"Its not a monolith," explained Montgomery's assistant at a press conference where the photos were revealed. "From what we can tell the object in the picture looks to be a Nissan Cube."

Reporters were skeptical since the appearance of the photos so neatly coincided with both April fools day and a contest which plans on giving away 50 Nissan Cubes to creative Canadians.

The frustrated scientist went on to say, "Look, coincidence and causality are not the same thing. There is something much bigger at play here. Obviously there is something special about Nissan Cubes. How else can you explain these photos. Photoshop doesn't lie."

When asked what he makes of the contest, the photos and the timing of their appearance, contestant Andre Molnar said, "It's not for me to say whether this is a cosmic joke. All I know is that if it is a work of fiction it's pure genius. If it's for real, well how cool is that? Either way, I want a Nissan Cube more than ever!"

For your chance to win a Nissan Cube, sign up at http://hypercube.ca. For your chance to spot the Cube orbiting Jupiter train your telescope on the gas giant Jupiter January 17th 2010 between 9:00pm EST and 10:15pm EST.

Druplicon Cubes Spell Cube

Today I started toying with cubes. The fun that can be had with isometric drawing.

Your mind starts playing tricks on you with cubes flipping inside out. Then you start playing with your own mind creating MC Escher like drawings that suddenly form words.

The result of this initial toying is the drawing you see here.

For added fun check out the new wallpaper on my twitter page.

Like what you see? Want to use the drawing yourself? Feel free to grab the drawing or the tile/pattern and create derivative work. Its licensed under the GPL.

I'd like to win a Cube - creative coding

What's coming up

There isn't much here now, but this is a bit of an experimental site. Its fairly bare bones at the moment, but it will change in the coming days as I add to it.

I am a coder, planner, thinker by day. I am a dreamer, artist, comic by night. I am many things. Depending on my mood I will update the site with thoughts and interests and reasons why you might want to help me win this vehicle.

Check back. Also check out http://www.iheartthecube.com/ where another person is competing to win. I don't mind sending you to the competition - it seems that most people competing are passionate and I appreciate that. Plus, she's got more stuff on her site than I do, so you might as well get more entertainment for your dollar.

Cheers.