Photos by Weidong Yang

Weidong Yang is a physicist who invented a method to detect movement as fine as a tenth of an atom. With Kinetech, a collective of artists and scientists he assembled earlier this year, Yang works on a human scale, drawing on years of martial arts and dance training and performance, as well as his skills as an engineer, to produce a tactile and visual experience inspired by fluid dynamics, quantum mechanics, entropy, fractal noise, and infinite loops.

Combining technological contributions by Florian Hoenig, Sachin Deshpande, and Marc Fawzi, and choreography by Bay Area favorites Daiane Lopes da Silva and Karla Quintero, Kinetech presents Open Lab--Sensory Awakening May 20-21 at KUNST-STOFF arts with three modes of aesthetic experimentation: Mosaic, Rag Doll, and Flo, each built of codes, projections, and dancers in motion.

Nicholas Carr

Information technology expert Nicholas Carr reveals how the rapidly developing technology around us encourages fragmented, scattered thinking. In short, our superficial thinking amounts to superficial relationships.

Carr first experimented with information technology when he worked as a writer at a management consulting firm Oliver Wyman (then called Mercer Management) in the mid '80s. There, he learned about computers and economics. He describes how he fell in love with his first computer, a 1985 Mac Plus, and became and became fascinated with the concept of information technology.

At the time of the dot-com boom, about a decade later, Carr worked as an editor at Harvard Business Review, where he wrote articles about the effect of the Internet on business and its economical impact. His 2003 article, "IT Doesn't Matter" spurred more than a book deal, it shifted Carr's interest. He became more invested in discovering the social and cultural implications of social media and Internet -- particularly how technology is changing our perceptions of the world and the way we think.

And what he found will surprise you.

What makes a good cocktail? Fresh ingredients, quality booze, a semi-autonomous artificial agent guided by electronic circuitry? At BarBot 13, the annual festival of cocktail robotics and mechanical socializing, you can find out yourself as you're served drinks by robot bartenders, some of which are not only capable of measuring vermouth, but are also programmed with snarky commentary.

The Snitch told you yesterday about the swath of Republicans changing their tune on same-sex marriage -- notably Hewlett-Packard CEO and former CA Gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, Jon Huntsman, and senior officials from the Reagan and George W. Bush Administrations. But the GOP isn't the only group standing up for gay rights. Hundreds of Silicon Valley tech companies also filed with the Supreme Court in support of gay marriage, arguing that Prop 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) force them to treat employees unequally.

Re: our integration with machines, Jaron Lanier is one of the Big Idea Guys. He was talking virtual reality back when it was more like virtual virtual reality. Fascinated by how the Internet affects everything from business to consciousness to business-consciousness, Lanier is also known around the way as a maestro of rare and eclectic instruments; according to an SF Weekly story from February 2012, he has maybe hundreds in his house -- more than he can count, anyway.

Tired of playing Words with Friends while your genitals just sit there like a chump? Well, three twentysomething California guys have your back. Or rather, your front. The trio, who are anonymous, created a hookup app called Bang with Friends, which takes your Facebook friend list and turns it into a friends-with-benefits list.

Earlier today, our sister blog the Snitch reported that we don't have to invite our bosses to happy hour, and now we have even more good news for those who talk shit about their jobs/coworkers/bosses (i.e. every goddamn one of you). The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued a recent ruling that says employees can express their opinions on social media channels without fear of getting fired. According to the New York Times, the NLRB "says workers have a right to discuss work conditions freely and without fear of retribution, whether the discussion takes place at the office or on Facebook."

But before you go Tweeting to your heart's content about how your boss is a douchecanoe, there are a few caveats.

See Also: The Top Professions that Attract Psychopaths
How To Not Offend People on Twitter

The good folks over at Ad Age have been tracking the number of self-proclaimed social media "gurus," "ninjas," "whores," (seriously), "mavens," and other barftastic titles since 2009. Not only have these titles not gone away, they've grown exponentially in the last few years, from a mere 16,000 to 181,000.

Here are the most popular (awful) social media names people are calling themselves on Twitter:

See also:

Site Records All the Casual Homophobia on Twitter, Depresses Us Immensely

Twitter Can Get You Laid

By Katie Tandy

Beyonce may sing about girls running the world, but it's clear they certainly aren't building it. Enter Debbie Sterling, a Stanford engineering grad who is feminizing the male-dominated field (89 percent to be exact) beginning with blocks.

And no, they're not pink.

See also:

Recent Acquisitions: Museum Pays Homage to Women Bookbinders

Porn Stars Have Higher Self-Esteem, Spirituality than Other Women: Study

Ah, the end of the year. The holidays, the hustle, the bustle, the family gatherings -- and soon enough the ball will drop and then it's time for those pesky new year's resolutions. Most of us will resolve to exercise more, eat less, or quit smoking (really, you still haven't quit smoking?). But today at the Exhibitionist, we would like to recommend a few more things we can all do less in the coming year for the benefit of collective humanity.

See also:

Words That Need to Be Retired in 2013

Black Friday: SF Weekly Takes Masochism to a New Level, Spends 24 Hours at Walmart