1. Phoenix Comicon Kickoff
Phoenix Comicon released the official details of its kickoff, an annual tradition where Comicon fans gather to hear more details about the event and special guest announcements and to score bags of free stuff. The kickoff this year is on February 2 at 7 p.m. in room 124AB of the Phoenix Convention Center. Our friends at Lightning Octopus have the best advice: get there early. More info here.
2. The Internet Blackout
If you head to Wikipedia, Reddit, or a handful of other websites today, you won't find the usual fare. Instead, you'll run across black screens with faint messages about two anti-piracy bills currently being discussed in U.S. Congress. The House's Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Senate's Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA), if enacted, would enable law enforcement and copyright holders to censor and litigate websites found to be trafficking copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods. Those in support of the bill cite an increased protection of intellectual property; those against claim the bills are a gateway to online censorship and an infringement of the First Amendment. Read more here.
3. Paint Cutting by Tate Foley
The latest work of Missouri-based artist Tate Foley is in a category of its own. Paint cutting, he writes, is the process in which he takes a woodcutting tool and slowly chips away at paint he's layered on canvas. Check out his process below:
Paintcuts from Internet Institute on Vimeo.
