If Ramp Chicago needed a poster boy it would be Scott Hansen—equal parts audio and visual, he executes both with finesse. As Tycho he’s a master of swirling, sun-drenched melodies and as the much-lauded graphic designer, ISO50, he’s equally stunning and mines a similar aesthetic. Having just shared a bill with Matmos, Tycho is at work on new material for Ghostly International, having recently released Past is Prologue on Merck records. Hansen will be performing and displaying artwork from his ISO50 guise, as well as his live set as Tycho.

You’ll regret it if you miss Chicago DJ, Mr. Automatic, a long-time veteran of collectives like Metropop Media, Retropop!, Boutique Sound and Iconoclast. He’ll be spinning an eclectic mix of downtempo, 60’s pop and disco. Also look out for our new resident DJ Liz Revision (a.k.a. Quantazelle), who recently appeared with a live set in January, as well as live video artist Spiderback, returning to Ramp Chicago with his distinct blend of synthesized visuals.

* Tuesday, March 13, 2007 @ Sonotheque [MAP]
* 1444 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago IL
* 9pm – 2am, 21+, $5

* BassUpTrebleDown presents Ramp Chicago featuring:
* Tycho (Live)
* Mr. Automatic
* Liz Revision [aka Quantazelle] (Resident)
* Emulsion (Resident)
* Live Visuals: Spiderback

I’ve been using Fruity Loops on and off for a few years now, and I have to say that its latest incarnation is the most complete, versatile, and excellent. While it has supported VSTs for a few versions at this point, it has continually added functionality and neat toys. Click here for the new stuff in version 6.Get 10% off your copy of Fruity Loops

So you’re the type that thinks ahead and you’ve finished your holiday shopping–but you’ve blown all your cash on gifts without remembering wrapping paper. Sure, you could just use newspaper, but that’s so overplayed. Why not surprise your gift recipients with how clever and crafty you are? Make gift bags out of freely available shipping envelopes! Here’s a step-by-step explanation with photos at every stage of how to use a Tyvek envelope to make cool gift bags.

I came up with this idea when I had to go to an engagement party directly after work. I picked up a bottle of champagne during the day, but forgot to grab some sort of gift bag while I was there. Seeing as my office had plenty of Tyvek shipping envelopes, I grabbed some super glue and scissors and made a small little wine-bottle-sized gift bag and made it to the party in time. Here’s step-by-step instructions with photos for to make a small gift bag out of a Tyvek envelope.


“This packaging is the property of the U.S. Postal Service and is provided solely for sending Priority Mail. Misuse may be a violation of federal law.” You don’t have to use a Priority Mail envelope if you’re worried the feds will show up at your door. These instructions work for any Tyvek envelope.

Get yourself a Tyvek envelope.

Measure 1 1/2″ down from the top of the inside of the top of the envelope and make a mark. Make another mark 1/2″ down from the top.

You don’t necessarily need to make all the marks I did on the bags. You can just make a few marks at each end and then use the ruler as a guide and then cut between the marks with a straight razor or X-acto knife.

Do the same on the other side.

Now, connect each of the marks you made on each side so that you end up with a 1″ wide row directly over the “press here” part. This will make one of the handles.

Cut along the lines and discard the bottom piece, leaving only the 1″ strip.

Cut off the two edges of this strip, leaving two separate handle pieces.

Turn the rest of the future-gift-bag vertically with the open side towards the bottom.

Measure in 1 1/2″ from each of the sides and make a mark at the bottom.

Do the same for each of the sides at the top edge.

Now connect the two marks you made at the top and bottom edges.

Turn the envelope clockwise so that the closed edge is at the right. Measure down 1 1/2″ and make a mark. Do the same thing at the other side.

Connect the two marks with a line. Do the same along the other side.

Fold the edges up along the two lines you made.

Fold up the bottom along the line at the bottom of the bag.

At the bottom corners of the bag, connect the edges of the squares there with a diagonal line sloping downward.

Now, stick your hand in the inside of the bag and reverse all of the folds you made along the edges to make a box shape. Fold along the two diagonal lines you just made to create two triangular flaps on each side of the bottom of the bag.

Fold these two flaps inward along the line at the bottom.

You’ll notice there is a weird little bit hanging off the edge of the flaps.

Cut this off from both sides.

Put the bag again on its back and fold the two flaps down on to the bottom. Make sure that all the edges are straight.

Grab some super glue and put a glue line along each of the inside edges of the flaps as marked with lines in order to glue them against the bottom (the left side is shown here posing handsomely with a bottle of glue).

The finished result should look like this.

Now, flip the bag around so you’re facing the open side and push in the sides like this.

If you want to store your bag flat before you put gifts in it, flip it around again and fold the bottom down against the side like this. It will also make your bag look more authentic, if you’re going for that.

So flip the bag around one more time to face the open side. To designate where the handles go, measure in 2″ from each side and make a mark.

Here’s a photo showing where you’re going to glue each end of the handles.

Grab one of the handles you cut earlier and glue one of its ends where you marked. Make sure the printed side faces down.

I wouldn’t recommend using a permanent marker to mark where you need to glue, since the super glue causes the ink to bleed. Use a pencil instead.

Keep the other end of the handle parallel and glue it at the mark you made on the other side.

Flip the bag over and do the same to the other side.

Stand it up and you’re done!

These instructions work with any Tyvek shipping envelope. Feel free to post a link to your own creation in the comments.

Happy holidays!

This is a seriously cool screensaver that makes your computer look like it’s running LCARS (Library Computer Access and Retrieval System), the computer system of Star Trek. System47, named after a strange inside joke involving recurrances of the number 47, is luckily available for both Windows and OSX.

Installation is easy, and there’s an option to turn off the sound, which I’d recommend. Not that the sound is bad, it’s just that random sound coming from an idle computer is kind of unsettling.

Thanks, James!

The people over at NCS have a reissue of a stainless steel watch in the shape of a Dreamcast.

For the uninitiated, the Dreamcast was / is an excellent (at the time) console by Sega that only had a three-year lifespan before it was discontinued. Some of the more notable games created for it are Seamen (a sea-monkeys-eque “virtual life” game where you raise intelligent live in real time by using your voice), Shenmue (a roleplaying game so real that it included the more mundane aspects of life, like physical labor at one’s job), Echo the Dolphin (an adventure game where your a dolphin solving puzzles), and everyone’s favorite, oft-quoted (“…but the soul still burns”) fighting game, Soul Calibur.

To view the time on this watch, press the EJECT button on the console and the top pops up to reveal the time underneath. If only they made a smaller version for female wrists…

[VIA]

technorati tags:gaming, dreamcast, watch, cool, retro, games, stainless, steel

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