fractalnavel

always seem to have a problem with this: when trying to access an external ip address from within its own firewall, something gets screwed up.  dns seems ok, must be a routing / nat'ing thing.  i've had this issue at home and at work, and now at craig's.

most firewalls seem to be configured such that when you hit them from inside, they don't respond with what they normally do, instead, they route you to their config access.  that breaks server side software that accesses itself using externally recognized names (and thus, external ip addresses as well).  and sometimes there are other reasons.

case in point: this community server installation.  trackbacks to itself (between posts on this same server) weren't working.  sure enough, it was this same routing issue.  fix: added the following line to C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts:

127.0.0.1       blogs.no-ip.org

loops back the external reference.

now, since this didn't seem to be a problem some time in the past, i would guess that something has changed in craig's networking (where it's hosted).  of course, the "real" fix would be to reconfig the firewall or whatever, assuming that's possible.

anyway, problem solved.  continue on your (dis)appointed rounds.  or squares.  whatever.

Detroit Museum Reinvents Itself in an Effort to Stir Arts Renewal

The Detroit Institute of Arts completed a six-year, $158 million makeover in 2007, including the addition of interactive exhibits and a spotlight on local artists. Jeffrey Brown reports on the new efforts to attract visitors and survive amid state economic woes.

saw a bit of the report (left) on pbs last night.  apparently, they've renovated the detroit institute of arts to make it more appealing to the masses.  one striking part of this is the removal of the traditional notes and descriptions placards that accompany each work, replacing them with "exhibition style" presentations instead.  they want to relate more to, well, the common man, not just the art connoisseurs or those with otherwise privileged perspectives.  other changes reflect this as well.

the report goes on to mention that there are criticisms of this approach, that some are calling it "dumbing down" of art.

my own thoughts are a complex mix, but i'd have to agree with the critics.  but not for the same reasons.

oh, i fear i will soon be mourning the loss of a beautiful institution, replaced by something with lesser historical and personal appeal, but that's not it.  it's something else.

the motivation for these changes is not that the art world is too elite, it's that they think that joe sixpack won't value, and therefor show up and support, something he doesn't understand.  or is that "won't" understand ?  or, perhaps, "can't" understand ?

what does this say about us ?  because sadly, it's probably true.

from a historical perspective, public art's main purpose was not aesthetic, it was communications.  tell the common people what to think about so-and-so political figure, about such-and-such religious ideas.  impress.  persuade.  subjugate.  horrify.  inform.  the aesthetic was the vehicle, not the point.

it wasn't until we had climbed out of the dark ages that art began to take on a life of its own, where the exercise of the craft and associated intellect began to become a frequent primary motivator.  in the twentieth century art - public art - attempted to throw off the last shackles of "message" in pursuit of the purity of the thing in itself.

that's quite a statement, really.  a positive one, even though no such statement could have been intended.  the statement was: each person is their own arbiter of taste.  their own judge.  they imbue art - and life - with a message of their own.  in effect, it is a statement of ultimate liberty and democracy.  it is the full bloom of the renaissance and the enlightenment.

and now it's being taken away.

doh! 

i just tried to remove a smudge from my screen by backspacing over it.

it didn't work.

but i wouldn't have been surprised if it had.