Andrew McWilliams

Why the Paris Climate Deal is both Successful and a Failure

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One way or another, the global climate deal signed December 2015 in Paris is historic. But in what way, and where does it leave us now?

Civil society sit-in at COP21
Civil society sit-in at COP21 (credit takver / share alike)

Perhaps the best one-sentence summary comes from environmental leader Bill McKibben, who said the deal "didn't save the planet, but it may have saved the chance of saving the planet."

It's an odd statement, but it makes sense when you look at what happened. In this article, we'll explore what it means.

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How Money Is Pushing the Climate Needle

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There's one thing we all have in common. Whoever you are, you and those you love stand a good chance to lose dramatically from climate change over your lifetimes.

Hardvard divestment campaigners
Alumni asking Harvard to think about their investments in 2015 (credit Peter Bowden / share alike)

The good news is we know how to avoid the worst scenarios. We must rapidly turn away from fossil fuels, and turn towards renewable energy and emerging technologies. It takes effort, but it's achievable.

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New ofxAudioUnit workflow addon

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I have written a leightweight manager for Adam Carlucci's excellent ofxAudioUnit, named ofxAudioUnitManager.

The ofxAudioUnitManager interface
The ofxAudioUnitManager interface

The manager allows you to deal with chains of Audio Units and sets of presets with your keyboard at runtime, and to design new chains with just a few lines of code. You can show and hide the control panel above by hitting 'v'.

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New Site for Hardware Hack Lab

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Our hack lab is a free space for artists, hackers and innovators. We meet weekly in Flatiron district and share our projects and interests. It's a great place to meet creative people, explore ideas and learn.

Hardware Hack Lab
A screenshot from hardwarehacklab.io

And now we have a new website - which you can check out at hardwarehacklab.io.

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Sound Control at Future Interfaces

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How does it feel to interact naturally with sound? Without touching anything physical?

I decided to experiment with the topic for NYC Media Lab's Future Interfaces, ran at Razorfish NYC last Tuesday. Natural User Interfaces (NUIs) have been getting a shot in the arm recently with Kinect V2, and the immediacy of the interaction is becoming really clear.

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