Wired Magazine has been getting a well-deserved bump in the credibility department lately thanks to the runaway success of editor Chris Anderson's must-read tome The Long Tail.

It's EMERGE's opinion, however, that the magazine has been quietly covering some very interesting ground for years now and while we're happy to see the rest of you giving Wired its propers, we think they deserve it for more than their extracurricular publishing ventures.

For instance, the magazine is about to undertake Next Fest, a "futurustic world's fair of technology, science and innovation" at the Javitz Center in New York City later this month. In addition to filling the monstrous convention hall with everything from hybrid concept cars, green housing models, robots, nanotechnologies, medical diagnostics and futuristic video games, the Next Fest also includes a series of ancillary events that inject a bit of attitude into the slightly nerdy event under the big top.

First there is a Eyebeam's presentation of NEXT ART, a private showing of Bill Dolson's New York City which blends photographs of the city skyline with computer-generated imagery of meteor showers. There is also a live presentation curated by Wired's rrecent cover star Beck, featuring performances by electronic soulman Jamie Lidell and EMERGE-approved indie-popsters Of Montreal at Irving Plaza, a conversation between Anderson and famed attorney Lawrence Lessig about the Long Tail at the New York Public Library, and a benefit concert for Lessig's Creative Commons, also at Irving Plaza.

All that plus three days of high-tech gizmos, gadgets and ideas at the Javitz Center? Sounds good to us!

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