randomwalks/dj

Régine Debatty on WWMNA has been reporting from ars electronica, and this entry caught my eye.

Mark Jenkins based in Washington DC, using mostly tape as material, leaves his "tape kids" all over the city as gifts to the world. Such pieces are very temporal, they stay there only a few hours and their traces live on the web.

Originally from textually.org by emily reBlogged on Sep 8, 2006, 4:05AM

Originally posted by emily from textually.org, on September 9, 2006 11:38 PM

Reuters | 13 riders tested positive during Tour de France, 12 exempted

Final doping results are in form this year's Tour, and 13 riders actually tested positive for one banned substance or another during 19 tests.

Twelve of those riders won't be disciplined because they had “Therapeutic Use Exemptions,” representing medical permission to use a substance that would otherwise be on the banned list. Phonak's Floyd Landis, who won the Tour, faces suspension and loss of his title as the 13th rider.

The results point up how many riders have exemptions (Landis also had one during this year's Tour, for cortisone, used to treat his decaying hip), and the possibility that at least some of them are not strictly necessary. Out of 105 riders tested at some point during the Tour, 60 percent had a medical exemption for at least one banned substance.

Speaking of Landis, Trust but Verify is keeping up with almost all the news about his case, and doing a great job of it. You'll also pick up facts like “Billiards is the dirtiest of all sports” from it.

Originally from Tour de France 2006 by Frank Steele reBlogged on Sep 8, 2006, 9:06AM

Originally posted by Frank Steele from Tour de France 2006, on September 9, 2006 11:36 PM

From the San Diego Reader: Cruz Medina's Apple iPod was stolen, so why doesn't Apple want to help get it back? Well, it collects serial numbers of stolen iPods, and can recognise them if they connect to the iTunes Music...

Originally from Guardian Unlimited: Technology blog reBlogged on Sep 8, 2006, 8:44AM

Originally from Guardian Unlimited: Technology blog, on September 9, 2006 11:36 PM

When genetically modified plants go wild.

Some amount of movement of GM crops outside their containment areas "is virtually inevitable," Mr. Fernandez says. "The question is, how do we feel about that? How important is that? Does it matter what the crop is?" The bentgrass may pose no significant danger, he says, but "would we feel differently" if it were a plant that produced pharmaceuticals?

Also, um: "This year, 61 percent of all corn and 89 percent of all soybeans planted in the United States were GM varieties, the USDA estimates. More than 80 percent of the US cotton crop is also GM." I don't mind them doing it, so much as I mind them doing it in secret. If this is really safe, why can't we know about it? But I suppose its just easier to donate to the re-election campaigns of key people than to do the hard work of educating the public, or actually participating in a public conversation about the merits and dangers of these products, and how they should be implemented. (via dm)

Originally from Rebecca's Pocket reBlogged on Sep 8, 2006, 8:30AM

Originally from Rebecca's Pocket, on September 9, 2006 11:36 PM

but only for a year  

Originally from Waxy.org Links reBlogged on Sep 9, 2006, 8:03PM

Originally from Waxy.org Links, on September 9, 2006 11:28 PM

The Chronicle covers the sale of Cody's to Yohan, Inc., the Japanese book distributor.  In it, there's a sad quote from Andy Ross about his surprise to San Francisco's reaction to the Cody's that opened in the city...

"I thought we would just open the doors (in San Francisco) and everyone would pour in. That was pretty stupid. Cody's was so well-branded in Berkeley that I took it for granted, but still there are a lot of people in San Francisco who don't know that the store exists."

Just like the micro-climates, there are micro-markets in the Bay Area.  This shouldn't have been news to him...  But at least there's a decent ending in this for Cody's, and the 4th Street store is still one of my favorite places to buy books.

Originally from this is sippey.typepad.com by Michael Sippey reBlogged

Originally posted by Michael Sippey from this is sippey.typepad.com, on September 9, 2006 11:28 PM

I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this, but I will say, as matter-of-factly as I can, that the whole Nike + iPod system is awesome. I got my kit (along with a new pair of Nike+ shoes) about a week ago and have been very impressed.

There’s really no setup — just put the transmitter in the left shoe (or hack it to your shoe if you didn’t get a pair of Nike+ shoes) and plug the receiver into the iPod. Done.

One of my favorite things about the system is the voice feedback, which is activated whenever you press the iPod’s center button; it dims your music and tells you how long you’ve been running, how far you’ve gone, and your average pace (click the “voice feedback” link on this page to hear what I’m talking about).

Another thing that kind of blew me away was the Nike+ website that aggregates all of your data and spits it back to you through beautiful, meaningful graphs and charts. You can see a demo of the whole system by going to the site, clicking on “My Runs,” and then clicking on “Preview Nike+ runs now.”

I can highly recommend this product if you’ve already got a nano and like to run.

Originally from Justin Blanton reBlogged on Sep 9, 2006, 3:28AM

Originally from Justin Blanton, on September 9, 2006 9:10 PM

david posted a photo:

Originally from david's Photos by david reBlogged

Originally posted by david from david's Photos, on September 9, 2006 9:10 PM

"In graduate school, I played a really fun and revealing game called "The Urn Game." The game shows very simply the concepts of GroupThink, Conformity, Paradigm Shift, and Information Cascades work. ... Playing this game reveals a few things that are relevant to digg and to all social software."

Originally from tecznotes links by Michal Migurski reBlogged on Sep 9, 2006, 2:43AM

Originally posted by Michal Migurski from tecznotes links, on September 9, 2006 7:03 PM

Very expressive, originally uploaded by merci.

merci took this photo

Originally from Hi Tricia! by Tricia Wang 王 圣 㨗 reBlogged on Sep 9, 2006, 2:41AM

Originally posted by Tricia Wang 王 圣 㨗 from Hi Tricia!, on September 9, 2006 7:03 PM

Tune in to these customized satellite dishes by artist Julien Celdran - [via] - Link.

[Read this article] [Comment on this article]

Originally from MAKE: Blog by philliptorrone

reBlogged by Matthew Haughey on Sep 9, 2006, 9:58PM

Originally from mathowie reBlog feed by philliptorrone reBlogged on Sep 9, 2006, 5:47PM

Originally posted by philliptorrone from mathowie reBlog feed , on September 9, 2006 6:40 PM

I've found a set for your next film, and I already know it's going to freak me out real good (click image for slideshow):

Originally from Mr. Sun! by Mr. Sun reBlogged on Sep 9, 2006, 5:21PM

Originally posted by Mr. Sun from Mr. Sun!, on September 9, 2006 6:40 PM

There are these day and night thingies and I recalled too late that I was expected to sleep during one of them. So, I'll be heading into tonight's Citizens Here and Abroad show slightly jetlagged but without the benefit of having travelled. Not worried, though, I can catch sleeping during

{zzz}

Shit. Sorry, nodded off. Ok, so in addition to just having fun playing at a familiar favorite there's bands I'm dying to see.

Thee More Shallows
A great band, beautiful songs, and gracious people. I'll see them anywhere.

The following song breaks my heart. For those who don't have time to listen to the slow, desperate, and beautiful build that begins the song you'll hear that it breaks to a payoff at 2 minutes 36 seconds in. "It's the people you choose to leave."
mp3: Where Are You Now?

The Like Young
Amanda and Joe have been making music together forever, they were married in 2002, and they've shaken the roof off of every dive bar they've played. Sadly, this is their last tour and the last time they'll ever play in San Francisco. It's hard to believe no one will ever see Amanda play drums again.

"I hate your money!"
Video: For Money or Love
mp3: I Things Loosen Up
mp3: Nice People

um... then there's us - Citizens Here and Abroad
We're releasing a new album, "Waving, Not Drowning" and there's been nice things said by various people and that's all right with me. We're heading over to NYC and then out on a UK tour for a month, so I don't think we'll get to play in SF again until, like, late October or something. Our new video for Accelerator will be finished soon, in fact, today somewhere near Barstow, California the director is blowing up a car with dynamite as a finalé. Here's our other video from the first album and a couple of new songs off the new album for the downloading and listening.

Video: You Drive and We'll Listen To Music
mp3: Accelerator
mp3: What Goes On In The Heart

Ok, gotta wrap up some coding and then head over. For those interested here's a map noting Bottom of the Hill and the lineup from earliest to latest is The Like Young, Thee More Shallows, then us.

Originally from massless by Chris Wetherell reBlogged on Sep 9, 2006, 4:45PM

Originally posted by Chris Wetherell from massless, on September 9, 2006 6:40 PM

     There is an adage in the legal world that difficult cases make bad law—that is, that it is foolish to draw general principles from exceptional circumstances. A number of readers have argued that this is just what I’ve done with the Bomar and McElrathbey examples. After all, most college athletes don’t cheat, and most college athletes aren’t the legal guardians of their little brothers. So why toss out a system that works perfectly well in most cases because of its failures on the margin?

     I think that’s a fair criticism. So let me try again. I don’t agree that Bomar and McElrathbey really are “difficult cases.” Although the particular circumstances in which they ran afoul of the NCAA are unusual, the reason for their predicament is not. In fact, I think, both cases point to a problem that runs through the NCAA’s treatment of just about everyone: the idea that a regulatory agency can have jurisdiction over the entire life of athlete.

     I made this point before, briefly. But it’s worth restating in more detail. McElrathbey is an athlete. He is also a student, a brother and, now the legal guardian of his younger brother. The NCAA’s formal mandate is to govern students in their capacity as athletes. But here, in forbidding McElrathbey from accepting outside donations to help him take care of his little brother, the NCAA has extended its jurisdiction to govern McElrathbey in his capacity as a brother and legal guardian.

     I think that’s outrageous. We all accept the fact that if we attend a high school or a college, that institution can impose a certain behavioral code on us when we are attending that school. But a high school that forbids its students to wear miniskirts or jeans or torn t-shirts cannot extend those restrictions to the way students dress when they aren’t at school. Authority is necessarily tempered by the question of jurisdiction.

     Bomar’s case raises the same issue. His ability as a football player made him a celebrity in Norman Oklahoma. Because of that celebrity, the car dealership that employed him was willing to pay him an extra several thousand dollars (the $18,000 figure initially quoted in some news reports, by the way, is wrong). Was that sleazy? Of course it was. Was it an underhanded way for a booster to get money to a star player? Totally. But working at a car dealership is not playing football, and football the only thing over which the NCAA rightfully has jurisdiction. Sure Bomar got paid for doing little or nothing. But the hallways of Oklahoma—like the hallways of every college in this country—are filled with students who for one reason or another got paid a lot of money on their summer vacation to do little or nothing. (I would include myself in this. In the summer of my junior year the Government of Ontario paid me to do almost nothing at a theater group called Toronto Workshop Productions. Let just say a good time was had by all).

     The NCAA would respond that they have to police Bomar and McElrathbey in all of their various roles and incarnations because they are defending an all inclusive ethic—amateurism. To be an amateur is like being a virgin. It’s not situational. It’s absolute. McElrathbey, the NCAA would say, has to understand that the requirements of amateurism, in his instance, are in unfortunate but unavoidable conflict with the freedom to accept outside financial assistance.

     Fine. In theory, I can buy that argument.

     But wait. Surely if you want to defend an absolute ethic, you have to defend it absolutely. That’s the way it was in the late 19th century, when the principles of amateur sport were first codified. Back then, the games were free. The coaches were volunteers, and certainly no one was pulling down millions of dollars from Bowl Game appearances. The amateur ideal applied to everyone.

      Now? It only applies to athletes. If I’m Oklahoma, I’m allowed by the NCAA to trade on the celebrity created by my football prowess and sign a $500,000 endorsement deal with Nike. But if I’m Oklahoma’s quarterback, I’m not allowed to trade on the celebrity created by my football prowess and make a few extra dollars in my part-time job. If I’m Clemson University, I can pay my men’s football coach $1.1 million a year in salary to coach an “amateur” athletic team. But if my cornerback wants to accept gifts from the public to help raise his little brother, he can’t. Why? Because he happens to play on that “amateur” football team. I repeat what I wrote in that last post. I cannot, for the life of me, make sense of that position.

     I’m not advocating the end of amateurism. I think the NCAA killed amateurism long ago, when it decided that this grand noble “ethic” applied only to athletes, and not the coaches and athletic departments and schools they play for.

Originally from gladwell.com by malcolmgladwell reBlogged on Sep 5, 2006, 7:12PM

Originally posted by malcolmgladwell from gladwell.com, on September 5, 2006 10:41 PM

Maemo is the application development platform for the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet

Originally from unmediated by yatta reBlogged on Sep 5, 2006, 6:52PM

Originally posted by yatta from unmediated, on September 5, 2006 10:41 PM

Updating the hostfile on OS X requires updating the Netinfo DB as well

Originally from random($foo) reBlogged on Sep 5, 2006, 9:48PM

Originally from random($foo), on September 5, 2006 10:37 PM

You probably might want to wash this down with diet coke to save on calories.

DALLAS -- There are fried Twinkies and even fried candy bars.

Now, vendor Abel Gonzales Jr. has come up with a new artery-clogging concoction for the State Fair of Texas. It's fried Coke.

Gonzales deep-fries Coca-Cola-flavored batter. He then drizzles Coke fountain syrup on it. The fried Coke is topped with whipped cream, cinnamon sugar and a cherry. Gonzales said the fried Coke came about just from thinking aloud.

Gonzales' diet-buster wins the creativity honor at the sec

Originally from Cynical-C Blog by Chris reBlogged on Sep 5, 2006, 8:35PM

Originally posted by Chris from Cynical-C Blog, on September 5, 2006 10:37 PM

The weather was miserable on the first day of school. We had a rain plan, just not a monsoon plan. Barrels of water emptied on us as we waded through small ponds on the sidewalk. Our pants were wet nearly up to our knees and the umbrellas we carried provided little shelter from a rain intent on saturating anything in its path. We were drenched and anxious and scared. I think it was an omen.

Things I don't like about school so far:

the fact that even after a week of hassle-free "practice" mornings, I ended up having to poke and prod and nag Sol out the door because, as Sol plainly stated, "I liked getting ready for pretend school, but when it's real, it's no fun."

the televisions in the classrooms, permanent fixtures, as opposed to the occasional rolling-cart-bound treat that they were in my day

the fact that they watched a movie during the rainy recess today (whatever happened to indoor recess?)

the fact that he was given a time-out apparently for "scowling" at another child who hit him (curiously this occured during what would have been known as recess but was actually the sit-still-and-be-quiet-for-even-longer portion of the day)

the fact that I know very little about what happened in the six hours that my child spent away from me today, because I was able to get only bits and pieces from a weary Sol

the fact that when I went to pick him up someone gave me a hard time because the last name on my license was not the same as his, even though I made a point of clarifying the name thing on one of the many forms I filled out (she reluctantly released my son to me)

Things I like about school so far:

Sol singing a song in Spanish on the walk home (of course, when I asked if that was something he learned today, he said, "No. I heard it at home.")

We said we'd give it a few weeks, but I'm seriously contemplating not sending him back tomorrow.

Originally from blueperiod. by Lorraine Rice reBlogged

Originally posted by Lorraine Rice from blueperiod., on September 5, 2006 10:37 PM

Paris Hilton targeted in CD prank

Banksy has replaced Hilton's CD with his own remixes and given them titles such as Why am I Famous?, What Have I Done? and What Am I For?

A spokeswoman for Banksy said he had doctored 500 copies of her debut album Paris in 48 record shops across the UK. She told the BBC News website: "He switched the CDs in store, so he took the old ones out and put his version in." But he left the original barcode so people could buy the CD without realising it had been interfered with.

No customers had complained or returned a doctored version.

Photos. banksy_flickr. Previously.

Originally from jwz by jwz@jwz.org reBlogged on Sep 5, 2006, 3:06AM

Originally posted by jwz@jwz.org from jwz, on September 5, 2006 5:26 PM

We launched early yesterday morning, but an overwhelming spike in traffic, a subsequent server crash and no fallback combined to shut down the Web site for a whole day.
We’ve learned some lessons.

1) It is hard to launch a start-up. It is surreal to be on this side of the Internet meltdowns, something we covered smugly in our previous role of employed reporter. I recall how we at SiliconBeat wrote about blog search start-up Sphere on the morning of its launch a few months ago, and linked to them — only to discover they’d been stymied by some last-minute bugs. All this traffic hit their site, when they were down, and much of that traffic may not have returned. Tony Conrad, Sphere’s chief exec, at the time, had a very rough morning. Tony, now it’s your turn to chuckle. We feel your pain.

2) Got to think big. We were paying $30/month for our old SiliconBeat server. So when people suggested we upgrade to a special stand-alone server for VentureBeat, at $100/month, we thought it a prudent move — placing us at the top end of what we thought appropriate for our old traffic at SiliconBeat. But when high-profile bloggers pointed to our site from their blogs (such as Om, Arrington, Primack. Jessica Guynn, among others) yesterday morning, we crashed and never recovered. We didn’t figure out the whole story. But we’ve changed our minds since this morning, and decided to pay $400/month. Be cheap, but not too cheap. And because we’re boot-strapping, this isn’t always an easy call.

3) If something can go wrong, it will. Murphy’s Law. Toni Schneider at WordPress warned us about this a couple of months ago. He even stood by, ready to host us on WordPress servers for free. Still, Murphy’s law kicked in. We had nailed everything else. Thor had crafted the site, I’d proofed it. But we didn’t take the servers seriously enough. We launched, it felt great to be in the air — “until the wing fell off,” as Thor, my developer put it.

4) Have friends. A dead server makes one panic, and we want to thank the folks for their support, in particular Nik Cubrilovic, over at TechCrunch, for lending sound advice. Read this post he shared with us about the overload earlier this year at Techcrunch.

5) The fight goes on. No point whimpering, or pointing fingers about blame. The next day is coming, and you got to try flying again. We remember Tony Conrad’s smile on his face a week after his botched launch, when everything was going dandy for him again.

Originally from VentureBeat by Matt Marshall reBlogged on Sep 1, 2006, 10:51AM

Originally posted by Matt Marshall from VentureBeat, on September 5, 2006 5:26 PM

Today's my birthday! And I'm hoping you'll do me a favor on my birthday: Donate to a good cause, and with a good reason.

You see, my sister in law Jennifer Browne (along with my wife Alaina and several of our friends) is running in this year's New York City Marathon. But she's running as part of the New York Road Runners Special Charity Initiative, which means she has to raise $2500 to participate in this year's marathon, which is on November 5, 2006.

Even though I'd watched the NYC Marathon for years, the 2004 race was the first one where I had a group of friends and family participating. It was an amazing event for all of us, and I'm happy that this year it'll also be for a good cause. (The photo to the left is Jennifer right before she and Alaina crossed the finish line.)

So, since I know my readers can be exceptionally generous, I'm hoping you'll lend a hand. Here's what to do:

• Visit the Special Charity Initiative donation page. (It's a secure payment page.)
• Enter a donation amount. (I think $26.20 is particularly appropriate; That's a dollar a mile.)
• Enter in Marathon Entry # 70972.
• Enter member's last name Browne.

Then just enter your payment info. With your donation, you'll be supporting a number of deserving organizations, each receiving a percentage of the total amount:

• The Armory Foundation - 30.5%
• USA Track & Field, Inc. to support its USA Distance Project - 23%
• Central Park Conservancy - 15.5%
• The Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City, for the benefit of Van Cortlandt Park - 8%
• Achilles Track Club - 7%

You can see more about the Charity Initiative on the New York Road Runners site.

The marathon is a pretty special event for my circle of family and friends, and I'm hoping you can help make it possible for Jennifer to participate. If you want to find out a little more, you can check out Jenn's MySpace profile or shoot me an email or leave a comment and I'm glad to answer any questions.

Originally from Anil Dash by Anil reBlogged

Originally posted by Anil from Anil Dash, on September 5, 2006 5:26 PM

One of my favorite films from this summer was District B13. It's a French action film that takes advantage of the Parkour (like freestyle walking, but more intense) craze. The characters are a little forgettable, but everything else (action, style and setting especially) is great. Personally, I'm just happy a good non-english/non-asian action movie is out.

The movie is out on DVD today. I suggest you either buy it from Amazon or rent it from Netflix. When I reviewed it for The Movie Binge, it passed the yo-dude test while satiating the indie snob in me.

Originally from Capn Design reBlogged on Sep 5, 2006, 9:48AM

Originally from Capn Design, on September 5, 2006 5:20 PM

Thank you world! I hoped Rocketboom would come back - I could always see the light at the end of the tunnel but I could not see the transition. This was the most difficult and uncertain time of my life and now exactly two months later, I am so happy to say, by my own standards, RB is Back in Black.

A few outstanding points:

Out of 53.1 million blogs being tracked by Technorati, Rocketboom is in the top 100 (#72 at the time of this post).

According to Alexa, Rocketboom is now a 5 star site currently ranked at #5842 out of all sites [a little low on msm press mentions, see below].

According to feedback, we have radically increased our female audience.

The word 'rocketboom' has 4,380,000 links in Google.

Out of 528,000,000 links in Google for 'andrew' I'm #7!! WTF!!!???

And below is the main indicator that I'm the most excited about, internal stats for video files.

KEY: Ignore the green, its all over the place for all kinds of reasons.

Setting aside numbers (around 300,000 - 350,000 video d/l a day), I'm mostly interested here in the before and after.

Amanda quit on July 4th and then released an untruthful, unbelievable story that obviously accounts for the main spike. Note to self: refrain from further commentary.

Should I have refrained though? If I could have done things differently, I would have changed one major thing: At one point, Scoble and Furrier suggested that I hold a formal press conference to explain everything that happened, while also releasing the news with Joanne, just before we relaunched. At the time, the idea sounded awkward to me - like the press would all just come over if I called them? where? to my apartment? I have never even sent a press release before (in the last 2 years, Rocketboom has never reached out like this beyond a couple of emails). We've only just dealt with incoming. I wish I would have had a press conference. That might of saved me a lot of strife because not only did Amanda quit, she tried very hard to destroy me and Rocketboom in the process of her departure (another indicator that the storm I made it through was no easy task and why I should have explained everything at the time - the stuff that lawyers are working on now).

Nevertheless, even without changing the past, I have arrived at a sense of security as reflected in the graph above:

By the end of July, all of the news had died. Through the last part of July, the entire month of August and through even today, Rocketboom has only been mentioned in the main stream media once.

When looking at the blue bar for August then, compared to the blue bar for June, I can see that with no press we have just barely surpassed where we left off in the height of our press (RB had just recently been featured with full page stories in Rolling Stone Mag, Wired Mag, Business 2.0 Mag and we were turing down press calls daily, for instance).

Thus, unlike all of the MSM press which was fueling our audience I'm seeing that now, on the flip side, it is really the audience that is fueling Rocketboom entirely, just by watching and coming back again. AWESOME! THANK YOU!!! And thanks especially to all of you who came out of the woodworks to show your support and help me through this, I needed it big time, I had no idea what to do.

This past month we have also undergone major organization, we have a hard-core financial team member, we have added two more full timers, we have a studio in Chelsea (more on all this soon!) and I'm finally standing here having just taken a breath saying woh, we made it. And now we have a long way to go.

Originally from Dembot by Drew reBlogged on Sep 5, 2006, 9:35AM

Originally posted by Drew from Dembot, on September 5, 2006 5:20 PM

Story here.

Originally from Wooster Collective reBlogged on Sep 5, 2006, 9:06AM

Originally from Wooster Collective, on September 5, 2006 5:20 PM

Facebook has just made two big changes. Facebook’s Ruchi Sanghvi has blogged about it here.

First, Facebook has released “News Feed,” a feature that that appears on your homepage to let you know what is happening in your social circles. It pulls in the latest information about your friends or other contacts, notifying you for example when your secret crush breaks up and becomes available for dating again.

Second, it has released “Mini-Feed,” which appears in each person’s profile. This is for when you visit other peoples’ pages, and just want to know what they have changed recently (notes, photos, etc). As opposed to “News Feed” which is pulled into your page, “Mini-Feed” resides only on the pages of each individual member. You can remove the updates, if you don’t like them.

These features seem to be pretty useful, but they are really only update mechanisms. They seem consistent with Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg’s penchant to restrain members’ freedom on how their profiles look (which, btw, can be a good thing, if you consider the ugly, unreadable MySpace pages you see sometimes).

It is noteworthy that Facebook still does not allow things like video-sharing.

YouTube recently added YouTube Colleges, a video-sharing feature for use only from within specific colleges.

Originally from VentureBeat by Matt Marshall reBlogged on Sep 5, 2006, 10:25AM

Originally posted by Matt Marshall from VentureBeat, on September 5, 2006 5:13 PM

When we came across these colorful parrots on anniebee's Flickr page last week, we were wondering how they ended up in a nest on Ocean and Flatbush Avenues. According to today's Times, "No one knows how these squawking green birds, usually native to Argentina, first arrived in New York. But they thrive in wooded corners throughout the city." Australian ornithologist Joseph M. Forshaw believes that the pet trade may have brought these birds to our borough.
A Passion for Parrots [NY Times]

Originally from Brooklyn Record by Brooklyn Record reBlogged on Sep 5, 2006, 2:06PM

Originally posted by Brooklyn Record from Brooklyn Record, on September 5, 2006 5:06 PM

Another comprehensive comparison of the Star Wars movies. This time it's my favorite one, The Empire Strikes Back.

Originally from Cynical-C Blog by Chris reBlogged on Sep 5, 2006, 12:50PM

Originally posted by Chris from Cynical-C Blog, on September 5, 2006 5:06 PM

What happens when Jason Kottke links to you

"Kottke, and then about 50 other blogs pointed to my blog post and flickr photos from my stolen phone, and I instantly had about 40k unique visitors and 78k pageviews on the post. The story got 2100 diggs. My blog's server crashed. My comment mechanism went down (and is still down, sorry)...I had about a dozen obscene emails, 20k+ views to my photostream, and a handful of calls to my desk phone at work with people saying things like 'what the fuck are you doing?' in the space of three hours. Many weird words were used. I think it's over now. Whew. I will be happy to get back to obscurity."

Khoi Vinh advises designers to take "a more conscientious, pro-active approach to participating in meetings"

"So much of what drives design is minutiae or highly contextual in nature that it may come across murky and obstinately obscure. A good designer or art director will use the forum of a meeting, where the team or stake-holders are gathered and primed to listen, to translate that intangible visual vocabulary into lucid, digestible business terms." Previously at SvN: How to make meetings useful.

Adaptive Path designs interface for blog search tool Sphere

"Tony expressed concern that anything more than a search box on the home page might distract users. He joked that he wanted 'no more than thirty words' on the page, and while the comment wasn't meant to be taken literally, the notion resonated with us. The phrase wound up on a note stuck to my monitor throughout the design process, and it was a constant reminder of the spare approach we wanted to pursue with this project."

Seeking profit in Wiki business models

"Ideas for advertising-based wiki sites are beginning to take their place alongside blogs and social networking sites as a staple of Silicon Valley business plans...Last month John Gotts, an entrepreneur known for buying the rights to domain names, agreed to buy the site Wiki.com for $2.86 million."

Circuit diagram or "Customer-Friendly System"?

"Every once in a while, some one shares with me the story of an unimaginably convoluted system. A system so complex, so twisted that the mere thought of maintaining it has driven many a men insane...[So I] share with you the story of The Customer-Friendly System."

VideoJug "visual survival" guide

Useful and quick video how-tos. [via The Morning News]

Carson Systems launches Amigo

Amigo is a service that matches advertisers with online newsletters, and vice versa.

Poseidon resort in Fiji

"The Nautilus Suite is an ultra-luxury accommodation with stunning undersea views that would impress even Capt. Nemo."

"What were they thinking?" home decors

Flickr photoset featuring examples from "The Practical Encyclopedia of Good Decorating and Home Improvement (1970)."

Video: Jeremy Piven takedown of Billy Bush

Best Emmy moment: Jeremy Piven slams Billy Bush as the Access Hollywood reporter relentlessy asks Piven about celebrity babies. "You need another job. You have potential as a human being." Oddly satisfying.

Originally from Signal vs. Noise reBlogged on Sep 5, 2006, 4:40PM

Originally from Signal vs. Noise, on September 5, 2006 5:00 PM

Over on his blog, cartoonist Kevin Huizenga has posted a series of stunning images scanned from the Giant Golden Book The Golden Encylopedia.

Originally from Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog by Johnny reBlogged on Sep 5, 2006, 3:44PM

Originally posted by Johnny from Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog, on September 5, 2006 5:00 PM

"Next week, we may see a 23-inch iMac, 1080p HDTV (Apple's 23-inch displays are both both progressive and greater than 1080p resolution, so 1080p is almost a given) you can mount on the wall that you can wirelessly stream TV shows and movies to -- as well as display photos, play music, and edit and burn videos and DVDs. Now a 23-inch display isn't exactly home theater sized, but it's certainly a way for Apple to test the waters for consumer acceptance of an all-in-one solution. And if the 23-inch takes off, you can bet that Apple has the ability to package the same computing hardware with 30-inch, 40-inch, and 46-inch LCDs as well. And by allowing some ambiguity as to whether this is a computer or consumer electronics device, Apple gets both market data and device revenue at the same time -- to say nothing of creating demand for movie digital downloads. And when venturing into new markets, marketing doesn't get any better than that," Carl Howe writes for Blackfriar's Marketing.

link

Originally from clusterflock reBlogged on Sep 5, 2006, 3:21PM

Originally from clusterflock, on September 5, 2006 5:00 PM

First Day
Originally uploaded by Moon Flower.

This picture is a nice companion to The school column no one will read.

Originally from hello, typepad by David Jacobs reBlogged on Sep 5, 2006, 2:16PM

Originally posted by David Jacobs from hello, typepad, on September 5, 2006 5:00 PM

Everyone is talking abou Nokia's new 8800 model, and I had gathered the main difference with the previous model, was the upgraded 2 megapixel camera feature. But what I missed is the "sonic texture" feature, created by ambient music innovator Brian Eno. [via Digital Trends]

"In pop circles, Eno is best known as one of the prime movers behind Roxy Music and a key force in the production team that's turned Irish band U2 into a worldwide phenomenon, but he's also regarded as one of the fathers of ambient music."

Just as a reminder, the earlier model launched in April 05, the Nokia 8801, included a signature ringtone "Dharma", by an award-winning composer, Ryuichi Sakamoto.

Sakamoto was commissioned to compose the ringtones and alerts."

Originally from ringtonia.com by emily reBlogged on Sep 5, 2006, 2:16PM

Originally posted by emily from ringtonia.com, on September 5, 2006 5:00 PM

Combining the ease and fun of unix package management with the ubiquity of OS X!

Originally from unmediated by yatta reBlogged on Sep 5, 2006, 1:37PM

Originally posted by yatta from unmediated, on September 5, 2006 5:00 PM

Link: The school column no one will read - Examiner.com:

All those new crayons and composition notebooks and sharpened pencils just make parents happy; they hold no magic for students, who clutch them like lifelines. They are sleep-deprived from anxiety and the knowledge that this year, at last, school will win and they will lose. Failure — this is the existential anxiety attacking eager-eyed students as they step off the school bus, all smiles, after Labor Day.

Originally from hello, typepad by David Jacobs reBlogged on Sep 4, 2006, 12:14PM

Originally posted by David Jacobs from hello, typepad, on September 4, 2006 12:33 PM

By Sofia Oliveira

[launch linked artwork]

Place:
Keyword: memory, Internet, interface, archive
Category: Database, Collaborative
Type: Software

'Sketcher' is a Firefox extension that allows you to draw graphic comments over web pages.
You can link 'sketches' to other 'sketches', webpages or files, organize Â’sketchesÂ’ by topic and add in-line comments.
A tool for web-research. Or for grafitting the web.

Gonçalo Tavares (Lisbon,1979, is a designer, artist and musician, graduated in multimedia design (ESAD Caldas da Rainha - 2004. He worked at the design freelancer workgroup KAPUTZ where he did work for Teatro da Rainha, Festival Sonda, Synesthesia Machines and Cosa Nostra.
As a musician he has a computer music project named Qwerty (www.qwertymuzik.com ) - an attempt to make POP-IDM...? and a rock band - i.e.: reharseals, concerts, demo-tapes & beer.(zebu3pide.com).
In 2006 he won a Atmosferas award to produce a a web-art project, 'sketcher', wich allows firefox users to draw over web pages (www.atmosferas.net/sketcher ).
OOOC, is Gonçalo's instalation/sculpture project based on minimalist forms organized by random based algorithms and analog sensors, these installations where presented in 'parque encantado' (a Festival Sonda event 2005,2006) and on 'first' (a animation film festival produced by Fernando Galrito - ESAD old cafetteria - 2006).

Atmosferas is a Digital Arts Center, in Lisbon, Portugal interested in promoting the dialogue between art, science and technology. Atmosferas supports and is engaged in the production of new media artistic and experimental work, develops curatorial projects in several mediums (internet, audiovisual, exhibitions, etc.), and stimulates reflection through the organization of conferences and workshops.

Originally from Rhizome.org Artwork reBlogged on Dec 31, 1969, 6:59PM

Originally from Rhizome.org Artwork, on September 3, 2006 12:03 PM

Josh Wolf, the young California video blogger and freelance journalist who was imprisoned August 1 for refusing to turn over videos of a political protest to a federal grand jury, has just been freed on bail by a federal appeals court, exactly one month later.

Wolf has left the Dublin prison facility, but he hasn't left the community he found there. Yesterday, before once again thanking those who have supported him while he was inside, he wound up his statement before the press:

IÂ’m sure that many of you are curious about my experiences being imprisoned in Dublin; I have been very fortunate and much of my time incarcerated was actually quite positive. While locked up, I met many fellow prisoners who are truly stellar individuals and a observed a community which is actually one of the healthiest that I have ever lived in. To my friends in Unit J2, thanks for everything and I wish you all the best of luck.

In an effort to help get the stories of those incarcerated out into the world, I have started to develop a not-for-profit organization which will be known, for now, as prisonblogs.net – the project is dedicated to giving a voice to the voiceless, and is something that I am very excited about. Expect more details about this initiative in the coming weeks.

For more on the story of Wolf's release, see the San Francisco Chronicle and his own website.

Originally from