« September 3, 2006 - September 9, 2006 | Main | September 17, 2006 - September 23, 2006 »
Tea snobs on the run will appreciate that long leaf tea can be had now in teabag form, according to this article, sent by Bill, who recalls that I am among them. I never drink tea at work, because it's messy, not my kitchen, and the hot water doesn't taste right. Is it just me, or does microwaved water taste different from water boiled on the stove?
Originally from Caterina.net by reBlogged on Sep 15, 2006, 3:09AM
No one does vaporware like Microsoft does vaporware.
Originally from Daring Fireball by reBlogged on Sep 15, 2006, 4:13AM
crochet hyperbolic cactii
Originally uploaded by Margaret Wertheim.Stuff like this makes me really happy.
(Via craftzine)
Originally from Wonderland by reBlogged on Sep 15, 2006, 1:37AM
Female Tech has combined her love of technology and an artistic sensibility to create photos of herself posing with various gadgets: a stratgically placed PSP, Sega Genesis cuddle, and GameCube piggyback. Reminds me somewhat of a certain Palm parody from back in the day. NSFW.Originally from kottke.org remaindered links by reBlogged on Sep 15, 2006, 11:22AM
WITNESS and Global Voices Online just launched the Human Rights Video Hub Pilot. WITNESS has been working for years on enpowering people to make documentaries about human rights issues. Global Voices has been working, initially mostly through blogs, to provide voice to people around the world. This new project is great collaboration between the two projects, bringing the power of video expression to even more people through an online video hub.
I am involved in WITNESS as a recently appointed board member and Global Voices as one of the founding participants. We've been talking about and working on the various unique issues involved in setting up a hub like this for awhile now and it is great to see the first step launched.
Yay!
(Post on Global Voices | Post on WITNESS )
Comment - TrackBackOriginally from Joi Ito's Web by reBlogged on Sep 15, 2006, 10:19AM
Examiner column for September 18.
Every September, I conduct a college essay-writing workshop that seems like one giant Dr. Phil show. I start out with sixty anxious high school seniors, and end the class with nearly all of them reassured, sporting a “can do†attitude and the beginning of a good essay.
The stakes have never been higher. Each year the number of applicants increases as the percentage accepted to selective schools decreases. Yet many parents and students have not altered their goals: Ivy League and other schools at the top of national rankings continue to be where their egos are invested, despite the odds.
Self-image is at the heart of the problem. Students approach college applications the same way the rest of us approach job interviews: they think they need to measure up to a Platonic ideal of perfection.
Just as this may result in stilted responses in a job interview, the college essay bears the scars of students’ misguided notion of what colleges want. Parents never help matters. We know our children better than anyone, and though we may find their flaws endearing, we certainly don’t want those personality quirks trumpeted on paper for college admissions officers.
But that’s just what college admissions officers want: living, breathing, flawed adolescents. What they don’t want: applicants whose qualities are homogenized to sound like everyone else.
The best way to convince students that their writing should reflect who they really are is by example. I show them a series of excellent essays from a wide variety of students. The only characteristic they have in common is their ability to write concretely and visually. Thirty minutes later, students will remember every one of the applicants vividly, and that’s the goal of a college essay.
The easiest way for students to inject personality into their words is to begin with an illustration rather than an explanation. I ask students to think of a major event or person in their lives to write about---not directly, but by “dropping the reader into the action,†so we see the event or person before the student explains their significance.
I encourage them to quote others. It might be a coach yelling at them on the field, or an ice cream store employee asking if they have decided on a flavor. It might even be an interior monologue as the student prepares for a big moment. Quoting someone’s words literally gives personality to their essays.
In fifteen short minutes towards the end of my workshop, most of my students have generated a first paragraph that sounds real, immediate, funny, quirky, and occasionally outlandish.
It’s just a beginning, and there are no guarantees. But sending a college words that don’t sound like anyone else’s is the best way to set an applicant apart.
Of course I like teaching Shakespeare and John Donne the remainder of the year, but my favorite class is the one where I show students how to slay a personal dragon and make their writing reflect who they really are. That lesson will outlast the interminable college application process and leads to self-acceptance and---just maybe---to a college acceptance as well.
Originally from TeacherTalk by reBlogged
Back on top form today, starting from the ground up:
black shoes
cream trousers with thin black stripe
dark pink shirt
black jacket
cream handkerchief in breast pocket
golden tie
brown trilby
An astonishing turnout, I award you a TEN, even by your own superlative standards.
... variation on the above: black shoes, cream trousers AND waistcoat with thin black stripe, light pink shirt, white tie, cream handkerchief, brown hat. He is gobbling up all the words to describe finery in his wake.Originally from the lady upgrade project by reBlogged
Red Hook's own Sixpoint Craft Ales created the Atlantic Antic Amber in honor of the 2nd Annual Sixpoint Atlantic Antic Pub Crawl, which will take place this Sunday, September 17. Only 30 kegs of this smooth and drinkable brew will be produced, and then it will be retired until next year's Antic. Pints will be available at the following spots along Atlantic Avenue — Magnetic Field, Chipshop, Floyd, Last Exit, Dragon Lounge, Waterfront Ale House, Brazen Head, Downtown Atlantic, and Hank’s Saloon. In addition to the Amber, a bunch of other Sixpoint beers will be served at reduced prices — which is great news because these delicious beers (which are brewed using predominantly domestic hops, European malts, a special house yeast, and 100% New York City tap water) definitely aren't the cheapest in town. You can also enjoy some live music while you throw back a few cold ones — check out the schedule after the jump...Originally from Brooklyn Record by reBlogged on Sep 15, 2006, 12:50PM
A Pocket Guide to China, distributed to US troops during WWII, included a helpful cartoon called How to Spot a Jap, useful for telling enemy soldiers apart from "our Oriental allies", the Chinese. See also All Look Same. (thx, tabs)Originally from kottke.org remaindered links by reBlogged on Sep 15, 2006, 12:04PM
Folks who are interested in libraries and technology are often drawn to the issue of open standards. Using open standards is very important to libraries for a variety of reasons that Ed Corrado summarizes nicely.
This week my podcast reader picked up an excellent interview with Danese Cooper of the Open Source Initiative where she talks about the Open Standard Requirement which was introduced a few months ago. It provides a new perspective on the same issue from outside of the library community.
Essentially the OSR amounts to 5 guidelines for identifying a truly open standard. These guidelines are different though because they focus on what makes a standard open for an implementor. Whether the standard was created by an open process or not is really outside of scope. The important thing is how easy it is for a software developer to write software that uses the standard. A nice feature of the OSR is that the guidelines would fit on an index card. Here’s my regurgitation of them:
- The spec can’t omit details needed for implementation
- The standard needs to be freely/publicly available
- All patents involved in the spec need to be royalty free
- Clicking through a license agreement is not necessary
- The spec can’t be dependent on a standard that is not open as well
Danese was quick to point out that these are simply guidelines and not rules. For example Unicode fails on 2. since you have to pay for a copy of the spec. But in this case printing the standard is a publishing feat–given all the glyphs and their number. It’s not unusual that the book would cost money. So this guideline could be waived if the OSI folks agreed.
Rather than the OSI going and applying these rules to all known standards the idea is that standards bodies could claim self-compliance–and as developers implement the standard the compliance will be ascertained.
The guidelines themselves and the process of being fine tuned/hammered on–and they are looking for volunteers…
Originally from inkdroid by reBlogged on Sep 15, 2006, 11:30AM
Via email from a reader, who I shall call "R":
While I was in San Francisco I dined at Bouchon and Chez Panisse. I had high expectations of both. Unfortunately I was unable to really enjoy my experiences because I ate too much! How do you prepare yourself for this kind of eating and traveling? How do you pace yourself? Also, I made the mistake of ordering a special of the day that looked good, tasted good for one bite, and became an entire food that I will now avoid because of the experience - it was just too rich, too flavorful, too much! And this was at Bouchon where the servings are not typical American-style biggie sizes.
Any thoughts? What are your experiences?
I've definitely had that same problem, most memorably in Las Vegas. My husband and I ate lunch at Mesa Grill, and while it was delicious, it was quite filling. That evening we had reservations at Bouchon and ended up disappointed with our dinner, in large part because we were too stuffed to really enjoy eating it.
In general, I try to avoid eating much during the day if I know I'll be going out to a big dinner someplace special, especially if it's the kind of place where I'll likely order the tasting menu and be eating for four hours. Also, I try to be cognizant of how rich of a dish I'm ordering. In Austria, because most of the main courses were meaty and heavy with cream, I opted for salad starters every evening. That way I wouldn't be full before the main arrived.
Another trick is exercise. I run or go to the gym nearly every day, and I find that gives me a larger appetite -- and an increased gastronomic capacity -- than when I don't work out. If I can't fit in a jog (because of travel or something), I usually try to do a lot of walking around before a big meal, so I'm good and hungry before going in.
I also try to pay close attention to how full I'm getting, so that if I'm starting to fill up soon (say, on an appetizer, or early into a tasting menu), I back off a bit. I don't finish every course, especially if I'm not that crazy about it.
Most importantly, I don't try to become a member of the clean plate club anymore. It took me years to break the habit from childhood of eating all the food I'd been served. But I realized that in a restaurant, I hadn't had any input into the quantity of food I'd been given, and therefore was not obligated to finish it. Being too full is the easiest way to ruin a good dinner, and though I'm not always successful, I work to avoid it.
Does anyone else have thoughts about this and suggestions for R?
comments are openOriginally from megnut.com blog by reBlogged on Sep 15, 2006, 3:14PM
Originally from post.thing.net - A lean, mean, media machine. by reBlogged on Sep 15, 2006, 1:42PM
From Flickr.
(via Plep)
Originally from Cynical-C Blog by reBlogged on Sep 15, 2006, 12:35PM
Del.icio.us is three years old today! It's started making friends and will hopefully be out of diapers soon.
For those of you in the Bay Area, we're planning a birthday bash for early October - keep an eye out!
Originally from del.icio.us by reBlogged on Sep 15, 2006, 5:47PM
Originally from lifeblog by reBlogged
I've written Business-USPS-WebTools to interact with the US Postal Service's Web Tools. This isn't screen scraping; it's a real web service officially offered by the USPS. So far I've only done the Address Information services: Address Standardization, Zip Code Lookup, and City/State Lookup. I didn't use any of the XML modules or anything other yucky things. The requests and responses are very small, and the other side doesn't understand real XML anyway.Originally from use Perl by reBlogged on Sep 16, 2006, 5:16AM
Originally from hustler of culture by reBlogged
Originally from clusterflock reBlogged on Sep 16, 2006, 2:56PM
While running GNU/Linux, it is common to find different versions of the same software residing on your hard disk. This is especially true for programming language compilers. For example, Java for Linux comes in different forms. One is the open source version which is popularly known as the Blackdown java and the other is the official release from Sun Microsystems which is the original Java. ThenOriginally from All about Linux by reBlogged on Sep 15, 2006, 12:39AM
One of the more colorful politicians of all time, Ann Richards, died on Wednesday. In honor of her and her status as onetime leader of progressive Texan politics (sounds crazy, doesn't it?) and all-around hellraising sass machine, we bring...Originally from Amy's Robot by reBlogged on Sep 15, 2006, 12:39AM
Tutorial on adding surprisingly realistic beards to people with Photoshop. (via photojojo, who's having a contest for the best bearded woman)Originally from kottke.org remaindered links by reBlogged on Sep 15, 2006, 12:06AM
just got 10.4 and havn trouble getting cron tab to generate my site,.....apple is doing weird things with crontab which is annoying. might be my crappy code though.....Originally from del.icio.us/inbox/djacobs by reBlogged on Mar 27, 2006, 6:48PM
TUESDAY
The Seattle Public Library turns ya boy into SFJ.
+ Thank you to everyone who came out last night to the UW Bookstore. Toure and I say: we love you Seattle!
+ Spring has barely sprung. But the streets are talking. Millions! Here's Juan Gonzalez on the national walkouts. (And BTW, did anyone peep HBO's Walkout? Some sort of pop-cultural prophecy, loop-of-history thing. Lalo, I know you hate Eddie, but hey, you gotta admit this is kinda cool.)
And while we're at it, Paris is still burning , and it looks more and more like 1968 everyday. No doubt this will intensify the anti-hip-hop campaigns.
MONDAY
Buy this book, or steal it!
Random thoughts in between massive amounts of work while road-tripping (an expanding thread):
+ Prince's new record "3121" isn't great, but it's not bad. The lyrics are trite, certainly less interesting than "Musicology". On the other hand, the songwriting is incredible, but something's wrong with the mix. The textures are there, especially the percussion and his guitar, but they're mixed very airlessly, antiseptically, with not nearly the amount of ecentricity and experimentation the sounds deserve. How good could "Black Sweat" be with Jazze Pha working the knobs? How good could "Love" be with, say, Timbaland behind the boards? Doesn't he need the work right about now anyway?
+ George Mason is what sports is all about. Speaking of which, just began reading Dave Zirin. You must check out What's My Name, Fool? Brilliant. My new favorite sportswriter, next to Scoop Jackson and William Rhoden, and sometimes-sportswriter Will Blythe.Originally from zentronix: dubwise & hiphopcentric by reBlogged on Mar 27, 2006, 5:58PM
Al Gore socked us between the eyes with his talk on global warming at TED. Nice to see that an organization that TED has supported in the past, Environmental Defense, has just released a couple of powerful PSAs (especially the second). They're predicting they'll get $100m worth of media time to run these, though I'm sure they'd take more if
anyone's offering. The ads' concluding message: "There is still time". I hope this is true.
You’ve heard about Nokia’s open source web browser for S60 based on Apple’s WebCore/JavaScriptCore right? I’m sure you have… but did you know that you can try it out right now? I didn’t either.
The odds are pretty good that you (like me) don’t have an S60 3rd Edition phone that can run the new browser; Fortunately, there’s a build included in the new S60 3rd Edition SDK. What you need is the final build of the SDK, which can be found here: http://www.forum.nokia.com/main/0,6566,034-4,00.html. (If you get totally lost on Forum Nokia, don’t forget about the Google Mini powered search: http://search.forum.nokia.com/!)
The download page defaults to the Japanese version, so make sure you change the drop-down menu to “SDK for 3rd Edition” if you want English. (Note: the “beta” version doesn’t seem to have the new browser.)
Once you install the SDK (and sadly, you’ll need a Windows machine for this), launch the SDK, wait awhile, and once the phone menu screen comes up, navigate to the “Installed” folder. In there you will find an application called “Web”. That’s the new browser!
I did some quick browsing from the emulator and took screen shots to give an idea what this new software is capable of:
Originally from [eriksmartt.com/blog] by reBlogged on Mar 27, 2006, 3:42PM
I am not worthy.Originally from del.icio.us/inbox/djacobs by reBlogged on Mar 27, 2006, 4:54PM
Secret Doors [via Schneier]Originally from del.icio.us/inbox/djacobs by reBlogged on Mar 27, 2006, 4:34PM
:
The original:
The parody:
The story: here, at Greenespace:
Download a-response-to-liberty.pdf (Justin's letter).Justin Watt, a Tar Heel living in California (and regular reader of GreeneSpace), saw this billboard and created this blog entry. He got a big-foot letter from Liberty Counsel on behalf of the billboard's sponsors. Jason persuaded the ACLU to write a powerful letter defending his right of fair use in the form of parody for social comment. Liberty Counsel has apparently backed off. This is wonderful--but how many big-foot letters end up intimidating the recipient and silencing lawful speech? Congratulations to Justin for knowing his rights and acting on them.
Originally from NEWSgrist - where spin is art by reBlogged on Mar 27, 2006, 4:12PM
impressive online data graph that shows the most-emailed photos off Yahoo News almost in real-time. see also yahoo buzz game & yahoo netrospective.
[flatfeetpete.com]Originally from information aesthetics by reBlogged on Mar 27, 2006, 4:08PM
Firemen's Favorite Vegan Recipes. "Fight Fire, Fight Cholesterol, Fight Fat." (via rw)Originally from Rebecca's Pocket reBlogged on Mar 27, 2006, 3:56PM
Youtube clips of a Q&A after a showing of Rescue Dawn at TIFF 2006. Courtesy of BlogDance
Link
Originally from News of the dead by reBlogged on Sep 11, 2006, 5:56PM
Alejandro Diaz Unknown Artists at Unheard of Prices 2006 purple neon sign 24" x 36" [installation view]
I'm drooling.
Alejandro Diaz attached this [sad/happy?] image to an email greeting this morning and I couldn't resist broadcasting it further. It also gives me a device for reminding myself and anyone reading this that the message of this piece is still valid, and in a new age of hype and price inflation it's more exciting than ever.
There's plenty of "affordable", cheap or even free art by "emerging", underknown or even secret artists still out there waiting to be discovered and picked up by intrepid patrons and impecunious collectors. I don't know the price of this one, but it's an edition, so at least the cool message could potentially keep several people warm.
More on this subject, including "less than the price of a movie ticket", here and throughout the archives of this site.
More on Diaz here, here and here.
[image from the artist]
Originally from jameswagner.com reBlogged on Sep 11, 2006, 4:55PM
My favorite restaurateur, Danny Meyer, had a new book coming out called Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business. I imagine his insights apply to more than just the restaurant industry. Hospitality in business is seriously lacking in other industries as well. I can't wait to read it.
Originally from megnut.com blog by reBlogged on Sep 11, 2006, 12:29PM
One of the new features we added to the Wooster site last week is a "Most Recommended" page that ranks the most popular stories on the site based on how many people have "recommended it.
At the bottom of each article you will see that we've added a new link that says "Recommend this!" When you click on the link your vote is tallied along with everyone elses.
A new page on the site (which we'll add to the side bar in a day or two) lists and ranks all of the most recommended stories each week.
So, wanna know what stories have been most recommended? Click here.
Originally from Wooster Collective reBlogged on Sep 11, 2006, 9:19AM
an animated information graphic that explains the "ditone & quadratone progression" of John Coltrane's musical composition "Giant Steps", which was captured in the cool 3D animation posted just before.
[btinternet.co.uk]Originally from information aesthetics by reBlogged on Sep 1, 2006, 2:50AM
Greg Reinacker's Weblog: “Well, the teams are exhausted :-), but this is a HUGE multi-product release day!”
Congratulations to Nick Harris on getting Inbox 2.6 released! And congratulations to the rest of the team on all the design changes and new features!Originally from ranchero.com by reBlogged on Mar 27, 2006, 2:48PM
She said it Sunday. I'm still laughing about this."Look, honey. I totally mashed up this shirt with these jeans."
- Mai Le (sarcastically)Originally from massless reBlogged on Mar 27, 2006, 2:40PM
someone very great died today in new york city.
"then she promises she'll buy me everything / but all i want's for her to pin her heart to me!"
from one of my favorite love songs of all time. thank you, nikki sudden.
his brother, the great epic soundtracks, died in 1997.Originally from serenalarogers by reBlogged on Mar 27, 2006, 2:33PM
Does William Wesley know about TrueHoop? I would have bet on it, before, for a number of reasons. But now John Canzano says Wesley reads his blog.
If he's in the blogosphere reading about himself, he's reading TrueHoop.
It's also interesting to note that Wes was rooting for Memphis. Of course, Wesley is famously close to Dajuan Wagner, who went to Memphis (possibly at the urging of Wesley). Wesley's close friend, and Dajuan's father, Milt Wagner still works at Memphis.
The question now is whether or not Wesley will be advising potential lottery pick Rodney Carney.Originally from True Hoop reBlogged on Mar 27, 2006, 2:26PM
When I first saw the trailer for "Inside Man" I was tripping off how they only slipped in Spike's name at the very end, mad quick like how they sneak in the health warnings at the end of drug commercials.."warning:this-product-may-be-also-directed-by-spike-lee".. But their plan to go commercial with a stealth-Spike Lee joint has paid off big time, with an opening weekend...Originally from hiphopmusic.com by reBlogged on Mar 27, 2006, 2:24PM
For the last couple of weeks, we've been thinking a lot about the intersection between street art, graffiti, and brand advertising. Opinions about whether brands and graffiti and street art can (or should) co-exist vary from one end of the spectrum to the other.
So an idea we have is to put together a group of informal and relaxed meetings and get togethers where brand managers, creatives at advertising agencies, designers, can meet with a group of graffiti and street artists informally over beers and share their thoughts, ideas, and vision for how both brands and artists can mutually benefit.
For us, the successful campaigns happen when brands get the details right. When they listen to, and respect, the audience that they are marketing to. When people get together and share ideas, good things happen. It's in conference rooms and presentation sessions that things seem to get fucked up. So our idea is to keep it chill and relaxed - sort of an "unconference" - a discussion - on creativity, brand advertising, and street art.
We know that not only a ton of artists hit the site each day, but also a ton of creative execs and brand managers. If you're interested in participating in the dialogue, let us know. We don't know yet exactly what the format for the discussion will be, but most likely the first session will be at our flat in New York. If it works out well, we'll also do them in cities like LA, London, Paris, etc so let us know if you are interested, even if you are not in New York.
If you're interested in particpating some how, shoot us an email at woostercollective@gmail.com (When you send us an email, tell us a bit about yourself - what you do, what city you're in, etc)
Originally from Wooster Collective reBlogged on Mar 27, 2006, 2:15PM
qt_tools (thx hello typepad)Originally from del.icio.us/inbox/djacobs by reBlogged on Mar 27, 2006, 2:01PM
