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Self-portrait with sprouts
Originally uploaded by Alaina B..I'm not doing anything fancy with these tonight (olive oil, salt, pepper, roast), but the next stalk of brussels sprouts to enter my kitchen undoubtedly will find itself on the receiving end of the David Chang treatment.
My last post on the Stay Free blog was over 2 months ago. Yikes. I have reappeared. This summer has been a busy one. I'll be posting more in the coming days but one of the things I did this summer was close all the McDonalds in Manhattan (with some help)... Our prank is easily repeatable and the script and other resources are on my site under Ronald's Crisis.. P.S. I posted this on YouTube yesterday - my first video on YouTube - and within two hours got my favorite comment ever: "fake"
French Nuclear Test
[ via FFFFound ]
If you purchased Pokemon Battle Revolution than you have probably heard about the Mystery Gifts you can unlock in that game. For one thing you can get a “Surfing” Pikachu once you beat the game.
Rumors have been going wild around the Internet about other Mystery Gift Pokemon that can be unlocked in the game, this is one of them.
Today Pokemon-games.com put up a page where you have to go through several tests to unlock this code. After completing these tests I have posted the code here for your enjoyment!
Use this code in PBR to unlock a mystery Pokemon B416-X4HT-VTWF.
You also receive a Silver Battle Pass
1. From the reception desk, select the Profile menu.
2. Once you are in the Profile menu, select “Profile” again. Then, choose “Self-introduction.”
3. On the message input screen, enter the code EXACTLY as it appears, including the hyphens between the numbers. Once you’ve entered the code, select “Confirm.”
4. You will be taken back to the Profile menu. Select “OK” at the bottom of the screen
5. If you entered the code correctly, the receptionist will appear and tell you that you have received a special Mystery Gift. Once you get this message, go to the Shop menu, choose “Mystery Gift,” look for the Shocking Secret Gift, select it, then follow the instructions that appear on the screen.
After you complete the process and download the Magmortar to your DS you need to go to the nearest PokeMart to pick him up! Once you do you will have a Pokemon with the trainer ID of 06257/PKTOPIA. This Pokemon is level 50, holding a Charcoal and knows the following moves:
- Flamethrower - Fire
- Psychic - Psychic
- Hyper Beam - Normal
- Solar Beam - Grass
After a long wait, the time has finally come for some real Delicious Library 2 details and screenshots. I can't show everything because some of the features integrate with parts of Leopard which are still under NDA, but there is plenty to dive into...
Surfin’ Safari:
The current working spec for the HTML5 standard has a lot of exciting features we would eventually like to implement in WebKit. One feature we felt was exciting enough to tackle now even though the spec is still in flux is client-side database storage.
This is huge news for web developers.
Spent a little bit of time at the Web 2.0 summit this afternoon, with the express intent of catching the following early afternoon lineup: Kedrosky, Butterfield, Recordon & Fitzpatrick and then Safa Rashtchy's panel discussion with a group of baby boomers about how they use the web. Kedrosky convinced me that I need to learn more about dark pools; Stewart showed off some really sexy new photo mapping features coming soon to Flickr, and Safa's panel was as entertaining and enlightening as ever. (This couple was on the panel, and they were great.)
I'm admittedly biased, but the highlight for me was David and Brad. They did a great job of laying out the problem of closed social networks: as more and more applications benefit from social interaction, connecting those apps to an appropriate set of your friends will become a more frequent occurrence. In short, soon you will be very very tired of using the word "friend" as a verb, if you're not already.
The solution is a combination of a technology tools, a mindset change, and user education. The technology stuff is basically there -- XFN, FOAF and OAuth, for example -- and is being demonstrated now in the Six Apart Relationship Update Stream that David announced today. The mindset change requires social network operators to open up that data, which will come, even if it takes a while. The education piece is about providing simple user experiences that (a) teach users how this works and (b) shows them the value of expressing at least a portion of their graph publicly and (c) allows them to control and maintain their relationship data.
David's got a post up on O'Reily Radar that summarizes their talk; it's a good followup to his post on Opening the Social Graph at sixapart.com.
(I'd love your comments on this.)
Our favorite new band to grace the CMJ lineup this year is the Chicago-based electro-meets-old-school hip-hop duo to end all Chicago-based electro-meets-old-school hip-hop duos The Cool Kids. They are really a force to be reckoned with. Which is why we were pleased as punch that they came by the PAPER offices the other day and agreed to do a little guest-blogging for us, when they're not playing about 875 CMJ shows. Catch 'em tonight as they open for MIA at Terminal 5. Here's Mikey Rocks' first installment... Yoyoyo what up peoplesss? I'm in New York right now... It's raining, I'm hungry, and confused all at the same time. But before I get into that, let's talk about the past few nights I've been here! OK, the Fools Gold show at Hiro was like 2 days ago... It was ill all across the board... (*side note* in chicago "ill" means good but I've noticed some NY people use ill to describe something bad or lame.) But anyway, it was a lot of fun. Seemed like the crowd was definitely rockin' with us and that's all I could ever ask for. Then after that we headed over to a club called Room Service where a bunch of the homies were at. It was crackin pretty hard. Janet Jackson and Jermaine Dupri were in there along with Cuba Gooding Jr. I think I saw Silk the Shocker and Mike Ditka as well but maybe I was just trippin? Lol. Chinatown smells like fish. A lot. And New York homeless guys are way less pushy than Chicago homeless guys. Out here they just shake the cup and make eye contact. Back home they like to touch -- haha. Anyway, I'll be back soon with more. Right now we're headed to soundcheck for tonight's show at Terminal 5 with the beautiful miss M.I.A. Halla at ya llama. M.rocks
I stood for a half hour on Madison Avenue trying to get a cab to take me to the Cooper Hewitt Design Awards and I was getting more and more stressed as the time ticked and ticked, as I was late anyway. Finally I took a bus which got me there 45 minutes late. OY. But hey, just in the nick of time to sit down for our first course with my tablemates from the Target team who were the sponsors of the evening as well as the sponsors of this week's free admission to the museum. EVERYONE should take advantage of this because of course the Ingo Maurer show is my favorite show that I've ever seen at that museum! GO SEE IT! Meanwhile last night had its moments. Isaac Mizrahi (who sat with us) gave the "peoples design award " to the cutie Blake Mycoskie who started TOMS shoes. My old left coast friend Ric Owens won the fashion award. Deservedly so, I might add. Owens' show blew my mind this season. I think it was his best show EVER and one of the best shows of Fashion Week. Fun to see him in New York! But I just have to gush about the best moment of the evening which I experienced after the dinner was over on my way out. I was sharing a cab downtown with Murray Moss and Franklin Getchell (who were there to give fabric guru Michael Maharam his award) when we ran into our friend Chee Pearlman who dragged us over to meet someone who has been my #1 design hero over the years: Jonathan Ive. I almost died. For those of you who dont know who Johnny Ive is, he is the head of the design team of all things Apple. (He was there as he was given an award also.) It's from his mind that the iMac design was born, not to mention every single incarnation of sublime Mac computers' elegance and style that Apple is famous for. This is THE GUY!!!! He is really and truly my guru and over the years I have desperately wanted to meet him or interview him (Paola Antonelli once interviewed him for PAPER years ago) but he is a hider. Very shy. Never wants attention. Rarely does interviews. (See the photo of him above.) I was speechless and so was Murray. What a nice guy he was. Now that I've finally met my Apple design hero, I just have one more hero I'm dying to meet from Cupertino. Steve Jobs. (Ya never know... maybe someday!)
Love him or hate him, you have to admit that Steve Ballmer is unique character. He’s animated and speaks his mind, even when he’s dodging a question. And he’s full of good expressions if you’re fast enough as a photographer to catch them. Of dozens of great faces, this was one that I managed to move fast enough to catch.
This video features a nerdy-looking Seattle Sonics fan rapping about Dirk Nowitzki, Kobe Bryant, and Steve Nash. I know that doesn't sound very funny, but it somehow is. Very. (via truehoop)
(link)
The hilarity never ends when talking about cell phone service in the subways. The City Council spoke to the MTA about the agency's upcoming cell phone service plans, and apparently some members suggested that there should be "quiet cars" on the subway. We cannot stop laughing! City Councilman Oliver Koppell suggested that quiet cars would be a haven from the chattering masses who would use cell phones in the cars. (Let's not forget that the plan for wire subway stations is only for stations, not tunnels - whereas aboveground cell service has been around, since, well, whenever cell service was first offered.) Per the Daily News, Koppell said, "You may say, 'People won't listen.' But there's a tendency for self-policing in that system. So, if you have a quiet car ... and someone gets on and starts talking on the cell phone, other passengers will say, 'This is a quiet car, please turn off the cell phone.' Generally, that works." Koppell definitely has an optimistic view of the average subway rider. We're not sure that people like listening to even gentle suggestions from other straphangers. If you can't convince people to stop yammering when they're just talking to each other - or give up their seats to a pregnant woman/senior citizen/parent with baby - how will quiet car policing work? Anyway, the MTA doesn't think it will add cell phone service to tunnels, fearing customer reaction. And City Councilman John Liu, head of the Transportation Committee said, "a subway train is not really the place you go for a lot of peace and quiet tranquility. There's plenty of noise on the subway already." Also, how will one find a quiet car, when you can't travel between the train cars. So many questions!
There are no details of what the "hacking" was, or whether it was anything more spoofing the Caller ID:
Randal T. Ellis, 19, allegedly impersonated a caller from the Lake Forest home shortly before midnight March 29, saying he had murdered someone in the house and threatened to shoot others.Allegedly hacking into systems maintained by America Online and Verizon, Ellis used the couple's names, which he had confirmed earlier in a prank call to their home, authorities said.
[...]
Authorities spent more than six months tracking down Ellis before arresting him in Mukilteo last week. He was in the process of being extradited to California on Tuesday and was charged with "false imprisonment by violence" and "assault with an assault weapon by proxy." The crimes carry a possible prison sentence of 18 years.
Elizabeth Henderson, the assistant Orange County district attorney in charge of the economic-crimes unit, said Ellis' scheme was "fairly difficult to unravel."
Some more stories, with no more information.
If you're in New York this week, definitely check out this benefit show for Groundswell Community Mural Project. Groundswell is one of the best public arts organization in New York and they've put together a really good show this year. Just Seeds member Swoon and Kevin from Visual Resistance both have work in the show, and Visual Resistance recently collaborated with Groundswell on a mural project in Gowanus, Brooklyn, so this cause is close to our hearts. Here's the details: Groundswell Community Mural Project Annual Benefit and Silent Auction Tuesday, October 23rd 2007, 7-10pm Live + Silent Auction featuring artwork by: Nicole Cherubini, Eric Fischl, April Gornick, Judith Linhares, Elbow Toe, Inbal Sivan, Swoon, Paul Villinski & Massimo Vitalli, and many more. 511 Gallery 529 West 20th Street, Suite 8 West (Between 10th and 11th Avenues) New York City See the Groundswell site for more benefit details. Photo at top from getbelle's flickr photostream
Following on from Devel::CheckOS I have been working with David Golden on Devel::CheckLib. It's similar to Devel::CheckOS, in that it will let module authors specify dependencies which aren't just other perl modules - if they need, eg, libjpeg, then they can use this module in Makefile.PL / Build.PL to make it a pre-req, and if it's missing then the CPAN testers will SHUT UP ABOUT IT and not annoy the author.Read more of this story at use Perl.
Seriously. Girls just love boys like this.
(Found over at The Coveted.)
Viggo Mortensen is back; he's similarly as mysterious as in his last Cronenberg outing, but looking like a scarier version of Kurt Douglas as Nikolai Luzhin, driver and 'cleaner' to a Russian gangster boss living in London. Hard-working Naomi Watts plays an innocent midwife drawn into a world of grimness when she tries to find the relatives for the child of a 14-year-old who died in childbirth.
OK - this sounds like a pretty contrived and slightly preposterous set up, but the script, by Steven Knight (Dirty Pretty Things), manages to just about wheel the characters into a world of probability. Personally, all my favorite Cronenberg films are the ones he's scripted himself (which he seems to have stopped doing around the turn of the century). Similarly, the scenes that work best for me are the ones where he and his effects crew get to go ape in: After watching this you'll realize that there are just not enough naked men knife fight scenes in cinema.
This was not a serious offer to Joe Torre. Nobody with any modicum of self-pride would be willing to accept a 33% pay cut at a late stage of his career, which is what this ultimately amounts to, from a base of $7.5 million in 2007 to $5.0 million in 2008. And nobody with any tangible sense of the randomness inherent to postseason baseball would be willing to give much benefit of the doubt to incentive clauses that are difficult to achieve under the best of circumstances, and which have little to do with one’s own performance.
No. This offer was a public relations stunt, designed to make it look as though the Yankees had not put Joe Torre out to pasture. It was not an offer that had any chance of being accepted, nor was it an offer that that had any chance of facilitating future discussions. It was an insulting offer, quite frankly, and a conversation-ender.
That is not to a render a judgment about what Joe Torre is ultimately worth to the Yankees. Very probably, the marginal revenue that Torre produces is not worth $7.5 million more than what Don Mattingly would give you, nor is it worth $5.0 million more. But it’s not like Torre went from being worth $7.5 million yesterday to $5.0 million today, just because the Yankees lost three out of four games to another very talented baseball club.
If it were my business, I would not have made this offer. I would have offered Joe Torre more, or I wouldn’t have made him an offer at all. I can’t entirely blame the Yankees for trying to triangulate the situation. But I hope that people see this offer for what it was.
Mike is going to jail for 3-mths for a graffiti conviction in Brooklyn. While in prison he will have to mount a case against a 43 count indictment where he may be sentenced to up to 7 years in prison with only the counsel of a court-appointed legal aid la
bookmark this on del.icio.us - posted by yatta to graffiti graffitiresearchlab eyebeam - more about this bookmark...
Dan got everything right about Tumblr 3
We suck at keeping secrets.
The only thing that would make November 1 better is if Apple preempted us by releasing new Penryn-based Mac Pros.
tamarind glazed meat loaf and roasted potatoes with southern indian spices
Originally uploaded by Alaina B..It's a meatloaf extravaganza at Serious Eats today. To celebrate, I made tamarind glazed meatloaf (recipe).
I was all set to celebrate National Meatloaf Appreciation Day with Wolfgang's bacon-wrapped meatloaf, but an afternoon spent thumbing through Suvir Saran's new cookbook, American Masala, changed my mind. I've had a lot of success with recipes from his first book, Indian Home Cooking
, so Tamarind-Glazed Meatloaf it was.
I saved a little prep time by using my stick blender with its chopper attachment to "finely mince" my ginger, and then my garlic and jalapeño pepper. The hardest ingredient to hunt down was the tamarind paste (it's also referred to as "tamarind concentrate"), but I found it at Kalustyan's. I followed Saran's suggestion and served the meatloaf with roasted potatoes with south indian spices. And the verdict? Delicious! The mushrooms add depth and a pleasing earthy flavor while not screaming "mushroom!" — maybe because the texture of the diced portobello so closely mimics meat when cooked. Enjoy!
Tamarind-Glazed Meatloaf
- makes 2 loaves, each serving 4 to 6 -
Ingredients
For the meatloaf:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 large red onion, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely minced
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced
1/2 jalapeño pepper (cored and seeded for a milder flavor), finely minced
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground peppercorns
4 portobeIIo mushroom caps (about 1 pound), finely diced
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon garam masala
2 1/2 pounds ground beef (preferably 80 percent lean)
1/4 pounds ground pork
1 red beII pepper, cored, seeded, and finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
3 large eggs
1/2 cup ketchup
2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprikaFor the tamarind glaze:
1 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon tamarind paste
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepperProcedure
1. To prepare the meatloaf, melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bread crumbs and toast until browned, stirring often, for 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside to cool.
2. Place the water next to your cooktop. Heat the oil with the onion and salt in a large pot oven over medium·high heat, cooking the onion until it's soft and just starting to brown, stirring often, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the ginger and cook. stirring often to prevent the ginger from burning, and splashing with water if it starts to brown too much, until it's fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the garlic and jalapeño and cook until the garlic is fragrant, splashing water if necessary, for about 1 minute. Stir in the coriander, cumin, and ground peppercorns and cook for 1 minute, stirring and scraping the bottom of the skillet often and splashing it with water whenever the spices or onion begin to stick to the bottom of the pan.
3. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring often, until they release their liquid and the liquid has evaporated, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the cayenne pepper and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in the Garam Masala, turn off the heat, and set the pot aside to cool.
4. Preheat the oven to 300°F. Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl with the toasted bread crumbs, kneading it until everything is completely incorporated. Add the cooled mushroom mixture and knead again until combined. Divide the mixture evenly into two 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch loaf pans and bake for 1 hour (or cover the loaf pan with
plastic wrap, place inside of a resealable freezer bag, and freeze for up to 3 months; defrost overnight in your refrigerator before baking).5. While the meatloaves bake, make the tamarind glaze. In a small bowl whisk the glaze ingredients together. Remove the loaves from the oven and carefully drain off the pooled fat from the pan. Evenly spread some glaze over each meat loaf and continue to bake for an additional 30 minutes, or until the internal temperature reads 165°F on a digital thermometer. Let the loaves cool for 15 minutes before serving. Run a knife around the pan's edge, slice, and serve.
It's over: The House just voted on the SCHIP bill moments ago, and failed to override President Bush's veto.
The vote was 273-156, falling short of the two-thirds vote needed to overturn Bush's veto.
Incredibly, despite polls showing strong majority support for a veto override, and an aggressive ad campaign targeting Republicans on SCHIP, the GOP was remarkably successful in holding the line and sustaining Bush's veto. Only forty-four Republicans voted for the bill -- almost exactly the same as last time, save for GOP Rep. Pete King, a bill supporter who was absent this time. One-hundred and fifty-four GOPers voted against it.
The roll call is here. More soon.
Fraser Speirs: “Possibly the worst business decision we could make as Mac developers is to devalue iPhone applications to the same level as Dashboard widgets.”
This is an important discussion—thanks to Fraser for starting it.
“For all that, though, these are all deliberate decisions. So someone clearly designed it, which is a cause for applause.”
- Michael Bierut on the travesty that is the new NYC Taxi logo
Heh. This is GREAT.
... and one of many pictures I'm likely to use up at GameCity: if all goes to plan, I'm going to do a little intro to Keita Takahashi, and not unsurprisingly, I'll be talking quite a bit about Katamari craftiness. I'll also be wearing my Katamari crochet hat and my Katamari teeshirt, for that added je ne sais quoi. Oh yes.
<p>On our way out the door yesterday Luna asked, "Do I have a lama I can bring?" We were heading into D.C. to witness the presentation of the <a href="http://www.dalailamadc.org/">Congressional Gold Medal to the Dalai Lama</a>. I was slightly distracted, packing snacks, tying shoes and trying to remember the water bottles cooling in the fridge. "What, honey?"</p> <p>"A little llama I can bring," she said, and that time I could hear the extra "L." She likes to bring a toy along when we travel, usually a small animal. Of course, she would want to bring a llama with her to see the Dalai Lama. The night before she had been completely riveted by Demi's book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dalai-Lama-Foreword-His-Holiness/dp/080505443X/ref=sr_1_1/103-9383932-8858254?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1192713401&sr=1-1"><em>The Dalai Lama</em></a>, and I had a sense that she was a little excited about this particular trip into the city.</p> <p>It was hotter than I thought it would be, but a little less crowded on the lawn of the Capitol. We easily made our way through the crowd of college students, monks draped in red and gold, families with small children, people waving Tibetan flags, women and young girls dressed in beautiful, glittering gowns. Snippets of conversations spoken in various languages, with various accents, slipped past my ears as we walked. We found a spot of grass, unfortunately not in the shade, but with a decent view of the mega screen broadcasting the presentation inside the building.</p> <p>His speech was not easy to follow, what with the helicopter traffic, Sol and Luna asking for snacks, and the Dalai Lama, as he joked, choosing that particular moment to practice his English. He is a very funny man. I think I caught the gist of it, at least the parts that were meant for me. There was a moment when I felt the urge to open myself up to the infinite stores of love and compassion, the ones I just recently discovered, and to connect with the people standing around me. I opened up, and a flood of tears and emotion spilled out of me. Then I quickly closed again, startled by the intensity, by the ease of it.</p> <p>I wonder if I would have been so quick to guard myself if I'd been there without the children. A mother must always be vigilant, and it's hard to be vigilant when you are emotionally naked on the lawn of the capitol in a crowd of thousands. I am glad I brought them. I'm glad I got to share it with them, and whatever they took from the experience, they get to keep. </p> <p>I think the music and dancing, and all the positive, hopeful energy will stand out in their memory over the heat and afternoon tiredness. I will remember Luna pointing to a Monk and saying, "Is it just me, or is he a Buddha?" I will remember Sol remarking at the very end, "Would you believe by looking at his face that this man has been through so much?" I will remember feeling in awe of that beautiful, most genuine of smiles.</p> <p>Afterwards, we met Adam on the mall and headed for the <a href="http://www.solardecathlon.org/">Solar Decathlon</a> to check out the amazing designs. Could it actually be possible to live in a house like this? Some people dream of living in mansions, but we dream of living in one of these. (Everyday I am reminded of how lucky we are to have found each other— two freaks in love with the idea of gardening on the walls!) </p> <p>We stopped off at the <a href="http://hirshhorn.si.edu/collection/gardens/sculpture.html">Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden</a> per Sol's request. We wandered a bit, talking about different sculptures and how they came to be. Mostly we discussed whether their names fit them properly. A few favorites were <em>The Great Warrior of Montauban</em>, <em>Seated Yucatan Woman</em>, and the "<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kubina/296367547/in/set-72157594373426981/">Burghers of Calais</a>," which Sol aptly renamed, "Monks Walking in a Circle." And what a circle.</p>
A review of the script for Where the Wild Things Are, written by Dave Eggers and Spike Jonze (the script, not the review):
(link)Where the Wild Things Are is filled with richly imagined psychological detail, and the screenplay for this live-action film simply becomes a longer and more moving version of what Maurice Sendak's book has always been at heart: a book about a lonely boy leaving the emotional terrain of boyhood behind.
It struck me yesterday reading Steve Jobs' personal note about plans for third-party apps on the iPhone that the most telling thing about the announcement was the opening five-word phrase:
Let me just say it: We want native third party applications on the iPhone, and we plan to have an SDK in developers’ hands in February.
Let me just say it. What we're starting to see here (and of course in the anti-DRM letter from earlier this year) is a pretty significant shift in Jobs' public relations strategy, in that he seems to have recognized that there are limits to secrecy. Yes, some developments are best kept under wraps for as long as possible -- like the iPhone or the Intel switch -- contrary to all the principles of Web 2.0 openness and transparency. But with other decisions, you're sometimes much better off going public early, and exposing some of your thought process when you do. I had been thinking about posting something over the past week or two about the iPhone SDK issue, arguing that if Apple indeed was planning on opening up the platform sometime in the nearish future, there was absolutely no reason not to announce those plans -- unlike release specs for, say, the iPhone, keeping the SDK plans secret wasn't a competitive advantage in any sense, and it was bringing on a ton of ill will from people who would otherwise be iPhone fanatics.
But as it turns out, I didn't need to write that post, because Jobs decided to go public with Apple's plans, even if they weren't fully-formed. That suggests to me that he's still evolving as a CEO and as a PR wizard, still capable of adapting to new situations -- yet another reason for Apple's competitors to be nervous.
Here's my big question, though: I wonder whether Apple had the SDK as part of its plans all along, and merely changed its mind about whether to go public with it in response to the criticism -- or were they truly debating the merits of opening up the platform, and thus reluctant to say anything until they were 100% sure of their plans?
Second trailer for the could-be-amazing I'm Not There, a movie about Bob Dylan, starring Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Cate Blanchett, and three other actors as Bob Dylan. Not very related: would any of Christian Bale's characters be any good in bed?
(link)
Meatloaves from What Smells So Good, Canela y Comino, A Sofa in the Kitchen, The Daily Raw Cafe, Add More Wine, and The Expatriate's Kitchen.
It's National Meatloaf Appreciation Day, and we've had such a strong response to our call for loaf that we're breaking coverage into a few posts—so you can have meatloaf for breakfast, lunch and dinner!
You may recall that we declared today National Meatloaf Appreciation Day to celebrate the unique combination of comfort and innovation that meatloaf embodies. We asked readers—and the Serious Eats team—to make a meatloaf, document the process and share their results.
The first 15 meatloaf submissions, after the jump.
Our very first submission was an Autumnal apple-and-rosemary spin from Baltimore's Coconut & Lime.
We were thrilled to get a raw food meatloaf recipe,and a gorgeously vibrant one at that, thanks to The Daily Raw. She showed us that you can eat raw AND enjoy comfort food.
Add More Wine went with more of a meat dome than a meatloaf, and relies on Heinz 57 Sauce as a go-to ingredient.
Inspired by Alton Brown to freshly grind chuck and sirloin, Eye of the Rabbit submitted a step-by-step photo essay.
One Musical Mom says she's not a meatloaf fan but it looks as though that doesn't hold her back from baking up a mean one. Her husband, a meatloaf lover, must be eternally grateful for her sacrifice.
Not content with one food blog event entry, What Smells So Good worked on her curried meatloaf at the same time that she made a Black Forest cake for Pinktober. All this on top of Canadian Thanksgiving!
Barbecue sauce and the power of substitution get some contemplation in the submission from St. Louis Eats and Drinks with Joe and Ann Pollack—and it comes from a family where the husband is nicknamed Mr. Meatloaf, so you know they mean it!
Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy lassoed her family into participating by trying out no fewer than three meatloaves before settling on a sophisticated (and tasty sounding) rolled meatloaf filled with cheese and salumi.
Our most far-flung submission came from Lima, Peru, where Canela y Comino made mini loaves and wondered whether she could recruit Peruvians to try cold meatloaf sandwiches the next day.
An even mix of lean turkey breast, buffalo, and pork in combination with veggies and olive oil makes for a healthy meatloaf and is a great way to disguise an disliked food for a toddler, as we learn in the Expatriate's Kitchen.
Gluten-free gal Hey, That Tastes Good added cranberries to her gluten-free meatloaf and recruited her boyfriend to make a cheesy scalloped potato side dish.
Lamb, feta, mint, rosemary, served with a dollop of tzatziki; all that was missing from Seriously Good's Greek Lamb Loaf post was a glass of retsina to wash it all down!
Mera Pyaar says she's new to foodblogging but her lovely photo makes us think otherwise. She made her meatloaf after a visit to a farm to pick up apples and pumpkins—a perfect end to a lovely autumnal activity.
How's this for a title: Bacon Wrapped Molasses Glazed Individual Meatloaves with Corn and Cilantro Mashed Potatoes and Blackstrap Gravy! That's what A Sofa in the Kitchen submitted, borrowed from a favorite Seattle restaurant, The Icon.
And at the opposite end of the spectrum, Lewandowski adapted the mother of all published meatloaf recipes, the classic from the Betty Crocker cookbook, for moist, meaty, traditional results.
There are plenty more meatloaf submissions to read, so check back at lunchtime for second helpings of our food blog event!
Make me rich, you follow-fashion monkeys.
Originally uploaded by Mike Monteiro.
One of the biggest new features in Leopard Server, and one of the best web apps I’ve ever seen — and by far the best web app I’ve seen from Apple — including an amazing web-based WYSIWYG editor.
For once there’s some correlation between a rise in Apple’s stock price and good news from the company. Wall Street sees platforms as lucrative.
The NYC Dept of Transportation is introducing compass decals to be placed on sidewalks at subway exits to help orient disembarking passengers. I thought I'd posted a link about this idea before on kottke.org, but the only reference I can find is a discussion about compasses on manhole covers. (thx, erik)
Update: Aha, here's the entry. John has more.
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Congestion pricing advocate Carolyn Konheim and consulting partner Brian Ketcham are advising the Bloomberg administration to drop its resistance to a congestion pricing Environmental Impact Study.
The two say a study is needed to head off "likely 11th hour litigation" aimed at stopping the three-year pilot program from taking effect, a possibility Streetsblog alluded to following the first meeting of the Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission late last month.
"[D]ecision-makers need to know that the selection of the system to be tested has considered all reasonable alternatives to achieve the Mayor's admirable goals," reads a press release announcing Konheim and Ketcham's open letter to Mayor Bloomberg.
The most promising alternative to be examined in an environmental assessment is "charging at the real chokepoints in roadway capacity -- our river crossings and highways," according to Ketcham, a traffic engineer who has regarded bridge tolls as the premier congestion pricing strategy since he introduced in his landmark Clean Air plan for New York City in 1973. Tolling the four free East River bridges equal to all MTA crossings and across 60th Street, river to river, he calculates "would be at least as effective as PlaNYC in reducing congestion and would generate far more funding for transit."
The independent Brooklyn-based planners estimate that a pricing cordon that crosses bridge and tunnel spans and 60th Street would require E-ZPass monitors on about 50 inbound lanes, whereas the charging network necessitated by PlaNYC's complex avoidance of tolls could require detectors and cameras on1,000 to 2,000 lanes. Based on London's operating costs for a simpler single cordon, they foresee that the charging grid in PlaNYC would consume most of the congestion pricing revenue, leaving little funding for transit -- a major goal of the mayor's plan and the long-term aim of transit advocates.
Mr. Ketcham and Ms. Konheim suggest numerous strategies as alternatives to or companions of congestion pricing, particularly, the kind of comprehensive parking control and parking pricing program instituted in London before road pricing, and measures to reduce taxi cruising, a "major source of New York's congestion."The full text of the letter appears after the jump.
Wired's Ben Paynter talks to ranchers, dairy farmers, and scientists about the business and science of cloned meat and milk. Although these products haven't yet been pushed onto the public, they may be seen in stores soon. Keeping clone offspring out of the food chain is "impossible to police," says Don Coover, president of bull semen company SEK Genetics.
Imagine you're the chick taking orders at Starbucks. In walks Britney Spears, who probably has a complicated order with extra shots, a lot of room and all kinds of fancy stuff. Do you ask for her name so you can write it on her cup -- or do you just write Brit and make a cutsie heart next to it. Ah -- the big questions in life.
PS: Where's her bra?
A comparison of the Last.fm chart and the official UK downloads chart after Radiohead's In Rainbows was released online last week. The top 10 on Last.fm: all Radiohead. Official chart: nada. (via adactio)
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Was the change in fish consumption recommendations influenced by cash? Until recently, experts recommended women of childbearing age eat no more than 12 ounces of fish a week, and no more than 6 ounces of canned albacore tuna, because of high levels of mercury. But recently a new recommendation was released encouraging the consumption of at least 12 ounces of fish a week, the logic being that omega-3 consumption was important and outweighed the possible mercury risks. Now the New York Times is reporting that money from the seafood industry may be behind the new recommendations. Guh, and I was just about to go back to eating the nice albacore tuna too.
comments are open
Glenn Fleishman, TidBITS: “While there was no consensus in the existing Mac developer community as to whether Apple would ever fully open up the iPhone platform for third-party applications—a view reinforced by Apple's early reluctance to make any commitment—Jobs stated quite clearly at the D: All Things Digital conference in May 2007 that Apple would open the iPhone up.”
Dr. James Watson, Nobel laureate:
He says that he is "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa" because "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours - whereas all the testing says not really", and I know that this "hot potato" is going to be difficult to address. His hope is that everyone is equal, but he counters that "people who have to deal with black employees find this not true". He says that you should not discriminate on the basis of colour, because "there are many people of colour who are very talented, but don't promote them when they haven't succeeded at the lower level". He writes that "there is no firm reason to anticipate that the intellectual capacities of peoples geographically separated in their evolution should prove to have evolved identically. Our wanting to reserve equal powers of reason as some universal heritage of humanity will not be enough to make it so".
Watson's comments have caused some controversy. (thx, demetrice, who says "this makes Wes Anderson look like Medgar Evers")
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I've been doing a good bit of speaking lately, and have some more coming up, so let me share it with you if you're interested.
- I was flattered to have my post about Gawker quoted in passing by Jim Romenesko while talking about Vanessa Grigoriadis. However, I was mortified at the context -- Page Six of the NY Post had published a thinly-veiled threat of sexual violence against Ms. Grigoriadis. Let's repeat: The traditional, mainstream, dead-tree media institution published a threat of sexual violence on newsprint. And those who objected? The folks typing away in Movable Type at Radar Online and Media Bistro. This is why we need blogs to help fix traditional media.
- I got to spend an hour talking to John C. Havens over at Blog Talk Radio which was ostensibly about transparency, but ended up getting into a good bit of blog history and some more philosophical parts of blogging. That was a lot of fun, and I was glad to get to do it.
- On Friday, I'll be speaking at the Online News Association Conference in Toronto. I'll only be in town for a few hours, unfortunately, even though I love Toronto, but the discussion about Journalism Next is right up my alley. And I'm especially looking forward to getting to meet the other folks on the panel.
- And then on Saturday, I'll be at ConvergeSouth 2007 in Greensboro, North Carolina. It looks to be an absolutely amazing event, and I'll be joining in at 10am on Saturday for my panel. I'll also be hosting a dinner at 6:30 on Saturday, you can sign up on the wiki to join the table.
Phew! Can't wait to meet a bunch of new folks, and if you want to get in touch and will be at either event, my mobile number and email address are both right here on my blog.
Help me support the Notes for Class Challenge -- you can choose which teacher's proposal you want to donate to, and help support music in schools. Plus I'll personally kick in another 10% on top of every donation you make. Music Bingo is a great place to start.
“What was going on in Cupertino while Microsoft was developing ClearType and commissioning premier type designers to create universally acclaimed fonts for Windows Vista? Steve Jobs, the guy who gave a graduation speech lauding his own pioneering efforts in typography, should be embarrassed to watch Microsoft showing Apple how to do it right.”
- Typographica (thanks, Dan Arbaugh)
"Wow! Back in March 2006, I blogged an idea installing a compass rose at subway exits to help emerging travelers find their way. I posted a stencil design to help inspire action. Three weeks later, graffitti roses appeared in lower manhattan. And then a year-and-a-half later, the New York City Department of Transportation announces a plan to implement it."
Julie at Damn Good Vintage sent me this dress that's up for sale in her shop right now. And all I can say is I wish I knew the woman who put this together. I mean, sure, there's an even chance she was a raving loon (okay, better than an even chance) but I bet she was FUN. I bet she ate ice cream without moaning about how fat she was, and I bet she didn't mind running so as not to be late for the movie previews (the best part) and I bet she could imitate the mannerisms of your worst ex-boyfriend in such a way that you howled with laughter and forgot all about how badly he broke your heart. You know, the female equivalent of a mensch. And I bet, if you asked her, she would have let you borrow this dress, even though it was her favorite and even though she knows you tend to gesture with your french fries and spill ketchup everywhere.
It's B38, W30, $110 and completely inexplicable. There's a supernumerary bow on the shoulder. The sleeves have ties. Those buttons -- they HOLD THE SKIRT ON. I don't understand, but then, do I really need to?
If you buy this and actually wear it, drop me an email. We can go to the movies. I'll wear my crazy skirt, and bring the Raisinets.
A spokesperson for Orange has said that the company plans to sell unlocked versions of the iPhone alongside locked ones in France, and acknowledged that they would go for a premium.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs is hoping that the upcoming release of Leopard will lead to even faster market share growth for Apple, and believes that the company is headed for a "tipping point."
Legal suicide for web start-ups
An EFF lawyer explains some common pitfalls that web startups probably don't know about. (thanks, Tim)
In other news, I'm amending my rule of deleting unnecessary list prefixes from post titles ("15 reasons why this style sucks" becomes "Why this style sucks" or "This style sucks").
In addition, I'm now removing "Web 2.0" or changing it to "web" where it's functionally equivalent, which is most of the time.
The Boston Red Sox's designated hitter, David Ortiz, makes extensive use of video replays during games. He reviews at-bats right after they happen and can watch every pitch he's ever seen from the pitcher that he's facing, on demand. (via collision detection)
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Wow! Back in March 2006, I blogged an idea installing a compass rose at subway exits to help emerging travelers find their way. I posted a stencil design to help inspire action. Three weeks later, graffitti roses appeared in lower manhattan. And then a year-and-a-half later, the New York City Department of Transportation announces a plan to implement it.
The DoT will test the designs in midtown, around the heavily touristed Grand Central area. The context specific labels are a nice innovation, not just pointing north, but naming the nearest street in each direction.
See the official DoT press release here and a NY Times article here.
I'm coming out of my blue period. I suppose that happens to the best of us. I want a redesign. Maybe starting from scratch with a new blog. Honestly, there is something heavy and slightly cumbersome about this blog that makes it hard to put on and take off at will. I feel like I'm entering a new phase, transitioning, having that breakthrough turning 30 moment three years late. Really it's like waking up at the first; 33 years late, but better now than never.
I just don't know that this space is right for my current needs. Those current needs being to: document the work we do; keep family and friends updated; maintain a running list of resources; and ultimately, to be a steady kick in the writerly pants or smack with the kyosaku. Why I feel this blog no longer serves me is unclear. What is clear is that all this mental going around has kept me so busy for so long that I haven't had time to do much here or anywhere else.
I like blueperiod. I've had this blog for almost six years. For some reason that seems like a long time. It is nearly as old as my oldest child. I began this blog at about the same time that I began my life as a mother. But I don't feel so blue anymore. I'm more red now, or orange even.
There seems to be some confusion by both friends and foes of congestion pricing as to what it actually is. "Congestion pricing" is a term of art that refers to congestion tolls, road pricing or road tolling or other road user fees. It is a concept distinct from charging for parking. The foremost expert on charging more for on-street parking, UCLA professor Donald Shoup, explains as much in the "Congestion Pricing" section of his book The Cost of Free Parking. But if Shoup is not enough, the USDOT's Federal Highway Administration has provided a handy web site containing its definition of congestion pricing. Since the USDOT has promised NYC $354.5 million if it adopts a congestion pricing scheme covering the Central Business District of Manhattan, the agency's definition of congestion pricing matters.
Here is what USDOT/FHWA says.
There are four main types of pricing strategies
Variably priced lanes, involving variable tolls on separated lanes within a highway, such as Express Toll Lanes or HOT Lanes, i.e. High Occupancy Toll lanes
Variable tolls on entire roadways - both on toll roads and bridges, as well as on existing toll-free facilities during rush hours
Cordon charges - either variable or fixed charges to drive within or into a congested area within a city
Area-wide charges - per-mile charges on all roads within an area that may vary by level of congestion
The U.S. DOT's Congestion Relief Initiative, of which the Urban Partnership agreement is part, is aimed at promoting congestion pricing and specifically refers to tolling rather than parking.
The U.S. Department of Transportation's Congestion Initiative further focuses the above tolling programs toward the overall goal of relieving congestion. All of the five cities selected for the congestion initiative are centered around road pricing, though New York's is by far the most ambitious. Miami and Minneapolis propose building tolled HOT lanes on area highways and San Francisco proposes a new toll cordon on Doyle Drive or variable pricing on the Golden Gate Bridge. San Francisco also includes a value parking program in addition to new tolls.
The new Reuters/Zogby poll finds that Bush's approval rating has tumbled to 24% -- a full five points lower than his previous record low of 29% in Zogby polling. Our Official Election Central Calculator tells us that this means that less than one in four now approve of Bush's performance.
As if that weren't bad enough on its own, Atrios points out that this matches Richard Nixon's record low in Gallup polling.
The poll also finds that Congress' approval sits at an abysmal 11% and that both Rudy and Hillary have expanded their national leads.
In remarks made to the Norwegian press, Al Gore again insisted he has no interest in entering the 2008 presidential race — and that winning the Nobel Prize did not change his mind.
"I don't have plans to be a candidate again, so I don't really see it in that context at all," Gore said. "I'm involved in a different kind of campaign. It's a global campaign. It's a campaign to change the way people think about the climate crisis."
This isn't encouraging news for those still pining for another Gore candidacy, but the small crack in the door left open by Gore's language ("plans" do change, after all) will likely ensure that this won't be the last time he'll be asked about a potential run.
If you've ever struggled to figure out which direction you're facing when you step out of a subway station (and there are no landmarks or sun to guide you), you won't have those problems at four subway stations in Midtown anymore. That's because the Department of Transportation and the Grand Central Partnership are placing temporary directional compass decals outside them. DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan explained, "Not a single person, native New Yorker or visitor, can truthfully claim that they have not, at least once, been confused as to which direction to walk when emerging from a subway station." The decals, funded by the GCP, were suggested by a resident, as reported in the NY Times. Here are the locations:
The GCP is asking for feedback about the compass decals, which were designed by artist Gregg LeFevre, (take the survey here) by this Friday, October 19, and then the DOT and GCP will determine whether to make the compass directionals permanent. And if the decals are well-received, then the DOT will work with other business improvement districts to bring these to their neighborhoods. What do you think of the idea? Where would you want to see these compasses?
- 150 East 42nd Street (south side of East 42nd St between Lexington Ave and Third Ave) - Entrance to 42nd Street/Grand Central station
- The Grand Hyatt New York, 109 East 42nd Street (west side of Lexington Ave between East 42nd St and East 43rd St) - Entrance to 42nd Street/Grand Central station
- 570 Lexington Avenue (south side of East 51st St between Lexington Ave and Park Ave) - Entrance to 51st Street/Lexington Avenue station
- 509 Madison Avenue (south side of East 53rd St between Madison Ave and Park Ave) - Entrance to Fifth Avenue/53rd Street station
January 04, 2004
NEW YORK’S MOST ELIGIBLE BACHELORETTESBy RICHARD JOHNSON, PAULA FROELICH, IAN SPIEGELMAN and CHRIS WILSON
In a city full of beautiful, ambitious, wealthy single women, it’s nearly impossible to narrow down a category like this one. But through many long hours of grueling research, we’ve managed to compile a list of New York’s most eligible bachelorettes. Some survived messy divorces, some are simply serial daters - but all are relatively unattached. So play your cards right, guys, and you could become the arm candy of one of these fabulous babes.
* Sofia Coppola, 32. Gifted, gamine director of “Lost in Translation” and “The Virgin Suicides.” Pro: Looking for love after splitting with helmer hubby Spike Jonze this year. Con: Some are still snickering about her wooden acting debut in “The Godfather III.”
* Sia Michel, 36. Spin magazine editrix-in-chief and Traci Lords lookalike. Pro: Has better taste in music than any girlfriend you’ve ever had. Con: When she’s not slaving away in the office, spends much of her time at divey Spin parties in the East Village.
* Adriana Lima, 21. Mouthwatering Victoria’s Secret mannequin who has beguiled Lenny Kravitz and Derek Jeter. Pro: The ultimate arm candy. Con: Fickle Brazilian bombshell switches boyfriends as often as she changes bras.
* Maya Rudolph, 31. “Saturday Night Live” standout is the daughter of late R&B singer Minnie Ripperton and a childhood best friend of Gwyneth Paltrow. Pro: Sang and played keyboards for the Rentals, a Weezer spinoff that opened for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Con: Long hours toiling for Lorne Michaels.
* Hope Atherton, 28. Hipster artist whose tight leather outfits and flaxen locks make regular appearances in Paper magazine’s party pages. Pro: Used to host “Whiskey Wednesday” parties in her Chinatown loft. Con: Friends call her “Hopey.”
* Vanessa Grigoriadis, 30. The fiesty-to-fierce contributing editor for Rolling Stone and New York magazine whose secret-sharing celebrity profiles are usually the high point of the issue. Pro: This petite treat’s sharp tongue and hard-partying are balanced out by her girlish charm and the year she spent studying at Harvard Divinity School. Con: Just a tad schizo.* Nicky Hilton, 20. Co-heiress to the Hilton hotel fortune and (relatively) demure younger sister of Paris. Pro: Nicky’s as rich, as blond and as beautiful Paris, without the bitter aftertaste of scandal. Con: A Hilton sister who doesn’t crave the spotlight makes us suspicious.
* Uma Thurman, 33. The leggy actress is newly single after the breakup of her five-year marriage to cheater Ethan Hawke. Pro: The 6-foot Thurman has never been in better shape than in the recent action pics “Paycheck” and “Kill Bill.” Con: While she seems to be handling the betrayal with Zen-like calm, there’s no telling what scorn seethes beneath her cool demeanor. Plus, she’s been seen sucking face with Andre Balazs of late.
* Judith Regan, 50. The savvy and sensuous head of ReganBooks. Pro: Owns a luxurious vacation home in Italy and tells us, “I think men should be sexually aggressive with women.” Con: You can’t handle her.
* Ally Hilfiger, 18. Pretty, pouty, slightly batty heiress to the Tommy Hilfiger fortune, co-star of MTV’s “Meet the Rich Girls.” Pro: Remarkably well-behaved and introspective for a Long Island gazillionairess. Con: Prone to crying jags; nasal voice could crack a diamond.
* Jennifer LeRoy, 25. The raven-haired CEO of her late father Warner’s LeRoy Adventures, which brings in $90 million a year with such hot spots as Tavern on the Green. Pro: An accomplished equestrian, she gives her many horses such whimsical names as Lollipop Kid and Jedi. Con: LeRoy recently discovered the rich-girl habit of designing tchotchkes, launching a line of jewel-encrusted cellphone covers.
* Samantha and Charlotte Ronson, 26. Scene-making twin stepdaughters of Foreigner’s Mick Jones. Pro: Unlike some other rock and roll princesses, bubbly Charlotte and gruff-but-lovable Samantha have been nightlife fixtures since their teens without embarrassing themselves. Con: Admirers of Charlotte must contend with the posse of spoiled-brat suitors who travel in her wake; Samantha could learn to wear a skirt once in a while.
* Mary Louise Parker, 39. This classically pretty actress is as nice as she is talented. Pro: Does a lot of Broadway, so is often in town rather than stuck on movie sets. Con: Might have trust issues, having been brutally dumped by Billy Crudup - during her eighth month of pregnancy! - for younger actress Claire Danes.
* Amanda Hearst, 19. Paris Hilton who? This gorgeous young socialite is prettier, nicer and has loads more class than the other blond heiresses her age. Pro: What’s not to like? Con: A model, Amanda is on the verge of “hitting it big” and may not have time for mere mortals soon.
* Amy Sacco, 34. New York’s reigning amazonian queen of nightlife, Amy has been drooled after by Benicio del Toro, George Clooney and Bruce Willis. Pro: If you date her, it’s an immediate entrée into her tough-as-nails-to-get-into clubs, Lot 61 and Bungalow 8. Con: Amy has said she wants a man who works as much as she does. We’re not sure anyone works like Amy.
* Serena Boardman, 32. The A-list daughter of billionaire Dixon Boardman is sick of being single and has put out the word among her pals to set her up - and fast! Pro: She’s blond, beautiful and rich. Con: You’d better be too, if you want to date her. Her darker, curvier sister Samantha would be on the list too, if she weren’t dating real estate man Aby Rosen.
* Lola Ogunnaike, 29. Ever since Alex Kuczynski got married, New York Times staffers wondered who would inherit her position as the “hot, hip young thing” in the office. Enter Lola. Pro: With her wicked sense of humor, you’d hardly suspect she works for the Times. Con: She may have a boyfriend, whom pals call “the Yeti.” They’ve heard about him, but no one’s ever seen him.
* Kerry Kennedy, 43. There is no mistaking the lineage. Besides his toothy smile, she’s got her father’s feisty will and his liberal politics. The divorced mother of two seems to be quite unattached since her marriage ended, along with Bruce Colley’s. Pro: Looks mighty fine in a bikini. Con: Wasn’t very helpful when her hubby was running for governor and she could have campaigned for him.
* Mary Boone, 51. This petite brunette has been a top art dealer since the go-go ’80s, when newly minted moguls were buying art by the yard to decorate their new apartments. Pro: Her eyes twinkle even when she’s not about to sell a painting. Con: While she looks like a million bucks, some of her artists look like 10 cents.
* Britney Spears, 22. She’s no longer a virgin, and she’s been out in nightclubs, smoking and drinking, and she dresses sexy with lots of skin exposed. So what’s the problem? Sounds like what every guy wants, at least for the weekend. Pro: She’s got everything, including money. Con: She works and travels a lot, and it will be hard to get her alone - away from the entourage and bodyguards.
* Nicole Kidman, 33. Since divorcing Tom Cruise, her career has taken off, while her personal life has remained a mystery. She’s been linked to everyone from Russell Crowe and Jude Law to Lenny Kravitz, but none seemed serious. She’s moving into one of the Richard Meier buildings on West Street, and now’s your chance. Pro: Red hair, alabaster skin . . . and she sings. Con: Two kids further complicate her super-busy schedule.
* Lauren Bush, 19. So far, the daughter of Neil Bush is the star of the presidential dynasty. Well-spoken, well-behaved, she’s pretty enough to be a top model, but too smart not to do something else. Pro: New social cachet in D.C. and Texas. Con: Bitterness between her divorced parents isn’t over.
* Yue-Sai Kan, 50ish. A TV lifestyle reporter, she became the biggest cosmetics queen in her native China - where there is even a postage stamp in her image. Pro: Has a gorgeous Sutton Place apartment where she entertains lavishly. Con: Spends part of each month in China taking care of business.
* Ivanka Trump, 22. The daughter of Donald and Ivana has her parents’ smarts, which she proved in “Born Rich.” She was the only rich kid in the documentary who didn’t come off as arrogant or spoiled. Pro: Quit modeling to study at Wharton, following in her dad’s footsteps. Con: At 5-foot-11, she’s too tall for many men.
* Denise Rich, 59. Anathema to Republicans because of her friendship with Bill Clinton and the way he pardoned her tax-cheating fugitive ex-husband, but all who know her say Denise is a sweetheart. Pro: Livin’s is easy, and the cotton is high. Con: Tends to surround herself with parasitic publicists and “imagists” who might creep you out.
* Jessica Craig-Martin, 29. This renowned photographer has been described as an “art goddess” by one profiler. The daughter Brit artist Michael Craigh-Martin, the fetching shutterbug and one-time teacher of Damien Hirst downplays her royal status with her earthy style. Pro: Instant access to the British shock art scene. Con: The remnants of that scene can be pretty annoying.
Tom Patterson, of the U.S. National Park Service, wrote a great paper five years ago on improved realism in NPS maps. There's some very insightful analysis that was useful even to a layman like me. He covers a variety of techniques that increase realism, such as aquafication, texture substitution, illuminated relief, outside land muting, and more. Plus, the illustrations are fantastic -- this terrific example from Crater Lake shows how technique at the Park Service has evolved in just a few years:
Also featured on his site is a great physical map of the lower 48 U.S. states.
Help me support the Notes for Class Challenge -- you can choose which teacher's proposal you want to donate to, and help support music in schools. Plus I'll personally kick in another 10% on top of every donation you make. Music Bingo is a great place to start.
I couldn’t get to sleep last night and was reviewing my 50 most valuable long-term commidities list over at SI.com. This list was originally composed back in early May — how quickly things can change in baseball.
Biggest risers:
- CF Justin Upton (was Honorable Mention). I don’t care that he wasn’t especially impressive in the major leagues. Age is everything, and for a 19-year-old to come this far this fast is very special.
- LHP Eric Bedard (not ranked). Led baseball in strikeouts per nine innings — he now has to be considered in that 1A tier of pitchers along with guys like Jake Peavy and C.C. Sabathia.
- CF Curtis Granderson (was Honorable Mention). Just barely missed the cut in May. He’s three years younger than Grady Sizemore but might be the superior player for the next 12-36 months.
- RHP Joba Chamberlain (not ranked). Strikeout numbers were off the charts. I believe.
- OF Jay Bruce (not ranked), 3B Evan Longoria (was Honorable Mention). Both should wind up somewhere between #15 and #25. I’m guessing that PECOTA will actually like Longoria a little bit better. He’s the superior defensive player, handled some very difficult leagues, and answered a big question by radically upping his walk rate.
- SS Troy Tulowitzki (not ranked). Last year, PECOTA thought that he’d have a good debut and then flatline a bit thereafter. Will be interesting to see if it envisions the same thing now, or it’s developed more confidence in him. He’s almost certainly Top 50 because of his great defense.
- Others that will almost definitely earn a place in the Top 50: Russell Martin, Matt Holliday, Josh Beckett, Aramis Ramirez (who suddenly learned how to play defense)
- Guy I haven’t really thought about yet, so don’t ask: Dustin Pedroia.
Not-as-big-as-you-think risers:
- 1B Prince Fielder (was #47), 3B Ryan Braun (not ranked). Defense is a real problem in both instances, especially for Braun. Fielder will probably end up somewhere in the mid-late 30s. Braun’s going to be right on the cusp of the Top 50.
Biggest fallers:
- LF Jason Bay (was #35). His career path is starting to look like Bobby Higginson’s. This is not a good thing.
- DH Travis Hafner (was #21). He should still have plenty left; I’m not too worried about this year. It’s just that the standards for a 30something DH are incredibly high. Probably off the list next year.
- LHP Carlos Zambrano (was #28). The trends in his peripheral statistics are pointed the wrong way. I don’t completely hate the deal he signed with the Cubs, but I don’t think he’s Top 50.
- RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka (was #19). Only because we probably had him overrated to begin with. He’s still Top 50 material, though.
- Others that will almost certainly lose their slots: Vernon Wells, Andruw Jones, Jered Weaver … some vets that will likely get cycled out because of age, like Roy Oswalt and Miguel Tejada.
- Guy I haven’t really thought about yet, so don’t ask: Chris B. Young
Not-as-fast-as-you-think-faller:
- 3B Alex Gordon (was #23). He has some defensive value, and he showed some improvement in the second half. Way too early to give up.
A very preliminary, off-the-cuff, subject-to-change, pre-PECOTA Top 20:
- This will change. Probably a lot. Keep in mind that the evaluation criteria is a 6-year window, which in most cases means 2008-2013.
1. Albert Pujols (1)
2. David Wright (8)
3. Hanley Ramirez (6)
4. Miguel Cabrera (4)
5. Joe Mauer (2)
6. Johan Santana (3)
7. Grady Sizemore (5)
8. Alex Rodriguez (10)
9. Justin Upton (HM)
10. Jose Reyes (7)
11. Jake Peavy (13)
12. C.C. Sabathia (17)
13. Curtis Granderson (HM)
14. Eric Bedard (–)
15. Chase Utley (22)
16. Brian McCann (9)
17. Ryan Zimmerman (11)
18. Evan Longoria (HM)
19. Joba Chamberlain (–)
20. Jay Bruce (–)
Quick Post
I'm always amazed how knotted up it becomes after a day in my pocket.
http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2007/10/why_your_cellph.html
by Katy Chevigny This article is adapted from remarks Katy Chevigny presented at the DocAgora debate at Silverdocs in June, 2007. Katy is the founder and executive director of Arts Engine, the organization behind MediaRights.org. Most recently, she directed the film "Election Day" (2007), which premiered at the South By Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival. The topic of the DocAgora debate was, "Given that New Media has redefined the meaning of Public, the wall between public and commercial media no longer exists." I'm a Libra, so I'm cosmically wired to feel uncomfortable with the whole idea of a debate. I prefer to weigh the issues and then forge a path using the wisdom of both sides. But I'm also an independent filmmaker so I know it's important to bring a strong perspective to the subject at hand. In this case, the perspective I'm bringing is that of preserving and fostering media in the public interest within the new media structure. I'm going to talk a bit about the pluses and minuses of what's happening now and make some recommendations for what we might push for as we move forward in this new landscape. I want to start by saying that the flourishing of creativity in producing and watching media online is tremendously exciting. It is a watershed of free expression and an unqualified good. But it has also blurred the line between commercial and public media. Online media has commercial potential—Murdoch's shrewd appraisal of MySpace and Google's acquisition of YouTube shows this. Yet at the same time, online media also has the potential to be showcased and utilized with the context of public media exchange. So I think a useful way of asking this question is, "How can we develop a radar to highlight the public interest media within a very crowded online landscape, and ensure this space is accessible to everyone and protected?" Another way of putting it is to ask whether there is a way the media can remain "free"--both in terms of cost as well as in terms of expression. As typically occurs with widespread societal shifts, the response of Americans has taken opposing sides: one group heralds the growth of media online as an improvement over all past systems, and another cries that it's the end of the world as we know it. In the first group, we find starry-eyed boosters of the new system, mostly from commercial media. Here we see a group of people trying to be the next YouTube, trying to figure out how to lead the pack at showcasing the most popular videos, or asking themselves, "How can I make a bunch of money channeling this creative outpouring?" On the other hand, we are also hearing a lot from people who are scared of new media and of the effects of YouTube. Some of the things we are hearing are: there is no quality control. It's all noise. It's all navel-gazing. There's no professionalism or accountability. Some even call it the end of popular culture. (For a reference to this, see Angela Tucker's staff blog post). Part of this outcry is nostalgia for a romantically-imagined bygone era, which can be summed up in the plea: "Where's my Walter Cronkite?" So we hear a lot of speculation and criticism from these two positions. What we don't see enough of, and what I think we need, is a cornucopia of creative ways to use the existing tools out there to ensure that public media is accessible, findable, protected and showcased. We don't need a new channel for it necessarily—we need organizations, individuals, and even public agencies to start providing resources that filter and curate and bring public media to light. Why do we need to filter and curate? There's a couple of reasons.This is not to say that we need to go back to four networks again—that's certainly over. But we do need trusted sources where the media can be contextualized, critiqued, or positioned for political action. The internet is excellent for these activities, much better than the old one-way platforms of distribution—but we don't see these tools used enough in the interests of public media. So to serve as these new trusted sources I'm envisioning hundreds of 21st century Walter Cronkites. They will be overlapping, contradictory and heterogeneous sources who will filter existing media—pointing, critiquing, commenting, categorizing, organizing. Public media will be searchable and, more importantly, findable from many different entry points. All to help showcase the kind of public media that might otherwise get lost. I'm also looking forward to a broader definition of public media that might be identified by these new trusted sources. Some of the kinds of public discussion that could emerge from new intermediary sources are:
- It is not a meritocracy out there in the world of online video. The cream does not necessarily rise to the top. For every "American Idol" equivalent--the little video that makes it big and gets tons of hits--there are also many gems going unheard and unseen at the end of the Long Tail.
- It is noisy and crowded and confusing out there for the viewer. Barry Schwartz's book The Paradox of Choice talks about the psychological problem presented by too many choices, and argues that if there are too many choices available all at once, many will people will shut down and make no choice at all. It was much easier a couple decades ago to choose between four television networks than the 50 million online videos today.
In keeping with my aforementioned Libra-ness, I also want to make a contrasting point. At the same time that we are pushing for this mediating effort of curating and filtering, we also need to promote the noise. When I was preparing for DocAgora, I checked in with our staff at Arts Engine and asked them what they wanted me to talk about. And they said, make sure you talk about the digital divide! For those of you well-versed in this conversation, it may seem more like a tired harangue. We have made huge inroads now that people without connections or media experience can create a video and put it online. But there are still barriers to entry. Not everyone has a computer in their home or a camera to tell their story and illuminate their perspective. Making a homemade video is not yet the equivalent of the soapbox in a town square, nor is it, say, the contemporary version of being a graffiti artist in New York City in the 1970's. And we need this tool to be more universal. People complain about the noise of the tens of millions of videos online but, honestly, it needs to be noisier for it to fully enfranchise the public around media. So we need both these efforts simultaneously. We need to keep pushing the envelope for full access to these tools for everyone as well as creating secondary tools to comment, coordinate, showcase and protect. In a free-for-all, public media is likely to be lost in the noise and more likely to be commercialized. And if we just have the selected, curated media then we might lose the benefit of low barriers—we'll just be creating new barriers that will prevent some media from participating in the public space. Lastly, I would like to say that we would be naïve to think that the current widely accessible new technologies will be "free" forever. It could all be monetized in a way that pushes important public media out of the marketplace. Then we would lose the Long Tail—grandma's blog would be gone and the 14-year-old could no longer expect websites to stream her video for free. We need to be vigilant to keep alive those aspects of the new world order that are better than before and also foster a friendly environment for public media to be created and seen online. Overall, I'm optimistic and energized by what's happening. We're moving towards a more participatory culture—we're not just passively watching moving image media, we're more active and engaged. People are passionately commenting on media and responding to it in the public sphere, making video responses, sending news to their friends, blogging, you name it. Whether you're making videos about Barbie, football or Congress, it's the step in the right direction because it's a citizenry engaged in dialogue because it cares.
- Raising the culture of documentary criticism.
- Linking current affairs media more strongly to public action efforts.
- Creating a guide for online video that comes from the perspective of art for art's sake, rather than for any commercial or political purpose.
This is kind of/sort of/not really interesting: Lynne Cheney says that in researching the family genealogy, she found out that Dick Cheney and Barack Obama are related, sharing an ancestor eight generations back. It's not much, but it's there.
And that's not all — there is also reason to believe that Vice President Cheney may have been Obama's father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate...
(Via Think Progress.)
Is the new NYC taxi logo any good? More here. (thx, red)
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Just a quick post to share some links and resources that have been created or have caught my eye recently:
- Recommended Plugins - we have added a page that lists a more complete list of plugins selected by community plugin directory editors.
- Recently Added Plugins - we have also added a more complete listing of recently added plugins..
- Tidy Templates - Tim Appnel has created a plugin to help publishers normalize their Movable Type tags to use a consistent style and syntax. Very nice.
- SezWho - I have been seeing SezWho, an interesting service that provides universal commenter profiles across the web, from time to time on sites I visit from time to time so it was good to see that they also have a Movable Type Plugin to make it easy for anyone to use their service.
- How to Build a Style Catcher Repository - Movable Type makes it really easy for people to browse various style collections scattered across the web and then to download, install and apply those styles to a blog - all from within Movable Type. This recently published guide details how developers and designers can construct their own style repositories and allow Movable Type users to browse and select from those libraries a style they wish to use on their own blog.
- Unstick those menus - some users have rightly complained that our pull down menus sometimes get stuck open, and can only be closed by hovering the mouse over them again. To avoid this very annoying "feature" you can download a new version of mt.js and install it over the file of the same name in your Movable Type 4.01 installation.
- 500,000 comments and counting - Props to our friends at ScienceBlogs for receiving their half-millionth comment. Wow.
- We're rolling out member profiles - we are beginning to roll out member profiles across all of movabletype.org, starting with the Plugin Directory. Soon these profiles will aggregate a user's contributions across all of MovableType.org, including Learning Movable Type, our Documentation web site, as well as from other sites currently under development.
Historical photo detection sounds like an interesting profession.
Maureen Taylor has dated a photograph to 1913 by studying the size and shape of a Lion touring car's headlamps. Armed with her collection of 19th-century fashion magazines, she can pinpoint the brief period when Victorian women wore their bangs in tight curls rather than swept back. Using a technique borrowed from the CIA, she identified a photo of Jesse James by examining the shape of his right ear.
See also last week's post on forensic genealogy.
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Dave Winer thought his iPhone was broken because it stopped ringing; ends up he had the ringer switch turned off. It’s easy to laugh at, but I think it’s actually a non-obvious design. There’s no icon or visual indication as to what that switch does. You do get a small jolt of vibration when it’s engaged, but that doesn’t naturally imply “silent mode” to me. (Update: Yes, there’s also an on-screen icon, but that only helps if you toggle it while the screen is on.)
It’s a great feature once you know about it, but it’s potentially dangerous if you don’t. Its intuitiveness is further hurt by the fact that most mobile phones don’t offer a switch like this, even though they should.
As part of his efforts to win over GOP primary voters, Rudy Giuliani has repeatedly said that he governed New York city as Mayor by adhering to Republican and conservative principles.
Today, for instance, Rudy said that he "gave my blood" for the Republican Party in New York, adding: “I often say I was the first Republican mayor in New York in 25 years. And I was the first to remain one in 50 years.” At the recent GOP debate, Rudy pointed out that "George Will said I ran the most conservative government, from that point of view, in the last 40 or 50 years in the entire country."
But Rudy hasn't always viewed his Mayoralty in such terms. A rival campaign has unearthed video of Rudy during an interview with Charlie Rose in 1996 in which he claimed bluntly that "I'm really not" a Republican Mayor.
Rudy's answer came in response to a question from Rose, who asked why he wouldn't be attending the GOP convention in San Diego that year, which was the same year that he was running for reelection as Mayor against liberal Democrat Ruth Messinger. Take a look:
Rudy said:
"Well, I'm a Republican mayor, but I"m really not. I'm the mayor of New York City. I ran as a Republican, I ran as a Liberal — which really confuses all kinds of people — and I ran as an Independent, as part of the Independent Party, which actually is now the party that's supporting Ross Perot. So I ran a fusion candidacy, like my predecessor Fiorello LaGuardia. So I'm not the most partisan of Republicans."The Giuliani campaign didn't immediately answer a request for comment.
Late Update: Rudy's interview with Rose actually took place on August 12, 1996, not August 13.
El Bulli is now taking reservations for 2008. Don't bother calling, just cross your fingers and follow Louisa's instructions:
If you'd like a reservation at El Bulli next year, then send an email now to bulli@elbulli.com. Simply state your desired dates and number in your party. Remember to include your name, email address, and telephone number. The restaurant is open from April until the end of September/beginning of October, Wednesday to Saturday, for dinner. It's open for lunch in April, May, and June on Sunday only.
El Bulli is now taking reservations for 2008. Don't bother calling, just cross your fingers and follow Louisa's instructions:Related: How to get French Laundry reservationsIf you'd like a reservation at El Bulli next year, then send an email now to bulli@elbulli.com. Simply state your desired dates and number in your party. Remember to include your name, email address, and telephone number. The restaurant is open from April until the end of September/beginning of October, Wednesday to Saturday, for dinner. It's open for lunch in April, May, and June on Sunday only.
If you're a directionally-challenged pedestrian, as I am, and often have to rely on sun and skyline to tell you which way is up, this one's for you.
From the DOT:
Tuesday, October 16, 2007, 12:30 pm at 150 East 42nd:
New York City Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, Grand Central Partnership (GCP) President/CEO Fred Cerullo and MTA CEO Lee Sander will unveil new directional compass decals on sidewalks at subway exits in Midtown Manhattan. The compasses will display the name of the street the decal is on, and what street lies one block in each direction, helping pedestrians and exiting subway passengers quickly orient themselves.
It's unclear if the decals will be exclusive to Midtown, though that's the way it looks at this point. Here's hoping they'll eventually be installed elsewhere. In the meantime, chalk this up as another hit for the "new DOT."
As promised four intrepid BikeHuggers rode last Friday evening. Objectives: Ride for fun, Promote urban cycling awareness for all vehicles — cars and cyclists, demonstrate automobile/bicycle co-existence, and engage in the consumption of nutritious fermented beverages.
Good news: Objectives MET. Even more amazing, it was more than just two dudes who showed up! This is positively stunning given the 8 hour notice. Check the Bike Hugger Urban Bikes group on Flickr for more photos.
We’ll keep the experiment up, check back for scheduling of future rides. But before we go too far, we’ll need a better name. Hugger input requested!
I rolled into Westlake Center about 5:20 and was happily surprised to see the number of cyclists waiting for me: one, which was one more than I expected. Nate saw our post earlier in the day and decided to drop in on our ride. Another hugger (Matt, who initiated the idea) showed up at 6:00 with a friend in tow (Jamie). We 4 cyclemen headed off for some runs through down town shortly after that.
We managed to make a reasonable number of loops through down town, briefly swelling our ranks to 6 on two occasions. At one point we hooked up with a couple of friendly and supportive Seattle bike cops who helped demonstrate bike boxing technique. Several commuters joined us briefly (and one pulled us up and over Dexter — what a power house!), and most asked if we were riding Critical mass. Not today, see you in a couple of weeks!
Along the way we discussed our various experiences with Critical Mass, Seattle cycling cliques, and how best to create an open, inclusive and broadly appealing ride together. The folding bike probably helped on the Nerds part. Critical Man-Nerds fit our ride well (the folding bike helped, I’m sure), but if we’re going to be more inclusive it won’t fit the bill
At last we came to rest at a pub on Phinney Ridge, where our discussions turned more serious. So now what do we call it? Huggers, your votes and suggestions are needed. Here’s what we came up with:
- Critical Mini (props to Mr. Boxer)
- Minimal Mass (Yo Jamie)
- Critical MAN-ners (and derivative, Critical manNerds)
- Reformed Mass
- Just Ride (+she said?) (Nate)
- WRT (We Are Traffic — Nate)
- 2FB (2nd Friday Bikeride — Matt)
- Bike n’ Beer (Jamie)
More suggestions and votes, please!
Geoff of BLDGBLOG makes a passionate case for Los Angeles being the greatest city in America.
The whole thing is ridiculous. It's the most ridiculous city in the world - but everyone who lives there knows that. No one thinks that L.A. "works," or that it's well-designed, or that it's perfectly functional, or even that it makes sense to have put it there in the first place; they just think it's interesting. And they have fun there. And the huge irony is that Southern California is where you can actually do what you want to do; you can just relax and be ridiculous. In L.A. you don't have to be embarrassed by yourself.
I'm not sure I agree, but seeing as I've only been to LA for 24 hours in my whole life, my objections don't carry much weight.
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“Vimeo’s HD player gives me some strange sense of hope for video on the web.”
- Scott Gilbertson
Inspired by Graffiti Research lab, Diffiti offers an open source platform made in Macromedia Flash™, allowing anyone to use and change the project original code and graphics, however they see fit.
Also by Yaniv Steiner & co: InstantSOUP, Virtual Sumo, Mossalibra, Yaniv Steiner's talk on rapid prototyping process, I Ching, etc.
Mario Batali on how to sauce pasta.
(link)What you want to eat when you eat a bowl of pasta...is pasta. Americans overdress their pasta 99.9 percent of the time. It should never be a bowl of soup. It should be noodles, with a little stuff.
“msg: wow i just wasted lots of time refreshing mtv.com here are the screenshots to spare your time”.Gallery of MTV.com’s backgrounds. Interesting range of styles.
Essential typing utility TextExpander for Mac received a major upgrade today, bringing far more customization and performance enhancements.
Right after posting Sal Randolph's Free Money project I came across this, via Paul Flannery, October 15th, 2007:
1. Chapman brothers offer to draw on any form of currency with the Queen's head on it for free.
2. Collectors, critics and show-offs hand over crisp ne'er before used £20 note.
3. Artists hand over a £10 one.
4. and students £5
5. Chapman’s draw 100 (-ish) of these a day over 4 days.
6. £4,800 (at a £12 average) is removed from circulation and effectively spent on an artwork which no one has paid for.
A dollar value can now be placed on businessman Norman Hsu's bundled donations to Hillary Clinton: $804,850, the amount that the Hillary campaign has refunded back to the 249 individual donors. That works out to be a mean average of $3,232.33 per person.
When it came out that Hsu was in fact a fugitive from justice, due to a fraud conviction in California, the various Democrats to whom he'd donated — including Barack Obama, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and more — all rushed to donate his personal contributions over to charity and to return the bundled amounts to the original donors.
Vimeo HD in the New York Post"Our audience completely rejects the notion that Web video needs to be a lower quality than television," said Lodwick.Congratulations, Vimeo!
Also, tell the Post that 1280x720 is 12 times the resolution of 320x240, not 4 times.
A photo series of people and their breakfasts. I've often thought that a photo series of people and their favorite condiment would reveal much about contemporary American society.
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With new fundraising reports showing that Hillary has a few million more than Barack Obama for the primary, the Illinois Senator has cut a new Web ad, emailed to supporters today, in which he makes an unusually direct appeal for more campaign funds to close the gap with Hillary. Take a look:
Obama says:
"The fact of the matter is, we are still running an uphill battle. We're running against candidates who take money from PACs. They take money from Washington lobbyists. So I hope that you make that extra in these last few weeks. If you do, then not only are we going to be able to get our message of change out to the country, but we're going to be able to sustain that all throughout the primary, and lay the foundation for winning back the White House."The ad also contains an oddly intimate closeup of Obama's hands, as well as a closing shot of him plaintively saying, "bye bye." It's certainly a sign of the times that a candidate with an astonishing $36 million on hand can cast himself as the underdog.
Google's Mac team continues to work on the company's offerings for the Mac. This time, the team has updated an unloader for Picasa that has support for iLife '08, among other things.
Sam Brownback has a new initiative he's working on: An official government apology for slavery and segregation.
"They were federal policies," Brownback told the Boston Globe editorial board. "They were wrong. The only way for us to move forward ... is at the end of day acknowledging those, taking ownership for it, and asking for forgiveness."
Brownback said he is working with an as-yet-unnamed Democrat to craft a resolution. In an interesting commentary on just how contentious the Senate is these days, Brownback also said he expects a tough fight in getting such a non-binding resolution passed.
I keep seeing people encountering problems with MediaTemple web hosting. Constantly. I've never read anything good about them, actually.
As far as I can tell, they offer expensive VPSes and crappy shared hosting (they call it a "grid" but it's really just shared hosting that's structured slightly differently). And they put parentheses around all of their product names (pn).
Yet they still come highly recommended.
Why? Is it because they use curvy graphics and Web 2.0-inspired icons? It's certainly not because of their pricing or service quality.
First, a general note: as some of you may know, I'm in the process of turning BLDGBLOG into a book for Chronicle Books. That's due out in Spring 2009.
Accordingly, over the next three or four months, until the manuscript is due, I'll be cutting back a bit on posting, going down to maybe two or three times a week... But that's only till February! After which I'll have a bright, new book waiting to be designed by the wizards at Chronicle.
So keep coming back – but be aware that I won't be posting everyday. And buy a copy of the book!
Second, I haven't done a Quick List in a long time, so I thought I'd take a casual swing through some recent stories...[Image: Zoe Crosher's new pamphlet, published by the LA Forum].
In other bookworld news, for instance, the LA Forum has just put out a new pamphlet, featuring photographs of Los Angeles International Airport taken by artist Zoe Crosher.
But the images have a catch: all of the photos were taken inside airport hotel rooms.Zoe Crosher takes the viewer on an exploratory journey inside the impersonal and transient travel world surrounding the mega international airport, LAX. She finds a landscape packed with identical hotel chains pushed up against giant billboards, where the words "hotel" and "taxi" are understood by nearly everyone. (...) The pattern[s] of the drapes change, the color of the stucco exterior changes and the airplanes caught in mid flight move through the atmosphere, but the basic view stays the same. There is a haunting familiarity that one has never really left the first room...
Read more at the LA Forum.
In other book news, readers of BLDGBLOG's recent 2-part interview with Mary Beard may be pleased to hear that Beard's Wonders of the World series just got one book bigger.
Keith Miller's St. Peter's just arrived at my house this afternoon.[Images: (top) A wonderful – stunning! – photo of Rome, with the dome of St. Peter's catching sunlight in the background, by George O. Goodman; (middle) A view inside St. Peter's nested domes and arches by Andrew Huxtable; (bottom) St. Peter's Square, photographed by mambo1935].
Speaking of architectural history, an "underground monastery dating back to the 17th century has been restored in West Russia's Belgorod region. The huge underground complex, which was looted and destroyed after the October Revolution, was sanctified again by the local Archbishop."The combined length of the caves is over 650 meters, and they resemble a real labyrinth. But the central part looks like any Orthodox Christian church and there are passages around the site for religious processions. The monastery is dry and temperatures inside remain stable year round at about 6 degrees Celsius.
Two wonderful details: 1) At its height, the monastery apparently had "no less than 1,000 meters of underground galleries and tunnels that lead to churches on the surface." 2) "During the Revolution, the monks had abandoned the complex and for some time the caves were populated by anarchist gangs."
I believe this is the same place – and if you like this kind of thing then don't miss BLDGBLOG's look at the allure of the underground city.
Moving in the opposite vertical direction, 33 Thomas Street, in New York City, is a windowless concrete high-rise built solely for the purpose of housing a telephone exchange.[Image: 33 Thomas Street, via Wikipedia; view slightly bigger].
According to Wikipedia, 33 Thomas Street "is a telephone exchange or wire center building which contains three major 4ESS switches used for interexchange (long distance) telephony, two owned by AT&T and one owned by Verizon."
Further, "As it was built to house telephone switching equipment, the average floor height is 18 feet (5.5 meters), considerably taller than in an average high-rise. The floors are also unusually strong, designed to carry 200 to 300 pound per square foot (10 - 15 kPa) live loads."
Really a gigantic pseudo-Brutalist vault, the building is probably crawling with government wire-tappers – its windowless walls and concrete geometry the subject of at least half a dozen occult urban myths.
For instance, the ghost of Aleister Crowley is said to live there, sitting cross-legged in "a mass of blue and violet plumes," performing divine telegraphy, sending messages into the ether, "crowned with the stars of night."[Image: The fires of chromosomal mutation burn].
Then there was some news about artificial life: "Craig Venter, the controversial DNA researcher involved in the race to decipher the human genetic code, has built a synthetic chromosome out of laboratory chemicals and is poised to announce the creation of the first new artificial life form on Earth." The Guardian refers to this as "a giant leap forward in the development of designer genomes."
All of which is certainly interesting in and of itself, but what might this news herald for the future of landscape architecture? Could someone genetically engineer entire gardens and flowering species, new trees, shrubs, and lichen?
Let's ask Brazil, where the New York Times reports that "sprawling labs and experimental fields" run by the government have been making "Brazil's savannah bloom."
We learn that most of these sprawling labs' "pioneering work" has been performed "in the cerrado, the vast savannah that stretches for more than 1,000 miles across central Brazil. Written off as useless for centuries, the region has been transformed in less than a generation into Brazil’s grain belt, thanks to the discovery that soils could be made fertile by dousing them with phosphorus and lime" – chemically conjuring fertility from the ground.[Images: The future of the Brazilian Earth, photographed by Lalo de Almeida for New York Times].
But making the Earth more fertile is sometimes just a matter of better harvesting techniques: Pruned introduced us last month to a new breed of picking machines that may soon be set loose upon the American agricultural landscape, harvesting fruits with an efficiency human hands can't quite – apparently – achieve.
But what might happen if these future machines get hacked? What strange new incisions in the landscape might result? Or, "[e]ven more interesting," Pruned asks, "what will happen if they become self-aware and go out to pasture? Fitted with solar panels, grazing from one oil well to another, domiciling in abandoned gold mines, what new ecologies will they terraform?"
This becomes, yes, even more interesting when you add another article – also discovered via Pruned – about the strategic use of crops as a form of pharmaceutical cultivation:Conventional ways to make modern medicines are expensive, which means pharmaceutical companies generally target those diseases that affect lots of people who can pay. Plants can be grown, harvested, and the useful medicine purified from them at a fraction of the price, so using them as leafy drug factories saves a fortune, and opens the doors to treating people in poorer countries. Advocates say just 250 acres of GM potato crop could churn out enough hepatitis B vaccine to protect the entire population of south-east Asia from the disease for a year.
Whole fields of genetically-modified medicine waving in the summer breeze: someday, perhaps, pills will grow on trees.
But this scientized approach to the public health of tomorrow is not without its controversies. Later in that same article we read that one medically-augmented strain of tobacco is now being cultivated on "a Kent farm, in ultra-secure greenhouses with twin-skin plastic walls strong enough to resist a hurled brick." These ultra-secure greenhouses "are the botanic equivalent of the containment facilities used by microbiologists to work on biological weapons."
In other words, the current legal climate surrounding these Hippocratic organisms means that they will be "swaying only in an artificial, heavily filtered breeze" for some years to come. So much for my visions of the pharmaceutical future...
Until the harvesting machines show up.[Images: Libya's ambitious plan is announced; via the BBC].
Further afield, it was announced last month that British architect Norman Foster will be designing a new "eco-region" for Libya – whether they want him to or not...
For that project, Foster + Partners have drawn up "regional plans to create a national park, a renewable energy infrastructure, a public transportation infrastructure fuelled by biofuels, sustainable agriculture irrigated through desalination plants, and an eco-tourism resort. The latter could, according to some preliminary plans, have buildings built into the side of mountains to minimise their visual impact and take advantage of the stone's insulating properties."
As the Guardian points out, the project's brief "basically says everything the world would want to hear: sustainable development; archaeological conservation; eco-tourism; renewable energy; environmentally responsible town planning; micro-banking; education; biofuels; even production of 'the finest quality organic food and drink'."
Further:Foster's plan strives to avoid turning the coastline into another Benidorm. Nothing will be built along the seafront; all will be pushed back to the foot of the hills. Controlled zones of forest and agriculture will rise up the hills inland, towards the ruins on the plateau above. New towns will be based on the traditional Arab medina model: close-knit communities to minimise car use and urban sprawl.
It would also be the near-perfect setting for a future J.G. Ballard novel.
Just today, then, the New York Times jumps in, calling Foster's eco-region "a carbon neutral green-development zone, catering to tourism and serving as a model for environmentally friendly design," complete with "luxury hotels, villas and golf courses, as well as community housing."
Sounds green, indeed! I'll fly there in my private jet and recycle Pepsi cans.
Lots of Pepsi cans.[Image: A rendering of the Libyan eco-region, ©Foster + Partners, via the New York Times].
Moving outward, then, New Scientist asks: "Did ancient oceans on Venus last long enough for potential life to have emerged? The answer could be locked inside a hardy mineral called tremolite, which future robotic missions to our neighbouring planet could find and study."
After all, the "surface of Venus today is extremely dry and hot enough to melt lead," but at some point in the distant past it may have harbored seaborne life.
Perhaps Norman Foster can build a resort there.[Image: A Venusian mountain called Maat Mons; via New Scientist].
However, if Venus doesn't interest you there are always "Super-Earths" – "rocky planets up to 10 times the mass of Earth." 10 times! Imagine the canyons, and the mountains, and the caves!
Because of those planets' mass, we read, plate tectonics are apparently "inevitable." Further: "Plate tectonics may boost biodiversity by recycling chemicals and minerals through the crust. 'When it comes to habitability, super-Earths are our best destination,'" we're told – and "life" is just geochemistry in a slightly more mobile form. We're just pieces of the Earth's surface.
But if there are Super-Earths, why not Super-Cities?
Hong Kong wants to remind everyone that it's still a World-Class Destination®, and so it might – just might – merge with Shenzhen.
The BBC explains that a new research report is recommending that "Hong Kong should be merged with Shenzhen, the southern Chinese city across the border, to make a mega-city of 20 million people. Only then can Hong Kong be one of the world's great cities."[Image: The Hong Kong-Shenzhen Super-City as mapped by the BBC].
Fascinatingly, these plans for extended urban territoriality actually have to do with hydrology. Quoting at length:Back when Hong Kong was a British colony, its border with China was marked by the Shenzhen River, and like many rivers, it curved.
And so on. I have at least ten more articles lined up for inclusion here, but I'll have to leave it at that.
When the river was straightened, it left a square kilometre of land, technically owned by China and now under Hong Kong rule, known as the Lok Ma Chau Loop.
"Hong Kong and Shenzhen have been arguing about this, who should do what, so we're suggesting, in this place here, the land-right belongs to Shenzhen, but the administrative rights are Hong Kong's," [one of the aforementioned report's authors] said.
"So if we could use this as an example, as a pilot, Shenzhen people could just go there without visas, Hong Kong people could just go there, and let the market decide. Maybe this is a very good place for health care... for high-tech factories... for museums and whatever. This could be an example where the mainland and Hong Kong actually work together, borderless."
More soon.
(Earlier on BLDGBLOG: Quick list 9, Quick list 8, etc. etc., and thanks to Alex Trevi for the Russian cave monastery link; 33 Thomas Street discovered via Kazys Varnelis).
Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields includes lots of great old pictures and maps.
A 1937 poster promoting Floyd Bennett Field.
When we thought of who we wanted to star in Serious Eats' first regular video series, Mario Batali's name kept coming up over and over again. Why? He's funny, passionate, generously spirited, smart as hell, and a great cook. So we hope you'll enjoy Unclogged, Mario Batali as you've never seen him before. Ed Levine
The Takeaway
Mario says:
- "What you want to eat when you eat a bowl of pasta ... is pasta."
- "The way that they refer to their sauce in Italy is condimentocondimentand when you think about a hot dog or hamburger, the condiment is something that kind of greases it up, but it never overtakes the main event of the hot dog or the hamburger."
- "Americans overdress their pasta 99.9 percent of the time. It should never be a bowl of soup. It should be noodles, with a little stuff."
I'm not sure how I've not stumbled across Benford's Law before, but I haven't -- it sure seems like the kind of mathematical trivia that's right in my happy place. The law states that given a list of numerical data from real-world sources (i.e., baseball statistics, street addresses, Dow Jones averages, tax return amounts), the first digit of a number in the list is more likely to be 1 than any other digit (specifically, a 30.1% probability), and there are specific probabilities for each other digit as well. The law can be used to look for fraudulent sets of data -- for example, if tax return data doesn't follow the probabilities specified by the law, it has a much higher likelihood of being falsified.
Rex Swain republished the Times article along with some enlightening charts that help illustrate the law, and of course, Wikipedia has more info. And finally, there's a Java tool that can help you analyze your own data sets against Benford's Law... just be forewarned that data that's truly uniformly distributed won't adhere to the law.
brilliant Ask Metafilter thread showcases the diversity of the community
JPEG homepage "When most people talk about JPEG, they are referring to a particular standard and its implementation, not our committee"....booyaa!!!
Apple plans to expand its iTunes Plus selection to include some independent music labels starting this week. It also plans to drop the price of its DRM-free tracks to the same level as DRMed tracks.
Gawker Reckoning: I just think that emulating traditional media's willingness to destroy people who aren't villains isn't a strategy for long-term success. Sometimes the truth hurts, sometimes it's sweet.
RSS Advisory Board: “This profile contains a set of recommendations for Really Simple Syndication, a web syndication format documented in RSS 2.0 (revision 2.0.10).”
(Some of you may recall that I was on the RSS Advisory Board—but that was years ago, and I didn’t work on this document.)
Appeal in RIAA case to focus on "unconstitutionally excessive" punishment
Argument: Anything above $0.70 per infringement is clearly punitive, not statutory.
Some information on apple cider doughnuts, including a recipe. Looks like the cider is substituted for the water in the dough recipe. We bought some of these while apple picking in NJ this weekend. So good.
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Katherine Moriwaki and my project “Umbrella_net” is included in the book “New Media Design” by Tricia Austin and Richard Doust which just came out at the end of last month. Some really interesting projects also included in this nice 191 page textbook of sorts about digital media arts. Def worth checking out.
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, is a action-adventure game for the Nintendo DS in which you control a blond adventurer with a pajama cap and sword (pictured below) using a touch-screen stylus. I was playing it the other day when…
My fairy sidekick told me that I should try “pressing” the seal from a map I just had discovered in a dungeon (displayed on the top screen) to my map (displayed on the bottom screen).
I remembered that several hours ago, I had to scratch a secret spot on the map to reveal another seal. So I spent five minutes aligning the two maps, then scratching and tapping on the touch-screen with my stylus. Unfortunately, this did not “press” the seal onto my screen.
Next I tried drawing the seal onto my own map complete with meticulous shading. Still no reaction. Frustrated, I tried to direct my character out of the map room. But my sidekick fairy barred my exit, turned me around and repeated that all I needed to do was “press” the seal onto my map.
Ten minutes of scratching and tapping later, I was about to give up: I imagined the triumphant feeling of closing shut my DS and tossing it into a corner. Then I realized, “Wait a second, if I close my DS then the two screens (or maps) will touch!”
Scared that it might power off my game, I carefully closed the lid of my DS.
I waited.
The green power light winked. My heart fluttered. I opened it back up — puzzle solved.
.
Looking for interaction design inspiration? Forget the iPhone. Get a Nintendo DS.
(Tom Armitage alluded to this interaction in his comment to my last post.)
Various sources have said that Apple does indeed plan to launch Leopard on October 26. With the date falling less than two weeks from the new OS going Gold Master, it'll be a race to the finish line, if true.
For background click here. Anna L. Conti's blog is on the lead list. If you have San Francisco-based blogs to...
The Hype Machine is doing something clever with the new version of their site. They're opening the beta up to the public but not until they get a "crowd" of 10,000 people with their browsers open to this page.
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Posted by David King, YouTube Product Manager
A few months ago, we announced the initial development of a highly complicated technology platform -- content identification tools for YouTube. Today, we are pleased to launch, in beta form, YouTube Video Identification.
Video Identification is the next step in a long list of content policies and tools that we have provided copyright owners so that they can more easily identify their content and manage how it is made available on YouTube.
Video Identification joins the following policies and tools:
- Our strict repeat-infringer policy, which has been in place since our launch, terminates accounts of repeat infringers based on DMCA notices.
- We take a unique "hash" of every video removed for copyright infringement and block re-upload of that exact video file prospectively.
- We require a 10-minute limit on the length of content uploaded to the site.
- We provide content owners with an electronic notification and takedown tool, to help them more easily identify their material and notify us to take it down with the click of a mouse.
- We also publish copyright tips for users in plain English and clear, prominent messaging at the time of user upload.
Like many of these other policies and tools, Video Identification goes above and beyond our legal responsibilities. It will help copyright holders identify their works on YouTube, and choose what they want done with their videos: whether to block, promote, or even—if a copyright holder chooses to license their content to appear on the site—monetize their videos. In implementing this technology, we are committed to supporting new forms of original creativity, protecting fair use, and providing a seamless user experience—all while we help rights owners easily manage their content. Stay tuned … and for more information, check out our Video Identification page.
The Edwards campaign is being very tight-lipped today about the raft of new SEIU state affiliates that they have reportedly racked up.
But a source familiar with the endorsements tells me that Edwards is set to announce the support of new SEIU affiliates that total nearly 1,000,000 in new members. That's a substantial jolt, suggesting that Edwards' hard work in courting the service employees is paying off and giving Edwards a way of claiming a new burst of momentum.
The campaign says they'll be announcing something today at 6:30, at which point we'll know for sure which states comprise the nearly 1,000,000 members newly for Edwards. More later.
Who knew Whole Foods had such an extensive website? Or that it would have that recipe for Sweet Corn and Black Bean salad that I had just paid $7.99 a pound for the day before. Needless to say, it’s a tad cheaper to make it yourself and only marginally harder.
The key to the salad’s success is the quick vinaigrette that binds all the ingredients together. Instead of being more or less a corn and bean salsa, its a dip that requires no chips. The fork worked fine for me. I also started sprinkling it on other salads, which is probably a leftover habit from the Whole Foods prepared section. I always managed to stuff way too many items into one box, which is probably why I never made it out of there with a salad under $9. This is a great way to atone for those spending fits.
Sweet Corn and Black Bean Salad
- serves 6 -
Ingredients
For the dressing:
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
juice of half a lemon
salt and pepperFor the salad:
2 cups corn kernels, (4 fresh ears)
4 cups cooked black beans
1/2 cup onionProcedure
1. Mix all of the dressing ingredients together.
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Dump the corn in and cook for a minute. Drain the corn in a colander, and immediately rinse with cold water. Drain again.
3. Combine the beans, corn, and onion. Pour the dressing over it. Mix together lightly. It’s perfectly acceptable to eat as is, but thirty minutes in the fridge might make it even better.
Last week, the parking garage industry-funded group Keep NYC Congestion Tax Free issued its latest salvo against congestion pricing. The report begins:Keep NYC Congestion Tax Free proposes a cost-effective, efficient, fair and practical alternative plan that will address the problems posed by congestion in New York City and exceed the guidelines imposed by the Urban Partnership Agreement between the USDOT and New York City, New York State and the MTA.
The report then details ten traffic reducing measures as alternatives to congestion pricing.
Unfortunately, "Keep NYC's" language here is misleading. Regardless of whatever potential traffic reducing benefits these alternatives might provide, the U.S. Department of Transportation has made it very clear that New York City's congestion reduction plan must include congestion pricing or New York City will not get $354.5 million in federal Urban Partnership start-up funds, of which $342 million is for new buses, bus depots and Bus Rapid Transit.
The Urban Partnership agreement between the USDOT and NYC, NY State and the MTA, which can be downloaded here, says:
In the event the New York State legislature enacts and the New York City Council approves the Mayor's Plan, the Urban Partner agrees to undertake the following actions: (i) institute a broad area pricing system in Manhattan south of 86th Street…
(The "Mayor's Plan" is the congestion pricing plan and is what the feds considered as New York City's submission for Urban Partnership funding.)
Later in the document the USDOT explains what it would fund as an alternative to the mayor's congestion pricing plan:
5. Grant Agreements for Alternative Plan.
In the event that the New York State legislature enacts and the New York City Council approves an alternative congestion mitigation plan, the Department and the Urban Partner agree to negotiate the funding of such plan if it:
(a) Is reasonably expected to reduce average vehicle miles traveled by at least 6.3 percent across a geographic area of similar size and travel characteristics to the area proposed for pricing under the Mayor's Plan;
(b) Uses pricing as the principal mechanism for achieving this congestion reduction;
(c) Includes at least an eighteen month operation of congestion pricing;In other words, if the legislatures moved the border of the pricing zone from 86th Street to 60th Street that would probably be OK. But both here, and in the agreement summary, the feds clearly state that the $354.5 million in Urban Partnership funding is contingent on congestion pricing. The feds use the words "area pricing system" and "congestion pricing" to make it clear they seek to support a fee for pricing street use, and that a value parking scheme and the other traffic reducing measures within the Keep NYC Congestion Tax Free report -- however effective -- are not what they are considering. Thus, any alternative congestion relief plan adopted by the legislatures which does not include congestion pricing, will forfeit $354.5 million in federal Urban Partnership start-up fund, including $342 million for better bus service.
Apple couldn't wait to drop the PowerPC from its hardware lineup. So will a PowerPC inside cause Apple's upcoming big cat to cough up hairballs or purr contently?
Legal sources are telling Newsweek that there not be an indictment of Rudy's man Bernie Kerik this month, after all.
"Kerik has agreed with prosecutors to extend the statute of limitations for investigating his 2000 tax return until Nov. 15, and he could agree to extend it further," the mag says, adding that Kerik's lawyer will meet with the Feds over next month. "The principal issue: does the evidence justify criminal tax charges, or could the case be resolved, like many other tax cases, with a civil settlement?"
Of course, the longer this drags out, the more likely it becomes that bad news will break when Rudy's campaign is in full swing. And lest this be forgotten, recall that this is the man Rudy recommended as his pick for chief of the Department of Homeland Security -- that is, as the man in charge of defending us from what Rudy calls the "Terrorists' War On Us."
Wes Anderson and the movies he makes are racist. Point. Point. Counterpoint. Reminds me of the hubbub about the alleged racism in Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation.
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I've had the chance to follow Gawker Media since before it launched, really, and so it's been interesting to see a couple of items pop up recently about the direction of some of its titles and practices. The big story, of course, is New York Magazine's piece, which is appropriately petty, self-indulgent, and honest, as any piece about Gawker should be.
A lot of the complaints in the article seem to boil down to "but they're not nice!" and I have to say -- I think that's a completely fair criticism. Not that media has to be nice, but because journalism in many of its forms aspires to having a sense of social responsibility. I've had enough friends or acquaintances who've had their day (or week, or reputation) ruined by one of the Gawker blogs that I've gotten a lot less willing to say "oh hey, they're just trying to drive traffic". I'm all for snarky-smart assed blogging, I just think that emulating traditional media's willingness to destroy people who aren't villains isn't a strategy for long-term success.
From the New York mag story:
It’s long been known to magazine journalists that there’s an audience out there that’s hungry to see the grasping and vainglorious and undeservedly successful (“douchebags” or “asshats,” in Gawker parlance) put in the tumbrel and taken to their doom. It’s not necessarily a pleasant job, but someone’s got to do it. Young writers have always had the option of making their name by meting out character assassinations—I have been guilty of taking this path myself—but Gawker’s ad hominem attacks and piss-on-a-baby humor far outstrip even Spy magazine’s. It’s an inevitable consequence of living in today’s New York: Youthful anxiety and generational angst about having been completely cheated out of ownership of Manhattan, and only sporadically gaining it in Brooklyn and Queens, has fostered a bloodlust for the heads of the douchebags who stole the city. It’s that old story of haves and have-nots, rewritten once again.
The problem with this conveniently simplified narrative about Gawker's sites, particularly its flagship namesake blog, is that it's always accompanied by assertions that this sort of sniping is what blogs are about. This isn't just inaccurate, it's the kind of assertion that is easily disproven both qualitatively and quantitatively. But whether it's Gawker in NYC, Wonkette in DC, or Valleywag in the Bay Area, people who have loud mouths want to believe that news about them must truly be all the news that matters. Therefore, if the blog that talks about me and my friends is snarky, all blogs are snarky. Which is, you know, kinda obviously horseshit.
This hoary-but-false chestnut makes its requisite appearance in the NYMag piece in reference to Elizabeth Spiers and Nick Denton: "They didn’t exactly invent the blog, but the tone they used for Gawker became the most important stylistic influence on the emerging field of blogging and has turned into the de facto voice of blogs today." (Personal note to those who follow in the steps of Vanessa Grigoriadis: This is false. Stop saying it.)
The misrepresentation of blogging is especially tragic because not even all Gawker blogs are snarky. Case in point is the excellent Lifehacker, the best-written of all Gawker blogs, helmed by Gina Trapani. Since they're public, I don't feel too wrong pointing to her recent Twitters, one in praise of a recent attempt by Gawker editors to object to advertising encroaching on editorial on the site, and one celebrating Lifehacker's omission from the recitation of snarky Gawker sites in the NYMag story.
I'm not sure one of the best editorial talents at a publishing company should be reduced to celebrating such small victories. Don't get me wrong: Gawker gets a lot right. There's absolutely a value in speaking truth to power, and there is truly something noble in deflating the self-importance of the various industries that the Gawker sites poke holes in. My contempt for those who insult journalism by pretending it shouldn't evolve remains as strong as ever. At the same time, there should be a sense of social responsibility to the community of bloggers, if not to the traditional media. And to my mind, that means highlighting the humor, incisiveness, and lack of favoritism that made sites like Gawker such a breath of fresh air when they started. Put more simply, tearing apart the innocent bystanders in these industries isn't just bad journalism, it's boring blogging.
And really, as long as print magazines like New York Magazine are still quoting the likes of Julia Allison as an authority on blogs, there will be no shortage of material to poke fun at. But these points of reckoning should serve as useful milestones for making sure we're not becoming the worst of the legacy cultures we're trying to criticize.
Disclaimers, such as they are: I've got a million little connections and biases about this story. I'm an unabashed blog promoter, even after all these years, so I'm protective of the medium. I don't read many posts from Gawker blogs, but still have an inexplicable affection for them, and am quite pleased that at one point years ago, I think I knew almost everybody in the Gawker organization. I like Nick Denton, both personally and professionally, even though he exasperates me regularly and antagonizes my friends almost constantly. (And I certainly admire Nick's diplomatic abilities, which allow him to maintain friendships with people even as he's paid others to publicly embarrass them.)
I've known Liz Spiers for a few years socially, and may even have introduced her at Nick, at a MetaFilter meetup, of all things, and think she's underrated as a blogger. I consider Gina Trapani a friend (which will now be particularly awkward if that's not mutual) and I think indirectly had a hand in her meeting Nick as well. Gina is perhaps the most underrated high-profile blogger in the world. I'm a fan of Gawker editor Choire Sicha, and have a genuine affection for both his talents and charm. I pitched a fit earlier this year at Valleywag editor Owen Thomas because I think some of his pieces on the company I work for were full of shit, though we've since sorta made up and Valleywag continues to publish wacky and wrong articles about our work. I also like New York Magazine, though I only read it when someone sends me a link to a story. And both Gawker and NY Mag use Movable Type for parts of their publishing, which I work on and means I probably indirectly get paid from some of these sites. Batteries not included, your mileage may vary, my name is Anil Dash and I endorsed this message.
Help me support the Notes for Class Challenge -- you can choose which teacher's proposal you want to donate to, and help support music in schools. Plus I'll personally kick in another 10% on top of every donation you make. Music Bingo is a great place to start.
Wikipedia List of the Day: Fictional Airborne Castles
I live in Calcutta, which has streets and pavements that are not conducive to running at all. So I go to a gym and do my running on a treadmill. I recently started an RW Smart Coach Plan (16 week...
ASK COACH JENNY! Coach Jenny Hadfield is the co-author of the best selling Marathoning for Mortals and the newly released Running for Mortals. She is a nationally recognized speaker, writer and co-owner of Chicago Endurance Sports, Chicago?s largest multi-sport training company.
Every once in awhile, my friend Matt takes a photo of the whiteboard at Orbital Comics in London. The most recent one features a list of the top 10 greatest moments in movies from comics. Orbital's MySpace page has more of their whiteboard lists.
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Robin Chase is the co-founder and former CEO of Zipcar and the founder and CEO of GoLoco, a ride-sharing service that uses social networks like Facebook to connect people who want to carpool. A Harvard University Loeb Fellow, Chase is an authority on the use of wireless and mesh network technology as it applies to transportation. She'll be giving a talk at Baruch College, 151 E. 25th St., Room 759, at 9:30am on October 19th. There she'll discuss some of the ways wireless technology can facilitate near-term reduction of CO2 emissions. What follows are some excerpts from a telephone conversation last week with Sarah Goodyear.
Sarah Goodyear: Your talk at Baruch College is titled "The Window of Opportunity is Now: How Wireless Can Move Us to More Sustainable Transportation." Explain what you'll be discussing.
Robin Chase: The pitch starts with my complete horror that we have less than five years to turn worldwide CO2 emissions around. One of the senior climatologists that I refer to said if that turning point of CO2 emissions happens in 2015, i.e. seven yrs from now, we have a 50-50 chance of averting catastrophic effects of climate change. I personally would like to improve those odds.
When we think about the transportation world, everything is major infrastructure change: Let's build more rail, more transit, more walkable communities. Let's create more fuel-efficient cars and move to hybrids and alternative fuels. Not one speck of that work is going to have a remote impact in the time frame we're talking about. So while I think those are critical and important things for the medium run and the long run, we need more people focused on what we're going to be doing in the next five years.
SG: How does wireless fit in?RC: From my Zipcar experience and from watching congestion pricing played out in London and Stockholm, I've learned that money -- market pricing, or accurate reflection of pricing -- is what turns people's behavior on a dime. If we're serious, that's where we have to go. Marketing is everything and wireless technologies bring us to a totally different world of possibility.
Zipcar and car-sharing is one example of how the ability to rent a car by the hour easily and therefore pay almost full car costs for that hour causes people to drive dramatically less. You don't run out and buy your quart of ice cream, because it's going to cost you ten bucks to buy that quart of ice cream. You say OK, I'll do without, I'll eat cookies, I'll pick up ice cream tomorrow.
Likewise ride sharing, which is what GoLoco is all about. There are a couple of reasons ride-sharing has been underused. One of them is stranger anxiety: I really don't want to step into a car with anybody. The rise of social networks has transformed that equation. We're all friends of friends, so we can get some level of comfort around that. Then the whole money-changing-hands piece. People think it's complicated, why bother. They think it's dirty, embarrassing and awkward. So we can do an online payment system. And the whole matching-up of people finding those rides--that's what the Internet and our wireless devices in our hands are all about. That we can make those connections relatively easily.
A screenshot of GoLoco users on Facebook
SG: How can wireless technology and mesh networks enable congestion pricing?RC: What is shocking about the congestion pricing model that was done in London and in Stockholm and in Singapore is that those systems are creating wireless infrastructures on closed networks with proprietary devices. If we're going to spend out oodles of money for wireless infrastructure for our transportation systems for congestion pricing and for road pricing, we should be making those open networks using open standards, i.e., things that consumers and businesspeople have devices that hook up to. We'd actually do an open source communications platform. And we can transform this required investment in transportation wireless infrastructure into something that's an economic development boon and that makes information ubiquitous and very, very low cost, while we're making carbon -- the old economy -- high cost.
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Hey Everyone-- as part of our continuing efforts to make Gothamist a friendly and reasonably polite place, we've eliminated "guest" comments on our posts. This means that to comment on the site, all users will need to complete a short registration process. We've decided to do this because the vast majority of bad behavior (trolling, spamming, incivility, etc) seem to come from the guests. That's not surprising: as many internet pundits have observed, total anonymity seems to make even the nicest person act totally insane. A note about privacy: the new system does require a working email address to complete registration. It does not require you to share your real name, or any other information about you. Gothamist will not sell your email address to third parties. Registration on the new system is fast and easy-- you can do it here. And once you register you get a nifty profile page, showing all of your previous Gothamist activity. You can also select an "avatar" which will show up whenever you comment. Thanks to everyone who gave feedback on the comments system. Feel free to share your opinions in the comments on this post, or in emails to me and Jen. Previously: Comments 2.0
via NYTimes:
Op-Ed Columnist
Gore Derangement Syndrome
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: October 15, 2007On the day after Al Gore shared the Nobel Peace Prize, The Wall Street Journal's editors couldn't even bring themselves to mention Mr. Gore's name. Instead, they devoted their editorial to a long list of people they thought deserved the prize more.
And at National Review Online, Iain Murray suggested that the prize should have been shared with "that well-known peace campaigner Osama bin Laden, who implicitly endorsed Gore's stance." You see, bin Laden once said something about climate change — therefore, anyone who talks about climate change is a friend of the terrorists.
What is it about Mr. Gore that drives right-wingers insane?
Partly it's a reaction to what happened in 2000, when the American people chose Mr. Gore but his opponent somehow ended up in the White House. Both the personality cult the right tried to build around President Bush and the often hysterical denigration of Mr. Gore were, I believe, largely motivated by the desire to expunge the stain of illegitimacy from the Bush administration.
And now that Mr. Bush has proved himself utterly the wrong man for the job — to be, in fact, the best president Al Qaeda's recruiters could have hoped for — the symptoms of Gore derangement syndrome have grown even more extreme.
The worst thing about Mr. Gore, from the conservative point of view, is that he keeps being right. In 1992, George H. W. Bush mocked him as the "ozone man," but three years later the scientists who discovered the threat to the ozone layer won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. In 2002 he warned that if we invaded Iraq, "the resulting chaos could easily pose a far greater danger to the United States than we presently face from Saddam." And so it has proved.
But Gore hatred is more than personal. When National Review decided to name its anti-environmental blog Planet Gore, it was trying to discredit the message as well as the messenger. For the truth Mr. Gore has been telling about how human activities are changing the climate isn't just inconvenient. For conservatives, it’s deeply threatening.
Consider the policy implications of taking climate change seriously.
"We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals," said F.D.R. "We know now that it is bad economics." These words apply perfectly to climate change. It's in the interest of most people (and especially their descendants) that somebody do something to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, but each individual would like that somebody to be somebody else. Leave it up to the free market, and in a few generations Florida will be underwater.
The solution to such conflicts between self-interest and the common good is to provide individuals with an incentive to do the right thing. In this case, people have to be given a reason to cut back on greenhouse gas emissions, either by requiring that they pay a tax on emissions or by requiring that they buy emission permits, which has pretty much the same effects as an emissions tax. We know that such policies work: the U.S. "cap and trade" system of emission permits on sulfur dioxide has been highly successful at reducing acid rain.
Climate change is, however, harder to deal with than acid rain, because the causes are global. The sulfuric acid in America's lakes mainly comes from coal burned in U.S. power plants, but the carbon dioxide in America's air comes from coal and oil burned around the planet — and a ton of coal burned in China has the same effect on the future climate as a ton of coal burned here. So dealing with climate change not only requires new taxes or their equivalent; it also requires international negotiations in which the United States will have to give as well as get.
Everything I've just said should be uncontroversial — but imagine the reception a Republican candidate for president would receive if he acknowledged these truths at the next debate. Today, being a good Republican means believing that taxes should always be cut, never raised. It also means believing that we should bomb and bully foreigners, not negotiate with them.
So if science says that we have a big problem that can’t be solved with tax cuts or bombs — well, the science must be rejected, and the scientists must be slimed. For example, Investor's Business Daily recently declared that the prominence of James Hansen, the NASA researcher who first made climate change a national issue two decades ago, is actually due to the nefarious schemes of — who else? — George Soros.
Which brings us to the biggest reason the right hates Mr. Gore: in his case the smear campaign has failed. He's taken everything they could throw at him, and emerged more respected, and more credible, than ever. And it drives them crazy.
Long profile of David Simon and The Wire in the New Yorker this week. Haven't read it yet, but digging in now.
Update: Ok, all done. I thought this observation about the two main groups of fans of the show (urban poor and media critics) was canny:
Sometimes the fan base of "The Wire" seems like the demographics of many American cities -- mainly the urban poor and the affluent elite, with the middle class hollowed out.
The last bit of the article talks about a new show that Simon's thinking of doing for HBO about New Orleans musicians.
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Philadelphia is the site of the latest battleground involving foie gras. Following in the footsteps of Chicago and California, both of which have laws on the books to ban the sale and consumption of this French delicacy made from the fatted livers of geese and ducks, Philadelphia's city council will be debating a bill put forth by Councilman Jack Kelly that would ban the food from the City of Brotherly Love. An animal rights group called Hugs for Puppies is protesting area restaurants that continue to serve foie gras, while a group of local chefs has banded together as the Philadelphia Chefs for Choice to oppose the ban. (Does this imply that those opposed to a foie gras ban are "pro-choice," while those in favor are "pro-life?").
The debate of course is nothing new, although it is interesting to see that the idea is spreading to cities across the country. Also interesting is that, according to an article on the subject in Time last week, "The American Veterinary Medical Association's House of Delegates and the American Association of Avian Pathologists have concluded that foie is not a product of animal cruelty." This suprises me, since a veterinarian friend of mine (who actually enjoys consuming the occasional fatted goose or duck liver) has argued just the opposite.
Like Anthony Bourdain, I feel like the debate is strange given the well-documented and much larger problem in this country of livestock and poultry abuse on factory farms. The foie gras industry is so much smaller, and yet steals the lion's share of attention for these kinds of issues. We could all do a lot more good by demanding an end to feedlots.
But where do you stand? Is foie gras cruel or not? Do you care? Where do you draw the line between delicious food and inhumane practices?
The Other Congestion. “Buildings in the [New York City’s] commercial sector, alone, which includes offices and retail space, kick out 25 percent of all emissions (transportation, by contrast, accounts for 23 percent)....Two months before Bloomberg and his Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability rolled out PlaNYC 2030, London’s Mayor Ken Livingstone released his own 148-page report called the Climate Change Action Plan. The two documents are strikingly similar in approach and have been applauded by environmental and business leaders alike. Yet there is at least one conspicuous – and significant – difference between the London and New York reports. The London plan devotes a full section to commercial and institutional buildings – analyzing in minute detail their energy use, recommending ways to improve efficiency and outlining various regulatory measures intended to force the commercial sector’s hand. New York City’s report, however, has no such section.”
If you use IRC on the Mac, your love-hate relationship with Colloquy may skew a little more towards love after today's update to version 2.1. While there aren't a ton of new features, there are a lot of welcome bug fixes.
“There's a dirty little secret out there among Mac owners: We buy Dell monitors.”
- What Mac Stuff We Like to Buy From Dell
Challenge 1: Simplicity
Alton and the Chairman (via video) tell the chefs to express their culinary style in a single bite. Everyone seems upbeat about this one, except perhaps the chefs who can't get their favorite ingredients at the Iron Chef salad bar. The 30-minute prep time is definitely tight and a lagging Aarón Sanchez doesn't get his plating done. Otherwise, most chefs delivered sophisticated looking plates. In fact, some of the dishes look like full-blown appetizers, not really a single bite.
The judges for this challenge turn out to be "a jury of your peers" -- a nice twist. At first, it looks like almost everyone will receive a vote, but eventually Michael Symon and his lamb tartare ends up with a handful of lovenotes from his fellow chefs. The black-clad Clevelander gets a pat on the back and a hearty handshake, as well as some minor advantages on the elimination challenge.
[Warning: Details of that elimination challenge and plenty of spoilage, after the jump.]
Challenge 2: Innovation
The chefs enter the kitchen to find a bunch of high-tech equipment waiting for them. Most, if not all of them, look like deer in the proverbial headlights. Not one of them rubs their hands together and says, "Oh goodie, an antigriddle!" And luckily for the nervous chefs, they have a lecture session and lab with chef Wyle Dufresne (of WD-50 fame) and a rep from PolyScience, the maker of most of the heavy gear (and whose client list is a fun read).
For fans of molecular gastronomy and other edgy trends, most of this stuff isn't news, but that said, most of us have never seen it in action. I wonder if Kitchen Stadium will be getting all these goodies along with the new Iron Chef.
Here were some of the real stars of this episode:
- the antigriddle -- liquid to solid in 90 seconds, and flat.
- the portable scale -- invaluable for measuring your powders down to the 1/100th of a gram.
- industrial vacuum sealers -- a nice step up from the SpaceBag.
- the smoking gun -- it lets you infuse smoky flavor without heat, and find out which chefs like to get baked and watch The Big Lebowski.
- thermal circulators -- perfect for sous vide cooking, which the chefs all took to like vacuum-sealed ducks to moderately hot water.
- methylcellulose -- It's non-digestablicious!
- liquid nitrogen -- Apparently the coolest substance on earth... to do wacky stuff with.
Each chef had 90 minutes to produce a dishes using at least three of the machines and two of the chemicals presented. Michael Symon got to choose his produce first, since he won the initial challenge. He went for tomatoes and seafood, opting to stay away from the meats that he's so famous for.
Gavin Kaysen offered various incarnations of beets, including a "fruit roll-up" style sheet of gelled beet puree. He also presented his dish on a scented pillow that released its aroma as the weight of the plate pressed down on it. I was surprised that none of the judges called him on this obvious, um, homage to Grant Achatz's similar presentation at Alinea. Seems like Symon got slapped for lesser trespass on last week's episode.
Chris Cosentino appeared to have significant difficulty with the math involved in determining the appropriate amount of chemical additives. That said, he made good use of the thickening agents, producing a razor clam dish with "shaving cream" sauce that obviously packed some great flavor, was presented in a wholly unique way, and even offered a Keller-esque pun (razor and shaving cream), which Alton was kind enough to point out to the viewing audience. For his troubles, Consentino was given the win. Now someone get him a "Math is hard!" t-shirt.
On the other side of the ledger, Jill Davie ended up trying too much and accomplishing too little. She went for a similarly witty presentation, giving the judges a potato-and-cod dish that was supposed to resemble a marrow bone, but unfortunately didn't resemble anything the judges wanted to eat.
Sadly, with the departure of Davie, both female competitors have been shown the door. So, barring a last-minute air-drop, the Next Iron Chef will be a dude. The next question is: From which coast -- East, West, Gulf, or Great Lake?
Bonus: For more high-tech kitchen pron, please enjoy this Popular Science slideshow.
by Lebbeus Woods
[ via BLDGBLOG ]
So, ummm... yeah, things have been a little quieter than normal around here, for a bunch of reasons.
First, I spent four straight weeks as the attending on the peds oncology service at work (rather than the customary two-week blocks we do), and while I thought that it'd be minimally harder to do, it ended up draining me quite a bit more than that. Between four straight weeks of earlier-than-normal mornings, later-than-normal evenings, weekend mornings at the hospital, and an unconscious fear of the pager going off, I found myself with a bit less time and energy to put into all the normal side stuff I do, meaning less time for blogging.
Second, even without the added clinical responsibilities at the hospital, my "regular" work (building bioinformatic systems for clinical research) has exploded a bit over the past two or three months. That's awesome -- I love what I do -- but again, it means that I'm spending more time in meetings (and preparing for meetings), more time building specs and debugging apps, and more time on long-term strategy planning.. which again, means less time blogging.
And finally, Shannon and I have had a lot on our plate at home, what with a new project we're working on. (For those of you who aren't so much into knitting, scroll down on her post to see what I'm talking about.) Things are going well, but just like everything else, it all adds up to less time to just sit, chill, surf, and post! Pathetic of me, I know, and I hope to recover a bit now that my clinical responsibilities have diminished, I'll be able to devote my full attention to my research, and things at home are in a groove of sorts...
(Of course, come mid-March, I make no promises!)
All the loves in the strip are unrequited; all the baseball games are lost; all the test scores are D-minuses; the Great Pumpkin never comes; and the football is always pulled away.
Hello everyone!
I have seen a lot of information floating around the PokeFarm forum on the subject of EV’s or Effort Values. I took some time and wrote up a few pages on my web space about where you can find the EV’s you need for Pokemon training. If you are like me, you want EV training over and down with as quickly as possible. So what makes it go quickly? Well you can always go and find a Pokemon that gives the most EV’s for the stat you want. What if it is a low spawning Pokemon? Maybe a Pokemon that gives less EV’s, but spawns more frequently is the answer.
What is the best Pokemon to battle for this? Well I hope this guide will help.
HP EV Pokemon ATTACK EV Pokemon Pokemon EV’s Given Location Pokemon EV’s Given Location Chansey 2 Route 209 Bibarel 2 Rt. 208-210 Clefairy 2 Mt. Coronet Kricketune 2 Rt. 206 Lanturn 2 Rt. 220 - Super Rod Luxio 2 Feugo Ironworks Lapras 2 Victory Road Crawdaunt 2 Celestic Town - Super Rod Gastrodon 2 Rt. 213 Corphish 1 Celestic Town - Super Rod Skuntank 2 Rt. 222 Diamond Only Shinx 1 Rt. 202-204 Bidoof 1 Rt. 201 - 205 Chatot 1 Rt. 222 & 224 Shellos 1 Rt. 205 Gible 1 Wayward Cave
DEFENSE EV Pokemon SPECIAL ATTACK EV Pokemon Pokemon EV’s Given Location Pokemon EV’s Given Location Hippowdon 2 Rt. 228 Beautifly 3 Eterma Forest Diamond Only Cascoon 2 Eterna Forest Pearl Only Gloom 2 Rt. 224 Graveler 2 Rt. 211 E & 214 Golduck 2 Surf Anywhere Geodude 1 Oreburgh Gate Kadabra 2 Rt. 215 Hippopotas 1 Ruin Maniac’s Cave Girafarig 2 Rt. 214 Kricketot 1 Rt. 202 - 204 Budew 1 Rt. 204 Bronzor 1 Rt. 206, Mt. Coronet Gastly 1 Old Chateau Bonsly 1 Rt. 209 & 210 S Abra 1 Rt. 203
SPECIAL DEFENSE EV Pokemon SPEED EV Pokemon Pokemon EV’s Given Location Pokemon EV’s Given Location Dustox 3 Eterna Forest Pearl Staravia 2 Rt. 209 Ledian 2 Rt. 229 Floatzel 2 Rt. 213 Mr. Mime 2 Rt. 218 Diamond Only Lumineon 2 Rt. 205 S - Good Rod Tentacruel 2 Surf Anywhere Purugly 2 Rt. 222 Pearl Only Tentacool 1 Surf Anywhere Glameow 1 Rt. 218 Pearl Only Mantyke 1 Rt. 223 - Surf Buneary 1 Eterna Forest Cleffa 1 Mt. Coronet Pachirisu 1 Valley Windworks Spoink 1 Rt. 214 Swarm Starly 1 Rt. 201 - 203 These small guides are just the tip of what can be found throughout Sinnoh. You can find most of these Pokemon very early in the game. EV training early could also speed up your game play. These guides will also help pick the right Pokemon to EV against. If you are training an Electric Type in Defense you will not want to go battle Geodude, so this guide helps you find something weak to your Electric Type. I have all Pokemon and their EV’s listed on my site. It is separated by Stats just like the guides here.. The site is still a work in progress. I also used Excel to make the charts, so sometimes all the lines don’t show up, but if you refresh the page it should work. Here is a link to my site with the entire Pokemon listing charts.
C.W.A. Stables Presents: An EV Guide
The guides seem very long, when you consider half of the Pokemon are not found in the game and can only be obtained by evolution. I put all Pokemon and their EV’s just in case Nintendo and Game Freaks add away in another version to EV train like you could in Emerald. I have used this guide since I wrote it back when I played Ruby and Sapphire. New Pokemon have been added and some old Pokemon have had their EV’s change, but this guide is up to date with Diamond/Pearl and should be 100% accurate. If you find any inaccuracies please let me know. Drop a comment or even send me an e-mail.
Josh MacPhee Free the Land $25 Sometimes simplicity says it best. Whether it's from colonialism or environmental degradation, people all over the world are fighting to liberate the land their on. 5 color silkscreen print 19"x25" signed/unnumbered paper colors vary
