Kerouac was a blogger
- Telling the true story of the world in interior monolog
- The jewel center of interest is the eye within the eye
- Write in recollection and amazement for yourself
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August 23, 2008
POW, POW, POW
When Dowd devotes a column to it, the meme has arrived.
Down the Mountain [Flickr]
Stewart posted a photo:
Rasberries seem like they'd be a lot of fun if you were a little bug. But I bet the bugs don't even appreciate them. I bet this aphid sees it merely as an obstacle on the way to a leaf.
Keep It Comin'
Biden: "Your kitchen table is like mine, you sit there at night after you put the kids to bed and you talk about what you need. That's not a worry John McCain has to worry about. He'll have to figure out which of the seven kitchen tables to sit at."
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Hagel Weighs In
Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) issued the following statement on the Biden selection:
"Joe Biden is the right partner for Barack Obama. His many years of distinguished service to America, his seasoned judgment and his vast experience in foreign policy and national security will match up well with the unique challenges of the 21st Century. An Obama-Biden ticket is a very impressive and strong team. Biden's selection is good news for Obama and America."
[from fredwilson] 2008 Beijing Olympic Medal Tally per Capita, per GDP
i like this way to calculate medal count
Bookmark this on Delicious - Saved by fredwilson to olympics medal count - More about this bookmark
By XQUZYPHYR in MeFi
Biden is a fantastic choice, and ironically for a lot of the reasons people see as a negative.
In simplest terms, Joe Biden is an enormous asshole. And frankly, I love him for it. He's the type of asshole who's an asshole because he knows, right out of the gate, that he's smarter than you, that he knows more about a subject, and that he actually has the right idea about something. And damn it people it's time to finally try having someone who's not ashamed of that instead of pretending to be an idiot just to pander.
He has said a lot of stupid shit, but he's also said a lot of great stuff. Ezra Klein has a favorite video clip that's one of mine as well- in which Biden completely destroyed Rudy Giuliani while walking to his car.
Biden is the one person who might actually be able to deflect criticism appropriately- he's the only one who, when faced with attacks like "in 1995 you said you'd be thrilled to run with John McCain", he might actually respond with the equivalent of "well, yeah, that was before I found out John McCain was a fucktard." Hell, he might even say exactly that. And he'd be right.
He's everything necessary to be the ying to Obama's yang. Biden is perceived as flawed while Obama needs to shrug the mocked stigma of being a flawless messiah. Obama is the insightful, visionary newcomer. Biden is the established attack dog. Obama has compassion; Biden has rabies. McCain has two incredible weaknesses- he's incredibly short-tempered, and he doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. Biden is going to attack both, and he's going to do it in a way the media will love.
I'm not saying he was my first choice. Or my fourth. But the reality is that this was a good fit for a while, and if we're waiting for perfect liberal idealism we just need to remember that the so-called "most progressive" candidate was just caught with his pants down in a hotel room.
August 22, 2008
Robinson Crusoe
Such a book as Robinson Crusoe never was written, and never will be written again. I have tried that book for years -- generally in combination with a pipe of tobacco -- and I have found it my friend in need in all the necessities of this mortal life. When my spirits are bad -- Robinson Crusoe. When I want advice -- Robinson Crusoe. In past times when my wife plagued me; in present times when I have had a drop too much -- Robinson Crusoe. I have worn out six stout Robinson Crusoes with hard work in my service. On my lady's last birthday she gave me a seventh. I took a drop too much on the strength of it, and Robinson Crusoe put me right again.-- Gabriel Betteridge, house steward in The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
Peter Davis' Status Update: Hectic Hamptons
This Saturday night in the Hamps is hectic. First off, Charlotte Ronson's trunk show at Blue & Cream, Jeff Goldstein's amazing shop in Easthampton (I just scored a fall Rag & Bone coat!), then Andrew Fry and Bronson van Wyck's sunset supper and finally Harry LeFrak's annual dance where you get to see everyone you know before it's time to to kiss August goodbye. XOXO...
Scribbles
It's Friday and I feel like some Vintage. Here's a few cards from the golden years of large sized Topps cards that have been augmented by enterprising collectors to provide a little 'added value'. Some of the edits were helpful, others... not so much.1952 Topps #240 Jack PhillipsThe previous owner of this card helpfully documents Jack's 1954 trade to Detroit.
1953 Topps #225 Bobby ShantzNow what's the best way of remembering what year a card is from? Write it on the front, of course! However, that lowers the grade signifigantly, so make sure you erase it before selling the card.
1954 Topps #215 Ed McGheeThis card was owned by a man after my own heart. It's not enough to denote that McGhee plays the outfield, Ed's a left fielder, dangit.
1955 Topps #96 Charlie BishopThis guy had 1 Charlie Bishop card, so he wrote 1 right under the Elephant logo. The card was worth 100 dollars, so he wrote 100 on the top in between the two photos. The guy was also completely insane so he cut off all the borders. Borders are evil. No borders!!
1956 Topps #153 Frank ThomasThis one makes me mad. Frank Thomas is a great player, a nice guy and a card collector. I don't understand why he was given the Frankenstein treatment. Stitches on the eyeball are just plain wrong. I do, however, heartily approve of the goatee.
Rachel McAdams & Ryan Gosling: Caught!
Here's all the proof we've ever needed about anything in the entire world -- Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams are back together, and all is right in the romance world!
Check out the new photos our Notebook lovers getting their love on yesterday in Toronoto and let us all swoon together!
Roses and Lollipops, Lollipops and Roses
via The New Yorker:The Sky Line
Hello, Columbus
A building that can't break free of its predecessor.
by Paul Goldberger
August 25, 2008Huntington Hartford's old Gallery of Modern Art--the white marble bonbon that stood at 2 Columbus Circle from 1964 until a couple of years ago--was a hard building to love but became an even harder one to hate. Excoriated by critics when it went up, then championed by preservationists when it was threatened with destruction, the building provides an object lesson in the inexorable march of architectural fashion and may point to an even more basic truth about people and buildings: we get used to things we don't like and then come to like things we’ve got used to. The eventual decision to refurbish the building entirely has also provided a young Oregon architect named Brad Cloepfil with a dauntingly controversial commission.
The Gallery of Modern Art, one of several quixotic cultural projects launched by Hartford, an heir to the A. & P. fortune, who died earlier this year at the age of ninety-seven, was originally intended to house his collection of figurative works and to stand as a riposte to what Hartford saw as the reign of abstraction at the Museum of Modern Art. The architect was Edward Durell Stone. Stone had been a leading American exponent of the International Style, but, in the fifties, his new wife, a fashion writer he met on an airplane, encouraged him toward elegance and decoration, and he began to fill his buildings with glitter and marble and screens and gold columns.
As a museum, the Columbus Circle building was a disaster. The galleries, tricked out with expensive wood panelling and brass fixtures, were cramped, and the institution closed after five financially ruinous years. And yet somehow the structure's dainty columns, tiny portholes, huge arches, and vast windowless expanses of flat, unadorned white marble embedded themselves more deeply into the consciousness of New Yorkers than many better buildings. So what if it looked like a Bauhaus version of the Alhambra--or, as Ada Louise Huxtable, then the architecture critic at the Times, put it, "a die-cut Venetian palazzo on lollypops"? Amid the austere glass boxes of the nineteen-fifties and sixties, it seemed to strike a blow for quirky individualism. Huxtable's harsh judgment gave rise to a nickname--the Lollipop Building--that was as much affectionate as mocking.
Image Via
The building eventually wound up in the hands of the city, which, in 1998, decided to sell it to the highest bidder. The city repeatedly refused to have its own Landmarks Preservation Commission consider giving 2 Columbus Circle landmark status, a move that provoked outrage but kept the building salable and more or less sealed its fate. Whether or not the building deserved landmark status depends on what you think a landmark should be: it wasn't great architecture, but it had unique qualities and some historical importance. In 2002, the city agreed to sell it to the Museum of Arts and Design, formerly the American Crafts Museum. The museum was eager for an architect who had never built in New York before, and hired Cloepfil, whose firm, Allied Works Architecture, in Portland, was just completing its first major project, the sharp and serene Contemporary Art Museum in St. Louis. Cloepfil started work on his design while the legal struggle to preserve the building was in progress, but in 2005 the preservationists lost in court, and construction began. The building will open next month.
Cloepfil ended up all but demolishing the original building and creating a new one of exactly the same shape and size, and almost the same color. He kept the gentle curve reflecting the shape of Columbus Circle but changed just about everything else. To let light into the interior, he made long linear incisions, two feet wide, in the façade. These glass channels--Cloepfil has called them "ribbons of light"--make a number of right-angle turns across the façade. In place of Stone's marble are twenty-two thousand terra-cotta tiles specially made with a slightly iridescent glaze. Depending on the light, they look white or off-white or sparkle with tiny hints of color. Cloepfil told me that the use of ceramic and glass tied the new building to its role as a museum of craft, while its echo of the original marble's color would suggest continuity with the earlier building. Fair enough. But that dual goal encapsulates the building's main problem. Cloepfil is trying as hard as he can to be different while trying also to be the same. Rarely has an architect been pulled so completely in opposite directions.
In some respects, he probably didn't have much choice. He couldn't make the building taller, because of zoning laws, and he couldn't make it bigger, because it already filled every inch of its site. And, since museums require mostly solid, windowless walls, he was stuck with those, too. Cloepfil is a sophisticated architect who, at his best, can endow simple geometries with a powerful dignity. His style couldn't be more different from that of Edward Durell Stone's late period, which dances on the edge of kitsch, and he has tried to transform Stone's fussy marble froufrou into something serious and tasteful. Sometimes, as in the long, turning lines of glass, he manages to assert himself firmly enough to keep the old building at bay. At other times, like at the base of the building, where he has kept all but one of Stone's lollipop-shaped columns and put them behind glass, he seems to have given up altogether and settled for a curatorial role. Ultimately, Cloepfil has been trapped between paying homage to a legendary building and making something of his own. As a result, if you knew the old building, it is nearly impossible to get it out of your mind when you look at the new one. And, if you've never seen Columbus Circle before, you probably won't be satisfied, either: the building's proportions and composition seem just as odd and awkward as they ever did.
But if you go inside, entering through the glass-enclosed lobby, from which an elegantly detailed staircase of wood and steel leads up to four floors of galleries, it turns out that Cloepfil has done the impossible--making the building's interior at long last functional, logical, and pleasant to be in. He figured out early on that Stone had made a huge mistake putting the building’s core--its elevators, stairs, and rest rooms--in the center, because that left just a tiny doughnut of usable space around the perimeter. Cloepfil moved two staircases behind the elevators, opening up space on every floor and making decent-sized exhibition galleries possible.
Image Via
This move also enabled the building to address Columbus Circle more effectively than before. Galleries now have windows looking out over Central Park and, on the ninth floor, there will be a restaurant featuring an entire wall of glass, something the museum insisted on despite Cloepfil's objections that it would damage the composition of his façade. This might seem a little precious--why shouldn't the restaurant have a nice, big window?--but Cloepfil was right. The window, running between two vertical glass ribbons, creates a huge "H" on the façade, a pity, because the ribbons are the heart of his design and its most brilliant feature. Once you are inside, you discover that they run not only up and down the façade but also horizontally, into the museum itself: from each vertical window notched into a gallery's wall, a glass ribbon stretches across the floor and you seem to be walking on thin air. Looking down can be vertiginous at first, but the glass channels allow light to permeate up and down the building, and tie the entire building, inside and out, together in a way that underscores what is new about it. It's not just that they look different from anything in Stone's original museum; requiring a completely different structure and engineering, they remind you that this is in almost every way a new building, albeit trapped in the body of an old one, screaming to get out.
Snapshot-0016.jpg
Jesse Gardner posted a photo:
T-Mobile
Would You Break Up With A Color?
Walking on Madison Ave. the other day, post-Rhinelander visit, I overheard a princess of the Park Avenue variety espousing her distaste for gray.
She didn't like it, didn't wear it, didn't get it. Needless to say, I was kind of freaked out by her fervor.
Banishing a color from your wardrobe indefinitely; really?
Obviously, there's the classic New Yorker cliché - an aversion to color and a preference for black a la Delia Deetz. But even then, it's more about convenience: black always goes with black.
But living life without the full color spectrum can't be fun. Building a wardrobe without a color would be like building a person without a kidney or a liver. Especially a shade as inoffensive as gray, which to me is the perfect foil to something really crazy like chartreuse.
I'm wondering, have you given up a color after a bad experience? Did a school dance gone awry in lavender put you off pale purple for life? Or did your mother dress you in pink poufy dresses for the duration of your childhood, causing you to live in anonymous Yohji now?
--BRETT KANE
Goodbye, Emily! Thanks and Have a Great School Year
Ugh. Another day, another goodbye. I was hoping we'd be able to defer this one until after the fall semester, but 2008 summer intern Emily Koh just notified us that her upcoming course load at NYU is going to be too crazy. She had wanted to stick around for a bit during the school year, and we were thrilled to welcome her back, but I suppose she wants to graduate or something.
You've seen Emily's name attached to various posts here, from Sampler Platters to Look Who's Talkin's to various reblogged items (she had a knack for finding crazy Japanese stuff).
But I think our favorite Ekoh piece has to be the one where she talks about taking the phaal curry challenge at Brick Lane Curry House. "Fans of spiciness are not just content with self-infliction of pain—they have to make sure everyone knows about how much heat they can handle," she says, before admitting that she's a member of this showboatin' club and taking us with her on a journey up the river of insanely hot curry madness.
But as she's leaving, I just had to ask: What was the craziest thing we had you do? "I can't think of anything crazy, but I'm still bitter at Ed for somehow convincing me that the the bagel and lox ice cream flavor was worth a taste. (OK, maybe my curiosity did get the best of me.) Some things just aren't meant to be. I'm pretty sure my tongue is still smarting from the memory, considering that I haven't gotten bagel and lox in its 'normal' form in quite some time now, heh."
Thanks for the memories, Ekoh. We miss you already. If Muxtape ever comes back online, make sure you keep updating your mixes. I liked keeping up on the latest J-pop. As is always the case here, feel free to drop by the office for a visit (and eat snacks).
It’s FRIDAY!!!
“Happy Friday Everyone!! Mookie the chihuahua pup wishing everyone a great Friday, with an even better weekend to follow!”Photo from pintavelloso.
Streetsblogger Drives Home Yankee Stadium’s Game-Day Parking Problem
A few weeks ago, Streetsblog regular Susan Donovan snapped some pics of sidewalk-hogging cars parked near Yankee Stadium. Today she (and her photos) appeared on New York 1, in a report filed by Susan Jhun that looks at the mess caused by game-day parking. Score one for pedestrian rights in the media:
Donovan says the cars completely block the sidewalk to the point where she has to come out into the middle of the street to get by.
"They block [the sidewalk] in such a way that you can't even squeeze by at all," says Donovan. "The sidewalks really are for people to walk on and not for parking."
When we spoke to a manager for East Parking Garage, he said that they only put the cars there temporarily and move them constantly.
But that's not what NY1 cameras caught on a recent game day when cars sat parked in front of the hydrant.
Susan, wanna share your tips on catching the eye of reporters?
Image: New York 1
Read: Seaver Won’t Miss Shea
In an article for Newsday, Barbara Barker gets all-time great Tom Seaver’s thoughts on how he will feel when Shea Stadium is torn down after this season.
Seaver, as quoted by Barker:
“I said this before, and got my rear end in a little bit of hot water. It’s just a physical presence to me. Now the physical is just going to move across the street.”
“I get sentimental about the people. When I’m here, I see the spot where Gil Hodges used to sit. I look to see where Tug McGraw used to sit. That’s what I see. It’s the people who occupied those spaces that are important to me.”
Actually, not to be a stickler, but it’s moving next door.
Also, it is noted in the Bergen Record that Seaver was at Shea yesterday to honor longtime Mets employee James Plummer, and said the following:
“You can’t take this the wrong way. I am not a big fan of the stadium. And it’s strictly an architectural observation.”
I’m sure some people will take that the wrong way, but I agree with Tom. I too won’t greatly miss the structure of Shea itself, but it’s the sentimentality of the old ballpark that I will be sad about. It’s where I saw my first baseball game; where I spent many Sundays; and just all the great memories from being there, usually in the Mezzanine or higher, that I will miss.
I’m also disappointed that I wasn’t around to see “The Franchise” throw for those Miracle Mets, but that’s another story.
CSI Mac: How did that file get so big?
Filed under: Troubleshooting
I don't know much about real-world forensics, except for what I see on television, but one thing I do know is that when you're faced with a troubleshooting mystery, you have a couple of choices: shrug your shoulders and fix the problem, or figure out what went wrong in the first place to try and prevent it from coming back again. While I don't always have the time or the smarts to suss out the root cause of every Mac issue, sometimes the issue is so curious and the cause so interesting that I feel compelled to investigate until I get to the bottom of it.
Recently, when one of my colleagues came in with a slightly-full hard drive, I went to my go-to disk space checker (the capable OmniDiskSweeper) to see where we could save a gigabyte or two. In addition to the usual suspects of iTunes podcasts long gone stale and legacy backups of Entourage databases, I came across the file you see above; it lives in ~/Library/Application Support/Chess. Why on earth would a support file for Chess.app be 1.5 gigabytes? That's crazy talk. I would love to delete it, but a file that large... might be useful or important.
Where did this bulky bucket of bits come from? Read on for the answer.Continue reading CSI Mac: How did that file get so big?
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IntervalCalendar for Date-Range Selection
John Peloquin, a developer for W. Hardy Interactive, Inc., graciously contributed a new YUI Calendar implementation called IntervalCalendar that we’ve incorporated into the basic YUI Calendar example set.
The
IntervalCalendarclass, defined in this example, allows users to select pairs of dates representing the start and end of a date interval. Applications which require interval selection, for example a hotel check-in/check-out date selector, frequently display separate calendar instances to select the beginning and ending dates of the interval. The IntervalCalendar provides an alternate solution, by allowing the selection of both dates within the same calendar instance. It’s most suitable for applications in which the beginning and ending dates fall within the span of a few days, so that the entire range falls within the calendar’s visible set of months.Many thanks to John and Walter Hardy for the terrific example and for contributing to YUI.
Tags: yui calendar, whardy, john peloquin
Ya Brought It on Yourself!
About four years ago I described what I called the Republicans' 'bitch slap' theory of electoral politics. Stuff like the Swift Boat attacks on John Kerry and McCain's Celeb/P Diddy assault on Obama aren't really about the attacks themselves. In themselves, they're often too cartoonish to be believed in any literal sense. What they're about is smacking the other guy around and making him take it. There's no better way to demonstrate someone's lack of toughness or strength than to attack them and show they are either unwilling or unable to defend themselves -- thus the rough slang I used above. That not only makes the other guy look weak. It also transforms him into an object of contempt, which together are politically fatal. It's this meta-message of weakness that resonates far beyond the literal claims. And it's this that Democrats so often seem to miss -- explaining the factual inaccuracies of the claims, demanding that the attacks stop, all the while reinforcing the intended message of the attacks in the first place.
You can even catch a hint of the mentality in the McCain camp's huffing and puffing Thursday afternoon. The new and somewhat improbable line from the McCain camp is that they've actually been doing their best to go easy on Obama, to hold back the stuff that would really make him suffer. But now that Obama's gone ahead and raised McCain's inability to remember how many houses, now he's really gonna get it with a super-mean Rezko ad and maybe even Reverend Wright. "He's opened the door to this," a McCain official told Marc Ambinder, in a campaign version of the wife-beater's "You brought this on yourself!" As if McCain and his Rove lieutenants paid much mind to closed doors.
In effect, the devastating Rezko ad McCain says it never wanted to have to run is pretty weak. Which is pretty much what you'd expect for an ad put together in three or four hours by a campaign shell-shocked by a media firestorm they couldn't put out by screaming POW, POW, POW.
What we'll see now is whether Obama keeps McCain on the run with a continuing line of attacks or whether they'll let up after this one reactive pick-up from McCain's mistake. The House? gaffe exposes two of McCain's biggest vulnerabilities -- 1) the contrast between his old soldier pseudo-mystique and the pampered life he's lead for almost 40 years and 2) the age-related wobbliness which has his campaign aides keeping him largely off limits to the traveling press. These dovetail with his loose-cannon approach to critical foreign policy questions.
These issues -- particularly 2 and 3 -- are substantively critical issues. 1 is to the extent that it sheds light on McCain's general ignorance and indifference to bread-n-butter economic issues and his willingness to flip between progressive and Bushite tax policy over the course of a couple years. But the tempo of this election and the fall out from the 'celeb' attacks will be determined in large part not by factual particulars but by whether Obama can show that when someone hits him hard he hits back twice as hard. Not cowering, ignoring or complaining. This is about the score and not the libretto.
Apple Store SoHo cited as a bad neighbor
Filed under: Retail, Bad Apple
Is Apple's oldest NYC retail store causing agita for its well-heeled neighbors in SoHo? AFP and Dow Jones are reporting that the SoHo Alliance, an umbrella community organization, has complained to city officials and Apple execs about a litany of issues with the popular outlet. Crowds outside the store (sometimes overnight) have blocked streets and left trash behind, to the frustration of nearby residents.
The recent Jonas Brothers in-store concert may have been the final indignity for alliance director Sean Sweeney. "This concert attracted thousands of young teenage girls who screamed incessantly on the street for hours for their idols, blocking traffic, injuring one resident in the crush, and inconveniencing scores of other people and businesses."
I suppose there's a price to pay for being busy and popular. Considering that the immediate vicinity of the store is home to scores of restaurants, bars and high-end boutiques, it's surprising that Apple is the biggest quality-of-life offender in the area, but maybe it's time for some of the bigger draws to move to the 14th Street store instead.
[via Cult of Mac]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Simmered Japanese Eggplants
During his stay in New York, Saveur's editor-in-chief Jim Oseland graciously invited Atsushi to demonstrate his cooking at the magazine's test kitchen, and prepare lunch for the editorial staff. Atsushi planned a wonderful menu, incorporating dishes we had cooked plus new ones. After last minute sprints to the farmers market and Sunrise Mart, the Japanese food store in lower Manhattan, we arrived at the magazine laden with supplies, and Atsushi set to work.
The crowd-pleasing favorite was eggplant -- the classic Japanese vegetable of summertime. Applying the otoshibuta once again, Atsushi simmered Japanese eggplant, shaped like long purple-black fingers, in dashi, soy sauce and mirin. Here's how he did it:
What you need:
- Japanese eggplants
- Konbu-katsuo dashi, prepared ahead of time
- Mirin
- Usukuchi soy sauce
- High smoke point vegetable oil
The technique: Heat oil in a saucepan, enough to deep fry the eggplants. Cut the tops off of four eggplants, and cut in half through the middle. Make several lengthwise incisions about 1/4 inch deep around the pieces to allow heat and flavors to reach the flesh. When the oil is hot enough, about 350 degrees, deep fry the eggplant for about three minutes and transfer to a paper towel-lined dish to drain. The purpose of this step is to soften the eggplant and cook it through so it will absorb the flavoring liquid when it simmers. The eggplants will collapse a little and the skin will get crinkly. They'll be soft to the touch with chopsticks.
When the eggplant cools, transfer them to a small saucepan. Add dashi -- Atsushi used about two cups -- so they cover the eggplants but don't totally immerse them. They should still stick out a little over the liquid. Now add about a quarter cup each of mirin and soy sauce -- equal amounts to balance sweet and salty flavors. Place an aluminum foil otoshibuto on top of the eggplant and turn up the heat to high. As soon as the liquid boils, lower the heat to medium to simmer. You'll see the liquid foaming beneath the otoshibuta, even lifting the aluminum foil -- that's okay, it's doing what it's supposed to. Taste the liquid after a couple of minutes to check flavors. After about ten minutes the eggplant will be ready. Serve this delicate, tender eggplant, layered with umami, mirin and soy sauce flavors, with its cooking liquid.
When you try this dish, I'd be grateful if you could let me know in the comments how it turns out. Did it work? Any questions or thoughts?
Blog Action Day
Blog Action Day. On October 15, 2008 over 2,600 bloggers, podcasters and videocasters will post about poverty.
Bagel Crisis Update: Montague Street Lowering Prices
Could the Great '08 Bagel Crisis (linked to the Great '08 Pizza Crisis) be coming to an end? Check out the above sign at Montague Street Bagels and decide for yourselves. Says our tipster:
"This was a shocker, but a testament to the honesty of Montague Street Bagels to it's customers. As the sign explains itself, they lowered their prices due to falling prices of flour. Props to them. I love that 24 hour bagel store."Will H&H, and Di Fara on the pizza front, follow suit?
· Bagel Crisis [~E~]
· DiFara's Not the Only $4 Slice [~E~]
Water Cube panorama
Awesome panorama of the Water Cube in Beijing from the top of the 10 meter platform. Looks way higher than on TV.
(link)
Cyan porting Myst to iPhone
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Multimedia, Software
An employee of Cyan Worlds (proprietors of the legendary Myst series of games) has announced that they will be porting the original Myst to the iPhone. Apparently it's an "outside-funded" project -- though who might be funding it isn't yet clear -- and is apparently proving to be an "interesting and fun" project with a small team of just three people. No word yet on how it might work (or work differently) from the original, but the classic puzzle/exploration of Myst is good gaming no matter what platform you're playing it on.
Starting with the NES emulator, the iPhone was following the evolution of gaming pretty well -- at least until the App Store started mixing things up a bit. After Myst, I think we're right around Wolfenstein and Doom at this point -- those were available jailbroken, but it's about time we get an FPS officially as well. Carmack, you interested?
[via TouchArcade, which is strangely down as of this writing]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Quote: Pedro is Trickology
Last night against the Braves, Pedro Martinez pitched in to the eighth inning for the first time this season, while letting up four runs and seven hits.
Jerry Manuel, regarding Martinez, while speaking to reporters before last night’s win:
“I think Pedro has the gift of instincts, probably the greatest instincts of any pitcher in our era…Knowing how, when and what to do outweighs talent at times, but eventually talent catches up…When Bobby Cox had Greg Maddux, he’d throw 80-something pitches and go pretty deep – but then he didn’t want to send him through the lineup another time. Pedro is getting there. At some point, where does his trickology go from there?”
Since returning from the disabled list on August 1, Martinez has a 3.16 ERA in five starts, during which the Mets are 2–3.
He has pitched at least seven innings in each of last two starts.
What would newspapers do without TPM?
Ripe for the Plucking
I get asked a lot about the relationship between old media and new media, on the editorial and publishing side. And my usual line is that I think the relationship is much more symbiotic and convergent then people often realize. But when folks ask what scrappy little outfits like TPM would do if the big papers with their cadres of reporters went under, I have wonder, what would big papers like the Washington Post do if TPM went under and they didn’t have our exclusives to steal and run as their own stories on A2 on the following day?
For today’s example see Kate Klonick’s Thursday exclusive at TPMMuckraker about the US Commission on Civil Rights hiring Bush administration minority voting suppression expert Hans von Spakovsky and the Post’s citation/credit-free retread in today’s paper.
–Josh Marshall
Ripe for the Plucking
I get asked a lot about the relationship between old media and new media, on the editorial and publishing side. And my usual line is that I think the relationship is much more symbiotic and convergent than people often realize. But when folks ask what scrappy little outfits like TPM would do if the big papers with their cadres of reporters went under, I have to wonder, what would big papers like the Washington Post do if TPM went under and they didn't have our exclusives to steal and run as their own stories on A2 on the following day?
For today's example see Kate Klonick's Thursday exclusive at TPMMuckraker about the US Commission on Civil Rights hiring Bush administration minority voting suppression expert Hans von Spakovsky and the Post's citation/credit-free retread in today's paper.
Websites and White Cubes
Dumb sign, originally uploaded by blackbeltjones.
Been asked to work on the nominations for designs of the year again at the Design Museum, which is very nice.
But it leads me back to this hoary old question – how should interactive work best be shown in a museum or gallery context? Should it be shown at all?
Note: Carlos Delgado is the Leader
Carlos Delgado had five hits in five at bats with three RBI.
In the ninth, with the game tied, and David Wright on second, the Braves walked Carlos Beltran to face Delgado, who slapped a line drive in to left field.
However, with several players on the Mets bench wearing inside-out rally caps, Omar Infante lost the ball in the lights, the ball bounced off of his glove, rolled in to center field. Wright rounded third and slide – head first, as though he were on a slip-n-slide – in to home plate for the win.
Delgado, regarding the win, talking to reporters last night, said:
“We’ve been able to find ways to win ballgame, and that’s something we didn’t do earlier in the year. And, good teams do that – they find a way to win those close ones…When you do that, it’s great for the atmosphere, it’s great for the ball club, it’s great for every one, every one’s feeling confident about themselves. We feel like we can do it. We don’t want to get behind, but we feel like even if we do we can come back and win it.”
For more on last night’s walk-off win, the team’s seventh of the season, check out MetsWalkoffs.com, where you’ll learn, among other interesting facts, ‘Last night was the first time that a Mets player had five hits, including a walk-off hit in the same game.’
Speaking of Delgado, read Barbara Barker, in Newsday, who explains how Delgado has clearly become the leader of his team.
Mark Teixeira will be the top free-agent first baseman this off-season, followed by players such as Kevin Millar, Richie Sexson, Jason Giambi and Sean Casey.
The Mets will have the option to retain Delgado for one more season, at the cost of $12 million. Or, they can buy out his option for $4 million. Meaning, essentially, keeping him will cost the team $8 million, since they’ll be paying the $4 million either way.
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
Experienced drivers perceive the road differently
Experienced drivers are not only better skilled at the actions of driving, but learn to perceive and attend to the road in a different way
We found that novices eye-movements were different from those of the more experienced drivers in several ways, though the extent of scanning on a particular section of dual carriageway was particularly limited. We have since examined this effect in the laboratory using video-based stimuli replicating the same impoverished scanning in novice drivers (e.g. Underwood, Chapman, Bowden, & Crundall, 2002).
We have also further explored why this might be the case, examining the possibility of whether this was due to the novice drivers having a deficient mental model or whether they were simply overloaded by the requirement to control the car (a process which requires less attention with increased experience), and found that even when car-control demands were eliminated, the effect persisted (Underwood et al., 2002).
Another aspect that appears to be important in understanding this effect is the extent of the inexperienced drivers' peripheral attention (Crundall, Underwood, & Chapman, 1999, 2002). We found that the less experienced drivers have a smaller field of peripheral vision, and are more likely to miss even abrupt onsets. This is especially the case when they are focusing on something that is potentially dangerous.
For example if the car ahead brakes suddenly, a novice driver will focus so much attention on that car that they may miss the errant cyclist emerging from the side road. More experienced drivers have a wider spread of peripheral attention however, and this appears to be linked to their spread of search.
The paragraph is an excerpt from a commentary on an interesting article on the relevance of lab studies to the real world from the latest edition of the British Journal of Psychology. I'll post more about the main article shortly, but this snippet just caught my attention, if you'll excuse the pun.
Link to PubMed entry for commentary paper.
Change It Up
The ongoing US Presidential race is coming to such a head that even media stories about media coverage of the campaigns are flooding the wires. But how does this grand spectacle translate abroad? Given that America is so invested in branding itself as an exporter of democracy, the elections are a key opportunity to transmit this ideology. A new performance exchange project initiated by artist Elana Mann, entitled "Exchange Rate," invites artists from Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Ecuador, Israel, Lithuania, Mexico, Nicaragua, Portugal, Scotland, South Korea, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and, of course, the USA to collaborate on "producing, exchanging and interpreting performance directions related to the election campaign." Towing the choose or lose line, the participants will post instructions for creative acts that other artists will elect to perform. Part of the effort is to see how the further development of mass media has effected the evolution of collaborative artistic models borne in the Fluxus era, by strategically conflating artistic media, the communicative media by which the work is broadcast, and the news media through which the President is arguably elected. The resulting performances will be highlighted in partnership with the upcoming UnConvention project, with Trade & Row's "Campaign Trail" series, and in other online and offline events. Stay tuned to see if "Exchange Rate" can bring new meaning to the phrase "making change." - Marisa Olson
August 21, 2008
The Jane Austen Book Club
I was surprised by how much I lived this movie. I haven't seen a chick flick in a long time that I realted to. Yes, there are some embarrasingly cheesy moments but I just gave into it.
So, you should Netflix it or you can watch it on YouTube. Some person uploaded the whole thing in 12 parts! Man, people have a lot of time of their hands. Below is Part One.
[bit] What makes for a good blog?
The “obsession” stuff is spot on.
Big interview with Damian Conway
O'Reilly interviewed Damian Conway at OSCON. There's surprisingly little craziness, but lots of good discussion of programming languages, programming curricula and of course, Perl 6. Oh, and a fair amount of mocking of American accents. Laugh it up, Mr. I-Live-On-A-Giant-Penal-Colony-Island!
The O'Reilly page has a transcription if you don't want to devote 36 minutes of your life to it, but why wouldn't you?
jumping the snark
I imagine Six Apart draw considerable comfort from the fact that the Matt/Lloyd tag team still considers them enough of a threat to attack them at every opportunity. Far worse to be Blogger, and too crap to be scary. But then, Blogger’s not in direct competition. Blogger’s already been bought. I imagine I am not the only [...]
McCain: They're Cindy's!!!
McCain's latest response: They're not my homes! They're Cindy's!
Worldchanging Team at Large: GreenBean in Chicago
News from the team at large: Worldchanging correspondent Patrick Rollens has signed on as an editor for the relaunch of GreanBean, a Chicago-based resource for green building news.
The website first debuted several years ago, directed by Erik Olsen (former head of Chicago's Green Permit Program). GreenBean tracked the windy city's quickly growing population of green buildings at all phases, from blueprints to finished projects. There's tons of pictures to look at, and even a cool map to help locate the spread of green buildings throughout the Chicago area. Now under the leadership of Wendy Berger Shapiro, the site will continue to present short articles profiling new green developments around the city. Their smart, connected team aims to become Chicago's best resource for local green building news, enabling a flow of ideas to inspire and inform others who are breaking ground on projects of their own.
Photo credit: flickr/snakeyes, licensed by Creative Commons.
Help us change the world - DONATE NOW!
(Posted by Julia Steinberger in About Worldchanging at 3:27 PM)
resyFEED: blue hill -- 212 539 1776 -- 2 rings, i...
blue hill -- 212 539 1776 -- 2 rings, i can maybe do 7 or 9:30
lupa -- 212 982 5089 -- 1 ring, nothing for reservations, but we take walk-ins
perilla -- 212 929 6868 -- 2 rings, all i have right now is 9:30
elettaria -- 212 677 3833 -- 2 rings, i don't have 8, i have 8:30
● No mo' soil, mo' problems
We're running out of dirt. So says geologist David R. Montgomery in Charles Mann's article about the perils affecting the world's soil, including soil compaction in industrialized nations, drought in Africa, and erosion in China.1 Not that progress isn't being made. Some of the farm land in Burkina Faso has been recovered by local farming techniques.
He assembled the farmers in his area, and by 1981 they were experimenting together with techniques to restore the soil, some of them traditions that Ouédraogo had heard about in school. One of them was cordons pierreux: long lines of stones, each perhaps the size of a big fist. Snagged by the cordon, rains washing over crusty Sahelian soil pause long enough to percolate. Suspended silt falls to the bottom, along with seeds that sprout in this slightly richer environment. The line of stones becomes a line of plants that slows the water further. More seeds sprout at the upstream edge. Grasses are replaced by shrubs and trees, which enrich the soil with falling leaves. In a few years a simple line of rocks can restore an entire field.
For a time Ouédraogo worked with a farmer named Yacouba Sawadogo. Innovative and independent-minded, he wanted to stay on his farm with his three wives and 31 children. "From my grandfather's grandfather's grandfather, we were always here," he says. Sawadogo, too, laid cordons pierreux across his fields. But during the dry season he also hacked thousands of foot-deep holes in his fields-za"i, as they are called, a technique he had heard about from his parents. Sawadogo salted each pit with manure, which attracted termites. The termites digested the organic matter, making its nutrients more readily available to plants. Equally important, the insects dug channels in the soil. When the rains came, water trickled through the termite holes into the ground. In each hole Sawadogo planted trees. "Without trees, no soil," he says. The trees thrived in the looser, wetter soil in each zai. Stone by stone, hole by hole, Sawadogo turned 50 acres of wasteland into the biggest private forest for hundreds of miles.
Sawadogo's method turned out to be a little too successful. Burkina's government allows cities to annex nearby land and Sawadogo's forest was recently snatched up by a nearby town. Don't forget to check out the accompanying photos...this is National Geographic after all.
[1] Mann is the author of 1491, one of the most interesting books I've read in the past few years. ↩
40 Million People... Wow... Wait, what?
About 40 million people tuned in to see Michael Phelps win his record eighth gold medal on Saturday night, and the evening's broadcast was the most-watched Saturday program on NBC since a 1990 epidose [sic] of "Empty Nest."- Tim Lemke in the Washington Times
Turning the date
With a Russian athlete leading the javelin competition, Czech thrower Barbora Spotakova stepped up for her final throw and thought about the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia forty years ago that day. After her victory, she described her goal with that throw in a wonderful turn of phrase:
I was wondering if I could turn the date.
I don't know if that's a translation or what, but non-native speakers of English often express ideas more beautifully than native speakers do (Nabokov for example).
Somewhat related...how perfect is the name of the US women's soccer team goalkeeper: Hope Solo.
(link)
in 1 day...
...we head to the playa. But right now, all I can think of is how we're leaving home, leaving Tesla. She's in great care, and is clearly bonding more and more with my mom, and granny Marie will check in, even spending the night once. Auntie Elida will drop by, and Sofia is close by too. But the fact remains that we have never been away together at the same time...and for so long.
So unlike my previous post where I could feel excitement, now I have a lump in my heart. I still want to go and still look forward to the playa. It's such a special thing Dav and I share, and I'm looking forward to being lovebirds all over. Yet we both feel for our daughter.
Dav made these boxes with pictures of us for each day we will be gone. Beginning today, to introduce this concept to her, Tesla gets to open one box for a yummy surprise. We're even going to put chocolate in, which is truly special since I don't give sweets to her. We're hoping these boxes will help her understand how long she has to wait until we're back...and she can see with each passing day that the end is getting closer.
I'm going to miss my baby sooooo much! And I just hope she doesn't miss us too much.
New York Mag: First Look Inside JetBlue’s New Food Court at JFK
The airline has been busy renovating the iconic Eero Saarinen-designed terminal at JFK and plans to open it later this fall. The food promises to be very good… or at least, it won’t give you air sickness before you even leave the ground. Which is saying a lot for eating at the airport.
one cute JPG on ffffound led me to this amazing flickr set. the...
one cute JPG on ffffound led me to this amazing flickr set. the lil’ guy above from a polish matchbox reminds me a lot of this stencil i saw in warsaw.
Mad TPM cred.
I’ve decided that NewsCred is going to be a smashing success for reasons that have nothing to do with the fact that it rates TPM at a 99.7 out of 100. I just can’t remember what that other reason was.
(Thanks to Al for the links.)
DIY perfume
In remembrance of her grandmother, Chicagoan Jessica Dunne created her own perfume called Ellie.
She sought out Michel Roudnitska, a perfumer who lives in France, to be her collaborator. Her family in her hometown of Villanova, Pa., served as her focus group. A friend volunteered to tie by hand the grosgrain ribbon bow that decorates each package. Then Ms. Dunne cold-called Claudia Lucas, the perfume buyer at Henri Bendel in Manhattan, and asked whether she could send a sample of the perfume.More information about Ellie, as well as a more contemporary scent called Ellie Nuit, is available on Dunne's site.
(link)
Room with a View
After such a rocky start to the trip, boy was I happy to check into the Mövenpick in Amsterdam. We arrived a bit before check in time, but after waiting for a while, we finally took up residence in our room. We even got the view I wanted. Here’s quick a time lapse video of it:
Our view actually includes more of old town to the left, but for this video, I wanted to capture the movement of the boats.
2500 Jewish Homers and Counting
This is a guest post from Martin Abramowitz, creator to the Jewish Ballplayers card set.
Ian Kinsler has hit the 2500th homer by a Jewish player in the history of the Game. The historic blow came in the 9th inning off Scott Kazmir on May 26 this season. The Texas second-baseman, who was leading the American League in hits and runs this season before going on the DL on August 18, also hit number 2499 a day earlier, this one coming off C.C. Sabbathia at Cleveland. Getting a good start toward the next milestone, Ryan Braun hit number 2501 May 30 against the Astros.These calculations were reported yesterday by Jewish Major Leaguers, Inc., a Boston-based not-for-profit organization which produces Jewish baseball cards as part of its mission to “document American Jews in America’s Game. The Kinsler/Braun milestones will be commemorated in next season’s cards. When asked to explain the three-month delay in reporting this historic finding, Jewish Major Leaguers President Martin Abramowitz could only respond, “it took a while to comb through all of Baseball-Reference.Com’s box-scores.”Overall, coming into the 2008 season Jewish players had tallied 2, 467 of the 245, 898 homers hit since the 1870’s. “That happens to be almost precisely one percent of all home runs, while 158 Jewish players were about nine-tenths of one percent of the roughly 16,700 players who have played the game, so we’ve clearly held our own..and with Kinsler,Braun, Youkilis, Kapler, and Ausmus this year, the prospects are encouraging.”
Today’s Headlines
- Off-Street Parking Boom Would Negate Gains from PlaNYC (Gotham Gazette)
- Study: Sales Tax More Regressive Than Road Pricing (Streetsblog LA)
- Youth Advocates Campaign to Make Prospect Park Car-Free (NY1)
- Indoor Bike Parking a Missing Link in Bike Commutes (Metro)
- On Campaign Trail, Weinermobile Parks Wherever Weiner Wants (News)
- Dems Didn't Give Enough Ground on Offshore Oil Rig Ban, Says Drillhead (News)
- New Yankee Stadium Depriving South Bronx of Park Land (News)
- Three Vacations By Subway in NYC (WNYC)
- DOT Explores Use of LEDs for Streetlights (Bits)
Note: Pelfrey is not the Same Pitcher
Last night, Mike Pelfrey pitched a full nine innings and let up just three hits, three runs, while striking out three and walking three, in a win against the Braves.
Pelfrey leads the team with 12 wins.
The Mets are 16–3 in Pelfrey’s last 19 starts, during which he has a 3.23 ERA.
Jerry Manuel, regarding Pelfrey, while speaking to reporters following last night’s win:
“Mike has evolved into one of the bright young pitching stars in the National League, no question. He’s very impressive from where he came early in the season. We were questioning whether or not to have him have him in the rotation…
Pelfrey walked to the mound for the ninth inning, with a roaring, standing ovation from the Shea faithful.
“That was awesome,” Pelfrey told reporters after the game.
Pelfrey, on his season so far, following the game, said:
“I’m not the same guy that, early in the year, was trying to be so perfect and nibble at the strike zone. I feel more confident and know that when I throw the ball over the plate and keep it down we have guys behind me that will make plays.”
In the sixth inning, Gregor Blanco reached base on a bunt. Pelfrey walked the next two hitters. Dan Warthen walked to the mound, and, according to Pelfrey, told him to throw a sinker, to get two outs in exchange for one run.
Pelfrey threw a sinker and got the double play, thanks in part to a slick play from Argenis Reyes.
…i believe this is what is known as ‘commanding the inning’…
zadi edits!
Besides being our intrepid host, Zadi also used to be the sole editor for the show. Now we have Daniel and Mike, aka sanity savers. Now Zadi does the final polish of the episodes. Speaking of editing, check out what it does to the office below...
August 20, 2008
RPGs + Computer Games: D&D Tiny Adventures
This game makes me glad I signed up for Facebook; I would really have hated to miss it. What a bunch of really smart folks at Wizards of the Coast have done is distill out the essential ambience of Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition into something that you can play with simple clicks. It’s got beautiful production values and some very entertaining writing.
Dungeons & Dragons Tiny Adventures starts by offering you choice of a spread of starting adventurers, covering all the races and classes in the new player’s handbook. The FAQ is very well-done and covers nearly everything you’ll need to know to play with this. I have always loved dragon people, so I settled on a dragonborn fighter.
What does a would-be adventurer need? Why, adventures, of course. Tiny Adventures offers you a roster of adventures of different sorts, and the FAQ explains what attributes and qualities are most important for the different sorts of challenges you may wish to face. At the outset of a new adventure, you choose your potions. (This is the only major stumble I had that the FAQ didn’t, IMHO, cover well. The only time you can choose potions is right at the outset of an adventure. Pay heed.)
[More below the fold...]
Did Ya Know?
Did you know that BBEdit will transparently edit and save binary plists that have been compressed with gzip? This, combined with Transmit's "Edit With BBEdit" feature is coming in handy.
Sweetness!
I bet Rich Siegel thought he was the only one who would ever use this…
Me and Your Bicycle
My friend Mat Honan amused and beguiled you a few months ago with Barack Obama is Your New Bicycle. As is the course of such things, he got a book deal for his efforts, despite having been responsible for the onslaught of unfunny ripoffs of the site which followed his success.
But, I take some very small satisfaction in this whole thing because Mat very graciously credits me (both in the book and in conversation) with having helped spread the word about his site. It's just another in the long string of goofy web memes for which I have become an unofficial ambassador. It's a good thing there's no Hell, or surely I'd rot in it for all that I've done.
At any rate, Mat's quite an entertaining and engaging interviewee, as evidenced by his recent stint on >Internet Superstar, and as there's a totally gratuitous and flattering mention of me at about the four-minute mark, I felt obliged to link to it here.
You can buy Mat's book at Amazon and other reputable booksellers near you.
Mortified Recap
August 20, 2008 - 8:30 p.m. - Hollywood, CA Did you ever purge your deepest (and darkest) secrets into a diary? Where are those books now? Locked or burnt, I presume. No need to dig for your diaries if Mortified is performing in a city near you. Storytellers read their most horrific (funny) passages. They spill the beans on life as a young adult. The result is we are utterly mortified by the content and embarrassed for the reader. It's laugh-aloud funny, hilarious, and brilliant! And you thought you were strange.
Geoengineering: A Worldchanging Retrospective
Worldchanging Executive Editor Alex Steffen has become a respected voice of dissent in the global conversation about geo-engineering strategies. This fall, he re-enters the debate as part of the cast of front-line innovators featured in a new docu-style series from Discovery and Impossible Pictures. The program, called Discovery Project Earth, launches this Friday, August 22.
The series will profile some pretty extraordinary experiments aimed at slowing global warming, generating alternative energy and restoring natural resources. Cutting-edge thinkers around the world, including scientists, engineers and other innovators, stand at the helms of these most ambitious projects, which face no small amount of uncertainty in their quest to save all life on Earth.
Alex was tapped to comment specifically on several geo-engineering initiatives featured in Project Earth. These plans read like the scripts of science fiction movies, but they are being worked on right now, to address what is perhaps the biggest challenge the human race has ever confronted. According to a press release issued by Discovery Communications:
From covering acres of Greenland's glaciers in protective blankets to stop it from melting to constructing space rockets to send tiny reflective lenses into orbit to planting thousands of saplings via a mass aerial drop to reforest barren areas, these are experiments on an epic scale. Each one will push the boundaries of science and technology, but will they produce groundbreaking environmental results?Make no mistake: we need thinkers who are willing to go beyond the norm; who are willing to imagine on an epic, legendary, mythological scale; who aim to be the heroes who preserve life on this planet.
But Worldchanging has always encouraged careful debate and long-term consideration when it comes to geo-engineering. Drastic measures that dramatically alter intricate systems and delicately balanced exchanges on the Earth, in our oceans, in our atmosphere and beyond are daunting, because altering the natural flow of ecosystems is how we created this disaster in the first place.
Whether or not you'll be tuning in to Project Earth, we've put together a gallery of Worldchanging's past coverage of geo-engineering. We hope that this modest anthology will help those who would like to follow the debate and our role in it, and to help many of you deepen your understanding of some of the most cutting edge, beyond-the-pale, and, we worry, the most dangerous ideas now in the arsenal for our fight against climate chaos.
And remember, Worldchanging is a discussion, not a lecture. Our readers are highly educated, engaged and concerned. So we strongly encourage you to read the comment threads for some lively debate.
How Do We Intelligently Discuss Politicized Geoengineering?
Posted by Alex Steffen on June 10, 2008This is a dangerous moment, one where words count, and geoengineering is being used to very direct (and dishonest) rhetorical purposes. In a very real way, discussions of geoengineering play into the political hands of those in the U.S. who would like to see climate change action blocked.But at the same time, in order to have a worthwhile discussion about how to confront climate change and other planetary problems, we need to acknowledge both the full extent of human influence on the Earth and the need for intelligent planetary managemet.
No Time For Singularity
Posted by Karl Schroeder on June 11, 2008…This upward curve of technological development rides on something: it rides on the back of humanity, and we ride (largely for free, until now) on the back of the natural system that sustains us. Once serious environmental deterioration sets in, the curve of technological change will flatten, even if we develop 'godlike AIs,' for the simple reason that intelligence itself is not enough to sustain growth … If there's to be a miraculous transformation of human civilization, it has to be accomplished by us, right now, before we develop our miraculous nanobots, genetically engineered carbon-sucking trees, or polywell fusion reactors.
Planktos, Geo-Engineering and Politics
Posted by Alex Steffen on February 14, 2008And here we are led to what may be to me the most damning shortcoming of geo-engineering: These proposals are not actually very smart or cutting edge. They are a set of 20th century proposals kitted out in 21st century drag. This is the response you'd get if you took a bunch of 1950s scientists with slide rules and crew cuts, put them in a room, and showed them An Inconvenient Truth. "First, we build a space mirror, then, if that doesn't work, we'll fall back to the artificial volcano... it may be a long shot, but nothing else will save the American way of life!"
GeoEngineering in the Anthropocene Era
Posted by Jon Lebkowsky on November 27, 2006In his latest Viridian screed, WorldChanging ally Bruce Sterling refers to an article from Wired, "Rebooting the Ecosystem," which acknowledges that we humans have screwed up our planet, and this means we're responsible for repairing the damage, but stopgaps like carbon sequestration just aren't going to cut it.
Drastic Measures for Cooling the Planet
Posted by Sarah Rich on June 27, 2006The approach raises serious ethical questions: what is the right way -- if there is one -- to massively alter or impose upon the natural world, with the guiding principles being averting climate disaster and saving the earth? … What it does lead us to, however, is the ever more widely accepted understanding that this crisis is real, it's massive, and it is indeed time to be thinking up solutions on a scale appropriate to the challenge.
Why Geo-Engineering is a Bad Fall-Back Strategy
Posted by Alex Steffen on March 10, 2006
Given our extremely limited understanding of (and thus ability to manage) the planet now, with more modest expectations and under comparatively stable conditions, debating geo-engineering may even provide a stalking horse for climate "skeptics"…
The Open Future: The Reversibility Principle
Posted by Jamais Cascio on March 6, 2006
It's likely that, should we be forced to consider such global-scale engineering to respond to climate disaster, few of the options will be reversible. The question then becomes which option -- including the option of doing nothing -- would in the worst reasonable scenarios result in the least amount of death and destruction, and which would give us the greatest opportunity for gradual mitigation of harm. Underlying the choices will be the need to make the ways the options as reversible as possible, even if full reversibility isn't plausible.
And our very first deep discussion on the topic was Jamais Cascio's four-part series, posted during the summer of 2005:Terraforming Earth, Part III: Geoethical Principles
Terraforming Earth IV: The Question of Methane
I say this to preface a look at a set of proposed feats of ecological engineering on a scale never before attemptedintentionally. They may not be the best courses of action -- they may not be wise, or evince a good balance of benefit and risk -- but we should not rule them out simply because they involve making big changes to the environment. We're already making big changes, only without any foresight or design; to paraphrase Stewart Brand's 1968 epigram, we are already terraforming Earth, and might as well get good at it.
Image credit: flickr/Dead Air, licensed by Creative Commons.Help us change the world - DONATE NOW!
(Posted by Julia Steinberger in Features at 5:20 PM)
Powell's Books, For Life
This is a tale about Powell's Books, and how I went from a curious supporter to a lifelong fan of a terrific independent book store in Portland, Oregon.
I've heard about Powell's for many years. In almost every conversation I have with a friend or acquaintance about Portland, they say, "Have you been to Powell's?!?" before describing the store's grandeur. Many of my touring musician friends tell me it's a required stop for them any time they roll through Portland. Being a book lover myself, I've always wanted to go to see what the fuss is about.
Knowing I don't have any trips to Portland planned any time soon, I figured I could satisfy my curiosity in the meantime by joining Powell's subscription club a few months ago through Powells.com. I got my second shipment last week and wrote a blog post about it, complete with photos of each item that came in the subscription box.
Among the comments to that post was a note from Beth, offering to send me some "thank you swag". Firstly, all bloggers love to get comments, especially positive comments. But to be contacted by the person/company you're writing about is pretty incredible. This has happened to me a few times over the years I've been blogging, and it's always a great feeling.
In our email conversation, Beth referred to parts of my post (proving she actually read it!) and asked me specifically what goodies I might want from the Powell's souvenir shop. I even saw that Brockman over at the Powell's blog had linked to my post.
And today I got my Powell's swag in the mail!
I can't wait to fill up this travel mug with Blue Bottle coffee.
My phone insists on making the back of the shirt look purple, which it is not. It's brown and yellow, actually, like the photo above.
I will wear/sip from my Powell's swag with pride, and will always have my little story to tell about them. I applaud Powell's for speaking to me, just one of their many customers, in a friendly, personable way and taking the extra steps to do something nice for me. Plus, any company or person who treats bloggers well is one of the good guys in my book. They have a new fan for life.
Even if you don't live in Portland, Oregon, Powells.com will take care of all your bookish needs!
Let's get meta:
- My post about Powell's Indiespensable book subscription club.
- Powell's blog post about my blog post.
- And now, today I post about the whole story and Twitter it.
- You can follow Powell's on Twitter.
- Finally, anyone who knows what I do for a living will understand just how meta this all is.
links for 2008-08-20
Kate Gets Interviewed
It's here.
The new Interview, in all its Kate glory.
So of course, we had to share - though we highly suggest picking it up in person. You can't really appreciate the cover until you shake it around under lights to make the foil cover do a fun little light dance.
Because we're so in love with you all, we've posted Kate's entire spread, and her interview with Glenn O'Brien, after the jump. (We skipped the Margiela piece because, really, it was an interview with Maison Martin Margiela, not the private Margiela one-on-one we'd hoped for.)
Click through to learn that Kate loves boobs, hates implants, and actually did, yes, think she was too thin back in the day...
Movable Type Pro: Now With Comments!
We've always tried to keep a sense of humor about ourselves at Six Apart, and not take our work or ourselves too seriously. Last week, when we released the widely-acclaimed Movable Type Pro, we included a short video that explained some of the exciting ideas behind MT Pro. We weren't exactly trying to show the full list of the new features in the video, but we definitely set ourselves up on this one — these things always tend to focus more on telling a story than on getting into technical details.
We focus on the story for a simple reason: It's not about features, it's about the future. Honestly, we assume that that everyone else on the web will respond by copying great ideas, as they usually do. Hell, we want them to, so that more people can benefit from open communities on the web.
Movable Type's had really great social networking features for more than a year, and MT Pro puts them in everyone's hands. So we're glad to see our friends at Automattic follow our lead by planning to provide some of these abilities for WordPress in a collection of plugins that you should be able to assemble around Christmastime or so. Until then, they've created a parody of our video.
We think that's a pretty funny way to respond, too! So we thought we'd share their parody of our video:
Of course, the joke in the video is that MT Pro's big feature is comments. LOL! So true, so true, we totally have comments! And lots more. You can view our original video, but one great thing the parody does is promote an MT Pro feature that we'd omitted — you can definitely get full social networking features on your own site, without having your it look like another Facebook or MySpace clone. (We'll even help you design it.)
Because maybe it's a little idealistic, but we think communities on the web can be freed from having to live within the constraints of someone else's social network where they have no control. It's just like how blogging freed people from having to use complicated publishing systems that they couldn't control. Or freed all of us from only consuming media that was produced by giant corporations, instead of by the friends, family or peers we know and respect. Blogs are good at breaking down barriers.
We think it's time for blogging to evolve and assume that successful communities will consist of dozens or even thousands of blogs, forums, and individuals, all connecting together in an open way. And we don't just talk about it: We invent what needs to be created, release it to as many people as possible, and try to do the best job we can of telling people the story of how the web is going to look in the future.
MT is great at all kinds of other unique abilities, of course, like managing an unlimited number of blogs and aggregating content across them. Or managing forums. Letting your members and commenters create their own profiles and follow each other. Rating and recommending content. Providing free and open source TypePad AntiSpam for blocking junk comments, instead of a proprietary centralized service from Automattic. Support for cutting-edge tech like OpenID 2.0 and OAuth. Exclusive new themes like Mid-Century. Our long-held reputation for publishing highly scalable, "Digg-proof" pages. And comments! Don't forget comments.
[Note: To be fair, it is possible to remedy some of the missing features in WordPress if you have enough free time to find the appropriate plugins. However, prominent independent security researchers do warn, "[T]he abysmal security practices of WordPress plugin developers places the entire Internet at risk". That's on top of WordPress being one of top ten least secure applications around, and the Department of Homeland Security's data showing WordPress having twelve times as many reported security vulnerabilities as Movable Type. Quick, time for more parody videos!]
But all of the features in Movable Type Pro are in service of something bigger. The great technology rests on top of world-class support, an incredibly talented professional services group, and a media services team that will help your site and your community succeed. Our vision at Six Apart is really about finding ways to help you achieve your goals while making the whole web better. The great part is, our community is innovative enough that they can take our ideas and use them as inspiration to build many of the most amazing and innovative sites on the web.
So thanks again to the team at Automattic for the laugh, and most of all for spending your time on making videos. In all seriousness, we think it is a fantastic way to compare your work to Movable Type Pro and to what we're trying to accomplish at Six Apart.
You vs. Usain Bolt
Race Usain Bolt in this button mashing Flash game. I was a fair Track & Fielder back in the day so I beat Bolt on my first attempt. [Insert elaborate archery pose emoticon here.] (thx, scott)
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G.R.L artist and 5 American protesters arrested in China
Unless you've been living under a rock- you know about all the detentions, disappearances, and shootings of people in China who have been outspoken about the ongoing struggle for a free Tibet.
Needless to say, I was shocked to hear the news that a friend of ours from Brooklyn was just arrested with 4 others for holding up a banner near the National Stadium, known as the Bird’s Nest, on Aug. 19 around 11 p.m. spelling out the message Free Tibet in Chinese and English using blue L.E.D. lights. Fortunately this was followed by info that they are safely on their way home.
This banner was co-created with the help of Graffiti Research Lab member James Powderly who was also arrested and is currently being detained due to his plan to use his invention, "The Green Chinese Lantern,” a 400 milliwatt handheld green laser with micro-stencils to beam a Free Tibet message on a Beijing landmark, possibly Tiananmen Square.
Prior to this planned action, Powderly's invitation to participate in Synthetic Times, a new media art exhibition at Beijing’s National Media Art Museum of China, was revoked, after he expressed indignation that the work must be approved by the Chinese government.
According to G.R.L's press release:
James is proud to have been kicked out of the Synthetic Times new media art exhibition in Beijing because he wouldn’t censor his little art project. James wonders why organizations like the MoMA, Parsons, Eyebeam, Ars Electronica and many other arts and cultural institutions around the world who claim to support free speech and expression would participate in a show like this. But they did! It was after being kicked to the curb by the show’s curator that James connected with Students for a Free Tibet and decided he would go to China anyway and do what he though was right in support of Tibet, Taiwan, free speech and the people of China. James lives, if indeed he is alive, in the County of Kings, Brooklyn, and teaches at the Communication Design and Technology program at Parsons the New School for Design.The NY Times reported that,
Two video bloggers, Brian Comley, 28, and Jeffrey Rae, 28, were with James when he was detained. On Tuesday night, he sent a text message to a friend saying he had been held since 3 a.m. on Monday. His current whereabouts are unknown.I hope James is safe and released soon. I also hope that attention continues to be drawn to the violence and repression sanctioned by the Chinese government. The price of protest for Chinese citizens is atrocious. Most recently those who applied to the Chinese government's designated Olympic protest zones were rejected, disappeared and detained, and sentenced to "re-education through labor."
Alan Ket: Graffiti popularity vs criminalisation
(bio from http://www.12ozprophet.com/index.php/ket/) Alan Ket grew up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York. From a young age, he fell in love with Hip Hop culture and the graffiti art movement, During his college days at New York University, he founded STRESS, a publication dedicated to celebrating urban communities, Hip Hop culture and educating youth about their rights. This magazine went on to have international distribution and being translated into Spanish language as well. Through Stress magazine, Ket created a program with Riker's Island prison to donate magazines to inmates and to take Hip Hop musicians to perform at the prison system in order to reduce violence and connect them with the outside world. He was also one of the founders of Black August, a collective made up of Stress magazine staff and The Malcolm X Grassroots movement, in order to raise money and support for political prisoners and exchange music and ideas with youth in countries with emerging Hip Hop scenes like Cuba. Most recently he
Fake restaurant wins wine award
Beware gatekeepers on autopilot. As part of the research process for an academic paper on wine awards, Robin Goldstein submitted an application for Wine Spectator's Award of Excellence using a fake restaurant and a subpar wine list.
I named the restaurant "Osteria L'Intrepido" (a play on the name of a restaurant guide series that I founded, Fearless Critic). I submitted the fee ($250), a cover letter, a copy of the restaurant's menu (a fun amalgamation of somewhat bumbling nouvelle-Italian recipes), and a wine list. Osteria L'Intrepido won the Award of Excellence, as published in print in the August 2008 issue of Wine Spectator.Most of the wines on the "reserve" list had previously been panned in the magazine. Ouch. (via eater)
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Michael Phelps's most important swim
* I commend whoever conceived (get it, get it?) of this and drew it - hilarious!
Ebert thinks 3-D sucks
Roger Ebert is not a fan of 3-D movies.
Ask yourself this question: Have you ever watched a 2-D movie and wished it were in 3-D? Remember that boulder rolling behind Indiana Jones in "Raiders of the Lost Ark?" Better in 3-D? No, it would have been worse. Would have been a tragedy. The 3-D process is like a zombie, a vampire, or a 17-year cicada: seemingly dead, but crawling out alive after a lapse of years. We need a wooden stake.(link)
Note: Going to Shea, Q&A, Blackberry, Etc.
In a few moments, I will be leaving for Shea Stadium to attend tonight’s game with John
Keegan, who is a very good friend and the man behind PressHarbor.
Before the game, thanks to SNY, I am hoping to spend a few minutes talking with a starting pitcher, for a Q&A that should eventually appear on MetsBlog.
So, expect random, off-beat, misspelled blog posts about Shea Stadium, sent from my Blackberry, as I wait around.
My goal is to talk with some one about the pressures of pitching in NYC during a pennant race, as well as player, media and fan expectations. So, if you have any questions that you feel fit in with this line of thinking, let me know in the comments section.
What makes for a good blog?
Merlin Mann lists some attributes of good blogs.
Good blogs try. I've come to believe that creative life in the first-world comes down to those who try just a little bit harder. Then, there's the other 98%. They're still eating the free continental breakfast over at FriendFeed. A good blog is written by a blogger who thinks longer, works harder, and obsesses more. Ultimately, a good blogger tries. That's why "good" is getting rare.Like Merlin, I'm discovering fewer and fewer good blogs these days. Part of it is that blogging as I would define it is passe. These days people are writing for online magazines like Gawker or Tumblring or Twittering or Facebooking or doing a million other things on the web. But people are also listening to a bunch of bad advice -- CALL NOW TO FIND OUT HOW TO MAKE MONEY WITH BLOGS AND WE'LL THROW IN THIS JUICER ABSOLUTELY FREE -- instead of Merlin's level-headedness.
(link)
Usain Bolt Runs Fast
Overheard in the media area as Usain Bolt set a world record in the 200-meters. "[Expletive]." "That was the most ridiculous thing I've seen in my life." "That was sick." "Oh my God." "Um, did I really lose my BlackBerry again?" I'll let you guess who said that last one.
Above the fold
A daily round-up of economic news
"I've Never Stopped Loving You and I Know Now I Never Will"
Clearly, everyone's secretly excited, or at least secretly curious, for the new 90210.
Will they bring back floral minis?
Will Donna wear a choker?
Is Cory Kennedy really in it? (Yes, she is.)
So when a reader sent in a tip that you can still buy 90210 tees on the CBS site, we knew we had to share it with the rest of you.
Insanely, the tee at left would totally work on Jenny Humphrey, wouldn't it?
Get good at iPhone app development
I keep getting emails from people who want me to develop iPhone apps for them. The very few people I know who have this ability are booked solid for the indefinite future. There’s a big market here for developers.
If you’re looking to learn a new programming language and platform, and you’re at least moderately familiar with C, I strongly suggest that you look into this.
Requirements:
- You really need to know C (not C++). Some may disagree, but it would really help. If all of your previous experience is in dynamic languages like PHP or Ruby, Objective-C is really going to hurt.
- You need to be patient and dedicated. This is a very hostile platform to enter as a newbie because community and documentation are thin, and a lot of functionality in Xcode and Interface Builder is unintuitive. (Then there’s this problem.)
- You need a ruthless attention to detail and a sense for what makes a good interface.
Rewards:
- It’s a very cool platform.
- You’ll learn a lot.
- Once you get past the oddities and ugly syntax, you can appreciate some of the great design decisions and conventions in Cocoa and apply them to your other programming work.
- People are paying for good apps. As in, they’re giving you money in exchange for software. This is a very foreign and welcome concept to web people accustomed to whoring out and begging for traffic to survive on a $1 CPM.
- You don’t have to handle promotion or payment processing.
- You can make a living on it as an individual.
- You don’t need funding.
- It’s a very young market, so most of the competition isn’t very good and there are a lot of unfilled holes.
- The Apple Store employees in the Westchester mall will treat you like a celebrity and want to take pictures with you. (Really.)
Trust me, it’s worth it if you can do it.
Nike+ and iPhone
The leaked screenshots for the upcoming iPhone Nike+ interface almost make me excited enough to start running again:
We've known that Nike+ has long been in development for the iPhone. Now we're finally getting a peek at the first shots of the interface. From what we can skim, Nike+ users will get all of the nifty performance graphs right on the phone (before this stuff was available on the web only).
And! Google Maps integration for running routes, which may be my favorite part of all.
The Omnivore's One Hundred
From Andrew Wheeler:
Here’s a chance for a little interactivity for all the bloggers out there. Below is a list of 100 things that I think every good omnivore should have tried at least once in their life. The list includes fine food, strange food, everyday food and even some pretty bad food - but a good omnivore should really try it all. Don’t worry if you haven’t, mind you; neither have I, though I’ll be sure to work on it. Don’t worry if you don’t recognise everything in the hundred, either; Wikipedia has the answers.
Here’s what I want you to do:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.57/100. Not bad, but not great, either. Looks like there are some surprising omissions here. Time to get to work....
- Venison
- Nettle tea
- Huevos rancheros
- Steak tartare
- Crocodile
- Black pudding
- Cheese fondue
- Carp
- Borscht
- Baba ghanoush
- Calamari
- Pho
- PB&J sandwich
- Aloo gobi
- Hot dog from a street cart
- Epoisses
- Black truffle
- Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
- Steamed pork buns
- Pistachio ice cream
- Heirloom tomatoes
- Fresh wild berries
- Foie gras
- Rice and beans
- Brawn, or head cheese
- Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
- Dulce de leche
- Oysters
- Baklava
- Bagna cauda
- Wasabi peas
- Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
- Salted lassi
- Sauerkraut
- Root beer float
- Cognac with a fat cigar
- Clotted cream tea
- Vodka jelly/Jell-O
- Gumbo
- Oxtail
- Curried goat
- Whole insects
- Phaal
- Goat’s milk
- Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
- Fugu
- Chicken tikka masala
- Eel
- Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
- Sea urchin
- Prickly pear
- Umeboshi
- Abalone
- Paneer
- McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
- Spaetzle
- Dirty gin martini
- Beer above 8% ABV
- Poutine
- Carob chips
- S’mores
- Sweetbreads
- Kaolin
- Currywurst
- Durian
- Frogs’ legs
- Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
- Haggis
- Fried plantain
- Chitterlings, or andouillette
- Gazpacho
- Caviar and blini
- Louche absinthe
- Gjetost, or brunost
- Roadkill
- Baijiu
- Hostess Fruit Pie
- Snail
- Lapsang souchong
- Bellini
- Tom yum
- Eggs Benedict
- Pocky
- Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
- Kobe beef
- Hare
- Goulash
- Flowers
- Horse
- Criollo chocolate
- Spam
- Soft shell crab
- Rose harissa
- Catfish
- Mole poblano
- Bagel and lox
- Lobster Thermidor
- Polenta
- Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
- Snake
(Originally found at Chocolate & Zucchini)
Hillary Backers In Pennsylvania Meet Privately With Top McCain Adviser
An odd little scoop from Pennsylvania's Scranton Times:
A brother of New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and local Democrats who backed her unsuccessful presidential campaign socialized privately Monday with a top surrogate of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain.The private gathering featured Carly Fiorina, Mr. McCain's top economic adviser, and took place at the Dunmore home of political consultant Jamie Brazil, a longtime friend of Mrs. Clinton's family who has signed on as paid national director of Mr. McCain's Citizens for McCain Coalition.
The attendees included Tony Rodham, Mrs. Clinton's youngest sibling, his wife, Megan, and their two children; attorney Kathleen Granahan Kane, who coordinated Mrs. Clinton's presidential campaign in Northeast Pennsylvania during the primary election; and Virginia McGregor, sister of Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty.
With the Democratic National Convention less than a week away, the gathering raises questions about the support Illinois Sen. Barack Obama can expect from former local supporters of Mrs. Clinton, who dominated at the polls in the Northeast in the April primary election.
Via Mark Halperin, who calls it "essential reading." Obama's Pennsylvania campaign, wisely, declined to comment. It's hard to gauge how much this matters, but it seems worth digging into a bit.
Today’s Headlines
- Paterson Appoints Longtime Real Estate Lobbyist to MTA Board (NYT, Newsday)
- John Liu Joins Joseph Addabbo in Launching 'Fightthehike08.com' (News, AMNY)
- NYCLU: Police Misconduct on Rise Due to Kelly's Leniency (News)
- Reasons to Be Grateful for Traffic Agents (News)
- Remembering Rasha Shamoon (NYT)
- City Installs Nine David Byrne-Designed Bike Racks (NYT, Post, Metro)
- Old Mom-and-Pop Bike Shop Still Going Strong in Jamaica (NY1)
- SoHo Alliance Blames Apple Store for Sidewalk Congestion (Sun, Metro)
- Coverage of Party Conventions Brought to You By ExxonMobil (Think Progress)
- Chinese Official Vows to Keep Beijing Auto Emissions Down (Reuters)
1 R 0 ER 1 HR
An event in a minor league game last night made me wonder about this unusual line. A pitcher who allows only one run via homerun and yet its unearned. This can occur if the batter who homers has his at-bat extended by a dropped foul ball.
Here are the pitchers with this line since 1956.
Begun, the Nuff Wars have ...
And now for something completely different: A cat with four ears. Meet "Yoda," the first kitty equipped for quadraphonic sound. Adopted by a nice couple in Chicago, Yoda hears well and is otherwise normal, apart from a tendency to emit feedback when held too close to speakers. More pix and article at the Daily Mail.
Ears to you, Mary O.
The Penultimate Duro Jr
As promised, the penultimate Duro ... this is Amy Butler Morning Glory Slate (yesterday I thought it was Lotus, but I think that's the name of the line, not the pattern). Anyway, as you can see, it marks a return to piping. I also piped the bottom of the midriff, which you really can't see here, but which lets me someday decide to wear the sash tied in the back (as if).
Here's the back, which has no piping:
As you can see, I made no effort whatsoever to match this pattern on the back.
Here's a slightly closer view of the bodice:
When I first saw this fabric I lurved it, couldn't wait for it to arrive, had all sorts of plans for it ... and then I waited. I had ordered it through ... well, I ordered it from some folks who were not very well organized, and so I waited. And I waited, and I sent some emails, and then I waited some more, until when it finally DID come, I was so over it that I didn't really want to look at it. I kept dragging it out and looking at it and then folding it up again and putting it back on the shelf. I'm glad I was so exasperated, though, because otherwise I would have used this up three times over and would not have had it available for the Duro Jr.
I made one more Duro Jr ... it's sitting upstairs in my suitcase and I haven't taken a picture of it yet. I'll try to do that soonish-like. (I'll give you one hint: it's made from one of the fabrics I just bought in Japan.)
brutal
brutal
August 19, 2008
Truffault Hitchock Tapes
You wouldn't guess it from this blog, but my first love in the arts is not photography, but film and part of every film lover's bookshelf is Truffaut/Hitchcock in which the Truffaut interviews Hitchcock. Today I was googling a quote from the book when I found a site that contains recordings of the interview sessions. 25 MP3s in all. Exciting stuff for your inner film nerd.Related: pranks in Vertigo, Hitchcock psychology, NYTimes review of Rear Window, NYTimes review of Pycho, NYTimes North by Northwest review, on MacGuffins, Hitchcock cameos, and A wonky but interesting essay on color symbolism in Vertigo.
Filed under: film
Tags: hitchcock, mp3, truffaut
I'm still liking but not hearing this. From Chuck Schumer: "I
I'm still liking but not hearing this. From Chuck Schumer: "I would answer back hard. What do you mean [Obama's] not one of us? It's John McCain who wears $500 shoes, has six houses, and comes from one of the richest families in his state. It's Barack Obama who climbed up the hard way, and that's why he wants middle-class tax cuts and better schools for our kids."
A friend of mine just wrote in arguing, essentially, that the McCain character narrative is unstoppable. You can change the terms of the debate. But there's no way you're going to change people's minds about Mccain, warrior, tough guy, maverick, going to protect your family no matter what. My answer would be, with some people, especially a lot of them in DC but certainly elsewhere too, that's right. With others I'm not so sure. And that's why I really wish there was some independent group out there telling the full story of McCain's life prior to his POW captivity and especially after. $500 shoes. Thinks you're rich after your making $5 million a year. Has 9 or 10 houses.
It's not for everyone. But the guy's pampered. And he changes his beliefs every few years.
Why People Pirate Stuff
In the universe of the free ("free" as in beer), getting ripped off is the norm. Yes, many products and services are deliberately priced at zero these days, but a significant portion of consumers will gravitate to illegitimate free versions of not-free stuff. Free versions of pricey digital products are not hard to find on underground file trading sites, or in bits and pieces on above ground aggregators like YouTube. Most high-priced wares like expensive commercial software can be had for literally nothing. But very cheap things are widely pirated for free as well.
Why do people pirate inexpensive digital goods? Why steal candy? This was the question game developer Cliff Harris asked the online world. His games were priced at what he thought was a very reasonable $20. Yet, his games were being pirated constantly. Why? He really wanted to know if he needed to alter his business practices so he simply asked the Great Hive, "Why do people pirate my games?" No judgement -- just asking. His query was replicated deep into the blogosphere making it to Slashdot, Digg, Arstechnica, and so on. He got hundreds and hundreds of replies, none of them shorter than 100 words. "It was," he said, "as if a lot of people have waited a long time to tell a game developer the answer to this question."
He found patterns in the replies that surprised him. Chief among them was the common feeling that his games (and games in general) were overpriced for what buyers got -- even at $20. Secondly, anything that made purchasing and starting to play difficult -- like copy protection, DRM, two-step online purchasing routines -- anything at all standing between the impulse to play and playing in the game itself was seen as a legitimate signal to take the free route. Harris also noted that ideological reasons (rants against capitalism, intellectual property, the man, or wanting to be outlaw) were a decided minority.
Much to his credit, the sincere responses to his question changed Harris's mind. He decided to alter his business model. He reduced the price of his games in half (to $10), he removed the little DRM copy protection he had, he promised to make his web store easier to use, maybe even with one-click checkout, he decided to increase the length of his free demos, and most importantly, he had the revelation that he needed to increase the quality of his games -- even though they were only going for 20 bucks. He wrote:
My games aren't as good as they could be. Ironically, one of the things that reduces your enthusiasm to really go the extra mile in making games is the thought that thousands of ungrateful gits will swipe the whole thing on day one for nothing. It's very demoralizing. But actually talking to the pirates has revealed a huge group of people who really appreciate genuinely good games. Some of the criticisms of my games hit home. I get the impression that if I make Kudos 2 not just lots better than the original, but hugely, overwhelmingly, massively better, well polished, designed and balanced, that a lot of would-be pirates will actually buy it. I've gone from being demoralized by pirates to actually inspired by them, and I'm working harder than ever before on making my games fun and polished.
A final note is trying to make it easier for people to buy my games. I'm really hassling my payment provider to support amazons one-click method. For me, I think that's even more convenient than Steam. I'm always doing what I can to make buying them as quick and easy as possible.Harris's article "Talking to Pirates" is only one page long, and worth reading. It will be most interesting to see if his modifications actually help his sales. I hope he follows through on this most excellent exercise by posting next year what happened.
(Thanks, Rebecca Blood.)
How to solve crossword puzzles
NY Times resident crossword puzzle master Will Shortz on how to solve the NY Times crossword puzzle.
Mental flexibility is a great asset in solving crosswords. Let your mind wander. The clue "Present time" might suggest nowadays, but in a different sense it might lead to the answer yuletide. Similarly, "Life sentences" could be obit, "Inside shot" is x-ray and my all-time favorite clue, "It turns into a different story" (15 letters), results in the phrase SPIRAL STAIRCASE.(link)
iPhone browser share doubled since 3G launch
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Internet, iPhone
According to HitsLink, the people who track web usage statistics, iPhone users account for about a third of one percent of web browsers on the Internet, the largest of any mobile platform.
iPhone ranks fourth overall in terms of operating system market share, behind Windows, Mac, and Linux. On August 16, the stats peaked at 0.45 percent. That's a two-fold increase since the iPhone 3G was released July 9.
Jim Goldman, of business television network CNBC, says that "it's a key metric that shows market penetration and customer use." He cited a report by analyst Andy Hargreaves that suggests the increase in browser market share highlights the iPhone's key, long-term advantages. Well, duh.
"Consumers seem to know what some investors are having trouble grasping -- or believing: that Apple might be positioned better in so many key markets than any of its competitors,"
Captain ObviousGoldman said.[Via MacDailyNews.]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
The Allen and Ginter Code, cracked
If you are interested in the answer, go here.
I don’t want to ruin the surprise, for those that still want to get it on their own, though.
I wonder if this will put premium value on some of those Team Orange cards. That is, if people wanted them in the first place…
where is james powderly?
Fellow ITP alum, technologist, artist and Graffiti Research Lab co-founder James Powderly was detained by Chinese authorities earlier today in Beijing, where he was about to debut his new laser stencil protest project The Green Chinese Lantern, developed in conjunction with Students for a Free Tibet. China hasn't acknowledged his detention yet and no one knows where he is—here's hoping James is safe and makes his way home soon.
GRL's James Powderly detained in Beijing for planning pro-Tibet "L.A.S.E.R. Stencil" art protest
Students for a Free Tibet tells Boing Boing they learned of Graffitti Research Lab founder James Powderly's detention by Chinese authorities in Beijing via a Twitter direct message that read "held since 3am."
I just spoke to the SFT representative who has been Powderly's closest contact, and this person says Powderly has now been held for more than 19 hours with no further word.
So far there's no acknowledgment from officials in Beijing that Powderly is being held. Here's SFT's announcement about the L.A.S.E.R. Stencil art protest project Powderly was planning -- he was also writing an "instructable" about it yesterday:
More on the story at SFT's website. More about GRL's LASER stencil here. Here's a statement from Powderly:Internationally known artist, technologist and co-founder of the Graffiti Research Lab, James Powderly, was detained in Beijing early this morning while preparing to debut a new work and technology of protest, the L.A.S.E.R. Stencil. According to a “twitter” message received today by Students for a Free Tibet at approximately 5 pm Beijing Standard Time, Powderly had been detained by Chinese authorities at 3 am. His current whereabouts remain unknown.
“James is a unique voice in the world, who lives and breathes art and technology for the purpose of promoting and enabling freedom of expression for all,” said Nathan Dorjee, Director of Technology for Students for a Free Tibet. “His trip to Beijing, in support of the Tibetan people and all people around the world whose voices have been silenced by their governments, is a small piece of his portfolio as an artist who won’t back down in the face of authority.”
The work, “The Green Chinese Lantern,” uses a 400 milliwatt handheld green laser with micro-stencils to beam simple messages and images up to three stories high on surfaces such as billboards, buildings, and bridges. The Laser Stencil technology was developed in conjunction with Students for a Free Tibet.
Powderly’s direct experience with censorship by Chinese authorities furthered his commitment to highlighting the Tibetan cause during the Beijing Games, in partnership with the efforts of Students for a Free Tibet. Powderly and other members of the Graffiti Research Lab were dis-invited from Synthetic Times, a new media art exhibition at Beijing’s National Media Art Museum of China, due to their uncompromising stance on freedom of expression.
Students for a Free Tibet has staged six protests in Beijing over the last two weeks, placing the issue of Tibet’s occupation front and centre as China hosts the Olympic Games. The protests have included a dramatic banner hang near the Bird’s Nest Stadium; a display of Tibetan flags near the Bird’s Nest just before the opening ceremony began; a symbolic die-in at Tiananmen Square; a protest by a Tibetan woman with flags outside Tiananmen Square; a blockade of the Chinese Ethnic Culture Park; and “Free Tibet” banner hang outside the CCTV headquarters. Thirty-seven members and supporters have been detained and deported, not including those detained today.
Previously: Boing Boing tv - Graffiti Research Lab, the movieJames is proud to have been kicked out of the Synthetic Times new media art exhibition in Beijing because he wouldn’t censor his little art project. James wonders why organizations like the MoMA, Parsons, Eyebeam, Ars Electronica and many other arts and cultural institutions around the world who claim to support free speech and expression would participate in a show like this. But they did! It was after being kicked to the curb by the show’s curator that James connected with Students for a Free Tibet and decided he would go to China anyway and do what he though was right in support of Tibet, Taiwan, free speech and the people of China. James lives, if indeed he is alive, in the County of Kings, Brooklyn, and teaches at the Communication Design and Technology program at Parsons the New School for Design. I am James Powderly and I approve of this message.
Originally posted by Xeni Jardin from Boing Boing, ReBlogged by Amanda McDonald Crowley on Aug 19, 2008 at 04:40 PM
Beijing: Activists detained after lighting up "Free Tibet" LED Throwies banner near Olympics site
An update on the pro-Tibet tech-art protests happening in Beijing: Students for a Free Tibet tells Boing Boing that a group of five pro-Tibet activists displayed an LED Throwie Banner near the Olympics site in Beijing, and were promptly detained by Chinese authorities.
From SFT, via email to BB:
This was inspired by GRL's "Throwies" project, and the building and implementation of this was done by a complete separate group of Tibet activitists. They combined a traditional protest banner with over five hundred throwie lights and batteries sewn and taped onto the banner.Details on the SFT website, Photos on Flickr, and here is a short video. "Still no more news on GRL founder James Powderly at this point," a SFT rep tells us. Previous BB post on Powderly's detention in Beijing, over 24 hours ago.Here's a snip from the SFT press release about today's action:
Five pro-Tibet activists unfurled a banner spelling out “Free Tibet” in English and Chinese in bright blue LED “throwie” lights in Beijing’s Olympic Park tonight. The five were detained by security personnel after displaying the banner for about 20 seconds at 11:48 pm August 19th. Their whereabouts are unknown. The detained activists are Americans Amy Johnson, 33, Sam Corbin, 24, Liza Smith, 31, Jacob Blumenfeld, 26, and Lauren Valle, 21."The Chinese government is desperate to turn the world's attention away from its abuses in Tibet as the Olympics take place, but the creativity and determination of Tibetans and their supporters has once again ensured that Tibetan voices are heard and seen in Beijing despite the massive security clampdown," said Tenzin Dorjee, Deputy Director of Students for a Free Tibet. "The Chinese leadership must realize that the only way it can make the issue of Tibet disappear is to acknowledge the demands of the Tibetan people and work with them to bring an end to China's occupation of Tibet."
The lights used on the banner are blue 10 mm light-emitting diodes (LEDs) powered by small batteries, commonly known as “throwies.” Throwies are open-source technology attributed to OpenLab and Graffiti Research Lab, developed as a means of creating non-destructive graffiti and light displays. This is the first time ever that they have been used on a banner. James Powderly, free speech activist and co-founder of the Graffiti Research Lab (GRL), was detained in Beijing early this morning (see http://freetibet2008.org/globalactions/jamespowderly).
Previously: GRL's James Powderly detained in Beijing for planning pro-Tibet "L.A.S.E.R. Stencil" art protest
Originally posted by Xeni Jardin from Boing Boing, ReBlogged by Amanda McDonald Crowley on Aug 19, 2008 at 04:39 PM
That Pretty Much Sums It Up
Why did you just tell me that?
Gotta give the MUNI folks props for telling it like it is.
(via torrez)
Exploding Banana Head Performance Art
For his Think Globally, Act Locally performance video, Brooklyn-based artist William Lamson put on a mask embedded with firecracker-stuffed bananas and filmed himself lighting each fuse, causing the bananas to explode. What's the message? ArtSlant says, "The banana, a classic agent for slapstick pratfalls, has also now come to represent the pitfalls of corporate farming practices." I say, "Bananas are evil and must be destroyed." I'm probably wrong.
Every Teacher's Nightmare
Examiner column for August 20.
Students have back-to-school anxiety books to soothe their fears, but where are copies of “The Student From the Black Lagoon” or “Mrs. Smith and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” to soothe the nerves of teachers?
All student nightmares of not being able to find the classroom and showing up to school inappropriately dressed are multiplied in the nightmares of teachers who have the same anxieties. We dream of first days without textbooks, of standing in front of the room in bathing suits, of arriving at the wrong school or the wrong classroom.
When a teacher opens the door to the classroom, whether it is kindergarten, twelfth grade, or college—behind that smiling face is a person who lost just as much sleep as students did the night before the first day. We’re just better at hiding it.
A low level of angst usually begins around four weeks before the start of school. Have I read books I’ve not taught before? Have I reread books I taught a year ago? (Teachers’ memories are just as short-lived as students’.) By the time I’d taught “1984” fifteen or twenty times, I sometimes didn’t reread every page, but learned to reread all my underlines and notes. There are some books I always reread, no matter how many times I’ve taught them, just because the language is so beautiful.
Two weeks before classes start there’s a dreadful moment when I might realize I don’t remember ordering textbooks. Usually the ordering happens like clockwork—about six months before the semester starts. But occasionally classes are changed, or schedules are put into place late, and the magic reminders from the department are sitting on page 6 of my inbox and near-disaster occurs. Thankfully, last-minute book orders are no surprise to bookstores and students are quite flexible, too, as long as you don’t give a quiz on a book they haven’t been able to buy yet.
Other last-minute worries for teachers include realizing you didn’t do everything you hoped to develop the perfect curriculum for the coming year, and also realizing your classes meet at inconvenient times, or include the student the previous year’s teacher called “the kid from hell.”
While I was teaching high school, I never showed other teachers my class lists because “the kid from hell” invariably turned out to have grown up a bit during the summer, and I didn’t want to harbor negative expectations.
Teachers fear Murphy’s Law, that what can go wrong often will go wrong in the early days of each new year, and that’s what we dread the most. By the following fall, however, most of those nightmares have been blocked from our conscious memories, and it’s only in our disrupted sleep cycles that it all begins to come back to us.
Whether we are stuck with “The Principal from the Black Lagoon” or that “Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,” our comfort is not in the encouraging books many of our students are reading. We have their energy and youth to keep us going, and that is the beginning of what I hope will be—for all teachers—a year of sweet dreams.
Let Me Eat More Cake!
August 19, 2008 - 1:33 p.m. - Burbank, CA This is the birthday week that never ends. I'm not complaining!
NYC - "I See It All" (08.23.08 - 09.10.08)
GIANT ROBOT PRESENTS: I See It All by Deth P. Sun
GRNY, August 23 - September 10, 2008
Reception: Saturday, August 23, 6:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Giant Robot Gallery
437 East 9th Street
Between 1st Ave. & Ave. A, in the East Village
New York, New York 10009
(212) 674-GRNY (4769) | grny.net
Giant Robot is proud to present I See It All featuring new work by Deth P. Sun at its GRNY Gallery.
Deth P. Sun's acrylic paintings on panels bring epic landscapes and cosmic occurrences into a private and personal world. Influenced by David Attenborough, as well as the Moomin series and films of Terry Gilliam, the Oakland-based artist seeks to create a fantasy world as a reflection of his own experiences and worldview. It is a place where cold mountains loom under the stars, cloaked figures arrive with the night, and lone dreamers struggle--a place where hope and belief still shine in dark times. For I See It All, Sun is reaching into his sketchbook for the loosest, most natural ideas to realize and make public.
A reception attended by the artist will be held from 6:30 to 10:00 on Saturday, August 23.
Crazy Moon Language
“With That Moon Language”
by HāfezAdmit something:
Everyone you see, you say to them, “Love me.”
Of course you do not do this out loud, otherwise
someone would call the cops.Still, though, think about this, this great pull in us to connect.
Why not become the one who lives with a
full moon in each eye that is
always saying,with that sweet moon language,
what every other eye in
this world is
dying to
hear?
Nancy Pelosi's superdelegate daughter talks politics
Christine Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi's superdelegate daughter, talks politics
How to Make the Best Cheese Plate Ever
Cheese plates are a great, easy thing to serve at a dinner party. How hard is it to unwrap a bunch of cheeses and throw them on a wooden board? They work well before or after the meal, and allow the host to impress guests with some funky, novel flavors. While picking out cheeses can be overwhelming, try picking out four to five that work well together. Here are some suggestions for constructing an amazing cheese plate.
Something Old, Something New
The old adage applies well to cheese plates. It works best if you vary them by texture, age, milk type, and manufacturer. For instance, your plate could include a soft fresh goat cheese, a pungent washed rind cow's milk cheese, a semi-firm aged sheep's milk, and a spicy blue. Speaking of blues, you should offer no more than two blues on a plate, otherwise you risk overwhelming the other cheeses. You can also vary the plate by geography, but sometimes it's fun to keep that fixed, like an all-French or all-American platter.
Keep It Simple
Too much variety is overwhelming. Try offering six different cheeses at the most. If serving a small party, go with fewer. When buying cheeses, assume that the average guest will eat about 0.75 ounces each.
Befriend Your Cheesemonger
Never be afraid to ask your cheesemonger questions. He or she won't hurt you. If shopping at a store with knowledgeable cheesemongers, they should be more than happy to shepherd the selection process.
1. Ask which cheeses pair well based on your likes and dislikes.
2. Tell them what food you'll also be serving so they can match flavors.
3. If you're at a store with no knowledgeable cheesemonger, leave and go somewhere else.
Accessorize
Everyone likes a crusty bread with cheese, but it's best to stick with a milder bread to avoid overpowering the cheese. Think baguette over San Francisco sourdough. The same is true for crackers—steer clear of crackers flavored with onion, garlic, or other spices. Try pairing the cheeses with charcuterie, seasonal fruits, dried fruits, and nuts. Also worth a try: quince paste (sometimes known as membrillo).
Tools of the Trade
Don't worry about buying a wooden board made specifically for cheese. Any wooden cutting board will look nice.
Also, don't worry about buying a special set of cheese knives. It's a good idea to give each cheese a separate knife, but don't buy a bunch if you'll never use them again. The one exception is splurging on a soft cheese knife—the kind with holes down the length of the blade. Just one will suffice. They facilitate the slicing of soft, supple selections like Camembert or Reblochon.
Anyone else have other suggestions for making a great cheese plate?
What Makes for a Good Blog?
43 Folders: “I’ve come to believe that creative life in the first-world comes down to those who try just a little bit harder.”
O'Reilly questions "linking to self" in new BW network
Tim O'Reilly weighs in on the new BW Business Exchange. He wonders if the Biz Ex pages will brim with BW content and asks: "Want to place a bet whether articles in the magazine will link exclusively to these "topic pages?"
He suggests two guidelines for these types of social ventures:
1. Ensure that no more than 50% of the links on any page are to yourself. (Even this number may be too high.)2. Ensure that the pages you create at those destinations are truly more valuable to your readers than any other external link you might provide.
I'm not the spokesman for BizEx, but I would say that his guidelines are essential for the viability of the system. If a large portion of the content is BusinessWeek's, it'll suffer the fate of inbred populations in every ecosystem: decline and oblivion. To succeed, it needs to be brim with content from every corner, and to be 100 times more varied than the magazine.
That said, Tish Grier raises excellent questions about the strategy.
Ok...so we can, one more time, upload a profile, with a pic. We can track one another and see what we--or some celebs who will, after all, have profiles and be contributing content to Business Exchance. But can we link our BE conten on, something like FriendFeed or even through Facebook? Will BE ask to get in our address books so we can "invite" others into our *new* social network? Or will all of the info we enter on Business Exchange be proprietary information, locked inside Business Exchange's niches? If so, then it would be one more place that people would have to visit regularly to make it "work" for them.
An Open Letter to Blake Lively
Hi Blake,
We love your show. And while some in our office might be on Team Blair, we love you, too.
And so we're kind of worried about you. Have you lost track of where Serena Van Der Woodsen ends and Blake Lively begins?
It's ok that you're dating your on-screen boyfriend off-screen, apparently everyone does that, but we're concerned with your wardrobe. See, Serena's outfits are ok for TV, (truthfully, sometimes they're a little much), but they're not ok for real life. And yet you pile on the accessories and carry the outrageous bags through New York as if you can't leave GG world.
We love Vena Cava too, but they're Serena's favorite brand and there's really no need for you to wear every single romper they've ever made.
And the outfit you wore to the premiere party this weekend, at left, had us super worried until we realized that it was the premier party and you're probably just getting into character.
You should talk to Sarah Jessica Parker about this, she managed to learn a lot from Pat Field without ever actually dressing like Carrie.
Can't wait til the 1st!
xo,
Fp.s. "F" always = Fashionista!
Some Hurdles Are Too High by Thomas Boswell, Washington Post
My dad sent me this interesting article on the Olympics and China, which I have excerpted here:
Think of Liu another way: At these Games, Liu is China. How it got that way we Westerners may only guess.Continue reading...But it is unlikely we will ever see an athlete in greater emotional pain, or a country that takes a loss more personally, or a cast of trainers and coaches who feel more devastated.
"Liu Xiang will not withdraw unless the pain is intolerable, unless he has no other way out," said China's national team coach Feng Shuyong. Liu's coach, Sun Haiping, broke down sobbing several times at a news conference.
Time will tell whether Liu and his coaches truly thought that he had any hope of racing on Monday. What's certain is that, whatever his condition and whenever his injury occurred, Liu absolutely had to make an appearance to prove -- by falling down, by attempting a restart after it was clear he could never clear the first hurdle, by kicking a wall in anger numerous times -- that he was really hurt.
This, remember, is a country that, for generations, has seldom known what was real and what was propaganda, which of the missing were alive or dead, what official stories were true and which complete fabrications.
Even after Liu's photo gallery full of misery was on view, large numbers of Chinese -- on Internet sites and in media samplings -- felt more anger than sadness. Some said he should have crawled around the track rather than walk off.
And A-Rod thinks playing for the Yankees is tough.
If Phelps, who slipped and broke his wrist last winter, had gotten hurt and never swam here, it would have stunned and saddened America. Few would have been angry.
But this is a nation so obsessed with making an impression, and not embarrassing itself, that it has a government department dedicated to controlling the weather during the Olympics -- and it may actually be working. Military-complex security has shielded the Games from demonstrators. Every food stand is triple-staffed, every media center double-sized and, many times, a single reporter rides in a bus with 31 empty seats. For hospitality and efficiency, China has super-sized it all.
Pigs
Via the newly-launched blogs.com, I found this lovely story from the WFMU blog about an old recording of "The Three Little Pigs":
Some people cry at sad movies. This is the sort of thing that makes me tear up - a sweet, innocent (and, by the way, perfectly arranged and performed) record. I am in awe of this singer's ability to put such feeling into such simple words from such a simple story.
It's a very charming listen!
Also of interest, found via the followup post to the above: the Kiddie Rekord King.
Fantastic Card of the Day
Because I'm on a miscut kick, today's card of the day is this version of Ike Brown's 1970 Topps card. A few other great things about the card (besides Brown sharing it 90/10 with Richie Scheinblum of the Cleveland Indians (card #161)):
• Scheinblum didn't make the Indians roster for 1970, but then went on to make the American League All-Star team in 1972 with the Kansas City Royals.
• Ike Brown's card in the Topps Baseball Cards Book is also poorly centered. Does that mean that the Topps file version of the card is also a terrible version?
• I'm beginning to find that I like cards of players where there are other players milling about in the background. Ike Brown's card has another player walking through the frame, making it seem like the Topps photographer either got to the stadium late to photograph Brown or had to squeeze him in. This theory actually makes sense, because Brown was a rookie in 1969.
• Because this version exists, there is at least one sheet of messed-up miscuts out there from the 1970 set.
Library of Dust
BLDGBLOG tells us about Library of Dust, a book of photographs of an Oregon state psychiatric institution.
Esteemed photographer David Maisel has created a somber and beautiful series of images depicting canisters containing the cremated remains of the unclaimed dead from an Oregon psychiatric hospital. Dating back as far as the nineteenth century these canisters have undergone chemical reactions causing extravagant blooms of brilliant white green and blue corrosion revealing unexpected beauty in the most unlikely of places. This stately volume is both a quietly astonishing body of fine art from a preeminent contemporary photographer and an exceptionally poignant monument to the unknown deceased.(link)
Eating for Two: Lasagna with Eggplant and Chard
I'm due in about two weeks and my head is spinning. In between tying up loose ends with work and making the apartment baby-ready, I consider all the things I won’t be able to do for a while, wondering if I should be doing them—movies, flea market, making elaborate dinners. Or instead, should I be getting my fill of lazy mornings and long naps?
Adding to my discombobulation and general difficulty prioritizing, I laugh and cry at the drop of a hat now. Bouncing back and forth between euphoria and anxiety is not, as it turns out, particularly conducive to efficiency. I’ve pretty much given up hope on crossing off one item from the absurd to-do list: stocking our freezer with homemade dinners to see us through the first few weeks postpartum. It’s hot, I’m giant and tired, and have a million other things to do—cooking up a storm just isn’t going to happen now. But if I did have it in me, I’d make Deborah Madison’s lasagna with eggplant and chard, my favorite of all her recipes.
The rare chance I do muster the energy and time, I’d love to hear what you would cook to freeze if you were a very pregnant me. I’m always looking for new ideas. In the meantime, here is Madison's eggplant and chard—if I ever get around to it—and a couple other ideas from favorite blogs.
The Wednesday Chef started a very interesting conversation last month about what to cook for new parents. And last year, I loved reading about the meal delivery service that Angry Chicken’s friends set up for her when she had her third child, in lieu of a baby shower. It’s hard for me to imagine New Yorkers showing up at each others’ doors with hot dishes—isn’t that what takeout is for?—but it’s a charming idea for those who live in cities where ovens are used for baking, not storage.
About the author: Robin Bellinger recently escaped a career in book publishing, which was cutting into her cooking time. Now she's a freelance editor and can bake bread on Tuesday afternoon if she feels like it. She lives in Midtown Manhattan with her husband and blogs about cooking and crafting at home*economics.
Lasagna with Eggplant and Chard
- serves 6 to 8-
Adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for EveryoneIngredients
1 box lasagna noodles
1 1/2 pounds eggplant, sliced crosswise 1/4 inch thick
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for the eggplant
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 bunch green chard, about 1 1/2 pounds, stems removed
Salt and freshly milled pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine (I usually substitute water unless I happen to have a bottle of wine or vermouth open)
1 cup ricotta
1 egg
1 cup tomato sauce (your favorite; make sure it is well seasoned)
3/4 cup grated pecorino romano
8 ounces fresh mozzarella, thinly slicedProcedure
1. Boil the lasagna noodles according to package instructions. Unless it is garden fresh, salt the eggplant, let stand 30 minutes, then blot dry.
2. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Brush both sides of the eggplant slices lightly with oil. Place the slices on a sheet pan and bake, turning once, until browned on both sides, about 30 minutes in all. Chop coarsely. Do not turn off oven.
3. Heat 2 tablespoons oil and the butter in a large skillet. Add the onion and garlic and cook over medium heat for about 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the chard, sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt, and cook until wilted, about 5 minutes. Add the wine, cover, and cook until the chard is tender and the pan is dry, about 10 minutes. Turn the mixture out onto a cutting board and chop finely. In a bowl, mix together the ricotta, 1/3 cup water, and the egg, then stir in the chard. Taste and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
4. Oil a 9x13 inch baking dish. Spread 1/3 cup tomato sauce over the bottom and cover with a layer of pasta. Scatter a quarter of the grated cheese over the top and add a quarter of the eggplant, ricotta mixture, and mozzarella. Follow with another layer of pasta and repeat for three more layers. End with a layer of pasta and the remaining sauce. Cover with foil, tenting it above the surface.
5. Bake in the 400°F oven 20 to 30 minutes or until heated through. Remove the foil and bake 5 to 10 minutes more.
Tell Us What You're Seeing...
A quick note to readers: With the general election now in full swing as we head into the fall, we're hoping that you guys will help us with our coverage by tipping us off to what's going on in the presidential race -- and in the Congressional races -- in your states.
We want to know what you are seeing on the ground from the many state operations of both presidential campaigns -- Republican and Democratic. Mailers, ads, surrogate action, weird or revealing coverage in the local papers or on the local TV channels, materials being spread by independent third-party groups -- we want to hear about it all.
If you see anything you think is interesting, shoot us an email at talk@talkingpointsmemo.com.
You can help us make the site more useful, more informative, more fun -- in short, better. And thanks in advance for your help.
We will always be beaten on price
We will always be beaten on price, originally uploaded by blackbeltjones.
Good marketing, especially in the current economic context!
In Videos: Mac vs. PC in Apple Computer Pizza Box Ad
"Come eat me. I'm a delicious pizza."
I'm not the first to point out that the Apple vs. PC ads are annoying. John Hodgman as the personification of "PC" is much more likable than Justin Long as "Mac." But even though these ads unintentionally make me a PC fan, they're usually pretty fun. In the latest Apple commercial, PC hides in a pizza box, as it's the only way he figures college students will choose him. Watch the video, after the jump.
Mac Computer Pizza Box Ad
Related
Pigs
Via the newly-launched blogs.com, I found this lovely story from the WFMU blog about an old recording of "The Three Little Pigs":
Some people cry at sad movies. This is the sort of thing that makes me tear up - a sweet, innocent (and, by the way, perfectly arranged and performed) record. I am in awe of this singer's ability to put such feeling into such simple words from such a simple story.
It's a very charming listen!
Also of interest, found via the followup post to the above: the Kiddie Rekord King.
Originally posted by Benjamin Trott from Stupidfool.org
What Makes for a Good Blog?
My friends at Six Apart recently asked me to make a list of blogs that I enjoy. I think they’re planning to use it for their new Blogs.com project. Unfortunately, I’m late getting it to them (typical), but if it’s still useful, I’ll post it here in a day or four.
As I think about the blogs I’ve returned to over the years — and the increasingly few new ones that really grab my attention — I want to start with, ironically enough, a list. Here’s what I think helps make for a good blog.
- Good blogs have a voice. Who wrote this? What is their name? What can I figure out about who they are that they have never overtly told me? What’s their personality like and what do they have to contribute — even when it’s “just” curation. What tics and foibles fascinate make me about this blog and the person who makes it? Most importantly: what obsesses this person?
- Good blogs reflect focused obsessions. People start real blogs because they think about something a lot. Maybe even five things. But, their brain so overflows with curiosity about a family of topics that they can’t stop reading and writing about it. They make and consume smart forebrain porn. So: where do this person’s obsessions take them?
- Good blogs are the product of “
AttentiontimesInterest.” A blog shows me where someone’s attention tends to go. Then, on some level, they encourage me to follow the evolution of their interest through a day or a year. There’s a story here. Ethical “via” links make it easy for me to follow their specific trail of attention, then join them for a walk made out of words.- Good blog posts are made of paragraphs. Blog posts are written, not defecated. They show some level of craft, thinking, and continuity beyond the word count mandated by the Owner of Your Plantation. If a blog has fixed limits on post minimums and maximums? It’s not a blog: it’s a website that hires writers. Which is fine. But, it’s not really a blog.
- Good “non-post” blogs have style and curation. Some of the best blogs use unusual formats, employ only photos and video, or utilize the list format to artistic effect. I regret there are not more blogs that see format as the container for creativity — rather than an excuse to write less or link without context more.
- Good blogs are weird. Blogs make fart noises and occasionally vex readers with the degree to which the blogger’s obsession will inevitably diverge from the reader’s. If this isn’t happening every few weeks, the blogger is either bored, half-assing, or taking new medication.
- Good blogs make you want to start your own blog. At some point, everyone wants to kill the Buddha and make their own obsessions the focus. This is good. It means you care.
- Good blogs try. I’ve come to believe that creative life in the first-world comes down to those who try just a little bit harder. Then, there’s the other 98%. They’re still eating the free continental breakfast over at FriendFeed. A good blog is written by a blogger who thinks longer, works harder, and obsesses more. Ultimately, a good blogger tries. That’s why “good” is getting rare.
- Good blogs know when to break their own rules. Duh. I made a list, didn’t I? Yes. I did. Big fan.
And, yeah, you should disagree with potentially all of this. It’s because I have an opinion, and so do you. It’s why you probably have a blog. See? The system works.
Coming soon: the blogs I read, enjoy, envy, and admire.
Never Looked Better
In the year and change since we released the Gotham Rounded family, I’ve noticed an unusual paradox at play. Some designers choose the fonts because of their high-tech associations, and can coax out of them an “engineered” quality that evokes the engraved markings on keyboards and camera lenses (both prime ingredients in Gotham Rounded’s design.) Others choose the fonts because they’re friendly, and use them to achieve a playful tone that’s somewhere between a kids’ science book and a Japanese synthpop single. But every once in a while, someone chooses the fonts for both reasons, finding a way to reconcile these seemingly contrary intentions in a single piece of design. Scott Dadich, the Creative Director of Wired, has a knack for making type do two things at once, but only when he’s not making it do twelve things at once. (He’s one of those publication designers who makes me glad I stuck with type design.) Together with his dream team, designers Wyatt Mitchell, Margaret Swart, and Christy Sheppard, Scott introduces in the September issue of Wired a redesign that features Gotham Rounded, in what I think is an incredibly smart application.
The magazine’s Play section, once home to gadgets and new technology, now exhibits more of the broadly philosophical thinking that distinguishes the very intriguing Wired of the 21st century. The addition of Gotham Rounded is just part of a design strategy designed to give the section a more distinct voice and a clearer point of view: another smart device is the yellow “progress bar” that tracks the movement of the section, and makes for some marvelous visual serendipity when it intersects both type and image. But positively brilliant are the dominating initials that form a sort of periodic table of themes: a general topic is abstracted from each article, which is represented by a two-letter abbreviation, which signals the nature of the writing to follow. It’s a very clever way of reinforcing the magazine’s editorial range — and reminding readers that Wired is not about things but about ideas — and it excitingly builds anticipation for next month’s issue: will it cover these same topics? New ones? It’s one of the most striking and original solutions I’ve ever seen for building a genuine section-within-a-section, a daunting challenge for any magazine. Wired achieves it with spectacular success. —JH
August 18, 2008
Muxtape and the RIAA
Muxtape finally runs afoul of the RIAA.
Muxtape will be unavailable for a brief period while we sort out a problem with the RIAA.(link)
Report: McCain To Announce VP Right After Dem Convention
In the latest veepstakes development, the Politico reports that John McCain is likely to announce his running-mate pick on August 29 -- the day immediately after Barack Obama officially accepts the Democratic nomination in Denver.
If this pans out, it could really cut one of two ways: McCain's pick could have to share media time with the post-game coverage of Obama's speech, and thus lose some of the bump that often comes with VP coverage. Or it could work to McCain's advantage and completely overshadow the post-Denver coverage, thus depriving Obama of his own post-convention bump.
Blogs.com: The Best in Blogs
Shared by Adam Rice
Part of the challenge of building blogs.com was being constantly tempted to click on the top stories from the best blogs.
If you've been following Six Apart for any time at all, you can tell that this is a company founded by bloggers, for bloggers. From inventing a lot of the core technologies of blogging to helping reinvent the medium with cool new announcements, we've always built a lot of great tools and tech.
But if you've been paying attention this year,you've seen the vision for our company and our community going far beyond just the technology platforms and into some important new initiatives like services and media.
Whether it's advertising services or antispam technology, all of this work is based on a few simple ideas:
- We help all bloggers, regardless of which technology platforms you use.
- We're trying to help you succeed, no matter how you define that -- by growing your audience, your influence or just your bottom line.
- We strive to be open in all that we do, to help tell the rest of the world why blogs are a powerful new medium that matters.
With those principles in mind, that brings us to one of our most exciting new announcements of what's already been a milestone year: Blogs.com, the place to find the best in blogs.
Blogs.com combines a few simple, fundamental ideas in a new way that we think harkens back to some of the best parts of the early days of the web. For example, though they get beat up a lot these days, Yahoo was really exciting back when the web was young. There was just something exciting about a human-edited guide to the web, organized by topic. In a similar way, our expert Blogs.com editorial team is assembling Top Ten lists of blogs by category, to help you discover the best sites that you never knew existed. And we're taking your submissions -- so if you are tired of the same old sites getting attention, we especially want to hear from you.
It's like Celebrity Playlists for Blogs
A more recent example of a great way to discover cool new stuff is the Celebrity Playlists on the iTunes music store.
Some Recent Top Tens
Though sometimes we all read them just to see how inane a celebrity's picks are, or to see if an artist we like shares our tastes, it's impossible to deny that they're often a fascinating way to find new songs. On Blogs.com, celebrity Top Ten lists let some of the best-known bloggers on the web guide us through the sites that influence them, helping dig up some undiscovered gems you might have missed.
Helping you discover the best of blogs also helps fulfill the mission that the team at Rojo had for their popular feed reader back when it launched. Since we acquired Rojo back in 2006, that team has become an integral part of Six Apart,and we've incorporated a lot of what they learned into Blogs.com. As a result,this new site is also going to be the official successor to Rojo.
So, what does it mean to you?
All of this fits into our mission at Six Apart of helping people communicate online, by helping bloggers reach a broader audience. We'll be rapidly expanding Blogs.com over time. The site is built on the powerful new Movable Type Pro platform, of course, so we can rapidly add new social and community features based on your feedback. And our team's hard at work rapidly expanding upon the already-extensive directory of blogs on the site.
Which brings us to the question you must be asking: How do I get my site featured on Blogs.com? It's easy! Just add your site on the simple submission form on the site and we'll add your blog to the list of sites we're considering. And we want to work hard to get the word out about the blogs we feature. There is, of course, a Twitter account for the new site, and you'll want to sign up for the Blogs.com newsletter, and pass the link along to your friends or family who may still be skeptical about blogging. It's a good old-fashioned email newsletter offering highlights from Blogs.com, and great way to find highlights from the entire blogosphere, delivered fresh to your inbox every week.
In all, the launch of Blogs.com marks just another milestone in our mission to introduce the world to the power of blogging. Though we've been best known for making the tools to create blogs, we're just as committed at Six Apart to creating the services that help bloggers succeed. Today, we've built the best way on the web to discover what the blogosphere has to offer. We're already excited about the pleasant surprises that keep popping up on Blogs.com -- and we think you will be, too.
Nine Years, and a New Look
Last month marked the ninth anniversary of me starting this blog, more or less continuously updating since then. As I begin my tenth year here on dashes.com, I've made a few changes around the site.
First and foremost, there's a new look to the blog. My incredibly talented coworker Jim Ramsey created the basic theme, which I made a little bit uglier and naturally added some purple to. (Movable Type users can grab the Mid-Century template set upon which it's based.) I also owe a debt to Joi Ito for taking the original photo from which my little icon is based. There are more changes to come, but even at this half-complete stage, feedback is welcome.
Second, I finished something I've been meaning to do for ages, two new listings:
Both of these archives are exactly what you'd expect, with the Best Of featuring a number of my posts that I've been most proud of over the years, including some that were less popular but that I thought were worth featuring. There's also a more extensive list of all archives, organized into a calendar or by tag.
I've brought back the Action Streams that I had on the site earlier, and will be doing more to incorporate my various online presences into my site here. I don't plan to just dump my Twitter updates and my bookmarks and crap into the stream of posts here unless you folks think I should. (I'm guessing not.) There's also different ads on the site. I've experimented with a number of different advertising ideas over the years without much objection, so I'll likely continue to do so. Unsurprisingly, the ads are provided by SIx Apart Media.
I'll be doing more with giving folks the chance to vote on things on the site, as well. Coming up with my own list of my best blog posts seems a little ridiculous, even for someone who's as shameless as I am about self-promotion. I'd love to hear more from readers about what posts were interesting, or what I should write more about.
But that brings me to the most important point: Thank you! Over the years, I've seen my technical skills decline, my writing skills improve, my frequency of posting drop, and yet somehow the number of readers has consistently increased. Writing for this site is one of the most satisfying hobbies, most rewarding intellectual pursuits, and most unlikely passions that I've had in my life, and the biggest reason why is thanks to the relationships I've formed with people who've read what I write here.
So, I hope you'll take a minute or two to look over the best or at least most popular things I've written, to see if any of it strikes a chord. And I hope we're all still here having this conversation nine years from now.
Michael Johnson's 19.32
A look at just how crazy Michael Johnson's 200m world record is.
Eyeballing the chart would suggest that the cutting edge of human achievement in the 200m is anything sub-19.7. A 19.59 at Beijing would be phenomenal. Then you scroll down -- way down -- and you hit Johnson's 19.32.Johnson has stated that he's fully prepared for Usain Bolt to break his record.
(link)
One and Done
It has happened every season this decade, but not yet this year. In 2008, no pitcher has come into a game, thrown 1 pitch and earned a loss. Here are the players who have done it since 2000.
Cnt Player Date Tm Opp GmReslt App,Dec IP H R ER BB SO HR **Pit** Str GmSc IR IS BF AB 2B 3B IBB HBP SH SF GDP SB CS Pk BK WP ERA +—-+—————–+————-+—+—-+——-+———+—-+–+–+–+–+–+–+——-+—+—-+–+–+–+–+–+–+—+—+–+–+—+–+–+–+–+–+——+ 1 Jose Mesa 2007-07-03 PHI @HOU L 4-5 13-13f,L 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 inf 2 Jimmy Gobble 2007-04-23 KCR CHW L 4-7 8-7 ,L 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 inf 3 Ryan Franklin 2006-08-29 CIN @LAD L 5-6 16-16f,L 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 inf 4 Mike Stanton 2005-06-28 NYY @BAL L 4-5 10-10f,L 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 inf 5 Terry Mulholland 2005-06-10 MIN @LAD L 5-6 9-9f ,L 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 inf 6 Alan Embree 2005-04-22 BOS @TBD L 4-5 9-9f ,L 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 inf 7 Brad Lidge 2004-07-01 HOU @CHC L 4-5 10-10f,L 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 inf 8 Francis Beltran 2004-05-28(2) CHC @PIT L 4-5 10-10f,L 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 inf 9 Ray King 2003-09-27 ATL @PHI L 6-7 10-10 ,L 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 inf 10 Mike Myers 2003-07-24 ARI @SFG L 2-3 9-9f ,L 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 inf 11 Mike Stanton 2003-04-13 NYM @MON L 1-2 10-10f,L 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 inf 12 Jeremy Fikac 2002-09-27 SDP @LAD L 0-1 10-10f,L 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 inf 13 Ugueth Urbina 2002-07-14 BOS @TOR L 5-6 9-9f ,L 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 inf 14 Jack Cressend 2002-05-25 MIN @ANA L 3-4 13-13f,L 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 inf 15 Byung-Hyun Kim 2001-09-02 ARI @SDP L 0-1 13-13f,L 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 inf 16 Dave Veres 2001-07-07 STL @CLE L 6-7 10-10f,L 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 inf 17 Felix Heredia 2000-06-25 CHC @FLA L 7-8 10-10f,L 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 inf 18 Dan Miceli 2000-05-26 FLA @CIN L 2-3 9-9f ,L 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 infA couple of notes.
1. In 2006 it didn’t happen until August 29.
2. With the exception of Jimmy Gobble and Ray King all of the others apear to be walkoff homeruns.
Chad VanGaalen & Blogs.com
Today, the company I work for launched a really cool new website at http://www.blogs.com. A team of editors is curating lists and picks of the best of the blogosphere, so you can go there to discover new blogs to read.
One of the coolest features is a bunch of Top 10 Blogs lists created by web personalities and a few celebrities. I couldn't resist clicking on Alyssa Milano's 10 Favorite Blogs, and I was shocked that amongst her recommendations I found a link to a blog post I really wanted to read**:
I love Chad VanGaalen, so I clicked right over the 3hive and found a link to the song "Willow Tree" off his forthcoming album Soft Airplane out on September 9th on Flemish Eye Records.
- Listen to Chad VanGaalen "Willow Tree"
VanGaalen can careen stylistically from fuzzed out lo-fi punk to lullaby-worthy ballads, and this song lands in his underwater-y Neil Young-ish milieu, which we've heard before. In a short description of the forthcoming album, his label references his characteristic genre-hopping and even the rare gem that is Neil Young's On the Beach. But you can't get a read on a VanGaalen record from a handful of words or with just this one song. I'm very looking forward to buying this record, on vinyl -- it'll have two bonus tracks -- as soon as it's released.
And now for some Chad VanGaalen appreciation videos:
CVG animates some of his own videos. Here's a great one:
CVG performs live from his basement, when he couldn't get across the US-Canada border to play at SXSW last year:
**I promise this isn't a thinly veiled promotion for Blogs.com because I make it a point to keep my work blogging and personal blogging separate. This is just me marveling at how Alyssa Milano inadvertently led me to a new Chad VanGaalen mp3. Who would have thought?
Pandora may pull the plug on itself
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion
The Washington Post is reporting that Pandora, the Internet radio station available on Mac, iPhone, and iPod touch, may be shutting down service soon.
The reason is that Sound Exchange, themoney-grubbing blackmailersroyalties collection arm affiliated with the Recording Industry Association of America, has imposed restrictive administrative fees ($500 per year per channel) and ridiculous royalty fees (2.91 cents per hour per listener) on Internet radio stations. While many companies that provide Internet radio services have been lobbying Congress for relief, there doesn't seem to be much of hope that happening in the near future.
What this means for all Internet radio stations is that either Congress steps in and attempts to resolve the royalty issues (not likely, considering their record on resolving any issue...), or the stations will need to start charging a subscription fee for their services. Of course, Pandora could start advertising on their site and on the iPhone app to generate some revenues, but as TechCrunch.com's Michael Arrington says, "Perhaps Pandora must be our sacrificial lamb" to focus attention on the entire issue of the recording industry, digital rights, and internet radio stations.
What's your opinion on the intenet radio royalty issue? Leave us a comment.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Call for entries: 2009 Princeton Environmental Film Festival; Oct 1 Deadline!
Seeking original feature and short documentary films with environmental themes for the 2009 Princeton Environmental Film Festival. The event takes place Jan. 2-11, 2009 in Princeton, NJ at the Princeton Public Library and additional screenings will be scheduled for spring on campus at Princeton University. In addition to general screening sessions during the festival, a selection of short films by student/new filmmakers will be showcased and eligible by audience selection for the new "Golden Spout" Award. Deadline for submissions: October 1, 2008. Schedule of films and speakers from last two years, more info, and entry form at: www.princetonlibrary.org/peff/.
Blogs.com: The Best in Blogs
If you've been following Six Apart for any time at all, you can tell that this is a company founded by bloggers, for bloggers. From inventing a lot of the core technologies of blogging to helping reinvent the medium with cool new announcements, we've always built a lot of great tools and tech.
But if you've been paying attention this year,you've seen the vision for our company and our community going far beyond just the technology platforms and into some important new initiatives like services and media.
Whether it's advertising services or antispam technology, all of this work is based on a few simple ideas:
- We help all bloggers, regardless of which technology platforms you use.
- We're trying to help you succeed, no matter how you define that -- by growing your audience, your influence or just your bottom line.
- We strive to be open in all that we do, to help tell the rest of the world why blogs are a powerful new medium that matters.
With those principles in mind, that brings us to one of our most exciting new announcements of what's already been a milestone year: Blogs.com, the place to find the best in blogs.
Blogs.com combines a few simple, fundamental ideas in a new way that we think harkens back to some of the best parts of the early days of the web. For example, though they get beat up a lot these days, Yahoo was really exciting back when the web was young. There was just something exciting about a human-edited guide to the web, organized by topic. In a similar way, our expert Blogs.com editorial team is assembling Top Ten lists of blogs by category, to help you discover the best sites that you never knew existed. And we're taking your submissions -- so if you are tired of the same old sites getting attention, we especially want to hear from you.
It's like Celebrity Playlists for Blogs
A more recent example of a great way to discover cool new stuff is the Celebrity Playlists on the iTunes music store.
Some Recent Top Tens
Though sometimes we all read them just to see how inane a celebrity's picks are, or to see if an artist we like shares our tastes, it's impossible to deny that they're often a fascinating way to find new songs. On Blogs.com, celebrity Top Ten lists let some of the best-known bloggers on the web guide us through the sites that influence them, helping dig up some undiscovered gems you might have missed.
Helping you discover the best of blogs also helps fulfill the mission that the team at Rojo had for their popular feed reader back when it launched. Since we acquired Rojo back in 2006, that team has become an integral part of Six Apart,and we've incorporated a lot of what they learned into Blogs.com. As a result,this new site is also going to be the official successor to Rojo.
So, what does it mean to you?
All of this fits into our mission at Six Apart of helping people communicate online, by helping bloggers reach a broader audience. We'll be rapidly expanding Blogs.com over time. The site is built on the powerful new Movable Type Pro platform, of course, so we can rapidly add new social and community features based on your feedback. And our team's hard at work rapidly expanding upon the already-extensive directory of blogs on the site.
Which brings us to the question you must be asking: How do I get my site featured on Blogs.com? It's easy! Just add your site on the simple submission form on the site and we'll add your blog to the list of sites we're considering. And we want to work hard to get the word out about the blogs we feature. There is, of course, a Twitter account for the new site, and you'll want to sign up for the Blogs.com newsletter, and pass the link along to your friends or family who may still be skeptical about blogging. It's a good old-fashioned email newsletter offering highlights from Blogs.com, and great way to find highlights from the entire blogosphere, delivered fresh to your inbox every week.
In all, the launch of Blogs.com marks just another milestone in our mission to introduce the world to the power of blogging. Though we've been best known for making the tools to create blogs, we're just as committed at Six Apart to creating the services that help bloggers succeed. Today, we've built the best way on the web to discover what the blogosphere has to offer. We're already excited about the pleasant surprises that keep popping up on Blogs.com -- and we think you will be, too.
Bits: NBC's Olympic Web Blackout: The View From CBS and Major League Baseball
CBS and Major League Baseball found that Webcasting a sporting event doesn’t reduce the television ratings of the same event because people watch important events on the biggest screen possible.
Mom Shocked by Teen's Modest Clothing
Mom Shocked by Teen's Modest Clothing: Life imitates Onion headlines.
Poll: MetsBlog Day at Shea
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
If I could arrange for a MetsBlog Day at Shea type event, in the picnic area for the second-to-last, regular-season game in Shea Stadium, on Saturday, September 27, complete with food and drink, and the ability to walk along the warning track on the field prior to the game, would you attend?
Barack Obama reads TPM.
Or at least some random staffer told Google he does for a list they made for a promotion to show off the Google Reader “sharing” service.
Also, so do John Dickerson, Mark Halperin, Arianna Huffington, Ruth Marcus, and Patrick Ruffini. Six out of ten ain’t bad at all.
In Gear: Watch Out Teapot, Behold Adagio Tea's TriniTEA Electric Maker
Sure, I live in coffee country, but as soon as I saw Adagio Teas TriniTEA—something of a cross between a coffee machine and Big Mac—I had to try it.
For $100, the electronic tea kettle can make up to four cups with the ability to brew at two temperatures (212°F for black and herbal tea, 185°F for everything else) and steep between two to eight minutes.
How Does It Work?
Just put loose tea leaves in the steeping chamber and add water to the first of three chambers. After turning on the machine, water will reach the proper temperature, then it beeps and dispenses water into the steeping chamber.
When it's done steeping, the machine beeps again and allows the tea to proceed into the carafe. Three more beeps lets you know it's teatime. This is not quite as relaxing as the honeyed voice of a British matron calling you for tea, but I'll take it. Since the carafe sits on a heating plate, your tea stays hot for hours. It doesn't have a built-in timer, but presumably the machine should work fine with an outlet timer.
Cons: I got a TriniTEA demo unit in hopes of making Japanese green tea, but that isn't the machine's strength. These delicate teas need a lower water temperature and steeping time than the TriniTEA offers. Adagio CEO Michael Cramer told me that he made the machine as adjustable as possible for $100.
Pros: The TriniTEA did a fine job with every other accessible kind of tea (oolong, black, and Chinese green). It was also surprisingly easy to clean. I just rinsed the removable parts in the sink and figured they'd be sterilized by future tea-brewing.
Is the TriniTEA Worth It?
Do you want to devote precious counter space and $100 to a tea kettle? The TriniTEA probably makes the most sense in a small or home office with a couple people craving the same kind of tea throughout the day, like a loose-leaf black tea. Be warned though, it's easy to sit in front of the machine and watch it like a TV, waiting for the beep and trickle of fresh-brewed tea.
That, and reading the name "TriniTEA" over and over, thinking about the fine line between stupid and clever.
About the author: Matthew Amster-Burton lives in Seattle. His work appears frequently in the Seattle Times and Seattle magazine. He also maintains the blog Roots and Grubs. His favorite food is pad Thai.
Obama Campaign Memo: "Does McCain Have A Woman Problem?"
Early on in the general election, the McCain campaign announced to great fanfare that they were going to make an all-out effort to pursue the female vote and win over disaffected Hillary supporters.
Since then, Obama advisers have been very sensitive about stories saying he is struggling among women. And today, Dana Singiser, Obama's senior advisor for the women's vote, uncorked a detailed and extensive memo making the case that McCain's the candidate struggling with the female vote. It asks: "Does McCain have a Woman Problem?"
Despite his campaign's outreach efforts, McCain's attempt to bridge the gender gap has fallen flat. He fares worse among women than any presidential candidate since Bob Dole in 1996. In the August 13 Pew Poll, Obama holds a 51-38 lead among women over McCain. In the August Time Magazine poll, Obama leads 49-39.McCain's share of the women's vote is considerably below the 48% George W. Bush won in 2004 or the 43% he earned in 2000. Indeed, if McCain dips even a little, he is at risk of falling below Bob Dole's 38% share of women's vote in 1996, which is the lowest share of any major part candidate in the last 36 years. More than half the female electorate (53%) holds mostly positive views of Obama, while only 37% feel mostly favorable toward McCain.
Part of the idea here might be to try to get a "McCain's women problem" media drumbeat going, much as opinion-makers have been quick to jump all over Obama's alleged problems with working class voters and with Hillary supporters. (We're waiting...)
The jury is still out, however, on the question of whether female subgroups are holding Obama back in key battleground states. For instance, whatever advantages he may have among the national female vote, the latest Public Policy Polling survey finds that McCain is dead even with Obama in Ohio in part because of the reluctance of middle-aged white females to back the Illinois Senator.
For the hard-core junkies among you, the full memo is after the jump.
MEMORANDUM
TO: Interested Parties
FROM: Dana Singiser, Senior Advisor for the Women's Vote
DATE: August 18, 2008
RE: Does McCain have a Woman Problem?
In early June, the McCain campaign bragged about its intense effort to win over women voters.[1] There's a good reason why.
Women have out-voted men in every election since 1964. In just the past two presidential election cycles, women have made up a growing majority of the electorate, making up 52% of the vote in 2000 (69.2 million voters), and 54% in 2004 (75.6 million voters). This percentage was dwarfed in the 2008 Democratic primaries with the women's vote hitting at least 59% in 14 states.[2] The high water mark was in Georgia where a whopping 63% of the voters were women. During the Democratic National Convention next week we will mark Women's Equality Day, the anniversary of women's suffrage in the United States. Eighty eight years after the right of American women to vote was written into our Constitution, the women's vote will make the difference in this election.
Despite his campaign's outreach efforts, McCain's attempt to bridge the gender gap has fallen flat. He fares worse among women than any presidential candidate since Bob Dole in 1996. In the August 13 Pew Poll, Obama holds a 51-38 lead among women over McCain. In the August Time Magazine poll, Obama leads 49-39. McCain's share of the women's vote is considerably below the 48% George W. Bush won in 2004 or the 43% he earned in 2000. Indeed, if McCain dips even a little, he is at risk of falling below Bob Dole's 38% share of women's vote in 1996, which is the lowest share of any major part candidate in the last 36 years. More than half the female electorate (53%) holds mostly positive views of Obama, while only 37% feel mostly favorable toward McCain.
Ultimately, the reason McCain cannot close the gender gap is twofold:
1) Women voters don't trust McCain because of his extreme positions on the key issues they care about. Obama leads McCain by ten points (42% vs. 32%) when it comes to which candidate women trust more.
2) Women want change from the last 8 years of neglect for America's middle class families and women's economic security.
Given the remarkable contrasts between the candidates on the issues women care about, there is an even greater opportunity for Senator Obama's support among women to grow. Senator Barack Obama offers clear support for the challenges facing women and families. As president, he will expand opportunities for working women raising families and help make life affordable for stay-at-home moms. He will stand up for a woman's right to choose and for affordable birth control. He will prioritize economic security for all women by ensuring that women receive equal pay for equal work and protecting Social Security. With the growth of the women's vote, momentum is on Senator Obama's side.
Below is a brief look at some of these issues that matter to women voters and why they increasingly believe that John McCain is not on their side:
Equal Pay: In the wake of the Supreme Court's Ledbetter decision, 77% of women believe the next President should address the issue of providing women with the legal protections they need to get equal pay.
-- McCain has opposed legislation to provide more effective remedies to victims of discrimination in the payment of wages on the basis of sex. In addition, McCain opposed legislation to overturn the Ledbetter decision.
-- Obama believes that women receiving 77 cents for every dollar a man earns is unacceptable, and has supported equal pay laws in the Illinois State Senate and the U.S. Senate, including federal legislation to ensure that women facing the same pay discrimination that Lilly Ledbetter faced can be made whole.
McCain in his own words: On why women are underpaid: "They need the education and training, particularly since more and more women are heads of their households, as much or more than anybody else."In fact, 35% more women graduate from four-year colleges than men.
In rationalizing his opposition to an equal pay law: "It opens us up to lawsuits. I want to find clones of Alito and Roberts," McCain said, the very justices that rejected Lilly Ledbetter's pay discrimination claim. And just this weekend, during the Saddleback Presidential Candidates Forum, he was asked which existing Supreme Court Justices he would not have nominated to the court. Among the justices named by McCain was Ruth Bader Ginsburg - the justice who wrote the dissent siding with Lilly Ledbetter and working women who might suffer pay discrimination.
Health Care Costs: Only 27% of women are very confident that they will be able to afford health care for themselves and their families. Health care premiums have doubled in the last seven years and women, who are often in charge of the family checkbook, have felt the squeeze of skyrocketing health care costs. Because women are more likely to be in minimum wage or part time jobs, or be dependent on a spouse's health care plan which can be lost in divorce, there is a disproportionate number of women who are uninsured or in danger of losing their coverage. There are 21.5 million uninsured women in this country, and women are more likely than men to delay or not get medical care because of high costs.
-- McCain's health care plan "isn't expected to make a major dent in the number of uninsured Americans," and he would - for the first time in our nation's history - tax health care benefits.
-- Obama believes that every American should have access to quality health care, and that drug and insurance companies should pay their fair share. Barack Obama is committed to signing universal health legislation by the end of his first term in office that ensures all Americans - including the 21.5 uninsured women - have high-quality, affordable health care coverage. His plan will also improve health care quality for the 25 million "underinsured" Americans - those whose nominal health coverage does not insure them against catastrophic health costs and who are nearly as likely to go without medical care as the uninsured. Expanding coverage for uninsured and underinsured is particularly important for women, who are disproportionately represented. In total, 45 percent of women in 2007 were uninsured or underinsured, compared to 40 percent of men. Woman-owned small businesses grow at twice the rate of all businesses, and Barack Obama will create a Small Business Health Tax Credit to provide small businesses with a refundable tax credit of up to 50 percent on premiums they pay on behalf of their employees. And he certainly believes that the current 3 million children without health care should be covered.
McCain in his own words: McCain said President Bush's veto of legislation to expand SCHIP, a program designed to ensure that low-income children have quality health care, was the "right call."
Women's Reproductive Rights: 62% of women believe that Roe v. Wade established a constitutional right. In fact, 14% more of independent women support Barack Obama after hearing about McCain and Obama's positions on choice, and McCain's support among Republican pro-choice women drops by 9% after hearing these positions.
-- McCain is pro-life, and has bragged about consistently receiving a zero rating from NARAL throughout his 25-year voting record.
-- Obama strongly supports a woman's right to choose as established in Roe v. Wade, and has received a 100% rating and the endorsements of NARAL and Planned Parenthood.
McCain in his own words: "I have a 25-year pro-life record in the Congress, in the Senate. And as president of the United States, I will be a pro-life president. And this presidency will have pro-life policies. That's my commitment. That's my commitment to you."
Access to Contraception and other Family Planning Services: 61% of women strongly support putting more emphasis on reducing unintended pregnancies, including access to birth control and other family planning services.
-- McCain has repeatedly voted against funding for family planning, accessibility of contraceptives for women, and ensuring that sex education is scientifically accurate.
-- Obama believes that women should have access to affordable family planning and believes that our children should have access to comprehensive age-appropriate sex education.
McCain in his own words: Following his women's ambassador Carly Fiorina discussing whether insurance companies should cover Viagra but not birth control, McCain ducked a question about whether he supports health insurance to cover birth control: "The normally voluble Senator John McCain found himself at a loss for words Wednesday when he was asked aboard his campaign bus on its way to Portsmouth, Ohio, whether he thought it was fair that some health insurance companies covered Viagra but not birth control. 'I don't usually duck an issue,' he said, 'but I'll try to get back to you.'" He never did.
Economic /Retirement Security: 75% of women believe there is a long way to go for their families to have the economic security to afford their current needs and plan for retirement.
-- McCain supports extending the Bush tax cuts for the super-rich and said he supports Bush's plan for privatizing Social Security.
-- Obama believes that our nation's seniors deserve security in retirement. In 2006, 45 million working women - sixty-one percent of women in the workforce - lacked any employer sponsored retirement plan. As a result, the typical female worker near retirement has only half the retirement savings of her male counterpart. Obama plans to give a $1000 tax credit for working families, which would benefit 150 million workers. Obama opposes the privatization of Social Security and would eliminate all income tax for our seniors earning less than $50,000 a year. His Automatic Workplace Pension program will offer working women left out of the retirement savings system an easy, automatic and productive way to build wealth for retirement.
McCain in his own words: McCain himself admits to not understanding the economy: "The issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should."As far as Social Security is concerned, McCain plans to follow President Bush's lead on privatization: "As part of Social Security reform, I believe that private savings accounts are a part of it -- along the lines that President Bush proposed." In fact, McCain told the Wall Street Journal, "I'm totally in favor of personal savings accounts. . . I campaigned in support of President Bush's proposal and I campaigned with him. . ." To make matters worse, McCain's campaign says he would consider raising the retirement age and reducing cost of living adjustments as options for reducing the growth in benefits expected over the coming decades.
JR In The Flavelas Of Rio
We've been unabashed fans of JR's for years, but this latest project, shot in the flavelas of Rio is our favorite. The manner in which the photographs blend in with the landscape is absolutely stunning.
More here.
Originally from Wooster Collective, ReBlogged by Addie Wagenknecht on Aug 18, 2008 at 01:33 PM
Beijing Olympics in Legos
Between the opening ceremonies and the most decorated athlete in history, this year’s Olympics in Beijing are arguably larger than life. So how do you pay tribute to something that big? You go small. The Hong Kong Lego Users Group painstakingly recreated everything from The Bird’s Nest to The Water Cube brick by brick in Legos. Tennis, ping-pong, beach volleyball, soccer, sailing, swimming and windsurfing are among the dozens of sports rendered in tiny details in the replica, which measures about 26 feet by 10 feet. If you stare at the images long enough, you can almost spot Michael Phelps’ mother cheering in the bleachers and a sweat-stained George W. Bush mugging with Misty May-Treanor. More than 300,000 Lego bricks and 4,500 Lego people were used to create the display, which is on display until the end of the month at Grand Century Place in Hong Kong.
Paris Falafel Roundup: Where to Get the Best Falafel in the Marais
Though not by any means a quintessentially Parisian food, falafel sandwiches from the hip Paris neighborhood known as the Marais have become a must-eat tourist destination. No wonder—not only is falafel one of the best foods ever invented, but these messy pita sandwiches are a key opportunity to eat on the Paris street without garnering dirty looks from the locals. But which falafel place should you choose? There are three famous options within a block of each other, and serious falafel eaters have strong opinions about which one is the best. Here are the options.
L'As du Falafel
Paris's most famous falafel joint, this restaurant is item number two on David Lebovitz's list of 10 Insanely Delicious Things You Shouldn't Miss in Paris—pretty high praise from a discerning Paris blogger. Lunch here is definitely an experience, not just because of the sandwich; it has the longest line, the most boisterous staff, and photos of Lenny Kravitz (apparently a loyal customer) on the walls. The falafel, hefty and drenched in tahini and intense in general, matches the zany ambiance. It's definitely good and probably worth getting just for the fun of it, but as falafel goes it's a little bit much for me. 34, rue des Rosiers, 75004, 4th Arrondissement, Paris, France (map); 01 48 87 63 60
Mi-Va-Mi
In contrast to L'As du Falafel, the falafel from this across-the-street competitor is elegant, almost delicate, with light, crispy chickpea fritters that are topped with perfectly roasted vegetables and a mild, salsa-like tomato condiment. This is the favorite Parisian falafel of Serious Eater Robyn Lee, who deems it "easily one of the tastiest falafels" she's ever eaten. I won't argue that it is quality stuff, and in a city where "salad" often means cheese and meat decorated a few pieces of lettuce, those roasted vegetables are a real treasure. But despite the restaurant's Hebrew name and probable Israeli ownership, the sandwich didn't quite taste like the ones I ate non-stop in Israel last summer. I'm used to denser, more flavorful balls, and a little more spice in the sauce would have been nice too. 27, rue des Ecouffes, 75004, 4th Arrondissement, Paris, France (map); 01 42 71 53 72
Chez Marianne
This is the third party candidate in the falafel world, the Modern Apizza to the Sally's-or-Pepe's debate. Although it's just a few yards away from the other two restaurants, lunch here is a much calmer affair. Falafel comes with a choice of cornichons—Israeli-style, meaning sour and, in my opinion, better than French-style—or pickled peppers, and if you need more lunch than that, there's also a selection of tasty traditional desserts including baklava and strudel. The sandwich itself is nothing out of the ordinary, but the falafel balls were the tastiest ones I'd tried and topped, to my delight, with a hefty amount of eggplant. (2, Rue des Hospitalières Saint-Gervais 75004 , 4th Arrondissement, Paris, France (map); 33 01 42 72 18 86
My Verdict
Each of these falafels was unquestionably worth trying, but if I had to pick one place to go back to, it'd be Chez Marianne. The wait is the shortest and I found their falafel to be the most authentic—and let's not forget the pickles. (Though for the record, I don't think Modern comes close to either Sally's or Pepe's.)
Related
Falafel + Marshmallows = Lunch
The Best Falafel in New York
Follow what Obama, McCain and leading political commentators are reading
We're reading a lot about the candidates and the media this election season. But what are they reading? At google.com/powerreaders now you can track the news sites and blogs Barack Obama and John McCain read (from Drudge to The Daily Show) and follow articles catching the eyes of leading political journalists. Both the McCain and Obama presidential campaigns and leading political journalists are using Google Reader to keep up with their favorite new sites and blogs as well as share articles that interest them. You can follow shared articles and blog posts, or you can add participants' reading lists or shared news feeds to your own Reader account.
We're pleased to include the following contributors in our launch:Visit google.com/powerreaders to stay up to date on what the political gurus are reading -- so you too can become one by November.
- Obama and McCain campaigns
- Mike Allen, POLITICO
- Chuck DeFeo, Townhall
- John Dickerson, Slate
- Mark Halperin, TIME
- Arianna Huffington, Huffington Post
- Ruth Marcus, Washington Post
- Jon Meacham, Newsweek
- Patrick Ruffini, The Next Right
Posted by Robby Stein, Associate Product Marketing Manager
Bolt
As impressive as the performance by Michael Phelps at the Olympics was--and, granted, I only saw two or three of his races, since I started watching late--the sheer dominance of Usain Bolt's 9.69s gold medal in the 100m was in a different league.
Completely thrilling.
Biden?
I just noticed that CNN is saying that Biden's the big buzz for VP down in DC political circles today. So I'm trying to process what I think of Biden as a potential pick.
On the one hand, it's not the most exciting choice. He doesn't bring a state. Delaware's going to go Democratic. And it's barely a state at that. And I'm not sure you'd rate it as a first: "history is made -- first sixty-something white senator with deep foreign policy experience chosen to be vp nominee!" Biden clearly thinks well of himself and likes to talk. But he's been a US Senator for pretty much his entire adult life. (He's 65 today and was elected at 30.) So I'm not sure you can expect anything different. Finally, Biden also occasionally says something really whacked, which we'll probably find out more of if he's the pick.
On the other hand, wholly separate from the cosmetics and electioneering calculus, I think he'd be a good choice. On substance, maybe a really good choice. Most senators grasp of foreign policy is fairly thin -- and it tends to be heavily influenced by whatever lobbyists or power players are in their orbit. But Biden has a pretty deep knowledge of pretty much every big foreign policy question. And his ideas and judgment strike me as fundamentally sane.
Back in 2004, when I was writing a piece for The Atlantic about John Kerry, I did long interview with Biden in his office on Capitol Hill. And I remember coming away thinking, this is the guy you'd want to have making big decisions on the key foreign policy questions. To the extent that we think Obama needs someone with deep foreign policy knowledge in a constitutional office (i.e., non-fireable) to add ballast to his foreign policy vision I'm not sure I could think of a much better person.
Faster-than-light communication
In a Swiss experiment, two entangled photons 18 km away from each other were able to communicate with each other almost instantaneously.
On the basis of their measurements, the team concluded that if the photons had communicated, they must have done so at least 100,000 times faster than the speed of light -- something nearly all physicists thought would be impossible. In other words, these photons cannot know about each other through any sort of normal exchange of information.(link)
Byrne and Eno's new album
David Byrne was born cooler than I could ever hope to be (Brian Eno) too. One can always aspire to it. The whole album is streamed in this widget. On the site you can buy the album in several forms. The deluxe form has an album cover designed by Stefan Sagmeister, a film by Hillman Curtis, screensaver by Holding Pattern etc. Coolness, uber hip geekdom and a cyclist too boot.
David Remnick, the National Enquirer, and the rest of this week's media winners and sinners
David Remnick, the National Enquirer, and the rest of this week's media winners and sinners
Ko-BOOM: Vital Details on Ko Lunch Uncovered
Kalina, 3/3/08A reveal on the Ko lunch, still in friends and family mode, from a reader:
"I ate at Ko last night and I found out some details about lunch: It will be 16 courses and cost $150. There will be a few more fish courses and a lamb course. They are doing friends and family right now and will open to the public in two weeks. There will only be one seating as opposed to the two for dinner."Sixteen courses. One, six. You there, with the expense account, welcome to your new four hour 'work lunch' spot.
· Ko-BOOM: Momo' Ko Readying for Lunch? [~E~]
The ultimate tool for generating optimal my.cnf files for MySQL
There are quite a few “tuning primers” and “my.cnf generators” and “sample my.cnf files” online. The ultimate tool for generating an optimal my.cnf is not a tool. It’s a human with many years of experience, deep knowledge of MySQL and the full application stack, and familiarity with your application and your data.
I don’t know exactly the percentage, but quite a few of the servers I take a look at have been “optimized” with some tuning primer or question-and-answer script that spits out “optimal” parameters for my.cnf.
Most of the time these servers are far from optimal. Sometimes the my.cnf parameters are extremely wrong, to the point of causing a severe performance penalty.
If it were as easy as writing a tool to do this, don’t you think Maatkit would have mk-optimal-mycnf already? In my opinion — as someone who knows very well the complexity of creating a good my.cnf — it’s practically impossible. Much harder than syncing data, or manipulating a replication hierarchy, or any of the other things Maatkit can do already. And I doubt I’ll ever even feel motivated to try creating such a tool.
Don’t bother with scripts. Don’t waste your time with most of the advice you see on the web in forums — much of it is fundamentally wrong, even when it seems to come from an informed source. Don’t put too much faith in the my.cnf samples that come with your operating system; many of them have very bad advice in the comments, such as instructing you on how to set up replication in ways that guarantee breakage.
If you want solid advice, ask someone who knows what they’re doing (and can prove it). Or buy our book.
But even more fundamentally, you should not focus so much on my.cnf. It is not the be-all and end-all of performance. Tuning your server settings has far less impact on performance than tuning your schema, indexing, queries and — you guessed it — thinking deeply about your application architecture. Server settings are a distraction and a waste of time for most people.
Most my.cnf files I see only need minor tweaks, which give only so-so performance improvements. Tuning my.cnf only helps a lot when my.cnf has extremely bad parameters. The kind you’ll get from tuning primers and automated my.cnf optimization scripts.
Entry posted by Baron Schwartz | One comment
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The iPhone gets yet another use: measuring car performance
The iPhone 3G is gaining yet another use thanks to a new application called Dynolicious, which uses the iPhone's accelerometer to record vehicle data like speed, acceleration, and g-force. It can even approximate the horsepower generated.
The Basement Maze of Leavenworth, Kansas
[Image: The "underground town" beneath Leavenworth, Kansas, courtesy of KCTV].
It was reported last week that an "underground city" had been discovered beneath the streets of Leavenworth, Kansas. "Some Leavenworth residents have been unknowingly walking around above an underground city," we read, "and no one seems to know who created it or why."Windows, doors and narrow paths beneath a title company at South Fourth and Delaware streets lead to storefronts stretching several city blocks and perhaps beyond.
I have to admit, though, especially after looking at the slideshow, that referring to this alternately as an "underground town" and an "underground city" seems like quite an overstatement of the case; it looks more like a few connected basements at most.
There are also several vaults around town. Some of have them been used for breweries...
Some speculate the underground town was created in the 1800s and could have been used during slavery or for fugitives.
But how are you going to get people's attention if all you've discovered is a few empty rooms beneath Main Street...?
(Thanks, Ian!)
Whose Blind Ambition?
McCain, in speech this morning: Obama wants to lose in Iraq because of his "ambition."
Thank You
I am overwhelmed and grateful for the enormous outpouring of condolences and good wishes. We celebrated my father on Saturday and well into Sunday, as my dad would have wished.
Now I must get organized to return to "normal" life, which feels anything but normal now. Toward that end, I won't be blogging for one more week, but will return on Monday, August 25. In the meantime you might check out Bob del Grosso's blog, Hunger Artist, where Michael Pardus is posting the occasional dispatch from India.
You might also have a look at the excellent stories in the June issue of Food Arts magazine on the way our food world is changing and the forces behind these changes.
JR In The Flavelas Of Rio
We've been unabashed fans of JR's for years, but this latest project, shot in the flavelas of Rio is our favorite. The manner in which the photographs blend in with the landscape is absolutely stunning.
More here.
Bruno Taylor's Playful Spaces
“71% of adults used to play on the streets when they were young. 21% of children do so now. Are we designing children and play out of the public realm?
This project is a study into different ways of bringing play back into public space. It focuses on ways of incorporating incidental play in the public realm by not so much as having separate play equipment that dictates the users but by using existing furniture and architectural elements that indicate playful behaviour for all.
It asks us to question the current framework for public space and whether it is sufficient while also giving permission for young people to play in public.
Play as you go…” Bruno Taylor."
(via)
(Thanks, Joel)
Dinner with 'Top Chef' Marcel Vigneron
I'm an admitted Top Chef addict, but with one major reservation: I can't taste the food. The "cheftestants" dazzle us with technique and presentation and Padma's satisfied mmms, but we, the loyal viewers, don't get a bite. And as a serious eater, I have to wonder: Is the food any good?
Enter Marcel
Earlier this month, I had a chance to find out. Marcel Vigneron, the spiky-haired molecular gastronome of season two, put on a tasting dinner at the Astor Center in New York City, where he served three courses and two cocktails to a heavily female crowd.
No sooner did Vigneron take the stage than Hung Huynh—season three champion—sauntered in, taking a seat in the audience. The tension was palpable: the two Culinary Institute–trained, technique-focused, oft-maligned gastronomes in one room. The runner-up cooking for the crowned champion? It boggled the mind.
But Vigneron didn't disappoint, with three beautifully crafted and wholly original courses. While Huynh winced at the blood orange–hibiscus cocktail—shoving aside his glass and taking a swig of water—he later nodded sagely at Vigneron's advice ("It's all about improvisation. Use what you have, use what's good") and openly applauded his uni in a lemon-vanilla gelée.
Gelatin may be the new foam—Vigneron spent much of the class espousing the virtues and varieties of hydrocolloids—but it worked seamlessly in each of the courses, from a fresh melon jelly with gazpacho espuma (old habits die hard) to the dish of my science-class dreams. Whipping eggs and peanut butter into a froth, Vigneron poured them into a plastic cup and popped them into a microwave—where they set into a puffy, tender, almost nonexistent fluff. The method, from gastronomic mecca El Bulli, is called a vauquelin, and Vigneron's gave the faintest puff of peanuty flavor to the raw kona kampachi it accompanied.
A Little Q&A
The almost–Top Chef, it seems, can actually cook. But is there a serious eater behind the culinary wizard? We asked Marcel a few questions to find out.
What would your last meal on Earth be? Something huge! Then I can't die until I finish. I'd be like "No, man, I'm still eating!" Seriously, a huge bowl of fresh orecchiette. Good olive oil, broccoli rabe, red pepper, really spicy. The basics. Real Mediterranean food—that's why I started cooking to begin with.
And the most memorable meal of your life? I mean, there are too many to really say. But the first "Oh my God, my life just changed" one was the first time I ate at the French Laundry, about five years ago—a 17-course tasting menu. It was transformative. But others are just as important. The mamma in the Italian kitchen, putting sea salt on her tomatoes, pomodori still warm from the sun—it's different, it's simple, but it's just as memorable.
Has your technique developed at all since the show? Well, I like to think I'm getting back to the basics. I used to be Mr. "Hey, let's put foam on top of caviar—on top of foam!" and just go for anything that looked cool. I mean, I still do that. But then I asked myself, does this taste any good? That is the point of cooking, after all.
Are you still in touch with the other contestants? Yeah! Ilan and I, we talk, on the phone, every night! [Vigneron laughs nervously about his season two rival.] "And Betty? Christmas cards, every year. Nothing but lovey-dovey in that crowd.
Any recent favorite food spots? Hawaii! I've spent a lot of time in Hawaii—back at the restaurant, actually, where they filmed the [Top Chef] finale. Kona kampachi is about my favorite thing on the planet.
When was the last time you ate fast food? I never ... No! I do! In-N-Out, last week. Double-Double, Animal-Style. And a Neapolitan shake. They'll put all three flavors in one cup. Not everyone knows that.
Your technique is pretty extreme. Do you have any tips for the slightly more amateur chef? Seasonality. What grows together goes together, you know? My melons and tomatoes, they're great together, they like to party together. Classic flavor profile. Go with what works.
Any gastronomist who orders his In-N-Out Animal-Style is all right with me.
Top Chef classes continue all summer at the Astor Center.
David Byrne and Brian Eno Release Everything That Happens Will Happen Today On The Topspin Platform
To say we were excited at the prospect of helping David Byrne and Brian Eno release their new album would be an understatement. Not only are we huge fans of their recorded output both together and apart, but their previous collaboration under the same moniker, the pre-sampling cut/paste masterpiece My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts was one of the inspirations Topspin co-founder/chairman Peter Gotcher drew upon when creating ProTools with his team at Digidesign. Having the opportunity to help Byrne and Eno release their album direct to fans on Topspin’s platform was too fateful an opportunity to pass up. We jumped, to say the least.
So it’s with great pleasure I present to you the new album by David Byrne and Brian Eno, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today. Hit play below, then press the full-screen button (in the lower right of the album widget), sit back, and enjoy what is IMHO one of the best albums of the year.
Feel free to click the Embed/Share button and add the album to your blog or Web site. If you’d like to own the album for playback on your iPod, CD, or in a collectible boxed set, buy the album direct from http://EverythingThatHappens.com. All three purchase options will give you the digital album immediately (FLAC options are at the bottom of the order page), and two include a nice package which will get shipped to you.
These facts:
- David Byrne and Brian Eno have a new record
- It’s not just one of the best things they’ve done since Bush of Ghosts but among the best recordings they’ve made together or apart in their careers
- You can listen to the album in its entirety, for free, and embed it anywhere on the Internet
- You can buy it direct from http://EverythingThatHappens.com in three different packages
…are the most important news in this post. I encourage you to stop reading this post now and spend the rest of the day if not the month with the album. I’ll tell you from experience it’s the kind of record you’ll find yourself wanting to listen to again and again, songs echoing in your head drawing you back for another listen. You know the kind, and you know they don’t come around often enough. Enjoy.
But if you’re one of the curious who is still asking, “Wait, so what does Topspin do again?” I’ll take this opportunity to reiterate our mission, tell you a bit about how our software is working with this Byrne/Eno project, and foreshadow what you might see from us the rest of the year.
Topspin basics: we’re a startup, just over a year old, offices in Santa Monica and San Francisco (connected by a killer, cost-effective video conf setup from our friends at LifeSize), mostly software engineers, building software to help artists make money. In the same way ProTools brought software solutions to music production, we seek to apply technology solutions for music marketing. Regardless of your opinion of the future of the music industry, I think we all agree the old way is not the new way and one “new way” hasn’t materialized yet. We know the cost of music production has fallen, the cost of distribution has fallen, and marketing is no longer concentrated in radio and MTV but has instead spread to places like Pitchfork and Brooklyn Vegan (or iPod commercials and Grey’s Anatomy). And I don’t think it’s controversial to say software will play a role in the future of music marketing. Artists, managers, and labels alike will use some sort of software to help them manage direct relationships with fans, find new listeners, measure the success of their business, pay licenses and royalties, etc.
Topspin builds marketing and monetization software platforms for the new music business. Specifically, we’re building three products, two of which are still under-wraps. Currently you’re seeing what I would call version 0.7 (not yet 1.0) of the first of those three, Topspin Manager. Topspin Manager helps you directly market to your existing fan base and collect and manage fans you are gathering through other activities (such as a great write-up in the Arts section of yesterday’s NYT). It ties together content management and fan management, and layers in a set of ever-improving direct and permission marketing tools, so you can keep a close relationship with your fans and give them your best, first.
One complaint which surfaced after recent press about Topspin griped we talk about our feature set as if we’re the first company to ever conceive of this sort of product. We are not. Companies like Echo Music, Reverb Nation, Nimbit, FanMail and others (including emerging open source solutions like CashMusic) have similar tools, crossing over with what Topspin is building in a variety of ways. That said, while they are all interesting in their own way, I don’t consider any of the above a direct competitor to Topspin. I encourage any artist looking for a software platform to check out what these (and other) companies have to offer. One of the most exciting things about the new music business is that artists have a wealth of options. We are very happy to have Topspin compete on the basis of our merits — the quality of our work and people.
The David Byrne and Brian Eno project started out simply, just collecting email addresses. Not a difficult task at all, but I’m still amazed at how many artists aren’t doing this actively or are still collecting their users at a place like MySpace where they don’t even have access to the email addresses of their fans (seems to me you should at least use a solution like Ning where you can export your email list). These email addresses go into Topspin Manager where they’re easily filtered and available for later phases.
Next David and Brian created a video announcing the tour and explaining the project. The video was loaded into our content management system and a widget was created to display it. The result isn’t anything magical, pretty much the same thing you could have done with YouTube or similar, but the “learn more” link links back to EverythingThatHappens.com, not YouTube or someone else’s site. It’s simple to create, reliable, easily embedded anywhere, and only promotes the artist’s Web site.
A couple weeks later a widget was added to the page offering up the download of a free track. The track was uploaded into the content management system, “spun” into a widget, and set for the email/track trade. We’ve made many improvements to this widget based on feedback we’ve received in recent weeks, and we’ll continue to (for example this evening we shortened the time of delivery of the track down from nearly ten minutes to almost instantaneous). The benefits of incorporating these best practices and software improvements will be passed along to all artists using our platform.
Tonight the entire album was loaded in, made available for unlimited streaming, and linked to the order page. Three offers were created at different price points, each with different associated digital media.
Note all of the features listed above were added to a third party Web host, EverythingThatHappens.com. We do not promote Topspin as a brand or destination, we are about helping the artist to build their business and their brand. Topspin’s platform provides a clean out of the box solution so artists can go from nothing to a working presence in minutes (see Imaad Wasif’s site for an example, he put that site together literally as he was packing the day before leaving for tour), integrates into third-party Web sites, and eventually we’ll be publishing our API for completely headless integration.
While we have a list a mile long of improvements we will be making in the coming days (please feel free to add your comments and feedback to this post or this thread on my personal blog, which already has some great constructive criticism on it), I’m extremely proud of what the Topspin team is showcasing here. I’m not going to call out everyone by name for fear I’d overlook someone, but y’all know who you are. Thanks sincerely. You kick ass. I’d run this team against anyone in the business. And we’re adding four more rock star engineers in the last two weeks of this month? Damn. Look out. Look out.
We’re heads down writing code and building out the platform for the rest of the year. We’ll launch a handful of artist projects this year, but we’re already turning away more work than we’re taking on. We really need to spend our time getting the product right, making all the improvements you’re suggesting, making sure the platform is as simple to use as possible from the artist side. That said, if you’re interested in what we’re up to and would like to be considered for our pilot program this fall, please drop us a line and let us know who you are and what you’re up to. We’re always looking for the good fits.
Thanks sincerely to David Byrne and Brian Eno (and all their incredible management and support) for taking a chance on us. It’s an honor to be a part of this project. Endless thanks to the Topspin team for being scary good. And thanks to you, dear reader, for your interest in what we’re up to and the feedback we’ll be using to improve what we do.
Bring the future closer faster,
ian c rogers
Topspin
August 17, 2008
I am the pig.
Small beasts from themexican on Vimeo.The kids dug up some old Halloween costumes today. Blame the camerawork on Jenn.
Related: Happy Halloween
Filed under: daily life
lightning in sunset
Shot at Toronto's Centre Island. A great example of being in the right place at the right time. My sister and I went to the Island after work for some photos and this amazing sunset started to form, so I quickly put the camera on a tripod and started shooting intervals (using the Pclix) for about an hour hoping to capture the lightning. I have 5 lightning shots out of around 600 photos and this is the best one.
For a bigger size suitable for desktop wallpaper, check out the flickr post.
A closer crop for lightning detail.
Mad Men, "Three Sundays": I saw her today at a reception
Spoilers for "Mad Men" season two, episode four coming up just as soon as I call 1-800-MATTRESS......
Generation Kill, "Stay Frosty": When Captain America stabs his mighty bayonet...
Brief spoilers for the penultimate episode of "Generation Kill" coming up just as soon as I guzzle a milkshake......
Sex Sells, But Even With Pasta Makers?
Doesn't this strategically placed pasta scarf make you want to order a Marcato brand pasta machine? Leave it to a half-naked woman to sell just about anything. Call the long distance Italian number if the marketing tactic worked (or you're just craving homemade pasta). [via Erin Doland]
Article about McLeod
Awesome that Kellianne got to be on the front page. The photographer didn't even know she was my fiancee.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/thearts/2008116372_barart170.html
Mad Men and Death Poems
WARNING: This post contains a major Mad Men spoiler, so if you if you have not seen Episode 3 of Season 2, visit this site after you have.
The most recent episode of Mad Men, a show about advertising executives set in 1960s NYC, opens with the news that American Airlines Flight 1 crashed on its way to Los Angeles. After cracking some tasteless jokes, the character Pete Campbell learns that his father was on that flight. His family's loss turns into a professional advantage for Campbell when the new Director of Account Services Herman "Duck" Phillips brings him in to land a deal with American Airlines, now desperate to salvage its public image. Don Draper, a partner at the advertising firm, resists this move, knowing that it means that they will have to break a contract with Mohawk Airlines, a small but loyal client. He meets Mohawk's president in a Japanese-style bar and gives the news. After the meeting, Draper sits alone for some minutes with his drink. Kyu Sakamoto's "Ue o muite arukō" (Looking up while walking) plays in the background. The choice of this song is hardly a coincidence: in 1985 Sakamoto died in the crash of Japan Airlines Flight 123, one of the worst single aircraft disasters in history. Of 524 passengers and crew members, only four survived to give a partial account of what the passengers went through before and after the crash. It was the eve of Obon, a three-day festival during which many Japanese return to their hometowns to commemorate their dead.
Admittedly, I was quite pleased with myself for identifying both the song and its relevance to this scene. It's a minor vindication of a life long affection for oldies music. Although some posters on the AMC boards disagree, the use of this song in this scene is not anachronistic. The song was recorded in 1961 and released by Toshiba-EMI. A disc jockey in DC had gotten a hold of the Toshiba LP and played the song on the air. It proved to be a hit and was released as "Sukiyaki" in 1963 by Capitol in the US, even though "sukiyaki" refers to a Japanese dish and has nothing to do with the song. But those responsible for releasing Sakamoto's album in the US/UK decided that the title "sukiyaki" sounded "more" Japanese and would be easier for English speakers to pronounce. Here's a video of the song featuring Sakamoto:
Some years ago I picked up a copy of Japanese Death Poems edited by the Israeli writer Yoel Hoffman, who lived in Japan for many years. The book offers a historical introduction to the Japanese tradition of writing jisei ("death poem"). Although, Hoffman concerns himself with death poems composed by monks and poets, anyone can choose to write jisei. He writes:
Where did the ancient Japanese, a largely maritime people, send their dead? The "birds of death" sailed sometimes from the easter shore, sometimes from the western one, out toward the horizon where sea and sky meet. Did the prehistoric Japanese, who were sun-worshipers, believe that the huge fiery ball which rose from the sea every morning or sank beneath it at night (depending on the position of the region, either on the Pacific Ocean or on the Sea of Japan) was the destination of their dead? Traces of a belief that the land of the dead lies over the sea can still be found in the ceremonies of the Bon [Obon] festival, during which...the dead who have come to visit their relatives return in small paper boats that the living set sail upon bodies of water.
Japan Airlines Flight 123 began to experience problems with its vertical stabilizer and hydraulic systems 12 minutes after take off. The pilots were unable to stabilize the aircraft and problems with the controls meant that for most of the short flight, they had no idea where they were. The plane weaved and circled over Osutaka Ridge for about half an hour before crashing. In that time, many passengers, including Kyu Sakamoto, wrote farewell letters and poems to their family and friends. Many of these documents were recovered at the crash site and some are featured in an exhibit at the Safety Promotion Center in Tokyo's Haneda Airport.
Mad Men and Death Poems
WARNING: This post contains a major Mad Men spoiler, so if you if you have not seen Episode 3 of Season 2, visit this site after you have.
The most recent episode of Mad Men, a show about advertising executives set in 1960s NYC, opens with the news that American Airlines Flight 1 crashed on its way to Los Angeles. After cracking some tasteless jokes, the character Pete Campbell learns that his father was on that flight. His family's loss turns into a professional advantage for Campbell when the new Director of Account Services Herman "Duck" Phillips brings him in to land a deal with American Airlines, now desperate to salvage its public image. Don Draper, a partner at the advertising firm, resists this move, knowing that it means that they will have to break a contract with Mohawk Airlines, a small but loyal client. He meets Mohawk's president in a Japanese-style bar and gives the news. After the meeting, Draper sits alone for some minutes with his drink. Kyu Sakamoto's "Ue o muite arukō" (Looking up while walking) plays in the background. The choice of this song is hardly a coincidence: in 1985 Sakamoto died in the crash of Japan Airlines Flight 123, one of the worst single aircraft disasters in history. Of 524 passengers and crew members, only four survived to give a partial account of what the passengers went through before and after the crash. It was the eve of Obon, a three-day festival during which many Japanese return to their hometowns to commemorate their dead.
Admittedly, I was quite pleased with myself for identifying both the song and its relevance to this scene. It's a minor vindication of a life long affection for oldies music. Although some posters on the AMC boards disagree, the use of this song in this scene is not anachronistic. The song was recorded in 1961 and released by Toshiba-EMI. A disc jockey in DC had gotten a hold of the Toshiba LP and played the song on the air. It proved to be a hit and was released as "Sukiyaki" in 1963 by Capitol in the US, even though "sukiyaki" refers to a Japanese dish and has nothing to do with the song. But those responsible for releasing Sakamoto's album in the US/UK decided that the title "sukiyaki" sounded "more" Japanese and would be easier for English speakers to pronounce. Here's a video of the song featuring Sakamoto:
Some years ago I picked up a copy of Japanese Death Poems edited by the Israeli writer Yoel Hoffman, who lived in Japan for many years. The book offers a historical introduction to the Japanese tradition of writing jisei ("death poem"). Although, Hoffman concerns himself with death poems composed by monks and poets, anyone can choose to write jisei. He writes:
Where did the ancient Japanese, a largely maritime people, send their dead? The "birds of death" sailed sometimes from the eastern shore, sometimes from the western one, out toward the horizon where sea and sky meet. Did the prehistoric Japanese, who were sun-worshipers, believe that the huge fiery ball which rose from the sea every morning or sank beneath it at night (depending on the position of the region, either on the Pacific Ocean or on the Sea of Japan) was the destination of their dead? Traces of a belief that the land of the dead lies over the sea can still be found in the ceremonies of the Bon [Obon] festival, during which...the dead who have come to visit their relatives return in small paper boats that the living set sail upon bodies of water.
Japan Airlines Flight 123 began to experience problems with its vertical stabilizer and hydraulic systems 12 minutes after take off. The pilots were unable to stabilize the aircraft and problems with the controls meant that for most of the short flight, they had no idea where they were. The plane weaved and circled over Osutaka Ridge for about half an hour before crashing. In that time, many passengers, including Kyu Sakamoto, wrote farewell letters and poems to their family and friends. Many of these documents were recovered at the crash site and some are featured in an exhibit at the Safety Promotion Center in Tokyo's Haneda Airport.
The Daily Show and their TiVos | PVRblog [del.icio.us]
Awesome comment from a former daily show staffer on the tech behind the show
Buildings That Can Breathe
Architect William McDonough draws his green-building techniques from the world around him. Before attending architecture school at Yale, he worked on a redevelopment project in Jordan and observed the clever way the Bedouins' tents utilized natural materials to protect them from the elements. NewsweekOriginally from Archinect.com Feed, ReBlogged by Addie Wagenknecht on Aug 17, 2008 at 10:17 AM
Gothamist: Conecakes, Yay or Nay? (via superamit) Nay....
Gothamist: Conecakes, Yay or Nay? (via superamit)
Nay. I’d hate to eat one of these:
- I hate getting sticky or messy, and there’s no good way to attack the top without getting icing around my lips.
- I’m big on texture. The combination of textures between the hard cone and the mushy cake is too strange.
- Since most of it is very soft, but you have this very hard cone exterior, I think I’d inadvertently poke cone shards into the soft spots inside my mouth a lot when I’m expecting a large volume of softness.
Patent Drawings for Geodesic Structures
I stumbled on Buckminster Fuller's patent drawings for geodesic domes today – so I thought I'd re-post them here.
Where structural innovation and the U.S. government intersect.
Originally posted by Geoff Manaugh from BLDGBLOG, ReBlogged by Addie Wagenknecht on Aug 17, 2008 at 10:09 AM
Neil Diamond Photographed Through a Bagel Hole
Vittles Vamp went to the Neil Diamond show on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, and she did something a little unusual. But something I can totally see becoming some sort of weird food-related photo meme. She shot a photo of the man through the hole of a bagel.
This was Brooklyn-bred Neil Diamond, we were talking about. Damn straight, I wasn't bringing him flowers no more.
The only thing a bona fide Jewess could do was add an bag of mini-bagels to her FreshDirect order to make sure she had something on hand that was more befitting this Judaic god of schmalzy pop.
I'm going to have to bring bagels into the office tomorrow morning and shoot everyone through them.
Phelps Wants to Relax, Then Stop Relaxing
(By Gary Hershorn - Reuters) Michael Phelps was sitting next to his coach, Bob Bowman, talking about this slogan they use in training: "putting money in the bank." Bowman busts out the phrase when another set of unpleasant drills looms, when Phelps would rather, as he so often says, go back to bed. "Bob's always saying, 'Well this is putting money in the bank, and at the end of the year you're going to withdraw everything, and make a big withdrawal,' " Phelps said at his closing press conference a few minutes ago, in front of a packed auditorium in the media center. "So I guess I put a lot of money in the bank over the last four years. And we withdrew pretty much every penny in the bank, so it's sort of time to start--after Bob and I both have a little break--it'll be time to start
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