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Here's Chris and a couple students up on ladders sketching out the cityscape backdrop we've built in the gym. Man, these ladders are scary! And here is the cityscape getting painted in:
And finished! (I think Chris has better pictures):
More cityscape, with one of Chris' figures in process:
One of the group is working on a project centered around a tree mounted in the center of the gym, which looks great with the birds painted on the plastic sheeting!:
More tomorrow!
They Might Be Giants - Don’t Let’s Start on Vimeo
One day when I put together my list of music that most influenced who I would become as an adult, TMBG will be up there somewhere between Public Enemy and Stereolab.
Found via Lucas
For some dumbcrap reason, the NY Times has redirected Errol Morris' excellent blog about photography and the truth -- formerly at http://morris.blogs.nytimes.com -- to some new thing called Opinionator. They did the same with Dick Cavett, Olivia Judson, etc. Oh, all the content is still there -- here's Morris' stuff -- and permalinks redirect, but there are no author-specific RSS feeds. There is only the main feed, which started shoveling a bunch of crap I didn't want to read into my newsreader. Come on Gray Lady, just give me Morris; I don't care about the rest.
Update: The Times blogs are on Wordpress and with WP you can add "/feed" to any URL and get a feed. So here's Morris' feed...which helps you and me but not much of anyone else. (thx, mark)
Tags: Errol Morris NY Times weblogs
Photo: CoffeeGeek
Are you a coffee snob? Do you sniff at drip? Are you willing to endure a day of caffeine headaches and jitters rather than sip a subpar brew? And most importantly, is this addiction/affliction costing you more money than you can afford? These days a lot of people are telling you to get your caffeine fix at home rather than spending $10 a day at carts and counters.
“You probably stop at your local coffee shop at least once a day and grab your latte, cappuccino or Americano,” says sales manager Darren Ruffel of Whole Latte Love (WLL), a consumer-oriented e-tailer based in Victor, NY. He estimates, for example that if you average two venti mochas daily at $4.27 each, that comes out to $59.78 a week or more than $3,100 a year on take-out coffee, not to mention the cost of gas, parking and waiting in line.
“Your coffee habit is costing you a lot of moola!” he cries. WLL has definitely seen an uptick in machine sales since the economy crashed. “More people are investing in home equipment to save money and have good quality coffee at home.”
A shot in the dark
The heart of a gourmet coffee drink is the espresso shot, flavored with milk-stuff, sugar-stuff or spice-stuff or blended with ice or foam. It was Achille Gaggia who invented the modern espresso machine in 1938, which uses pressure to extract the best flavor and aroma from ground beans.
The signature of a perfect shot is the crema, the ephemeral golden foam of oils, proteins and sugars floating on the ebony slurry of extra virgin extraction. You only get that when properly selected and roasted beans are properly ground and pressed and then properly heated and pressurized water is forced through the coffee during the proper 20-25 second window.
How hard is it to get a professional-quality cup at home? “Not hard at all. With the right equipment, beans and knowledge you can create a great cup of coffee in your home—in most instances, a better cup than at cafes because you can customize your drink to your own personal tastes,” Ruffel says.
Types of espresso technology
So assuming that five or six cups before 8am will keep you going all day (really?), what kind of investment are we talking about? These days several categories of espresso machines have been especially popular: super-automatics, semi-automatics and single-serves. (Price ranges provided by WLL).
Super-Automatic ($499-$3299): Essentially a coffee-making robot. Put whole beans in the hopper, fill the water reservoir, and a superautomatic grinds and pumps perfect cups of espresso or crema coffee at the touch of a button. Then the mechanism expels the spent puck into an internal bin and readies itself for the next shot. Some have LCD screens or manual adjustments; many have self-frothers to foam the milk.
Semi-Automatic ($59-1999): Upgrades from the traditional pump machines. You’ll need to grind your beans first (use a burr grinder) and tamp it into the portafilter, but then the machine takes care of temperature and pressure.
Single-Serve ($89-499): A new market entry. These machines usually feature space-saving designs and deliver a single, precise extraction from an inserted capsule or pod. Many manufacturers also make tea, hot chocolate and flavored coffee pods.
Does it pay?
At my house we bought a Gaggia Synchrony Compact. Our preferred way to enjoy coffee is to express about 2-4oz of coffee and then add an ounce or less of milk or creamer to cut the acidity of the coffee. In Spain and Latin America, this is often called a cortado.
We paid $650 in 2005, so our beloved little robot just turned four. Over that time, this superautomatic has required very little maintenance and only weekly cleanings. It grinds and brews perfect cups of crema at the push of a button, and then cleans up after itself. After four years at an average of 5-6 cups per day, the machine itself has cost us less than 7 cents per cup.
Besides the coffee-maker, of course, you will be spending money on coffee beans. We use Peet’s Espresso Forte blend, which we buy fresh for $12.95 per pound. Using—believe it or not—the IRS’s estimate of 60 shots per pound, we’re paying a little more than 21 cents per cup. So for about two bits per cup, we’re enjoying the best coffee I’ve ever had anywhere in the world.
Compare that to about $1.45 for simple shot of espresso at Starbucks. If we invest the time in steaming some milk or adding a flavor, our investment only goes up by a penny or so. Compare that to Ruffel’s $4.27 venti mochas.
Coffee culture
Unless you work at home, this works best if you get your whole caffeine fix first thing in the morning. (Or maybe you need to invest in one at work too?)
But what about the social aspects of the coffee house? Dropping in on your crowd, taking a break from a stressful workplace? Coffee houses have become the quintessential “third place” between work and home, but Ruffell suggest that space has gone virtual, anyway.
“With the increased world of Web 2.0, we find that people are making coffee at home and sharing the ritual of creating unique drinks on social networks like Facebook, forums and blogs,” he says. “Individuals are spending more time at home and enjoying good quality coffee with neighbors and friends.”
Steve Barth blogs about work, play, society and politics at Reflexions.
A Senate Democratic Chief of Staff chimes in ...
There is a lot of misplaced anger coming from many of our fellow progressives about Senate Democrats (which often is just shortened to "The Democrats") inability to pass a robust healthcare reform bill, climate change, etc.However, I believe it's worth reminding folks that--as long as the Republican Senators hold together--we have to hold EVERY single Democratic Senator, including folks like Joe Lieberman and Ben Nelson, which is usually impossible unless the legislation in question gets substantially watered down.So, what we might end up with is a Senate Democratic Caucus that holds 98% of its members but still fails to pass healthcare reform, AND a mob of angry progressives who are screaming for the heads of "the Democrats." This isn't fair, but more importantly, it's self-defeating. If progressives REALLY want to transform America, they'll make an issue of the anti-democratic rules of the Senate which make real change virtually impossible. Blasting their elected Democratic officials, the vast majority of whom will vote for the Senate bill (and would also support a more robust public option if we didn't need 60 votes to achieve cloture), may make folks feel good, but is both short-sighted and stupid.
You know, I was writing a long thing today about the new Pedro Almodovar movie, trying to explain why you should go see it—and I was being fucking ponderous. So here is the short version. This is a gorgeous, wonderful movie, made by one of the few living masters of the form, starring unbelievably great actors. All of the reviews are talking about it as an homage to cinema, but that’s boring. The important point is that there are at least six perfect Almodovar movies: Kika, The Flower of My Secret, All About my Mother, Talk to Her, Volver and now Broken Embraces. I am willing to hear arguments for there being more than six, but not fewer.To prepare to see this movie, which you must—see it, I mean; no preparation necessary, really!—here is the only English-subtitled video online for the short film La concejala antropófaga that relates to the film-within-the-film, called Girls with Suitcases, in Broken Embraces. It was shot on the set-within-the-set of the film. The film-within-a-film stars Penelope Cruz, who stars in the film proper is a vain, petty woman who would like to be an actress; La concejala antropófaga, directed by Almodovar, was actually released under the name of the director character in Broken Embraces. (There is a better version, without subtitles.) COMPLICATED.
What else can I say? Almodovar’s body of adult work is so good that I am finally working on properly learning Spanish so that I can watch it all without subtitles.
via www.youtube.com
Via Rex, this really is amazing.
I found this great blog post by Chris Dixon via Twitter.
The core services built on top of the internet – the web (HTTP), email (SMTP), subscription messaging (RSS) – were made similarly open and therefore distributible across institutions. This explains their remarkable system-wide reliability. It also explains why we should be worried about reliability when core internet services are owned by a single company.(See also.)
This is the recipe for macaroni and cheese. It is the only recipe there is for macaroni and cheese. Here is what goes into it:
1. macaroni
2. cheese.
It does also include butter and milk. Think of them as more cheese.
“But I make a lovely macaroni and cheese already,” you say, “with a rich bechamel sauce, and I—” Shut up, you. Put a sock in it. There are many, many fine and delicious dishes that include some kind of macaroni and some kind of cheese, along with other things. They are not macaroni and cheese. They are other things.
Nor are we talking here about that cafeteria stuff, the thick yellow cheese soup or cheese gravy, with macaroni floating in it. That is trash food. It is a lot of extra work to make something just like what you would make with bright orange powder from a box. Go ahead and eat it sometimes, but don’t ask how to cook it.
To make macaroni and cheese, using macaroni and cheese, you start with one pound of elbow macaroni. “I really like to use whole-wheat fusilli,” you say, “because they—” Knock it off. Elbow macaroni. If you forgot to buy elbows, you can use some other shape, but it won’t be as effective.
Fill a big two-handled metal pot most of the way with water, salt the water, and put it on the stove to boil. Heat your oven. About 350 degrees.
Now if you’re the kind of person who likes orderly preparations, grate your cheese. Or if you like procrastination followed by frantic haste, go do something else and wait to grate the cheese till the macaroni is in the water.
For cheese, you should have three half-pound blocks of cheddar. Do not get raw-milk cheddar from heirloom cattle. Do not use other cheeses. “Why, I have found that my macaroni and cheese achieves the perfect balance if I put in two parts of Gruyere, one part Talegg—” No. Go rub some fig paste on your face and cook up a fondue, cheese striver. Store-brand cheddar works swell. Land O’Lakes if it’s on sale. Nor should you load up on Pine-Splittingly Fierce Extra-Extra Ouchy Sharp. At least one of your half-pound blocks should be no more than medium-sharp. You can get frisky with one or two of the others, but you need a foundation of mild cheddar.
There is nothing to be gained by using white cheese instead of yellow.
Grate two of your half-pound blocks, including the mildest one, completely. Look at the big pile of cheese you have now. Unwrap the third block, look at it, grate a little off the end, and think about how far you want to go. There are no wrong answers here. Relax your mind and listen to what the cheese is telling you.
When the water is at a full rolling boil, cook the macaroni. Do not overcook it, just because you are making American food. Macaroni is half the dish here, and it should be treated with respect. Al dente.
Drain the macaroni. Mix in several good-sized lumps of butter while the macaroni sits in the colander. Moving quickly and efficiently, take a damp paper towel and wipe the salt and starch from the just-emptied, still-hot pot. Don’t be too fussy. Dry it off, chuck in a lump of butter, and rub that around to grease the inside of the pot. Dump the drained and buttered macaroni back into the buttered pot.
Now take the grated cheese, a handful or two at a time, and stir it in with the macaroni. Scrape the accumulated melting cheese off your stirring implement every now and then. Keep adding cheese till you’ve used 2/3 of the pile. Consider the un-grated portion of your third and final block of cheese. Maybe you are tired of grating. Maybe you suspect there’s not quite enough cheese. Make the choice that suits you best.
“If you mix in some chopped ham, it will give it a real—” You aren’t getting it, are you? No ham. No eggs. No bacon. This is not carbonara. I love carbonara! Maybe we will discuss carbonara sometime. No nutmeg, no lamb. This is not pasticcio. I adore pasticcio. No tomatoes. This is not lasagna, Garfield. This is macaroni and cheese.
Absolutely no fucking shaved truffles.
Now take the rest of your cheese and spread it over the top in a nice solid layer. “Bread crumbs are great for extra cr—OUCH!” Yes, I just drove a meat fork through your hand. Bread crumbs do not go on top of macaroni and cheese. You know what bread crumbs are good for? Putting inside a meatloaf. A meatloaf is a loaf that contains many other things besides meat. But macaroni and cheese consists of macaroni and cheese.
Finally, get out a jug of milk. Whole milk, from the udder of a cow, by way of a supermarket. Pour a big slug of milk over the macaroni and the cheese. How much? Tip the pot from side to side. The milk should just peep into view, down there at the edge of the macaroni.
Put it in the oven. Maybe it will take 40 minutes. The area around your kitchen will start to smell like macaroni and cheese. Pull the pot out and tip it from side to side again. The important cooking is done when no more milk is flowing down there.
Look at the top. It should be crispy with some tawny patches, depending on how your oven behaves. If you are in China and are using a countertop oven that’s basically a double-sized toaster oven and has a quarter-inch of clearance between the element and the pot, the top will have gotten pretty awesome. If your oven hasn’t quite delivered enough direct heat, feel free to give it a shot under the broiler for a few minutes for a little oomph.
When the baking is good and done, create a diversion. The people around you will have been smelling macaroni and cheese for a while, and they will be feeling entitled, but they must not eat it now. Draw their attention away—music? Cocktails? Fireworks?—while you take the golden dish out of the oven and put it aside for 10 minutes to set up. Cook a vegetable or something. Maybe a salad.
Finally, put the pot itself on the table, preferably on top of something heatproof. Scoop out some macaroni and cheese. The milk, you may notice, has yielded to the rigorous logic of the dish and become more cheese all on its own. Make sure everybody gets some crust.
Offer around a pepper grinder. Freshly ground black pepper goes great with macaroni and cheese.
Previously: How To Barbecue a Turkey—the Super Easy Way for MoronsTom Scocca also makes a mean scrapple.
Sometimes the packaging is better then the product, a theory proven time and again with liquor, perfumes and, now, spaghetti? Alex Creamer, a design student at the University of Central Lancashire in the UK, created this unusual ode to the Big Apple for a school assignment in which students had to come up with creative ways to package difficult everyday items. The pasta sits on a 3D model of the Chrysler Building modeled out of high-density foam hidden in the bottom of the thin box. Creamer managed to incorporate three of my favorite things: pasta, NYC and a keen eye for design.
In a move of unparalleled beauty, Dave Cross and Aaron Crane have announced blogs.perl.org, a modern blogging platform for the Perl community.
Go look. Enjoy the non-ugly color scheme. Marvel at the code syntax highlighting and ability to embed images. Navigate posts using thoughtful categories.
A million thanks to Dave and Aaron for putting this together, and to Six Apart for the design. Links to feeds will be going up here on Perlbuzz as soon as I have time.
Shared by Eve
You know what? fuck streetsblog and fuck michael rhodes*. This is the third time we've posted a story *hours before them, sent their editor a link, and then seen a story with no links to us.
A bicyclist was seriously injured this afternoon after a woman driving an SUV struck him at the intersection of Haight and Pierce Streets. According to eyewitness accounts, he remained conscious after the crash, and was taken to the hospital by the Fire Department.Flickr photo: Aimee Ellis, 2Girls1Queen
Elaine Santore from 2 Girls, 1 Queen sent in the above photo, which Aimee Ellis took shortly after the crash.
Alex Caroll, who works nearby at Burger Joint, witnessed the crash and was among the first to call for an ambulance. The bicyclist appeared to have suffered a broken leg or ankle, as well as a possible broken shoulder or collarbone, said Caroll. The bicyclist was traveling southbound on Pierce, and the SUV was traveling eastbound on Haight when it struck him. An SFPD officer was first to arrive on the scene, followed by the fire department, according to Caroll. Officers were still speaking to the driver when Caroll left a half hour later.
Ellis reports that the injured man was missing a shoe and was taken to the hospital in a fire truck.
SFPD spokesperson Sgt. Lyn Tomioka said the bicyclist remained conscious and breathing, and was not bleeding.
We will update with more details as they're available.
The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) says it expects to restart the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) by this weekend after more than a year of repairs. The 27 km (17 mi) particle accelerator was launched last year, but suffered a failure from a faulty electrical connection, damaging 53 of the smasher's 9,300 superconducting magnets. Repairs are now completed, and the plan is to begin injecting protons into the LHC this weekend, on the path to search for particles such as predicted-yet-unobserved Higgs Boson. Collected below are some photographs of the repairs, and of the LHC and some of its experiments in various stages of construction. (30 photos total)Combining two major ATLAS inner detector components. The semiconductor tracker is inserted into the transition radiation tracker for the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. These make up two of the three major components of the inner detector. They will work together to measure the trajectories produced in the proton-proton collisions at the centre of the detector when the LHC is switched on. Photo taken on February 22nd, 2006. (Maximilien Brice, © CERN)
As if Brett Favre isn't already a source of shame for denizens of Wisconsin, now Iraqi detainees are trying to use the sore spot to their advantage.
Iraqi prisoners at a detainment camp run by the Wisconsin National Guard have learned some English, unfortunately for the soldiers, it is mainly about the former pride of Green Bay.
"They know Favre by name," said First Lieutenant Tim Boehnen, who is from New Richmond, Wis.
"One of the big words they know now is shenanigan. They'll constantly talk about 'Favre shenanigans,' 'He's so good for the Vikings,' and 'The Packers have got to really feel bad about that one.' "
Boehen may be responsible for some of the onslaught or anti-Favre remarks. He said the detainees started their Brett-bashing after the guards put up Green Bay Packers paraphernalia all over the compound. That was the beginning of the end.
"They obviously then started up the conversations, and started talking about Brett Favre. They soon learned about Favre going to the Vikings, and things just started going downhill from there."
Hat tip: Deadspin
Scott Boehm/Getty Images
From advertisements for a Portuguese independent film group, several ideas and their enemies.
(via heavy backpack)
Tags: advertising
Sidecar
560 5th Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11215 (b/n 15th Street and 16th Street; map); 718-369-0077; sidecarbrooklyn.com
Cooking Method: Grilled
Short Order: A juicy, satisfying burger.
Want Fries with That? Comes with great skinny fries.
Prices: Cheeseburger, $12; extra toppings +$2I checked out Sidecar in Park Slope due to a recommendation from AHT reader Dan Federman. He did not recommend that I pair the burger with fried chicken though; I take the blame for that and the subsequent discomfort it wrought on my dining companion's digestive system.
The 7-ounce (or 6-ounce; I got two different answers) grilled cheeseburger is made with grass-fed beef and comes with lettuce, onion, and tomato on the side, We got ours medium rare with American cheese and added sautéed onions for another $2.
The burger came out erring towards the rare side, with juicy, pink innards, and it had a decent char. Beefy flavors didn't jump out at me, but it was far from bland, and the meat was well seasoned. The soft sesame seed bun from Blue Ribbon Bakery held together well and soaked in the juices from the bottom of the patty, turning into a meat juice sponge. Mm. Sponge. The skinny fries were also great—crispy and salty, pretty much my two favorite things about fries.
While I have no complaints about this burger, when compared to other nearby burgers at 12th Street Bar and Grill and Johnny Mack's, I'd put Sidecar in third. Not a far third; just that I'm basing it on a delicious-to-dollar ratio, and Sidecar's burger is the smallest and most expensive of the three.
Quick Post
This is good. The new lion looks really dignified, but also like he gets loose on the weekends.
http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/an_iconic_lion_for_an_iconic_institution.php
Bitchin'
That wraps it up for the week, catch me tomorrow and Sunday at Walkoff Walk.
parents, pre giants-chargers
(via yatta)
Hate mail’s ok. At least that means someone’s reading, right? With today’s announcement of the NL Cy Young voting, I’ve gotten the hate mail without the benefit of some ad impressions. I thought I’d share some.
From “Bil”:
“You should be stripped of your vote immediately! Carpenter, not on the ballot?????????? You’re clueless…”
Murray Chass probably agrees.
From David:“You all but said that you voted for one Cardinal but not the other due to injury. That the injury to Carp tipped the scale to Wainright. That is absolutely ridiculous. You go on to say you questioned your third pick, but not even for Carpenter, for Jurrjens. So that ballot still would’ve been one of only two that didn’t include Carpenter. I really didn’t hear a strong enough argument for why Carp should not have been included. Especially looking at Tim and Chris’s second half numbers. I don’t want to hear about run support because Carp and Tim’s were nearly identical. I am obviously no expert, but when all the other experts but you and some douche from ESPN (Vasquez, really?) had Carp on their ballots, EVERY OTHER ONE! You even admit that you didn’t make your decision on watching a bulk of their work, just a small sample and called people smarter than you and asked what they think. It is not their vote, and your vote is a responsibility on your part to watch these !games throughout the year, especially when these three made their front runner status known relatively early (known to everyone but you and Law apparently). I’m not of the kin that thinks that Carp and Waino were outright robbed, and Lincecum is a monster, but leaving his off your balot completely is absolutely ridiculous. You sir, are a douche.”
I’ve been called worse. Today.
From Jason:
“Your Haren pick is well lets just say, dumb. Just as your rationale for picking him over Carpenter. Chris Carpenter could have won the award just as easily as Lincecum or Wainwright. How do teams get to the playoffs? Winning. Haren was 10-6 over the last three months of the season and finished with a 3.14 ERA. Carpenter was 12-1 and finished with a 2.24 ERA. Next year pass the ballot to someone who has a clue, because you don’t have one. You need to layoff the Cool-Aid. It makes a statement when only two ballots don’t have Carpenters name on it.”
Someone continues to drink the “only wins count” Kool Aid.
From Jamie:
“17-4 2.24 ERA 1.01 WHIP!! No excuses!! He should have been a top 3. I listened to Bob Mathews WHAM 1180 & Rochester D&C-He had no clue why Carpenter wasn’t on the ballot. Still need to talk to my brother-in-law Sean Lahman who also knows a little bit about baseball and get his thoughts. I honestly believe most of you got this one wrong, although not a fan of the Cardinals I’ve seen a lot of Carpenter on the baseball package. He definetly deserved to be number three.”
At least this one was reasoned. Look, I laid out why I voted for Haren over Carpenter. It was close, but I’m an injury guy. Answering the bell and taking the ball time and time again counts. Do I overvalue that compared to some others? Sure. But if you’re arguing a 1.01 WHIP, you should note that the guy I voted for had a 1.00 WHIP too.
There are too many others to print them all, but I’ll note:
1) Those of you that say I hate the Cardinals should note I voted for Adam Wainwright in the #1 slot. How’s that hate?
2) Those of you that say talking to players and scouts is wrong, I vehemently disagree. They didn’t make the decision for me, but helped make my decision more informed.
3) The BBWAA process wasn’t shoddy. It was merely a miscommunication that made my vote come last minute (but not today, as some thought.) As I said in the article, I wouldn’t change my vote, even now. For me, based on how I judged it, it was Wainwright and Lincecum as a very, very close 1-2, then Haren and Carpenter as a very, very close 3-4.
I favorited a YouTube video: Anil Dash (Expert Labs), "Listening to the Experts"
Each week we round up our favorite posts and recipes from our friends at The Kitchn.
This week, the Kitchn makes some silly turkey cupcakes, proving that you can still put the candy corn leftovers to use.
Also on the Kitchn, non-alcoholic bubbly drinks, five alternatives to creamed pearl onions, hot chocolate on a stick, and ten recipes for barks and brittles.
- Non-Alcoholic (Yet Special!) Sips for the Holidays: These fizzy drinks won't get you drunk, but they look tasty.
- Thanksgiving Sides: 5 Alternatives to Creamed Pearl Onions: Here are some classier ways to eat the little white orbs.
- Recipe Review: Hot Chocolate On A Stick: How exactly does that work? Watch out popsicles and corn dogs, there's a new stickfood on the scene. And it's super easy to make: just chocolate, cocoa, powdered sugar and salt.
- Break Off a Piece! Barks and Brittles for Sharing: Oooh, mocha meringue bark, pumpkin seed brittle, and chocolate-orange hazelnut bark.
With regard to the Large Hadron Collider, the Higgs boson gets all the press but other potential discoveries could be more exciting and easier to detect.
However, if the theorists are right, before it ever finds the Higgs, the LHC will see the first outline of something far bigger: the grand, overarching theory known as supersymmetry. SUSY, as it is endearingly called, is a daring theory that doubles the number of particles needed to explain the world. And it could be just what particle physicists need to set them on the path to fresh enlightenment.
If you haven't been keeping up with particle physics for the past few years (as I haven't), this will bring you up to speed a bit.
Tags: lhc physics science
Greinke throws four- and two-seam fastballs, a change, a curve and a slider. A couple days ago, Harry Pavlidis checked out his curve, and here I am going to look at his slider. It is nothing short of amazing. On a total runs saved level, it was second only to Brett Anderson’s slider, which I profiled earlier. But Anderson throws his more often, so on a per slider basis, Greinke’s was even better. via www.fangraphs.com
Talking Biz News | NYTimes.com
Chris Roush reports BusinessWeek senior writer Stephen Baker, Technology & You columnist Steve Wildstrom, personal finance editor Lauren Young and engagement editor Shirley Brady are among those leaving. (Stephanie Clifford: About 100 of BW's 400 employees cut.) Media columnist Jon Fine tweets: "I will not be returning to BusinessWeek and my column once Bloomberg owns the mag." || Live-blogging the BW layoffs.
Wonderful little visual essay by Christoff Nieman in the NY Times using only leaves to illustrate his ideas.
via Kottke
Posted by Matt Forsythe on Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog | Permalink | No comments
Tags:
In The Gervais Principle, Or The Office According to "The Office" and the followup The Gervais Principle II: Posturetalk, Powertalk, Babytalk and Gametalk, Venkatesh Rao dissects and analyzes the American version of The Office to a degree I hadn't thought was possible.
After four years, I've finally figured the show out. The Office is not a random series of cynical gags aimed at momentarily alleviating the existential despair of low-level grunts. It is a fully-realized theory of management that falsifies 83.8% of the business section of the bookstore.
Even if you're only an occasional viewer of the show, this is worth reading through, especially if you work in an office environment. (thx, zach)
Tags: business The Office TV Venkatesh Rao working
he's the last of the original Ludicorp team to go [via]
I love FIP! Forever and ever! You are truly awesome, Zack Greinke.You have elevated yourself to a close second, behind Lincecum, of course, on my personal rankings of MVORP, or Mancrush Value Over Replacement Player. The news about Greinke citing "FIP" as part of his success has been blogged far and wide, so it's not really hello.typepad worthy. However, "MVORP" - Mancrush Value over Replacement Player - is nearly Simmonsian.
digital natives have grown up in a landscape where access to information and influence has been flattened
There are people horrified by this prospect, but the criticism that Wikipedia, say, is not an "authoritative source" is an attempt to end the debate by hiding the fact that authority is a social agreement, not a culturally independent fact.
Authority, historically, gets bestowed on the gatekeepers of information, such as Britannica, universities, newspapers, etc. Everything that can be digitized will be digitized, and will then be available over the internet, which is disruptive, not only to business models, but to authority.
- media
- brand
- trend (as a verb, incl. “trending”)
This is why we can’t have nice things.
Sarah has been trying to catch up on the Showtime series Dexter over Netflix, but she's been stuck in the middle since early September because Neftlix won't get the next disc to her.
She's stuck in perpetual suspense as the Netflix gnomes struggle to find the cure for what ails her. She writes:
I have been a Netflix subscriber for five years, since November 2004. I've never had any issues with Netflix, and always highly recommended the company above other rental options, especially Blockbuster. What I've been dealing with lately, however, has me strongly doubting my loyalty to the company and my faith in its service.
I am a big fan of the Showtime series "Dexter." In May or June of this year, I added Dexter season 3 to my Netflix queue, even though it was not scheduled for release until late August. It sat in the "saved" section of the queue, and as soon as it was released I moved all discs to the top positions. Short wait at first, which is typical for a new release, but I received disc 1 just in time for the Labor Day weekend (August 30), watched it, and sent it back; it was received by Netflix on September 3rd.
It has now been 2.5 months - today marks 75 days - since then, and I still have not seen disc 2 of the season. It's been at the top of my queue, along with the rest of the series, but has had "long wait" as the expected availability status the entire time (note: it has not said "very long wait," only ever "long wait.")
What's interesting is if one goes to the FAQ/Help section on Netflix.com, there is an explanation of "long wait": "Long Wait: This means there is a serious demand for the title and the wait is generally less than 14 days." I'm no mathematician, but I know 75 days is significantly longer than 14.
I gave Netflix a lot of leeway on this one, because I do understand that there is a high demand for new releases, I had other discs to keep me entertained, and oh, I have better things to do than fret about when I can watch more of my show.
Two weeks ago, though, I did call Netflix customer service regarding this issue, and was told that this was an unexpectedly popular series, and that there were "more problems with disc 2 than with other discs in the series," which the rep went one to explain meant breakage, lost discs, etc. He said there was nothing they could do about my issue except be patient, to which I said I'd been patient in waiting 2+ months to contact them. When the call ended, I received an auto-gen. customer service survey, which I responded to by politely but firmly expressing my disappointment in Netflix and explaining this specific issue; as of now, I have received no follow-up or further response, so I'm turning to the Consumerist.
I realize this is a petty issue compared to many of the stories you receive, but I wanted to share my frustration at what I feel is a completely ridiculous situation. One that could seemingly be resolved by Netflix springing for more copies of this series, following the basic rules of supply and demand. The demand is here, Netflix, so supply it... before your subscribers turn away.
One quick, easy solution would be to sign up for a Blockbuster Total Access free trial, fill up on Dexter then cancel the account. Wow, it feels weird recommending Blockbuster to someone.
Anyone else having trouble getting certain discs from Netflix?
In his excellent NY Times blog, Christoph Niemann uses leaves to illustrate a forest of ideas.
Tags: Christoph Niemann
I am not sure what they’re putting in her water, but Gail Collins has been absolutely topping the charts over at the Times op-ed page for the last six months or so. They need to pass some of that stuff around.
Obama is in Korea and so am I! But we are not staying at the same hotel. :( He's at the Hyatt downtown and I'm at the W Walkerhill. It's 5:55 a.m. Can you say jet lag?! Annyong!P.S. It's freezing here!
This made me very happy.
Movable Type 5.0 Release Candidate 2 is now available.
Here’s the highlights…
- A lot of work to get the dynamic publishing in sync with the static publishing.
- Updates to the Professional blog templates
- Unbundling of Motion and Action Streams
- The Entry/Page “previous” and “next” container tags now account for entries/pages with the same date-time, rather than skipping them.
And many more bug fixes.
Release Notes for MT5 RC2
Download
Warning! - This software is not recommended for any production environment.
- Movable Type 5.0 Pro Betas (available in English, Japanese, German, Spanish, Dutch and French.)
Check out the Pre-Release Software License Agreement for more details about using the software.
Please report bugs and submit feature requests you find.
Plugin Support
Many MT4 plugins will work with MT5 (or only need minor updates) as much of the core functionality in MT5 hasn’t changed dramatically.
Plugins which do not work correctly in MT5 due to the following reasons:
The most common reasons for plugins not working in MT5:
- Plugin relies on a transformers (code which searches for other code to replace) may be broken because of changes the application templates.
- YAML may be improperly formatted. YAML::Tiny has been replaced by the more strict YAML::Syck perl module.
- Characters may be more garbled if text is not encoded using UTF-8. MT5 is more strictly using UTF-8.
- Bundled CPAN modules have been updated. If plugin relies upon any bundled versions of these modules, plugin should be updated to be compatible with the bundled version.
- The method of adding links into the UI hasn’t changed, but the UI has changed. Links placed into the UI by the plugin will have to be updated.
- PHP4 has been deprecated in exchange for PHP5. All PHP code must be compatible with PHP5 or plugin functionality may not work when publishing dynamically.
- Database accessor has changed to use Active Record from EZSQL, thus PHP database queries must be compatible with Active Record or must use the MT API.
- Though plugins written in older “.pl” style (instead of YAML style) are supported in MT5, their “age” may generally be a source of issues.
One of the developers in Japan tested many of the most popular plugins for MT5 compatibility. See his results here:
- http://www.zelazny.mydns.jp/archives/001617.php (translate to English)
- http://www.zelazny.mydns.jp/archives/001627.php (translate to English)
New Template Tags in MT5
The Japanese documentation site has all tags marked “New in MT5”. We’ll be updating the English template tag docs to include these new tags.
MT5 Release Schedule
The release schedule has been updated, here’s the current plan:
- MT5.0 RC2 - released today.
- MT5.0 RC3 - to be released this Friday, November 20. Will include a few remaining bugs and localization of European language versions.
- MT5.0 - first week of December (November 26th in Japan) should all go according to plan.
Found a Bug?
- To avoid duplication of efforts, search existing bugs (from the feedback page) before submitting a new bug.
- Submit a bug in the Greyhound (MT5) Beta
Have a Question?
Ask questions about this release or Movable Type 5 in general in one of these places:
The greatest Tumblr in joke to date.
I wish I could link to something to give this context.Click here for context. (Thanks to Amit!)
(via bradofarrell: topherchris)
Jason Kottke, on his weblog.
Before reading this interview, I didn't know much about [Cormac] McCarthy -- he's a fellow at the Santa Fe Institute? -- but now I think I need to read The Road.If this truly is the first time that Jason mothereffin Kottke has been interested in Cormac McCarthy than WE HAVE FAILED AS A NATION.
Mena wrote a great letter to Tavi, the Style Rookie. (I blogged about her last week.)
I'm sure you get thousands of emails like this but since I don't write thousands of emails like this I felt it was worth sending.And worth reading. +1 to the parenting goal of raising daughters that are as strong and independent as Tavi.
If there’s any truth to this Google phone rumor, I think Mike Arrington may be onto something here:
The Google Phone may be a data only, VoIP driven device. And Google may be lining up at least AT&T to provide those data services for the Google Phone, says one person we spoke with today.
The idea is that you’d just pay for a data plan, get a phone number and voice mail through Google Voice, and all your “calls” and SMS would go over IP. Lower monthly bill, no bullshit about minutes. It’s a wonderful idea — I just can’t believe any of the U.S. carriers would go for it.
So, if your in London please stop by the Lisson Gallery. I have done a thing there called "Lisson Presents" which is a series they have where they invite people to rummage through their archives and show what ever catches their eye. Since Lisson at one time or another has shown a ton of my all time fav artists, this was pretty fun. Works by Stephen Willats (a work from the 60's as well as a new commission!!!!!), John Armleder, Ceal Foyer, Daniel Buren, Art and Language, & Rodney and Dan Graham.....ps - a few of my things will be on show as well. Also, note from the 27th on, my video, Drei Klavierstucke op. 11 is gonna be on show in Salzburg at Ropac gallery. Of course you can watch it here, but Austria is an equally appropriate place as well.
Sure, Joe Cocker doing You Can Leave Your Hat On is creepy in an "Adrian Lyne softcore porn creepy" kinda way. Randy Newman, on the other hand, doing You Can Leave Your Hat On (which he wrote, by the way), alone at the piano is really creepy, in a "holy shit this guy sounds like a serial killer" kinda way.
Be warned: this video of Sad Panda will melt even the coldest of hearts. The fact is that Sad Panda (sometimes Spongebob Squarepants) is actually pretty sad, and that makes us Sad Humans.
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism student Michelle Tay has sent us this exclusive interview with the man behind the mask. The audio is in Mandarin, but there are subtitles that tell the 62-year-old Jialing Chen's story — which includes a hard luck tale of being forced to leave his former restaurant job. Unable to find work again, he started out his journey as Sad Panda, where on a good day he'll make 30 bucks. His wife works 7 days a week as a private nurse, so the family can afford health care. Yeah, get out the tissues...
Just think about how many more sad stories are hidden behind masks out there.
In today's installment of Cooking with the Awl, Choire Sicha shows us how to make his famous Nonchalant Smoker's E-Z Pie Crust. Baking has never been less precise!
3. Put something more than a teaspoon but something less than a tablespoon of salt in the flour. That is like "three pinches." It doesn't really matter how much! Saltiness offsets sweetness! People, who are animals, like salt!
4. Put about the same amount of sugar in the flour! Give or take! IT DOESN'T MATTER.
Choire also notes at one point that the crust "should look sort of gross".
Tags: Choire Sicha food how to
Does anyone here (on Tumblr) also use Posterous? Are there differences between the cultures? Please reblog your answers.
Shared by EveLast February, Anil Dash; the co-founder and “chief evangelist” for Six Apart, the company that creates the most popular blogging software in the world; was visiting his family in India for the first time in 25 years, explaining what he does for a living. Mr. Dash, 34, is an influential tech blogger and consultant who coaxed business executives and newspaper editors into embracing social media long before every site from The New York Times to Kodak had a blog.
there's no way to compare Anil to Kal Penn without sounding racist.
Bit of a heavy sell, but it's beautiful in a Wim kind of way.
Yay TypePad team for the launch of TypePad Micro and for all the new features packed in TypePad itself. As DJ Lance Rock would say: Super Chromatastic!
palazzo farnese: note the alternating pediments above the windows of the piano nobile
“The government is already using technology to talk to citizens,” Mr. Dash told The Observer. “But we’re going to make technology that helps government listen to them.” via www.observer.com via www.alaina.org
This is pretty awesome: “This is as famous and as politically credible as Sarah Palin will ever be.”
“The government is already using technology to talk to citizens,” Mr. Dash told The Observer. “But we’re going to make technology that helps government listen to them.”via www.observer.com
I haven't seen the print edition of Newsweek, but according to Media Matters and Michelle Malkin (wow, there's a link you don't see here everyday) the cover is just one of three shots focusing on Sarah Palin's body. This is the image accompanying Christopher Hitchens' essay. You can read the Hitchens' piece (which I liked a great deal) and make of the pairing what you will.
From my humble vantage point, taken together, the focus on Sarah Palin's body is creepy, and yeah, sexist. I can't imagine them doing this with any male politician, no matter how devoid of ideas.
UPDATE: Wanted to give props to SapphireCate for the catch. And also promote this comment from Deborah, which says, what I could not:The actual shot used in Runner's World is one I can see dozens of sitting politicians or serious business professionals doing. It seems very in line with that whole "we must promote healthy living for our citizens, especially young people" vibe. I could easily see GWB doing something like it, especially before being president.
The photo of her by the flag is kind of awful, but I doubt she was providing the artistic guidance. It seems very unfair to take a fitness shot and use it to make a point about how unfit for office she is.
I'll say it again: the winking shot. In the debate. Use that one and no one can cry sexism, because she pulled that starburst move in a serious political forum.
They took a photo of her being non-political (promoting jogging) and put it in a political context. They seem to have been hunting for a shot of her being as sexy and unserious as possible, which this meets--because you can see her legs in exercise wear, and because she was talking about exercise to an exercise magazine. It's something I can see Newsweek trying on Bachmann or Pelosi for a similar "is this gal serious? No!" story, and it would be sexist. I don't see them doing the same to a male politician to demonstrate that he must be unserious.
I'd love to hear Deborah's thoughts on the doll...
Today’s Dining section brings a roundup of holiday dinner recipes for you wussbags who are too lazy or scared to make desserts with crusts. “Is it Thanksgiving if there is no traditional pie with a traditional filling and a crust that the cook obviously fussed and worried over?” asks Florence Fabrikant. The answer is obviously: NO, YOU HORRIBLE MONSTER, IT IS NOT. Are you one of those wimps who is afraid of a pie crust? Here, I will tell you everything you need to know right now, you whiny little girl. Yes, that is a picture of an apple pie that I whipped up the other week in about 8 seconds. Loser! Here are the tools you will need: NONE.
1. Put a bag of flour in the fridge and two sticks of butter in the freezer. Go gloat about your superiority and complain about how hard you’re working and smoke or read for a little while.
2. Put about 2 and a half cups of flour in a cold bowl. ABOUT. The thing is, it doesn’t matter! Who has time and energy to measure things?
3. Put something more than a teaspoon but something less than a tablespoon of salt in the flour. That is like “three pinches.” It doesn’t really matter how much! Saltiness offsets sweetness! People, who are animals, like salt!
4. Put about the same amount of sugar in the flour! Give or take! IT DOESN’T MATTER.
5. Chop up the two sticks of butter into chunks and then sort of mush them into the flour but NOT VERY MUCH. If you are feeling fancy or lazy, you can shave frozen butter into the flour using the big side of a cheese grater, but I find that makes the pieces of butter too small actually. After integration, the butter should be pebbly, and your hot little hands shouldn’t be on it long enough to melt it. You can use a fork for this part! Or any other tool you want! Or none at all! I use my hands. This should take under a minute. The point is, you are NOT mixing in all the butter. Your goal is butter chunks. It should look sort of gross.
6. Put some very cold water in there, and smush it together! Like, not very much water! Maybe half a cup, maybe 3/4s of a cup! Sometimes it’s a whole cup, I don’t know why. It doesn’t matter! What you are going for is all the crumbs of flour to be attached to a central mass that does not become at ALL gluey. It doesn’t matter though! If it’s too wet, you’ll dry it out later. If it’s too dry, you’ll wet it. If you’re feeling really fancy, put in two drops of white vinegar. That’s just for superstition really.
7. Mash that firm yet coherent business into an oblong disc immediately and put it in a ziploc bag in the freezer for half an hour and go SMOKE some more.
8. Take it out of the freezer, tear it in two, and spread flour literally all over the counter, which is one hopes somewhat clean at least, and then all over the top of your half of the dough. Don’t be stingy. Hammer it into semi-flatness, like maybe four to six inches wide, then try to fold it in on itself, into like the size of a ring box. In some manner, roll out that first half using what I use, which is an old bottle of verjus with no label. Who has an actual rolling pin? If it breaks a lot, just fold it back in on itself. You can tear off bits and glue it to the main body with some water. Or, if it’s too soft, that means it’s too wet, so put more flour on it. This rolling is a little strenuous, but just keep turning it and giving it a few rolls then turning it some more. Eventually it will be pie dish size.
9. Drop that shit in the pie dish and then roll out the top. Don’t let everything get all melty while you’re working. Rolling out the top is always easier than rolling out the bottom. THE END.
“It looks more and more like the positive stress of exercise prepares cells and structures and pathways within the brain so that they’re more equipped to handle stress in other forms,” says Michael Hopkins, a graduate student affiliated with the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory Laboratory at Dartmouth, who has been studying how exercise differently affects thinking and emotion. “It’s pretty amazing, really, that you can get this translation from the realm of purely physical stresses to the realm of psychological stressors.”
"Even the last scene takes place in a grocery store aisle where juice boxes play a key role."
The cover of the Fantastic Mr. Fox soundtrack. [Image: Amazon]
Over the weekend I saw Fantastic Mr. Fox, the stop-motion animation by Wes Anderson based on the kiddie-lit classic by Roald Dahl. While the book has some simple pencil sketches by Quentin Blake, the film is filled with lavish food scenes that may actually make you hungry, even if the cakes and roasted meats are made of clay.
Without giving too much away, the story's whole premise revolves around Mr. Fox 's obsessive mission to steal from three bad guy farmers—Boggis, Bunce and Bean—each of whom fixates on a single type of food or drink.
Boggis eats chicken prepared three or four ways for every meal. Bunce is crazy for pâté-filled doughnuts (and even has a contraption that infuses each bun with the meat paste). Bean guzzles down jugs of cider and has somehow engineered an apple that naturally grows with whimsical star designs.
There are many feast scenes—the kind with long tables, bottles of bubbly, and other intricacy that only critters who wear corduroy jackets, buy real estate, and ride motorcycles could appreciate. Behind the scenes, a white-haired bunny chef in orange Crocs (voiced by Mario Batali) is always chopping vegetables or whipping something up in a bowl.
Roald Dahl didn't seem as concerned with the culinary minutiae in his book. I never remember Mr. Fox chowing down on canned squab and gosling jam with toast, or the apples on Mrs. Fox's dress. But Anderson's cinematic trademark is his fixation on every centimeter of every nuance, and in this movie, food is central to the plot.
Even the last scene takes place in a grocery store aisle where juice boxes play a key role. If you were curious whether forest creatures get juice mustaches, they do.
Related
Behind-the-Scenes: The Food in 'Julie and Julia'
A Primer to 'Star Trek' Food and Drink
Top Movies Starring Chinese Food
This is the "banh mi du maison" from Ma Peche ("Momofuku Midtown") in New York. I want it.
In local news, I had a banh mi last week from a spot called Grab 'n Go. It was pork + chiles + cilantro + pickled carrots + bread, and it was cheap and tasty. Not the greatest banh mi in the world, probably, but very delicious & filling for $4. I'll go again.
I'm firmly on Team TypePad Awesome, and I'm totally proud of the entire team for the launch of the free TypePad Micro. This is a big day for TypePad!
It’s only been a year and a half since our launch of Six Apart Media and I’m happy to report we’ve made a lot of progress since then. Six Apart Media has the dual mission to help bloggers on all platforms earn more advertising revenue and to provide brand marketers access to a growing audience of bloggers and blog readers. Today Six Apart Media reaches over 193 million people around the world and 67 million US every month (according to comScore) -- that’s bigger than most social networks, blog services, and social media ad networks.
Beyond just reach, our focus has been on creating really compelling, unique and authentic ways for brands to engage with communities online. In a way, we’ve been doing this for a long time since many brands have used their TypePad or Movable Type blog as their first social media outpost. Today we offer many other engagement products that tap into our platform, including blog communities, custom themes, widgets, and conversation starters, for brands like HP, Cisco, Nature Made, Best Buy, Apple and Microsoft.With the launch of the TypePad Platform and TypePad Motion in October, our Six Apart Media Services team has been building great conversational media hubs, such as TweetZone, built for Sprint in partnership with Federated Media. We believe that social media campaigns will increasingly include creative “hub” sites that incorporate blogs, microblogs, and social networks to engage a community of bloggers and brand advocates.With the launch of TypePad Micro yesterday we opened up a new way for brands to engage communities with social content, and we are pleased to announce our first marketing partner for TypePad Micro: AVATAR.AVATAR on TypePadIn partnership with Twentieth Century Fox we are introducing the official online community on TypePad, incorporating both an official blog and a TypePad Motion microblogging community. We will be pulling in official AVATAR content from other sites, like Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube, as well as featuring exclusive content from Avatar such as behind-the-scenes videos.And now with TypePad Micro we are doing something new: anyone can have his or her own exclusive AVATAR-themed microblog. With a TypePad Micro blog, fans can post notes, photos, and videos about AVATAR, “follow” each other, and easily share text, photos, and videos across their Twitter or Facebook networks.AVATAR is one of the most anticipated films of the year and passionate AVATAR fans can join the community at avatar.typepad.com today, one month before the premier of Oscar-winning filmmaker James Cameron’s epic adventure on December 18.We think this is a fantastic partnership and Jeffrey Godsick, Twentieth Century Fox’s executive VP of marketing, puts it this way: “This is a perfect match for us: Just as AVATAR is a revolutionary moviegoing experience, TypePad is revolutionizing social media. Members of the community will get the latest AVATAR news, see exclusive movie-related content, and participate in movie-related activities. We’re pleased to have a central online place where AVATAR fans can connect and share their excitement for the film with each other - and with their friends on other social sites like Facebook and Twitter.” Thanks Jeffrey - well said!I am personally really excited about this. I’ve been a huge sci-fi fan my whole life (shocking admission, I know) as well as a James Cameron fan. He has made some fantastic epics that create and define entire new genres of films - and he seems to be on the verge of doing it again. We are thrilled to be working with AVATAR on this great community effort and can’t wait to see the film!
Beyond just reach, our focus has been on creating really compelling, unique and authentic ways for brands to engage with communities online. In a way, we’ve been doing this for a long time since many brands have used their TypePad or Movable Type blog as their first social media outpost. Today we offer many other engagement products that tap into our platform, including blog communities, custom themes, widgets, and conversation starters, for brands like HP, Cisco, Nature Made, Best Buy, Apple and Microsoft.With the launch of the TypePad Platform and TypePad Motion in October, our Six Apart Media Services team has been building great conversational media hubs, such as TweetZone, built for Sprint in partnership with Federated Media. We believe that social media campaigns will increasingly include creative “hub” sites that incorporate blogs, microblogs, and social networks to engage a community of bloggers and brand advocates.With the launch of TypePad Micro yesterday we opened up a new way for brands to engage communities with social content, and we are pleased to announce our first marketing partner for TypePad Micro: AVATAR.AVATAR on TypePadIn partnership with Twentieth Century Fox we are introducing the official online community on TypePad, incorporating both an official blog and a TypePad Motion microblogging community. We will be pulling in official AVATAR content from other sites, like Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube, as well as featuring exclusive content from Avatar such as behind-the-scenes videos.And now with TypePad Micro we are doing something new: anyone can have his or her own exclusive AVATAR-themed microblog. With a TypePad Micro blog, fans can post notes, photos, and videos about AVATAR, “follow” each other, and easily share text, photos, and videos across their Twitter or Facebook networks.AVATAR is one of the most anticipated films of the year and passionate AVATAR fans can join the community at avatar.typepad.com today, one month before the premier of Oscar-winning filmmaker James Cameron’s epic adventure on December 18.We think this is a fantastic partnership and Jeffrey Godsick, Twentieth Century Fox’s executive VP of marketing, puts it this way: “This is a perfect match for us: Just as AVATAR is a revolutionary moviegoing experience, TypePad is revolutionizing social media. Members of the community will get the latest AVATAR news, see exclusive movie-related content, and participate in movie-related activities. We’re pleased to have a central online place where AVATAR fans can connect and share their excitement for the film with each other - and with their friends on other social sites like Facebook and Twitter.” Thanks Jeffrey - well said!I am personally really excited about this. I’ve been a huge sci-fi fan my whole life (shocking admission, I know) as well as a James Cameron fan. He has made some fantastic epics that create and define entire new genres of films - and he seems to be on the verge of doing it again. We are thrilled to be working with AVATAR on this great community effort and can’t wait to see the film!
Douglaston is an area in north-east Queens (near the Long Island border) that filmmakers often use when they’re looking to shoot in an upper-middle class suburban neighborhood. The houses are all relatively large, with (gasp!) actual front lawns AND backyards, and lots of breathing room between properties.
I was scouting Douglaston near Udalls Cove when I passed a house with a beautiful, thickly-set bamboo garden on the front lawn:
Note how high the stalks reach in the above picture. As far as I can remember, I’ve never seen this much bamboo outside of a park in New York.
Best of all: the owner set a path through the side of the bamboo. The overhanging foliage completely blocks out the sunlight as you get deeper, giving it the feel of a secret passageway.
For anyone inspired to do the same, bamboo is the fastest growing plant on Earth (growing up to 48 inches in a single 24 hour period!) and reaches full height in just 3-4 months! And apparently, it can grow just fine in Queens [Update: based on the comments, this is actually a horrible idea, as it will spread without control and ruin everyone's land...so don't do it!].
I will add that in repeating it frequently for this post, the word “bamboo” has suddenly lost all meaning.
-SCOUT
Thanks to improved research techniques and a growing understanding of the biochemistry and the genetics of thought itself, scientists are beginning to tease out how exercise remodels the brain, making it more stress-resistant.
I don’t have much to add to this article. It’s just fun.
“That’s pretty much how I pitch, to try to keep my FIP as low as
possible,” Greinke said.”You’re pretty good at it, Zack.
I finally had a good camera with me when the work lights were on.
I LUV this Apple stand! Besides apples, you could put in oranges or avocados (like when you shop at Costco and get a bag of like a month's worth of avocados.) I rather <3 the idea of Mother Nature's fine work as art. via www.iphonepics.noshtopia.com
You’ve got Velocity rims in an obnoxiously (but wonderfully) bright color, and you’ve got a frame painted shades of awesome. What’s next? Some tires to match. Check out these great looking clinchers from Fyxation. At $50 a tire you’re not going to want to do a lot of skid-stops, but you are going to look good while you’re trackstanding on your way to Stumptown or Philz.
The tires come in a choice of colors (I’m grabbing these in green though) including pink and orange (and black, if you’re oh-so-boring) and run 700x28 with “pinch flat protection.” (Whatevs.)
Sharonda Woodfin has a great post about what we're up to with TypePad... TypePad has made a lot of changes over the past year, but the one that's coming next will be the biggest of them all! SixApart is rolling out a whole new, free-of-charge level of TypePad service: TypePad Micro! Posted here thanks to TypePad's new reblog feature. (You should try it yourself!) Huge congrats to the TypePad team... via www.sippey.com
You may have heard that Bill Belichick, the head coach of the New England Patriots, made a controversial decision in Sunday’s night nationally televised game against the Colts. I’m not going to get into the details of the play here – there are tons of football blogs out there that can do a better job of discussing the context than I can. However, the reaction to the decision has some ties to baseball, and that’s what I want to talk about.
Belichick is a stats guy, sort of the NFL version of Billy Beane, only with championship rings to support his beliefs. He has built a dynasty in New England by eschewing traditional football truisms, and he has found great success with his methods. In general, he’s extremely well respected as a football guy, if not so much as a person to interact with.
So, I find the reaction to Belichick’s fourth down strategy interesting. Pretty much every member of the traditional media, including the announcers calling the game, immediately destroyed him for the call. There was no gray area. It was the wrong call because every other coach in America would have punted, and had punted, in that exact same situation. Belichick went out on a very thin limb, then watched it break when his team failed to convert and the Colts won the game on the final drive.
So, now, we get columns like this, decrying the statistical movement in sports as too rigid and not respectful enough of those with experience. The appeal to authority has been out in full force – Belichick was wrong because the majority say he was wrong, and the merits of his argument are generally ignored.
This is despite the fact that Belichick is part of the authority that should theoretically be appealed to. He’s been the head coach of three Super Bowl champions. He’s a football guy who appreciates numbers, not a numbers guy who appreciates football. Yet, for whatever reason, his credential cease to matter.
We see this in baseball all the time as well. Despite the fact that about half the teams in the sport are now run by people who could accurately be described as having a strong analytical background, the anti-statistical movement still paints people like us as a fringe movement on the outside looking in. Meanwhile, they’ve missed the fact that the inside is now a lot different, in large part due to the acceptance of the value of analytical methods of evaluation.
If the Patriots had made the two yards and won, would that have validated the entire statistical movement in sports? Of course not, because it was one play with an approximately 50-50 chance of success. Yet, when it doesn’t work, it becomes “proof” that the nerds have gone too far.
Let’s be better than that. Not every good move works out, and some bad moves end well. The end does not justify the means, however. Nobody can predict the future, so all we can evaluate is the ability for teams to give themselves a maximum probability of success. Sometimes, that means making choices that go against what everyone else is doing. Those choices aren’t wrong just because everyone else thinks they are.
Merit, not authority, should rule the discussion of the day. If the person in authority is right, he should be able to explain why using logic and reason. If he can’t, then perhaps he shouldn’t be considered an authority on the subject.
When you use middleware components in your PSGI app with Plack, you often want to enable them conditionally based on runtime environments.
For example, some administrative middleware like debug-toolbar or stacktrace should be enabled if it's accessed from your office network, and js/css-minifying middleware and image-resizing transcoder should be enabled if the requesting client is the mobile device or from known-to-be-slow network, etc.
I've looked at WSGI and Rack middleware and couldn't see a generic way of handling this: most middleware components have their own configuration options, for instance the rack-bug has ip_masks options which checks the request's address to activate the behavior not. I was thinking that it's easy to make a wrapping middleware that conditionally runs the wrapped middleware or passes through, based on the runtime environments.
So there you go: Plack::Middleware::Conditional and enable_if DSL sugar. Here are some examples from the docs:
# Minify JavaScript if the browser is Firefox enable_if { $_[0]->{HTTP_USER_AGENT} =~ /Firefox/ } 'JavaScriptMinifier'; # Enable Stacktrace when being accessed from the local network enable_if { $_[0]->{REMOTE_ADDR} =~ /^10\.0\.1\.*/ } 'StackTrace'; # Work with other conditional setter middleware: # Transcode Jpeg on the fly for mobile clients builder { enable_if { $_[0]->{'psgix.mobile_detected'} } 'TranscodeJpeg', max_size => 30_000; enable 'MobileDetector'; $app; };The nice thing about it is that now those conditional routine can be implemented as a piece of middleware like scook's mobiledetector and can be used in other middleware's enable_if clause. Really nice.
You can of course still use enable ... if ... to enable middleware statically in the server boot time rather than runtime. enable_if dynamic builder is like adding a hole in the onion layers.
This is now implemented as Plack 0.9.12 and is available on CPAN via cpanf :)
This is kind of what my year has been like:
Clearly this should be a Demotivators-style poster.
Caption suggestions?
Sharonda Woodfin has a great post about what we're up to with TypePad...
TypePad has made a lot of changes over the past year, but the one that's coming next will be the biggest of them all! SixApart is rolling out a whole new, free-of-charge level of TypePad service: TypePad Micro!
Posted here thanks to TypePad's new reblog feature. (You should try it yourself!) Huge congrats to the TypePad team...
A good tote bag is like a good man: cute and clever. That's exactly why we adore this bright red number from Decorative Things. "Keep Calm and Carry On" is a wartime slogan which the British government plastered on everything during World War II to keep citizens, well, calm! Since the soothing reminder can easily apply to every day life, the slogan is enjoying a new found popularity -- the New York Times Magazine even wrote about its ubiquity! Get yours right now on the DT site for $25.
This fun little post talks about how the economics of pinball changed as it became more and then less popular.
Tags: economics games pinballIn 1986, Williams High Speed changed the economics of pinball forever. Pinball developers began to see how they could take advantage of programmable software to monitor, incentivize, and ultimately exploit the players. They had two instruments at their disposal: the score required for a free game, and the match probability. All pinball machines offer a replay to a player who beats some specified score. Pre-1986, the replay score was hard wired into the game unless the operator manually re-programmed the software. High Speed changed all that. It was pre-loaded with an algorithm that adjusted the replay score according to the distribution of scores on the specified machine over a specific time interval.
This is the greatest moment in corporate branding since the Pepsi logo was revealed to be the entire universe. [PostSecret]
I'm here at the Web 2.0 Expo in NYC today, my first big tech industry conference in a long time, where I'm also excitedly getting ready for my keynote tomorrow.
But one of the things I'm most proud of is that has something of a valedictory feel to it, as we note that many of the best, most interesting, most subversive and disruptive startups in the world are based here. From Foursquare to Hunch, Kickstarter to Square, Etsy to the newly-funded 20×200 (they're hiring!). That's not counting the dozens of tech-based media businesses that have spring up in the wake of Gawker and Huffington Post. And best of all, I think many of them have been influenced by the seminal NYC Web 2.0 startup, Meetup, which not only helps knit our startup community together, but introduced many of the elements of social responsibility and an old-fashioned We Make Money business model that distinguish New York startups from those in Silicon Valley and elsewhere.
New York City startups are as likely to be focused on the arts and crafts as on the bits and bites, to be influenced by our unparalleled culture as by the latest browser features, and informed by the dynamic interaction of different social groups and classes that's unavoidable in our city, but uncommon in Silicon Valley. Best of all, the support for these efforts can come from investors and supporters that are outside of the groupthink that many West Coast VC firms suffer from. When I lived in San Francisco, it was easy to spend days at a time only interacting with other web geeks; In New York, fortunately, that's impossible.
Am I biased? Sure. But are there half a dozen startups anywhere in the world as interesting and full of potential as these new NYC efforts? Isn't it exciting that these are all build around the full potential of the open web, instead of merely trying to be land grabs within the walled gardens of closed platforms? I'm more optimistic about the environment and opportunity for starting new ventures than I've been in ages, and for me the fundamental reasons why are demonstrated best by startups that could only happen in New York City.
Plus, we have bagels. Delicious bagels.
Prompted by my post about how few non-adapted/sequel/franchise films there are on the list of the top-grossing films of the 2000s (9 out of 50), kottke.org reader Keith took a look at the Best Picture Oscar nominees for the decade and noticed that the percentage of original properties was actually lower (7 out of 45). From his email:
This leaves 7 that are original. Gladiator, Gosford Park, Lost in Translation, Crash, Babel, Little Miss Sunshine, Juno, and Michael Clayton.
You'll note that 7/45 (15.556%) is worse than 9/50 (18%). So it seems that the box office appreciates originality more than the Academy. Take from this what you will. I might suggest that this is a poor way to truly gauge originality, as the top 50 box office grossers of the decade is a pretty high bar (500 million+), and seems to demand some kind of familiarity in order to attract the rapid widespread viewing needed for a big theatrical run. Alternately, it builds into the argument that most creativity is follow-on. I would venture a guess that if we dove deeper, into say, every movie that made at least $100 million in the decade, the ratio of original properties would be a bit more palatable.
Thanks, Keith! Also interesting is a comparison between the top grossing films of the 2000s and those for the 1990s and the 1980s. You don't have to delve too far to see how much has changed. Of the top 15 films in the 1990s, 7 are original properties: Independence Day, The Lion King, Sixth Sense, Armageddon, Home Alone, Ghost, and Twister. For the 1980s, a consensus on the top 10 grossing films is difficult to come by, but using the Wikipedia one yields 5 original properties out of the top 10: ET, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Ghostbusters, Beverly Hills Cop, and Back to the Future (other lists I saw included Top Gun and Rain Man but also Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (adapted)).
Clearly sequels, adaptations, and franchises ruled in the 2000s much more than in the 1990s or 1980s. But if you go back to the 1970s, only 2 or 3 of 10 top-grossing films are original: Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and perhaps The Sting. So maybe the 2000s were a return to old ways for Hollywood?
Tags: movies The 2000s
My third principal refused to take seriously my objection to the yearbook contest electing the female senior with the “best buns.” He argued that “buns” were just body parts, no more suggestive than “best eyes” or “biggest brain.” We wound up shouting at one another in the main office, and I stomped off, realizing I’d lost the argument. (Time took care of the problem, though. The intervening 20 years have eliminated all those sexist contest categories.) via erica_jacobs.typepad.com
I am probably late to the game when it comes to sharing these, but Cheeming Boey’s Sharpie and Coffee Cup art is just great. Who needs fancy art supplies? Here’s how he does it:
And if you seen the cups, but haven’t been to his website to read his cute little journal comics, you are missing out:
Posted by John Martz on Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog | Permalink | No comments
Tags: Cheeming Boey, Comics, journals, Materials, sharpie
Examiner column for November 18.
My “Horace” series paid homage to Theodore Sizer and his insights into the weaknesses of the nineteenth century model we still have in most American high schools. Sizer’s composite teacher “Horace,” mirrored everything I’ve learned in over three decades of classroom teaching.
But I wouldn’t have been spared any frustrations with the system if I’d read the Horace books before my first day on the job. There is no way to fully prepare for the realities of the high school world.
The biggest reality check is the principal. In grade school, I learned the two spellings of “principal” and “principle” by remembering that “the principal is your PAL.” That almost never held true for me in the three schools where I taught.
Of seven principals in 23 years, only one was my “Pal,” or even had my back. The other six ranged from mediocre to criminal. One was fired, and two were bullies. But even the worst of those principals had good points, and we all learned to take advantage of strengths, and tiptoe around weaknesses.
Sometimes, though, I had to take a stand. My third principal refused to take seriously my objection to the yearbook contest electing the female senior with the “best buns.” He argued that “buns” were just body parts, no more suggestive than “best eyes” or “biggest brain.” We wound up shouting at one another in the main office, and I stomped off, realizing I’d lost the argument. (Time took care of the problem, though. The intervening 20 years have eliminated all those sexist contest categories.)
During that time I have locked horns with principals over their lack of support for interdisciplinary courses, over their treatment of other members of the English department, and over the way some have ignored the flagrant incompetence of a few teachers or administrators. But despite those issues, principals have rarely been on my radar screen. They are usually busy with bigger problems, so teachers learn to simply wait out any kerfuffles that come their way. The people teachers need to keep an eye on are their students!
Still, a supportive principal can be an enormous asset to a teacher--we just can’t count on its happening very often. We need to find our own sources of support. Family is a big one. Also, fellow teachers understand school frustrations better than anyone. But the greatest support may be the one least utilized by teachers: parents. I have written several columns on how parental backing was critical in the continuation of my difficult-to-schedule interdisciplinary course at Oakton. Parents know what their children need and like, and are willing to go to great lengths to support efforts to achieve that. And principals are usually more responsive to parental concerns than to teacher lobbying. Parents can be teachers’ best friends.
There is a wide range of competence in administrators, and new teachers can’t anticipate how that will play out in practice. But here’s a consoling thought: I often notice that principals I don’t get along with have a short tenure with the school anyway. In the final analysis, teachers have to continue to do what’s good for their students; that’s always the best defense.
You've probably heard statistics about the "high cost of losing a customer." The theory is simple and true (fact?): keeping existing customers and repeat business is much more profitable than attracting new customers. Here are a few facts from BusinessCoach.com:
- For every customer who bothers to complain, there are 26 others who remain silent.
- The average “wronged” customer will tell 8 to 16 people.
- 91% of unhappy customers will never purchase services from you again.
- It costs about five times as much to attract a new customer as it costs to keep an old one.
- Each one of your customers has a circle of influence of 250 people or potential customers who hear bad things about you!
The point of this post is simple: RETAIN YOUR GOOD DEVELOPERS. Getting someone up to speed on a legacy codebase takes a long time and is an expensive undertaking. A large part of the software coach's or manager's job is attracting, developing and keeping talent. And that talent becomes more valuable over time.
Yes, you might be able to replace someone at a lower annual salary, but you have to take into account the complexity of your code portfolio in how long it'll take to make that person productive. A $60K/annum employee may very well take $120K before reaching the productivity level and contribution of the developer who left the team.
"I've been trying to evangelize the use of machine tags in the Flickr Lego communities, creating new predicates for the lego namespace as I find a need for them. What I have so far..."
I love the Internet. I love lots of things that are on the Internet. I have less love for things that want to undermine the Internet.
Tim O'Reilly, The War for the Web:
If you've followed my thinking about Web 2.0 from the beginning, you know that I believe we are engaged in a long term project to build an internet operating system. In my talks over the years, I've argued that there are two models of operating system, which I have characterized as "One Ring to Rule Them All" and "Small Pieces Loosely Joined," with the latter represented by a routing map of the Internet.
The first is the winner-takes-all world that we saw with Microsoft Windows on the PC, a world that promises simplicity and ease of use, but ends up diminishing user and developer choice as the operating system provider.
The second is an operating system that works like the Internet itself, like the web, and like open source operating systems like Linux: a world that is admittedly less polished, less controlled, but one that is profoundly generative of new innovations because anyone can bring new ideas to the market without having to ask permission of anyone.
I've outlined a few of the ways that big players like Facebook, Apple, and News Corp are potentially breaking the "small pieces loosely joined" model of the Internet. But perhaps most threatening of all are the natural monopolies created by Web 2.0 network effects.
One of the points I've made repeatedly about Web 2.0 is that it is the design of systems that get better the more people use them, and that over time, such systems have a natural tendency towards monopoly.
And so we've grown used to a world with one dominant search engine, one dominant online encyclopedia, one dominant online retailer, one dominant auction site, one dominant online classified site, and we've been readying ourselves for one dominant social network.
Doc Searls, Beyond Social Media:
Missing in action is credit to what goes below private platforms like Twitter, MySpace and Facebook — namely the Net, the Web, and the growing portfolio of standards that comprise the deep infrastructure, the geology, that makes social media (and everything else they support) possible.
Look at four other social things you can do on the Net (along with the standards and protocols that support them): email (SMTP, POP3, IMAP, MIME); blogging (HTTP, XML, RSS, Atom); podcasting (RSS); and instant messaging (IRC, XMPP, SIP/SIMPLE). Unlike private social media platforms, these are NEA: Nobody owns them, Everybody can use them and Anybody can improve them. That’s what makes them infrastructural and generative. (Even in cases where protocols were owned, such as by Dave Winer with RSS, efforts were made to remove ownership as an issue.)
Tweeting today is in many ways like instant messaging was when the only way you could do it was with AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo, Apple and ICQ. All were silos, with little if any interoperabiity. Some still are.
Chris Messina, The Death of the URL:
The rise of the “app store mentality” is a direct attack on the web, and on the very nature of free discovery and choice built upon URL-based hyperlinks. By depriving us the ability to pick and choose which “stores” we shop from on these devices — we’re empowering a new breed of middle men and ceding to them monopoly control over our digital experience. The architecture of the web was intended to withstand such threats — but that all changes when the hardware makers get into the content business! Even though developers are beginning to see the dark side of this faustian bargain, the momentum is huge — and big business smells money.
By removing our ability to navigate, choose, and share freely — these app stores are exchanging our freedom for a promise that they’ll keep us safe, give us everything we need, and do all the choosing of what’s “good enough” for us — all starting at ninety-nine cents a hit.
We cannot say we were not warned. We will not be able to say "nobody saw this coming". It's clear that, even those who are privileged by access and wealth and the ability to amplify their own voices have anticipated that we'll all be disenfranchised by the private companies that own and control our networks of communication. And yet, most of our effort and ambition in the technology industry are not going towards building for the open web. Most communities that are disadvantaged are still trying to win on networks that they don't own and will never control. Most of us are still cheering when the most powerful voices in culture and society embrace closed networks, instead of properly criticizing them for doing so.
I am still optimistic; Apple's control over smartphone usage with the iPhone today is but a sliver compared to AOL's enormous control over Internet access a decade ago, and AOL still eventually crumbled in the face of open standards. But the web's victory over the proprietary networks that have been built on top of it is not inevitable — it's going to take lots of hard work. And right now, it's not just the attention that's disproportionately lavished on proprietary platforms that want to undermine the open web, it's the money too. We'll have to turn those strengths into weaknesses if we're going to undo the trend towards disempowerment and centralization that's going on right now.
This, for me, is a social issue, a cultural issue, and a political issue, not just a technological issue. Perhaps we need to speak of it that way more often, to make the stakes clear.
Examiner column for November 18.
My “Horace” series paid homage to Theodore Sizer and his insights into the weaknesses of the nineteenth century model we still have in most American high schools. Sizer’s composite teacher “Horace,” mirrored everything I’ve learned in over three decades of classroom teaching.
But I wouldn’t have been spared any frustrations with the system if I’d read the Horace books before my first day on the job. There is no way to fully prepare for the realities of the high school world.
The biggest reality check is the principal. In grade school, I learned the two spellings of “principal” and “principle” by remembering that “the principal is your PAL.” That almost never held true for me in the three schools where I taught.
Of seven principals in 23 years, only one was my “Pal,” or even had my back. The other six ranged from mediocre to criminal. One was fired, and two were bullies. But even the worst of those principals had good points, and we all learned to take advantage of strengths, and tiptoe around weaknesses.
Sometimes, though, I had to take a stand. My third principal refused to take seriously my objection to the yearbook contest electing the female senior with the “best buns.” He argued that “buns” were just body parts, no more suggestive than “best eyes” or “biggest brain.” We wound up shouting at one another in the main office, and I stomped off, realizing I’d lost the argument. (Time took care of the problem, though. The intervening 20 years have eliminated all those sexist contest categories.)
During that time I have locked horns with principals over their lack of support for interdisciplinary courses, over their treatment of other members of the English department, and over the way some have ignored the flagrant incompetence of a few teachers or administrators. But despite those issues, principals have rarely been on my radar screen. They are usually busy with bigger problems, so teachers learn to simply wait out any kerfuffles that come their way. The people teachers need to keep an eye on are their students!
Still, a supportive principal can be an enormous asset to a teacher--we just can’t count on its happening very often. We need to find our own sources of support. Family is a big one. Also, fellow teachers understand school frustrations better than anyone. But the greatest support may be the one least utilized by teachers: parents. I have written several columns on how parental backing was critical in the continuation of my difficult-to-schedule interdisciplinary course at Oakton. Parents know what their children need and like, and are willing to go to great lengths to support efforts to achieve that. And principals are usually more responsive to parental concerns than to teacher lobbying. Parents can be teachers’ best friends.
There is a wide range of competence in administrators, and new teachers can’t anticipate how that will play out in practice. But here’s a consoling thought: I often notice that principals I don’t get along with have a short tenure with the school anyway. In the final analysis, teachers have to continue to do what’s good for their students; that’s always the best defense.
via blog.leahculver.com Umm... wow. That's a huge amount of growth in new users signing up via alternative providers! A lot of this growth probably has to do with the log in page itself. TypePad has been continually redesigning their log in page as well as the blog comment form to encourage people to use OpenID and specifically Facebook and Twitter. Whatever the cause, it appears that users are increasingly using alternative authentication to register for TypePad and are choosing Facebook above other services.
My old macbook at work just died and now I'm with the new MacBook Pro 13" with Snow Leopard on it.
I just used TimeMachine backup and the Migration Assistant, and it worked pretty nice (amazingly): here're some migration list.
- Switch perl local::lib to rebuild with perl5.10 binaries
- To do that, i need to install the developer tools. Doing it now...
- SIMBL - upgraded to the Snow Leopard compatible version (DONE)
- TerminalCopyOnSelect - seems incompatible with 10.6.2
- 1password - Upgraded to the 1password 3 beta (DONE)
- Macbook Pro multitouch touchpad: Hard to get used to it but should use a thumb (not forefinger) to click it, or always use tap-to-click :/
- Rebuild Remedie and Github Growler to run on perl 5.10
- Leech - Doesn't work. Seems like a problem with SIMBL
- Keywurl - Doesn't work, but Glims can replace the functionality
- (continues while the migration goes on)
It's official: TMZ will not be coming along for the ride as AOL goes public.
In an AOL filing the company says, "Telepictures will assume responsibility for all of TMZ’s ongoing operations." Telepictures is subsidiary of Time Warner. AOL will provide "online distribution to TMZ for a fee."
See Also:
- TMZ Refused Erin Andrews Peephole Videos, Helped Get Alleged Perv Arrested (TWX)
- The Problem With AOL's Media Strategy (TWX)
- AOL Spinoff Set For December 9 (TWX)
This is good to know. Just got an email from software developer Josh Halickman:
Loving hamburgers and living in New York City means that I end up in line at Shake Shack on a regular basis, as I am sure you do as well. I would regularly be walking home passing Shake Shack by just a few blocks thinking to myself, "I wonder what the line is like," or "What's today's custard flavor?" The problem is that Shake Shack's website is all Flash, and there was no way to check that on my iPhone. What is a lazy, burger-loving software developer to do? Write an iPhone app, of course.
So you can now basically watch yourself in line from the line if you're in Madison Square Park.
Actually, it's pretty handy if you're a Shack fan planning a Shack attack, for all the reasons Halickman gives. The app grabs the Madison Square Park Shack Cam feed, updating the image every six seconds so you can judge whether its worth your while if you're a few blocks away.
On top of that, it lists the menus for the MSP, UWS, and Shea Stadium locations — the handiest menu being the monthly custard menu.
It also pulls in the @shakeshack Twitter feed, which in turn is an account that automatically retweets anything with "@shakeshack" in a user's twit.
Is it earthshattering? No. But it's free and useful to the burgerheads among us. Get it on the web at the iTunes App Store or just use the App Store app on your iPhone to grab it. It's free.
They're on two different subjects, but they're both really awesome. Here's Polwogy responding to a query as to whether the phrase "powerfully connected" is grammatically corrected:
Yes, I think a connection can be powerful. I'd say the electrical connection between generator and appliance is more powerful than a string that follows the same route.
Other than that, you're moving into realms of poetic license and prescriptive versus descriptive grammar, etc. Which, to me, comes down to context and the aim of communication. Take the split infinitive: For generations we've been told that that's an abomination (prescriptive grammar) but if you look at the actual usage in literary works, some great writers have always done it (descriptive grammar). But to me, more important is the impact. "To boldly go" versus "to go boldly" -- the former is far more bold-feeling than the latter. It may (or may not) be incorrect English, but I would argue it is the more correct communication. In any case, if you want to open your SciFi show with an exciting promise of adventure, there's no comparison, right?
When you write a poem (or a New Yorker article) part of the point is the words, to grab your attention and move you out of reading for information into savoring the words and images. In that case, use all the arresting and dislocating words you can -- while still conveying the ideas you want to convey.
On the other hand, when I write a proposal to the National Science Foundation, the last thing I want them to do is stumble over the words, to get them out of the flow of logic, or give them any reason to doubt my competence or communication skills. In that instance, I want the language to be as quite as possible, if you know what I mean.
My philosophy is that the important part is communication -- getting the idea, image or feeling from one person to another. Rules of language are important facilitators to that -- if we didn't have guidelines, nothing would get through. But when handled with care and skill, breaking and/or bending the rules can sometimes be the best way to get your message across, and I think that's far more important than splitting an infinitive occasionally.
And, for those who didn't see, here's Darth Thulhu on Andrew and Sarah Palin:
Sully's mildly OCD about his fixations, but the advantage of OCD is that one becomes very very well-informed about every detail of one's compulsion. One retains the whole timeline, and all the details; and before slotting in new data, that data is relentlessly compared to each piece of existing data.
Palin had the misfortune of being someone Sully could project his Thatcher OCD onto. His first posts about her , when little was known, glowed with hope and optimistic spin that she might be a common sense live-and-let-live fiscal conservative and social liberal. His early love obviously wasn't starburst-related, it was hope that she was Young Alaskan Maggie. Unfortunately for Palin, Sully digs and digs and digs into the things he loves. Her hype was never built on solid foundations, and he checked under the floorboards quickly, and stared into the first of many dank flooded subbasements of horror.
And now he's hooked. What could have been an OCD of love and respect tempered with stark disagreements and challenges (q.v. Obama) is now a Cassandran compulsion to examine what others looking only at the surface don't see, a mad prophet's need to make others listen before it's too late, and an old school journalist's certainty that now they can't accept anything from Palin without getting three pieces of independent confirmation.
Keep it up guys. Rachel Maddow is watching you!
I favorited a YouTube video: A selection of the top 100 quotes from The Wire, the greatest TV show ever made. Contains big spoilers from all 5 seasons! Featuring Omar, Bubbles, Bunk, McNulty, Rawls, Stringer, Avon, Snoop, Marlo, Cheese, Prop Joe, Clay Davis and many many more! I don't own any of the footage presented here, this video was made merely to pay homage to the Wire and David Simon and not for any profit or commercial reasons.
As part of an upcoming TypePad homepage redesign, I wanted to know how many people are using Facebook, Twitter and OpenID to log in to TypePad.
I originally published these findings on the internal company blog in September, but due to the amount of interest in my last blog post about user authentication, I'm republishing them here.
Currently TypePad allows for OpenID log in via a wide variety of services.
To find out which services people are using to log in, I contacted Jonathan March, Six Apart's Data Architect. I found out that while we don't track every log in specifically, we can get a very rough estimate by looking for a URL in a user's ID. Though the data is a bit out of date, I think it is still very useful.Users by Provider (active in the past two months)
OpenID* users by Provider (active in the past two months)
* Technically the two of the largest providers aren't actually using OpenID. Twitter uses OAuth and Facebook has a proprietary system, Facebook Connect. Check out Ben Ward's awesome blog post for more about the user experience of OpenID and OAuth.From this rough data we can see that while a majority of people are using the TypePad log in, a good portion are also using Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Yahoo - in that order.
What about sign up?
The previous graphs are based on data about users who have LOGGED IN in the past few months. What about new users - users who have SIGNED UP recently? Luckily Jonathan thought of this and followed up with data and graphs on the growth of alternative authentication providers. The results are a bit shocking.
User sign ups between 2 and 3 months ago (June 28 to July 28)
User sign ups between 1 and 2 months ago (July 28 to Aug 28)
User sign ups in the past month (Aug 28 to Sept 28)
OpenID user sign ups by provider by week
Umm... wow. That's a huge amount of growth in new users signing up via alternative providers!
A lot of this growth probably has to do with the log in page itself. TypePad has been continually redesigning their log in page as well as the blog comment form to encourage people to use OpenID and specifically Facebook and Twitter. Whatever the cause, it appears that users are increasingly using alternative authentication to register for TypePad and are choosing Facebook above other services.
While this data is very rough, it helped with our upcoming TypePad homepage redesign. As part of the new homepage, we are including a sign up form. The new sign up form is simple - only an email address and password are required. However, there is also a button to "Register with Facebook."
Just one of those moments that makes it all worth it. Gorgeous light streamed through our big, impossible to open, difficult to clean, over designed loft inspired windows bathing the too small apartment in pinks, yellows and oranges. This photo was taken from the roof of our six story apartment building as the last night turned the sky line into silhouettes.
Earlier in the day, RJ took a look at David Wright’s drop in power. Although a number of Mets lost power in 2009 (most likely as a result of the move to Citi Field), Wright saw the biggest decline. In addition, Wright showed little difference between his home and away ISO, suggesting that the drop was not entirely the result of playing at Citi.
Wright’s drop in power intrigued me as well. In addition to this power drop, another striking trend was that his strikeout rate, which had averaged 19% previous to 2009, jumped to 26%. The fact that he still took a healthy number of walks and hit for his absurd .400 BABIP kept his overall performance with the bat quite good (.368), though down for his career average of .391. Here I am going to look at that increase in strikeouts and drop in power on a per-pitch basis with the pitchf/x data.
His increase in strikeouts was driven completely by his performance against RHPs. Below is his strike out rate by pitcher handedness (green is average, red RHP and blue LHP).
I am sure there are many interesting things to examine here. As a first step, I found that his contact rate against RHPs dropped from 82% in 2008 and 2007 (when I have the per-pitch data from pitchf/x) to 79% in 2009. This is one of those seemingly small changes, which magnified over the entire season, has a large effect. Just as I looked at the contact rate by location for Scutaro last week, I do that for Wright here, breaking it up by year.
Previously, Wright had a large sweet spot mid-height and middle-in, where he made contact over 95% of the time. This region has shrunk drastically and moved further down and in. Previously, he made contact with pitches over 87% of the time throughout maybe half of the zone, down and away. Again this zone shifted even further down and away and got smaller. Overall, it seems like he is making poorer contact on pitches in the middle of and away half of the zone, as well as pitches higher in the zone.His power was down against both RHPs and LHPs. Again here there are many ways one could look at this, but one of the more striking patterns I found was how his ISO varied with horizontal pitch location.
Wright’s power peaks middle-in, like most hitters. In 2009, it was down throughout the strike zone, but particularly on pitches in the middle and outside of the plate. Put together, in 2009 Wright lost the most power and contact on pitches from middle-in to the outside edge of the plate.As RJ noted, most likely Wright will rebound next year. The question is how much of this was drop in true talent and how much just flukey bad luck.
The two brands have one last trait in common: They are not really embracing social media, to put it mildly. Apple, as a company, does not engage, and Bloomberg even discourages its employees to engage. Apple and Bloomberg, in some ways, are the antidotes to a marketplace that – propelled by the forces of the Social Web – is becoming increasingly atomized, hyper-distributed, open, and transparent. Secrecy, compliance, top-down hierarchies, rigid communication policies, and walled gardens are characteristics that may be somewhat outdated in this era, and yet they seem to be the very cornerstones of Apple’s and Bloomberg’s success as the two firms thrive as the surprise champions of their respective categories via designmind.frogdesign.com Thank you Sippey.
Chris Appelhans has posted some lovely concept art for Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox. So great!
And if you missed it, check out my interview with Fantastic Mr. Fox storyboard artist Christian De Vita.
Posted by John Martz on Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog | Permalink | No comments
Tags: Animation, Chris Appelhans, concept art, Fantastic Mr. Fox
An unplanned companion to Tim O'Reilly's piece this morning is Tim Leberecht's post at Frog Design design mind blog comparing Apple and Bloomberg as "Old Champions in the New Economy."
Apple and Bloomberg, in some ways, are the antidotes to a marketplace that – propelled by the forces of the Social Web – is becoming increasingly atomized, hyper-distributed, open, and transparent. Secrecy, compliance, top-down hierarchies, rigid communication policies, and walled gardens are characteristics that may be somewhat outdated in this era, and yet they seem to be the very cornerstones of Apple’s and Bloomberg’s success as the two firms thrive as the surprise champions of their respective categories.Worth reading in full, though what's surprisingly missing in the post is a stronger recognition that both companies have built their reputations on nailing the user experience. Back in the mid-nineties when everyone thought Bloomberg was ripe for being picked off by "the web," I remember talking to one trader who basically told me that I could just try to pry his Bloomberg terminal from his cold, dead hands.
Tim O'Reilly previews his keynote for Web 2.0 Expo this week.
It could be that everyone will figure out how to play nicely with each other, and we'll see a continuation of the interoperable web model we've enjoyed for the past two decades. But I'm betting that things are going to get ugly. We're heading into a war for control of the web. And in the end, it's more than that, it's a war against the web as an interoperable platform. Instead, we're facing the prospect of Facebook as the platform, Apple as the platform, Google as the platform, Amazon as the platform, where big companies slug it out until one is king of the hill.Excuse the early Monday morning metaphors in the following, but... I don't think there will be one king of the entire hill. Instead, what we're seeing are attempts to own individual hills: Amazon with commerce, Apple with mobile, Google with search, Facebook with identity. And it's up to the entrepreneurs who are building applications in the valleys between those hills to make the tough choice: do you live off the largesse of the feudal lord on top of the hill, and enjoy the short term benefits of their comfortable development environment / distribution channel / social graph, regardless of the long term impact on your business? Or do you go your own way, and attempt to amass enough strength to take the hill yourself?
We'll take this story with a grain of salt (especially since the author began by proudly noting her role in the Posh/Simon Fuller modeling agency rumor), but The Daily Mail reports that Blake Lively's Victoria Beckham's new muse.
We mean 'muse' the same way we mean 'design' for Brad and Angelina. The female Becks has declared her love for Gossip Girl and landed a cameo, but now she's allegedly angling for Blake to 'model' her next collection.
By model she could mean star in a campaign or in the line's lookbook or even, but hopefully not, on whatever runway or in whatever presentation Victoria shows in February.
Again though, this writer also calls Victoria's dresses her, "eponymous couture," so we'll believe it when we see it.
blakelively - Victoria Beckham - Gossip Girl - Model - Runway
"Pumpkin Cloud" by Wayne Thiebaud.
The November 23 issue of The New Yorker is the special food issue. Here is a peek at some of the articles:
Taste Makers: How do the flavors of Snapple, ice cream, and gum get manufactured? A profile on a real-life Willy Wonka named Michelle Hagen who works at Givaudan in Cincinnati, the largest flavor and fragrance manufacturer in the world.
Lunch with M: A special look into the rating process of the Michelin guide. For the first time in history, the company allowed a journalist to chat with an anonymous inspector at a three-star Michelin-rated restaurant (Jean-Georges in New York City). Only 26 three-star restaurants exist in France, and only 81 in the world.
Funny Food: Calvin Trillin examines poutine, the Canadian mess of French fries, cheese curds, and brown gravy. Here is a special audio clip with Trillin.
More after the jump.
Pilgrim's Progress: Jane Kramer looks back at her various Thanksgivings—ranging from one served by Sufi curers and musicians in Morocco to one celebrated in August in Italy.
Reds: China is now the world's fifth-largest wine consumer. Though the country had a history of diluting wine with soft drinks (red wine and Sprite) they've come a long way in the grape business.
Spit Cake: Baumkuchen, or Germany's "king of cakes," also goes by a less glamorous name: "spit cake." They are cooked on a rotisserie as layers of batter are added, and contain rings, like a tree, when cut down the middle. Mimi Sheraton tastes variations from Munich, Chicago, Japan, and the French village of Blayac.
What's the Recipe? Adam Gopnik on why we use cookbooks.
The high-minded food obsessives in the crowd will be happy to know the New Yorker's annual food issue hits stands and mailboxes today. The main story, and one of the ones fully online, explores the world of an anonymous Michelin inspector. Apparently, it's the first time a journalist has been allowed to speak to a reviewer for a piece, a piece that in typical New Yorker fashion goes on for thousands of words and six online pages. It delves into the recent history of the guide and its expansion to the States and offers some tidbits on the life of the inspectors—they must have degrees in hospitality or cooking, they're underpaid but eat out 200 days a year, they most often eat alone. 200 meals. Alone.
Meanwhile, Adam Gopnik questions the reasoning behind cookbooks and reveals how they've become more geared towards home cooks while growing ever more grandiose; Calvin Trillin calls poutine “an appropriate national dish for a country that prides itself on lumpy multiculturalism”; and Heston Blumenthal tries to make the perfect duck à l’orange. For those with only 34 seconds to spare, cartoonist Jorge Colombo sketching Carnegie Deli with his iPhone.
· Lunch with M [New Yorker]
· What's the Recipe? [New Yorker]
A lot of people -- mainly but by no means exclusively Republicans -- were on the Sunday shows yesterday denouncing the administration's decision to jail and try KSM and four accused 9/11 plotters in New York City. And most of the criticism comes under three distinct but related arguments: 1) civilian trials give the defendants too many rights and protections and thus create too big a risk they'll get acquitted and set free, 2) holding the prisoners and trial in New York City puts the city's civilian population at unnecessary risk of new terror attacks, and 3) holding public, civilian trials will give the defendants an opportunity to mock the victims, have a platform to issue propaganda or gain public sympathy.
The first two arguments strike me as understandable but basically wrong on the facts. The third I find difficult in some ways even to understand and seems grounded in bad political values or even ideological cowardice.
Let's start with the idea that civilian trials have too many safeguards and create too big a risk these guys will go free. This does not hold up to any scrutiny for two reasons. First, remember all those high-profile terror prosecutions where the defendants went free? Right, me neither. It just does not happen. The fact is that federal judges are extremely deferential to the government in terror prosecutions. And national security law already gives the government the ability to do lots of things the government would never be allowed to do in a conventional civilian trial. (People who really think this is an issue seem to base their understanding of federal criminal procedure on watching too many Dirty Harry movies, which, as it happens, I'm actually a big fan of. But remember, they're movies.) KSM is not going to be able to depose or cross-examine CIA Director Leon Panetta or President Bush or Vice President Cheney or anyone else.
The possibility that a judge would suppress evidence obtained through torture is a real one. But Eric Holder made clear he and his prosecutors believe they have more than enough untainted evidence to obtain convictions. So that should not be an issue.
Finally, even in the extremely unlikely case that any of the five were acquitted of these charges, the government has a hundred other things it can charge them with. Indeed, the government could as easily turn them over to military commissions or indefinite detention post-acquittal as it can do those things with them now. That may not make civil libertarians happy. But it is the nail in the coffin of any suggestions that these guys are going to be walking out of the federal courthouse in lower Manhattan saying they're headed to Disneyland. It's simply not going to happen.
(The best argument against what I've argued here is probably the case of El Sayyid Nosair, the murderer of Jewish extremist leader Meir Kahane, who received a partial acquittal when he was tried in 1991. Here I would say that the case came prior to modern counter-terrorism law in the United States, which I'd date to the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993. And the Nosair example actually proves my larger point since a subsequent terrorism conspiracy trial got Nosair a life without parole plus fifteen year sentence, which he is now serving at the SuperMax facility in Florence, Colorado.)
We can imagine a different set of facts, where all the most damning evidence was obtained through torture, and acquittal seemed at all a reasonable possibility. In that case there might be a real question as to whether it was worth taking the risk when military commissions which have been used in the past are available. But this 'risk' simply doesn't appear to exist so you do not even need to get to the constitutional or deeper rule-of-law questions.
Next we have the question of danger to the people of New York City. As I said in my first post on this question, just on the facts I don't think al Qaeda terrorists are holding off on attacking New York now because they lack or incentive or feel we haven't pushed things far enough yet to merit another hit. The symbolic value of hitting New York might increase a bit. But it's already so high for these people that the increase seems notional at best. And more to the point, I choose to trust the people already charged with keeping the city safe.
On a more general level, however, since when is it something we advertise or say proudly that we're going to change our behavior because we fear terrorists will attack us if we don't? To be unPC about it, isn't there some residual national machismo that keeps us from cowering even before trivially increased dangers? As much as I think the added dangers are basically nil, I'm surprised that people can stand up as say we should change what we do in response to some minuscule added danger and not be embarrassed.
And finally we come to the fear of what KSM and the others will say. I don't see what factual dispute there is here. And at some level I don't even understand the argument. Logically I understand it; I understand what they're saying. But it's so contrary to my values and assumptions that at some level I don't get it. I cannot imagine anything KSM or his confederates would say that would diminish America or damage us in any way. Are we really so worried that what we represent is so questionable or our identity so brittle? (Some will say, yes: torture. The fact that some of these men were tortured is a huge stain on the country. But it happened and it's known about. To the extent that it is a stain it is the kind of stain that is diminished not made worse by an open public accounting.) Does anyone think that Nuremberg trials or the trial of Adolph Eichmann in Jerusalem in 1961 or the war crimes trials of Slobodan Milosevic and others at the Hague advanced these mens' causes? Or that, in retrospect, it would have been wiser to hold these trials in secret?
At the end of the day, what are we afraid these men are going to say?
What we seem to be forgetting here is that trials are not simply for judging guilt and meting out punishment. We hold trials in public not only because we want a check on the government's behavior but because a key part of the exercise is a public accounting and condemnation of wrongs. Especially in great trials for the worst crimes they are public displays pitting one set of values against another. And I'm troubled by anyone who thinks that this is a confrontation in which we would come out the worse.
Last week, the Cincinnati Enquirer asked Reds GM Walt Jocketty if he would trade 1B Joey Votto, and he said, “Oh God, no.”
Nevertheless, in a post to the Bleacher Report, Nick Adamo explains why, “Omar Minaya better make an attempt to bring Votto to the Mets.”
Votto, 26, who hit .322 with 25 HR last
season, will earn the league minimum salary next season, he is eligible for arbitration the following three seasons, and cannot be a free agent until 2013.
Meanwhile, Kevin, the Pessimistic Mets Fan, makes the case for acquiring Carl Crawford.
The Mets need pitching, according to the Real Dirty, and Andrew on Hot Foot believes the Mets could use Chien-Ming Wang.
Inversely, the Mets Citi Blog lists six free agents the Mets should avoid signing, such as Benjie Molina and Nick Johnson.
Lastly, Brian Costa of the Star Ledger asks four Mets bloggers to weigh in on the state of the team.
It's great that Google has contests awarding money and computers to schoolchildren. Less great: It gives the victor in India 1/20th of what an American kid gets for winning the same contest.
Puru Pratap's design to spruce up the Google logo for a day (see below) beat out designs from other Indian contestants. It ran on the home page Saturday and Pratap got a laptop for himself and the equivalent of $2,100 for his school. His counterpart in America, meanwhile, will take home a laptop, $15,000 for herself and $25,000 for her school. Granted, a dollar goes further in India than in the U.S. But $2,100 vs $40,000 is a huge divide.
Asked Shalini Singh at the Indian website TechGoss: "Are we children of a lesser Google?" Maybe. Or perhaps Google is trying to deliver India's kids a lesson in the harsh realities of globalization.
(Pic by Anil Jadhav)
The Reds have entered the offseason looking to trim payroll according to multiple sources. The Reds have multiple contracts which could offer immediate relief if unloaded, specifically those of Bronson Arroyo (24M guaranteed through 2011), Aaron Harang (27.25M guaranteed through 2011) and Francisco Cordero (36M through 2012).
In order to unload these contracts, the Reds will probably have to include somebody who is more likely to provide surplus value to a club. Joey Votto fits that bill perfectly, as a pre-arb all-star caliber player. Unfortunately for the rest of the league, when asked if Votto could be included in a trade this offseason, Reds GM Walt Jocketty replied “Oh God, no!”
And for good reason. In Votto, the Reds have a threat with the bat and a stopper with the glove. Votto improved on his stellar rookie season of 2008 by 45 points of wOBA, positing an incredible .418 mark. His UZR fell below average, but he has a career UZR/150 of +4 runs. The Fan’s Scouting Report also rated Votto as a slightly above average overall fielder. Overall, in roughly two years of MLB service, Votto has put up 8.2 wins. A 4-win season basically defines all-star, and that’s exactly what Votto has done in his short career.
A .418 wOBA again might be too much to expect of the young Votto. His BABIP in 2009 was an unsustainable .373, even higher than his 2008 mark of .330. Votto does have a well above average LD rate, which dropped to a still excellent 21.7% in 2009, making his 2009 BABIP seem even odder. Still, a BB% increase from 10.3% to 13.0% is a great sign for the Reds, and at the least, Votto seems capable of maintaining a wOBA between his .373 mark of 2008 and his 2009 mark of .418.
Even at the bottom ends of his production, a .373 wOBA and merely average fielding, Votto is roughly a 3 win player. Votto will enter his age 27 season in 2010, and the Reds will hold him through his age 30 season in 2013. The Reds will be paying only about 500K for his services in 2010, and his OBP-heavy hitting skillset is likely to be undervalued in arbitration. He likely will not receive the awards that Ryan Howard (10M, 15M, 19M) received, nor what Prince Fielder (7.5M, 11.5M including signing bonus first two years) received in arbitration. With Votto producing as he has through his career, he is one of the best assets in the MLB. Jocketty’s response was right on the money.
[Photograph: Sarah Shatz]
Each week Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs host recipe contests revolving around specific foods (everything from pancakes to lamb) on their site Food52. After testing the recipes, they announce the two tastiest finalists and the community votes on the winner. Naturally, they've been focusing on Thanksgiving lately. Elbow-deep in stuffing preparation, they paused to chat with us and share some of their favorite recipes for Thanksgiving sides, including celeriac puree, glazed brussels sprouts with browned butter and cream, potato leek au gratin, and pink greens.
With Food52 in its first year, how did you two plan to attack Thanksgiving coverage? Merrill and Amanda: Well, we decided very quickly not to do turkey. It's such a personal thing. Instead we wanted to focus the two weekly challenges on sides. We recently did one on just brussels sprouts—they've experienced such a renaissance in restaurants over the last few years—and we're wrapping up the cranberry sauce and stuffing categories now.
Do you actually mean stuffing? Or what's technically known as dressing? Merrill: My family always made "dressing" (cooked outside of the bird) but still called it stuffing. We were pretty loosey goosey as far as naming goes. Amanda: Same. I'm a dressing person but growing up, we always called it stuffing. Though I'm open to the idea of referring to it as dressing.
After all this recipe testing, where will you be spending your actual Thanksgiving this year? Merrill: At my family's house in Maine. We ordered a heritage turkey and there will definitely be some football-watching after. Amanda: We're going to a friends' house just two blocks away. I've actually never hosted Thanksgiving myself. I just bring whatever the host asks me to.
How do you know what to bring as a guest? Amanda: There's this pumpkin chiffon mousse with gingersnap crust recipe from a Gourmet issue in 2001 that I love. It has a super intense pumpkin flavor, but with the lightness of mousse. It takes about twenty bowls to make but if that's all you have to bring, it's the perfect punctuation to the end of the meal. I haven't gotten my assignment yet for this year but if I get dessert, I'll definitely be making this again.
What's the favorite dish at the Stubbs household? Merrill: My mom always makes this great dish with cipollini onions, raisins, and pine nuts, where you cook it down until the onions become all soft. She doesn't have a technical name for it, just Tuscan Onion Goo, but I'd like to call it something more official like Tuscan Onion Confit.
Thanksgiving traditions? Amanda: As a food writer, I've always done something different each year. In 2000, I did a piece for the New York Times on American Thanksgiving traditions. I flew out to Huntington Beach, California, to celebrate with a Vietnamese family (where they had spring rolls to start and persimmons after the meal) and to the South where we had sweet potato pie. In some ways, Food52 reminds me of that experience since we're testing recipes from so many different regional home cooks.
What were some of your favorite Thanksgiving recipes in recent Food52 challenges?
- Autumn Celeriac (Celery Root) Puree
- Glazed Brussels Sprouts with Browned Butter and Cream
- Potato Leek au Gratin
- Pink Greens
Now, one of the best parts about Thanksgiving. Leftovers. What are your favorite morning-after concoctions? Merrill: For sure the leftovers sandwich with turkey, cranberry, and stuffing. Preferably on a big white country loaf, or whatever's lying around. Amanda: One member of the Food52 community, Melissa V., recommended a fried egg on top of stuffing. I tried it and it's great. The idea of frying an egg and throwing it on stuffing could never be bad.
The Hindenburg is an accurate portrayal of the 2009 Mets. Injuries, more injuries, and even more injuries lead to a disastrous campaign from the Metropolitans despite the opening of a new stadium in what was supposed to be a ceremonious christening like the other New York team witnessed. Amongst the questions the Mets will attempt to answer during the off-season includes David Wright’s 2009 and where he stands for 2010.
Wright’s power went on sabbath in 2009. His ISO dropped from .225 from 2006-8 to .140 last year in spite of an inflated average on balls in play. Wright popped at least 25 home runs in each of his first four full seasons, but managed only 10 last season, and failed to reach 40 doubles for the first time in a full season either – although he did hit 39. The Mets new park gives the appearance of a pitcher’s haven which raises the question: was a lack of power only on Wright or was this a widespread occurrence?
To attempt and answer this question I took every member of the 2008-9 Mets who had at least 250 plate appearances in both seasons and compared their ISO. Unfortunately this only resulted in five samples; Wright, Carlos Beltran, Fernando Tatis, Luis Castillo, and Ryan Church. Below you will see the results, but anecdotally I feel obligated to mention that Church saw 144 plate appearances with the Braves and had his ISO rise closer to expected levels.
Each player involved saw their ISO drop by nearly 20 points and that’s even with Castillo’s inclusion. In theory, Castillo’s slap-hitting approach should be unaffected in large part by the ballpark’s steeper dimensions, but here that doesn’t seem to be the case. One season’s worth of data from five individuals isn’t enough for me to say one way or the other about the legitimacy of Wright’s blackout, but here’s another dataset to consider with each of their home/road ISO:
Even smaller sample sizes and also a mixed bag. Barring any Earth-shattering revelations or limb amputations, I would expect Wright to hit for more power in 2010. Mostly because it seems unlikely he would see his ability to hit for power decay in such an abrupt fashion.
When you catch your first glimpse of 100 Eleventh Avenue, a new apartment tower in Chelsea designed by the French architect Jean Nouvel, its curving façade, an abstract arrangement of windows slanting in multiple directions, looks like a gimmick. The building clatters; it jangles like a bracelet. Beside . . .
In stop motion animation, Wes Anderson has found the perfect medium for telling his special brand of precise yet fanciful tales. I won't go so far as to say that it's his best film -- Rushmore will be difficult to dislodge from its perch -- but there are some pretty special moments in Fantastic Mr. Fox.
While the film deviates from Roald Dahl's book quite a bit -- only the middle third is straight from the book -- the story holds true to the sense of playful mischieviousness evident in Dahl's books for children. (I especially liked the drugged blueberry bit that Anderson purloined from Danny, the Champion of the World, my favorite Dahl story.) I can't say for sure whether or not the movie is good for kids, but the two nine-year-old boys sitting next to me in the theater loved it...although they also loved the Tooth Fairy and the Alvin and the Chimpmunks: the Squeakquel trailers, so YMMV.
Hotbox!
Rating: 4.5/5.0 Tags: fantasticmrfox movies Roald Dahl Wes Anderson
London call girl blogger Belle de Jour has outed herself and, surprise, she's a hot nerd.
Her name is Dr Brooke Magnanti. Her specialist areas are developmental neurotoxicology and cancer epidemiology. She has a PhD in informatics, epidemiology and forensic science and is now working at the Bristol Initiative for Research of Child Health. She is part of a team researching the effects of exposure to the pesticide chlorpyrifos on foetuses and infants.
(via waxy)
Tags: sex weblogs
via suicideblonde.tumblr.com
via cardjunk.blogspot.com "If you were planning to read each chapter of Jim Bouton's Ball Four on the corresponding day in the book starting at the point where he signed his contract with the Seattle Pilots, today is the day to start reading."
The reasoning in ‘Outliers,’ which consists of cherry-picked anecdotes, post-hoc sophistry and false dichotomies, had me gnawing on my Kindle. Fortunately for ‘What the Dog Saw,’ the essay format is a better showcase for Gladwell’s talents, because the constraints of length and editors yield a higher ratio of fact to fancy. Readers have much to learn from Gladwell the journalist and essayist. But when it comes to Gladwell the social scientist, they should watch out for those igon values. Steven Pinkers take down of Gladwell had me gnawing on my Sunday Times (not really, and if I was, it would have been in a good way). Lest you think the Grey Lady is picking on Gladwell, here is what Clancy Martin says about Paul Auster's recent works: I was not a fan of Auster’s last few books. “Invisible” is his 15th novel, and I was afraid that this would be, as I felt with his recent work, another instance of Auster playing Auster — a kind of arch exercise in the clever but cloying metaphysics of textual irony, a cat-and-mouse toying with the fiction and the reader reminiscent of German Romanticism and falling victim to what both Hegel and Kierkegaard called “infinite absolute negativity” (this attack on the German Romantics was one of the few times those two were ever in agreement). One leaves the text and feels that one has been left with nothing. The irony vacuums out the content and, with it, our interest. Like the ouroboros, the ancient symbol of a dragon swallowing its own tail, the book consumes itself, and disappears. Invisible, however, is hailed as "the finest novel Paul Auster has ever written."
If you were planning to read each chapter of Jim Bouton's Ball Four on the corresponding day in the book starting at the point where he signed his contract with the Seattle Pilots, today is the day to start reading.
If you don't have a copy of the book it should be available at your local bookstore, provided the shop is not run by godless communist terrorists who hate America and gleefully kick puppies with malice aforethought. If your book merchant is in fact unpatriotic (or simply sold out of copies due to the incredible demand) you'll just have to order it online and try to catch up.
That is all.
Why Google Dropped $750 Million On AdMob
- AOL's Decade Of Layoffs
- Apple's Soaring Pile Of Cash
- Apple's Market Cap Closes In On Microsoft
- Video Game Industry Not So Recession Proof After All
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