Nice Hat, Stupid.

This is a Segway crash test Anything that has the pictures of...

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 13:29:24 -0400

This is a Segway crash test

Anything that has the pictures of Dubya falling off the segway is all right in my book.

Via Der Spiegel and Engadget

"canada doesn’t have the internet duh -tispe"

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 14:17:12 -0400

“canada doesn’t have the internet duh
-tispe”

- The quote of the day. Via TwitLive Chat

Barack Obama | Obama Road Blog: Remarks of Senator Obama in...

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:35:11 -0400

Barack Obama | Obama Road Blog: Remarks of Senator Obama in Berlin, Germany

Amen, Brother.

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:30:26 -0400

I don’t know Merlin Mann, but I know exactly what he means. I don’t have a Flip camera (yet), but Amy and I routinely take video of Indra with our still camera. It is a remarkable thing to capture the defining moments of life.

I decided to repost this because it’s too good not to share. If you are on tumblr and you know me and don’t know Merlin, WTF is wrong with you? :)

merlin:

Ellie in the Park

A few years ago, my Mom gave me a snapshot of her and my Dad that I’d never seen. It looks like it was about 1971 or so — well before Dad got sick — and they’re in somebody’s kitchen. I’m not sure whose. Dad’s sitting at the kitchen table, smoking a Winston and drinking a very bright red can of Coke. My Mom is standing next to him, leaning on him, laughing, and hugging his neck. She’s wearing yellow shorts and a small, metal-banded wristwatch, and she looks deliriously happy.

It’s just a snapshot, and I’m so happy I have it.

I’m starting to wonder if you have to have a kid to fully understand the appeal of the Flip. I don’t really think that’s the case, but being a new-ish parent really highlights why this dumb little piece-of-shit video camera is such a game-changer.

Say what you will about the (numerous) technical limitations of the Flip, but, in terms of catching the small, trivial stuff that ends up comprising the connective tissue of memories, it’s the real deal. 90% of the gold I get with the Flip would never have seemed “important enough” to shoot with my $1k HD camera — plus who carries a softball-sized video camera everywhere they go?

This thing paid for itself the day I turned it on and shot one evening of Eleanor’s bath-to-bedtime ritual, but I still never stop marveling at the little moments I end up capturing while just horsing around.

I don’t really think you have to be a parent to get the Flip, but watching your kid change and grow even over the space of the cumulative one hour of shooting in the camera’s memory tells an important story: all that stupid little stuff that’s not worth pulling “the good camera” out for is what it’s all about. That’s the stuff you’ll pray you had captured more of when you had the chance. I can already feel it, looking back at that bath and thinking, “Wow, I wish I’d shot hours of this.”

Every can of Coke, every funny hat — every minute where I might accidentally catch my little family being deliriously happy — man, that’s the stuff.

"There is a worldwide secular religion which we may call environmentalism, holding that we are..."

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 21:57:50 -0400

“There is a worldwide secular religion which we may call environmentalism, holding that we are stewards of the earth, that despoiling the planet with waste products of our luxurious living is a sin, and that the path of righteousness is to live as frugally as possible. The ethics of environmentalism are being taught to children in kindergartens, schools, and colleges all over the world. Environmentalism has replaced socialism as the leading secular religion. And the ethics of environmentalism are fundamentally sound. Scientists and economists can agree with Buddhist monks and Christian activists that ruthless destruction of natural habitats is evil and careful preservation of birds and butterflies is good. The worldwide community of environmentalists—most of whom are not scientists—holds the moral high ground, and is guiding human societies toward a hopeful future. Environmentalism, as a religion of hope and respect for nature, is here to stay. This is a religion that we can all share, whether or not we believe that global warming is harmful.”

- Freeman Dyson, on the new global religion:

via Kevin Kelly — The Technium

On Google's Web, the User is #1, Google is #0

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 20:26:04 -0400

I felt this was too good not to share:

remiel:

A partnership with Adobe will make Flash objects search-indexable, but only by Google and Yahoo.

By participating in this exclusive program, Google implicitly sanctions an anti-user reality. This runs counter to their motto “Don’t Be Evil,” as well as the spirit of their stance on Net Neutrality. The Net Neutrality issue is typically framed as an indictment of broadband providers, but let’s be real, here: search has become nearly as fundamental to the internet experience as packet exchange. Google’s Net Neutrality page describes it as “the principle that Internet users should be in control of what content they view and what applications they use on the Internet.”

Sure, we’re all “free” to use other engines that can’t index SWF files. And if the federal highway system creates special lanes exclusively reserved for Ford cars, we’re all still “free” to buy Hondas. Granted, Adobe is a private company, not a government, and Google has its competitive edge to think about. But given their company motto and proclaimed stance on user rights, their participation here is hypocritical.

It’s possible that this is only temporary. Adobe probably wants to do whatever it can to make Flash organic to the web, and compete as effectively as possible with Microsoft’s new XML-happy and search-indexable SilverLight. I expect they’ll want to open up their new player to any and all search providers that could use it.

So maybe this is temporary. And maybe Google already knows it. If so, they should tell us! I want to think so, and I still generally like and support Google. But so far, Google seems perfectly happy to milk the exclusivity. A post to Google’s official blog essentially just says “our clever engineers have come up with a way to work with Adobe’s new Flash Player standard”:

Google has been developing a new algorithm for indexing textual content in Flash files of all kinds, from Flash menus, buttons and banners, to self-contained Flash websites. Recently, we’ve improved the performance of this Flash indexing algorithm by integrating Adobe’s Flash Player technology.

They link to Adobe’s press release, which announced:

Adobe is providing optimized Adobe Flash Player technology to Google and Yahoo! to enhance search engine indexing of the Flash file format (SWF) and uncover information that is currently undiscoverable by search engines.

(via Daring Fireball)

John Gruber pointed out: “It’s completely closed and opaque. Adobe is only providing the magic recipe to Google and Yahoo; all other search engines remain locked out.”

There’s another statement later in the press release that almost-but-not-quite suggests indexing will be rolled out to other search engines down the road:

We are initially working with Google and Yahoo! to significantly improve search of this rich content on the Web, and we intend to broaden the availability of this capability to benefit all content publishers, developers and end users.

The word “initially” is all we get. Parsing the rest of the statement carefully, there is, at best, only a non-committal implication that other search engines will be able to take advantage later. Google has the leverage here to tell Adobe that it will only participate if Flash files are ultimately indexable by any entity. If this is intended to be a long term or permanently exclusive arrangement, then Google should speak up, and refuse to participate.

Google’s stance on Net Neutrality is good for users. It’s also very good for Google. If broadband providers become content controllers, they could oust Google search from the user experience. So while Google’s position there is laudable, it is not brave or surprising.

That’s why this issue of Flash indexing is telling. If Google’s financial motives are truly balanced against its purported philosophy, then this situation tests the mettle of their integrity. If their engineers are so clever, then the company shouldn’t fear the ensuing competition following Adobe’s concession to allow other companies access.

Maybe it’s naive to think a multi-billion dollar company is capable of that kind of paradoxical behavior, and maybe Google really isn’t different at all.

If not, and the situation remains true for long (or permanently), then in addition to Google’s search result censorship in Germany and France, cooperation with China’s Great Firewall, and concessions to the demands of the Church of Scientology, we can add this latest development to an emerging practical doctrine at Google, that goes “What’s best for the user is what’s best for the web… but what’s best for Google trumps everything else.”

Update following comments:
Thanks for the feedback.

1. I’m not anti-Google, or anti-capitalist, or anything else along those lines. Nor am I arguing that Adobe or Yahoo shouldn’t be asked these questions. I’m pointing out that Google has pulled off the unusual trick of being a multi-billion dollar company that is still perceived by the masses as amazingly pro-consumer / pro-user.

This development is a good reference point example of why this consumer notion is likely flawed. I’m not surprised to learn that people who pay attention to this sort of thing aren’t buying Google’s public stance. But you are not the majority.

2. It’s fair to say that indexable SWF is of limited value, for the moment. Currently, one cannot link “past” the initial state of a Flash object and get straight to the indexed content. But this will change, and with Adobe providing exclusive access to only two search providers, it’s worth raising a red flag here and simply asking “What kind of access? For how long?”

3. This could definitely lead to gross overuse of Flash web design, as SEO firms and web developers start taking a different stance on recommended best practices. This could be destructive (possibly also amusing) if the wrong content (“Loading. Please wait”) gets indexed and summarized.

T-5 mins Modest Mouse

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 19:58:07 -0400

T-5 mins Modest Mouse

Kent Arnsbarger: Steel Drum Artist

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 15:47:15 -0400

Kent Arnsbarger: Steel Drum Artist

This is a high quality speech. If you have had any stake in this...

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 21:11:25 -0400

This is a high quality speech. If you have had any stake in this primary season for either party this year, you should take the time to watch this.

More love to MacBreak Weekly. Same love to Experimental Jetset.

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 21:46:10 -0400

More love to MacBreak Weekly. Same love to Experimental Jetset.

My way of showing love to the You Look Nice Today. Many, Many...

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 21:43:11 -0400

My way of showing love to the You Look Nice Today. Many, Many apologies and much, much love to Experimental Jetset.

Why I will always love Disney World

Sat, 31 May 2008 23:02:17 -0400

My wife, Amy, and I took an impromptu trip to Walt Disney World a few weekends ago in our first trip away that took us both away from our daughter, Indra, over night. We live less than three hours by car and my in-laws were very gracious to watch Indy for us. We have also had less than 10 days off together since she was born. That was one of the sacrifices we made.

This trip was surgical strike on the Magic Kingdom: Get in, ride all the “Mountains”, eat lunch, Get out. Our first stop is always Space Mountain. We both love Space Mountain a great deal. Mostly because it’s such a great ride. It is an older style roller coaster, meaning it’s about going fast and taking tight corners while flinging you up and down enough to make your body think for a split second that your gonna die. (I mention this in contrast to the newer skyscraper style roller coaster that manages to convince your body that your gonna die.) It also takes place in near total darkness, like space. Hence the name.

This was the first time we had been there in several years and the last time we went we took a pop-culture addicted Australian with us. That was a great trip, but it’s the kind of thing that makes you keep your head down and get stuff done. This time, I got to view Disney through the eyes of someone who understands and appreciates the value of design and visual communication.

Holy Mother of Crap. It really is incredible what you see when you sit back and just look at it. I grant you that most people are too busy trying to keep track their kids or just trying to make sure they ride all the rides to notice typeface choices on one of the snack bars.

It is perfect. It is exactly what it needs to be and it is nothing else. It’s not the pinnacle of human achievement, not that type of perfection. It simply is. The part that struck me the most is the modernism of Tomorrowland. A lot of it has been dismissed by fancy splashiness on the newer attractions, but it’s still there. It calls to us to reach for the future we were promised, the future we know we still deserve. The idealism of believing we can be better, for no other reason than to simply be better. There is nostalgia in such idealism, for certain, but that does not mean it is in the past. That hope means a great deal to me. I know I’m not the only one.

Radiohead concert

Mon, 05 May 2008 22:02:46 -0400

Radiohead concert

The most maligned utensil...

Thu, 01 May 2008 13:25:05 -0400

A spork is a hybrid form of cutlery taking the form of a spoon-like shallow scoop with the addition of the tines of a fork (usually three or four). Spork-like utensils have been manufactured since at least the late 1800s; patents for spork-like designs date back to at least 1874 and the word “spork” was registered as a trademark both in the U.S. and the UK decades later.

Similar utensils include the knork, the spife, the splayd, and forkchops.

I think forkchops is my new favorite word.

Turtle

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:26:00 -0400

In computer and video games the term turtle, named after the turtle animal, has different meanings depending on the genre but all relate to a completely defensive strategy. The word “turtle” can be a noun (some one who adopts a defensive strategy) or a verb (e.g. “he turtled for half the game”). Sometimes the objective is simply to avoid defeat, and sometimes it is to research and build advanced combat units so that the turtler can launch a devastating attack later.[1]

It seemed to good not to follow up the last article with this one. It should be noted for the record that I particularly enjoy the gerund form of the verb turtle. Mostly because “Turtleing” sounds like it should be criminal.

The nice people at EB let me into their web publisher program to...

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:20:14 -0400

The nice people at EB let me into their web publisher program to allow me free access to their voluminous knowledge. I think this is pretty sweet. Don’t get me wrong, I love Wikipedia. Somethings feel like Brittanica topics and others feel like Wikipedia topics.

Barack Obama in Raleigh, NC (via presentationzen ) Man, is this...

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 20:51:00 -0400

Barack Obama in Raleigh, NC (via presentationzen ) Man, is this guy good.

Typefaces & Spotlight

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 22:20:00 -0400

Apparently, If you type the name of a font into Spotlight. It gives you all the documents that use the specified font. Helvetica is the default font for Pages. So needless to say when I went looking for the movie on my system, I got everything I have ever written in Pages. Interesting.

Times New Roman reveals all my story notes from the 20th century. Interesting times, indeed.

The above image is a typeface sample for the IBM Selectric...

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 22:23:22 -0400

The above image is a typeface sample for the IBM Selectric II. The Oriental, while a touch …dated…, has the greatest @ ever. Seriously, That is economy of design.

via www.typography.com

This is Merlin Mann’s pitch at SXSW for the “Worst...

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 09:12:07 -0400

This is Merlin Mann’s pitch at SXSW for the “Worst Website Ever” panel hosted by Andy Baio. It is a genuinely great example of the Web 2.0 mad libs that get thrown around wildly. Very enjoyable.

This is also my first experience with viddler.com. The ability to tag inside of videos is pretty great.