November 2011
1 post
Dear Bank of America
If you’re reading this, you probably already know that I’m gone. Please don’t be upset. I had to do what was best for me. For both of us. The truth is, things probably would have gotten a lot worse if I had stayed, and I don’t think either of us would have wanted that. This isn’t easy for me. I mean, when we began our relationship, I was in high school. Things were good for such a long time. You...
August 2011
1 post
A controlled vocabulary for pictures may already...
2.09 Humans depicted engaging in activities (xkcd.com)
One of the struggles of researching visual art online is that there is no controlled vocabulary to describe pictures. While it’s easy to do a Google Image Search on “stars,” it’s somewhat more difficult to get a computer to “see” the difference between five-pointed stars and four-pointed stars. Efforts to...
May 2011
1 post
The U.S. Postal Service Nears Collapse -... →
This week I posted on my blog about the government’s obligation to fund public libraries/public access computers. If the postal system collapses, we’ll need ‘em.
February 2011
3 posts
Introducing The Microsoft Puppet →
parislemon:
Totally agree with this take by Matt Drance. No one seems to be talking about this (though I alluded to it in a title last night), but it sure looks like what Microsoft just did was install a puppet government within Nokia.
Step 1: Install Elop.
Step 2: Get him to make a crazy bold bet to move Nokia phones over to the struggling Windows Phone platform even though embracing Android...
December 2010
9 posts
Short story podcast: Philip Pullman reads 'The... →
Phillip Pullman reads one of his favorite short stories, a tale of beauty by Anton Chekov. A traveler sees two young girls on two separate journeys. Though the girls could not be more different, both express the essence of natural beauty.
Part Concept, Part Click: Making Your Browser A... →
NPR brings us a story about the mystery of art. Collectors pay thousands of dollars to “own” one of Rafaël Rozendaal’s clickable creations. Is a web site the same as a painting? Even if it’s Jello Time?
November 2010
17 posts
Singel-Minded: How Facebook Could Beat Google to... →
…it’s a virtual certainty that Facebook-targeted ads are going to start showing up in your hometown’s newspaper, your favorite online music site and hundreds of other sites you visit. And unlike the targeted third-party ad systems run by Microsoft, Google and others, there’s no need to track you around the net to try to infer from your reading and video viewing habits how old you are,...
The Things He Carried - Magazine - The Atlantic →
Blogger Jefferey Goldberg discusses the weaknesses of the TSA’s screening system.
The five most important beats for a local... →
Journo Robert Niles shares his concept for a “dream” local newspaper or blog. The five beats he considers most important: food, education, work, business and faith. Left aside are politics, sports and entertainment.
Which beats would you like to see your local paper or blog cover?
“A well-known scientist (some say it was Bertrand Russell) once gave a public...”
– Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time (1988)
Digital Media — Concepts and Production » Blog... →
I made this “radio show” last year as part of a digital media class. Click to revisit “Radio Revisited.”
5 tags
Gaming Sherlock Holmes
In their 21st century reboot of Sherlock Holmes, the BBC updates a lot of things. John Watson becomes a blogger suffering from PTSD; Sherlock Holmes becomes a slightly autistic genius obsessed with text messaging and technical games; the fog and the gaslights are gone, replaced by New Scotland Yard and crime-scene tape. But one of the most interesting changes (to me) was a small one: ...
Cambridge Brain Sciences →
Help improve intelligence testing by taking this test from Cambridge Brain Sciences.
WatchTommi being quizzical | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
“Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood.”
– Daniel Burnham, Director of Works, Chicago World’s Fair, 1893
“Logic can convince, but only emotion can motivate.”
– Jonathan Alter
October 2010
1 post
September 2010
3 posts
“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen all at once.”
– Albert Einstein
Lost World's Fairs →
With WOFF, fonts are finally coming into their own. Explore new fonts and new worlds on this website, which showcases three brilliant world’s fairs that never happened.
June 2010
4 posts
3 tags
css Zen Garden: The Beauty in CSS Design →
This web site is a must for anyone learning HTML and CSS. Some brilliant examples of well-styled web pages by some very talented designers.
“It will be OK. People are resilient. So are veggies.”
– My mom, the gardener, on the oil spill. P.S. Organic garlic is ready: http://www.cowlickcottagefarm.com/products-page/
Scholars Compile Academic Book From Twitter and... →
Two academics put out an online call for material. In one week, they had a book’s worth.
Hacking the Academy, an edited volume about academe in the digital age, was compiled from blog posts and Twitter messages posted during a single week. The project was organized by Dan Cohen and Tom Scheinfeldt, of George Mason University’s Center for History and New Media, as an experiment...
18 Must Have WordPress Plugins for Your Blog →
Aside from the pre-installed Hello Dolly plugin that comes with your WordPress blog, there are thousands of other super useful add-ons that can boost the power and presence of your blog. Because your blog is the central feed to your social media efforts using these plugins will definitey help kick start it into gear. So, if your blog needs a little pick-me-up consider adding some of these...
May 2010
39 posts
1 tag
The Future of Web Fonts →
The type industry has been understandably cautious with putting their fonts on the web. A family of fonts can take years to develop, and having those files sitting on open web servers was a tough step for the foundries to accept. In addition, every foundry had its own set of terms and conditions for how licensed fonts could and couldn’t be used. So much of the innovation at Typekit has been to...
foodconsumer.org - Differences by Sex in Tobacco... →
Ah, the smell of fresh statistics in the morning.
“Books are not men and yet they stay alive.”
– Steven Vincent Benet
“The most authentic thing about us is our capacity to create, to overcome, to...”
– Ben Okri
From the Plain Tree Blog: Closing the Book on... →
Let’s spell it out: according to Zuckerberg’s own op-ed, Facebook is trying to make “a better world” through sharing. They believe that if people are sharing some things, they should be sharing everything. With everyone. This isn’t some side project for Zuckerberg, or Facebook. It’s their mission statement. And in service of that mission statement they are changing the privacy settings...
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Link: HBO Taps YouTube, iPad and Facebook to... →
Is the iPad a “solution without a problem”? Not anymore. The device is already changing media, advocacy and public relations. From the article:
In addition to being available on YouTube, (RED) will release a free iPad app tomorrow in conjunction with the film. The app will contain the full-length film, as well as additional information about how antiretroviral drugs work and ...