The Guts of a New Machine
The Guts of a New Machine. NY Times article on the iPod
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Entries for November 2003
Everything and More
DFW is a favorite of mine, but I was disappointed in Everything and More. Perhaps I wasn’t part of the intended audience, but with an interest in all things Wallace, a college degree in physics, a general interest in mathematics, and avid reader of popular science books, if not me, then for whom was this book written?
Mostly I was bothered by Wallace’s signature writing style, which usually challenges the reader in delightful ways. In E&M, he ratcheted his style up to such a degree that it became as obfuscating as the math he was trying to explain. Not that he should have used only words of four letters or less, but a greater degree of clarity and simplicity would have been appreciated to let the parodoxical beauty and the beautiful paradox of transfinite math show (which Jim Holt did more successfully than Wallace in his New Yorker review of the book).
How to smell like a laundromat
Among the featured designs at the National Design Triennial was the Demeter Fragrance Library. The company, run by Christophers Brosius and Gable, puts out perfumes, lotions, soaps, candles, and body gels with scents like Creme Brulee, Wet Garden, Funeral Home, Dirt, and Sugar Cookie. According to this article in Happi, the New Zealand fragrance was developed for the Lord of the Rings movie and Demeter’s odd scents might have other uses:
Tomato, for example, was found to be an odor absorber. Some of the edible fragrances are said to help curb cravings. And though the company has yet to perform psychological tests, researchers said the Dirt fragrance made Alzheimer patients more lucid.
Perhaps I should tag along with Meg the next time she goes to Sephora. (Never thought I’d find myself saying that…)
Larry Lessig’s new book, Free Culture, is
Larry Lessig’s new book, Free Culture, is out in March but available for pre-order on Amazon.
Subject of Linklater documentary proposes herd of
Subject of Linklater documentary proposes herd of roaming buffalo for WTC memorial.
Great review of the extended version of The Two Towers
Great review of the extended version of The Two Towers.
Two photo bloggers take nearly identical photos
Two photo bloggers take nearly identical photos of a rolled-up American flag located who-knows-where.. And isn’t it ironic…
MP3s of people making guitar noises with their voices
MP3s of people making guitar noises with their voices.
Elf
Elf would have absolutely sucked without Will Ferrell. Which is to say that it was a bad movie except that Will Ferrell is so delightful and funny as a 6’4” man acting like a wide-eyed child/elf that you can’t help but laugh a lot. I’ve fully embraced the idea of Ferrell as comedic genius, convinced that he can — if he’s careful not to do anymore movies directed by Jon Favreau — avoid the fates of Adam Sandler (who only ever plays one character: the angry YELLING adolescent who grows up at the end of the film without losing any of his charming child-like qualities), Eddie Murphy, Chevy Chase, and many other former SNL cast members and mature into doing movies more on par with Bill Murray. Ferrell seems to me to have the potential to be more than just a comedian starring in his own vehicles (which Elf clearly was).
However, I fear that a more likely possibility will find America in theatres in winter 2005 watching Ferrell in Elf 2: They Drove a Dumptruck Full of Money Up to My House…
Beating the (Dow) Joneses
From an article by Paul Graham on Beating the Averages comes this gem:
If you do everything the way the average startup does it, you should expect average performance. The problem here is, average performance means that you’ll go out of business. The survival rate for startups is way less than fifty percent. So if you’re running a startup, you had better be doing something odd. If not, you’re in trouble.
I’ve worked for many clients and companies who did nothing so well as obsess over what their competitors were doing and how best to do exactly the same. At the same time, there was always a belief that these same competitors were stupid, lazy, slow, wrongheaded, and whatever else they could think to make themselves feel superior in comparision. This contradictory behavior has always been explained to me as careful analysis of the competition with an eye toward borrowing the best and discarding the rest. But it seems to me to be a strategy based on fear and won’t get you very far, relatively speaking. (via eb)
Man reads each NY Times front-to-back and
Man reads each NY Times front-to-back and is almost 1.5 years behind schedule.
Help Google translate its site into non-English languages
Help Google translate its site into non-English languages.
From his comfy chair in Minnesota, Lileks
From his comfy chair in Minnesota, Lileks calls the Iraqis a bunch of wusses for not overthrowing Saddam themselves. Not that Salam’s “thanks for the freedom, now clean up the mess” sentiments were any better
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
If only Peter Jackson could have found a way to make the LOTR book trilogy into four 2h45m movies instead of three. I just finished watching the Two Towers extended version and, as with the first movie, the extra 43 minutes of footage adds significantly to the plot and pacing of the film. This is how the film should have been shown in the theatre, but at 3h45m long, many wouldn’t sit through it or even buy the tickets in the first place. Perhaps a way could have been found to split the entire tale into four parts so that the valuable extended footage could have been shown. The only problem is with three books and four movies…what do you call the fourth movie?
According to Leonard, kottke.org reboots the Treo 600
According to Leonard, kottke.org reboots the Treo 600.
Kooky story about total strangers sharing music
Kooky story about total strangers sharing music by jacking into each other’s iPods. I wonder if the RIAA thinks this is illegal?
Implementing mouse gestures on the web with JavaScript
Implementing mouse gestures on the web with JavaScript.
Last chance to sponsor Meg in the Race to Deliver
Last chance to sponsor Meg in the Race to Deliver.
The Making of a Chef
As competitive and crazy as he makes the CIA (Culinary Institute of America) sound, I was surprised that, even though he didn’t attend a full slate of classes or do an externship like all of his classmates, Ruhlman was not only able to keep up with everyone, but seemed to excel at times. And somehow, he was able to take notes about what he was doing and conversations he had with instructors and classmates.
Breaking up in the digital age
Breaking up in the digital age. “we both stared at the one Xbox that jealously guarded both our saved games”
Perversion Tracker: documenting useless Mac software
Perversion Tracker: documenting useless Mac software.
Martina Navratilova still playing tennis?
Martina Navratilova still playing tennis?. Yes, and kicking ass, apparently.
The Toyota Prius, a hybrid vehicle, is
The Toyota Prius, a hybrid vehicle, is named Motor Trend’s Car of the Year.
Allison Burnett’s account of being hassled by
Allison Burnett’s account of being hassled by review spammers on Amazon.
How to cook tater tot hotdish
Hotdish is a delicacy enjoyed by the inhabitants of the upper midwestern United States. For those of you who haven’t spent a lot of time in the flyover states, hotdish is a dish typically baked in one pan and contains a meat, a starch, and a vegetable with optional cheese or onion crisps. It’s what the rest of the US would call a casserole. Hotdish is the food of my people.
The Cadillac of hotdishes is tater tot hotdish, and here’s how you go about making it.
Step 1: Panic.
You may want to skip this step. I did, and it worked out fine.
Step 2: Learn how to peel an onion.
I did not know this going in. Valuable minutes were wasted as tears welled up in my eyes from the onion essence.
Step 3: Collect ingredients and supplies
These should include:
1.5 pounds beef, ground
1 onion, chopped
2 cans of Campbell’s cream soup (mushroom, celery, chicken, pick two)
1 soup can-worth of milk
1 can french cut green beans
1 package tater tots
1 pound cheddar cheese, grated
1 9”x13” baking pan
You can find all of these items at your local grocery store and/or in your kitchen cupboard. This task is immensely easier in rural Wisconsin than in, say, Greenwich Village; they practically sell all these items together in a blister-packed kit back home while locating the french cut green beans at D’Agostino’s was a bit touch and go.
Step 4: Assemble the hotdish
Chop the onions. Grate the cheese. In a largish pot, brown the ground beef and onions. Into the pot goes the soups, the milk, and the green beans. Stir and cook until warmish/hot. Cover the bottom of the 9x13 baking pan with the tater tots, pour the hamburger/soup mixture over them, and cover liberally with the grated cheese. Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes. Serve.
Family Guy returning to Fox with new episodes?
Family Guy returning to Fox with new episodes?. Reason is strong DVD sales
Barney’s is selling the old school Mattel
Barney’s is selling the old school Mattel football and baseball handhelds.
Photos of the 2003 Rock Paper Scissors International Championships
Photos of the 2003 Rock Paper Scissors International Championships.
Finalists for the World Trade Center Memorial Competition
Finalists for the World Trade Center Memorial Competition.
Googlehouse, a house built from images culled
Googlehouse, a house built from images culled from the Google image search.
Just in case you were wondering, your
Just in case you were wondering, your PayPal account is *not* going to expire in 5 days.
40 greatest US bands still performing
40 greatest US bands still performing. If this list is accurate at all, the US music scene is pretty sad
Create mini banners (with Silkscreen, if you’d
Create mini banners (with Silkscreen, if you’d like) using this wee web app.
The redesign continues…
The incremental redesign of kottke.org continues today with a bit of tinkering with what is possible with the weblog format. If you scroll down the front page of the site, you’ll notice that sprinkled in with the regular posts are remaindered links (the 1-line, 1-link posts that have formerly lived in the sidebar), movie “reviews”, book “reviews”, and excerpts from comments I’ve made on other sites. Five types of content, one list.
Each post type requires a unique “vocabulary” and a design/layout to go with that vocabulary. For instance, a movie post includes a title, a link, a rating, a photo, and some text and looks like this:
By default, most current weblog software, including the package I use, doesn’t allow for different data for different post types displayed with different designs in the same list. Typically what people have done with their disparate data is to display them on separate pages or in separate locations on their site…so you need to visit the book page to see if there are any new book reviews or scroll down to check if they’ve added a new album to their “now playing” section.
To me, that seems not so optimal. A post is a post is a post. The newest content should appear at the top of the list of posts regardless of whether it’s a short movie review, one-line link, latest photo, or any other type of update to your site that doesn’t fit the typical title/text/category weblog paradigm and each type of content should displayed appropriately. And then if you want to view the complete list of movies, books, or all the remaindered links, you can.
So that’s what I’ve done here. Sort of. What I’ve actually done is created 5 separate weblogs with MT and, using a bunch of MT plugins (MTSQL, Compare, MTAmazon, ExtraFields, etc.), have aggregated the 5 weblogs on the front page of the site. Which sounds complicated (and is!). But only in implementation (due to the limitations of the software). Really it’s just the appropriate data presented with the appropriate design(s) in the appropriate context(s). One site, lots of content, many ways to view it.
Anyway, it’s a start and we’ll see if it works or not. I have concerns about displaying so many different types of posts in one list (especially with the minimal amount of information)…people are used to all the posts looking more or less the same. I’ve dealt with that somewhat by visually separating the posts to a greater degree than I have been. But who knows, maybe having a separate display for the remaindered links in the sidebar is a better way to go. We’ll see.
Constructive feedback is welcome, as are bug reports, design critiques, etc.
Update: looks like the movie pages are a little funky on Mozilla, but not consistantly so.
Use the Squeezebox to wirelessly stream mp3
Use the Squeezebox to wirelessly stream mp3s from your PC to your stereo system.
Ride the LOTR-themed Middle Earth Shuttle today in NYC
Ride the LOTR-themed Middle Earth Shuttle today in NYC.
An extensive alternate and future history, from
An extensive alternate and future history, from Oliver Cromwell to 1,000,045 A.D..
Account of the 2003 World Rubik’s Game Championships
Account of the 2003 World Rubik’s Game Championships.
Feeling bad about downloading music? Send your
Feeling bad about downloading music? Send your mp3s back to the RIAA..
foodie
Joe DeSalazar is an account exec at a NYC advertising agency, but all he really wants to do is cook. Keenly interested in food but frustrated by a lack of focus on food & drink at wine tastings and the expense of tasting menus at fine restaurants, Joe created a bimonthly event called foodie. foodie is Joe & 3-4 chefs cooking, 6 courses of food paired with 6 courses of wine, and around 50 people eating, drinking, chatting, and generally having a good time.
The latest installment of foodie was held last night near Washington Square Park. The inspiration for the meal was Joe’s recent trip to Italy. The menu featured dishes with parmigiano reggiano, bologna (you know, from Bologna), balsamic vinaigrette, and basil. The most ambitious item of the night was the timpani, a dish inspired by Joe’s favorite food movie, Big Night. The chef came around with the timpani before he cut it up…it was huge, about the size of library-scale Webster’s Dictionary. My favorite dish was the tortellini with pork in a chicken broth.
If you’d like more information about foodie, you can email joe at foodieny [at] hotmail.com (web site coming soon, I’ve heard). Gothamist wrote about the previous foodie in September.
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