towform

A Wiki-less, Google-less World

2012-01-17T23:46:00.000-08:00

Wikipedia, other websites go dark in anti-piracy bill protest

Selfish, Productive, Honest, Sign Me Up

2011-07-30T08:49:00.000-07:00

http://nullisnull.blogspot.com/2011/07/how-to-work-with-me.html

In March 2005, a photocopy was handed to me in preparation for work with one of the top wigs. It enumerated the rules necessary to avoid conflict and ensure efficient communication between me and someone who doesn't have time for bullshit.

I love this in list in theory.

The successful execution of said list would indicate a true master. The unsuccessful execution would indicate a narcissist, egomaniac or idiot. Though an idiot probably couldn't put the list together in the first place.

The Job We Never Had at Google

2011-04-12T19:09:00.000-07:00

A Google a Day:

http://agoogleaday.com/

I don't like Google's solution to today's April 12 question. But it's really just due to the ambiguity of the question itself.

My standard for top performance search answering:

- single set of search terms
- answer comes up on 1st page search results
- answer can clearly be read from the search preview, without clicking through to a website

I'd only rate myself a B on this question. It took two sets of search terms for me to find the answer. Better than Google's 3 though.

Semi-Annual and/or Sporadic Thoughts on Daylight Savings

2011-03-13T10:23:00.001-07:00

My favorite holiday!

This is the first daylight savings since I bought a new atomic clock for the kitchen. I wanted to stay up and watch it set itself, but forgot and went to bed 15 minutes before it should have happened :(
When our office manager sent out a "spring forward" reminder on Friday, I was tempted to hit reply all and give one of my classic "standard time" rants. But I didn't...
Someecards.com seems to be an appropriate outlet for that sort of thing:

My Eyes! My Eyes!

2010-12-05T00:20:00.000-08:00

Unbelievable and fascinating in a train wreck sort of way:

A Bully Finds a Pulpit on the Web

Quick Summation Quote:

“Hello, My name is Stanley with DecorMyEyes.com,” the post began. “I just wanted to let you guys know that the more replies you people post, the more business and the more hits and sales I get. My goal is NEGATIVE advertisement.”

A Little Deeper:

Lady buys glasses online. Wants to return them. Merchant says no. Customer says they'll dispute the charge. Merchant says:

“Listen, bitch,” he fumed, according to Ms. Rodriguez. “I know your address. I’m one bridge over” — a reference, it turned out, to the company’s office in Brooklyn. Then, she said, he threatened to find her and commit an act of sexual violence too graphic to describe in a newspaper.

It's all a stunt for a better Google ranking. And it worked!

(Or, at least it used to work.)

The full article is a heck of a read.

Doomsday

2010-11-22T21:53:00.000-08:00

Learned this from a question in yesterday's edition of QRANK (an iPhone/Facebook trivia game BoRyan and I have been playing), and it totally blew me away. I can't believe I've never heard of this before!

The Doomsday Rule is a formula that let's you calculate the day of the week of any date in past or future history based on a (relatively) easy math formula plus some simple memorization.

We already know from experience that St. Patrick's Day and Cinco de Mayo always fall on the same weekday. This uses the same general concept.

In a nutshell:

1. Doomsday
By coincidence of the calendar, 4/4, 6/6, 8/8, 10/10 and 12/12 are always on the exact same day of the week each year. This is called "Doomsday." (And to get a touch fancier, the July 4th and Halloween also always fall on doomsday, as do the palindromic pairs of 7/11 & 11/7 and 9/5 & 5/9). If you know the day of the week the doomsday is for a given year, you can use that as an easy reference points to compare to other days.

2. Anchor Days
Every century has an "anchor day" to use as a starting point. The anchor for the 1900s is Wednesday and for the 2000s is Tuesday. For all practical uses that's all you have to memorize, though history buffs and time travelers may want to learn a few more.

Once you know the anchor, this formula will give you doomsday for a given year:

Last 2 digits of year + last 2 digits divided by 4 (you can discard the remainder) = # of days to add to the anchor.

So if we take November 5, 1955 as an example:

Anchor for the 1900s is Wednesday

55 + 55/4 = 55 + 13 = 68 days after Wednesday.

68/7 is 9 with a remainder of 5 (or to user fancier math: 68 mod 7 = 5)

So Doomsday is 5 days after Wednesday, aka Monday.

11/7 is a doomsday, so 11/5 is two days earlier on Saturday.

Pretty cool, eh?

Even better: The inventor is guy named John Conway.

Wikipedia - Doomsday Rule

Some Daylight Card

2010-11-13T17:06:00.001-08:00

A little belated, but...

Gmail is Like Cilantro

2010-09-29T21:58:00.000-07:00

This one's for BoRyan:

Google's Wiltse Carpenter compared the frustration with threaded Gmail to the backlash over cilantro. "And just as an outspoken minority has banded together in unison to declare their distaste of one of nature's most delicious herbs, some of you have been very vocal about your dislike of conversation threading," he wrote in a blog post.

(via cnet)

How Google’s Algorithm Rules the Web

2010-09-11T12:18:00.000-07:00

A little old, but fascinating:

How Google’s Algorithm Rules the Web

The Wilderness Downtown

2010-09-03T17:13:00.000-07:00

Please go to the following URL using Google Chrome:

http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com/

(And don't skip the address part, even if it says it doesn't have enough info.)

Directions in the Modern Age

2010-08-28T13:41:00.000-07:00

(via xkcd)

Google Wave: Cancelled, and it's Your Fault

2010-08-12T16:31:00.000-07:00

Snarky, pissed off tutorial about the soon-to-be ex-product follows. Stick around for the punchline.

Surfing

2010-07-25T21:47:00.000-07:00

1. Found this crazy article (crazy in how it takes itself so seriously):

Boycott Bill Murray for a Better America

2. Based on the website the above article was from, I had a hunch that led to another search. My hunch proved false, but indirectly allowed me to naturally discover a Googlewhack without even trying!

3. And linked from the page the Googlewhack uncovered is yet another awesome (albeit old) headline, especially given the context/content:

When Cracked Objects Collide

What Would Happen If The Earth Stopped Spinning?

2010-07-08T08:40:00.000-07:00

If The Earth Stood Still

Santa Monica would turn into Hesperia or worse.

Lost Cat Poster

2010-07-03T11:50:00.000-07:00

Hilarious tale of a lady with a lost cat asking her designer friend to help make a poster for her.

Missing Missy

(via FYLost)

Namesake

2010-06-26T09:40:00.000-07:00

Lebedev’s pyramid

http://www.artlebedev.com/mandership/153/

Dogs and Apples

2010-06-18T15:22:00.000-07:00

http://cameron.io/apples-buttons/

Excerpt:

There’s an odd sentiment among nerds that Steve Jobs (and the fine people at Apple) hate buttons. I have a different theory: they absolutely love buttons.

Would you say to someone, 'Wow, you must hate dogs. You only have one. You enjoy his company and playing with him, but seriously, only one? What do you have against dogs?'.

Perhaps a towform design checkpoint should be asking the question, "How would Arlo feel if he had xx more dogs sleeping in his favorite spot?"

Shameless Skin

2010-06-13T09:50:00.000-07:00

For low budget, this was pretty cool in 1080p.

http://laughingsquid.com/the-ghost-inside-by-broken-bells/

And the girl doesn't make things any worse...

Five things Old Media Still Don't Get About the Web

2010-06-10T18:26:00.000-07:00

Love this. I am absolutely gobsmacked how people like Rupert Murdoch, who really should know better, think that everyone will start paying for internet news on Fox. Everything he knows about the world tells him he is correct. This means he doesn't get out much.

Here's an excerpt from "Five Things Old Media Still Don't Get About the Web." Read the full article here.

"Earlier this week, the New York Times company forced the iPad Pulse News Reader app to be pulled from the App Store. The reason? It took the Times’ RSS feed and put it inside its own app.

To be clear, the RSS feed in question was a headline, a one-sentence introduction and a link to the full story on the NYT site. That’s it. Worse? Steve Jobs highlighted the app earlier during his WWDC keynote – and the NYT itself wrote a glowing review of the app just a few days before.

As mystifying as the move seems from the outside, it’s yet another sign that established old media entities are still really struggling to understand the web. Time and time again, it feels as if old media companies, rather than embracing the massive potential of the web, seem to shoot themselves in the foot.

So consider this a public service. For all those people out there working in established media, here are five things you still don’t seem to get about the web"

Creativity and Generosity in the Internet Age

2010-06-10T12:01:00.000-07:00

"Clay Shirky's second book, The Cognitive Surplus, picks up where his stellar debut, Here Comes Everybody left off: explaining how the net's lowered costs for group activity allow us to be creative and even generous in ways that we never anticipated and haven't yet fully taken account of.

Shirky's hypothesis is that a lot of the 20th century stuff we used to take for granted -- most people didn't want to create media, people didn't value homemade and amateur productions, no one would pitch in to create something for others to enjoy unless they were being paid -- weren't immutable laws of nature, but accidents of history. The Internet has undone those accidents, by making it possible for more people to make and do cool stuff, especially together."

Towform, of course, an example of the scope of this insight. :) More, here.

Flash

2010-06-01T23:06:00.000-07:00

(Visiting The Oatmeal for the first time in awhile always has me getting caught up and following the occasional real world links he includes. I wasn't going to do two posts in one day, but this is the funniest thing I've read in forever -- and it's from 2003!)

Uproar over Anti-Flash Intro Survey Results

Quote from Macromedia employee (pre-Adobe buyout) on website Flash intros:

"When we have clients who are thinking about Flash splash pages, we tell them to go to their local supermarket and bring a mime with them. Have the mime stand in front of the supermarket, and, as each customer tries to enter, do a little show that lasts two minutes, welcoming them to the supermarket and trying to explain the bread is on aisle six and milk is on sale today.

"Then stand back and count how many people watch the mime, how many people get past the mime as quickly as possible, and how many people punch the mime out.

"That should give you a good idea as to how well their splash page will be received. That's the crux of it."

Email

2010-06-01T22:56:00.000-07:00

I think Yahoo and Hotmail should be swapped, but otherwise spot on. Plus it has a great coincidental iNetNow inside joke...

What Your Email Address Says About Your Computer Skills

(via The Oatmeal)

Evil and Marketing, Friends or Foes

2010-05-31T11:09:00.001-07:00

Writing from a coffee shop in Santa Monica, as I wait a few days for the movers to bring our stuff.

A fellow in our business sent this article out.

I got a kick out of the examples, as they definitely illustrate the challenges in marketing, making money and being transparent with your users.

http://searchengineland.com/evil-conversion-when-optimization-goes-too-far-42838

(bonus: the site itself disclosed informative information on why I received the popup overlay when I first visited the site)

So, what are your thoughts on what is evil and what is not in the world of online e-commerce?

Teleportation

2010-05-21T00:10:00.000-07:00

Well, this is exciting.

Sorry I've been away for so long.

How to Be Weird

2010-03-14T12:25:00.000-07:00

Very cool article on creative minds:

How To Be Weird (And Why)

Be weird. Do obscure things, seek occluded knowledge, try odd experiments in strange ways. No-one ever became interesting by travelling well-trodden paths. People redefine boundaries by testing them, poking holes in them and wandering around in the void just beyond the edge.

While you do this, though, people will call you weird, or crazy. This is probably an excellent indication that you are on the right path.

Small By Choice

2010-02-14T17:29:00.000-08:00

Some great quotes in this article about a small Chicago pizzeria that does it their own way. (via SvN)

Small by Choice, Whether Clients Like It or Not

"That is the American way — to expand without really thinking."

"The customer really isn’t always right."

"I think that perception of arrogance has to do with the sense of entitlement and a lack of respect for someone wanting to do their job. We’re just trying to do the job the best we can. We’re trying to provide a quality experience for everyone who comes in. In the food service business, it’s assumed that the customers have a set of God-given birthrights when they come into an establishment. It’s like they’ve been wronged in a lot of parts of their lives, and this is their chance to even the score."

"From my experience being a designer, once you know in your gut what you’re doing is really good, you just have to go with it. You can’t hold back because there’s going to be one person saying, “I don’t like that purple or that pink.” People are going to be people."

DST, XKCD Style

2009-12-24T14:16:00.000-08:00

(via xkcd)

Let's Have A Meeting!

2009-12-08T21:27:00.000-08:00

(via SvN)

Let Them Sing It For You

2009-11-15T22:56:00.000-08:00

Just when you think you've seen every cool thing there is on the Internet, something like this comes along...

Let Them Sing It For You

(via All Songs Considered)

$500 for Audio Bliss

2009-10-25T20:31:00.000-07:00

Vacuous humor.

http://www.amazon.com/Denon-AKDL1-Dedicated-Link-Cable/dp/B000I1X6PM/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Read a couple customer reviews. I wonder if any of them are from actual purchasers?

(via Gizmodo)

How To Use Wave In a Life or Death Situation

2009-10-16T07:48:00.000-07:00

(from Gizmodo)

If you appreciated this, then head on over to your Wave account and respond to Gary! Otherwise, I'll have to pull out Ezekiel on you.

The Other Internet

2009-09-26T19:15:00.000-07:00

Cool little short story:

The Other Internet

(via Novelr)

New Web Publishing Experiments

2009-09-22T22:11:00.000-07:00

Traditional publishing model with some interesting twists (targeting a literary crowd) - began in 1998.

Interesting site and design:

http://store.mcsweeneys.net/

New iphone subscription ($5.99 for 6 months):

http://iphone.mcsweeneys.net/

mini-subscription to a variety of McSweeney's content
access to the free stuff that the website posts every day
every week you get a "Small Chair" update. These will be articles from the print versions of McSweeney's or The Believer or a short video from Wolphin. This weekly content is not available on the website, just in the various hard-copy versions of their publications.

I like the blend of traditional paper-bound content, print subscriptions, free online content and newer tech mobile delivery. The key will be if they can find the right balance of price points.

(and for those who like design - here's the Danish designer - http://www.russellquinn.com/)

The 3 Most Important Things You Need for a Startup (and one of them is not money)

2009-09-21T19:04:00.000-07:00

Having lived in the Bay Area for over a year, I've been exposed to more people who have been part of startups (mostly failed).

This article nicely summarized a Meebo founder's take on making it past early startup phase:

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/09/20/from-nothing-to-something-how-to-get-there/

a great startup team (< 4 people)
just get your product out the door
get a good mentor

While I haven't taken the plunge on an early startup, I can say that some part of me resonated with:

"No office. No phone system. No hiring. No press. No legal muck. No raising money. No looking for partnerships (who’s going to partner with you anyway?). The success or failure of the adoption of your product is what will create 99% of the initial value of your company. If no one ever uses your product, you have no value"

MIT students photograph near space for $150

2009-09-14T07:49:00.000-07:00

A group of M.I.T. students used a weather balloon, a digital camera, a pre-paid cell phone, a beer cooler and a couple of hand warmers to capture photographs of the blackness of space and the curvature of the Earth.

Techcrunch Follows My Lead

2009-09-11T19:14:00.000-07:00

On Sep 11, 2009, at 6:36 AM, BoRyan wrote:

Yeah Ok, So Facebook Punk’d Us

This reminded me of the magic sword. It's good to know that even big tech companies still have a personalized sense of humor (and PR folks hold some sway with the tech geeks).

Triumphant Return

2009-07-10T22:14:00.000-07:00

I've been away...

Jeeves Has Retired
"Jeeves, after years of loyal service is taking the opportunity to hang up his butler suit and take retirement."

...but now I'm back:

Why I'm Back
"I popped out three years ago to travel the world in a quest for knowledge and I've returned to Blighty armed with answers."

(with apologies to the Jesus and Mary Chain & Mazzy Star)

Sometimes Always - The Jesus &...

Funemployment

2009-06-03T22:39:00.000-07:00

Had to come out of Towform hibernation for this:

For the 'funemployed,' unemployment is welcome

These jobless folks, usually singles in their 20s and 30s, find that life without work agrees with them. Instead of punching the clock, they're hitting the beach.

DST - 56 Ways

2009-03-08T12:15:00.000-07:00

Rather than recount my annual rant, this year I thought I'd present a list of other DSTs.

I suppose this could also be titled "Acronym Overkill"

DST Daylight Saving Time
DST Destination
DST Destination Host
DST Direction De La Surveillance Du Territoire (French MI-5)
DST Department of Science & Technology
DST Dedicated Service Tools
DST Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc
DST Dexamethasone Suppression Test
DST Drill Stem Test (Oil Field)
DST Decision Support Tools
DST Doença Sexualmente Transmissível
DST Digital Signature Trust (Zion Bankcorporation)
DST Discrete Sine Transform
DST Double-Shell Tank
DST Drive Self Test
DST Dynamical Systems Theory
DST Directorate of Science and Technology (US CIA)
DST Data Storage Technology
DST Decision Support Template
DST Deep Space Transponder
DST Dynamic Stress Test
DST Digital Signature Trust Company (Salt Lake City, UT)
DST Dynamic Solvency Testing (actuarial/insurance)
DST Deployment Support Team (US Army)
DST District Support Teams (Army Corps of Engineers)
DST Data Storage and Transfer
DST Doctor of Sacred Theology
DST Deputy Sheriff Trainee
DST Data Support Team
DST Double Set Trigger (target rifle feature)
DST Direct Support Team
DST Defense Suppression Threat
DST Data Systems Test
DST Diode Split Transformer
DST Device Signal Tag
DST Data Systems Technician
DST Dynamic Screen Transparency
DST Daughters of Saint Thomas
DST Dedicated System Time
DST Downsized Tester
DST Disaster Services Technology (American Red Cross)
DST Daily Slot Tournament (seen in casino ads and signs)
DST Digital Serial Transceiver
DST Dependent Student Travel
DST Defense & Space Talks
DST Denford Small Tools
DST Dirty South Thugs
DST Dissemination Services Team
DST Doggie Style Tattoo (tattoo on the small of the back)
DST Designated Surface Target
DST Digital Switch Terminal (Alcatel)
DST Digital Serving Test Center (AT&T)
DST Discarding Sabot with Trace
DST Division Summary Tool
DST Define Substrate Technology (assessment of the potability of drinking water)
DST Dominion Soil Thunder Bay (Canadian engineering firm)

(via The Free Dictionary)

Airplane Food

2009-01-31T18:34:00.000-08:00

You haven't read a customer complaint letter until you've read this...

Virgin Atlantic's 'Culinary Journey of Hell'

I’ll try and explain how this felt. Imagine being a twelve year old boy Richard. Now imagine it’s Christmas morning and you’re sat their with your final present to open. It’s a big one, and you know what it is. It’s that Goodmans stereo you picked out the catalogue and wrote to Santa about.

Only you open the present and it’s not in there. It’s your hamster Richard. It’s your hamster in the box and it’s not breathing. That’s how I felt when I peeled back the foil and saw this.

Post Office Reform

2009-01-28T17:01:00.000-08:00

I've often said I'd never complain about spam email again if I could guarantee that I'd never receive another piece of paper junk mail. Last night I took that one step further and started debating with my wife why the US Post Office continues to exist today.

It seems to primarily deliver junk mail. "Direct mail" has a typical response rate of 1-2%, and 5% or above is both phenomenal and unheard of. This means that 95% of all "direct mail" requires employees to sort it plus trucks (and fuel) to cart it around so it can immediately be thrown in the trash upon receipt. And that makes sense how?

Did a little research and found some cool articles and studies on post office privatization and the challenges in getting such a project going. This quote about summed up my perspective:

Don't Bail Out The Mail

"And they certainly won't address the Postal Service's underlying problem, which is that only grandparents, banks and junk-mailers actually send letters anymore. If U.S. autoworkers are hard-pressed to compete, it's a thousand times worse for mailmen, who sell the epistolary equivalent of an overpriced horse-and-buggy."

I haven't fully thought this out, but wouldn't it make more sense to outlaw junk mail, sell off USPS assets to UPS or FedEx, and use the money saved to subsidize Internet access (with low cost computers as needed) for all Americans so they can have access to email and online bill pay, eliminating the majority of day to day practical mail service needs?

More: Postal Chief Warns of Service Cuts

Fools Rush In

2009-01-27T13:03:00.000-08:00

Verizon and RIM "rushed" buggy Storm to market

Insiders claim the Storm—slammed by reviewers and users alike for its sluggish, glitchy performance—barely made it to stores in time for Black Friday last year, and as a consequence, it wasn't quite ready for prime time.

To its credit, Verizon released a software update in December that smoothed out some of the Storm's kinks. However, while the firmware fix was certainly welcome, the whole "release it now, patch it later" thing is an insidious habit: It encourages sloppiness in the race to hit a looming release date, and it's seriously disrespectful of customers.

Drooling...

2009-01-19T15:41:00.001-08:00

Home computer setup of ChaCha's CEO:

8 monitors!!!

(via TechCrunch)

Google Axes

2009-01-14T22:43:00.000-08:00

Not even Google is immune to the recession. Announced today, 6 Google products are being either shut down or scaled way back.

Webware has the details, but I thought I'd call out a couple that held a special place in my heart:

Google Catalog Search
Although I understand that it was becoming less and less useful in this day and age, I've loved having this as a secret weapon ever since we stumbled onto it in the iNetNow days. I believe Scott Whinery gets the credit if I recall correctly. This was one of the first secret "lab" type Google projects we were ahead of the curve on and it always came in handy for really obscure product requests from clients. (I actually used it a couple of weeks ago while researching gourmet pepper corns.) Plus it really gave us clout as Internet experts to throw out "Have you tried Google Catalog search?" every now and then.

Google Notebook
Eerily similar to the Zuma "track URL" functionality, though I never really got into using it for real world projects. This isn't actually being shut down, but active development is stopping. It has more or less been replaced by some combination of del.icio.us, Backpack, or Google's own bookmarks and search-wiki type structures nowadays, but I definitely recall the "we were on to something!" elation when Notebook came out and and it mirrored a lot of the whistles and bells regarding excerpts that BoRyan had built into latter day versions of Zuma's first killer feature.

So long, dear friends. We'll never forget you...

Downloading Is Wrong

2009-01-05T19:18:00.001-08:00

So technically I suppose this would be considered using a virus for "good" purposes -- at least in theory.

Trojan Blocks The Pirate Bay and Mininova

A new trojan popped up at several torrent sites a few weeks ago, one that blocks access to The Pirate Bay and Mininova, while informing its victims that “downloading is wrong.” The trojan edits the hosts file on Windows machines, and redirects the BitTorrent sites to localhost, making them impossible to load.

Max Barry on Piracy

2009-01-05T10:05:00.000-08:00

Nice "open letter" to Warner Bros. regarding their misguided DVD piracy strategy.

Max Barry - Dear Warner Bros.

I’m writing because yesterday I rented The Dark Knight, and I couldn’t watch it. I tried. But when I popped that DVD into my home theater PC and snuggled up on the sofa with my wife, it wouldn’t play.

At first I thought the disc must be damaged. I tried it in my laptop: no dice there, either. So I took it back to the video store and swapped it for a new one. They were very apologetic, by the way, Warners. I guess they understand that physically traveling to a bricks-and-mortar store is kind of a pain, and when you’re in business against digital downloads, you don’t want to make your transactions more difficult than they already are.

Home with my fresh DVD, I tried again. But still: didn’t work. A little Googling later, I discovered the disc was indeed damaged, and by who: you. You’ve installed some new anti-piracy protection onto The Dark Knight DVDs, which prevents the disc from playing in my PC.

Z2K

2008-12-31T11:24:00.000-08:00

Seems that all 30 GB Microsoft Zune players bricked themselves at midnight this morning (as 12/30 became the 31st).

30GB Zunes mysteriously begin to fail at 12AM, December 31st

The failures are coming 24-hours ahead of the big '09 changeover, but that hasn't stopped Zune aficionados from dubbing this unfortunate flaw "Z2K."

In other news, my iPod is still working fine :)

Back-Button To The Future

2008-12-09T09:37:00.000-08:00

Back-Button to the Future

They had me at "manipulating the temporal web." Essentially the next evolution of the Wayback Machine, and if it works as advertised I'm blown away...

Check out the video demo.

Mouse @ 40

2008-12-09T07:59:00.000-08:00

40 years of pointing and clicking

The original mouse was quite large, barely fitting in the user's hand, but Engelbart envisioned that you would keep one hand on the mouse at all times and the other on a special one-handed keyboard instead of a standard QWERTY-styled model.

Check out the photo with the article...that thing is a brick!

Why Apple Is Great at Interfaces

2008-12-02T16:34:00.000-08:00

Why Apple is great at interfaces when others are not

Did anyone at Microsoft think of pleasure when designing Vista's awful UAC? Did anyone at anywhere think about pleasure when designing old mobile phone interfaces, a kludge of menus, scrolling, button pressing and nested icons?

Questions of the Year

2008-12-02T09:52:00.000-08:00

Top "question" searches of the year from Ask.com. (Yes, they still exist...)

Ask.com Top Queries

1. How do I get pregnant?
2. How do I lose weight?
3. How do I write a resume?
4. How much is minimum wage?
5. How much is my car worth?
6. How do I change my name?
7. What is the meaning of life?
8. How do I register to vote?
9. Why is the sky blue?
10. How do I download videos?

Tells you a little bit about the people who still type in full "how do I ______ ?" style quesitons into a search engine...

(via Webware)

Let me Google that for you...

2008-11-20T15:01:00.000-08:00

A screencast is worth a thousand searches:

Let Me Google That For You

(via Webware)

Root Cause

2008-11-12T18:05:00.000-08:00

Spam Volumes Drop by Two-Thirds After Firm Goes Offline

The volume of junk e-mail sent worldwide plummeted on Tuesday after a Web hosting firm identified by the computer security community as a major host of organizations engaged in spam activity was taken offline.

I, Robot

2008-11-12T09:05:00.000-08:00

Creepy but cool...

Full article here:

The robot that can pull faces just like a human being

(via SvN)

U.S. Government Budget Circa 2009

2008-10-25T15:44:00.000-07:00

In case you aren't motivated to go out and vote this year, consider how and where our government is planning on spending money next year.

http://www.wallstats.com/zoom/

And it's nice to know we're spending more next year on Basic Energy, High Energy Physics, Nuclear Physics and Fusion Energy - and less on Conservation, Biomass, Solar and Hydrogen.

Maybe we will figure out how to extract energy from our garbage after all.

What's really astounding is how much of this visual depiction is dominated by military and defense spending.

Layoffs Aren't Always Layoffs

2008-10-20T16:21:00.000-07:00

TechCrunch article on recent layoffs and why they might not all be economy related. Interesting and probably very true.

Some Of These Layoffs Aren’t Really Layoffs

Some CEOs see this as a once-in-a-startup opportunity to get rid of the deadwood in the company.

A company that has made layoffs is branded a loser, and it becomes very hard to get positive press, recruit new talent and close new rounds of financing. Until now that is. Companies that have made layoffs in the last week are generally being given a pat on the back for being financially prudent.

They just wanted to fire the 5% of staff that weren’t really pulling their weight or putting in the effort.

Clearly not all, or even most, of the layoffs are hidden terminations of non-performing employees. But many of them are, CEOs are telling me off record. It’s not like the names are being drawn out of a hat at random. The superstars tend to stay.

Owners' Manual

2008-10-13T21:37:00.000-07:00

The funniest thing I've read in years, via the Southwest Airlines "Spirit" Magazine.

Owners' Manuals: The Owners' Manual

[I was going to post an excerpt here, but I couldn't decide which part to use. So instead I'll say the least funny part is the missing manual for the Internet, and the rest of the article (including the sidebar on manual cautions) had my sides hurting from laughter.]

Shake It!

2008-10-08T13:17:00.000-07:00

Very cool YouTube video for the new Mario Wii game:

Wario Land: Shake It – Amazing footage!

(Sorry for the link; embedding just doesn't to it justice...)

Mail Goggles

2008-10-07T11:06:00.001-07:00

When I first saw this I thought I had time traveled to April Fool's Day:

Gmail Feature: Stop Sending Mail You Later Regret

When you enable Mail Goggles, it will check that you're really sure you want to send that late night Friday email. And what better way to check than by making you solve a few simple math problems after you click send to verify you're in the right state of mind?

It is clever and fills a need when you think about it. They need to find a way to enable this feature on cell phones where it would be more useful...

(via Webware)

Searching Like It's 2001

2008-10-02T16:50:00.000-07:00

This is interesting. As part of their 10th birthday celebration, Google released a special version that searches the Internet as it existed in 2001.

Google Circa January 2001

We really used to use this thing at iNetNow?

Some interesting finds:

iNetNow

Apple iPhone (rumors abound)

911 (unbelievable in hindsight)

Timely Persuasion (just horses, no book)

facebook myspace (nothing!)

Tried to find a GoogleWhack back then using modern terms but came up empty. Ideas?

I was, however, able to find one that still works today...at least until this post gets indexed:

Atnos Fitzwilly (just read the excerpt on the results page...)

The Flow of Innovation

2008-09-29T17:57:00.000-07:00

Interesting post on how a lot of innovation now integrates usability:

Why The Flow of Innovation is Reversed

My favorite quote:

The folks that built enterprise software were vaguely aware that their systems had to be accessible to the humans that used them but they had a huge advantage. The people who used them did so as part of their job, they were trained to use them and fired if they could not figure them out.

Today, no one tells you to use Facebook. There are no employer sponsored training sessions on the use of del.icio.us. The burden is on the designer of the system to meet a need, entertain, or inform their users. They also have to seduce those users, hiding complexity, revealing one layer at time, always enticing, never intimidating, until the user one day finds they are intimately familiar with power and the pleasures of the service.

The benefits are brilliant albeit somewhat obvious. Why spend time and money training and re-training every employee you'll ever have on how to use a software system when you can build one that a reasonably savvy person off the street can teach themselves? As the enterprise starts to wake-up to the new efficiencies the web has taught us, tedious "legacy" systems will be replaced with more usable versions and everyone will win.

System Sounds

2008-09-25T11:53:00.000-07:00

Neat little "song" made out of an assembly of Apple's system sounds.

Also a similar Windows Version

(via TUAW)

Hacking: iNetNow Style

2008-09-19T12:22:00.000-07:00

I couldn't resist this one - reminded me of one of those long lost iNetNow questions.

Perhaps we should have started hiring hackers...

Article: Hacking Sarah Palin's Yahoo account

This article gives a first-hand account of how the hacking of Sarah Palin's Yahoo email account was performed.

An excerpt:

"after the password recovery was reenabled, it took seriously 45 mins on wikipedia and google to find the info, Birthday? 15 seconds on wikipedia, zip code? well she had always been from wasilla, and it only has 2 zip codes (thanks online postal service!)

the second was somewhat harder, the question was "where did you meet your spouse?" did some research, and apparently she had eloped with mister palin after college, if youll look on some of the screenshits [sic] that I took and other fellow anon have so graciously put on photobucket you will see the google search for "palin eloped" or some such in one of the tabs.

I found out later though more research that they met at high school, so I did variations of that, high, high school, eventually hit on "Wasilla high" I promptly changed the password to popcorn and took a cold shower..."

Straightforward stuff.

6, er, 3 Degrees of Separation

2008-09-07T13:51:00.000-07:00

Interesting article. Even more interesting typo in the headline...

The six degrees of seperation (sic) is now three

Six degrees of separation has fallen to three due to the impact of social networking and developments in technology, according to a study carried out by O2.

The term was coined by US psychologist Stanley Milgram following a 1967 experiment. The six degrees theory was upheld in a 2006 Microsoft study of instant messenger conversations. However, the O2 study reveals that within a shared ‘interest’ network (i.e. hobbies, sport, music, religion, sexuality etc), the average person is connected by just three degrees.

Rodrigues finds that we are usually part of three main networks based on family, friendship and work. Outside of these we are, on average, part of five main shared ‘interest’ networks based on a range of personal interests from hobbies, sport, music and the neighbourhood we live in, to religion, sexuality and politics. It is the growth of these shared interest networks and the influence of technology on them that has led to the reduction in the number of degrees of separation.

Email and mobile phones were the technologies that had the most significant impact in facilitating the reduction of degrees from six to three. Of those participating in the study that were asked to make contact with an unknown person, the majority (98 per cent) chose to use either the internet or their mobile phone, across all age groups. Texting was also seen as a universally important technology whilst social networking sites such as Facebook were highly rated by the youngest age bracket but usage declined drastically the older in age was asked.

It's The Software, Not You

2008-09-04T17:44:00.000-07:00

Great, classic David Pogue...

It’s the Software, Not You

It reminded me suddenly of the touchscreen kiosks at Delta. Now, I actually like Delta quite a lot, and think they’re doing a lot of things right lately. But the kiosks–oh, man.

You come up, you swipe your credit card. That alone ought to tell the kiosk who you are, and it should therefore know what flight you’re checking in for.

But no, it plays dumb. It asks you to key in your destination. So you type in “SAN” for San Francisco. And it asks you: San Francisco, San Diego, or San Juan? Oh, I don’t know–how about THE ONE YOU HAVE A RESERVATION ON!?

(Yes, yes, I know–you might have more than one reservation on Delta. But come on. Let’s say you have flights today at 3 pm, tomorrow at 5 pm, and next Friday at 8 pm. As you swipe your credit card, today, at 1:30 pm, does it really think you’re checking in for anything but the first one?)

But O.K. You tap San Francisco. And now–I kid you not–it wants to know what time of day the flight departs!

Are you kidding me? It doesn’t know the airline’s own flight time? Come on–it already knows what flight I’m on, so what’s the point of this exercise? For God’s sake, just check me in!

Whenever I encounter badly designed software like this, I stand there, slack-jawed, mind boggling, and wonder what on earth the designers were *thinking.*

Chrome

2008-09-01T14:56:00.000-07:00

Google is releasing their own browser tomorrow, called "Chrome." And the announcement initially leaked out as a 38 page comic book.

Pretty cool, and very exciting that this could signal the return of the browser wars...

Official announcement on the Google Blog.

Forgot Your Password?

2008-08-26T11:40:00.000-07:00

‘FORGOT YOUR PASSWORD?’ MAY BE WEAKEST LINK

Almost everyone forgets a Web site password once in a while. When you do, you click on the familiar "Forgot your password?" link and, after entering your pet's name, identifying your high school mascot or answering some other seemingly obscure questions, you can get back into your account.

But there's a problem: A criminal can do that, too. With the help of social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, personal trivia is getting less obscure all the time. You’d be surprised how easily someone can uncover Fido's name or your alma mater with a little creative searching.

False Advertising?

2008-08-12T21:40:00.001-07:00

Side by side video comparison of the iPhone 3G TV commercial vs. replicating it on the real 3G network. I love my iPhone, but these guys raise a good point...

Random aside: The use of on-screen stickies as captions is pretty clever :)

(via TUAW)

Lost & Found

2008-08-08T14:21:00.000-07:00

Thought this was pretty cool.

Just got an email from the Coachella festival. Starts off as a typical marketing "touching base" type email, but it includes this section:

LOST & FOUND
Once again we have successfully reunited many people with their lost items. We still have an assortment of random stuff so please email info@coachella.com if you are looking for an ID, Wallet or anything else and check out these links:

Cameras: http://coachella.com/cameras.html
Keys & Misc: http://coachella.com/keysmisc.html
Bags: http://coachella.com/bags.html
Glasses: http://coachella.com/glasses.html

Each link has a photograph to numbered items from lost and found, with a note that if it's yours to email the number and something that can prove it is yours (what's inside a bag, what photos may be on a camera, etc.)

A nice little above and beyond customer service touch.

(Though I don't know how one can describe: "Hey! That's my iPod dock and charger!" in a unique way...)

Won One!

2008-08-01T22:22:00.000-07:00

One small step for man, one giant leap for modern technology...

FCC rules Comcast violated Internet access policy

WASHINGTON - A divided Federal Communications Commission has ruled that Comcast Corp. violated federal policy when it blocked Internet traffic for some subscribers and has ordered the cable giant to change the way it manages its network.
In a precedent-setting move, the FCC by a 3-2 vote on Friday enforced a policy that guarantees customers open access to the Internet.

The commission did not assess a fine, but ordered the company to stop cutting off transfers of large data files among customers who use a special type of "file-sharing" software.

Guessing Gender Based on Web History

2008-07-29T18:07:00.000-07:00

Interesting in concept...

Using your browser URL history to estimate gender

...though it pegged me with an 83% likelihood of being female based on this history list:

Site - Male/Female Ratio

google.com - 0.98
myspace.com - 0.74
youtube.com - 1
wikipedia.org - 1.08
amazon.com - 0.9
facebook.com - 0.83
blogger.com - 1.06
flickr.com - 1.15
mlb.com - 1.33
time.com - 1.44
wamu.com - 0.85
snopes.com - 0.74
americanexpress.com - 0.98
linkedin.com - 0.94
amtrak.com - 0.75
godaddy.com - 1.17
metropcs.com - 0.77
lulu.com - 0.96
spinner.com - 0.8
abc.com - 0.47

Crowd Wisdom or Angry Mob?

2008-07-28T17:10:00.000-07:00

When the 'wisdom of crowds' turns on itself: IMDB edition

Interesting article about how "The Dark Knight" became the #1 all time movie on IMDB - passing "The Godfather" in their rankings for the first time in 10 years.

People aren't just giving perfect ratings to Batman; they are intentionally tanking The Godfather's rating too...

Are Google Maps good or evil?

2008-07-22T10:13:00.000-07:00

Are Google Maps good or evil?

Thought provoking, albeit a bit sensationalistic. All new technology can have its evil uses, though generally speaking the pros outweigh the cons in the end.

Should I Stay or Should I Tow?

2008-07-17T11:29:00.000-07:00

I'll refrain from getting into the whole story for the moment and put out another opinion poll:

Car partially obstructing a narrow driveway. Need to leave for work and can't get out without jumping the curb (if at all).

Let it stay or have it towed? Vote in the comments.

(UPDATE 7/22 -- see comments)

Death to Voicemail

2008-07-13T10:32:00.000-07:00

I've felt the same way for years...

Think Before You Voicemail

"Voicemail is dead. Please tell everyone so they’ll stop using it."

Walk This Way

2008-07-09T15:29:00.000-07:00

The holy grail of mapping is about to get holier:

Google Maps takes steps toward walking directions

Quote of the Day

2008-06-27T10:57:00.000-07:00

User comment on the BBC News story regarding ICANN relaxing top level domain names:

"Surely this will be nothing more than very, very irritating for people who want to use the internet?"

Server Room

2008-06-26T19:58:00.001-07:00

Hilariously awkward...and allegedly true!

Stalled Server Room

(via The Daily WTF)

I...am totally...BLIND!!!

2008-06-26T15:55:00.000-07:00

Online service lets blind surf the Internet from any computer, anywhere

Visions of future technology don't involve being chained to a desktop machine. People move from home computers to work computers to mobile devices; public kiosks pop up in libraries, schools and hotels; and people increasingly store everything from e-mail to spreadsheets on the Web.

But for the roughly 10 million people in the United States who are blind or visually impaired, using a computer has, so far, required special screen-reading software typically installed only on their own machines.

New software, called WebAnywhere, launched today lets blind and visually impaired people surf the Web on the go. The tool developed at the University of Washington turns screen-reading into an Internet service that reads aloud Web text on any computer with speakers or headphone connections.

"This is for situations where someone who's blind can't use their own computer but still wants access to the Internet. At a museum, at a library, at a public kiosk, at a friend's house, at the airport," said Richard Ladner, a UW professor of computer science and engineering. The free program and both audio and video demonstrations are at http://webanywhere.cs.washington.edu.

Internet Easter Eggs

2008-06-24T17:46:00.000-07:00

I never knew about a lot of these. Some pretty cool stuff, though they aren't Gino's famous Surfboard Etch-A-Sketch or the classic "BoRyan and the Magic Sword" Site Search easter egg.

10 awesome Internet Easter eggs

I'm actually wondering why I never tried entering the Konami code on a webpage, since I secretly do it on most DVDs...

And still nobody has found either of the two Timely Persuasion easter eggs, hint hint.

Sarcasm and Survival

2008-06-20T09:26:00.000-07:00

Sarcasm Seen as Evolutionary Survival Skill

It's also easy to imagine how sarcasm might be selected over time as evolutionarily crucial. Imagine two ancient humans running across the savannah with a hungry lion in pursuit. One guy says to the other, "Are we having fun yet?" and the other just looks blank and stops to figure out what in the world his pal meant by that remark. End of friendship, end of one guy's contribution to the future of the human gene pool.

Dash Express GPS adds Twitter functionality

2008-06-17T15:09:00.000-07:00

The Dash Express GPS has an open API. Since they opened it up a few weeks ago, several applications have come out, mostly weather and speed trap reporting. The social micro-blogging service Twitter has now been added. When you activate the application is sends out a tweet that marks your location. I think this is just a little taste of what's to come with new GPS enabled iPhone.

Checking In Outside The Box

2008-06-17T13:48:00.001-07:00

Hustle & Flow
Alaska Airlines' Airport of the Future makes quick work of getting passengers through check-in.

The results? During my two hours of observation in Seattle, an Alaska agent processed 46 passengers, while her counterpart at United managed just 22. United's agents lose precious time hauling bags and walking the length of the ticket counter to reach customers. Alaska agents stand at a station with belts on each side, assisting one passenger while a second traveler places luggage on the free belt. With just a slight turn, the agent can assist the next customer. "We considered having three belts," White says. "But then the agent has to take a step. That's wasted time."

Alaska, then, is likely to save almost $8 million a year on the Seattle terminal if it converts customers the way it has in Anchorage. The Seattle makeover cost $28 million, a far cry from a new $500 million terminal.

(via SvN)

Dad's Day

2008-06-15T12:45:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of Anti-Valentines (and to a certain degree, Married To The Sea), check out some father's day cards from someecards.com

For more:

SomeEcards: Father's Day

(indirectly discovered via CupKozy)

Google VP of Search Quality

2008-06-06T16:40:00.000-07:00

Interesting behind the scenes interview, via Webware

At Google, a search guru's dream comes true

"I don't have to tell anybody around here that search is important. That's a very nice luxury to have,"

Pong!

2008-05-29T17:42:00.000-07:00

Multitouch, Multiscreen iPhone Pong:

via TUAW

iPhone Navigator?

2008-05-29T09:49:00.000-07:00

Possible surprises up Steve's sleeve on June 9?

Love the quote from the GPS president:

iPhone Nano, GPS Are More Important to Apple Than 3G: Analysis

I recently sat down with the president of a GPS navigation system manufacturer to ask him how he felt about the prospect of a GPS-enabled iPhone. "Scared [expletive]-less," he said.

Yet the iPhone has the potential to leverage true GPS functionality better than any other device. It already has a large, 3.5-in touchscreen interface, external speakers and an elegant Google Maps interface. All you'd need to add to a GPS-enabled iPhone is a suction-cup windshield bracket (sold separately, of course), and you'd have a fully-functional, pocket-portable car navigation device. People already pay hundreds of dollars in droves for this increasingly popular segment of devices, and the iPhone could essentially challenge an entire product category with one add-on feature.

Redefining Spoilers

2008-05-28T09:12:00.000-07:00

Warning: This post contains a mild speculative spoiler for the TV show Lost. By "speculative" I mean it isn't a true reveal based on a leaked source, but it turns into a discussion on how a show like Lost may be "redefining" the concept of a spoiler. I think it's relatively tame, but read on at your own risk.

As many of you know, I'm spoiler averse when it comes to TV shows. I don't even watch the "Next week on..." upcoming episode trailers as I feel they give too much away. I can't even count the number of times I've gone running from a room with my ears covered when a commercial for an upcoming episode appears during a sporting event.

This is especially true when it comes to Lost. The show is so deeply layered that part of the fun is putting the pieces together and speculating as to where they are going with it, but actually "knowing" is a whole different story. There was a big controversy last year when the plot twists of the season finale were revealed online prematurely, and it's starting up again with alleged spoilers of this season's finale starting to crop up online as well.

One of my favorite spoiler-free Lost sites recently entered the controversy. Lostpedia is a wiki dedicated exclusively to the characters, episodes, and situations of Lost. An absolutely brilliant idea to help people keep track of the overlaps and connections between characters. It wouldn't make sense to do this for a lot of shows, but with so many overlapping flashbacks, flashforwards, and parallel storylines the site becomes invaluable.

The admins of the site do an excellent job of setting spoiler free ground rules. The actual articles can only include factual accounts of episodes that have aired. Spoilers are relegated to separate "theory" and "discussion" tabs on the Wiki, keeping the articles themselves clean for anyone who wants to catch up and/or refresh their memory.

Of course, with any community driven wiki project the site is primarily self policed. There was a recent situation where one bad apple posted finale spoilers right in the middle of an unrelated article without warning, triggering a big debate on spoilers. I respect the right of a curious public to post and seek out spoilers to their favorite shows, but only if they are in their proper place. Warnings and hidden text ensure people know what they are getting into; an ambush in a site that is supposed to be "clean" is another thing altogether.

On the main page of Lostpedia, they also post Lost-related news articles. Updates on the writers strike, interviews with the cast and creators, a synopsis of the video game, etc. All well and good since the blurbs are pretty neutral and there is a clear warning if the outgoing link to the article may contain spoilers.

Which is why I was slightly annoyed at the most recent article posted to the main page:

(This ends my preamble, and I'm now moving on to the "What is a spoiler?" question promised above. Turn back now if you want to be kept completely pure.)
---
---
---
---
---
---
Matthew Fox keeps quiet on 'Lost' ending

Matthew Fox has claimed that he is the only actor on Lost to know how the show will end. Fox confirmed the news to the Daily Mirror and revealed that fellow cast members probe him for answers: "Yes, it’s true. They understand I can't talk about it, but sometimes they’ll ask, just hoping I’ll blurt it out."

As I said I truly appreciate the job the Lostpedia folks do in trying to keep a clean environment to the best of their ability. It's a fairly well known fact that the cast doesn't know how the show is going to end. So the reveal that one actor does know begs the question of "Why does he know?," which leads me to believe it must be important to the plot and how he's playing his character NOW to set up how it will end. And since Lost is starting to introduce time travel fairly heavily into the plot, I think I know where this is heading. Awesome, but less awesome than if I were surprised by it.

But is this defined as a "spoiler" by traditional definitions? Not really, but extending the umbrella to include "information not learned from the show itself" would place it in this category. Maybe it's just how my mind works. Technically I suppose the fact that I learned that nobody knows the ending paired with the correction that one actor does is what did me in. But in today's day and age you'd really need a full on media blackout to ensure a totally pure experience. And that would mean turning off the Internet :(

Hopefully I'm wrong and this will be little more than a red herring caused by my overactive synapses. But regardless, it's interesting how a show like Lost can redefine television and redefine the definition of "spoiler" at the same time.

PS: This post is loosely based on a ranty comment I submitted to the Lostpedia Blog shortly after reading the above linked article. The admins seem to have chosen not to publish my comment (probably wise of them in hindsight if what I'm guessing does prove to be spoiler-esque), but I felt it was a thought provoking enough situation to repurpose here.

Pilgrimage

2008-05-27T23:52:00.000-07:00

I've just returned from a four-day holiday in the Greater SF Bay area (where fellow TowForm contributor BoRyan was my gracious host), with the pilgrimage-like goal of exploring every rail system found there; a full trip report with all its minutiae is outside the scope of this blog, but within the scope of this blog (with 15 posts tagged 'maps') will be a later post reviewing a few of the many transit maps I collected.

While waiting for that, behold the accompanying two pictures, taken personally by me during side-pilgrimages of this trip. :)

This sounds familiar...

2008-05-24T11:13:00.000-07:00

iPhone-A-Friend

n. The act of using a regular cell phone to get information by calling someone who is sitting at a computer and can surf the internet by proxy.

"We are hopelessly lost. I'll just use my iPhone-a-friend and my mom can get us directions from Google Maps."

"When are you going to get a real iPhone, you cheap ass?"

via UrbanDictionary

118.com Ask Us Anything

2008-05-20T14:06:00.000-07:00

Yet another iNetNow:

Found this on Wikipedia (via nested tangents, read below for that...also, in the following quote, material between [] is added by this post's author for clarity and amusement):

Since May 2008, 118118 [a British directory assistance provider, coincidentally a subsidiary of InfoNXX] has introduced a service where you are able to call and ask any question you want and their info team will find you the answer. From "How tall is the Eiffel Tower?", to "What Bars are open late at night?"

Sure enough...it is described here:

When it comes to finding numbers, we’re the professionals. But that’s not all we can do for you. We can find as many numbers as you need in one call and we’ll put you straight through if you don’t have a pen. We can even tell you what films are on at your local cinema and give you show times. We can tell you what time your next train leaves or let you know what the nearest tube station to your destination is.
In summary, we can
give you all the numbers you ask for during any call
find you the business you want and tell you how close it is
expertly search for business numbers or addresses even if you only have a small amount of information
put you straight through to the number you want
tell you what’s on and locate your cinema, give you the times and even tell you who’s in each movie
give you departure and arrival times from the national train timetable
tell you the nearest train or tube station to your destination
give you directions over the phone to wherever you need to go

And if you call us from a mobile, we’ll always text you the numbers you need and for free, so there’s no extra charge and you don’t have the usual scramble for a pen and paper.
It’s no wonder we’re the most called number in the UK every day.

I wish them well. I like this idea wherever it appears, which is why I enjoy AskMeNow, and mourn iNetNow and Voce.

For your amusement (perhaps I should make this a separate post) I found all this through one of my famous mental/wikipedia nested tangents:

I was listening to the first track of Vico C's Vivo, which begins with appears to be a short sample of the same song as used as the background music of the commercial I'd previously known as 'that Honda Rube Goldberg commercial'.
I suddenly wanted to watch this commecial, since I never get tired of it, so I googled 'honda rube goldberg', and found it has a Wikipedia article, where I found out:

Its name is 'Cog';
That song is "Rapper's delight" by The Sugarhill Gang
It's inspired or been spoofed by other commercials, including one for 118118.

Naturally, I went to the Wikipedia article for 118118, where I found out about Ask Us Anything.

I should put a dummy entry in my HOSTS file for en.wikipedia.org so I get work done.

McCainpedia

2008-05-19T22:50:00.001-07:00

Democrats Launch McCainpedia

Politically I think this is slightly dirty but necessary.

Comedically I think it's hilarious, and the irony that the Democrats are taking the democracy out of the wiki only makes it funnier.

The web connoisseur in me says either call it something else, or make it a standard, fully editable wiki with a slightly stronger registration policy in place and zero tolerance to ban users by IP who vandalize or violate terms.

And while you're at it, do one for Hilary and Obama too that can be cross linked between parties and issues. Equal time for the 21st Century, and let the smart mobs shake out the true facts.

McCainpedia

PS: For the record, I predict someone will put up equivalents for the Democratic candidates by the weekend.

How Apple is changing DRM

2008-05-18T19:38:00.000-07:00

Cool article on how the insistence on DRM by record labels drove Apple to dominance, and how Apple might change the rules to stay on top now that the labels are leaning towards no DRM.

How Apple is changing DRM

Location-based services may be coming to an iPhone near you

2008-05-16T07:30:00.000-07:00

There is a lot of independent evidence circulating that the 3G iPhone,
rumored to be coming this June, will include and take advantage of a
lot of location based services. One service already out there but in
beta is BrightKite. Seems to be a robust form of the old AT&T friend
finder. The whole idea of a location aware, truly web connected device
opens up some enormous possibilities. Location based
Google AdSense anyone?

[Via Ars Technica]

True Fans

2008-05-15T10:41:00.000-07:00

Neat article on the secret to thriving as an independent artist.

1000 True Fans

Other than aim for a blockbuster hit, what can an artist do to escape the long tail?

One solution is to find 1,000 True Fans. While some artists have discovered this path without calling it that, I think it is worth trying to formalize. The gist of 1,000 True Fans can be stated simply:

A creator, such as an artist, musician, photographer, craftsperson, performer, animator, designer, videomaker, or author - in other words, anyone producing works of art - needs to acquire only 1,000 True Fans to make a living.

Adventures in Public Transportation

2008-05-14T09:52:00.000-07:00

We went to see Mason Jennings play in Santa Monica last night. (Actually at Barnum Hall on the Santa Monica High School campus...odd venue.) Since my wife works in Westwood and we live on the east side, it made more sense for me to take the bus to her office than to go crosstown in two cars.

I know that public transportation in LA (especially the bus) has a bad reputation, but I was pleasantly surprised. Got on at Vermont & Sunset and arrived in front of UCLA 55 minutes later. The bus has a tv screen showing news, trivia, games, and ads. There's also a map (powered by MSN) with GPS that always shows you where you are and announces the next stops. It was on time and relatively clean, though the comfort of the seats left a little to be desired. Riders were mostly students, though that probably had more to do with the route and the time of day (I rode at 4:30pm).

The trip planner on the website was also relatively impressive. Granted it could have a little better error correction and navigation, but not having to enter a city and using a / between intersections is pretty brilliant. I'm surprised the mapping engines haven't picked this up as the standard instead of fumbling around with thethe mishmash of &/and/+ that they always have. Also surprised we didn't pick this up for the surfboard, as for me it's much more fast and natural to type a / without looking than & or +.

International Harassment, or Why AT&T Still Puts $$$ Ahead of Customer Service

2008-04-22T14:39:00.000-07:00

Warning: Rant ahead...

Woke up at 6:30 this morning to a call on my cell. It was too early, so I let it go. Immediately rang again, but had stopped by the time I got to the phone. Immediately rang again in my hand. I noticed an unfamiliar 503 area code. Though normally I let numbers I don't know go to voicemail, I figured three in a row might be an emergency so I picked up anyways. The caller said something in Spanish. I said "wrong number" and hung up.

Mildly annoyed at the early hour, I figured I could still salvage some sleep. Seconds later it rang again. "Numero incorrecto. No hablo español" I barked in elementary Spanish that I hoped was pretty close to accurate. 10 seconds later it rang again.

Now both angry and intrigued, I got up and Googled the area code. Portland, OR.

I tried Googling the full number to get a name to go with my prank caller, at which point I realized something was odd. The number had too many digits. It wasn't Portland. It was an international call from El Salvador!

After a total of 7 calls between 6:32 and 6:35 (2 answered, 3 ignored, 2 sent to voicemail with a minute plus of silence and background noise as the message) it finally stopped and I went back to bed.

It started up again at 8:02am with 9 in a row, a short break, then 15 more between 8:25 and 8:50. These again had a mix of long blank voicemails, hangups, and long pleas to leave me alone obtained via Google Language Tools.

I thought I finally got through to them with the phrase: "Si usted llamar a este número de nuevo, estoy llamando a la policía. ¿Entiendes?" (which translates to "If you call this number again, I am calling the police. Do you understand?"). Nope. 13 more from 10:11 to 10:13. 1 more at 11:06. 8 more from 1:46 to 1:49.

When the phone rang at 1:59 I answered it ready to explode, but it was my sister asking if I knew anyone who wanted her extra Red Sox tickets. The text message to my Boston friends was only half composed when another call came in. I repeated my Spanish phrase about calling the police from memory before the caller started laughing at me.

Ready to jump out a window, I finally decided to call AT&T and have them block the incoming number for me via the switch. We used to have to call Cingular/AT&T and other carrier partners to have this performed quite a bit at Voce. It usually required a trouble ticket with a 24 hour turnaround time and tier 2 assistance, but it was definitely doable. At the rate this was going I'd be able to deal with the possibility of a long turnaround time if I knew an end was near.

After navigating an overcomplicated phone tree and waiting on hold for slightly less than I anticipated I was connected to Christina. I explained my tale to her and asked if she could have the number blocked; she said she'd certainly figure something out and diligently started her research. After a few minutes I decided to reveal that I used to work for an AT&T MVNO and it was fairly standard to do this via tier 2 but it wasn't a function of the Telegence system. She said she was reading something about it but thought they might not have that ability anymore.

A few more minutes went by and a brief time on hold, after which Christina came back and told me it was not possible to have it blocked on the switch, but I could subscribe to a new Smart Limits parental control product they had that would allow me to restrict incoming calls. Her suggestion was to activate Smart Limits for the number in question, but only for a couple weeks hoping they'd get the idea and/or get bored of pranking me. I said that would work for me so long as she could credit my bill for the prorated $4.99 for the new feature, deciding not to point out that the existence of this feature contradicts the "it's impossible to block a number" statement, instead changing it to "It's impossible to block a number for free."

She said that wasn't within her authority, but she'd ask a manager and under the circumstances it would probably be possible. After a brief stint on hold she came back to tell me unfortunately the fee couldn't be waived since I do have the free option of ignoring the call, thus it wouldn't be reasonable to provide me the credit. Personally I could care less about the 5 bucks (actually more like $2 if I only kept the feature for 10 days), but on principal I wasn't going to budge. Also, ignoring the calls wasn't really a "Free" option, as AT&T dings you for airtime whenever you check your voicemail. She agreed and went back to the manager...and was promptly shot down again. This time I was told that the option was free since I could check my voicemail from a landline free of charge (even though I don't have a landline), and thus policy couldn't be broken in this case. (In full disclosure, I also thought that I was docked minutes when a call was sent to voicemail even if I didn't answer, but she corrected me that this is only true when roaming internationally, not domestically.)

I told Christina that I appreciated her help and knew she was just doing her job, but found it ridiculous that AT&T cared more about making $5 then helping out a loyal customer with perfect payment history and no complaints on an overpriced plan. She asked me if I was asked to take a survey would I say she solved my problem; I told her I'd say she was excellent but her employer was questionable as usual.

I understand policies exist for a reason. And I know that a good number of customers will try to game them anytime they can. If I had a recurrent prank calling problem involving multiple numbers or if I was complaining about a stalker or a jilted ex who wouldn't stop bothering me I can see the company holding firm to a degree. But there is gray area in everything, and each example should be viewed on a case by case basis. 60 calls from the same international number in 6+ hours sounds like extenuating circumstances, and you won't waive less than five damn dollars off of someone's bill one time for them to try out a brand new cash cow of a feature for 2 weeks? You've got to be kidding me.

PS: Ironically, it's now 3:30 and I haven't received a call from the bad number in over 90 minutes. Maybe Christina did block it for me afterall...

PPS: Why am I protecting the identity of a foreign prank caller? The number in question is 50379118478

PPPS: Looking at my AT&T account and looking at my live bill, it's dropping the last digit from the number to make it appear to be domestic. Ironically enough, in this configuration it's also labeled as a free Mobile to Mobile call :)

PPPPS: And yes, I do feel better after writing this.

[END RANT]

Trapped In An Elevator

2008-04-22T11:04:00.001-07:00

Not meaning to go blog crazy, just finding a plethora of cool stuff.

Check out this time-lapse security camera video of a guy trapped in an elevator for 41 hours. Keep your eye on the box at the upper right.

TRAPPED IN AN ELEVATOR

I love the very end when they presumably put up an "Out of Order" sign.

Shoeless

2008-04-22T09:31:00.000-07:00

Fascinating NPR story on the conspiracy of footwear, and why we don't need it.

Feet Hurt? Stop Wearing Shoes

Most interesting bit of trivia:

"In the Middle Ages, people began wearing shoes with higher heels to avoid stepping in other people's excrement. Today, high heels are considered sexy."

Full, multipage version of the article here:

How We're Wrecking Our Feet With Every Step We Take

Roll Your Own CNN Shirt

2008-04-21T17:17:00.000-07:00

CNN.com has this weird new store where you can order a t-shirt with a news headline on it.

SvN points out that you can screw with the URL to make it say whatever you want it to say. So...

Anyone remember which website we used to be able to do that with? Was it Pronto, or maybe Lycos411?