February 2010
Watchericmortensen:
ProLoop for iTunes.
The iPhone continues to inspire new interfaces for creating music. This reminds me a bit of the OP-1’s display.
Still waiting for that iPad…
“Even though my personal political leanings are democratic, I think this app will...”
– Steve Jobs responding to a developer who is upset that his “app” was rejected from the store. (Via Juggleware Developers’ Blog)
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“He also repeatedly refers to the whale as a valued member of the Seaworld team,...”
– Megan McArdle, The Atlantic
Thanks to Bradford, I’m on the first page of search results for the term “non humor.”
“Public Anthropology is not simplified anthropology, it is good anthropology”
– Savage Minds in American Anthropologist (via anthropophagous)
The number one problem facing anthropology today. Anthropologists need to find the balance between the complexity they love and the simplicity needed for mass understanding.
Google, when I clicked "Turn Off Buzz" I meant it.
Just an FYI. Clicking “Turn off Buzz” in Gmail doesn’t turn off your profile. It just turns off your own access to it in Gmail. I just discovered this while using Google on my iPhone. The Buzz icon is still sitting atop the page, I can post via my app and now it keeps asking for my location.
Default search on my phone is now set to Yahoo. My mail will shortly be migrated over to...
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Why do I keep getting spammed with invites to... →
(via cajunboy)
Is anyone else eagerly anticipating the blog posts that will emerge when their flight to SF from NY during a storm is canceled and they can’t make the second leg of their “bicoastal birthday”? Cause I know I am.
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State warns Bay Area bars not to infuse drinks →
Mixing elaborate drinks - say, muddling mint leaves in mojitos - and serving them immediately is OK. But, the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control agents said, Bourbon and Branch was changing the character of the booze by allowing it to mature on the shelf - “rectification” that is illegal without a special license.
And by “special license,” they mean “cash...
Why Facebook Won't Buy Loopt (or, The Crap Value... →
Facebook would have no reason to buy Loopt for its userbase or iPhone app. Facebook already has a gigantic userbase — 400 million users worldwide. And the Facebook iPhone app has 28 million monthly active users, according to its app page. Loopt is much smaller.
Business Insider hits a point that’s been bugging me every time I hear about VCs funding location-based networks.
...
“We’re not campaigning anymore, John. The election is over.”
– President Barack Obama to John McCain at the Health Care Summit (via soupsoup) (via getoutmybiz)
Obama needs to etch this on the walls of Congress.
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Ibis Reader →
Ibis Reader doesn’t whine about cross-platform coding or app store regulations. They just build amazingly full-featured web apps.
Their web app (with a polished iPhone interface and local database) is indistinguishable from a native implementation. Devs take note.
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After Chopin: Cyborg Mazurkas.
While at UCSC, I...
Oakland Athletics: Meet Your Montreal Expos →
They’re a little similar to Expos fans, really. To be a devoted fan of the Oakland A’s, you have to want it. You have to dive in and study, obsess, learn the minor leaguers, find goofy upstart kids you love, your tubby Landon Powell, your scrappy Mark Ellis. You have to do that to be a devoted of any team, of course, but with the A’s, there’s no choice. You’re always...
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Yahoo Integrating Twitter, Twitter Getting Cash →
Twitter has fallen backwards into the perfect revenue model for their current situation: selling access to their data.
Yahoo, Microsoft, and Google will keep them in the black and flush while they take their sweet time figuring out the right way to bring advertising to their network. The platform agnostic position they find themselves in is certainly sweet, especially as the internet is starting...
McDonald’s Wi-Fi rollout will boost free hotspots... →
Is WiFi provided by brick & mortar companies the next platform? Could Starbucks or McDonalds create an API for their locations?
(Link via VentureBeat)
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Eight obstructionist GOP Senators voted against... →
ericmortensen:
Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
Thad Cochran (R-MS)
James Inhofe (R-OK)
George LeMieux (R-FL)
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Roger Wicker (R-MS)
Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
Richard Burr (R-NC)
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Youtube pulls original “Rickroll” video for Terms... →
Some suspect the move was made to encourage viewers to head to the Vevo version of the video. Vevo is, “a joint venture by Sony, Universal, and EMI meant to provide a Hulu-like experience for music videos.”
There had to be a smarter way to do this. When will media companies stop acting like the last kid picked who takes his ball home. (Via VentureBeat)
“For years the hollow claims of every marketing guru who insists that consumers...”
– Rob Walker on faux-distressing and the Olympic snowboarding uniforms. (via putthison)
While I personally can’t get behind such behavior, any realistic critic realized that desire for authenticity does not equate to achieving authenticity. It’s about acquiring the markers.
Watchericmortensen:
Werner Herzog joins Q host Jian Ghomeshi to talk about his film ‘Bad Lieutenant; Port of Call New Orleans’.
The interview I’ve been waiting for… He’s not even sure why he shot the iguanas.
The Instant Art Critique Phrase Generator →
artfortune:
As an advocate of the Big Mac Aesthetic, I feel that the disjunctive perturbation of this website endangers the devious simplicity of the substructure of critical thinking.
I’m surprised that no one’s mentioned yet that the subaqueous qualities of the Egyptian motifs spatially undermines the exploration of montage elements.
“Human dignity must be preserved.”
– The Pope doesn’t like the new scanners at the airport.
Ruby is Awesome
I’ve been reading up on the language in my spare time. In a few hours over two days, I’ve built three practical scripts that I’ll use nearly daily. When you’re dealing with tons and tons of Excel/CSV files, these scripts are a godsend.
The First Rule of the Olympics is You Don't Talk... →
“We’re rooting for you @LindseyVonn @Shaun_White @GregBretzz and @Drahlves in the 2010 Winter #Olympics!” Red Bull posted the previous week, cheering on the U.S. ski and snowboard athletes it endorses.
Lisa Baird, chief marketing officer of the U.S. Olympic Committee, declined to comment on specific examples but says nonsponsors are barred from referring to the Games and their athletes in name,...
More Adventures in Olympic Racial Drag - Gawker →
Consequently, last night’s competition saw Russians in loincloths, Germans in grass skirts, and Frenchmen and Scots dressed like cowboys. Though occasionally culturally insensitive, the main offense was to taste.
“Number of kernels of corn it takes to make the corn syrup used in one kernel of...”
– Search Harper’s Index
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Programming Linguistics
I’m learning Ruby, and it’s very passive aggressive. “Conventions” in Ruby really should be called “rules.”
Certain coding styles are strongly suggested, like styles for naming variables, but then figure strongly into existing toolkits that are built into the language. I wouldn’t have such a gripe with this if they just came out and told me it’s a...
“Bipartisanship doesn’t exist. Not politically in a de facto 60-vote...”
– “The “TV Event” As Bipartisanship, or, How the Super Bowl Helps Kill Health Care Reform.”
The best articulation I’ve read of the ineptness of the current left. (Via The Ever Excellent Awl)