(Vade?) Retro

Zombie JFK Calls for action against climate change (via wattsup).

In other Halloween season news, I've often thought Obama's persona is very retro. His look and voice are pleasingly 60s, a bit Malcolm X and Gil-Scott Heron, as is some of his marketing (e.g. looking like the Che). Colbert had him looking like the guy in the Twilight Zone.

Another Way To Suck

My lousy musical taste, part 34,257

I like this song. Also the so-double-entendre-they're-goofy lyrics.
I don't even like Bond movies.
And yes, it would have been better with Amy Winehouse.
Guess I remain a sucker for Jack White's Led-Zeppelin riff-offs.

"Another Way To Die" featuring Alicia Keys and Jack White

I'm such an idiot I even like the Coke ad. Certainly the video is better.

Am I Just Paranoid?

Does the graphic design here read to anyone else: Barak (Obama) Black (s the experience)?

Computers and the economic crisis

OK I just want to get these thoughts down real fast

1. What about all that talk of computer trading in previous stock market crises? Haven't heard a word.

2. What is this, 1950? I mean there's no talk of computer anything, of new tech, of nothing. Everywhere it's all these old dudes and politicians and economists saying what they're going to do.

3. Its like all of a sudden the grownups are in charge again, and we're not gonna talk about anything virtual, we need stuff we can touch and kick the tires of. So shall we bring the gold standard back?

4. There's wildly varied explanations (see list at bottom) for why everything went to hell. But more than anything I am reminded of hard-to-find software bugs. The financial system is like this big old many-layered software system, and no one knows how it works, nor why it stopped working and is exhibiting chaotic behavior.

5. OK here's my main point. A long time ago, I heard someone, maybe the head of Red Hat, or Linus Torvalds, say something like: "My goal is to turn a 30-billion-dollar industry into a 3-billion-dollar one." That blew my mind. Now I wonder whether growth as we know it is not ending. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for gratuitous, conspicuous consumption and waste. My argument isn't a moral one (hell no!). I'm just thinking maybe people won't really want to be buying that much stuff (and I realize that may be a clueless bobo thing to say). I'm wondering whether the information glut created by the Internet isn't making everything so productive and interesting that people aren't that interested in a lot of expensive stuff that people used to be into.

Here's an analogy: suppose cheap matter generators became available and plentiful. You could just press a button and out would come any raw material you wanted, and heck, any finished product as well. Such an invention would be a huge improvement in productivity. But wouldn't Wall Street tank, since entire industries would immediately become obsolete? Isn't it at least possible something like that is at play now?

OK, I realize everyone explains the crash according to what axe they have to grind. This is why I'll tell you my real explanation for the crash: the Singularity is here!

I like Berlin Part 1: My Bike Basket

I'm thinking I might write a series of posts about things I like about Berlin. Probably I'll just write this one, but it's good to have dreams.

Yesterday I bought a basket for my bicycle that fits onto the back rack. It has two little u-shaped hooks on the bottom to hold onto the rack. There's a spot on the back that is designed to hold the part of the rack that has springs attached to it and normally holds your bag from falling off. This part of the basket helps ensure that the basket doesn't jiggle from side to side. The front of the basket has a lower edge than the back, so it fits under your seat.

None of that is particularly exciting, really. What makes the basket so keen is that it has a handle. This way you can quickly remove your basket, carry it through the market or take it into the grocery store, fill it up with stuff, carry it back out, and stick it back on your bike. In a country where groceries don't generally come with bags to carry them in, this is just great.

I knitted a cushion for the handle, to make it more friendly to the crook of my am and to help me recognize my bike in a crowd.

On the Road

It has been brought to my attention that some Cognoshantiites may not be aware of the fact that Vigo and Erik (and Sam) are on a cross-country road trip and that they are blogging from the road. Their trip blog is called On the Road with Vigo.

There's also another new blog in our family self-publishing universe. This one is meant mainly to help Vigo keep in touch with all his great friends back in Somerville after we're gone. It's called simply Vigo Brunar.

Trouble in Paradise

I think Ingunn forwarded me this video on Facebook (embedded because the title is a spoiler):

I found it both funny and sad. Also I didn't get the point of the ad, but it doesn't matter.

Ali G Interviews Noam Chomsky

Happy with Firefox RC1

Continue reading "Happy with Firefox RC1"

jwz's DNA lounge has a great uh, how you say, litote? legally-mandated understatement? not-saying warning? about his streamed mixtapes

Continue reading ""

Fractal Cookies

Our friend Eric sent me this great recipe today for fractal cookies. If you want your kid to grow up to be a genius, you must feed them fractal cookies.

Uncommon Typography

Somehow this morning I ended up looking at a page on Wikipedia that has a sidebar list of Typographical symbols, including "uncommon typography" which almost could be called "fantasy typography." My favorite among these is the irony mark.

I wonder why :) didn't make the cut. It deserves to be listed more than the interrobang. I wonder if there's a debate among wikipedia typography geeks about including :). Can a symbol make a crossover from emoticon to punctuation mark? I'd say it already has.

The Lost Drawings of George Wachsteter

The Lost Drawings of George Wachsteter 

A 30 Year Retrospective
March 10 - April 10, 2008
Lecture: March 28, 6-7 pm
Reception: March 28 7-9pm

Self-taught New York illustrator and caricaturist George Wachsteter drew extensively from 1937-1967 for the New York Times, the New York Herald, the New York Journal American, the New York World Telegram and for the NBC, ABC, and CBS Radio and Television Networks. Next to Al Hirschfeld, he was one of the most prodigious theatrical caricaturists working in New York during the '40s and '50s.

[More inside]

Continue reading "The Lost Drawings of George Wachsteter"

Do not panic for the storm

I was in Taiwan last week and was bothered, then intrigued, by a DPP song (lyrics) periodically blaring in the streets from small campaign trucks. It's in 6 different languages... An interesting romanization and translation challenge... Here's my attempt:

Continue reading "Do not panic for the storm"

Helvetica

Erik and I watched a documentary called Helvetica, about the famous font. Much of the film was about how Helvetica has become ubiquitous. I woke up the next morning wondering how much Helvetica I might have around the house, so I went poking around.

There isn't much, but there's more in the bathroom than there is in the kitchen, and more on magazine covers than anywhere else.

Continue reading "Helvetica"

Putting the lib back in Velib

Note: Some lunatic who's probably spent too much time watching the primaries sent me this text. I would have deleted it, but he threatened to puncture my tires, so here it is.

Vélib is a communist system. You don't own a bike, you just borrow it for a short time, then return it to the Borg-like collective. Scary? No doubt. What do you expect from a system first installed by Socialist mayors in La Rochelle, Rennes, and Lyon, and inspired by various Nordic or Germanic über-collectivist states like Holland and Denmark?

Continue reading "Putting the lib back in Velib"

Name That Flag

Vigo made these Lego representations of national flags. Can you tell which flags they are supposed to be?

Phone chatter

So I finally got a new phone...

Things I hate about my new Sony Ericsson K770i:
- too many things are different, even though I bought the same brand: memory card, cables, charger, battery, (still lousy) PC sync software
- the MIDI sounds worse than on my last phone, a Sony Ericsson V800
- can't point the camera at myself and see the screen
- the auto-lock thing (previous was a clamshell)
- can't turn on the flashlight or turn off music without going down the menus?
- two-year commitment to the phone operator

Things that are better:
- 3Mp camera: I can take readable pictures of book pages
- FM radio
- thinner and lighter
- zooming in and out of web pages
- Opera Mini works even better
- free karaoke app
- charges via USB
- Bluetooth stereo (haven't gotten headphones yet)
- can add a GPS enabler
- better Java, faster processor

Still good:
- fast 3G
- music, video
- calendar
- flashlight
- up to 2 Gig memory card

Things that wow me:
- Google Maps is faster and knows where I am without GPS
- TrackID tells me the title, album, and artist of *any* recorded song I hear!

Things I still wish for:
- bigger screen
- browsing with Chinese characters etc.
- TV tuner?
- Wifi (not that useful with unlimited 3G, but still)

I wonder if my next phone in a few years will be Android or Windows (Viigo?!) or Symbian or Apple or ?

$73,000 cell phone

The Nokia Vertu cell phone comes with a personal assistant. It's otherwise just a phone. Not a camera/ video recorder/ mp3 player / computer. This is for people who have other people look things up on the internet for them. People who have other people who photograph and videotape their lives for them. People who already have a personal assistant, but it's nice to have an extra one and hey, it comes with the phone.

This is a cell phone sold by jewelers (You can get one in Cambridge at Alpha Omega. Pictured here is the signature rose gold pink diamond edition.

In the New York Times when it came out in 2005.
(via the Continental inflight magazine)

Caucuses and Primaries

A few pieces of writing I found interesting:

"Pride and Palpitations", by blogger Lower Manhattanite (Members of an extended family at the same time all start being frightened for Obama during his victory speech in Des Moines. "- You think he's is wearing a vest?" The Iowa Democratic caucuses as seen by middle-class African-Americans in New York City)

"Fox's O'Reilly Gets Pushy at Obama Event", Jim Kuhnhenn, AP (Featuring the detailed blow-by-blow as seen from over the Senator's shoulder. This article is more interesting than it sounds, trust me: well worth the read.)

The Chris Rock New Year's Eve show at Madison Square Garden as excerpted by Adam Howard, AlterNet. A New Year's Eve gala delivers satirical gold: "Bush has made it hard for a white man to run for president." "Hillary keeps going on and on about her experience as first lady making her qualified to be president. Being married to someone doesn't make you experienced enough to do their job. I've been married to my wife for ten years and if she was up here right now y'all wouldn't laugh once." "Sometimes I feel like Barack forgets he's the black candidate in the race. He's running like he can win this shit fair and square." PEEK Editor Adam Howard adds some insightful comments, and you should read those too.