January 2010
41 posts
Loosely organized initial thoughts on the iPad
marco:
A lot of writers and journalists are expressing disappointment in the iPad because it didn’t live up to its insane hype. What’s most interesting to me is how unsurprising most of the launch was.
Most of us had some crazy ideas. John Gruber wanted Apple to reinvent mobile computing. I wanted Apple to reinvent portable input mechanics and novice usability. I think a lot of other people...
WatchAugmented (hyper)Reality: Domestic Robocop on Vimeo (via BLDGBLOG)
Augmented reality is a pretty awful phrase, and a pretty janky technology so far.
Certainly, there is no shortage of crappy futuristic videos showing us how we will interact with our environment, Minority Report-style, in the near future.
This is not a crappy one. This is a good one. You’ll like it.
1 tag
Watch2010 on Vimeo (via Vimeo)
A short film by Bastien Roger about the year ahead. It will certainly be a good year, should all these predictions come true.
1 tag
A Celebration of David Foster Wallace →
peterwknox:
Nine peers pay tribute with a talk or essay. Strong suggestion.
Amy Wallace-Havens is David’s sister. She is a deputy public defender in southern Arizona. Bonnie Nadell is vice president of Frederick Hill Bonnie Nadell Agency in Los Angeles. Gerry Howard is an executive editor at large for Doubleday. Colin Harrison is a novelist, and a vice president and senior editor at Scribner....
WatchMy Tokyo on Vimeo (via Vimeo)
I’ve never been to Tokyo. I once had a mad plan that I would live and/or study in Japan when I finished my degree, though.
That was before I knew what I wanted to do (sometimes I’m still not sure). I think I may have imagined I would spend all day eating exotic sushi, battling invading reptiles and owning a cute but stubbornly independent robot...
WatchA SHORT LOVE STORY IN STOP MOTION on Vimeo (via Vimeo)
Lovely, lovely, lovely.
1 tag
WatchBon Iver - Flume - Une soiree de Poche on Vimeo (via Vimeo)
I linked to Peter Gabriel’s cover of this yesterday - as I suspected, Justin & co’s live version here tramples all over it. Song starts about 2:50.
Matthew effect - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia →
Defined as the phenomenon where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
I’d never heard of this before. Why can’t I have given my name to a better adage/phenomenon?
I’d have preferred Hanlon’s razor, which is far more relevant.
(In fact, the entire Wikipedia section on Adages is worth a glance. Especially if you’re in the depths of a runaway project and...
Typenuts →
Get a typography-themed wallpaper for your iPhone.
3 tags
1 tag
“So tonight to shush you how about if I say I have administrative bones to pick...”
– dfw’s Infinite Jest. 40 pages in and I’m hooked.
WatchTallest man on earth - These Days (Nico Cover) - A Take Away Show on Vimeo (via Vimeo)
1 tag
“He is normal, and regular, and ordinary, and this is his extraordinary, and...”
– Dave Eggers, from his foreword to David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest
WatchMogwai - Mogwai Fear Satan on Vimeo (via Vimeo)
“Thought: Why does man kill? He kills for food. And not only food: frequently...”
– Woody Allen
The first time I read Without Feathers it was like a fucking bomb going off in my head. Not a feeling I’ve had many times before or since.
Digitiser - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia →
Oh Digi, how I miss thee.
I guess our friends in the US of States never had a teletext-like service. It was great - like the internet, if it was made out of Lego. I’d always start my day by eating my cereal, reading Digitiser, then flicking over to BBC’s Ceefax to read the football news in brief (page 312, fact fans). I’d even have a go at Bamboozle if I had a bit of spare time...
“My favourite riposte to a heckle is to say, ‘Excuse me, I’m trying...”
– Paul Merton
2 tags
A pizza the action
So, last night I made pizzas. The successful outcome was a first for me after having battled to get dough, sauce and toppings correct in previous experiments. In the misguided belief that you might be interested, here’s what I did. It’s not complicated or time-consuming at all.
NB: I can’t say I invented any of this - the recipe and method are cobbled together from various...
“I am not a political man and I have no political convictions. I am an individual...”
– Charlie Chaplin
1 tag
The Question: Is television holding back the... →
Jonathan Wilson is, to my eyes, the best football writer out there. Each of his articles (the series is called ‘The Question’) focuses on strategy, formation and teamwork - and, although written for a soccer audience, could be equally applicable to other team sports.
Here, Wilson makes the point that increased television exposure has raised a generation (or two) of soccer players as...
Oh, Lionel Hutz...
Lionel: Oh no, we've drawn Judge Schneider.
Marge: Is that bad?
Lionel: Well, he's had it in for me ever since I kinda ran over his dog.
Marge: You did?
Lionel: Yeah...if you replace the word "kinda" with "repeatedly" and the word "dog" with "son"...
Best Esquire Magazine Stories - Top Articles in... →
Having come to the ‘Frank Sinatra Has A Cold’ article through Instapaper/GMSTR, I’m looking forward to reading some more of Esquire’s best stories.
Many have said it before, and many have said it better, but Instapaper really has changed the way I read things on the internet and also how I keep track of things I want to read. Context is key, and by clicking that magical...
The Magic of the FA Cup is Dead to Me
It’s the third round of the FA Cup this weekend. For the uninitiated, this is a knockout competition contested by English football teams (y’know, soccer: feet, not hands). The third round is where the bigger teams enter the competition, the earlier stages having been played out by lower-league and non-league outfits. It is a weekend of fixtures eagerly anticipated - at least...