DoublePost

Shutting Down The Store

2005-01-25T23:13:00.000-05:00

Well, this was a fun experiment, but ultimately futile. I just can't find the time to do the many things I do, and this as well. If you go to my personal blog, I'll be incorporating everything that was here into there, only at a much slower frequency.

I still haven't given up on the idea of a linkfilter/newsfilter. But it would have to be a collaborative venture, probably around 5 or 7 people.

So, until I decide what to do with my namesake space, I suppose this will just sit fallow again until I come up with a better project.

Bye!

Weave a Wallet Out Of Money ... Money Not Included

2005-01-24T19:37:00.000-05:00

The directions, at first, look pretty easy.

But around Step 4, I find myself getting increasingly baffled by what is going on. There is also no word on whether this folding technique is compatible with other currencies. Not that it would matter, at the rate of the dollar's decline this wallet should be pretty affordable for anyone outside the US. Oh, and this wallet only features 1 pocket.
[via BoingBoing]

Murphy's Law

2005-01-15T23:13:00.000-05:00

Everything that can go wrong, will.

Like all great American scientific achievements, this too sprang from the cold war. And, to my great suprise, it turns out there really WAS a Murphy. And, besides that and the fact that Stapp populorized the phrase in an offhand remark in a press conference, everything else about the phrase is in dispute. Who deemed it a law, what was really said, how it came about; all in dispute (and leading to a feud too).

But don't listen to me tell it, I suck at stories. Check out the link instead (that's what it's there for).
[via MonkeyFilter]

The Command Line - With Annotations

2005-01-14T11:46:00.000-05:00

I first came across this several months ago, and it wasn't until I was deep in the article when I realized that this was in fact written several years ago. Many of the points made are still very valid, but with the progression of time, it appears that several statements or predictions are, predictibly, a bit off the mark.

However, I don't have the kind of free time to punch into the article and annotate it with current events. But, like I said before, the internet provides all. It's already been done for you. So enjoy the read, and try not to get bogged down in the editor's sidetracks. Some are fun, others are just pointless and a bit half baked.
[via MonkeyFilter]

checkers

2005-01-14T10:41:00.000-05:00

checkers
Originally uploaded by thebaboon.

Yes, yet another rain inspired post. But only because the world is coming to an end, here on the East Coast, and despite my best efforts I cannot round up the requisite animals two by two.

Somebody call the government and tell them the weather machine is broken.

20 Monkeys with Hats ... and 1 Squid

2005-01-13T18:35:00.000-05:00

Somehow, I would not have expected a simple painting of a monkey with a hat to be so ... melancholy. Or thought provoking either. And yet, despite the insanely high price, and lack of wall space, I find myself seriously considering purchasing one of this fellow's paintings.

It's good stuff.
[via MonkeyFilter archives]

Close up of the Buddhist Temple seen through the fog at Cheonjeyeon

2005-01-13T15:03:00.000-05:00

Close up of the Buddhist Temple seen through the fog at Cheonjeyeon
Originally uploaded by zafe.

Today is foggy, which describes my mood (not to mention the actual weather).

I can't see anything ahead of me except for rough outlines. Nothing is really clear except whaat I have just in front of my nose. I can't go ahead too fast or I'll crash into something.

Quite an apt analogy, today's weather is.

Real Estate in the City is No Easy Thing

2005-01-13T10:29:00.000-05:00

It goes without saying that real estate in New York City is a difficult thing to navigate. There are plenty of horror stories, even amongst the people who are relatively happy with their arrangements (see caoine.org).

It's always good to have some sage advice beforehand, and that's just what you get, without the too much of the realestate geekery like at curbed.com
[via gothamist]

Pikachu Collection - aka Why I Fear Livejournal

2005-01-12T21:25:00.000-05:00

Let's say you happen to like a certain children's cartoon.
Nothing wrong there, maybe a bit of scolding from your parents.

Let's say you like a certain furry yellow character from the show.
Again, nothing wrong there, as the merchandizing is clearly built around that chracter.

Let's say you collect some of the products.
Well, people do that. So long it isn't all too obsessive, no big deal.

Let's say you have this collection which you feature in your Livejournal
Be very very afraid. VERY afraid
[via Metafilter]

Liquid Abstract 014

2005-01-12T17:35:00.000-05:00

Liquid Abstract 014
Originally uploaded by ppdigital.

The theme for the past week has been rain rain and more rain.

I figured I'd share some of our watery misery with the world.

We Love You El Guapo! The Adventures of Cat Town

2005-01-12T16:28:00.000-05:00

Just more proof that, besides porn, the internets is all about cats.

A cross between cat love and campy parody, someone with too much free time has taken pictures of cats in costumes, ripped from a Japanese cat clothing company (http://www.petoffice.co.jp/catprin/english/), and reprocessed them with simple text dialogue to produce the many episodes of Cat Town. Love it or hate it ... or both at once, this is truely what the internet was made for.

Oh, and I too am married to the sea. I must go now.
[via MonkeyFilter archives]

The Internet Sucks! Down With HTML!

2005-01-10T16:20:00.000-05:00

If you would like to read a nice long article filled with fanciful ideas, no practical solutions, and completely misses the point behind the communications revolution that passed on by, then this will be a good read.

html, not xml, xhtml, W3C compliant html, or even CSS, is king. None of these other formats, or any of the other magic but unspecified formats that are mentioned would have ever taken off. And I know this because I still remember gopher.

gopher was great. It has a search engine, Veronica (or archie or something archie comic related), and it had content. Real content. You could find out all sorts of useful information via gopher, quickly and logically. It was the best. And well into the web revolution, I relied on gopher as my primary information source up to the day they shut that bad boy down.

But gopher had two fatal flaws. Gopher didn't have pictures. And nobody knew how to put gopher information up there. html, on the other hand, could do both easily. Just drop everything in the right directory, write a small 10 line text file, and you were good to go. All you really needed to memorize were 5-10 tags, and you could get a decent working page going. Nothing fancy, and tables never worked right, but you could still make it all go. And more importantly, you didn't need a CS degree or the programmer's obsessive mindset to make it work.

And this is the point that a lot of people miss. Simplicity meant accessability, which in turn begat content, more content then you could shake a fist at. If you keep it simple, people will use it, and everyone benefits. It's why the Chinese tossed out millions of characters to simplify the language, it's why you can order a #9 at McDonalds and always get correct change, it's why your car has a starter key and an automatic transmission. And it's why html still runs the web.

Sure automated web services can take over all the old tasks. Heck, I'm coding this in Blogger, not by hand like some fanatics. But invariably, it sill breaks, and you'll have to pop open the hood to fix it. And being able to fix it means you'll most likely use it more often. And html is relatively easy to fix compared to everything else.

I mean, Bill IS right. The html world is buggy and hacked to death. And there are better ways of delivering your specific data. But then you have to hire or train guys to specialize in only that data. You cut yourself off from the wider pool of talent out there. One only has to look at game consoles and OS wars to see that in action. The winning game console is the one that attracts more games=developers=talent. Likewise the winning OS is the one attracting more applications=developers=talent. Being a better OS isn't why Linux or OS X or html will one day conquer Windows, it'll be the shortage of VB programmers that will sound the death knell. And note, while everybody looks down on VB, VB is what programs applications.

html is king because it attracts the widest pool of talent: ANYBODY. All you need are 10 tags, 10 minutes to memorize said tags, and maybe 1 day to get the tag mentality (put stuff inside tags), and you can program html. It'll look like crap, but you can program. Add some cut and paste skills to use the wide codebase of javascript out there (another deceptively simple but powerful language), and you are good to go. Anybody can do it. Everybody DID do it. And that's why everybody flocked to the net, and that's why Microsoft turned on a dime (which is actually nothing short of a miracle) and bet the farm and risked an anti-trust bustup. Because html was simple and yet powerful.

He is right. The complexity is slowly spiraling out of control. The ways you have to bend over backwards for compatability, the hacking, the way things are slapped together with spit and duct tape. The resulting applications are slower and less robust then the desktop predessesors they replace. The communication between computers and applications is not ideal. Specialized functions and industry/application specific protocols will take over back end functions. And the rest will all be swept away and replaced, probably by something really really really simple (probably camera phone based).

In the meantime, instead of having a news site delivering "text, images, audio and even video through a program designed for the purpose", we have a hundred thousand news sites inefficiently delivering each and all. Instead of having "a shopping site [that] could build its own shopping cart and checkout" (What would that mean? A desktop application for every store?), you can check out a millions shopping sites, and ebay too, with just one tool (FireFox, of course). And instead of "information services [that] would advertise their contents", we have Google bring us only the information we want. Instead of a closed system with information and commerce strictly regulated on seperate channels, we decided to bid Prodigy and America Online goodbye for the rough and tumble World Wide Web instead.

I think we will manage to survive a little while longer.
[via kottke]

Interview

2005-01-10T16:13:00.000-05:00

Interview
Originally uploaded by Hjem.

Oops. Spoke too soon. Yet another interviewee.

"All ready for my interview last Friday. I clean up good, don't I?"
- Hjem

Yes, Hjem, yes you do.

Pre-Interview

2005-01-10T16:10:00.000-05:00

Pre-Interview
Originally uploaded by thecreatrus.

In keeping with the thread that everybody at flick has a job, this is the only picture I can find of someone, anyone, preparing for an interview.

The Peril of Doc Ock

2005-01-09T17:11:00.000-05:00

As per my previous post, films are better when done with Lego.

This time an officially sanctioned parody, but still a fanastic film nonetheless. I particularily enjoyed the fact that it was all non-verbal. Like an old black and white movie, all the emotion was expressed through the music. Lots of piano goodness.

I, however, was none too enamoured with the alternate ending.

Man + Time + Kids = BattleMech

2005-01-08T17:18:00.000-05:00

I tells ya, when I was young I just pined for a small sturdy tree to put a fort in. Nothing fancy, roof optional. Of course, living in an apartment in NYC kida put the kaibosh on that idea.

However, these kids are lucky enough to have a dad and friends that have:
a) Time to spare
b) Wood
c) A nice garage and a big yard
d) Welding skillz
e) Patient patient wives.

And the result, of course, is the coolest scale model BattleMech this side of the Azures.
[via Metafilter archives]

Restaurant Week 2005

2005-01-07T20:20:00.000-05:00

The idea of great cheap food is a good thing.
It's the best idea since sliced bread.
I don't really have the budget to go crazy during restaurant week, and I am surely defeating the purpose as I neer ever go back and pay full price. But, that being said, one should not miss this opportunity to enjoy good eating.

(Beware, tho, if you are a volume eater, you WILL be disappointed by portion size)

sometimes we just get wacky on fridays ...

2005-01-07T19:46:00.000-05:00

sometimes we just get wacky on fridays ...
Originally uploaded by bunchofpants.

'nuff said.

Rise of the Empire

2005-01-07T10:14:00.000-05:00

As usual, feature films are better when translated into fanfick lego. I haven't seen a blessed thing about Revenge of the Sith, but I can already tell you hands down that Rise of the Empire is a better title.

I do have to caveat that the ending of the fanflick is a bit anticlimatic. Stronger editing would have helped. Nonetheless, this oldie but goodie rocks.

Sadly, I'll probably enjoy it more then the real film
[via Metafilter archives]

Movable Hype 1.5

2005-01-06T20:25:00.000-05:00

Short notice on this one, so I can't be sure to make it. But the first show was pretty fly, got a lot of good pics from it, and the free drink didn't hurt. (OK, it did, but in a good way)

And, as usual, the money goes to charity, so who wouldn't like that.

Tree on Citadel Hill

2005-01-06T14:11:00.000-05:00

Tree on Citadel Hill
Originally uploaded by Chris Campbell.

We haven't gotten any major snow.
It hasn't been very cold.

I think the government has cancelled winter along the East Coast.

The Magic 8-Ball ... Revealed!

2005-01-06T09:21:00.000-05:00

Remember that Friends episode where Ross takes apart the Magic 8-Ball to find out why, WHY it was refusing to cooperate with him and his decision about Emily and Rachel (yes, yes, I know, I watch too much TV, get over it)?

Well, thanks to the internet, you too can find out the true secret of the Magic 8-Ball.

Not safe for those who enjoy their mystery.
[via MonkeyFilter archives]

The First Rule of Marco Beach Ocean Resort is That You Don't Talk About Marco Beach Ocean Resort

2005-01-05T21:40:00.000-05:00

Although not as boneheadingly stupid as the Greater Toronto Airport Authority's request, apparently even mentioning the Marco Beach Ocean Resort is illegal. Not linking to the website, or writing a review, just the mere collection of words Marco, Beach, Ocean, and Resort in a particular order (for instance, Ocean Resort Beach Marco should be OK).

Better yet, they want to keep this little fact secret by copyrighting the cease and desist letter, so that it cannot be publicly posted. I'm no lawyer, but I don't think that last part is allowable. I was under the impression that legal documents, especially legal notices, were part of the public record. But then, I am no lawyer.
[via BoingBoing]

Everybody Has A Job On Flickr But Me

2005-01-05T16:31:00.000-05:00

So, to keep up my routine of posting at least one Flickr image a day (And only CC licensed photos, as I don't want to tread on people's copyright. Actually, I am part of the crowd that believes sharing is a good thing, and would like to encourage more photobloggers to use the CC license. And posting all these CC flickr images is my small way of rewarding people that CC license, by trying to get them a little more exposure, but only a little more as evidenced by my traffic stats.), I was going to post a picture along the theme along of being laid off or unemployment.

But, lo and behold, flickr has nothing along those lines. Nothing, not even non-cc licensed pics.

How strange.

The tsunami in Asia

2005-01-05T11:46:00.000-05:00

The tsunami in Asia
Originally uploaded by www.jacobW.com.

American Red Cross International Response Fund
1-800-HELP NOW
www.redcross.org

Whack the Penguin

2005-01-05T10:15:00.000-05:00

The link is, apparently, now dead. But you've already seen and enjoyed the flash game where you whack the penguin and see just how far you can get him to fly. You must have, because EVERYBODY has played the whack the penguin game by now.

What I find funny is that:
a) Mathowie makes the sin of a doublepost.
b) Nobody gets all snarky on him for it.

You know if this was one of the $5'ers making that mistake they'd be eaten alive, ALIVE by the self appointed doublepost police. So I find the civility rather humerous. I guess on the web, all posters are not created equally.
[via Metafilter]

Rainy season

2005-01-04T11:53:00.000-05:00

Rainy season
Originally uploaded by pinwheel.

It's still raining here on the East Coast.

But, as I used to say up in Michigan all the time, at least it ain't snowing.

Rubik's Astor Cube

2005-01-04T10:34:00.000-05:00

Imagine trying to solve this cube.

Actually, the Astor Place Cube (Alamo) is a lot of fun, as it still can spin. You have to apply a lot of pressure, and having a drunken friend helps, but it still spins. Not as smoothly as its cousin Endeavor, back at the Ann Arbor University of Michigan campus, but it spins nonetheless.

Jenny 867-5309 or The Internet Answers All Questions

2005-01-03T21:45:00.000-05:00

Back during the Dark Ages (pre-1996), if you had a question, you were screwed. SCREWED!
You had to ask your friends (they're all morons), or your parents (all they know is that you apparently have too much free time, should study harder to become a doctor, and what you're doing in that locked bathroom), or your teachers (sometimes helpful ... sometimes). But it didn't matter. Nobody would ever have the answer.

The only recourse would be to hop on over to the library. Beg the librarian, when she (possibly he, but in my experience a she) wasn't telling you to be quiet, for a clue on what possible source you could look up to find your answer.

Encyclopedias were a good, if rudimentary start. Thankfully computerized mainframe terminals spared you the hell of card catalogs. CD catalogs of newspaper articles were a good bet, but led to a lot of false positives. And then there were books. Lots and lots of books. Setting up base camp in the stacks, skimming books by using the index to do keyword searches. Shaking your fist at Jonas Henderson, who had just checked out the book you were sure had just the right information you needed.

And, after a few days of diligent searching, you would still be SCREWED!

At this point you would then have to break out a piece of paper and some pencils, and do the math/logic/calculating yourself. Or at least lay out the blueprints for the physical experiments that would be needed to figure out the answer. You'd ruin a few fingers with your poor hammering skills, waste lots of good wood and baking soda, and you'd still be SCREWED!

Now, of course, you just have to google, and the magicalastic internet brings you everything your heart desires (and porn too!).

For instance, if you wanted to know what would happen if you dialed 867-5309 in your area code, because, frankly, you are an idiot with too much time on your hands, you'd just have to go ahead and do it. What about in New Mexico? Does it work in New Mexico? Time to go to the library, find a New Mexico area code, and hand over Ma Bell a giant chunk of cash.

Now, of course, someone has done all the work for you. and you can find it on the internet. So, look up the link, put down the phone, and, btw, we know what you are doing in that locked bathroom so cut it out right now.
[via MonkeyFilter]

Foggy day at work

2005-01-03T12:50:00.000-05:00

Foggy day at work
Originally uploaded by elfintech.

I don't have nearly a nice view out of my window, but it is nearly as overcast and wet.

*shakes fist at clouds*

Merger = Layoff

2005-01-03T11:13:00.000-05:00

In case you missed the takeaway message from the 1990's, the tech crash of 2001, or any geek blog within the past 2 years, merger always means layoff.

Usually precipitated by complete collapse in product quality and questionable ethics.

But, in case you need yet another tale of woe, a little story about TechTV, The Screen Savers, and G4.

How To Speed Up FireFox ... Almost

2005-01-02T23:00:00.000-05:00

Like a wildefire, this has to be the most blogged about story for the weekend, even trumping that whole New Year thing.

Essentially, by making a few minor text edits, you can tweak FireFox to run even faster, especially if you have a broadband connection.

What I find even more fun is tracking back where this idea first started from.
New as I can tell, it originated at hitormiss.org, spread to LYD, then to BoingBoing, before moving to the blue, and then to MonkeyFilter, probably making a little detour at /. along the way. Whew! That's a lot of traveling for a meme.

Anyway, here are slightly more graphics friendly instructions: CreativeBits: Speed up Firefox
And, of course, an explanation why this might not help (and possibly fark you up along the way) from the FireFox team:
adot's notblog*: how to speed up firefox?
[via hitormiss.org]

Midnight... at long last!

2005-01-02T22:54:00.000-05:00

Midnight... at long last!
Originally uploaded by M A X.

You don't need Times Square, Dick Clark, or some crystal ball dropping to celebrate the New Year. A watch or clock of some sort would help, tho.

Eyelets: Back To The Future

2005-01-02T21:11:00.000-05:00

I recall using one of these stapleless fastener machines way back in my youth, and that wasn't too long ago (early 80's). However, like all other competing technologies, it too died off in the face of the metal magazine stapler. Or rather, the fact that staples are the best fastner which can be removed and still allow functional sheet feeding photocopying.

In any case, as with any technology (see pixel sharing and Apple IIe), what was once old is now new again, and you can buy a staple-less paper fastener for cheap.

I may actually buy one to use to secure the skins of my dumplings, as my current technique of using a little bit of egg yolk is not working as well as I would hope.

For more of the future, I suggest also checking out the
Early Office Museum wing on Staplers and other paper fasteners.
[via BoingBoing]

A Year to Watch

2004-12-31T16:06:00.000-05:00

A Year to Watch
Originally uploaded by hodge.

Sorry for the poor posting on all my blogs. It's been a hectic end of year.

I'm now officially laid off.

It's not a terrible thing, I suppose it really is just a new new beginning.

But a paycheck would be nice.

Embed This Font

2004-12-31T13:48:00.000-05:00

Microsoft is evil.

Their primary innovation is being able to take somebody else's product, make it worse, and then (and this is the genius part) making you pay exorbitant sums for it AND make it indispensable to boot.

Microsoft is evil.

But ...

If you want to embed fonts in web pages, their "tweak" of Netscape 4's technique is the only surviving way to get that done. You can always use sIFR instead, but this way you don't have to deal with flash.

Have Yourself a Socialist Christmas

2004-12-28T15:09:00.000-05:00

A pretty entertaining read from, of all places, the Socialist Review (from, suprise suprise, the UK). A nice over the top short story on the privatization of Christmas, and a rose colored glasses rendition of the anarachist rebellion against it. The first part, up until when they step out to go to YuleCo is cute. The rest you can skim and not really miss anything.

And, of course, the True Meaning Of Christmas is revealed in all of it's glory. It's about independence, it's about freedom, it's about not being commercialized or bought by The Man.

Silly me, I thought it was about Baby Jesus.
[via BoingBoing]

rakka makes flickr

2004-12-28T11:36:00.000-05:00

rakka makes flickr
Originally uploaded by leff.

There's still snow on the ground, and it is powdery since the cold has been so ... cold.

Just thought I'd share both my love of flickr and how cold it is out here.

The Past Was In Black And White

2004-12-28T10:50:00.000-05:00

The czar's photographer wanted to take color photographs. The technology only allowed for black and white glass plates. Thanks to a stroke of genius, he made color slides using color filters and black and white plates. He took three seperate photographs in quick succession using three color filters. Then, to display the picture, he would show them as slides through the three original filters, combining the picture into a single color image. Sort of like what and LCD projector does.

Naturally, the negatives have been scanned and remastered to recreate the original color photographs. And let me tell you, Russia in the 1900's is a very colorful place indeed. Some of the portraiture is simply stunning. This guy had a great eye, and the use of color just makes him a genius.

Of course, over on the blue, the only thing that matters is that this is a doublepost, and petty squabbling ensues.
[via Metafilter]

The metal bucket

2004-12-27T13:57:00.000-05:00

The metal bucket
Originally uploaded by krisandapril.

It hasn't really snowed all that hard here in NYC. But it has snowed appreciably. Enough to require light shoveling, salt, all the good stuff.

And, until you have to shovel it, it is beautiful. Not as beautiful as this bucket full of snow, but it hold it's own.

It's a Wonderful, Anacronistic, Life

2004-12-27T09:39:00.000-05:00

When I was in Korea, I couldn't help but notice the rapid change of pace. 13 years ago, when I last went over, it was still crossing the bridge between being a developing country and becoming a developed country. Now, of course, for the most part it makes my native New York seem like the third world, as everything is shiny and new and clean.

And yet, I'm sure if one were to use colloquial terms from the countryside, or make a farming reference, a sizeable portion of the population would understand.

Such was the case, I believe, when Frank Capra's masterpiece It's a Wonderful Life was released into theatres. The Depression wasn't too long ago, and the mass urbaniztion of the country was still very much in motion. As former farmers, audiences would have had no trouble in getting the reference to "I don't know you from Adam's Off Ox!". The meaning would be crystal clear. The context still provides meaning, Martini doesn't know George Bailey. But the emphasis provided by "Adam's Off Ox" would surely resonate.

I, of course, am totally lost. Thankfully, the internet provides for all.

Gunstar Heroes

2004-12-26T23:25:00.000-05:00

My second favorite arcade, and perhaps my third favorite game of all time.

it featured a plot you actually cared about, but didn't really get in the way. It featured innovative weapons and fighting systems. It was a side scroller, which you really can't beat. The graphics are simply stunning, espcially considering the hardware it's running on. And EVERYTHING explodes!

Seriously, go out, ebay a Sega Genesis and get this game. It's that good.

Oh, and buy me one too while you're there.

Shopping

2004-12-26T18:01:00.000-05:00

Shopping
Originally uploaded by stevegarfield.

I didn't make it to the malls today. But I hope you did. You know, to do your part to help out the economy and all.

Christmas + Economists = Scrooge

2004-12-25T10:07:00.000-05:00

Sorry, no posting today. I'm taking the day off to open presents, watch Yule Log, go to church, and possibly spend time relaxing with the family.

But, as I sit and enjoy my Christmas candy, I thought this little economic analysis was interesting, especially since it is wrong in my case.

I usually get as gifts things that I would never ever get for myself. And I value everything I get, much more highly then I do stuff I get myself. I can't bear to regift, and I try to use whatever I'm given to maddeningly lengths. I can't stand gifts of cash, and frankly I'd be more appreciative of $25 of frozen burritos then a $25 gift card. Christmas, as far as I'm concerned, is not "wealth reducing"

But, then, what do economists know. I'll bet nobody gives them gifts anyway.

[via Metafilter archives]

st. patricks

2004-12-25T00:48:00.000-05:00

st. patricks
Originally uploaded by Ben McLeod.

You would think that somewhere on the web, there would be a schedule of the Christmas holiday events at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. At the very least, a website about the annual WPIX televised Midnight Mass.

You'd be wrong.

The Name Is Log. Yule Log.

2004-12-24T20:05:00.000-05:00

As a small child, I hated Yule Log.

It was dull, the music cheesy, and it just reminded me that my family wasn't home to celebrate Christmas with me (*shakes fist at work*).

But, as I grow older, nothing tugs at the memories of youth and the feeling of childhood like a log. Burning. On TV. With music.

And it's a nice hip rejection of the capitalistic crap that Christmas has become; while appealing to the religious side of me, as it's a magnificant celebration of Christmas.

But in the end, it's just a log. On TV. Burning. And, besides possibly the laundry swirling in the dryer, what could be more mesmerizing to watch?

I love Yule Log.

Welcome to The Yule Log.net!
WPIX present Flash Yule Log
(because you can't get enough Yule Log links)

[via metafilter archives]

Christmas can be easy once you take the little baby Jesus.

2004-12-24T10:58:00.000-05:00

I'm still looking for a really old article about Vietnam, and how, in their quest to convert to a more capitalist society ala China, they were approriating Christmas as Fat Red Man Gift Day, or something similar.

However, until I find it, enjoy this neat little bit about how Japan has, apparently, taken the heart out of the holiday. And, as typical for Japan, turned it into something hilariously wrong.

So, so wrong.

[via Metafilter]

A Festivus for the Rest Of Us!

2004-12-23T14:33:00.000-05:00

IMG_1641
Originally uploaded by Mr D Logan.

My Festivus celebration was NOTHING like this. And, while I always enjoy woman + dancing + pole, I don't think this is in the spirit of Festivus at all.

Where are the Feats of Strength? The Airing of Grievences? And really, couldn't you go to Home Depot and get yourself a real aluminum pole?

Well, have yourself a good Festivus. I'll be at the mall fighting over a Care Bear for my brother.

Work According to Viceland: Careers Are Overrated

2004-12-23T14:17:00.000-05:00

Saw this in the blue quite some time ago, and thought that most of it was crap.

Worse then crap, actually. While mildly amusing, in a lame Adam Sandler sort of way, this list is just chock full of what is not the best of the Internet.

So, of course, I find myself constantly referring to this list. Having to search the blue over and over again, querying google with ill formed phrases that are nowhere near correct, all in a monthly quest to reference the part about careers.

[via MetaFilter archives]

pre christmas shopping

2004-12-23T11:43:00.000-05:00

pre christmas shopping
Originally uploaded by urbandiscount.

Only two more shopping days until Christmas!

*panics*

The Story of Audion

2004-12-23T10:32:00.000-05:00

It's funny, this interweb.

It was originally started as a way to link citations in scientific papers. And yet, nobody cites sources. Popup boxes are real useful for adding in additional minor notes, and yet it's used almost soley for advertising now.

If you want to see what the brave new future was supposed to be like (and simultaneously read an interesting story of what happened to the brave new world), this is a perfect read.

Some quick takeaway notes from the article:
1) Don't cry for Justin Frankel or the rest of the Nullsoft team. Their baby is dead, but they're also mad mad rich. Ditto on Blogger.

2) If the beheamoth of your industry knocks on your door for an appointment, drop EVERYTHING and take the meeting! It worked for Bill Gates (He was IBM's second choice, their first choice was too busy.), it'll work for you. Unless you like watching the market crush your product into the ground.

3) Proprietary is bad. The ongoing battle of mp3 players between Audion, SoundJam, and MacAmp produced nothing but better and better software. But once the proprietary iPod database and encryption comes along and makes doing business impossible (and possibly illegal), a perfectly great piece of software needs to be retired. It will not be suprising if stagnation of the iTunes player quickly follows.

4) The Panic team broke lesson #2 above ... again. Expect iFTP in stores soon.

[via kottke]

Whatever Happened to May*star?

2004-12-22T18:53:00.000-05:00

For those of you just joining the internets, may*star is the queen of blog templates.

If you are looking for a blogger, MT, or other template to use, she's probably already made it. She also does lots of other stuff, like sing, shoot pictures, write moody blogs, etc. She's (apparently) poor. Looking at her pictures, she looks like the ugly pretty girl from any teen comedic flick circa 2002. You know, where you take off the glasses and wash the hair and suddenly she's a diva. She's happy and sad at once, and nobody understands her. Which, in my brief experience, means she's your average girl (I so don't understand any of them.). She's got technical chops that make me seeth with envy, and more free time then I understand. I'm convinced she's really the invention of a 5 person team of viral marketing experts, secretly working for Sprite.

But in any case, I had long since forgotten all about her. Good to see that, like Sorority Chick, she's still around.

Kottke Nails Gothamist on the Head

2004-12-22T18:32:00.000-05:00

Kottke is a good light read. I often wonder how he manages to find all the interesting things he finds. I mean, outside of MeFi, Gothamist, and a bit of /., I know that's where caoine finds her links generally. But kottke, I'm not sure yet.

[/derail]

In any case, Kottke rates the web, and is honest in that it's a totally random biased rating system. But he pretty much nails Gothamist on the head. When Jen's not posting, it's lost a little bit of it's soul (and it doesn't bring the funny). And it is amazing that she's kept it up this long.

plastic

2004-12-22T11:24:00.000-05:00

plastic
Originally uploaded by dasonic.

Since it is the holidays, I thought this visual reminder not to get too deep into short term debt would be a good thing.

Happy ~~Shopping~~ Holidays!

Don't Eat It Steve!

2004-12-22T10:54:00.000-05:00

Saw this nice link over on MonkeyFilter. Steve eats stuff you don't want to, and then blogs about it in a humerous fashion. It's quite entertaining.
However, 8 comments in, and spaceCoyote called it out as a MeFi doublepost.

This, of course, meant that I had to race to post this up here as fast as possible.
[via MonkeyFilter]

Go Holly 4

2004-12-21T11:28:00.000-05:00

Go Holly 4
Originally uploaded by Art Ascii (Paul).

What is up with the jumping? Is this some meme I'm missing?

elston also seems to be a jumping documentarian, but sadly his photos are not Creative Commons tagged, so I won't link to them here, but you can look for him in flickr.

The First Rule Of Blogs Is That You Never Talk About Blogs

2004-12-20T23:20:00.000-05:00

In a hardly new nor greatly enlightening piece in the New York Times Magazine, this past Sunday, a rather short article covered the internal conversations most bloggers have with themselves, and nearly every blog over 1 year has covered as well.

As usual, mostly the big populor blogs were covered (Wonkette, as usual, rates yet another mention in The Grey Lady, as opposed to say, any of the billions of blogs on blogspot.com or Xanga), it was all about sex, and for all of it's shortcomings it was all the blogsphere was buzzing about for a day and a half. If you'd like to read more serious discussion on the topic, as well as first person informed opinions, I'd recommend reading any of the comments on Metafilter, BoingBoing, Monkeyfilter, or any other blog related website (heck, I'm sure even /. has a good discussion going).

In any event, this is a doublepost if there was ever any one.

Burger Joint

2004-12-20T18:09:00.000-05:00

It took me forever to find this place, but having done so I can say that it is a great place to sit and have a nice unpretentious burger, that tastes like a burger.

Don't get me wrong, I love Wendy's, and to a lesser extent the BK and McD's, and I have a nostalgic love of White Castle. But sometimes you just want a burger that tastes like a classic burger. And Burger Joint is a great way to get that, for a decent price, expecially in midtown.

Of course, now that the secret is out, everybody and their aunt is lining up to get some, and even the secret location is no longer quite so hard to find. But I still recommend you stop on by and take a gander, at the very least.

[via th Gothamist archives]

snowy.

2004-12-20T15:57:00.000-05:00

snowy.
Originally uploaded by misscaro.

It hasn't snowed this much yet here in the coastal Northeast, but the cold certainly feels like winter has finally arrived.

How to Make The Most Out of Conferences

2004-12-20T10:58:00.000-05:00

Now if they could only come up with a may to make meeting both productive and useful, we'd all be set for life.

[via the kottke archives]

So That's How You Write Promotional Copy

2004-12-19T21:34:00.000-05:00

Considering that I have 4 blogs, 2 photoblogs, and a personal web page (circa 1999 to boot), you would figure I would have figured out the art of writing some sort of promotional copy.

You figured wrong. But, thanks to this classic gem from LYD, I can learn how.

[from the LYD archives]

Don't Tell Mom

2004-12-19T13:30:00.000-05:00

It's so overlinked, and yet oh so funny, that I had to include it for today. The classic tale of what happens when Mom finds son's blog. Much hilarity ensues.

(Of course, being The Onion, it's all fiction.)

Still Looking For NCSA Mosaic 2.0a?

2004-12-18T20:45:00.000-05:00

I love old software. I can't stand how old software doesn't run on new hardware. But things like this really geek me out. If you were looking for an old version of a web browser, then, my friend, this is the place for you.

[via the Metafilter archives]

Good Web Design = Sales = PROFIT!

2004-12-18T20:41:00.000-05:00

Because the blindingly obvious doesn't become The Truth until it becomes a feature story in a magazine. What the mur were we thinking about back in 1999?
(Oh, and I think the IBM website layout still sucks.)

[via the Metafilter archives]

on the train

2004-12-18T20:30:00.000-05:00

on the train,
originally uploaded by killthebird.

killthebird, joe's nyc, and the ubiquitous bluejake were two of approximately 40 photobloggers at the NYC Transit photography ban protest.

Couldn't make it? Want to protest the ban anyway? Send an email via: http://mta-nyc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/mta_nyc.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php?p_prod_lvl1=2&p_cat_lvl1=43

squirrel

2004-12-18T04:19:00.000-05:00

squirrel,
originally uploaded by slala.

Too ... cute ... must ... resist ...

*head explodes*

Also check out her dog and cat impressions in her photostream.

Another Photosharing Site

2004-12-17T23:08:00.000-05:00

Picture M looks somewhat interseting, especially the pop-up viewer.

Change in Direction

2004-12-16T23:53:00.000-05:00

I think it's time to change the direction of thise site.

My template will always be around, but perhaps it's time to refocus the brand, make it stand for something. Especially since I've stopped using Hello, which is what this site was supposed to showcase (how one can easily use this modified blogger template and Hello to create a quick and dirty photoblog).

I think I'll probably transition this into my little version of Ernie's (or caoine's) sidebar, or a really crappy copy of kottke.

Only I'm going to use really old links and flickr (hmm, so it's a lot more similar to kottke then I planned). Because nothing infuriates me more then people yelling doublepost in metafilter, when I haven't seen the cool thing before. And I've been dying to link up some cute ~~cat~~ artsy pictures I see in Flickr.

I'll try to fit the minor tweaks this weekend.

Bamboo

2004-06-29T02:05:00.000-04:00

All pictures copyright Gene Han, licensed via creative commons attribution license. See my photoblog for more.

Stuff

2004-06-29T02:03:00.000-04:00

Another photo

2004-06-29T02:00:00.000-04:00

Pretty picture

2004-06-29T01:09:00.001-04:00

your posts will need either titles or content, pics alone will not do

2004-06-29T01:09:00.000-04:00

Source Code

2004-06-27T09:43:00.000-04:00

cut and paste this code into your blogger template
Note that this is the OLD CODE for use with blogger and Hello.

New code for use with blogger and Flickr coming soon.

_______________________________________________________________

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">
<head>
<title><$BlogPageTitle$></title>

<$BlogMetaData$>



<style type="text/css">

/*
Blogger Template Style
Name: TicTac Photoblogger
Author: Gene Han aka LarimdaME
URL: http://LarimdaME.blogspot.com
Date: 29 June 2004

A modified template (hacked to bits by a guy that doesn't know any CSS) based on the TicTac template by Dan Cederholm
Use/modify as much as you like, but please include all attribution.

Original template info:

Blogger Template Style
Name: TicTac
Author: Dan Cederholm
URL: www.simplebits.com
Date: 1 March 2004
*/

/* ---( page defaults )--- */

body {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;
font-size: 80%;
text-align: center;
color: #333;
background: #e0e0e0;
}

blockquote {
margin: 0 0 0 30px;
padding: 10px 0 0 20px;
font-size: 88%;
line-height: 1.5em;
color: #666;
background: url(http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/quotes.gif) no-repeat top left;
}

blockquote p {
margin-top: 0;
}

abbr, acronymn {
cursor: help;
font-style: normal;
border-bottom: 1px dotted;
}

code {
color: #f63;
}

hr {
display: none;
}

img {
border: none;
}

/* unordered list style */

ul {
list-style: none;
margin: 0 0 20px 30px;
padding: 0;
}

li {
list-style: none;
padding-left: 14px;
margin-bottom: 3px;
background: url(http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif) no-repeat 0 6px;
}

/* links */

a:link {
color: #69c;
}

a:visited {
color: #666699;
}

a:hover {
color: #693;
}

a:active {
color: #cc3333;
text-decoration: none;
}

/* ---( layout structure )---*/

#wrap {
width: 847px;
margin: 0 auto;
text-align: left;
background: url(http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tile.gif) repeat-y;
}

#content {
margin-left: 62px; /* to avoid the BMH */
}

#main-content {
float: left;
width: 460px;
margin: 20px 0 0 0;
padding: 0;
line-height: 1.5em;
}

#sidebar {
margin: 0 41px 0 547px;
padding: 20px 0 0 0;
font-size: 85%;
line-height: 1.4em;
color: #999;
/* background: url(http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/sidebar_bg.gif) no-repeat 0 0; */
}

/* ---( header and site name )--- */

#blog-header {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS";
background: #e0e0e0 url(http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/top_div.gif) no-repeat top left;
width:847px;

}

#blog-header h1 {
font-weight:normal;
border-bottom:dotted 1px #e0e0e0;
font-size:85%;
text-align:right;
margin: 0;
padding: 9px 50px 15px 160px;
color: #fff;
text-shadow: #81A75B 2px 2px 2px;
background: url(http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/top_h1.gif) no-repeat bottom left;
}

#blog-header a.blogtitle {
font-size:120%;
text-decoration: none;
color: #fff;
}

#blog-header h1 a {
text-decoration: none;
color: #fff;
}

#blog-header h1 a:hover {
color: #eee;
}

/* ---( main column )--- */

h2.date-header {
margin-top: 0;
padding-left: 14px;
font-size: 90%;
color: #f93;
background: url(http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/date_icon.gif) no-repeat 0 50%;
}

h3.post-title {
margin-top: 0;
font-size: 130%;
letter-spacing: -1px;
color: #f93;
border-bottom: 1px solid #c0c0c0;
}

.post {
margin: 0 0 1.5em 0;
padding: 0 0 1.5em 14px;
border-bottom: 1px solid #ddd;
}

.post-footer {
margin: 0;
padding: 0 0 0 14px;
font-size: 88%;
color: #999;
background: url(http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_grey.gif) no-repeat 0 8px;
}

.post img {
padding: 6px;
border-top: 1px solid #ddd;
border-left: 1px solid #ddd;
border-bottom: 1px solid #c0c0c0;
border-right: 1px solid #c0c0c0;
}

/* comment styles */

#comments {
padding-top: 0px;
font-size: 85%;
line-height: 1.5em;
color: #666;
}

#comments h4 {
margin: 20px 0 15px 0;
padding: 8px 0 0 40px;
font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS";
font-size: 100%;
color: #666;
background: url(http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/bubbles.gif) no-repeat 10px 0;
height: 29px !important; /* for most browsers */
height /**/:37px; /* for IE5/Win */
}

#comments ul {
margin-left: 0;
}

#comments li {
font-size: 90%;
background: none;
padding-left: 0;
}

.comment-body {
padding: 0 10px 0 25px;
background: url(http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif) no-repeat 10px 5px;
}

.comment-body p {
margin-bottom: 0;
}

.comment-data {
margin: 4px 0 0 0;
padding: 0 10px 1em 60px;
color: #999;
font-size: 90%;
border-bottom: 1px solid #ddd;
background: url(http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/comment_arrow.gif) no-repeat 44px 2px;
}

.deleted-comment {
font-style:italic;
color:gray;
}

/* ---( sidebar )--- */

h2.sidebar-title {
margin: 0 0 0 0;
padding: 25px 0 0 50px;
font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS";
font-size: 130%;
color: #666;
height: 32px;
background: url(http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/sidebar_icon.gif) no-repeat 20px 15px;
height: 32px !important; /* for most browsers */
height /**/:57px; /* for IE5/Win */
}

#sidebar ul, #sidebar p {
margin: 0;
padding: 5px 20px 1em 20px;
border-bottom: 1px solid #ddd;
}

#sidebar ul, #sidebar p {
margin: 0;
padding: 5px 20px 1em 20px;
border-bottom: 1px solid #ddd;
}

#sidebar li {
background: url(http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_green.gif) no-repeat 0 5px;
}

/* profile block */

.profile-datablock {
margin: 0;
padding: 5px 20px 0 20px;
}

.profile-datablock dd {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
}

.profile-img img {
float: left;
margin: 0 10px 0 0;
padding: 4px;
border-top: 1px solid #ddd;
border-left: 1px solid #ddd;
border-bottom: 1px solid #c0c0c0;
border-right: 1px solid #c0c0c0;
background: #fff;
}

#sidebar p.profile-link {
padding-left: 36px;
background: url(http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/profile.gif) no-repeat 20px 4px;
}

p#powered-by, #sidebar p.profile-textblock {
margin-top: 1em;
border: none;
}

/* ---( footer )--- */

.clear { /* to fix IE6 padding-top issue */
clear: both;
height: 0;
}

#footer {
margin: 0;
padding: 0 0 9px 0;
font-size: 85%;
color: #ddd;
background: url(http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/bottom_sill.gif) no-repeat bottom left;
}

#footer p {
margin: 0;
padding: 20px 320px 20px 95px;
background: url(http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/bottom_sash.gif) no-repeat top left;
}

<ItemPage>
/* ---- overrides for post page ---- */

.post {
padding: 0;
border: none;
}
</ItemPage>
</style>

</head>

<body>

<div id="wrap"> 


<div id="blog-header">
<h1>
<b><a class="blogtitle" title="<$BlogTitle$>" href="<$BlogURL$>"><$BlogTitle$></a></b> :
<a title="" href="">Add</a> :
<a title="" href="">Your</a> :
<a title="" href="">Links</a> :
<a title="" href="">Here</a>
</h1>
</div>

<div id="content"> 



<div id="main-content">

<Blogger>

<BlogDateHeader>
<h2 class="date-header"><$BlogDateHeaderDate$></h2>
</BlogDateHeader>


<div class="post"><a name="<$BlogItemNumber$>"></a>

<BlogItemTitle>
<h3 class="post-title">
<BlogItemUrl><a href="<$BlogItemUrl$>" title="external link"></BlogItemUrl>
<$BlogItemTitle$>
<BlogItemUrl></a></BlogItemUrl>
</h3>
</BlogItemTitle>

<div class="post-body">

<p><$BlogItemBody$></p>

</div>

<p class="post-footer">posted by <$BlogItemAuthorNickname$> at
<a href="<$BlogItemPermalinkUrl$>" title="permanent link"><$BlogItemDateTime$></a>
<MainOrArchivePage><BlogItemCommentsEnabled> |
<a class="comment-link" href="<$BlogItemPermalinkURL$>#comments"><$BlogItemCommentCount$> comments</a>
</BlogItemCommentsEnabled></MainOrArchivePage> <$BlogItemControl$></p>

</div>



<ItemPage>



<div id="comments">

<BlogItemCommentsEnabled><a name="comments"></a>

<h4><$BlogItemCommentCount$> Comments:</h4>

<ul>
<BlogItemComments>
<li id="c<$BlogCommentNumber$>"><a name="c<$BlogCommentNumber$>"></a>
<div class="comment-body">
<p><$BlogCommentBody$></p>
</div>
<p class="comment-data">By <$BlogCommentAuthor$>, at <a href="#c<$BlogCommentNumber$>" title="comment permalink"><$BlogCommentDateTime$></a>
<$BlogCommentDeleteIcon$></p>
</li>
</BlogItemComments>
</ul>

<p class="comment-data">
<$BlogItemCreate$>

</BlogItemCommentsEnabled> : <a href="<$BlogURL$>"><< Home</a>
</p>
</div>

</ItemPage>


</Blogger>

<hr />
</div>
</div>


<div id="sidebar">
<h2 class="sidebar-title">Previous</h2>



<ul id="recently">
<BloggerPreviousItems>
<li><a href="<$BlogItemPermalinkURL$>"><$BlogPreviousItemTitle$></a></li>
</BloggerPreviousItems>
</ul>



</div>


<div class="clear"> </div>

<div id="footer">

<p id="powered-by">

A place to insert your Powered By Blogger icons

</p>

</div>

</div> 


</body>
</html>