Stuck in the Bubble

End of a short era

2009-12-01T16:01:00.000-05:00

I have good news and bad news.

First, the bad. After starting this blog almost four months ago on June 4th as a way to chart my experiences in the all-too-familiar territory of Princeton after graduation, it’s time to move on. This will be the final post to Stuck in the Bubble. I’m unclear of the human-years to blog-years conversion to determine if this blog is still incredibly nascent or adequately developed, but the timing is appropriate and it’s time to move on.

Stuck in the Bubble was never intended to report ground-breaking news, make millions, or help me achieve internet stardom. Instead, it gave me the opportunity to get involved in the blogosphere and test out a new medium for writing. Undoubtedly, the most satisfying—and surprising—part of the experience was the constant feedback from friends and family when someone would tell me they had enjoyed something I wrote. I assumed I had a real audience of three (an occasional friend and my parents), but it was always encouraging to hear that someone had “thought that was really funny,” or “liked that thing” I wrote about. To know that people have been taking the time to read is extremely gratifying, and I could not be more thankful and appreciative.

The underlying theme of Stuck in the Bubble (being stuck in the “Princeton bubble”) no longer has the relevance it had this summer. I’ve moved on, and taken time to consider if it’s worth continuing with Stuck in the Bubble. I wrote about this before, and essentially stated that “life” is about moving from bubble to bubble; getting stuck just demonstrates an awareness of your situation, but isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It goes without saying that being “stuck” in Princeton was one of the best summers of my life. With that in mind, the idea of being “stuck in the bubble” could be expanded, and the idea of the blog could acquire newfound meaning.

One thing is clear: writing has always been something I’ve enjoyed, and since I don’t plan on landing a job that will involve producing massive amounts of text, keeping a blog is the best way to continue writing. Blogging forces one to consider audience and to maintain a high quality of content and subject matter in order to be confident in sharing with others. And because of that, I want to stick with writing and blogging, and that introduces the good news: I will be moving my writing to a new blog at a new site with a new title. It is called “Speech as a Second Language,” and is currently hosted by Tumblr, rather than Blogger. The inaugural (but not the first) post can be found here: Title Search, pt.1.

A emphatic thank you to everyone that has visited this site over the past few months, and I hope that I can continue to provide you with the same ground-breaking content on SaaSL that made SitB such a hit. This site won’t go away, but will join the millions of other inactive blogs on the Blogger network as a happy relic of past inspiration and experiences.

A Big Day for Lala

2009-10-22T20:49:00.002-04:00

Today was a big day for Lala.

The service is now officially serving Facebook's music needs, and Google will be using Lala's platform to stream music with the upcoming music search platform that is slated to be released next week. This will hopefully guarantee lots of new traffic and revenue for Lala, as well as solidifying the service's place as a major music vendor on the web.

On a side note, I was happy to discover that ShortFormBlog uses Lala's player. With more and more sites starting to use Lala's conveniently embeddable player, you might be signing up for Lala much sooner than you think, assuming you want to hear what everyone else is listening to.

More information on how the event unfolded, as well as what else we might expect, can be found at the following sites:

Lala's Big Day

Google to Partner with Lala and iLike for New Music Service

Google Music Service: The Screenshots

Google, MySpace, Facebook singing the same tune

Wired Magazine upgrades its advertising strategy with Kooaba

2009-10-18T11:29:00.006-04:00

The November issue of Wired Magazine came in the mail yesterday. It's always a pleasure to read, incredible layout, typography, graphic design, and excellent features on news, technology and culture. If you've only experienced Wired on the web, it's certainly worth stopping by the newsstand and grabbing a copy.

As print publications continue to struggle to attract advertisers and raise enough revenue to stay alive, it is high time for magazines to rethink their strategy for ads and how to keep users interested. I have always appreciated Wired's candid disclosure of their decline in sales, and of the innovations they're introducing to hopefully keep the print version of the publication financially feasible.

This month, on page 17, "An Announcement from the Publisher" introduces the next evolution in Wired's strategy to keep print advertising relevant:

Each month, the pages of WIRED are jam-packed with what's new and innovative in the world — which is why we jumped at the chance to give our readers a taste of the future of advertising through Kooaba...Their app, which is available for iPhone and Android, lets you unlock digital extras by snapping a picture of select ads in this issue.

That's right; you take a picture of the ads in the magazine. The Kooaba application connects to the server, matches the photo to the images in its online database, and provides you with a list of options specific to that ad. As far as I can tell, every ad in the magazine are Kooaba-enabled. Unfortunately, most reveal nothing more than a link to the company's website, or a link to tweet or digg the item, but I think we can expect more interesting features in future issues.

I had never heard Kooaba before reading this, but they are a Swiss company that specializes in photo-recognition technology. Here is their video:

I'm really excited about this. I have no idea what kind of success it will have in this print advertising application, as Wired is test driving, but the idea couldn't make more sense: give readers an incentive to spend more time with the ads and have access to special deals only available through the ads in the magazine. If Wired works hard to get the word out, this could have huge potential. The biggest problem I can forsee is that if print is eventually replaced by digital readers, these devices will most likely have built in web-browsers to skip the photo step.

For me, I love the potential this technology has for the real-world (as opposed to online) shopping experience. I still buy physical music media, both CD's and vinyl's. Say I'm at a my favorite record store, Princeton Record Exchange in Princeton, NJ. I can browse the stacks, and when I come across something interesting, I can snap a photo, get a link to reviews and listen to song samples. I can test drive the music, and if it hits me the right way, I'll buy.

As the video says, Kooaba recognizes books and movie posters as well. In sum, Kooaba makes it easy for consumers the chance to make educated purchase decisions by simply snapping a photo. Sure, you could do this before with mobile search engines, but this is infinitely easier.

Let us know what you think if you've tried it.

MORE INFORMATION

NYTimes: For Wired, a Revival Lacks Ads

Chris Anderson, Wired's Editor in Chief, being given a hard time on Colbert:

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Chris Anderson

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

Michael Moore

A great band changes it's name

2009-10-16T22:33:00.005-04:00

I had the pleasure of discovering the band Starfucker this summer, and have really been digging their stuff ever since. It's got some serious groove-ability, but has plently of room for relistening and learning along the way. They've got two albums out, "Starfucker" and "Jupiter," and each offers something slightly different. Don't let the (former) name throw you off, it's pretty misleading if you're expecting offensive lyrics and harsh sounds; it's actually some straight ahead synth-pop, with a hint of disco (especially on the second album).

Well, turns out the band just changed their name from Starfucker to PYRAMID. I really liked the name Starfucker, but let's be honest. You can't sell something that has the work "fuck" in it. Maybe this is a sign of bigger things to come for these guys. Here's the article. And their website. And an interview with the band.

And their first album. First track is killer:

Starfucker - Starfucker

Another playlist with another service

2009-10-11T23:45:00.001-04:00

This time with 8tracks.com. Lots of similar songs here.

Current jamz

2009-10-09T23:09:00.002-04:00

I threw together a playlist of everything's that's been frequenting my ear of late. Enjoy.

CURRENT

Lala iPhone app: beta version released

2009-10-09T10:21:00.003-04:00

It's here. Everyone on the list to test drive the beta version of Lala's new iPhone app got the email this morning announcing that it was available for download. Let's just say this: if Apple ever allows this thing to be available for download on iTunes, the online music world is in for a change. Big time.

Expect lots of buzz, hype, speculation, joy, outrage, disappointment, appreciation and genuine happiness as everyone enjoys streaming their entire music collection from their iPhone/iPod Touch, adding new songs for only $0.10 a pop.

And for those of you just jumping on the bandwagon: www.lala.com. Best thing to happen to music since the invention of the ear. Ok, slight exaggeration, but you get the idea.

Previously:
- Lala iPhone app even closer to official release?

- Top 5 Reasons why Lala beats Spotify and iTunes

Top 5 Favorite Quotes from "High Fidelity"

2009-10-07T21:36:00.002-04:00

Riverhead Books edition, © 1995 Nick Hornsy

1) Page 36, second paragraph.

2) Page 75.

3) Page 96, first paragraph.

4) Page 163, last paragraph.

5) Page 264, first line.

A brief thought on tweeting and retweeting those points of interest

2009-10-06T18:39:00.001-04:00

Twitter skeptics would argue that most people have no "real audience" for their tweets. Users who don't have thousands, hundreds, or even tens of followers must just be shouting into an echo chamber when they're tweeting and retweeting links they find interesting, right?

Not necessarily. Over the past few months, Twitter has become a way to gauge mass popularity and interest in certain topics, highlighted especially by the big search box on Twitter's redesigned homepage.

If you feel as if your single little tweet about some funny thing you saw in the news will go unheard in the short-term, think of yourself part of a bigger picture. Real-time news aggregators like OneRiot and Delicious keep track of mentions, and if enough people feel compelled to tweet something, it shoots to the top of these lists, getting even more people to see it. Sure, maybe only a handful of your followers will get to read your tweet, but you sharing it demonstrates that yet another person found it worthy of sharing.

That's a driving force behind the idea of the "social web," because it's the users and readers, not the editors and executives—who are constantly deciding which content "really matters" and is "worth reading." Most news sites, like the New York Times, for example, show their "most popular" and "most emailed" stories, so readers can see what's hot at a glance.

This kind of model, where popular links get the most attention, means that we're trusting the taste of lots and lots and lots of other people. Often times, that really funny link isn't so funny, or just really annoying. But you can't deny that a lot of the time, you can StumbleUpon (get it?) some very cool stuff.

So do not tweet and retweet in vain. But for the sake of finding what's relevant and popular and worthy of my click, try talking about yourself less, and what's happening around you more.

A healthy musical mantra for our world today

2009-10-05T10:39:00.001-04:00

Since graduation, the future seems scary. No longer does fall mean the beginning of a new school semester, and no longer does summer mean a short internship that you can brag about later on. This is the real deal.

And while it's scary, it's exciting. Maybe that's why this song has held a special place in my ear for the past few months. It's the first track called "The Rain" off Calvin Harris' new album "Ready for the Weekend." Undoubtedly, it's got one of the healthiest musical mantras you could ever hear, especially for someone like myself who's in the process of making "big decisions."

You just get this line:

These are the good times in your life
So put on a smile, it'll be alright

over and over. And if that doesn't make you happy, then there's nothing else I can do for you. Listen and get all jazzed up.

The Rain - Calvin Harris

January's going to be a good month: New RJD2 and Vampire Weekend albums

2009-10-03T14:29:00.003-04:00

If you're wondering why ~~RJD2's standout track "Ghostwriter"~~ lots of RJD2 tracks are resurfacing on Hype Machine, it's because news recently broke that he's got a new album coming out in January.

If you're familiar with RJD2's work, you know that his third album, called "The Third Hand," was a tangential departure for the sample-heavy work that made "Deadringer" and "Since We Last Spoke" so incredible. Looks as if "The Collosus" is a return to that scratching vinyl vibe, something we were all hoping for when we heard "The Third Hand." For the latest interweb blogosphere news, check this.

And don't forget that Vampire Weekend's second album, entitled "Contra," is slated for release in January as well. Check out this interview with Pitchfork to hear Ezra's take on it.

Lots to look forward to.

MagCloud and HP: Fantastic customer support

2009-09-30T18:56:00.002-04:00

I recently ordered some additional copies of my Penn Station MagCloud I put together this summer.

When the package arrived in the mail, I was frustrated to find that the two copies were creased, bent and unpresentable. They had been shipped in a soft bubble-mailer, seen below, and as you can tell from the picture, the package seems to have been crushed and run over by numerous vehicles before arriving at my house.

I emailed MagCloud and told them what happened. They responded the same day and told me they would be resending the magazines, but this time with the new "velvet glove" shipping option they are beta-testing. I received two follow-up emails asking if I had received the new copies yet, asking for feedback on the condition. The package just arrived today, and MagCloud has completely redeemed themselves for what happened before.

The new copies were shrink-wrapped inside two pieces of cardboard inside a cardboard box with packaging peanuts. A shoddy reenactment of packages opening unfolds below:

1) The package arrived via UPS in a cardboard box.

2) The box was filled with packing peanuts.

3) Buried within was this shrink-wrapped piece with cardboard on both sides.

4) Inside the cardboard, inside a paper sleeve were the two magazines, in perfect condition.

I couldn't be happier with the way MagCloud handled this. Thanks to their team for caring so much about making sure I got copies of the magazine without any issues.

Previously: Another MagCloud zine: Passing Through Penn Station, 123 John: A Graphic Memoir

More Miike Snow remixes!

2009-09-29T23:20:00.005-04:00

Uber techno but still a cool take on the original.

http://fancysounds.blogspot.com/2009/09/black-blue.html

Side note: The remix is by Tiga, who is also also responsible for this outstanding, bizarre and memserizing video music experience:

Via Fancy Sounds via Hype Machine

Lala iPhone app even closer to official release?

2009-09-29T22:59:00.005-04:00

On September 23, the following message was posted on Lala's Beta Feedback discussion forum:

If you would be interested in beta testing a Lala iPhone app, please post back and let us know. We're keeping a waiting list of interested members.

Thanks!
Carole

This is an official Lala employee (we are able to tell by the blue "Lala" badge next to her name), and the post *hopefully* confirms that the Lala iPhone app is getting even closer to an official release. This comes months after TechCruch released this video of the app in it's earlier stages.

Access to the Beta Feedback discussion forum, which allows users to comment, receive feedback and suggest new features, is available to registered Lala members who have requested to be a Lala Beta tester. Being a Beta tester works a lot like Gmail Labs: you get access to a special tab in your profile settings that allow you activate features that haven't been implemented globally. Right now, this includes features like Last.fm scrobbling and keyboard shortcuts for playback.

What do you think? Is this a major selling point for Lala's service? Will it help them bring in lots of new business? Would it be overshadowed by a US release of Spotify, or—hypothetically—if Apple was savvy enough to release an "Lala-esque" version of their iTunes software?

Previously: Top 5 Reasons Why Lala Beats Spotify and iTunes

Miike Snow — Glad we're all on the same page

2009-09-23T12:40:00.003-04:00

FLASHBACK: It's the third week in July 2009 and I've got a Last.fm station playing. A song by "Miike Snow" plays, I like what I hear, and I start listening to the group's self-titled album. Actually, I start listening to it a lot, as I tend to do when some new music is good enough to keep my attention.

I do some research and find that Miike Snow's song "Animal" is oft-remixed track and there are already tons of versions floating around. And their own remix of Vampire Weekend's "Kids Don't Stand a Chance" is super-slick.

Good for me, I find an artist that I like, and get over the fact that everyone else isn't as into them as I am.

FLASH-FORWARD: It's the third week in September 2009. I get the weekly Hype Machine email in my inbox, and what's the "most popular" track? Miike Snow's "Silvia." Over 550 people "loved the track" on Hype Machine, and the linked blog post even has a video of their song "Black and Blue."

Glad to see they're getting some attention, their album is awesome. I dig the mix of acoustic and electronic instruments, and there's lots of complexity in every song. Check them out if you haven't already.

RELEVENT LINKS
- "Silvia" on Hype Machine
- "Animal" remixes on Hype Machine
- "Kids Don't Stand a Chance" remix on Hype Machine

VIDEOS

Miike Snow - "Animal" from Downtown Music on Vimeo.

MIIKE SNOW - Black & Blue from vincent haycock on Vimeo.

Miike Snow "Burial" from Downtown Music on Vimeo.

Cheese or Font?

2009-09-17T17:50:00.000-04:00

An important test we should all be required to take.

http://cheeseorfont.mogrify.org/play

"Sex" is now an adjective

2009-09-16T23:05:00.001-04:00

I missed where this happened. According to Comment #4 from this post on Pretty Much Amazing's blog, "sex" is a verb that explains extreme joy and approval.

Once upon a time, to express extreme excitement, satisfaction or pleasure, it was appropriate to use descriptions like "bad, filthy, disgusting, or dirty" (or sometimes "duuurty"). It could almost be deemed insulting to say something "was super," and everyone knows you're underwhelmed when you say "yeah, it was great."

But there's something at work here bigger than my obliviousness to a linguistic development. With this change, the Adjective Superlative Circle, which measures how words will accurately express the desired level of excitement, has experienced a complete inversion. Where it was once better to "insult" something to express approval, now giving superlative praise demonstrates legitimate enthusiasm. The graphic below demonstrates this phenomenon visually.

How to see all the songs no wants to be caught having listened to

2009-09-15T19:10:00.001-04:00

Last.fm is an awesome online internet radio and internet music community. They've been around for a while now and are a great resource for getting info on bands, artists, tracks, album, etc. Last.fm provides a service to keep track of what you've listened to, which they call "scrobbling." When a track is "scrobbled," it gets added to your list of plays in their database. You can add scrobbling functionality to iTunes (and iPod), Lala, Hype Machine, and lots of other music services so you can keep track of your listening habits and trends from whatever you use to listen to music.

Scrobbled tracks are added to your online library, but get this: you can delete any record that you've listened to a track. That means that if you snuck a listen to Lady Gaga's new release or got your secret fix of Coldplay's Viva la Vida, no one has no know. But surprise! That deletion will get recorded by Last.fm and contribute to their list of most unwanted, "unscrobbled" tracks.

What does this mean? We get a record of all of the tracks people heard but didn't want to get judged for having listened to. The results are exactly what you'd expect:

http://playground.last.fm/unwanted

And get this: armed with a Last.fm username, you can see anyone's list of life-time scrobbled tracks. The cool thing is that there are tons of web-apps to get stats on your listening habits, as well as getting recommendations for new music, and all you need to do is put in the user name. That means you should either guard your username safely, or just not give a shit who sees what you listen to. See the different things you can do here:

http://lastfm.emoportal.de/

My Last.fm username available by request only.

A Closer Look: Piles of random crap

2009-09-14T17:33:00.004-04:00

As I've mentioned previously, I have a ton of stuff in my room. Apparently, all this "stuff" can check in any time it likes, but it can never, ever leave.

The breaking point came when unpacking from this summer. After the car was unloaded and everything was upstairs, I paused and looked around. The situation was more dire than I had thought: everywhere I looked, there were piles and groups and messes of random crap. Thankfully, my camera was in my pocket so I documented the experience, and have annotated the pictures to communicate the severity of the situation. I identified many problem areas, but here are four in particular.

PROBLEM AREA #1: Top of bookshelf full of crap

PROBLEM AREA #2: Desk with lots of crap

PROBLEM AREA #3: Random bowl of crap

PROBLEM AREA #4: Laundry basket full of crap

NOTE TO CONCERNED PARENTS: Since preparing this post, I have since cleaned my room, and continue to do so. In sharing these photos, I hope to embarrass myself enough to never, ever let this happen again.

The internet claims its victims, too

2009-09-11T21:16:00.000-04:00

It's unfortunate that this project didn't get the funding it needed to be completed, but shows how the internet is not always an immediate recipe for success. Makes me wonder, was the problem with the idea, or little bit of execution that we see here?

Check it out: Health Reform: A Visual Explanation

via Information Aesthetics

Moment of silence for remembrence

2009-09-11T08:46:00.004-04:00

Trying to get rid of any evidence of a former self

2009-09-10T20:00:00.006-04:00

In seventh grade, we had these things called Reading Logs that were used to keep track of how many books we read each quarter. Our grade was based on the total number of pages we read, so it was kind of like a little competition among the three people in the class who actually liked to read.

Here's is my reading log. I know what you're thinking: "You could only fill up ONE page? What about that girl who filled three separate logs and needed six pages to list her books?!" I guess I was just spent a lot more time being wild and crazy back then than she did.

Now, upon returning home, it was confirmed that I, indeed, have too much stuff. I have since embarked on a quest to rid my room myself of the useless crap lying around that I never use. It is a daunting task, friends.

My book collection has increased since college with volumes more relevant to my interests (notably this!), but my shelves are still filled with things I haven't read since this reading log was made (notably this!). My strategy is two-fold:

1) Sell books I don't want on Amazon.com.

2) Donate/recycle/move the rest of them.

I have since sold 12 20 books with my Amazon seller account, and they were mostly just college texts from sophomore year I had forgotten about. I've gone through my shelves and cleared out the old paperbacks from my youth-hood, and that's when I found the reading log, tucked away in my shelf, hidden and unopened for years.

Looking through it made me pause: should I think twice about getting rid of so many books that I grew up with? Do these paperbacks hold any real sentimental value, or have I just grown so accustomed to their companionship on my shelves that the idea of swapping them out for new books demonstrates an uncomfortable, jarring change?

This is a time of transition in my life, moving from one opportunity to other, and as much as I love, appreciate and enjoy being home, I can't help but see this as a temporary situation. I can leave my bedroom as it was, a relic of the middle school and high school Charlie, or let it reflect who I am now, getting to most out of my shelves and drawer space.

This is a saddening thought, that the younger version of myself is almost being erased in favor of the new me, but change has always been exciting, rather than terrifying, for me. My 7th grade self might be sad to see the all the Agatha Christie mysteries moved to make space for some new photo albums and design books, but I know he would be happy that I was letting myself change, using this space in the moment, rather than clinging to what it has been in the past.

But maybe it's just time for more shelf space, time to move those old books where they can sit and get read later on when I'm interested in them (but probably not this one). If that's the case, I should be look at them as past of a carefully curated selection of literature, rather than artifacts of my past childhood.

It's easier to justify not throwing them out that way.

Really small tomatoes

2009-09-09T11:14:00.008-04:00

My parents like plants, and would probably consider themselves to be "hobbyist" gardeners. We have lots of flowers, but also a tomato plant in our backyard. My mother is convinced that in order for the tomatoes to grow, you need to speak to them everyday. I have heard people say that the air we breathe onto the plants actually does help them grow, but I'm less sure about the effects of leaning out the kitchen window and shouting "Hello, little tomatoooes!"

What follows is photographic proof that our tomato plant is indeed functioning, but not exactly on the scale we might have hoped for.

This is the entire yield of our tomato "crop."

Top 5 Five Reasons Why Lala Beats Spotify and iTunes

2009-09-08T21:21:00.011-04:00

The Spotify iPhone app was recently released in Europe. Spotify, originally a desktop app, gives users access to music on demand. Think iTunes but streaming only, no download. The Spotify iPhone app is being dubbed an "iTunes killer"; people are shocked that Apple allowed the app to be released at all, since it seems to directly undermine Apple's own iMusic universe. If people can always stream all the music they want from their iPhone or iPod, why bother buying the songs with iTunes? Now there's serious competition in the marketplace.

While this is great news to the consumer, it's also great news for Lala.com. Lala is an online music service that allows users to upload and listen to their entire music collection "in the cloud" for free. That means you can get to it wherever, whenever. You get unlimited access to everything that you own, and one free listen to every song on the site that you don't own. If you hear something you like you can add "web songs" for $0.10 a pop, or get the mp3 for around $0.90, DRM-free.

Months back, Lala released a prototype of their iPhone app, which was consequently denied by Apple. With the recent approval of Spotify's app, however, there is new hope for a Lala iPhone app, which would give users access to their entire music library from anywhere, also giving them the option to buy and download new music without iTunes.

I've been on Lala for a few years now and think it's awesome, and would love to see more people using it. What's so good about it? Top 5 reasons:

5) It's cheap. If you don't buy music, Lala is free, you just need an email address. But if you do buy music, the $0.10 for a web-song feels like nothing, and it's usually ~$1 for a whole web album. If you're going to be mostly listening with your computer nearby (at work, at home), there's no need for an mp3. If you want the mp3, it's almost always cheaper than iTunes, and always DRM-free.

4) Unlimited storage: There's no limit to how many songs you can upload. Go crazy. I did.

3) Get your music anywhere. Since you can upload all of your music to Lala's service, you can get to your music collection from any web browser.

2) Amazing playback and playlist features. A huge feature Lala has that iTunes doesn't is the ability to queue songs on the fly, without playlists. You can add songs to the queue without stopping the one you're currently listening to. It's also incredibly fast to make and add songs to playlists, both from your collection and browsing albums and artists.

1) Finding new music. This is where I've found Lala to excel. They've got tons of music charts (most listened, fastest movers, different genres, new releases) with lots of diversity. You can also follow friends and see what they're listening to. It's like a Facebook/Twitter feed, but with just songs. You can add people with similar tastes and check out what they're into, find new stuff that way. You can listen in private, but you're missing out if you don't take advantage of the recommendations and other tools available to discover music through other people.

I hope Lala can get its new iPhone developed and approved ASAP, because Spotify is gaining traction fast. And while it might seem that Spotify has Lala beat because it's all free, Lala is really an all encompassing music listening and discovery tool, not just radio to click and play. Except for iPod connectivity, Lala's team is on their way to making iTunes irrelevant, especially for people who are always in range of a wifi connection.

Undoubtedly, Lala has improved my overall "musical lifestyle," and I usually get a little too excited when trying to explain why. If you haven't tried it, there's no reason you shouldn't check it out. And if you need convincing, both Pitchfork and Billboard have already jumped on board and are using Lala's embedded playlists. Lala's platform can also fill the needs of lots of different users: people who do/don't want to pay for music, as well as those who do/don't want to share their tastes.

There's no doubt Lala's got a good thing going on, and everyone should being taking advantage of it, and keep their eyes peeled for that iPhone app. That's going to be a game changer.

BREAKING NEWS: No longer "stuck in the bubble"

2009-09-08T10:28:00.009-04:00

I lied; this isn't actually breaking news, it happened last week!

At times it felt like it would never come: the official end of four years in Princeton, closing a whirlwind education/work experience that began in September 2005. But despite my fears and anxieties that I might not make it out alive, or at least with my sanity, I have safely returned home to Connecticut. I've got some new roommates, and they're great because they cook, clean, mow the lawn, even pay the mortgage. They also bear a frightening resemblance to my parents...

My biggest fans are probably nervously wondering if I'll keep going with this silly little blog, whose title, "Stuck in the Bubble," refers to a seemingly irrelevant condition. Not to worry, friends. I have tackled this minor metaphorical dilemma:

1) I have changed the blog's subtitle.

2) I have redefined the phrase "Stuck in the Bubble" as a more global condition. Where at one it meant "I just graduated from this school and now I have to stay and work here for three months?!" it now reflects the simple idea that we can't avoid being part of some sort of "bubble." It could be social, romantic, professional, or recreational, but being "stuck" is the recognition of a seemingly immobile, static lifestyle. Recognizing we're stuck just gives us a broader perspective of our situation, and provides us with the insight to better choose the next bubble to get stuck in.

The whole "moving back home" thing has not been as bad, or embarrassing, as I thought it would be. Three months ago, if you had told me this would happen, I would have requested a time machine to go into the future to punch myself in the face. But I have to admit that the privileges of living with family who are generous enough to pay for food and lodging and provide vehicular transportation is much appreciated, after taking care of costs (and lacking vehicular transportation) on my own this summer.

Also, I don't consider myself "unemployed" (yet?) because I've ended one job and am transitioning to the next. The phrase "between opportunities" would be a more appropriate way to describe my situation, because I am working tirelessly to decide on where to get stuck next.

For now, it's the Branford bubble, but I'm going to make the most of it while I can. The Search, as I refer to it, rages on, especially now that summer has "officially" ended with Labor Day behind us. That being the case, I might actually stand a chance at receiving replies to all of those email inquiries I sent out, and get to meet everyone that said they're "not in the office much in the summer."

Tactful, aggressive networking and personal marketing commences NOW.

They wanted to demolish Grand Central too?!

2009-09-05T13:54:00.002-04:00

After a particularly frustrating experience traveling through Penn Station, I captured the experience in a little "graphic memoir" (Passing Through Penn Station). The trip also prompted me to revisit the history of the original Penn Station, demolished in the 1960's to make way for Madison Square Garden.

Ed Driscoll has a great article on the Pajamas Media site discussing the train station's history in light of recent episodes of the television series Mad Men. The Mad Men references are small, and the article is another nice piece of writing on the station's history.

Check it out here: Lead Us Not Into Penn Station

One of the commentors shares how Grand Central Station was slated for the same fate as Penn Station, to be demolished and then replaced with a skyscraper. Glad that didn't happen.

How losing my checking card made me $10

2009-09-01T17:30:00.004-04:00

The other night I'm talking with my bro and realize that my Bank of America checking card isn't in my wallet. Like my driver's license, if my checking card isn't in my wallet, I don't know where it is.

I went online and found a mysterious little $1 Amazon charge which, as it turns out, is one of those "verification charges" to make sure it's actually your card (thanks Ben @Amazon!). Someone was trying to buy stuff with my money!

I gave BoA a call and spoke with Liz, and she was great. We went through the process, and I've just got to stop by BoA to get some new plastic tomorrow. No problem.

Then she goes "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

So I recently re-opened a BoA savings account, even though I already have one with another bank. When signing up, I missed the part that said in order to avoid a monthly $5 maintenance charge (what are they maintaining?!), you've got to have more than $300 in the account. This makes sense, because what good is a saving account with less that $300? It was a minimum transfer of $25 to open the account, so I took care of that, and then forgot about it. June ends and I get slapped with $5 for not having enough cash in there, and then forget about it. July ends and I get slapped with $5 for not having enough cash in there, then forget about it. Then I realize that I just lost $10 for no good reason, and transfer some money over.

So when Liz asks me if there's anything else I can help her with, I say, "Well.........two months in a row I forgot to transfer money over to my new saving account, but I just took care of it. Is there anyway I could get reimbursed for that $10 in maintenance charges?"

And she goes "Sure, no problem."

If some asshole hadn't stolen my checking card (or if I hadn't had been silly enough to lose it), I would have gone through life $10 less rich, and not as happy with BoA customer support as I am now.

Lesson learned: ~~Lose your checking card to make some quick cash.~~ ~~Don't worry about monthly maintenance charges until the last minute.~~ Never be afraid to ask something if the worst they can do is say no.

Ikea—Maybe it's time to rethink Verdana

2009-08-31T18:00:00.005-04:00

In design communities everywhere, Ikea’s decision to adopt a new typeface is big news. Really big news. And to beg the question that everyone seems to ask when the topic of typography comes up: Why should I care? No, this isn’t a global issue. The survival of humanity does not hinge upon the decisions of a Swedish furniture brand. But it’s exactly the kind of news story that has great relevance in certain areas of work, but maybe just not yours. Knowing about this kind of thing gives you a glimpse into the world of graphic design, where things you never thought about can matter a lot.

Read this to see what happened. They changed their brand’s typeface from Futura to Verdana. That’s it. Why the fuss? Typefaces, like people, have complex histories. Those largely unaware or uninterested in graphic design-related fields are often times surprised to hear that typeface design is a complicated process, as each letter is created independently, ensuring the overall typeface has a consistent tone and feel. In the case of the two typefaces in question:

Futura was created by Paul Renner in the late 1920’s, and it is based on simple geometric shapes like the circle and 45-degree line. It became hugely popular as a sans-serif, purportedly being able to express modernity and efficiency. The simplified, streamlined letterforms were in part a reaction to lots of the ornate typefaces that were popular at the end of the 19th century.

Verdana was created by Matthew Carter in the 1990’s as a “web font,” which means it was designed to be readable on computer screens, especially at small sizes. It's used extensively on the web because it's "safe," meaning that designers can safely assume that all browsers will display it correctly, since almost all computers have it installed.

Both typefaces were produced in radically different times for very different reasons. Ikea adopted Futura and created a modified, proprietary version for it's own commercial use. It makes sense to say that the choice, both visually and historically, demonstrates the overall character of Ikea's brand: clean, modern, and new.

Visual brand identities are heavily dependent on typography because it's functional design: you've got a message, how do you want it to look? Lots of typefaces "evoke" certain emotional qualities, but one begins to wonder if it's the typeface, or the typeface's history, really that matters here. Even the public can recognize typographic history, as some typefaces can look outdated or retro.

Sure, Verdana is not the most elegant typeface at a designer's disposal. There are some objective points that one could argue make it look "awkward," especially for Ikea's purposes. But the when when Ikea's spokeswoman says that "Verdana is a simple, cost-effective font which works well in all media and languages," maybe Verdana is just what Ikea needs.

If we forget where Verdana came from and pretend that we're seeing it for the first time, does it still look as "terrible" as people are saying it does? If we ignore the fact that it's a default web-font, that web designers use it all the time because they have to, does it still look "unspectacular"?

Ikea is an international company, and Verdana will allow it to be graphically consistent with all of their marketing materials across many, many languages. Futura didn't allow them to do that, because of its lack of Asian characters. And the internet, for which Verdana was created, is, well, modern. Computers were a long way off when Renner drew Futura. Considering these two points, I think Ikea is right on the money. Verdana is a functional, modern typeface designed to do exactly what Ikea needs it to do.

Designers are focusing too much on typographic history by complaining that the legitimacy of Ikea's brand strategy has been compromised by the change. Ikea's riding a new wave, one that should force people to ignore the legacy of Verdana, and embrace it as the new "modern" look of function.

How to get found by the Sartorialist

2009-08-30T15:03:00.002-04:00

Via Flowing Data

VolvoTunes

2009-08-30T14:28:00.009-04:00

I found a CD on the sidewalk last week:

I spent time Googling lyrics for the tracks I wasn't sure of names for and came up with the following playlist

VolvoTunes
1. I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That) (longer version edit) – Meat Loaf
2. A Fond Farewell – Elliot Smith
3. I Don't Want to Miss a Thing – Aerosmith
4. Don't Stop Believing – Journey
5. Wherever You Will Go – The Calling (Love Actually soundtrack)
6. Wishing You Were Here – Pink Floyd
7. Tiny Dancer – Elton John
8. Where Did it Go? – Unknown Artist
9. Hound Dog – Elvis Presley
10. Let it Be – The Beatles
11. Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen
12. Snow (Hey Oh) – Red Hot Chilli Peppers
13. California – Phanton Planet (OC soundtrack)
14. Bat Out of Hell – Meat Loaf
15. Hallelujah – Jeff Buckley

My prediction? High school sing-along-while-driving-around-in-your-mom's-car mix. Listened on the way home from Princeton yesterday afternoon and totally rocked out to every track, especially the last one (it also gets cut off before the end).

If you're wondering about Track 8 by Unknown Artist, that's because it's previously unreleased. I'm assuming a some recording from one of the kids' bands. Record labels and other interested parties: please contact me and I'll send you the recording for review. It's killer and will be huge.

I guess it's Microsoft's fault for "inventing" Verdana

2009-08-29T12:26:00.002-04:00

But seriously, you don't "invent" typefaces. And it was done my Matthew Carter. Here's a great article on Ikea's recent switch from its custom version of Futura, which definitely felt right for them:

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1919127,00.html

(Thanks to Cameron for the link.)

Another MagCloud zine: Passing Through Penn Station

2009-08-26T09:36:00.003-04:00

I completed and have made my next MagCloud zine, entitled Passing Through Penn Station, available online.

It's a brief look at what happens in Penn Station when you're traveling on NJTransit, especially when there a TON of people trying to get somewhere different.

Check it out here: http://magcloud.com/browse/Issue/29118

It's in the trees

2009-08-25T08:16:00.002-04:00

Looking out my bedroom window, the leaves are changing. Summer is winding down, and the leaves are there to prove it.

The New York Moon

2009-08-24T17:52:00.004-04:00

Just came across a fantastic site worth checking out. There is tons of material to explore, including the new "Tweet Radio" that supplies a dictated feed of random tweets from everyone. Intriguing, mesmerizing, strange, exciting, and fascinating!

www.nymoon.com

123 John: A Graphic Memoir

2009-08-13T17:51:00.001-04:00

To forever cherish the memories and experiences of 123 John this summer, I created a little "graphic memoir" for my roommates and I to commemorate the months of June and July. It's a short MagCloud [maga]zine that presents a goofy architectural/graphic analysis of our house and surrounding environment, describing how we used the rooms and what we did there.

Check it out here: http://magcloud.com/browse/Issue/27253

I would also like to mention that a friend of mine who was seriously involved in the Princeton University Band in college has been working on a new MagCloud zine of his own, charting the history of the group with lots of material from the university archives.

R.W. writes:

The idea with the MagCloud was that it's a way to publish preview and draft versions of the book before it's finished. It's an easy and professional-looking way to keep other band members, the Princetoniana Committee, the Athletics Department, and other interested parties informed about the content and progress of the book; later, it will be useful for shopping the finished product around to various publishers when looking for a printing & distribution deal; and, perhaps most importantly, it's a new way for the band's friends and alumni organization to get alumni more involved with the band.

Rather than just sending out quarterly mailings asking for money, the Friends of Tiger Band can send these small historical MagClouds to attract the attention of some alumni who may have grown apart from the group since their days as an undergraduate. It doesn't directly solicit money, so it's not subject to Alumni Giving's fundraising black-out periods, but may lead to increased alumni activity and donations with the band as a fortuitous side-effect, and may get alumni excited to purchase the full book once it is completed.

This is just the sort of thing that MagCloud—or any other self-publishing and printing service—wants people to be doing. The client just makes the updates and figures out what content to provide. The printing and distribution is handled for them. Awesome.

Check out the preview version of the zine here: http://magcloud.com/browse/Issue/17124

"The Spaceship Next Door"

2009-08-13T09:18:00.006-04:00

It's funny seeing this story in the New York Times today. Guilford is the neighboring town to where I grew in Branford, Connecticut, and this "spaceship" was always a site of wonder, amazement confusion to me growing up. The house is right on the road that my family took to a restaurant we frequented.

Here's an image of the building using—GASP!—BING MAPS! They've got a great feature called "Bird's Eye View" that gives a very different look that Google's Street View (which isn't available for this location). [Update: This map view is old news, it's a feature that Microsoft has had for a while, and I just got excited when someone showed me recently, assuming it was new with Bing (thanks, R.W.!)

Click here for a view from the air (rotate to get more views of it, too...then use this to find your house and see if you can see your cars in the driveway).

Very funky building, and very cool to see it getting attention from the NYTimes.

Who Lives There - Wilfred Armster Structure Moves Guilford, Conn., Beyond the Colonial Period - NYTimes.com

Look here for New York City nostalgia

2009-08-12T20:18:00.003-04:00

Came across this collection of vintage NYC photos this evening. Incredible collection of images, the ones of the old Penn Station are incredible and tragic at the same time. The perspective of the photo where B-25 plane hit the Empire State Building is also amazing.

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/SPEC/GAL-BW.htm

Penn Station (demolished)

From the outside:

Terrifying view

Ultimate skyline silhouette:

All photos found here: http://www.nyc-architecture.com/SPEC/GAL-BW.htm

Happy Birthday Adam!

2009-08-11T11:20:00.001-04:00

Even though you're across the world, Egypt doesn't feel so far away when we're all thinking of you. Make it count, alright?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

This new Flock browser

2009-08-11T10:38:00.004-04:00

I've got no reason to talk about this other than I think it's pretty cool.

A friend recently turned me onto a new web browser called Flock. It's based on Firefox, so it supports all of the regular Firefox extensions. But it's Firefox and a whole lot more.

The idea is to create a browser that brings your "digital lifestyle" into once place, and it does a darn good job. The side toolbar (think bookmarks bar) now hosts a whole bunch of integrated features like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Picasa, Flickr, and lots of other apps and services that I'm not yet familiar with. At a single click, you can pop open your news feeds and "check out what's happening," and then just click and hide and get back to work, doing what you really SHOULD be doing.

The mini-blogging platform (which I'm using now) and media clipboard are perfectly integrated and are much nicer to write with than Blogger's interface (and provides you with more screenspace). This web clipboard allows you to drop and drop videos, pics, text, link, whatever and then just drag it into an email or post later on. So cool. So easy.

There's ALSO a media browser that sucks the pics and vids from a site and shows them in a scrollable bar across the top of the browser.

There are a few things missing that are VERY frustrating. Three main gripes:

1) Best thing about Firefox is that you can type regular words in the Awesome Bar (address bar)—something like "basset hounds wiki" or "pillars of the earth amazon"—and it will skip the search site and take you where you want to go. It guesses (usually correctly) at what you're looking for and saves you the hassle of that "www" and ".com" crap. Flock doesn't do this, and takes a lot of getting used to. I'm sure there's just some config setting to change that I don't know about yet.

2) You can't use the MacBook's fancy trackpad features like the 3-finger scroll to change pages, or go to top and bottom of the page. Slows down navigation and takes some relearning, if you've got the Firefox habits.

3) No Twitter groups. If you still don't "get" Twitter, then this probably doesn't mean much to you. But I've got a whole bunch of interesting people that I follow, in addition to close friends, and groups allow you to filter the tweets in your feed to you can read what you want when. Without groups, it becomes difficult to follow with everything coming into the same place (desktop apps like TweetDeck do this...Flock developers, don't make me go back to TweetDeck, please).

Despite these shortcomings, the overall feeling and success of Flock is overwhelmingly positive. I've got some other thoughts regarding the idea of having EVERYTHING in the same place that I'll save for later, but this works, and I recommend that anyone with at least a Facebook or Twitter account check it out, and start exploring the extra features.

Let us know what you think: http://www.flock.com/

You really can't steal this song

2009-08-06T09:03:00.001-04:00

Radiohead's new song, "Harry Patch," pays tribute to last survivor of World War I who passed away recently on July 25, 2009. All proceeds from the song to the Royal British Legion.

Looks like you should think twice before your conscience allows you to run over to MediaFire or Hype Machine, huh?

via Boing Boing

Teaching Young Dogs New Tricks: The past, present and future of collective experiences

2009-08-05T20:46:00.002-04:00

It's becoming more and more difficult to say what it means when someone actually "tweets." There are so many different kinds of Twitter users that a single tweet could fall under one of many, many, many categories. Waaaay back in the day—like, a few months ago—it was pretty common to just broadcast stuff about yourself, things along the line of "just got back from a great jog!" or announce to everyone what kind of mustard you just used on your sandwich that day for lunch. Now we've expanded to business promotion, sharing ideas and links, posting photos, broadcasting news and gossip, and telling stories. The best part is that digital resources are now reaching more and more people, and interesting articles, videos, pictures and everything else that people are finding worth talking about are reaching a wider audience. After all, the internet is about connecting users as a single community, not simply connecting each of us to these resources independently of each other.

At one point, sharing links and saving links used to be two different things, but the line is starting to blur. Sharing links entails emailing, IMing and talking about cool or interesting stuff that you find. Saving links is about bookmarking and keeping stuff for later so you can go back to it when you need it. "Social bookmarking" was the first step in blurring this share-save divide. Services like Delicious (www.delicious.com) emerged as way to keep track of how many people bookmark certain links, and the more people that bookmark it, the more popular it becomes, making it easier to find for more people: sharing and saving. It's now totally integrated with Firefox, so saving a bookmark to Delicious is just as easy as saving one to Firefox (and more powerful, since you can get to your links anywhere from the Delicious website).

Then Twitter came along. I knew lots of people who scoffed at the idea of sharing every small, minute detail of their lives with the world. But that was Twitter 1.0, and so much has changed since then. Twitter 1.0 was about what was happening now, in the present. With their redesigned homepage, Twitter has established itself not only as a way to talk about the present, but also what happened in the past and the future. The search feature encourages people to see what others are saying about [insert topic here], but it shows you what's other have already said about [insert topic here].

Fundamentally, Twitter is about the present, and Delicious is about saving stuff for future use. But change is afoot. Delicious—used for saving and discovering links that were bookmarked in the past—just recently rolled out some big changes to their site that use Twitter as a way to show what's popular and being discussed in the present. Since popular links might take a while to bubble to the surface before Delicious users get a chance to bookmark them, Delicious is using tweets to find out "what's hot," hoping that its users will see those popular links and then bookmark them.

That was the beginning of Twitter 2.0. It was a decisive moment because it established Twitter not just as something to keep track of the "right now," but also as a way to find out what we might want to look a later. The fact that Delicious is now using Twitter as way to track "save-worthy" links readjusts the responsibilities of Twitter users and what they're tweeting about: instead of just using Twitter as way to broadast what's happening in the moment, Twitter is becoming a way to save and search moments passed.

So maybe you've finally gotten into the habit of tweeting, you have followers and you're sending updates—whatever they might be—reguarly throughout your day. Good for you, but now's time for that dog to learn some new tricks. You've got to start thinking about what you're saying not just as a way to share what's going on now, but to save what happened for later. There are many services popping up—most notably OneRiot (http://www.oneriot.com/)—that keep track of what's being said on Twitter, and your tweets are providing others with valuable information about where to look for x, y and z, as well as the who-said-what when and the why-this-happened-there.

But why Twitter? Because everyone's doing it?

Yes, but there's more to it. It's always good to have a go-to service, something everyone understands and relies on. Somehow, Twitter has emerged as an accessible tool that lots of people love to use. The beauty of the 140-character limit is that, arguably, it makes sure that you only say what's necessary. The power isn't in the individual tweets themselves, but in the message of them as a single united voice of opinion. By readjusting our perspective on what a single tweet really means, we are helping to build a foundation of information knowledge about culture and experience, about news and people, and lives and lifestyles.

Fine, you can go ahead and protect your updates so no one can see them. But then who really cares what you have to say if you're not contributing to the conversation?

This video needs to be shared

2009-08-05T12:10:00.002-04:00

I missed this whenever it was on TV, and wanted to make sure no one else has to go on living without it. It is nuts, and it is also about nuts.

It's an inverse relationship

2009-08-05T00:41:00.005-04:00

The number of interesting things I do in the RW (or "are-dubs", as in "real world", duh) seem to be directly proportional to the number of interesting things I do in the blogosphere. It's been a busy few days, and the biggest piece of news was the move. Our lease at our house was up after two months, and it was time for me to move across the street. We're all going to miss that house, it really grew on us, and it's even more sad to not have that place to go back to everyday. Now I get to see another family in the front yard when I'm walking by on my way home, not us straight chillin', playing music and cookin' up a good time.

As for this past weekend, it was a whirlwind tour of 4 different music concerts: Bad Boy Bill @Pacha, Soulive and John Scofield@Prospect Park, Bad Plus minus their drummer plus Paul Motian@Village Vanguard and Dan Deacon/Deerhunter/No Age@Brooklyn Bowl. It was both seriously awesome and seriously exhausting. Key photographs to come, as well as key moments that can't, shouldn't and won't be forgotten.

Also, I'm considering moving this blog over to Tumblr...thoughts, anyone?

Then it came to me...

2009-07-31T00:25:00.009-04:00

So I've heard this track at a few clubs now, and this past weekend I asked the DJ what the name and artist were. The guy told me it was "Get Out Of Here" by Gramophone. Wrong.

Inspired by a sudden memory surge, I remembered a few more of the lyrics:

Get out of here
Get me some money too

So I plugged it into Google and found out that the original artist is Peggy Lee, and the sampled track was recorded in 1942. Turns out the artist is Gramophonedzie (the DJ was close).

I immediately IM'ed a friend the lyrics, and within minutes we had the song and were rocking out. Check it out (listen at least until 2:18):

Gramophonedzie – Why Don't You

Breadth vs. Depth: What is the internet DOING to us?

2009-07-30T20:30:00.001-04:00

During a recent conversation about online news with my roommate, he commented that he "didn't like what the internet had done to him." In his eyes, our attention spans are getting shorter and shorter as more and more information becomes readily available for our consumption. I agree. With so much going on, you can't necessarily afford to read everything thoroughly to cultivate informed opinions and reasoning. It becomes a slippery slope to developing habits of skimming headlines, or using things like the "Quick Read" feature offered by the Huffington Post.

My roommate's comment struck me because it made it sound as if he had been victimized, as if the internet had some ubiquitous influence over his habits that he couldn't escape. And suddenly, I was forced to consider my own information-gathering habits. I have a long list of blogs and news feeds plugged into my Google Reader account, and am constantly adding new interesting or relevant sites. I only check out a few on a daily basis, but I figure I'd rather have these resources available for future reference than to lose them forever.

Despite my attempts to check all of these sites regularly, I have yet to find a healthy balance of breadth and depth. With so many topics (illustration, advertisting, news, gadgetry, photography, humor, friend's blogs), it becomes difficult to decide what to read and when. A quick solution might be to just go through all of it really quickly. Sure, you'll get an idea of what's happening, but you won't really learn anything; ranted, I assume this is how most people digest newspapers and magazines, both in print and online. If your intention is too just get an overview of what's happening, then skimming gets the job done. But then aren't we just growing accustomed to shallow reporting? And if you've got the ability to have hundreds of feeds in your feed-reader, isn't that just getting you to learn less about more?

I see two possible solutions:

[1] Make a short list of sites that you intend to thoroughly read and investigate. Spend time researching lots of different ones and choose based on what seems to be source, rather than a regurgitator/commentator. Come to terms with the fact that you can only spot check others.

[2] Make a schedule. Sounds super OCD, but it could work beautifully. Imagine structuring your week by category so that you don't need to worry about covering everything in a single sitting. Make a list for each day of the week and stick to it. This requires a commitment to regular reading, but would keep you über-informed. In conjunction with [1], you'd learn a hell of a lot.

There's an obvious caveat to this reasoning: the problem is self-inflicted. I've got a broad range of interests that I want to cover, and want to keep up with current trends and news on lots of fronts. It's just something I personally feel compelled to do. Others might not care about breadth, and are satisfied with depth in a select few topics. That's fine..

But with SO MUCH STUFF out there, with SO MANY OPINIONS discussing different angles on SO MANY ISSUES, decisions have to be made. There are so many hours in a day, and only so much time you should be able to sit in front of your computer. As our breadth of knowledge increases, it becomes a challenging—but not impossible—task to see it all with the kind of depth that will help us learn. It's like that epic quote from Spiderman, am I right?!

Choice MagClouds that I would love to get

2009-07-30T13:45:00.000-04:00

MagCloud is a pretty cool service. For a flat-rate of $0.20 a page, you can upload a PDF up to ~~60 pages~~ 100 pages long [they just upgraded their service!]. The company will print out as many copies as you need on glossy, magazine quality paper with sadle-stitch binding and send it back to you. Other people can subscribe and order as many copies as they want, and MagCloud will ship it wherever it has to go (you can mark-up the price and the author keeps the difference after shipping and printing costs). It's another step in the wave of self-publishing, a perfect solution to get a photo-memoir of your vacation or local publication printed and delivered for cheap.

I spent some time browsing through some of the showcased 'zines and found a few gems. I recommend perusing the site yourself, and maybe even take advantage of the idea but getting some stuff printed.

PROCESS

Fotoblur

mf magazine

Drink the Ring

Underground Art School

Wally's Dog Tale

New Twitter homepage

2009-07-29T10:27:00.003-04:00

Twitter's got a new homepage today. It's been talked about for a while, but nice to see some change to the site. See Mashable and their related links:

http://mashable.com/2009/07/28/twitter-homepage/

Interesting side note: I came across the blog of one of the ex-lead designers at Google who made this post about leaving Google:

http://stopdesign.com/archive/2009/03/20/goodbye-google.html

and then this post about starting at Twitter:

http://stopdesign.com/archive/2009/03/31/hello-twitter.html.

Fascinating to hear the inside scoop on what happens behinds the scenes. The decision over the color blue that he mentions in the Google post is slightly disturbing.

Regarding the productivity of friendship

2009-07-29T09:45:00.000-04:00

I cranked out a post a little while back that discussed the importance of "Carpe Evening," or seizing the immense chunk of time that most of us have after we get back from work. I mentioned how it is easy to get over-involved in college, but once you leave, it's much more difficult to find new activities with fun people.

My brain is wired in a way— like most people, I'm assuming—that requires there's always something to be to work on, little side projects to keep occupied. At the beginning of the summer, I assumed I would keep myself busy with lots of these side projects, looking into some vague ideas that had been percolating over the past few months before graduation.

Bottom line: it hasn't been productive two months, since since I hadn't anticipated how lucky I would be with my housemates and living situation. The story of me getting into this internship and getting into this house with these people involves mostly uninteresting details, but it has turned out to be better than expected, even if I got nothing done outside of work.

Essentially, the past two months have presented me with a very real struggle that I'm sure many others have also dealt with: Does spending time with friends and family qualify as a "productive" or "justifiable" use of your time when you're not getting anything done? Or another way of putting it: is it okay to just enjoy yourself when there's so much else to do?

Yes.

Realistically, there's nothing I need to do when I leave the office, no responsibilities to anyone but myself. There are jobs to search for, portfolio's to bolster, books to read, workouts that need working out, and chores to be done. And yet when you have the chance to go grocery shopping, return two hours later, and then spend another 2.5 hours cooking and eating, it feels okay. It's relaxing, good for the mind (it also tastes delicious).

Again, like many of my other friends, my "summer vacation" was 4 days at home after graduation to, pretty much to unpack and then repack for moving down to Princeton again. Luckily, this summer has actually felt like a summer, even though it includes a five-day work week. Change is afoot as we're about to move out of our house, my roommates have been signing off to other adventures, and I'll be moving across the street for the month of August. Undoubtedly, August will be 354% more productive since I won't have anyone to distract me with all of this "hanging out" and "just chilling" and "listening to our favorite music together while we eat a delicious home-cooked meal."

So to my roommates, thanks for getting in the way of my dreams. Don't think this whole "friendship" thing will make me forget about how much I didn't get done when we were enjoying the sunshine on our patio furniture set or cooking spicy food or hanging out in the parking lot of T.I. (what?). I think I'd rather go live by myself without all of the "excitement," thanks very much.

By the way...will you guys be around for the month of August?

A Weekend of NYC Urbanism

2009-07-27T09:30:00.000-04:00

I visited the Highline with a fellow architecture friend, Julia, a few weekends back. After talking the walk, we checked out the exhibit "The Future Beneath Us" at the Public Library and Grand Central Terminal.

For those of you that aren't familiar, The Highline is a new urban park in NYC built on the elevated train tracks on the west side of the city. There was intense debate over its construction, and New York Magazine ran a great article spelling out the story. This is the first completed section, but two more sections are to come.

As an architecture major, I've found that people expect me to have insightful critiques prepared merits, successes and failures of the Highline project as it stands now. While I can't offer anything earth-shattering that hasn't been already said, I will say this: right now, the Highline is novelty. You have to wait in line to see it because everyone is making it their weekend activity, and you're going to hear a myriad of different complaints, compliments, and reactions from all of those people. When asked what I think, I just say "Come back in 10 years, see what has happened then." This is a public park, not a thrill ride, and eventually, I'm assuming that the glimmer will wear off and the Highline will melt into the fabric of NYC, a familiar constant rather than an unfamiliar outlier. When that has happened, we can take another look and see how the Highline is being used, and try to better understand what credentials we can use to best judge it.

Here's what we saw.

First building you encounter is the Standard Hotel. (see this article here about this place!)

Benches.

Nope, don't know these guys, but the seats are very cool.

10th Avenue Square: The street becomes the stage.

View looking out the windows of the 10th Avenue Square.

Back at the audience.

Architecture renderings of the 10th Avenue Square. (via thehighline.org)

Check out the clever drainage on these water fountains!

Looking back at the end.

Two more sections to come in this direction.

Then we moved onto the "The Future Beneath Us":

Drilling samples.

If you've taken a train ride into NYC with me recently, you probably sat there, rolling your eyes as I told you about "how insane this is." When the tunnel under the Hudson River was first constructed in the early 19th century, it had two tracks: one going into the city, and one going out. Guess what? There is STILL only a single track in either direction. The new rail project is going to fix this problem buy constructing new track and tunnels, but until that's built, every person that leaves or enters New York on a commuter train has to go through this tunnel (where your ears pop). How insane is that?

This drilling machine is awesome. 'Nuff said.

I didn't take as many photos of the exhibit as I should have, but it was very interesting to check out. It's always amazing to see what goes on underground and behind the scenes to keep the city going. The history and future of this kind of infrastructure is incredible.

More info and links:

-There is a also great post over at sub-studio design blog that I would recommend reading as well. Their photos have that "I know what I'm doing quality" that mine still tend to lack: The Highline@sub-studio.
-New York Magazine article: read here
-Offical Highline site: thehighline.org.
-Website for The Future Beneath Us exhibit

A recent music Discovery

2009-07-23T20:19:00.009-04:00

A few Saturdays back, I was perusing the new releases rack at Princeton Record Exchange (PREX) and found an album with some beautiful artwork that had “Vampire Weekend” scribbled across the price tag (VW isn’t due for a new album for a while). I was excited, but resisted the impulse buy and went home empty-handed. With some research, I found that I'd just seen the debut album entitled LP from the group Discovery, made up of dynamic duo Rostam Batmanglij from Vampire Weekend and Wes Miles from Ra Ra Riot. I got my hands on the music, and the tracks kept me coming back for more as I tried to figure out what was going on in my headphones: pop, synths, electronic, catchy, groovy, and colorful; that’s what I heard. My roommate came back from work with the mp3’s on his iPod, and we rocked out to it for the next three days. For serious.

Call me crazy (people have) but I enjoy buying music. It’s the physicality of a real CD, popping it into a really loud stereo for the whole album experience. Or just putting it on a shelf and looking at it. The music’s is half the package, and the CD and artwork seal the deal. If the artist can convince me it’s worth paying for their music, I will, like a “thank you, I’m really digging this.”

A week of listening to Discovery convinced me it was time to buy. I called PREX and asked, “Do you have any copies of Discovery’s album left?”

“Do you want on vinyl or CD?”

I was startled. “Um, either.”

“Ya, we’ve got a bunch of copies here,” he answered.

Vinyl? They had it on vinyl? As in a record? When was I?

Then I’m standing in PREX, CD in my left hand and vinyl in my right. Why would I even consider buying an album if I don’t have a record player? But why would I buy the CD if I have the mp3’s already? Why am I even considering paying for this music if it's already on my iPod?

I bought LP on a vinyl LP, and I couldn’t be happier.

* * *

This music purchase was different than most. I stumbled across the album while browsing at a music store on the day before it was supposed to be officially released, had it on my iPod that night without paying for it, and grew to love it with friends. But after I had listened and decided it was worth buying, I had to consider what I would be spending my money on. It’s definitely not the music, because I’ve already got that. Maybe it was the visuals; records are big, and record sleeves have lots of visual real estate; 144 square inches, to be exact. They're also beautiful, and in the case of Discovery’s LP, records are really big and beautiful. The album artwork is amazing, and the backside plays right into my [not-so] secret love for colorful transit maps.

I opened the record when I got home to find a foldout wall poster with lyrics and visuals, as well as a piece of paper with a link to download the album in mp3 format. It was suddenly clear this piece of vinyl wasn’t supposed to replace the music on my iPod or compete with the CD sales, but exist completely independently. The album looks gorgeous, and the fold-out poster unravels the music’s lyrical conundrums. The whole package releases the musical experience from the virtual, intangible world of the iPod, Hype Machine and YouTube, and adds physical legitimacy that you can see and touch, show off and admire.

I’m being over-romantic, but I can’t help but smile when I look over and see that Discovery album on my wall. Sure, I’ll spin it and listen a precious few times, but it will mostly stand as a friendly reminder of a musical discovery that helped me remember why music isn’t just for the ears. Music is something we can see and share with others, pumping us up, making us dance, slowing us down, or letting us unwind. Bands and artists better realize that while people love to listen, people also love if you've got more to offer than just a bunch of mp3's. Since getting music for free is officially “no big deal,” bands have a new responsibility, something that maybe existed in some stint of glory days in the past. If they want to survive—financially, artistically, however—they’ve got to expand their act. It's no secret that it's the concerts that pull in the big bucks, not the CD and vinyl sales. But if you give people a reason to buy some CD's or vinyl’s or something else...well, then I’m interested.

The direction of the music industry is a hot topic right now, and it wouldn’t be out of line to say that the future of music depends on how the music industry deals with change. For incredibly insightful further reading, check out Bob Lefsetz’s blog, The Lefsetz Letter. It’s all good, but maybe start with these posts: Michael Jackson Turning Points, Keith Urban at Staples, and Social Networking.

And be sure to keep listening.
_____________________

Links:

Princeton Record Exchange

For Discovery audio and visuals, check out their page at http://dscvry.net/

Smiles Captured: A new photo album

2009-07-23T11:32:00.008-04:00

My digital camera is very real proof that Japanese engineers are a very crafty bunch. There is a shooting mode called "Smile Detector." Here's what happens: you click the shutter button, and it goes into what I like to call "Smile Capturing Mode." When the camera's face detector detects a face with a little box, it waits until the person is smiling and SNAP! it automatically takes a picture. The "Smile Counter" on the screen increases by one, giving you an exact count of how many smiles you've captured. The amazing thing is that you don't take the picture, it just waits until it seems a smile and captures the moment.

When people hear about this, a short smile/no-smile photo session undoubtedly ensues. A large number of my digital photos are of people with a big, exaggerated, excited, toothy grins on their faces, sometimes with thumbs up, sometimes with eyes closed as they strain to smile, and sometimes with an unenthusiastic look across the rest of their face as they wonder the eff I was talking about when I said my camera could tell they were smiling.

In the camera's settings, you can adjust the "Smile Detection Level" to low, medium or high. I just think of this as setting the "Judgmental Camera Mode" to "open-minded, relatively picky, and severely harsh critic." In all honesty, the Smile Detector is pretty much a gag. Sometimes you don't want people smiling, or you're getting them from the side. For that, you really can't rely on the smile detector.

I have been reorganizing my digital photos on my new computer, and have discovered whole treasure trove of these smile detector photos. To commemorate this discovery, I'll be making a photo album just for these moments of fabricated joy.

Please don't judge the people in the photos too harshly; that's the camera's job.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERIC!

2009-07-21T17:03:00.003-04:00

Today's a big day in our nation's history: ERIC IS 23!

Happy Birthday big guy, hope you can blow out all the candles!

Dumpster Diving 2.0 and "What is New York City?"

2009-07-20T11:15:00.004-04:00

Today, the NYTimes came out with an article talking about something I came across last week. It re-sparked some thoughts.

First written about here at Ready Made, some designers have started turning old dumpsters into pools, hidden away in the cracks of the city for a small, select group of people.

The New York Times ran the story today, citing Ready Made's original story about the dumpsters. I love this part:

After Mr. Weyland gave an interview to ReadyMade, the D.I.Y. design magazine, two weeks ago, breathless coverage and links began appearing all over the blogosphere. Soon the location was decoded. One post led to people standing on the roofs of cars in a nearby lot, snapping photos, Mr. Weyland said with an eye roll.

Who wouldn't want to get in on the action?!

Living in Princeton, I've been able to spend a bunch of my weekends in the city with friends. I've never lived in the city, but NYC's glamour as tourist destination wore off years ago, and now I go in for a more "legit" thrill. In my mind, New York is very much two different cities: one for the tourists who can see the sites, eat at the restaurants, drink at the bars, sit in the parks. The other is for people that live there. Life in the city when you're visiting friends exists off the streets and in the air, in apartment buildings, behind the scenes, getting buzzed-in or greeting a doorman.

It's the second kind of city that I prefer, where you fade into the woodwork and rely on each other for entertainment, rather than searching for a shallow thrill in the city-scene. Bars and restaurants become a backdrop for gatherings of friends and family, rather than a novel experience of fun seats and fancy drinks.

When the night is over, you don't head back to a sterile hotel or squeeze into an outgoing train. You go back home, back up into the city where the night continues in the privacy of your own place in the skyline.

These dumpster pools are neat because they're tucked away for a few people to enjoy. It's exclusive, but that's not really the draw for me. It's the private, personal space; it's an urban oasis off above the streets.

But seriously, how can I get in on the action?

Everyone is probably kicking themselves over this one.

2009-07-20T09:51:00.001-04:00

This little invention has been floating around for a bit I've seen it mentioned on a bunch of different places already, but I think it's certainly worth a shout-out. In an act of brilliance, someone has come up with a key/ring combo:

I know, why didn't *I* think of that?!

I'm amazed at how much attention this little guy has gotten. Just goes to show how simple a solution can be, and how excited people can get about it once they've seen it.

via Wired and Thrillist

Their site: Amron Exptl.

Two photos on a sunny day

2009-07-16T16:57:00.002-04:00

If you don't believe we landed on the moon, you'll love this.

2009-07-16T12:38:00.004-04:00

...for the rest of us that don't think it was a huge cover-up, this is just devastating. Apparently all of the original video footage of the first moon landing was accidentally erased to use the tapes for later satellite missions. Irresponsible, frustrating, and a great loss? Yes, yes and yes. Hopefully they'll be able to recover footage from older TV broadcasts, as they propose to do.

Check out the story here: Houston, We Erased the Apoll 11 Tapes

Via NPR

New NYC Subway iPhone app let's you streamline your trip

2009-07-16T11:10:00.005-04:00

To keep myself interested during my 1.5 hour commute into NYC last summer, I started trying to figure out how to streamline the trip. I realized that waiting at the front of the train as it arrived in Grand Central but me closer to the station, standing by the 3rd door of the second car in the S-train would give me the fastest exit, and then the 6th car on the downtown 1-line put me right next to the turnstiles to get up to the street.

Turns out I'm not the only person that was thinking like this. A new iPhone app, Exit Strategy, gives you the information in the palm of your hand so there's no trial and error involved. Apparently, people like the idea but are disappointed that there are so many subway lines and stops missing. Hopefully future versions will provide more complete coverage.

Check it out here: Exit Strategy

via Thrillist

Three interesting points on Princeton architecture

2009-07-14T19:45:00.021-04:00

The bumps and shapes on top of the free-standing arcade outside of Frist Campus Center are not just random pieces of architectural flair, but are actually the tops of the letters of the words "FRIST CAMPUS CENTER." Due to disputes between the town, university and the architects, the signage was reduced to what we see now.

Frist Campus Center

Revealing the Letters

(Images courtesy of me.)
__________________________________________________________________

In theoretical computer science, "P=NP" is an unverified identity that has kept computer scientists scratching their heads for a number of years. To make up for my severe lack of expertise in this field, my friend Dan O'Shea did a quick write up of the significance of P=NP:

Dan explains: "P=NP is widely considered the most important, unsolved question in computer science today. The question essentially asks whether a large class of problems labeled NP currently considered mathematically intractable are indeed tractable. The labels P and NP essentially describe how quickly the amount of time and memory required to solve a particular problem (say, sorting a list of N numbers) grows with the size of the problem (here, N). While P problems aren't necessarily easy, they tend to be significantly more manageable than NP problems. Many fields and applications, including the encryption that protects your personal information on the internet, rely on how impossibly time-consuming some NP problems are to solve. If P indeed equals NP, then many problems currently considered intractable could be solved efficiently. Consequently, the question has enormous real-world significance, and the Clay Mathematics Institute has offered a $1 million Millennium Prize to anyone who answers the question with proof."

To honor this seemingly insurmountable, theoretical obstacle, the Computer Science Building has a pattern of bricks on the side that reads "P=NP?" in 7-bit ASCII values:

x 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 x
x 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 x
x 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 x
x 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 x
x 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 x

Here are the images:

Computer Science Building

Close up of the brick pattern

Apparently, if the question is ever answered, the question mark can be removed.

Thanks to Dan O'Shea over at djoshea.com for filling the blanks with his computer science expertise.

This information courtesy of Princeton's Department of Computer Science, photos courtesy of me.

__________________________________________________________________

(Note: looks like some of these images aren't available if you're not on the Princeton network. I'll look into it and hopefully have the links fixed soon.

When it was constructed in 1951, Corwin Hall stood near the corner of Washington Road and Prospect Ave. To make way for the construction of Roberston Hall, which would be the new Woodrow Wilson School, Corwin Hall was moved to its current location at the back of Skudder Plaza, behind the fountain. Mudd Manuscript Library's blog has an interesting post with the following video of the move in action:

From the air

From the side (that's Frick Lab in the background)

These photos and facts can be found in links on this page: Corwin Hall Buildling Highlights

(part of An Interactive Campus History)

There's a probably an official psychological term for this

2009-07-14T18:46:00.003-04:00

We bought toilet paper for the house a few grocery trips ago. As we were unpacking the groceries, I walked over to the stairs with the package of toilet paper and tossed it up.

About a week later, still sitting at the top of the stairs was this:

If you're wondering what that is, it's an almost empty bag of toilet paper rolls. What that means is that whenever one of us needed to replace the toilet paper, we would just go to the plastic bag at the top of the stairs, take a roll, and walk away. None of us bothered to move the package as we passed it in our everyday routine, probably assuming that someone else would eventually take care of it.

A few grocery trips later, we bought more toilet paper. Again, I threw this to the top of the stairs assuming it would be moved and taken care of by one of us. A few days later I captured this image:

Yes, that's another opened bag of toilet paper rolls, and at least one has already been removed. Once again, none of us bothered to move the bag to the bathroom and put it under the sink, where it belongs. Instead, we just left it there and ignored it until we needed it.

Isn't there some kind of term for assuming everyone else will take care of it? What about selective attention? Maybe I've discovered a new phenomenon?

Toilet paper avoidance syndrome (TPAS)?

We're landing on the moon! ...again?

2009-07-14T10:24:00.011-04:00

Came across this great site from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum that is going to recreate the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing in real-time, it's just going to be 40 years later. They're using three Twitter accounts to track the conversation between the astronauts and mission control, but it seems like you'll also be able to listen in and hear the entire thing as it happens, with video and photos. There's even a desktop app you can download that tracks the misson's progress and location from earth to moon.

They have footage of President Kennedy (who was killed 6 years before the Apollo 11 mission) delivering his famous speech where he states that "we choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard."

And yes, I already downloaded the desktop app.

www.wechoosethemoon.org

Great HP Video

2009-07-10T10:47:00.000-04:00

Featured on Vimeo today:

HP - invent from Tom and Matt on Vimeo.

Regarding the fear of flying: Is the Airbus a Lemon?

2009-07-10T09:24:00.007-04:00

You probably gasped when you read the title of this post. How DARE I, right? Doesn't your dad fly Airbuses for a living? How could even I consider that?

Calm yourselves, people.

In a recent article over at Salon, Patrick Smith asks this question and quickly explains that NO, the Airbus is not a lemon. Read the article here: Is the Airbus a Lemon?

You can imagine the typical reactions and strings of questions that I (along with my brother and sister, probably) receive up on hearing that my dad is a pilot. "Was he ever home?" "Was he in the Airforce?" "Is that scary?" "Do you fly for free?" "Does he have a moustache?"

Yes. No. No. Hell no. Yes, it's great.

And ime and time again, I have attempted to dispel people's fears of flying by providing them with raw, irrefutable statistical data:

"You're scared of flying? Think of the thousands of flight that take off from every airport in the WORLD every hour, going to every other airport in the world, and how every few years we hear about a MAJOR plane crash." The recent Airbus crashes are a fluke.

Being so close to the airline industry has not only made me immune to the fear of flying, but also oblivious to it. I have never second guessed flying, usually look forward to it, and am always amazed when people are scared. Do you have any idea how much research, development and testing goes into every aircraft built? And do you have any idea how much training, re-training and proficiency checks airline pilots go through every year? Here's a hint: it's a lot.

For as long as I've been alive, my dad has always been level-headed, professional, proud, and devoted to his career, and it irks me greatly when people can offhandedly say that flying is dangerous or life-threatening. Airlines have a responsibility to millions of people, and they can't even afford to consider being anything less than safe. I'm not scared to admit that accidents happen, they do. And that's why you're more likely to get killed on the New Jersey Turnpike, rather than have your plane crash.

It's terrifying even considering the notion of "crash" when, again, I've grown up so close to flying. Yet it would be unrealistic to think that my dad, or any other pilot, has never had to consider the notion. But pilots are lucky: while most of us are signing our lives away when we climb into our cars to drive ourselves to work everday, airline pilots get into an aircraft that has been safety-checked by a team of engineers and mechanics, armed with an advanced computer that is essentially capable of flying the thing itself, and watched by teams of flight control operators in towers across the country.

So I ask you: who's scared now?

On blogging, and why you're reading this

2009-07-09T11:30:00.006-04:00

I'm not trying to keep this blog a secret, but I certainly don't think it'll make me famous. I tell people about it hoping they'll check it out and read what I write, but when they ask "What's it about?", my most recent response is "stuff in my life and things I find relevant in the world."

A "blog" is just a place where you can publish yourself for free. Anyone can see it, read it, copy it, and comment, if you allow. But there are thousands and thousands of blogs, and new ones being started everyday. With those kinds of numbers, how do you decide which ones to read when there are SO MANY to choose from? That's easy: you go with what you know, and you go with what you like.

If you're reading this, you probably found this blog from me telling you in (1) an email (2) an away message (3) a tweet or (4) my Facebook status. You probably know me personally in some respect, family, friend, co-worker, etc.

Essentially, I'm the reason you're here.

It's easy to say that blogs fuel narcissism, that they give people who love attention the chance to put themselves out there. Sure, but some people like to share, and in general, we enjoy knowing what our friends are doing. Undoubtedly, blogs have the dangerous potential of fueling self-indulgence, and as a result, IMHO, you have to give your audience a justifiable reason to read.

My audience is family and friends, and the content will be both personal and impersonal. The personal stuff will be pictures from things I've been doing and places I'm going, a diary of my experiences and is as much for me to look back on as it is to share with others.

More importantly, however, the "impersonal" posts will be things I find "culturally relevant" in today's world, articles, images, sounds and videos that I think are worth sharing. The subject matter will cater to my interests, of course, but I'll make every attempt to shape those interests around things that I think people will enjoy reading about.

In the end, my hope is that my friends and family will continue to read to learn about intriguing points of culture, as well as what's happening in my life. The "internet" is the ultimate tool for learning about what is going on around the world, and I'm fully engrossed and fascinated by the wealth of information available. Keeping it for yourself is pointless, however, as it is meant to be shared and discussed. This is a place for to me present my angle on all of it in hopes that others will find it interesting and learn more.

Kudos to Pixar

2009-07-09T11:07:00.004-04:00

A recent NYTimes article discusses how Pixar has taken some "chances" with their past few releases, and despite skepticism from analysts about the success of the movies, they've been huge success. Nothing wrong with pushing the envelope, apparently, even for a company that caters to such a wide audience.

Check out the article: Analyst Admits to Being ‘Dead Wrong’ After Disney’s ‘Up’ Is Big Earner .

Recent Grocery Shopping

2009-07-08T16:54:00.002-04:00

Exciting images from our recent grocery shopping trip. Grand total: $153.25.

Shopping Excursion

New Electric Razor: A Bizarre Shipping Experience

2009-07-08T16:12:00.000-04:00

I had some money from xmas to spend at Best Buy, and since I have been using the same razor for the past ~4 months to avoid spending money on new ones, I decided to invest in an electric razor. I went online, found one that I liked (even works in the shower!), and bought it with expedited shipping.

I slept in late on Friday and checked the tracking info when I woke up. The UPS site said it had been delivered at 12:20PM, so I went downstairs and opened the front door, expecting to see it waiting on the porch. It was 12:45PM and there was nothing there. My roommates who were home hadn't seen a truck, and we checked all around the house for the package to no avail.

I stopped by the UPS store, they said to call UPS, UPS said to call Best Buy. I called Best Buy later in the afternoon and they said to call UPS again. I did this, and got a smart person who "initiated a trace" on the package. On a whim, I checked out on the porch again when I was back home around 5:30PM, and voila, there was the package, five hours late. Here's the photo recap:

@ 12:20 p.m.

@ 5:00 p.m.

I have not attempted to figure out what happened or why this happened. I was just happy I didn't have to deal with package tracing, and that I was able to use the razor for my post-jog shave that evening.

ROAD TRIP: Princeton Printing & Mailing Office

2009-07-08T00:53:00.026-04:00

Last week I went on a little field trip to see Princeton's Printing & Mailing office, where most of the official printed publications for the university are produced. It was amazing to see the kinds of machinery and technology involved in print production. Naturally, I l]took lots of photos, so let's recap.

To cut huge amounts of paper at once, they have this machine with a giant blade that comes down and slices across the sheets. It only cuts when both buttons are pressed at once, so your fingers are chopped off. The flat surface of the cutter is covered with a grid of ball bearing floating on air (like an air hockey table) so the paper can slide around easily.

From Printing & Mailing Office

Putting in the paper:

From Printing and Mailing Office

This things applies the glue to the stacks of paper that become books. One of the technicians said the glue is so hot that if you stuck your finger in, you would come out with just bone:

From Printing and Mailing Office

Sorting and stacking action shot:

From Printing and Mailing Office

One of the facility's two iGens. These things are massive digital printers that never stop running and are connected to a central server at Xerox so they can be continuously monitored and maintained:

From Printing and Mailing Office

The iGen control station:

From Printing and Mailing Office

As a historic side note, the Printing & Mailing building used to be a hangar for Princeton's Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department. A few years back, there was a hovercraft hanging from the ceiling, since it was never moved after the engineers left. Below is a photo of it in action, and more info can be found here.

Thanks to Darryl and the rest of the staff at the Printing & Mailing Office for the tour of the facilities, and to Shani for driving.

Bad interview aftermath, and reflections on an undergraduate architecture education

2009-07-07T11:19:00.010-04:00

Today, I had a one-sided Skype video interview with a big-name European architecture firm, hoping to secure a spot as an intern for a year or so. It was terrible. First of all, I didn't do anything wrong. In fact, I hardly had the chance to do or say anything wrong because the guy on the other end spoke the ENTIRE time. I'll paraphrase what he said:

"We don't want people that are living in a fantasy world. We want people who know how to deal with rainwater and foundations."

Let me explain.

I graduated with an A.B. in Architecture and a Certificate in Urban Studies. Architecture majors have "studio," where you spend [almost all of] your time working through architectural problems in drawings and models, and regularly present your work to juries. With the feedback from your professors, assistant instructors (AI's) and jurors, the projects continually develop until you present in the final review.

Princeton's undergraduate architecture education is not a technical education; it is a liberal arts program. If you looked at my portfolio work from the last 3 years, you would probably say "Wow, you've got some nice diagrams and drawings and layout, but I don't think that your buildings would stand up." I would respond "Maybe, but who cares? It's the idea that matters more." You would probably respond "That's silly, what's the point of architecture if it can't actually be built?" I would probably just walk away, as I've had that conversation too many times.

Look, people. I'll speak to what I know: undergraduate architecture majors (not civil engineers) at Princeton hardly worry about if the building will "stand up" because it doesn't matter. Yet. I never planned on graduating and going to start my own firm, turning my wacky conceptual montages and diagrams into actual buildings. I worked under the assumption that I would learn the technical details of construction in a real office or in graduate school, and delve in the fascinating conceptual potential of architecture while at Princeton.

"Well, wouldn't it make sense to just learn a little about the structural stuff and not ignore it?"

Of course, and there are required classes where we learn about construction, materials, loads, etc. But Princeton's undergraduate architecture program is not pre-professional, and exists within the context of a liberal arts curriculum where you might be taking classes on Chinese, economics, music theory and pottery at the same time. If I KNEW that I wanted to be an architect ASAP, I would have enrolled in a Masters program where I would have done nothing but architecture for 5 years. Instead, I attended a liberal arts university where you don't decide your major until the end of your sophomore year.

Here's the point: this guy was out of line in telling me that I need to "reconnect with reality" if I want to be an architect. He could have simply said that I was not experienced enough, and I would have agreed, because I'm not. Instead, he explained that lots of my work looks like student work. Well, I was JUST a student. There are no drawings of roofs and gutters? Well, we were never told to deal with DRAINAGE in our projects. No sections of foundations and concrete? I've got no clue how foundations work. Yet.

He even went as far as to explain what would happen if he hired me: I would work for this team, but wouldn't know how to do this so I would be bumped to this team, where I wouldn't understand this other thing, where I would be bumped down again, but I don't speak Italian so then I would be put in the model shop in the basement where I would be sad forever and ever.

To be honest, it felt as if he really wanted to put me in my place. Thing is, I know my place: I'm inexperienced because I haven't been educated yet, and my college education was not ONLY about architecture. Some would call that the curse of a liberal arts education, but I see myself as capable of doing more. You've just got to start somewhere.

So I don't think I got the job.

Fin de la Blog Hiatus: A near near-death experience

2009-07-06T14:28:00.016-04:00

(Because one of my biggest pet peeves is people apologizing and giving excuses for not keeping up to date with their blogs/sites, I won't give any flowery explanation for the silence. I've just been busy, but I've got a backlog of things to post. Get exciteddddd.)

I spent my "fourth" in NYC seeing friends, fireworks, and going crazy, and sort of almost died. Driving back to the apartment after a dinner of Pho Bang in Chinatown, our cab decided to accelerate into the a cab parked on the side of the road, resulting in a violent fender bender where the fender of the other cab fine and our cab's front-left side got destroyed. Here's the photo:

Let me answer some of your questions right off the bat:

1) Yes, we're all fine.

2) No, we're not going to sue.

3) Yes, we're sure we're not going to sue. Please see #1.

4) No, we didn't wait two hours for the cops. It would have been at least 2 hours for them to arrive with all of the 4th of July festivities going on.

5) OBVIOUSLY we didn't pay for that cab ride.

6) Yes, Mom, we're actually fine.

7) Yup, we took two more cabs that night.

8) No, I don't know what that liquid stuff pouring out from under the car is. Yes, it might be gas...at least that's what the girl on the sidewalk that screamed "GET OUT OF THE CAR!" after impact thought it was. We promptly acquiesced to her request. (thanks to Chris for the inquiry)

The funny thing was that when I got into the cab, I pulled the seatbelt across myself, but then said outloud "Nah, what am I doing?!" (Subtext: "Cab drivers are the best drivers in the entire city! Am I right?!")

I guess I can mark off that square in my game of "Bingo: The Crazy, Unpredictable and Unexpected Life Experiences Edition"?

Photos from the weekend.

Missing: Camera cable

2009-06-30T09:37:00.003-04:00

I've got some pictures from the past week that I wanted to throw up here, but I can't find the cable; hence the agonizing delay in posting new material. As soon as I get my hands on the cord I'll show some images from the past weekend, as well as my field trip to Princeton's Printing & Mailing Office.

UPDATE: Camera cable was in my box of cables, right where it should have been.

BREAKING NEWS: The statues are gone!

2009-06-23T09:49:00.010-04:00

While running a very important errand on campus last week, I discovered that the giant statues in front of Marquand, the ones that we have all come to know and love, are gone and have been replaced with a plastic, white picket fence. After some brief research, it turns out that the statues were on lease to the University.

Here are the photos:

Before these statues had graced Marquand's front lawn, the Picasso statue that now sits behind Spelman used to live here. It was moved with a truck a few years back.

Princeton Class Day Speeches

2009-06-23T09:29:00.005-04:00

That same guy that really likes the Dirty Projectors also happens to have given a Class Day speech at our graduation from Princeton a few weeks back. Jason Gilbert and Jackie Bello both did incredible jobs, packing their speeches with wit, humor, sarcasm, self-deprecation, and enough sentimentality to prove they know how to work a crowd. Katie Couric had a tough act to follow (she even says so here).

Here they are, for all world to enjoy:

Old People Talking about New Music

2009-06-23T09:03:00.003-04:00

I have a friend who really likes the Dirty Projectors. They came and played at Princeton and he was at the front of the crowd with his camera. He has continually raved about their music and what they're doing. For some reason I never really got around to listening to them until now.

Their new album, Bitte Orca, didn't grab me the first time, but confident that I was missing something, and with knowing that some of my favorite albums have been "sleepers" (something I didn't like right off the bat), I gave it another shot. And another. And another

And another.

After all those listens, the track "Stillness is the Move" stood out the most, along with the opening track "Cannibal Resource." Yet there's something about the way they play with tempos and tonalities, making some jarring, unexpected moves in the melody that annoys me more than gets me rocking out. If one thing is for sure it's progressive and deserves lots of attention.

I came across this video, part of a series where a group of old people reviews music. They go through Wilco and the Dirty Projectors here:

I would have been shocked if they had all been able to agree on liking any of it. As funny as it is with these older people talking about new music, I think it does show an unwillingness to accept some of the new things that are happening artistically, shunning the departure from what they're used to as bad news.

Makes me sad.

A painful truth about the "Real World"

2009-06-18T10:24:00.002-04:00

Back when I was in college*, I was pretty busy. I was involved with a whole bunch of extra-curriculars, projects with friends, sports, music; the list goes on. People were always around at meals, roommates across the hall, friends in classes, in architecture studio, at parties and out on the street. The day's activities usually began around 10AM and went until 2AM, and everyday was different. Lectures, precepts, rehearsals, classes, projects, meetings, meals, friends, fun; all of it kept day-to-day life fresh.

Then college ended. The real world picked up where it left off.

Here's the deal with the real world (or at least the one I'm experiencing right now): You wake up, shower, eat breakfast, go to work. Work ends at 5PM and you go home. Then what? The divide between work/play is clearly demarkated by location and by responsibilities; what you and where you were are totally different than where you live and what you do while at home. The intertwined fluidity of the collegiate lifestyle, in which one activity leads to the next, evaporates once your career isn't the center of your lifestyle. Some would call that a curse, and some would consider the ability to "turn off" work mode refreshing.

I'm not sure what to call it.

For one thing, it's not depressing, though some might see it that way. The hours between 5Pm and midnight are full of possibility and potential. The thing is, getting involved in groups and "extra-cirriculars" once you're out of school becomes more about a pro-active, self-initated attitude to get things happening instead of falling into the banal get-home-from-work-make-dinner-and-watch-TV groove.**

So the painful truth about the real world is that you've really got to work hard after work is over to keep yourself occupied. Now I understand why they invented hobbies, and why people like to read: they have time for both. I didn't have time for "reading" in college, and am regretting my decision to leave my books at home thinking I would be "too busy to actually read." Silly me.

-------------------------

*My cousin and I, both recent college graduates (as of, like, three weeks ago) found ourselves repeating this phrase over and over at a recent family get-together. Not being in college anymore: a painful truth.

**Our cable is not currently functional as a result of the recent switch from analog to digital service. Strangely, the last thing were able to watch on TV (when it was working) was a news story about how people needed install digital receivers to keep watching TV. Go figure.

Regarding a few reviews of "Up"

2009-06-15T10:16:00.004-04:00

I really liked Pixar's new movie "Up." Of course, I'm easy to please if there are lots of colorful balloons, large birds that squawk, or dogs that remind me of my own basset hound named Gus.

But I don't really care about my own opinion. I'm interested in seeing what everyone else thinks, comparing their critiques—however valid or unfounded they might be—to my own take.

Not surprisingly, Rotten Tomatoes gave the movie a 98%. The page is filled with lauded praise over the movie's wondrous charm. However, I checked who thought the movie was "rotten" and found this review by Armond White for the New York Press.

Apparently, Mr. White did not like the movie. He criticizes how over-romanticized some of the scenes are and how sickeningly unrealistic and unhinged from reality other parts are, accusing Pixar of monopolizing the animation industry and taking it in the wrong direction. The arguments against his line of thought are obvious and well documented in the articles comments section, so I won't bother.

A few people just think White is just "trolling," or taking advantage of this opportunity to give a good move a bad review to stir emotions. If this is the case, he's succeeded. Intrigued, I did a search for "armond white up" and found this article, a back and forth discussion about the review and what White could have been trying to do. Is White just saying that he wants Pixar to step their game and start giving some more depth to their flicks?

There was also this article, that tears apart the review piece by piece and even features some of the author's favotire reviews from White's original post.

First, go see the movie. Then decide what you think. Then, think about Armond's review. Get back to me.

See there UP preview here: http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/up/

Weekend Roundup

2009-06-15T09:03:00.004-04:00

It's Monday morning, that must mean a weekend just happened. It was my first non-student Princeton weekend, and it was jam-packed. Here are the highlights:

Saw the new movie "UP" and thought it was great. Very clever, very funny and very well told. Highly recommended.
Delicious dinner a little ways down the street followed by helping people move in.
Went to a farmer's market and bought some fresh veggies and apples.
Bought new xaphoon reeds.
Assembled new patio furniture and lounged out on the front lawn.

Overall a success. Despite the suggestions to trek into the city for the Puerto Rico day parade, we hung out around the house and around town, enjoyed some great cooking, and played jazz. What adventures await us this week?

I mean, duh.

2009-06-12T13:46:00.002-04:00

http://www.thedailybeast.com/beast-board/item/827/tyson-ritter/music/

The Agony of Tracking Packages

2009-06-12T10:13:00.008-04:00

I ordered a fancy new computer on Tuesday following Apple's release of the new MacBook Pros. As part of the promotion, you get a free iPod Touch, which came yesterday. I received the notification it had been sent and followed closely as it left the factory is Pennsylvania, went through Newark, got on the truck and was eventually delivered here to the office.

This morning I got the notification that my computer had shipped. From Shanghai.

The idea of tracking shipments is great, but let's be honest, all it does is make the pain of waiting that much more painful. You have access to a resource that seems like it should tell you EXACTLY when the package will arrive, but the reality is that it usually updates in the morning and at night, leaving you (well, me) constantly refreshing the FedEx page all day long in hopes that the delivery truck has sprouted wings and arrived in Jersey in a matter of minutes, rather than hours or days.

And with the shipment of my new computer from China, I have to watch as a my little package treks across the mighty globe, traveling from conveyor belt to truck to plane to boat to car to bike to donkey to truck to its final destination here.

Tracking packages might seem convenient, but I find myself longing for the days of ignorant bliss when I had no idea when the package would arrive. Since the delivery trucks would come at the same time everyday (but not Saturday!?), if I came home from school and it hadn't arrived, that just meant I had to wait longer.

Today, I can see what time it left the facility, when it moves from truck to truck, etc. If I had to guess, the next step is live satellite shots of the package in transit and alerts when the driver has to stop for a pee break.

Real Life Experiences: Dealing with Landpersons

2009-06-12T09:26:00.007-04:00

So we have this crazy landlady named Dorothy.

Of course, crazy is a term that needs to be qualified so that it can understood exactly what kind of crazy is being referred to. She's the kind of crazy person that tells REALLY long stories, and seems to have a repertoire of about 4 or 5 scenarios she customizes with names, places, and times to fit a convenient situation. For example, she told us the story about a guy who's mother never taught him to NOT lean back in chairs. He broke one of her dining room chairs as a result. Ryan informed us that she had already told him this story twice but with different rooms of the house and different offenders. She also told us how the previous tenants had expressed concern that their entire security deposit would be used to replace a single broken toilet seat. In fact, this was a hypothetical situation brought up by one of our friends in talking to Dorothy last month, not a previous tennant.

Describing people has never been my forte, but all I can say is that you've got to trust me on this one. Dorothy seems sweet enough, but that sweetness erodes as she leads you through the house on 2-hour walkthroughs to check for damage, or tries to explain how the stove doesn't work because there's so much grease. Over and over and over.

And then she tells you that she loves the fridge because it has traveled with her from California to Pennsylvania to Connecticut to Florida and back. She also loves its color, "Harvest Gold." (As one of us noted, we're not sure if having a well-traveled fridge is a good thing at all.)

Our lease term technically started on June 1st, but none of us were going to move in until this week. Despite the fact that is seems that she had a week to clean up everything, fix the upstairs bathroom, clean the oven, wipe the cabinets, change the furniture, remove the wire fencing and wax my bedroom floor, she has been around the house with little helpers all THIS week getting stuff done. What if we had to move in on June 1st? Would she have been LIVING there???

While we had considered presenting Dorothy with a list of grievances to outline our various frustrations, the arduous walkthrough last just left us wanting her out of our hair. She leaves the east coast on Monday for a magical world called "Arizona," and once she's gone, we don't have to worry about finding her sleeping on the dining room floor or eating a roast chicken outside on the lawn.

Is it really that simple?

2009-06-11T09:30:00.007-04:00

In a stroke of bizarrely kitsch urban/public development, New York City has planted 376 rubber folding chairs in the heart of Times Square.

Wait...what?

I haven't had a double take this severe in ages, but despite your completely justifiable doubts, it's true. Here are all the facts you need to know:

Each chair, at ~$15 is 0.001% of the city's budget.
They've already made a t-shirt design for them (apparently still too obscure to warrant any pictures on Google Images)
Mayor Bloomberg says this kind of thing isn't going to happen again
The chairs are pink, blue and green.

Consider this: We have Times Square, one of the most crowded places in the galaxy, and the city want to give people a chance to sit down. So what do they decide to do? Put in beach chairs! Genius! Why overthink, why overplan, why overspend?

I'm partial to practical moves like this that break the mold, catch people off guard, and get lots of attention. And how apropos? It happens in media hungry NYC during a time when budgets are tight and spending tons of cash on expensive solutions isn't always an option.

Longevity? Sustainability? Not part of the equation, because the chairs will inevitably broken/stolen/run over by more fire trucks soon enough, but this is a bigger move than many people—especially Bloomberg, included—seem to think.

It's all in the name

2009-06-10T18:49:00.004-04:00

In other image related news, I found this picture on my computer. It was an anonymous Photoshop image with the title "super banana lamb." Naturally I opened it and found, well, a super banana lamb...one of those moments where it just makes sense all of a sudden.

Tiger 2.0

2009-06-10T18:46:00.002-04:00

Not to be deterred my amateurism, I drew this tiger last night

Real Life Experiences: Grocery Shopping

2009-06-10T08:34:00.003-04:00

Since I wasn't able to work the whole go-shopping-with-Mom-when-I-first arrive-so-she-can-pay-for-the-first-batch-of-groceries routine, last night was my first adventure into the supermarket to do grocery shopping for reals. This is the big time. No running in to get milk or buy cereal and poptarts. This is buying food to SURVIVE (without Subway and Panera).

Jayne and Isabel (2/3 of my housemates) and I made the trip to McCaffery's down in Princeton Shopping Center, and what a trip it was. To make a long, uninteresting story very short, I learned that grocery shopping is not an easy thing to do for the first time because:

1) You need to know what you want to make.

2) You need to know how long things last.

3) You don't want to spend too much money.

4) You have to plan for frequent trips.

5) Dividing up the bill is a pain in the rear.

Despite these challenges, we managed to spend a grand total of $169.52 on groceries, and are preparing for the house's first organized meal of spaghetti and salad tonight.

Look at what I drew today

2009-06-09T16:12:00.000-04:00

Real Life Experiences: First Day in the Office

2009-06-08T19:36:00.005-04:00

Today was my first day of work. No problems, everyone in the office is super nice and I made the rounds getting introduced.

First thing I did was go to a meeting at the University Architects office to talk about some new sites the office is working. It was amazing to see and hear some behind the scenes talk about new bulidings, planning, etc. Very enlightening.

After I was set up at my desk, my boss, Laurel, set me to work re-designing the cover for the Freshman Orientation guide (you know, that thing that none of us actually read). I cranked out one version and spent the afternoon working on some other variations.

In other important news, Apple released some big ticket items at the World Wide Developer's Conference (WWDC) today. I'm in the market for a new computer, and exercised great self-restraint to wait until this week, and it's a good thing I did. They upped the power and dropped the price, but after doing some research, lots of people aren't happy with some of the performance issues with the models, etc etc. I've yet to make a final decision.

Looking forward to tomorrow.

"The Other Side of Nassau"

2009-06-07T21:11:00.008-04:00

If you haven't figured it out already, the title "Stuck in the Bubble" refers to the infamous "Orange Bubble" that insulates Princeton University from the surrounding world. It's more real than you could ever imagine. With my internship this summer, I've made slight progress escaping this bubble, but I'm still very much a part of it, especially since I'm working for the university.

I realized that there's another title for the blog that might have worked just as well: The Other Side of Nassau Street.

Nassau Street acts as campus's northern border, drawing a distinct line between Nassau Hall, Firestone Library, and the stores and shops that line the Nassau. But it's just as much of a symbolic barrier as it is a physical one. Since Princeton guarantees housing and 99.999999% of students live on campus, it's possible to survive without ever crossing Nassau (though it's not recommended). Sure, CVS, Princeton Record Exchange, Starbucks, Small World and Bank of America are there, but to cross Nassau Street is to leave the comfort of Princeton's protection, entering the uncharted territory of places that don't accept charges to your student account (but Subway does!).

For most Princeton undergrads, the college experience happens below Nassau Street in dorms, classrooms, on Prospect Street, in theatres and labs etc. Trips to Nassau Street are for running errands, getting coffee, binding your thesis, and getting frozen yogurt. This was definitely the case for me.

Now that my undergrad career is finished, my life has moved to the other side of Nassau Street: that's where I'll be working, living, eating and shopping. It's a complete seismic shift of place, all revolving around a straight line of pavement that separates the Princeton education experience from the real world, even though it's just a short walk away.

When I recently commented that I didn't know what I'd do with this blog after I leave the Princeton bubble, a family member commented that life is just about moving from bubble to bubble; we just get "stuck" in different ones. If that's the case, maybe accepting the fact that we're always "stuck in the bubble" is just a way to recognize that there's more to life than what's immediately around us, even if it's just across the street.

Settled in!

2009-06-07T21:02:00.004-04:00

The thing about packing is that it's always followed by unpacking. Sometimes, unpacking doesn't happen for a few days, weeks, or in one friend's case, a few months. Here's a general idea of how packing usually goes:

PHASE 1: Get everything out of the car. Getting stuff home this time, I'm still unsure how it all fit into my grandfather's Ford Escape in the first place.

PHASE 2: Dump everything into a secure location. Below is a photograph of what my bedroom looked like after unloading.

PHASE 3: Ignore everything for at LEAST a day.

PHASE 4: Sort, clean, reorganize, and get it all back into the car.

After competing all 4 stages, I am now happily settled into my house back in Princeton, with a short 2-minute (or less walk) to the Office of Communications on Chambers Street. With Mom's help, we were down here by 11AM and all unloaded soon after that. The landlady is still around dealing with some plumbing and cleaning issues.

Tomorrow starts my first day of work, and I'm anxious and excited to see what adventures await...

New Quinnipiac Bridge?

2009-06-05T10:58:00.005-04:00

For those of you who have ever driven through I-95 near New Haven, this will be big news for you. And if have driven through and don't remember, it's probably because you blocked out the memory since it was a traumatizing experience.

It turns out they've made progress on the new Quinnipiac Bridge project. They've gotten a low bidder and are starting on the final paperwork:

"The DOT has 60 days to formally award the contract. According to the agency, construction is scheduled to begin in January and to be finished June 30, 2015.

Before the project is formally awarded, “There’s a whole stack of documents the apparent low bidder has to put in ... it’s an endless list,” said Brian Mercure, assistant district engineer who is overseeing the entire New Haven Harbor highway project."

It's great that they've come this far, but those of us from the New Haven area can't help but be skeptical. But maybe there's hope, after seeing the fantastic work done with the new lanes and bridges just north of the existing bridge until about Exit 53.

Here's the New Haven Register's story: http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2009/06/05/news/a1_--_q_bridge_bids.txt

Facebook vs. Google's Picasa

2009-06-05T01:31:00.001-04:00

I've found myself making the switch from posting pictures on Facebook to using Google's Picasa service. Why? A few reasons:

1) No limit to number of photos in an album.

2) You can download higher quality versions of the photos, instead of the single reduced-quality image Facebook provides.

3) Easier to share photos, even with people who don't have Google accounts (my mom even did our family's Christmas card online with Picasa this year...all by herself. THAT'S shocking).

4) Online slideshows.

5) The new people-tagging functionality. Check it out here: http://picasa.google.com/intl/en_us/features-nametags.html

This last one is the most impressive, and if you haven't used Picasa to post photos recently, you probably haven't experienced this. Here's what happens: You tell Picasa to analyze all of your albums. After it's done, it presents you with a filmstrip of all of the thumbnail-size faces that it recognized from those photos. It attempts (relatively successfully) to group shots of the same person together, so with one click you can tag the same person in a dozen photos. It learns who the people's names are and makes suggestions, and when it gets it wrong, you can do a quick search (just the first few letters of the person's name can find it in your address book).

I had about 1,300 faces and was able to take care of a few hundred relatively quickly, but finishing it off is a daunting task, especially as you have to start doing one at a time. Despite this, Picasa's ability to recognize faces was seriously impressive, and introduces a whole to approach to tagging people. You can also also do it in the album itself, and if you've already let Picasa analyze the album, it has usually found where the faces are and makes tagging in the picture environment super-easy as well.

Facebook "killer"? Who knows, I'm sure there's lots of talk about that somewhere else. But compared to the daunting task of Facebook tagging, this method rocks. And overall, Google's doing a REALLY nice job of streamlining online photo management. You can even tag locations on a little Google Map.

If you're the kind of person that posts photos on Facebook so EVERYONE can see them, then you lose out on the accessibility of clicking that little "See more photos of [insert stalkee here]." But if you're posting photos for a select group of people and don't necessarily need the whole world to see—which is how I'm feeling recently—then Picasa is probably the way to go.

Of course, I'm sure there are ways to get the best of both worlds (posting one photo from the album on Facebook with link to the Picasa version, a link in a Status Update, a link in your profile, etc etc etc.), I just haven't investigated........yet.

Out of the Bubble...for the moment

2009-06-04T22:43:00.000-04:00

As a hopeful youth, I had grand visions of my future. They might have been vague, half-formed, lofty and unspecific, but I always assumed that I would graduate college and embark upon a bustling career, whatever it might be.

I never would have believed that I wouldn't actually LEAVE college after graduation. I would have laughed in your face if you had told me this, calling you silly and closed-minded, probably accusing you of "not really knowing me." Yet this summer—on Monday, June 8, to be precise—I'm going to be working as a Design Assistant at Princeton University's Office of Communications. The OoC handles all of the official design work for the university, as well as the school's press releases and graphic identity/licensing.

Wait...did you catch that? This is Princeton's Office of Communications...as in the university that I just graduated from...on Tuesday. This isn't some fancy corporation, clever start-up company or progressive private design agency. Just when I thought I was done with Princeton, I get draaaagggggged back in.

But while the notion was gut-wrenching and terrifying at first, I've come embrace the it. I'm lucky enough to be employed and making some money, will get some experience doing real design projects...and will get my fair share of organizing photographs and xeroxing, I assume.

To celebrate this twofold momentous occasion—my graduation from college and the beginning of a new career path—I've decided to start a web log and share my experience. I hope that what follows will be interesting, informative, fun, and enlightening.

If it isn't, that's for you to know and me to ignore.