August 2009
1 post
Summer Migration
For a variety of reasons that are explored more thoroughly in the very first post there, I have decided to continue my blogging at a new location, inside the Opera Community.
Please do check out MUSE 2 at its home, here, and let me know what you think.
Hoping you will find my musings of continued interest!
Missed Space →
My friend Mandheep recently shared this link with me via his blog.
My reaction was similar to his, though perhaps even more agressively critical of the position taken by the article in question.
The student body has migrated to world of apps. They no longer think in terms of “web site”, “homepage”, or “forums”. In fact, I don’t think they are even thinking in terms of “Internet”. Their...
July 2009
38 posts
Follow-up To My Posting of July 23rd... →
Secretary Chu is gaining a cult following…and the media wants to jump on the bandwagon!
A.P. Cracks Down on Unpaid Use of Articles on Web... →
For the longest time, I’ve been saying that the current “free Internet” would not last. However, the battle plan devised by the AP is contradictory at the very least, and idiotic, at first glance:
The A.P.’s president and chief executive, Tom Curley, claims the his organization is taking a new hard line that news articles should not turn up on search engines and Web sites...
Lewis Black tries to parse the ongoing debate on universal healthcare…
If Frank Gehry and Jonathan Ive had a baby, and it was a car…
The only concern I have is that the engine shown seems to be a powerful yet conventional V12 piston engine. Where’s the hydrogen fuel cell option or, better yet, a madly creative fuel concept in keeping with the rest of the car’s advanced theory?
(thanks to Brick R. for the link)
Finally, someone manages to make these confirmation hearings mildly interesting…
GE: Smart grid yields net-zero energy home →
This is exciting! Follows on from my earlier post on Hohm.com…
You Must Be Taking The Piss!.. →
Somebody has more time on their hands than imaginable…
FREE PINT OF ICE CREAM →
See? This is what I mean by smart. Don’t just mail out a blind blizzard of coupons. Double your impact by having consumers become your evangelists, delivering targeted offers to themselves and their peers, and keeping your brand a benevolent arms length from the actual “ask”. Employ social media as a channel for the communication, and build your brand penetration fluidly.
Heck,...
How Teenagers Consume Media →
The first knell for Twitter’s demise, or simply proof that its business model will metamorphose as much by necessity as design?
(Thanks to Soo-Hyun for the link)
The 2009 Venice Biennale →
Call it crazy, call it ugly, call it gorgeous, call it mad….the point of art (IMHO) is to foster discussion: sometimes with others, sometimes with yourself and your prevailing point of view. Art is supposed to enhance, heighten, challenge, defy, or otherwise alter your sensibilities. Which of the pieces shown at this year’s Biennale delight you? Which confound you? Which do you find...
Ericsson to Run Sprint’s Cell Service (or "Hans... →
So Sprint thinks that this will stop the torrent of departing customers?
Memo to Sprint execs: there was a time, a couple of years ago, when you could have said the exodus represented a sort of “trickle”. However, this outsourcing represents sticking your finger in a dike that broke apart months ago. There’s only one way former customers will come back, or others (myself...
Google to launch OS →
This will completely recast the PC user landscape, if done right; or might be the clearest misstep to date by Google, heralding a weakening of this previously indestructible brand…
Either way, this is big news.
Microsoft Hohm →
As soon as my Utility provider becomes a partner of this new service from MSFT, I can see this being a useful tool for self education in energy savings and more efficient green living.
A smart utility would get registered quickly, and provide incentives to their customers to sign up and use the site…
Geek Cuteness
Couple Start a New Life With a Clean Slate →
We gripe, we squabble, we nag, we moan. We chafe against the bonds that not so long ago we so enthusiastically embraced. Our daily worries cloud our judgment as we dwell on all the negatives. It is easier to find fault in others, than to identify what can be improved within ourselves.
God bless these two, in the hope that they recognize their enormous triumph. In the days when they get on each...
Hidden Los Angeles →
After 15 years in this city, I still wonder sometimes why I am here.
This new site, created by my friend Lynn Garrett, manages to answer the question, at least in part.
Lala →
Trend Central turned me on to this interesting alternative to iTunes. Listen to any song once for free; get unlimited steaming access for 10 cents; and download for 89 cents. Sync your own music library for free, and stream your whole library off the Lala site anywhere you go!
R.I.P. Now, let’s leave those who knew him to grieve, and let’s get back to other small matters, such as Iran, Iraq, Global Warming, Environmental legislation, California’s fiscal crisis, the nation’s education and health challenges, the fight to eradicate Malaria…
Jason Jones: Behind the Veil →
Finally got round to watching this whole series…genius!
June 2009
45 posts
Court declares Franken the winner of Minnesota... →
This has been delayed and dragged on from the November 2008 election!
If the Republican Governor keeps his word, this is the end of this silly story.
The 50 Greatest Trailers of All Time →
What a marvelous way to avoid the noonday sun: to stay indoors and receive a very entertaining history lesson in the evolution of film marketing…
Maira Kalman's very original blog (love it or hate... →
It’s a cross between a scrapbook, the graphic novel “Maus”, and your Aunt Eunice’s travel diary. I found it strangely compelling (If this edition doesn’t grab your fancy, scroll to bottom of page, for links to other entries).
If Only The Future Were Visible... →
At first glance, this is a compelling development in environmental innovation. As I read the article, however, I had some questions, some to which I found no answer to date:
How much energy does this device USE (the answer - in the FAQs of the company’s site - is the equivalent of 5% of that captured, whch seems eminently fair to me).
If it costs $30K to make one unit, what is the mass...
President Obama's latest statement about the... →