words.
Monday, October 24, 2005 11: 18 PM
The six month "vacation" is over. We've made the move to California, started new jobs and our new adventure in the Bay Area is in full swing. Now it's time to get life online back up to speed. For starters NiXLOG has a new home, a new design and some new content -- namely video.
NIXON*NOW (http://www.nixonnow.org) is my new home online (NiXLOG will mirror it and RSS feeds should be fine). In addition to video, the new design explores width, open space and grids. Video will be an interesting way to give friends and family a glimpse of life here in California. If you have iTunes you can drag RSS link into "Podcasts" to download updates. Should be testing iPod compatibility shortly...The first video is just for fun (and testing). Thanks for watching.
Thursday, May 12, 2005 08: 27 PM
*tap* *tap* *tap*
"Is this thing on?"
Hello, my name is Paul. I've been away for a while changing jobs, addresses and states. I'm slowly coming out of the chaos that comes with such a transition. This is to let you know that I am still alive and will be reporting back to NiXLOG soon...
Wednesday, March 23, 2005 12: 25 AM
So the next order of business with moving to Cupertino/Silicon Valley is to find Rebecca (my wife) a job in the area. I am going to abuse this blog to that end.
Currently Rebecca is a branch manager with Compass Bank in Tucson with previous credit union management experience from our Phoenix days. She also has a degree in Accounting.
If you are in the banking, hr or corporate training world in Silicon Valley and want to hire a rockstar -- let me know and I'll send her resume your way. She has shined in every company she has worked for thus far...and she will shine in yours too.
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 11: 13 AM
The past couple of months have probably been the most exciting of my life -- a surreal blur of events that have opened some incredible doors. With great excitement, I now step through one. This is a note to let people know that I will be joining the web team at Apple soon and I couldn't be more happy.
"California...here we come..."
Tuesday, February 8, 2005 12: 10 AM
Sugarface. Love bunny. Garrett's girlfriend describes life with a creative. Except for the cats, this is just way too similar to my own life. I think someone should make a help guide for those "living with creatives".
Looks like I need to earn some more brownie points around here with Rebecca -- I am only a "sweetie" and "cutie". How does one attain "Sugarface" and "Love bunny" status???
Tuesday, January 25, 2005 04: 37 PM
Do you buy things you "don't need"? Shop "for a pick-me-up"? Own things with price tags still on them? Then my fellow shopping addicts, I refer you to: How to manage compulsive shopping.
Wednesday, January 19, 2005 02: 30 AM
"It is never too late to be what you might have been." - George Eliot
Thursday, December 23, 2004 11: 15 AM
Someday, in perhaps a not so distant future, oppressed mechanized backyard welders will rise up in rebellion against a robot army to reclaim their freedom.
Amazing how technology is slowly catching up to science fiction. The question in the back of my mind is whether or not we are allowing the science fiction visions of a mechanized future create a path of self-fulfilling prophecy that we are unable to step back from and ask: Is this the best application of the this technology?
Regardless, in the end, I just don't want to be the one carrying supplies when we are trying to save Zion from the machines.
Wednesday, December 8, 2004 11: 25 AM
It seems that for some time there has been a serious declined in the quality of customer service you get at the counter. This includes retail, food and other establishments where you interact with someone to pay for a service in person.
Rebecca and I immediately recognize a negative experience without saying a word to each other during the transaction. We just feel it. Later we often end up talking about it. I would say that we tend to stay away from establishments and stores that have consistently negative experiences.
On the other hand, we recognize positive experiences immediately. Sometimes we have conversations at length about how great an employee was or how wonderful that experience was. Usually it is the simple things that have the biggest impact. I would say that we tend to frequent establishments that have consistently positive experiences.
Lately it seems we've run into some negative experiences. Here are a few trends in customer service that really bug me:
- Employees who are sick at the counter. Not only are these employees sick, but they usually complain about it as they prepare your food or hand you back change. Seriously, if your employee is sick and their job it to prepare food or interact with customers, SEND THEM HOME.
- Employees who chat with other employees during transactions. Somehow they feel their make out session the night before is of interest to the general public at the counter. I cannot tell you how many times I have been helped at the counter without any acknowledgement while two employees chattered like chirping birds back and forth. Many times I'm left to look at the register total myself and grab the right amount of cash. It gets even worse if you attempt to interrupt this chat session -- because then you become the "rude" customer. It's a lost cause and a good way to lose customers
- Employees that are completely disengaged. Yeah, your job may suck and I may not be that handsome of a customer, but at least put a smile on your face and pretend you are happy that we can enjoy a 30 second symbiotic relationship where we use one another to get what we need (me food, you a paycheck). And for the love of all that is holy, do try to "serve" the customer once in a while. I am not your enemy, I am your friend.
Customer service inaction. This past weekend we called in and ordered some pizza from Papa John's. A large one-item pizza was $12.99. When we arrived to pick it up, I learned that the "special" was a large three-item pizza for $9.99. I politely asked the girl behind the counter to give me the $9.99 price. She said should couldn't because I had a ONE item large - not THREE.
I calmly asked her why I would pay more for less. She looked very confused. I explained to her that I was about to pay $3 more for a pizza the same size as the special with two LESS toppings. Why would I do that? She said that the computer wouldn't let her change the price. I told her to tell the computer it was a three topping pizza.
"But it's not," she said.
Then in a hushed tone I said, "Yeah, but you and I are the only ones that know that. The computer doesn't."
I was about ready to make her go put more toppings on the pizza, or put them in a plastic baggie or something just so it would all make sense to her.
I told her that I wasn't being cheap -- I just wanted the transaction to be fair for me. If other people are walking in and getting the same pizza with three toppings for $9.99, then why should I have to pay $3 more for only one topping. That's just not fair.
She reluctantly changed the price and completed the transaction by giving me one of those, "I hope you never come back -- your logic is no good here" looks.
But this is a classic example. I started it all off very politely and made an argument for my case. Instead of seeking to serve the customer and think...she simply chose to ignore my situation and hold to the party line. I didn't get sarcastic until later on, when the logic of the scenario wasn't making sense to her. Finally, I had to become that rude customer that we all hate. So we both ended up with a negative experience. Perhaps the blame here lies not in the employee, but in the nature of the deal itself. Rather than $9.99 for a large three topping pizza, it should be $9.99 for a large pizza, up to three toppings. Either way, the net total of the experience was negative.
For the record I worked retail in a former life. I know what it is like. I know it sucks sometimes. But there is still no excuse for poor customer service. Ultimately I believe businesses with an exceptional customer service experience backed by solid products and services will always beat poor customer service with similar products and services.
Monday, November 29, 2004 03: 58 AM
Sometimes goals don't mean anything and you just have to make a deal with yourself to do whatever it takes to finish that one project you have simply put off for too long. Some projects get to the point where it's time to throw off all the platitudinal talk and just get it done.
When a goal or project gets to that point I like to set up an ultimatum with myself. I do this by creating a self-imposed deadline and then publicly disclosing it to one or more people.
It can be an incredible motivational tool to make that final push to finish the project OR is can be the straw that breaks the camel's back. Ultimately it can reveal just how dedicated you are (or were) to the project. This seems to work best for me with projects that are close to completion and need that final push or projects that I haven't started and need a good headstart.
To that end -- Biking Tucson with either come to life on Dec. 1 or die a quiet, anonymous death. I am determined to give it life.
Here's to not seeing much of my bed for the next 48 hours.
Thursday, November 11, 2004 06: 28 PM
Over a week has past - time to suck down some infographics and take it all in. Maps & Cartograms of 2004 Election Results. Running collection. Adding more as time allows. I know there are plenty our there. Send links my way if you come across any (nix @ the domain above dot com).
Tuesday, November 9, 2004 01: 15 PM
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition on ABC has Rebecca and I hooked. We've seen just about every episode since the show started.
Looking at it from a "recipe for success" stand point it has become a television anomaly where EVERYONE wins:
- Audiences get a creative, entertaining and unsually fulfilling hour of television.
- Home owners on the show get a new, often life changing home.
- The hosts and crew get the opportunity to help change people's lives and the good will that comes from that.
- And last, but not least, sponsors and advertisers are strongly and openly featured in product placements and commercials where their goods and services are shown doing some good.
- Finally, the show is a ratings success
The question then is why isn't there more reality television like this? (Or is there and we're simply missing it?) I have no interest in "makeover" shows for the sake of making people more beautiful (though some people are truly helped in those shows) - but what about "makeover" shows for people's lives, businesses and problems - shows like this that help give them a fresh start.
It seems the model could be transposed onto a series of shows where all this studio and advertiser money could go to actually doing some good - sort of like "Pimp My Ride" but for people who actually need a decent car, not some 18 year old college student who bought a $200 junker just to send the video into MTV...
Monday, November 8, 2004 04: 05 PM
Smaller cell phones. Smaller computers. Smaller Transportation? We are a two car family here at nixlog. And lately we've had a hankerin' for dumping one of our cars (O.K. it's an SUV) for something not only more economical, but simpler, smaller...dare I even say "cuter"? Uh, no. But...there are a couple of transportation themes that I am have been interested in lately:
Scooters. Perhaps we've seen too many episodes of Scrubs lately (the Scooter Gang) -- but I just think it would be hilarious to be cruising down the road with Rebecca on matching scooters. Plus it would double as a simple commuter vehicle on the back streets to work. All for a rather economical price.
Small Cars! So if the scooter idea doesn't fly at home...we could still go far a small car. Too bad some of the most interesting ones out there are in Europe (or a bit to pricey to be "economical"). A few interesting candidates:
Oh well. Decisions. Decisions.
Wednesday, November 3, 2004 03: 16 AM
We've seen "Bleached". Introducing "Dyed", blacking out a website to reflect our troubling political circumstances. I offer this open letter to our next president, whomever that might be:
Dear Mr. Future President Elect,
I'm not sure who you are yet -- but that doesn't matter any longer. It is what it is. I may or may not have voted for you. That doesn't matter now either. The point is you are now the President of The United States and I am one of its citizens. Since you are now president I am holding you accountable for the next four years of this country's progress. Now I know that's a lot of pressure -- but hey, you volunteered for it. In return I'll do my duty as a citizen by paying taxes, not making trouble and only making fun of you while watching The Daily Show each night.
Now for a quick wish list for the next four years:
- Can you please help the states with elections? I'm tired of staying up all night and then not knowing who to address this letter to.
- Can you reconsider our doctorine of pre-emption in its current form? I would like some time to have kids before we start World War III. (BTW: What ever happened to covert ops?)
- Can you help America realize that we are not alone in the world? Perhaps you could re-institute Geography, Humanities and History classes in schools again.
If over the course of the next four years you lead with common sense and things start to improve (that includes foreign policy), then I may just start to bring some color back to my website.
If not, then Nixlog may stay "Dyed" for quite sometime. You see, it sort of reflects my mood right now.
Sincerely, nix
Sunday, October 31, 2004 04: 04 PM
From the Garden State soundtrack comes Cary Brothers. His track "Blue Eyes" is one of many exceptional tracks on that album. With a great voice and sound, Cary should go a long way. Listen to his current tracks from the top of his site.
Zach Braff (Scrubs star and Garden State writer, director and star) had this to say about him. Zach has been getting his music into Scrubs episodes as well. (Zach will justify another post sometime. The guy is incredibly creative -- and seems to be dabbling in just about everything these days.)
Cary and Zach are also highly recommending the smooth sounding Joshua Radin. His song "Winter" was also featured in a Scrubs episode.
Some links:
Wednesday, October 27, 2004 12: 30 PM
$4 billion. Four. Billion. Dollars.
That is the amount of money being spent on political campaigning this year. $1.2 billion alone for the presidential campaigns.
The whole world of money and politics is completely broken. It's insane. It's surreal. Part of me wishes I could sit down with these politicians and confront them on what that money could be doing for this country, instead of feeding their fruitless battles on television with lame-ass ads that scare seniors and only make me think that these politicians are idiots.
This much I know -- if the system has no limits on what they can spend, then they will spend as much as they have. These politicians are like teenages shopping at the mall with dad's credit card. No restraints. No limits.
So something should be done and as an uneducated observer in this area here is what I propose:
Presidential campaigns should have spending caps.
All campaigns for that matter should have spending caps.
It is simply out of control and billions of dollars are going to waste...waste...pure and simple. With spending caps, once each party has determined their candidate, they should be allowed to spend up to a certain amount on their campaign (say $150 million dollars $100 in a presidential campaign) and that's it. If there were across the board spending caps on political campaigns, I think it would greatly help even the playing field for people entering politics. So often these days it's not who has the best ideas, but rather the fattest pocket book that wins elections.
It's hurting this country and it's wasting a hell of a lot of money that should actually go to doing some good...too bad these politicians don't have the integrity to admit that.
UPDATE: It's obvious I know nothing about this stuff and discussing campaign finance reform is completely out of my realm of expertise, but venting about it feels good. After some cursory glancing around here are a couple more links from OpenSecrets.org that seem to break it down a bit:
Tuesday, October 26, 2004 12: 31 PM
Dreamhost is promoting their "Code Monster" hosting plan for $19.95/mo. (usually $39.95/mo.) for as long as you have the plan. If you can swallow the $24.95 sign-up fee it offers a ton for only one Jackson a month. It appears to be a limited time offer.
I have been hosting nixlog and several other domains on the "Sweet Dreams" plan for a couple of years now. But when I saw the "Code Monster" deal today for the same price, it was a no-brainer. It includes: 2.6 GB of storage, 64 GB of monthly bandwith, 15 hosted domains, 75 subdomains, Quicktime streaming, etc., etc.. Just passing on the deal if anyone out there is looking for a hosting company. There may be better ones out there, but Dreamhost has served me well so I don't mind doing a little promotion.
One thing that I find really nice is putting side projects on the same account. With 15 domains I can add a dozen side projects on the same account as my own. For paying clients this give me the ability to bill hosting into the project. For other projects it gives me an instant home for trying out quick ideas. With domains dirt cheap, I can buy a domain, build a site and have it live within 48 hrs (it would be sooner if waiting for DNS wasn't an issue). This is great when you have an idea that might be time sensitive to capture market attention.
Here's more info:
Tuesday, October 26, 2004 11: 19 AM
Download it here for a limited time. The November issue of Wired includes a CD with 16 tracks distributed under two different Creative Commons licenses.
Downloads:
On The Wired CD:
- :01 Beastie Boys/ Now Get Busy
- :02 David Byrne/ My Fair Lady
- :03 Zap Mama/ Wadidyusay?
- :04 My Morning Jacket/ One Big Holiday
- :05 Spoon/ Revenge!
- :06 Gilberto Gil/ Oslodum
- :07 Dan the Automator/ Relaxation Spa Treatment
- :08 Thievery Corporation/ DC 3000
- :09 Le Tigre/ Fake French
- :10 Paul Westerberg/ Looking Up in Heaven
- :11 Chuck D with Fine Arts Militia/ No Meaning No
- :12 The Rapture/ Sister Saviour (Blackstrobe Remix)
- :13 Cornelius/ Wataridori 2
- :14 Danger Mouse & Jemini/ What U Sittin' On? (starring Cee Lo and Tha Alkaholiks)
- :15 DJ Dolores/ Oslodum 2004
- :16 Matmos/ Action at a Distance
Enjoy it while it lasts -- when my bandwidth gets sucked dry I'll have to pull it. By that time there should be plenty of copies elsewhere.
Friday, October 22, 2004 01: 04 AM
It's 11:06 PM. I should be watching The Daily Show right now. Instead, I'm writing this.
Our power is out and has been out for an hour now thanks to a pretty good storm that ripped through Tucson, probably distracting some careless driver who then wrapped themselves around a power pole. Yet, through the wonders of technology I can type this message into my Powerbook on battery power. That's good, because my next option would have been to go caveman and start carving messages on walls and that just seemed so 20,000 B.C.
The whole scenario however has been quite "enlightening" (sorry -- couldn't resist.)
The first few minutes of complete darkness were pretty entertaining. The first priority was light. So our path to consistent light was as follows:
- 15" Powerbook screen (it was already on) to
- Sony Ericsson T616 cell phone screen (portable light) to
- Road bike handlebar light (our efforts to find a real flashlight failed despite convincing ourselves we had one) to
- REI candle lantern from some camping supplies (our best light source yet)
So with constant light in place I began assessing our situation: No Internet access. No television. No battery powered radios. Currently our only connection to the outside world is via cell phone - which we could make calls from and also connect to the Internet if necessary. We could also access our car radios. But at the moment, I'm more interested in light. It's hard to function in the dark. So what do we have on hand? Let's see...
- Powerbook (2 hours)
- Bike handlebar light (15-20 hours)
- REI Candle Lantern (27 hours; 3 candles, 9 hours each)
- Additional scented candles (est. 50+ hours; plus healthy supply of matches)
- Cell Phone Screens (3-6 hours)
- Digital Camera Screen (2 hours)
- Digital Video Camera Screen (1 hour)
- iPod Screen (1-2 hours)
- Lightwedge book light (4-5 hours)
So, all in all, 100+ hours of light. Not too bad. If we averaged 2-3 hours of usage a night (essentially sleeping a little after sunset and rising with the sun) we could survive a month or so; buying us plenty of time to gather wood and make arrowhead tipped spears for hunting deer in the desert during the day.
Aside from the whole issue of having light, the most interesting observation thus far is how much simpler life seems on the surface without electricity (and technology for that matter). Rebecca and I, after getting some light established -- almost immediately started talking...just having a normal conversation at candle light. No television. No technology. Everything was completely natural - 1800's style. I can't explain how fascinating it is seeing her walk around with a lantern. And our apartment could very well be an old ranch house when seen in candle light. I've been seemingly transported in time. And it's quiet. So very quiet. Just us and the sound of rain playing outside the open window.
After I finish this post I plan on doing some reading by candle light to complete the full powerless experience. This may be the beginning of a new tradition: One powerless night a month.
Well, my wife just said we need to start eating stuff from the freezer...but before that, I need to send this off from my Powerbook via bluetooth on my cell phone...even with the power completely out, it seems a man can't live without some sort of connectivity these days.
Monday, October 11, 2004 06: 30 PM
I rarely talk about my passion for cycling here, but Saturday was a good day -- so I just have to pass along some thoughts...
121. That is the number of miles my two-wheeled steed and I grinded out on Saturday. Pedal over pedal, legs in perpetual motion until they would move no longer. From six in the morning until two in the afternoon -- it was a gruelling amount of time, but well worth it. My previous one day record on my bike was 112 miles. I have done over a hundred miles seven or eight times in the last couple of years, yet most of those were in group events where drafting certainly aided my endurance.
Saturday was different. The first 60 miles were with a group driving hard at 25+ mph most of the way, while the last 60 miles were solo. A man and his machine left to battle the wind and heat of the southern Arizona desert. In my total distance I could have biked from Tucson to Phoenix and then some. Instead I took a large, scenic loop around Tucson. My rationale was "training" -- getting ready for the Tour de Farm and the Tour de Tucson next month. But really, it was more than that. The events are just my excuses; excuses that are secondary to the experience of being alone on my bike with endless miles of possibility in front me and many hard miles behind. Cycling is just in my blood - events or not. For whatever reason I am pulled to the bike -- and it has a grip that has no signs of letting go.
The longer I bike, the more I realize that I am learning with each ride. I learn about limits, possibilities, heartbreak and accomplishment. And I learn about suffering. More and more lately, cycling to me has become about suffering -- where the real pleasure comes in the rebuilding of your mind and body, after you have torn everything down. Over a distance of 121 miles, the suffering comes as a battle between the physical and mental self. Using fuel where it can find it, the body begins the systematic process of deconstruction. First carbohydrates. Then fats and proteins. Eventually the body attempts to shut down muscles when there is nothing left -- the brain is literally, subconsciously attempting to preserve life. But there is something else between the shots of gel and sports drinks that pushes you forward -- a human element deep inside that does not let you quit. Even at mile 113, with your personal best beaten -- you pedal on, because you set the goal of 120 miles. You've come too far to stop now. So you turn the cranks. Pedal over pedal. Your mind wonders to places you rarely go -- facing the past, embracing the future and even contemplating parallel universes where little aliens ride bikes.
Ultimately, this day, you have lived through an encapsulated journey that is symbolic of something bigger - a microcosm of life. The full spectrum of emotions well up as the body fatigues, until at times you are on the verge of breaking down, tears in the corners of your eyes and simply want to quit, but you don't. You continue. Always moving forward until that moment. The moment you step off the bike -- a moment of serenity where it's just your ragged body, a swift machine that shows no signs of wear and the sound of rushing air entering and exiting your lungs.
The next day you are sore. Tired. Satisfied. And happy. Not to mention a few pounds lighter. All while filled with memories of blood racing through your heart at 196 beats per minute as you strained up a climb you had no business taking a bike up; floating through the day on the knowledge that you accomplished something you had never done before: 121. That's the joy that comes from suffering. The joy of being a cycling addict.
Tuesday, October 5, 2004 08: 36 PM
The hypothesis raised by my recent post regarding a conspiracy theory for the 2004 election alluded to a couple of extreme tactics that *could* be used by the neocons if the president's gap closed following the debates -- well, it seems the president's gap has closed and, it seems, a much more banal plan appears to have been put into action...
As reported by the International Heral Tribune:
"President George W. Bush, whose poll lead disappeared after Kerry's tough criticisms on Iraq in their debate, now plans to deliver a major speech Wednesday on terrorism and the economy, aides said."
Friday, October 1, 2004 06: 55 PM
Through infographics The Seattle Times provides some exceptional insight into Seattle's Public Library that opened in May 2004:
Friday, October 1, 2004 04: 11 AM
I can't resist.
Is any conspiracy theory really beyond the realm of this presidential political race?
First off, the battle for the White House is the most heated, important and incredible battle for power in this country. We should never under estimate the extent bad people will go to retain or gain it.
Conspiracy theory ensues.
- The Equations:
- If JK(FL + MO)/GB(FL + MO) = -P% then -P%
- If -P% then S(M x J) or C(M x J)
- If S(M x J) then GB - A
- If C(M x J) then GB + A
- If -A with S or +A with C then V for GB
- The Variables:
- JK: John Kerry
- FL: Florida Debate
- MO: Missouri Debate
- P%: Positive Polling Numbers for John Kerry (i.e. He closes the gap)
- -P%: Negative Polling Numbers for George Bush (i.e. The gap closes significantly)
- S: National security situation (imaginary, fabricated or real)
- C: Capture of significant terrorist suspect (conveniently timed, perhaps already in custody but not announced)
- M: Media sympathy and support for GB
- J: John Q. Public sympathy and support for GB
- A: Arizona Debate
- V: Victory
- GB: George Bush
- The Long-hand:
- If JK(F + M)/GB(F + M) = -P% then -P%
If the summation (+) of John Kerry's (JK) debate performances in Florida (F) and Missouri (M) divided by (/) the summation (+) of George Bush's (GB) debate performances yields (=) a significant percentage gap decrease in George Bush's (GB) polling position (-P%) then there is a significant gap decrease in the polls (-P%).
- If -P% then S(M x J) or C(M x J)
If there is a significant gap decrease in the polls (-P%) then the potential exists that there will be a "national security situation" (S) (imaginary, fabricated or real) that brings media (M) and John Q Public's (J) support and sympathy OR a conveniently timed capture (C) of a significant terrorist suspect that brings media (M) and John Q Public's support and praise.
- If S(M x J) then GB - A
If a national security situation (S) brings George Bush sympathy from media (M) and public (J) then George Bush (GB) can withdraw (-) from the Arizona (A) debate (thus reducing the risk of loosing more ground because of the debates, if that is the case).
- If C(M x J) then + A
If the capture (C) of a terrorist suspect brings George Bush support from media (M) and public (J), then George Bush (GB) will attend the Arizona (A) debate (thus attempting to increase his profile)
- If -A with S or A with C then V for GB.
If no Arizona (A) debate with a national security situation (S) OR the Arizona (A) debate with a capture (C) then increased chance of victory (V) for George Bush (GB)
Wow. That was fun to put together in a sick Philosophy 101 kind of way. The argument of the whole thing is: If George W. loses significant ground in the polls during the first two debates, but still has a slim lead, it wouldn't be suprising if there was a convenient way out of the Arizona debate for him or if there were some bit of convenient news to prop him up prior to that last debate.
(Note: I don't remember remember a whole lot from the Phil 101 days - so my "logic statements" are not true to form. They are just playful re-interpretations of logic days long past.)
UPDATE: The formula has been updated to accurately reflect Missouri as the next presidential debate locale, not Ohio (the location of the VP debate). This error occured while attempting to write up things like this at 4 AM.
Friday, October 1, 2004 04: 11 AM
I can't resist.
Is any conspiracy theory really beyond the realm of this presidential political race?
First off, the battle for the White House is the most heated, important and incredible battle for power in this country. We should never under estimate the extent bad people will go to retain or gain it.
Conspiracy theory ensues.
- The Equations:
- If JK(FL + MO)/GB(FL + MO) = -P% then -P%
- If -P% then S(M x J) or C(M x J)
- If S(M x J) then GB - A
- If C(M x J) then GB + A
- If -A with S or +A with C then V for GB
- The Variables:
- JK: John Kerry
- FL: Florida Debate
- MO: Missouri Debate
- P%: Positive Polling Numbers for John Kerry (i.e. He closes the gap)
- -P%: Negative Polling Numbers for George Bush (i.e. The gap closes significantly)
- S: National security situation (imaginary, fabricated or real)
- C: Capture of significant terrorist suspect (conveniently timed, perhaps already in custody but not announced)
- M: Media sympathy and support for GB
- J: John Q. Public sympathy and support for GB
- A: Arizona Debate
- V: Victory
- GB: George Bush
- The Long-hand:
- If JK(F + M)/GB(F + M) = -P% then -P%
If the summation (+) of John Kerry's (JK) debate performances in Florida (F) and Missouri (M) divided by (/) the summation (+) of George Bush's (GB) debate performances yields (=) a significant percentage gap decrease in George Bush's (GB) polling position (-P%) then there is a significant gap decrease in the polls (-P%).
- If -P% then S(M x J) or C(M x J)
If there is a significant gap decrease in the polls (-P%) then the potential exists that there will be a "national security situation" (S) (imaginary, fabricated or real) that brings media (M) and John Q Public's (J) support and sympathy OR a conveniently timed capture (C) of a significant terrorist suspect that brings media (M) and John Q Public's support and praise.
- If S(M x J) then GB - A
If a national security situation (S) brings George Bush sympathy from media (M) and public (J) then George Bush (GB) can withdraw (-) from the Arizona (A) debate (thus reducing the risk of loosing more ground because of the debates, if that is the case).
- If C(M x J) then + A
If the capture (C) of a terrorist suspect brings George Bush support from media (M) and public (J), then George Bush (GB) will attend the Arizona (A) debate (thus attempting to increase his profile)
- If -A with S or A with C then V for GB.
If no Arizona (A) debate with a national security situation (S) OR the Arizona (A) debate with a capture (C) then increased chance of victory (V) for George Bush (GB)
Wow. That was fun to put together in a sick Philosophy 101 kind of way. The argument of the whole thing is: If George W. loses significant ground in the polls during the first two debates, but still has a slim lead, it wouldn't be suprising if there was a convenient way out of the Arizona debate for him or if there were some bit of convenient news to prop him up prior to that last debate.
(Note: I don't remember remember a whole lot from the Phil 101 days - so my "logic statements" are not true to form. They are just playful re-interpretations of logic days long past.)
UPDATE: The formula has been updated to accurately reflect Missouri as the next presidential debate locale, not Ohio (the location of the VP debate). This error occured while attempting to write up things like this at 4 AM.
Tuesday, September 21, 2004 04: 47 PM
It's an election year. Media outlets like to make lots of pretty maps in election years. Enjoy:
Friday, September 17, 2004 02: 24 PM
The audio version of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart's new book America (The Book) is going on my list of classics. I downloaded it from Audible.com ($7.95) and loaded onto my iPod about two weeks ago. Since then, my trips from the parking lot to my office and back have been filled with laughs.
The audio version is read by Jon Stewart and the crack staff at The Daily Show. Their tones, characterizations and creativity from the show carried right over to audio in my opinion. The only thing I miss is the audience laughing in the background. These are some creative people doing some incredible writing. If you are a fan of the show, then I recommend this gem. It is just over 3 hours of great content that I've already started listening too again. I only wish school had been this entertaining. (Note: It is getting mostly "love it" but some "hate it" reviews at Audible.com. So read up if you are in doubt.)
Monday, September 13, 2004 06: 57 PM
"What is the point of having a $400 40GB iPod if your are going to be playing it through a $20 tape deck adapter that makes your favorite Def Leppard CD sound like the tape you had in your Walkman in the seventh grade? The album, if you must know, was Hysteria...and yes, I listened to over and over again on the school bus each day."
(These are thoughts and ideas developed with just a passing glance of the MP3 player and car stereo markets. Please take this information as personal observations and not necessarily hard, research-driven facts. I am commenting on this "problem" as a consumer with limited time to research all possible solutions. If I have made any factual errors, please let me know: nix at nixlog dot com.
My own frustration with iPod/car stereo solutions, combined with one of my best friends dropping $400 on a new 4G iPod, only to be disappointed by audio solutions for his car and this recent boingboing.net post all led to the mess below...)
The Problem: There are tens of millions of people that own MP3 players worldwide. Many of these people drive cars. Current, low-cost solutions for listening to their MP3 players in their cars provide sub-standard audio quality (namely tape adapters and FM transmitters). If you actually care about audio fidelity, using these low cost solutions with a high-quality MP3 player leave much to be desired. After-market solutions exist: RCA audio jacks, AUX inputs, etc. Yet these solutions can be plagued with a high investment of time, energy and cost for users to incorporate them into their car stereo system.
The Crime: There is no leadership in this space. No one wants to build the bridge. Why isn't someone, like Apple or a major automobile manufacturer, taking the lead here??? Is there no real incentive? For the record, I don't believe that an Apple/BMW deal qualifies as taking the lead. It certainly creates buzz in the industry, it's a symbolic lead. Perhaps it's the first baby steps and is laying the foundation for me to eat my words in the next couple of years. But it is far from a mainstream solution for the majority of boot strapping iPod owners of the world. On top of that, I certainly don't have a desire to own a BMW anytime soon.
Additionally, Apple provides very little education in this space. If you go into an Apple store and ask about playing an iPod in your car you are given the 1-2 pitch: Tape adapter or FM transmitter. There may also be a passing mention of after-market "input adapters" or just "buy a new deck with an input"...but this gives little incentive for someone to drop $400 on a new iPod. Especially someone who wants their music EVERYWHERE when they are on the go. Go to the Apple website and search for "iPod, car" and this is the best you get or better yet, this elaborate FAQ. I think Apple is, to some degree, letting customers down by not at least providing greater education about how to get good sounding audio in your car.
Perhaps A Deeper Problem? There is no clear winner in this space. Perhaps this is the real problem. There is no clear winner to absorb the cost of doing this. Automobile manufacturers probably feel they are not going to sell more cars with such a modest feature (and I don't think they will). Car stereo manufacturers aren't going to mass produce something that automobile manufacturers aren't demanding. Apple isn't going to push for this from the industry at the moment because there have enough trouble keeping iPods stocked. Who wins? The little guy that makes the actual hardware for input jacks?
Possible Solutions:
The Automobile Industry: Suck it up and innovate. To start, provide stock car stereos with RCA/AUX inputs right in the front of the deck. Don't worry about fancy display integration and all that crap. Just provide a conduit to get music from an iPod to those speakers. Take a risk (and then offset that risk by adding $99 to the cost of the car if you don't think it will fly.) If one mainstream manufacturer (mainstream being one who's car prices a quite a bit lower than that of BMW) did this, it seems most would follow suit. It happened when we transitioned from radio to tape decks, and now tape decks to CDs. Stop focusing on supplying decks that can play MP3 CDs - and start focusing on the growing hub of digital music, the MP3 player. Ironically, I think supply (stock car stereos with a RCA/AUX input) would drive demand for MP3 players) making the MP3 manufacturers even happier. If I'm average joe and bought a car with a funny little jack in the radio and then someone told me that with an MP3 player that little jack would allow you play all your CDs from a single MP3 player, that might be pretty strong incentive to get one.
Car Stereo Manufacturers and Installers: Start and/or continue pushing automobile industry to go stock with decks that have inputs. After-market manufacturers and installers: Find a way to bring down the price on these things. Do they really cost this much to produce or is it a bit of price gouging because you know the true audiophiles will foot the bill? And why not advertise that these after-market products even exist? The local New Times is littered with car stereo ads, but no seems to be pushing the AUX input route for getting MP3 players in your car.
Apple (and other major MP3 player manufacturers): If anyone, Apple should be pounding home any and all high-quality audio solutions for your car. In the short-term, local Apple stores should have examples of equipment that can be installed in your car stereo. They should have a list of name and phone numbers of local car stereo shops that do installs. Better yet, develop partnerships with some of these guys and show a deck or two in the Apple store with an iPod plugged in. We know Apple cares about music, so why aren't they showing their passion for music in cars??? Somehow they can make money in the hand off.
My experience in summary:(In criticizing the two solutions below, please note I am criticizing a limitation of the technologies employed, not the actual product quality. Both companies make solid products with excellent build quality - it's just the technology doesn't inherently provide high quality audio.)
Purchased an iPod. Love it. Wanted the convenience of listening to it in our Jetta with that beautiful Monsoon sound system.
Solution #1: Tape adapter. This wasn't good. Tape adapter actually didn't even work in our Jetta since it sucks the tape in and up. Wouldn't accept adapter. Tried it in our other car. It worked. Sound was sub-par. Would rather pop in a CD.
Solution #2: We were getting ready for a long road trip in the Jetta. We wanted to iPod. We dropped cash on an FM Transmitter. This wasn't great either. While bearable on the open road (with the steady background noise of the car, road, etc.), in stop and go traffic around town, there is just not enough ummmph in this solution to produce great sound.
Potential Solution #3: Drop money on RCA/AUX inputs for one or both cars. Cursory research looks like it would be between $80-200/vehicle. $80 is pushing my personal threshold for how much I want to drop to make this happen. In the future I hope our next new car comes with it stock.
Some supporting material:
· MP3 Players in the marketplace: 24 million units worldwide shipped in 2003 (In-Stat/MDR)
· MP3 Market Penetration: 23% of all households in U.S. had some form of a digital audio player (In-Stat/MDR)
iPods sold: 4 million since launch (CNET)
NOTE:
· Increasing numbers of smart phones and pdas support music and could also be used in vehicles.
· This wouldn't just be for MP3 players - laptops could plug-in and be used to play music or broadcast movie sound throughout the vehicle.
Links:
Def Leppard Hysteria
Monday, September 13, 2004 01: 19 AM
Boston Globe: "At least 37 people were killed in Baghdad alone. Many of them died when a US helicopter fired on a disabled US Bradley Fighting Vehicle as Iraqis swarmed around it, cheering, throwing stones, and waving the black-and-yellow sunburst banner of Iraq's most-feared terrorist organization."
"The dead from the helicopter strike included Arab television reporter Mazen al-Tumeizi, who screamed, "I'm dying, I'm dying," as a cameraman recorded the chaotic scene..."
No comment.
Saturday, September 11, 2004 02: 26 AM
Currently working on a new nixlog to launch sometime this weekend. Shouldn't I be doing other (better?) things with my time???
With this redesign I just need to expose a new love:Flickr. Simple. Tight integration. Did I mention simple. Amazing service. It has motivated me to get the camera out again -- and, of all things, actually use the camera in my phone. No app or service had broken down that barrier for me - but this one did...
Flickr integration on the new design
My Flickr Photos Page
Saturday, September 11, 2004 01: 58 AM
From 9/11 and the draining days that followed: Infographics from September 11th (Some links may be broken -- hopefully media outlets are staying true to their links.)
Some backstory: Many memories from three years ago. All of which experienced so far removed geographically (Arizona) from those who saw 9/11 quite literally in their own backyard. Apart from all the horror and emotion that filled that day and the days that followed I remember the urgency I felt to do something...anything...
I thought to myself, "What can I do to help?" Bloggers were doing a phenomenal job of gathering news, photos, etc. from the web. I didn't think I could add much there. Then as I started reading up on the event myself I kept coming across infographics from various media outlets. I knew infographics were helping me get a "big picture" grasp on what had happened. It was then I decided then to gather and list links to infographics on the attacks.
I don't know if compiling a list of infographics qualifies as helping -- but in the days that followed I felt a faint sense of contribution by at least helping people understand it all a little more.
Friday, September 10, 2004 06: 40 PM
The last several months have been a blur. Phoenix is history and Tucson is now our home. Rebecca and I took a flying leap from both our jobs as I pursued a graphic/web design position with the University of Arizona. Chandler-Gilbert was a lot of fun and it certainly wasn't an easy choice -- but in long run it was the best choice.
Rebecca left the comforts of Desert Schools Federal Credit Union and quickly found a job as a manager with Compass Bank down here. I don't know how she does it. Must be the fact that she's so talented and personable.
Life at the University of Arizona is great. We just started the web redesign process and are going to be relaunching next summer.
Friday, August 6, 2004 12: 34 AM
Bush Ratings vs. Terror Alerts
Friday, July 30, 2004 05: 09 PM
NY Times 2004 Election Guide (src: Kottke)
Wednesday, July 14, 2004 12: 02 AM
Cancer Pathways Subway Map (src: BoingBoing)
Wednesday, July 7, 2004 04: 42 PM
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Perhaps it's time for the average PC user to ditch Microsoft Interent Explorer.
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It seems, as of late, it is increasingly dangerous, craptastic and no longer being given an ounce of innovative energy by Microsoft.
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Frankly, Microsoft won the browser wars then gave us the leftovers, which they keep reheating in the microwave when ever there is a problem.
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Going to use Firefox instead. It's baked fresh daily.
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Once Firefox was loaded on our desktop PC at home I said to my wife, "When doing anything online, just use Firefox -- please don't touch Internet Explorer...ever...ever again...it's dead to me now."
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BTW -- if it wasn't for our home desktop PC, this post wouldn't even exist -- I've been on a new PowerBook for a couple of months now and loving the experience so far...
Friday, June 18, 2004 01: 27 AM
History of Programming Languages Chart (see PDF; src: kottke)
Monday, June 7, 2004 04: 53 PM
The Free and The Unfree (see PDF links at bottom of article)
Tuesday, June 1, 2004 03: 58 PM
Soken Kill Bill Ad (src Gizmodo)
Monday, May 17, 2004 10: 37 AM
Bugaboo Frog Stroller. Check out some of the accessories here. You know a design grabs you when you don't have any current use for the product, yet you are still drawn to it like a camel to water. We have no children, yet when we saw a couple at Costco last weekend with this stroller we had to sneak over and took a peak at the brand name. It just looked so sleek and compact versus the beastly looking strollers you typically dodge in the ailes. The couple were speaking to each other in a decidely European language. Upon further investigation it turns out these babies are from across the pond (Netherlands) and I venture to guess the couple was too. A few more tidbits...
The Bugaboo Frog was designed by Max Barenbrug, an industrial designer, and further developed in collaboration with a medical doctor Eduard Zanen to meet rigorous ergonomic requirements and functional objectives of the ideal baby stroller. The manufacture says the stroller can be moved in a multitude of positions, allowing it to be used for newborns to four-year-olds.
Other features include: "Frog"-like suspension in the small swivel wheels; it allows curbs and bumps to be easily navigated; it has a detachable front stroller bar; the seat is adjustable to three position; there are two small swiveling wheels for city maneuvering; the stroller has two large terrain wheels for the off-road; it converts to a two-wheel position to be pulled on the beach or snow; has a reversible handlebar; adjustable seat can walking direction or backward; all fabrics are machine washable; there is a parking brake near the handlebar; the underseat has a bag; equipped with a canopy; and it has a rain cover and mosquito net included. The Bugaboo Frog weighs between 16 to 19 pounds. The Bugaboo costs about $700. (src)
Monday, May 17, 2004 10: 15 AM
Chunc Wheelchairs (src).
Thursday, April 15, 2004 07: 01 PM
Rebecca gave birth to a new baby today. She's shiny. She's fast too. She weighs in at just under 19 lbs. We haven't named here yet...
Sunday, April 11, 2004 02: 20 PM
A deadly week in Iraq
Friday, April 9, 2004 12: 19 PM
Cin-o-matic. Neat little movie/dvd release tracking service with intergrated meta critic scores and alerts. They took some serious time nailing down the details of the views and interface. For how much information they are pushing, it is remarkably clean. They also have a ton of little touches that start to make a big difference as you use the site.
Now if it could just hook into my Netflix account. I would love to add movies to my queue directly from the service. (As always Metacritic is also a great source for movie/dvd reviews and meta scores - but no tracking functionality like cin-o-matic.) (src: Kottke)
Friday, April 9, 2004 11: 44 AM
Areva Energy Commercial (Royscopp video-esque)
Wednesday, April 7, 2004 05: 19 PM
Didn't know my dad liked the Beastie Boys until I found these sunglasses in his truck.
Wednesday, April 7, 2004 10: 53 AM
1937 Paris Metro Map (src: kottke)
Wednesday, April 7, 2004 10: 50 AM
Can Computers Think? (src: kottke)
Friday, March 26, 2004 10: 22 AM
Richard Saul Wurman's Understanding - definitely worth a look for inspiration. Some incredible infographics on that site (src: K10K; Metafilter)
Wednesday, March 24, 2004 12: 38 AM
Appleseed Movie = More Anime slickness coming out of Japan. Caught it on Headline News of all places. Note: I know very little about Anime - only that when I see something cool, I'm sucked in and fall head over heals for it.
I loved the Cowboy Bebop Movie, Ghost in a Shell and other Anime movies that are popular to like. I know there is a TON of Anime out there, a lot of which is very cool - if I only wish I had time to keep up on it more...
Monday, March 22, 2004 12: 35 AM
Lots of people talking about Fundrace2004 Neighbor Search, a website that allows you to quickly view public campaign money contributions based on zip code, name, etc. Quite enlighting to see your own zip code (Apparently the CEO of the University of Phoenix is in my zip).
This would certainly be an interesting list to consult before that next meeting with the big wigs or potential clients. Knowing a person's political slant can certainly give a glimpse of what ideals or interests they *may* have. At the very least, you have one more topic to talk about...now if we just had a religion tracker...
Thought it would be interesting to match up the Fundrace site with zip codes I found on this site claiming to provide accurate data on cities. Selected the list of top "Top 100 Cities with Highest Median Household Income (pop. 5000+)" and selected a few zip codes. Results below:
- 94027
- 94010
- 80110
- 10583
- 10583
- 94022
- 94062
- 60093
- 60022
- 10514
For fun:
On the infographics side, the Fundrace2004
City and
National Maps are pretty slick.
Friday, March 12, 2004 01: 15 AM
Tonight's sunset. Phoenix, AZ. Unaltered. Amazing breadth of colors in such a small cross-section of sky.
Wednesday, March 10, 2004 11: 22 AM
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Hubble Space Telescope: Deepest Image of Space Yet. That full-size image is surreal. Feeling very, very "small" now. (src)
- Screenshots of a hacked North Carolina News 14 television scroll feed. More details at the source: Metafilter. I'm still laughing...
Monday, March 8, 2004 03: 15 PM
9 Rules / White Space / Paul Scrivens is holding a monthly redesign content over on his Version 2 page. Looks like February was the first, with some interesting entries. March looks like an interesting challenge.
Saturday, March 6, 2004 01: 55 AM
Thursday, March 4, 2004 10: 22 AM
Crowndozen (or Crown Dozen) is:
Crowndozen is where a bunch of opinionated people you don't know tell you what is great, what is worth buying, and what you should be straight-up backhanded across your pretty face for not owning. The authors are well chosen and choice materialists, contractually obligated to never let you down.
Here you will get reviews of music, games, books, art, clothing, recipes, ink pens, $70 bobble-heads, whatever. You'll also find en ever-evolving, yet simple list of links that you should be up on, a ton of fun Top Twelve lists based on anything and everything, and many other titillating tidbits meant to make your hour.
They are also looking for contributors. More on their
about page. (via
Design is Kinky)
Monday, March 1, 2004 04: 13 PM
Sony Ericsson and AT&T Wireless upgrading T68i users to T226 phone for free.
Rebecca and I were suprised to find two of the above postcards in our mailbox yesterday.
AT&T Wireless is "upgrading" our
Sony Ericsson T68i phones to T226 for free, no strings attached - so they say. The postcard says that we will be receiving the phones via UPS in the next 2-4 weeks. Now this was a suprise. This, technically speaking, isn't an "upgrade". The T226 lacks Bluetooth, has half the memory, is not a world phone and lacks many other features the T68 has. It is simply a cheaper phone with a higher res screen, polyphonic ring tones and more screen colors.
For power uses, this probably doesn't justify a switch and would certainly feel like a downgrade. For casual users, this may "feel" like an upgrade, simply because they will have a new phone in hand with more colors and better sounds. Some additional thoughts about the whole thing:
- We are happy with our T68's (though a little weak in larger buildings), but they are getting a little dated/beat up.
- We got both of our phones for free over a year ago, when people were paying over $200 for them.
- Now we are getting new phones again, without lifting a finger. That's not a bad deal for the casual T68i user if your current phone has been taking a beating for over a year. It's probably not a good switch for power users.
- Still trying to figure out AT&T's true motives for this action:
- They may be having problems with the T68's as they continue to upgrade their GSM network. We've been dropping more and more calls lately with them.
- They may be experiencing a higher than anticipated attrition rate with number portability. Free phones might equal good will and greater customer loyalty.
- They may be looking for us to use the mMode services even more than we currently are. That may equal more revenue or at least internally justify the mMode network as a viable project to maintain.
- They may just have a crap load of T226's laying around since Sony Ericsson now has the T330 out. Rather than let them sit in boxes or used as paper weights, why not give them away.
- Updates:
I've studied the fine print on the mailer and there isn't anything to imply they are expanding our service agreements or charging us more for anything. Based on the links above and general sense of paranoia people are having with this offer, it will be interesting to see what the fine prints says when it actually arrives.
If AT&T is trying to sucker us into 2 year contracts with free phones that appear to be "valuing" us as customers, then I'll be dissapointed. If they are simply trying to get people off the 900 band network in preps for transition to 850, then I can see the motivation to offer free phones before the wave of complaints come in.
Either way, even though the phone has less features, I may still take the plunge if the offer's legit. I just don't use the features (Bluetooth, calendar, voice activated dialing, etc.) that most power users do.
Friday, February 27, 2004 11: 22 AM
I've died and gone to color palette heaven today:
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ColorMatch (src)
"This utility will help you select a matching 6-color palette for your website."
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QuickColor (src)
Flashlet version of ColorMatch (above).
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moreCrayons
"Most internet users have monitors that can display more colors than the 216 that are used in the traditional "browser-safe" palette. moreCrayons is a bigger box of crayons; 4,096 colors for the web."
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Color Blender
"Pick a color value format, input two valid CSS color values in the format you chose, and pick the number of midpoints you'd like to see. The palette will show the colors you input as well as the requested number of midpoint colors, and the values of those colors."
Thursday, February 26, 2004 04: 47 PM
I heard about Medium (or more specifically Medium Footwear) several months ago and have eagerly watched their budding concept grow. Very interesting philosophy at work here: A business focused on the creative process as much as the end product with marketing that promotes the process, creativity and creators behind the product. As opposed to marketing that couples pretty models with pretty product in fake situations. Here is a little more...
MEDIUM is a collective of individual designers selected to express a modernist design philosophy with a commitment to quality, detail and style. By giving individual designers under the MEDIUM brand creative authority, we promote the concept of a "design collective," where as much importance is placed on individual creativity and style as it is on the notion of a shared vision. MEDIUM is a designer's movement. MEDIUM is about design.
Now if I can just find these shoes and bags somewhere in Phoenix. Don't even know if they are out yet.
Tuesday, February 24, 2004 05: 32 PM
Trailer for a movie out of Japan. Some amazing, amazing visuals in this one.
- Title:Shinzo Ningen Casshern (Casshern - Robot Hunter).
- Trailer 1: Quicktime Streaming
- Trailer 1: Quicktime Download (Right click, save as)
- Trailer 2: From Apple Japan
- Official Website: Casshern.com (Japanese Only)
- Director: Kiriya Kazuaki
- Overview: "Live-action adaptation" of an "Anime TV show from the 1970's."
From Vinay, "If I remember correctly, the basic story goes something like this: A robot was invented by this scientist to help mankind (forget how) and something went wrong and it started to go about restructuring human society (read: enslaving humans for their own good). The scientists son merges with the robot and becomes an android to fight these robots."
- Sources:
Yewknee
Jean Snow
Vinay
Ordinary Life
Monday, February 23, 2004 11: 32 AM
The Starsky & Hutch movie was good fun. We saw the sneak preview on Saturday night and I probably haven't enjoyed that many laughs in a movie since Jack Ass.
Between Owen Wilson, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn and Snoop Dog, I just sat there with a constant smile on my face. Toss in the car, great music, classic technology (Snoop getting fitted for the wire was hilarious), and I was ready to go back to the 70's for good.
If you're looking for a serious take on Starsky & Hutch, then this is not your movie (but that was never the intention). If your not familiar with the TV show, then it may not be as entertaining or engaging, but it's still fun. However, if you go in with a laid back attitude, have an idea of what the show was about and just enjoy the ride, your rewarded with a modern take that honors a classic with a comedic twist.
A few quotes from Rotten Tomatoes Production Notes:
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Casting Owen Wilson: Wilson said, "I think Ben had the idea that I would be good for Hutch because I have blond hair. I don't think it was anything more complicated than that."
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Ebay a good source for car parts: "To outfit the two main hero cars, Walsh researched and bought all N.O.S. (New Old Stock) parts, snatching up everything eBay had to offer. "Every time somebody would see my user name, they'd just quit bidding, because they knew I was going to bid all the way. I found shifters, consoles, moldings, taillights, emblems, weather stripping, you name it. Since these were the cars that were going to be shot close up, I wanted them to be perfect."
-
On Stiller's driving: "Stiller is of a different mind. "I'm trying to figure out what the problem is, because I feel like I'm a competent, good driver," he puzzles. "But other people seem to be frightened. We shot a scene where I rounded a corner and did a skid stop, and I looked over at Owen and he had this skeleton-face look. And Owen's not that good an actor that he could do a look like that and make it convincing, so I knew it was real. And everybody applauded and said, 'Wow.' And I said, 'Look, Owen, they said 'Wow,'' and he's like, 'That wasn't a 'Wow, cool,' that was a 'Wow, thank God we're all still alive.''
Final Review:
8.5/10
Seeing more than once in theaters? YES
Buying DVD when is comes out? YES
On that note the
Starsky & Hutch Season 1 DVD set is coming out March 2nd.
Friday, February 20, 2004 02: 47 PM
Quizno's new capaign is a great departure from the same old craptastic promotions coming from most marketing agencies.
Talked to a Quizno's manager about the commercials last week. She had mixed feelings. She told me she was at a salon and an asian girl doing her nails said, "rats and food...no good. No good!"
I personally love the campaign though, even if it isn't the best combination of elements (rodents and food). It's just so offbeat, crazy and totally unexpected that it makes you go WTF in a good way.
And people are talking about it, which of course equals more free press for Quizno's.
Matt just sent me these links:
Plus, how can you beat their other promo. Bring in ANY coupon for anything and get $1 off a sub. Makes me want to go out and find totally bizarre coupons to turn in.
Friday, February 20, 2004 12: 16 PM
I am on a BIG prefab/modern housing kick right now.
The endless surburban landscapes of the Phoenix area are really depressing me. I mean, they really do. My wife and I built a house and spent three of our young, childless years in the suburbs with white picket fences. Literally. We commuted. We commuted a lot. We found we pretty much had to commute everywhere. Nothing was close by. What was the benefit? A cheaper house with more space? We weren't using the space. We wised up. We sold. Got out of dodge before another neighbor asked when we were going to start having kids (I think it was actually in the Home Owners Assocation policy manual, "resident must have a minimum of 2 children to reflect the family focus of the neighborhood, so that home values stay high.")
We moved back to the city and nature. We now reside in a much smaller place at the edge of a desert mountain range at the Phoenix-Tempe border. We discovered an eclectic location that is suprisingly close to nature, without sacrificing the convenience of urban amenities.
Looking back on the whole process I am amazed that we found ourselves so wrapped up in the concept of the perfect American suburban neighborhood at one time. That view of the world seems to throw out issues concerning the environment, innovation and urban planning when it comes to housing and growth.
Stucco covered houses creating endless rows of uninspired architecture are contributing to the environment of uninspired conformists within our society who simply settle into this seemingly predestined pattern of life that we call the American Dream. You grow up. You go to school. You buy a car. You get a job. You get married. You buy a house. You have 2.5 kids. You get overweight. You diet. You die.
If that makes someone happy, then I am not going argue with their chosen direction in life. But I don't want that pattern. I want to explore. Create. Live. Take a risk or two. Raise our future kids with an innovative and intelligent view of the world. My interest in prefab/modern housing is just one extension of my growing discontent with the traditional patterns of American life. Innovative architects are surfacing and putting more time, money and energy into really finding ways to reinvent the American home (and by extension, neighborhoods and cities.) These architects are seeking ways to produce unique, architecturally stimulating housing that conserve space, are environmentally friendly and can be built in a fraction of the time, compared to traditional housing. Sign me up. A few links that have inspired me recently:
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fabprefab: Great, great resource on the current trends, design and people behind many prefab and modern housing projects.
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Resolution: 4 Architecture - Custom Modular Homes: Incredible modular homes. At the top of my list. So many different configurations. They are also doing the Dwell Home.
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The Dwell Home: Dwell Magazine is sponsoring a modern home being built for $200k. Still too pricey. But the prefab, modern living approach is great.
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Building a Small Town: Example of how rapidly the Phoenix area can generate a community in the middle of nowhere, seemingly overnight. Urban sprawl at its most blatant, boastful self. Interesting how planners are realizing people aren't going to move to BFE unless they fabricate a main street to create a faux urban environment for the buyers. I am officially creating a new term for this trend in master planned communities: Faux Urbanism - creating the illusion of an urban environment within the construct of a new neighborhood.
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The McMansion Next Door: Newsweek's call to modernize housing architecture.
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Fast Company post on prefab with some more links.
Tuesday, February 10, 2004 04: 39 PM
Kottke's 52 Magazines or Bust commentary was too good to pass up. Jason called for magazine suggestions and readers responded with 350+ magazines. I wanted just a list of the magazines. So I made one. Here they are, listed by title without the commentary*:
* Numbers represent the mulitple instances a magazine was mentioned in commentary.
2003 Flashback:
Kottke's Music Playlist (over 400+ artists listed).
Tuesday, February 10, 2004 10: 01 AM
Monday, February 9, 2004 11: 54 PM
Having soy protein burgers for dinner? Here's a recommendation: Buy Gardenburger not Boca Burgers. Gardenburger is a classy, well branded underdog who is focused on making one family of products really well, while Boca is the product of that really big company, Philip Morris/Kraft, who makes a seamingly endless list of products with a bottomless marketing budget. A few other details:
- $50 million/year in revenues (Gardenburger) vs. $30 billion/year in revenues (Kraft).
- 1 factory supporting 180+ employees (Gardenburger) vs. Many, many factories and 109,000 employees (Kraft).
- A great story of a chef and a restaurant in Oregon growing into 20 years of innovation in making a family of products great (Gardenburger) vs. A bunch of VPs sitting around a table selecting the next market they can penetrate and overwhelm with their size and distribution channels. From there, they map out in cold PowerPoint driven meetings how they will cut prices, own "x" percentage of market share and ultimately take out the little guy - who really put their heart and soul into helping define the space (Kraft).
My mind is made up. I'm sick of this Wal-Mart, "own every market mentality" of these "conglorporations". Putting my mouth and money on Gardenburger.
Oh, and Gardenburger, just to stay competitive, had to relocate a few months ago out of Portland to somewhere in Utah in order to control costs...as Gardenburger CEO Scott Wallace put it:
"All of us at Gardenburger will always consider Portland, Oregon our home. However, this action will lower operating costs and improve efficiencies going forward. As the market for meatless products has become increasingly competitive, it is essential that we redouble our efforts to improve our ability to compete."
Sunday, February 8, 2004 08: 58 PM
Sorta of stumbled into watching the Grammy Awards tonight while working. A few observations:
- Presenters Part 1: Anyone who presents at an awards show should either: 1) Memorize their lines. 2) Learn to read a teleprompter or 3) Just wing it.
- Presenters Part 2: They should not: 1) Vacillate back and forth between monotone teleprompter reading and wildly inconsistent free thought or 2) Make jokes. What ever you do, do not try to say something funny. Please.
- Writing: While on the topic how presenters present. Who writes this stuff? Award shows are notorious for lame writing coupled with exceptionally lame jokes. This year's Grammy Awards were no different.
- Sunglasses: No matter how cool you think you are, there is still no reason, no reason what so ever to wear sunglasses inside...unless, of course, your doctor strictly requires it.
- Commercials: There is an increasingly distinct gap in American marketing circles between the companies that know how to market their products and those that don't. Perhaps, it is more appropriate to assign this gap to the actual agencies companies are using. Example: Despite what your commercial says Gillette, using your razor doesn't make me feel like I have an "angel by my side". Your razors have one job - shave my face (and legs) without cutting me up. They don't help me achieve some higher level of performace, sexuality or manhood. I bike just as fast with a beard.
- The Details: The show seemed to have quite a few technical hiccups. Perhaps they intentionally gave Celine Dion a microphone that didn't work?
- Outkast: "Hey ya!, where are ya!? You have an award waiting on stage."
- Trends: The "official" trend that we should all be ascribing to for early 2004 is "funk". Don't forget it. It will probably go from bandwagon to backlash over the corse of this year. So jump on now.
Back to the banality that is the corporate entertainment machine.
Saturday, February 7, 2004 10: 55 PM
- Americans are consuming more calories than ever.
- We are familiar with the basics: If we consume more calories than we burn we gain weight. If we burn more calories than we consume than we lose weight. If we maintain a balance, so does our weight.
- I decided about three weeks ago it was time to lean up to help me be more competitive with my road cycling. My goal: Go from 176 lbs. (18% body fat) to 166 lbs. (11-12% body fat) in a span of about 12 weeks (4 months).
- I needed a tracking tool and found a great online web service called Fatburn.com to track caloric intake and workouts. With something like 25,000 foods and a hundred or so exercises in it's database, it is pretty convenient.
- Quick observations from tracking religiously for three weeks:
- Junk food has an incredible amount of calories (Dr. Pepper, candy, etc). I knew this, but never really cared before.
- I was eating a lot of junk food. It was weird seeing this as it was tracked. Actually caused me to eat less of it.
- Intense excercise kept my weight balanced (countering the effects of the junk food) up until the time I started the program.
- Now I'm eating smarter and not really missing the junk food.
- Intense exercise, together with longer fat burning (moderate) workouts are now bringing consistant weight loss.
- A Chipotle burrito can have anywhere from 1000-1300 calories or more. Solution: Chipotle burrito bowl.
- Starbucks packs in the calories big time (nutritional info). Especially my Chocolate Malt Frappuccino with a whopping 610 calories for a grande.
- Results thus far:
- Started three weeks ago at 176 lbs. The past few mornings I've weighed in at 171-172 lbs.
- My cycling has improved.
- I am eating a much more balanced diet with less caloric intake than before.
- But I'm chopped liver compared to this guy (John Stone)! Check out his transformation through monthly and daily photos. Amazing to see a human body change form so dramatically. (src: kottke)
Friday, February 6, 2004 05: 14 PM
The past year saw the blogging world become highly saturated with both content and media coverage. I stepped back for a while to survey the landscape and see if it was still worthwhile to publish a blog. Now that I've taken some time to consider what I would like to do, I have pulled myself out of retirement...dusted off the keyboard...and am going to be putting more thoughts out there.*
* Yep, this is that "I'm going to start blogging again" post you see on every other blog that promises daily content oozing with stimulating thoughts and dialogue. Yep. Bet you can't wait. How exciting. I'm tingly all over. We'll see how long this actually lasts.
Wednesday, July 23, 2003 05: 06 AM
Each individual's life is an interesting canvas. A sidewalk either freshly
minted with wet concrete ready to be drawn upon permanently, or
set...hard...stiff...lifeless, where only chalk can sketch a superficial
smile destined to be washed away by the next rains of summer. Often, I
think, our lives are ebb and flow from these states. Periods of fluidity and
futility. Periods of spirited living. And periods of mere survival.
It is during those periods of survival that we merely find ourselves
existing, if for no other purpose than to see what the next day holds. To
see if, by chance, the miracle (that we have not lifted one finger to make)
happens. It is during those periods that some of us realize the fabrication
of our new environment. The manmade ornaments of modern culture that
alienate us from our paths of origin. Our path to nature. Within this
experience of survival we come to realize the processing of the human spirit
in the factory of modern life. A processing which removes all the good,
adventurous nutrients of the soul and simply replaces them with poisoned
preservatives whose only purpose is to perpetuate the cycle modern man. Grow
up. Get an education. Get a job. Then die. The tamed man. The new man.
Oooo...how modern is he. Now he hunts and gathers in the markets and malls
of the endless urban jungles that never satisfy the true spirit of adventure
that is inherent in all of us. It is as if the very life has been sucked out
of him. You can see it in his eyes. You can see it in mine. What has
happened to me? Why modern man, do you possess my life?
Yet in rare moments, some of us see what we are destined to see. The bigger
canvas of life with horizon lines as far as the eye can see, with endless
mountaintops hiding a sun just kissing their peaks. Some, born into a world
devoid of the processing and fabrication, have had a view of the bigger
canvas since their first steps and impart the higher vision of what life can
be. They inspire, not through words alone, but action. They LIVE. While
others never realize the cruel joke of modern life. The death of the human
spirit of adventure. This is a wake-up call. This is a declaration that the
system no longer tells me what my dreams should be. This is me reclaiming my
spot in the natural world. This is me dictating my future. This is me saying
I will be different and I don't give a damn.
Yet the system will respond, "Stay with the herd for there are vast fields
to effortlessly graze in the valley below. Don't climb to the mountain, for
while that grass surely more delicious, it is beyond your reach. The climb
is too difficult. It is not worth the effort."
To those who would beckon me to the valley below, to graze lazily in the
pastures of passivity I say, "Enjoy your journey. But it is not for me. Mine
is up there. In the mountains, where I will either conquer or die trying. I
will follow a trail carved into the earth by my grandfather, Sir Jeffrey
Hirschi the Eighteenth and breathe the same inspired air from the mountains
high. For mine is not the life to be survived, but rather the life to be
lived."
Tuesday, April 29, 2003 10: 52 AM
Geekzen. My buddy Tim has launched his new site. Come on in, the water's fine. Welcome my friend. (I'm taking the George approach by not asking for permission.)
Wednesday, April 23, 2003 07: 19 PM
So...uh...you select your city. Select the radio station you were listening to. Select the time that one song you really, really like right now came on and...BAM!!!
Yes.net (it actually works).
Thursday, April 3, 2003 09: 35 PM
Jason Kottke recently commented on current music in his playlist with a call to readers to share their lists. The resulting commentary produced 100+ comments recommending 400+ artists.
This posed a problem for me: I wanted a PDA friendly, .txt file format list of these musicians to refer to when burning buying CDs, but not the commentary. So in an effort to prove that I lack anything resembling a real life and that I am really good at making lists, I took the comments, stripped the commentary and present to you The List (up to comment #109 at least):
Kottke Playlist - Alphabetized Order (text)
Kottke Playlist - Alphabetized Order (HTML)
Kottke Playlist - Commentary Order (text)
Kottke Playlist - Commentary Order (HTML)
NOTES:
- Credits: This list was organized by Paul Nixon (nixlog) from content developed by Jason Kottke and his readers on kottke.org. This content is licensed on Jason's site under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0 License, which permits the reuse of content so long as Jason is cited and the entity repurposing the content shares their content too. To honor this license, I have also updated my own Creative Commons license to ShareAlike as well.
- Downside of this list: Little to no context to the musician or musical style is given on this list. Some context may or may not be gathered from reading the actual commentary. Also, formatting and duplication errors abound.
- Organizational note: The alphabetized list ignores the "The" bands by alphabetizing the band based on the second word in the name (e.g. White Stripes, The). Unfortunately trying to alphabetize the band "The The" ended in a vicious, never ending cycle from which I have yet to escape.
Tuesday, April 1, 2003 09: 56 PM
Submit infographics: "Poynter Online would like to showcase the efforts of visual journalists as they help readers find clarity. "The Art of Explanation" is a place to share ideas and processes as we continue to improve the graphics we create. We invite artists from around the world to share pieces that worked well for their audience."
Nice opportunity for media outlets and individual artists to show off their work. Emphasis seems to currently be on the War in Iraq.
Visit Poynter.org for more details
Friday, March 28, 2003 06: 25 PM
Allow me to wax philosophical for a moment. It seems in life that the only constant is change. While I have heard that statement a few too many times, its long exhausted, over used repetition does not make it any less true. I have been thinking about this recently in regards to people. People change. They just do. Its part of life, as each of us learns, grows and makes mistakes. Some people change drastically in very short periods of time, while others change over decades. None of us are the same people we were ten years ago, one year ago or even yesterday. The construct of life does not allow us to remain constant. We must evolve. We must adapt. Sure, some may be steadfast in convictions of thought, morality or behavior, but none of us can escape the inevitability of our own humanity. The inevitability of change. We, as people, can not help but change over the course of our lives. And often times this change and growth comes at the expense of making mistakes that hurt others.
This line of thinking has led me to think deeply about the concept of love. Not just love in the platitudinal, Hallmark card sense but rather real, open unconditional love. It seems we, as humanity, struggle with understanding and expressing this kind of unconditional love. The kind that knows not race, religion, politics or sexuality. The kind that understands perfectly that each of us inevitably makes mistakes. That none of us are perfect. This unconditional love is not about men and women, husbands and wives, friends and associates...it's not about staying in a relationship you shouldn't be in...this is about something more fundamental...it's about each individual. Each soul, if you will. Each of us has a unique set of circumstances, variables and constructs that make us who we are. Our behavior and actions then flow from these limited constructs. And each is unique. Though, in my belief, our lives are not deterministic, they are in a way strongly influenced by our past, our environment and our own levels of capacity at times to deal with the present.
So how does this relate to unconditional love? It's simple. We often change in an effort find love, acceptance or understanding. Unconditional love is the thing we are looking for, it's what our humanity longs for. How many of us silently cry out for this unconditional love? How many of us wait...wanting to be loved without the constraints of judgment...and to love in return. Waiting to be understood without whisperings behind our back. And yet, as each of us long to act, to love, to reach out, to be loved, to be accepted...we instead react. We divide. We judge. We in essence close the door of unconditional love, waiting for someone else to open it.
Why should we wait? We are all here, stuck in this existence. The challenges of life are plenty enough. Why compound them by not loving each other. We aren't that different than the person sitting next to us. We aren't any better. We aren't any worse. We are all humans experiencing the inevitability of our own humanity. And as such, we should find this love within ourselves and share it, share it unconditionally.
Wednesday, March 26, 2003 02: 16 AM
Spring cleaning is taking place here. Rebecca spent the weekend cleaning our home office, so I spent the time cleaning nixlog. Why you ask? I don't know. Actually, the most pressing reason is my job. I work for a college as web designer now and I was tired of my site not having the fit and finish it should...particularly from a standards perspective, which is and should be a big deal in the world of education. So here is brief rundown of what I set out to accomplish.
My goals:
- Strict XHTML compliance
- CSS Validation
- Reasonable visual presentation without sacrificing appealing design.
- Still usable in Netscape 4.7 (hence tables...I'll tackle CSS layouts and 4.7 work arounds another day. Plus I work for a college where a small, but significant percentage of the in house PCs are still riding 4.7.)
- Easy content management with multiple blogs. I've grown tired of putting so many different types of links into one blog. I needed to expand the "reporting" to the key areas I have the most interest in...thus blogs dedicated to infographics, design, technology, photography and finally, my own words (which I am not really interested in but I need to share them). (pMachine is a fabulous product, however nixlog is now running on Moveable Type. I had to put in some study time, but it's paying off.)
Other items still on the table:
- Section 508 / Bobby.
- Alternate style sheets / color, font options / text only, etc.
- Usability / Info Architecture / etc.
