Very impressive flash Ad from Apple.
The ad is just a regular until you click for sound and then the ad really starts up. The reason: Two independent SWF files that sync actions across themselves. Both ads have to be delivered at the same time. Clever use of shape and placement of those ads to tell a funny story.
Antibiotics are a pretty amazing thing.
But in my life, I’ve never seen it work, only read about it in books such as All Creatures Great and Small or heard stories about how the amazing things that happened when my grandfather was a pediatrician.
It’s now more of a preventative, or to make our cattle a little bit bigger, or keep our chickens from dying in their horrible living conditions. But every so often you’re reminded…
I’ve been sick off and on pretty much continuously since June. This time, it was really unusually bad. A fever brought back the cold symptoms. But the fever was a clue, that maybe, this time, it might be a bacteria also. So when I finally got well enough that I could make it out of my apartment without dying (three days), I scheduled an appointment and got my meds again—the same antibiotic as last time. It wasn’t hard when you have a hundred degree fever plus the same symptoms as before.
On the MUNI ride back, I opened the package, looked at the first two caplets. “My little, red tactical nukes,” I sighed to myself, and popped them into my mouth. By the time I got home, I was so tired from the exertion I fell straight asleep.
Three hours later I woke to noises: a rumbling, a ratatatat, then a whale sound in my stomach. What the fuck? As consciousness returned, this was followed by assorted burping and farting and all manner of disgusting symphony.
I took my temperature: 98.6, spot on. I hadn’t had that temperature in over a week.
So that’s the sound of western medicine working, I nodded appreciatively.
I still have the cold to deal with, but now was the time to eat as my appetite finally came back…and to think, with a small regret, I could’ve really gotten some payback on my brother, some of my housemates, and assorted guy friends.
And this made me think back to a phone conversation I had over a decade ago.
[more sounds, after the jump]Continue reading
Two of my friends over dinner discussing a third…
“I wonder if she’s ‘high maintenance’.”
Then he immediately adds, “She probably is. Women that pretty usually are.”
I quietly smiled to myself. Not because she was or wasn’t “high maintenance”—I hadn’t a clue either way—but because it reminded of a friend I had in graduate school…
[Experiments in maintenance]Continue reading
Another Friday afternoon ego boost, this time from Mashable and ValleyWag.
Thanks, Owen! 🙂
[newsfeed stuff after the jump]Continue reading
Cal called me out on me pointing out the Swearing Festival Celebration of Profanity event with a link to his article on civility in the public political discourse.
But really, does it prove his point? Or does it parrot the use of calls for civility to mask indecency?
I’m going to make a case that it is the latter.
[Ick, Politics. I can’t help myself. I’ll spare you from it with the jump.]Continue reading
Against my better judgement (health), I woke up from my disco nap and headed down to Etiquette Lounge to celebrate the “party dress birthday” of Halle, Michelle, Liisa who were turning 21 (again) and Peter who was turning 30 (again).
Nikon D200, Tokina 16-50mm AT-X PRO f/2.8 DX, SB-800, ultimate light box
1/40sec @ f/2.8, iso 800, 16mm (24mm)
Nikon D200, Tokina 16-50mm AT-X PRO f/2.8 DX, SB-800, ultimate light box
1/40sec @ f/2.8, iso 800, 16mm (24mm)
[liberals, dress codes, and photos of peeps after the jump]Continue reading
Ironing my clothing is always always a reminder that I have an obsession with the color blue that borders on unhealthy. And not just any blue: really dark navy blue. Good thing dyes are synthetic because all of India would still be under colonial rule to keep up with my need for blue clothing.
Blue and me seem to always be brought together. In evangelical summer camp, I was assigned to the Galatians—if I told you that the other team was the Romans who were red, you can guess what color the Galatians were. My high school colors: Blue and gold. My house colors: Page blue. Heck, even that running joke that is the “south bay uniform” wasn’t my choice: my entire wardrobe of blue oxford button downs are actually hand-me-downs from my brother.
I’ve known this for a while now. That’s why when I made my resume five years ago, I chose… red and yellow. The resume is littered with other little design jokes (like the use of rules instead of white space, or the css “resume” garden markup.)
[Favorite colors in design after the jump.]Continue reading
Long before Jason Calacanis’s prank, Web 3.0 was supposed to be “the semantic web.” So when I received an invite to this talk, I had to forward it on to Dave, especially in light of this post. The inside joke is, Dave or I have been doing vertical search professionally since 2000. And if there is one thing we’ve learned:
“[The semantic web] may list Brittney Spears ringtones in the description, but the page offers viagra.”
—David Kellogg, “Semantic web, please go away”
(The only exception I take with the above is that what isn’t attributable to malice can be attributable to incompetence.)
Dave loved the invite, and then started to nail the world wide history of the once and future web in order to improve the discussion at the Stanford/MIT VLAB panel:
[Web 1.0 through Web 7.0. after the jump.]Continue reading
“Please tell me you guys aren’t getting in bed with Google. I actually find myself rooting for annoying-ass Fuckerberg because of this Open Syphilis shit.”
—e-mail from a friend
I’ve had a number of people who know what I do as a day job ask me what I think about Google’s OpenSocial initiative. Maybe it’s because they know I’m so opinionated and they just want to hear me go off.
What’s strange is how few of those actually involved with the project have asked me what I thought (Answer: none of them). They know that I’m not a photographer, or a socialite, or “they guy who does Lunch 2.0” and yet they’ve been strangely silent before, during, and after the announcement. It turned out I only found out about this at all, because of people who know me only as a photographer, socialite (laugh!), and “the guy who does Lunch 2.0.”
Now I won’t go out to state my opinion about OpenSocial beyond the question: You parlayed my friendship for this? I guess you can guess what I think about OpenSocial from that.
Chalk this up to another incessant reminder of why I hate the high school antics of the Valley. Had any of them bothered to ask me about this, here is a tip I could have given them: when you make a list, there are much bigger companies in the Valley than Facebook that are going to be disappointed they weren’t invited to the party.
Slick move, ace!
I alluded to this bitterly in a previous post, but to further highlight the absurdity of the who was and wasn’t invited to the “Open”(laugh!)Social, I was talking to another friend:
“They leaked this well in advance to the ‘largest social network in Holland.’ In Holland??? Can you believe?”
D—: “Haha. I sort of like the Dutch. They sort of sound like Germans but act nicer.”
“The only thing I know about the Dutch is that they’re awfully tall.”
D—: “Maybe it’s to keep their heads above sea level.”
Ahh, trust my friends to put everything in perspective.
(After that conversation he sent me this to cheer me up.)
I was really burned out from partying. But Patrick IM’d me saying that he was in the city for one night only and extrovert that he is, I knew I had to find a party at the last minute, sans costume.
Nikon D200, Tokina 16-50mm AT-X PRO f/2.8 DX, SB-800, ultimate light box
1/50sec @ f/2.8, iso 640, 16mm (24mm)
Andrew Mager was kind enough to invite me to the party sponsored by CNET business.
Nikon D200, Tokina 16-50mm AT-X PRO f/2.8 DX, SB-800, ultimate light box
1/60sec @ f/2.8, iso 500, 16mm (24mm)
It was a lot of fun even though I only knew ten people in the entire place, a couple people actually tried to use my name to get past the bouncer at the door—and it worked!. Can you believe that? 😀
Nikon D200, Tokina 16-50mm AT-X PRO f/2.8 DX, SB-800, ultimate light box
1/50sec @ f/2.8, iso 640, 16mm (24mm)
Also, since this photo got insane viewage as it was uploading, I thought posting it before the jump can’t hurt. I’m putting it really small so you click on it though… 😀
Nikon D200, Tokina 16-50mm AT-X PRO f/2.8 DX, SB-800, ultimate light box
1/60sec @ f/2.8, iso 320, 16mm (24mm)
[the jump]Continue reading