Paul Graham
March 30, 2008
Here’s another productivity reduction aid for you, Gary: Paul Graham, developer, artist, and venture capitalist who wrote a really fascinating book, Hackers and Painters, has an equally fascinating website (and shame on me for not thinking to look for it sooner).
I came to it in a roundabout way, from a Digg post on online methods of disagreement. Graham’s essay, How to Disagree, classifies forms of online rebuttal. It’s a wry look at the kind of stuff you learned on the debate team in high school, and I wish everyone who participated in online discussion would read it.
Of course, if you want to read it, you’re probably NOT the person who most needs it, but that’s the way of the world.
Adobe Photo, Expressed
March 29, 2008
It’s not that tough to find a decent image management package on the Web these days; Flickr, KodakGallery, Snapfish, Photobucket, bunches of these guys offer archive and gallery systems that usually also provide minor editing capabilities. Or there’s the powerful 1-2 punch of Google, pairing Picasa with Blogger to build some really interesting online photo libraries. Or Apple, with its .Mac service.
Adobe, with the lion’s share of the professional image manipulation crowd, hasn’t really done a heckuva lot in this space. Now they’re catching up by releasing a junior-grade version of Photoshop online. Photoshop Express is in beta right now. It also (apparently) doesn’t support Linux at this time, but Windows and Mac users shouldn’t have (m)any problems…aside from the critical gaps I note below.
Sculpture vs. glass
March 28, 2008
It’s been a swamped (and sometimes harrowing) last few weeks, lots to do, lots to think about. In the midst of everything, I had the great good fortune to be asked for casting advice by a well-known sculptor.
This lady works–beautifully and very successfully–in ceramics. Now, though, at least part of her current project must be cast in amber-colored crystal and attached to the clay. One caster’s already failed her, and she wanted to know if I was up to the task.
The project seemed simple enough (although five’ll get you ten it gets VERY complicated in person), and I told her I’d either give it a shot or recommend a topnotch expert and see the project through. We talked about trading services; I’d help her cast if she’d teach me to sculpt.
I showed her what I was doing, told her what I wanted to learn.
“Why are you working in glass?” she asked.
Making me (self-portrait)
March 27, 2008
Nancy’s Kitchen
March 27, 2008
- Nancy’s Kitchen website (actually, CitySearch, can’t find restaurant site)
- Location: Pearl district
- Cost to fill up two people: $20 or so
Had some time this morning, so Robyn and I tried doing brunch instead of dinner (and since it was on a Thursday, we didn’t worry about lines). We headed for a place called Nancy’s Kitchen in the Pearl, just off Glisan and 16th, across the street from the Mission Pub & Theatre.
The first thing you notice about this place is that you actually can find parking, normally a near-impossibility. In fact, there’s a spacious parking lot, which is a strong incentive to come here even if the food isn’t good.
But not to worry–the food is very good. [Read more]
Everyday design by Nathan
March 26, 2008
Ran across a really interesting blog, Commonsense Design. It’s by an old friend, Nathan Zeldes, and I highly recommend popping over to take a peek.
Nathan’s a principal engineer at Intel, and a very smart guy. (and apologies, Nathan, if your title has changed and I missed it) He’s often a voice of reason around Intel, poking at all those safe and sensible corporate decisions that actually make it harder to get work done.
Multiplicity
March 24, 2008
So I’m in the grocery store, checking out, and I’m buying meat babyfood for the cat (don’t ask). Rajah can cruise through five or six jars per day, so when I buy babyfood, I pretty much buy out the store.
The lady at the checkout counter glances into my cart and sees 4 cases of 12 jars. “Hey,” she asks the lady doing the bagging, “What’s 4 times 12?”
Bagging lady screws up her eyes, thinks a moment. “16.”
Moving sentiment
March 22, 2008
Ever wondered where this blog went? Me, too. My old hosting service had an uptime of somewhere around 85 percent. Then it started eating e-mails, and that was pretty much that.
It was time to move. [Read more]
Arthur C. Clarke
March 19, 2008
I won’t say the last of the greats is dead–that would do too many wonderful writers a disservice–but I’m going to come close.
As probably the whole civilized world knows by now, Sir Arthur C. Clarke has died in Sri Lanka. There goes the last of my favorite childhood authors.
Driving love
March 17, 2008
I would love it just for the name: Tesla.
Nikola Tesla is on my Top Ten Heroes of All Time list, and anyone who has the good taste to name a car after The Master gets my vote immediately. (For those of you who aren’t sure who Tesla was–eeeeek!–he was one of the most creative scientific geniuses of the 19th century, giving us AC power systems, modern motors, the backbone of virtually all wireless communications, etc., etc.)
Anyway. Assuming they keep their promises–which is NOT a given–Tesla Motors has designed the Tesla Roadster, the ultimate car for both gadget freaks and auto enthusiasts.