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]