A Whole Lotta Nothing

links for 2007-01-31

• Traffic stop garners 445 lbs. of marijuana
  You gotta admit, the Honda Ridgeline *is* a roomy truck.
  (tags: wtf cars comedy drugs)

Interviewapolooza

Anyone that follows this blog probably knows me and my projects pretty well, but you'll probably learn something new and/or get a kick out of something I've said in recent interviews. I was on the BoingBoing podcast a couple weeks ago, with the last 20 minutes or so devoted to talking about how I run MetaFilter. Bren from Slackermanager caught up with me for his new Yamhill.tv project, a video interview site/podcast devoted to residents of the small county in Oregon where I live.

links for 2007-01-30

• The Monoliths: Adaptive Path's Interior Design
  if I ever have a space large enough for a monolith, I'll use some like these instead of normal whiteboards on a wall
  (tags: architecture furniture design)

links for 2007-01-29

• The Effect of Typeface on the Perception of Email
  You knew it all along but It's finally official: Comic Sans sucks for email
  (tags: fonts email SCIENCE!)

links for 2007-01-28

• Your dashboard on idproxy.net
  Nice OpenID creator that can interface with any other OpenID app.
  (tags: yahoo api openID)
• Yellow “Star Wars” Text Crawl Tutorial!
  The best starwars nerd app ever
  (tags: starwars mac video)

links for 2007-01-27

• CorrectMe-001-2.mp3 (audio/mpeg Object)
  The SFGate starts podcasting their angry phonecalls for humorous effect. Of course, you can only do this a few times before people start calling just to get on the podcast by acting crazy.
  (tags: batshitinsane mp3 podcasts comedy grammar)
• My basement Mac collection - a photoset on Flickr
  Good god, what an amazing/crazy mac collection (and display).
  (tags: apple home design)
• Scott Andrew's Mildly Interesting Second Life Adventure
  "Beware: direct marketers will find you, even at the bottom of the sea."
  (tags: secondlife comedy blogs)

The Nike iPod System

This week I'm running again after a nearly two year hiatus. What finally motivated me to get off the couch and start running was the Nike+ system. I've written my own exercise tracking apps in the past and it required that I manually enter details about each run, then I would write my own visualization apps. After I saw how the Nike iPod thing records and uploads your data with no intervention needed and then spits out nice graphs with goals and group activities, I knew I had to try it. When Nike finally came out with some stability shoes for fat guys like me (the Air Equalon, which I can't link to in their Flash interface), I pulled the trigger and got the whole setup.

I took my first jog today and it worked great. I like that you can run for a set time, a set distance, or to burn a set number of calories. I also like that your iPod tells you when you're half done and counts down the minutes as you get close to your goal. I noticed the system reminded me at the same intervals I would have checked my watch myself, so it works really well.

The kicker on the whole Nike+ thing was something I've never seen online before: Hatphones. It's a flexible beanie with embedded headphones and a pocket for a iPod nano complete with a nano wheel cut-out. It's perfect for winter here in Oregon and I don't have to have wires running down my shirts. I must admit it's a bit weird to push on your head when you want to change songs, but otherwise it's a clever little package.

I'll post an update in a few months after I've used this a while to track my running progress. My hope is to get back up to running 15-20 miles a week and doing 5k and 10k runs for fun. If anyone knows of a nike+ widget I could run on my site to show miles/runs, leave a link in the comments -- one of the best motivations to exercise or lose weight is good old public shaming.

links for 2007-01-26

• Gen Kanai weblog: the cost of monoculture
  South Korea's reliance on MSIE and Windows sounds really backwards for such a tech savvy place
  (tags: southkorea ie windows wtf)
• YouTube - David Bowie Extras
  Just the Bowie bits from last week's episode of Extras, including the brilliant song.
  (tags: music hbo extras comedy youtube)

links for 2007-01-25

• Old west Mythbusters | Ask MetaFilter
  ohmygodohmygodohmygod, Adam Savage asking for Mythbusters show ideas on Ask MeFi
  (tags: omg bestofaskmefi mythbusters)
• The Beholder - Affordable Emerging Art
  To check out next time in SF
  (tags: art SF shopping wishlist)

links for 2007-01-24

• Waxy.org: Daily Log: Pirating the 2007 Oscars
  Andy follows up on his previous oscar screener posts and their availability in the underground.
  (tags: piracy movies oscars p2p)
• Grocist - Your Grocery List Since 2006
  I wish my refridgerator did this.
  (tags: shopping cooking hacks food)

links for 2007-01-23

• Furdlog » Ninth Circuit Slaps Down Kahle
  Crud.
  (tags: copyfight copyright)
• Kottke Komments - Everything you love about Kottke.org, but with comments!
  Get your komments on
  (tags: benbrown kottke blogs)
• YouTube - "Where the Hell is Matt?" Lecture Part 1 of 3
  The traveling Matt giving the backstory on his videos (view his other videos to see part 2 and 3). Also, a metafilter mention!
  (tags: wherethehellismatt youtube video)
• Riverfold Software - Wii Transfer
  I'll have to try this out.
  (tags: wii mac)

links for 2007-01-20

• Answers.org | Find Answers to Your ColdFusion Questions
  Sweet, a CF q and a site
  (tags: coldfusion q&a)
• ..:Things My Boyfriend Says:..
  While E was playing Civilization 4 I decided to go to the store. He asked if I would bring him back something, I said no, and he said: "And I was just going to name this city I conquered after you. I guess I'll have to call it Bitchburg."
  (tags: blogs comedy)
• Help me find evidence concerning the deadliness of splinters | Ask MetaFilter
  Adam Savage on the recent Mythbusters test of cannonballs vs. splinters (I agree with their result and the justification).
  (tags: mythbusters tv askmefi)

links for 2007-01-19

• Do you see what happens when you meet a stranger in the Alps - Google Search
  My favorite Lebwoski line was never written by the Cohen brothers, but by censors.
  (tags: lebowski tv)
• :::...Lebowski Fest...:::
  Lebowski Fest finally comes to the Pacific Northwest, but it's during SXSW. :(
  (tags: seattle lebowski)

links for 2007-01-16

• YouTube - "THERE ARE KLINGONS IN THE WHITE HOUSE!" REP. DAVID WU
  This is my representative. I've actually met this guy before. Kooky.
  (tags: startrek politics comedy)
• Specialized road lineup continues to build momentum for 2007
  All about the new Specialized bikes and their crazy aerodynamic hubs and other parts.
  (tags: cycling design)
• Le Grand Content
  Just the best little joke video ever
  (tags: comedy video stats design)

Pile O' Tips

I've been meaning to write up each and every one of these tips for weeks now, but I'll never get around to fully fleshing them out so instead here's a bunch of things I've learned over the past few months that might help you as well:

• When picking people up curbside at the airport, tell your friends/family to meet you in departures, not arrivals. Especially on weekends and holidays, the arrivals area at most major airports will back up ridiculously as people hog the lanes and wait for people. A couple days before Christmas, we landed and I went out to fetch the car and pick up the rest of the family, but had to wait in a 15min long line to pick them up. The departures area was dead. I used this tip on Saturday and it worked great, as there were no lines and no waiting.


• Last year I finally started joining frequent flier programs and when I noticed I was renting cars often, I decided to go with Hertz, and I went beyond the normal program and paid $50/year for the Gold membership. It's the best money I ever spent. Now when I arrive at a destination, I just walk over to hertz, note my name and parking location on a big lighted board and walk up to my awaiting car and drive off. It literally saves 30-40 minutes of lines, waiting, and more lines every time I use it. For someone that rents cars often, it's totally worth the $4 and change per month.


• When you travel with a baby, it helps to have an extra room in your hotel so you can have some separation of space and your child won't see you and want to be picked up at 3am. It's not always feasible to get a hotel suite, but I've found a real bargain in Embassy Suites. It's pretty much an average Holiday Inn style room, but it's about 15ft longer, giving you a living room area in front of the bedroom complete with desks and sofas. We put the baby's crib in there, and could put her to bed early and still read, talk, or watch TV in the other room while she slept. Plus, we could let her wake up slowly in her own room. Bonus points for this hotel giving a free breakfast buffet for two with every room. The price isn't much higher than a typical business travel hotel and works wonders for a traveling family.


• If you give presentations, please drop everything and read Beyond Bullet Points. It is written by someone that worked at Microsoft but hates the standard Powerpoint defaults. He teaches you basic story structure from theater and has a great system for creating dramatic presentations. I read this book and used the lessons to give a talk last year and it was my best talk ever. I got loads of compliments from the audience and I felt really confident and prepared going in (reading them online without any context leaves a lot to be desired but you can probably get the gist of it).

links for 2007-01-11

• Sixfoot6 Archives: 30 Things the iPhone Could Do That You Haven't Thought of Yet
  I haven't thought of half of these
  (tags: iphone apple ideas)

Apple is the new NASA

When I was a kid, the future was filled with optimism. The year 2000 was 10-20 years away and it was this magical goal we were working towards. I was obsessed with astronauts, especially those in NASA that got to ride in the space shuttle. While I never made it to spacecamp, I envied the kids that did.

Then the shuttle blew up, the year 2000 passed without flying cars, and 9/11 sparked another world war. Leaders talked about the past, not the future. Optimism was dead.

I never stopped looking for that optimistic future. It's something every tech nerd craves and I think that's why we got into the technology field to start with: to make the world better. Anyway, today I realized why I transformed from longtime skeptic of Apple computer to total fanboy in the past three years.

Apple creates technology that makes things better. Portable music, wireless networking, laptops, photos on your digital camera, video on your camcorder, movies on your TV, and now the dreaded cellphone. These are all things that have been a hassle for some time.

I don't know a single person that likes the phone they have. Everyone feels like a victim of both their phone plan and their phone hardware. Cellphones seem to be one of those things that barely works given all the drawbacks. The iPhone isn't just a new gadget. It looks like something that will transform the way we think about cellphones.

Today I realized the feeling of optimism that I held dear when I was a kid -- that everything was going to work out and be better for everyone when I got older -- isn't captured by the folks at NASA anymore. It's the people at Apple that provide that.

links for 2007-01-06

• A Kinda Patton Christmas - a photoset on Flickr
  Every joke from the Feelin' Kinda Patton album, embodied in a xmas dinner
  (tags: pattonoswalt flickr comedy fudgiethewhale)
• Flickr: themaccast's photos tagged with 2007
  iLife and iWork 07 are already listed on Amazon. Guess that's one thing coming out of macworld next week...
  (tags: macworld amazon)

links for 2007-01-05

• Merlin's Phone Guy archive
  Everyone that's lived in LA, SF, or NYC has known this guy.
  (tags: merlinmann comedy youtube)
• Gamestop.com - Buy Wii Play with Remote - Wii
  I hope they sell this without the extra controller, but I'll buy it anyway just for more wii sports games
  (tags: wii nintendo wishlist)

Heifer International

I've long been a fan of Heifer International and suggested it to others as a charity, but I never read the small print. Philip Greenspun and Michael Stillwell did and both noticed their marketing is fairly misleading -- you're not really buying a water buffalo or a cow, but simply contributing to a general fund that someday may result in animals getting to families. It's not entirely dishonest but it sure feels like something different than what their site describes when you give money.

links for 2007-01-01

• How-to: Convert Videos to PS3 Full HD 1080p - Part1
  huh, I had no idea the ps3 could play video off iPods via USB
  (tags: ps3 video)