March 2010
23 posts
Stereolab - Ping Pong (Live at Tuxedo Junction,... →
Wow. For me, this is one of the most amazing Internet finds yet … a fantastic video from my first Stereolab concert! Thank you so much to the folks at The Sound of Indie for posting it.
That’s right, I was right there in the audience on September 21, 1994 for this amazing show. In fact, I swear I see my friend Doug several times in the video. Could that be me next to him? It...
35 Absolutely Essential Mac Apps →
It’s been a while since I’ve posted a good software list — this one takes a look at some of the best Mac applications for freelancers.
Lots of great productivity stuff in here, as well as utilities and writing tools.
[via @ScrivenerApp]
My Best Concert Experiences
I’ve been cataloging the concerts I’ve been to over the years lately, and figured I’d share some favorite performances. They’re not ranked, each one blew me away in its own special way…
Air, Madison Square Garden, 5/10/07
Belle and Sebastian, Battery Park, 7/4/06
Diane Birch, Skirball Center, 2/13/10
Djelimady Tounkara, Crowell Concert Hall, 11/17/02
Frank...
INCREDIBOX →
Wonderful and French, this beatboxing musical toy is a delight to discover, and gets even more enjoyable when you spend some time getting to know the interface.
Start in Shuffle mode to get an idea of what’s at your disposal, or dive right in!
[via VSL]
TrueCar →
While I’m not due for a new car until next year or the year after if all goes well, I’m starting to look around a bit.
One of the coolest online research tools I’ve found is TruCar, which takes actual sales data to help determine a good selling price for a car. While I wouldn’t use this as my exclusive source of information, it certainly does help keep me informed.
[via...
Fill Any PDF Form →
This new online service, still in beta, allows you to fill out PDF forms online without having to waste the time (and paper) to print it out, fill it in, scan it, and send it back.
Although they have several security measures, I’m not yet comfortable enough with the company to use it for forms that request information like social security numbers.
Nonetheless, it’s a decent solution...
Vast F.C.C. Plan Would Bring Net to More in U.S. →
The New York Times reports on the FCC’s 10-year plan to make high-speed Internet our country’s dominant communication network.
There’s plenty of blow-back on this, of course. Entrenched industries already have a lock on profits, and they’ll do anything they can to keep things just as they are.
Let’s see where this fight goes. You know what side I’m on.
[via...
Should e-Books Be Copy Protected? →
David Pogue, one of my favorite tech writers, talks about his experiment with releasing one of his e-books without copy protection.
The results didn’t surprise me, but I think a lot of people wouldn’t have expected it. There’s a deeper question, though, about the vital importance of having the ability to make a living by writing.
Looking at my consumption of music, whose...
Lunch Box →
Something about this Dan Kenneally art project really does it for me. It’s abstract, yet familiar. It’s abiliar! It’s fun, yet art. It’s, uh, never mind.
[via Josh Spear]
A Whole Lotta Nothing: My recommended kid games →
From the Just In Case file: Metafilter’s Matt Haughey recommends several cheap iPhone/iPod Touch games for kids of various ages.
[via Good Experience Games]
Why Ad Blocking is devastating to the sites you... →
I’ve generally been a fan of ad-blocking, but after reading this I’m going to have to re-examine my behavior. At the very least, I’m now showing ads when I’m on arstechnica.com.
It’s fine if a site chooses static display ads, but for every one of those there are dozens that serve popups, flashy junk, or loud audio as a part of their advertising.
That kind of stuff...
Delete Your Account →
It seems as though I sign up for one or two new online accounts each week, checking out various services to see if they’re worth the trouble.
Needless to say, only a fraction of these become keepers. Even though I use disposable email addresses to keep the spam level down, I don’t want to keep active accounts on a bunch of sites I don’t use.
Delete Your Account shows you how...
WatchBetty Boop and Grampy (1935)
For The Love Of Culture →
It’s been difficult for me to grasp what’s been going on with Google’s free online digital library, now that they’ve drafted a complex settlement with publishers.
I liked it a lot more when they simply insisted that what they were doing was fair use, so back off and let them do their thing (technically, they still assert this).
Instead we’re dealing with a new...
Dancing tot prevails over UMG in YouTube fair use... →
It seems like I share all too much bad news on the Copyright and Fair Use front, so it’s with great pleasure that I read of Stephanie Lenz’ victory over Universal Music Group.
My hope is that this will signal a trend toward less abuse of the DMCA, but I’m not holding my breath.
Sounds Good To Me →
If you’re an audiophile, you probably prefer downloading music that’s “lossless”, meaning no audio data has been dropped to reduce file sizes.
If you’re not, you probably use the ubiquitous MP3 format, which manages to to an excellent job at squashing audio files down to size, but is “lossy” — it removes data from the source.
Trusted Reviews tested...
