Are You The Crapkeeper? I am the Fluidmaster!
So, the toilet acted up last night. Wouldn’t stop filling. The gizmo the shuts off the flow just wasn’t working.
Luckily, the fill valve is a Fluidmaster from Kohler. And Fluidmaster’s web site is chock-filled with helpful material for the fill valve owner. Troubleshooting tips, installation instructions, random toilet trivia, all illustrated.
It’s why we [...]
Reading PIctures
So, in preparing for my keynote on modelling human behavior observed in research, I’ve taken a detour into the world of Visual Languages.
It began by looking up Tufte’s Visual Explanations, and then trying to find texts related to it. Click through books under the subject “visual communication,” I came across Visual Language, a book [...]
Urban Tribes: A scathing book review
A potentially important sociological trend is developing — more and more people are deferring marriage until later and later in their lives. The period between “college” and a “new family” continues to grow wider. Likely the product of the social and civil reforms of the 60s and 70s, this large sector of single, college-educated, professionals [...]
Conference Keynote – Inspiration from Visual Models of User Research
I’ve been invited to give the keynote at the upcoming About, With and For Conference, October 17 and 18 at IIT’s Institute of Design in Chicago.
The conference invites folks from business, design (isn’t design part of business?), and social sciences to discuss methods for synthesizing user research. They’ve put together a top-notch list of speakers, [...]
Thinking About Broadband
I’m a little behind in my BusinessWeek reading, so I only recent read their September 8th commentary on “How To Get Broadband Up To Speed.” I suspect reading it requires a subscription, so I’ll excerpt the bit that bugs me:
The final piece of the puzzle is content. Relatively few U.S. consumers will buy broadband simply [...]
The Web – It’s Not Just For Snippets Any More
A common lament about the Web is that it favors briefer chunks of writing, that it doesn’t support the rigorous development of a thesis. That web readers just “scan” over articles, and don’t really engage with subject matter.
This is patently untrue. And it’s nice that I only have to point to one contradictory example [...]
Better than Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock’s SPELLBOUND is among his more disappointing efforts. A clunky romance played with a background of cheap psychobabble, it’s only entertainment being the admittedly hackneyed dream sequence crafted with Salvador Dali.
Happily, the memory of that film can now be replaced with the identically titled documentary, which follows 8 contestants as they make their [...]
Critical Theory Need Not Frighten
via Andrew comes a pointer to Landscapes of Capital, a website devoted to deconstructing recent media campaigns devoted to commerce and technology.
There seems to be an entire book’s worth of material here, all served up for free to you, the Web reader. I’ve spent nearly an hour pouring through it, and I’m not even close [...]
What If I Ditch the Olive?
My latest post to the Beast Blog is worth mentioning here:
The neighborhood playground:
I find it odd that the martini glass (with olive!) is the universal symbol for alcohol. Particularly because the folks at whom this sign is directed are likely drinking something that has it’s own identifiable silhouette.
Can I Have Your Attention
Steven Johnson’s latest post comes from a chapter of his forthcoming book on attention and focus. It’s a good read. Back in the day, I pursued research on attention and focus (Scroll down to April 24, 2001, then back up to April 26, 2001).
keep looking »Linkblog
- And the angel said unto him, stop hitting yourself!
March 4, 2010 | 8:34 amFunny.
- A new global visual language for the BBC’s digital services
February 22, 2010 | 2:24 pmTruly impressive work, and an impressive post detailing it!
- Talking Heads in Rome 1980
February 21, 2010 | 8:26 pmA series of 11 videos on YouTube of a 1980 concert. Sweet.
- Hot Pockets Ingredients
February 21, 2010 | 8:22 pmUm. An elegant poster of a disgustingly over-ingrediented “food”.
- The Birth of Cheap Communication (and Junk Mail)
February 21, 2010 | 12:07 pmFun, breezy take on the original “Victorian internet” – the British Postal System.
- Roger Ebert: The Essential Man
February 16, 2010 | 8:06 amHe might have no jaw, but Ebert has been as eloquent as ever of late (and quite the liberal activist!)
- Bing Maps Explore is pretty sweet
February 11, 2010 | 6:21 pmSadly, it requires Silverlight, but the functionality is fly. Check out the “Map Apps” (bottom of the screen). The Streetside Photos app draws geotagged photos from Flickr and applies them into the Street View. Pretty awesome.
- Ravens Coach Brian Billick Tackles Super Bowl XLIV : NPR
February 6, 2010 | 10:03 amAs we approach the Super Bowl, I found this interview about what a coach really does surprisingly informative.
- Henrietta Lacks: A Donor’s Immortal Legacy
February 6, 2010 | 10:02 amThis is utterly fascinating. Henrietta Lacks’ cervical cells are the world’s first immortal cells. I had never heard of HeLa cells before this interview with author Rebecca Skloot. Now I want to read the book.
- The Incredible San Fancisco Artists’ Soapbox Derby, 1975
February 4, 2010 | 8:00 am24 minute film about a truly delightful community endeavor. I don’t think SF has this kind of artist mojo any longer, but I’d love to see something like this Oakland, careening down Joaquin Miller Road.
- Paywalls, Blogs, Comments, Editing and Magazines: A Conversation with Paul Ford, Web Editor of Harper’s Magazine | The Awl
February 4, 2010 | 7:37 amIf you’ve followed ftrain for the past 10+ years, you already know that Paul Ford is among the smartest people on the internet. This conversation with The Awl about pay models for publishing and his experience at Harpers is a little precious at times, but worth a read.
- Interview with Bloom County creator Berkeley Breathed
February 2, 2010 | 8:12 amBloom County was among those key influences informing my sense of humor, including Monty Python, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and Edward Gorey. This interview looks back to its creation.
- Axe Cop
January 31, 2010 | 9:52 pmSo awesome. And funny. The best comic ever written by a 5-year-old and drawn by his 29-year-old brother. I wanna Avocado Soldier t-shirt.
- Lost Landscapes of San Francisco 3 and 4
January 31, 2010 | 7:28 pmRick Prelinger collects archival, industrial, and found footage of San Francisco, and presents them as clips in front of live audiences. Delightful look at the city’s past.
- Roger Ebert’s best films of the decade
January 31, 2010 | 7:23 pmI’m a little late on linking to this. Historically, I’ve found Ebert to be far too forgiving a critic (he just loves movies too much and gives poor ones a pass), so I was surprised at how close his list is to mine (if I bothered to make one). Synecdoche, Me And You and Everyone We Know, even Juno.
- Taking Directions from Slime Mold
January 25, 2010 | 7:54 pmIf my colleague Kate Rutter were to have a spirit organism, it would be slime mold. Slime mold are bizarre, neither plant nor animal nor fungi, and they’ve become the poster species for self-organizing systems. Anyway, they can also design subway systems. Scroll down to listen to the piece about them.
- Where has all the popcorn gone?
January 24, 2010 | 4:20 pmThe folks on Chowhound have the same question I did the last time I went to the supermarket. Popcorn could become the next artisanal fetish.
- S.F.s Market Street changes as city evolves
January 23, 2010 | 8:07 amCarl Nolte does it again with an exploration of Market Street’s multiple personalities. The stretch between 6th and 9th is among the most depressing urban blights in the US.
- Online Dating: The 4 Big Myths of Profile Pictures
January 21, 2010 | 8:13 pmOKCupid.com is a dating site. OkTrends is where the people behind the site reveal insights discovered through statistical analysis of site behavior. It’s awesome.
- How to be a superstar bartender
January 18, 2010 | 8:39 pmExcellent set of explicit instructions for the basics of mixing drinks (measuring, shaking, stirring, twists, etc.)
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