In case you're wondering what I'm thinking...

Love this print ad campaign from Expedia. (via Creative Review -...

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 10:35:39 -0400

Love this print ad campaign from Expedia. (via Creative Review - Wishing you ‘Flamingo Voinjma Flugplatz’)

The lead singer from Train is suggesting I check out the...

Sat, 18 May 2013 22:47:47 -0400

The lead singer from Train is suggesting I check out the “Dads Who Rock” channel on Pandora. Mind you, this started with a “Reach out of the Darkness” station.

I believe in love. (via Animated Cartoon Of Drunk Woman’s...

Fri, 03 May 2013 16:51:45 -0400

I believe in love.

(via Animated Cartoon Of Drunk Woman’s Tortilla Chip Joke | Happy Place)

It’s now criss-cross apple sauce.

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 01:17:00 -0400

It’s now criss-cross apple sauce.

annfriedman: “I have to say, 14 years later, it’s still a...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 02:58:14 -0400

annfriedman:

“I have to say, 14 years later, it’s still a pretty useful list of phony-baloney vocabulary that editors are well-advised to excise from stories.”

A Moment From the Boston Marathon, Audio and Stories

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 00:47:33 -0400

A Moment From the Boston Marathon, Audio and Stories:

Powerful stories with an equally powerful way to tell them.

One week ago the first of two bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Here are the stories of the runners, spectators and others seen in this image.

"It takes him long time, but eventually Simon is able to explain. A computer is a magical box that..."

Sat, 02 Feb 2013 17:17:05 -0500

“

It takes him long time, but eventually Simon is able to explain. A computer is a magical box that provides endless pleasure for free. Simon is used to constant access to this box—a never-ending flow of pleasures. When the box stops working—or even just briefly slows down—he becomes so enraged that he curses our God, the one who gave us life and brought us forth from Egypt. “

It’s Time Warner,” he tells me. “They’re the fucking worst.”

He bangs his fist against his desk.

“How am I supposed to get work done without Internet?”

I glance at his computer machine. I am still learning about modern technologies. But I am pretty sure from looking at it that Simon has not been doing “work.” There are three boxes open on screen. In first, there is sports scores. In second, there is pornographies. In third, there is Simon’s own name, typed into thing called Google.

”

- Simon Rich’s Sell Out, part one of four. : The New Yorker

We’re used to seeing the effects of social media in...

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 23:48:00 -0500

We’re used to seeing the effects of social media in political uprisings, protests … causes. But it’s a totally different thing to get such a mundane look into people’s lives.

This is the one that really struck me. Could be an elevator selfie in some hip NYC hotel.

(via Surreal Instagrams From Israel Defense Forces Soldiers)

(h/t @natabene1)

What Is It Like To Be Black in America?

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 18:32:24 -0500

What Is It Like To Be Black in America?:

Really, really like the Quora/Slate partnership, and this is a particularly compelling one.

"If Matt Damon & Co. really wanted to make a movie that would scare American audiences off of..."

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 23:17:06 -0500

“If Matt Damon & Co. really wanted to make a movie that would scare American audiences off of fracking for good, they should have just made a movie dramatizing fracking’s potential threat to America’s beer. Instead, what we get is a quaint love story wrapped in a conspiracy movie, draped in a toothless political polemic, festooned with mawkish aimlessness.”

- Our movie critic Asawin Suebsaeng reviews Matt Damon and Gus Van Sant’s new anti-fracking film Promised Land. (via motherjones)
Haven’t seen the movie yet, but when I was up in Cooperstown, NY two years ago, at the brewers at the Ommegang brewery made the same point.

Shazam, you really undervalue yourself.

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 23:06:53 -0500

Shazam emails could be so much mire useful. So many missed opportunities:

- PLAYLIST: Put these all in a spottily or rdio playlist. You can keep the iTunes function, but give me something that actually lets me listen to the music. I remember some of my older Shazam emails did this, allowing me to open a playlist in iTunes, but

- ALBUM INFORMATION: Half the time I Shazam a song, I’m trying to answer the question, “What movie or TV show was this in?” Good musicians write songs that are part of a greater whole. A film’s music supervisor picks a song for how it fits in with the rest of the score. Tell what what album(s) this song’s on.

- RECOMMENDATIONS: It seems to be the case that music discovery is tough to do right. But I’m happy with something as simple as a “Similar Artists” functionality. That’s one of the main ways I find new music on Spotify.

- BAND INFORMATION: Be a resource about the artist. Again, I love when Spotify has a bio about the artist. Scrape AllMusic or something for a bit of information. Make your emails a resource. You already know I’m curious about this artist and song, so feed that curiosity. It’ll be easier to get money from me if you do.

Also, c’mon. Put some design resources into these things.

See, I tag when watching movies and TV (here: Moonrise Kingdom and Parenthood), and when trying to remember the names of the one-hit wonders from high school.

Answering my own question: Yes, it is.

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 14:34:36 -0500

Well, actually @michelledozois answered it. Andy Newman, writer of the post.

"The temperature will hover in the mid-30s – just cold enough for the snow to safely stick, but no..."

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 14:19:43 -0500

“

The temperature will hover in the mid-30s – just cold enough for the snow to safely stick, but no colder. The breeze will be sufficient to make cheeks rosy, but will not slash at the skin or penetrate down the necks of parkas.

For the better part of the day, the snow will continue – gently, never blinding. By the time it ceases for good shortly before midnight, two to four inches will have fallen – just enough, perhaps, to permit sledding.

”

- This is the Times saying they’re in on the joke, right? Right?

Metro - City Room Blog - NYTimes.com

This Year's It Toy Wasn't a Toy. It's the Device.

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 02:47:33 -0500

The Friday before Christmas, a friend was commenting about how there didn’t seem to be an It toy this season. No Tickle-Me Elmo or whatever.

And then, on Christmas Day, my mom was commenting about how my 7-year-old cousin, who can be a bit of a, let’s say, pistol, was so well-behaved.

Easy: “It’s because she had that new iPod Touch in her hand the whole day.”

Made sense. This year’s toy isn’t a toy. It’s the device. That’s why this graph doesn’t surprise me in the least. In fact, I thought it’d be higher.

What has been astounding to me is the way kids are catching onto tech. I sound like I’m 70 years old, but for real. A toddler with an iPhone is more than just a great party trick. It’s truly fascinating — and exciting — to see what these kids are capable of with so much at their fingertips.

The first thing my cousin said when she showed me her new iPod was “It isn’t a phone, but there’s an app for making calls!”

The she asked if I could put my number in her phone. I didn’t even think she was paying attention, but moments later, she was back in the Utilities box opening the Contacts app, getting all the family member’s numbers. She’s been iMessaging and FaceTiming us since. I sent her a text with emoji’s in it, and she immediately wanted to send funny pictures, too (duh). Her only question was “How do you spell it?” (fair) and then she had the app and was copying-and-pasting, no questions asked.

But I think what really floored me about this all was how she translates traditional letter-writing conventions — the ones she’s probably learning in her second grade classroom — into her messaging habits. She sometimes sends one-liners, but when we haven’t talked for a day or so, she writes a text that simulates a real letter: a proper greeting (“Hi Erin,” or “Dear Erin,”), a short body (I went to the zoo today with a friend. It was fun! I miss you!), and then a center-aligned, two-line sign-off. She takes the time to space her closing like you would with a real letter.

Maybe it’s just me, but I just get such a kick out of that.

It’s going to be interesting to watch with conventions survive the end of penmanship.

datainsightsideas:

(via Christmas Day 2012 saw a record 17.4m Android and iOS device activations, 2.5x more than in 2011 - The Next Web)

(via khuyi)

This is clever. I’ll bite. And it’s fun to guess...

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 01:59:33 -0500

This is clever. I’ll bite.

And it’s fun to guess which company they’re going to direct to.

"It’s like eHarmony, but with a person’s baggage visible from the start."

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 12:25:52 -0500

“It’s like eHarmony, but with a person’s baggage visible from the start.”

- Give it up.

Bored at the airport bar? Dating site helps connect interested travelers | Fox News

"“The crowd was pretty pumped up for the Orlando game on Sunday,” said McMillin, who blogs and works..."

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 22:57:28 -0500

“

“The crowd was pretty pumped up for the Orlando game on Sunday,” said McMillin, who blogs and works as a baby sitter. “After the Nets won the game, everyone stood out on Flatbush Avenue chanting, ‘Brooook-lyn, Brooook-lyn,’ over and over. I like to see people doing silly things. In Brooklyn, people are so serious all the time.”

Smart woman. In the borough of churches and brownstones just three months, and already she’s got the place cased.

”

- Sometimes, I just can’t handle the New York Times.

Searching for Nets Bars Near Barclays Center - NYTimes.com

"In other words, almost one in every five tweets generates more retweets than clicks. This suggests..."

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 14:24:36 -0500

“In other words, almost one in every five tweets generates more retweets than clicks. This suggests many people pass on a link without looking at it, and perhaps even worse, vetting it.”

- Retweeting Without Reading? Yeah, It’s Happening– and It Affects Journalism Strategy on Twitter - 10,000 Words

Why isn’t can’t I click that breaking news for the...

Fri, 09 Nov 2012 15:16:54 -0500

Why isn’t can’t I click that breaking news for the story, CNN?

“To give you an idea about how bad this could be, some of the...

Wed, 31 Oct 2012 12:00:30 -0400

“To give you an idea about how bad this could be, some of the oldest pumps in the NYCTA system were bought second-hand from the builders of the Panama Canal. I worked for the TA many years ago and even then the pumps were considered a serious problem. The Panama Canal was finished in 1914.” (via The Hurricane Sandy Story So Far (Updating with Latest Videos and Images Live…) | Latest Sandy Images and Videos (Updating Live))