The keyboard of the future?
By Bridget O'Donnell, written on May. 15, 2008
Is it even possible to type anything with this laser keyboard? I, for one, am a fan of the real thing.
(Image from The Guardian).
The free music phenomenom
By Bridget O'Donnell, written on May. 5, 2008
No, no, I’m not talking about this free music phenomenom. I’m referring to a rather recent (and sort of ironic) trend in which the artists themselves are putting up their songs for free on the Internet. Read the rest of this entry »
SkyMall: Flying the funky skies
By Allie, written on May. 2, 2008
Everyone who flies knows SkyMall, the cheesy catalog that contains 50% James-Bond-esque gadgets and 50% BS that Harriet Carter would refuse to carry. Bored senseless on my way back to my father’s house, I decided to find you the best, the worst and the weirdest that the current edition of Skymall offers.
The end of the Internet?
By Bridget O'Donnell, written on Apr. 28, 2008
Apparently, it’s entirely possible for the Internet to run out of bandwidth. And it’s supposed to happen in just two years.
Who knew?
A conference I’d like to attend
By Bridget O'Donnell, written on Apr. 25, 2008
What could be better than a group of intellectuals discussing the merits of LOLcats?
The Guardian Tech Blog reports that ROFLcon, a two day event at MIT beginning today, features a “panel of experts” who will speak about memes and, quite possibly, what could become the next LOLcat.
For those of you who can’t fly over to Cambridge, Mass. this weekend, the Guardian will be liveblogging the conference. The folks over at ROFLcon have also set up a Twitter feed with instant updates, as well as a Live Webcast.
SPOILER ALERT FOR A SHOW YOU WOULD HATE
By Allie, written on Apr. 22, 2008
If you said, “Golly, that must be MTV’S ‘The Paper,’” then you’re right!
The basic premise of this show is to follow the drama going on behind the scenes of the newspaper, “The Circuit,” (get your laughs in now) at a massive Florida high school. The first episode last week featured a catty battle for editor in chief, won by the eccentric, slightly creepy Luna Lovegood character Amanda.
There’s sexual tension between barely-legals! There’s a heated career battle between people without resumes! The teacher is unprofessional! How will they all cope??
Naturally, this became a Daily Stupid-Show Favorite pretty quickly. Thirteen members of Sports, Design and a token Photo staffer came together last night to evaluate the second show together. Below is my play by play of the intense action. (Times taken from Dan Feldman’s VCR clock.) Read the rest of this entry »
I thought I knew my fonts…
By Allie, written on Apr. 21, 2008
Until I tried the type game from the blog Say It Ain’t Slow. Compliments of former Managing Arts Editor Andrew Klein, my self-esteem has been lowered and my time consumed by this game which challenges you to identify common fonts. Helvetica and Arial and Verdana I can tell apart just fine. And there are a bunch of easy ones like Playbill or Trajan that are easily tucked away. Then there’s Yanone’s Kaffeesatz. What the heck does it look like? I googled it. (But after the game was over. I have my ethics.)
My bruised pride won’t let me admit my score (bad) but I challenge readers to kick my butt.
Okay, I scored a 22.
Easter Eggs of sorts
By Allie, written on Apr. 13, 2008
It all started with my Twitter-based confession that the kid on the Mac Preview icon kinda scares me. What is he so creepily cheerful about anyway? I pity him really. When most kids grow up, they just have to worry that their parents will show their girlfriends the baby album. This poor kid is an unwilling child star in the same ranks as those whose photos come already in the picture frames.
Little did I know that the Mac Dock-icon weirdness hardly stops there. A friend started sending me other screenshots. The TextEdit icon has a strange letter from Johnny Appleseed:
Dear Kate,
Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them, disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things.
Take Care,
Johnny Appleseed
I just admire that he was able to write calligraphy with what appears to be a mechanical pencil.
Finally, there’s the classic icon for networks using Windows:
Yep. My ol’ PC-standard friend, The Blue Screen of Death.
(Thanks to Kevin for his help!)
Your drinking money at work
By Allie, written on Apr. 10, 2008
While the Circuit would never condone underage drinking, we do condone using corporate funding to make really nerdy machines!
Absolut (recently in the news for their controversial ad) has decided to fund a Stockholm-based project to allow internet users to create music… with robots. AbsolutMachines features a quartet of strange, musical robots that respond to internet user-provided input. You (a legally drinking adult) enter a queue of users to write 8-seconds worth of music on a digital keyboard. After that, live video feeds from Stockholm show the machines performing your song and expanding on it creatively. Different camera angles are available, and you can email yourself your video.
Yes, I was confused, too. But I am also intrigued and exceptionally amused. If I had to choose a use for all the drinking money that college students shell out, musical Swedish robots are pretty high on the list.
Exploit your family, entertain your friends
By Allie, written on Apr. 10, 2008
The above headline may be scathing but the possibilities are indeed endless. I remember writing down a detailed step-by-step process for my mother for how to attach a file to an email. And bless my mother, but she never did really get it down without that instruction sheet.
It seems that everyone under 30 has a story about teaching their uncle how to eject a DVD or helping their father choose his screensaver.
Now there is a blog that banks on the hilarity of those generally competent adults who are computer-illiterate. Postcards from Yo Mama, however ironically poorly designed, has truly LOL-inducing emails from anonymous obsolete relatives. The content is funny, the grammar is hilarious, and the numerous confessions of technophobia are slightly sad. I recommend giving it a try.
And, if you’re one of my relatives, give me a call if you need help using the link.