chrishitchcock.com

The plain bagel - alone Left behind by its lonesome Like that...

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 09:55:00 -0400

The plain bagel - alone

Left behind by its lonesome

Like that rapture book

"I’m gonna write a letter to my true love I’m gonna sign my name Like a patient on a..."

Sun, 22 Aug 2010 14:41:56 -0400

“I’m gonna write a letter to my true love
I’m gonna sign my name
Like a patient on a table
I wanna walk again gonna move through the pain”

- — Arcade Fire, We Used To Wait.

If you haven’t picked up The Suburbs yet, you should.

The start-up from hell

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:03:39 -0400

The start-up from hell:

Working as a co-op in a tool & die factory through college exposed me to the world of machining. If I didn’t take that position (I almost didn’t since it didn’t sound exciting to 18 year-old me), I can’t imagine how I ever would have been exposed to that world. I’m glad I did. CNC machining involves a whole set of processes and constraints that I find interesting.

This story by Jacques Mattheij is both a cautionary tale of working at a start-up and a behind the scenes look at how a company built a low-priced CNC lathe in the late 1980s.

I enjoyed this quote from the end of the article:

… in spite of the idiotic situations the lesson that I took home from it (besides the obvious business ones, they helped me a lot in later years) was that no matter how tricky a technical problem there is always a solution, even if you’re working on the wrong platform in a crazily constrained environment

(via Hacker News)

Phew, I’m glad they cleared that up… (image from The...

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 11:23:45 -0400

Phew, I’m glad they cleared that up…

(image from The Daily Dish)

"What I’d like you to do is to reflect upon the sudden controversy over the construction of a..."

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 08:56:27 -0400

“What I’d like you to do is to reflect upon the sudden controversy over the construction of a mosque and community center near Ground Zero. Forget about the merits of the issue. Is it good for your agenda that this is suddenly the most controversial matter in America? Doesn’t it worry you when the public conversation shifts into culture war territory, where right-of-center politicians can garner votes and support without having to address the issues you ostensibly care about most”

- Conor Friedersdorf, in a piece directed at Republican Voters.

"Why do we do it? Why do millions of us sit in front of these screens hitting the refresh button on..."

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 11:18:15 -0400

“Why do we do it? Why do millions of us sit in front of these screens hitting the refresh button on news, tweets and status updates so we can inhale and regurgitate the latest news, quotes and updates on topics that have little or no connection to us? Why do we volunteer to spend our time in the same way as assembly-line journalists who are being jack-hammered into a state of frantic fatigue? What good does this leg-tapping, red-eyed web obession do for us?”

- Tweetage Wasteland

I saw him doing this while I was mowing the lawn, but he stopped...

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 16:01:16 -0400

I saw him doing this while I was mowing the lawn, but he stopped as soon as I pulled my phone out. It took about two minutes before he started biting at the butterfly again. I did a quick edit in iMovie on my iPhone to shorten this up.

This kanyewestnewyorkertweets meme makes me think of the old...

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 12:05:49 -0400

This kanyewestnewyorkertweets meme makes me think of the old Seinfeld episode “The Cartoon” where Elaine is stumped by a New Yorker cartoon and ends up getting to make her own.

PBR + NPR

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 10:00:17 -0400

PBR + NPR

"When we have concerts [at Third Man Records headquarters in Nashville], we don’t allow people..."

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:08:37 -0400

“When we have concerts [at Third Man Records headquarters in Nashville], we don’t allow people to film and take photos. That’s not about not letting people have a memento, that’s about: how sick are you of watching people in the crowd not looking at the stage? They’re watching a tiny little TV screen in their hand instead of watching what’s really going on in life.”

- Jack White in an interview with Spinner Canada

"But let’s be clear: KIN, in spite of a little branding to the contrary, is not a Windows..."

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 15:41:55 -0400

“But let’s be clear: KIN, in spite of a little branding to the contrary, is not a Windows phone. The operating system driving it is totally irrelevant. KIN isn’t a development platform that third parties can write applications for—it’s a gadget, not a computer. Whether it be Java or .NET or flippin’ COBOL under the covers makes not a jot of difference. Delaying a product’s entry into a fast-moving, cut-throat market to make a platform change with zero user-visible impact is asinine.”

- Peter Bright, Post mortem: KIN’s tragic demise (and the fading of Danger)

"…and all these woes shall serve for sweet discourses in our time to come."

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 14:52:00 -0400

“…and all these woes shall serve for sweet discourses in our time to come.”

- Romeo, the Shakespeare character, not Master P’s kid.

Hulu Plus

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 16:24:06 -0400

Hulu Plus:

Erin and I enjoy watching an episode or two of Law & Order: SVU when we need to veg out. We’ve been using Netflix Instant Streaming on the XBox to work our way through Season 1. On Sunday, I noticed that the early seasons of SVU were no longer available for instant streaming.

Now I see that if you pay for Hulu Plus you get all nine seasons of SVU available for streaming. I guess this is why Netflix doesn’t have them available anymore.

Vuvuzela Time: Browse any website as if you are at the 2010 World Cup

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 12:57:05 -0400

Vuvuzela Time: Browse any website as if you are at the 2010 World Cup:

You can add some vuvuzela-flaire to any website you want, like this one.

I like saying the word vuvuzela.

Colorado Mountains in the Morning: Before our trip out to...

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 12:20:00 -0400

Colorado Mountains in the Morning:

Before our trip out to Crested Butte, I saw a link on Daring Fireball to an iPhone camera app called Plastic Bullet (iTunes). This was the first of the varied iPhone camera apps I’ve messed around with.

I took this shot while I was on an early morning run. I thought the effect in this photo turned out pretty cool.

Eminem: 'Not Afraid' To Make Amends

Thu, 27 May 2010 11:09:03 -0400

Eminem: 'Not Afraid' To Make Amends:

I must be getting pretty lame these days — I’m learning about new Eminem singles from NPR. On Eminem’s new single Not Afraid, he drops the following verse:

“Let’s be honest / That last Relapse CD was ‘ehh’ / Perhaps I ran those accents into the ground.”

Yes, yes you did run those accents into the ground. It wasn’t cool. I’m glad you realized this.

Two Cities: How to Close a Failing School

Wed, 26 May 2010 11:00:23 -0400

Two Cities: How to Close a Failing School:

Erin’s school was discussed on Michigan Public Radio as part of their “Two Cities” report on what can be learned from New Orleans when it comes to rebuilding the Detroit schools.

I thought it was a fair piece on the school’s troubles and how it fits into the larger issue of education in Detroit. I know Erin would have rather had a radio report done about the good things in her school, but we both know that won’t be happening anytime soon.

The special moves for getting over large obstacles is pretty...

Wed, 26 May 2010 10:50:01 -0400

The special moves for getting over large obstacles is pretty cool. It is less creepy looking when compared to the Big Dog robot that made the rounds last year.

(via Gruber)

I wish that Google Reader had a way to make a note on an item without causing the item (and your...

Wed, 19 May 2010 12:17:00 -0400

I wish that Google Reader had a way to make a note on an item without causing the item (and your note) to be shared.

For example, I wanted to make a note on a post by Seth Godin and how it related to a previous post, but I don’t have the time to think out the realtionship fully. It would be cool if I could have jotted a few notes “in the margin” and come back to it later.

The Clientele covering M.I.A’s Paper Planes as part of the...

Tue, 11 May 2010 15:04:57 -0400

The Clientele covering M.I.A’s Paper Planes as part of the AVClub Undercover series.