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photoshop album unlockApril 30, 2006
georgia10: things aren't going swimmingly in new orleans
this from Daily Kos last week:
Allow me to interrupt this frenzy about gas prices and this furor over immigration, if only for a moment, to remind America that New Orleans is still drowning.The water that drowned New Orleans was pumped out long ago, but the city still suffocates, it still gasps for breath. It's struggling to save itself, yet this time, the world isn't watching.
Posted by tshey at 11:44 AM
colbert at white house press correspondents dinner
Posted by tshey at 11:15 AM
unforgiving, apr 28-may 6, nyc
Posted by tshey at 09:10 AM
Pirate Baby's Cabana Battle Street Fight 2006
Wow! Related to this post a little while back, Paul Robertson's side scrolling masterpiece is now up online. The blurry YouTube flash video doesn't do it justice, so grab a full-quality version from one of the mirrors: details and mpgs here. (thanks, kenyatta)
Posted by tshey at 12:44 AM
April 29, 2006
New Scientist: Next iSight Will Be In the Screen Itself
EnGadget points to this
incredibly cool tip from New Scientist Invention columnist Barry Fox about an Apple patent that would revolutionize video conferencing:
We could soon see a new kind of display screen from computer maker Apple – one that simultaneously takes pictures while showing images. The clever idea is to insert thousands of microscopic image sensors in-between the liquid crystal display cells in the screen. Each sensor captures its own small image, but software stitches these together to create a single, larger picture.Just think, real eye-contact while video-conferencing on iChat! For that alone, this is an exciting find. (Image courtesy of Apple)
Posted by tshey at 09:14 PM
April 28, 2006
the big move
This is an experiment in two ways; one, in eight years I’ve rarely written about anything personal on the site, and two, I’ll be curious whom I hear from after this, as we haven’t told most people yet the news below, and I have no idea who reads the site.
Anyway, the news is that, after what’s been an excruciatingly long courtship with the Big Apple, Rae and I are finally taking the plunge and moving there next month. We even had a little side flirtation with Los Angeles for a while, but the end result was never really in question; we had to give in to true love.
So, real quick, some answers to your questions:
1. mid-May
2. Chelsea, not far from Eyebeam, actually
3. renting, of course
4. no, but we’re not worried about it, and
5. probably not any time soon
What am I most looking forward to? The only answer that counts is seeing a lot more of my lovely wife. The last few months, I’ve been spending more time in trains, planes, and hotel lobbies than in our living room, and I never want to do that again unless Rae’s coming with me. I don’t know how people do it; I’m barely functional whenever I’m away. After that, the list is pretty simple. Being able to hop on a train or cross-town bus and see immediate family – for fourteen years, it’s always been at least a four-hour trip. New places – an endless supply of new places – to eat. Not spending the equivalent of a full day each week on Amtrak. Cheaper, easier flights to Texas, California, and points beyond. And when it gets hot, the occasional weekend out on the water at my folks’. We’ll sadly be leaving a lot of dear friends and family* here in D.C. (although really, they’ve probably had enough of me) and this city’s been really good to us – it’s where we met, and where we’ve lived together, through good and not as good times, for a long time now. But New York’s been a second home to us – the first place we ever went together, the place where we ran off to get engaged, and later married, and the place where it seems we’re going to find whatever it is that we’re meant to do next.
I’d say stop by and see us once we move, but just want to warn you now, the place is kind of small. Maybe you should come by D.C. one last time instead, where our place is, we’re starting to realize, huge, and surrounded by quiet tree-lined streets and the city’s best view. Though at this point, our place is pretty full of boxes, too, so maybe we’ll just see you up there.
*D.C. peeps – I’ll be posting here some places and times we’re guaranteed to be stationed, ideally with pitchers of margaritas and beer, in coming weeks – we’d love if you’d like to come by for a bit and help send us off.
Posted by tshey at 12:43 PM
April 26, 2006
ze show
Speaking of videoblogs, our friend Ze Frank has been putting out the show for over a month now, and it's getting really good -- really tightly written and edited, interactive, and funny as hell. Be sure to watch several episodes to fully appreciate Sports Racers, Power Moves, and the unique fan culture already springing up around the show.
Posted by tshey at 11:01 AM
April 25, 2006
now all we need's a better name for it.
It's been a pretty big media week for Rocketboom, and vlogs in general, with major features in the latest Wired (article online May 1), Rolling Stone, and Sunday Times on the newsstands. It's tempting to think that Rocketboom probably easily broke 1.5 million viewers this week, and compare it to Rolling Stone's current 1.5 million circulation, but that's really not a fair comparison, especially when comparing Rocketboom to The New Yorker is way more fun (note the Seymour Hersh story spike last week, linked from BoingBoing and elsewhere). RS999's a big deal, and hopefully will turn on a lot of people to trying to broadcast themselves.
Meanwhile, CNN (and a number of email groups I'm on, from business networking groups to the Yahoo videoblogging forum) started wondering if we have an online video bubble. If so, I'm on my fourth or fifth bubble by now, and everyone seems to be OK, so maybe there's not so much to be worried about.
Anyway, as a little shey.net extra, here's a complete non-exclusive: Amanda's original and unedited list of her favorite vlogs, as originally submitted for this Wired sidebar article. Google for the links... I can't do everything for you.
Amanda's Favorite Vlogs
ASK A NINJA You ask, the ninja answers. Can a Ninja catch a cold? "A better question," he points out, "would be, 'Can a cold catch a Ninja?'" The answer, of course, is no.
THE SINGING WOODCHUCK VARIETY MINUTE Adam Quirk has a show on his videoblog, Bullemhead, about a talking Woodchuck. It's not like those talking babies in commercials. This is funny. REALLY funny, in a kinda weird, out there way. Cross still photos of a couple of woodchucks with computer voices saying seemingly random but I'm sure carefully calculated things such as, "Ok, I'll bail her out right after I finish this sandwich I got from Grizzlebee's. It has bacon sausage bacon bacon fat bacon sausage cheese biscuits three kinds of gravy and biscuits and cheese, plus bacon" and you've got yourself a hit.
THE RICHARD SHOW This is a vlog about a silly guy named Richard, his lovely wife, Maureen (who he jokingly refers to as "Richard's Wife"), and their life in the Ozarks. They have the ultimate love story! Not a Hollywood love story, but true love.
VLOG SOUP Steve Garfield, also a Rocketboom correspondent, brings you on a weekly tour of the vlogosphere. Watching Steve's show is the most efficient way for me to keep up with new videoblogs. Plus, Steve's unwavering enthusiasm and good-natured playfulness always make him a joy to watch. His 80 year old mom, Millie, is interested in internet culture too. She has a blog-vlog hybrid called Thoroughly Modern Millie… I'd say!
TIKIBARTV Each episode you learn how to make a cocktail while kicking it with Dr. Tiki, Johnny Johnny and Lala. Slapstick humor at its finest.
MINNESOTA STORIES Rocketboom correspondent, funnyman and super all around nice guy, Chuck Olsen, produces a daily videoblog out of Minneapolis. Some days Chuck creates the videos himself, often with his charming girlfriend, Lori, and other days he plays videos he receives from people all over the state of Minnesota. Each video tells a different slice-of-life, "Minnesota story". One day you could be watching an interview with a local band, the next you could be learning all about broom hockey, and the following you could be watching a grown man climb a tree. I have a personal preference for the videos starring Chuck himself. Especially the Vlog Santa series. It's exciting for me to watch Chuck pioneer the local videoblogging effort. It will be neat to see when every city has a dedicated videoblog telling its stories.
IT'S JERRY TIME! This is a strangely entertaining animation vlog created by two brothers, Jerry and Orrin Zucker. It follows the mundane life of Jerry, including such events as an hostile encounter with a barmaid and a nasty landlord situation. The visuals are very unusual… but the stories are perhaps so funny because of how familiar they seem to be. Jerry's got "the everyman" shtick down pat.
HOMESTAR RUNNER Not really a videoblog, but one of the longest standing animation shows on the web. Consistently sidesplitting. Another set of brothers, Matt and Mike Chapman, works on this show out of Atlanta . I love Strong Sad!
THE SUPER SECRET DANCE SOCIETY or SSDS Shhhhhhh! It's a secret… I really can't talk about it other than to say…. pink spandex is back!
ONE AMERICA COMMITTEE Ok, I'm biased because I helped set this up, but this is the official videoblog of Senator John Edwards. People can send him their video questions and he will respond via video! I love that Senator Edwards has the cajones to really grab new media by the horns. The guy has a blog, podcast AND a videoblog!
Posted by tshey at 07:50 PM
April 16, 2006
Fast Food Nation
... is soon to be a movie, directed by Richard Linklater? Completely missed this one... had everybody heard of this?
Posted by tshey at 10:45 AM
April 14, 2006
Celebrity
Friendship is useless.
Plus, I do an impression of her. There was this weird compulsion: "She needs to know that I do an impression of her, she should know that." I kept feeling the illogical urge to have her know that and then remembering she should never care. The thing is with anyone in the public eye, you know them and they don't know you and that's it, end of story. Never try to reverse that in a one second encounter it will always suck for all involved. It's yet another instinct to learn to smother as an advanced human being. Yep, I'm an advanced human being. I'm Level 3.
Then I had a dream I met Wendy Williams. It was the type dream where I was running through a building not sure where I was going and wound up in her studio where she had just finished her show. I saw the window by her and I was freaking out that it was the window.
God, this blog has never sucked more. I'm telling you a dream. I promised myself it would never get like this.
Sometimes, my friends, it's a choice between content and quality. Today, content won.
Posted by tshey at 06:22 PM
April 13, 2006
spell with flickr
How cool is this? (Thanks to sweetney)
Posted by tshey at 07:52 PM
April 09, 2006
Hersh: Bush plans for Iran attack include nuke option
Xeni Jardin: In the New Yorker today, a 7,000-word jaw-dropper by investigative reporter Seymour Hersh on Bush's "messianic" plans to to take on Iran. Snip:The Bush Administration, while publicly advocating diplomacy in order to stop Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon, has increased clandestine activities inside Iran and intensified planning for a possible major air attack(... )"The Iran Plans." (thanks Jed)The lack of reliable intelligence leaves military planners, given the goal of totally destroying the sites, little choice but to consider the use of tactical nuclear weapons. “Every other option, in the view of the nuclear weaponeers, would leave a gap,” the former senior intelligence official said. “ ‘Decisive’ is the key word of the Air Force’s planning. It’s a tough decision. But we made it in Japan.”
He went on, “Nuclear planners go through extensive training and learn the technical details of damage and fallout—we’re talking about mushroom clouds, radiation, mass casualties, and contamination over years. This is not an underground nuclear test, where all you see is the earth raised a little bit. These politicians don’t have a clue, and whenever anybody tries to get it out”—remove the nuclear option—“they’re shouted down.”
Posted by tshey at 05:19 PM
speaking of warren ellis
Just enjoyed reading his response to Bruce Sterling's assertion that Ellis is "becoming a public intellectual" in Sterling's amazing SXSW closing address (MP3 link).
Posted by tshey at 02:02 PM
we're trashin' it
Greenpeace UK has published a report linking McDonald's to illegal rainforest destruction and other criminal activity in the Amazon. According to the report, McDonald's chickens are obtained from a Cargill-owned company and fed on soya Cargill obtains from Amazon rainforest farmers "linked to the use of slave labour, illegal land grabbing, and massive deforestation."
via WarrenEllis.
Posted by tshey at 02:04 AM