Diapers

Me: Why is there a diaper on the desk?

Kat: Miles was throwing diapers at me.

Following a writer

Is there a (nice) way to follow a writer's work as it gets published across various news sources?

I ask because I was listening to a Fora.TV broadcast of an interview with Fred Kaufman (mostly about his new book, "A Short History of the American Stomach" - mp3)...and, in short, I found him to be an interesting and witty personality, and I would be interested in reading more of his work.

His bio states that he "has written about American food culture and other subjects for Harper's
Magazine, the New Yorker, Gourmet, Gastronomica, and the New York Times
Magazine, among others."

I'd love to be able to create some sort of feed that alerts me to a new Fred Kaufman article...regardless of where it was published...but i'm not sure how I could do that. My best guess as to how I could do that currently would be to:

• Create a feed based on some search criteria...probably the writer's name. I could create a google news alert, but this would probably flood the feed with news about a book or other engagements, other people with the same name...lots of junk. Seems too broad.
• Subscribe to updates from every news sources (for instance, the New Yorker, Gourmet, The NYTimes Magazine...etc) where the writer may be published. Again, I'd get a lot of things I may not be interested in...and probably even miss outlets that I'm not familiar with.
• Get lucky that the writer i'd like to follow has a blog (like Malcolm Gladwell). If he/she doesn't...alas.

I guess what i'd love would be some sort of "authored by" tag (or some such) that I can aggregate (especially since most outlets are now embracing a "mostly online, mostly accessible" model). It probably already exists (microformats?)...but not in a manner I am immediately aware of.

Good Podcasts (3/24/08 - 3/28/08)

As i've been exploring the new commute, i've had more time to listen to more podcasts!

• The Long Now Foundation hosted Craig Venter discussing "Joining 3.5 Billion Years of Microbial Invention" - [mp3] - "'Ten million genes are the design components of the future,' Venter concluded."
• A nice overview of spimes (Bruce Sterling's concept of an object that can track itself through and interact with the world), from IT Conversation and David Orban, Roberto Ostinelli, founders of OpenSpime. [mp3]
• David Glazer, engineering director at Google, gives a nice overview and roadmap of the OpenSocial platform...from ReadWriteTalk. [mp3]
  
• StarShipSofa presents a reading of Ted Chiang's "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" [mp3] (via BoingBoing). The text of the (great) story is also online.
  
  

[Mix] Hefty Records - Flossed Out

A great mix...over a year old...that I only now got around to listening to:

"Recalibrate your ears... You’ll never hear the Hefty catalog quite the same. We asked one of our favorite DJs, edIT from Los Angeles, to create a mash-up mix blending instrumentals from the Hefty catalog with familiar hip hop cuts. It’s Mike Jones vs. Savath & Savalas, Missy Eliot vs. John Hughes, E-40 vs. Eliot Lipp, T-Pain vs. Telefon Tel Aviv, Busta Rhymes vs. Some Water and Sun, etc. You get the idea, now download it FREE"

The embeddable player doesn't seem to be working, so listen to the mix here: hefty records | odeo

Miles Goes To The Aquarium

On Monday, mom and grandma took Miles to the New England Aquarium. Word is, he had a great time (but was displeased by the T)...photos by grandma:

Clamstreaming

...eww.

So, in a silly fit of dorky investigation, I decided to take the plunge into "lifestreaming." It's actually not so much a plunge as a theoretically logical way to collect all of my "internet presences" into one handy-dandy feed. I say theoretically because, in practice, it seems kind of...strange. Unnecessary, maybe.

I chose FriendFeed, which I guess is the hyped hipster twitter-of-2008 (even though it seems to have its issues and detractors, such as tunneling comments onto FriendFeed instead of the originating app).

That all said, if anyone wants to follow my posts to clampants.com, my delicious bookmarks, my flickr posts, my GoodReads updates, my shared google reader items, my tumblr updates, my tweets, and my upcoming activity (Netflix was down at the time I set my account up)...you can do so all at this single feed.

Roast Beef League 2008

After a frightfully disappointing 2007 fantasy baseball experience (finishing third after losing in the playoffs due to a statistical tie), i'm back again for more grinding humiliation...this time in a 12-team, full player universe, head-to-head league.

"How did the draft go?" you're probably asking yourself...well, here's how Invisible Ham fared:

• Round 1 - Jose Reyes
• 2 - Brandon Phillips (really? Is that because "who?" rhymes with "round 2?")
• 3 - Victor Martinez
• 4 - Justin Verlander (Arg..."staff ace")
• 5 - Nick Markakis (Arg...outfield ace)
• 6 - Tim Lincecum (because Francisco Lllllliriannnno was snatched up...and hurt all last year...Lincecum was a great mid-season pickup last year, but I feel like he's a rough 6th-round pick this season)
• 7 - Adrian Gonzalez (I think I googled his name in the news during the draft and found some teen-marriage drama story)
• 8 - Alex Gordon (I feel happy about this. Grady Sizemore is too old.)
• 9 - Jason Bay
• 10 - Delmon Young

With 13 rounds remaining, I signed off (because, as with all online drafts, it was soooooo sloooow) and left the Yahoo-mind do the picking for me...so this is actually sort of news to me:

• Round 11 - Yovani Gallardo (I think he's on the DL)
• 12 - Manny Corpas (Awesome, my first closer is on the Rockies)
• 13 - Matt Capps (He's got hot-fries, right?)
• 14 - Josh Fields (I honestly don't know who he is...White Sox? Crooning adult-contemporary balladeer?)
• 15 - Adam Wainwright (I did some research, and I guess he's the Cardinal's ace...which maybe says more about the Cardinals than it does for my luck.)
• 16 - Eric Gagne (Wow. Possibly the worst pick ever. He's already chomping at the waiver-wire bit to be dropped.)
• 17 - Tom Gorzelanny (no idea, but with a name like that, he's got to be a five-tool breakout season waiting to happen)
• 18 - Jeff Kent (Albert Belle was NA, Otis Nixon was stolen a round prior)
• 19 - Evan Longoria (Even though he'll probably start in the minors, this I am pleased about this. Is he dating Tom Brady?)
• 20 - Jay Bruce (Comedian? So a baseball player walks into the late rounds..."Ouch!")
• 21 - Jason Giambi (Is Eric Gagne available?)
• 22 - J.R. Towles (The finest linen provider in the Metro-Akron Area)
• 23 - Jason Bartlett (If I recall, I eagerly picked him up two years ago as a "savvy sleeper pick" and he turned into a ".240 hitter" who spent much of the season "hurt.")
  

Good Podcasts (3/17/08 - 3/21/08)

• Big Ideas broadcasts Paul Davies' "Cosmic Jackpot" lecture (mp3) - "Could the universe have been other than what it is? For some cosmologists the universe appears a little too geared for life. From the humble carbon atom to the speed of light, everything is tailor made to bring us life as we know it. So, is cosmic bio friendliness just good luck? Or is there someone or something pulling the levers?" A brief discussion of his book, "Cosmic Jackpot: Why Our Universe Is Just Right For Life" as well as the concepts of string and multiverse theories.
• Sudhir Venkatesh reads passages from and answers questions about his book, "Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Crosses The Line" (mp3). You may have read mention of Venkatesh in Freakanomics, but from the sounds of it, "Gang Leader for a Day" sounds like riveting must-read.
  

My Heart Rocks

Thanks to Eric and Alissa, who have allowed me the great privilege of posting some sonic enjoyment to their Sonic Heart (rss). Word.

Movies I Suggest While Having Very Little To Say: Simon Schama's Power of Art

Ok, not so much a movie as a TV-show, but powerful and perfect nonetheless...Simon Schama navigates through eight pivotal lightning strikes of artists and events that would, not to put too fine a point on it, change the world.



Full of epic, almost cataclysmic, pronouncements, Schama's hushed narration borders on overblown, overbearing hyperbole...but whereas if you were to read such sweeping sentiments on the human condition on a gallery wall you might roll your eyes, here, in the context of each artist's life and times, it seems perfectly fitting. So much so that anything less would do a grave disservice to the "rush of life" these men tore out of themselves.

I'm also drawn to this series by the similarities between it and David Attenbourough's "Life On Earth." Both Attenbourough and Schama view their subjects with an urgent, almost spiritual passion...for Attenbourough's Earth, you blink and it is gone...for Schama's human achievements, you blink and you are gone. Both are beautiful, and must be watched.

Good Podcasts (3/10/08 - 3/14/08)

• Gerry Gaffney (UXpod) spoke to Patrick Larvie, Google's Manager of User Experience Research (mp3)
• StarShipSofa dedicated the week to posting readings of the five short stories nominated for British Science Fiction Association's top short story of 2007. The first story was Chaz Brenchley's "Terminal" (mp3)
• Astronmycast discusses the size of the universe (mp3). Did you know we can only see 4% of 1/10,000th of the entire universe? That's either a lot, or very little, depending on your perspective. Also check out their related podcasts, the center of the universe and the shape of the universe.

Molecular

Next week, I will be starting an exciting new job with the experience design team at Molecular.



I am really excited about this move (and not just because I suspect people actually may read this) because it feels like a good, challenging step for me. I will be moving away from what I have been focusing on these past few years (visual design) and shifting to more of a focus on the underlying structures that define sites and applications.

Also, perhaps interestingly, i've been thinking recently that a shift towards experience design may actually tap into my journalism degree (in perhaps a round-about, stretch of a metaphor kind of way). The crux of any experience should rely on human stories; motivating factors, situations, problems, and solutions...which could be thought of as the "five w's." Anyways...I digress...

It was a tough decision to leave my current position, but I am very excited to get started and to get thinking and to get learning.

That kind of reads like a cover letter.

Thank you for your time.

Put Your Lovin' Hand Out

Baby

Cleaning up my work computer, I found four HAWT TRAX I had meant to get into heavy rotation on the ole iPod:

• Hercules & Love Affair - Blind (Hercules Club Mix) (via The ill-ec-tro-nic)
  
• Joanna Newsom - The Book of Right On (Pocketknife's Scowling Owl Remix) (via Analog Giant)
• Schneider TM - The Light 3000 (via The ill-ec-tro-nic)
• Timebox - Beggin' (via Mark Ronson's something-or-another...listen at Imeem)
  

Good Podcasts (3/3/08 - 3/7/08)

• To The Best Of Our Knowledge explores "Consciousness" (mp3) - Including a great roundtable discussion with the likes of Daniel Dennett, Marvin Minsky, and Roger Penrose.
• ABC Radio National's "Big Ideas" show broadcasts a lecture by Tim Harford...an economist who discusses "The Logic of Life" (mp3) - "His raw material comprises the everyday - from relationships and marriage to crime and overpaid bosses. In his reckoning it all makes sense in an economic sort of way."  Sort of like the underlying genius behind Freakonomics (the most visible output of this "new form" of economics).
• Astronomycast discusses the shape of the universe (mp3).  Did you know that there is a generally agreed-upon geometry for the universe?  I didn't.
  

Simple Prosperity or "Punching Lions"

I'm not big on "self-improvement," "personal growth," or "productivity/prosperity" books (since I am pretty much perfect, handsome, and wealthy as-is)...but David Wann's "Simple Prosperity: Finding Real Wealth In A Sustainable Lifestyle" seems like a great read.

The Simple Dollar has a really good write-up of the important points including things that I am beginning/struggling to adhere to  like "buy fewer, higher-quality items," "time as a measure of prosperity," "social capital," happiness and enjoyment. 

I have requested this book from my local library.

Kat remains skeptical:

Kat: "buy quality things that you don't have to fight to use"
Kat: i can't think of anything i fight to use
Kat: punching my pants in the morning
Kat: drop-kicking my purse
Tim: Lions

Clipping the Cord

(warning:  fascinating tales of suburbanality ahead!)

Kat and I have completely overhauled our grocery shopping regimen:  we are now 80% Trader Joe's (with a 20% augmentation of Whole Foods, farmer's market produce, and organic vegetable delivery).  This is a marked departure from our longstanding prior routine...which involved, in short, being a slave to coupons and some bizarre idea of "savings."  Why the change?

• I've learned got better things to do with my time than clip coupons and play some weird game with huge food mega-corporations and huge chain supermarkets all to save a basically arbitrary percentage.  I've reclaimed my Sunday mornings.
  
• It feels good to cancel our Sunday Boston Globe subscription (which we got for the above coupons)...we save money and it feels good to not have someone drive to our house to throw a newspaper at us.  The carbon footprint and all that.
• The lure of crappy Michael Pollan-warned-about "middle of the supermarket" super-processed "all-in-one beef-brisket with honey-dijon chicken heads and gravy" makes me feel icky.  Now, I have no misconceptions about Trader Joe's food being a panacea for my and the world's ills...but it just feels easier and better (and more natural, more organic-if-possible).
• Miles always gets balloons at Trader Joe's (and we get free shots of coffee)

RE: Tracking our little heres for the long now

Over at the Long Now blog, Stephanie Gerson writes:  "Artist collaborative plan b makes location-specific works and performances exploring the dynamics of narrative and time."  She goes on to explain "They visualize GPS data by translating time-stamped coordinates into lines, and creating time-lapse animations superimposed on maps of their location...Their animation for Berlin...reveals dense straight cords and right angles, representing routes driven daily, and light meandering squiggles, representing walks with their toddler who stops to examine each flower, dog, etc. If Dan and Sophia continued gathering data, they would see the squiggly lines became straighter and darker as their daughter grew up."

This got me thinking about the importance of these squiggly lines...how I want to encourage Miles (and myself) to always travel with "light meandering squiggles."

Good Podcasts (2/25/08 - 2/29/08)

• Valdis Krebs discusses his analysis of social networking sites on Jon Udell's Interviews with Innovators (mp3) - "He doubts that Facebook and LinkedIn will survive in their current form, because they require us to connect within artificial environments. But he sees them as stepping stones to a world in which technology and sociology align more closely."
• To The Best Of Our Knowledge explores "The Frontiers of Physics" (mp3) - I could listen to Paul Davies discuss his thoughts on the anthropic principle all day.
  
• Relatedly...the latest episode of In Our Time covers "The Multiverse" (mp3)
• ...and relatedly still, the latest episode of Astronomycast looks into the questions "Where is the center of the Universe" (mp3)
• Harry Harrison's Nebula-nominated short story, "By The Falls" (mp3) on Star Ship Sofa...a pretty great 20-minute read.