These two interviews appeared in the New York Times in October and August and I was impressed by both of them, especially the first one below:
Seinfeld is smart and insightful and professional. He knows comedy and stand-up well and he’s thought a lot about it.
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October 31, 2018 in culture, nytimes.com
Tagged comedians, comedy, humor, nytimes, nytimes.com, seinfeld
First off, what is it? It’s this, via the About section of the site:
Stratechery provides analysis of the strategy and business side of technology and media, and the impact of technology on society. Weekly Articles are free, while three Daily Updates a week are for subscribers only.
Recommended by The New York Times as “one of the most interesting sources of analysis on any subject”, Stratechery has subscribers from over 85 different countries, including executives in both technology and industries impacted by technology, venture capitalists and investors, and thousands of other people interested in understanding how and why the Internet is changing everything.
Everything I’ve read on it has been insightful and in depth, including this piece on IBM and the acquisition of Red Hat.
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Tagged business, IT, media, strategy, technology
From OpenShift Origin vs OpenStack – Red Hat OpenShift Blog:
OpenStack provides “Infrastructure-as-a-Service”, or “IaaS”….
The OpenShift hosted service provides “Platform-as-a-Service” or “PaaS”. It provides the necessary parts to quickly deploy and run a LAMP application:
Concisely:
I learned about Slow Radio here: I Listened To Slow Radio For A Week, And Here’s What Happened – HelloGiggles.
What is slow radio? According to that piece:
… it’s basically programming that moves at a very casual pace. It immerses you in sound to help you stay grounded in the present.
Is slow radio music, meditation, a catalog of sounds, or a podcast? The short answer: Yes. When you turn on slow radio, you won’t find any one thing in particular. One episode, you’ll get lost in ambient nature sounds. The next, you’ll hear slow-paced conversations about music. After that, you’ll take a trip through a soundscape on a bustling street in Japan.
Sound good? The BBC link to it is here.
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Companies keep trying to make smart eyewear happen. First Google. Then Snapchat. Now there’s another company making a go at it. IT Business magazine has details on North, the company trying to make it happen here.
I think these are a big improvement on Google Glass. Is it enough? I don’t believe so. I think greater miniaturization needs to occur, such that there is very little difference between the shape of “dumb” eyewear and the shape of “smart” eyewear.
Meanwhile, we are getting closer to that time when there is very little difference. Stay tuned.
Comments Off on North, or advances in smart glasses since Google Glass.
This is what the Internet is:
The internet is the wider network that allows computer networks around the world run by companies, governments, universities and other organisations to talk to one another. The result is a mass of cables, computers, data centres, routers, servers, repeaters, satellites and wifi towers that allows digital information to travel around the world.
The Internet is a network of networks. Much of what people believe the Internet is actually runs on top of it: the Web, social media, email, gopher, what have you.People often say “I liked the Internet when..”. They are talking about the platforms they use on the Internet. Things popular on the Internet now — hello Facebook! — will be a relic in the future. Technologies running on the Internet come and often go, but the Internet itself is relatively constant and changes slowly.
The quote highlighted above is from this article: What is the internet? 13 key questions answered | Technology | The Guardian. It’s a good introduction to the Internet at a basic level.
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Tagged Internet, IT, technology, theguardian
If you ever thought about living in a Tiny Home, here’s your chance to try them out before you buy one. Simply rent one of the ones listed here: Tiny House Rentals for Your Next Getaway (Apartment Therapy). There is a range of places and styles and prices for them.
I have thought of living in one myself, but wondered if I could manage. This could be one way to find out.
Photo courtesy HomeAway
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October 24, 2018 in design, new!
Tagged apartmenttherapy, decor, design, living, retirement, tinyhomes
According to blogTO, the tables are of a ….
…Design by ODAMI and MiiM (that) incorporates innovative tabletop cubbies with heavy, spill-proof lids designed to stow your phone at the beginning of the meal. Servers remove the lid at the end to remind you to return to your phone, and emerge from the period of serenity Sara offers diners.
Nice restaurant, great idea. For more on it, see: Sara – blogTO – Toronto
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October 24, 2018 in ideas, new!
Tagged blogTO, dining, ideas, restaurants, Toronto
I saw this in Best Buy the other day, Amazon Fire 7 8GB FireOS 7″ Tablet With MediaTek MT8127 Quad-Core Processor – Black : Android Tablets – Best Buy Canada, and after reading some reviews and other articles (see below), I decided to get one. The $59 price tag had a lot to do with this.
My first thought was to try to use it as much as I could out of the box without making modifications to it. I set it up according to instructions, which were simple. I think you really want to have an Amazon account/userid to do this. I did and so things went smoothly.
The Amazon Fire has a modified version of the Android OS, which means it’s like an Android tablet, but not exactly. Likewise, Amazon has an App store, which is a limited version of the Google Play App store. You can get a number of apps from the Amazon App store, but not everything you can get on the Google Play store.
I wanted this device mainly as a place to consume media. Good news is it runs Netflix, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Mail, Texture and a modified version of YouTube. I was especially interested in Texture, which allows me to read magazines like New Yorker, Bon Appetit, Wired and others. I have been trying to read them on my phone and the experience was poor. On the tablet, the experience was much better, and the resolution was good. Likewise, YouTube videos are better on the tablet than the phone.
Downsides? First the device is slow compared to my iPhone 6. You notice it with things like Twitter and Instagram. You don’t notice it for things like Texture because there is more reading time and less scrolling. It’s not terrible, but it is noticeable if you have a newer device. If you have an up to date phone or tablet, you will notice this.
Another downside is the limited number of apps, especially media apps. I could not get the New York Times, Guardian or CBC app for it. It comes with the Washington Post, not surprisingly.
The browser that comes with it is slow. You cannot download other browsers without hacking the device.
One upside is you can get quite a few apps working for it. I downloaded Remember the Milk (for todos), Simplenote (for notetaking), WordPress (for blogging), Dropbox and more. I mainly want to use it for media consumption, but those things make it better.
To summarize: for $59, I think it is a great device for media consumption and basic functionality. If that’s all you want, I think you’d be happy with it. I’m glad I got it. Some reviewers said it is better to get the Fire 8 or 10, but for the money, I think the Fire 7 is surprisingly good.
P.S.Originally I was going to hack it to make it more like an Android tablet, but for now I think I’ll leave it as it is. If you did want to hack it, here’s some links to articles along that line:
P.S.S. This is not sponsored content.
Comments Off on Some thoughts on my new Amazon Fire 7 8GB FireOS 7″ Tablet for $59 at Bestbuy.ca
October 23, 2018 in advice, IT
Tagged bestbuy, hardware, IT, tablet, technology
This says Pi 3 but it should work for pretty much any Raspberry Pi: How to set up and use a Raspberry Pi 3 with a Mac – Macworld UK. Also, it says Noobs 1.9, but just go with the latest and greatest.
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Tagged IT, Mac, noobs, raspberrypi
This is a really good list of apps that will make you life and your work more productive: 17 Great Apps That’ll Make Your Life Easier.
I’ve used a number of them and have found them helpful. You may not use them all, but even adding 2 or 3 to your toolbox will make you better.
Comments Off on It’s Monday. You need to do great things. Here’s some great tools to help you.
Tagged apps, focus, productivity, tools
You can find many places on the internet where you are encouraged to Follow Your Passion. One such place is here: Why Following Your Passions Is Good for You (and How to Get Started) – The New York Times
Love to cook? Love to write? If those are your passions, then the internet wants you to follow them.
But what if you don’t have specific passions. The NYTimes piece has an answer for that too:
No passions? Cultivate skills instead
While hobbies both enrich our lives and can turn into rewarding careers, those of us who don’t have a particular obsession aren’t hopelessly out of luck. Instead, cultivate skills that will give you a leg up in your field. We all carry a “toolbox” to work in the form of specific abilities that make us better at our jobs. Some experts say leveling up on some of these will improve your job satisfaction more than initial enthusiasm ever will.
It’s easier to improve yourself in an area you are passionate about. But taking pride in your skills and your qualities and working to hone them is worthwhile. If there’s not an area you feel a strong passion for, at least improve in the areas you can.
Passion is a strong word. So is pride. If you can follow your passion, follow your pride and be justly proud of the things you are good at.
Comments Off on The internet says: follow your passion. But what if you have no specific passion to follow?
I liked both of these articles:
Both men accomplished significant acts of creativity and generosity without having much resources. In both cases, the things they had in abundance were
They didn’t have a great amount of money or genius or things that people think you need to accomplish extraordinary things.
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Do what this article says: The New iPhones Look Fine. But My Old One Is Better Than Ever. – The New York Times
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October 13, 2018 in advice, IT
Tagged iphone, nytimes, phone, smartphone, technology
According to this article, you need to:
Lots of references in the piece, so read it and get busy and get happier.
Comments Off on Four things to do to be happier
Tagged advice, businessinsider, Happiness, lifehack
These sculptures by John Peralta are beautiful. Here’s one
You can see more here: Machinations: Historical Machines Exploded into Individual Components in Sculptures by John A. Peralta | Colossal
Comments Off on This is beautiful: sculptures of old machines exploded into separate parts
Tagged art, collosal, sculpture, technology
If you want an off white paint for your interiors, you can’t beat Cloud White from Benjamin Moore. However, if you do want to consider alternatives then these two articles agree that you want to look at either White Dove or Simply White, also by Benjamin Moore. These two pieces also go into detail as to when you want to use them (e.g. trim, kitchen cabinets). Before you start painting, check them out:
Comments Off on Alternatives to Cloud White: two other Benjamin Moore white paints to consider
Tagged benjaminmoore, decor, decorating, design, paint, painting, style
This piece shows you how: How to Make Epic Charcuterie Boards – from an Expert! – Kelly Elko
I’d argue some of these are platters more than charcuterie boards, but that aside, these really are impressive spreads of food.
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Tagged charcuterie, food, meals, parties, platters
One way is to read this: How to become a Git expert – freeCodeCamp.org. There’s a lot of good pages on how to get started on git, but if you are joining a software project, you may be expected to know more than the basics. You may be required to know the kind of things that piece talks about. Of course you can ask people on your team for help, but why not get as much skill as you can first and then ask better questions? There’s always something new to learn when it comes to git and software management: learn as much as you can by yourself and increase your skill set and your value to the team.
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October 10, 2018 in advice, IT, new!
Tagged advice, git, github, IT, skills, sourcecontrol, technology
This recipe is amazing: easiest french fries – smitten kitchen.
I have always been intimidated by the idea of making fries/frites at home. It turns out it could not be easier if you follow that recipe. It’s really a case of set it and more or less forget it.
Some notes:
Tagged food, frenchfood, frenchfries, fries, frites, smittenkitchen
Likely only for hardcore Beatle fans, this box set of the White Album promises to be the White Album on steroids. Rolling Stone has plenty of detail on it, via White Album Box Set: Exclusive Preview of Unheard Beatles Archives – Rolling Stone. It even has a description of one of my favorite odd pieces by McCartney:
12. “Can You Take Me Back?”
The snippet on Side Four that serves as an eerie transition into the abstract sound-collage chaos of “Revolution 9.” Paul toys with it for a couple of minutes, trying to flesh it out into a bit of country blues—“I ain’t happy here, my honey, are you happy here?”
Like “Her Majesty”, it’s a sketch of something, but inserted in such a way as to make the whole album something more original. It’s always haunted me.
Such a great infographic:
You can see a bigger version here: Histomap: Visualizing the 4,000 Year History of Global Power
Comments Off on One of the best views of the changing 4,000 year history of the world is this
Tagged history, infographic, information, worldhistory
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This is a really good study put out by IKEA: IKEA Feeling Of Home Study – Emotional Needs At Home | Apartment Therapy.
According to the summary piece in Apartment Therapy, what makes a place feel like home are:
It makes sense. Sadly, those are feelings that people may not have towards the place they live. People struggling to pay rent, or sharing with others, may not feel like they have privacy or ownership or security. People always moving lose that sense of belonging.
It’s a good thing to read, and a good thing to contemplate about your own living space. Here’s hoping you have all those feelings about where you live right now.
Comments Off on What makes a house a home? IKEA has the answer (no, it’s not a new Billy bookcase)
Tagged apartmenttherapy, decor, home, house, Ikea
Austin Kleon has a great piece here on the importance of maps, and not as a means of getting around: Finding your way with maps
I love maps too. Especially hand drawn maps. And ancient maps.
I worry that our phones may be ruining hand drawn maps. When I used to take my son to hockey, I would draw my own maps to get to various obscure rinks. Later, I found out about Waze and it was so superior I stopped drawing my own maps. It’s too bad: it would be fun for my son years from now to have those old maps (which I never kept).
This is a map too.
It’s not really about how to get around. It’s a map showing the relationship between things. In this case, the organizations and their computers that made up the Internet in 1969. It does something old maps do: they show us the two dimensions of space and the one dimension of time.
Read Kleon’s piece. You’ll want to go look at maps afterwards, and you’ll be glad.
I’ve had this saved from some time ago but I want to post it for two reasons: The Modern Meeting: Call In, Turn Off, Tune Out – The New York Times.
One reason is just as a placeholder for how work is now in this time period. I will be happy to go back in five or ten years from now and see how much has changed.
The second reason is that no matter what happens in five or ten years from now, people who work in offices will always struggle with meetings. There is no solution to effective meetings: there is only managing your time and how best to be effective in the time you are working and meeting. If you work with people, you will have meetings. Nowadays you have too many meetings and you need to manage them and your time as best as you can.
Once meetings were hard to schedule. There were no digital calendars, no videoconferencing. You had to call or talk to someone and arrange to meet them, they would write it down on a piece of paper, and then physically show up and have the meeting. You likely worked with a limited number of people. And even then, even though they were hard to set up, meetings were a pain. Meetings will always be a pain. If they weren’t occasionally useful, no one would ever have them.
But meetings are occasionally useful. Sometimes they are essential. As long as people work together, there will be meetings. If you are working on many different things with many different people, you will have many meetings. Try to be as effective as you can in them. For those holding the meeting, don’t expect so much of people: get what you can and then end the meeting.
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October 3, 2018 in nytimes.com, work
Tagged efficiency, meetings, nytimes, productivity, technology, work
Everything you need to know for sheet-pan cooking can be found here at this page: How to Make a Sheet-Pan Dinner – NYT Cooking
It’s a comprehensive review on how make any meal using a sheet-pan. If you are a fan of cooking that is easy like slow cookers then you want to check this out.
How to guides are great for people who like to come up with their own recipes. It’s also great if you are trying to use up various ingredients in your fridge.
The weather is getting cooler. It’s time to start using your oven again. This guide will help with this.
How so? Here is a list of one hundred books by great women authors on a wide range of topics, including graphic novels like Persepolis. Hay Festival of Literature and the Arts – #VOTE100BOOKS.
Regardless of the voting and which book gets the most, it is safe to say that everything listed is worth seeking out.
It’s unlikely even well read people haven’t read all these. If you find you want to read more women, you’re bound to find things on that list.
If you are a fan of Brutalism, you will want to visit this: Attack the blocks: brutalist treasures under threat – in pictures | Cities | The Guardian
You might want to even visit them, because for some of them, their days are numbered.
I imagine that in the next 50 years, the number of Brutalist buildings currently existing will be significantly reduced. That would be a shame. Brutalism gets knocked hard, and I can see why. But worse than Brutalist building are boring buildings from all different architectural styles. I’d like to see those go first. The world could use good Brutalism in their cities. Here’s hoping it doesn’t undergo severe decline.
Comments Off on The crumbling and outright destruction of “brutalist treasures”
October 1, 2018 in architecture, new!
Tagged architecture, Brutalism, buildings, ideas
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