February 17, 2005
Open-Source Redesign
Wondering where I've been for the past two weeks? (Feel free to not answer that.) I haven't abandoned Snarkmarket; just the opposite, in fact -- I've been hard at work, in consultation with Robin, on a new design for the site.
We've tried to make a page that looks distinct, but respects its roots. We've been brainstorming ways to bring more attention to the ever-excellent discussion, so you'll see some experiments in that direction in the new design. We wanted to separate some of our longer, more thoughtful discursions from our quicker pass-alongs, so we've given those shorter items their own look.
And there isn't enough paisley on the Web.
But before we make the design official, we want to take some time with it, use it for a while and see what we like and don't like, and most of all, solicit your feedback on what works and what needs work in the new layout.
We have two very similar versions of the page available for testing. When you first see the page, it will look totally janky. Click on one of the two links at the bottom of the black sidebar at right -- either "change to ornate layout" or "change to simple layout" -- and it will pull in one of two stylesheets.
We would love it if people would try out each one for a few days and give us their thoughts. If you bookmark the redesigned page, it should store a cookie remembering which stylesheet you viewed last time, so you don't always have to pick one.
With your help, we'll solidify a final layout over the next couple weeks, change over the individual pages, and take over the world continue to dish out those actually-not-that-snarky ditherings we've been dishing for a year and change.
Thanks, sports fans.
This Is Going to Suck
Yeah. So. Robot army of the future:
Robots in battle, as envisioned by their builders, may look and move like humans or hummingbirds, tractors or tanks, cockroaches or crickets. With the development of nanotechnology they may become swarms of "smart dust." The Pentagon intends for robots to haul munitions, gather intelligence, search buildings or blow them up."The lawyers tell me there are no prohibitions against robots making life-or-death decisions," said Mr. Johnson, who leads robotics efforts at the Joint Forces Command research center in Suffolk, Va. "I have been asked what happens if the robot destroys a school bus rather than a tank parked nearby. We will not entrust a robot with that decision until we are confident they can make it."
Let me just say, for the record, that I am so not excited about "swarms of 'smart dust' " doing our bidding on the battlefield.
Robot soldiers in general, though: I'm actually torn. On one hand, fewer people in wars = good. On the other hand, robot soldiers. Also, it seems like it would be easy for government to carry on cruel wars of oppression with robot soldiers, you know?
No, C'mon, Tell Us What You Really Think of Iraq
Robin says,
Highlights from a WaPo.com chat with Newsweek's Rod Nordland. Dude is a snark kingpin.
Geo-Greens, Take Action
Robin says,
WorldChanging cites Tom Friedman:
... I would like to see every campus in America demand that its board of trustees disinvest from every U.S. auto company until they improve their mileage standards. ...
Paris Hilton voice: That's hot.
'Shivering and Laughing and Glowing in the Dark'
Robin says,
Warren Ellis, one of the most distinctly modern writers around (check out his comic book "Transmetropolitan" for a great taste) explains where his ideas come from. I will tease you with this:
... suddenly you understand what it would be like if Einstein’s brain was placed into the body of a young tyrannosaur, stuffed full of amphetamines and suffused with Sex Radiation.
From his blog, but originally posted to his reliably-weird Bad Signal e-mail list.
February 11, 2005
More Gabbing on Googlezon
Masha Geller called me up for an article about EPIC. Here's what she wrote.
Not to knock the article or anything -- well, okay, I am knocking it, but only in the nicest possible way -- but it demonstrates some flaws in the old gatekeeper model of journalism. If you were really interested in EPIC, this article would not be the place to learn about it. Instead, you'd go to Snarkmarket, or one of the dozens of other blogs that have deconstructed and critiqued the movie. Or jeez, you'd just e-mail me or Matt. I read Masha Geller's article and I'm not even sure what I'm talking about.
Nothing but love, though! Masha really wanted to write this article and played phone tag with me for a long time to do it, and I appreciate it.
Governing Without Google
Robin says,
Here's a fun anecdote and sharp observation from Neil McIntosh of The Guardian. Go read it, it's short and worth the click.
That's My Kind of Headline
Rebecca MacKinnon, who is approx. my hero, sums it all up:
North Korean nukes? What's up with that?
She points to the super-great North Korea zone blog. It's broad, it's deep, it's linked like crazy: I wish there was a site like this for every country. Or at least all the sketchy ones.
If you go to NKzone you'll find, among other things, this short run-down of the nuke thing by MacK. herself.
Also: North Korean propaganda posters!
February 9, 2005
Make a Movie Out of This Story Immediately, Please
So check this out:
Two Jordanians had a torrid online romance and, after several months, decided to get married. When they met F2F for the first time, they were shocked to discover that they were already husband and wife. According to an Agence France-Press article quoting the official Jordan News Agency, the two were separated from each other but had coincidentally met (again) and fallen in love (again) in a chat room while disguised by their screen names. The rekindled romance ended immediately after they discovered the truth.
AWESOME.
Also, slightly sad.
February 8, 2005
One More Beautiful Map
A more rational mind than mine would begin fearing the power of Google.
February 7, 2005
From: Robin <robin@snarkmarket.com>
Was just e-mailing a friend about last week's Poynter Web+10 conference, and I liked the way it came out, and am also too lazy to write something separate for Snarkmarket (though I should), so! I'm copying and pasting it here for your blog-reading edification.
Only the lightest editing applied. Here's what it's like to get a nerdy journalism-related e-mail from me:
Seriously, people at this conference -- and remember, these are the wired, forward-thinking, new-media people! -- were so confused. About everything. Someone would use a simple pronoun like "we" or "them" or "it" and it would be questions, questions, questions: "Who is WE? Who are THEY? What is IT?? What's going ON???"
February 6, 2005
Bollywood Berkeley
Janky picture courtesy of my LG VX6000 "camera" phone
So, in case the blur of over-exposed pixels above doesn't quite speak for itself: It's a bunch of Indian-American college students busting it out at Bollywood Berkeley, a Hindi film dance team competition (!) at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco last night.
The idea, loosely, is to replicate those dance scenes in Bollywood films. There's always:
- a guy
- a girl
- the guy's posse
- the girl's friends
- costume changes
- love
And these dance teams -- from Berkeley, Stanford, UCLA, UC Irvine, etc. -- inject a pretty strong dose of hip-hop, too. So it's total booty fusion.
And you should have seen this place. A thousand people in the sold-out hall, probably 95 percent Indian and Indian-American, from USC sorority girls in halter-tops to their grandmas in traditional salwar kameez. Families arrived in long lines, three generations strong, all eyes roving for a row of eight or ten seats to accomodate them.
When the show finally started, it was a weird overlay of cultures: college chants from the crowd ("U-S-C! U-S-C!" vs. "Let's go Staan-foord") and Indian jokes from the MCs ("So, we're getting started at 7 p.m. Indian Standard Time... 7:30.").
The guys' dances were a particular revelation: Somehow in Bollywood they've developed a language of motion that is totally masculine -- macho, even -- without being subdued. I mean, these guys were literally jumping all over the place, flailing their arms and kicking their legs, but there was nothing goofy or effeminate about it.
As for the girls, I will say just this: I am totally pro-midriff.
I really appreciated the sincerity of the show. There are plenty of opportunities to be cynical when you're emulating these cheesy movies. But while the teams made plenty of knowing winks at the form, their performances weren't satires. They were fun, sexy, accomplished celebrations of simple love: choreographed tales of woo.
For the record, Berkeley won, to the whoops and cheers of a thousand unironic Indian grandparents.
Lovely Poynter
Robin says,
Aww, look -- a bit of citizen journalism from Neil McIntosh of The Guardian. I used to stroll around that courtyard when I was procrastinating planning action steps.
He has a cool blog at completetosh.com.
Mirror, Mirror... Holy Crap, Where Did Those Bags Come From?
As you know, I love technology, but I'm also sometimes skeptical of its net utility, because it so often imposes burdens to match its benefits.
So I get really excited when I hear about technology that simply helps us experience something new. No device to carry around, no batteries to charge, no software to learn -- just a novel way of looking at the world.
Keyhole, the program that lets you zoom in on your neighborhood via satellite imagery, is one example. Here's another I just found:
Accenture Technology's lab in France is working on a mirror that reflects your future self.
In brief: Cameras watch you during the day and keep track of how much time you spend on the couch or in front of the fridge. Then, a computer uses the implicit lifestyle information to extrapolate your mirror image forward five years -- showing a fatter face, less hair, sallow cheeks, whatever.
Here's the rationale:
"Helping people visualise the long-term outcomes of their behaviour is an effective way to motivate change" [...]
The problem, of course, is that no one will ever buy the ugly-mirror.
But I could totally see this being a great science museum exhibit. You'd tap out answers to a quick lifestyle survey, then step into a private viewing chamber to see your future. It'd be creepy, and cool.
Link from we make money not art.
February 1, 2005
Live from St. Petersburg
Matt and I just laid down the future for a room full (seriously, full) of online journalists at Poynter. We presented a new version of EPIC, which I'll post online soon. (Well, soon-ish.)
Tom Brew of MSNBC, Ruth Gersh of the AP, and Neil McIntosh of The Guardian all presented critiques and contrary visions. Cool crew to be chatting with.
Jess Barron of Yahoo! is at this conference, and she's got some notes on her blog, Dangerous Candy. Jess also does pirate radio in San Francisco, to which I say: SWEET.
Okay, I guess I'd better pay attention now.
January 29, 2005
Bespoke Blog
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Coolest blog I have seen in a while: English Cut, written by Thomas Mahon, a bespoke tailor on Savile Row in London.
Reading this blog makes me happy. It's just so thoughtful and, well, un-digital.
January 28, 2005
Vancoolver Is More Like It! Um...
Participatory urban planning! WorldChanging's Alex Steffen writes:
Here's a small, great example of what makes Vancouver a model of good urban planning -- an "ideas competition" for building new public spaces, 21 Places for the 21st Century [...]
Check out the competition webpage -- it's extraordinarily fun and interesting.
Any public space ideas out there? This is not exactly what Vancouver's looking for, but I still really want a café with a collaborative playlist, so everybody who brings in a laptop can log on, upload tracks, and then vote on which ones get played. It'd be such a fun way to share music.
January 27, 2005
Amazoogle, Anyone?
So I heard that Amazon's A9 search engine had some new local yellow-pages function. Whatever. Big deal.
Then I actually tried the new local yellow-pages function.
Take a minute to explore that link, the result of a search for 'canvas cafe' in San Francisco. Note that there is:
- a picture of the establishment in question, and, indeed,
- pictures of every establishment on the street. And you can
- walk up and down the street using the buttons at the bottom.
You're looking at the coffee shop I visit when I want a pot of tea. And if you click "Slider" on the bottom of the page -- under "Other Businesses Along 9th Ave" -- you'll be looking at the burger joint I visit when I want a delicious bacon heartstopper.
That's nuts! I love it! The steady digitization of the physical world! And soon -- mark my words, soon -- we will be tapping into this database from our mobile phones.
They've only photographed ten metro areas so far. But still: pretty good start.
Either Google is a) freaking out that they didn't think of this first, or b) chortling with amusement, secure in the knowledge that world.google.com will soon make A9's effort look like a fourth-grade diorama.
But I'm betting on -- and rooting for -- the former.
P.S. I eat here, too! Waughhhhh!
Weirdness on the Internets
Matt says,
The Wikipedia Unusual Articles page is clearly the best thing ever. Look! It's your friend and mine, Jennifer 8. Lee! Project Mohole! OS Tan!
January 26, 2005
Why Noids Love the Internet
Because I periodically like to find myself a host of excellent stuff to read in my spare time, here's something you microscope junkies might enjoy. What follows are Web reprints of 18 of the 23 stories published in The Best American Science Writing 2004. Tell me if there are any good ones.
- Jennifer Kahn - Stripped for Parts
- John Updike - Mars is as Bright as Venus
- Oliver Morton - Strange Nuggets (well, not exactly, but close enough)
- Keay Davidson - Mapping of Cosmos Backs Big Bang Theory
- Neil DeGrasse Tyson - Gravity in Reverse
- Dennis Overbye - One Cosmic Question, Too Many Answers
- Sherwin B. Nuland - How to Grow Old
- Ian Parker - Reading Minds
- Tom Siegfried - The Science of Strategy
- Kaja Perina - Cracking the Harvard X-Files
- Tom Bissell - A Comet's Tale: On the Science of Apocalypse
- Elizabeth Royte - Transsexual Frogs
- Susan Milius - Leashing the Rattlesnake
- Michael Benson - What Galileo Saw
- Barbara J. Becker - Celestial Spectroscopy: Making Reality Fit the Myth
- Kevin Patterson - The Patient Predator
- Michael Pollan - Cruising on the Ark of Taste
- William Langewiesche - Columbia's Last Flight