Author Archive
Saturday, February 20th, 2010
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-02-20
Why underdogs risk more in competition: http://bit.ly/98Eum4 # "[GDP] measures everything . . . except that which makes life worthwhile." -R.F.K. # Getting ready for South Africa: "A World Cup is the sort of common project that otherwise barely exists in modern societies." # I think I'm going to read Patti Smith's "Just Kids" and [...]
No Comments » - Posted in General by Ricky
Thursday, February 18th, 2010
Why do drugstores and gas stations appear in clusters?
Marketplace covered the acquisition of Duane Reade by Walgreens and suggested that drugstores in New York are on nearly every corner because consumers seek convenience. That’s true, but to really understand why they are all over, you need to understand a little game theory. Presh over at Mind Your Decisions has a very simple explanation [...]
No Comments » - Posted in General by Ricky
Thursday, February 18th, 2010
Listen to the new K’s Choice single “Come Live the Life”
One of my favorite albums, which I discovered by chance at FNAC ten years ago, is Almost Happy by K’s Choice. The brother and sister duo broke up and is now back together, releasing their first album since. It’s called Echo Mountain and its first single is called “Come Life the Life.” I heard the [...]
No Comments » - Posted in General,Music by Ricky
Saturday, February 13th, 2010
Why should underdogs take big risks?
For the answer, see Jack Hirshleifer’s article, “The Paradox of Power.”
No Comments » - Posted in Baseball,General by Ricky
Saturday, February 13th, 2010
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-02-13
Of course, pubs stagger release dates. If you want the cheaper, more portable edition, you gotta wait. Why should ebooks be any different? # Why would I ever vote for a gubernatorial candidate who wants to run California like a business? # "In what way do technological systems have moral characteristics?" http://bit.ly/d9unn1 # Anyone know [...]
No Comments » - Posted in General by Ricky
Saturday, February 6th, 2010
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-02-06
Why isn't the Twitterverse reviving the #amazonfail chorus over the bookseller's dropping all Macmillan titles? # Is Amazon nudging people to do the right thing and buy from independent bookstores?! http://nyti.ms/b0RKgS # Amazon/Macmillan standoff is over. Now, stop licensing eBooks to readers and start selling them! # Why haven't many people pointed out that the [...]
No Comments » - Posted in General by Ricky
Friday, February 5th, 2010
Buy Atul Gawande’s new book, just not an Amazon
Macmillan ran an ad for The Checklist Manifesto in yesterday’s New York Times and took a shot at Amazon. Cheap?
No Comments » - Posted in Books,General by Ricky
Friday, February 5th, 2010
On Facebook
Charles Petersen’s article, In the World of Facebook, in the New York Review is probably the best essay I’ve read about any tech company in the past year or so.
No Comments » - Posted in General,Technology by Ricky
Thursday, February 4th, 2010
Y-3 Spring/Summer 2010 ad campaign with Zinédine Zidane
This is awesome.
No Comments » - Posted in General,Photography by Ricky
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010
Awesome, heartbreaking David Foster Wallace interview from 2003
Get ready to give 90 minutes of your life right now. Get the Flash Player to see this video. var swf = new SWFObject(“https://media.dreamhost.com/mp4/player.swf”, “mpl”, “478″, “253″, 8); swf.addParam(“allowfullscreen”, “true”); swf.addParam(“allowscriptaccess”, “always”); swf.addVariable(“file”, “http://www.gen-o.com/dfw_conv.flv”); swf.addVariable(“image”, “http://www.gen-o.com/dfw_conv.jpeg”); swf.write(“v7484″);
2 Comments » - Posted in Books,General by Ricky
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010
Because your MacBook should look like a real book
Clearly, you want the BookBook from Twelve South.
No Comments » - Posted in Books,General,Technology by Ricky
Saturday, January 30th, 2010
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-01-30
A few photos from the GF1 of @josepharthur at @rickshawstopsf on Tuesday: http://gen-o.com/shorturl/jasr # The Formula For Perfect Parallel Parking…fun, but no help to this parker. -More at http://npr.org/122880263 # These coaches' challenges seem like a bad idea! # I feel like I felt in 2006 while rooting for Zidane in the World Cup final, [...]
No Comments » - Posted in General by Ricky
Friday, January 29th, 2010
Responses to Salinger
Over at the New Republic, Gish Jen asks, Why Do People Love Catcher in the Rye? Meanwhile, the New Yorker’s Book Bench blog has collected remembrances and responses from several people, including Wes Anderson, Dave Eggers, and Joshua Feriss. The New Yorker’s Lillian Ross has also unearthed some photos she took of Salinger during the 1960s. [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Books,General by Ricky
Friday, January 29th, 2010
News from New York bookstores
Vanishing New York collects some news on a shake-up in Manhattan bookstores: Biography Bookshop in the West Village, which you might know because it’s across the street from Magnolia, is moving. Left Bank Books, which has a wonderful selection of collectible and signed editions. Finally, Skyline Books in Chelsea is closing.
No Comments » - Posted in Books,General,Save Kepler's by Ricky
Thursday, January 28th, 2010
Why the iPad buzz doesn’t matter
A lot of people are saying a lot of things about the iPad. It’s revolutionary! It’s too compromised to be useful! It lacks important features like a phone, multitasking, camera, Flash support, etc. What’s certain to me is that the reactions—pro and con—are pretty much meaningless right now. I was trying to think last night [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Books,General,Music,Technology by Ricky
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010
How to recover erased .RW2 and other RAW files from SDHC cards
I recently lost all my GF1 photos from my SDHC card. After shooting about 70 photos, I put the card in a USB reader and it appeared to be empty on my computer. There are several free programs that will recover JPEG images from cameras’ memory cards, but recover RAW files—especially those from non-Canon/Nikon cameras—can [...]
No Comments » - Posted in General,Photography,Technology by Ricky
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010
Reactions to the iPad
Adam Gopnik and other New Yorker staffers responded to Apple’s iPad announcement.
No Comments » - Posted in Baseball,Books,General,Music,Technology by Ricky
Saturday, January 23rd, 2010
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-01-23
RT @EliseBlackwell: Ted Genoways on the contemporary lit mag landscape: http://tinyurl.com/ycs79gd # Now Curt Schilling is going to kill the healthcare bill?! Hasn't he done enough damage already? http://s.nyt.com/u/rFH # Took the GF1 to a show by @josepharthur earlier this week. Photos here: http://gen-o.com/shorturl/jasr #
No Comments » - Posted in General by Ricky
Thursday, January 21st, 2010
Joseph Arthur at Rickshaw Stop or the GF1 and concert photography
I took my GF1 to a show by Joseph Arthur earlier this week, and although the noise at 1600 ISO is considerably higher than that of any dSLR, it held up reasonably well. I also tested out Panasonic’s EVF live viewfinder for the first time. Unfortunately, it is small, low resolution, and not particularly good. [...]
No Comments » - Posted in General,Music,Technology by Ricky
Saturday, December 19th, 2009
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-12-19
“One can only be honest about having a point of view while remaining open to …reality…that might demolish it.” http://s.nyt.com/u/vfg # P&E and Kirkus gone. http://s.nyt.com/u/vwp # For fun: My favorite things of 2009 http://bit.ly/6T4gvi #
No Comments » - Posted in General by Ricky
Thursday, December 17th, 2009
My favorite things of 2009
Here’s a list of things from 2009 that I particularly liked. The list has no order to it. And so: Leica M9 — A full-frame camera that not only is not an intimidating SLR but also comes from the greatest line of cameras—the Leica M series—but is also a gorgeous rangefinder, but also gives you [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Baseball,Books,General,Music,Technology by Ricky
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
Why emailing a PowerPoint is better than delivering a presentation
For the evidence, see this study that came out of the University of Alabama.
No Comments » - Posted in Books,General,Technology by Ricky
Saturday, December 12th, 2009
What is poetry good for?
I just read (and enjoyed) Ian McEwan’s story, “The Use of Poetry,” in the New Yorker at the recommendation of T-Rex Tragedies, who cited this passage, which must make you laugh: She said goodbye politely enough and went on her way, but Beard walked after her and asked if she was free the next day, [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Books,General by Ricky
Friday, December 4th, 2009
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-12-04
Dowd didn't mention people's hypocrisy re privacy: willing to give up for popularity but not compromised security: http://bit.ly/5RCkaj # A nice little web-based tool for making iPhone icons: http://www.flavorstudios.com/iphone-icon-generator #
No Comments » - Posted in General by Ricky
Friday, November 27th, 2009
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-11-27
RT @parisreview: A writer takes earnest measures to secure his solitude and then finds endless ways to squander it. -Don DeLillo # "…ideological inconsistency is, for me, practically an article of faith." –Zadie Smith # David Brooks on the importance of the emotional education that comes from art: http://s.nyt.com/u/Csa #
No Comments » - Posted in General by Ricky
Friday, November 20th, 2009
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-11-20
"..the promise is of infinite knowledge but what’s delivered is infinite information, and the two are hardly the same." http://bit.ly/1ivcM9 # Excellent suggestion from @lmcintire for a late dinner after missing Sushi Zone by one minute: Chow. Had forgotten it after years away. in reply to lmcintire # Wait, you want to replay the match, [...]
No Comments » - Posted in General by Ricky
Friday, November 13th, 2009
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-11-13
How an SI reporter scooped the magazine's own story: http://s.nyt.com/u/Dbk #
No Comments » - Posted in General by Ricky
Friday, November 6th, 2009
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-11-06
"I support children wearing helmets on their bicycles—there's just a certain nostalgia for when they didn't. When we didn't." # Gold isn't a safe investment; it's a bubble: http://bit.ly/3Rhjni # "Note to Joe West: home plate is the white thing in the ground in front of the catcher. It is 17 inches wide." http://bit.ly/1QFkyY # [...]
No Comments » - Posted in General by Ricky
Friday, October 30th, 2009
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-10-30
"…the drive to uniqueness and authenticity is what we have in common." [Just an attempt to justify absence of shared experience?] # Attention is one of the most valuable modern resources. If we waste it on frivolous communication, we will have nothing left when we need it #
No Comments » - Posted in General by Ricky
Friday, October 23rd, 2009
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-10-23
http://bit.ly/3qCaYLWe "…the even flimsier assumption that we could know with any certainty what was good even for us…." # "…independence is not the essential quality of a mind or personality." # Platon: Immediately after McCain announced his presidental bid, he celebrated in the limo by listening to Abba's "Dancing Queen." #tnyfest # Platon: Mos Def's [...]
