everyday observations of regular people

deplorableword: InstaCRT takes a typical iPhone camera image...

Fri, 25 May 2012 10:56:37 -0400

InstaCRT takes a typical iPhone camera image and instead of applying a software filter, it sends the photo to a machine in Sweden where it’s projected onto a 1-inch CRT screen (from a VHS camera) and a modern DSLR snaps a photo of the screen and sends it back to your iPhone.

whut.

the gilfords @ kenny’s castaways. MDW 2012.

Thu, 24 May 2012 22:03:22 -0400

[Flash 10 is required to watch video.]

the gilfords @ kenny’s castaways. MDW 2012.

"If a page load takes more than two seconds, 40% are likely to abandon that site. The average impact..."

Thu, 24 May 2012 15:56:59 -0400

“If a page load takes more than two seconds, 40% are likely to abandon that site. The average impact of a one-second delay means a 7% reduction in conversions. For the $100,000 per day ecommerce site, a one-second delay means $2.5 million in lost revenues in a year. Sales at Amazon increase by 1% for every 100 milliseconds it shaves off download times. When Shopzilla decreased load time by 4 sec, they saw a 25% increase in page views, and conversion rates went up 7-12%. Google Checkout’s mean payment processing time was .26 seconds in a recent study. This makes it the fastest payment gateway online. Paypal, the most popular payment gateway, had a mean transaction time of 1.46 seconds.”

- LukeW | Data Monday: E-commerce Performance (via soxiam)

speed kills.

andrewfm: Here are three maps depicting the “Advertising and...

Thu, 24 May 2012 13:44:33 -0400

andrewfm:

Here are three maps depicting the “Advertising and Street Trade Restrictions venue restriction zone” to be set up in London during the 2012 Olympic Games. From Kosmograd:

Within this area… no advertising for brands designated as competing with those of the official Olympic sponsors will be allowed. This will be supported by preventing spectators from wearing clothing prominently displaying competing brands, or from entering the exclusion zone with unofficial snack and beverage choices. Within the Zone, the world’s biggest McDonald’s will be the only branded food outlet, and Visa will be the only payment card accepted.

The increased presence of the security state in England here dovetails with business influence to carve out a new corporate geography for the purposes of marketing. This spatial strategy is a neoliberal twist on the historic creation of colonial states administrated by businesses (consider the historic case of Rhodesia). Of course, police measures designed to restrict one form of personal expression can also just as easily restrict others, so it would hardly be surprising to see anti-corporate clothing forbidden in a similar manner to wearing the wrong brand’s clothing. Nevertheless, it seems to be an ironic twist that wearing corporate, rather than political, imagery and messaging is the expressly forbidden and subversive act within these exclusion zones.

It is through this neocolonialism at the urban scale that we see, utterly exposed, the political nature of economic practice. Corporations compete for spatial monopolies through reconfigured property arrangements, both with and without the help of the state, with purportedly fundamental liberal rights trampled on in the process.

wow.

ecbp: When you go too far up, abstraction-wise, you run out of oxygen. Sometimes smart thinkers...

Wed, 23 May 2012 18:53:28 -0400

ecbp:

When you go too far up, abstraction-wise, you run out of oxygen. Sometimes smart thinkers just don’t know when to stop, and they create these absurd, all-encompassing, high-level pictures of the universe that are all good and fine, but don’t actually mean anything at all.

guilty, sometimes.

it’s the week of fleets and my office has a front row...

Wed, 23 May 2012 14:33:00 -0400

it’s the week of fleets and my office has a front row seat.

(via Twitter / @goldenfiddle: Oh, hello. He’s Bill Murra...

Tue, 22 May 2012 12:22:07 -0400

(via Twitter / @goldenfiddle: Oh, hello. He’s Bill Murra …)

not much better than this. bill murray, drunk, giving a tour of the moonrise kingdom set.

(via historymike: Napoleon’s “Three-Bee” Flag...

Sun, 20 May 2012 10:33:08 -0400

(via historymike: Napoleon’s “Three-Bee” Flag of Elba)

further…

The Allied Powers having declared that Emperor Napoleon was the sole obstacle to the restoration of peace in Europe, Emperor Napoleon, faithful to his oath, declares that he renounces, for himself and his heirs, the thrones of France and Italy, and that there is no personal sacrifice, even that of his life, which he is not ready to do in the interests of France. Done in the palace of Fontainebleau, 11 April 1814. —Act of abdication of Napoleon

In the Treaty of Fontainebleau, the victors exiled him to Elba, an island of 12,000 inhabitants in the Mediterranean, 20 km off the Tuscan coast. They gave him sovereignty over the island and allowed him to retain his title of emperor. Napoleon attempted suicide with a pill he had carried since a near-capture by Russians on the retreat from Moscow. Its potency had weakened with age, and he survived to be exiled while his wife and son took refuge in Austria. In the first few months on Elba he created a small navy and army, developed the iron mines, and issued decrees on modern agricultural methods.

kratlee: late night chats around the campfire. (Taken with...

Sun, 20 May 2012 00:53:44 -0400

kratlee:

late night chats around the campfire. (Taken with instagram)

missed the lake tonight but hung out in the holy land to make-up for it.

afternoon nap.

Sat, 19 May 2012 18:18:21 -0400

afternoon nap.

kratlee: reading special topics in calamity physics, waiting...

Sat, 19 May 2012 14:22:32 -0400

kratlee:

reading special topics in calamity physics, waiting for tonight’s cookout, and developing some mad awkward tan lines.

perfect saturday is perfect.

great photo.

(via Bearings: Southeast Edition No. 35)

Sat, 19 May 2012 06:06:06 -0400

(via Bearings: Southeast Edition No. 35)

soxiam: Six Months In The Merchant Marine (by Martin Machado)

Thu, 17 May 2012 11:20:33 -0400

soxiam:

Six Months In The Merchant Marine (by Martin Machado)

nevver: To be stupid …

Wed, 16 May 2012 23:20:23 -0400

nevver:

To be stupid …

ideawhen: thanks, brain.

Wed, 16 May 2012 22:35:31 -0400

ideawhen:

thanks, brain.

syntheticpubes: Data visualization, conservative politics, 3d...

Tue, 15 May 2012 21:27:12 -0400

syntheticpubes:

Data visualization, conservative politics, 3d printing, butt plugs. This is the greatest fucking thing ever.

now, this is what i call politics.

"betaworks is paying Fictive Kin, a design collective, a lump sum every year to create three or four..."

Tue, 15 May 2012 19:37:50 -0400

“betaworks is paying Fictive Kin, a design collective, a lump sum every year to create three or four concepts. Those concepts will be the basis for companies that are majority owned by Betaworks. If one or two of them happens to take off, betaworks will jump in and figure out how to scale it with the help of Fictive Kin.”

- Betaworks’ Novel Way Of Funding Early-Stage Ideas: A Studio Deal With Brooklyn’s Fictive Kin | TechCrunch

Excited to see someone try out this model. Very curious to see how it pans out.
(via pieratt)
get that paper.

deplorableword: Future of TV - Dan Wieden from...

Tue, 15 May 2012 09:20:29 -0400

deplorableword:

Future of TV - Dan Wieden from Wieden+Kennedy

“ooh, you’re reading grapes of wrath! would you like to buy some grapes?!”

good: In the new gig economy, a lack of job security means that...

Mon, 14 May 2012 14:41:18 -0400

good:

In the new gig economy, a lack of job security means that the young, educated members of the “creative class” take jobs outside their areas of expertise to pay the bills along with their less advantaged peers. For most, that means the service sector—retail, restaurants, bars. But since those gigs are competitive, and they often go to the prettiest among us, some young creatives are choosing manual labor instead.

Read about the recession-era youth who are choosing manual labor over making lattes.

one of the most personally fulfilling things was, for several summers, with my cousin who is a master carpenter. it taught me the value of hard work.

kratlee: ratcliffe-lee: Mama circa 1970. luff you.

Mon, 14 May 2012 07:09:50 -0400

kratlee:

ratcliffe-lee:

Mama circa 1970.

luff you.