Archive for Living
May 15, 2007 at 2:03 pm
· Filed under Living · Tagged: none
Digg is pretty interesting tool for an author, and a well ranked story can literally pay dividends in Ad Sense revenue. And like most tools that can add traffic (and revenue), it’s ripe for abuse.
I know a guy who has his employees digg his articles. Pretty shameless, but knowing him and his personality, it’s to be expected. He’s had his hand slapped before for spamming public message boards begging for diggs, but legally I suppose there is nothing stopping him make his employees do his bidding, ethics and integrity be damned.
What will stop him, at least from bugging me over AIM is the “block user” function. He is a nice enough guy, and we occasionally talk, but mainly I just get IMs from him with links to Digg. Ironically, he usually doesn’t reply, or digg things, when i send messages back with links to my own content.
At any rate, the point I am getting at is this- don’t be a whore begging your peers for diggs on AIM. You’re going to end up losing access to those peers, and for what- a dozen diggs? That’s nothing. A statistical fart. Having been dugg before in a big way, I can say that getting to the front page is out of your hands. The nerd herd will take to it and light it on fire, or it will sit there and sink. Your 40 buddies have dick all to do with this process, so why get a reputation for being annoying, or worse, a spammer?
My advice, if you want a good digg rate, is to worry more about just writing good stuff. It will circulate if it’s good. Don’t worry about the immediate digging from your crew- it’s worse than when Ad agencies set out to make lame “viral” campaigns. Focus on the content, and if the internet likes it, the internet likes it. Oh, wildly speculative apple rumors go over well too.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go AIM everyone I know to digg this.
March 19, 2007 at 11:56 pm
· Filed under Living · Tagged: angst, Dodgeball, iPhone, SXSW, Twitter
My first stop in Austin last week was Casino El Camino, where I grabbed a bite with a local friend whose name I will omit to avoid any awkward moments for him.
When we first sat down to eat, he had a text message; he explained to me some dudes he knows made this service called Dodgeball and told me a little about thier offering. Cool.
Fast forward 3 hours later at the bar, he’s still putzing about with his phone, only now grumbling about “that damn dodgeball” and how it is usually dormant- except during SXSW, when it kicks into overdrive (for obvious reasons- thousands of nerds in one place, blah blah).
Anyhow, now that we are all back home, the internet is abuzz about those Twitter growth charts, with SXSW frequently popping up as the likely culprit for the explosive bloom. Well, I was there and it was certainly blowing up- litterally; I can’t recall how many times that first day I’d hear people grab their phones and exclaim “My twitter’s blowing up!”. No shit sherlock, that’s what it does.
By day two, the enthusiam was peaked; by the third day it sounded to me like most people were tired of the damn thing.
Continue reading »
March 15, 2007 at 6:07 pm
· Filed under Living · Tagged: design, film, Helvetica, SXSW
One of the highlights of my SXSW adventure was catching the world premier of Helvetica. Director Gary Hustwit was onhand with design anti-hero David Carson taking questions afterward, and both proved to be stand up, approachable guys aftward.
From the opening title build, we begin what appears to be a 2 hour helvetica love first, exploring the history- and ubiquity- of everybody’s favorite san serif. Massimo Vignelli’s contributions were particularly compelling, as the vintage modern design of the 60’s is refreshingly timeless today.
The film takes a 180 midway through, David Carson proving to be an effective emotional foil to the stark utilitarianism of the old swiss guard. And while it’s cool to see design superstars like Paula Scher lay down some knowledge, Erik Spiekermann was probably the most insightful- and amusing- commentator in the film.
The one thing that becomes abundantly clear is there are really just two camps most contemporary designers fall into: pro-Helvetica, or anti-Helvetica.
(this message was convienetly reinforced with the “I love Helvetica” and “I hate Helvetica” the ushers were handing out upon entrance to the theater- clever buggers.
Once you accept the fact you’re watching a feature about a typeface, the rest of the elements are rock solid. The visuals are shot in clean HD on location throughout the world, and the soundtrack was nice and fitting.
I think Helvetica is pervasive enough that even non-design nerds would enjoy it, but if you’re in the design nerd camp… Go see it, order the poster, and get the dvd when it comes out. And write Veer and tell them to make more design features. Considering that Target and Apple and driven design into the minds of millions, I’m surprised it’s taken this long to start exploring the discipline in film. Two great tastes, that taste great together, you’d think it’d be a no-brainer.
March 15, 2007 at 2:30 am
· Filed under Living · Tagged: nerds, SXSW, tips
I came out of my first SXSW with alot of observations and thoughts, and I’ll be posting them throughout the coming days. But right off the bat, there was alot of behavior I witnessed that damn near made me want to delete my blog and transfer to the direct mail, or even fast food industry.
Nerd fests are cool until they start to resemble LARPing cons, with flickr-enabled wifi digital cameras replacing duct tape and foam swords.
Without further ado, here’s a few pointers that will helpfully keep the tools in the shed where they belong. I would love to have snarky vice-like don’t photos to go with each entry, but i didn’t bring a digital camera every single place I went.
1) Big bags of garbage are for bag ladies.
Yes, I too was in awe when I saw the bevy of big sacks of crap awaiting me at check in- including the awesome interactive one designed by hometown hero Chuck Anderson, but the glee soon faded to meh when I realized they were 90% full of crappy magazines, ads for companies you really don’t care about, and media temple stickers. So right off the bat, you can lighten the load by about 30lbs simply by dumping the majority of it in the big dumpsters convienently located by bag pickup.
Once you do that, go take them to your hotel. The bars are crowded enough without 900 sq feet of canvas tote bags clogging the arteries. It’s handy, considerate, and makes you not look like a trade show scavenger.
Continue reading »
November 13, 2006 at 9:59 pm
· Filed under Living · Tagged: decor, wiring
Step 1: Before
Nasty right? I dont really need to say much here. I got the plasma, and it wasnt until I saw a photo that I realized how gross that setup was. Decent gear in a decent space deserved better. It was a slow process, but I had to get my entertainment center in order. Continue reading »
