Sunday, November 1 2009
marco gets realistic about AT&T and Verizon networks:
So it comes down to your needs. For me, my phone is a personal computer most of the time, and it’s occasionally used to make or receive phone calls. Most data is downloaded over WiFi, with occasional small transfers over the cellular network. Network flakiness hurts me less than device flakiness. For me, therefore, the device is much more important than the network, because I’m using the device much more than I’m using the network.
If you make a lot of phone calls, use a ton of cellular data, or frequently travel to Vermont, and will accept more shortcomings and limitations in your device to ensure the use of a better data network, you should consider Verizon. But if your phone is more of a pocket computer than a mobile telephone, the iPhone is the only way to go.
Most non-techie iPhone users I know complain about the network; they have, however, complained about their cell network since pre-iPhone, and they’ve never liked their cellphone very much.
But when it comes to techie iPhone users, many of them agree on these two points:
- AT&T’s voice network sucks
- They’d prefer not to have a voice plan at all.
Ok now that’s just lazy.
Sunday, November 1 2009
This is my second-favorite email ever. The story gets better, btw.
Sunday, November 1 2009
Slate.com has the worst headline writers of any media outlet. Here’s an example.
Save the Planet: Drive a Porsche: How a classic car can be greener than your Prius.
Controversial stuff, huh? Except the article proceeds to describe how the author’s living car-free altogether, dreaming of some day owning his dream car, a Porsche 928. See, never even attempting to address the “how” in the headline is par for the course with this linkbaiting nonsense. For shame.
HOVET mirror at IKEA
Big mirror for your bedroom or hallway.
$99
Metal floor mirror at West Elm
Big mirror for your bedroom or hallway.
$299
Infinity floor mirror at CB2
Big mirror for your bedroom or hallway.
$399
Mondrian mirror at Design Within Reach
Big mirror for your bedroom or hallway.
$1,250
How a sewing machine works.
(via Bits & Pieces)
Wednesday, October 28 2009
Not Martha’s awesome food project - the meatloaf hand. Blog marked, way the hell marked.
Wednesday, October 28 2009
Randy Cohen of the excellent NYT column The Ethicist (also available as an excellent podcast) writes this week about the ridiculous “respect” of religion which prevents the media and public figures from openly criticizing, for instance, the Vatican for inviting homophobic Anglicans to join their gay-free church. It is depressing that this bit isn’t surprising:
When I write about religion, I cause a tidal wave. The week I rebuked an Orthodox Jewish real estate agent whose beliefs forbade his shaking the hand of a female client, I stopped counting after receiving 4,000 ferocious messages, lambasting not only my argument but my character, my appearance and my parentage: it was speculated that dogs played a part.
Chris Ware cover, Forbidden Planet
Tuesday, October 27 2009
The Rock-afire Explosion is one of those nearly styleless, the-story-tells-itself documentaries (think The King of Kong) which at first look like they can’t possibly be interesting, but end up gripping and unforgettable. The interviews with Aaron Fechter, the inventor of the 1980s animatronic fad, make for seriously great monologue exercises for aspiring actors. The quirkiness, the humanity, the drama…! (via Cabel)
So I’m shopping around for toolboxes, and in the sea of yellow, red, and black rectangles, this comes up. Christmas is like two months away, friends*.
* Thank you for not buying me this even as a joke.
Sunday, October 25 2009
Portland’s Sallie Ford and The Sound Outside. They are very very good.
Saturday, October 24 2009
I’ve updated my original screenshot post with the following:
This person’s story is genuinely sad. I’m not mocking them. I just meant to say that this particular screenshot captures a specific time, place, and mindset pretty incredibly. I hope it’s not totally ridiculous if I compare it to Dorothea Lange’s photos from the Great Depression - not in quality, but in “genre”: the zeitgeist in a single frame.
All that said, I’d like to suggest that Reddit is not the best place to seek help with serious life problems.
Oh come on, that’s just too perfect.
Update: This person’s story is genuinely sad. I’m not mocking them. I just meant to say that this particular screenshot captures a specific time, place, and mindset pretty incredibly. I hope it’s not totally ridiculous if I compare it to Dorothea Lange’s photos form the Great Depression - not in quality, but in “genre”: the zeitgeist in a single frame.
All that said, I’d like to suggest that Reddit is not the best place to seek help with serious life problems.
Friday, October 23 2009
