I spent the afternoon at the half-day session that GEL has added this year (it was formerly just a one-day conference). There were twelve different sessions described as "hands-on experiences" to choose from and I attended the gadgets session with Dan Dubno, who is a self-described lunatic when it comes to gadgets and technology products. I'm not much for gadgets, especially new ones...I'm a fairly late adopter among my tech-savvy friends. But some of the stuff I saw today...wow. Aside from the thinnest touch-screen tablet PC I've ever seen, the thing that blew me away was the Sony Librie, the first commerically available electronic ink e-book reader. Here's a photo I took:
What you can't see from the photo is how insanely crisp and clear the text on the "screen" is. It was book-text quality...it looked like a decal until you pushed the next button and the whole screen changed. It was *really* mind-boggling and you could instantly see how most books are going to be distributed in the very near future. Despite looking like a computer, when you were reading, it felt like a book because of the resolution (a very odd sensation). And it's not only for books...I was told that there's e-paper that's capable of full-color 24 fps video. Can't say enough about how blown away I was by the Librie. (Now for the bad: 10MB storage capacity, uses Sony's Memory Sticks for more storage, and the content self-destructs after 60 days. If Sony opened this up and used normal flash memory like everyone else, this thing would be huge. Enormous. It's a TV, video player, book, magazine, gaming platform, and hybrids of all of the above. Instead, they'll probably keep it closed and someone else will capitalize on it.)
Anyway, if you can handle navigating the Japanese menus, you can get one from Dynamism for $600 (which I would totally do if I still had my old job).
[kottke.org]The Decemberists are raising money for their stolen gear by selling stuff on eBay.
Just what the world was waiting for! The NY Times reports that Arianna Huffington is starting a celebrity group blog with people like "Walter Cronkite, David Mamet, Nora Ephron, Warren Beatty, James Fallows, Vernon E. Jordan Jr., Maggie Gyllenhaal, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., Diane Keaton, Norman Mailer and Mortimer B. Zuckerman." Huh. Did Huffington read the Businessweek article about blogs changing business and decide, "It's on"? It'll be called Huffington Post, the NY Times article positions it as a competitor to The Drudge Report, but it seems less that than a celebrity vanity project like, oh, we don't know...maybe like an episode of The Love Boat with more street cred and an ability for readers to comments. Huffington says it's "an affirmation of [blogs'/the blogosphere's] success and will only enrich and strengthen its impact on the national conversation," but Sure, it'll be cool to read what Walter Cronkite thinks, but we fear he'll get bogged down with despamming the system. And don't get us started on wondering if certain celebrities are actually posting or making a minion post for them.
The quote from NYU professor and media world guru Jay Rosen to the Times:
These aren't exactly people who lack voice or visibility in our culture. Gwyneth Paltrow has no incentive to speak candidly and alienate future ticket buyers. Barry Diller doesn't have time to hunt down juicy links for his readers. And where does Jon Corzine fit into any conversation those two might be having?Word! And even though it'll be fodder for many others to blog about (quick, someone register "huffingtonpostsucks.com" stat!), will they just be writing, "Hey, David Mamet is swearing again!" Maybe Gothamist is upset because it's one thing if your neighbor is blogging, but it's another thing if famous people start to act like shut-ins working on posts for the next day (not that we know anything about that).
Why didn't Huffington ask David Lynch to blog? His DavidLynch.com weather reports are AWESOME. And another thing: Warren Beatty may have an Oscar, but he's no Wil Wheaton.
Gawker covered this on Friday - which makes us wonder if any of the celebrity bloggers will be working Fridays.
Happy Monday. Today's music post will only list tonight's shows. Check back tomorrow for the rest of the week's events.
Happy Passover. I want to take this opportunity to talk a little bit about Matisyahu. He's the Hasidic Jewish reggae singer, rapper, and beatboxer from Crown Heights (Brooklyn) that you may have seen elsewhere in the media this past week. His new album and sold-out performance at Irving Plaza brought with it a firestorm of media coverage (see Rolling Stone, MTV, ABC, Daily News, ABC, etc..). I'd like to add Gothamist to the list because he deserves it. I was at the show last week. Here's my review and pictures.
Every few weeks a band or two starts buzzing in my ears. The band I keep hearing about lately is The Cloud Room. You might remember them from the Gothamist interview in October. Tonight the band plays a free show at Knitting Factory with Calla and Seedy Gonzales. All three bands appear on the "Satellite" soundtrack. The party is in conjunction with the Tribeca Film Festival. If you want to see this free show, you must RSVP to RSVP@giganticmusic.com. Will you definitely get in if you RSVP? I don't know. Knitting Factory is not that big.
Here's another event you might not get in to. The reason: celebrities + big crowds + velvet ropes = a mess. The relatively underground weekly Charm School party hosts a solo performance by Debbie Harry and a DJ set by Kelly Osbourne. Boy George and Miss Guy spin too (as they do every week). This one's at Marquee. (289 10th Ave. between 26th & 27th St.). Dress up.
Every New Yorker should know that "sold out" never means you can't get in. Whether you use Craigslist, a scalper, or wait patiently for the venue to let you in, there's almost always a way (money helps). Tonight's sold out shows include The Shins (with the Brunettes) at Webster Hall and Erasure (with Elkland) at Irving Plaza.
Here's what else is happening...
We support any smart, simple invention that could put an eye out, and these TAK Pushpins meet the base requirements. Not only do they have two pins to prevent corner rotation and tearing (a scourge that has terrorized the blacklight unicorn posters of our country for far too long), they also have an arch inside to allow the threading of wire or string. If I'd had these as a child, my thread-and-thumbtack lightswitch rigging might not have been such a bad thing to place over a waterbed.
A six-pack is an all-too-expensive $5, but you can get a pack of 250 for $25.
Product Page [IdeaTionDesigns via MoCoLoCo via OhGizmo!]
[Gizmodo]Mark Frauenfelder:
Target proves once again that it is a true "design within reach" store by introducing a well-designed, pleasing-to-behold pill bottle, called the "ClearRx prescription-packaging system."
A Condé Nast security badge that develops a large red X after 24 hours gave Adler the idea to add a similar marker to the label. A version that works over months, not hours, will be ready in 2006.
(2) Code red.
The red color of the bottle is Target’s signature— and a universal symbol for caution.(4) Upside down to save paper.
Klaus Rosburg, a Brooklyn-based industrial designer hired by Target, came up with an upside-down version that stands on its cap, so that the label can be wrapped around the top. Every piece of paper in the package adds up to one eight-and-a-half-by-fourteen-inch perforated sheet, which eliminates waste and makes life easier for pharmacists.
Link
(Thanks, Miriam!) [Boing Boing]
It looks like this (click to zoom):
You can add your own feeds and/or choose from their selection. It also swaps between feed headlines and ads, which is pretty clever, cuz it gets you looking at the ads a lot more (I've found). Each is labeled, of course. Nice.
In my mind this little utility is simply just a genius mix. The cross pollination of two of the best resources available on the internet-- Google's new mapping service, and the classified listings page, Craigslist. This utility lets you surf both at once-- you can select city, price range, and drag along a map while seeing icons representing apartments for rent or sale. It shows you which listings have pictures, and which don't--and even gives little thumbnails of the property. Make sure to use Firefox if you're on a Mac, Safari is a little weird with it.
Google has added another service to their mobile offerings: Google Local. Punch in your search term, as well as the location or zip code to limit your search, and receive a nice, mobile-sized Google Map with details listed below. The service is—in typical Google style—free.
Local Mobile Search [Google]
[Gizmodo]
Yes! NBC has finally come out with the Triumph the Insult Comic Dog Talking Doll!
Famous for his obnoxious appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien the Triumph talking doll says 11 poopy things and sings "I Keed". This talking doll also features Synchro-Motion, a cutting edge animation technology that synchronizes the motion of the mouth to words, allowing inanimate figures to come to life before your very eyes! Just press Triumph's foot to hear him say "You're a great friend, for me to poop on" and other fun favorites. This toy is not recommended for children under the age of 12.Syncro-Motion! 11 poopy songs! Fake cigar! This blows our mind. Gothamist is sure that there will be many kids under 12 who will be jealous of our Triumph doll. We can't wait till photographs of people's dogs humping the Triumph plush hit the Internet, a la Punchie and Pikachu.
More Triumph clips at the Late Night with Conan O'Brien site.
Nigel Jaquiss, a Willamette Week staff writer, has won a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting for breaking the story about former Oregon Gov. Neil Goldschmidt's sexual abuse of a 14-year-old girl. Read the article.