March 2009
22 posts
1 tag
The impact of great design
I have been thinking a lot about product design recently, and was reminded of the many times I have been fortunate enough to get exposed to great design work. The coolest hour of my life was having coffee at Apple with Jony Ive hearing his views on the design process and what makes can make a good product great.
I have been putting together a site for a friend over the last month and have been...
Dinner at Umami SF. Sushi definitely tastes better out west.
OK, so snowboarding in a t-shirt is awesome - until you fall.
Great day in the snow and hot-tub at Squaw Valley, and no one there either
In Sacramento looking for in’n’out and roads with less traffic
nice simple piece of work visualizing new wikipedia entries as they happen, and where they were written http://bit.ly/18l0gI
I have two tickets I sadly cannot use for Primal Scream at MHOW on Sunday - DM me if you are interested in taking them
What a great project, but also an interesting take on how to advertise the capabilities of your product http://bit.ly/1e1O15
1 tag
1 tag
Sneaky Sound System
Surprising trip back to Highline Ballroom on Saturday night to check out the Sneaky Sound System. Sneaky are an Australian dance act that have been around since 2001 but have totally escaped my notice until now (or at least until I recognized some of the stuff they played).
Who knew that the Highline got converted into a tragic, table-service nightclub on Saturday nights, but there you have it....
1 tag
Fleetwood Mac
This show holds the record for ‘longest in advance i bought tickets’. I have had them literally since 2007. Me and Hillary are headed to the Garden tonight to see Stevie Nicks burn up the stage.
Mick looks more like a character from Harry Potter these days, but I am sure that the sound is much the same.
I have been uncontrollably excited for about 3 months. Personally, I am keeping...
1 tag
Paying amateur content creators
I was reading more about the recently launched Getty/Flickr agreement this morning in the Creative Review. Getty have struck a deal with Flickr (and more importantly, with some of their users) to license images under the same terms that they offer standard image from their retained photographers.
Its a really interesting model for a few reasons:
1. Aggregating content and then paying the...
2 tags
The age of live music
As soon as my group of friends growing up got driving licenses, our whole lives changed. Electronic music had been our thing for a few years - we spent our time recording radio sets from the great DJs of the time, and buying their mixtapes and CDs.
But with access to transport, we suddenly had the opportunity to experience their music in a whole new way - live. Armed with fake IDs (straight...
1 tag
SXSW and all that
So SXSW starts tomorrow and for the first time in a few years I am missing it. There is sadly just way too much stuff to do here, and not enough (productive) stuff to do there, to justify the flight price and nightly battle with Phil for floor space.
I am doubling sad to be missing the Tumblr party, which the awesome Carlon are headlining.
1) Tumblr has helped me realize a long overdue effort...
1 tag
Kweli and Hi-tek
Back to Blue Note last night, for the third time this year. This time it was the turn of Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek to take the stage, playing tracks from Reflection Eternal and some new material they have been working on. This was the first show they have done together in 9 years.
You could definitely tell it had been some time since they performed live as a unit, but the sound was still tight...
Opening up news
There has been lots of talk about the future of news over the last couple of years, and I was lucky to see much of the transition from the inside, as we built outside.in.
The discussion has heightened again this week, stimulated by David Carr’s ridiculous piece in the NYT yesterday (if you can’t access it, don’t worry too much). Carr reverts back to many of the same tired...
1 tag
Kudos - Its nice that
I love being around creative work and creative people, even though my own creative talents are a little limited. Blogs are a great way of getting up to speed on the latest and greatest creative work – many people write on the topic, and the inter-relationships between bloggers in this space make it easy to identify the leading thinkers and premier sites.
Personally, I love the site Its Nice...
1 tag
Papervision
Papervision is a growing concept in the world of design, and one day soon is set to just rock the way that we think about interactivity.
I love seeing new examples of the technology in action, and was blown away by the GE Ecomagination interpretation that I saw in the office earlier today. You can check it out on the Ecomagination site.
There are a few steps, but I thoroughly recommend taking...
1 tag
The Roots + TBD
Managed to snare tickets to the extra-special Roots ‘The Jam’ series opener at Highline Ballroom tomorrow night. I am excited like a 6-year old who just found a frozen lake to walk on.
The Roots rock, and are consistently great live. Add into that this is the first night in their Jam series, which is shaping up to be pretty special, and then you throw in that there will be...
2 tags
Crazy retail
I love discovering hidden stores. There is something fascinating about the affect that a little bit of mystery has on the retail experience, and the way that consumers interact with a store and its products. The thought that goes into developing the concept often blurs the line between retail store and art gallery, with noticeable upside in product sales.
Hidden stores litter New York City,...
2 tags
Kudos - Spinning Around
I seem to use blogs almost exclusively now for all manner of media consumption. From straightforward news, to staying on top of developments in technology to keeping on top of topics that I love and that others write about with deep knowledge and insight. I want to post from time to time about what these blogs are, and what makes them special.
First up is Spinning Around (in the spirit of...