If Abortion Were Illegal...
July 31, 2007 | People & Society
Continuing in the "wish I had asked those questions" thread, Sassy Pants posts this awesome video. They ask abortion protesters, "If abortion were illegal, what should the punishment be for women who still have an abortion?" The answers are very surprising. Here's the Newsweek story.
Schneier Hawley Interview
July 31, 2007 | People & Society
Schneier on Security: Bruce Schneier, famous security expert, interviews Kip Hawley, TSA Administrator. He asks the questions we all ponder as we go through airport security. Example:
By today's rules, I can carry on liquids in quantities of three ounces or less, unless they're in larger bottles. But I can carry on multiple three-ounce bottles. Or a single larger bottle with a non-prescription medicine label, like contact lens fluid. It all has to fit inside a one-quart plastic bag, except for that large bottle of contact lens fluid. And if you confiscate my liquids, you're going to toss them into a large pile right next to the screening station -- which you would never do if anyone thought they were actually dangerous. Can you please convince me there's not an Office for Annoying Air Travelers making this sort of stuff up?
First of four parts.
The Dashed Line In Use
July 31, 2007 | Arts & Culture
Nearfield: I’ve had trouble justifying my excitement about this intricate visual detail, so I thought it would be good to collect a bunch of examples from over fifty years of information design history, to show it as a powerful visual element in ubicomp situations.
FontBook
July 28, 2007 | Arts & Culture | Products & Opportunites
I'm trying to hold back, as a nod to the budget, but I'm not sure I'll be able to resist much longer. (FontBook)
Katie Hutchison Studio
July 28, 2007 | Arts & Culture | Nature & Environment
An architect in Salem MA blogs:
Inspired by the simplicity of New England vernacular buildings and landscapes, Katie Hutchison Studio composes and promotes meaningful architecture and design.
Some great stuff there.
Primer: A Recipe for Architectural Charm
Design snapshot: Vineyard elemental outdoor fireplace
Current project: West Tisbury House.
A Gamer Tunes Into Ron Paul
July 23, 2007 | People & Society
The YouTube generation speaks. This guy is not on the pollster's radar.
(via Andrew Sullivan)
What is beauty?
July 18, 2007 | Business & Commerce | People & Society
This Dove ad should be required viewing for anyone who has ever wondered about "manufactured beauty." (1:30) Dig the photoshop work where they extend the neck, puff the lips, trim the shoulders, lower the eyebrows, etc. She looks totally normal at the start, and a super model at the end.
Update: Sassy Pants points to this great link on the same topic.
Sticker Bumpkins
July 12, 2007 | Arts & Culture | Life | People & Society
About three months ago, I saw that Don had an Obama bumper sticker on his car, and I said, "I want one of those." So I went to the website, and much to my surprise, there was no way to buy a bumper sticker. No swag at all. Crazy.
I decided to send them a comment, but to do so I had to register on the site. Sigh. So I registered, and sent a message to the effect of, "I want to buy a bumper sticker; what the heck, eh??" Then I went back to work.
About a month later, I got a phone call at home. "Hi this is Dave from the NH Obama '08 campaign. I just wanted to check in and see how you thought the campaign was going so far." I said, "Seems great to me, except I want a bumper sticker, and I can't figure out how to buy one online. You should sell them for $20 or something." Dave said, "Yeah, they're really hard to get. You know, we're going to be opening an office in downtown Hanover, I'm sure we'll have them there once we open." "Cool," I replied, "just let me know." "Okay, thanks," he said. And that was that.
Then about a month after that, I was walking down Main Street and saw Tom, who, as it turns out, is doing some volunteering for the Obama campaign. He was with Graham, who is with the political desk of the campaign, visiting from Manchester NH and talking to people. Tom introduced me as an entrepreneur (simply because I can spell it quickly) and Graham said they were going to be starting a business for Obama group, and he'd love to have me attend some of those events. "Cool," I said. "Will I be able to buy a bumper sticker there?" Told him about the website, and the phone call, and said, would love to advertise for you guys; what's with the sticker shortage? He said, "Yeah, they're really hard to get." We exchanged cards, and I went to the post office.
The next day I got an email from Graham that began, "I was lucky to meet you yesterday..." And I thought, what a great way to get someone's attention. "Lucky to meet me," – maybe I'll get a bumper sticker!
About a week ago I got an email from the Obama campaign, saying, hey, we heard your pleas and cries and wailing in the night, and finally got around to opening an online store so you can buy all that swag you've been asking for. Cool, I thought, I'll check that out someday. It's about time.
Then today I was finishing a sandwich at the office and someone knocked on the door. "Yo," I said. In walks this tall lanky young friendly kinda-goofy guy, who says, "Are you Michael J.?" "Yup," I said.
"I heard you wanted an Obama bumper sticker," he said, as he handed me the goods. I nearly fell over. "Wow! This is like a precious commodity!," I exclaimed. "Yeah, they're really hard to get," he said. I said, "I went on the website, and I couldn't believe they weren't selling them." Then Dave said, "Yeah, I was talking with Graham, and he said you wanted one." I laughed out loud. "You were talking with Graham?!?!?" Like, this is the modern political campaign. Including intrastate backchannel discussion about getting Michael J. his Obama bumper sticker? My mind reeled. "Yeah," he said, "I came a couple of times last week, but you weren't here." Three words: O. M. G. I'm thinking, here's this guy, walking the streets of Hanover, searching for Michael J., with a single Obama bumpersticker in his hand! It's like they invented some weird, inefficient, but personal, and effective, distribution mechanism.
I guess you can just order them online now, but this one is more special than that, because they made me beg for the bumper sticker – they're so hard to get no one has ever hardly seen one – and then in the end they send a guy dedicated with a singular focus to this one task, not even carrying a backpack with literature or other swag, or anything, and it makes me feel like they'd do anything to deliver this to me. How odd is that?
Summing Up My Views on Terrorism
July 11, 2007 | People & Society
In the two hours or so I’m guessing it took Ignatius to crank out yet another 800 words of substance-free alarmism festooned with platitudes about the need for “unity,” about 350 Americans died. Since Sept. 11, 2001, approximately 14 million Americans have died.
Some of these people died agonizing deaths on emergency room floors because they didn’t have health insurance. A quarter-million were killed in car crashes. Around 200,000 were shot to death. Several thousand died of acute alcohol poisoning.
In theory, most of these deaths were preventable. In practice, only some of them were preventable at anything like a reasonable cost. Here’s a question: What would be the optimal number of deaths per year in the United States caused by less-than-ideal medical care, or car crashes, or gunshot wounds, or alcohol poisoning?
I’m sure Ignatius understands why anyone who answers “zero” is saying something nonsensical. So why does he continue to write similar nonsense about terrorism?
Toilet 2.0
July 5, 2007 | Business & Commerce | People & Society | Products & Opportunites
If you've been thinking that you use too much toilet paper, the Washlet might be for you. It also claims to increase happiness.
Bubblegen provides a good overview of the strategic challenge.
