While I’m attending the UMass Dead conference (warning, possible blogging fiesta), I hope to give away a virtually new Ovation Legend acoustic guitar. It’s a Handmeon, so whoever receives it has to promise to also give it away. If you’d like to own it for a while, register at Handmeon and bookmark the object, requesting […]
November 10, 2007
Handmeon in the Local Media
The Valley News published a great story about Handmeon today: “In tiny offices in Hanover, three men are trying to use the Internet to infuse with spirituality an activity that’s become increasingly fraught and expensive: gift giving. Their company’s quiet launch, built up over the past few months, coincides with the gift-giving season. “Handmeon will […]
November 6, 2007
Arrau’s Chopin
I am giving away a 7-disc set of Chopin’s piano works ($55) over at Handmeon, and in the process did some writing about the collection and how I’ve related to the work. I’m going to continue to post for a week or two, ruminating on the compositions, before I send it on its journey. If […]
November 6, 2007
On Obama
Andrew Sullivan has written a strong cover story for The Atlantic supporting Barack Obama. He describes how he came to this in a great interview. Combined, they provide pretty much everything you need to know about why I’m supporting Obama in the NH primary. Summary: Obama is a meta-candidate, attempting to re-frame not just the […]
November 6, 2007
Our Generation’s Enlightened Contribution
I am moved by this post, which relates an unfortunate incident on a train from New Haven CT to the dominant cultural narrative currently unfolding. [Grammatical ambiguity intended.] In 2002 and 2003 – seems so long ago, now, doesn’t it? – I remember thinking that the tone of America’s leadership would have a trickle-down effect […]
November 5, 2007
Except You
Bravo. Probably the most important factor in the next US Presidential election is getting young people to vote, no matter what. Maybe this campaign will help.
October 31, 2007
Halloween Costumes Based on Bob Dylan Lyrics
Brilliant. My favorites are “Einstein disguised as Robin Hood,” and the “Preacher with 20 lbs of headlines stapled to his chest.” Though I suppose “Man in the long black coat” has some appeal for lazy simplicity…
October 30, 2007
Letter from Steve
As usual, John Siracusa wrote the definitive review of the new Mac OS (Leopard). Upon reading about the continued slide into foolishness that is today’s Finder, I sent the following email to Steve Jobs’ public email address: Hi, Please hire John Siracusa to lead the conceptual design of the next Finder revision. http://arstechnica.com/reviews/os/mac-os-x-10-5.ars/12 It’s worth […]
October 26, 2007
Handmeon RSS
Handmeon now has an RSS feed. It’s a pretty interesting view into the site. Have a look and check out the diverse topics our early users are engaging.
October 16, 2007
A Better Clock Radio
Have you noticed how bad most clock radios are? Here is a product that virtually every person in the industrialized world uses every day – twice, actually; once to set the alarm and once to wake up – and nearly everything about clock radios is horrible. Setting the alarm is nutso stoopid or hard. Some […]
October 10, 2007
Branding is Dead, part XCMXLLIV
I was thinking today that one reason branding was so important in the industrial age is that there were so many players in the chain. If you had any hope of having your “message” reach the end-user, you had to line it all up clear as a bell. And industrial organizations were so big, too. […]
October 1, 2007
What many people criticize
Adam Nagourney at the New York Times on NH’s independent voters: As a rule, they are middle and upper income, college educated, socially moderate, fiscally conservative, anti-Washington and repulsed by what many people criticize as the overly partisan atmosphere there. This is the first article I’ve read with any analysis that comes even close to […]
September 27, 2007
Beauty parlor’s filled with sailors…
…the circus is in town. We had The Big Debate here in the hood last night. Good video summary at TPM. Complete with our own freedom pens and everything! It was also the first day of classes, which combined with the media tents, temporary air conditioning, security presence, and pedestrian jostling to wake the whole […]
September 23, 2007
Leading with love, not fear
The mayor of San Diego struggles with gay marriage, and does the right thing. I read the brief speech yesterday, but the power of watching him speak, tearfully, brings some hope to my cynical perspective of today’s politics.
September 20, 2007
Dailylit
What an interesting idea: Read books in small daily chunks by email or RSS. I’ve subscribed to Pride and Prejudice, and scheduled the 149 parts to be delivered at 7:30 pm each weekday day. Free!
September 12, 2007
3 links…
…on the Iraq situation. 1. Conservative commentator Andrew Sullivan, The Atlantic. 2. Law professor and Harvard Fellow Oliver Goodenough , Rutland Herald. 3. Software entrepreneur Dave Winer, Scripting News. Bonus link: New York reporter Mark Shenk, Bloomberg.
September 11, 2007
Apple’s .plan
In Unix culture there is the idea of the “.plan” (dot-plan) file. It lives in the user’s home directory, and is a place to write updates about your life or work. It pre-dates blogging and Twitter by nearly a hundred years, but was typically updated much less frequently than either. The id software founder and […]
August 31, 2007
Introducing Handmeon
Okay, enough with the hints. In January I started a new company with two co-founders, and today we released the second major revision to our first product, Handmeon. To quote some draft marketing material: Handmeon turns giving into a shared creative experience. Inspired by ancient circles of exchange, Handmeon lets people create renewable resources of […]