I think Mykala found dooce.com via kottke.org a few years back, and I just realized something about why I like the site so much. You see, dooce (a.k.a. Heather Armstrong) has a hilarious writing style regardless of subject (dog, husband, daughter, et al.), great photography, and a devoted community… but that doesn’t really get at the essence. That essence is: Heather has unbelievably good taste.
From decorating to art to music, the woman just knows how to pick ‘em. These qualities are certainly exemplified in her latest post about NPR’s Bryant Park Project. I mean, I started reading the summary of that show and immediately thought “this is awesome.” And it’s not awesome in the general subjective sense of appealing to one’s particular interests or sensibilities (though it certainly does) — no, dooce’s recommended show is awesome because of the way it pushes the boundaries on traditional radio media, features smart hosts, and covers topics ignored by other shows. Anyhow, this idea of “good taste” reminds me of a quote from Steve Jobs:
The only problem with Microsoft is they just have
no taste. They have absolutely no taste. And what that
means is, I don’t mean that in a small way, I mean it in a
big way. In the sense that they don’t think of original
ideas, and they don’t bring much culture into their
product. And you say, well, why is that important?
Well, proportionately spaced fonts come from
typesetting, and beautiful books. That’s where one gets
the idea. If it weren’t for the Mac, they would never have
that in their products. And so I guess I am saddened, not
by Microsoft’s success. I have no problem with their success.
They’ve earned their success… for the most part. I have
a problem with the fact that they just really make third
rate products.
When you’ve a public product like Apple’s iPod or dooce.com, taste is everything. Plus, these days there isn’t just one Microsoft but a veritable ocean of mediocre tasteless drudgery (into which I sometimes contribute) in crap-tastic blog format. Too few voices online are islands above that ocean, which is what makes those voices all the more valuable. In short, dooce kicks all kinds of tail, and does it with an exceedingly rare quality which we can only sum up with one word: Taste.
Podrunner: Free Workout Music from dj steve boyett is an interesting way to load your iPod with non-stop constant beats-per-minute workout music. It’s not fantastic (I’m a fan of a bit more melodic stuff, without so many crashing beats), but for a thumping background groove, I think it would do the job.
I’ve never listened to music during workouts because I still can’t figure out how to manage the cords. I should work on that.
Me: I wonder if this giant snowstorm was Mother Nature’s version of an April Fool’s joke. Chris: Maybe. Me: Well if it was, I don’t get it. Chris: Me neither.
The University of St. Thomas Public Safety Department
posted an alert Friday regarding the theft of brass
plumbing pipes from men’s restrooms in
O’Shaughnessy Educational Center on the St. Paul campus.
The pipes were stolen Wednesday evening, March 26. That
same night, pipes were stolen at Macalester College. Pipes
in the Murray-Herrick Campus Center restrooms were
tampered with, but not removed.
Is brass valuable for reselling or something? I’m lost.
When they have a choice, people will always gravitate
to those rooms which have light on two sides, and leave
the rooms which are lit only from one side unused
and empty.
Delving a bit more into the theory:
The importance of this pattern lies partly in the
social atmosphere it creates in the room. Rooms lit on
two sides, with natural light, create less glare around
people and objects; this lets us see things more
intricately; and most important, it allows us to read
in detail the minute expressions that flash across
people’s faces, the motion of their hands… and
thereby understand, more clearly, the meaning they
are after. The light on two sides allows people
to understand each other.
Most of the rooms in the house where I grew up have windows on two sides… which, come to think of it, was a really nice thing. Interesting stuff.
Hugh Laurie of House talking to TV Guide — it’s actually a rather good interview considering it’s published in TV Guide, which to the best of my knowledge, isn’t exactly known for insightful journalism (does anyone know otherwise?). Anyhow, Laurie, when asked if he hangs out with celebrities:
I have such a strong aversion to the ubiquitous digital
camera that I can’t really bear to go anywhere. It’s pathetic.
Not that I am ideal paparazzi fodder—I’m definitely not—
but these days you don’t have to be to have your soul
chopped up and laid out on the butcher’s slab. So
instead I just sit at home and stare at the wall. Which
luckily has a huge plasma TV on it.
When asked about exercise:
I run 6-8 miles a day, plus weights and aerobics in the
lunch hour. I also lie a lot, which keeps me thin.
Common sense and a little physics seem to show that the radio waves from Wi-Fi internet connections (non-ionising as they are) are nothing to be concerned about:
A typical UK resident receives far more radiation from
analogue radio broadcasts than they do from Wi-Fi.
Radio broadcasts have operated in the UK for almost 85
years, so if we’ve not heard of any long term negative health
effects caused by radio waves so far, it’s unlikely that we
will do in the future.
I have a hard time thinking cell phone waves are anything other than harmless, as well. Remember, not all radiation is created equal — so don’t let people try to confuse you by conflating radiation from one source with something like radiation from the sun, or a microwave.
I don’t know if this is true or not, but a farmer in the UK who directed his sheepdogs for three hours to spell out the word ‘spring’ on the side of a hill, is a difficult story to make up. Anyhow, the pictures look amazing. Collies sure are neat dogs.
Wal-Mart is not just the world’s largest retailer. It’s the
world’s largest company—bigger than ExxonMobil,
General Motors, and General Electric. The scale can be
hard to absorb. Wal-Mart sold $244.5 billion worth of
goods last year. It sells in three months what
number-two retailer Home Depot sells in a year. And in its
own category of general merchandise and groceries,
Wal-Mart no longer has any real rivals. It does more
business than Target, Sears, Kmart, J.C. Penney, Safeway,
and Kroger combined.
A pickle jar example in the article is particularly intriguing — the gallon pickle jar “cannibalized” Vlasic’s sales at other retail locations because Wal-Mart sold it at such a ridiculously low price.
Originally, I thought that if I was making any product with any sort of brand, I would never ever sell at Wal-Mart. But Wal-Mart sells iPods… at the same price you see them everywhere else. And that’s because Apple has it’s own (quite healthy, thank you very much) supply chain.
So while the meeting between Wal-Mart and just about any supplier goes like this…
Wal-Mart: You’ll supply to us at $X per unit. Supplier: That reduces our profits to essentially nothing. Wal-Mart: Then we’ll find a supplier with comparable brand recognition at our price. Supplier: Fine, we’ll do it.
…a meeting between Wal-Mart and Apple goes like this:
Wal-Mart: We want to take $20 off the price of an iPod. Apple: Categorically: “no.” Wal-Mart: Then we’ll find a supplier with comparable brand recognition at that price. Apple: No you won’t.
While Wal-Mart frequently says “put up or shut up,” suppliers can occasionally do the same to them. Regardless of scenarios like this, I think the problem that the article points out — that Americans can’t consume if we don’t have a healthy base of employed workers — is undeniably correct.