Bit sized tasks [Volunteerism]

A platform called "The Extraordinaries," allows people who have even a few minutes of time to volunteer for a cause.  With an iPhone app, volunteers donate their time. The for profit company gets paid from nonprofits who are looking to outsource these micro-tasks.

Pretty cool.

Crowd-Sourced Mapping [Bing]

I've been a fan of Photosynth since I first heard of it during a TED presentation. While traveling to Jordan, I made a synth of El-Dier Monastery in Petra (Transformer 2). With geotagging, this will help to create a visually stunning and detailed user experience.

To compete with Google Maps, Microsoft has laced photosynth technology to create Bing Maps. Competition is always good. Both Google and Microsoft have been making incredible improvements to their mapping technology.

You can read more about it at Fastcompany.

Making it Rain [Cloud Computing]

Over the horizon, we're starting to see many clouds moving shifting over. With the city of angels moving over to Google Apps, its no surprise that Cloud Computing and SaaS (Software as a service) is picking up speed.

Karen Klein outlines a couple benefits of the cloud:

• Fixed cost advantage
• Keeping data safe

The field is still very green, with many players planting seeds. The key concerns are still reliability. This will be solved as the industry matures. What is perhaps most interesting, as Karen points out, is the shift in cost structure for paying for these services to a subscription based model.

Read Karen Klien's post here.

Image Source: ahisgett

Your story [lotd]

Source: roaddsidepictures

[Leaders] frame their life stories in ways that allow them to see themselves not as passive observers of their lives but rather as individuals who can develop self-awareness from their experiences. Authentic leaders act on that awareness by practicing their values and principles, sometimes at substantial risk to themselves.

-Bill George

What are your personal levers?

Pictures of Stats [Visualization]

"Artist Chris Jordan shows us an arresting view of what Western culture looks like. His supersized images picture some almost unimaginable statistics -- like the astonishing number of paper cups we use every single day."

In one of his pieces, he creates an fantastic image resembling pollution spewing out of a factor. When you get up close and personal, you realize that its actually made of lots of plastic cups. As a matter of fact, it includes 1 million cups, which is the number of plastic cups that are used on airline flights in the United States every six hours.

His work is a pretty cool intersection between art/design and infographics. You can check out his website here and his latest book here.

Diversions [Artful Procrastination]

Finals are next week, along with a series of papers and the >play conference. It through it all, I still seem to find some time to browse the Internets.

The Cat Piano from PRA on Vimeo.

I see MC curves [economics]

Dan Brown's latest book, "The Lost Symbol" sold an unprecedented 2 million copies in 2 weeks. Tim Hartford writes that part of the boost was driven (at least in the UK) by an unprecedented price war.

The Bookseller, an industry magazine, Waterstone’s offered a mere 50 per cent discount – £9.49 instead of £18.99. Tesco asked £7 and Asda £5. Asda’s book buyer celebrated “fantastic” sales, despite the fact that the store is thought to be losing £4 a copy. The old joke is made real: losing money on every sale, but making it up on volume.  The Book Depository, an online retailer, grabbed headlines with a price of £4.99 – whereupon Amazon quickly cut prices to match. These prices have prompted many people in the industry to feats of rhetorical self-flagellation. Industry insiders complained to The Bookseller about “ridiculously aggressive discounting” and asked “how can the book trade take itself seriously?”

Tim then proceeds to outline the economic thinking behind perfect competition and price wars:

Every retailer has to charge a mark-up to cover overheads, and faces a tension between the immediate pressures of competition and the need to stay in business. Every item sold, even at the tiniest mark-up, is better than no sale at all. Yet if the mark-ups are too thin, bankruptcy will not be far away.

In other words, perfect competition will drive down the price down to almost the marginal cost of the item.

It's always nice when you see theory in practice.

I have been typecast [Identity]

I AM Times New Roman.

Am I timeless or a snob? Or maybe both (MWF, TThSat, Sunday I rest). Take the quiz here to find out "What font are you?"

Boston

(c) emily sterne photography

Over the summer, Kelly and I got married in the Boston Public Gardens.  The entire week was put together in large part with the help of our friends.  Jen was able to recruit Emily Sterne to help photograph the special event.

You can read Jen's recount and emily's amazing photos.

Ethnography and Design [Innovation]

It's been a great couple days here at Berkeley. I'm constantly inundated with new ideas. I've been truly amazed at the ad hoc conversations that occur within the interstitial time between meetings and classes.

One topic that has gotten me really excited is the concept of design thinking. As once an aspiring graphic designer, I have always been fascinated with design. It is the last mile between us and utility.

One core component of design thinking centers around tying cultural analysis and ethnographic observation to create big "I" insights. The following is a great short video on how design thinking was used to design the future of sustainable fishing:


Design Ethnography from Central

HT: Youngandbrilliant

That's a good question... [lotd]

Lesson #4:  When someone responds, "That's a good question." That means that they don't have the answer at hand.

How Did Economists Get It So Wrong? [Economy]

Paul Krugman, let's it rip in the NY Times piece:

Few economists saw our current crisis coming, but this predictive failure was the least of the field’s problems. More important was the profession’s blindness to the very possibility of catastrophic failures in a market economy. During the golden years, financial economists came to believe that markets were inherently stable — indeed, that stocks and other assets were always priced just right. There was nothing in the prevailing models suggesting the possibility of the kind of collapse that happened last year. Meanwhile, macroeconomists were divided in their views. But the main division was between those who insisted that free-market economies never go astray and those who believed that economies may stray now and then but that any major deviations from the path of prosperity could and would be corrected by the all-powerful Fed. Neither side was prepared to cope with an economy that went off the rails despite the Fed’s best efforts.

Read the entire article here.

The long game [Lessons]

Lesson #3. It's all about constant and long-term vigilance. It's easy to say yes now, but can one follow through? 

Ideas should scale [Lessons]

Lesson#2: Insights do not scale. Ideas scale. Insights lend themselves to new ideas.  Build rapid prototype and explore the idea. Good ideas are not about specifications and therefore, scale.

From: 
Putting the People First: Human-Centered Poverty Alleviation.
Featured Speakers: Tim Brown, CEO, IDEO; Jacqueline Novogratz, CEO and Founder, Acumen Fund. Moderated by Stuart Davidson, Managing Partner, Labrador Ventures

Image Source: Tumitu Design

There was an easier way all along. [Lessons]

Lesson #1: Instead of a series of embedded “if statements” I can make histograms with a data analytics pack. The realization that hours of Xcel juggling for no good reason at all. Sometimes its easier to ask to challenge your previous assumptions. There may have been a faster way.

Image Source: wallyg

Independent v. Indie [Film]

Strong Bad, has a funny video differentiating the key traits of Independent vs. Indie films.

HT: MiracleMax

Bay Bridge [Bay Area Construction]

A portion of the bay bridge is undergoing seismic retrofits. Over the holiday, the bridge was completely shut down.  To compensate, BART has been running virtually 24-hours--a rare occurrence.

SFist writes:
Captin_nod put together this mesmerizing video featuring time-lapse photography of yesterday's ongoing Bay Bridge construction and the rising of last night's very lovely full moon.

You can also check out these Bay Bridge 360 live video cams all weekend.

In related news, SF Appeal reports that yesterday was BART's second highest day of ridership ever, and the transit agency has also apparently embraced social networking.

Joel Klein vs. New York City teachers [Rubber Room]

Interesting article about education in NYC and the Rubber Room. Joel Klein vs. New York City teachers: newyorker.com

Convert Evolution [iPhone App Design]

Tap tap tap has a short video taking us through their design iteration process. It's amazing the number of little tweaks that result in a highly consumable product.  When thinking about your processes, how often do you tweak them? How often do you iterate?



Convert Design Evolution from tap tap tap on Vimeo.

More info about Convert is at taptaptap.com/convert

SF's Lunch Bell [Routine]

Though born in SF, it wasn't until this year that I got a chance to really explore my hometown. At times, I still feel as if its a foreign country to me. As Xavier said in L'auberge Espagnole:

When you first arrive in a new city, nothing makes sense. Everythings unknown, virgin... After you've lived here, walked these streets, you'll know them inside out. You'll know these people. Once you've lived here, crossed this street 10, 20, 1000 times... it'll belong to you because you've lived there. That was about to happen to me, but I didn't know it yet.

Every Tuesday, at noon, air raid style sirens scream through San Francisco. According to the SF gov't website:, "Every Tuesday at noon, San Francisco tests the Outdoor Warning System. During the test the siren emits a 15 second alert tone."

Turns out there is a rich history behind the weekly event. It was created during the second world war as a civil defense measure. 72hours.org with the help of the SF Department of Emergency Management created a short two-minute clip that explains the genesis of the outdoor warning system and profiles Cesar Santos, the dispatcher who tests the Siren every Tuesday at Noon.

San Francisco is slowly becoming mine.

Online Marketplace for Directors [Online Film Festivals]

While living in DC, I was lucky to be part of a film festival. What continually amazes me is the depth and quality of amateur work out there. Given the high cost of making mass consumptive media (like movies and commercials), its no wonder that companies rarely bet on an unknown director.

Film festivals, especially the strappy small ones, seek to showcase emerging talent and their unique stories. For example, a Paris-based production company Mr. Hyde has launched The Hyde Tube, which provides an online venue for directors to have their work juried.

There are two things I like about the project:

• Creation of a Marketplace: Mr. Hyde, hopes that the Hyde Tube will becoming a marketplace where clients can find source new talent (and probably for a cheaper cost). In effect, Mr. Hyde is trying to remove the middlemen in the process--for a nice price"Clients will contact The Hyde Tube in order to pass on a project to a specific director, who is then free to decide whether or not to accept it. If accepted, the director will write a treatment or make an animated test within 3 to 5 days. For this work you will receive approximately 500€.

  If the client is happy with the treatment and decides that the director will make the film, The Hyde Tube will connect the director with the client, and Mr Hyde or one of its affiliate studios will oversee the production until the film delivery."

• Visualization of Content: With a reported 100 directors, I was deeply curious on how they were going to help clients scroll through all the content. The use of screenshots allow the clients to scan multiple aesthetics efficiently.
  

Volatile Organic Compounds [The Answer]

What is new car smell.

We all love it, is it because its an association with newness? Whatever the case, new car smell can now be yours (sans the volatile organic compound stuff).

If you go to a factory, you'll notice most people who assemble cars wear a mask. They have a mask because they're constantly made to smell that new-car smell. That smell is not necessarily healthy for you. Most of those odors are VOCs, volatile organic compounds.

- Paul Dan Schneider, VP of marketing for Chemical Guys.

Thanks answer fella!

From the Streets [Food]

Street food is all the rage--bulgogi @ L Street Vending cart in DC, Goat Cheese cake from the dessert truck in NYC, to papusa's @ the Brooklyn flea. It's exciting to see San Francisco with a growing and vibrant street food culture.

When I went to Laiola last week, I learned about the taco menu making its grand entrance today at the Ferry Building. So that's where I decided to grab lunch this Thursday. Tacolicious is simply that--tacos that are delicious. They offer three different types of tacos: steak, chicken and pork. My favorite is by far the chipotle-braised pork shoulder taco. (Confession, I love pork). When ordering, don't forget to help yourself to a generous squirt of one of three sauces. Sweet tomato is my fave.

Dripping with sauce and flavor, be careful when you eat it!

You also HAVE to try the grilled corn with an ancho-chili rub with lime. The lime offsets the super sweet corn. I know you're concerned; corn for lunch? What if I get corn stuck between my teeth? It's not going to go well with my 2 o'clock meeting. Maybe they'll offer toothpicks next Thursday. If not, I'm packing some floss just in case.

I'm so glad to welcome another fine addition to the Ferry Building. I can't wait to get myself a tacolicious Tshirt to show my support!


Tacolicious
1 Ferry Building
San Francisco, CA 94111

I went to the woods... [Outdoors]

“I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, To put to rout all that was not life and not when I had come to die Discover that I had not lived.”

-David Thoreau

Every year, my old college roommate and I get together for a little camping action. Last time I visited him in Texas. This year, it was my turn to put together a mini-expedition.

With the uncertainty behind the future of California State parks, I wanted to get my camping in. Through ReserveAmerica, I was able to reserve a slot at Butano State Park. It's only an hour north of Santa Cruz and the drive down the Cabrillo Highway is absolutely breathtaking. What's also great about the area is the number of must-see places.

Areas around include:

• Pigeon Point Light Station - Best visited during dawn or dusk for your best pics
  
• Año Nuevo SNR - Get there before 2:30PM to get a permit to get up close and personal with the elephant seals
• Santa Cruz - We never made it down there, but it's a beautiful beach town. Check out a google map of potential sites I made before the trip here.
• To Kiss or Not to kiss, the banana slug.
  

There is enough hiking in Butano to keep one occupied for an entire day. We left at 10AM and 6 hour later, looped through the entire valley on a 12-mile hike. Below are some pics I took from the trip, you can get more a more detailed look at the pics here.

Crabtastic [Thanh Long]

I came here for the first time because my friend had a cousin in town. Instead of taking him to Fisherman's wharf, we decided to do something different. We are so glad we came here. There's nothing like the bone breaking sound of crab while wearing a plastic bib.
Furthermore, the service is impeccable. I shall return!

Things to get:

• The Roast Crab is absolutely delectable. I'm not sure what the "secret spices" are, but mixed with the garlic, I was tempted to eat everything down to the shell.
• Garlic Noodles. There is a reason why everybody talks about it.
• Shaken Beef. Yummy.
• Soft Shell Crab. Yes, we couldn't get enough crab

Tip: We had a good ole time ordering drinks. Let me tell you, they are VERY heavy handed with their vodka.

Thanh Long
4101 Judah St
San Francisco, CA 94122
(415) 665-1146

The US Deficit

Megan McArdle of the Atlantic Monthly has an interesting post of the budget deficit. Read it here.

Twitter 101

I've been playing around with twitter the past couple months, but haven't been able to move beyond the inane, "I'm on a plane, stuck on the tarmac" tweets. While there has been an explosion of twitter accounts, few people truly generate content. However slow, I've been starting to explore more and more of what Twitter provides value for me:

1. Easier for me to follow people (Maybe I'm more a taker than a giver)
2. Twitter is my social networking gateway (I sms twitter which will automatically update my facebook and friendfeed accounts)

I've also noticed that while I "follow" 50 people, I truly only follow 15 people. Those 15 people tend to be people I've had personal connections with (@bryantng, @mcurren, @xenlogic). The other people I follow closely are CXO superstars like @padmasree and @stevecase.

For those of you who want to get in on the action too, but have been a bit too timid to test the waters, Infinite Thinking Machine cites a couple places to get you started:

1. Twitter in Plain English - a great video that explains Twitter in a nutshell
2. 7 Things You Should Know about Twitter -Educause publishes a series of excellent articles detailing new and emerging technologies.
3. Tweetdeck -Use this third party app to manage Twitter. It's much better than using the Twitter web interface.
4. TwitThis -Install this tool into your browser's toolbar so that you can share web sites on the fly as you surf.
5. Hootsuite -This is a great tool for managing multiple Twitter accounts. Try this out once you've mastered Twitter basics.

Arlington

I'm also sad that I gave up my VA drivers license for a CA one....

Before and After the Course [A16]

Having recently learned that Nate Appleman won this year's James Beard Award for Rising Star Chef, I decided to visit a second time. With an open kitchen and a remarkable staff, this is an ideal place for a date.

To the restaurants credit, there are some lean-forward dishes--burrata, salumi, and chocolate tart. With such great appetizers, I found that the main course had a hard time competing for my attention. I found myself looking forward to the beginning and ends of the meal.

Overall, A16 is a solid and dependable restaurant, but not a place that will blow your mind. My advice is to drop by for the bookends of your meal.

Things to order:

• Mozzarella Burrata. If you like cheese, you'll love these bite size pieces of heaven. Burrata is basically a mozzarella inside a mozzarella. It's fluffy, light, and absolutely delicious
• Salumi Sampler. Get a taste of Italy with a sample of their salumi.
• Chocolate tart with olive oil and sea salt. It's amazing what salt can do to a dish. A little bit of salt serves to reinforce and accentuate the flavor. The sea salt brings out the sweetness and flavor. As one who doesn't have a sweet tooth, I was amazed how much I ate of the shared dessert.
  

A-16 Restaurant
2355 Chestnut St
San Francisco, CA 94101
(415) 771-2216

A Third Toy Story [Pixar]

I remember when Toy Story came out on VHS. I watched it relentlessly for an entire summer. I had never seen digital animation as detailed before and it simply blew my mind.

Since then, I've becoming a loyal pixar fan; hungrily consuming each masterpiece. Well, it looks like June 18, 2010 will mark a third and most awesome Toy Story 3. Enjoy the preview.

What are you planning to do when you retire? [Retirement Activities]

Forgive me if this is common knowledge, but why is it that when people reach a certain status here in the bay area, they open up a winery?

Evidence?
Bam
Boom
Zing
Kapow

I wonder what I would do if I made it big. Open a winery? Ha.

Maybe open up a cheese shop, or a whiskey distillery. What would you do?

Driving Range Connections [Golf]

View Larger Map

What do you do when you're picking up someone at the airport and at the last minute, their flight gets delayed?

Well make sure to pack an club or two and drop by the Burlingame Golf Center. It's a lot better than cruising the airport or baking in the cellphone lot. Burlingame golf center is only 5 minutes away from the airport and worth checking out.

Be careful when looking for the place. The turn into the parking lot is right next to the 101 on ramp. I almost made an unnecessary loop the first time I went. On the flip side, it's great, because its insanely easy to get back onto the freeway for your airport pickup!

I dropped by the other day on a lark; I think I'll be going "early" from now on when I have to pick up somebody at the airport!

Burlingame Golf Center
250 Anza Blvd
Burlingame, CA 94010
(650) 548-2447

Slicing and Dicing [Van Gough]

German art historians posit that Vincent Van Gogh did not slice off his ear, but that Paul Gauguin accidentally sliced it up in a lively discussion about the very nature of art.

The story commonly told about Van Gogh's ear centers around Vincent's love for Rachel. When he gave it to Rachel, he told her to "keep this object carefully."

However, by analyzing the police reports of the event, some art historians now believe that Van Gogh was covering up for Gauguin.

The authors have re-examined contemporary police reports and surviving, second-hand accounts of witness statements, including contradictory declarations by Gauguin. They admit that final proof is lacking, and that the police investigation into a drunken brawl between two artists was half-hearted at best. Nonetheless, they say that all the evidence points to the fact that Gauguin accidentally sliced off his friend's ear.

The two men were arguing in the street, the authors believe, partly about their competing interest in Rachel but also about the correct way to paint. Van Gogh argued for painting from the life; Gauguin from the imagination. The French painter was threatening to leave for good, wrecking Van Gogh's dream of founding a utopian artists' colony in Arles. Gauguin, a keen amateur fencer, walked into the street with his luggage and his sword, the authors believe. Van Gogh pursued him. Gauguin brandished the sword in his friend's face to keep him at bay and accidentally cut off part of his ear. Van Gogh then staggered to Rachel's house and handed her the severed part.

After examining the evidence, [the authors] say that Gauguin contradicted himself several times and claimed to have seen events he could not have seen. Other witnesses suggest that Van Gogh provoked Gauguin and Gauguin attacked Van Gogh.

If true, I'm supremely impressed that Van Gough would take his secret to the grave. You can read Hans Kaufmann and Rita Wildegans' 392-page book (in German).

Source: The Independent

Tuning the News [Autotune the News]

You've probably already seen this, but just in case, I had to share it:

Biggie Smalls [IMAX FAIL]

There are a couple trends in this year's summer blockbuster movies. It's going to be in 3D and it's going in IMAX. Most of us think of IMAX in its traditional 60x80 foot screens. However, in a move that will invariably cause some blowback, IMAX is allowing its name on 25x58 feet screens. It's no small difference:



With 72 of the 138 "IMAX" screens are in the smaller size, there is going to be a good number of angry moviewatchers. Talk about brand dilution.

Actor/Writer Aziz Ansari, of Parks and Recreation, recently posted an angry, profanity-laden post about the bait and switch.

What is surprising is that the response from the CEO:

“The overwhelming majority of comments on that guy’s blog this morning, more than 90% of them, are vehemently disagreeing with him. And consumers are confirming this with their continued purchases of tickets.”

Read Aziz's response here.

The World Leaders' Facebook Group [Humor]

Sage Stossel, executive editor of The Atlantic Online, put together a facebook page for world leaders.

Legal Content for a Typically Illegal Channel [Legal Torrents]

BitTorrent, is a popular P2P protocol used to share a large amount of data. It's a great way to download and share data quickly and efficiently. Its primary usage is to share/download illegal content. With a judge recently found Piratebay, a huge index of BT content, guilty of copyright infringement,* and countries cracking down and making arrests,

This is very unfortunate because it's such a great channel. LegalTorrents, is one of the few places trying to turn the tide. Their content is open-license (Creative Commons) and the control over the torrents are held by the site. Check it out and see what legal content is available for your consumptive pleasure!

* Note, there's been some recent controversy over the case (namely the judge is a member ofthe Swedish Copyright Association and the Swedish Association for Industrial Legal Protection).

A Peephole into the White House [Voyeurism]

The White House now has an official White House flickr stream. If you can't enough of Barack, Bo, Michelle, and the rest of the White House party, check out the stream.

I'm curious, does the White House have to pay the $24.95 for a flickr pro account? Or can they buy a bulk 4 year subscription fee?

OLED [Technology]

You may have already seen Nokia's concept nano phone. Turns out that we may see something like that sooner than we think.

Check out the Youtube video of Sony's full-color OLED:


Source: JMG-galleries

May Beats [2009 Playlist]

Well, I can't believe how fast its been, but I've just completed three months in California. Something about the sun or maybe the food, but my tastes but at my April 2009 list, I've realized that I'm become more mainstream. My eclectic tastes from the margin seem to becoming the main.

I rather be open and host then try to built "indie" cred. That is why I've included guilty pleasures like Lady Gaga (please don't gag, I am trying to be completely honest here).

So, with that disclaimer, I present you with my April list:

1. MGMT - Kids Oracular: It's thick, its uplifting, its fun. I can't help but continue to bring MGMT back to my list.
   
2. Lady Gaga - Just Dance (Trevor Simpson Radio Edit): I don't know why I like this song. But its uplifting and full of energy.
   
3. A.R. Rahman - Paper Airplanes (DFA Remix): From the slumdog millionaire soundtrack. I started listening to MIA after her kick-ass performance at the grammys.
4. *The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name (LA Riots Remix): More mindless club-type remixes. It has a tinge of Yelle and some Darude blended together.
5. Company of Thieves - Pressure: Taking it down a couple notches, company of thieves is a Chi-town band. A little indie, a little alt rock makes a great song.
   
6. Death Cab For Cutie - A Diamond and A Tether: We all know death cab for cutie... and I love 'em. 'Nuff said.
   
7. *Elke - Blue Dream Lover (Christopher Robin Walkthrough): Thanks to the Internets, I'm discovering a ton of Australian bands. Electrorash has a couple of their remixes of their EP.
   
8. INXS - Never Tear Us Apart: Can I call this a classic? I find this song most impactful when during my bart ride home with the sun setting as I zip through Oakland. Yeah, sometimes we all want to live a pop song life.
   
9. Janelle Monáe - You Are My Everything: I found a copy of an unreleased version floating around the Internet. Very simple background, which accentuates her beautiful voice.
   
10. Jeniferever - The Sound of Beating Wings: Nothing like a little atmospheric post-rock ambiance to round out the top ten list.
    

* Click for download

In This Downturn, Google Hires Goats [Environment]

Over the weekend, I went up to Sonoma for winetasting. On the way back, I learned that Google hires goats on a monthly basis to trim the lawn.

The LA Times flushes it out LA Unleashed today:

When fields at the company's Mountain View headquarters needed brush and weeds cleared to reduce the fire hazard, it was decided that a herd of goats would be rented rather than using gasoline-powered mowers.

California Grazing provided approximately 200 goats, which spent about a week on the job. Not only did the animals clear the area, but they also fertilized it as well.

"It costs us about the same as mowing, and goats are a lot cuter to watch than lawn mowers," Google director of real estate and workplace services Dan Hoffman wrote in a posting on the company's official blog.

Read more here.

Milk and Honey in the Heartland [Chicago Food]

Last week, I went back to Chicago to visit K. While I <3 SF, a part of me is a bit sad that I won't be spending another summer in Chicago.

I find it always refreshing to be back in the heartland of Chicago, where the portions are.. well.. hearty. I've always wanted to check out Milk and Honey over on Division whiled I lived there. But, every time I walked passed it during the weekend, it was brimming with people.

Given the fact that its cafeteria style, hunting down seating is always rare when the place is full. I got a chance to check it out last week. The weather was a bit brisk, but warm when sitting outside--like San Fransico. K ordered the Crabcake with Chipotle Mayo and Shredded Lettuce. There was a nice kick thanks to the Chipotle mayo. I got the grilled Pastrami and swiss with horseradish-mustard spread on Dark Rye.

All is all, a great place to brunch!

Milk and Honey Cafe
1920 W. Division Street
Chicago, IL 60622
773.395.9434

The Mile High High Wi Fi Club [Southwest Wi-Fi]

I'm on my way down to San Diego, CA for a couple days. We originally had plans to check out a couple places on the border, but given the current flu concerns, my plans have shifted a bit.

What is exciting, is the fact that I'm currently at cruising altitude writing this. I'm pretty stoked. For an hour flight, that means that I can be connected to all of you for another 45 minutes or so.

I've posted a screenshot of the landing page immediately after connecting to wi-fi. It's a bit busy, but there are a couple gems above the fold.

1. Updated Flight Information - The bar above the map shows your progress. Hovering over it allows you to read ETA, speed, and estimated time of arrival
   
2. Weather @ Destination - 'Nuff said. Always important
   
3. Trip Planner - The rest of the items are dedicated to helping you explore the city. From top recommendations to upcoming events.

I just learned how to perform a screenshot for a mac, but not sure how to add bubbles to highlight the image. Suggestions?

Now, if only they had an outlet for me to charge my laptop...

Update: As I start to descend, I wanted to provide a quick update on the speed. The speed is definitely a lot faster than I would've thought. Mind you, back in 2000 when I was working at a startup in Boston, we had 3 computers sharing a dialup connection. This is significantly faster. I was hoping to get in a hulu test. I was able to clock it via rietta and here are the results:

Start Time:	1240876274630
End Time:	1240876275271
Download Time:	0.641
Data Size:	508.466796875
Raw Speed:	793.2399327223088
KBPS:	6472.8
K BYTES/s:	793.2

Aged Well in Berkeley [Cheese]

The great thing about being in the bay area is the communal aspect of food. I was reading through Corby Kummer's earlier articles and came across an article on cheeses. There's a sidebar on Artisan cheeses. Lucky me, Corby highlights Cheeseboard Collective in Berkeley.

Can't wait!

Image Source: Marxfoods.com

Do Re Mi [Choreographed Flash Mobs]

I went to my first Bring Your Own Big Wheels (BYOBW) event last weekend on potrero hill and left a happy, happy customer. While there, I heard of DJ Amandeep Jawa's Flash Dance events (Flash Mob + Dance Party).

View Larger Map

SF seems a bit zany and irreverent. I can't wait till I get a tweet from deepasaurus for the next dance party.

On a related tangent, have you seen what happened at Antwerp's Central Train Station in Belgium:

Barefoot Coffee Roasters [Coffee Shops]

Within miles of strip mall deserts, Barefoot Coffee Roasters is an oasis of different between a sleep train and a bed, bath, and beyond.
Barefoot is an "artisan" coffee shop. For a premium you get a dose of fair trade coffee with a dash of creativity.

I visited it over a weekend afternoon and found the staff really helpful in helping me navigate through the unique menu. He readily walked through each item. In the end, I settled with the "whim," which put my taste buds squarely in the hands of the barista.

While I'm not sure it's advisable to take off your shoes and prop 'em on a table, it's definitely a nice place to go with friends and catch-up.

Maybe I'll go back down during another weekend to check out their coffee and tea tasting classes.

Barefoot Coffee Roasters
5237 Stevens Creek Blvd
Santa Clara, CA 95051
(408) 248-4500

Google Map

Image Source: Bradley Allen

Obama and Me [Presidential Similarities]

It's nice to see that Obama is also a bit depressed that BSG is now over. Maybe I can pick up gardening.

The 2009 Grub List [SF Eats]

If you don't know me already, you should know that I like to eat. Having recently moved from Chicago to the bay area, it's hard to figure out what to check out and where to eat. Currently, I've been following my gut instinct (no pun intended).

I've been seeking comfort food, or food I grew up with. That translates to Japanese food (predominately ramen), Chinese food (Taiwanese and Schezuan), and fried chicken. Having satiated that innate desire, I've recently venture out of my warm, comfortable center. Earlier this week, I went to check out Hog Island Oyster Company. I went for the $1 oyster happy hour. Turns out, it's Monday/Thursday, not Monday-Thursday. Dash, slash... eh... what's the difference? Well, about $1.25.

I've decided to follow the recommendations of the 400+ judges who make up the James Beard Foundation. There are a couple restaurants that have made the semi-final round. Here is a list of a couple categories, with local restaurants highlighted. I've already made reservations for next week at A16. If you're interested for a 6pm seating on Wednesday, let me know!

Outstanding Chef
José Andrés, Minibar, Washington, D.C.
Dan Barber, Blue Hill, NYC
Tom Colicchio, Craft, NYC
Suzanne Goin, Lucques, Los Angeles
Vincent Guerithault, Vincent on Camelback, Phoenix
Sam Hayward, Fore Street, Portland, ME
Jean Joho, Everest, Chicago
Paul Kahan, Blackbird, Chicago
Barbara Lynch, No. 9 Park, Boston
Michael Mina, Michael Mina, San Francisco
Tamara Murphy, Brasa, Seattle
Scott Peacock, Watershed, Decatur, GA
Charles Phan, The Slanted Door, San Francisco
Stephan Pyles, Stephan Pyles, Dallas
Anne Quatrano, Bacchanalia, Atlanta
Ana Sortun, Oleana, Cambridge, MA
Frank Stitt, Highlands Bar & Grill, Birmingham, AL
Marc Vetri, Vetri, Philadelphia
Janos Wilder, Janos, Tucson, AZ
Michael Smith, Restaurant Michael Smith, Kansas City, MO

OUTSTANDING RESTAURANT
Alan Wong’s Restaurant, Honolulu
Babbo, NYC
Bacchanalia, Atlanta
Bern’s Steak House, Tampa, FL
Blackbird, Chicago
Boulevard, San Francisco
Brigtsen’s, New Orleans
Delfina, San Francisco
Everest, Chicago
Fore Street, Portland, ME
Greens, San Francisco
Hamersley's Bistro, Boston
Higgins Restaurant and Bar, Portland, OR
Highlands Bar & Grill, Birmingham, AL
Jean Georges, NYC
Kinkead’s, Washington, D.C.
Lucia’s Restaurant, Minneapolis
Magnolia Grill, Durham, NC
Sanford, Milwaukee
Vidalia, Washington, D.C.

Outstanding Restaurant
Animal, Los Angeles
The Bazaar by José Andrés at SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills, Los Angeles
Bottega, Yountville, CA
Camino, Oakland, CA
Cork, Washington, D.C.
Corton, NYC
Distrito, Philadelphia
Django, Des Moines, IA
Emilitsa, Portland, ME
Feast, Houston
Holeman and Finch Public House, Atlanta
Hungry Mother, Cambridge, MA
Izakaya at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, Atlantic City, NJ
L2O, Chicago
Merriman’s Kapalua, Maui, Lahaina, HI
Momofuku Ko, NYC
Noca, Phoenix
Palate Food & Wine, Glendale, CA
Poppy, Seattle
Raku, Las Vegas
Richard Chen Pittsburgh
Scarpetta, NYC
Spinasse, Seattle
Sra. Martinez, Miami
Tei An, Dallas
Trattoria Lucca, Charleston, SC
Volt, Frederick, MD
Zahav, Philadelphia

RISING STAR CHEF OF THE YEAR
Nate Appleman, A16, San Francisco
Sean Brock, McCrady's, Charleston, SC
Aaron Deal, Tristan, Charleston, SC
Sonja Finn, Dinette, Pittsburgh
Evan Funke, Rustic Canyon Wine Bar and Seasonal Kitchen, Santa Monica, CA
Vannessa Garcia, Restaurant Charlie at the Palazzo, Las Vegas
Kevin Gillespie, Woodfire Grill, Atlanta
Will Gilson, Garden at the Cellar, Cambridge, MA
Sarah Kosikowski, Michael Mina at Bellagio, Las Vegas
Jackson Kramer, Interim Restaurant & Bar, Memphis
Travis Lett, Gjelina, Venice, CA
Jonathan McDonald, Pub & Kitchen, Philadelphia
Johnny Monis, Komi, Washington, D.C.
Dave Racicot, Lautrec at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, Farmington, PA
Charles “Chip” Roman, Blackfish, Conshohocken, PA
Gabriel Rucker, Le Pigeon, Portland, OR
Justin Schoville, Söntés, Rochester, MN
Ryan Skeen, Irving Mill, NYC
Michael Solomonov, Zahav, Philadelphia
Sameh Wadi, Saffron Restaurant & Lounge, Minneapolis
Rachel Yang, Joule, Seattle
Sue Zemanick, Gautreau's, New Orleans

BEST CHEF: PACIFIC
Gino Angelini, Angelini Osteria, Los Angeles
James Boyce, Studio at Montage Laguna Beach, Laguna Beach, CA
Michael Cimarusti, Providence, Los Angeles
Josiah Citrin, Mélisse, Santa Monica, CA
Chris Cosentino, Incanto, San Francisco
Jeremy Fox, Ubuntu, Napa, CA
Hiroshi Fukui, Hiroshi Eurasion Tapas, Honolulu
Bev Gannon, Joe’s, Wailea, HI
Quinn Hatfield, Hatfield’s, Los Angeles
Douglas Keane, Cyrus, Healdsburg, CA
Loretta Keller, Coco500, San Francisco
David Kinch, Manresa, Los Gatos, CA
Chris Kobayashi, Artisan, Paso Robles, CA
Christopher Kostow, The Restaurant at Meadowood, St. Helena, CA
Peter Merriman, Merriman’s, Waimea, HI
David Myers, Sona, Los Angeles
Daniel Patterson, Coi, San Francisco
Gayle Pirie and John Clark, Foreign Cinema, San Francisco
Craig Strong, The Dining Room at the Langham, Pasadena, CA
Jason Travi, Fraîche, Culver City, CA

Read the entire list of nominees here.

Econoland [Economist Theme Park]

In tough economic times, it's always refreshing to hear of companies who are able to capitalize on the environment. According to their website, "The Economist Group is delighted to announce the development of a public-entertainment facility that combines the magic of a theme park with the excitement of macroeconomics."

Among the different attractions, rides include:

• The currency high-roller: Float like a butterfly with the euro and drop like a stone with the pound!
  
• Chamber of horrors:Fiscal fantasyland: Watch the economy shrivel before your very eyes as you struggle to stop growth falling!
  
• The Severe Contest: Try your strength against a bear market!

Let's just hope its an April fools joke.

Little Red Riding Hood [Animated Fables]

In the age of information, people expect to be able to take a deep dive at any point in time. I can't tell you how many times bets are settled by accessing wikipedia via my mobile phone.

Tomas Nilsson created a 3 minute reinterpretation of Little Red Riding Hood for a (Swedish) university class project.

Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did:



HT: Thingamababy

Executive March Madness [Obama's Picks]

Chris Good from the Atlantic breaks down Obama's NCAA bracket. Key takeaways:

• UNC wins
• Obama is conservative and plays it safe
  

You can read the breakdown in bracketology here.

Refrigerator Magnetic Essays [Outsourcing]

In a globalized, frictionless, or flat economy has led to outsourcing on anything and everything. Tim Ferriss claims that you can "escape 9-5, live anywhere, and join the new rich," in his 4-Hour Workweek book.

So I'm not surprised to see that outsourcing essay writing has become a global affair. I recall a friend of mine who had one of her essays "contributed" to an essay bank. She didn't know how it got there, but evidently, somebody had made got compensated for her essay.

The Chronicle of Higher Education peels away at these Essay Mills to reveal something that is both sophisticated, global, and very profitable.

In a previous era, you might have found an essay mill near a college bookstore, staffed by former students. Now you'll find them online, and the actual writing is likely to be done by someone in Manila or Mumbai. Just as many American companies are outsourcing their administrative tasks, many American students are perfectly willing to outsource their academic work.

What's going on behind the scenes, however, is another story.

The address listed on the site is in Reston, Va. But it turns out that's the address of a company that allows clients to rent "virtual office space" — in other words, to claim they're somewhere they're not.

Check out the rest of the article here.

Google + Sony = Goony [Ebooks]

I'm still reading Abe's writings on my Sony ebook reader. As of tonight, I'm on page 943 of 3,000 3,972.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Google has been steadily scanning books in the public domain.

And now, Google is making 500,000 of the books, unprotected by copyright, available for free on Sony's ebook store. Now all I need to do is read the remaining 3,000 pages to see what is in store for me.

Home of the Archives [Newspaper Archives]

With newspapers discontinuing their print editions to move online. Slate explainer, answers a question that I have been wondering:

What Happens to the Archives of Defunct Newspapers?

Surprisingly, "the competing newspaper typically absorbs the assets." I would've never thought of that...

Simple Startups [Entrepreneurship]

Source: brooklyn

Business Pundit, identifies a couple fortune 500 companies that were able to build organically. For a lot of people, their natural inclination is to run towards venture capital. We sometimes forget that companies like Coors or Whole Foods were able to build a business organically.

Read the profiles here.

How not to interview [sesame street]

Being a producer for a show isn't as easy at it seems. Check out what happens when Ricky Gervais and Elmo go waaay off.

Go K! [Pride]

So while K is out in Chicago, she's been making big waves. Most recently, she's been at the Renaissance Society at University of Chicago, where she has helping with their digital strategy.

But it seems like her work at UIC's Gallery 400 is still getting play. First, there was her soundbite on Chicago's own WBEZ for her show.

But just the other day, she got a shout out in ArtNet Magazine. In an article called "Chicago Buildup," they profile her handiwork.

Tear. I'm so proud!

Woot!

Like many people out there, I have a hidden dream of being a photographer. I've posted a couple of my pics in my flickr account. I've even tried to participate in the flickr community by submitting my pics for review--typically with ego-bruising results. I personally love the picture, but maybe that's cuz I'm a bit biased because of the model. ;P

However, every once in a while, I'm always surprised at people who find my pics and include them into their sites.

For example, Word Press magazine, included a picture I took at the Chicago Air and Water Show. I've included it to the right. Check out the original.

Who would've thought a picture of mine would be used for a post about word press themes.

I always thought that my pictures would be used in places like here, here, and here.

And that's the beauty of the Internet. The randomness and the asynchronous nature of putting something out there for the community to pick-up on.

Airplane Films [Movie Reviews]

I've been flying around a lot and consequently have been force fed a series of films. Unfortunately, I'm sad to say that none of them were terribly inspiring. I did, however, get to see Milk in the Castro last week. To watch a film and then spill into the street where it all took place was both emotional and inspirational.

Here are a couple reviews:

Milk
Harvey Milk's journey
film story crescendoes, arcs
Sean and Josh connect
[4/5]

Burn after Reading
Cohens take DC
web of intrigue, spooks, ego
Ridiculous quirk
[2.5/5]

Sixty Six
Boy vies for a nod
Bar Mitzvah on World Cup Day
Bit Cheesy, Stirring
[2.2/5]

Flash of Genius
Ford steals invention
Author draws line, fights machine
standard biopic
[2.1/5]

The Day The Earth Stood Still
Is man destructive?
Keanu decides man's fate
So predictable
[2.0/5]

The Long Shot
Cube coaches football
Girl inspires team as QB
Too many cliches
[1/5]

It's Political Sushi [Oddities]

My friend Marie sent me a link to this. Evidently there's a guy rolling sushi rolls in the splitting image of Obama.

I guess it's suppose to be an homage, but seems a bit weird to me... Its interesting what they choose to highlight as MyBO's key features...

How to be smarter [Exercise Your Brain]

Given that I've left the corporate world to join the startup world, I've been reading up on how to be more creative, more active, and more curious. In short, how to sharpen the mind and be smarter.

I came across this 2007 Wired article by Joshua Green. In short, here are a couple items that Josh tried to sharpen his noodle:

• Eat well, especially during breakfast
• Get a full nights rest
• Shower blind
• Brush your teeth with the opposite hand
• Blast Mozart
• Drink Coffee
• Engage in "Neurobics"

Source: Wired

Wuthering Abe [Books]

There are plenty of books that are worth reading and since the invention of the book, there's been a constant stream of must-reads. A couple months ago I decided to go old school and hit the classics. In Chicago, my commute from Wicker Park to West Loop took about 40 minutes.

So I decided to decidate about 80 minutes a day to read the classics. I started off with Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights.

I must confess. For five weeks, I never got very far in the book. Call me unlearned and ignorant but I couldn't get into the book. Maybe it's the environment by which I was trying to read, or maybe I'm not into fiction these days. Whatever the case, it was/has been a mighty struggle.

I'm just grateful I didn't try to start of with a Tolstoy story. Two days ago, I gave up. The fact that I am now in a new city, my commute almost doubled (about an 70 minutes) and still not able to make significant progress in the book was very disconcerting.

I am ashamed that I can't finish such a heralded classic. I will learn to accept the fact that I can't appreciate Wuthering Heights and will try again later on (or so I tell myself).

I've since tried to put it behind me and have started to reading the Writings of Abraham Lincoln. His bicentennial birthday and my picking up the book is pure coincidence--though for a brief minute I pondered if it was fate that brought us together.

My confidence in the ability to consume pre-21st century material has been renewed. I am tearing through it.

Thumbs up to Honest Abe and Thumbs down to the Heathcliff and Catherine.

Contact Solution [Contact List Management]

By Teo

I'm a happy user of the HTC Touch PDA from Sprint. I was able to receive both my personal mail and my work mail. Unfortunately, right before my flight out to California this past Saturday, my phone decided to wipe all of its contacts along with it. Let me tell you, don't play with your contact list right before the plane takes off--You'll spend much of the flight wondering how to get your contact list back.

Luckily, I had exported my outlooks contact list in a CSV file. So began, over the last couple days, my journey to sync up all my contacts. I've tried plaxo but was never happy with it. It constantly crashed my outlook and create tons of duplicates. I found it unfriendly and inconvenient.

Add to the mix that K and I now have a MacBook... (We're supposed to share it, but since my vaio died on me, i'm the primary user...thanks k!).

I've been trying to figure out how to get the Outlook CSV file, Mac Address Book, Gmail, and my HTC phone to sync. If you know if an elegant solution, let me know.

At first, I found an interesting hack on lifehacker. At first it didn't work, but after I linked my ipod to the mac (the ipod syncs to my pc desktop). Course, as a new mac user, I'm not terribly crazy about editing my plist. I'm afraid of breaking things.

But then I cam across Soocial. It's still in beta right now, but so far, I'm a fan. Given how volatile these betas are, Soocial saves a back-up of your contact list and even sends you a copy via gmail. It even identifies doubles for you and allows your to merge them. Take that, plaxo!

The merge process is a bit slow, but I'm more than happy to give soocial some time to prove itself to me.

So one day later, how far have I come? My old CSV contact file that was synced to my phone is now living in my Mac addressbook and gmail. But my phone still has no numbers.

It's all about baby steps.

Lessons learned?
Windows XP desktop + Windows Mobile + macbook + iPod that can't decide if it wants to sync to a pc or mac = headache