:: Al Abut ::

Here's Why You Need An iPad

2010-02-13T00:57:00.001-08:00

Credit: Joi Ito

Because for many geeks, their travel bags look something like this hideous mess. An iPad and iPhone can replace 90% of this crap, including the laptop and light reading.

Hagia Sophia Without Scaffolding!

2010-02-10T10:41:00.001-08:00

“Well, almost. In fact the mass of girders and planks which for 17 years have almost managed to detract from the awesomeness of the ancient cathedral’s central space are much reduced and moved towards the rear. In their place we can see the extraordinary and recently-discovered cherubim on the North-East dome-support, and generally get more sense of the incredible vastness of the structure. The reconfiguration ought to last all year, as part of the 2010 Capital of Culture project, which is trying to enhance visitors’ experience while injecting energy into the ongoing restoration work.”

From the cornucopia.net travel website.

A foreigner's view: the Hagia Sophia was my wife's favorite landmark from our Turkish honeymoon last year, even with all the scaffolding. It's massive and awe-inducing - it definitely makes an impression. I'd love to see it again now that they've moved the restoration equipment around to reveal new artwork.

Here's what one section without the scaffolding looks like:

Credit: Wikipedia

Walking around Ocean Beach with Cosmo

2010-02-06T11:33:00.001-08:00

(posted via email)

Apple's New iPad Includes A Kickstand

2010-01-27T12:26:00.001-08:00

Check out Apple's site for more pictures and a slick 7 minute video on the new tablet computer:
http://www.apple.com/ipad/

(posted via email)

Walking around Mission Dolores

2010-01-24T01:16:00.001-08:00

I love how freshly rain-scrubbed the streets were while walking Cosmo and picking up breakfast from Katz Bagels this morning.

Looking east down 16th Street towards Valencia

Credit: Wikipedia

According to the Wikipedia entry, the Mission San Francisco de Asís is the oldest surviving structure in San Francisco.

The Artist-Xchange Gallery has some interesting stuff in the windows.

Where Giants Dance and Crash in Japan

2010-01-21T04:35:00.001-08:00

Credit: Ko Sasaki for The New York Times

Sumo wrestlers performing the opening ceremony on Jan. 11 at a tournament at the Kokugikan, Japan’s national sumo stadium in Tokyo.

As amazing as my trip to Japan was a few years ago, I didn't get to do two things: watch sumo wrestling or eat sushi. The sushi part is especially embarrassing to admit - it's like going to Germany and not having beer or schnitzels - but I was so busy eating all the other types of regional Japanese food that I'd never heard of.

Credit: Jpatokal

Monjayaki before cooking, with mentaiko (cod roe) and shiso (perilla).

I'm going to rectify both of those things the next time I go and yes, I will definitely go again - it was one of the most unexpectedly beautiful places I've ever been.

More pictures of sumo wrestling below are from a travel article in the New York Times.

Credit: Ko Sasaki for The New York Times

Wrestlers stand by for bouts that are usually over in a matter of seconds.

Credit: Ko Sasaki for The New York Times

Each tournament lasts 15 days, with the lowest-ranking entrants beginning competition at 8:30 in the morning. The audience grows as the day progresses, with the top two divisions competing from midafternoon until around 6 in the evening.

Credit: Ko Sasaki for The New York Times

Championship sumo tournaments are held six times a year, rotating among Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka.

Credit: Ko Sasaki for The New York Times

A spectator eats pickled vegetables from a lunch box.

Credit: Ko Sasaki for The New York Times

Sumo figurines for sale at a stadium gift shop.

(posted via email)

Color theory - quick reference poster

2010-01-21T03:35:00.001-08:00

A poster for a typical color wheel, with a focus on explaining basic design choices (like cool vs warm colors) to non-designers. Higher resolution and PDF versions are available at:

http://www.paper-leaf.com/blog/2010/01/color-theory-quick-reference-poster/

(posted via email)

James Leland's amazing photos

2010-01-19T07:03:00.001-08:00

Take a look at these gorgeous pics by my friend James - the man has an amazing eye.

I could go through these all day. Check out more on his site:
http://jamesleland.com

(posted via email)

Apple to Show Off Its ‘Latest Creation’ Next Week

2010-01-18T22:42:00.001-08:00

"Unless you’ve been living on another, Internet-deprived planet for the last year or so, you’ve probably got a pretty good idea what this is likely to be: the unveiling of Apple’s long-awaited, breathlessly hyped tablet computer. The device promises to hasten the extinction of paper, solidify Apple’s advantages in the mobile computing market, cure hunger and finally broker a peace between Jay and Conan."

From the New York Times:
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/18/apple-sends-out-invitations-for-a-product-unveiling/?em

Clinton and Bush team up to aid Haiti

2010-01-18T06:36:00.001-08:00

Former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush walk toward the Rose Garden at the White House.

From an article in the New York Times, Obama asked former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W Bush to lead private-sector fundraising:

"We should never forget the damage done and the lives lost, but we have a chance to do things better than we once did; be a better neighbor than we once were; and help the Haitian people realize their dream for a stronger, more secure nation."

They answered the call by creating The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund and pledging that 100% of donations go to relief efforts.

(found via John Gruber and posted via email)

Link from @smashingmag on branding

2010-01-16T13:46:00.001-08:00

A basic overview yet good overview of all the bases you need to cover when coming up with a brand identity from scratch.

Smashing Magazine (@smashingmag)
1/16/10 12:39 PM
5 Branding Basics Every Logo Designer Should Know - http://bit.ly/4ZiLgb

You need a good product more than you need a good brand but having both together can be a potent combination. I just saw a duo last night on Shark Tank that nailed a deal because of an awesome yellow monkey logo to go with their ingenious new hand cleaning product.

(posted via email)

Your Official Invitation to Become a Bollywood Producer

2010-01-16T04:02:00.001-08:00

Holy cow! Literally!

Check out what my friend Tyler's been up to - he's in India turning a friend into Bollywood box office sensation and making a documentary about it along the way. How rad is that?

Begin forwarded message:

From: Tyler MacNiven
Date: January 15, 2010 11:52:25 PM PST

I am breathing in hot steam clouds of chai tea from the street stall next door. The rumbling of 2-stroke rickshaw engines fills my head. I don't remember the last time I changed my tshirt. A street dog is gnawing at my ankle. This is Mumbai, India.

Here's the thing..

Deep down within each of us is a Bollywood music video producer clawing to get out. Your fascination with over-sized sunglasses, running around trees in the rain, and breaking into spontaneous song and dance at the dinner table...is no accident. Close your eyes as you read this email, and imagine that special place in your heart that yearns to leap through fields of technicolor tulips dressed in over sized yellow saris wearing lavender lip gloss. Take a deep breath. Yes, it is time. You are ready. Ready to become a Bollywood music video producer.

Some close friends and I have been in Mumbai, India for the last 5 weeks working on a documentary called Big in Bollywood. We are tracking the success of our actor pal Omi as moves from Hollywood Zero to Bollywood Hero. He stars in the recently released film 3 Idiots, which has smashed all box office records and become the largest grossing Bollywood film in history. When Omi landed in India a month ago he was just your average Jaihoe. Now, only three weeks later, he can't walk down the street without fans circling him to snap cell phone pictures and shake his hand. It is truly a remarkable moment in Indian cinema, and we have had our cameras rolling from the start.

We intend for this documentary to be your introduction to Bollywood, and the only natural way to end our film is with an over-the-top Bollywood-style music video featuring us. We've already had the song composed by some talented local artists. For several thousand dollars we can arrange a full production outfit with onset location at an insane James Bond-villain mansion, crew, crane, costumes, and a dozen backup dancers...and shoots it this weekend! This is where your internal Bollywood producer wakes up. You can open your eyes now. We are asking our friends and family for $20 each to help produce the next Bollywood hit. I know I'd pay 20 bucks to see you embarrass yourself in a Bollywood dance number. Would you do the same?

Here's a video plea if you need more convincing: http://www.youtube.com/user/iambillbowles?feature=chclk#p/a/u/0/Ur2amKT8SK0

click here to go to our paypal donation page. (note: the money gets sent to Bill Bowles)

Many thanks in advance! You're internal producer can confidently sport those over-sized Italian sunglasses now.

India says hello, and the dog at my ankle growls its regards.

Chicken tikka masala!

love always
Tyler

again....click here to go to our paypal donation page. (and if you're not seeing this email til Monday...it's not too late to donate!)

(posted via email)

Cosmo and Coco

2010-01-16T03:44:00.001-08:00

I'm so lucky I got this on tape - it's literally the first time Cosmo (the little white one) ever played with another dog in his short life. This happened about a month ago at SF Puppy Prep in SOMA, after about three visits. We were so worried about whether Cosmo would ever get socialized! It's changed his attitude ever since from a shy quivering mess into a confident little dude that thinks he's six feet tall :) and now it's hard for us to remember him as any other way.

I cannot recommend SF Puppy Prep highly enough and tell all my friends about them - it's like magic, like I got a whole new dog!

http://sfpuppyprep.com

(posted via email)

Cosmo napping in Yesi's lap

2010-01-15T22:18:00.001-08:00

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Pretty much his favorite thing to do is sleep in Yesi's lap while she's wearing pajamas. Lucky for him, this is going to be a three day weekend!

(posted via email)

Tesla Model S

2010-01-15T21:50:00.001-08:00

I cannot wait for this thing to be in my garage, especially now that I read on Autoblog that Tesla's working with the government to create battery-changing stations for long distance trips. I'd love to skip the airport during the holidays and zip between SF, LA and SD in a nice quiet electric car instead.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

(posted via email)

Al's Low Carb And Gooey Eggplant Parmesan Recipe

2009-01-13T06:42:00.000-08:00

Last night, I tried an experiment and made up my own recipe for eggplant parmesan, and afterwards, made a couple of friends curious with this status update on twitter and facebook: "proud to have scored a perfect 10 (not my words!) on tonight's dinner, so maybe I should publish the secret recipe I invented :)"

So here it is! Warning, this may be low-carb but extremely buttery.

Ingredients:

eggplant (duh)
parmesan (DUH)
butter
pepper or cracked pepper
provolone
fresh mozzarella (the real stuff - you know, the kind you see sitting in plastic tubs of liquid over by the rest of the fancy cheeses. string cheese does not count!)
two tomatoes (go for the yellow kind if you can find it, it's super sweet and firm)
optional: one of those big bags of broccoli and cauliflower and the ziplock steam bags

Directions:

First, you take an eggplant, cut it into big thick horizontal rings (like burger patties) and pan fry or saute them in boatloads of butter and cracked pepper. The eggplant's really good about absorbing all of that butter, so it's hard to burn it, but still keep an eye out. Takes just a few minutes.

At the same time, fire up the oven to 350 degrees. Or, if you want that San Francisco tiny apartment feeling and would like to replicate my exact setup - fire up the toaster oven.

As if you didn't have enough to do, warm up some marina on a different little sauce pan. Try to pick the kind w/ less than 5 grams of carbs - it's usually the fancy-actually-Italian kind, not the Americanized Ragu and all of their extra added sugar. But even the Italian stuff isn't good enough, so we've got to doctor it up a bit. The secret is to mix in some parmesan (it thickens it up) and to add your own herbs, like oregano - the stock stuff straight out of the can is made to appeal to absolutely everybody and is therefore a bit average, not quite spicy enough. A former coworker of mine mentioned some super-insulated relatives in the midwest that consider spaghetti to be ethnic food - don't be these people, make it tasty.

Bonus points for NPR nerds: watch this video of Malcolm Gladwell speaking at TED and explaining the art & science behind making spaghetti sauce for the mass marketplace. Do not do said video watching while cooking. Or go ahead, I won't be liable for your kitchen burning down.

One more thing to do while Our Friend The Eggplant is still doing God's work by absorbing every last drop of butter: cut the tomatoes and mozzarella into thick rings also.

Once the eggplant rings are nice and soft, here comes the construction project. Put down a cooking sheet on a baking tray and carpet bomb a layer of Pam onto the fucker like you're going to fumigate the place. Then, layer in rings of eggplant with different ingredients sandwiched in, like so: eggplant, mozzarella, eggplant, tomato, eggplant, provolone, eggplant, etc. That's probably as high as you can go, about 3-5 layers of the stuff, before it starts to topple. Bring the saucepan over and cover each towering eggplant sandwich you made (I got two big ones and two small ones from one bigass looks-like-Quentin-Tarantino's-giant-head eggplant).

Then, just when you thought you were finished, completely cover the top ring layer with parmesan. You can use the fancy shredded kind but for some completely unfathomable reason, I actually prefer the shitty mass-produced grated kind. It's kind of inexcusable for someone that worked a few hours a week at a cheese shop in Hillcrest a few years ago just to learn more about the stuff - I'm sorry George! - and I can't explain it. Best part about working in a cheese shop: on the shifts that George and I worked together, we'd occassionally order some pizza and grate some fresh parmesan on it directly off of one of those big semitruck wheel-sized blocks it comes in. No joke, they use chainsaws to cut the stuff at the creamery where it's made.

So yeah, as I was saying, completely cover it in parmesan, completely. I mean turn that bottle upside down and spank it hard, make a little caked-up circle of the stuff sitting on top.

Put the whole creation in the tiny toaster oven and curse the rental agency that won't fix the stinky oven in the kitchen. I mean, wait about 20 minutes. No rush, you can even turn down the heat after 20 and leave it on "warm" like I did for about 10 while reparking the car. It's like making ribs - the oven part just makes everything nice and gooey.

Throw some veggies into one of those microwaveable steam bags for a side dish and wallah! You're done!

Back From Our Honeymoon

2008-10-01T00:48:00.000-07:00

That's right, we got married and we're back in San Francisco. What a great end to the summer! The wedding itself was amazing and you'll just have to take my word for it (pictures by our photographer Josh are coming soon and the videos will be a few months later). We also had an absolute blast in Turkey on our honeymoon. Yesi loved the place and my relatives loved her, so things went as well as I'd hoped.

Well, except for the massive ear infection that had me curled up in a fetal position for a week and gave Yesi a chance to practice her nursing skills by injecting me in the butt with pain killers every morning. That's another story.

There's about three thousand pictures to process (no joke!) from the entire trip and so for now, here's a teaser - a set of 29 photos on Flickr from our trip to Çınarcık, a small coastal town across the Sea of Marmara from Istanbul. I've posted a few sample photos below too, go to Flickr to see the rest. Enjoy!

Now Even Our Wedding Has A Website!

2008-05-11T23:28:00.001-07:00

I'm proud to announce our wedding date, location and website:

http://alandyesi.com

I'm looking forward to the big day and kicking off yet another new life chapter with my best friend. It's going to be great!

Sorry for the mystery and lack of details - we've got our head's down planning this thing while simultaneously going through physical therapy (we both had knee surgery in the last two months, both on the same knee!) and of course working like crazy, as always. Life is busy but good and we'll have more info soon!

Um, Hi

2007-10-18T22:53:00.001-07:00

Hello blogging, my old friend… wait, we're still friends, right? Hello? No, wait, don't call the cops, I'll change, I'm different, I promise!

Time to blow the dust off this site again, it's been ages. I wonder what you're all up to? Me, I've been working like a crazy person and trying to keep my head on straight. I'm even trying out a new personal assistant named Sandy (a review) to manage everything and she seems to be really helpful so far. Yesi is working too, at the CPMC hospital in Pacific Heights and under a pretty steep learning curve as well. I've transitioned all of my keeping-in-touch-with-friends duties to Facebook (my profile) and even got my mom to join up. And yes, I've kept the weight off that I lost late last year.

And as for where my head is at this exact specific moment, I filled out one of those email questionnaires that I typically ignore. I have no idea why I was in the mood for answering all these questions but I was and it was fun!

A random girl approaches you asking for your name, you say . . .
This actually happened to me two nights ago. She was a prostitute in the mission district having a huge loud argument with someone that was probably her pimp and soliciting clients at the same time, random dudes walking by. I was pulled over on the sidewalk putting something in my backpack and she came up to me and tried to chat me up. I didn't answer, just smiled and ignored her like I do any sales pitch, just like the hand cream lotion and cell phone cart people at the mall, then she went away.
What's the last thing you put in your mouth?
Cold leftover camomile tea.
What does your last text message say?
It's from facebook: "San Diego Pix (San Diego, CA) has requested to add you as a friend. Reply 'a' to add or 'info' to get profile."
The last song you listened to?
Black Cow by Steely Dan, on my musician friend Ed's profile page.
Who do you trust with your life?
My girl, but only in a decision-making capacity, I don't want her operating on me or anything.
What do you say if someone tells you you're gorgeous?
Get out of here.
What do you hate about your school?
Sheesh, I don't have time to rip open old wounds and get into all the different things I hated about UCSD - it was basically a really hard version of a vocational school and not a real "college" - but talking to Lori reminded me of something I loved - the BEAUTIFUL athletic fields and active intramural community. UCSD has genuinely student-centric sports facilities, rather than the spectator-centric stadiums suitable for a pro sports team that you find at larger Division I schools. The north fields in particular have grass like a smooth carpet and the RIMAC gym and arena complex is frigging awesome.
How often do you curse?
Every fucking day. I'm one of the rare people that actually likes having a potty mouth. It's more real, not like the tie-wearing whitewashed shit that passes for human interaction at a typical workplace.
Do you trust all of your friends?
Um, trust them with what? Secrets? I don't really have any and don't miss the drama from the times in my life when I did.
Have you ever talked on the phone while in the shower?
Yes. Years ago. I think I was desperately waiting for a date to call or something and knew she'd call right at the worst moment, but I prepared for Murphy's Law and conquered it!
When was the last time you were in love?
This morning, I was watching a tv show about cars and there was this gorgeous... oh wait, just kidding, tonight when my girl made fish tacos for dinner.
Are you afraid of falling in love?
Nope, do it all the time. I've always done it way too damn much and too often, ever since high school, but now I found a safe outlet and she takes it like a champ :)
Would you stop talking to your friends because of a new friend?
I did that all this year, it's a new friend called Working Like A Goddamn Demon and she's a jealous bitch.
Fill in the blank. I love __
my new haircut. I've had long hair for years now and been tying it back into a ponytail for ages - I finally ponied up for a decent trim that cost more than $5 and it's medium length and out of my face now!
What is a goal you would like to accomplish in the near future?
clean my closet.
How many kids do you want to have?
I like the make and buy combo - make at least one and adopt another. If I'm going to have kids, I definitely want them to have siblings. It's actually kind of a big deal for me to even think about having kids - it's not like it was a given for me or something I particularly aspired to do.
Would you make a good parent?
Yeah, I think so, because I'm just starting to realize how nerdy I am and that I still get interested in stuff like the subjects my fiancee's nieces study at school, so the hypothetical Kids Of Al would have a study partner.
When was the last time you received flowers?
Oh holy crap, I don't know. Maybe in college after a play? I just gave some yesterday though!
What is your worst habit?
Hmmm, worst as in most frequent? Or one that I hate the most? Most frequent: getting to work late. Not that they care but I'd really rather be there early and leave at a decent hour. The one I hate the most is that I've got a pretty nasty temper whenever I actually let it get out of control, but thankfully that's pretty infrequent.
Honestly, what's on your mind right now?
Gotta go to bed! Getting up early to drop her off at work.
If you could go back in time and change something, what would it be?
Honestly, I don't know where it came from but all this year, I've been thinking about something from ages ago. Back in high school, I withdrew my application to Brown (even though I made it to and went through the interview stage!) because I didn't think my parents could afford it and I also didn't appreciate how good a school it was. I didn't even know it was ivy league! For some reason, I've wondered lately if I wouldn't have taken college for granted like I did at UCSD and had a totally different experience if I went to somewhere way far away rather than in my hometown, taken the experience more seriously as a life transition. I feel like I've only just started to grow in that way since moving out of SD 2 years ago. So I'd go back in time and tell high school Al to get into Brown and then worry about the consequences and how you'd afford it. Stop being so overly concerned about what will happen before you try anything in life and just do it!
Shoe size?
9 1/2
What are you wearing right now?
Flannel pajama bottoms (I've only just appreciated how awesome pajamas are this year) and a tshirt.
Righty or Lefty?
righty.
Can you make a dollar in change right now?
I think so, there's laundry money in a jar over the fireplace.
Best place to eat?
Osha Thai has the best green curry and maybe I'll have it for lunch tomorrow! MMMM. Oh wait, snap, I forgot, on weekends that my fiancee works, I like to treat myself to an Indian buffet because she can't eat that stuff.
Who did you steal this from?
The famous Courtney Mclean! Or is McLean? I always forget. I think it's the first, the second looks kinda Mcdonalds-ish. The brash lion!
What is your ringtone?
An old phone ringer.
Favorite juice?
Don't really drink the stuff. But I used to inhale gallons at a time of orange juice back when I did.
Have you had the chicken pox?
When I was in preschool? Kindergarten? Something like that. I ripped off one of them and ate it :) I still have a tiny scar from that to this day, next to my nose.
Have you had a sore throat?
yeah, totally, all the time, stupid allergies.
Ever had plastic surgery?
no, although I used to really hate my nose all through my twenties.
Who knows you the best?
Yesi, my lovely fiancee.
Do you wear contact lenses or glasses?
Neither - better than 20/20 vision in fact. I always wow people that give me the eye chart test and read the bottom row super fast just to show off.
Been to Mexico?
Yep - it's called growing up in San Diego.
Did you buy something yesterday?
Other than food, let's see... a bunch of personal hygiene stuff to leave at work.
Did you get sick today?
No, but I did yesterday and am still sick today. I think it's a stomach flu or food poisoning, totally sucky and bad timing - everyone from work is cranking through the weekend for a new thing we're launching Monday.
Do you miss anyone today?
Yeah, my mom, just thought of her because I was wondering if she was lonely, my dad went abroad again.
Did you get in a fight with someone today?
No, I try not to do that on Saturdays.
Last persons bed you laid in?
My own.
What did you do last night?
Tried to watch some tv shows I downloaded but fell asleep early instead.
Are you comfortable around the opposite sex?
Yeah, pretty much. I used to have nothing but girl friends in high school and college, had to make a real effort to make guy friends. I'm happy to say that I have a pretty good mix of both genders now.
Who do you think will repost this?
Oh good question! No idea among my bloggy friends but probably my friend Kirsten amongst my myspace buddies.
Are you happy right now?
Yeah, sure, why not. A little overworked but I'm starting to fall into a good groove about finding my place in this gold rush.
Are you hungry?
Yeah and it sucks because I'm about to go to bed! I'll have a big breakfast instead.
Are you a forgiving person?
Honestly no, I hold a lot of grudges. I've always been really bad at that and am trying to be better about it.
Are you talking to someone while doing this?
Not for the second half.
What are you about to do right now???
Brush my teeth, go to bed!

Behind The Music

2007-06-01T11:47:00.000-07:00

I noticed a new profile picture on my friend Diana's myspace page this morning and thought it might have an interesting backstory. Little did I know.

me: have fun in providence, you jet setter!

me: and btw, where did you take the pic for your myspace headshot? looks cool.

diana: the one where I'm sitting at my desk? it's at work, taken by the creepy guy who always takes photos of me.

me: oh, haha, I expected a mini-story of a beautiful moment.

diana: it was pretty beautiful, I was working on a porn ad.

The Strokes - You Only Live Once

2007-05-29T23:28:00.000-07:00

I love the latest music video for The Strokes - it's inspired by 2001, one of my all-time favorite movies and quite possibly a flick beloved by every visual designer.

And on a personal note, The Strokes really take me back to a specific happy time in my early to mid-twenties, when I had just started working full-time at UCSD. I was making a living doing what I loved, something I had previously only done as a hobby or part-time student gig; good rock music was finally back on the airwaves after a long dark period of stagnation; I had my own office to rock out in while learning fun web stuff; and since my office was separated from the rest of the admin staff and in a biology research building, I ended up making friends with a bunch of the graduate students that worked nearby. We played sports together, like soccer and floor hockey, and incredibly, we also all shared many of the same musical tastes, so we went to see The Strokes down at Soma (San Diego's legendary punk and hardcore concert venue) and The White Stripes (my favorite band) at UCSD's RIMAC arena (best concert ever). Really good times.

related topics on the web: music, video, ucsd, sandiego, friends

Redesign In The Works

2007-05-29T15:11:00.000-07:00

Okay kids, time to bring the design eye for programmer guy - I'm redesigning my website and would love some feedback:

I've been noodling on this for about a week. Those of you that I've already bugged about it have seen previous versions and hopefully will find the latest to be tighter (no one's seen them before this morning).

Line up the bats and have it, please, I definitely appreciate design crits. This is the most public I've been about my design process and the open source-inspired approach has been pretty fun so far!

related topics on the web: design, webdesign, graphicdesign, redesign

Digital Photography Goes To Hell For A Day

2007-05-15T17:36:00.000-07:00

What is the world coming to today?

Kicking off the madness this morning, Derek Powazek, a standup guy and one of the cofounders of JPG - a photography magazine I love and a startup I almost joined back in Nov - left his baby that he started from scratch with his wife Heather because another cofounder tried to erase the story of how the magazine got started by the husband and wife superteam. Then, as if that wasn't enough, one of Flickr's most popular photographers found out a poster company stole some of her photography for a profit of thousands of dollars and when she complained about it, what did Flickr do? They decided to ban her original photos for her troubles, of course!

WTF is up with all this drama, censorship and power-tripping? I'm having Web 1.0 flashbacks.

But it looks like there might be some serious Web 2.0-style payback, at least for JPG - the publicity from the faux paus has already resulted in droves of paying subscribers cancelling their subscriptions, deleting their accounts and deciding to stop contributing their stories and pictures. That's a pretty serious blow towards a business model that rests entirely on the idea of fostering an active and involved community. Whether it's a death knell or not remains to be seen (the magazine is projected to do $2.5 million in revenue during its first year, according to some accounts) but it was fascinating to see the power of digg firsthand - the commenters on the thread actually counted down the number of subscribers on JPG's home page as people removed their accounts.

Update: Paul tells his side of the JPG story. My take: putting aside the generally cool tone of the writing and the neutral CEO corporatespeak (avoiding a sense of ownership with a lot of "we" this and "we" that), Paul flatly denies that anyone tried to rewrite the story behind JPG's creation but without giving any reason why Derek would leave his own company. But here's the really creepy part: I think I may have caught Paul in a lie, because although JPG's about page currently mentions both the early pre-8020publishing issues and Heather's involvment, Google's cached version from May 9th is noticeably different and doesn't have any of that verbiage at all. Tsk tsk.

related topics on the web: jpg, jpgmag, flickr, photography, censorship, powazek

My Rock Star Friends

2007-04-19T14:50:00.000-07:00

This is probably the flat out funniest and raddest IM reply I've ever gotten in my life:

alperabut: dude

alperabut: I saw a $200k Porsche Carrera GT yesterday

alperabut: getting serviced at a run down used car place

alperabut: how funny is that?

friend: hold on, I'm banging a chick right now

friend: (seriously, she's putting on a school girl outfit in the bathroom right now)

friend: but, I do need to talk with you...can I call you later?

alperabut: HAHAHAHA

alperabut: best IM ever

alperabut: sure, call me

alperabut: let me blog that?

friend: ok, but take my name off

alperabut: I will, for sure

friend: and not like alxxxabut

alperabut: haha

alperabut: my name's not don

alperabut: go get em, tiger

What a nerdy stud. I mean, who stays on IM when they're getting some?

related topics on the web: friends, funny, IM

W3C Yeah You Know Me

2007-03-12T19:55:00.000-07:00

It's official, I'm one of a gazillion "invited experts" for the HTML working group of the W3C, the internet standards body that basically created the world wide web as we know it. In theory, it means that I can help shape the HTML standard while it gets ratified by 2010. In reality, I'll probably just be a list lurker and keep in touch with developments while the geniuses hammer stuff out, especially since invited experts only participate in discussions and don't have voting powers.

Either way, I'm super super stoked to be involved in any capacity. I've been evangelizing, giving talks about and using web standards at work for a long time but until now, I've always felt like I was looking from the outside in, trying to divine what the future direction of markup would be from scant information. The W3C has been a bit of a clubby ivory tower, with members sponsored by giant corporate employers that can easily afford the $10,000 annual dues per representative and more importantly, had their own intranet-centric agendas in mind rather than interoperability with the internet at large.

In recent years, the various flavors of HTML have been on the brink of sliding into irrelevance while the standard has been sitting nascent and other markup-based developments have been gaining steam instead, such as MXML for Flex, XAML for Vista, and various types of programming similar to HTML/CSS/Javascript to create widgets for Apple's Dashboard, Google Desktop's Sidebar, Google's personalized home pages, Vista's gadgets, Yahoo! Widget Engine (Konfabulator) and the Netvibes Universal API. This developing ecosystem is very exciting, not the least of which is because the line between web and desktop applications are blurring - developers can start to use the same skill set across multiple mediums, sometimes even at the same time, in the case of Apollo.

Even more importantly, the vacuum of development on the HTML standard spurred the creation of an alternative standards body called the WHATWG in 2004, created specifically to address this need and as a response to the slow development of the official web standards monitored by the W3C. The greatest contributors were Google, Mozilla Foundation, Opera Software and Apple Computer, trying to push forward with HTML innovations and to create a new HTML 5 standard while the HTML 4.01 specification languished, unresponsive to the recent advances in web browsers like Safari, Firefox or Opera.

So in the face of such a furious pace of activity, the W3C has finally decided to fight for its place in the modern web scene by opening up the new working group to the very developers that will end up implementing their work, instead of staying a closed group like they have in the past. Membership as an invited expert is free and open to the public! I don't envy the role of the discussion moderators trying to form consensus but in the end, this can only be a good thing.

The best part is that this happens in the midst of my transferring from one Flash job to another. Irony.

Oops, that last bit was the big news I was hinting at in a previous post. Ok, I'll have more details later :)

related topics on the web: w3c, html, standards, webstandards, markup, programming, webdesign