rich's uninteresting

Objectified is a documentary design in the world around us.

here’s an interesting NYTimes article about the “Love Boat”. i went way, way back in ’92 and it was exactly that – a total hookup fest. it was great. such exhilarating flirtation. i won’t name names, but i’d say that 99% of the people that had SO’s back home when they arrived had some sort of a fling out there. i mean, how can you help it. you’re plucked from your whitebread (or diverse, what have you) social circle and thrust into a foreign land with lots of attractive chinese kids your own age for a whole summer. and the whole goal is to skip class and sneak out at night to party at the clubs. everyone breaks down.

the 4 lovely ladies who adopted me and made the trip worth my while.

[From Field Notes - Matchmaking, the Ultimate Government Service - NYTimes.com]

NEXT month, Justin Mei, 20, will be on his way to the Love Boat.

That’s the nickname for a monthlong cultural tour of Taiwan sponsored and partly subsidized by the Taiwanese government. The program — officially called the Expatriate Youth Summer Formosa Study Tour to Taiwan — has nothing to do with boats and it isn’t supposed to be about love. It is designed to expose young people with Taiwanese roots like Mr. Mei to the motherland through courses in Mandarin, sightseeing and traditional arts.

(more…)

the 27″ display itself uses high end components (IPS, pixel density, & LED backlit), with a market value of around $1500…not to mention the powerful mac attached to it. some interesting analysis of how it’s possible and why:

Now, you have IPS displays in the hands of everyone who buys the 27” iMac. This isn’t something that only designers will use – it’s something that every geek with enough disposable income or company funds will consider. It’s a much bigger market, and it’ll move many more IPS displays. Many sales -> many IPS panels moved -> massive economies of scale -> cheaper panels -> profit!

This is what I love about Apple. Nothing is driving innovation anymore in the PC market – the average computer today has little more capability than a computer from five years ago. Apple, however, is using the brute force of its market share to drive technology forward – by buying the latest stable technology and creating a vast market for it in the time it takes to make an update to the Apple Store, allowing it to mature and develop, while reaping the benefits. Then, the rest of the industry follows suit in a vain attempt to catch them, two years later, not realizing that as long as they keep seeking out the lowest bidder, they keep giving up the chase.

[From Jim Cloudman & Marco.org ]

• Cramer is a fool: "buy AAPL on weakness on Tuesday morning"…b/c Monday "earnings will disappoint". http://bit.ly/3yYmxg #
• sad and infuriating: RT @zen_habits: Absolutely heartbreaking photos of the effect of human trash on birds http://is.gd/4rrW3 #
• Apple Store is down…rumors of significant hardware upgrades today, but really…without a keynote? #
• AAPL market cap is 76% that of MSFT right now, but with 1/3 as many employees. #
• new imac nits: a) they use IPS panels (best kind), b) 1st to support video *input* (unfortunately, it uses the external display port) #
• do you find yourself phrasing your thoughts in 140 char bites, too? #
• RT @mashable Hosting Your Windows 7 Torrenting Party [Video] http://bit.ly/ypbqm #
• the Windows 7 Whopper. like the launch parties, this too, is for real. amazing. http://bit.ly/9MkhI #
• Welcome to the Microsoft Store. it's the Apple Store, only way more contrived and creepily staged feeling. http://bit.ly/2P4oZk #
• funny: *every* single comment under that Microsoft Store video is baggin' on M$ #
• i guess the Microsoft Store is a hit: "At least one customer was seen purchasing an HP TouchSmart PC" http://bit.ly/m2mAo #
• discovering the awesomeness that is animoto.com (animated slideshows). integrated w/smugmug now, too! gonna u/g to paid account. #
• first Animoto creation: "Yosemite 2009": http://animoto.com/play/X1HBWxgUTWV3PhD06NvU5Q #
• get refunds on your Baby Einstein products. glad i read it, was about to fall for their products. http://bit.ly/1m9NiH #
• It's just me and the monkey, flyin solo the next 24hrs. He's sick and I'm comin down with it. Lord help us. http://yfrog.com/7hrsqj #
• Spread was surprising in that A Kutcher was actually good and A Heche can be super hot. #

Powered by Twitter Tools.