Reviewering

The Freshmaker!

nobody@vox.com(Lance) — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 08:49:03 -0800

My cat is obsessed with knocking things off surfaces. I have no idea why. It's not anything, it's usually something new, preferably shiny (though not always - I have a collection of small, plastic Japanese movie monsters she simply cannot help but paw from their perch one by one, again and again) and small enough that she can bat it around a few times before oh so casually shoving it to the floor. Case in point, this pink grapefruit Mentos roll. My boyfriend captured her antics a couple of times -- of the many times she did this -- last weekend. Please note her look of "I'm not doing anything!" at the end of the first movie. She is always innocent.

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(and Lillian Hellman)

nobody@vox.com(Lance) — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 16:12:59 -0800

Ernest and Bertram

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What they want is...

nobody@vox.com(Lance) — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 14:31:44 -0800

I was listening to my iTunes in random mode (considering I have 10,324 songs, that's extremely random) and this came on, reminding me (1) that this is from one of my Top Ten Bands ever and (2) that it still sounds fresher, better and more musical and smart than anything from today's crop of shit-hurlers like AFI and My Chemical Romance, neither of whom actually employs a singer who can sing and (3) this song and the album it is from, which I bought at Aron's Rare Ones on Melrose in L.A. as an import from beloved England, is now 27 years old.

Wedding bells (the shotgun kind).

XTC: Love at First Site

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Halp! I want ±0!

nobody@vox.com(Lance) — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 12:29:53 -0800

In Japan, they have the solution for everything whether or not you knew you had a problem. Case in point, the ±0 Hot Carpet.

Hot Carpet controls

It's a tatami-sized wool-covered electric heating pad you lay on the floor. It keeps your feet warm, or your entire self if you elect to lie on it while enjoying your favorite video game. It comes in black or gray, retaining the natural colors of the woolen layers on top. The rounded corners keep it looking simple and attractive, and the controls are hidden along the edge instead of living on the cord like some big, awful dial on an electric blanket. All for only ¥7,350, or about US$60.

And I want one! My feet are always cold! Slippers make them sweaty and a space heater never seems pointed in the right direction or puts out too much heat all at once. But their products are apparently only available in Japan!

If the Hot Carpet isn't up your alley, consider their 6-slice toaster oven called "Oven Toaster" and the A4 lamp, shaped and designed to look like a stack of plain white copier paper.

Oven Toaster toaster oven

The Oven Toaster is, like many (most?) Japanese merchandise, very cute. It's just a little white box, again designed to look like what it's for, a little loaf of bread. The entire front opens up so it's easy to shove things in and pull things out, and the heating elements are on the top and the bottom.

A4 lamp

The A4 operates either standing on its edge or lying on its side, spilling light across your desk or sitting in your book shelf like another (glowing) book. ¥15,750 (US$130.83)

Okay, MOMA or Dynamism or somebody! Get these things into the U.S. now! Now, now, now! Damn you!

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More on iPhone and (a)TV

nobody@vox.com(Lance) — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 13:56:42 -0800

For those still keeping track and counting the days, a few disappointing and/or hopeful words from ThinkSecret and AppleInsider regarding the new products.

First, those of us underwhelmed by iPhone's networking speeds may want to wait a year for iPhone2:

Unconfirmed reports from other sources suggest a version of the iPhone capable of operating at faster network speeds is in the works for an early 2008 release. First-generation iPhone users can expect data transmission speeds of roughly 100Kbps over Cingular's EDGE network, but an HSDPA version of the iPhone operating over UMTS (3G) would increase speeds dramatically, up to 2Mbps. The faster data transmission, coupled with an iSight camera, could make effortless mobile teleconferencing a reality.

And as far as Apple TV is concerned, I think I was correct in my conclusion that it's not the solution for me:

Pop the lid off an Apple TV, the new wireless streaming media device from Apple, Inc., and you'll find that it's built around an aging Pentium M-based Intel processor and other yesteryear notebook technologies.

Furthermore:

The sole purpose of the device is to act as a set-top box that will stream audio and video content from up to five iTunes libraries to a enhanced-definition or high-definition widescreen TV.

Please, TiVo, drop that price now?

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AppleTV: What the hell is it?

nobody@vox.com(Lance) — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 15:30:15 -0800

Apple tv

I confess that I don't understand Apple TV. It's a slim device with a small hard drive showing downloaded media at 720p. It's a network interface that allows you to shove the crap you're buying off iTunes and all that other digital video from your computer to your shiny new wide screen LCD.

But... what the hell is it?

It's not a DVR. It won't record broadcast events, right? It has a hard drive to hold a lot of pictures and whatever (not that I know anyone showing slideshows of their Hawaiian vacation on their TVs, at least not yet and thank God for that) but what they want to have happen is that you're buying movies from iTunes and then wirelessly streaming them across to the living room where this will chug its little heart out trying to broadcast them to your TV.

At the moment, I have a Mac Mini connected to my TV and it chokes on pretty much anything I want to show full screen at anything close to full resolution, which is not unexpected on a 1080p monitor. But it's essentially already doing what Apple TV proposes to do for me. Admittedly, Apple TV does so for $400 less, but if Apple is aiming this at the future digital living room, won't we have our computers with their HDMI or DVI plugs already using the monitor?

I often misunderstand the elegance and simplicity of Apple's ideas. The iPod is only the most obvious example. "An MP3 player? This is revolutionary?" But when I read about and look at the stats for this little silver box... I don't get it.

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"Protrude, Flow" 2001 by Sachiko Kodama and Minako Takeno

nobody@vox.com(Lance) — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 12:11:38 -0800

Protrude Flow

" I wanted to create a space where people could experience the dynamism of physical development. I decided that manipulating fluid by voice input would be an optimal means of interaction. The experiments I did shaping magnetic fluid with a metallic luster were astonishing and exciting from start to finish.

"The tremendous energy in even the smallest movement of the fluid as it gushes up, flows, and falls in an endless kaleidoscope of patterns is art I want to offer for people's enjoyment. I am deeply grateful to everyone who worked with me on this project."

- Sachiko Kodama

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More Mew

nobody@vox.com(Lance) — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 14:58:16 -0800

Mew - Special

I am enamored. What can I say?

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Not my worst nightmare

nobody@vox.com(Lance) — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 14:33:04 -0800

But certainly among my worst nightmares:

"A scorpion stung David Sullivan on the back of his right leg, just below the knee, then continued up that leg and down the other, he believes, before getting him again in the shin.

"It wasn't what he was expecting on a flight from Chicago to Vermont."

Scorpion Stings Vermont Man on Airplane

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Worst cover, Best album of 2006

nobody@vox.com(Lance) — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 16:51:45 -0800

Mew: "Apocalypso" from the album And the Glass Handed Kites.

Apocalypso

And the Glass Handed Kites

Mew

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