Coppola Comments Too

Page Too Is Dead, Long Live Page Too

2010-12-06T11:14:00.000-05:00

Whoopsy. Didn't realize that we failed to post a notice over here on page too when we integrated it into the main Coppola Comments site this fall.

All of the posts here on page too are now also on the main page, and all new posts have been going up there for a while now.

Tommy John

2010-08-28T16:54:00.000-04:00

With Nationals' phenom Stephen Strasburg reportedly getting ready for Tommy John surgery the baseball corner of the internets has lit up with folks discussing the process and the road to recovery and comparing various pitchers who have returned to dominance after the procedure etc etc perhaps even ad nauseum.

The bottom line definitely seems to be that it isn't a career ending injury / surgery these days and that we'll have to wait and see. Also, that this is a major bummer for baseball fans everywhere, not just those pulling for the Nats.

It looks like one of the most interesting things out there concerning TJ surgery may be Braves' pitcher Kris Medlin's new blog documenting his recovery from the procedure two weeks ago. If he keeps it up it will definitely be worth following.

Color Me Impressed

2010-08-20T10:51:00.000-04:00

Pretty Sure this is about the most ridiculous baseball catch I've ever seen...

(via AC @ Kottke)

Sports Night

2010-07-03T22:45:00.000-04:00

Raise your hand if that short-lived yet brilliant show was one of your favorites...me too.

Now go check out some of the latest musings on the sports that are currently important (hint: that means baseball and the kind of football that the rest of the world plays, no Lebron will not be making an appearance).

Let's start with some World Cup coverage shall we. This is probably my favorite sporting event, the stage is enormous, the entire world gets way into it, and the stakes, tension, pressure, and excitement grow with every game. It was a bit of a rough weekend with Ghana and Paraguay (the sides I was pulling for) going out in heartbreaking style. Still good showings from both countries but still. At this point I'm an underdog fan so go Uruguay! I hate rooting for teams that knocked off my previous interest, but that's just how it's gone this time around. Plus Frolan has been a lot of fun to watch and way involved in every game. Maybe what I really want to say is go Netherlands though...

On the internets, Twitter has been a buzz during the Cup with lots of cool little features like the soccer ball for the #WorldCup and flags if you hash-tag the countries as well. Also, perhaps not surprisingly, Twitter will often tell you that it's over capacity if you check it right after a goal or a game ends.

Roddy Doyle wrote a terrific little piece for the New Yorker's website on watching England lose. And Joe Posnanski, who I hadn't pegged as a soccer fan, has been turning in excellent dispatches from his trip to South Africa. Back at the New Yorker, Reeves Wiedeman has a nice look at the importance of soccer to the ANC prisoners on Robbins island in South Africa's ever-present past.

On the diamond, Joe P had a nice piece on Bob Gibson last week. He's been on a streak of sorts writing eloquently about older players stars and less recognized guys alike. Rob Neyer's look at the "rules" surrounding tender young arms is more than worth your time as well. Now if I could just figure out what the Bull's rotation schedule looked like so I could go see Hellickson throw.

On a final note if you'd like to give your inner sports fan a good scare, or just stay on top of a developing situation the new blog Balls, Strikes, and Lockouts wants you to know that all of the major leagues have labor agreements coming up for negotiation in the next calendar year. As a hockey fan who's seen two games since the lockout and still misses Coach on NHL Tonight let's hope they get this stuff sorted. Balls, Strikes, and Lockouts looks to be a spot that will help you keep it sorted along the way.

You Should Really Just Be Reading Kottke

2010-06-20T12:14:00.002-04:00

But in case you don't, watch this video he had up recently...

And yes, I was also unimpressed that an un-mortared brick wall fell over at the end. Overall still very cool.

Wi-Fi Everywhere

2010-06-19T16:59:00.003-04:00

You can get a coffee pretty much anywhere these days, in some cities you can even walk across the street from one Starbucks to the next to see which one has baristas making the better espresso.

On July 1 you'll be able to cross the street and see which Starbucks has the quicker router set up.

That's right, starting next month Starbucks is running free wi-fi.

Lego Art

2010-06-13T20:02:00.003-04:00

From Balakov's Flickr set Classics in Lego. His other Lego themed shots are pretty cool as well.

I do remember fondly the time before lego sold out and did movie deals when you had to use your imagination to play with the best toys ever though.

(via kottke)

Goodbye Productivity

2010-05-25T19:23:00.002-04:00

So the Google Doodle for the Pac-man anniversary was awesome, and now it has a permanent home on the web, kiss your free time goodbye. At least for a little while, without extra levels it will get old soon enough.

Anyone remember how to play snake in your gmail?

World Cup Fever

2010-05-22T12:41:00.003-04:00

Catch It!

(this video originally appeared in a Vimeo format which is no longer available)

World Cup commercials continue to be the best sports ads out there.

Who can forget this one...

(via Joe Posnanski for the new one)

Brighten Your Day

2010-05-17T17:52:00.004-04:00

Color me impressed! These guys are managing to paint entire blocks of favelas in Rio, and are hoping to paint an entire one some day. Very crazy, but very cool, and apparently amazingly successful.

There's more info on their website, and a lot more pictures on their facebook page.

(via MF on fb)

Facebook, The Spread of Info and Growth of the Behemoth

2010-05-09T12:04:00.002-04:00

That's a really long title for a post that's going to be quite short.

Matt McKeon put together this interactive info-graphic on the evolution of privacy (of your info) on Facebook. It's pretty much all over the internets by now, but I thought it was pretty neat and that you might like to see it.

There's some other interesting stuff going on, in terms of looking at how rapidly Facebook is growing and in it's drive to become more interwoven with the fabric of the internets in general. Arguably making itself a more useful and valuable resource, albeit improvements that may well come at the cost of your privacy...

Old News On A Former Luddite

2010-05-08T14:31:00.002-04:00

Well the term Luddite probably isn't very accurate for Conan O'Brien without the modifier Web. Seems that despite 16 years on TV Conan had pretty much zero web presence until the late night brouhaha broke out.

Now he's all over the place and doing pretty well on the internets as this interesting NYT piece from a month or so ago details.

So Long Ernie Harwell

2010-05-04T21:51:00.003-04:00

I don't know much about Ernie Harwell, just that he was an old school broadcaster. Ernie passed away today and I learned that he called Tigers games, many folks have stories about him, and that Ernie knew exactly what Baseball is...

(via Rob Neyer)

Green It Up

2010-04-27T18:29:00.003-04:00

So I threw together some 30 second videos for the Nicholas School's Green In 3 video contest. Needless to say I didn't win, some dude with a helicopter did, but I thought I would share all the same...

Worth mentioning that the best thing I saw associated with this project was one of the countless posters advertising it on Duke's campus with "waste less paper" scrawled on it. Brilliant, and oh so apropos.

GLEE!

2010-04-26T21:54:00.002-04:00

I finally have the internet at my house again- and now I have time to find totally rad videos like this one:

Pick A Font, Any Font

2010-04-19T23:06:00.002-04:00

So I still can't get huge infographics to show up in blogger right. I'll put this one up and see what happens, I recommend clicking on the image to get taken to a full view of it.

A nifty little tool for choosing a font from Julian Hansen via JB's FB page...

Notes From A Master

2010-03-27T22:17:00.002-04:00

David Mamet misses occasionally, but when he's on his game he is the top dog (anyone seen Heist... My guy is so cool when he goes to sleep sheep count him.).

If you like movies, or television for that matter, (and yes I mean good movies and tv) you'll enjoy the memo from Mamet to the writers of the erstwhile tv drama The Unit, for which he was a producer. It's been making the rounds, and it's worth the time. There's a copy up on Moveline.

On Brackets and March

2010-03-22T11:23:00.001-04:00

So I didn't do a bracket this year (have I mentioned this already) but Jon Michaud at the New Yorker did, and Kansas did him in...

Friends, Kansans, bracketologists, lend me your ears;
I come to bury the Jayhawks, not to praise them;
The picks that men make live after them,
The good is oft interred with their bones,
So let it be with Kansas…The noble Dickie V.
Hath told you Kansas was ambitious:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath Kansas answered it…
Here, under leave of Dickie V. and the rest,
(For Dickie V. is an honorable man;
So are they all; all honorable men)
Come I to speak at Kansas’s funeral…
They were my pick, unprofitable and disloyal to me:
But Dickie V. says Kansas was ambitious;
And Dickie V. is an honorable man….
He hath brought many winners home to ESPN,
Whose brackets did his coffers fill:
Did this in Kansas seem ambitious?
When that the poor have cried, Kansas hath swept:
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff:
Yet Dickie V. says Kansas was ambitious;
And Dickie V. is an honorable man.

(reprinted in full because it's just so good)

I Love The Internet: Vol. Something Or Other

2010-03-21T15:43:00.005-04:00

I just can't imagine scientific proposals for the indirect surveying of zombies being written without the interwebs...

"How many zombies do you know?" Using indirect
survey methods to measure alien attacks and outbreaks
of the undead

Andrew Gelman George A. Romeroy

12 Mar 2010

Abstract
The zombie menace has so far been studied only qualitatively or through
the use of mathematical models without empirical content. We propose to use
a new tool in survey research to allow zombies to be studied indirectly without
risk to the interviewers.

Be sure to read the whole paper.

(via MR)

This Pisco Is Not Sour

2010-03-16T23:03:00.002-04:00

Check out the CSM's photo of the day...

Pilar Olivares/Reuters

Follow the link for the details.

(via a certain special someone)

So That Google Phone Must Be Pretty Good...

2010-03-04T13:40:00.002-05:00

Apple has just sued HTC over the Nexus One (aka the Google Phone). The prevailing thought seems to be that Apple is trying to slow down Google's Android phone os. Android, like all things google, will one day just take everything over.

I suppose it might be a good legal delaying tactic, but to the average consumer I think it does more to signal that Apple is scared that the google phone is better than the iphone than anthing else.

This Too Shall Pass

2010-03-02T20:35:00.002-05:00

The song and blog post you'll one day forget. But this kick ass Rube Goldberg machine will be with you always...

That's probably the greatest Rube Goldberg ever, granted they're a band with funding to make it happen not one of the guys who just builds them around the house for fun, but I'm ok with that.

Getting Schooled...

2010-02-24T20:47:00.003-05:00

In case you were curious here's the official bio of my school's Dean, who is a pretty cool guy based on our limited interactions.

And here is his IMDB page.

Yeah, interesting huh. Wait until you see the trailer...

Update:
I forgot to mention he has a blog as well.

The Flying Tomato

2010-02-18T13:57:00.002-05:00

Not sure if folks are stilling laying that moniker on Shaun White. I am sure however that the dude can definitely ride a snowboard.

If last nights half-pipe still has you fired up you'll enjoy the NYT's video library of tricks, complete with rider interviews and descriptions.

(via news desk)

Map It!

2010-02-09T20:23:00.003-05:00

Google maps is definitely not gonna let well enough alone. Not only have they been adding college campuses and other pedestrian areas they're also tackling the oceans (okay that's technically google earth not maps), and today they added some mountains...

Yes the street view man logo turned into a skier.

Super Ads

2010-02-08T22:13:00.002-05:00

I had a great time watching the Super Bowl this year with a great crowd of friends, it didn't hurt at all that our host are big time Saints fans, with proper NO connections, who prepared some of the most kick-ass gumbo that I've ever had.

The ads are always an important part of any Super Bowl viewing as well. I found this year's a little lacking overall a couple stood out for me though.

First the crowd favorite far and away was the little kid Doritos one:

I also really enjoyed the Google ad, it was cute and different enough to catch everyone's attention, plus we all made references to googling things the entire rest of the night:

A final note after lots of talk about what a controversy the Tebow ad was and would be, it was such an uninteresting spot that none of us even knew it was on until the very end when someone said isn't that that Tebow guy?

Freaky Deaky

2010-02-04T12:07:00.002-05:00

So a friend of mine sent along a link to a book called Get High Now, which is astonishingly not about what you think, at least not exactly.

The web page offer some tidbits, and although the video's haven't been playing for me this grid is pretty wild...

For more on the book and how this grid works check out the website.

Thanks POH, now back away from the giraffe buddy...

Zoom Zoom

2010-02-01T13:56:00.002-05:00

Ezra Klein is right, this site is awesome. Zoom from the teeny, tiniest size imaginable all the way to farther than you could ever possibly see.

Remember that whole thing about there being laws to physics...

That's Not Bucky

2010-01-25T14:20:00.001-05:00

Alternately titled Bucky vs The Weasel It Ain't. Check this out...

(via EK)

Team CoCo

2010-01-24T14:53:00.002-05:00

I can't say that I've watched any late night tv in quite a while now. I've always been a Conan fan though and I could have told you (as could many folks but apparently no one in the NBC boardroom) that Leno at 10 was a terrible idea.

I have been entertained by the two week long train wreck that has been NBC coverage and programing. Mary Elizabeth Williams has a great wrap up on Salon that's worth a look whether you've been paying attention to this nonsense or not.

It seems like Conan spent the past six months or so trying to give us that extra cowbell he thinks we deserve, you should at least watch him say goodbye...

Far Freaking Out Man

2010-01-22T22:27:00.003-05:00

CNN has the lastest high tech video craziness to hit the web, a 360 degree video that lets you pan the view around while the video plays. It's fairly wild.

The video itself is a walk through what appears to be a park / square in PAP Haiti.

You can zoom in as well, although it won't let you loop the loop over the top (you bet I tried). It's also fun to pan around and check out the shadow of the guy wearing the contraption to try and get an idea of what the video rig looks like.

(via kottke)

As Your Facebook Turns

2010-01-13T19:33:00.002-05:00

Facebook just keeps growing and in the process becoming more important and harder to do without. For the most part they seem to do good things and to be fairly decently motivated.

The Rumpus has a neat interview with a fb employee from the end of this past summer, nothing that would be shocking if you're paying attention and a couple of cool bragging points, like translating the entire site into Farsi in 36 hours in the wake of the contested Iranian elections.

Have yourself a look, it's fun.

(via kottke)

No Man Misdeals With Joshua Quince

2010-01-11T12:01:00.004-05:00

Just go already. Although I am a bit disappointed with Joshua Quince for The Jesus...

(via kottke)

Insanity Is Good For The Kitchen

2010-01-05T12:28:00.001-05:00

It may however require quite a bit of clean-up...

These two really do make a great pair, I can't even imagine how poorly Andres would mesh with Letterman or Leno or Conan...

(via EK)

Physics; Not Just A Good Idea

2009-12-23T13:06:00.002-05:00

Nope, they're laws for a reason.

If you've ever played Escape Velocity, watched Firefly, Star Trek, Star Wars, or any number of other space based shows or countless movies and books you should check out the rather long piece up on Gizmodo going over what actual space combat might look like.

Hint; entertainment doesn't really get it right...

First, pending a major development in propulsion technology, combat spacecraft would likely get around the same way the Apollo spacecraft went to the Moon and back: with orbit changes effected by discrete main-engine burns.

(via kottke)

Mr. Walken's Neighborhood

2009-12-21T16:52:00.003-05:00

This afternoon I fell down the rabbit hole that is Christopher Walken videos on YouTube. Don't ask how it happened, as usual it's a long story.

Never fear though, I brought this back for you...

Nice sweater too!

Not The Best List Ever

2009-12-21T13:03:00.002-05:00

The Onion has it's contribution to the yearly top ten list extravaganza up, The Top Ten Stories of the Last 4.5 Billion Years.

The list itself is pretty disappointing by Onion standards, item number five however is genius...

Sumerians Look On In Confusion As God Creates World:

...According to the cuneiform tablets, Sumerians found God's most puzzling act to be the creation from dust of the first two human beings. "These two people made in his image do not know how to communicate, lack skills in both mathematics and farming, and have the intellectual capacity of an infant," one Sumerian philosopher wrote. "They must be the creation of a complete idiot."

(via kottke)

Put This In Your Top Ten List Pipe And Smoke It

2009-12-15T11:08:00.002-05:00

Being the end of a decade (somewhere along the way we decided to call it the aughts? really?) this December is seeing an awful lot of top ten lists.

This may not be the only one I point you to but it is the one that you're most likely to have missed otherwise and the least likely to be duplicated.

So head over to Bad Astronomy and check out the Top Ten Astronomy Pictures of 2009.

(via GeekDad)

Not Sure What This Kid Has Left To Ask For At X-Mas...

2009-12-15T10:29:00.002-05:00

Wow, once again the internets are here to prove that some people have too much time on their hands...

And apparently money to pay that electricity bill, I bet they'll say it was worth every penny.

(via kottke)

The Google Phone Lives

2009-12-14T16:24:00.002-05:00

Shots of it are appearing in the wild, and if you're tech inclined at all you already know all of this. Google apparently gave it out to a ton of employees for 'dog-food testing' or 'dog-fooding' (no I haven't made those terms up, neither have I heard them before).

The initial reports are promising, and if I wasn't a broke grad student refusng to pay for a data plan I'd be feeling fairly excited...

Wired has the rundown.

Have A Look

2009-12-07T10:03:00.002-05:00

Or a whole bunch of looks actually, at this photo project of 100 images in 100 days taken earlier this year in Glacier National Park as part of the celebration of the Park's centennial.

Here is my favorite from the first 50...

The photos were taken by Glacier Park Magazine editor Chris Peterson using a variety of camera platforms that would have been used throughout the Park's history. Be sure to visit the project's site; Peterson's mini-stories behind each image are delightful and revealing. Scroll all the way to the bottom if you'd like to see them in order from day 1.

(via TBP)

It's A Bird, It's A Plane...

2009-12-06T10:37:00.003-05:00

It's a cloud?

The photo is up on The Telegraph's site, apparently that's a lenticular cloud.

(via MR)

That's Ms. Julia Child...

2009-12-04T10:58:00.002-05:00

Luckily Julia brought her flame thrower along...

If you watched any of Food Networks next star chef or whatever they called that show compare the contestants reactions to on air failures and ribbing to just how smooth the master is.

(via EMD who informs us that the clip is from 1987)

In Which We Take A Musical Interlude...

2009-11-30T21:56:00.002-05:00

Procrastinating during finals reading week can take some work, luckily the muppets are here to help...

(via Geek Dad who just got added to the RSS reader)

Au Revoir Jean Claude

2009-11-20T23:55:00.002-05:00

Jean Claude of Jean Claude & Christo fame has passed away.

Christo & Jean Claude's website has a brief note, the art will go on.

(via kottke)

Now You See Him...

2009-11-16T16:13:00.004-05:00

Liu Bolin, the artist and subject of this image, is not truly an invisible man. He's just painted to look that way.

(That means no photshop, and be sure to follow the link for more shots, try to find him in the last image)

(via MR)

Have a Cat?

2009-11-06T22:02:00.000-05:00

You'll love Simon's Cat even if you don't but cat owners out there these are for you.

Unfortunately the videos aren't embeddable so head to the youtube page or the website to meet Simon's Cat.

Movie Flow Charts

2009-11-02T14:06:00.002-05:00

The latest XKCD is so awesome I can't even begin to describe it...

Click through for the large version.

Still Worth Reading the Newspaper

2009-11-01T10:52:00.002-05:00

I pick up a copy of the NYT pretty much everyday (it helps that my school provides them free of charge) and I thourgouly enjoy reading the paper and doing the crossword even if it takes me a few days to get to it.

Which brings us to this video...

Because I just got to the article in Thursday's Business section on how United lost this guys bags last week.

Wait, We Really Have Trained Military Dolphins?

2009-10-27T20:45:00.004-04:00

Apparently, this photo is the first thing that came up when I searched flickr for "usmilitary".

I'd noticed it as the credit link for a photo on Tom Ricks' blog and wondered if that meant that the military had its own flickr stream. While that question remains unanswered Johnny Nemonic fans can take solace in knowing that the mine clearing dolphins are out there...

The photo is from flickr user lakerae.

It's Gonna Be A Long Season

2009-10-20T12:37:00.002-04:00

I haven't even managed to watch a Skins game yet this year, partly due to a lack of TV (although that technological fix has been made) and mostly because everyone says don't bother it's just too painful.

You know things are officially really bad when The Onion comes a calling...

Redskins Hold Press Conference to Announce That They Are Still Sort Of A Football Team.

(via FB)

Taking the Sandbox to a Whole New Level

2009-10-19T20:24:00.001-04:00

This is absolutely mesmerizing...

the amount of time and practice and trail and error in discovering what moves would be required to create the desired images boggles my mind.

(via kottke)

Forget Photo of the Day

2009-10-14T16:08:00.003-04:00

This site will keep you busy for a while and coming back to see more.

Vivian Maier's photographs were recently acquired at auction, around 40,000 of them from the 50's, 60's, and 70's in and around Chicago, previously unknown they are now being exhibited for the very first time online.

That's my favorite from the first dozen or so, if you're in to street photography you're in for a good time.

(via kottke)

I Got Your AutoTune Right Here

2009-10-08T23:48:00.002-04:00

AutoTune the News doesn't do it for me. Autotuning Carl Sagan on the other hand...

(via kottke)

Can You Hear Me Now?

2009-09-24T13:01:00.003-04:00

Wow, 8% of the humans living on the earth are China Mobile wireless subscribers...

That is a very impressive stat, although I think it speaks more to just how many people there are in China than anything else. It's probably also representative of the increasing move away from landlines, especially as the gap in ease and cost of setting up wireless in rural areas vs. landlines continues to grow.

(via HTWW)

The Bottle Stands By You Mr. Walker

2009-09-20T12:12:00.003-04:00

Great six minute long Johnnie Walker ad starring Robert Carlye in a single take...

The video comes via Eat Me Daily which also links to an interview with the director, Jamie Rafn.

Glee Rocks!

2009-09-10T21:50:00.001-04:00

You should watch it on Hulu, no one wants to see actual ads.

You should also watch this video of Sam Tsui...

Johnny Mac Is Back

2009-09-10T13:58:00.002-04:00

Not sure about all the background on this one, but if you're a tennis fan you're sure to enjoy...

(via kotkke)

Nice Picture, Now What Do You Really Look like?

2009-09-06T14:59:00.002-04:00

Food In Real Life is a one design blog examining how closely food resembles it's packaging or other advertising renditions and appearances.

Not surprisingly most items aren't up to snuff (you must already have heard that they use glue for milk when shooting cereal boxes, and that they place each sesame seed on a burger bun with tweezers before the shoot) but there are a few (think pop tarts and Uncle Bens) that are fairly accurate.

Bonus points for the tastiness reviews.

(via EMD)

Take A Look...

2009-08-29T15:30:00.001-04:00

It's still in a book, but Reading Rainbow isn't on tv anymore.

This video seems to be everywhere so I'll just go ahead and pile on...

Keeping It Local

2009-08-22T17:57:00.003-04:00

So I once again have a neighborhood bookstore, and The Regulator would like to remind us all of the importance of keeping it local...

(via the neighborhood listserv)

Avatar-a-licious!

2009-08-19T20:37:00.001-04:00

The Guild will be back with Season 3 soon, until then well you better see for yourself...

Should I Leave Room For Cream? - The Coffee Cup Mona Lisa

2009-08-05T10:18:00.003-04:00

Eat Me Daily has this photo of the Mona Lisa created from 3604 cups of coffee...

(original from flickr user Gilles Gravier)

Head over to EMD for the details and a stop motion video of the creation of this masterpiece.

Bat Tricks

2009-07-26T15:51:00.002-04:00

Seen this around in a couple of different formats as well but this video shows off a ton of the different tricks that minor leaguer Josh Womack has up his sleeve...

Let's Play Ball!

2009-07-18T14:41:00.003-04:00

Or at least feast on some kicking baseball info graphics courtesy of Craig Robinson over at Flip Flop Fly Ball.

Here's a teaser, it's still pretty tricky to get into the Hall of Fame:

Be careful, it's a time sink...

Go. Fast.

2009-07-16T12:50:00.003-04:00

Kottke has a pretty cool collection up of online videos people have made of themselves going fast, very very fast; and doing so in occasionally quite creative ways.

Here is the first video in the string, be sure to follow the link for more cars, bikes, trains, boards, and people jumping out or off of things, as well as the story behind this video...

You're Eating That Banana Backwards

2009-07-09T16:28:00.000-04:00

This guy will set you straight though...

Whoa.

(via Eat Me Daily)

Your Lyin' Eyes

2009-07-08T18:21:00.002-04:00

This was apparently all over the place (I'm getting caught up) last week.

The thing of it is, the blue and green are actually the same color. Visit Discover Mag's website for an explanation.

(originally displayed here, with lots of info on color based illusions)

MJ Tribute

2009-07-08T18:10:00.001-04:00

Hey subtle is classy...

Mama Finally Went And Did It

2009-06-28T16:06:00.002-04:00

Even Paul Simon could only delay the inevitable. They've taken Kodachrome away...

Netflix Prize Won

2009-06-28T12:54:00.002-04:00

Well, nearly so at least. The 10% improvement on Netflix's prediction algorithm needed to claim the prize has been achieved. The rules give all other competitors 30 days to best the 10.05% mark and then its all over.

Some very cool work has been done on the Netflix Prize and it's been interesting even just casually following the teams' progress.

Wired has the full story.

(vial Bloggasm)

Ahh No Va...

2009-06-13T13:48:00.002-04:00

Read all about in the WaPo Metro section.

The Stache Returns

2009-06-10T20:29:00.003-04:00

Arizona Diamondbacks' pitcher Clay Zavada has arrived in the big leagues with a seriously big league stache. His facial hair harkens back to the good ole Rollie Fingers days.

Dr. Aaron Purlet, head of the American Mustache Institute, recently discussed Zavada and his stache on ESPN...

Jump! Jump!

2009-06-09T09:17:00.003-04:00

The WaPo sports section has a story about Skins rookie WR Keith Eloi trying to get noticed by teams before the draft after having played college ball for Div. II Nebraska-Omaha. It's a fun little story that starts with the tale of how he umped into the back of a pickup truck, in his sandals no less, for a YouTube video. I think you know where this is going...

Apparently jumping out of a pool will get you more views though (1 million plus in fact):

And one more before I claw my way out of the rabbit hole before its too late...

Oh hell one more won't hurt...

Hey Kids Ryan Howard Eats His Veggies And So Should You

2009-06-06T10:54:00.002-04:00

Phillies slugger Ryan Howard got a tour of the organic garden at the White House last week...

Why are these guys wearing suits to go rummage around the garden and compost etc?

(via DCist)

Improv Everywhere Is Improbably Cute

2009-06-03T09:35:00.001-04:00

They threw a random wedding reception as their latest prank, or mission if you will which is what the group terms them...

visit Improv Everywhere

Way To Keep It Classy Lebron

2009-06-01T09:26:00.003-04:00

So Lebron James, the face and future of the NBA, didn't want to shake the Magic players hands after his Cavs were eliminated from the playoffs because he's a winner? Does that mean he only shakes hands when he wins? How did he think that was the right explanation?

Vrrrrooooom! More Great Online Info Displays

2009-05-29T10:19:00.002-04:00

I'm a sucker for online info graphics, particularly of the interactive persuasion. If you read the political side of things here you'll remember my pointing out great NYT features on debates during the the election and somewhere in the archives here on page too I linked to the searchable/interactive map of tweets during the superbowl.

I'm not a race car fan at all, I just don't get it why would I want to watch a bunch of cars make 1,000 left turns? And, as this Indy car tracker from the Indy Star shows, the cars up front definitely don't do a lot of passing either.

If you're a diehard race fan I bet you'll be able to mine this feature for details about the 2009 Indy 500, if you're like me you'll appreciate it for its other qualities. Definitely go take a look, playing the entire race run through only takes a couple of minutes.

(via kottke)

More Of Damien Walters

2009-05-22T17:28:00.002-04:00

I am very impressed, this guy must be about the best gymnast in the world too...

I'm also impressed with the upgrades to embedded videos that YouTube has made.

How'd They Get Them All On That Screen?

2009-05-19T09:02:00.004-04:00

Sidney Poitier tells Morning Edition the lovely story of the first time he saw a movie.

Go listen, it'll be the best four minutes of your morning.

Interesting Mail

2009-05-17T17:02:00.002-04:00

So the newspaper industry is slowly or maybe quickly dying, or at least changing drastically in the face of the internet. Luckily for you news still gets delivered in magazines. If the standard waiting room fair is too blase for you the WSJ has a rundown of inventive magazines that will certainly puzzle the mailman. Some are goody boxes, others fabulously expensive and filled with limited edition art, some come in frisbees and others come in cans, one is printed on the inside of a t-shirt.

The article is worth a look.

Or you could just teach the computer to buy stuff on e-bay, you might not be able to read everything that comes but it sure would keep the mail interesting...

(as always visit xkcd for the scroll over)

Google Traffic Is Cool

2009-05-17T15:21:00.002-04:00

I don't know how long it's been up for or how it works, or even if it's accurate but Google Traffic is at the very least an interesting idea and pretty cool looking.

Unfortunately the traffic maps are not embeddable (they supposedly offer live info so that makes sense) and I don't feel like doing a screen capture, but follow the links to check it out...

DC, NYC, Boston, B'More

It looks like most major metropolitan areas are wired up and as the above links show the Bos-Wash corridor is certainly online.

One Thousand Paper...

2009-05-12T22:22:00.003-04:00

There might be that many folds in some of Simon Schubert's more intricate pieces but he isn't making paper cranes or origami of any type. Schubert makes small folds, and lots of them, in paper to create an image, mostly 2-D it looks like, that vaguely resembles a light charcoal drawing.

Visit his site for many more.

(via Kottke)

It's Hard To Beat A Good Tabbouleh

2009-05-12T22:08:00.002-04:00

And yes if my girlfriend made it without tomatoes I might have to leave her...

(via Eat Me Daily)

Well Sheeeeeeeeeet

2009-05-11T13:34:00.001-04:00

Little Mac is getting back in the ring. Punch Out for Wii is coming soon, check out Doc...

(via Kottke)

Yes That Dolphin Is Pink

2009-05-11T09:13:00.002-04:00

Technically it's an albino Bottlenose, but this dolphin's coloration is a stunning shade of pink.

Read the article from the Telegraph (UK).

Happy Mother's Day - Semi NSFW

2009-05-10T17:09:00.002-04:00

Welcome to the guaranteed viral video success follow-up to dick in a box...

Semi NSFW

How To Get Kids To Play The Flute

2009-05-10T13:12:00.002-04:00

Well this sure makes me think it would be pretty cool...

Impressive, reminds me of Rahzel...

It's pretty cool watching this stuff on line but I can tell you it's fairly insane seeing it live, if you ever have the chance make sure to check it out.

(via JA on facebook)

Isn't It Ironic...

2009-05-05T21:47:00.002-04:00

No. not rain on your wedding day (that's just pretty crummy, but not very ironic). On the other hand those flashy new laptop hunter commercials from Microsoft appear likely to have been made on Macs (at least everyone who works at the ad agency behind the spots uses a Mac, you do the math).

Have A Smart Phone?

2009-05-04T10:26:00.002-04:00

(none of the images returned in a google search for smartphones contained the IPhone, interesting no?)

Help Wired test out national 3G network speeds. For the next week Wired is asking folks to run an app on their smart phones which will test the 3G network's capabilities in their location and then make the data available on a big old map, you also get to rate your satisfaction with your carrier.

At the end of the week Wired will report back with the results.

Full details and instructions are up at the Gadget Lab.

Mr. Kelly Will Take You To School Now

2009-05-01T09:50:00.002-04:00

Gene Kelly was pretty much the man...

Color me impressed.

(via Kottke)

Separate And Equal

2009-04-28T13:37:00.001-04:00

Physically separated bike lanes are very cool and successful...

(via GGW)

The World Of Acoustic Hip Hop Covers

2009-04-27T15:31:00.003-04:00

I fell down a very deep rabbit hole this morning after Ezra Klein posted this video of a rather rotund heavily bearded and very Caucasian dude (Mat Wettle of Obadiah Parker) playing an acoustic cover of Outkast's "Hey Ya":

(A different video with better audio of the same exists, but is not embedable)

That led to this M.I.A cover...

Which subsequently led me to Marie Digby elegantly covering Rhianna's "Umbrella"...

A little bit of searching on You Tube turned up a couple of more nuggets. The Scared Dinosaurs doing Soulja Boy's "Crank That" (this one might be my favorite):

And One Republic sponsoring a You Tube acoustic cover contest for their song "Apolgize":

At this point I knew it was time to desperately extricate myself before I disappeared completely into the You Tubes. But not before looking for one of the earliest hip hop acoustic covers to go big time, Dynamite Hack taking on "Boys in the Hood". Surprisingly the only thing interesting I could find was a video made out of scenes from one of the more recent Grand Theft Auto games which appears to contain the track...

It's also worth noting that this is a popular genre, at least online, and that several of these videos have well over 1 million views (one of them has been watched more than 12.5 million times)

Yet Another Reason To Love Vermont

2009-04-22T21:34:00.003-04:00

You can get REAL syrup on your pancakes at IHOP...

So when the land of piping-hot pancakes and fresh maple syrup became the 50th state to welcome an IHOP last month, the franchise owners sought permission to depart from the chain’s standard fare. The IHOP here is the only one of about 1,400 in the United States, Canada and Mexico to serve real maple syrup.
“You can’t open up a Vermont pancake shop without Vermont maple syrup,” said Sam Handy Jr., who is the restaurant’s general manager and whose family owns the franchise.

(via Kottke)

Badass Biking

2009-04-20T11:44:00.002-04:00

No two ways about it that's what we have here in a crazy video just released by UK based Inspired Bicycles featuring rider Danny MacAskill in Edinburgh.

I've seen a couple of demos at bike expos before but nothing quite like this. There's probably plenty of other folks out there riding like this and plety of videos if you go looking though.

Interesting aside, the video is available in HQ on YouTube and not available in HD on Vimeo. A bit odd since this seems to be right up Vimeo's alley. It seems (this may be way too much extrapolation however) that YouTube's move to offer higher quality (and HD) uploading is paying off.

(via GL)

Who Doesn't Love Jenga?

2009-04-17T09:59:00.002-04:00

And who hasn't spent hours shooting rubber bands at things? Ok, maybe not recently but at some earlier point in your life you did. Now imagine combing these two excellent pursuits and then taking them to 11...

via (GL)

Not Your Average Celebrity

2009-04-14T16:50:00.003-04:00

Then again, I suppose that being a celebrity negates being average on principle. Either way it appears to be young female celebrity day here and we'll follow up the satire from the previous post with an instruction to go read Scarlett Johansson's piece at HuffPo on diet and exercise and how it worries / scares / frustrates her that the tabloid media continues to push the physical image of celebrities upon us and often urges crash dieting.

It's a thoughtful, righteously indignant screed and you should check it out...

Since dedicating myself to getting into "superhero shape," several articles regarding my weight have been brought to my attention. Claims have been made that I've been on a strict workout routine regulated by co-stars, whipped into shape by trainers I've never met, eating sprouted grains I can't pronounce and ultimately losing 14 pounds off my 5'3" frame. Losing 14 pounds out of necessity in order to live a healthier life is a huge victory. I'm a petite person to begin with, so the idea of my losing this amount of weight is utter lunacy. If I were to lose 14 pounds, I'd have to part with both arms. And a foot. I'm frustrated with the irresponsibility of tabloid media who sell the public ideas about what we should look like and how we should get there.

(via EK)

Lindsay Lohan Is Alone

2009-04-14T12:54:00.003-04:00

At least according to the tabloid rumors and her new eHarmony ad...

Lindsay Lohan's eHarmony Profile from Lindsay Lohan

(via bloggasm)

Holy Royal Rumble

2009-04-11T13:18:00.004-04:00

The Catholics and Presbyterians are at each others' (metaphorical) throats in the Denver ex-urbs.

The back and forth on the church message boards across the street from each other is ridiculously awesome, and it mostly concerns whether dogs can go to heaven...

(via BD)

It's Music...

2009-04-06T09:52:00.002-04:00

I think. At the very least it's very creative. Kutiman, nee Ophir Kutiel, a twenty-something Israeli semi-musician has a web album of sorts out known as the Thru-You project. Basically he's mixed together lots of YouTube samples to create actual songs or tracks, depending on how you want to calssify them. It's a good listen and interesting viewing as well.

Thru-You project page.

Kutiman interview with Sasha Frere-Jones.

(via SFJ)