Category: Links and Quotes Page 20 of 25

Shared from elsewhere.

#BaltimoreUprising

On April 28, 2015

In light of the recent uprising in Baltimore, here is the important information to know.

On April 19, 2015, Freddie Gray was killed by a Baltimore City Police Officer, sparking sustained unrest. We expect that the officers will be held responsible for his murder and many people have come together to demand justice.

We will update this page daily with key information regarding the organizing underway in Baltimore as we are in contact with many folks on-the-ground. And this isn’t meant to replace twitter, but to be a central space for information that can be updated in real-time.

We are all on the right side of justice.

http://baltimoreuprising.org/ takes you to a Google Doc with information about the ongoing unrest in Baltimore. This is a beautiful use of technology to get information out to people who need it.

It takes the immediacy of Twitter and filters out the noise. I love seeing technology being used to help people.

BaltimoreUprising.org

One google doc.

One domain name.

Providing updates to a city in crisis.

The Urbanist

By Carl

On March 30, 2015

In Links and Quotes

Whatever sins of urban living you commit today, and you will commit at least one, will be washed away overnight. When you get back on the train the next morning, nobody will even remember. It’s liberating, in a way. It’s the introvert’s dream. All the people around you are extras in the movie of your life, and you are an extra in theirs.

via The Urbanist – Sanspoint. – Essays on Technology and Culture by Richard J. Anderson.

Richard Anderson (who will forever be Mr. Anderson in my brain) writes a wonderful ode to city life.

It’s a wonderful love story of concrete anonymity. I love image of city dwellers being extras in each other’s lives. Working in a city, and taking a train into it each day, I relate to this aspect of the city experience.

I agree with his final words that it is a big enough country to have, and appreciate both perspectives.

The Despotic Clown

By Carl

On March 25, 2015

In Links and Quotes

Now that I have given you nightmares… Taco Bell has launched a propaganda campaign against the Routine Republic.

In the three-minute centerpiece ad below, McDonald’s affable but intrinsically creepy mascot is reimagined as a sunken-eyed Stalinist clown (though perhaps bearing closer resemblance to Mao). He rules over a small army of look-alikes and an oppressed proletariat in a decrepit, cloistered city with a beefy security apparatus. Run-of-the-mill breakfast sandwiches are his preferred method of subjugation.

The three-minute video is worth watching, even if it is just an ad for Taco Bell.

The print work for this campaign is marvelous and I want to print and mount the entire set. Here’s a taste.

To see the rest of the print work head on over to Adweek.
Ad of the Day: Taco Bell Launches Cold War Against McDonald’s With Propaganda Imagery

Banana gun via http://gratisography.com/

MacBook Perspectives

By Carl

On March 17, 2015

In Links and Quotes

I enjoy reading different views on the same thing. I like hearing diverse viewpoints from intelligent people. As much as I’ve avoided the Apple chatter, I like hearing what people I follow online think about it. Those who aren’t tech journalists. They’re not getting paid to churn out 500 words on The Next Apple Thing™.

Recently Conor wrote about his dislike in the direction Apple is going. He wants more power in a portable. He wants a Pro Portable.

conormcclure.net: Thoughts on the new MacBook(s)

I myself am a college student, but am also an “adult computer” user—I want power, speed, and possibilities. Last week’s updates to the MacBook Pro line were indeed “modest”, if not “half-assed.” I’m not eager to upgrade my computer given Apple’s latest advancements. They’re focus on portability and other silly features (Force Touch?) have neglected the other spectrum of MacBook power users who want massive speed and battery. (I’m not even talking about the Thunderbolt vs. USB-C fiasco. Make up your minds, for our sake.)

And Rob wants just the opposite. He’s enamored by the new, gold iPad Plus. He wants an iPad with the full power of the Mac OS behind it.

The new MacBook — RM

The iPad is what I need in a mobile computer. The new MacBook is the first computer that made me even consider changing that. It’s super thin and light — two things I love about the iPad. It has the high resolution screen that would be easy on my eyes. And it has the full power of OS X behind it.

Like Conor, I have a 2010 MacBook Pro. It’s served me well and I don’t know what my next machine will be. When I think about what I want, it’s a powerful portable with an integrated graphics card. But when I think about what I actually use my machine for, it’s a writing tablet. It’s a place to browse the web and like Rob, I need more power than an iPad, or at least a full operating system. I don’t think I need a Mac Pro Portable.

I don’t work with video. I take a pile of photos (and struggle to do anything with them). There’s a lot of lust over new hardware, but I am also very wary of the first rendition of anything Apple makes. As a current owner of the first iPad and former original MacBook buyer I’ve seen the slew of issues with the new devices. Or the major gains in the second version of the device. And I don’t have the money to throw at Apple. I’m content to sit and wait. I’m happy to pickup someone’s used machine once they’re ready to move on to something new.

Sweet Themes are Made of These

By Carl

On March 16, 2015

In Links and Quotes

Even if you’ve been using Slack for a while, you might not know about the Sidebar Theme feature in Preferences, which is a good way to keep your different Teams visually separate.

Sweet Themes are Made of These is an unofficial resource for Slack sidebar themes. I actively participate in two different Slack rooms and I use the sidebar themes to keep them straight at a glance.

There’s a brief how-to if you don’t know how to change your Slack sidebar theme.

I’m using the light and dark Solarized themes and think they look great!