The blog chronicles my struggle with ALH (Adult Left Handedness). I also post drawings and write about software. Sometimes there's clips and notes from shows I am in or watch.
TAG | New York
I was walking into the East Village recently for some pizza. This little song came to me:
******
I’m going to get a slice of pizza (a slice of pizza)
I’m going to get a slice of pizza (a slice of pizza)
Will it rain?
Will it rain?
I hope that it rains …
Slices of pizza.
Free music continues to fall upon New York this summer, enriching the lives of people throughout the several boroughs. In the past week I was fortunate enough to catch the NY Philharmonic’s Central Park performance of some Mozart and Beethoven’s 7th Symphony. Friday I ushered a visiting sister down to South Street Seaport to see Superchunk, part of a River to River series of free concerts. Although the North Carolina-based band dispassionately played a string of repetitive power-chord songs, it was good energy. Yesterday’s annual Siren Music Festival in Coney Island was a blast, blast, blast.
I’m so glad I headed on down in time for the final act. Brandishing my reporter’s notebook and pen I told the first security guy I saw that I needed to get into the front section because I write for a blog. He chuckled and told me to tell his boss what I told him, and I repeated it. He looked me in the eye, realized I was telling the truth and yet full of b.s., and he let me through. So, to affirm the honesty of my request, I will recall what I can of the set.
Photos I snagged from the Flickr user phq200.
I re-joined a running group, the Hash Harriers. And I sketched a picture with chalk on the sidewalk of last night’s “On In” location. The gist of “hashing” is to stay on trail to find the end-point (“on in”).
There’s been much concern about filtering out 411 about the content of the final Harry Potter book.
The idea is to shut down potential ‘channels’ that could bring in the harmful information. It’s been recommended to avoid news web sites, where eyes might chance upon a headline or blurb that gives the ending away.
If you use a news aggregator to gather your news, and only a news aggregator to gather your news, and if that aggregator allows for Filtering of articles based on keywords, then you could set it to keep out any “Harry Potter” stories.
In that way, a news reader, by virture of what it can keep out, would have a persuasive reason for adoption to those not yet hip to its ability to fetch. I know of no other News Source that would allow such customization of experience. In traditional media, there are ’self constraints.’ We take it on good faith that Brian Williams will not suddenly blow the whistle.
Years from now, we might remark it as odd the dependence on voluntary restraint of a broadcaster. But that is how it is now. It means that we have a personal relationship with Mr. Williams. That is to be treasured because down the road, with comupter interfaces, you will have control but you’ll be dealing only with systems, not persons with feelings, integrity, and values.
Ah, people. The opposite of the self-restrained advocate is the malevolent bellower intent on “runing it” for you.
In New York City, there are millions of human ‘channels’ and among them must be at least a few thousand MBs.If you travel with the Potter book you are a target.So, what can you do?
You can disguise your Potter interest by swapping book jackets. For example, replace Deathly Hallows with Great Expectations. If you cross paths with an MB, he could still try to ruin it for you, but unless you don’t know Miss Havisham is the benefactor, you’ll be unharmed?
But the jacket throw-off could backfire among benevolent restrainers. After all, the BR, wishing not to ruin someone’s experience, will restrain when he detects the presence of fellows with potential for harm, but if he does not detect such danger, he may feel free to talk. Imagine being alone in a subway car, with your disguised book. The BR enters with a pal, eager to chat about Deathly Hallows. The BR scans the car, sees only you with the classic Dickens tale, and begins to talk about the “Hallows” subject matter. Your life is ruined.
Ah, then you would argue that the BR should have checked with you first or made a pre-statement (warning). Indeed, the BR in the above case, in practice is no different than a MB. It is not intent, but actions, that connect us in the big communication system. A failed MB is then more advantageous for your needs than a mistaken BR.
You could take protective measures. Leave the city. Travel by car. Ask Amazon to drop off the book to your home… but there is no reason to become a hermit. You want to enjoy a full life that includes enjoyment of Harry Potter’s odyssey, not at the cost of other stimuli. The solution is the Bush Doctrine–pre-emptive force. Not just the threat of violence, no… too risky. What good is it to swing your arms and announce “I am on page 322 of ‘Deathly Hallows’ and do not wish to hear anything about the story beyond point. If you say any such thing, I will pop you!” if a group of powerful, Malfoy-like MBs go ahead anyway? Indeed, you will have given them, in your warning, a mark of an easy target.
You must take action before any communication is possible. If anyone is talking about anything on the bus or train or park, then beat them up. Also beware of non-verbal behavior. Some jackal may try to act out a death, alluding to Potter.. well, give him the real thing before he gets a chance. Likewise, writing devices should be confiscated. You have wide lattitude to do what you deem appropriate. Even if you pepper spray a subway car full of people, and the subsequent search for pen and paper turns up nothing, you will have done nothing wrong.
It’s not easy to criticize Craig’s List. Most everyone wants to meet Craig, lock his head endearingly, and order him rounds of Brooklyn Lager. And his list? Oh gosh… the original copy should be under glass alongside the Constituion. Three Cheers for CL! Buyers love it. Sellers adore it. Designers cite it as an example of ‘what works’… made by people ‘who get it.’ Get what? Clean, simple, oh so elegant design. Outkast perhaps had CL in mind when writing”So fresh and so clean clean.” But there is room for improvement.
Users who want to save a Posting to read later have only one choice: “Email this Posting to a Friend.” Savvy users know that they can Email themselves. But what a chore! It’s a 6 step process::
1. Click link “Email Posting to Friend.”
2. Input Friend address,
3. Input Your address.
4. Click Submit button.
5. View Confirm page.
6. Click to return to listing (or use Back button 2 steps).
What a drag. After doing that for each Posting, you can then log into your email, and check out the posts. And what if you seek to view the postings offline? Often when reading posts, I like to make a copy for my Desktop, to view in Word. How do I accomplish that? Well, by Copying and Pasting of course. And yes, there is room for error! Often I forget to grab the headline, or contact info. My bad, right?
Or, maybe it’s Craig’s bad. Maybe his list is not perfect. Perhaps endless rounds of free beer are not the best medicine for designing user interfaces. Welp, Craig. Let me be give it to you straight (as unpopular as that term may be among your list’s social set):: it is high time you make it easy to SAVE POSTINGS.
When scanning Print ads, users circle ads. We should be able to do so here too. Here’s what I suggest:
1. The mouse is a Red Marker. (This is easy to accomplish. Yes, it is a graphical enhancement, but it doesn’t affect load time or screen appearance, just the mouse).
2. To ‘circle’ an ad, the user can ‘make a circle’ (in practice, click anywhere on the headline) or click a “save post” link atop and below the posting.
3. A right column on Screen: displays saved ads.
4. Right column contains links:
Send saved ads to Email.
Save to Desktop (Word or Text Doc)
Delete (checked) listings.
Oh, Craig. You can get this right. Hasn’t EBay given you any advice? No. Just a lot of beer. What?! You prefer Anchor Steamer?! I, I didn’t know. I just assumed you dug Booklyn Beh. I forgot you’re from San Fran. Well, you’ve got kindred spirits out in Booklyn. Make it easier to save posts, and you will be all the more loved!
