Well, I'm sitting here after one day feeling like a junkie. Seriously! One day away from the my little hoarded repository of info, and I've got the proverbial shakes. I guess you could call me undisciplined; I would agree--it's public enemy #1 around these parts. But, today--even away from the 'feeds wasn't any better as far as distractions go. I was still unable to concentrate for long periods of time--as I mentioned to my brother, distraction has worked its way into my workflow. It's part of the process.
So, I may alter the fast parameters a bit or abandon the experiment all together. Maybe I'll just stay off it for the day, and soak my tired feet in it come nighttimes. Though, today wasn't a day that being away from the internet was that useful or helpful--well, I guess that it was good to be away from the constant flow of information that has little or nothing to do with me--I should just delete those feeds, I suppose. Trying to avoid it was only a testament to how much I use it.
Listen to that justification, folks. I thought that I could live without it, I guess no, no no.
Tonight I have to grade some papers, don't want to go, go, go.
(oh, and for those keeping score--24 hours = 300 unread feeds).
Showing posts with label web interests. Show all posts
Showing posts with label web interests. Show all posts
Monday, March 31, 2008
Friday, July 06, 2007
Fighting in the Google-ution
This afternoon marked the first Tucson rainstorm of the summer. As is typical during monsoon season, the day started off sunny and hot—barely a cloud in the sky. At around 3pm, the sky turned gray and it rained. Boy did it rain. I went outside for a few minutes and watched it. Smelt it. There is nothing like the smell of desert rain.
Summer has been chaotic. The accommodations have been fine. Sleeping at John’s house has been really fun—a treat to be sure. Ironically, we haven’t spent as much time together in the past years that we have lived so close. The three nights a week in Gilbert with the Heidenreich’s are somehow like nights 15 years ago we spent in “the fort.” I’m glad to be back in the fort—but also like then, the fort’s not home.
The feeling is similar at the Bertoglio’s house. We love being near Grandma and Papa. They are so sweet. But alas, it’s not home. I’m anxious to get on. To be home—even though home is now miles and miles away.
***
That said, I have to mention the little revolution I am having in web-land. Slowly—very slowly-- but surely I am learning how to actually use computers and the Internet. I know that sounds silly, especially to those who know how much time I spend in front of the screen. But I imagine that it is like they say about our brain. Most of us only use a small percent of it. In the past few weeks, I discovered that Google is much more than just a search engine. It started a month or so ago when Nick showed me what an RSS feed was. I know, I know. Get with it. For those of you who, as I was, aren’t with it either, an RSS feed is basically a text broadcast that your blogs give. RSS feeds are also broadcast from popular websites that you might visit—especially ones that are updated regularly like daily news or entertainment sites.
Anyway, there are a lot of things you can do with an RSS feed. I played with them first as a part of my web browser’s tool bar. The idea is that you can see, for example, if a blog has been updated with out actually visiting the blog—your indicator announces the new blog title and you can click it as a link to read the blog in full.
So that’s an RSS feed. Then I started messing around with some of the Google tools that I had heard a little about. I downloaded Google Desktop for my work computer (a cool tool if you have a lot of RAM… my home computer couldn’t handle it). At it's core, Desktop is a search tool. If you install it, you can run "google" searches for stuff on your hard drive and on the web. Desktop includes “Gadgets”—basically “Widgets” , if you are familiar with Yahoo's fun desktop tools. One of the Gadgets is an RSS feed tool—but this one is more fancy. When you click the title, a window pops out and you can read the blog update right there—without visiting the webpage. Cool.
This is getting a bit long winded… basically it all led me to a cool tool that Google offers called Google Reader. Google Reader is pretty much the coolest thing I have seen on the web for a long time. Imagine that every blog you read is an email, and every time that someone posts something new, Google Reader collects it, indicates to you of its newness and then puts it on the screen for you. So if Nick, Michelle and Brandon all have a new post on the same day, all you have to do is be watching on Reader and you can read each of them in the same location, one right after the other. Oh--and I forgot to mention that Reader and all of the things I mention below are accessed with your gmail login (gmail is also, of course, made by Google).
This tool may be a bit impractical if you only read a few blogs—but wait, there’s more! As you surf the web, you will see the little RSS feed button all over the place. You can add page after page to your Reader and save yourself from having to click through all the links you have in your bookmarks. I have added feeds from all of the news sites that I read, all of the entertainment and art/design sites that I frequent, I have even gone looking for new blogs that I might just want to read. It’s so easy to read them—I am anxious to learn, see, discover.
You can tell I am pretty excited. Reader is pretty sweet. But it's not the only great tool. You can also individualize Google’s news site. See that "Individualize this page" button? Click it and go crazy. By using key word searches, I can search for any article being published on the web with the following (or any other) words: Champaign-Urbana, Street Art, University of Illinois. It’s really cool.
Picassa is another awesome tool by Google. This one is used both to organize the pictures you have on your computer and also publish them to the web. If you are tired of your computer’s picture organizing software (I am thinking of you Michelle), check it out.
Finally, you can use all of these tools on a personalized Google homepage called iGoogle.
So there’s a big commercial for you. Enjoy.
Summer has been chaotic. The accommodations have been fine. Sleeping at John’s house has been really fun—a treat to be sure. Ironically, we haven’t spent as much time together in the past years that we have lived so close. The three nights a week in Gilbert with the Heidenreich’s are somehow like nights 15 years ago we spent in “the fort.” I’m glad to be back in the fort—but also like then, the fort’s not home.
The feeling is similar at the Bertoglio’s house. We love being near Grandma and Papa. They are so sweet. But alas, it’s not home. I’m anxious to get on. To be home—even though home is now miles and miles away.
***
That said, I have to mention the little revolution I am having in web-land. Slowly—very slowly-- but surely I am learning how to actually use computers and the Internet. I know that sounds silly, especially to those who know how much time I spend in front of the screen. But I imagine that it is like they say about our brain. Most of us only use a small percent of it. In the past few weeks, I discovered that Google is much more than just a search engine. It started a month or so ago when Nick showed me what an RSS feed was. I know, I know. Get with it. For those of you who, as I was, aren’t with it either, an RSS feed is basically a text broadcast that your blogs give. RSS feeds are also broadcast from popular websites that you might visit—especially ones that are updated regularly like daily news or entertainment sites.
Anyway, there are a lot of things you can do with an RSS feed. I played with them first as a part of my web browser’s tool bar. The idea is that you can see, for example, if a blog has been updated with out actually visiting the blog—your indicator announces the new blog title and you can click it as a link to read the blog in full.
So that’s an RSS feed. Then I started messing around with some of the Google tools that I had heard a little about. I downloaded Google Desktop for my work computer (a cool tool if you have a lot of RAM… my home computer couldn’t handle it). At it's core, Desktop is a search tool. If you install it, you can run "google" searches for stuff on your hard drive and on the web. Desktop includes “Gadgets”—basically “Widgets” , if you are familiar with Yahoo's fun desktop tools. One of the Gadgets is an RSS feed tool—but this one is more fancy. When you click the title, a window pops out and you can read the blog update right there—without visiting the webpage. Cool.
This is getting a bit long winded… basically it all led me to a cool tool that Google offers called Google Reader. Google Reader is pretty much the coolest thing I have seen on the web for a long time. Imagine that every blog you read is an email, and every time that someone posts something new, Google Reader collects it, indicates to you of its newness and then puts it on the screen for you. So if Nick, Michelle and Brandon all have a new post on the same day, all you have to do is be watching on Reader and you can read each of them in the same location, one right after the other. Oh--and I forgot to mention that Reader and all of the things I mention below are accessed with your gmail login (gmail is also, of course, made by Google).
This tool may be a bit impractical if you only read a few blogs—but wait, there’s more! As you surf the web, you will see the little RSS feed button all over the place. You can add page after page to your Reader and save yourself from having to click through all the links you have in your bookmarks. I have added feeds from all of the news sites that I read, all of the entertainment and art/design sites that I frequent, I have even gone looking for new blogs that I might just want to read. It’s so easy to read them—I am anxious to learn, see, discover.
You can tell I am pretty excited. Reader is pretty sweet. But it's not the only great tool. You can also individualize Google’s news site. See that "Individualize this page" button? Click it and go crazy. By using key word searches, I can search for any article being published on the web with the following (or any other) words: Champaign-Urbana, Street Art, University of Illinois. It’s really cool.
Picassa is another awesome tool by Google. This one is used both to organize the pictures you have on your computer and also publish them to the web. If you are tired of your computer’s picture organizing software (I am thinking of you Michelle), check it out.
Finally, you can use all of these tools on a personalized Google homepage called iGoogle.
So there’s a big commercial for you. Enjoy.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
The End of an Era..?
About a year ago, my buddy who hosts jonstone.com for me (Mat Richins) got an email from Jon Stone offering $500 bucks for the domain. Yes, there are many other Jon Stones out there, I guess, and this one has his eye on my site. I scoffed when I heard--HA! I am the only Jon Stone who really matters (except that dude with the big beard who was the writer for Sesame Street before he kicked the bucket). I laugh in the general direction of your $500!
A few months later he upped the ante to $1000. My pride bubble grew--dollar signs in my eyes. If i sit on this long enough, I thought, it could be my chance at millions!
Well, as we tabulate the costs of moving, paying a rent deposit, going on extended vacation, etc., that $1000 bucks is looking a bit more appealing. So- I offered the dude $1500. He was all over it. (Man! should have offered it for 2K!). I have to give him time to drum up the cash, but it looks like jonstone.com is in its final stretch.
Fear not, dear family! I will be able to very easily transfer all of the happiness on the site to a new domain. Unfortunately, most of the good ones (stonefamily.com, thefamilystone.com, jonathanstone.com, and on and on) are taken already. Right now, the best I can do are thehouseofstone.com and jonstonefamily.com. So--your job, should you care to participate, is to vote on either of those or use your creative juices to come up with another site with an appropriate title to host the picture vault that is currently jonstone.com. You can check and see if that domain is available by plugging it into a domain availability search engine like the one here or here.
I actually like thehouseofstone.com It has a nice ring to it and works well as a place where many of us with stone connections can post pictures of our families. I don't doubt in your abilities to come up with something better, though. Go for it!
A few months later he upped the ante to $1000. My pride bubble grew--dollar signs in my eyes. If i sit on this long enough, I thought, it could be my chance at millions!
Well, as we tabulate the costs of moving, paying a rent deposit, going on extended vacation, etc., that $1000 bucks is looking a bit more appealing. So- I offered the dude $1500. He was all over it. (Man! should have offered it for 2K!). I have to give him time to drum up the cash, but it looks like jonstone.com is in its final stretch.
Fear not, dear family! I will be able to very easily transfer all of the happiness on the site to a new domain. Unfortunately, most of the good ones (stonefamily.com, thefamilystone.com, jonathanstone.com, and on and on) are taken already. Right now, the best I can do are thehouseofstone.com and jonstonefamily.com. So--your job, should you care to participate, is to vote on either of those or use your creative juices to come up with another site with an appropriate title to host the picture vault that is currently jonstone.com. You can check and see if that domain is available by plugging it into a domain availability search engine like the one here or here.
I actually like thehouseofstone.com It has a nice ring to it and works well as a place where many of us with stone connections can post pictures of our families. I don't doubt in your abilities to come up with something better, though. Go for it!
Friday, September 15, 2006
Waste Your Time on My Dime (part two)
Today is the music edition of Waste Your Time on My Dime (part 2, I guess). I am currently going through a gigantic list of vocabulary words—trying to study them for the GRE that I am taking in three weeks. I can’t believe how quickly it has crept up on me…so anyway, this is my noontime reprieve.
NPR’s All Songs Considered
Since discovering this show as a podcast a year or so ago (in fact I think that it was last Christmastime’s “Best Songs of the Year” show that got me hooked), I have listened to it almost every single week. Today as I have been studying, I have been catching up on the last several weeks of the program and am again reminded how much I enjoy it. Bob Boilen, the host and DJ of the program, is a musician himself and unlike most radio personalities, his genuine tastes and interests are articulated in a way that make the listener want to be fans of the songs that he plays. His show is a wonderful mix of the old and the new. He takes time to give histories and make musical connections—often genealogies—of the songs and artists that he plays. This week’s show, for example, highlights the work of contemporary folk musician M. Ward. The show is awesome, though, because first, M. Ward himself is a guest DJ. Bob Boilan, a genuine fan of M. Ward asks questions of the musician that fans would want to know. M. Ward is also given the opportunity to play music that interests him which leads to an exploration of songs by Roy Orbison, the Beach Boys, My Morning Jacket and others. But again, the show is great because it peels the musical layers that are always present in recorded music back and allows the listener to peak into the cracks. Also, the concert series is both extensive and supurb. Really, really cool stuff.
Last.fm
Last.fm is many things. First and foremost it is an audioscrobbler database which means, basically, that, with your permission, it collects information from your computer’s audio player (WMP or Itunes) as you play your music and tabulates which artists and tracks you are listening to most and organizes this information in a fun format on their website. The fun part of this process is that it then connects you with people who share your same musical interests and you can check out the groups that they are listening to that you may not have heard of—so it is a gateway to finding new music. Also, you can have “friends” which allows me to see what my buddies are listening to. (Who would have thunk that Aaron Bell was a Justin Timberlake fan?) Finally, if you are away from a computer that has all of your music on it, you can listen to last.fm radio which plays tracks that it thinks you might like based on the music you are listening to that it has collected. Amazing! View my profile at http://www.last.fm/user/jwstone/
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork is a music news site that focuses on—well—I don’t really know how to describe it. It’s not really what I would call an “indie” music website, although the majority of what it reviews and critiques might be considered independent. Honestly, I am not familiar with the majority of the bands that are highlighted by Pitchfork (I am not very cool, you know), but I do know that when I am familiar (or want to become familiar) with the bands, the writing is excellent and the reviews are fresh, honest and often really funny.
KEXP
KEXP is a Seattle based independent radio station that it just completely and totally cool. The website has a live, streaming radio feed which makes it a great place to hear new bands and old favorites.
Finally, there are a few (usually fan produced) band websites out there that I consider to be exceptional.
Chain of Flowers is the most comprehensive web source for Cure fans that I have ever come across. During times of high band activity, there is something new and cool almost everyday on the site. My favorite things about Chain of Flowers include the news section (of course) but also include things like the database of what has gotten played during specific tours and tour dates over the years. Anybody wonder what songs they played during the Phoenix tour of the Prayer tour? Chain of Flowers will tell you.
Green Plastic is a Radiohead website that allows for more straightforward access to Radiohead information than their official site allows. It is well done for many of the same reasons that Chain of Flowers is well done.
Ben Folds's official site is one of the few label based websites that I really like. The best part about it are the pictures that have been taken by Ben and his band on the road.
Weezer.com is another really great label based website. The only reason that it remains to be so good is that it is still written and maintained by Weezer side-kick Karl Koch. It used to be better—back when Weezer used to be better—but it is still a reliable source for the =w= fan in you. I do miss the old "Karl's Corner" days, though.
Finally, I have to mention Myspace’s one good quality. When Jon and I were playing around town with Lancaster a year or so ago, Myspace became a very useful tool of local music discovery and networking. There are some really great bands to discover in the Valley (and in your city too) if you look around a bit. Can’t say that I am really into Myspace as a social networking tool, though. Too much stupid crap out there that I don’t want to look at on people’s sites.
NPR’s All Songs Considered
Since discovering this show as a podcast a year or so ago (in fact I think that it was last Christmastime’s “Best Songs of the Year” show that got me hooked), I have listened to it almost every single week. Today as I have been studying, I have been catching up on the last several weeks of the program and am again reminded how much I enjoy it. Bob Boilen, the host and DJ of the program, is a musician himself and unlike most radio personalities, his genuine tastes and interests are articulated in a way that make the listener want to be fans of the songs that he plays. His show is a wonderful mix of the old and the new. He takes time to give histories and make musical connections—often genealogies—of the songs and artists that he plays. This week’s show, for example, highlights the work of contemporary folk musician M. Ward. The show is awesome, though, because first, M. Ward himself is a guest DJ. Bob Boilan, a genuine fan of M. Ward asks questions of the musician that fans would want to know. M. Ward is also given the opportunity to play music that interests him which leads to an exploration of songs by Roy Orbison, the Beach Boys, My Morning Jacket and others. But again, the show is great because it peels the musical layers that are always present in recorded music back and allows the listener to peak into the cracks. Also, the concert series is both extensive and supurb. Really, really cool stuff.
Last.fm
Last.fm is many things. First and foremost it is an audioscrobbler database which means, basically, that, with your permission, it collects information from your computer’s audio player (WMP or Itunes) as you play your music and tabulates which artists and tracks you are listening to most and organizes this information in a fun format on their website. The fun part of this process is that it then connects you with people who share your same musical interests and you can check out the groups that they are listening to that you may not have heard of—so it is a gateway to finding new music. Also, you can have “friends” which allows me to see what my buddies are listening to. (Who would have thunk that Aaron Bell was a Justin Timberlake fan?) Finally, if you are away from a computer that has all of your music on it, you can listen to last.fm radio which plays tracks that it thinks you might like based on the music you are listening to that it has collected. Amazing! View my profile at http://www.last.fm/user/jwstone/
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork is a music news site that focuses on—well—I don’t really know how to describe it. It’s not really what I would call an “indie” music website, although the majority of what it reviews and critiques might be considered independent. Honestly, I am not familiar with the majority of the bands that are highlighted by Pitchfork (I am not very cool, you know), but I do know that when I am familiar (or want to become familiar) with the bands, the writing is excellent and the reviews are fresh, honest and often really funny.
KEXP
KEXP is a Seattle based independent radio station that it just completely and totally cool. The website has a live, streaming radio feed which makes it a great place to hear new bands and old favorites.
Finally, there are a few (usually fan produced) band websites out there that I consider to be exceptional.
Chain of Flowers is the most comprehensive web source for Cure fans that I have ever come across. During times of high band activity, there is something new and cool almost everyday on the site. My favorite things about Chain of Flowers include the news section (of course) but also include things like the database of what has gotten played during specific tours and tour dates over the years. Anybody wonder what songs they played during the Phoenix tour of the Prayer tour? Chain of Flowers will tell you.
Green Plastic is a Radiohead website that allows for more straightforward access to Radiohead information than their official site allows. It is well done for many of the same reasons that Chain of Flowers is well done.
Ben Folds's official site is one of the few label based websites that I really like. The best part about it are the pictures that have been taken by Ben and his band on the road.
Weezer.com is another really great label based website. The only reason that it remains to be so good is that it is still written and maintained by Weezer side-kick Karl Koch. It used to be better—back when Weezer used to be better—but it is still a reliable source for the =w= fan in you. I do miss the old "Karl's Corner" days, though.
Finally, I have to mention Myspace’s one good quality. When Jon and I were playing around town with Lancaster a year or so ago, Myspace became a very useful tool of local music discovery and networking. There are some really great bands to discover in the Valley (and in your city too) if you look around a bit. Can’t say that I am really into Myspace as a social networking tool, though. Too much stupid crap out there that I don’t want to look at on people’s sites.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Waste Your Time on My Dime (part one)
I was thinking today about some of the magical things on the web that serve to distract me from doing productive things. This will be the movie edition of two other such posts to follow.
IMDB- If you love movies and don’t know about this site, then you should be ashamed of yourself. IMDB is the ultimate. You can search for movies by actor, director, writer, you name it! My favorite thing about IMDB is the trivia section that gives, well, trivia about the filming, script and behind the scenes factoids that movie nerds may be interested in. Dave Bertoglio loves the “goofs” section. It has rewards for the close watcher: continuity problems, on-screen set pieces, missing or mis-robed costume pieces (For example: When the Millennium Falcon is inside the worm and a tremor makes Princess Leia fall on Han Solo she says, "Captain, being held by you isn't quite enough to get me excited", Han Solo is mouthing her line. The original trilogy is absolutely rife with mistakes.), etc.
Dark Horizons- A movie junkie’s haven. This site has information on new movies, deals, trailers, interviews, rumors, etc. The writing is clever and well done and the focus is on the art of film making rather than the “stars.” In other words, this isn’t Access Hollywood or ET.
Kids in Mind- For those of us fed up with the MPAA’s twisted and corrupt rating system, this site gives the reader a break down of the movies content in three categories: Sex, Violence and Language. Each of these categories receives a rating from zero to ten (zero for nothing, ten for a vast abundance of). Pirates of the Caribbean received a 3.7.2, for example, whereas Nacho Libre got a 3.4.3. Then, each and every potentially objectionable part of the movie is explained (sterilely) so that an educated decision can be made about the movies appropriateness for varying audiences.
Rotten Tomatoes- We love Rotten Tomatoes at our house! This is the end of the line when it comes to the movie critical mass. Basically, the idea here is the collection and distribution of professional critic’s opinions of a movie’s watchability. Is your time better spent, as my brother-in-law Brandon is known to say, staring at a blank wall? Each review is assigned a positive or a negative value and a percentage is tabulated based on those numbers. If the total percentage exceeds 60%, the movie is considered “fresh” if it is below that, the movie is, of course, “rotten.” Never waste your money on a crappy movie again!
IMDB- If you love movies and don’t know about this site, then you should be ashamed of yourself. IMDB is the ultimate. You can search for movies by actor, director, writer, you name it! My favorite thing about IMDB is the trivia section that gives, well, trivia about the filming, script and behind the scenes factoids that movie nerds may be interested in. Dave Bertoglio loves the “goofs” section. It has rewards for the close watcher: continuity problems, on-screen set pieces, missing or mis-robed costume pieces (For example: When the Millennium Falcon is inside the worm and a tremor makes Princess Leia fall on Han Solo she says, "Captain, being held by you isn't quite enough to get me excited", Han Solo is mouthing her line. The original trilogy is absolutely rife with mistakes.), etc.
Dark Horizons- A movie junkie’s haven. This site has information on new movies, deals, trailers, interviews, rumors, etc. The writing is clever and well done and the focus is on the art of film making rather than the “stars.” In other words, this isn’t Access Hollywood or ET.
Kids in Mind- For those of us fed up with the MPAA’s twisted and corrupt rating system, this site gives the reader a break down of the movies content in three categories: Sex, Violence and Language. Each of these categories receives a rating from zero to ten (zero for nothing, ten for a vast abundance of). Pirates of the Caribbean received a 3.7.2, for example, whereas Nacho Libre got a 3.4.3. Then, each and every potentially objectionable part of the movie is explained (sterilely) so that an educated decision can be made about the movies appropriateness for varying audiences.
Rotten Tomatoes- We love Rotten Tomatoes at our house! This is the end of the line when it comes to the movie critical mass. Basically, the idea here is the collection and distribution of professional critic’s opinions of a movie’s watchability. Is your time better spent, as my brother-in-law Brandon is known to say, staring at a blank wall? Each review is assigned a positive or a negative value and a percentage is tabulated based on those numbers. If the total percentage exceeds 60%, the movie is considered “fresh” if it is below that, the movie is, of course, “rotten.” Never waste your money on a crappy movie again!
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