The Bundle of Banal Observations

Bye Bye Tumblr

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 21:00:04 -0500

I’ve decided to move all my posts over to my personal website at http://weskelley.me. Though Tumblr’s impossible to beat if you’re looking for a simple and elegant way to quickly post content, I’m going to merge up my quick posts and my longer-form blog entries.

In the process, I’ve learned that you can’t export anything out of Tumblr, nor can you delete your Tumblr account. Doesn’t that seem odd? I’m surprised folks haven’t howled for a convenient way to transport your own content to another site.

Despite the challenges I’ve faced when leaving Tumblr, I have to say that they’ve made a great system and using it regularly has been a very pleasurable experience.

buzzandersen: Detail from a Graph of My Last Year’s Last.fm...

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 21:28:15 -0500

buzzandersen:

Detail from a Graph of My Last Year’s Last.fm History

(via Dennis Yang)

LastGraph is one of the most useful web visualization toys I’ve ever seen. It’s fascinating to watch the ebb and flow of my music listening habits, and see how some bands remain constant while others experience massive spikes. I’d love to see something like this overlaid with Flickr, Twitter and other indicators of what was going on in my life!

This is some very slick stuff. I’m going to give it a try myself soon.

Fail of the Week: My New iPhone

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:25:00 -0500

Fail of the Week: My New iPhone:

It looks like I’m about to trade in my trusty Blackberry for a new iPhone at work. I just hope I don’t run into the annoying problems presented the linked post.

Peter Gabriel's 'Big Blue' Musical Mashup

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 22:27:00 -0500

Peter Gabriel's 'Big Blue' Musical Mashup:

I’m always a sucker for a new Peter Gabriel album. He is hauntingly magnificent.

Not that I live around there anymore, but how did I miss that...

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 22:56:00 -0500

Not that I live around there anymore, but how did I miss that they are rebuilding the Bay Bridge connecting Oakland to San Francisco?

Tips for Switchers...

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 22:53:21 -0500

Tips for Switchers...:

I have to wonder how long it will be before Walt Mossberg leaves WSJ and takes a position at Apple. Mind you, I’m not complaining, but I think he may have cut and pasted this from the Apple website.

Don't Mess With It!

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 21:06:16 -0500

Don't Mess With It!:

“As if it were a swarm of bees…” You don’t often find this kind of direct communication in the tech knowledge base. Apparently Apple’s trying to make a point.

Small World -- R.E.M. and Walker Percy

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 09:10:00 -0500

Small World -- R.E.M. and Walker Percy:

“Anyone who really wants to figure out the words to our songs should probably read this essay, then go back and listen.” Michael Stipe talking about an essay by Walker Percy.

(via misplacedlibrarian)

End in sight on cleanup of WWII nuclear fuel plant

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 11:48:00 -0500

End in sight on cleanup of WWII nuclear fuel plant:

It took 18 months and half a billion dollars to build this Manhattan Project relic during WWII. Now it will take 15 years and $3 billion to tear it down.

Cool Business Cards

Sat, 17 May 2008 22:31:31 -0500

Cool Business Cards

Alice in Housing Land

Sat, 17 May 2008 11:11:00 -0500

Alice in Housing Land:

George Will’s insight again shines a light on our societal need to be victims. Economic analysis has turned into a race to designate victimhood. The worst aspect of this economic hypochondria, and need to describe every mortgage broker as Mr. Peabody from Its a Wonderful Life, is it makes it that much harder to separate those that were simply riding the bubble from the true economic hit men who were crafting nefarious schemes.

Who would have thought that Bill O’Reily has a temper?...

Sat, 17 May 2008 10:57:06 -0500

Who would have thought that Bill O’Reily has a temper? Wow, this is coming out of nowhere.

President Apostate?

Sat, 17 May 2008 10:31:46 -0500

President Apostate?:

Don’t be convinced otherwise: we live in a complicated world.

Demography Is King

Thu, 01 May 2008 21:41:40 -0500

Demography Is King:

misplacedlibrarian:

As usual, an interesting take from David Brooks.

Twistori

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 21:54:08 -0500

Twistori:

This site created by amy hoy and thomas fuchs, is a great real time social commenting system based on actual Twitter messages.

A very creative fellow, with a good camera, has put together a...

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:19:00 -0500

A very creative fellow, with a good camera, has put together a nice series of photos of his little Lego men unboxing his iPhone. Check out the entire photostream here. [Via]

Front Pages from Across the Globe

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 22:14:19 -0500

Front Pages from Across the Globe:

Newseum posts images of newspaper front

Candidate on a High Horse

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 22:51:00 -0500

Candidate on a High Horse:

As always, George Will has provided a wonderful historic context for today’s political argument. That being said, he doesn’t exactly refute Obama’s gaffs, he simply frames it.

This video shows Nicholas White entering elevator car 30 and...

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 21:26:00 -0500

This video shows Nicholas White entering elevator car 30 and exiting an amazing 41 hours later. The sped-up surveillance footage shows the horrible effect being trapped in a tiny box, all alone, can have on a human. [Via]

Control your Mac via Email

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 21:28:00 -0500

Control your Mac via Email:

Okay, this is pretty cool. Thanks to AppleScript and some fancy email rules, this fellow has figured out you can send commands such as shutdown, restart, sleep, etc. to your Mac via email anytime, anywhere.