To Rent or Not To Rent.

Moving to New York is hard work. When we first found out we were moving we were excited about the prospect of being back in the city. But then the reality of the move set in...and the numbers started to fly.

Currently New York is not a buyer's market. It certainly is a seller's one though. A long time ago, in a market far far away, I got a great one bedroom on the Upper East Side for $1390 a month. Sure it was a hole in the wall. Sure it was on an avenue (less desirable). Sure it was a three floor walk up, but it was big for the cost.

Meanwhile my best friend was living in a much more desirable area, in a smaller apartment, with a doorman...paying almost double. To make a long story short, the money ain't going as far as it used to.

So...Buying is out. Renting is expensive, and resident salaries are low. New York, New York, it's a hell of a town.

Tomorrow, we go back in....cover us!

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Removing a post.

They say it's a faux pas, but that post needed a little more research.

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What are you looking at?

I'm not sure you're seeing what you should be seeing. Designers spend a lot of time trying to get color palettes to match brand identities, making sure images are color corrected to client standards and designing sites to look their best on certain monitor sizes. Unfortunately, it's becoming increasingly apparent, this is all for naught. So where should you be? What should you be seeing? All I can tell you is what I think and what we design for.

If you want to adjust some of this: PC users, open your screen setting by right clicking on the desktop and selecting "Properties", then click the "Settings" tab. Mac users, click on your "System Preferences" in the dock and select "Displays".

Color Depth/Quality: If the option is available, you should be at 32-bit. This offers you the millions of colors everyone has been talking about. Each one is special in it's own special way.

Screen Resolution: There are too many schools of thought on this. Frankly, if your on a 15" screen, greater resolutions will guarantee blindness. Most web sites nowadays look their best on 1024x768 resolutions. This is where the majority of people are at, and its a good start. Better, however, is greater. I'm currently set at 1280x1024. I see everything, and the text size is manageable. Don't forget that many of the programs that you use, that require you to read text, will have zoom options. Furthermore, a solid browser will have text zooming options as well. Ultimately screen resolution comes down to what you are most comfortable with.

Brightness/Contrast: Since I can't see though your eyes I can only give you an idea of what you should be seeing. What we are looking for is a nice full spectrum of black to white. Take a look at this:

If you raise your brightness up to 100%, you should see 2 distinct boxes. Lower your brightness until the center box is barely distinguishable from the larger black box. Your monitor should be showing richer dark colors and brighter whites.

You should see a nice spectrum of color below with 21 bars. (bars 1 & 2 will be pretty darn close)

Your contrast should be 100%.

This is a good start. There are more calibrations you can make: for red, blue and green balance. But I don't want to go into those. For Mac users, I know you have an option to run through a calibration tutorial, and I highly recommend it. [via June]

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William H. Taft Was A Husky Man.

There seems to be too much focus on the military records of our current presidential candidates. Bush and his seemingly nepotistic acceptance into the National Guard, and John Kerry's self-enlistment into the Navy in 1966. This focus seems misplaced since many of our Presidents, even during wartime, were never in the military.

Let's face it, Taft wasn't commando crawling himself under barbed wire, and Reagan worked his way up the ranks to military actor. Granted, they weren't wartime presidents, but how about FDR? or Wilson? or Harding(?)? All told, 17 presidents have no, or undocumented, military service, most of which made decisions during a period of unrest. Having military service certainly allows a President to make "informed" decisions when going to war, and furthermore allows him to sympathize with a soldiers situation, but is it a necessity? I'm not sure.

As we look forward to the future and my 2012 candidacy (Rock the vote), you'll probably scrutinize my military record. Therefore, I figured I'd come clean now. In 1983 I received my first set of G.I. JOE action figures. Having melted most of them in August of 85's Battle of the Magnifying Glass, I was no longer allowed to have nice things. During 1986-7, After a brief stint pretending to be Murdock on the playground, I was honorably discharged due to a cootie infection given to me by a girl on the swings.

In 1997 I signed up for Selective Service at my local post office. At 25 I was deemed free from Selective Service, and I was allowed to rent cars at regular rates. Finally at 26, I dug my Star Wars figures out of the attic to defend against the evil Empire.

I think my record stands for itself.

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Science Monday - Earthsicles.

Yesterday's passing of the Vernal Equinox should have resulted in an atmospheric shift toward warmer more short-sleeved weather. Granted, in my life, I don't think I have ever been able to don my assless-chaps and thong this early in the season, but one would expect some sort of relief.

Alas, not here in Michigan where we have enjoyed several weeks of freezing weather, bolstered with the occasional flurry, and more recently, some accumulation. This got me thinking...aren't we due for an Ice Age pretty soon?

Apparently Ice Ages are cyclical, happening every 10,000 years or so. The present 10,000 years of good weather, AKA the Holocene, should be wrapping up shortly, meaning 125,000 years of some nippy weather and death.

While my flashy anorak won't cut it with our upcoming dusting, I hold solace in the fact that scientists think it unlikely that we will have a repeat of past, Ice Age (), due to the amount of carbon dioxide in the environment. These scientists believe that this CO2 concentration will allow for sunny skies for the next 100,000 years. After that, bundle up, cause a cold spell's comin. [via Nature.com 2002]

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DMX and About 25 Cents.

With the overwhelming popularity of mashes, and their recent (kinda) "headlines," I have jumped on the band wagon.

Last night, while Susana was at a bachelorette party I began work on a 50 Cent - DMX mash. Using the vocal track from In Da Club and the instrumental from Ruff Ryders Anthem I frankensteined the hell out of them, producing a bastardized child that, while not pretty, is my own creation. It's my a baby in a way. My horribly deformed baby.

Since I only spent a few hours doing it, and even though the result was meh, its clear that this is something I will pursue. So the call I make is for suggestions.

What are those two great tastes that taste great together? Lionel and The Clash sounds pretty hot, no? "Rockin On The Ceiling?"

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Match Day 2004

Thousands of medical students from all over the country found out where they will be spending the next 3 to 7+ years of their life.

Basically medical students make the transition from paying-to-work to indentured servitude all on the same day.

And we are no different.

So get ready New York, we're coming home!

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Stop F'in With My Food Stuffs.

I hate to Andy Rooney this, but why do they, and I think you know who I'm talking about, have to screw with the shape of my food.

Frito-Lay just released Rollitos. It's a Dorito, rolled up (Read: A cup, with dirt in it). They brand it as an "easier way" to eat your favorite snack. I'm not sure who they're addressing, but it wasn't too difficult to shove a 2 inch chip into my mouth, with or without dip. Either way, you need teeth to chew it. So I'm not entirely convinced of this newfangled ease.

In related news, Hershey's just released it's newest food form, Hershey's Swoops(Link: "Whoop there it is" warning). The Pringle shaped monstrosity is supposed to bring more fun to your chocolate consumption. I don't usually rank food shape very high when considering what I'm eating, of course noting the obvious exception of my breakfast marshmallow requirements and their seven shape minimum. This, therefore, leaves me at a loss as to whom this product is addressed to.

I would think that the 20-30 something demographic is the primary target for these products. What's more, I work in an industry hell bent on solely subsisting on the prepackaged, overly processed, high carb, high cal diet that these two products are a part of. That being said, if there are any scientific studies on the increased ease, or increased funnitude brought on by these new shapes, I would like to read those papers. I'm sure first author on that report would be Chester Cheetah.

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Yummy, Del.icio.us links.

Taking the lead from my friend, I have added my del.icio.us links to the sites side bar.

Over there →

I figure, who best to explain del.icio.us, than del.icio.us:

"del.icio.us is a social bookmarks manager. Using simple bookmarklets, you can add bookmarks to your list and categorize them."

This helps with those interesting links that aren't blogworthy. [via George]

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You Can Learn While You Earn.

The great divide between one's collegiate career and their post graduate vocation has been getting greater and greater, at least among the people I know.

The most obvious example is myself, a graduate of a private degree-granting institution, set forth into the real world with a B.A. in Anthropology (or as one jaded Anthro major once called it: Preunemployment) only to find myself an executive assistant for an editorial website.

Years later, as a slave to the web, doing one thing or another without any relation to my "training", I am finding more and more people just like me.

I didn't think of college as a trade school, and besides your engineering, bio and/or law folks, no one else I knew did/does either. So why aren't those leaving high school through those in college reminded of that simple fact: College is not a vocational school. (Real Player Required)

I'm curious how many of you are in the field you studied, assuming you chose to go to college. Many of the programmers I know didn't go, either that or they didn't graduate. They are some of the best skilled, most well read, witty people I know. With or without a degree, you can't tell the difference in any work. I'm sure this applies outside the programming world.

Since college was not the be-all end-all our guidance counselors had made it out to be, we can thusly conclude that the future's so bright, I gotta wear shades.

Q.E.D.

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DJOO and The Switcheroo

My friend Chris, his girlfriend Nicole and I are building a cabinet for my turntables and records. It's an ambitious project, but you should see these two go. Circular Saw City!

During our drive back and forth to the hardware store I mentioned that I saw the remake of Freaky Friday ().

When I told Chris that I had seen this movie, I qualified that it wasn't the original and I knew what I was getting into.

Then it dawned on me. Out of all the movie plotlines that get reused and recycled, this one, the "Switcheroo", with the exception of a very few, always end up miserable. Furthermore, if you count the sheer number of Switcheroos that we've probably patronized either in the theater, on video, or on television, the vicious cycle all is our fault.

The plots are always the same: Usually two people at each others throats must last an unspecified amount time of transubstantiation brought on by an ironic comment on how their counterpart doesn't understand standard human condition. A comment which oh-so-cruely haunts them until some revelation forces them to recognize generic self actualization. Get it? Brilliant dramatic cinema, with a dash of comic relief.

But lets have a reminder of such gems: Freaky Friday (2003), Freaky Friday (1976), Like Father, Like Son, Vice Versa, Vice Versa (1948), Switch(kinda), The Hot Chick, Dream A Little Dream, Prelude To A Kiss, and if we stretch a bit, Heaven Can Wait, Down To Earth, All Of Me, Chances Are and The Santa Clauses.

Please feel free to add more in the comments or share some of your own switcheroo stories.

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Passover Pub-Crawl.

A friend and I A group of us at lunch were discussing the possibility of having a Passover pub crawl this year right before Passover begins. The idea would be much like Santarchy. We would dress up like anything Exodusy from Jews leaving Egypt, to the Plagues to the Egyptians, Moses, Pharaoh, and for the ambitious, God. (Bob Marley's Exodus is fair game)

I realize that during Passover most Jews can't drink beer, or any other spirits due to the grain, hence the date, and moreover most pubs don't carry Manischewitz.

So what do you think? Too little time to plan?

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Fine Art Pr0n.

Featured on K10K twice before, the work of Adam Connelly is a virtual-meets-tangible take on porn. He recreates pixelated web graphic styles using oils on canvas. The prints are colorful, raunchy, and rad all at the same time. Please note, the site is NSFW (Not safe for work) depending on where and who you are, and how far you are from your screen.

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Cover Him...for the love of...

This clip is too f'in brilliant. So, sorry about the multilinkorama today, but this needs to be here.

Furthermore it's being added to the permanent section. Enjoy. Contains blurred out junk. (Quicktime) [via June]

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She got monk in the trunk, trunk, trunk.

Behold! The Trunk Monkey!

A superbowl ad campaign that is pretty f'in funny.
(Warning: Downloads are wicked, wicked slow) [via Stephen, via Kraig, via Grant.Bruce]

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Plagues: More Family Fun.

With the Passover season bearing down on us, some begin to plan their seder festivities.

What better way to include the children then the Bag of Plagues available at the Jewish.com Store.

Fun ensues as children don a funky pair of sunglasses, teaching them about darkness. Your lesson plan is clear with the Bag of Plagues.

On another note, I'm not sure the store tag line is too kosher. [via George]

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Chronic Rasterbation

Now you too can make huge rasterized posters of any image with The Rasterbator.

It's really easy to do, so if you have the time and the toner, this one's for you. To give you ideas, on the site there is a downloadable image already done: A DIY-Pope.

Could be a lot of fun, for birthdays, Bar Mitzvahs what have you. You can even color edit it in Photoshop.

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Science Monday - Oral Exam

In the past 20 some-odd years I've been seeking dental advice from my Dad, who happens to be my dentist. He has shared some nuggets of knowledge about how to make my mouth feel better when in pain.

As I sit here, in pain, due to some unruly wisdom teeth, I am heeding his advice once again. The Holy Grail of dental home fixes is the warm saltwater rinse. Its so simple and works so well.

Here's how it works. Your mouth is inflamed due to something or other (figure A). Fill a glass with 1/2 teaspoon of salt (I like kosher) and 8 oz. of good ol' H20. Swish and spit, swish and spit. The higher concentration of salt outside the gums causes the fluid in the inflammation to move into that area creating an equilibrium (figure B). The result is less inflammation and temporary relief (figure C). Repeat as needed.

Other facts from my Dad:

• Mouthwash doesn't do much. After 10 minutes your mouth is back to where it was
• Toothpastes and manual toothbrushes are all pretty much the same, brand, flavor, features...all bs.
• Since dental is largely done on an elective basis, dental insurance can be a huge waste of money
• Flossing is important and should be done more often than I do it
• Junk food doesn't cause cavities, but helps them along
• Yodels are probably the best junk food
• 2 Packages of yodels is your limit

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Putting on my face.

The site has been redesigned, just in case you couldn't tell.

If you see problems get something ugly or have any comments, please post them so I can clean this bad boy up.

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Starsky & Hutch -- eh.

Overall, S & H is a fair movie, entertaining, memory-inspiring and generally likable. The problems are with the casting of the two main leads.

Ben Stiller, as Starsky is the same as Ben Stiller in Meet The Parents, or Ben Stiller in There's Something About Mary, or Ben Stiller in just about anything he is ever been in in the last 5-10 years (with the exception of Zero Effect which was pretty good).

Owen Wilson is the same. I couldn't get over their one-trick-pony acting styles.

One "actor" who really shines through is Snoop Dogg. I usually squirm when I hear about another Rapper gone actor, because to rarely is the transition successful. In this case, it is. Snoop is a great nouveaux Huggy Bear.

-- I wouldn't put it first on your list. But it could be worth a matinee.

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My MobileHandyCell's Life

My friends George and Stephen and I always want to update our cellphones to the newest and greatest.

Today, one of us is living the dream, and it ain't me. So the question posed is:
How long should you wait before you trade in your naturally crappy cellphone for one a bit more svelte?

With number portability, which George is going through right now, it would seem like an ideal time to trade in that clunker and mediocre service for your dream cell. Though there is a minor glitch:

The entire [switch over] call, including a phonetree misstep and adding additional service to my account only took 11 minutes. The only problem is the fact that my old number will ring "out of service" for up to 14 business days. I wish it would just ring to my old cell phone...

Was it worth it? Well, his new phone is pretty sweet. So I would, for now, say yes. But he's only had the phone for a couple of hours...not enough time to gauge whether or not he is missing important calls because his old number is defunct.

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Tend to the widow Pac.

A handful of those classic arcade games you love.

Interesting fact from George, in the original Donkey Kong, the little jumping man was not in fact the VG-Celeb Mario that we know and love, but named Jumpman.

And the Duck Hunt Dog....that's just a guy in a suit.

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He So Horny.

I'm not sure if this guy is amazing or just sad...I'm gonna go with sad, but talented. [via Alex]

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Let there be light.

Can't find those keys, that lipstick, or your screwdriver? The engineers at Bayer have been working on a solution build especially for you. Smart Surface Technology is at work here. I can think of endless applications for this technology. Besides purses and toolboxes, I always have trouble seeing into the zipper pockets of my Roos. Picture at the link. [Via Boing Boing]

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Analyze Crap

Well, the 76th Annual Oscars are over, and I want my money back. For anyone who blew off the 5 hours of Law & Order to watch that bore-a-thon, I would complain to the management.

I think the magic mystical wonderment is all over for me. The opening musical number with Billy Crystal prancing around singing the praises of the Best Film Nominees just isn't funny anymore. The dated joke references, the snide comments to break the tension, the shameless plugs...no more I tell you. No more.

There is nothing on that show that couldn't have been summed up in an hour and a half. If you subtract the speeches, 10 minute intro to the host, then 20 more for the opening number...you've got a show sure to please, and off in time for Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

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