Disparate

yes. no. huh...: i’ve been searching for a good to-do list/project management app for...

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 12:05:03 -0400

yes. no. huh...: i’ve been searching for a good to-do list/project management app for...:

I’m sure there are people in my networks who have good solutions.

i’ve been searching for a good to-do list/project management app for my ipad. you’d think finding what i want would be easy, but i’m banging my head against the way.

i make lists. mostly because if i don’t write it down, it doesn’t exist. but also because the writing it, usually means i’ll commit…

During the past few years, my sympathy for Google has decreased...

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 09:03:04 -0400

During the past few years, my sympathy for Google has decreased progressively. The way Google handled Aardvark was particularly sad. Not that the service was so essential to me that it had a direct impact on me. But it was one of few services which was enabling meaningful connections, for me. There’s still a ‘bark-shaped hole in my online life. The move to Quora has exacerbated the problem.

ourincrediblejourney:

12 February 2010:

We’re thrilled to announce that Aardvark has been acquired by Google!

…

As a first step, effective immediately, Aardvark will be available through Google Labs. Aardvark will remain fully operational and completely free, providing quick, helpful answers to all of your questions. You can sign up here.

As we move forward, we will continue working on Aardvark : improving its speed and quality, building exciting new features, responding to your feedback, and providing the highest level of support. Our top priority has been, and remains, providing a high-quality user experience.

2 September 2011:

As part of the shutdown of GoogleLabs, Aardvark will be shutting down at the end of September.

…

p.s. In the spirit of data liberation, we want to make sure that any of you Aardvark users who would like to retrieve your past data from the service can do so. Right now of course you can log in and manually copy anything you’d like to keep. Or if you prefer, you can email us at support@vark.com and we’ll send you a bulk dump of your data (please allow time for us to process these). After September 30, there will be no way to retrieve your data, as shortly after that we will delete everything permanently.

Diana Kimball: Coding and Decoding

Sun, 10 Mar 2013 11:18:39 -0400

Diana Kimball: Coding and Decoding:

dianakimball:

In 2009, Robin Sloan and Tim Carmody invited me to contribute an entry to a speculative course catalog. (The whole thing is here.)

This is what I came up with; I keep coming back to it.

* * *

CODING AND DECODING

This course is about the deep end, and building the courage to plunge…

Don’t we have similar resources in Montreal? sparkcbc: If you...

Sun, 10 Mar 2013 11:12:36 -0400

Don’t we have similar resources in Montreal?

sparkcbc:

If you want to learn to code, there are plenty of online resources.

But what if what you really need is a human being? A coding buddy? A mentor?

According to Diana Kimball in Spark 209, “For most people, in-person interaction is going to be critical — not to learning the information they need, but to getting the support and encouragement they need to persist through what feels like interminable failures.”

Inspired by Diana, we’re putting together a list of Canadian Community Coding Resources — local groups or organizations that aspiring self-taught coders can turn to for guidance and advice.

Do you know of a hackerspace or a meetup group in your town that offers help to newbies? Does your public library offer coding lessons? We’re building a list of these types of resources, and we need your help. Check out the list below, and if you know of a local resource that should be added, submit it.

This list is a work in progress. If you have a resource to suggest, submit it.

until the last moment: You Don't Have to be Pretty

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 19:52:18 -0500

until the last moment: You Don't Have to be Pretty:

saroshig:

So the other day, folks in the comments were talking about leggings. I’m pretty agnostic about leggings, but the whole discussion (which centered on the fact that it can be *really* hard to look good in leggings) got me thinking about the pervasive idea that women owe it to onlookers to maintain a…

Rules and Behaviours

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 16:15:04 -0500

Rules and Behaviours:

siracusa:

This article originally appeared in issue 2 of The Magazine on October 25, 2012.

Journey for the PlayStation 3 is the best video game I’ve played in a long time. I’m going to use it to illustrate a larger point about technology, and in doing so, I’m going to spoil the game. If you have any…

Will try to follow-up on the sociological dimensions…

Warren Ellis' Notebook: God only knows why, but people have asked for this to be rebloggable....

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 08:48:42 -0500

Warren Ellis' Notebook: God only knows why, but people have asked for this to be rebloggable....:

Why and how would someone write extensively on an iPad? We all have our reasons and methods, but it turns out that it’s not such a rare thing.

uchicagoadmissions: Mischief Managed For those of you who have...

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 12:39:21 -0500

uchicagoadmissions:

Mischief Managed

For those of you who have wondered as hard as we have how we came to get this Indiana Jones journal: we have our solution.

As some theorized, this did turn out to be the work of “Ravenbar” (real name: Paul, from Guam) on Ebay. After several days we were able to get in touch with Paul, who confirmed with us on Saturday that this was, indeed, his work, but that he did not know how it had gotten to us. Paul contacted us late yesterday to let us know that he had just received a letter (originally we were baffled as to how he got mail on a Sunday, but then we remembered time zones exist) from the USPS sorting service in Honolulu, HI (from a guy who, coincidentally, is also named Paul) stating that the outer package of something he had mailed had been found without its contents at their facility.

According to Paul, this package was en route from him in Guam to his intended recipient IN ITALY (registered mail confirmation attached) when it must have fallen out of the package in Hawaii. Our address had originally been put on the manila wrapping of the journal just for cosmetic effect. We believe that the post office wrote on our Zip code on the outside of the package and, believing the Egyptian postage was real, sent it our way. From Guam to Hawaii en route to Italy with a stopover in Chicago: truly an adventure befitting Indiana Jones.

Paul has graciously let us know that he will make the intended recipient a new journal, and that we are welcome to keep this one— thanks, Paul! It will find its home in the Oriental Institute at UChicago because, as many have noted, “It belongs in a museum!”. We will post a link here when its exhibit is finished— we hear they’re working in some neat history about the men who inspired Indiana’s character, so it should be way cool.

Thank you to all who have emailed tips or ideas about this document— we appreciate your sleuthing on our behalf! We will now return to this Tumblr’s regularly scheduled programming: providing cool UChicago facts to prospective students. We look forward to welcoming our first members of the Class of 2017 when they receive admissions decisions from us on Tuesday afternoon.

Wonder what Concordia Admissions would do…

Para-Academics | Dead Voles

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 20:23:06 -0500

Para-Academics | Dead Voles:

(via Instapaper)

Notable.ca | YEDaily Anthony Benda

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 20:11:56 -0500

Notable.ca | YEDaily Anthony Benda:

(via Instapaper)

Art and Experience (was: Hypercritical: No Movie for Old Men)

Sun, 09 Dec 2012 17:47:19 -0500

Art and Experience (was: Hypercritical: No Movie for Old Men):

2012 is an awful movie. I knew this when I added it to my Netflix queue, but I wanted to stay up to date on the latest in computer-generated apocalyptic destruction. I’m a fan of special effects in general and stories about the end of the world in particular.

All the boxes were ticked: absurd…

Much to say about our reactions to art, outside of its “intrinsic value”. In fact, there have been several schools in æsthetics which focus on the “reception” side. But there are so many æsthetes who forcefully claim that the work of art overcomes any perception, it’s difficult to get our voices heard.

It also connects with the notion of “artful experiencing”, “artful living”, “artful listening”, “artful watching”. The old “beholder’s eye” notion. You can bring so much to a piece (a meal, a song, a movie…) that it becomes pleasurable, regardless of its features. Once you’re able to transform “bad art” into pleasurable experiences, you’ve achieved more in my book than when you can trash art for not reaching your standards.

A few years ago, I journaled about the “Mind of the Beholder”. Things haven’t changed much, for me.