I took a photo yesterday of the incomplete (aka TBC) scrabble game -not the facebook version, which apparently I am obsessed with, but the “for real, physical, tangible, you can potentially destroy an entire game by knocking it over” version. Reason being, there was a high probability of it being knocked over in the time between last night and the continuation of the game (which btw did, in fact, occur.) There is precedence to this occurance in past scrabble games.
This, in turn, began a whole tangent in my head about the methods of storage, memory and documentation people use to retain data in order to compensate for the inevitable ephemeral quality of everyday life (aka the position of the letters on a game of Scrabble.)
As a whole, people have developed an increased necessity to store more things as well as the desire to instantly reverse the process. “COMMAND+Z, what would I ever do w/out you? You enabled me to avoid numerous typographic & visual catastrophes over the years!” (FYI, Command+ Z does not work for certain things, such as painting your walls.)
Transient. Temporal. Evanescent. Does these words still have meaning today or have they just gone on to another place- one of shooting stars, lightening bolts and Etch-a-Sketch?
Clay Shirky: Institutions vs. Collaboration
Watch it. (And the video’s tagged, which is also super cool.)
Unexpected relevance transformed my perspective on the concept of “visual conversations” today. After partaking in a week-long (predominantly visual) email thread regarding, er… this blog is still PG-13, isn’t it? Nevermind.
So I was on the phone just now with my mom, catching up on the week, when she mentioned this book she’s reading about a Van Gogh. Something about a yellow house. Anyway, the interesting thing was that Van Gogh and his friends passed pictures back and forth, in a sort of 1 to 1 dialog. Conversations through pictures. Ha. And here I was, thinking this form of communication was ENABLED by the internet when its more like, it was perpetuated by it.
Oh, and ps. I did not make it to the beach today (obviously) but am going next wknd- maybe a trip! Can’t wait.
Fafi (my fave graffiti lady)
D. Billy (using alternative methods, aka balloons)
pro·cliv·i·ty [proh-kliv-i-tee] noun
- natural or habitual inclination or tendency; propensity; predisposition
Note: I added this word because I have recently experienced several near-failed attempts at incorporating it into conversations. I wanted to get it right, although it still feels awkward, as if I am using it in the wrong context or imaging situations in which it doesn’t actually apply.
Other words weave their way into conversations quite seemlessly (like, um, so, yeah, ja, cool, etc.) Maybe certain words are only meant for very specific situations… so specific that the opportunity to express them is very rare.
4th attempt: “I have a proclivity to ‘run-on sentences’ and deviation from consistency in blog content.” Hm, nah. Gotta keep trying…
According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project ~7 months back (talk about time travel!), the top #1 method of communication for the most wired generation ever is… the telephone! (aka landline- for those of you who don’t remember, phones w/cords attached to a wall.)
Another interesting little factoid from the article-
“Teens choose the proper tool for each task, be it cellphone texting at a noisy party, Facebook for a quick hello, instant messages for multiple conversations, and seeing friends in person to, well, talk.” - USA Today
Anyway, I was originally thinking about the return to the past (either with devices, applications, clothing or music) and the growing demand for authenticity in both interface and quality of experience. Even simple - and arguably unnecessary - applications/add-ons are beginning to crop up (eg. Home Typist), offering this non-digital alternative that many people are really getting into.
For a more theoretical POV on authenticity, def check out Walter Benjamin’s “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” (which, btw, I so skillfully weaved into a conversation the other day about ice cubes. Yup.)
…because you can get everything you want via txt (for those who haven’t succumbed to the fancy-pants iPhone yet.)
It all started when I was innocently checking the weather for the beach this wknd, when I stumbled upon yet another txt-based service. I know. This is getting waaay out of hand. (Trying to see how many txt messages I can send on my unlimited plan before T-Mobile deems me a “detrimental customer”. Haha.)
Last wknd I signed up for HopStop mobile. That was cool. Now I have the directions - via subway - to wherever I want to go in nyc. I get the address via Dball, so long as I have the name of the venue. (No more getting lost!)
Acuvue’s Acuminder reminds me via txt when to change my contact lenses. And now, I’ll have the weather forecast from weather.com. I’d download the pollen alert, too, if I had allergies. That sounds like a nice idea, tho. Maybe I’ll tell my mom about it. She’s into txting & would prob like it.
Ps. Weather looks perfect for the beach!
I know we all thought this day would never come, but alas- it has arrived! (Just a few weeks shy of the upcoming race.)
My Nike+ ipod widget has FINALLY - magically - integrated the current running data from iTunes into nikeplus website and subsequently incorporated these lovely statistics into my Facebook widget (see above.) Now my friends & Twitter followers will not accuse me of fabricating stories of these 7.5min/mi runs.
The current theory that I am going w/is that some kind of bug in iTunes v8.0 was repaired when I installed my Apple updates the other day. Another working theory is that, in updating the nikeplus website for the Human Race, someone realized that iTunes v8.0 and Nike+ were not playing nice together and went ahead and fixed it.
Regardless of the method, the outcome is fantastic. I immediately wrapped up my ankle and went for a run!
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