May 1, 2012
At home in a piece of history: Beth Howard stumbled onto the Iowa farmhouse depicted in Grant Wood’s 1930 painting “American Gothic” on a road trip after her husband died three years ago. She pays $250-a-month rent, and a clause in her lease requires her to be nice to the thousands of people a year who come to pose for photos in her front yard.
Photo credit: Alana Semuels / Los Angeles Times
Apr 25, 2012
Netflix Earnings Report: Bad News
Netflix fears that just distributing digital content is a mug’s game. Anyone can move bits around, which means that the price for doing so will just keep dropping. So it’s trying to create its own original content. But, so far at least, it’s not very good at doing so. “Lilyhammer,” a mobster show that Netflix introduced in January, has gotten killed by reviewers; I gave up on the first episode after fifteen minutes of mediocre acting and clumsy dialogue. Early next year, Netflix will release a new season of “Arrested Development,” which will surely be better. But the company is in an odd spot, facing the same competition problem it avoided when it spun off Roku. If its shows are bad, it’s embarrassing. If they’re good, they could irritate partners. Netflix needs content from AMC, for example. But will those negotiations get harder once Netflix is creating its own shows to compete with “Breaking Bad” and “Mad Men”?
Can Netflix pull through, or will it just continue to decline until it, and all its data, gets gobbled by Amazon? Out of a sense of loyalty to red envelopes—and to elegant algorithms—I hope the company figures out how to thrive again. But it won’t be easy for Netflix to find a way to fend off its new competitors while keeping its old partners happy. Perhaps Reed Hastings should offer another million-dollar prize … to someone who can figure out a new business model.
Apr 24, 2012
This cardboard camera really works! It can shoot 40 photos and comes with a USB cord.
Ikea gave it away at a design expo in Milan, but there’s a chance they’ll be selling these in stores.
Ikea’s Cardboard Digital Cameras
via Laughing Squid
Apr 22, 2012
#Radiohead’s #ThomYorke stopped by our Rock Room for a DJ set. He played techno and danced with the crowd. (Taken with instagram)
Apr 20, 2012
When designers are looking to be “innovative,” many often forget that it’s not just about trendy aesthetic appeal. It’s about genuinely improving an experience and filling a need. Korean designer Joonhuyn Kim’s “Flat Bulb” does just that, reducing its volume to be 1/3 smaller, reducing the cost of packaging and transport. Better yet, its slim shape allows bulbs to be easily stacked and prevents breakage as it does not roll.” Simple, yet effective. That gets design daps.
(via)
Apr 12, 2012
Apr 3, 2012
Apr 2, 2012
Update: Six people were killed and three wounded.
‘Mass fatalities’ in Oakland shooting; suspect in custody: The exact number of those wounded and killed remains unclear following the rampage at Oikos University, a small Christian college. A suspect is detained several miles away in Alameda.
Photo: Oakland SWAT team members walk pass an unknown number of bodies covered in the street median in front of Oikos University. Credit: Peter DaSilva / EPA
Apr 2, 2012
I spent an afternoon in John Waters’ backyard taking pictures for WSJ Magazine a few months back. The issue just came out this weekend. He is insanely cool.
My dogg photographing our nation’s finest.
Apr 2, 2012
Astonishingly beautiful real-time visualization of wind in the US. Have you seen it? If not, you really need to click through and see this baby in action.
(Thanks to the lovely Posey Gruener for the heads-up.)
Mar 30, 2012
A new art exhibition features cars driving 240 scale mile per hour inside a dense, abstract cityscape.
Mar 22, 2012
Tomorrow’s cover today: our cover in America notes that change is coming to Cuba at last. But the United States could do far more to encourage it.
Mar 20, 2012
The Simpsons, South Park, and Ninja Turtles LEGO Ads
Created by Jung Von Matt
(via: Super Punch)
Bar Graphs?
Mar 13, 2012
The explosive growth in the yarsagumba market beggars the most extravagant superlatives: In 1992, a pound of the stuff sold for $3; today, the same quantity retails for around $9,400.
Mar 12, 2012
Mar 12, 2012
Americans have historically been on the move, but young people these days seem to prefer staying put.
“Perhaps young people are too happy at home checking Facebook.”
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This is the worst. A perfect example of how out of touch some people are about the contemporary landscape of an economy that tramples on the interests of young people and disregards them as lazy to justify the injustices that are taking place in the workforce.
Why are we not turning our attention towards Blame-Facebook Generation?
Mar 12, 2012
CatDog of the Day: Aww, he thinks he’s puppies.
[reddit.]
Mar 8, 2012
It’s hard to cite facts or create an argument in 140 characters … It’s like if Kafka had decided to make a video semaphoring The Metamorphosis. Or it’s like writing a novel without the letter ‘P’…
