Comfortable Disappearance

Nice Touch, Amazon

brandon — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:30:52 +0000

I was doing some shopping tonight and noticed that Amazon has changed their shopping cart icon to a sleigh:

It’s a subtle change, but beauty is in the details.

Don’t Tell Your Friends About New Music

brandon — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 01:59:26 +0000

The fight against music piracy took a drastic turn today, when the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced it prosecute anyone telling their friends about new music. The RIAA is the trade organization that represents the major recording labels. They said:

We will aggressively prosecute those individuals who attempt to pirate our property by generating ‘buzz’ about any proprietary music, movies, or software, or enjoy same in the company of anyone other than themselves.

This is going to be a serious problem for my friends and I, because we talk about new bands all the time. Looks like we’re going underground.

Editor’s note: the preceding content is derived from The Onion, a satirical news paper and is completely and utterly false…but hilarious.

The Pennsylvania Experience

brandon — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 04:46:46 +0000

Here are a few images from our volunteering weekend in Chester, PA. It was a really amazing experience, and we got to talk to a lot of fantastic people. One of them was an 18 year-old African American woman who was voting for the first time. I’d love to visit her again and see how she feels now knowing that her vote helped to get Barack Obama elected President. You can view the entire set over at Flickr.

And of course, the best part of the two trips: The true Philly Cheese steak. This one was from Pat’s:

Incredible

brandon — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 04:07:50 +0000

I’m sure it will come as no surprise to most, but the results of last night’s President election have brought me considerable joy. America spoke last night, and spoke loudly that we need a new direction. I’ve been writing a lot about some experiences I had this weekend and my thoughts on the election, but for now these thoughts will have to remain notes and bullet points in my Moleskine. I don’t have enough time right now to flush them into a coherent piece.

More soon (I hope).

Colin Powell’s Endorsement of Barack Obama

brandon — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 14:00:37 +0000

I should have posted this a very long time ago. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama several weeks ago and directly addressed the question of Mr. Obama’s faith. Watch the whole thing below.

I Like This Marketing Quip

brandon — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 23:41:48 +0000

I recently signed-up for a newsletter on investing. The “Welcome” email contained some links to some really helpful article and looks like this:

Here it is: What do you want to get out of [newsletter name]?

I am new to investing and want to buy my first stock. Please help me get started.

I am familiar with investing and have some cash on hand. Please help me construct a portfolio with top stocks from [newsletter name].

Followed by this:

If you’re still reading, that means you haven’t chosen your path yet. What’s stopping you?

Brilliant. Short, and to the point. Sure, you may exclude some recipients that don’t fit into the predetermined categories, but I imagine this hits a pretty wide-swath of new subscribers. And it makes me chuckle.

O’Keeffe + Ansel Adams = “Natural Affinities”

brandon — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 00:32:36 +0000

Dana and I visited the Smithsonian American Art Museum today to see their new Exhibit Georgia O’Keeffe and Ansel Adams: Natural Affinities.

It is the first exhibit to feature the works of both artists. There are several instances where the two artists’ interpretations of the same scene are presented. As O’Keeffe wrote in the lines accompanying one of her paintings: “I cannot show you what the flower looks like…only how I see the flower” (paraphrased). It’s Adams and O’Keeffe’s unique eye that brings us the breathtaking interpretations of the American Southwest that’s portrayed in this exhibit.

The installation is at the Museum through January 4, 2009. Be there, or be square.

Sad State of American Graphic Design

brandon — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 22:00:32 +0000

I just ran across this trailer from an upcoming movie, Draplin Project, featuring an interview with graphic designer Aaron Draplin. In the clip Draplin tells a great story about high costs for crappy designs and is rightfully pissed. View the video below (caution: coarse language).

Asinine Password Requirement

brandon — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:00:02 +0000

I understand application designers’ desire to make passwords secure, but what the heck is up with this requirement:

Contain no more than two identical consecutive characters in any position from the previous password.

That is seriously crazy.

Once I finally met the new requirements and was able to login, I was greeted with this welcome message:

Coming Soon: Exciting New Password Security Feature

Thanks for making my day, new password security feature.

Brilliant Design

brandon — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 08:00:57 +0000

Do you live in a windy state? Have you ever had an umbrella invert and break in high-wind? Perhaps you should take a look at the Senz Aerodynamic Umbrella:

In case you are curious how strong this umbrella is, click below for video evidence.