The Winter Webb

In the park with Charlie

Sent from my iPhone

Round and round

I was showing a coworker how to get from our office to a nearby shop where he could rent a bicycle for a few days.  Figuring he would bike back, I clicked the "bike directions" option, and got this:

 

Notice that it has him going around the block once and almost back to his starting position before continuing on to the office.  I guess Google figures you'll want to get a little ride time in with your newly rented bike?

Rope Bench by Yoav Reches

via mocoloco.com

This is a really clever idea; the bench is 5 separate pieces of wood with a serpentine groove cut along the surface.  Put them together and then wind a rope in the grove and you get a sturdy free standing bench!

I am forgiven

Recently I wrote about being hated over my malfunctioning car alarm.  In addition to several very vocal, vitriolic notes left on my car, I was also given a ticket by a police officer who was there when I arrived.  The ticket was $65 and had the possibility of adding a point to my driving record.

Up to this point the automated ticket payment system has said my citation number was not in the system but it could take 4-6 weeks for the SF Police department to transfer the information.  Today I called the city traffic citation office and choose to wait for a real person to talk to about it.  After a few minutes of checking the number he said "Today is your lucky day!  This ticket has been marked as invalid."

So the people on that street may still harbor some grudges against me, but in the eyes of the law, I am forgiven.  It feels pretty good.

Have you seen this iPhone??

Have you seen this iPhone?  I lost it yesterday at a street fair and I haven't seen it since.  I fear it may have been kidnapped, trafficked into the phone black market.

It was such a classic tragedy.  There I was enjoying my iPhone, SMSing friends to join me at a street fair, showing off the new Square device I recently obtained for taking credit card orders for Piximix, carelessly flashing it around, taking for granted that it may not always be with me.  I was working the Piximix booth, and I put it down and turned away for only a few minutes.  Just a few minutes.  Then it was gone.

I could draw a diagram of our booth to show how hidden this device was from the street side of our table.  To illustrate the extreme proximity of my other 3 partners to the iPhone at the time.  Show how unlikely it would be for someone to break our its-probably-safe-here barrier.  But that would not bring back my phone.

I am prepared to buy a replacement iPhone, but a new model is due out in June and I would be a fool to pay for a brand new phone so soon before a new release.  So, I will wait.  In an act of kindness and pity, my friends Brad and Kim lent me an old Nokia 6131 for the next month.  However, it is not a smart phone.  Touching the screen does nothing.  I can not look up "that one actor"s name.  It will not inform me that the water falling on me is, in fact, rain.

What does this mean for you my friends?  For one, I will respond far more slowly to your SMSs as I laboriously hammer out T9 words.  Furthermore, T9 wants to predict the words you type, and the penalty for entering shortened or non-dictionary words is an attack of button presses and menus.  The combination of these mean humorless, factual, glacial responses.

If we are playing "Words with Friends" it means that I cannot take my next move (and ultimately, victory) until I get my new iPhone.  Given that Words with Friends auto-forfeits old games, its very possible we'll have to start a new game anyway.  Lets just say we tied.

If we are friends on FourSquare, we will have to learn to interact in other ways.  This may require forethought, planning and commitment.  I will have to concede some mayorships, including my hard fought position at Hard Knox Cafe.  All that blackened catfish was for naught.

When we spend time together, it means I will continue to try to engage you when you periodically freshen your online presence.  There will be no respite.  I will be relentless in conversation, the image of your smart phone reflecting back in my jealous eyes.

What will I do in the bathroom?

I could take this time as a learning experience.  A way to identify what's important and what's just an addictive distraction.  To learn how to reconnect with a non-connected life.  After all, I did make it through 33 years of my life without this device, right?  That's pretty unlikely though.

Instead I will count the hours, haunt the Apple rumor sites and pine for the day when I can get back what I have lost.  Hey, can borrow your iPhone for one sec to play Fruit Ninja?

Tiff! Steve! Garth!

Lucky 13 Bar, May 2010

Asian Heritage Street Celebration

via asianfairsf.com

Didn't get your fill of street food and fun at the Cherry Blossom Festival last month? Well, now is your chance for more! Come visit me at the Piximix booth for the Asian Heritage Street Celebration tomorrow, May 15th in Civic Center.

The fair will span several blocks along Larkin Ave (a.k.a. "Little Saigon") and have two stages (featuring a must see balut eating contest), food and lots of interesting shopping you won't find anywhere else.

We just got a Square reader so for the first time Piximix will be accepting credit cards. Now you can easily drop $100, $200, even $500 without needing wads of cash!

So, stop by and say 'Hi!' We'll be happy to see you.  Mention this post and we'll give you a free button!

What: Asia Heritage Street Celebration

Where: San Francisco, 5 blocks of Larkin Ave (from Grove to Ellis)

When: 11am - 6pm

LEGO Architecture Series

via design.spotcoolstuff.com

Its good to see LEGO embracing the adult fans it hooked in at childhood with a new series like this. While models like the Sears Tower (LEGO you got this right, its still Sears Tower to me dammit) leave a little to be desired, others like the Guggenheim and Falling Water have enough detail to be interesting.

All models can be found on Amazon.com

Seed Vault

via www.non-hybrid-seeds.com

A friend recently emailed me a photo of a bird that had been eating her bok choy seeds. The word 'seed' prompted Google to display this ad for a 'Seed Vault.' The initial message is that the economy is collapsing and "seeds may become more valuable than GOLD."

My guess was they're suggesting you'll lose your job and you can use this seed bucket to feed your family (pictured left, looking at another, sad, lettuce dinner). However it goes on to show barren supermarket shelves asking, "What will your family eat if grocery store shelves are empty?"

So...how did they jump to that scenario exactly? Its not clear, but it looks like classic FUD to me. Its hilarious when you see past it, but kind of sad that it will actually influence people.

Demander - My Heart Has Changed

I bought the latest Demander album, Future Bright, for Math but I've been really enjoying a lot of the other songs as much or more.  Something about the guitar on this song reminds me of New Order played through and Interpol pedal; short catchy riffs emerging pools of jangle.  Its a song that keeps growing on me the more I listen to it.

My Heart Has Changed (Yes, Many Times)