Magic

I think "magic" is the new buzzword of the day. I admit, I have only recently seen two uses of it in the last few days, but I am waiting for more. Apple announced its new mouse the other day - called the "Magic Mouse," the new multi-touch mouse is the innovative next version of the "Mighty Mouse."
I *really like* my mighty mouse - I just bought the wireless version of it, so I can imagine that the magic mouse is gonna be pretty awesome as well. If I hadn't JUST BOUGHT the wireless mighty, I would be headed towards the Apple store to pick up said magic. Only problem with the wireless version is that it does go through batteries more quickly than I would like. I have to get better about turning it off, but I think the batteries should last for at least a few months (like I have heard other wireless mice can manage), and at this point I am going through a new set once a month. Ok, I only have had the mouse for 6 weeks or so, but still.


And although Scholly makes fun of me every chance he gets for not being enough of a Twitter freak for collecting/publishing news minutia from our industry (and beyond), I confess I still love Google Reader. Reader just came out with a bunch of new features that are kinda cool, although mostly not particularly innovative. The one I did like though, at least based on how it sounded, was "Sort by Magic."


The idea behind it quite nice: you have 10 or 15 minutes in the day to use as you like and you want to quickly zip through the most interesting news of the moment. When you (normally) head over to Google Reader, you might be bombarded by 1000+ unread items, which is a bit challenging to skim, even with super-human speed reading skills. "Sort by Magic" helps you to read the items you normally would find the most interesting. How? By noting your reading patterns - which items do you read the most - and presenting you with a short list (seems like 10 articles) of the items you would be the most interested in.




Yeah, well, with a bit BUT. BUT I think the little program behind the innovation still needs some work. I keep sorting by magic to see what it comes up with during the day, and while I admit I read a lot of Mashable and Boing Boing, these are RARELY the first places I turn to. So overall - because of how many articles these two sites publish, the number of articles I read there may be more than anywhere else, they are not my first priority. So...hey Reader guys....please add some more intelligence to "Sort by Magic." Please consider taking into account 1) what I read first, 2) what I email most, 3) the headlines I click on to read the entire article, 4) keywords in articles I read most (e.g., "apple," "social media," "web analytics," "mobile," etc.) 5) the time of day, for starters. Better yet - let me help create the magic if I want to: give me the option of customizing the prioritization algorithm - let me say what factors are most important to me. Would make the magic ever so much more magiliscious...

Two Takes on Windows 7

Really liked the newest Apple Vs. PC ad launched in the last few days that makes fun Windows 7. But I love the whole series. :-)




Came across this interesting partnership deal between Burger King and Microsoft that has produced a food monstrosity in Japan in order to promote Windows 7. (Britta - take note! And try one of these before you come back. (NOT!))) Really disgusting.

Pizza by the Meter

I keep passing this place on the way to my favorite afghani
restaurant. Today i stopped and chatted with the chef about his
amazing looking pizzas. He let me taste one and it became immediately
clear where I will be eating lunch tomorrow.

That was Then

Just a quick post to throw up some photos. I have been discussing the new(ish) eReaders popping up right and left with a couple friends and acquaintances in the last couple days because of the most recent emergence of Barnes and Noble's Nook as well as the presentation of txtr at the Frankfurt book festival.

Do I want an eReader? Well, I'm almost always game for a nifty piece of new technology, but to be honest, I'm not ...yearning for one. I'm happy enough with the combination of my iphone and laptop, but then again, maybe I just need to hold one in my hands and experience it to know what I am missing. But really, I somehow can't imagine it because I love books as physical objects. I love turning pages, having this sense of satisfaction as I make my way through them, always having a sense of how much I have read, and how much is left. I like to browse through them at random too - just stand in front of our bookshelves and pick up something I haven't looked at in a long time and turn to a favorite section or page. I like the smell of books, and the lightness of them. And as I spoke about with my mom last night as we discussed the fact that on the Kindle I could get a subscription to The New Yorker and other magazines and thus avoid throwing out so much paper, I said "yes, but I love to see the artwork on paper." Kind of selfish. Maybe print magazines are meant more for luxury consumption in the future, or as a collectable....

For whatever reason, 10 years ago, I felt quite differently. The Rocket eBook from Franklin came out on the market, cost about 350 bucks if I remember correctly, and I was one of those slightly crazy early adopters. I bought it, used it a bit - perhaps bought about 10 books? I don't remember....and then it ended up in the "we-put-our-too-difficult/cool-to-throw-out-or-recycle-valuables-in-here" closet. And I have dragged it from country to country, not having the heart to get rid of it because of how totally jazzed I was to get it when I did. (Yes, the Nabaztag is also sitting in this closet as well as a humidifier in the shape of a penguin, keeping the eBook company, and god-knows whatever geeky toys I have collected over the years.)

Christian asked for a photo of my Rocket eBook, so here are a few - quite a bit different from those on the market today. I think it weighs...about a kilo - which was one of the primary problems with it - it made your arm tired to hold it for any length of time. (Phone next to eBook photo is so you can get a sense of size)

Wild Thing

It's been a looooong time, but I sort of remember when my mom used to read to us from Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are" when we were little.

And now there is a movie coming out which looks really great. People are starting to talk about it here too (well, I guess my American friends more than anyone) and I have been reading a lot of press about it as well. I hear that it won't arrive in Germany until December, but maybe I'll go see it when I am in the US for Thanksgiving. :-)
Trailer looks really good:





To accompany the movie, Warner Bros put out an iPhone App - a really cute one. The main character - Carol - throws rocks at you, eats your photos, etc. Nice piece of value-added, engaging advertising...

Best Job In The World

:-))))

Pulp Wave Fiction (R-Rated!!!!)

Normally I wouldn't post something like this and if you are averse to images/sounds/text depicting violence/profanity/sex, please do not press the little play button.

But I couldn't help but laugh really hard at this one - it might be a little too much of an insider's joke if you don't know much about Google Wave and haven't seen Pulp Fiction, but if you claim to know something about both, I think you'll find this pretty funny too. :-) Pulp Fiction is probably one of my favorite movies, and at this point I can claim that while Google Wave has a lot of potential it's still pretty buggy and will entail a pretty steep learning curve for most people (me too) to actually find that it creates efficiencies in their communication - for the sake of comedy, it's already miraculous. ;-)

Surfing the Wave

I signed up to be on the preview/beta tester list for Google Wave as soon as I heard about it. Have been muttering and cursing under my breath for the past two weeks or so because no invite arrived and the whole blogosphere won't shut up about how wonderful it is.

Then, to add insult to injury, I got an email which LOOKED LIKE it came from google telling me to invite all my friends to Google Wave and to BUY A RAFFLE TICKET to get an invite to Google Wave (Read the fine print at the bottom of the email ...a bit later - seems the email was written by some fan or something). Unbelievable. So I wrote back a super nasty reply telling them to more or less....shove their suggestions and requests for money into a deep dark hole.

And LO AND BEHOLD! This morning, an invite arrived. :-)

Probably I will find out that everyone got one, and my nasty email was completely unrelated. :-P

But I appear to also have 8 invites to give away...well...kinda...you can see for yourself. Who wants one? Any takers?

Ah...you don't know what Google Wave is? Take a look.

__________________
Later:
Played around with the functionality with my friend Henning who I haven't seen in almost 10 years - my one and only contact who has ALSO received an invite. After "waving" for an hour - Henning patiently put up with my testing out every little gadget and widget I could get my hands on - we decided to meet up for a burger tomorrow evening. He threw in a photo so i could recognize him. (Thanks Henning!)

Also funny is that the wave is still working on a few kinks....got this cute error message a moment ago. :-)
At least they are keeping a sense of humor about it.

Snow Day

What you can't see because my camera is not good enough, is that in
addition to that terrible number on the thermometer there, it is
SNOWING. Aaaaaah! Tooooooo early!

Octopus on a Stick

yawn. After a long day of shopping and cooking and cleaning and even a
little yoga, i'm ready to sleep. Will post a couple photos tomorrow.
Sushi party was a success, so I'm happy.
________________________________________

A few photos of the mess we made - but had lots of fun doing it. And lots of happy sushi eaters.
Mike has officially signed up to create an Indonesian feast (a date please? ;-)), Mallorie for a Halloween party, and Rohit and Nichole for Indian curries...

I didn't take that many photos last night, was too busy rolling sushi, but here are a few. Nicole - I think you have some on your camera - please send over.









and...Andreas got up early to help clean up. whew! Made it very easy. :-)

Weekend Reading

:-) Haven't picked up a copy of Wolf Hall yet, but i guess I have
enough reading material for the weekend.

Happy Hormones

With winter coming the days are getting shorter. I finally hauled my bike in to the repair shop today to get the light fixed so that when i ride home at night I will be able to see (and be seen). But I think I am also one of those people who is a little moodier in the winter when there is less sun. Came across this article a week back and I keep talking and thinking about it.

I am a little surprised that someone didn't come up with the idea in California - where the whole "you are what you eat" movement practically was invented. I can imagine a restaurant like this smack in the middle of Marin county being an extraordinary success. Yoga moms stopping by for a little snack before practice...work-stressed women stopping by on the way home and picking up dinner to go....(or men...) Instead....it is far away from me in the other direction - it's in the Philippines.

I like the principle in general - certain foods appear to be better at helping your brain regulate serotonin and dopamine levels - those happy hormones. So based on the menu that was posted in facebook, i was able to see that actually, our diet more or less revolves around these foods as it is. (Fish, whole grains, spinach, nuts, garlic and onions, etc.).

Morning Concert

Dancer

Cake

Hearts

Church

Newlyweds

Balloons

Garden

Silhouette 2

Silhouette 1

Flower Bed in Front of the Zwinger

S. Werner Looking Down At Me

Fortress

Horses

Past Life: Afghani

I think I must have been an Afghani in a past life. Ranjit, Arnab, Beate and I just got back from a super delicious lunch. The Brazilian place down the street from work closed some...4 or 5 months back - much to everyone's surprise and dismay. But, the afghan restaurant that is next door that is only open in the evenings decided to open up a lunch kitchen as well and took over the former Brazilian nook of a restaurant. The owner/cook/waiter served us and recommended dishes for us. He called the little place his "Pilot Project" and I assured him I would be back every day. :-)))) Very very yummy.

Now off to Dresden for the weekend, something tells me we won't be eating Afghan food there....