On this day, two years ago, I generatedthis chart using tweetVolume. It shows how frequently each of these words occurs in Twitter conversations:
Here’s what that same chart looks like today:
It’s somewhat biased by the current NHL playoffs, but it’s interesting to see how the term ‘php’ still dwarfs the other terms. Not particularly scientific, but does it indicate that Twitter’s audience still skews geeky? Or maybe it just shows that the Twitter power users are a nerdy bunch?
From the residents’ newsletter of a friend’s apartment building:
At the beginning of April, one of our residents approached our caretakers with a most unusual request: it seems that she had been sitting out on a fine day–minding her own business–when a crow swooped down out of nowhere, snatched up her dentures (which she had discreetly placed on the bench next to her) and flew away.
Being quick-witter and understandably rather fond of her dentures, the resident carefully watched the progress of the crow as he flew away and deposited the dentures on the roof of Townhouse 3. And here’s where the caretakers came into the story. The resident reported what had happened to Mark and Luke, and wondered aloud if they might be able to recover the dentures for her.
Although perhaps a wee bit dubious, they were certainly not dismissive of this tall tale and undertook to aid this damsel in distress. Equipped with a long ladder and a healthy dose of curiosity, the two investigated the roof of the townhouse, and found, undamaged, the very dentures they were seeking!
A tad Reader’s Digest, but heck, it’s Friday.
When I was in university, a crow once briefly landed on my head. I assume he mistook my greasy, 19-year-old hair for something shiny. I also know somebody who was repeatedly dive-bombed by a crow who wanted her metal hairclip.
In a recent piece in The New Yorker, Malcolm Gladwell combines the tales of a high school basketball team, King David and Lawrence of Arabia to explore how and why underdogs beat favourites:
“And it happened as the Philistine arose and was drawing near David that David hastened and ran out from the lines toward the Philistine,†the Bible says. “And he reached his hand into the pouch and took from there a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead.†The second sentenceâ€â€the slingshot partâ€â€is what made David famous. But the first sentence matters just as much. David broke the rhythm of the encounter. He speeded it up. “The sudden astonishment when David sprints forward must have frozen Goliath, making him a better target,†the poet and critic Robert Pinsky writes in “The Life of David.†Pinsky calls David a “point guard ready to flick the basketball here or there.†David pressed. That’s what Davids do when they want to beat Goliaths.
Now, those of you who are familiar with my writing will know that this practice of talking about X by discussing Y is my only rhetorical move.
There’s also a wonderful piece by Adam Gopnik (probably my favourite magazine writer) about razors and innovation in that issue. Unfortunately, it’s not online, but it’s in the May 11th issue, should you get your hands on a copy.
I get questions like this occasionally. Sometimes they’re about a website, a video or some other webby thing I had a hand in creating. Oddly, nobody asked that question about our book or the play I wrote a couple of years ago: “I liked that comedy you wrote. What software did you use?” And I rarely hear anybody remark to a city employee, “hey, that’s a nice ditch you dug. What shovel did you use?”
I’d imagine that people who spend all their time being creative with new tools–web designers, animators and so forth–get asked this question all the time. I’m guilty of doing it myself. I remember, for example, asking Rob about his process in creating his Noise to Signal comics.
I was just curious more than anything. A lot of times, I think people are asking the “what software did you use?” question so that they can replicate your efforts. It may be subconscious, but they think “if I had that software, I could do that too”. And maybe they could.
In creative enterprises–from a pencil sketch to a feature film–the tool is the thing that matters least. What matters is that weird combination of skill, clever decisions, intuition, good fortune and the Flying Spaghetti Monster’s blessing that makes for a successful creative project. For example, Jorge Colombo drew this week’s New Yorker cover using Brushes, an iPhone app.
In thinking about this topic, I’m reminded of Arthur C. Clarke’s third law: “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”. Most of us don’t understand the in’s and out’s of how you create a website or a digitally-animated short. As such, we tend to ascribe the ‘magic’ of the creation to the tool, as opposed to the creators.
What do you think? Do you ever get asked this question?
I’m working on a new project that has some particular requirements. They’re not that unusual, though, and surely others have already solved this set of problems:
We need to sell online videos (of, say, 20 to 30 minutes in length). They’ll be viewable online, behind a some kind of password protection, or available for download as well (again, with password protection).
Users will choose from a menu of videos, add them to a cart, pay for them and then get access (through streamed videos, downloads or both) only to those videos.
Ideally this happens within our own site, or something we can tweak to look something like our own site.
No, we haven’t branched out into pornography.
I checked out some courseware systems, but they’re really about delivering structured multi-part classes. I’m also aware of E-Junkie, which is what Common Craft (among many others) use to distribute their videos. They’re a good option for downloadables, but don’t offer flash-based video for viewing only.
I’m happy to pay for a turn-key solution, assuming it doesn’t cost a ridiculous amount of money. That’s preferable, actually, to messing around with Drupal or whatever. All suggestions welcome.
I have a small bladder, and often get a drink at the movies. So I’m often presented with the thorny problem of when to go to the bathroom during a film. I think I’m pretty good at picking the best moment, when I’m unlikely to miss any major plot points. Of course, the better the movie, the more difficult it is to choose the right time.
Yesterday James sent me a link to RunPee.com (via Gizmodo). The site is down at the moment–too much attention?–but it apparently promises a very special kind of movie review. RunPee will tell you, as you might have guessed, when you should run to the bathroom and pee. Yet another problem solved by the internet.
