Updates from December, 2009

  • What a joke...

    Carmen 10:21 am on December 24, 2009 | 1 Permalink | Reply

    So, these are on sale today on Gilt and I’m just floored by the balls these people must have.  And I’m floored by the gullibility of the people who buy this.  I mean, somebody must be buying them or they wouldn’t be in business right?  Anyways, apparently if you put these on your face you won’t get pimples and it will reduce wrinkles, depending on which one you use. Officially:

    “Using superior technology developed by NASA, the Baby Quasar works by stimulating the natural production of collagen in the skin, thereby diminishing the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and enlarged pores. Extremely effective in firming and toning the skin and increasing blood flow and circulation, the Baby Quasar uses 24 LED’s in four discrete wavelengths of red and infrared light.”

    This is pure bullshit.  And even if it wasn’t and by some miracle the light from LEDs did something beneficial for my skin I’m not going to pay $500 bucks for it!  I’ll just go rub my face in the christmas lights!  Cmon people, this isn’t the 1920’s!  Actually the 20’s were better, at least they were advertising for things that worked – Coke! Delicious and refreshing! (Yeah it was, cause it had cocaine in it), Stay slim with your very own tapeworm! (hey, you will actually lose some weight.  In fact, I’m gonna go get some tapeworms right now and start my new business!  “Lose weight by meeting my little friend!”)

     
  • a new toy

    Emilily 9:35 am on December 23, 2009 | 1 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: amazon, kindle

    Hey, guess what! Mis padres are getting me a Kindle for Christmas! I’m getting the smaller one, that has international download capabilities. I know this doesn’t mean a whole lot for the blog, except that I will still be able to read all kinds of cool science articles. There’s even a Wired blog I can subscribe to. Although I will completely ignore any misgivings I might have about jumping on the e-reader bandwagon at the expense of real books and bookstores, both of which I love, I also feel like I am being suckered into an expensive yet cool gadget that will make me think “how could I have survived before I had this?” just like my iPod. Thank you technology, for ensuring my life is more entertained, informed, complicated and expensive.

    I was reading reviews before we purchased it, and found that there are lots of people who are really down on Amazon. I suspect it is just because they are scarily massive. Someday I might regret saying this, but I cannot help but root for them because they started small but through a combination of luck, good timing, and shrewd business strategy, have built an empire – it feels like good old fashioned American capitalism, which certainly won’t cure world hunger, but it’s nice to know it works every so often.

    Also, I bet someday we will look back at Jeff Bezos as one of the most notable entrepreneurs of our generation; in fact, there are probably already MBA courses analyzing his every move as we speak. In a recent shareholder meeting, he was quoted as saying, “Advertising is the price you pay for having an unremarkable product or service.” Probably not entirely true, but his arrogance is endearing.

    On an unrelated note, I was trying to find a funny review I read last night slamming Amazon for not releasing sales figures* and I came across a blog that you may already know about, but that had some cool stuff. It’s called Geeksugar, and it appears to be some sort of offshoot of Popsugar. They have a combination of geeky, techy gadgets and girly fashion stuff, including these cool little travel speakers.

    *The quote was something like: Amazon, on their self-proclaimed remarkable Kindle sales: “The good news is, we’ve sold every Kindle we made. The bad news is, we made 5.”

     
  • Wordpress app test!

    Emilily 12:15 am on December 3, 2009 | 3 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:

    p_2048_1536_FC782EAB-553C-4D13-86F9-11681AB28F33.jpegOk, so here it is, I am posting from my phone! So far all I have figured out is how to type, not yet sure how to add (or view) pictures.

    Have you tried this yet?

    Well, I selected a photo from my camera, and there was no “add photo” sort of command but when I viewed the preview, it said there would be a picture attached, so I guess the final version is really best viewed online still.

     
  • Wordpress iPhone app

    Emilily 12:22 pm on December 2, 2009 | 5 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:

    wordpress I’ve just downloaded the Wordpress iPhone app! (In order to get it to work, I had to go into our writing settings an enable XML-RPC publishing protocols, so I hope this doesn’t screw anything up.)

    So far, it works okay – I can see posts and comments and view pages, but I can’t see any pictures, all I get is a jumble of code as a placeholder. Maybe I have to play around with it a bit. Overall, I think it will be really useful for reading posts and adding comments when we’re away from the computer!

     
  • More tiltshift goodness...

    Carmen 7:07 pm on November 8, 2009 | 1 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:

    From a roof on a beautiful day…

    IMG_0022IMG_0024

     
  • everything is better with an app

    Emilily 2:26 pm on November 5, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:

    photophoto(2) Here are two pictures of Dylan’s house – on the left, a picture of the real thing, and on the right, a miniature model of Dylan’s house.

    No, I’m just kidding, that’s the exact same photo edited by the TiltShiftGen app!

    I bet you knew that, didn’t you?

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    And here’s an adorable picture of my cat, edited with the ColorSplash app. ColorSplash allows you to de-saturate an image to black and white and then color back in just the areas you want.

    On that note, should we be concerned about how much time we spend playing with our phones? It’s not even really a phone anymore, it’s a hand-held computer that occasionally takes calls. And to be perfectly honest, I like mine better when it’s not taking calls at all so I can sit quietly and make Bloom and Trope music.

     
  • Speaking of apps...

    Carmen 12:15 pm on October 21, 2009 | 5 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:

    I also downloaded the TiltShiftGen app which allows you to take a picture and then render it to look like you are looking at a miniature mock up of the real thing.  It works really well and the photos look super cute.  Go get it! You will like it!

    (i did not take this pic btw)

    tiltshift pic

     
  • Bloom and Trope

    Carmen 8:40 pm on October 20, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:

    Well, maybe you already know about these beautiful apps but on the offchance that you don’t I think you should zip on over to itunes and buy them immediately!  They are created by Brian Eno and Peter Chilvers.  And its all flipping brilliant.  Thats all i’m going to say.

     
  • another awesome app

    Emilily 1:26 pm on October 6, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:

    photoCheck this out. I did not mean to buy it, but now that I did, it is pretty cool. (I was looking for a font or typography related app, and this one  popped up, and I accidentally hit “buy” when I really meant to preview it.) Anyways, you select a font, write a word or little phrase, and then you draw a picture or write a note using the font and text you have created. The speed you “draw” at determines the size of the font. You can also adjust the opacity and change the background. This is a really sloppy one I made just to experiment!

    Unlike the myPantone post I did earlier, I have yet to find a clever use for this app, aside from trying to look busy and unapproachable while I wait in line at the grocery store.

     
  • Gadget mania

    Emilily 2:12 pm on August 11, 2009 | 1 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: tools,

    pr_kobalt_tool_chest_fIn our pursuit of a functional magazine, to supplement our consumption of fashion magazines and websites, which have loads of pretty pictures interspersed with a small amount of intellectual drivel, I wanted to share Wired magazine’s product review page with you. Although I think I actually need all of these products, the reviews are thorough and comprehensive. And the products are awesome: power tools galore (plus that lovely toolbox pictured at left), a portable microwave oven, a toilet-paper holder/iPod dock, and something I didn’t even know I needed until now, the Dyson Motorlight Floorlamp.

     
  • I want one of these

    Emilily 1:23 pm on August 6, 2009 | 1 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: LaCie

    iamakey

    8 GB of Bond-worthy shininess

    I have a La Cie “Rugged” external hard drive already, which I am very happy with. For something more portable, I love the design of this La Cie “I am a key” flash drive.

     
  • Carmen 6:49 pm on July 23, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:

    Did you see Kdukes?? She’s got your camera!

     
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