nysoundmap.org
(click on sound-seeker under “projects” on top left)
Many people know what NYC looks like. Now, hear what it sounds like :-) Neat!
You can listen to the interview with the creator of the sound-seeker on NPR.
(thanks ML)
Monthly Archive for March, 2007
Recipe: Korean-Style Crisp Vegetable Pancake (Pa jun) - New York Times
Pa jun (literally translated “green onion pancake”) is one of my favorite Korean dishes. It’s better if you add some aged kimchee, making it (kimchee jun). They go great with beer, especially on a rainy day :D
It’s nice to see NYTimes featuring more Korean restaurants and recipes in recent years.
Unhappy Meals - Michael Pollan - New York Times
Long but really good article by the author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals I had printed it out to read it on subway, and finally got around to finishing it this morning.
If you don’t want to read the whole article, just read the first sentence: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” If you have few more minutes, read the last few pages, which lists these rules of thumbs of eating healthy:
But if you have some spare time to kill, I highly recommend reading the whole article.
PS. I found out that there’s a term for a semi- (fake) vegetarians like me: “flexitarians” See? I am not weird! ;-)
Procrastination - the show with zefrank
Beginning procrastinators should start with small, solvable tasks that are related to–but not identical to–the thing that’s being put off.If you find yourself doing something identical to the thing that you’re putting off, you’ve failed and you should choose something else.
Start with things that give you momentary satisfaction and the illusion that you’re getting closer to the thing that you’re trying to avoid.
If it’s exercise, try buying backup running shoes or putting Post-It’s in fitness magazines.
If it’s writing a thank-you email, try out all the fonts on your computer, or search for a new quote for your signature line.
The illusion that you’re getting closer to your goal might make you feel like you’re not actually procrastinating. Just to doublecheck, stop everything you’re doing: you should start to feel a bit like utter crap.
Check out other hilarious (yet insightful!) pop-philosophic episodes of “the show” by Ze Frank. He was featured in Slate and NYTimes. I recommend the following shows which were mentioned in the Slate article: Brain Crack, Hindsight, and Earth Sandwich. Watch 5 episodes, and you’ll get addicted - something to watch when you’re procrastinating, heh.
Contaminated: Produce Market Investigation - News
Just saw this on Dateline NBC. It’ll make you never want to eat out again. What does one really have to do these days to be absolutely sure what goes into their mouths is safe? :-/
Hilarious set of short videos, starting a Hasselhof knock-off and a talking Mini Cooper with LED indicators for lips, like K.I.T.T. (hope everyone reading this is old enough to remember Knight Rider) It’s not as good as The Hire series (starting now famous Clive Owen), but good deal funnier. Check ‘em out!
WordWeb: Free thesaurus dictionary download
This is probably the most useful tool I’ve ever used. Once you install, it will run on the systray. To look up a word press Ctrl-Alt-w, or simply Alt-rightclick on a word on pretty much any windows programs to lookup the definition, as well as synonyms and antonyms. It runs locally so you don’t have to be online and is much faster than using any online dictionaries. I think Microsoft Bookshelf had similar functionality that worked only with certain Microsoft apps, but WordWeb works with almost all apps, and free :-) Highly recommended!
(via LifeHacker)
This American sneak peek. - By Andy Bowers - Slate Magazine
This American Life, ever popular PRI show, is coming to TV on Showtime and slate has a exclusive preview of it. Surprising how simple animation can make a radio show that is already superb, so much more engaging and entertaining. Sucks it’s on Showtime, however. I hope they will put it on the TAL website, or someone else YouTube-cast it :D
[update: just realized not all episodes are animated. Still good :)
Fact or Fiction?: A Cockroach Can Live without Its Head: Scientific American
[WARNING: Picture of large cockroach ahead]
Entomologist Christopher Tipping at Delaware Valley College in Doylestown, Pa., has actually decapitated American cockroaches (Periplaneta americana) “very carefully under microscopes,” he notes. “We sealed the wound with dental wax, to prevent them from drying out. A couple lasted for several weeks in a jar.”
Ewww… those little critters are tough. Thank goodness we don’t normally kill roaches with guillotines…
Diego Goldberg :: The Arrow of Time
This family has taken portraits of all family members on June 17th of every year since 1976. Sure, it’s much less number of pictures than Noah’s “everyday” set, but the effect of aging is much more pronounced - sort of depressing. Interesting to note that the guy (father) pretty much sticks with one hair style while the woman and the boys go through several changes over the decades. Also, this shows why many people still prefer black-and-white photography in the time of high-tech gadgetry. You wouldn’t be able to tell (sans the hair style and fashion) whether one picture was taken today or 30 years ago.
(via Digg)
Eyetracking points the way to effective news article design
Pretty funny side-result of eye-tracking study of online news article design, clearly shows that men are obsessed with genitalia, even that of other male (and animal, per article). There’s got to be some evolutionary explanation to this.. -,-
(via BoingBoing)
‘NYT’ Opening TimesSelect to Students and Teachers for Free
The New York Times is opening up access permanently to TimesSelect to all students and faculty who have .edu e-mail addresses beginning on March 13.
How nice of NYTimes. Time to go dig up my Berkeley account ;-) Not that I read much of Opinion section in non-election years…
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