Joshua Howe

Maine Mileage Chart and Table from 1988

2012-02-18T18:36:00.002-05:00

For many of us, 1988 doesn't seem like that long ago. When I came across the items below, it reminded me how far we've come in such a short period of time. Mileage tables such as the one below are common place, and may even still be in the DeLorme Gazzetteer (which every Mainer must own, it's the law), but that was long before Google Maps and Mapquest.

Sadly, it doesn't address how long it'll take you to get from point to point in Maine, which everyone knows is how distance is truly measured.

For those who aren't familiar with mileage charts like this. You would find the location you're starting from and your destination. You would then follow the row and columns from each until they intersected.

For example, if you were going from Bath to Bucksport, you'd find the row for Bath and the column for Bucksport. You would then follow it across until they intersect giving you the distance between the two locations is 85 miles (Google Maps has it at 85.6mi).

High quality full size versions of these are available at Flickr.com

Plastic Figurines Holding Up Floor

2012-02-01T20:40:00.002-05:00

Great art piece of thousands of plastic figurines holding up the floor.

"One of the most exciting contemporary artists of our time, Korean Do Ho Suh, created this large sculptural installation that doesn't look like much until you come closer. Glass plates rest on thousands of multicolored miniature plastic figures who are crowded together with their heads and arms turned skyward. Together, they are holding the weight of the individual visitor who steps onto the floor."- My Modern Met

I find this communal in the group working to hold up the floor while others might find it sad or erie. Almost as though they'll be crushed if they don't bear the weight.

T-Rex Bracelet

2012-01-27T17:51:00.000-05:00

Cool T-Rex Bracelet

via Nirvana Junkie

Sleek Coat Rack Design

2012-01-25T20:16:00.000-05:00

I'm liking this coatcrack design from Desu Design, though I'm always inclined towards seeing it made of wood something rich and contrasting like oak/ maple and cherry/ mahogany).

"During the coat-less summer months the Symbol hangs as a purely aesthetic piece, as the hooks lay flat and belie their function. When needed, the hooks pull smoothly out to help you organize your stuff. The Symbol Coat Rack is 1.5" deep with the hooks up, and 4.25" when the hooks are flipped down"

Available for $435 from Desu Design

Wimpy's Braille Burgers

2012-01-13T19:51:00.001-05:00

I've written about Braille tattoos, but never Braille food. Here, Wimpy's burger chain is making Braille hamburger buns using sesame seed to promote their Braille menus.
From the video's description:

"Wimpy wanted to let visually impaired people know that they offered braille menus in all of their restaurants. To spread the word we built braille burgers that blind people could actually read. With the help of skilled chefs we took sesame seeds and meticulously placed them on burger buns so that the seeds formed braille."

Turn Canning Jar into a Travel Mug

2012-01-11T20:15:00.000-05:00

It love this excellent design from Joshua Resnikoff and Aaron Panone, the Cuppow. Turn any canning jar into a travel mug by replacing the seal with this BPA lid and screwing back on the retaining ring. Brilliant, simple design and execution. I also love that it's easily adaptable to both small and large containers depending on your need (of course that was Ball's doing making the mouths of their canning jars one of two sizes). It is available for $7.99 from cuppow.com

CUPPOW! from Paper Fortress on Vimeo.

Behind Blue Eyes of the Teenage Wasteland

2012-01-09T20:31:00.001-05:00

I love the illustrations of The Who from Vinicius Mattoso. I don't know much else about this artist, but that he does some great work.
And if this isn't enough Who for you, check out the documentary on the Who, Amazing Journey via Hulu below.

My Generation Album Cover Illustration

Pete Townshend sindmill over the years

The Missing Link in E-Book Pricing

2012-01-04T19:30:00.000-05:00

E-book prices are getting a lot of attention these days, both with delight and concern. The discussion and apparent hand wringing about the (low) cost of e-books and what it means to publishers, agents and writers.

Part of the discussion of cost hinges on the perception that an e-book is less in itself than a physical book. It has no matter, so there's a savings of printing, shipping, storing etc. However, there's still the cost of writing, marketing, preparation and formatting (perhaps multiple ways). These are largely up-front costs, with very low ongoing costs.

E-books through the Kindle and other devices are fairly restricted. Unlike physical books, I cannot sell or "give" my copy to someone else, and sharing, if allowed at all, is very limited. Because of this, the e-book is diminished in value here as well.
E-books are going to engender a different behavior. If e-book prices are sufficiently low, the risk is low to dabble or try a new author or title. So rather than loan the book or give it away as I can now, I recommend it to a friend. If they can pick up that title for the price of a cup of coffee ($1-3) or a magazine, they're more likely to buy it. This means that rather than selling one $15.00 book, authors and publisher may sell eight $2.00 books to reach the same number of people (or more). How much encouragement does it take for most people to put down $15 to buy a book versus the barely perceptible (immediate and easy) process of purchasing a $2.00 e-book?

This means that though the per unit cost is lower, margins are higher and number of units will be higher. Sales will need to be larger to garner the same profit, but the threshold for people to purchase the title is lower.

Going forward, e-book publishers are going to have to focus on getting eyes on their titles, creating opportunities for sharing and recommending. When we look at sales statistics we'll need to be considering the impact of this change, number of units is going to mean something very different in the world of e-books.

Image courtesy thekellyscope

Amazon and Permission Marketing

2011-12-19T20:38:00.000-05:00

I got an e-mail from Amazon today asking me to rate my experience with one of their sellers. I'm usually happy to give my feedback, but there are a few things that serve to dissuade me from doing feedback for a vendor or anyone else. Foremost of my peeves are sellers that ask for "a minute" and then proceed to ask a myriad of questions on every aspect of the exchange all the while never telling you how many questions are left, and using a vague clock or status bar to show your progress. I'm sure these retailers are questioning why there are so many abandoned questionnaires. "If only they'd finish all 243 questions, we'd have the answer to everything."

Asking a few pointed questions and getting good answers on a few questions is better than bad data on many questions. Amazon does it right in this instance. They ask 3 questions, a rating and a comment.

What Amazon fails here at is requiring the comment which appears to be a public proclamation about the seller. It moves from How did the seller do? to Tell others about them."

I'm happy to give you feedback on your product, service, transactions and the like (I'm rarely short of an opinion). However, requiring me to "tell others" in order to do that is inappropriate. Amazon would not allow me to submit my response as is because the text field is blank. I was tempted to make snarky comments about the inappropriateness of requiring the field, but it's not really the seller's fault.

How many people feel compelled to complete that box? "What? I can't submit my three responses until I give some feedback on that field? Okay then."

What consumers need to remember is that we're part of that transaction too. Seth Godin wrote about Permission Marketing and how it's about engagement with consumers and getting permission to market to them. The flip side of that coin is us, as consumers, giving permission. When a business or on line retailer doesn't ask permission, don't give it. If they interrupt by spamming you, subscribe you to a newsletter without your permission, sell your information or try to force you to give a response when its you doing the favor, walk away.

Timberland Zipable Trail Shoes

2011-12-17T19:52:00.000-05:00

I love the design, but am left a bit wanting. I want them to either zip together, zip to each other or zip with the sole side in or both. Zip them together with the soles facing each other. The video has you zip them up and hang off the outside of your pack, so it makes sense to zip the cloth inside, but for storing inside your pack, you'd want the sole (and the dirt) on the inside
They start at $29.99 from Amazon

I Want You (to Spend a lot...)- Uncle Sam Santa

2011-12-16T18:33:00.000-05:00

Santa "I want you to spend a lot to prove you love your family"

via Simplify Christmas

Upcycled Dictionary Book Art Prints

2011-12-03T05:00:00.000-05:00

I stumbled across these on Etsy the other day, and love the combination of vintage illustrations on the book pages. The seller, PRRINT calls it upcycling, taking an old object and rather than recycling, they're making it more valuable. At $8.00 a print (plus $2.50 shipping to the US), they're very reasonable.

Sadly, many of the photographs are a little out of focus, but they look like beautiful illustrations. I especially like the head as it has a very Monty Python feel.

Jelly Fish

Frog Reading

Balloons

Bike on a map

Octopus

Alice in Wonderland

Beware of What You Put Inside

Denali Experiment

2011-11-29T12:50:00.001-05:00

Great video of a team hiking Denali in Alaska and skiing and snowboarding the mountain. The description from the makers describes the film as

"Free-ride skier Sage Cattabriga-Alosa and big mountain snowboarder Lucas Debari step out of their elements and make an attempt to climb, ski and snowboard Denali. Sage and Lucas get a helping hand from a huge cast of seasoned and professional climbers and ski mountaineers from the North Face Athlete Team, including Hilaree O’Neill, Conrad Anker, Ingrid Backstrom, Jim Zellers, Emilio Previtali and Giulia Monego, as the two embark on the hardest expedition of their lives."

Image from National Park Service

Tigger, Che and a Smurf at School together-

2011-11-22T20:42:00.001-05:00

Great character renditions by Sakiroo Choi from South Korea.

Characters range from Darth Vader to Picasso and Ronald McDonald. Below are a few of my favorites.

He calls this series "Yellow Lemon" and notes;

One day, I thought..There are schools to study a world-class class. Movie class, Comic class, Brand class and Artist class. Student is a celebrity. and they all wear school uniforms with yellow lemon.

See the full set at Behance

Smurf #19

Donald Duck #30

Tigger #25

Che Guevara #22

Mickey #21

Sakiroo Choi can be found
Behance
His website
Twitter @sakiroo

5 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kid Do

2011-11-02T05:32:00.000-04:00

I love this video of Gulver Tully presenting "5 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kid Do" which is a shortened version of his book "50 Dangerous Things (You Should Let Your Children Do)". Perhaps the most insightful of them is teaching kids that things are "knowable". It's a powerful concept. You're not teaching facts, but creating the idea in them that they can learn it. So if they hit a point where they do not know something, its not an end, there's another step which is to find it out. Whether it's a machine as Gulver is talking about, or a plant, animal, computer or anything else, there's always something to find out that we don't know.

This idea also plays into the idea of self efficacy. Wikipedia defines it as the "belief that one is capable of performing in a certain manner to attain certain goals." More simply, it's the believe that you can impact change, make something happen. While some people see life happening to them, while others make things happen.

Happy Springsteen Halloween

2011-10-31T05:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween

Enjoy some Bruce Springsteen "A Night with the Jersey Devil". The intro the song tells the story:

"On a stormy night in 1735 Mother Leeds gave birth to her 13th child. The child was born normal, but transformed into a creature with hooves, a horse's head, bat wings, and a forked tail. He inhabits the Pine Barrens of southern New Jersey."

Laughing Stone and Zippered Rocks from Hirotoshi Ito

2011-10-21T12:09:00.002-04:00

I love these striking pieces form Hirotoshi Ito. He gives stone a fluid, warm feel. These pieces are both beautiful and imbued with humor. For more pieces visit his flickr stream.

Laughing Stone

Plush Stone

Clockwork

Ripple

eye

coin0609up

Cooking Stone 09

gyu

I know you

Laughing Stone

Look Up

The Stairs

Hobbit Holes from Maine

2011-09-27T21:01:00.000-04:00

I got the chance to see these Hobbit Holes in person over the weekend at the Maine Organic Farming Association's (MOFGA) Common Ground fair and they're beautiful. Inside are curved trusses which support the curved roof lines. Playhouses start at $2300, sheds at $3600 and cottages at $5500. They have great round doors on the front, and some models have rectangular doors at the back. Given the space and the money, they'd be a cute addition to the garden. Hit the bottom of this page for a tour of the cottage.

And the added benefit, they're made here in Unity, Maine. Visit Wooden Wonders site for more pictures and pricing.

How to Dock a Folder in Your Taskbar in Windows

2011-09-16T12:17:00.002-04:00

This is a great tip on how to dock a folder in your task bar in Windows. It allows you to then navigate down through the layers and access files directly without leaving the document or browser window you're working on. It's quick enough to do, that it can be done and undone based on what you are working on at the moment. It does take up space on the taskbar, which is why you may not want to dock more than one or two folders there, but otherwise is a great, handy tool.

To dock a folder right click on an empty space on the task bar > Toolbars > New Toolbar > This opens a new window where you navigate to the folder you want to dock and click "Okay".
To remove a folder from the task bar right click on the folder > Toolbars > and uncheck the file you want to remove.
See the video demonstration below.

Transcript of the video: Hi this is Joshua Howe from JoshuaHowe.com. I want to show you how to dock a folderin the footer in your taskbar in Windows. Thiswill allow you to then navigate down through the layers of the folder without ever leaving the document or the browser window you're on.So in order to dock oneyou right click on an empty space in your task bargo to toolbars > new tool barand from here you can navigate to the document, sorry the folderthat you want. Drill down (through the files). And now it appears in your taskbar units available to access. Removing documents is just a simple. You go to toolbars and we'll see the two items that are checked are the ones that appear in the taskbar If you click on them and uncheck them they disappear from yourtaskbar.The other thing is if you want to be able to open an entire folder from your desktop you can right clickand say open this'll allow you then to be able to work and manipulate documents within that folder but if you just want to be able to access information in that folder, access the document, that's easy enough to do. You can add new documents to this folder but you can't drag and drop from this window it won't actually let you put anything and move them around from this window.For more information and more tips visit JoshuaHowe.com- Thank you

Lefty Ironman Watch

2011-09-06T19:00:00.000-04:00

I love my Timex Ironman watch with the exception that it doesn’t stay on the time. It keeps great time, but continually changes the mode it’s in. This is primarily because the mode buttons are on the left hand side of the watch. Being left handed, I wear my watch on my right hand, and because of this, when ever I put my hand in my pocket or knock the watch reaching for something, it frequently hits the mode button. The only other one on that side is to set the watch, but that needs to be held down, so that rarely becomes an issue. Were I right handed, these buttons would be on the arm side (versus hand side), and protected from getting accidentally hit and those that are exposed on the hand side are the light and start/stop buttons.

Given the configurability of electronic components, why don’t manufacturers allow you to configure the buttons on your watch. With my computer mouse, I can swap left and right buttons, choose my pointer and choose how my scroll wheel works and how fast. Why can’t I decide which buttons change the mode and which turn on the light? It could be as simple as providing the option for a left handed and right handed mode. It could also clean up the face by removing the instructions on the face. If they’re really necessary, etch them on the back of the watch.

Were Timex to implement this change, people would complain that its too complicated. More options add complexity, but give power to the user. What are you feeling it too complex, but is really greater power?

Would you pay $300 for an ax?

2011-09-01T15:50:00.000-04:00

The ax has been around for centuries in essentially the same form, a long handle with either one or two flat blades. There have been long, short, straight and curved handles, and blades that are flat, curved, large and small, but each incarnation is recognizable as an ax.

Then there’s the Leveraxe. Unlike traditional axes where the handle is centered in the blade and split by acting as a wedge, the Leveraxe offsets the handle and the force of the blow, causing the head to twist to the right. This combined with a rapidly widening head, causes the log to split using lever action and preventing the blade from becoming stuck in the log.

The demonstration videos are impressive for sure, but is it worth nearly $300? Don’t miss the slow motion video.

Slow motion video:

Product Page: Lever Ax
Pricing: $282 (incl. shipping)

Don't Touch- A Repairman Has Been Called

2011-08-01T20:19:00.000-04:00

This sign is in my office.

There are so many reasons I love this sign.

Woodgrain
Embossed Letters
Metallic Lettering
Unnecessary Quotations
It must pre-date computer printers
It happened frequently enough for someone to send out to have it made.

Last Thoughts on Amy Winehouse

2011-07-25T18:00:00.000-04:00

When you love someone who suffers from the disease of addiction you await the phone call. There will be a phone call. The sincere hope is that the call will be from the addict themselves, telling you they've had enough, that they're ready to stop, ready to try something new. Of course though, you fear the other call, the sad nocturnal chime from a friend or relative telling you it's too late, she's gone.- Russel Brand in the Guardian

Amy Winehouse died in her home in London on Saturday at the age of 27. She was a unique voice that brought jazz back to a population that may never have encountered it.

I first heard her on YouTube long before she was available in the United States. I had a friend in England send me her album, and I bought her second album when I went to Ireland later that year. I've embedded below some of these early performances of hers which are why I first fell in love with her music, and demonstrate why we've lost someone truly special.

Teach Me Tonight

Tenderly

Monkey Man

Take the Box

"Don't Pity a Disabled Man- Find Him a Job" -WWIPoster

2011-07-22T06:00:00.004-04:00

Text: Don't Pity a Disabled Man-Find him a job. YMCA logo. Side bar with "Phone Regent 4030 The Red Triangle Employment Bureau for Ex-service men, 102 Dean St. W.1. or your local Employment Exchange"

Image Source: Imperial War Museum, London via We Make Money, Not Art

Deviant Art Message

2011-07-21T06:35:00.001-04:00

Stumbled upon this message today in DeviantArt while I was looking for this Computer Hardware poster.