The Panopticon

iPhone 4 and the Top Android Phones: Compared on Cost and Features [Infographic]

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 15:53:00 +0000

iPhone 4 and the Top Android Phones: Compared on Cost and Features [Infographic]: "

Cost analysis geeks BillShrink have given the iPhone 4 and all of its top Android the side-by-side treatment, putting their features and performance up against their long-term costs. You might be surprised at the cheapest and most expensive offerings. More »

IPhone - Handhelds - Smartphones - Android - iPhone 4

The first edition of Un<>Cut is available now at MagCloud.

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 16:54:00 +0000

A great magazine to check out. Buy your copy at http://magcloud.com/browse/Issue/93594

Featuring:
Edited and compiled by lt snow
Poetry by Yannick Dangin Leconte
Poetry by Robert Keegan Walker
Photography by Amy Palmer

Why I Returned My iPad

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 17:36:00 +0000

Why I Returned My iPad: "

A little more than a week after buying the iPad, I returned it to Apple. The problem wasn't the iPad exactly, though it has some flaws. The problem was me.

I like technology, but I'm not an early adopter. I waited for the second-generation iPod, the second-generation iPhone, and the second-generation MacBook Air.

But the iPad was different. So sleek. So cool. So transformational. And, I figured, since it's so similar to the iPhone, most of the kinks would already be worked out.

So at 4 PM on the day the 3G iPad was released, for the first time in my life, I waited in line for two hours to make a purchase.

I set up my iPad in the store because I wanted to make sure I could start using it the very moment I bought it. And use it I did. I carried it with me everywhere; it's so small and thin and light, why not bring it along?

I did my email on it, of course. But I also wrote articles using Pages. I watched episodes of Weeds on Netflix. I checked the news, the weather, and the traffic. And, of course, I proudly showed it to, well, anyone who indicated the least bit of interest. (That could be a whole post in itself. We proudly show off new purchases as though simply possessing them is some form of accomplishment. Why? I didn't create the iPad. I just bought one.)

It didn't take long for me to encounter the dark side of this revolutionary device: it's too good.

It's too easy. Too accessible. Both too fast and too long-lasting. Certainly there are some kinks, but nothing monumental. For the most part, it does everything I could want. Which, as it turns out, is a problem.

Sure I might want to watch an episode of Weeds before going to sleep. But should I? It really is hard to stop after just one episode. And two hours later, I'm entertained and tired, but am I really better off? Or would it have been better to get seven hours of sleep instead of five?

The brilliance of the iPad is that it's the anytime-anywhere computer. On the subway. In the hall waiting for the elevator. In a car on the way to the airport. Any free moment becomes a potential iPad moment.

The iPhone can do roughly the same thing, but not exactly. Who wants to watch a movie in bed on an iPhone?

So why is this a problem? It sounds like I was super-productive. Every extra minute, I was either producing or consuming.

But something — more than just sleep, though that's critical too — is lost in the busyness. Something too valuable to lose.

Boredom.

Being bored is a precious thing, a state of mind we should pursue. Once boredom sets in, our minds begin to wander, looking for something exciting, something interesting to land on. And that's where creativity arises.

My best ideas come to me when I am unproductive. When I am running but not listening to my iPod. When I am sitting, doing nothing, waiting for someone. When I am lying in bed as my mind wanders before falling to sleep. These 'wasted' moments, moments not filled with anything in particular, are vital.

They are the moments in which we, often unconsciously, organize our minds, make sense of our lives, and connect the dots. They're the moments in which we talk to ourselves. And listen.

To lose those moments, to replace them with tasks and efficiency, is a mistake. What's worse is that we don't just lose them. We actively throw them away.

"That's not a problem with the iPad," my brother Anthony — who I feel compelled to mention is currently producing a movie called My Idiot Brother — pointed out. "It's a problem with you. Just don't use it as much."

Guilty as charged. It is a problem with me. I can't not use it if it's there. And, unfortunately, it's always there. So I returned it. Problem solved.

But it did teach me something about the value of boredom. And I'm far more conscious now of using those extra moments, the in-between time, the walking and riding and waiting time, to let my mind wander.

Around the same time I returned my iPad, I noticed that my eight-year-old daughter Isabelle was unbelievably busy from the moment she got home from school to the moment she went to bed. Bathing, reading, playing guitar, eating dinner, doing homework, she was non-stop until I rushed her off to bed. Once in bed she would try to talk to me but, worried about how little sleep she was getting, I would shush her, urging her to go to sleep.

We have a new ritual now, and it really has become my favorite part of the day. I put her to bed 15 minutes earlier than before. She crawls into bed and, instead of shushing her, I lie next to her and we just talk. She talks about things that happened that day, things she's worried about, things she's curious or thinking about. I listen and ask her questions. We laugh together. And our minds just wander.

The World's Only Immortal Animal

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 17:23:00 +0000

The World's Only Immortal Animal: "

The turritopsis nutricula species of Jellyfish has been discovered to be the first, and possibly only, immortal creature. Once the creature reaches its adult form (pictured) it can, apparently, use transdifferentiation to transform its cells backwards to the polyp stage of its life and begin the whole cycle again. There's not much more to say beyond that - consider myself officially in awe."

sunset on Mt. Diablo

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 02:17:00 +0000

sunset on Mt. Diablo, originally uploaded by likeprettythings.

Camping the other day was great. Warm and sunny, and all around fun, despite the poison oak, falling, gaping holes in my knee, and subsequent tetanus shots. The view from the top is spectacular. Highly recommended especially for camping newbies. But beware the park rangers! They're strict about alcohol because of the winding mountain roads - if they catch you with it, they'll make you pour it all out, even unopened bottles.

Trailbuilding with VOCAL

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 19:52:00 +0000

I recently did an incredible volunteer trail building project with a great group called Volunteers for Outdoor California (VOCAL). They are incredibly well organized and do trailbuilding and maintenance projects all over the SF Bay Area. They're different from other organizations in terms of how well they treat their volunteers: they almost always coordinate camping for the night following the first day of a project, and provide great meals, coffee, snacks, sunshowers, etc. A recent project I heard about had smoked tri-tip for dinner, as well as on-site massages! I worked extremely hard for a full day and still felt spoiled. The volunteers and the crew were without fail enthusiastic, friendly, and welcoming - I met some great people, and will be working with them again as soon as I can. Visit their website and see if you can help - I promise they are a well organized and inspired group that deserves it!

From the top of Mt. Diablo

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 03:16:00 +0000

A place to bring yourself, and invite someone you like along.

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Tue, 27 May 2008 00:59:00 +0000

Beautiful iPod skins

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Tue, 20 May 2008 08:48:00 +0000

Below is a just one example of the excellent iPhone and iPod skins available at http://www.gelaskins.com/index.php

Eye Candy

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Tue, 20 May 2008 06:25:00 +0000

The site Colourlovers.com is my new favorite procrastination destination. The site has hundreds of appealing palettes and patterns to browse through, as well as a super cool custom pattern creation tool that lets you start with pre-made patterns and color them as you like. Its as easy as picking the colors for each part of the pattern.

I could do it all day. I almost just did. Below are some quick attempts.

Here are some samples from their site:

=

Blublu

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Sun, 18 May 2008 18:05:00 +0000

Ok. You must click on this book and watch the video that follows. Quite simply and truthfully the coolest video I've seen in ages. I'm not going to spoil it for you by describing it.

Watch this one first (click on book)

Then go to this page for more (click on book)

hitotoki and Z-Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Sun, 18 May 2008 17:03:00 +0000

So my uncle, surveyor of all things online and fabulous, sent me this site today (click to visit):

Its calls itself a "narrative map of the world" and basically maps moments, words, and photos onto city maps. If you happen to love New York, Tokyo, or Shanghai, or any other of the cities it covers, its a great site to poke around. Also a great place to submit short essays to if you're an aspiring writer/photographer/one who communicates moments.

On another note, DJ Z-Trip played at the Mighty last night in SF. It was one of the cooler dance scenes in SF I've found - some great dancers were there, and the music rocked all night. I did however almost get in fights with TWO amped-up girls who felt I was dancing in their space. So i'm not sure if Ztrip has a militant fem-nazi following, but it sure felt that way, because I have done a lot of dancing in my time, and that has never happened to me before. Let's just say in the last two years I've learned a lot about de-escalation, and I was able to soothe the wild beasts before returning to this:

Click here to listen to DJ Z-Trip

Also thanks to Yoda for the VIP passes.

Words trapped in water

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Fri, 16 May 2008 22:31:00 +0000

Masaru Emoto is a Japanese researcher who contends that if spoken words or human thoughts are directed at water before it freezes, then the crystals that result will display characteristic patterns. These patterns will be ugly if the words/thoughts are negative, and beautiful if the words/thoughts are positive and life-affirming. He claims to have experimented using prayer, and written words attached to water-filled containers. He has published many volumes under the name, Messages From Water. Each volume displays the crystals and the emotions/thoughts that produced them.

By Claudia Ricci: read more here

Crazy, or beautiful?

Fireball

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Fri, 16 May 2008 20:22:00 +0000

First pic from new D200

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Fri, 16 May 2008 19:27:00 +0000

The need to color correct your screen

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Fri, 16 May 2008 18:37:00 +0000

Thanks to a photo buddy, I was alerted to the reason that my carefully calibrated colors in photoshop don't come out the same when I order prints. My monitor is not color calibrated. There is a neat little software/ gadget package you can get called Huey that will take care of this for you. It includes a magic wand you stick to your screen that reads how your screen displays Pantone colors and then calibrates accordingly. Most monitors are defaulted to display color/contrast for easy reading of documents. Huey corrects this and generally brings warmth, yellows, and greens back to your too-blue screen.

Don't EVER mess around with colors in photoshop unless your monitor is calibrated. That is an order.

Check it out here.

Hilary Lovin' Obama

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 04:12:00 +0000

Photoshop edits to this are limited to image adjustments only--the signs, the hand, the drag outfits, and the unidentified smoke were all real.

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 20:42:00 +0000

Another Before and After: Coke Dog

The original was taken on a brilliant sunny day in India, creating a high contrast image with a blue cast from the sky. The faded red color of the wall was completely lost.

In this photograph I really wanted to capture the blinding brilliance of the original day. If I just wanted to create a gentler picture, I could easily tone down the brightness just a bit. But this one captures the squint-your-eyes feeling and restores the intersection of yellow walls, blue sky, and red wall I originally found so appealing.

Portrait Adjustments in Photoshop

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 19:34:00 +0000

This is how a recent image came out of my little, usually accurate Powershot: extremely blue, overwhelmed by the cast of the sky:

This is my adjustment in photoshop, to salvage a great portrait. I used curves and layer masks to adjust tone and bring out lightness in certain areas while avoiding the dullness that comes from adjusting brightness or color directly.

Wireless Playlists

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 19:31:00 +0000

Today I'm tripping about seeqpod (www.seeqpod.com), an online wireless music service that bills itself as "playable search." You can look up artists, find hundreds of their songs available online from various websites, and add them to a playlist, which you can save. Then, whenever you're connected to the internet, you have access to your vast playlists which could a MUCH vaster collection of music than your puny 160 gig external hard drive. With the advent of the iPod Touch and its wireless connection, will this send digital music files the way of the CD? (Thanks to my favorite chancebender for showing this to me; check the site out soon at www.chancebending.com)

Below is a screenshot of the very simple and usable interface.

www.seeqpod.com

What happens when you REALLY want something

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 01:02:00 +0000

A fascinating new study from the Journal of Consumer Research finds that when we long for something intensely -- like a much-needed vacation -- a wider array of options will sound appealing, potentially leading to some out-of-character choices. Similarly, when we are especially hungry and presented with an range of menu choices, we are more likely to deviate from our favorite meal.

Continue reading at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070912130821.htm

sea sponge

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 23:35:00 +0000

Google homepage iterations

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 17:38:00 +0000

Check out this fantastic page where you can view all the iterations of the Google homepage. A little bit of history in the making:

http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://google.com

layers

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 03:21:00 +0000

Sketchfu is this totally cool program my artist uncle showed me. You can create and share sketches online, but the best part about it is the way the sketchmaking process is recorded. It's really amazing to see all these fantastic pieces of art, made using very limited tools, and then watch the speeded-up recording of it happening online.

Check it out! http://sketchfu.com/drawing/20378-colors

Learn how to draw cartoons, comics, and anime at Sketchfu!