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WordPress vs. Tumblr

Tumblr is a new blogging platform which focuses on simple, quick blogging called tumblelogs. A tumblelog is a blog of very short posts, maybe just a photo, link or quote; a slightly richer form of Twitter.

The Tumblr service has an elegant design focusing on simplicity. I was impressed with it and for a few days switched my mkaz.com blog over. However, after just a few posts I found the simplicity a little stifling and I wanted to be able to do a few other things, such as align photos, use categories and an organized archive.

So I switched back to WordPress, I updated to 2.5.1 and using a new theme. It really is the best platform, providing the most flexibility, especially if you know a little PHP.

  Posted May 11, 2008 § geek ‡ Comments (1)

Nascent Sexuality Polaroid Study


Nascent Sexuality Polaroid Study is a photography project by Igor documenting his early sex life, or lack thereof, growing up in Alexandria.

The project uses Google Maps where each map point has a Polaroid and a description of why that photo location is important. The map points are listed in chronological order and should be read in that order.

Nascent Sexuality Map [Google Map]

You can also view the flickr gallery of photos from the project.

  Posted May 11, 2008 § art, photography ‡ Comments (1)

Lens Of Vision and Expression


I came across Sam’s photos on flickr and was real impressed with her project. Sam is an art teacher who spent six weeks in Nicaragua teaching photography to underprivileged kids. She published the children’s work in an online gallery on Flickr, even without the story, it is some great photography. See the Nicaragua photo gallery.

Sam is now working on creating the non-profit Lens Of Vision and Expression (LOVE) to continue working with children and helping their voices be heard through photography. You can help LOVE here.

Photo by Student Photographer: Farah

  Posted May 10, 2008 § art, photography ‡ Comments (0)

The Neuroscience of Meditation and Attention

The neuroscience of meditation - focusing on how the contemplative practice alters and sharpens the brain’s attention systems. Meditation is now being quite extensively studied by cognitive science owing to the clear effects it has on the brain, and on the increasing evidence for its benefit in mental health.

From: The Neuroscience of Meditation and Attention [MindHacks.com]

  Posted April 27, 2008 § Uncategorized ‡ Comments (0)

photophlow

photophlow

Photophlow is a pretty cool new way to interact with photos and people. It ties into Flickr and allows you to view photos simultaneously with other users and chat in real-time about them. You can select a photo and everyone in the chat room sees the photo and can comment on it.

If you like talking about photos, check it out. They also have a Live Photo Critique Room.
Here’s an example of the UI, click for video tour:

photophlow interface

What other people are saying about Photophlow:

Let me know if you need an invite, I have a few to give.
Disclosure: I am an angel investor in photophlow

  Posted January 19, 2008 § geek, photography ‡ Comments (1)

Fantasy Football 2007 Wrap-up: Receivers vs. Running Backs

For the first time in recorded history, I won our Fantasy Football league. woo hoo! Oddly enough, I had horribly running backs this year, sorry Maroney you may go undefeated but you were a fantasy bust. None of my running backs were in the top 20 based on yardage. However, my receiving core was solid with two receivers in the top 20, one in the top 5. Was that the difference or just luck? Having Brady as my starting QB didn’t hurt, and that was luck.

I thought maybe I also did better since you play three receivers instead of two running backs. However, in previous years I’ve had good receivers and never did well. So what is different about this NFL season, did this year prefer receivers over running backs, or did backs under perform across the board. Let’s look at some numbers.

2007

Running Back Yards
L.Tomlinson 1,474 yds
A.Peterson 1,341 yds
B.Westbrook 1,333 yds
W.Parker 1,316 yds
J.Lewis 1,304 yds
Total 6,768 yds
Receivers Yards
R.Wayne 1,510 yds
R.Moss 1,493 yds
C.Johnson 1,440 yds
L.Fitzgerald 1,409 yds
T.Owens 1,355 yds
Total 7,207 yds

This is very different than seasons past, which the top yard carrier has been running backs. Last year even the 5th best running back had more yards than the top receiver

2006

Running Back Yards
L.Tomlinson 1,815 yds
L.Johnson 1,789 yds
F.Gore 1,695 yds
T.Barber 1,662 yds
S.Jackson 1,528 yds
Total 8,492 yds
Receivers Yards
C.Johnson 1,369 yds
M.Harrison 1,366 yds
R.Williams 1,310 yds
R.Wayne 1,310 yds
D.Driver 1,295 yds
Total 6,650 yds

The top 5 rushers had +1,842 yds more than the top 5 receivers, that is a significant change to this year. Now yards aren’t everything, running backs tend to score more touchdowns and they also get yards receiving. So looking at the fantasy points the last two years:

Fantasy Points for 2007

Running Back Points
L.Tomlinson 293 pts
B.Westbrook 269 pts
J.Addai 222 pts
A.Peterson 222 pts
C.Portis 210 pts
Receivers Yards
R.Moss 280 pts
T.Owens 218 pts
B.Edwards 212 pts
R.Wayne 198 pts
L.Fitzgerald 188 pts

The top tunning backs still outscored the top receivers in fantasy points, but compare those fantasy points to 2006:

Fantasy Points for 2006

Running Back Points
L.Tomlinson 410 pts
L.Johnson 317 pts
S.Jackson 314 pts
F.Gore 249 pts
W.Parker 246 pts
Receivers Yards
M.Harrison 199 pts
T.Owens 189 pts
R.Wayne 181 pts
D.Driver 173 pts
C.Johnson 172 pts

The receivers scored about the same points, but the running back points took a significant drop from the previous year. Randy Moss and Tomlinson record years being the anomalies.

Did NFL teams rely on the pass more this year than the run? Yes. As you can see in this chart of total NFL yardage, by passing and rushing for the past 7 years. Note: 2001 there was 1 less team in the league, so total yardage is down. It was only Houston so not down too much.

Chart: NFL Yardage Passing vs. Rushing
NFL Yardage Passing vs. Rushing 2001-2007

The real question is, what will the NFL do next year and how should I pick my draft. I was hoping the chart would give an overall trend, but it doesn’t seem consistent enough. Oh well, I guess Brady and Moss as my first two picks next year wouldn’t be too bad.

  Posted December 31, 2007 § geek, sports ‡ Comments (0)

Slideshow: Foster City at Night

I’m finally putting together a series of night photography I did of Foster City. I was printing the shots by hand, actual black and white darkroom work, but I’ve since sold all my equipment, so I need to put together the digital files to be printed. I’m also trying out Soundslides Plus, a program which generates flash slideshows. I haven’t ventured into sound yet, maybe my next project.

Here’s the silent slideshow of Foster City at Night:

  Posted December 27, 2007 § art, photography ‡ Comments (1)

Have Yourself a Green Christmas, Part II

Being environmentally conscious at Christmas time means reducing your impact by conserving energy and producing less waste. The first part of having a Green Christmas focused primarily on gift giving. This second part is focusing on energy saving and conservation.

  • Decorate with Energy-Saving LED Christmas Lights - The time for large glass Christmas light bulbs to decorate with is over. Switch those older lights over to energy-efficient LED Christmas lights.
  • Run Your Lights on a Timer - Don’t run Christmas lights during the day or through all hours of the night. Have a timer turn them on and off for you.
  • Buy a Potted Christmas Tree - Instead of going to a lot to pick up an already-chopped-down Christmas tree, you can get a live pine tree in a pot. This allows you to keep the living tree after Christmas. If taken care of properly, you can use the same tree for many Christmases to come. Living Christmas Tree
  • Avoid Fake Plastic Trees - Unless you have allergies or a good reason to not have a real tree, it is best to avoid plastic trees. Cutting down a natural tree is far better for the environment. Ninety eight percent of natural Christmas trees come from tree farms, which are sustainable since growing trees is a renewable source. Plastic is derived from oil, which is not renewable.

    The National Christmas Tree Association states that 500,000 acres of Christmas trees are grown and harvested in the United States and each acre produces enough oxygen for 18 people.

  • Recycle Your Christmas Tree - After the holidays, be sure to recycle your tree. You can enter your zipcode at Earth 911 and find where to recycle your Christmas tree.

A few more gift giving ideas that were left off the first list:

  • Donate to a Charity - I’m not sure how I managed to leave this one off the first post. Donating to a charity is a great way to help people in need. My friend’s family pools their gift money each year and instead of buying each other gifts they donate it to Heifer.org, which buys a farm animal for a needy family in a developing country.
  • Teas or Coffee - Another gift along the lines of giving consumable gifts: nice teas or coffee. This is appreciated especially when recipients may not splurge on these items themselves. Of course, this is assuming they like tea or coffee.

Related Links

  Posted December 09, 2007 § environment ‡ Comments (0)

Have Yourself a Green Christmas

Americans generate 25 percent more trash - that’s 25 million extra tons - between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Here are a few tips to have a Green Christmas, one with less environmental impact.

  • Buy nothing. A little hardcore and bah humbug, but the best possible way to contribute nothing to our landfills is to buy nothing. This also reduces all energy requirements to build and deliver items to the store, plus your energy consumed to purchase.

However, we do want to keep our economy going. If everyone bought nothing, the economy would be in a bit of a pickle. So here are a few other suggestions:

  • Food, Candy, Chocolate. Food is one of the best possible gifts. Everyone loves a box of chocolates, as it is something to be opened up and shared together. And though your waistline might find itself an inch thicker, you’ll add no excess inches of waste to the landfill.
  • Buy Small Gifts. This is a especially true for younger kids. Don’t get the gigantic playhouse made of 20 pounds of plastic that takes up half your living room. Huge items like these will be played with for a brief period time and then they’ll be off to the landfills.
  • Order Online. Save time and gas by not driving to the mall and circling around endlessly looking for parking. Besides, it will make your Christmas a little happier too when you save yourself from flipping the bird to your fellow holiday shopper who just stole your spot.
  • Give Green Gifts. Give gifts that encourage your recipients to be more environmentally conscious. For example, give a book on how to live a more earth-friendly existence or a compact florescent light bulb. A light bulb probably might work best as a stocking stuffer and not the entire gift.
  • Make Your Own Gifts. This is a risky one, since we’ve been conditioned to appreciate people’s altruism relative to the amount of money they spend. But if you are crafty, make your own cards or gifts.
  • Choose Simple Over Complex. When looking for gifts for kids, choose simple blocks or basic toys over highly electronic and complex toys. This will reduce energy and materials used to build the toy, as well as eliminate the need for batteries and their toxic chemicals. Be sure to be age appropriate, however, as giving a teenager blocks instead of a Wii may cause a revolt.
  • Give Action/Activity Gifts. Gifts to concerts, shows, sporting events or something similar gives someone an experience gift they can enjoy without requiring any additional product to be built. Plus who knows they may take you with them.
  • Use a Gift Bag Instead of Gift Wrap. A gift bag is reusable and won’t contribute to the 25 million tons of additional waste generated each holiday season. Save bows, gift boxes, and wrapping paper to reuse next year.

This list may not be as crazy as it sounds. A 2005 survey by the Center for a New American Dream found that 78 percent of respondents wished the holidays were less materialistic. Eighty seven percent said the holidays should be more about family and caring for others, not giving and receiving gifts.

Suggested Gifts

Related Links:

  Posted December 05, 2007 § environment ‡ Comments (3)

Leopard Bugs Follow-Up

A follow-up post on the Leopard bugs I previously discussed.

My biggest beef is that tar is still broken.

User Error: The terminal tabs shortcut keys was my mistake, they are curly brackets so I have to hold down the shift key to switch. Between Safari, Firefox, Terminal, and Adium there are just too many different ways to switch between tabs.

System Config Error: Spotlight issue was because Spotlight was not indexing on my system. So some searches worked and others did not. The odd thing is the Spotlight client did not realize this. It is now fixed and Spotlight has replaced Quicksilver. The auto calculator is awesome!

Still Sucks: The Opacity of Menu Bar and Menu Items still sucks. Plus the colors of foreground-background windows is still wrong.

Config Fix: I found a config parameter to stage the Stacks to show as a grid. Right-click on the Stack and select View As… Grid.

Config Fix: I also converted my dock to be 2D and not the weird 3D dock. From macosxhints:
$ defaults write com.apple.dock no-glass -boolean YES; killall Dock

All in all, my opinion is now upgraded to neutral on Leopard.

  Posted December 01, 2007 § geek ‡ Comments (0)