Monthly Archives:

March 2010

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CNNMoney.com: Apple is No. 3, closing in on Microsoft

CNNMoney.com: Apple is No. 3, closing in on Microsoft

On Tuesday March 30, following a report that it was building an iPhone for Verizon, its stock rose 1.5% to $235.85, its market cap hit $213.9 billion, and it overtook Wal-Mart once again to begin closing in on No. 2 Microsoft (MSFT). (See chart below the fold.)

The only two companies with a current larger market valuation than Apple are Exxon Mobile and Microsoft.

Technology

The mother of all USB phone charging cables.

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This hydra like mess is the NOKIA 10 In 1 Cell Phone USB Charging Cable (Black) from the Cellular Factory.  While some make get a kick out of being able to charge any phone known to man, others will find carrying around all these extra adapters that you’ll never use to be really annoying.  I wonder what would happen if you plugged in all 10 different cell phones at once.

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Photo: Shepard Fairey Compassion/Dalai Lama Print

I’m starting a new category called “Art under my bed”.  I’ve been collecting art prints for several years now, mostly Shepard Fairey prints, but also of various other artists.  Because framing the prints is much costlier than the prints themselves, I am placing them for now in a flat portfolio under my bed, a place where no one will ever see them.  Until now.  I thought that I would start showing off my collection- a little museum from under my bed.  I do plan to frame a lot of them over time or trade some of the pieces for others that I want.
 
Here’s my latest piece.  Shepard Fairey’s Compassion (His Holiness The Dalai Lama) print.  This is something new, a silkscreen, not an offset print based on one of his larger stencil collages.
FaireyDalai.pngThe closeup detail is pretty amazing.  It’s definitely one of the best Shepard Fairey pieces in a while.  I think I’ll try to get this one onto the wall sooner, rather than later. 
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What is art?

UPDATE: See bottom of entry

Is this art?  I saw this piece Train Landscape, 1952-53 by Ellsworth Kelly during a recent visit to the Art Institute of Chicago.  It’s three colored panels that are connected together.

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link to: The Art Institute of Chicago Train Landscape, 1952-53 page

What makes it different than my work, Three Post It Notes, Taped Together 2010

Granted, my cutting and taping job is a little crooked, but if I spend more than 30 seconds doing it, I might be able to get everything lined up better.

Threepostitnotes.pngI believe that many things can be considered art, but to me good art needs to show some skill in its creation.

UPDATE:  Thanks to Visualingual
for the correction of the name Ellsworth Kelly.  Perhaps I was a little too simplistic and quick to judge so I Googled an explanation
of the painting.

Another ongoing catalyst for Kelly is Cézanne’s use of color
to create form. Cézanne endeavored to capture his sensations of nature
directly, through color, rather than constructing an illusion of
reality, with the painting as a sort of window onto the world. In Mont
Sainte-Victoire Seen from Les Lauves, Cézanne divides his canvas into
three bands of color, effectively flattening the deep perspective of a
mountain view and bringing it right up to the picture plane, with dabs
of color that sit directly on the painting’s surface. As if boiling
Cézanne’s painting down to its essential parts, Kelly’s Train Landscape
consists of three monochrome horizontal panels, joined together to
create an effect of space and surface similar to the Mont
Sainte-Victoire. Kelly first conceived of Train Landscape while looking
out a moving train’s window onto an expanse of mustard growing in a
field, but his process of painting is less about representing a
landscape in a recognizable way, and more about being true to his
perceptions of nature. Kelly’s planes of single colors take Cézanne’s
sensation to an extreme conclusion, and in turn help us see Cézanne’s
painting in a new way. Through Kelly’s eyes–and those of all the
artists in Cézanne and Beyond– Cézanne’s work continues to reveal its
complexity, richness, and, most of all, its relevancy.

Here’s Cézanne’s piece: Mont Sainte-Victoire Seen from Les Lauves, 1902-1906
fig9.jpgHere’s Ellsworth Kelly’s piece: Train Landscape, 1952-1953
fig10.jpgI believe I understand what Ellsworth Kelly’s idea is, a minimalist representation of a landscape view from a train, but even knowing this, I still find the work to be pretty weak.

I do like the Cézanne, though.

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CNN.com: Young job-seekers hiding their Facebook pages

From CNN.com: Young job-seekers hiding their Facebook pages

A recent survey commissioned by Microsoft found that 70 percent of recruiters and hiring managers in the United States have rejected an applicant based on information they found online.

What kind of information? “Inappropriate” comments by the candidate; “unsuitable” photos and videos; criticisms of previous employers, co-workers, or clients; and even inappropriate comments by friends and relatives, according to the survey report, titled “Online Reputation in a Connected World.”

There is no hiding from the internet.  If it’s embarrassing, you probably don’t want it anywhere near your Facebook account, even with privacy settings.

I am a little surprised at the stuff that I come across, especially from my younger friends.

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CNN.com: Fatty foods may cause cocaine-like addiction

CNN.com: Fatty foods may cause cocaine-like addiction

“We make our food very similar to cocaine now,” he says.

Coca leaves have been used since ancient times, he points out, but people learned to purify or alter cocaine to deliver it more efficiently to their brains (by injecting or smoking it, for instance). This made the drug more addictive.

According to Wang, food has evolved in a similar way. “We purify our food,” he says. “Our ancestors ate whole grains, but we’re eating white bread. American Indians ate corn; we eat corn syrup.”

This may explain why losing weight is one of the hardest things to do.  People often have the desire to lose weight, but lack the will.

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CNN.com: NYC’s new landmark: The Apple Store

CNN.com: NYC’s new landmark: The Apple Store

New York City’s five most photographed landmarks are:

Empire State Building
Times Square
Rockefeller Center
Grand Central Station
Fifth Ave. Apple Store

I’ve been to NYC a bunch of times and the only thing that surprises me is that the Apple Store beat out the Statue of Liberty which is listed only 7th.

Besides being an Apple Mecca, The Fifth Ave. Apple Store is very distinctive and pretty much begs to be photographed.  Here are some pictures that I took when I was in NYC this past summer.

AppleStore1.pngAppleStore2.pngAppleStore3.pngAppleStore4.png

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Virgil’s Cafe in Bellevue, KY

virgilscafe1.jpgAfter hearing that Guy Fieri of Food Network’s Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives had filmed a segment of his show at Virgil’s Cafe in Bellevue, KY, we decided to head on over and check this place out for ourselves.

I wouldn’t describe Virgil’s Cafe as diner, drive-in, or dive which is OK, because many of the restaurants featured on the show don’t fall exactly in those categories either.  What the show does feature are distinctive local restaurants in a city with a passion for creating food.  These restaurants have dishes that stand out because of their uniqueness or the meticulousness of the preparation.    

Virgil’s Cafe is a quaint little restaurant with the perfect ambiance for a dinner date. The interior is warm and cozy, though there are a couple of somewhat creepy clown paintings on the wall.

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Our trip to Virgil’s Cafe was for lunch this past Saturday.  I had the homemade pastrami sandwich with sweet potato fries.  The sweet potato fries were delightful and I didn’t even need to use the ancho chile mayonaise that came with it.  The pastrami sandwich was quite large and extremely flavorful.  I’m a big fan of pastrami sandwiches and if a restaurant has it on the menu, I tend to gravitate towards it.  This is probably the best one that I’ve had in the Cincinnati area.
virgilscafe4.jpgMy girlfriend had the Homemade fresh pasta with Seasonal vegetables, wild Mushrooms in Burre Blanc.  A simple looking pasta dish, but you can really taste the freshness of the ingredients.  It was delicious.
virgilscafe5.jpgMy sister had the Fennel, apple, gorgonzola with citrus vinaigrette and pistachios salad.  I’m not a huge fan of salads, especially as meals but it looked nice and she enjoyed it.
virgilscafe6.jpgOverall, the food is presented nicely, is tasty, and is reasonably priced.  Rather than having a very unique menu, it looks like Virgil’s Cafe was chosen by Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives for the quality preparation of the food.  Which ultimately is the most important thing.  I’ll definitely be back to try out dinner.