Posts Tagged ‘NYC’
Walking in the Rain
Sunday, September 27th, 2009
[hearts]
Monday, June 15th, 2009
A little experiment borne out of cab rides, tunes, my fiancee’s patience and a desire to create things using rudimentary, consumer grade tools.
Shot using a little Canon Powershot SD450. Edited in iMovie. Music: This Place is a Prison by The Postal Service
Happy Thanksgiving
Thursday, November 27th, 2008
Nothing quite speaks to the arrival of the holiday season like the Macy’s Day Parade. Here’s a photo I took from the office building across the street during last year’s parade (2007).
BlackBerry v iPhone: Round 1: As Phones
Sunday, June 22nd, 2008
(For details on the phones being reviewed, visit BlackBerry v iPhone: Introductions.)
Round 1 compares these two “smart phones” with respect to their core function, as phones. Both are far more than mere phones; they are communications devices. However, their principal function is still to make and receive calls. One may imagine them to have more in common regarding such a core function, but I found many differences in my use of these two devices as phones.
My Blackberry provides out of the box voice recognition that is impressive. I never had to program the pronunciation for any name. The phone’s numbers are differentiated from their alphabetical counterparts by shading that is subtle and effective.
Initiating a call is also extremely simple. I simply begin to dial a number or a letter. The phone directs me to the proper screen and dynamically filters my address book to help me expedite finding the correct phone number.
The iPhone’s phone functionality leaves much to be desired. There is no voice recognition software on the phone, a pretty standard feature on even the most basic feature phones. This really annoyed me last winter in NYC. To make a phone call while outside, I had to find the desired person using a sub-optimal address book that does not even have a search box. This was exacerbated by having to remove my gloves in the cold weather to navigate the address book, as the touch screen required what little heat remained from my cold, bare fingers.
The omission of a search field in the Address Book, looks to be addressed in v2.0 of the firmware, scheduled for release next month; however, this should never have been a problem, especially on a phone at this price point. There is no word of speech recognition, but hopefully something will be rolled out before next winter. On the positive side, speaking to someone and hearing them speak in both ears feels more natural. Unfortunately, that seems to be the only good aspect of the Apple product as a phone.
The winner of round 1 … BlackBerry!
Up next, the providers of those phone services, AT&T and Verizon Wireless
City and the Sex: A look back
Monday, June 2nd, 2008
eeeeeh, so I was a bit off on my guess for the opening weekend, box office tally for the “Sex and the City” movie. It seems the movie did well more than the originally estimated $27.5 million, taking in $55.7 million. However, this fell short of my predictions of something closer $80 million.
How did I arrive at this number originally? I held my finger up to the air and guessed. Aw well, lesson learned.
I did go watch the movie with my fiance and found it rather entertaining. It was an insane experience at an entertaining 2 and a half hour movie. We watched it at the Chelsea Cinemas, which on Friday had shows as late as 5 AM! It was really fun seeing such large groups of women out for a night in the city. They were all dressed up and out in force throughout the night, everywhere in the city.
Sooooo, the weekend numbers didn’t reach my slightly delusional projections, but being in Manhattan during this time was really exciting. It was what I had hoped to experience with the series finale … better late than never.
City and the Sex
Saturday, May 31st, 2008
I find myself in the middle of Manhattan during the opening weekend of the “Sex and the City” movie. It is a city filled with women ravaging with desire to watch this movie. Estimates of the movies box-office tally are only in the range of $25 million to $40 million. I find this ludicrous and yet another example of how mainstream media is completely out of touch with mainstream America.
Granted, my opinion may be slightly skewed, after all I am in Manhattan. I have been subject to women on more than one occasion during the last week stopping to pose for pictures alongside movie posters. However, I think these scenes are nothing more than a microcosm of others being played out in the hearts and minds of women nationwide.
The first episode of Sex and the City I remember seeing was the series finale. I was fascinated with the madness surrounding the whole Event, and I do mean Event with a capital E. I recall women everywhere planning big viewing parties, and I do mean parties in the plural sense of the word.
I called my best friend’s wife and asked her if she was going to be attending a party because I wanted to come along. Excitedly, she said she would be watching it at home alone, but encouraged me to come over so that we could watch it together. My friend was not so happy about this, as now he too would be required to watch. In the end, I didn’t get it and she grew frustrated with both our comments. Since then, I have learned that women abhor play by play commentary during the viewing of any show they hold dear, especially at it’s final climax.
Overall, I have never seen such passion for a show, well maybe American Idol … but that is another post. An inquiring mind, I have asked several women I know about the reason for their obsession. The answer always revolved around them relating to the characters in a way they felt was real and previously not represented on television.
These experiences lead me to believe that the box office estimates for opening weekend are grossly on the conservative end and out of touch with social impact of the show on women in America. Women will watch this movie and then they will watch it again and again and again. I believe the final tally will be much closer to $80 million than it will to $40 million.
Exploring
Tuesday, May 20th, 2008
Sunrise to the West
Sunday, May 18th, 2008
We’re Back!
Thursday, May 15th, 2008
It’s been a while, but we’re back. We’ll start nice and easy with a couple of posts here and there, just to get the ol’ writing legs back under us. There’s been a lot of good things happening, so I thought this the ideal time to start capturing some of these experiences once again.
Upcoming on the calendar, look for a review of the NYC AIGA’s Smart/Models: Business Principles for Design Principals.
If you are looking for Once Upon A Time in Austin: my experience(s) at SXSW Interactive, it has been archived. It will remain accessible under the links section in the sidebar.
Also, look for additional updates to our design in the coming months.
