In English, word order is really important. Consider the following: I don't really like Celine Dion. I really don't like Celine Dion. Personally, I agree with the latter. (Substituting "Michael Bolton" doesn't change this.)
Monthly Archives: May 2006
Beijing or Bust
On KCSM, I caught the last half hour of a fascinating documentary called Beijing or Bust. It follows six Chinese-Americans who move to Beijing to live and work, as they discuss their reactions to a rapidly changing China and their dual identities as Chinese and American. (I later found out that the filmmaker, Hao Wu, …
Bank of America customer service phone number
Updated August 5, 2006: I’ve found a new way to reach a BofA customer representative, at least in California: Call 1-800-622-8731, which is listed in the BofA’s Contact Us page. Press 1 for more options, then press *. I’ve removed the old information, since it just seemed to be confusing people.
Ka-Ping Yee: “performance” considered harmful
Ping points out how computer people love to use the word "performance" when they really mean "speed," and that performance is about way more than just speed.
Fan films: creating, not just consuming, popular culture
I finally read an essay that Daniel e-mailed me over a year ago. Professor Henry Jenkins, director of the Comparative Media Studies Program at MIT, has written about fan fiction as a medium through which ordinary people change their relationship to popular culture from being passive consumers to active participants in its creation. He uses …
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Ajax libraries galore
Lately there's been a bumper crop of JavaScript libraries for creating Ajax applications. At first, it was largely a grassroots effort, and to this day some of the most popular libraries like Prototype, script.aculo.us, Behaviour, Dojo, and MochiKit are maintained mostly by one person. But now the big boys are joining the party. Yahoo has …
Montreal
Last month I was in Montreal for the CHI conference. I came away impressed by the city; it really is a wonderful blend of Europe and North America. (The signs are all in French, but everyone speaks English!) The original city center still has blocks and blocks of historic buildings intact, while downtown and surrounding …
The Homebrew Mobile Phone Club
There would be more innovation in mobile phones and services if they were as open as personal computers and the Internet are today. A grassroots movement of Silicon Valley tinkerers are pushing such an agenda, the Homebrew Mobile Phone Club, whose name pays homage to the famous Homebrew Computer Club (where the Apple I was …
Cody’s Books’ Telegraph store to close
Kepler's Books in Menlo Park may have barely survived, but other venerable indies are hurting. The main Cody's Books store on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley is closing. I have fond memories browsing through (and even buying!) books there. Although its two smaller stores will remain open, this hurts.
PhD Comics creator at Stanford
Jorge Cham did speak at Stanford after all, which was good for me since it made my drive a lot shorter (although I was prepared to drive up to Berkeley…). And his talk was one of the funniest I’ve ever been to. It was also packed; the Clark Center Auditorium was filled with guffawing grad …