Miscellaneous and Useless Information

A follow-up on Microsoft’s campus

Jimmy — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 04:40:18 +0000

Almost three years ago, I blogged about Microsoft’s plans for a new West Campus. They finished last year, and I was impressed when I visited it a couple of weeks ago. The Commons has a nice urban contemporary vibe to it, and it feels energetic. Other companies should definitely take note.

I noticed one amusing thing about the West Campus: instead of going with their traditional building numbers, Microsoft decided to letter the new buildings. And then they decided to re-letter existing nearby numbered buildings, to the amusement of some Microsofties.

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-08-29

admin — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 01:30:00 +0000

North Korean People's Army Funky Get Down Juche Party: http://youtu.be/lwoSFQb5HVk #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-08-22

admin — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 01:30:00 +0000

Don't know how I missed this. #themirofolks have released a simple, free video converter (already v2): http://bit.ly/95RklI #
Everyone with a PhD has gone through this: http://bit.ly/c4xtpV /via @proclubboy #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-08-15

admin — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 01:30:00 +0000

@jeffbigham Are you talking about Google Places? http://bit.ly/cwdI1U http://bit.ly/iYJ2t in reply to jeffbigham #
Blogging the Perioidic Table on Slate http://bit.ly/cvsYZS /via @saradelekta #
@jeffbigham Apparently, it's determined algorithmically. Google Forum thread: http://bit.ly/cCH9Ij in reply to jeffbigham #
@jeffbigham Announcing that you want to go undercover on Twitter is not a good way to start in reply to jeffbigham #
@microscopiq Are you serious??? Good thoughts heading to Hawthorne! in reply to microscopiq #
@microscopiq Ok, you had me worried. Good thoughts still headed your way. in reply to microscopiq #
@aliceoh Glad you could come! You're welcome back anytime. in reply to aliceoh #
Great tips! RT @tessalau: Blogged "How to attend an academic conference" http://bit.ly/akzn7Y #
@aliceoh came by Google on Wed to talk about news topics clustering and sentiment analysis of product reviews: http://youtu.be/1wcX4fEdNUo #
@jennism My college graduation was on Fri the 13th & it stopped raining right before the ceremony. It's been my good luck day ever since. in reply to jennism #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-08-08

admin — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 01:30:00 +0000

Installed DOSBox on my Mac, and now I'm running my old GW-BASIC and QuickBasic programs from 15-20 years ago. Geek nostalgia! #
Amen RT @edchi: Why twitter clients still suck: why cant I do a search over my feeds? Argh! #
@wordium Which Google T-shirt? in reply to wordium #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-08-01

admin — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 01:30:00 +0000

@jwnichls There's an SF Bay ACM talk on the Google Prediction API tomorrow night. I'm thinking of going. http://bit.ly/cW15i2 in reply to jwnichls #
Stanford prof Lera Boroditsky argues that the language we speak
profoundly affects the way we think. http://bit.ly/argfD9 #
@ChrisBeckmann Funny to think you used to be vegetarian. in reply to ChrisBeckmann #
@drjpierce @davidsinger Replacing the Death Star with a podrace does not sound like a good tradeoff. in reply to drjpierce #
Now that the 24" and 30" Cinema Displays are discontinued, Apple's only remaining external monitor model will cost $1000? Yeesh! #
Korean tacos take America by storm. http://nyti.ms/b2Vv8r #
@davidsinger Nice! I only have 2GB on my MacBook, which swaps like mad using Parallels or Photoshop Elements, and I can only expand to 4GB. in reply to davidsinger #
Khai Truong pointed me to the Simpsons parody of Kesha's Tik Tok. Now I can't get the damn song out of my head. #
A badge to get into a party at DefCon becomes a wireless interactive gaming platform. iPhone was used to test gameplay. http://bit.ly/bEjdxU #
What a real web design tool should have – http://bit.ly/aj5cG9 – and a follow-up – http://bit.ly/9Pa7z1 #
Damon Horowitz about Q&A servive Aardvark: it has no incentive mechanisms like points; they want to maximize altruism as a motivator. #
Isn't it odd that going to apple.com on an iPhone does not go to a mobile-specific version of the website? #
Ian Bogost, the creator of the Facebook game Cow Clicker, talks about social games and his satirical creation: http://bit.ly/ahQ7qN #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-07-25

admin — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 01:30:00 +0000

A 60 km stretch of German autobahn is shut down for a festival. Party on! http://bit.ly/d5bqsC #
Indestructible soccer ball never needs pumping, withstands broken glass, sharp rocks. Buy 1, 1 gets donated. http://bit.ly/cJwOal #
Just saw Tron for 1st time, to prepare for sequel in Dec. Trailers look awesome: http://youtu.be/e1dHhktFLPs http://youtu.be/L9szn1QQfas #
@mcollins Not quite right, I *had* never seen Tron. I didn't admit it until it was no longer true. in reply to mcollins #
Recent conversation topics in my office include QBasic, Logo, and Tron. Massive geek nostalgia. #
At Computer History Museum to watch Mark Zuckerberg. #chm #
Zuckerberg: the future of Facebook isn't its web site, it's the platform. #chm #net40 #thefacebookeffect #
Zuckerberg: Facebook has 400 engineers are writing code for 500 million users #chm #net40 #thefacebookeffect #
Zuckerberg: Facebook isn't leading in only a few countries: Brazil, Russia, Japan, South Korea, China #
Zuckerberg: Facebook isn't leading in only a few countries: Brazil, Russia, Japan, South Korea, China #chm #net40 #thefacebookeffect #
Taking a sneak peek of Computer History Museum's new exhibit opening in January. #chm #
Same here RT @landay: Me too RT @jeffbigham AT&T just sent me an email inviting me to visit their newly remodeled store in Niles, MI — #
@HCIR_GeneG Not sure, but Facebook now has 500 million users, around half logging in everyday. in reply to HCIR_GeneG #
Former exec of Nokia says it relies too much on contextual design — relevant for evolutionary products, not blue sky. http://bit.ly/aSjl1V #
Tron fun fact: "Alan," Tron's programmer played by Bruce Boxleitner, was named after Alan Kay. #
Record store owner with no pro training in sound engineering restores recordings of the cantor Yossele Rossenblatt. http://nyti.ms/ct6yps #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-07-18

admin — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 01:30:00 +0000

Going to a World Cup party today where we're watching it delayed by 1.5 hours, so I'm going to stop reading news and Twitter now. #
@HCIR_GeneG Sorry I don't. Perhaps @MartiHearst does. in reply to HCIR_GeneG #
Back on Twitter. Congrats Spain! That really went down to the wire. Glad they didn't have to resort to penalty kicks. #
Tony Hsieh, @zappos CEO, at Google. Takes money that would go to marketing and spends it on customer experience instead, who spread the word #
Tony Hsieh @zappos: company culture #1 priority. Everything else, like the best customer experience, follows. #
Tony Hsieh @zappos: it doesn't matter what your core values are, as long as you commit to them (eg hire and fire because of them) #
Tony Hsieh @zappos: a fridge repair company adopted same commitment to core values; employees and customers are happier, profits are up #
@tessalau @landay I've taken the SIM card from my iPhone and put it into my unlocked Nexus One, and it works with no problem. in reply to tessalau #
Congrats, Julia! RT @jewelia: it's official; i'm giving a keynote at the web 2.0 expo on NYC on 9/28: http://bit.ly/d1tq6Z #w2e #
@tessalau Bravo, Tessa! in reply to tessalau #
Didn't think Inception would be my type of movie, but I just watched it and was impressed! I could see watching it again. #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-07-11

admin — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 01:30:00 +0000

Darryl Cunningham is a cartoonist that, among other topics, debunks pseudo-science such as homeopathy: http://bit.ly/dD0dhO #
Fake is a new browser for Mac that allows users to create Automator-like workflows to script repetitive tasks. http://fakeapp.com/ #
Los Altos High senior athletes of the year are going to Caltech and MIT. Impressive! http://bit.ly/dnubms http://bit.ly/d9tFvh #
@manukumar Stanford has limits from the county on how much square footage their buildings can occupy. Fewer bookshelves -> more labs. in reply to manukumar #
High rates of infectious diseases in an area may cause lower average intelligence. http://bit.ly/bXOWW8 /via @landay #
@HCIR_GeneG When I first saw your tweet, I read it as "Facebook UX, an apology" in reply to HCIR_GeneG #
Confirming the exact location where the web was invented: http://bit.ly/bykpdP #
Folks at Mozilla are working on a new systems programming language, Rust. Very much in progress. http://wiki.github.com/graydon/rust/ #
Non-programmers are coming up with ideas for iPhone apps and then hiring programmers to implement them. LA Times: http://bit.ly/ds9G2Z #
@rashmi The new iPhone isn't heavier than the older ones. Does it feel denser? in reply to rashmi #
CSU East Bay students build a virtual Route 66 simulator within a real 1969 Beetle. http://bit.ly/94y7mF #route66 #
Know the signs of drowning: it's nothing like "drowning" on TV. http://bit.ly/benZfX #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-07-04

admin — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 01:30:00 +0000

@davidsinger The GFCI switch in my circuit breaker kept randomly switching off after I got a smart meter. PG&E swapped it out, problem gone. in reply to davidsinger #
Why Andreessen Horowitz prefer founding CEOs: http://bhorowitz.com/2010/04/28/why-we-prefer-founding-ceos/ #
What's your college degree worth? According to PayScale, Caltech is ranked #2 Berkeley #16 (highest public school). http://bit.ly/c9eihB #
Middle school math whizzes help Obama find the foci of the Oval Office. Hard to imagine another president doing this. http://bit.ly/9z7M3T #
@landay Tim O'Reilly's Froyo on Nexus One is now fine. He was updating on EDGE instead of Wi-Fi. http://bit.ly/dbcrSd in reply to landay #
@landay No he shouldn't. But his phone wasn't permanently taken out either. in reply to landay #
A slide in a subway station! Why didn't I think of that? http://youtu.be/W4o0ZVeixYU #
California's first freeway, the Pasadena Fwy, reverts to its original name: the Arroyo Seco Parkway. http://bit.ly/by2Gky #
Now this is my type of book – the history of the Boston Post Road (now part of US 1). WSJ review: http://bit.ly/99yEA7 #