Looks like the Wachowski Bros have made another solid spectacle of effects.
Can’t wait.

The Raconteurs, Consolers of the Lonely
#1 – The Sound
I just listened through the new Raconteurs album, Consolers of the Lonely. Some of the tracks I immediately dig, but many of em still have to soak in.
Sometimes songs have to marinate in your ears for a while before they taste good.
#2 – The Aesthetic
All the projects Jack White is involved in have a distinct, strong visual aesthetic. When I think of the White Stripes, I immediately have associated colors in my head – red, black and white.
The same holds true for The Ranconteurs. Before I picked up the album, I saw their playbill – it was a black and white shot of the group sitting down in a field. It looked like a Civil War era photo – stiff, awkward poses, scratches and dust. Below is a similar shot from their website.
<img alt=photo: The Raconteurs” src=”/images/raconteurs_group_shot.jpg” width=”545″ height=”547″ />
#3 – The Website
While not staying consistent with the aesthetic of their album and playbills, their website is also unique and quirky. It harkens back to the pre-Windows days of computers that I remember vividly. It also brings to mind email during my college years – can anyone say PINE?
Surprisingly, the keyboard navigation for the site is very intuitive, but for some reason they don’t allow you to use your keyboard to navigate the Photos section, which is very annoying once I’m in ‘keyboard mode’ with both hands. You have to use your mouse to click the photos. Why can’t I just ‘arrow’ over to them? Argh! Other than that quip, the site is great.

You can also buy and download the album straight from the site. Sweet.

Great effects reel from Sea Level (thanks Jory)

I came across this article in my Google Reader: DVD format battle attracts a new rival: HD VMD
I have to point out some things regarding the whole battle war feud competition between DVD DVD and Blu Ray …and now possibly HD VMD – this is going to confuse the shit of out consumers.
When manufacturers constantly update their hardware formats, they’re unintentionally causing buying anxiety in consumers. We’re at a point now where a lot of people have finally gotten around to buying a DVD player, and some have even gone as far as to start their own collection – whether this collection be purchased or ripped from Netflix DVD’s.
In 2007 two new formats emerged with more resolution muscle and capacity and we were told to scrap the DVD format, go with one of these new formats – although we weren’t sure yet what the adoption/endorsement from major studios was going to be yet on either format (now that we’re into March of 2008 it seems Blu Ray is the ‘winner’).
Then this morning I read about this new HD VMD format.
Enough is enough.
What happens in situations like these are what Barry Schwartz calls the Paradox of Choice. Basically, if people are presented too many options, or in this case, asked to change video formats too quickly, instead of picking one – they don’t pick any.
Contrast the problems of hardware upgrades to software upgrades. Let’s use my favorite new device – my iPhone.
The iPhone updates (and OS X updates in general) happen without the need to replace anything due to their nature (it’s called SOFTware for a reason, actually, it’s technically called firmware).
The whole process is practically seemless – just download the software update, install, and reset/reboot. No additional hardware, memory, plug-ins or connectors.
We can see the benefits of such software-based systems with a simple and very likely scenario.
Say Apple suddenly decides it needs to update your iPhone with a new version of Quicktime with dozens of new features and functionality and will sport a Super Extra Ultra High Definition resolution. If the iPhone relied on hardware upgrading to make this happen there would be 3 possible outcomes:
1. You upgrade your iPhone hardware and everything goes smoothly
2. Apple makes you buy a new iPhone to enjoy the new features
3. You upgrade your iPhone hardware and everything goes horribly wrong
4. You do nothing, and keep your iPhone as is
Of course, we don’t have to worry about any of these possibilities since all we need to do is connect our iPhone to iTunes, sync it and restart it.
Google understands the power of this with Google Docs and all their other online tools. Google can change their software at will without affecting anyone’s computer. I won’t even get into the benefits of not having to launch software locally from your hard drive.
Technology systems reliant on a fixed format lack agility.
Umair over at Bubblegeneration has some more great thoughts on Why HD-DVD And Blu-Ray Are (Strategically) Obsolete.

This was pasted around a few years ago, but it’s always refreshing to watch (although the narrator’s voice is pretty stale):

Know your music history!

If you’re gonna have a hit,
You gotta make it fit —
So they cut it down to 3:05.

• The Entertainer by Billy Joel
  I give you the new most viewed video of all time (as of 3.6.2008) on Youtube:
  
  Cansei de Ser Sexy sure knows what Lithe is talking about re: Hemingway and Britney Spears.

I ran across (literally) this Mini ad campaign in the Union Square subway station on my way to work.
I didn’t get it at first until I realized that this is what everyone does in that station stop.
Brilliant.
*This also brings to mind Ironic Sans’ old Star Wars game analogy (I loved that game as a kid!).

I don’t many people who dig her, but M.I.A. rocks. She’s weird, innovative and extremely talented, drawing on tons of musical references and genres.

For the sake of the sanity of audiences around the world, please stop using Powerpoint. It is a horrible program.
The only way you can be allowed to use Powerpoint is if you replace all your slides with photos.
Presentations are to be seen and heard, not read. If you can’t write something very brief and interesting, use an image.
This concludes Thursday’s Rant.

I stumbled upon The Departed on HBO the other night, and well, that decided the rest of my night. Seeing it again reminded me how badass a song this was the first time I saw it in the theatre (and it’s not just because I have Irish blood in me), from the Dropkick Murphys:

I’m Shipping Up To Boston – Dropkick Murphys

Write Articles, Not Blog Postings – From Jakob Nielsen:

You should also focus on material that lower-ranked content contributors can’t easily create in their spare time.

I can split hairs over the details of this article and whether I agree with all of Nielsen’s points, but I agree with his overall message. Regardless of whether you are a true business or just someone who blogs, it’s important to follow this advice and post quality content. This doesn’t mean that when a new product comes out you shouldn’t follow the bandwagon and blog about it – but if you do decide to, make sure you’re saying something meaningful. This might mean pointing out ideas that all the other bloggers have missed on a particular topic.
I have recently pulled back on a lot of the Apple-related news I post on this site because I realized that posts and articles at Daring Fireball said what I wanted to say – but did it more clearly and intelligently. So why should I waste my time? Instead, I should focus on creating my own meaningful content.
Jon Gruber at Daring Fireball understands the importance of quality writing because that is his job. He is a fulltime blogger. This might sound funny to some people (like my parents) but he’s very careful when he writes and what he writes about. He also does not have comments enabled on his site – this is one of the keys to his site’s success.
In the end though, if you do have a blog, you use it because you like to write. I started this site because I’m a web designer, and writing on this site is my daily exercise for my brain. I don’t get paid for this site, but that doesn’t mean I should post shitty entries.

Last night my wife, a few friends and I saw a great show with Cat Power and Built to Spill at McCarren Park in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. On our walk up Bedford Avenue, some girl had the audacity to ask me if Built to Spill was opening for Cat Power. Silly girl, bite your tongue, more like the other way around.
BTS played a great show, and it seemed like they wanted to stay on longer but saw them get the ‘ten minutes left’ signal from some dude on the side of the stage. Oh well.

Built to Spill, McCarren Park Pool, 7 July 2007

Doug Martsch of Built to Spill, McCarren Park Pool, 7 July 2007

Maybe it’s because I’m getting old and more conservative, but the whole venue felt like the South Park episode where Cartman has to stop the Hippie Jam Fest in town. Just the whole dynamic of a few motivated speakers trying to rally a crowd – half of which are baked out of their minds.

FYI – There’s a bunch of great footage of BTS on YouTube.

from The Many Faces of AIGA by Andy Rutledge:

I don’t write many “posts,” but rather try instead to write substantive articles. With the redesign of AIGA’s website, however, I’m compelled to say something so that students of design don’t once again swallow AIGA’s tripe for sweet cream. This design is an abomination.

I comely agree with Andy. What happened AIGA?! Looking at the new AIGA.org is like chewing on paper, just no flavor, nothing. Yes, I know its wonderful that they’re using these amazing little “divs” instead of tables, but I’ll tell, they should have spent more time on making a design with some clarity than they probably spent obsessing on CSS.
Jeffrey Zeldman (founder and creative director of Happy Cog who redesigned AIGA.org) always has struck me as someone like Hillman Curtis – a person whom I appreciate more for his non-design related work than I do for his design accomplishments. There’s no doubt both of these men know how to design, but that’s not where they shine. Both of these guys have produced great books and know how to write, how to articulate their thoughts and that’s very important.
I’ll remember Zeldman for his blog, his book Designing With Web Standards, his publication A List Apart and his conference, An Event Apart.
Will I remember him for his redesign of AIGA.org …unfortunately, I think I will.

I the other morning before I left the apartment for work I had MTV on the television, and amazingly, I actually saw a video. Yes, a whole video. Last time I saw a video on MTV was high school.
Anyway, this is the video I saw, and I really dig the song and the video: