Nerds be gettin feisty

Masked man sticks up convenience store with a Klingon sword

Posted by Cory Doctorow, February 4, 2009 10:43 AM | permalink

A masked man armed with a Klingon Batleth robbed a 7-11, then tried it again at another convenience store, where the clerks laughed him out of the room.

The first robbery was reported at 1:50 a.m., at 145 N Spruce St. The clerk told police a white man in his 20s, wearing a black mask, black jacket, and blue jeans, entered the store with a weapon the clerk recognized from the Star Trek TV series.

The robber demanded money and left with an undisclosed amount.

A half hour later, police received a call from a 7-Eleven at 2407 N. Union Blvd., where a man matching the previous description entered the store with a similar weapon. He also demanded money from the store clerk. The clerk refused and the robber "transported" himself out of the store on foot.

Both clerks described the weapon as a Star Trek Klingon-type sword, called a "Batleth."

Masked Man Robs Convenience Stores With Klingon Sword: Clerks Recognize Sword As Batleth

I want to read this

After The City, This (is how we live), gives an important insider view into the real world of real estate development in Southern California. Using the structure of a screenplay to tell the story, architect Tom Marble takes the reader inside the minds of the people on both sides of the development conflict – those seeing land as a commodity for profit, and those who see it as a valued resource for all to enjoy. Having spent time negotiating on both sides of the conference table, Marble goes beyond the usual debates over New Urbanism vs. Sprawl vs. Whatever-The-Next-Thing-Is to share his unique perspective, shedding light on the goals and motivations of all parties embroiled in defining how we live in a post-urban, consumer-driven economy.

thanks acb

my time at the helm is at hand.

Nazi Zombies

Happy Birthday Tom

Merkley Makes Me Miss SF

Iconoclastic- not sponsored by Grey Goose

Best Movie I Saw All Year

From the self-proclaimed-Conquistador of the Useless- Werner Herzog

Best Book I Read All Year

Broken Window

They finally did an experiment to prove out the broken window theory. For those of you who might not know what that is (although one of you explained it to me at some point), the propensity for vandalism increases the more disordered an area is. The example given is a broken window of a building. If one is broken people tend to feel ok about breaking others.

Anyway. It seems true (although I'm not sure how large their sample was, etc.).

It also seems a small leap to think the following:
What we are really thinking about here is perception. Whether this is subjective perception- this place looks untidy- or a subconscious disagreement with objective societal rules- if this space is being misused it's cool if I do it as well.

This seems to make sense. But it also seems to be absolutely bonkers. Think of the small (from a social experiment perspective) amount of people you know well. Now think of the how far on one side or the other some of them fall in the tidiness scale. Some are neat freaks. Some are absolute slobs.
Much of how you judge them on that scale relates not only to their perception of clean and dirty, but your perception as well. Mostly your perception. But that isn't really the point.

The point is, when people perceive something to be in disarray, they have a tendency to value that space in a different manner, one in which they break social conventions/laws.
So, the neater you are- the more likely you are to be a damn deviant, because you perceive spaces to be in disarray more than someone who tends to be a bit of a slob.

This seems crazy. Slobs are the psychos, right?

On a slightly related note this video I've included reminded me of this (for some reason).


Links:
The OG: http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/198203/broken-windows
The New Hotness: http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12630201



I know I know, too much from Kottke.

Selling a new idea.

http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2008/11/13hodgman.html

clipped from www.mcsweeneys.net FIRE: THE NEXT SHARP STICK? MAKER: See, the thing about fire is that it's totally interactive. Fire isn't a bear, but if you put fire on a bear, then the bear becomes fire. It's completely responsive to your needs at a given time, reacting specifically to your fuel input and usage paradigm ... HAIRY ONE: OK, stop right there. Here's the thing. I've heard a lot about this fire already. Everyone is saying how shiny it is and how flickery it is. But you have to agree that that's very specialized. I know you folks at the Shallow Pond With a Terrible Odor are making a whole big deal about this, but we here by the River That's Not as Wide as the Really Wide River, well, we're simple folk. We want to know: what can it do for us? And the thing is, until people really figure out how fire can be used, I just can't see it becoming a staple of everyday life.

Ahhh....What the Fuck?

http://registry.weddingchannel.com/coupledir/200811/B/R307842908/ALISON_BONNER_AND_TOM_NAUGHTON.htm

I mean...Crate and Barrel?

do it.

http://www.bombombombomwooooo.com/

The Onion's Reaction

I doubt many of you looked at the Onion headlines immediately after the acceptance speech, but I DID.
They were perfect.
Well done to the Onion.

Happy Halloween.

Cheatin' Perspective

The program I use to clip out stuff only allows me 1,000 characters, so this is rather truncated- but the most interesting thing I found (aside from the explanation of why the elderly are cheating- hip replacements, viagra, and vaginal vitamins, apparently) is that the historic rates of cheating by gender may never have been unequal.
Societal reasons, we know, have had a lot to do with who admits it, but , it takes two to tango.

And yes, I am working on Millionaire Matchmaker 2 planning right now. ugh.

clipped from www.nytimes.com Dr. Fisher notes that infidelity is common across cultures, and that in hunting and gathering societies, there is no evidence that women are any less adulterous than men. The fidelity gap may be explained more by cultural pressures than any real difference in sex drives between men and women. It is not entirely clear if the historical gap between men and women is real or if women have just been more likely to lie about it. “Men want to think women don’t cheat, and women want men to think they don’t cheat, and therefore the sexes have been playing a little psychological game with each other.” One notable shift is that couples appear to be spending slightly more time together. And married men and women also appear to have the most active sex lives, reporting sex with their spouse 58 times a year, a little more than once a week.

I just couldn't pass these up without sharing

http://scienceblogs.com/zooillogix/2008/10/piglet_squid.php


http://cellar.org/iotd.php?threadid=18424

And you think you had a bad day

A little reminiscent of Pooh and the honey jar.

Books

I've never read Siddhartha or heard of Paul Buckley.
1. I've heard of the book about the boy and buddha.
2. I now know that I like the work of Paul Buckley.
3. What really compelled me to share this was Paul Buckley's explanation of Siddhartha.
3a. More accurately, it was the realization that two unknowns can use each other as a catalyst to create something deeply identifiable for us to find out about ourselves.

clipped from gdnss.com Paul Buckley: Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse I have a bad tendency to over-explore things; to sometimes think that in order to find the right answer, one needs to look at EVERYTHING. Anything that reminds me that the answer is always nearby…grab it and keep moving…is good for me – visually and personally.

Another Dzurko sighting?

Gotta love Muji

And you have to appreciate the sentiment: multifunction is not the same as multipurpose.

Still getting sparks of delight from true and pure insight. Hope all of you are as well.

clipped from jackcheng.com It’s the simplest manifestation of what a day planner is all about: time on paper. The clocks occupy a small amount of space on the page and rest is completely flexible. You can write in your own dates at the top of each page, and you can treat the rest of the space like a blank page. Here’s are some words from the designer, Wong Kok Kiong: Because of the numerous hours in a day (and various other constraints), the lines in a diary are typically very narrow. They are also usually equally distributed (somewhat). But our information is a hierarchy. Some are more important to us. Some we feel happier about. We want to highlight stuff that’s important to us. We want to write things that are more important in BIGGER sizes. Our lives cannot be so easily and clearly divided into equal parcels. multifunction is not the same as multipurpose.

Whimsical

clipped from www.nypost.com NO LOOKING: A Hasidic man averts his eyes yesterday as MariaDolores Lopez rides by on Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg. Leaders of South Wil liamsburg's Hasidic community said yesterday that bike lanes that bring scantily clad cyclists - especially sexy women - peddling through their neighborhood are definitely not kosher.

tripod

This is Fazoul. He lives next door. He only has 3 legs, but he totally believes he has 4.

What has Danny been up to lately?

What has Tom been up to lately?

The New Orleans 100

"The New Orleans 100" is a worldwide initiative that will highlight and encourage discussion among millions about 100 of the most innovative and world-changing ideas to take root in the city since Katrina.

After hearing so many of the positive changes and innovative projects post-Katrina, we've decided enough is enough. It's time to put an end to the negative press in mainstream media. We know that the levees broke. We know that our city is dysfunctional. We know that. But do you know about Prospect.1? Or about the influx of young professionals into New Orleans? The world needs to know about the NEW New Orleans. And to quote Brad Pitt, "If you're going to rebuild something, why not rebuild it right?" Amen brother.

To combat top down media during the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we will leverage bottom up tools on the social web (email, blogs, twitter, facebook, digg, etc.), which can reach a combined audience of millions to raise awareness about New Orleans and inspire action to make a difference.

The list will be released on Monday, August 25th - the week of the Hurricane Katrina anniversary. Our goal is to reach 1,000,000 pageviews by 8/29/08. We encourage everyone to spread the word by emailing the list, blogging it, digging it, stumbling it, and yelling it out their windows.

You can make a difference. All it takes is a click!

http://www.alldaybuffet.org/neworleans100

this is where i "work."

my intern's finger got in the way. so i beat him into submission.

and bernie is just awesome. for more details about that, ask barrie.

love, danielli

for the literate

I'm pretty sure you can all read. I was reading the newest New Yorker this morning on the subway and I came across an article that talks about the science behind insight.
It's really interesting.
The title of the article is "The Eureka Hunt."
Just passing along....

I'm a consumer too, in my free time

I love t-shirts. I love them even more now that they can solve the world's problems:

http://www.joytshirt.com/

"Every face on a Joy T- Shirt has been inspired by a real person. When you wear your shirt you are encouraged to think about that person and how your everyday actions can affect others and the world we live in.

After you purchase a shirt you may then upload a photo of your own visage to have your face drawn by hand and worn on the hearts of others. It is about taking an active stance against racism and discrimination while being an advocate for peace and equality... because in someway or another, we are all connected!"

I want to advocate peace and equality. I have to get dressed every day. Look for my face on a t-shirt near you.

30 day Challenge

I'm going 30 days without alcohol.
Starting today.
More details on my blog.
Word.

VBP

My desk...

And I thought you might all enjoy this little gem from my recent travels in Montana...

P.S. I will be at the planning conference. Hope to see some of you!

Fallon

Special guest appeared in mine.
To the right on the wall is a picture of my boss pointing at me with a glass boot he had just finished in front of his face and a handwritten message "Don't fuck this up."

Behancey

Here's mine.
Note the Blue Action Steps.
Yes, I'm productive.
And HBS case study to the left.
Yes, I still read those things.

And for those of you in SF, I'm throwing not one but TWO parties.
Wednesday, July 16 will be Cause for Drinks at Mr. Smith's from 7 - 10 PM.
The next night, on July 17, I'm throwing an event with Behance and PSFK called We Like You at Otis. Tell all your friends.
That's how I roll yo.

My Desk

It occurred to me after seeing a pic of Brandau's office (yes, OFFICE), that it'd be fun to see everyone else's work spaces.

Here's my shitty workspace. Show me yours! Be sure to make note of anything inappropriate or vulgar on your desk. And show your window view if you have one. Bonus if you are in the pic. I miss all of your faces...

On the road to Al Ain

We drove out into the desert, and found...

well, exactly what you'd expect to find in the middle of the desert where it's 117 degrees...

an indoor ice skating rink, of course.

This 'fun park' had barbed wire all around it. We tried to get in, but it was ladies day.

Planning Conference

Anyone going? Check out the third breakout session...

Burka Burka Burka Burka

In an attempt to show Tom how much I appreciate him, I sent him on assignment to Dubai and Abu Dhabi for the next week.

He will be observing Arabic focus groups and trying not to offend too many people.

I'm pretty sure since he's started we've been in the office at the same time maybe a day and a half.

This works perfectly, except when he sends out all agency emails without runnin' them by me first.

Take this one, on his first day, for example:

Subject: the coolest

planner ever to work here.
compliment my beard and i will buy you a pint of your choice.
seriously. i need to make friends.


That little doozy was quite the hit.


By the way, how do ya'll feel about the planner survey?
Saw that Fallon Planning Blog is the second most read, which will probably spiral downward in popularity now that Tom has to post to it.