Ian's (almost) daily recap of what spikes my interest

Malin Head, Northern Most Point in Ireland
Originally uploaded by kmroddy.

So, I came across this in flickr postcards and wanted to share with you that the most northern point in Northern Ireland shares the same last name as me.

Take a look at this amazing video of a failed helicopter landing. I
sure hope those guys in the boats were able to pull out the crew and
passengers.

-Ian

http://www.alexisparkinn.com/photogallery/Videos/helicrash.avi

P.S. You need quicktime to open this

Yahoo maps has finally come up with a way to send driving directions to
your phone. Since all I've done since I've been in Los Angeles is drive
around, this will certainly save me the trouble of dealing with all the
printouts I've collected that address the various destinations I have to
hit. Check it at:

http://mobile.yahoo.com/sendsms/dd/info

-Ian

Check out the newest Mercedes Mix Tape, just recently released! Happy
Downloading kids.

http://www.mercedes-benz.com/mbcom/international/international_website/en/com/international_home/home/passion/entertainment/mixedtape.html

Ian

The Sydney Morning herald has an article about how Ipods have been
banned by a local school because they promote social isolation. Do you
think there are better ways to promote social integration than this
method?

http://www.smh.com.au/news/Technology/No-more-songs-in-their-pockets-sch
ool-bans-iPods/2005/03/21/1111253959952.html?oneclick=true

If the site asks for a password to read the article, use the following
username ("pwilson5") and password("drannoc8")

-Ian

I am SO looking forward to this movie. Take a look at the trailer.

Ian

http://www.apple.com/trailers/miramax/sin_city/

This is where I am staying, In LA. Where people are very, very (repeat)
very, weird.

http://www.standardhotel.com/index_flash.html

Yes, it is true. Patrick Norton has finally created his web site. For
those of you in the lack of know, Patrick was one of the original hosts
of "the screen savers" on TechTV (channel 105 for time warner cable of
manhattan subscribers.)

The network was purchased by G4 and subsequently renamed G4TechTV. It
was my favorite channel. However, as a result of the move from SFO to
LAX Patrick decided to stay in the bay area and that alienated me as a
viewer. Patrick is great. Seriously. Sadly we've heard nothing from
him since his departure. Until now. Check this page:
http://www.patricknorton.typepad.com/ It's rather (very) sparse right
now but expect good things to come.

-ian

 “Holy smokes, SOMEBODY out there is bad at keeping secrets!! Yes! We can finally confirm that Yahoo has made a definitive agreement to acquire Flickr and us, Ludicorp. Smack the tattlers and pop the champagne corks! Woohoo! What does this mean? It means that we’ll no longer have to draw straws to see who gets paid, schedule conjugal visits between trips to the colo....wait! That’s not what you want to know.”
[direkt via flickr blog]

I will be keeping close tabs on what happens here.  It'd be a shame to see them screw this one up.

-Ian

Hi Guys. I am in Santa Barbara today for a conference and then in West
Hollywood until Thursday. I hope to keep posting and again, I apologize
for not being as thorough as I should be.

-Ian

http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=4438&t=srobbins

This site offers great pointers to handle the deluge of email that floods our inboxes these days.

This site isn't all that exciting or unique, but it's a good summary of
classic cocktail drinks and what you'll need to create them.

-Ian

http://www.soyouwanna.com/site/syws/mixdrinks/mixdrinks.html

Check out these absolutely stunning photographs from Bruce Percy entitled "The Light and the Land">

http://www.thelightandtheland.com/index.html

-Ian

So, you need to check out Skype. This is nothing new but I can't figure out why it hasn't caught on sooner. This is just like AOL instant messenger except that you can initiate (and receive) voice calls through your computer. This isn't like the Net2Phone garbage from the late 90's. This is crystal clear full duplex audio that rivals a traditional landline phone and certainly a GSM phone.

The cost of using this service is free so you can chat to anybody no matter where they are in the world so long as they are online. For free. FREE! F-R-E-E.

To call a landline it costs 1.7 euro cents to any landline in the US or in Western Europe. That is damn cheap. I have not yet chewed through my 10 euro credit that I purchased 6 months ago when I signed on.

They will soon be doing skype in. I'm beta testing this service and I'm the happy recipient of a NYC phone number that if people call and I'm online, I can pick up from my computer. If I'm not online, it goes into voicemail.

Check it out at www.skype.com

It will really change your world. If you want to see me online, send an email to East34thStreet@yahoo.co.uk and I will give you my screen name. Then we're off to free phone calls...

-Ian

http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=4438&t=srobbins

This site offers great pointers to handle the deluge of email that floods our inboxes these days.

This might be the first of several SXSW (South by South West) postings you might see here.

SXSW has a music and movie festival that is going on this week.  Wired magazine reports that with a simple bittorrent peer-to-peer file sharing application you can download any and all of the featured festival music for free.  I'm warming up my connection for the large download!

http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,66819,00.html

-Ian

Here's an interesting (if not long winded) tutorial on how to crack a master lock.  I haven't yet had the chance to test this myself, but I did take the time to bookmark this in case the opportunity (or necessity) arises.

http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~hillson/master_lock.html

Happy Monday everybody.  I threw out my back skiing yesterday and am working from home.

Ian

Those of you who aren't using Mozilla's Firefox should be.  I've been using it for months now and even got a mention in their NY Times article.  (Firefox is an alternative to Internet Explorer).  Firefox allows you to change the theme of the interface and up until now the Themes have been dissapointing.  Pimpzilla has finally changed that!

http://people.zeelandnet.nl/marco/pimpzilla/

-Ian

I know I know it's been a few days since I posted. I've been stuck at
this hotel on Park Ave for a finance conference. It lasts through
Wednesday so Thursday morning I'll try and make up for lost time. In
the meantime, check out this gallery of great anti-alcohol posters the
USSR used to distribute. I'm gonna try and see if I can get these on a
large-scale format!

http://www.tululuka.net/alco/

-Ian

So
a few days ago I wrote about the Virgin Global Challenge.  Well it
seems that this dude made it around the world without re-fueling. 
Here is the link that talks all about it:



http://www.fossettchallenge.com/



-Ian

Damn it!

Bubba the Lobster died today!

This lobster was 22 pounds which at today's market price would have $350. The poor homerus americanus died just before its trip to Ripley's believe it or not to be weighed, measured and documented as the world's largest lobster. We'll now never know. That must be why I can't sleep right now. Just look at that little guy next to him!

-ian

So a few days ago I wrote about the Virgin Global Challenge. Well it seems that this dude made it around the world without re-fueling. Here is the link that talks all about it:

http://www.fossettchallenge.com/

-Ian

I knew it was a matter of time before the MTA's subway cars went the way of European tram cars and started accepting advertising dollars.Three of the "S" train cars are painted like a wild wild (wild) west saloon car to advertise HBO's deadwood show. That S train is the short line that runs between grand central and Times Square. I'm not sure when these are going into service but seeing that there's a 3 train parked next to the train, I'd suspect that the train is in the depot waiting to be deployed. I might have to saunter down to the wagons to check out what's cooking in the old corral.

-Ian

Baskin Robbins is giving away a free scoop of ice cream to celebrate
Yahoo's 10th birthday today only. To get your free scoop, click on:

http://advision.webevents.yahoo.com/yahoo_birthday/>

-Ian

Apple Insider has the following article that reports Steve Jobs was seen kicking it around the Flatiron district. Looks like in addition to the Soho store (I was there this weekend), they're planning on a second monster just south of Central Park and ALSO a smaller boutique near Madison Square Park.

I'm pretty excited to see what Apple's earnings look like after the shuffle and the mini (both of which I own) hit the market.

http://appleinsider.com/article.php?id=911

-Ian

PS. The fires of Rome continue to burn