We’ve been working on a few secret projects at blinktag that use the Google Earth browser plugin. The biggest drawback we found with the software was that it didn’t work for nerds running Mac OS X . . . . until now.
A couple of online applications have already been built using the platform, and we hope to include our own in the next few months. Stay tuned.
The picture on the right was chosen as a finalist for inclusion in Schmap’s forthcoming guide to Reno. I don’t know much about them, but Schmap offers iPhone-enabled interactive maps/tour guides to destinations in the US and abroad. Check them out, especially if they choose my shot.
The backstory: I took a spur-of-the-moment trip to Nevada last July Fourth, and wound up in Virginia City on a lark. Turns out they’re really into our nation’s birthday there (a guy at a biker bar told me that they are, quote, America Friendly, unquote, in the VC), and go all out with the historical costumes and country music or whatever.
Also, the geniuses at Schnap found my picture on Flickr. Cheers.
The news about the economy these days isn’t great, but blinktag might just come out on top.
An article about the future of the tech industry published in The Economist cites the often neglected converse of Moore’s law, which holds that computing power will double about every two years, to point out what we’ve been claiming since our inception as a company: the future of computing is doing more with less. Maybe that sounds obvious, but, usually, the reverse has been true, with every version of Microsoft Office or Adobe Suite requiring an expensive new processor and fifteen frantic calls to the IT department.
For us, that means breaking away from bloated products like FrontPage and moving towards simple-to-use, open-source solutions that give our clients greater control. It means making web pages that aren’t bogged down by crap flash introductions and the like. Here’s what the smart people at Britain’s best business publication have to say about the shift:
“Firms have since [the first IT crisis] started to opt more for good-enough ‘cold’ wares, which save them money and allow for more flexibility: commodity hardware, open-source software such as the Linux operating system and programs accessed over the internet, or ’software as a service’ (SaaS).”
We couldn’t agree more.
We here at Blinktag use our bikes as the preferred mode of transport (we’ve even got a company tandem thanks to Preston). Aside from the hills, San Francisco is very conducive to cycling given its reasonable climate, dense layout and culture that embraces all things alternative, including modes. However, for over 2.5 years the city’s investment in bike infrastructure has been on pause thanks to a nasty legal battle.
Armed with a 1353 page environmental impact report that claims biking is good for environment, the city is now gearing up to proceed with much needed improvements. The public comment period ended on Jan 13, 2009 which might mean at some point this year we’ll see the beginnings of 34 miles of bike lanes, improved intersections, signage and much more.
Meanwhile, there has been talk of eliminating car traffic on Market Street, eliminating bike lanes on part of Market Street (what?), and charging all vehicle traffic in the central part of the city. Its going to be interesting to follow all of this.
Brendan and I were just cited in the latest edition of the neoAmericanist (if it’s a planning magazine, you’ve got to have the lower-case n) for our work documenting post-Katrina planning in New Orleans. If they had bothered to call us up, though, we probably would have warned them against using crappy flash rollovers that don’t really work on computers in New Orleans, much less Africa (where I am currently writing this post from) . . .
In any case, the pdf version of our article is here.
Since I don’t drive, I really appreciate ways to mooch rides from the suckers who do. An article in the New York Times talks about two apps that might just help me get around if I hadn’t given Brendan my iPhone to trade up to an Android G1.
The first one, a little bit of overkill if you ask me, was designed by an Irish company called Avego. From the looks of it, people who are willing to share rides have to drive around with their phones on the dashboard, and an online interface allows people who need a lift to find vehicles close-by, even if they don’t have a phone themselves. Neat idea, but at 30 cents a mile, the business model strikes me as, well, un-American.
The Avego rules clearly state “Radios, if on, play jazz, classical music or “mild” news. Avoid talk radio.” That seems a little strict to me, I don’t know of any taxis that have that rule.
The other services seems to have developed a little more traction in San Francisco. Even if their website kind of sucks, Carticipate looks like it has the advantage over Avego because of it’s simplicity: instead of having to remember to have your phone on all the time, you post, Craigslist-style, what you’ve got and search for what you need. Plus, it’s free.
Has anyone out their used either of these apps? A penny (or 30 cents) for your thoughts.
I recently came across an interesting article in New Orleans’ Times-Picayune newspaper about the possibility of an urban rennaissance on the now-derelict Tulane Avenue corridor.
Well, maybe it’s not so interesting to most people, but it just so happens that Brendan and I spent a good chunk of our time working in the surrounding neighborhood in 2006, and I have to say I’m a little skeptical. The article sort of skims over the issue, but we’re talking some serious blight that I, for one, would have to learn to ignore before considering an over-priced condo. To wit:
The Economy Motor Lodge: well, it actually burned down a few years ago, but check out the reviews of this place. Seriously entertaining, if it weren’t so scary.
Orleans Parish Prison: by some accounts, the largest urban jail in the entire United States. Right outside one of those nice new plate glass windows if yours. For real.
I guess if San Francisco’s Tenderloin can be re-dubbed “Little Saigon” anything is possible. But still . . .
They already took your pension, is your train next?
Also, this is cool – did I mention I love PBS?
You can argue that this stuff is too flashy to be useful, but if you’re bored . . .
Stumbled across this on one of my favorite political blogs, fivethirtyeight.com. Aside from the personal satisfaction I get from seeing the color blue, I think it’s a really neat way to show a pretty complicated data set. See if you can guess what it represents before you follow the link.
If you don’t pay attention to the problem of population distribution in the United States, this is what happens:
Clearly, Ludacris hasn’t seduced half of Nebraska. Nothing a little design can’t fix!
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