September, 2011

DIY / Inspiration / Read — No Comments
27
Sep 11

We Were Programmers Once…And Young

When Steve Jobs announced he was stepping down as CEO of Apple a few weeks ago, his legacy of iPhones and iPads and iMacs- and his cult of personality- was the first highlight in every news story. Less talked about were his younger years, when he sported a bit more hair and a less monochromatic wardrobe.

Before he became a consumer electronics guru, Jobs was a kid in Northern California looking to make enough money for a pilgrimage to India. Relying on his buddy Steve Wozniak to learn the technical aspects of programming, he spent his days working for video game company Atari while he planned his route towards enlightenment. Returning from his trip as a Buddhist, he found a certain form of nirvana, as he and Wozniak built the Apple I, a home-made personal computer. Though it lacked some of the grace of the company’s newer models (see the first version below), the Apple I was sold around Palo Alto for $666.66.

The Apple I entered a field filled with kid geniuses. Just as the dot-com bubble rested on the shoulders of young web designers with venture funding, and the social media world grew out of college parties, the personal computing industry was a world full of young men, garages, and basements. It was this formative environment of the 1970′s that would shape the careers of everyone from Bill Gates to pioneering computer hacker John “Cap’n Crunch” Draper.

At the end of the day, much of Apple- not to mention Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, and countless other corporate tech ventures- was started by kids looking to test their abilities, make free phone calls, and have fun. Despite their self-seriousness today, it’s worth looking back at their humble origins. We all start somewhere, after all.

Steve Wozniak’s device for making phone calls for free. (1972)

Ah, the business computer that works for your business- if you have four desks available. (1973)

The first computer to run Bill Gates’ software. (1975)

The Apple II, notable for the free copy of the game “Breakout” that came with every model. (1977)

Procrastination / Read / Watch — No Comments
26
Sep 11

Blog Crush: Cinabrio

Have a look at the amazing aesthetic style of Cinabrio, my latest Tumblr obsession.
If you like what you see below, head over here to see more.
-Eugene
Note: This post originally appeared on my other blog Aesthetes Anonymous.

Listen / Procrastination / Read / Watch — No Comments
22
Sep 11

You’re So Vain

When You Awake is the kind of site I would dream of creating. It is a compilation of photos, music, videos, and concert information all twisted together with cowboy boots, leather, and nostalgia for the heyday of folk and rock ‘n roll. With contributors “reporting” from London, New York, and Los Angeles, When You Awake is a refreshingly un-ironic resource for people that want a daily dose of high-quality music and a moment to pause and stare at photos of a young Joni Mitchell hanging out with Mama Cass and Eric Clapton (oh, to be young at that time…).

They have a “video of the day,” consistently featuring some of the Best Artists of All Time, like the Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, the Beatles, the Doors, Neil Young, performing their work live.

The best feature, however, is their “Twang Series,” mixtapes created by the people at When You Awake, featuring the work of a particular artist (Allman Brothers, Nick Drake, the Kinks, to name a few), but performed by other incredible artists. I mean where else are you going to listen to Blind Faith’s version of Buddy Holly’s “Well All Right,” next to Humble Pie’s version of Buddy Holly’s “Heartbeat”? I’m going to guess nowhere else.

When you awake, take a listen.

- Anna

Inspiration / Opinions / Read — No Comments
21
Sep 11

“The People Who Took Away Their Future”

We’ve written about marches and petitions and reports on the state of underemployed young people here before, but the recent Occupy Wall Street action deserves a mention, as well. Jumpstarted by an appeal in Adbusters, the protest models itself after Egypt’s Tahrir Square, fueled by Twitter and powered by young adults willing to camp out for days on end to protest the corrosive element of big business and financiers in everyday life.

Traditionally, though, these sort of events in the States don’t attract newly minted business graduates, anarchist anthropology professors, and TV personality Roseanne side by side. That’s what sets this particular occupation apart. Protester ‘Romeo’ was a favorite of journalists writing about the event, primarily because he was atypical. “I am a new college graduate and I have $50,000 of college debt built up while studying business management at Berkeley. I can’t find a job to pay it off,” he was quoted in the Guardian.

Also there was David Graeber, the anthropologist, who was excited to see the amount of “young people and students with college debts” who were on their feet. In a particularly memorable quote, he announced on behalf of the protesters, “They want to talk to the people who took away their future.”

Even Roseanne made a short speech about the responsibilities of a capitalist system to take care of its weakest members.

Support came from many corners during the planning stages- writer Nathan Schneider speculated that the “American Autumn” may dwarf the Arab Spring and rapper Lupe Fiasco supplied protesters with tents. As the event actually unfolds, reactions are mixed.

Since it seems to be short of its attendance goal, there’s been a tendency to downplay it. The Village Voice was unimpressed, noting:

“The small mass of white college students, who seemed too self-conscious to yell “This is what democracy looks like!” for more than a minute or two at a time, marched around the bull until everyone seemed to tire of it.”

Gothamist was similarly lukewarm, saying:

“Currently, at the top of the list is “Revoke Corporate Personhood,” which we all know would really piss off Mitt Romney. The second entry is “Abolish capitalism,” which is just adorable. “End corporate Welfare” seems a little bit more doable, but we like “Four-hour work day” the best. Also, maybe a Shake Weight for every citizen?”

The anonymous Twitter account GSElevator, which supposedly transcribes the most cynical conversations overheard in the Goldman Sachs cubicles and offices, didn’t spare the protesters either. One employee reportedly offered to make a sign reading “Get rich and buy your own shit” in response to the protests.

Despite the naysayers, the protests go on and Twitter remains lit up with messages. One positive sign? Local pizza joint Liberato named a new pie in honor of the event. According to David Graeber’s Twitter feed, “the Occu-pie [is] 99% cheese 1% pig.”

-Matt

DIY / Inspiration / Work — No Comments
15
Sep 11

Back To School/Work: Forget the Blackberry, Use Paper

When Rahm Emanuel was Chief of Staff of the White House, he had a to do list meeting every morning with 10 senior administration aides. There, they would review a stack of note cards, each listing a priority for the President, from which cards would be added or subtracted daily depending on what was accomplished and what had yet to be done. Throughout the day, the NY Times reports, Emanuel also carried around a notecard to do list in his pocket, “obsessively” crossing off tasks as he and others finished them. For a man who on average “talks with 50 people a day by telephone and sends hundreds of e-mail messages,” it was a tried and true system.

The research assistant in my old office was highly organized in a similar manner. She eschewed her outlook calendar completely, or any other digital organizer for that matter, turning always to her trusty notebook scheduler to jot down her day’s items.

Some might think it an anachronism, but I’ve noticed this tendency amongst highly organized people to revert to a physical to do list.

Jocelyn K. Glei, writing for The99Percent.com, has said “a key part of remembering what I have to do is physically writing it down.”

Recent psychological studies have echoed this thinking, but perhaps not in the way you’d think. Dustin Hax, for LifeHack, researched psychological studies on writing and memory:

“So here’s what happens: in one psychological test involving students watching a lecture on psychology (psychologists who work in academia have a virtually unlimited supply of research subjects — their students!) students who did not take notes remembered the same number of points as the students who did take notes. That is, the mere act of taking notes did not increase the amount of stuff they memorized. Both groups of students remembered around 40% of the information covered in the lecture (which as a professor makes me sad, but I guess that’s the way humans work). But the students who had taken notes remembered a higher proportion of key facts, while those who did not take notes remembered a more or less random assortment of points covered in the lecture.”

Removing noise and boiling things down to key facts is perhaps the definition of getting organized, as applicable here to day to day life as it is to test taking.

So as you get ready for work or school this fall, consider the physical scheduler. Buying one won’t give you the discipline to use it everyday, but for $1.65 at Muji, it can’t hurt to try. Alternatively, you can pick up 100 index cards at Walgreens for $1.29.

-Nico

Read / Work — No Comments
14
Sep 11

Back To School/Work- Supplies For Fall

Photo Credit

I still remember wandering into an architecture office as a kid. My friend’s dad was retired at this point, taking jobs on the side as a way to stay sharp and afford a long-awaited addition to his garage. Though he had hung up the drafting pencil and vellum some time ago, he still had his slanted table leaning in a corner, covered in pens.

I somehow ignored the scale models and orthographic projections in favor of the plastic pile. Each pen was a different Japanese model, sleek tubes with exotic writing. I wondered why one person would need so many pens, but even so I just couldn’t steal one.

Each fall, when stores stock their schoolyard wares, I think back to those specimens. With the help of a vocal community of pen connoisseurs online, I recently discovered that those childhood treasures were the Japanese brand Ohto, who manufactured the first ballpoint pens on the islands, among other firsts (first pen with a rubber grip, for example).

Even today, Japanese pens have their adherents, who consider them the go-to choice for writing, sketching, and drafting- and for jokes. But Europe has its supporters, as well- German fans love their Diplomats and Rotring, while many Parisians would defer to a more chic Waterman. Even Americans have home-grown success story Cross.

The pencil lobby is no less influential. One of the benefits of the pencil is that it is full of organic details that plastic and ink don’t have. Pencils are described by their supporters almost like aged wines, full of “incense cedar wood” and “Spanish graphite.” Even traditional pen tasks- like highlighting- are beginning to become the realm of the pencil, too.

Whether you are a pen or a pencil user, consider stocking up for fall. Take a look at the Pencyclopedia for the basics, then satisfy your curiosity with the Pen Addict. If you prefer wood and lead, check out Pencil Revolution and Pencil Talk for your fix.

-Matt

DIY — No Comments
13
Sep 11

Back To School/Work – Fall Cleaning

With Fall just around the corner, it’s probably a good time to wash off all the dirt that the open windows and fans have blown into your apartment before you shut them permanently against the blistering cold of winter.

All the accumulated dust from the summer can really become a bother, especially when you’ve been indoor for several days with nothing to breathe but artificially heated air mixed with thousands of friendly dust mites and other microscopic critters that have come to hang out with you over the past few months.

Here are a few tips:

-Clean up the damn place. With all the summer adventures, you’ve probably accumulated quite a few trinkets – sand tracked in from the beach visits, random flyers, assorted useless mementos. Toss what you don’t need, store the rest, and give the place a good ol’ scrubbing. Pay extra attention to the windows and the drapes as dirt, dust, and grime will likely have built up there given all the time the windows have been left open.

-Store all those light summer clothes that you won’t be needing them for the next seven months to make room for all those bulky coats and sweaters.

-Throw a dinner party to get rid of all that extra food you’ve collected. That frozen fish you got from that awesome fishing trip…yea, time to get rid of it and share the wealth at the same time.

-Unclutter your email inbox. With the plethora of summer events and special email lists, you’re probably receiving far too many emails with titles like “Endless Summer,” “The Latest from Ibiza,” and other Summery titles. Chances are you haven’t opened any in several weeks now, so why bother with the clutter, just unsubscribe.

-Load up on roach traps because you’re not the only one that likes to be warm in the winter. You could be having many uninvited guests over the next few months, so it’s always advisable to keep some nice welcome gifts for them on hand.

Procrastination / Wear — No Comments
12
Sep 11

Back to School/Work – Big Kid Bags

With the warm days of summer rapidly disappearing and the chill of autumn hurtling towards us at ever greater speeds, many of us will undoubtedly be gearing up for school or a return to work after the halcyon days of summer. So in the spirit of the times, this week at Pluck Magazine we’ll be focusing on all things back to school/work related.

For the inaugural post, we’ll be looking at grown-up bags.

While the excitement of laying out your “first day of school” outfit and back to school shopping are long behind us, there’s always a reason to get an elegant bag that can hold our books or documents for work. Forget all those fancy bags laden with Velcro, futuristic buckles, and synthetic materials that make you look like you’re from the future.

As big kids, it’s time for something that’s befitting of our new status as people with actual responsibilities, so look no further than this smart satchel that’s perfect for the board room or the class room.

Get it here.

-Eugene

Adventures / Read — No Comments
9
Sep 11

Goodbye Summer: Dog Days Explained

I always assumed that the “Dog Days of Summer,” like many phrases I use, had some pop culture origin that I was unaware of – perhaps a sports reference (not my forte), a movie reference (ditto), or literal (I mean dogs are often hot and tired in August).

Much to my surprise, “Dog Days,” is an ancient reference to the Roman belief that the “Dog Star”, Sirius, caused the heat due to its close proximity to Earth. Sirius is the brightest star in the sky and was believed to rear its ugly head annually and shine extra bright in the later summer, sparkling mercilessly in the sky. To appease Sirius, Romans would sacrifice dogs, hoping from some relief from the endless heat that threatened to spoil their crops and exhaust their people.

Most astonishingly is the staying power of the “dog” description of these summer days. For thousands of years and across disparate cultures, the idea of “dog” has continued to be used to describe the days of extreme heat. In France they use the term “canicule,” to describe heat waves during the summer, which translates to “little dog,” in English. In 16th century England, “Dog Daies,” were delineated in the Book of Common Prayer. Down my block, every store has a “Dog Days of Summer” sale in the middle of August, where goods are sold with a 50% plus markdown.

While “Dog Days,” have always referred to days of extreme heat, they also connote other qualities than simply hot weather. They are viewed as lazy and exhausted days that call for A/C and sweet tea. They are also viewed as frenzied and sinister days, as illustrated in Tuck Everlasting, which describes the dog days as “when people are led to do things they are sure to be sorry for after.” There may be spring fever, but there is also summer delusion. In Albert Camus’ “L’Etranger,” Meursault becomes disoriented by the glare of the sun and the power of the heat.

Yet all that seems so far away. From the sober window of my bedroom, seeing the rain pelt the ground, I think: Sirius, your time has gone.

-Anna

Adventures / Procrastination — No Comments
8
Sep 11

Goodbye, Summer: Sledding

As we enter mid-September and the summer days are in their twilight at best, what seasonal adjustment path do you take? Do you reminisce about July, clinging to t-shirts and shorts, sand and sun? Or do you anticipate the cold weather before us and start taking the winter supplies out of the closet? Neither answer is wrong, which is why I suggest toasting summer while looking forward to winter by taking up the timeless art of dune sledding.

Yes, it’s hot out there in the desert with all that sun and sand. And yet you’re on a sled. What could be more perfect?

From personal experience (on a road trip with my auntie when I was 8), I recommend Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado. People more knowledgeable than I, however, have noted that sitting on card board boxes will not suffice on these gentle slopes, so be sure to bring your favorite sled, tube, or toboggan. Otherwise, I hear the vast White Sands National Park (a quick 52 miles east of Las Cruces, New Mexico) is very nice this time of year.

- Nico

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

← Older Entries