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12Jun
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12JunNathan Hammond brings up the failings of the Same-Origin Policy again http://nathanhammond.com/failing...
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12JunRT @diveintomark "The Wikipedia page on ADHD is like 20 pages long. That's just cruel. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki...". Mark is the Steven Wright of tech
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12Jun
Officials in New York are to launch a gas attack on as many as 2,000 Canadian geese in an attempt to prevent a repetition of the incident in January when a plane ditched in the Hudson river.
The hunt, begins some time in the next week to coincide with the time of year that the geese molt and thus stop flying as frequently. Though officials have attempted to cull geese before from airport property, this is the first time they’ve extended that attack to 40 other city-owned and controlled properties such as public parks and water treatment facilities in a five mile radius. Smart geese would be best advised to get hold of a municipal map pronto.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg described the near-disaster of flight 1549, which lost all thrust after a collision with a flock of geese shortly after takeoff, as a “catalyst” to tackling the threat of birds to airline safety.
The project will later be extended to putting up additional signs warning the public not to feed (and thus encourage) geese, and to filling in a large hole on Rikers Island which attracts the birds in large numbers. There will also be a trial of a bird-specific radar system at JFK and the city will hire a second marine biologist to help further control the bird population around airports.
The birds will be captured and then killed at an off-site facility using CO2 gas, a method approved by the American Veterinary Medical Association to avoid unnecessary cruelty. Unlike some previous culls, all the bird will be destroyed rather than donated to food banks.
Of course, locating and killing avian pests in a major metropolis housing the Empire State Building is hardly something new to many Geeks Are Sexy readers:
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12JunRip: virtualenv + pip move to Ruby http://hellorip.com/about.html (via @dangoor)
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12JunHaha I went to http://htlm.org/k7P0 a new inline page editor at Martin had already beaten me to it! http://htlm.org/dion :)
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12Jun
This clip gives a few good reasons why a romantic relationship between a human being and a dinosaur is just not a good idea.
[Via Korben.info (French)]
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12Jun
They taught us about sharing and the letter Q. They taught us to jump rope in Spanish and how to count to 10. They taught us about life in the city, diversity, and the true love of a rubber ducky.
But did you know that Sesame Street actually has lots of lessons about how to be a better blogger?
There’s a reason Sesame Street is the longest-running children’s show in history. Actually, there are (at least) five reasons. And you can apply each of these to your blog, to create something that’s memorable, effective, and maybe even loved.
1. Testing, testing
Malcolm Gladwell’s bestseller The Tipping Point revealed something surprising about our favorite show.
When we watch, everything feels very casual and unforced. You’d never guess that Sesame Street was actually shaped by round after round of rigorous testing with pint-sized focus groups.
Groups of little children were allowed to watch the show, with another appealing diversion just across the room. In other words, the testers tried to pull the children’s focus away.
Each time a child’s attention skipped away from Sesame Street, the producers made a note. That segment needed to be made more “sticky,” more compelling, more effective.
Kids are riveted to Sesame Street because the show is designed to be riveting. It looks informal and fun, but behind the fun is a lot of analysis.
How you can apply it: Don’t shy away from giving your analytics program a workout. (Google Analytics is free and excellent, but there are other options as well.)
Find out what kind of content rivets your audience and glues them to the screen, and what kind has your readers skipping away to find something more interesting.
Do more of what works. Do less of what doesn’t.
2. The people in your neighborhood
What would Sesame Street be without Cookie Monster? Or Bert and Ernie? Or Oscar, for heaven’s sake?
I’ll even admit that Elmo has a small (annoyed) place in my heart.
The storytelling in Sesame Street is grounded in memorable characters. The lessons, both academic and emotional, stick with us longer because they’re brought to life by lovable, familiar faces.
Storytelling and great characters create empathy, emotional involvement, intense interest, and even a sense of belonging. When we watch, we feel that Sesame Street is our neighborhood.
How you can apply it: Embrace your inner Grover. Be a character on your blog. That character can be quiet or loud, smart or dopey, brave or cowardly. Don’t be afraid to be yourself, with all your strengths and weaknesses.
Even if you’re a little bit goofy. Or furry. Or blue.
3. Make it snappy
Sesame Street’s segments are bite-sized and don’t demand too much attention or time. They keep the energy high with humor, music, color and fun.
Each segment gets to a very specific point, and it does that quickly. The show’s writers understand that their preschool-age viewers have the attention spans of fruit flies.
Unfortunately, our grown-up readers do, too.
How you can apply it: Keep things moving. Punchy, brief posts nearly always outperform weighty tomes. Yes, Maki can pull it off, but most of the rest of us can’t.
4. Focused variety
While the imagination of a child is nearly limitless, the focus of Sesame Street is nicely constrained.
Letters. Numbers. Emotional or confusing situations faced by preschool children. That’s about it.
Sesame Street uses the same sets, the same characters, the same animation styles, the same motifs to make these points again and again. There’s certainly enough variety to keep everyone interested, but the show never sprawls. They know exactly what they’re there to do, and they stick to the territory they’ve staked out for themselves.
How you can apply it: Strive for the same balance of focus and variety. Yes, you want to mix things up so your readers don’t get bored. But you also need to find your own best territory, then explore that thoroughly.
Don’t worry too much if you haven’t defined your territory yet. It can take some time to find your own “sweet spot.” But when you do, stick with it.
5. Once more, with feeling
Watch Sesame Street for a week and things will start to look strangely familiar.
The show’s writers know that little children need repetition to learn. But they don’t hammer away at the letter A for an entire hour. That would bore their audience to tears. Or at least tantrums.
Instead, Sesame Street comes back to the same lessons again and again, at intervals. Every day, people interact with Oscar and learn about handling grouches. Every day, the Count sings about his love of numbers. Every day, a letter and a number are selected. The show comes back to that letter and number again and again, in short bursts, with other material in between.
How you can apply it: If your blog has key themes (and it should), you’re going to repeat yourself. It’s natural to try to avoid that, but you shouldn’t.
Repetition is how you’ll get your most important points across. You’ll have to keep working to create fresh angles, metaphors, and interesting new frameworks for those ideas. That’s where a little art (and craft) can come in handy.
Try putting these five techniques into your blog. You might not create something as magnificent as Sesame Street. But isn’t it worth shooting for?
About the Author: Sonia Simone is Senior Editor of Copyblogger and the founder of Remarkable Communication.
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12Jun
An absolutely stunning tilt-shift video of various trains passing through the Swiss villages of Sisikon and Göschenen. This project was filmed by Andi Leemann and Jeri Peier using two EOS 5D Mark II cameras, a Canon 90mm TS-E f/2.8 and a Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5 combined with a 1.4x converter.
[Via Videosift]
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12Jun
An Ames Window is an object that looks like a rectangular window, but in reality, is a trapezoid. As the window rotates on a vertical axis, it first looks to be going in a certain direction, but after turning 180 degrees, it gives the illusion of stopping and reversing its course. Observe as the rod inserted in the middle seems to be passing through the frame as the device appears to be reversing its rotation.
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