rob zand

On the Street and On Facebook: The Homeless Stay Wired - WSJ.com

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 09:05:05 -0400

On the Street and On Facebook: The Homeless Stay Wired - WSJ.com: For Skip Schreiber, 64, an amateur philosopher with wispy white hair who lives in a van, power is the biggest challenge to staying wired. Mr. Schreiber tended heating and ventilation systems before work-related stress and depression sidelined him around 15 years ago, he says. For his 60th birthday, he dipped into his monthly disability check to buy a laptop, connected it to his car battery, and taught himself to use it. “I liked the concept of the Internet,” says Mr. Schreiber, “this unlimited source of opinion and thought.” Mr. Schreiber later switched to a Mac because it uses less juice. He keeps the fan and wireless antenna off when possible and cools the laptop by putting it on a damp washcloth. He says that by using such tricks, he can keep the laptop battery going for 16 hours, if he avoids videos.

The Broadband Gap: Why Is Theirs Faster? - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 01:55:24 -0400

The Broadband Gap: Why Is Theirs Faster? - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com: In the United States, phone companies could have offered a faster tier of DSL service to urban apartment dwellers. But instead they chose to offer slower speeds that they could also offer in the suburbs, where most of the more affluent customers live.

An iPod So Small Its Controls Are Found on the Cord - Pogue’s Posts Blog - NYTimes.com

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 07:25:39 -0400

An iPod So Small Its Controls Are Found on the Cord - Pogue’s Posts Blog - NYTimes.com: that the voice you hear differs depending on whether you’ve loaded up the Shuffle from a Mac (clear, American, accent-free voice) or a Windows PC (much more synthesized-sounding, vaguely Scandinavian accent)

Wall Street’s New Pariah Status - NYTimes.com

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 17:35:43 -0500

Wall Street’s New Pariah Status - NYTimes.com: “I’d almost rather say I’m a pornographer,” said a retired Wall Street executive who, for self-evident reasons, asked not to be identified. “At least that’s a business that people understand.”

Utilities Turn Their Customers Green, With Envy - NYTimes.com

Sun, 01 Feb 2009 01:07:28 -0500

Utilities Turn Their Customers Green, With Envy - NYTimes.com: Customers who scored high earned two smiley faces on their statements. “Good” conservation got a single smiley face. Customers like Mr. Dyer, whose energy use put him in the “below average” category, got frowns, but the utility stopped using them after a few customers got upset.

Scarsdale Adjusts to Life Without Advanced Placement Courses - NYTimes.com

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 21:07:23 -0500

Scarsdale Adjusts to Life Without Advanced Placement Courses - NYTimes.com: A year after Scarsdale became the most prominent school district in the nation to phase out the College Board’s Advanced Placement courses — and make A.P. exams optional — most students and teachers here praise the change for replacing mountains of memorization with more sophisticated and creative curriculums.

A design and usability blog: Signal vs. Noise (by 37signals)

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 07:56:41 -0500

A design and usability blog: Signal vs. Noise (by 37signals): A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked. A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be patched up to make it work. You have to start over, beginning with a working simple system. — John Gall

Fearing the Obama Effect | Print Article | Newsweek.com

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 07:49:35 -0400

Fearing the Obama Effect | Print Article | Newsweek.com: The Internet may be transforming political campaigns in other countries, as candidates use it to mobilize supporters and harvest donations. In the United States, Barack Obama has proved a master of the new art and has raised record sums on the Web. Yet campaigning on the Internet still proves virtually impossible in Japan, because the country’s political establishment fears the medium’s formidable potential for change.

Prototype - If No One Sees It, Is It an Invention? - NYTimes.com

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 07:14:51 -0400

Prototype - If No One Sees It, Is It an Invention? - NYTimes.com: Thirty years ago, pioneers of the personal computer industry swapped ideas and tried to outdo one another at meetings of the Homebrew Computer Club in an auditorium at Stanford. Today, these “meetings” happen virtually and globally, with people modifying, improving and otherwise riffing on one another’s ideas — then posting the results in video form. This wide-scale collaboration, Mr. Lee says, lets the hobbyists “take advantage of economies of scale of innovation.”

Rep. says 'Liberals hate real Americans' - Ryan Grim - Politico.com

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 21:24:44 -0400

Rep. says 'Liberals hate real Americans' - Ryan Grim - Politico.com: The quickness with which the controversy over the accuracy of the remarks was settled is an example of the changing nature of political campaign coverage. One source that Politico was able to use to confirm the comment came from a Twitter post stamped 10:41 a.m. Saturday by a reporter from The Daily Tar Heel. Another Politico reader said he heard the comment at about 10:30 a.m., independently confirming the timeline. Lisa Zagarali, a reporter with McClatchy, wrote in as well, saying, “I taped it. He said it.”

All the Celebrities You Want, on Your Cellphone - NYTimes.com

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 06:48:44 -0400

All the Celebrities You Want, on Your Cellphone - NYTimes.com: the cellphone has become the latest medium to feed the appetite for up-to-the-second celebrity gossip

Ping - Yahoo Changing Its Home Page, Gradually - NYTimes.com

Sat, 18 Oct 2008 23:24:43 -0400

Ping - Yahoo Changing Its Home Page, Gradually - NYTimes.com: Testing of each feature is proceeding in stages. Each group of users, typically less than 1 percent of Yahoo’s audience, is selected for one design change. Other groups of users are picked for other changes. When the new features have been tested and fine-tuned, they are combined into a new page, which becomes the “baseline design” and may be introduced to another, larger group. Then the process begins anew, with more changes. THIS approach requires flexibility, Mr. Bhat said. “You have to have a very clear understanding of where you want to go,” he said. “But users will help you figure out how to adjust your course. If you end up going in a completely different direction, you did something wrong” in the design process, he added.

Andy Ihnatko's Celestial Waste of Bandwidth (BETA) » The Great Google Phone Brain Dump: Part Two

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 16:09:47 -0400

Andy Ihnatko's Celestial Waste of Bandwidth (BETA) » The Great Google Phone Brain Dump: Part Two: The power of the clickyinterface, like the true face of God, reveals itself to you in tantalizing sections, and at its own frustratingly-slow pace. You will need to read the manual, and even then you will fail to remember what many of these shortcuts are. Especially when you’re trying to convince an iPhone user that your spiffy new Google Phone is way faster than his.

Surfing the Internet Boosts Aging Brains - Well Blog - NYTimes.com

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 08:47:10 -0400

Surfing the Internet Boosts Aging Brains - Well Blog - NYTimes.com: Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles, have shown that searching the Internet triggers key centers in the brain that control decision-making and complex reasoning. The findings, to be published in the upcoming issue of The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, suggest that searching the Web helps to stimulate and may even improve brain function.

Baylor Rewards Freshmen Who Retake SAT - NYTimes.com

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 08:52:55 -0400

Baylor Rewards Freshmen Who Retake SAT - NYTimes.com: Baylor’s decision to offer freshmen incentives for retaking the test was driven primarily by the university’s desire to award additional merit aid. He said the new students had not had enough chances to qualify for the aid.

Advertising - Newspapers’ Web Revenue Is Stalling - NYTimes.com

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 22:21:20 -0400

Advertising - Newspapers’ Web Revenue Is Stalling - NYTimes.com: Weather.com limits its ad spaces so it can sell out each day, and it does not use ad networks, Mr. Iaffaldano said. Prices there have increased 10 to 15 percent over last year, he said.

Too Much News? - NYTimes.com

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 21:57:56 -0400

Too Much News? - NYTimes.com: In times when people think their fate is tied to enormous events that are out of their hands, stockpiling information can give some people a sense of control, social scientists said.

Putting Technology in Its Place - Lesson Plans Blog - NYTimes.com

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 12:14:38 -0400

Putting Technology in Its Place - Lesson Plans Blog - NYTimes.com: they know that the distractions that attract 13-year-olds and confound young teachers are only themselves distractions from the real benefits of technology. First is the communication. I rarely grade alone. The students rarely do their homework in isolation. The same chatting software that, when mismanaged, give us fits in our classrooms, enables us to collaborate in dynamic ways. Students now continue fiery classroom debates when they get home from school. They now walk each other through difficult readings of “The Odyssey” and “Hamlet” and return to class with stronger understandings. Our projects are regularly published — which leads to comments and ongoing conversations with the outside world.

LookSmart Thought Leadership Series: Algorithms and Community: Voice Wins

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:24:01 -0400

LookSmart Thought Leadership Series: Algorithms and Community: Voice Wins: There’s a critical difference between curation based on algorithm (Google News) and curation based on human insight (Digg or Wikipedia) - and that difference can be summed up in one word: Voice. In short, sites that allow people to be part of the curation process have voice, and sites that are driven by algorithm, don’t.

Amid the Gloom, an E-Commerce War - NYTimes.com

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 22:22:08 -0400

Amid the Gloom, an E-Commerce War - NYTimes.com: Fearful that sending visitors to other pages would cut into their sales, retailing executives at Amazon took to removing them from the page at every opportunity, according to one senior Amazon executive who was there at the time. SEVERAL years ago, the company introduced Amazon Marketplace, laying the groundwork for its current path by listing new and used items from third-party sellers alongside its own merchandise. If Amazon didn’t stock a particular item, or if independent sellers could offer better prices, they would become the featured retailer on the page. Amazon settled internal tensions by giving its retail managers credit for any products sold on their pages, even by third-party sellers. But Mr. Bezos says the arrangement still produces anxiety. “Put yourself in place of our retail buyers,” he said. “You just purchased 10,000 units of a particular digital camera and you are told, if any third party anywhere in the world can offer a better price, we are going to give them the buy box and you are going to get stuck with the inventory. That causes some angst.”