Nothing like an article to enforce the "people in the midwest are stooo-pid!" stereotype.
There's a brief piece in the Trib today about Sears Centre, the new sporting arena/thing in the suburbs. It's about the spelling of the word "Centre" - really - and includes this awesome, "No, we're being serious!" quote:
"We had a call the other day from someone driving on I-90, and [they] wanted to know what kind of appliances we sold," [Centre director Steve] Hyman said.
Yuk, yuk. Compare that with this quote:
"American linguistic history shows that many British spellings have been used to lend a sort of sophistication to our communication," said Colette Moore, an assistant professor of English at the University of Washington in Seattle. "Often there are different influences at play. Some spelling choices are motivated by a desire for distinctiveness. Other times, people use misspellings to avoid copyright issues. `Centre' can also be considered in the context of naming practices in newer subdivisions which evoke lifestyles of the British landed aristocracy: fox hunting, manor houses, drawing rooms."
Yep. I guess we're just dummies here, thinking that a sporting arena sells dishwashers while them "smart people" over on that coast there use them pretty big words.
What are your top 25 most played songs?
Submitted by Cooxie.
Elliott Smith clearly made a dent. Surprising: no R.E.M., Sleater-Kinney, New Pornographers.
Wow.
When I went to bed last night at 10:30, the Bears were losing - badly - 23 to 10 in the last quarter (if memory serves). They managed to win the friggin' game, 24-23.
I think I'm on the bandwagon.
Mr. Gruber linked to this season's iPod killers. Or, lack thereof.
I don't think the iPod is unstoppable or will be the dominant player forever. I do, however, agree with Gruber that this batch is pretty much a lost cause. I'll give you two big reasons why.
First is clutter. Outside of the Zune, nearly every player pictured on that page has a lot going on. Even the wee Sony, uh, tube player has the Sony logo and the Walkman logo taking up space. But some of these... remind me of the stickers that come on PCs. I mean, does an MP3 player with Bluetooth need a Bluetooth logo right on its fricking face? Do I need a button whose sole function is to repeat a track? Do I need an "X OK" button? (What the hell does that mean, anyway? Cancel and OK?)
Some may argue that these buttons are necessary due to the software UI. In that case, the UI is flawed. Pure and simple.
The Zune is a unique case here: it is almost too decluttered! That's a negative thing, because if you were to look at a Zune you'd have no idea what control does what. Okay, there's a back arrow button and a play/pause button. But how do I get a menu? How do I fast forward? I guess I need to try out that wheel and hope nothing bad happens. (And this may be small but when I rotate the Zune 90 degrees, the buttons don't rotate... so now I've got a down arrow and a sideways play/pause. Petty? I don't think so.) This button/control setup is in stark contrast to the Motley Crew of MP3 Players, with buttons for everything. Both approaches, frankly, stink - but the Zune's stinks for a different reason.
Another problem is these things are horribly named - again, outside of the Zune and the Disney Mix Max (that's actually a great name). But let's get real here. StormBlue A9+ Bluetooth. Sony NW-S706. OSIM iGoGo. Creative Zen V Plus. Maxfield MAX-SIN Touch. Coby PMP4230. Not a single one is compelling. I know Sony has a history of cryptic, oddball names but if you want the tube Walkman instead of the stick Walkman, will you remember the NW-S706 versus the NW-205F? Come on now.
Creative is another close but not quite one here: Creative Zen V Plus is all right, but "V"? Ambiguous. "Plus"? What's in the V that's not in the V Plus? Why am I getting less? Also, Creative Zen Neeon 2. Neeon?
Zune is, in my limited opinion, not compelling. But I give Microsoft some credit here: they obviously looked at the design of the unit and shot for the iPod.
It's unfortunate for people who dislike the iPod - for whatever reason - that the other players out there are frustrating, confusing, and ultimately alienating. They are technology for the sake of technology and that, my friends, almost never wins.
Why is Pandora thinking I would like Paris Hilton?
Did someone swap my profile with Anil Dash's? (No offense, good sir.)
It is snowing here!
Introducing Paul on the Street, a semi-regular video food review.
For the inaugural edition I review the hot dogs at Five Faces in Chicago. Do watch my marginal editing skills, won't you?
The Place
Five Faces Ice Cream/Gyros/Hot Dogs
10 W. Division, Chicago
312.642.7837
The Meal
Hot dog special ("everything on it") with fries and a Pepsi: $4.85 with tax, no tip
The Verdict
Marginal C+.
Per the weather guru Tom Skilling, if it snows Thursday that'll be our earliest snow since 10.7.00. And I thought we'd have a mild autumn....
Boston Market's cornbread has the consistency and taste of pound cake, but with... corniness.
It seems like it's wrong. But I don't wanna be right.
This shot was taken using both the optical and digital (boo! hiss!) zooms. It is the very tippy-top of the Marshall Field's building in downtown Evanston - it's a 5 story building. It's at the corner of Sherman and Church; this photo was taken about halfway up the block. That's how close I was able to get. Without the digital zoom, I would be able to get the top floor or so... way, way nicer than the 3x that the A80 had.
So far, I like. Also, we need more rechargeable batteries.
