Electric Cars, in B flat

Many years ago, while daydreaming, which I do a lot, I was thinking about how to solve a very real and big problem with electric cars (besides autonomy). They are so silent, that pedestrians, cyclists and other vehicles don’t hear them coming. And so I thought to myself that electric cars should emit noise of…

Time to upgrade, epilogue…

As I surmised, I didn’t exchange my new 24″ iMac for a new one. I actually had a crazy dream the night before the exchange deadline, in which I unpacked a new one, and the glass was cracked, and the Mac housed a rich, tropical ecosystem of tangled vegetation, fungus, insects and condensation. At least…

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Time to upgrade, cont.3

I have 24 hours left to exchange my 24 inch iMac no questions asked. I think I’m not going to do it and live with the screen imperfections. Because I just can’t stomach going through the exchange for nothing, and the evidence shows that the odds of getting an even screen are slim at best.…

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Time to upgrade, cont., cont.

This morning, while actually working on my new iMac, I noticed that the screen brightness was quite visibly uneven: noticeably brighter on the left third than on the rightmost two thirds. So of course, my first reaction was: « oh fuck! Not again! ». I really am CURSED! After my three attempts to get a MacBook, and…

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Time to upgrade, cont.

Logically enough, the 24″ iMac dwarfs the 20″ iMac G5. Impressions so far: excellent. Installed Parallels. Windows is zippy, even in emulation (I still hate you, Windows). Only « downsides » so far: at its lowest setting, the screen of the new iMac is brighter than the screen of the iMac G5 at its highest setting. Also,…

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Time to upgrade

As you know if you’ve followed this blog for a while, I have a first-generation iMac G5 (which has had most of it’s parts replaced at least once), and a first-generation MacBook. The iMac is 4.5 years-old and my main net-surfing, emailing and music-making machine. A testament to the shameful, anti-American Apple corporate policy of…

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Safari 4 beta and ad blocking

As I indicated here (in no uncertain terms), I probably wouldn’t browse the net half as much if I had to endure the obnoxious ads that most sites foist on visitors. As such, I rely on SafariBlock for ad blocking and ClickToFlash for elective Flash animation loading. I’d seen reports that ClickToFlash, which is not…

Logorrhea

This post has been brewing for a while… It’s about a logo. SFR is the second-largest mobile phone carrier in France. They have stores everywhere, they advertise like crazy, and they are folding other brands under the SFR banner. Which is probably why they decided to redesign their logo. The decision was probably long overdue.…

Geeks In Love: Redecorating

When I designed the Geeks In Love site, I originally chose to go with a cold, techy design (a variation on the standard WordPress « Kubrick » design, appropriately enough), because I thought the contrast with the sloppy brushwork might be amusing. But it didn’t take very long for me to become unhappy with it. It did…