Lee.org

Here’s a really good video of Mark Pauline, founder of Survival Research Labs.

The Survival of Mark Pauline

Terrific lunchtime buffet! You could eat decadent or healthy as you saw fit! Many very friendly homestyle dishes in the buffet.  :-)

Inexpensive, $7.95 + tip for the buffet which included desert items, salads, main dishes and soup :-)

Without any help from Steve Jobs I downgraded my phone from the stupidly slow IOS 4.0.1. It is SOOOOOOOO much faster.

Thank you Lifehacker! Downgrade your phone here.

Previously, and.

If you’re going to Burning Man, you should bring a bicycle. Many people have asked me the best way to get a bike to Burning Man. Here is a great guide from the Jack Rabbit Speaks

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Burning Man Update: The Jack Rabbit Speaks Volume 14, Issue #26: BIKES July 27, 2010

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====================TABLE OF CONTENTS======================= {============================================================}

INTRODUCTION

BIKES: THE ESSENTIAL PLAYA ACCESSORY
+ WHAT KIND OF BIKE SHOULD YOU BRING TO BURNING MAN?
+ LIGHT YOUR BIKE, OR DIE
+ WHERE CAN I GET A BIKE?
+ BURNING MAN’S COMMUNITY BIKES PROGRAM
+ DON’T WANT YOUR BIKE TO GET STOLEN? OK THEN …
+ GOT A BIG THEME CAMP? PROVIDE BIKE RACKS!
+ DISPOSING OF YOUR BIKE AT THE END OF THE EVENT

CONNECT WITH BURNING MAN:
+ Burning Man on your favorite social networks

ADMINISTERRATA:
+ Want to unsubscribe from the JRS? Really? OK, here’s how:
+ http://tinyurl.com/2rwqzx

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====================INTRODUCTION========================
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Continue reading ‘How to Buy or Rent a Bike for Burning Man’ »

I’m really happy with the long distance landline telephone service I’ve gotten from ECG. I signed up for their service like 4 years ago and it “just works” the way phone service should. Sign up and I’ll buy you a burrito. Here’s how to sign up.

This is exactly what IOS4 did to my 3G iPhone.

I called Apple again today to try and resolve this problem. I was on hold for 13 minutes. “Ryan” came on and the call quality immediately went to crap. The call failed after a few seconds. I’ll call back later after my phone rage has subsided.

It is rage because I got this phone because it “just works”. But last week Steve Jobs broke my phone and the best answer I’ve gotten so far is “Well, it was an optional update so we won’t support it.” (yes, exact words). Me along with a million other people got your fucking^W update. I paid to live in a walled garden and now the gardeners are telling me in no unambiguous terms that it is their right to burn down the garden and make me buy another one. The evil Droid phone is starting to look pretty good.

I’m on my way back from Oregon. It was so beautiful that I couldn’t stop taking pictures. I must have taken 160,000 pictures or so with my new 12 megapixel camera rig! Yes, really!

Or… Hey, check out my new portable panopticon! Every 10 meters it automatically snaps a 360 degree panorama image that gets stitched into a 36 megapixel 3d image!

I just got off the phone with Apple support who said, “You installed the 4.0.1 upgrade for your iPhone 3G? Ha! Sucker! You are so screwed and there is no unscrewing that pooch!”

After the upgrade, my iPhone does everything much slower. The rep told me, “yes, it’s much slower… It was an optional update so we’re not responsible… If you try to downgrade, you’ll brick your phone.” I embellished that first quote but the second one is pretty much word for word.

If you have an iPhone 3G like me, DO NOT get the 4.0 update. It offers no improvements, only a huge performance hit. For example, it now take 8-14 seconds to start my calendar app, making it MUCH less useful than the previous 4 second startup time.

I will call Apple a few more times and if it keeps looking like Apple really has pulled the trigger on a planned obsolescence program for this 1.5 year old device, I will dump Apple for another platform. Eff you right back Steve Jobs.

I’m on my first business trip. Brent and I are driving to Oregon right now to take 20,000 160,000 pictures of some roads. Back in SF on Friday.

Then off to Paris Aug 9-13!

Then off to Malaysia Aug 16-20!!

I got an email Saturday 9am on Dorkbot saying that SRL is going to have a few machines at some River Town Revival thing in Petaluma. I grabbed my things and went right up there.

Coolness abounded.
* I missed the art-boat race but saw some nice vehicles: a sea monster thing, a hand-made row boat, a giant floating wicker basket.
* Saw an artist’s terrific rusted mini submarine
* “Experience the Black Hole” had this spiraling water flowing into a hole. I threw in a donation for it
Here is the view from the top of the Experience the Black Hole. :-)

Yes, that’s the Big Arm and Running Machine by SRL attacking a big glass sign with face shots of elderly people doing errr…. umm… things; suffice to say that the photos appear benign. Later the machines attacked a giant chicken; when the running machine choked the chicken mercilessly, everyone laughed and didn’t tell their children why.

I met up with Noah, a great student of mine from Crucible Youth Kinetics. And Jessie, Erik, and Trebor (who got me the happiest beer of the day!) We all went off to a great dinner in Petaluma.

A great day :-)

I have just been offered a job with Earthmine as a Field Technician. Among other things, I’ll be travelling the world maintaining super fancy cameras!

Helping to make things like this happen:

Woot! I start July 26th.

Continue reading ‘New Full Time Job!’ »

I just left voicemail on the BART comment and complaint line 510 464-7134:

Just north of the west Oakland Bart station there is some sidewalk construction going on. Pedestrians are blocked by a fence from crossing Center street. To avoid the fence pedestrians must walk east or west a very long block. Understandably, pedestrians instead choose to break down the fence and walk across the construction zone. It would be easy for Bart to make a safe crossing zone in a nearby area instead of allowing this unsafe crossing.

Please create a safe way to cross this construction zone.

We’ll see if the problem is fixed anytime soon.

This looks like it’ll be pretty nice. I’ve been watching them practice. Singers and dancers and flame throwers and contortionists and smithing oh my!

It’s going to be this Friday and Saturday at the Crucible in Oakland.

Bring a date!
http://www.thecrucible.org/events/heat-a-fire-cabaret

Short form: If you have an iphone 3g, do NOT get the new ios4 upgrade for your iphone. It’s MUCH slower and doesn’t add any features.

I’m building a list of iPhone ios4 stupidity. I wrote this all in a deadpan tone though I could have used a lot more exclamation marks and words like “stoopidly!” Here’s a start:

Most every app is much slower. For example, it now take 8 seconds to start the calendar, it used to take 4. Starting editing a note takes much longer. Etc…

It sometimes doesn’t detect my button pushes and sometimes mistakenly believes I have pushed a button. (yes, it’s insane)

I initially did an “upgrade” install. After it the Notes app would sometimes (twice out of 5 or so attempts) lose the changes I made to a note. I then did a “new” install and haven’t has that problem again.

Scrolling email is now much more jerky.

It appears that now voicemails aren’t downloaded to the phone until I try to listen to them. Which causes delays in listening to voicemails

In the first 5 seconds or so of running Notes, Calendar and many other apps, a snapshot of what was on the screen last time it was run is displayed. Of course, it looks editable, but it’s not. You can click all you want but you’re just looking at a picture of the Calendar app, Notes, etc. Key presses are not recorded or registered because… well, you’re looking at a picture of an app, not an app!

Update: 7-15-10: At the suggestion of the Apple rep, I installed iTunes on a new computer. I then Restored my phone to it, making sure to rename the phone when asked. This has fixed the problem. My phone is now as fast as it ever was. :-)

Update 7-25-10: My phone has gotten slow again after the full restore. I just installed 4.0.1. Starting Calendar still takes 8 seconds, up from 3. Eff you Steve Jobs :-)

Ok, I know I haven’t posted anything of my own creation on the blog in a while… but this makes me so happy!

http://www.emophilips.com/video/video/176

Here is the second part of  the Burning Man 2010 Resource Guide. Go back and find the first part here.

Continue reading ‘Burning Man 2010 Resource Guide – Part 2’ »

Every year Burning Man puts out a guide for buying supplies and such. This year’s list is pretty darn huge. So I’ve split it into 2 parts. Here you go!

Part 1

RESOURCES 2010
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Table of Contents

Playa Preparation Events
Lights and Electronics
Miscellaneous BRC Gear
Playa Wear
Services
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Playa Preparation Events

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Prepare for the Playa

Continue reading ‘Burning Man 2010 Resource Guide – Part 1’ »

This is an awesome story! It’s art, activism, smart, a great use of the psychology of embarrassment, and most importantly, success!

Congratulations to Jason Eppink and Posterchild!

Astoria Scum River Bridge

For more than twenty years, a leaky pipe on 33rd Street beneath the Hell Gate Bridge viaduct approach submerged more than a hundred square feet of heavily-trafficked sidewalk under a festering cesspool of standing water. Astoria Scum River, as it was called, stretched the entire width of the sidewalk, and as winter approached, the river iced over and became particularly hazardous to cross.

Astoria Scum River Bridge was constructed to offer Astorians an opportunity to safely cross this hazard. The unauthorized bridge was a gift to the pedestrians of Astoria in the absence of successful municipal efforts to ameliorate the problem.

The bridge was made at zero cost entirely from recycled materials: an old work bench found on the curb, rescued screws from a disassembled desk, and a metal plate from an expired electrical component. It was installed and dedicated on December 30th, 2009.

On January 25th, 2010, Astoria Scum River Bridge was the subject of a commendation from the office of NYC Council Member Peter F. Vallone, Jr., accompanied by a pledge to work with Amtrak to re-route Astoria Scum River off the sidewalk.

Two days later, Amtrak workers began construction work. Astoria Scum River was quickly routed off the sidewalk, and within a couple months, custom-made grates were installed to complete the project. The bridge, no longer needed, was de-installed on March 20th, 2010 and returned to the curb whence it came.

Astoria Scum River Bridge from Jason Eppink on Vimeo.

Centered just a mile or so west of Ocean Beach at 7:47am.

I was in bed and barely awake. The building shook a bit more than a building should generally shake when maybe a strong wind blows on it. I was groggy but it felt like just about 3 seconds of shaking.

Wee! I haven’t felt an earthquake in a few years. It’s good to know the earth is still alive… I hope it doesn’t rain down an 8.5 tomorrow.