Nora Young's new book

My friend Nora's book The Virtual Self came out last week.
Details of the book launch next week are above.
See you there.

GIMME BAR

There is a new visual booksaving service out there called Gimme Bar. It was created by Fictive Kin and looks to me like the geek guy version of Pinterest (which I've noticed appears to be populated 99% by women!) The demo video is adorable. (I think those Fictive Kin guys have a great sense of humour) It's official: There is too much going on on the web. :-(
via swiss miss

Thinking about Steve Jobs today

and like so many can't stop feeling a bit worried about him since his resignation was announced yesterday . :-( Above is photo with new CEO Tim Cook.
I know goofey but what can I say I have a huge soft spot for him.
God Speed SJ.

ps. Recently watched this great documentary him. Its free! + Highly recommended.

Swiss Miss is turning 5

My beloved swiss miss blog is turning 5 on May 26.
To celebrate this birthday - and to investigate how global the readership is -swiss miss has asked her readers to create a birthday card including url + location and post it on her flickr site. These images will then be projected on a big screen during the party in Brooklyn on the 26th. My card appears above. Was thrilled that it received a "made me smile' comment from Tina. (This is her ultimate compliment :-))

ps. Just joined flickr properly yesterday. Talk about coming late to the party! sheesh.

Up late working

Working on an illustration for VIV magazine.
I find the set up of a macbook connected to a Apple cinema display is the perfect set up.

You are not a Gadget

Very good interview on the Sunday Edition with Jaron Lanier author of You are Not a Gadget. He discussed the de-humanizing impact of social media. Argued that Facebook is very restrictive for kids - does not allow them room to reinvent themselves. Also expanded on the idea of digital Maoism: a term he has coined.
Very thought provoking (especially for people still attempting to make a living off their creativity)

Two Inspiring Talks: Ji Lee and Matt Mullenweg

Recently watched these two online lectures:

1. Matt Mullenweg, founder of Wordpress interviewed by Liz Danzico at The School of Visual Arts in New York.
Watch here for his insights on design, entrepreneurship, and open source.



2. Ji Lee, Creative Director of Google Creative Lab: speaking on the Transformative Power of Personal Projects.

In both cases these entrepreners emphasized the fact that the more they gave away the more they got back.
Highly recommended.

via swiss miss (again!)

New Sketch

Data recording on steroids: The Feltron Annual Report

Detail

Listened to a Spark podcast tonight and discovered The Feltron report:
a data based "portrait of a year" produced annually by Graphic designer Nicholas Feltron. Personal statistics in the report include number of books read, miles travelled and "Least kosher meal eaten".
In the interview Nora explored, among other things, the question of why we have become so obsessed with self reporting and cataloguing all our data and whether it actually serves a purpose. One point I thought particularly interesting: Feltron feels the reports become more + more interesting as the years go on and predicts they will one day serve as heirlooms. hmmm.
I love the idea of data collection as story telling.
Great interview. Highly recommended.

i love Google Analytics

Boy do they know how to slice data.

Cintiq tablet

I am trying to learn how to use my new Cintiq tablet.
My head hurts.