Nerdery

Anyone Can Do It But Few Do It Well

Gartner's Hype Cycle shows the pattern of adoption of new technologies.

Gartner’s Hype Cycle graph.

Grandiose claims have accompanied the spread of the Internet like wetness accompanies water.

Variously, the Internet was going to democratize production and distribution. Was going to disintermediate incumbents. Was going to revolutionize this or that business and business process.

Sometimes these claims came true. More often, they partially came true. Most often, they partially came to fruition and scared the hell out of people. And always, they remain evolving works in progress.

So when I read an article full of triumphalism like Blogs Falling in an Empty Forest about the failure rate of blogs, I know I’m reading a writer who’s missing the story.

  1. Because the failure rate of any new human activity is incredibly high. Diets, anyone?
  2. Because the pronouncements sound so tone deaf to history. They aspire to authority but it’s a trick. They don’t know. They’re guessing too.
  3. Because the best way to get perspective on the way media cover stories is to read old stories. An edition of the NYTimes from a year ago provides way more insight into the way the news gets covered than today’s fresh copy.

As an example, a year ago you could have read that Consumers were facing shrinking lines of credit from banks.

Washington Mutual, one of the nation’s biggest issuers of second mortgages, said in May that it had reduced or suspended about $6 billion of available credit under existing home equity lines. Countrywide, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase have made similar moves.

You could also learn that tomatoes contaminated with e-coli bacteria were sickening people in 16 states. But nothing will change and more shit (literally) will get shipped in food.

A mediated worldview emphasizes the far over the near, the exceptional over the mundane and the sensational over the practical.

As a result, people fear dying from terrorist attacks instead of car crashes. We watch reality TV while our natural world degrades.

So while technology has made many things more accessible to us, human nature remains stubbornly resistant to lasting changes. And the changes that get incorporated into our lives seem like they’ve been there for a long time.

The truth remains that anyone can start a blog but few persist. The truth also remains that many people now read and keep blogs and don’t have as much use for the NYTimes.

And this will change too.

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Findings

Nick Popovich: Super Repo Man

All that cheap credit led too many rich folk to overextend themselves.

Now the credit is being crunched. Payments get missed. Banks need to repossess the big-ticket items: jets, helicopters, boats. That’s when they call Nick Popovich.

For the past three decades, Popovich has been one of a secret tribe of big game hunters who specialize in stealing jets from the jungle hideouts of corrupt landowners in Colombia, Mexico and Brazil and swiping go-fast boats from Wall Street titans in Miami and East Hampton. Super repos have been known to hire swat teams, hijack supertankers and fly off with eastern bloc military helicopters. For a cut of the overall value, they’ll repossess anything.

Slate: The Lear Jet Repo Man.

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Uncategorized

2 Observations While Watching the 2008-09 NHL Stanley Cup Finals

Watching the NHL Stanley Cup Finals between the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburg Penguins, two things struck me.

Observation One: Huge Linesmen

The linesmen are the biggest, strongest men on the ice. No one pays them any attention. They might as well be invisible. But they’re the biggest guys out there. Compare them to the players. And the linesmen aren’t wearing pads.

Ever since Mike Cvik came into the league they trend has been towards bigger linesmen and more athletic referees.

Observation Two: Length of Pass Predicts Game Outcome

The length of passes a team makes are an accurate precusor to the outcome of the game. Detroit makes many short, crisp passes. Pittsburg makes fewer, longer passes. Detroit leads the series 2-0.

I have no data for this theory but I’ll noodle about to see if I can find some.

This I do know: short passes have a very high percentage for completion. And the puck always moves faster than the players. So a team using many short passes keeps the puck in possession moves up the ice as a unit.

Greater speed means more opportunities for speed differential with the opposition — the main way one-on-one moves are made. It also means many of the players on a team are moving at roughly the same speed, so they move together through zones and can keep passing.

So why doesn’t everyone use short passes?

It’s hard. It means the players have to skate more. It means all the players have to be able to skate well and need to be working in synch.

But when it happens it’s a thing of beauty. Watch the Red Wings and you’ll see it in action.

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Findings

Henrik Zetterberg Lookalike NHL Ads

The first one took me by surprise. It looked like Zetterberg but seemed a little too raw to be from the NHL offices.

I got in touch with Greg DeLiso of Munrovia Pictures, the creative force behind the ad. He was very cool and uploaded his Zetterberg ads to AdHack.

Then the second Zetterberg ad landed — Henrik Zetterberg on a job interview.

Greg tells me there are a few more to come, which I’m looking forward to.

Stay tuned, sportsfans.

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Food

Purloined Restaurant Spring 2009 Menu

Brent at bat with a baguette of his own making

Author’s Note

Purloined is a fictional restaurant based on my home cooking and whimsy. If I did have a restaurant, this would be the menu. Though I couldn’t stand cooking the same dishes night after night.

All of these items, or at least the ideas for them, have been stolen. From cookbooks, newspapers, TV shows, restaurants. In this grazed world, everything is fair game as a source to be purloined.

We’re taking reservations in the Comments.

Starters

Crostini Platter • basket of French bread crostinis • head cheese pate • herb butter • ginger-rhubarb compote • select cheeses

Fire-Grilled Asparagus • platter of asparagus • drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil • zest of lemon • select flatbreads

Fire-Grilled Bell Peppers • fire-grilled red, orange and yellow peppers • savoury humous • chilled tzatziki • select flatbreads

Vegetables and Dip • seasonal cut veggies • daily dips

Ants on a Log • celery sticks • peanut butter • Sun Maid raisins

Kettle-Popped Popcorn • salted and drizzled melted butter

Bowls of Cheezies • Hawkins’ Cheezies • 3 blue bowls

Chips and Dip • Old Dutch Rip-L chips • onion dip

Salads

(all salads served with crostini and select cheese)

Stripped Ceasar • sliced romaine lettuce • extra-virgin olive oil • aged parmesan • rosemary croutons • lime-juice vinegrette

Candied Beets and Salmon • sliced candied beets • candied chum salmon • mixed greens • slivered pecans • grapefruit vinegrette

Charred Leeks • fire-charred baby leeks • extra virgin olive oil • minced shallots • zest of lemon • herb butter

Lights

Quinoa Stew • sauteed aromatic vegetables – carrots, celery, onions • simmered vegetable stock • toasted quinoa • lemon-thyme finish • served with crusty French bread

Grilled Cheese Sandwich • melted Quebec aged cheddar • melted aged gouda • thin-sliced rosemary bread • served open-face with ramkin of cocktail sauce

Back Bacon Sandwich • basil pesto • aged white cheddar • thin-sliced tomatoes • romaine lettuce • toasted multigrain bread

Mains

Bus-Driver’s Baked Eggs • daily fresh ingredients • breadcrumb-herb crust • Yukon Gold pan fries • thick-sliced rye toast • strawberry-rhubard jam

Pan-Fried White Chinook Salmon • peppered lemon butter • • pan-fried mashed potato drops • ratatouille

Spice-Crusted Pork Ribs • maple syrup rubbed baby-back ribs • roasted spicy rub crust • baked Yukon gold potato • fire-grilled asparagus

Boiled Dungeoness Crab • hand-caught in local waters • served in 2 halves • clarified dipping butter • spring salad greens

Venison Loin Medallions • bed of wild rice • dried blueberries • port reduction • fire-charred leeks

Beef Prime Rib Bones • thyme braised • fire-grilled spice crust • wilted swiss chard • Yukon gold pan fries

Hog Burger • fire-grilled pork patty • wine-softened onion rings • melted ementhal cheese • radicchio leaves • spring greens salad with raspberry vinaigrette

Finish

Hot Daily Crisp • fresh seasonal berries • cinnamon-granola crust • French vanilla ice cream

Pa’s Special • French vanilla ice cream • cinnamon-candied pecans • warmed maple syrup

Blackberry-Vanilla Milkshake • Hand-picked blackberries • Mexican vanilla extract • vanilla-bean ice cream • spearmint garnish

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