This week saw the end of winter mixing with the first day of spring — in the northeast that meant snowflakes on the few flowers that have started poking out. There’s also been a flurry of activity on the net from site launches to reports from the SXSWi and MIX09 conferences and some other good stuff I thought needed to be called out.
The New York skyline will never be the same.
View here of the Twin Towers and the rest of lower Manhattan as seen from Eagle Rock Reservation, 13.4 miles away. Taken some time in March 1998.
On Place Name Here: Photos from the morning of September 11, 2001, Hoboken, NJ
On Flickr: WTC, September 11 Memorial
Nicholas Francisco, an old acquaintance from web design circles and forums like Dreamless has been missing in the Seattle area since Wednesday. Have you seen him?
I saw the first signs of something being wrong from my seat on a NJ Transit train into Hoboken. Though I did make it to that stop, by the time I did they had shut down all the train service and other public transportation both in to Manhattan and out of Hoboken.
Gallery of photos from the shores of the Hudson as I was stranded for the day.
I meant to post this earlier, but if you’re in NYC next monday:
Good times, good people, good cause, and an open bar. I should be at the 7:30PM screening.
Five year ago today, on September 11, 2001, I was on my way to the work but never got there. The commute at the time was a NJ Transit train to Hoboken and then the PATH train to 9th Street where I got out and then walked across Broadway to the office. I made it to Hoboken shortly after one of the planes hit the towers and by then all transportation there was shut down and I was let wandering Hoboken all day like so many others.
When putting together this gallery and looking through the photos I had taken and digesting it all I wrote:
Look elsewhere for words. I have not yet found any that does what I saw justice.
I still don’t have the right words to describe the events, and 5 years later I fear the attempt would only be muddied by feelings about the events and changes that have taken place since.
FirstAidPod is a new site that delivers enhanced audio downloads of first aid instructions for quick access on the go. Files are complete with instructive cover art that can be viewed in an iPod as you listen. Its an interesting premise, if a bit scary… “Don’t worry man, give me 2 minutes and i’ll learn CPR from my mp3 player”... but the idea of storing this type of information that can be easily retrieved and kinda just goes with you without thinking is interesting.
To steal a question from WorldChanging on this topic:
Regardless of the success or failure of this particular group—and I do hope they do well—this strikes me as a harbinger of a new use for digital players. iPods and similar devices may not have the immediacy of SMS or mobile phones, but they can usually store and play/display much more information. Emergency information that doesn’t need to be updated instantly, but tends to change over time, such as evacuation routes, what to do in case of a tornado/earthquake/hurricane/terrorist attack/etc., or even how to perform basic roadside repairs seem obvious candidates for this kind of treatment.
What kinds of emergency information would you like to see as a podcast?
Through the magic of podcasting I had an interview with Nick Mason of Pink Floyd sitting in my playlist this morning. Like his new book the interview covers some of the history of Pink Floyd. Check out more from the Leonard Lopate Show including a recent show with the Freakonomics guys.
An old acquaintance, Cameron Barret, and his brother are trying to get selected to be on the Amazing Race. Yeah, yeah, so what, why bother posting…
Well, to try and get some support and stand out from the rest of the pack they’ve gone and made a web site at BloggerTwins their progress, complete with a promotional video of the two jokers, and of course, a blog.
Will it work, dunno, but best of luck to them both.
I guess I should probably add something here that’s funny enough to get quoted on the site’s testimonials list, but I haven’t had my coffee yet. Oh well.
A friend is up for a little contest that ends in a few hours and he needs your votes.
The Contest: Best name for a new neighborhood in NYC
The Entry: RAMBO
Description: Ever been to Dumbo? Nice, isn’t it, with all of the fancy restaurants, the waterfront views, the arts scene … if you cross north over the Manhattan Bridge, however, you’re still in the same zip code (11201), and people (realtors) still refer to the neighborhood as Dumbo, but it’s, well, a little different from the high-priced condo haven. For starters, Fresh Direct won’t deliver to “our part” of the zip code. Two, our closest 24-hour store is the McDonalds on Tillary Street. Three, we’ve got the projects. The neighborhood is nice and green and hell, my rent is great compared to what I’d be paying for space on the South side of the bridge, considering that I’m literally a three-minute walk from it, but I think it deserves a moniker which appropriately reflects its grittiness. We are still industrial, you know.
So go vote your heart out!
UPDATE: We have a winner, and the winner is RAMBO