On The Nest, Google, and Disappointment →

Nilay Patel, writing for The Verge:

Although Fadell says Nest will remain mostly independent, with its own identity, team, and even offices intact, it will most certainly become a part of Google. "It's somewhere between YouTube and Motorola," Fadell said yesterday, describing two of the search giant's more famous acquisitions. Motorola has remained almost completely independent, "firewalled" away from Google's Android team, while YouTube has become more and more integrated over time — with a recent outpouring of anger when its comment system was tied to the niche Google+ social network.

So what will happen to Nest? Fadell called any speculation "totally premature" yesterday, but that hasn't stopped customers from worrying — and most seem to think Google will "ruin" Nest in a variety of ways, with Google+ integration standing in for a host of potential sins. Others worry that Nest will fall victim to the ongoing platform war against Apple, although Fadell says the company will continue to support iOS.

I’m not really sure where I stand on this—as a Nest owner and Google skeptic (albeit user as well), I want to be concerned, but I also want to wait and see. The problem is that when you’re dealing with the kind of data that Google deals with, by the time you’ve come to a well thought-out decision, it’s already too late.

Jay Shells’ Rap Quotes: LA Edition →

So good—although, just like the music the project references, not quite as good as the NY edition.

/via Devour

The Wolf of Wall Street—and CGI? →

Dave Pell, writing for NextDraft:

Want to see how much CGI is used in major movies? Take a look at these outtakes from the Wolf of Wall Street.

Save for the lion, I didn’t know—didn’t even pause to consider—that any of the other stuff was CGI. So—job well done?

/via Slate

The Daily Show—1/8/13

Chris Christie gets jammed by traffic, Aasif Mandvi learns about "brosurance," and Richard Cordray discusses the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

One of the best Daily Shows in recent memory. Two outstanding segments:

Email Chains, Lanes, and Automobiles Pt. 1

Email Chains, Lanes, and Automobiles Pt. 2

Brosurance

Wes Anderson. Slow Motion. Super Cut.

Wes Anderson. Slow Motion. Super Cut.

/via Devour

EMOJI IRL.LOL. →

EMOJI IRL.LOL.:

EMOJIS MEAN EVERYTHING AND THEY MEAN NOTHING AT THE SAME TIME. THEY'RE COMPLETELY PERSONAL AND COMPLETETLY UNIVERSAL. THEY'RE REALLY QUITE STUPID. AND THEY'RE THE BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO OUR GENERATION. THEY DESERVE TO BE OBSERVED AND WORSHIPPED INDIVIDUALLY. BY FINDING, POSING AND SCULPTING EMOJIS IN REAL LIFE I'VE CREATED A SET OF SHRINES TO THE INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERS. BECAUSE SOMEBODY HAD TO DO IT.

Amazing.

/via The Fox is Black

Photography, Hello

Craig Mod:

My favorite place from which to ponder technological change is personal experience. Practice grounds thinking to reality. And with that grounding comes the greatest chance to illuminate the near-now for those others who also love something, but perhaps can't see changes imminent.

I try to keep a sensitive heart about these matters.

When I felt certain inevitable shifts in books, I wrote “Books in the Age of the iPad.” When micro four-thirds blew my hat off, I published the “GF1 Field-Test.” As I finished a Kickstarter campaign with co-author Ashley Rawlings for “Art Space Tokyo,” I wrote up the experience in “Kickstartup.” As simplicity found its way into iPad publishing, I published “Subcompact Publishing.” And after finishing work on Flipboard for iPhone, I made “Flipboard for iPhone, the Book” to help us think about the value of giving form to the formless.

All of these pieces teeter on the edge of a slope leading away from some incumbent mode of thinking — physical only publishing, SLR based photography, traditional publishing, clunky magazines as apps — towards a new mode — digital and physical hybrids, smaller mirror-less photography, sustainable self-publishing, simple and light tablet publishing.

Those invested in the old will rightfully take issue with the new. Because anyone who loves and has invested in a way of doing something will not — and should not — give it up without good cause. But that doesn't mean the changes aren't real.

This is the companion piece to ‘Goodbye, Cameras’ and in usual Craig Mod fashion, it is a piece that satisfies all of the e-senses. I love his writing, his design style, and his point of view. This is a must-read.

I also love (my wife does not love) that we have both done The Hover:

I had the pleasure of trying out a friend’s RX1 (where all these Xs and 1s come from, I know not) last February. Needless to say — I was smitten. In an early draft of “Goodbye, Cameras” I had written the following:

The RX1 is beautiful. Stunning. An ideal of what Panasonic set out to achieve — but fell short of — with its GF1. The RX1 is solidly built with a single, fixed focal length. No zoom. No interchangeable lenses. Just a full-framed, professional grade, pocketable camera with an uncompromising point of view. But at nearly $2,800.00 USD, it’s far from cheap or very consumer friendly. Still, how I have lusted for it. More than the Leica M Monochrom (no matter how hard I try to convince myself, I simply can not justify that Leica price tag).

The RX1 though — my mouse-cursor has hovered above the Amazon one-click purchase button enough times to send shivers down the spines of AmEx executives. But, yet, I’ve never pulled the trigger.

Closing the Cave of the Winds →

Khaled Hosseini (yes, that Khaled Hosseini), writing for Grantland:

I've lived in this country for 33 years now. I was 15 when my family and I resettled in the U.S. to escape the Soviet war in Afghanistan, arriving, all nine of us, at SFO in September 1980. I didn't know much at all about being an American, but I estimate that I was a football fan by the time we reached baggage claim. I fell fast and I fell hard for the 49ers — I learned to love them before I learned to speak English. The 49ers, and by extension the Stick, have been constant companions to me for as long as I have lived in the U.S., which has been most of my life. In a very real way, my Americanization began with them. I suspect only immigrants can truly understand what a gift something as simple as a football game can be amid the sheer bewilderment and disorientation of starting life anew in a foreign land. So tonight, nostalgia tugs. It tugs hard, as I knew it would, and I give in.

Terrific sportswriting from an unlikely source.

Jerry Seinfeld’s Reddit AMA →

MisterNatural77 and _Seinfeld:

Q: Hi Jerry. My question has to do with one little moment in the Soup Nazi episode. Wayne Knight walks out of the restaurant, looks at his bag and says "ummm...Jambalaya"...and then does this little dance down the sidewalk. It was hilarious. But not because of the line...because of the way he delivered it and what he did physically. So my question is...how did this happen? Did the script just have the line leaving it up to him on what to do with it? was it an ad-lib? Did the script describe the dance? Describe the process of getting this little golden moment on the screen. Thanks.

A: Very very well observed, first of all, let me compliment you on that. That moment, which I remember crystal clearly, is the enormous talent of an actor like Wayne Knight. And the script said "Newman looks in the bag, and says Jambalaya" but the delivery and the dance was all his.

Any time—and I mean any time (ask my wife)—I hear someone say the word ‘jambalaya’, I immediately respond with the line mentioned above. And I can clearly see the dance and the facial expression.

Also—I absolutely abhor reading anything on Reddit—but this was too good to pass up. So—if you’re like me, use the bookmarklet found here to prevent bleeding from the eyes.

/via kottke.org

Discovering Daft Punk’s ‘Discovery’ →

A bunch of the Discovery samples, all put together in one video. I think this is a vital part of the process of truly enjoying sample-based music.

/via Devour