State of the Ward

12/22/2011

Haters

You wouldn’t believe how hard it is being right all the time.

Sadly, though, Jester King did not succeed in convincing the judge that TABC’s laws prohibiting breweries from making retail beer sales were likewise bogus. Sounds like TABC barely won that one, though.

(Source: blog.chron.com)

12/16/2011

Susan Kare's icons

Nice piece on a hugely influential artist (I think her role and work surpass being a “designer”.

Ms. Kare designed the icons for the original Mac, among other systems, sites, and applications. I find the economy, expressiveness, and effectiveness of her work particularly impressive.

Ms. Kare sells prints of her work on her web site. I can personally attest that they’re beautiful. I own one of her pieces (naturally, the Happy Mac), and haven’t quite clicked the “buy” button on a second (the absolutely perfect bomb icon).

12/15/2011

Slate on the Old Fashioned

Fast becoming my favorite cocktail (well, the Sazerac is putting up a good fight, but really, there’s only one proper way to make a Sazerac, and whereas the old-fashioned is flexible). It’s a great way to get the character if a liquor (whisky, in particular), in an easier-to-drink package.

I think the best I’ve had so far was from Anvil a few weeks ago. I watched the bartender make the drink and I don’t know what made it so special (sugar cube and bitters muddled, Wild Turkey rye, served on the rocks with a lemon twist).

I’ve developed my own take, which I like quite a lot. Orange peel (no pith) muddled with a pinch of granulated sugar (used purely mechanically), topped liberally with Angostura bitters and simple syrup (muddling a sugar cube is way too much work), and stirred with a shot (or even two ounces) of bourbon or rye. I generally let the orange peel steep in the drink for ten minutes or so, which extracts some lovely flavors from the peel, including very nice vanilla notes. Then I top with ice and enjoy.

I need to establish the proper amount of bitters and syrup, and the ideal steep time for the orange peel. But it turns out pretty nicely.

12/11/2011

Inner Fidelity's top ten headphone gifts

The list is a bit unfocused, but it’s not really a buying guide for picking out the best possible headphones for your needs, it’s more a list of products in the headphone realm that would make good gifts. Everything on the first two pages is a great product that’s inexpensive enough to be worthy of your consideration.

The third page has good stuff too, but it’s out of the price range of things I would actually consider giving as a gift. If you’re looking for a more comprehensive guide that sticks mostly to items priced suitably for gifts, there’s another great headphone buying guide.

12/10/2011

InnerFidelity's in-ear headphone roundup

This one isn’t from Tyll, it’s from a big-time Head-Fi forum member.

A little esoteric for my tastes, but I think it’s far better than the crappy guides some sites are putting out. I’d much rather see a guide like this that’s really trying to find the best value for the dollar than one that just throws some crap on the page.

Of course, if you want some picks I personally vouch for, I know of another great headphone buying guide.

12/9/2011

Another Engadget holiday guide, this one for “docks“—I think they mean speaker docks. Docks do exist without speakers, and these products aren’t for people looking for docks, they’re for people looking for speakers.

As to the actual choices… meh. I have no idea how they sound. Why buy overpriced items like this when there are so many great speakers out there looking for an loving home that are already easy to connect to an iPod?

12/8/2011

Engadget's holiday headphone guide

Like their back to school guide, it’s kind of a shit show here.

Headphones with a built-in music player don’t sound like a bright idea to me.
The Klipsch S4i still isn’t that great.
I’ve seen nothing to indicate that AiAiAi’s headphones are worth considering.
They’re pushing the mediocre B&W C5.
The entire guide is a jumbled mess. The way to buy headphones is to decide on a form factor and then look for the combination of a budget-fitting price and good-for-the-money performance, not to go with a completely different type of model depending on your budget.
I wouldn’t expect much from those Nokia headphones.
Not sure the Sony is a particularly good noise canceling model.

If you’re looking for holiday headphone buying advice, I know where you can find a really good holiday headphone buyer’s guide.

12/7/2011

Cindy had a couple weeks off and we did a lot of travelling. I fell behind in my RSS feeds. As I was going back through them, I started to slog through 300 unread Gizmodo stories, got pissed off by their blatant Apple bias (stories about Apple’s upcoming Grand Central Station store, the Business Software Alliance, and Carrier IQ), and had enough. I deleted Gizmodo from Google Reader and, in doing so, also killed off several hundred starred articles I’d intended to get back to.

Good riddance. I feel relieved. I spend way too much time going through redundant feeds. If there’s anything good on Giz, hopefully I’ll see it through other channels.

Engadget, you haven’t really pissed me off yet but I’m doubting your value. Kotaku, your idiot articles about Japanese pop culture, annoying tone, and blatant sexism are pissing me off. You’re both on notice.

Don’t be surprised if you see a few more bitchy articles about Gizmodo as I go through my backlog…

12/6/2011

Inner Fidelity reviews the Koss Tony Bennett Special Edition TBSE1 Headphone

Tony Bennett? Add that to the list of other unlikely “signature” endorsements including Quincy Jones, Miles Davis, and Lou Reed. This celebrity headphone thing has probably gone too far.