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WordCamp Chicago

adam — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 14:34:20 +0000

It's great to see Chicago hosting tech events, even if I'm not there to appreciate it anymore. I think that I'll probably find my way back into town for WordCamp, though, since WordPress is more than just a hobby for me now. And I'm sure even if I don't, Blueprint will be represented by someone else, since it's a much closer trip for the rest of the firm

Buckshot Ep. 10: Feedreading

adam — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 14:50:19 +0000

apophenia: knol: content w/out context, collaboration, capital, or coruscation.
Knol is something like a communal blog, it's closest competitor is about.com, not wikipedia. Actually, with author-based archives, shared categories/tags, and embedded adsense, it's a lot like wordpress.com. Given google's attrocious splog record with blogspot, i doubt they'll be doing as much competing as they think they will.
via Prunings - Chicago is inverting itself
It's a very interesting article on what's been happening to american cities since the 90's drop in crime. I heavily doubt their predictions for the future, though. The factors that drive people to the suburbs are still present, and haven't been entirely outweighed by the price of energy, nor will they be anytime soon. Also, centralization benefits immigrants much more than it benefits the wealthy. Immigrants aren't going to be taking over edge cities any time soon. They'll be taking over other cities that aren't so expensive.
via Ian Dixon - ReadyBoost works.
Cool trick, my laptop runs faster now, much less likely to turn into molasses when I open photoshop and illustrator at the same time. Nonetheless, making Vista a little bit faster only reminds me how slow it is on the whole. I'd love to switch to the recently released OpenSuse 11, I just need the free time to do it.

Cinematic Nostalgia

adam — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 13:43:48 +0000

Aside from the music, the next best thing about Austin is the Alamo Drafthouse. It's kind of like Brew n' View at The Vic, except 1) it happens every night 2) they show first run movies as well 3) they have decent beer 4) they have great food. Last night we went there to check out Wesley Willis' Joyrides, a documentary about one of Chicago's musical exports. To be honest, while he was legendary when I was in college, I never saw the man while he was alive. I did seen plenty of his posters around town, though. Much of the film centers around Genesis Art Supplies (which I frequented, but don't hold quite the same love for), and his family still living outside IIT, which I also frequented. The film is great because Wesley was great, but it was also a reminder of the harsh realities of chicago.

Last night's film, while familiar, didn't tug the homesick chord nearly as much as The Dark Knight did, though. The first Christopher Nolan Batman film had some "hey, I've been there" moments, but it was mostly very CG-affected. The Dark Knight, by contrast, lives in Chicago. There are no odd jumps between distant places in the city; scenes are in consistent places, when they leave one building, they move down real streets to neighboring buildings. It was almost disturbing, in the sense that Batman wasn't in a fantasy world, he was in a very present time and place. The last film to live this close to me was High Fidelity, although John Cusack could have been me or any of my friends (unlike Batman). It's a testament to Nolan's film that the familiarity didn't disrupt the suspension of disbelief.

Heath Ledger as The Joker

I loved the character arcs in Batman Begins, they felt very believable and human. The Dark Night is much more straightforward in that sense, following the standard comic book patterns. This film, then, works much harder to keep your attention. The twists and turns of the plot more resemble Memento: more elements being added, takes more effort to keep up, which distracts you from the inevitability of the conclusion. It's a great film, whether you're from Chicago or not.

Save Chicago Culture

adam — Tue, 13 May 2008 13:19:02 +0000

Tomorrow, the city council votes on an ordinance requiring anyone organizing a concert of any scale, at any (already) licensed venue, to be a licensed promoter. This is very dangerous to Chicago's rich music scene, and to the arts in Chicago in general.

The definition of “event promoter” is so loosely defined it could apply to a band that books its own shows or a teenage kid trying to get his favorite band into town.
The “event promoter” must be licensed and will pay $500 – $2000 depending on expected audience size.
To get the license, applicant must be over 21, get fingerprinted, submit to a background check, and jump over several other hurdles.
This proposed ordinance seems targeted towards smaller venues, since those with 500+ permanent seats are exempt.

These issues have been tirelessly highlighted by Jim DeRogatis at the Sun Times. There are two interviews that are very much worth reading: Alderman Shulter and the Department of Business Affairs. Please, if you're in Chicago, sign the "Stop the promoter’s ordinance petition" and contact your alderman. via CYSTSFTS

UPDATE: the ordinance has been put back into committee, to get more input from the community.

In Defence of my Absence

adam — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:30:08 +0000

I haven't been exactly forthcoming with posts this month. I haven't been lazy, though. Most of the free time I would normally devote to posting has been spent working on our office's new site. I think the results are well worth the effort, but click the screenshot to see for yourself:

My design was the last in a long line of remixes by everyone in the office. Basically, I poured the trendy web 2.0 juice on top of everyone else's designs Patrick H. did the really kick-ass blur in the flash menu. I find myself playing with that for far too long. Check it out, and tell us what you think. Now that the site's done, I'll be posting the promised "beginner" wordpress tutorials starting later this week.