David's Blog

Design Classics, the London Underground

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:13:00 -0400

Design Classics, the London Underground:

Harry Beck ignored London’s actual geography and created a clear, logical transport diagram that emphasized station order and interchanges—an incredibly fascinating video.

I made it! Safe and sound in London, England.

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 06:12:42 -0400

I’m sitting at a computer cafe about a minute down the street from my hotel…check- in isn’t for another three hours, so I’ll probably go to the British Museum after I’m done here.

The flight was uneventful and uncomfortable—dinner was hilarious though, there’s tons of turbulence and the plane’s shaking side to side as I try to pour ranch dressing on my salad instead of all over my pants…I couldn’t stop laughing.

The transportation here was pretty straightfoward; all the signs were clear and although the entire network is laberinthine, the indicatons/colors pointed me to the right place. I only got a little lost in Victoria Station after the train from the airport, but after a little common sense I figured out I had only two choices, yellow/green line or blue line (I wanted blue line).

Emojii

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 11:09:35 -0500

Emojii:

Did you know the Japanese had a industry-wide standard for emoticons? Apparently they’re built into every modern handset. Apple included them in a new update–that’s how I found out about them.

Marketers and concession stands use psychological tactics to satisfy consumers.

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 12:19:26 -0400

Marketers and concession stands use psychological tactics to satisfy consumers.:

Psychology junior year all over again. I love it!

From The Erotic Domain, An Aerobic Trend in China

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 13:26:00 -0400

From The Erotic Domain, An Aerobic Trend in China:

Apparently pole dancing is now a viable form of exercise. Who knew?

Inside the Lego Factory

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:31:44 -0400

Inside the Lego Factory:

Fascinating video of the automated creation of a LEGO brick set, which an amazing shot of the 66ft tall “cathedral,” which houses the bricks.

My room is painted and my closet is nearly done—my dad broke one of the drawers as he tried to...

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 22:44:01 -0400

My room is painted and my closet is nearly done—my dad broke one of the drawers as he tried to force it in. I bought a 22” monitor (glossy white like my MacBook) which should be coming Thursday.

Piagetian Conservation

Sun, 02 Dec 2007 19:41:00 -0500

Piagetian Conservation:

We’re going over Piagetian Conversation in Psychology, so I thought would be of interest. Jean Piaget claimed that young children don’t understand that a transformation of a substance conserves it, and the video supports that claim.

"Until and unless you discover that money is the root of all good, you ask for your own destruction...."

Fri, 23 Nov 2007 23:17:06 -0500

“Until and unless you discover that money is the root of all good, you ask for your own destruction. When money ceases to become the means by which men deal with one another, then men become the tools of other men. Blood, whips and guns—or dollars. Take your choice—there is no other.”

- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

Amazon Kindle: Just a Good Start

Fri, 23 Nov 2007 23:15:37 -0500

It has DRM. Yes, the books cost too much. Yes, the device costs $400 - the reading of your first Kindle-book will run you up $410. How’s that for an expensive hardcover version of your favorite novel?

All these awful things about the Kindle, while important, don’t “put out the light” on the Kindle (pathetic, I know). The electronic paper screen and its compact size are invaluable assets, as is the lifetime, always on, Sprint EVDO connection.

Two hundred dollars - thats the electronic sweet spot, and how much Kindle should cost. Amazon needs to get real and stop trying to siphon cash off oblivious customers. Electronic paper is the next, well, paper - Amazon needs to jump on the bandwagon without charging an arm and a leg.

"Rationality is the recognition of the fact that nothing can alter the truth and nothing can take..."

Fri, 23 Nov 2007 22:29:00 -0500

“Rationality is the recognition of the fact that nothing can alter the truth and nothing can take precedence over that act of perceiving it.”

- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

I'm Writing Again (maybe)

Fri, 23 Nov 2007 22:03:00 -0500

When I purchased Bioshock, I found out it was based heavily on the philosophy of a writer named Ayn Rand. I checked out some of her works from the library, and I’m now reading Atlas Shrugged.

I picked, of course, one of the longest books ever written. I read this for two hours and got through about 30 pages. The font is minute, perhaps size six. That all aside, the first 30 pages were nothing short of stunning.

One of the problems I had with All the King’s Men (an English required-read) was that the themes were so convoluted and subdued that I couldn’t understand them. When Rand makes a simile, when she forms a metaphor, she puts everything on the table. They’re not obvious, but they’re not obscured by the overly flowery language Robert Penn Warren used.

Deception

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 09:22:47 -0400

My cousin Adam and I are at Cedar Point right now. Well, not exactly. We got here early (8:45) thinking the park opened to everyone at 9. Turns out they closed off the area past the main entrance with a Berlin Wall-like barrier so “non-resort guests” can’t enter. We must wait until 10 to enter. It’s about 9:20.

On a lighter note, we had a great first day. Maverick was frickin’ amazing. Millennium Force made me black out. Flickr pics coming up tonight.

Video

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 06:56:52 -0400

"Chopsticks: I could sit here for an hour trying to eat this, or I could just use a fork."

Wed, 13 Jun 2007 21:40:54 -0400

“Chopsticks: I could sit here for an hour trying to eat this, or I could just use a fork.”

- Kathryn

"The Star Wars comment was a little forced."

Wed, 13 Jun 2007 21:40:05 -0400

“The Star Wars comment was a little forced.”

- David

on Flickr

Tue, 12 Jun 2007 23:51:45 -0400

on Flickr

An Open Letter to Parents Who Bring Their Children to Extremely Violent Horror Films

Tue, 12 Jun 2007 23:49:16 -0400

An Open Letter to Parents Who Bring Their Children to Extremely Violent Horror Films:

“It appears that, in your infinite parenting wisdom, you saw fit to bring two kids – an approximately four year old boy and 1 year old girl – into the particular screening of Hostel: Part II I was present for.”

What Would Happen If You Bought 25 Bottles of Nyquil

Tue, 29 May 2007 13:14:35 -0400

What Would Happen If You Bought 25 Bottles of Nyquil:

“Are these on sale or something?” she asked.”

How to Improve Your Spanish, Edition 1

Thu, 24 May 2007 00:58:22 -0400

As far as languages go, Spanish one of the easiest (if not the easiest) second languages Americans can (and should) learn. mean, imagine learning Russian or Cyrilic or Persian or something obscure like that, with no connection to your native tongue. Spanish has so assimilated itself into US culture that it would be foolish not to learn and utilize it. In this edition, I’m going to focus on methods that will help you learn cognates better.

1. Understand indirect cognates.

Some words, like competición, can be understood directly by sight. Most, however, require an extra step, usually through an obscure English synonym. For example, the Spanish word for “flood”, inundación, seems to have no conceivable English cognate. However, a English synonym for “flood” is inundation. Quite closer to our Spanish word, right? This helpful connection will help you recall the word later on.

Here are some more examples: the middle word is the English word you’ll have to remember in order to recognize these cognates:

felicidad —-> felicity —-> happiness
odioso —-> odious —-> hateful, very unpleasant
liquidación —-> liquidation —-> sale
comportarse —-> to comport —-> to behave oneself
anticuado —-> antiquated —-> old-fashioned
temer —-> timid —-> easily frightened (to fear)
piel —-> peel (fruit skin) —-> skin (body skin)
mandar —-> mandate —-> to command
creíble —-> credible —-> believeable
encantar —-> to enchant —-> to cast a spell on
veneno —-> venom —-> poison
regresar —-> regress —-> to return, come back

There are literally thousands of these “indirect” cognates between Spanish and English.

2. Take advantage of noun-verb combos (I call them 2-for-1 words!)

English verbs like to believe, to travel, and to park all have rough noun equivalents: a belief, a trip, and parking lot. In Spanish - you get the same free passes. For example, the verb “creer”, “to believe” has the noun-equivalent “la creencia”, “the belief”. Once you know the Spanish verb, the noun comes naturally. Ejemplos:

viajar (to travel) —-> el viaje (trip)
estacionar (to park) —-> el estacionamiento (parking lot)
pensar (to think) —-> el pensamiento (a thought)
comportar (to behave) —-> comportamiento (behavior)
encarcelar (to imprison) —-> el encarcelamiento (imprisonment)
casar (to marry) —-> el casamiento (wedding)

In addition, some adjectives even have accompanying nouns:

sólo (alone) —-> la soledad (loneliness, solitude)
suave (smooth, soft, gentle) —-> la suavidad (smoothness, softness, gentleness)

Notice the common endings -miento and -dad.

3. Remember the function cognates.

I call these words “function cognates” because the meaning of the Spanish word implies the English one. For example, el abrelatas, a can opener, can be broken down into “abre” and “latas”, literally: “it opens cans”. What does a can opener do? You guessed it - it opens cans! Here are some more examples:

el paraguas (para-aguas, lit. for waters) - umbrella
el parabrisas (para-brisas, lit. for breezes) - windshield
el limpiaparabrisas (limpia-para-brisas, lit. it cleans for breezes) - windshield wiper)
el parachoques (para-choques, lit. for crashes) bumper

It also works for some verbs:

atravesar (a-través, lit. to across) to pierce, to go through
trasnochar (tras-noche, lit. across night) to stay up all night