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MOL Gator needlepoint progress

October 21st, 2008

Here’s a snapshot to show progress on the MOL gator needlepoint project:

Unfortunately, I lost my skein of red! I have to go to Fireside to get some more. Fortunately, my work is definitely not precision enough to require matching a dye lot!

In other needlepoint news, I think Matt and I are going to have to go check out this exhibition of needlepointed New York Post covers. I love it because it’s funny, rude, and not completely overwhelmed in self-absorbed irony.

Whoa, reading the artist description, there’s more here than I thought at first:

[Artist] Brigid Berlin is the daughter of Richard Berlin, who directed the Hearst media empire for 52 years … She appeared in several Warhol films, including Chelsea Girls (1966), Imitation of Christ (1967) and The Nude Restaurant (1967), under the name Brigid Polk. Her skill at administering “pokes” (amphetamine injections) to herself and other hangers-on about the Factory earned her this name.

Sheesh, Matt is gonna be ALL OVER this!

UPDATE: Kate would like me to point out that Matt would be interested in the this because of the connection with pop art, NOT because of the amphetamine injections! I’ll post pictures of Matt’s MC5 project if I can get some.
P8tch Rubber Stamp (Cattle Brand?)

October 15th, 2008
I took one of my p8tch project QRcodes and sent it to Simon’s Stamps to be made into a 3" square rubber stamp.

3" is a little bit bigger than I had pictured in my head; you have to kind of swab the stamp all over the pad to ink it. But the image looks cool — and it scans just fine:

When you buy a p8tch with a unique, re-configurable QRcode, you also get a link to the corresponding QRcode image in several sizes. For instance, the p8tch that I used has the URL "http://www.p8t.ch/zoawl" embedded in it. Here are the URLs that are included in the p8tch welcome message:
- s3.p8tch.com/zoawl_10.png <– medium size
- s3.p8tch.com/zoawl_50.png <– jumbo family size
So you can use the .png images that come with your p8tch to make your own craft projects. You could, of course, make your own QRCodes — it’s an open standard, hurrah! — but the nice thing about the p8tch URLs is there’s a back end in place that lets you change the target. So you can make a “World’s Best Dad” mug, but instead it links to a running, daily summary of exactly WHERE dad stands in relation to a global index of other dads. And sometimes a Rick Roll.

Right now, I’m not sure what I’ll use this stamp for. It’s way too big for a party hand-stamp. Even if I put it on folks’ foreheads. Hmm, I suppose it could work on a butt cheek, like a nerdy cattle brand. Then I could link it here.

You know what would make a great early Christmas present for the nerds in your life? That’s right! A p8tch of their very own!
Third Rail Design Lab’s Commando Nerd

October 13th, 2008

Thom Chiaramonte from Third Rail Design Lab was one of the original p8tch customers. He was really patient while waiting the REALLY LONG TIME to get his original order, and in looking him up to get his address, I saw that he was a comic artist!

I asked him to do a "commando nerd", and left all the details up to him*. This is the result!

Oddly enough, she’s wearing her p8tch in exactly the same spot that Kenn Munk, with a similar-looking harness. Kenn, you’re a trendsetter.

* Well, I did specify that the "commando nerd" must be wearing bicep-length black-and-gray Pippi Longstocking miser gloves.

You can see the other p8tch action photos (so far) at the p8tch action photo pool. I now have a matched-gender-set of cartoon nerds!
From FDR’s First Inaugural Address: March 4, 1933

October 9th, 2008

“…Our distress comes from no failure of substance. We are stricken by no plague of locusts. Compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered because they believed and were not afraid, we have still much to be thankful for. Nature still offers her bounty and human efforts have multiplied it. Plenty is at our doorstep, but a generous use of it languishes in the very sight of the supply. Primarily this is because the rulers of the exchange of mankind’s goods have failed, through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men.

“True they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit they have proposed only the lending of more money. Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored confidence. They know only the rules of a generation of self-seekers. They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish.

“…Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men.”

— FDR’s first inaugural address, March 4, 1933. Plenty of FDR MP3s here.

PS. Chicken plans are coming along excellently. Kate got a great chicken book out of the library, which is written for kids but I’m finding completely on the right level for me, with short, pithy advice like “you must never name a chicken you plan to eat”, along with lots of detailed tips on how to check a chicken’s skin color on the shank and eyes to see how long it hasn’t been laying (a laying hen sends all her yellow pigment into the yolks of her eggs.) It’s written by Gail Damerow, who also wrote the ice cream book and many others.
MacGuffin Repair Mission: FAILURE

October 8th, 2008

There’s an article about the West Chester Guerilla Drive-In coming out in tomorrow’s Citypaper! I had heard some reports that the MacGuffin wasn’t transmitting properly, which means that Citypaper readers wouldn’t be able to earn their Official GDI Member Numbers in time for the last 2008 showing on October 25th.

So after work, Lydia and I hopped into the car to go pay it a visit at its SECRET LOCATION. Here’s what it looks like after six months of continuous operation — check out the greasy fur on the antenna!

The red light on the front of the Pelican case was out — sure enough, the power cord had fallen out of its socket. Probably while the Halloween pumpkins were getting plugged in. I plugged everything back in, verified that the Sony Sports Walkman hidden inside the case (a leftover from the Retropod project) was still running, and got back in the car.

No dice.

So I’ve got about 24 hours to either fix the MacGuffin, or to think up an alternate “Hero’s Quest” for City Paper readers. The way the MacGuffin quest works now is you have to locate the MacGuffin, listen to the SECRET ACCESS CODE it is should be broadcasting on AM 1700, then send in a picture of you at the location. That way, you can’t just pick up the info on a message board; you have to get out into the world of people and things and have a PIPIN’ HOT adventure. So you can get into TRAINing. (sheesh, if the MacGuffin isn’t working, why am I still dropping hints?)

Any suggestions for what an alternate City Paper GDI Hero’s Quest should be?

UPDATE: The City Paper piece is out. I’d better think of something quick!
Will Ronco, Iron Developer

October 6th, 2008

Tikaro Interactive developer Will Ronco turned in an awesome time at the Lake Placid Iron Man a few months ago, and he’s now in Kona, Hawaii getting ready for the world championship this weekend (he toured the lava field yesterday.)

He’s also prepping for a Drupal site launch next week. You know, in his spare time. I thought maybe we’d be able to trade some emails or some Jira issues.

I was really surprised to find, though, that the vChat on our PowerBooks Just Worked(tm), and I was able to see the FRIGGIN’ SWIM COURSE over Will’s shoulder. That’s just ridiculously awesome.

The race start is behind his left shoulder, and then they swim over to the orange buoy behind his right shoulder.

The race is Saturday. It won’t be televised until December, but you can follow Will at ironman.com. His race number is 176.
ACAC Barcode Tattoo Booth at the West Chester Chili Cookoff

October 6th, 2008

One of the goals of my development shop, Tikaro Interactive, is to connect the online and offline worlds. For the past year, I’ve been especially interested in barcodes. So far, the channels I’ve been developing are needlepoint, nerd fashion accessories. And now (drum roll, please…) barcode tattoos.

Here’s the program we set up this Sunday at the West Chester Chili Cookoff:

Our tattoos were sponsored by ACAC Fitness and Wellness Center: you can see I’ve got an ACAC sashimono attached to the bike (the tattoo table extends from the sidecar.) We gave free airbrush tattoos with the ACAC logo, plus a unique barcode.

Once you get the tattoo, you visit ACAC and get your tattoo scanned at the front desk. “Hi!” you’ll say, proffering your bicep. “I have a barcode tattoo here, and…” BEEP! goes the keytag scanner, and the friendly front-desk staffer tells you what you’ve won. Maybe a soft pretzel at the snack bar. Maybe a free day at the spa. Maybe a two-month membership! Every tattoo is a winner.

There’s a number of things I like about this program. For one thing, even though it’s all futuristic and high-tech, it uses the existing keytag scanners and computers. So there’s no special hardware needed. As far as the scanner at the club is concerned, your tattoo is just a regular ol’ keytag. We’ve tested the tattoos on a wide variety of skin tones, including black skin and ultra-ultra-tanned aerobics-instructor skin, and it works just fine on everyone so far.

From a pure marketing standpoint, I like the tattoo because it’s a coupon with built-in urgency. Your tattoo will last two or three days before it starts looking haggard, so it’s an impetus to actually go in to the club quickly.

Plus, you know, lasers are involved. What’s not to like?

At the cookoff yesterday, Toren applied no less than seventy-eight unique barcode tattoos. I’m curious to see how many folks will show up at the club today to get scanned. There’s a pretty good chance, I think, that this will have a high response rate and will actually make sense as a marketing channel.

In which case, I’ll make my first Powerpoint presentation that incorporates tattoos and BMW motorcycles. And that’s you know, a life goal.

Got an idea where a barcode tattoo with a three-day lifespan would make sense as a marketing channel? I’d love to hear it. Drop me a comment!
Oaklands Farm Barrel Cars: HIGHLIGHT OF THE YEAR

October 6th, 2008

On Saturday, we went to the Fall party at Oaklands Farm where all the McIlvaines live (about a mile down the road from where I grew up.) The highlight of Lydia’s YEAR is riding around in the barrel cars. Many of the McIlvaines are welders, and the barrel cars are homemade. Seriously, that is BADASS. We also visited the chicken coops, and petted the turkey. And made apple cider. And rode around in the vegetable wagon, towed behind one of the antique IH tractors on display.

Kate’s a McIlvaine. It’s a formidable family.
A brief personal history of machismo, told in posters

October 4th, 2008

Armpit Man, from the wall of Oriental World Martial Arts Studio
(and every other karate school in America.)

Twenty years later…

From Conkey’s Poultry Book (1932), found at backyardchickens.com.
I dunno, I think the rooster has a steelier gaze than Armpit Man.
No, You Can’t Have a Chicken. NOT YOURS

October 3rd, 2008

Yesterday, Shirley came over at breakfast talk about making magical QRcode real estate yard signs that let you find out how much the list price of the house is — and talk directly to the listing agent. She brought over a bunch of eggs gathered from her hens that morning, and I had to practically get out the six-pound sledge to crack them open. And the yolks were a really beautiful orange color. So naturally I’m now all excited about building a small coop in the back yard, to get ready for “Great Depression 2.0: California Drift”

I checked out some of the really awesome coop designs at backyardchickens.com, including this really great small “playhouse” coop:

Oh, BOY, that’s totally awesome! Look at the little door to get the eggs out! We decided we’d get four hens, and that each of us would get to name one. Lydia had already named hers “Hannah”, which is a great name for a hen. I was busy reading up on the many benefits of Diatomaceous Earth, and subscribing to The Allotment Lady‘s blog, which Kate reads regularly.

Now, we seem to remember hearing something about how West Chester Borough ordinances prohibit livestock, but permit pets. Let me just verify that we can kind of squeak through, here. After all, we’re not getting a rooster… AW NUTS!

Borough of West Chester Ordinances [1][205][213], adopted 1989::

ARTICLE I Keeping of Poultry and Hogs

§ 37-1. Purpose.
The purpose of this Article is to prevent nuisances arising from malodors, noises and health hazards caused by the presence of poultry or hogs or by the slaughter of poultry or hogs within the Borough of West Chester.

§ 37-2. Keeping and slaughtering prohibited; exception.
A. On and after the effective date hereof, no poultry or hogs shall be kept or slaughtered on any property located in the Borough of West Chester. Ha, ha, ha, PWNT! Sucker.
B. Licensed operators for commercial purposes shall be exempted.

Any person who violates or permits the violation of any provision of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof in a summary proceeding brought before a District Justice, be guilty of a summary offense and shall be subject to the payment of a fine of not less than $25 and not more than $1,000, plus the costs of prosecution. Upon default of payment thereof, the defendant may be sentenced to imprisonment in the county prison for a period of not more than 30 days. And we’ll tape a picture of the chickens YOU CAN’T HAVE to the wall of your cell. Haw, haw, haw.

Crap. My choices now are to give up, get a commercial license, or become a member of the Urban Chicken Underground, and live the glamorous but secret life of a Chicken Criminal. Any suggestions?

UPDATE: Hmm, maybe this would be an excellent time to add “licensed poultry technician” to my long list of useless bona fides. That might satisfy the letter of the law. I’ve always wanted an excuse to bust out a Tackleberry: “Well, you see”, I’d say to the mean, humorless Chicken Confiscator, poking him right in his clip-on tie, “I’m a Licensed Poultry Operator, so these chickens are legal under local ordinance part II, Chapter 37, article I, section thirty-seven DASH two, paragraph B…” at which point he’d gnash his teeth and tear up the Chicken Confiscation Order, and the credits would roll. Maybe Hannah the Hen would flap up and lay an egg in his combover as a part of the extended blooper sequence.

I could pick up a carny license while I’m at it! Ooh, ooh, and a license that would let me sell ice-cream from my sidecar! Ice cream… MADE WITH FRESH EGGS?