From the project’s github page:
A recent feature in The New Yorker juxtaposed New York City’s subway stops with their residents’ incomes. Like NYC, San Francisco has people of both extreme poverty and wealth, often living toe-to-toe. We wondered how those graphs would look in our neck of the woods. The results show the Bay Area’s economic inequality and its relationship with transit and urban form.
High five to Cousin Steph for this.
I’ve had a kindle for quite a while now. I read a lot when I first got it, but then the reading the slowed down. That is, until I loaned the kindle to some friends. Then I realized how I read much more on a kindle.
I rarely buy books now, mostly because I have no room for any more. And I never buy eBooks or books on Kindle either. I borrow them from the library. Yes, I borrow eBooks from the library. Most of my friends are surprised when I tell them about that. If you’re paying taxes, might as well get your money’s worth, right? Plus, I never liked borrowing actual books from the library because they’re pretty nasty. By borrowing and reading on my kindle, I can read in bed and not be grossed out.
It’s pretty awesome. You have 24/7 access to a digital library catalog of thousands of titles or books. It’s like going to the library in the middle of the night, but not really. You can search for the nearest library at www.overdrive.com. I go through the San Francisco Public Library’s site at http://sfpl.lib.overdrive.com/. From there, you can search for Audiobooks eBooks, Music, and even Video. And you don’t even need a kindle. Any eBook reader will do or you can use their app that works on most devices or just read in your browser using overdrive read.
If the title you’re looking for is available, you can start reading immediately. I’ve found there’s usually a long wait list for popular books. I guess the library has limited “copies” of each title. You can place a hold on the books that you want, but sometimes it takes weeks before you actually get to start reading.
Apparently, the lending period is determined by your library and can be for a period of 7, 14, or 21 days. At the end of the lending period, titles will automatically “expire” and return to the collection. At least you don’t have to worry about paying fees for overdue books. Sadly though, titles cannot be renewed, but you can check them out again if they are available. Which means, you have to place another hold and wait a few more weeks before reading the book again. And that’s a problem for me because I feel like I’m a slow reader. Of course, some books I finish faster than others, but I guess it depends on the book. I have several books on my goodreads that’s been in my “currently reading” list for a looong time because it was automatically returned and I had no patience to get on the wait list again.
BUUUUUT!!!! I think I’ve found a loop hole, or hack, if you will, that will allow you to keep your borrowed titles for longer than the maximum loan period of 3 weeks. When you “borrow” a book, it’s downloaded to your device. Technically, your device knows that your book is “overdue” when and IF it has access to the internet, right? So here’s how I tested my theory. Before my book’s “due date” last week, I put my kindle on airplane mode (no data connection) and I’ve been reading the book all this week! It’s a loooong book, so it’ll take me a while to finish. I wonder if anyone else has done this. Is this bad? I just need more time!
The Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Autofocus Lens is on sale for $94 with free shipping. This is one of the first lenses I tell people to get when they get into the DSLR game. It’s cheap and fast. Good for portraits and is generally a bit more artsy-fartsy than the kit lenses.
Since I wrote yesterday about a new movie coming out, I should also mention that I finally watched a documentary I’ve been meaning to watch since it came out in Spring of 2012. It’s called Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Everyone who likes sushi, or not, should watch it. It’s about a man who’s been making sushi all his life. He owns a 10 seat restaurant. It costs over $300 per person for a meal that only lasts for about half an hour. The sushi chef has no tolerance for special requests, and they don’t serve westernized sushi or appetizers. Although in the documentary, it looked like they made tempura for themselves. Ha. I really liked something the chef said in the film: “To make good food, you must eat good food.” How else would you know what tastes good? Smart man.
The director said he was allowed to film in the restaurant ever day for two months over the course of a year. He started by shooting on a small DSLR, but as trust developed, so did the size of the camera, and it turns out most of the film was shot using the Red One. Check out an interview with the director David Gelb.
JetBlue is offering 2012 free flights (1006 roundtrips) out of the country if your presidential candidate loses. Basically you register with JetBlue, pick the candidate that you think will lose, and pick your destination. If your candidate loses, you’re eligible to win one of the 1,006 roundtrip tickets to one of their international destinations. The travel window is pretty small because the certificates are only valid for travel between January 8 and February 13, 2013.
Groupon (via Aluminyze) is offering Aluminum Photo Prints at the prices below. Shipping starts at $5.95.
Aluminyze emblazons user-uploaded images in full color on high-quality, unbendable aluminum sheets, creating durable, vivid wall hangings that don’t require a frame. Aluminyze takes over and prepares the final product, correcting colors if needed and shipping it to customers with optional mounting materials such as an easel, wall float, or acrylic pedestal. Aluminyzed waterproof prints last longer than regular photos.
I’ve never used them before, so if you get one, let me know how they are.
The Uniqlo store opens on Friday.
MUJI will open is first store on the West Coast in November right here in SF, SOMA to be exact. It will be the largest MUJI store in the US. I’ve only been to the ones in HK and Shanghai. I can’t remember if I went in Beijing.
Free beauty bag from Target. You have to “like” them on Facebook and fill out the form. Link.
Being unemployed gives me a lot of time to meet up with people. Unfortunately, people always like to meet over coffee or lunch, which is no bueno for my wallet. Here’s how I hacked my lunch today.
Yesterday, I received an email for $5 off my next Groupon. I haven’t bought any groupons for a while, so they needed to sucker me back in. It worked. Checked out Real-Time Location Based Deals on Groupon Now!
and found a $10 groupon for $20 worth of food at Cafe Ponte (since we were meeting in Noe Valley). Grilled chicken pesto sandwich, salad, and fresh squeezed orange juice= $2.50. Win.
In other news: Go A’s! AL West Division Champions!
A few months ago, I posted about making cards using free wallpaper samples from Anthropologie. Little did I know that Lizzy took my suggestion and made some of her own. Check them out below. Images are copyright Lizzy. Now if only I were as artsy-fartsy as she is. My samples are still sitting in my room somewhere.
Nathan and his new toy
I’ve been meaning to document this here so I can find it easily in the future. Where do you go to buy photography equipment when you’re in China? Look no further than the Beijing photography city. If I remember correctly, it’s about 2 stories filled with a hundred different stores/booths.
I didn’t buy any big-ticket items, but I did pick up some accessories that were fairly inexpensive. Prices are comparable to US retail store prices, although online US prices are still slightly cheaper. Be careful when buying though, because I believe those gray market items do not include the manufacturer’s warranty.
If you want to check out photography equipment in China, visit the “photo gear mall” in Beijing.
Beijing Photography Equipment City
Address: Beijing, Haidian District, Wukesong Road No. 40
Phone:010-88119728 88119763 (Chinese only)
Store hours: 9:00am – 17:00pm (Winter), 9:00am – 18:00pm (Summer)
地址：北京海淀区五棵松路40号
电话：010-88119728 88119763
营业时间：早9：00—晚18：00
Subway: No 1 line, Wukesong station, Exit B to the North East of the Wukesong intersection, Walk 1km (10 minutes) to the north (east side of the 4th ring road). The place is on the right side of the road.
Image taken in Hong Kong, 2009. I think the picture looks a little too cartoon-y. Not sure what it is. I just remember the lighting was pretty bad in the tiny cafe place we were at.
At Amazon, parents and caregivers can again join Amazon Mom and receive a 3-month Amazon Prime membership for free. (The program has had a wait list for the past several weeks.) Cancel your membership before the trial period is up or you’ll be billed for a 1-year membership, which costs $79.
Sign up with caution because with that “3-month trial” you’ll start incorporating the convenience into your life and will quickly rationalize away the additional price.
The Boba Guys are opening up a bubble tea shop in the Mission. You can follow their start-up experience at GOOD Magazine.
For a limited time, save 20% when you purchase one of the qualifying camera bags below from Amazon.com. To take advantage of this offer, simply add the qualifying Kata bag from the list below to your Shopping Cart, enter promotional code KATADISC, and they’ll automatically apply the discount off the current Amazon.com price at checkout.
One discount per customer; limit of one product per customer. This offer is valid through June 30, 2011, or while supplies last, applies only to purchases of products sold by Amazon.com, and does not apply to products sold by third-party merchants and other sellers through the Amazon.com site.
Groupon has AMC Silver Experience tickets for $1 each with a limit of 2 per account. It’s via a special link.
Fill out your shipping information as the tickets are physically mailed to you. When you submit your information there will be no order confirmation, but you can confirm it by clicking “My Groupons” under your account information.
Silver experience tickets cannot be used on new releases through the first two weekends, or 10 days if the movie opens on a Friday.
Get $2 off mp3 album gifts today at Amazon.com
16GB 60MB/s Extreme CompactFlash card $94.95 (buy 2 or more pay $59.99)
8GB 60MB/s Extreme CompactFlash $54.95 (buy 2 or more pay $37.49)
16GB Class 10 Extreme SDHC $46.95 (buy 2 or more pay $32.49)
8GB Class 10 Extreme SDHC $24.95 (buy 2 or more pay $19.99)