I don't know if it will work for everyone, but this sounds like one digital future for book publishing.
So I walk into this little store that has some wine in the window and start looking around. Nice gourmet food stuffs - olive oils and prosciutto and cheese - and about a dozen bottles of wine up front. We are invited to a friends house for dinner tonight, so acquiring a bottle to bring is on my list of things to do. After a bit of looking at the rather small selection, I notice there is more wine in the back. Ah ha! Much better selection. I've lucked into a good spot.
The proprietor tries to start a conversation, but he only speaks French. All the wines are Italian, and he is watching me with great curiosity as I browse (I'm hoping it is curiosity because it also could have been something like mistrust). Then he points up above the shelves to where there are lots of empty bottles on display and he says something in French I don't understand. But I recognize some of these bottles and they are better than what's on the shelf (which is pretty good already.) After a few stabs at hand gestures he understands that I am asking whether full versions of those bottles up there are available for purchase. He smiles and points to the floor. Then after another few minutes of him watching me pick up certain bottles for closer inspection he is definitely in the curious camp and he waves me over with a little smile and points to a staircase in the corner with a "you want to see?" look on his face. I nod my head vigorously and follow him down the stairs into an amazing wine cellar.
A '95 Dal Forno is the first thing that greets my eyes as they adjust to the gloom of the basement. "Tres bien" I say, pointing at the brown labeled bottle. He smiles like I've just complimented him on something very personal, and crouches down to open a case filled with them, carefully cradling one for my inspection. I rub my thumb and forefinger together in the international sign for beaucoup de bucks while giving him my best "if only!" look, and with a chuckle he understands that my resources are not that vast. But I spend a very enjoyable half hour perusing what must be the best Italian wine cellar of any retailer in Geneva. I end up spending more than I meant to, but for sure not as much as I might have, on a '99 Montefalco Rosso Riserva from Paolo Bea.
Worth a look if you are ever in Geneva: La Cantina Del Buon Gustaio. 12, rue des Paquis, Geneve. 022 732 45 91
The proprietor tries to start a conversation, but he only speaks French. All the wines are Italian, and he is watching me with great curiosity as I browse (I'm hoping it is curiosity because it also could have been something like mistrust). Then he points up above the shelves to where there are lots of empty bottles on display and he says something in French I don't understand. But I recognize some of these bottles and they are better than what's on the shelf (which is pretty good already.) After a few stabs at hand gestures he understands that I am asking whether full versions of those bottles up there are available for purchase. He smiles and points to the floor. Then after another few minutes of him watching me pick up certain bottles for closer inspection he is definitely in the curious camp and he waves me over with a little smile and points to a staircase in the corner with a "you want to see?" look on his face. I nod my head vigorously and follow him down the stairs into an amazing wine cellar.
A '95 Dal Forno is the first thing that greets my eyes as they adjust to the gloom of the basement. "Tres bien" I say, pointing at the brown labeled bottle. He smiles like I've just complimented him on something very personal, and crouches down to open a case filled with them, carefully cradling one for my inspection. I rub my thumb and forefinger together in the international sign for beaucoup de bucks while giving him my best "if only!" look, and with a chuckle he understands that my resources are not that vast. But I spend a very enjoyable half hour perusing what must be the best Italian wine cellar of any retailer in Geneva. I end up spending more than I meant to, but for sure not as much as I might have, on a '99 Montefalco Rosso Riserva from Paolo Bea.
Worth a look if you are ever in Geneva: La Cantina Del Buon Gustaio. 12, rue des Paquis, Geneve. 022 732 45 91
Mango Apricot Guacamole
Are we living in a designer universe? I know it's in the Telegraph, but Gribbin is a serious guy, and it's just a thought piece anyway. Fun to think about and I suspect this is basically the case.
i know this has made the rounds many times already but worth another watch
kittens inspired by kittens
kittens inspired by kittens
MPEG LA announced today that websites streaming free H.264 video will be able to do so royalty free forever:
MPEG LA is announcing today that it will continue to offer a royalty-free license for the H.264 video codec for video sites that offer free video streams to consumers “during the entire life of this (l)icense.” In other words: Web sites like YouTube will be free to use H.264 for its streams without having to fear they’re eventually going to have to pay massive royalties to MPEG LA.This still doesn't solve all the worries, but it's certainly a nice step and removes the most wild speculation from the equation (e.g. "I won't be able to put video I shot with my h.264 camera onto my personal website and show it to my friends without paying MPEG LA!")
The company, which has assembled a patent pool for H.264 patents, had previously said that it would offer H.264 streaming for free until 2016. That announcement was met with skepticism, with Mozilla CEO John Lilly at the time tweeting that this was “like 5 more years of free to lock you in 4ever.”
Le Monde du Wylie....
http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2010/08/foam_fan_wylie_dufresne
_thinks.html#ooid=tzeDJvMTrIAvpEywXXD1IY78cKaoSSTv
sdb
http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2010/08/foam_fan_wylie_dufresne
_thinks.html#ooid=tzeDJvMTrIAvpEywXXD1IY78cKaoSSTv
sdb
WTF? Motorola buys 280 North, creators of the Cappuccino web framework which includes the very Apple-esque programming language Objective-J (a play on Apple's Obective-C language.) Cappuccino is a very cool way to write web applications. I think Apple missed the boat here on an obviously good fit. Hopefully Motorola will be a good steward - they might really have something here for developing their own flavor of Android (or just for writing apps that run under Andriod.) It just strikes me as a strange (but good!) move by Motorola.
I know Steve has told this story, but have we ever seen the video?
tv hat
pls explain canning and pickling
What could go wrong? Pavlovsk seed bank faces destruction?
Pretty goofy, but holy cow, yoyo freestyle world champion.
had to pay a long term debt for grand generosity paid to me so table for two @ kurumazushi.....the famed sushi master of masters on 47th st in an office building on the 2nd floor, its a playpen for the rich or the crazy days of expence accounts if you want to eat what came in today.....i learned there that $15 toro is days old and/or lower grade, still amazing to eat but the super A+ and just off the plane is $40, $50 and above a slice depending on location
my dept is paid, the meal lasted 1 1/2 hours and it was apox 55 pieces each, and while art, it cost the same as an art piece but nothing compaired to the generousity of my guest over the last 25 years.....
p.s. we did it sans wine/sake/beer as my pal has gone sober, could only imagine what the bill w/b, and honestly I would have been fine (food quality wise) w/ paying 1/3 of what we spent at Bar Masa but that would not have payed the debt
my dept is paid, the meal lasted 1 1/2 hours and it was apox 55 pieces each, and while art, it cost the same as an art piece but nothing compaired to the generousity of my guest over the last 25 years.....
p.s. we did it sans wine/sake/beer as my pal has gone sober, could only imagine what the bill w/b, and honestly I would have been fine (food quality wise) w/ paying 1/3 of what we spent at Bar Masa but that would not have payed the debt
dan barber of stone barns
http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_barber_how_i_fell_in_love_with_a_fish.html
http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_barber_how_i_fell_in_love_with_a_fish.html
The clock is ticking for iPad competitors -- giving Apple a 1 year head start is poor strategy
