Google Maps vs. Bing Maps

When I Googled “Microsoft Live Maps” I figured there was a 50% chance it no longer existed. Turns out it’s now bing maps and (more surprising) it looks pretty great – better colors, smarter labels, more accurate paths, better (I’d argue) 3D hinting, much more legible overall.

Before we jump to any conclusions, though, keep in mind that Google Maps is probably a lot more interested in mobile applications than desktop browsing. Check out how the two compare on an iPhone.

Lessons? Google values function over form, and bing values good-looks because it gave up on functionality a long time ago. Seriously, it took me about 3 minutes to navigate to this view on the bing app. The next challenger?  Apple, of course.

David Foster Wallace, interviewed

Q: Are you saying that writers of your generation have an obligation not only to depict our condition but also to provide the solutions to these things?
I don’t think I’m talking about conventionally political or social action-type solutions. That’s not what fiction’s about. Fiction’s about what it is to be a fucking human being. If you operate, which most of us do, from the premise that there are things about the contemporary U.S. that make it distinctively hard to be a real human being, then maybe half of fiction’s job is to dramatize what it is that makes it tough. The other half is to dramatize the fact that we still “are” human beings, now. Or can be. This isn’t that it’s fiction’s duty to edify or teach…I just think that fiction that isn’t exploring what it means to be human today isn’t art. We’ve all got this “literary” fiction that simply monotones that we’re all becoming less and less human, that presents characters without souls or love, characters who really are exhaustively describable in terms of what brands of stuff they wear, and we all buy the books and go like “Golly, what a mordantly effective commentary on contemporary materialism!” But we already “know” U.S. culture is materialistic. This diagnosis can be done in about two lines. It doesn’t engage anybody. What’s engaging and artistically real is, taking it as axiomatic that the present is grotesquely materialistic, how is it that we as human beings still have the capacity for joy, charity, genuine connections, for stuff that doesn’t have a price? And can these capacities be made to thrive? And if so, how, and if not why not?

-from an interview with Larry McCaffery

Spinning globe

Collage is a way to bring some of the vibrancy of the city back to the map. Piecing together scraps of urban fabric is a hunt for new points of continuity and activation. This creative combination doesn’t really play well with borders, and I found that by working on a sphere instead of a plane, I could create an endless collage. After all, a global city has no borders.

The Quotable Wallace

Being A Good Neighbor

In some situations, window film is pretty much a civic obligation. Unfortunately, it almost always looks a little grim. To make it more cheerful, and shower-appropriate, I added some lines of a poem by Wendell Berry that’s basically about how great water is:

I am a dry man whose thirst is praise

of clouds, and whose mind is something of a cup.

My sweetness is to wake in the night

after days of dry heat, hearing the rain.

 

 

Laundry Basket Redux

       

This old laundry basket has Nine Lives written all over it. I found it at the dump on Nantucket, and after some light sanding and some WD-40, it became a perfect display for wine bottles at the West End Market. A little painting, upholstery foam, and a nice pillowcase transformed it into a beautiful crib for a certain, imminent baby girl. She’ll probably grow out of it in a couple months, at which point I have no doubt it will find a new way to make itself useful.

Bears on Parade

Jackpot! A tumblr feed of great illustrations of bears!

This optimistic bear was drawn by Anna Bond is available as a print here.

Window Box

Deal of the week: six little basil plants for $3 at the farmers market at Copley.

Small business of the week: Ricky’s, in Somerville, where we picked up a plastic planter, a baby rosemary, and mint.

Add a few holes, two screws, some picture-hanging wire, and presto! (pesto?) An herb garden!

Weather pattern of the week: today’s rain. Nicely done.

Boston Farmers Markets

Rachael commissioned this little calendar for our refrigerator. Maybe the title should be “(only our favorite) Farmers Markets of Boston,” or “Look, see? Now you have no excuse not to go.”

“Mayday!” on Threadless

This is a t-shirt design Rachael and I made for Threadless.com. If you like it, vote for it here, and it will get printed!