Rick Webb dot net

designers republic

designers republic

laughingsquid:

Reverse Procrastination

God I love these days. 

“Apple will likely make liberal use of Solatubes—skylights that are used to shunt outdoor light into internal offices—and huge, airplane propeller-size fans made by companies such as Big Ass Fans in Lexington, Ky., that move lots of air without using much energy.”

-

Inside Apple’s Plans for Its Futuristic, $5 Billion Headquarters - Businessweek

That is a really good company name. 

“All that need be mentioned of Ebert’s social life was that in the early 1980s he briefly went out with the hostess of a modest local TV show called “AM Chicago.” Taking her to the Hamburger Hamlet for dinner, Ebert suggested that she syndicate her show, using his success with Siskel as an example of the kind of riches that awaited. While she didn’t return his romantic interest, Oprah Winfrey did follow his business advice.”

- Roger Ebert makes his leave of presence permanent. RIP. “Roger Ebert dies at 70 after battle with cancer - Chicago Sun-Times” (via sciencevsromance)

“With Docracy’s big data tool, searcher.io, companies can quickly and more easily uncover “prior art,” information that can help shoot holes in the often weak patents used to bring infringement lawsuits. Prior art—patent applications, rejected patents, previously published descriptions of a technology—can invalidate a patent and any lawsuit based on it.”

- Startup helps firms fight frivolous lawsuits | Crain’s New York Business

(via Spiritualized played Secret Project Robot (pics, video, setlist))

Shine a Light, Let it Flow, Take your Time. I like this setlist a lot. Wish I went. 

maphugger:

Major Web Companies’ Data Centers (2013)

Click for the fullview.

If you like that linework of the U.S., it’s 100% free to download and use from Project Linework. And, in fact, that was the basic impetus for making this map: just something fun and simple to show off the linework, so it’s not the most earth-shattering in terms of data.

While researching the locations, though, I did come across some neat issues when it comes to the siting of data centers: state governments will give big breaks on property taxes for the luxury of attracting a data center to a rural community, even if the centers themselves produce a noxious amount of noise. Site selectors are also looking for places with lots of cheap, clean electricity, accounting for much of the data centers located in hydropower-rich regions. 

Alaska? Yep. Nope. 

Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division (1979)


Power, Corruption & Lies by New Order (1983)

nevver:

Albums as Book Sets

Oh lord my heart almost stopped for a moment there. 

Signing party! Litronica LLC is officially formed!

thelandofmaps:

In light of the recent pipeline burst in Arkansas. Here is the map of oil pipelines in the US (the green line broke in AR) [911x615]
CLICK HERE FOR MORE MAPS!
thelandofmaps.tumblr.com

COME ON. Trans Alaska Pipeline? Anyone?

coketalk:

Damn. These guys really know how to roll out an album.

This is so good. Giorgio forever.

I actually just posted the flyer for this show in my big day of retro scanning on Sunday, but since it’s April 3, and I’ve been meaning to kick “Music from my past” back into high gear, it’s impossible not to mention the Galaxie 500 and Cocteau Twins show at my college, Boston University, on this day 22 years ago. 

Weirdly, Galaxie 500 were one of the reasons I moved to Boston. “That town has Pixies, and Galaxie 500” my logic went. “It must be a good town.” I didn’t really know anything about the Boston music scene otherwise, but I figured that any town that spawned both of those bands had to be all right. And since Stanford had rejected me, I was pretty sure Boston was going to be where it was at. I’d gotten into several colleges there, and figured Galaxie 500 was reason enough to head there. That and it was as far away from Alaska as any college I had considered going to save for maybe UVA, but that was an architecture scholarship, and by that point I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to be an architect. This lead to many awkward discussions with UVA and University of Chicago. It’s weird. I wanted so badly to be an architect. I forget about it now, but at one point, I was one of those people, those children, who actually knew what they wanted to do. It went away before I ever went down that path, mainly owing to a career advisor at the University of Chicago telling me what a miserable existence most architects lead, and how little money they made. The odds of me being Frank Gehry or Richard Meier (god I was obsessed with him) were slim. On top of that, five years of school? No thanks. 

So Boston it was. The choice of Boston University was a bit more reckless, mainly financially driven and credit given. I had other options, but not other options I could afford. The cost of living differential to Alaska in the 80’s was huge. It was an expensive place to live, and people did not compensate for it. My mother was a teacher, my father a fire man. They made good money on paper, and they saved, but it was nothing enough to afford even “need blind” admission. BU, on the other hand, rolled out the red carpet. 3 full semesters of AP credit, and $10,000 a year grants. It was hard to say no. 

Especially with Galaxie 500 nearby. 

The thing is, though, for the entire first year I was there, they barely played Boston at all - they were on tour for “On Fire” much of the time, and when they did come to town, it was 21+.

So, nine months after my arrival in Boston, it was magically lucky that not only did Galaxie 500 decide to do an all ages show, but they decided to do it AT MY SCHOOL, and with the COCTEAU TWINS. I would have been ridiculously excited for the Cocteau Twins, too, and I was, though they had already come through town on the Heaven or Las Vegas tour, playing at the Orpheum with Mazzy Star (which was AWESOME). 

I was dating a girl at the time of the show, but she didn’t come. I don’t remember why. So I went with a guy friend. And I did an awful thing. I hooked up with this girl at the show, during “Tugboat.” We were both so excited, and we were singing along, and we caught each other’s eye, and, it all just happened. I was young, didn’t have a handle on sexuality or relationships. I knew it was wrong, and I wrote about it in my journal. My girlfriend read my journal. It was a big mess, my second big, bad breakup in my life. But this time it was completely, unavoidably my fault. That was the first time I felt that feeling as an adult - everything is wrong, everything is fucked up, and though you desperately want to rail against circumstance or society, you know full well it’s actually your fault. And you find the presence of mind to think “okay, stop. look at this, feel this. You did this. You don’t like feeling this way. You did this.” It was a small step on my journey to growing up. Did it magically change me? God no, but it made me change course a little bit. 

It turned out to be Galaxie 500’s last show in Boston ever. According to the liner notes in their box set, I learned that they went up to Maine or New Hampshire the next night (I can’t remember which) and played their last show. I am so grateful that I got to see them before they finished up. 

Back then, I could pretty much remember every day of my life since I was 13. I could tell you exactly what I was doing on that date. Two years later, I was dating a girl who was born on April 3. The day held special significance for me, and for years, I would mark its passing for all of these reasons. Now, I do still notice, some years, when it’s April 3, and mostly I think of listening to Tugboat, on the ice of the Walter Brown Arena, just feet away from the stage, caught up in young emotions, with that girl who I never saw again. 

Happy April 3!  

If you missed the small-venue spiritualized show tonight, you can catch them at Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace on Tax Day. 

““Startups are run by people who do what’s necessary at the time it’s needed. A lot of time that’s unglamorous work. A lot of times that’s not heroic work. Is that heroic? Is that standing on a stage in a black turtleneck, in front of 20,000 people talking about the future of phones? No. But that’s how companies are built. That person who did that for the iPhone launch at Apple, we don’t know who he is. All we know is that Steve Jobs came up with the iPhone. But he didn’t ship it. The person who bought the donuts did.””

- Jason Goldman, The Silent Partner

laughingsquid:

Screenstagram 2.0, An Instagram Screensaver For OSX & Windows

I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS IS FINALLY OUT. 

Coil, Unnatural History Postcard

Mistle Thrush, Bright, Cindytalk

This Mortal Coil Blood 1991 press kit