Michal Migurski's Reblog: Published items (items 1 to 25)

"We are Lina Faller, Marcel Mieth, Thomas Stussi and Susanne Weck, an artist group called FMSW, settled in Berlin, Germany. Since 2001 FMSW deals with positioning and the question: 'where are we actually?', the GPS is one of our tools to approximate. 'Towards Zero' was the idea of branding Point Zero to verify the GPS-System. In our luggage we carried a high vakuum, enclosed in a hollow steel ball. Branding zero with nothing as consequence of our studies. We started on 11th May 2007. We embarked the Grande Argentina in Hamburg, which shipped us to Tema, Ghana. It was the idea about moving slowly towards zero. We had three weeks to observe the horizon and to concentrate on the project. After stops in Dakar, Cotonou and Lagos we entered Ghana on June 1. There we had to find a small but good and fast vessel which could bring us to point zero."

Originally from Pinboard (Network for migurski) by straup reBlogged to via:straup germans fmcw nullisland africa geography art

"In software development, we are essentially working on the same car or widget continuously, often for years. We are in the same soup, the same codebase. We can't expect a model based on independence of pieces in manufacturing to be accurate when we are working continuously on a single thing (a codebase) that shows wear over time and needs constant attention. No, to me, code is inventory. It is stuff lying around and it has substantial cost of ownership. It might do us good to consider what we can do to minimize it. I think that the future belongs to organizations that learn how to strategically delete code. Many companies are getting better at cutting unprofitable features in their products, but the next step is to pull those features out by the root: the code. Carrying costs are larger than we think. There's competitive advantage for companies that recognize this."

Originally from Pinboard (Network for migurski) by kellan reBlogged to via:kellan lean code programming development liability economics management business time

"Wikipedia articles can be tagged with latitude/longitude coordinates. I was recently curious to know: which areas have the most coverage? It's important not to read too much into the answer, because the density of coordinates is due to a mixture of: how active different Wikipedia language projects are, how active at geo-tagging they are, which regions have had lots of short articles mechanically imported (e.g. on small towns, or metro stations), and finally, the actual landmark density (e.g. dense urban cores versus sprawling suburbs). But nonetheless it might be interesting to know. So, here are the most densely Wikipedia-article-populated parts of the world, at several scales."

Originally from Pinboard (Network for migurski) by fakeisthenewreal reBlogged to via:fakeisthenewreal geo geography wikipedia polymaps coverage maps mapping map cities knowledge history

"What we failed to ask was, 'Who cares?' Blippy raised almost $13 million in funding and at some point its valuation was at $46.2 million, with enviable investor David Hornik posting his $8 million dollar purchase of Blippy stock on Blippy itself. ... Things eventually quieted down as they are wont to do in media hype land. And then we kind of stopped writing about it, caught up in the hockey stick growth of Groupon and Facebook and Quora. We stopped writing about it so much so that we missed the fact that it pivoted from a purchase sharing site to a user reviews site, starting with the introduction of user reviews on July 23rd 2010 and then moving of the platform fully on to reviews by October of the same year."

"The USA TODAY Census API allows developers to easily and programmatically access United States Census information. Data concerning ethnicity, housing, population and race is available from both the 2000 and 2010 census, as well as basic population numbers dating back to the original 1790 census. All data returned in JSON formatting. Please refer to our documentation below which describes in detail how data can be requested and returned. We welcome your feedback, so please contribute to our forum or contact us at api@usatoday.com."

Originally from Pinboard (Network for migurski) by dwillis reBlogged to via:dwillis usatoday census api json rest data newspaper news journalism government

"As we watch this machine, this engine that runs on memories and identity and watch it sell every last bit of us to anyone who will pay, as it mulches under our self and our dreams and our ideas and turns them into a grey miserable paste suitable for a side dish or the full entree of the human online experience, I am sure many of us will say it's no big deal. ... I can only hope that all the projects and processes and memories and history that I am focusing on will make me happy in the face of the colorless, null-void cloud of pre-collapsed galaxy that is the Facebook Nebula. Thanks for your question!"

Originally from Pinboard (Network for migurski) by nelson reBlogged to facebook archive jasonscott archiveteam history memory metaphor via:nelson rant awesome

"The page fails on a fundamental level - it's supposed to be where you find out what's happened on Flickr while you were away. The current design, unfortunately, encourages random clicking, not informed exploration. The page isn't just outdated, it's actively hurting Flickr, as members' social graphs on the site become increasingly out of sync with real life. Old users forget to visit the site, new sign ups are never roped in, and Flickr, who increased member sign-ups substantially in 2010, will forego months of solid work when new members don't come back."

Originally from Pinboard (Network for migurski) by straup reBlogged to re:timoni via:straup flickr design web friends recent contacts socialgraph

"building=yes is a searchable and linkable index of every single way tagged building=yes in OpenStreetMap (OSM). A web page for every building in OpenStreetMap! You can link to buildings using their 64-bit building=yes identifier or their OSM way ID. Each building has been tagged with one or more Where On Earth (WOE) IDs so you can also search for buildings by place."

Originally from Pinboard (Network for migurski) by sha reBlogged to everyoneiknowisdoingawesomeshit re:straup via:shashashasha osm openstreetmap solr building atkinson map maps mapping world equalsyes

"The present study examines ways of creating analytical hill-shaded images by applying more than one light sources, in order to eliminate, at a certain degree, two deficiencies present in single lighted hill-shaded images. ... This methodology aims to achieve a more balanced result of hill-shading, in such a way that the perception of the initial optimal lighting is preserved, as well as, the major relief forms in all directions are revealed or even sharper local details are enhanced."

"The idea behind resolution bumping is simple: by merging low-resolution and high-resolution GTOPO30 data of the same area, hybrid data are produced that combine the best characteristics and minimize the problems found in the originals. The technique uses GTOPO30 data in 16-bit grayscale format in Photoshop. Two copies of a GTOPO30 file are used, one high resolution and the other downsampled to a lower resolution, these can then be blended together by a proportional amount controlled by the user. This yields a new grayscale "DEM" that, if merged in the right proportions, combines the readability of the downsampled data with all the detail one expects to find in mountainous terrain - without the graphical noise. Resolution bumping in effect "bumps" or etches a suggestion of topographical detail onto generalized topographic surfaces."

"The aerial perspective effect is an essential design component of traditional shaded relief, which is based on natural observation. The concept is familiar to anyone who has hiked up a mountain--the veiling effects of atmospheric haze cause topographic features in the distance to look fainter than features in the foreground. When aerial perspective is applied to map shaded relief, higher topographic features should be shown with slightly more contrast than lowland features because they appear closer to readers who, theoretically, view the map from above. ... Fortunately, there is a simple procedure for introducing aerial perspective to digital shaded relief."

"Leaflet - a new open source JavaScript library for interactive maps for both mobile and desktop browsers, developed by CloudMade to form the core of its next generation Web Maps API. Leaflet is built from the ground up to work efficiently and smoothly on both platforms. It's very fast, lightweight while still having a strong browser support, and really easy to use. It also has a clean, simple and readable OOP-based code, and it's hosted on the world's best open source collaboration platform GitHub, so contributing is a snap.

"There is innovation occurring at many big companies. The thing that big companies really struggle to do is to ship. How to launch a new product within the context of an existing brand, an existing economic structure, how to not impute a strategy tax on a new product, an existing organizational structure, etc. These are the challenges that usually cause the breakdown and where big company innovation, in my experience, so often comes apart."

Originally from Laughing Meme by Kellan reBlogged to via:kellan business lunchcounter shipping realartists work velocity

"This is a tough question here, in Novosibirsk, where almost all PC users know 2gis, the desktop city map/yellow pages with a huge business database and public transport routing. It's free to get and to list your business, but completely closed source, both data and the software. ... This model was invented in 1998 and is pretty outdated, but all together still manages to satisfy the users. ... So, Novosibirsk is their native city. Everyone knows 2gis. When someone needs to go somewhere, they open 2gis and search the address. I find few areas and people who could be interested in using and contributing to OSM. It's a tough question. That's why last several months I have been drawing rural areas and small towns, the places in which 2gis will never be interested, or will have not enough resources to map."

"Being opposed to technology is profoundly at odds with the book business because what is the book but technology, technology that has been smoothed and sanded by repeated contact with human society into the most comfortable technology we have, as taken for granted as our clothes, product of the looms. ... We cannot know how much magnificent culture went unpublished by the white men in tweed jackets who ran publishing for the past century but just because they did publish some great books doesn’t mean they didn’t ignore a great many more."

Originally from Pinboard (Network for migurski) by stml reBlogged to via:stml book technology history printing publishing

Operators of the 70s/80s Scanimate motion graphics hardware talk about their work - amazing how much of this was done using motors and mylar and bits of tin foil and junk.

"Yay, I get to explain my 'Levels of Boston Navigation', developed as I tried to learn my way around Boston...: Level 0 - Navigation by street name) You find where you want to go on the map, and write out the route Google-maps style. Level 1 - Landmarks) You learn where key landmarks are, and the names of some of the larger 'squares'. Level 2 - Used-to-be) After you've been in the City for a while, you learn to give and take directions based on what used to be at an intersection. Level 3 - Gonna) The most advanced level. Involves giving directions based on what they were going to build, but never actually did."

Seth Godin explains trademarks and genericity.

Originally from Seth's Blog by Seth Godin reBlogged on Nov 4, 2006, 6:45AM

"Great websites don't explain every little icon in big type--they give newbies a chance to figure it out and they let the regulars use a tool they enjoy. Some of the most popular blogs and websites on the web are hard to understand the first time you get there. Not hard for hard's sake, but hard because there's a lot of power in a little space and explaining it all would actually make it work worse."

Originally from Seth's Blog by Seth Godin reBlogged on Aug 17, 2006, 4:46AM

"A new product called, SquidSoap is designed to teach kids good habits in washing their hands thoroughly. When you push down on SquidSoap's dispenser, it shoots a small amount of black ink with the soap. You're supposed to keep washing your hands until you remove all the black ink. It takes about 15 to 20 seconds to get everything off."

Originally from Seth's Blog by Seth Godin reBlogged on Aug 3, 2006, 9:48AM

"The lettering in the Chanel logo is neutral, blank, open-ended: what we see when we look at it is eight decades' worth of accumulated associations. In the world of identity design, very few designs mean anything when they're brand new. A good logo, according to Paul Rand, provides the pleasure of recognition and the promise of meaning."

Originally from Seth's Blog by Seth Godin reBlogged on Jun 22, 2006, 3:04PM

"If you're given the task of finding a logo for an organization, your first task should be to try to get someone else to do it. If you fail at that, find an abstract image that is clean and simple and carries very little meaning--until your brand adds that meaning. It's not a popularity contest. Or a job for a committee."

Originally from Seth's Blog by Seth Godin reBlogged

"The local TV element is hysterical, but what I commend you to is the extremely viral nature of the tattoo. By turning something passive (body art) into something active, the item spread like wildfire. (It also helps that it feels like a much smaller commitment than say, an eagle on your back.)"

Originally from Seth's Blog by Seth Godin reBlogged

"Who should get your best effort? Should it be the new customer who you just might be able to convert into a long-term customer? Or should it be the loyal customer who is already valuable? Sorry, but the answer is this: *you can't have a bad table*. Treat different people differently. But don't treat anyone worse."

Originally from Seth's Blog by Seth Godin reBlogged

"The 'Birth Clock' is a fragile glass object containing a digital clock that is not working; it is designed to help you to come to a decision when you're stuck at a specific point in life. Smash the glass, and the clock will start to work, leaving you with the broken object as a reminder of your dramatic decision."

Originally from Seth's Blog by Seth Godin reBlogged

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