Yahoo Supports OpenID

Yesterday I was reminded of a few pithy truisms about Ye Olde Internets: Never post anything on the internet that you aren’t comfortable with it existing forever. On the internet, copyright is largely irrelevant. APIs and the ecosystem they support provide interesting mechanisms for discovering both new works and infringement.

I’m pretty liberal with usage rights. In general, if someone isn’t deriving income from the reuse of something I’ve created, then I don’t request compensation, only credit. I’ve considered using a blanket Creative Commons license for [most of] my stuff, but haven’t researched it enough to understand all the ramifications. For now, everything is ©, All Rights Reserved. This has proven to work well. I used to create textures for the indie mapping scene. Occasionally I’d get reports from people who’d played a game that reused my textures without credit (or compensation), but in all cases a few phone calls or emails resolved the situation.

Yesterday I saw a Google link to a Flickr DNA page for my photos. From there, I clicked to a related Technorati page with references to my photos. Curious, I dug in a bit more and found these minor references:

10000 ft from Mauna Kea
Did You Knows?
Mike Cane linking my Oh Noes Foleo picture.

Simple, nothing crazy or too profound, but interesting to see what other people think is interesting.

Fligr for Flickr

January 15, 2008

TypePad doesn’t have any of the great Flickr connectivity that Vox does, and I really wanted a way to quickly post photos from my Flickr account to this blog. So begat this hack:

Fligr, the Flickr grabber.

Drag the link to your browser toolbar (or click to test on this page). Hooray, easy HTML to poach photos!

Last Minute Keynote Prediction

January 14, 2008

OK, I’ll bite: I think Apple will introduce the MacBook Air with 3G chipset of some sort and announce a partnership with AT&T for flat-rate unlimited data access.

No Country for You

January 14, 2008

Spotted at the Strand a couple days ago on the aging/self-help table near the front.

Abraço, Bespoke Coffee in the East Village

January 13, 2008

One morning at my local, Piccino, I inquired where Jamie was. “He moved to New York,” was the reply. I was dismayed, SF had lost a prodigal barista and a good soul. Fast-forward a year, and by complete chance I walk into this tiny place, Abraço Espresso (7th street @ 1st Ave) and there was my friend! He and his business partners (also San Francisco expats) have brought ristretto perfection to the East Village.

We were greeted like old friends, crowded into the tiny space between the door and the bar; which evoked the Linden kiosk in Hayes Valley with its combination of walnut and fogged plexiglass, stainless steel and the hulking Marzocco.

We stayed for an hour and a half, chatting with Jamie’s business partners, sampling the food (and of course the divine espresso). Took photos and met new friends, got directions to a haberdashery and enjoyed the warmth of the space.

Abraço doesn’t have decaf or soy milk (they make their own almond milk from scratch for the dairy-averse). There’s no wi-fi or MP3s being pumped into the air. The music comes from an LP, the turntable perched atop a cage shelf already crammed into the impossibly tiny, but well-laid out space. Nothing feels out of place, object, patron or otherwise.

The neon sign that’s visible through the window from 1st ave: