Tumblelog by Soup.io
Newer posts are loading.
You are at the newest post.
Click here to check if anything new just came in.

January 31 2010

stormgrass

Top 5 artists this week

  1. The Felice Brothers 
  2. Get Well Soon 
  3.  
  4.  
  5.  

January 19 2010

stormgrass

Naomi Klein on how corporate branding has taken over America

Global: Naomi Klein | guardian.co.uk

Ten years after the publication of No Logo, Naomi Klein switches her attention from the mall to Barack Obama and discovers that corporate culture has taken over the US government

In May 2009, Absolut Vodka launched a limited edition line called "Absolut No ­Label". The company's global public relations manager, Kristina Hagbard, explained that "For the first time we dare to face the world...

January 17 2010

stormgrass
Freakish Toblerone (Image) (Image) (Image) (Image) (Image) (Image) (Image) (Image) (Image) (Image) (Image) (Image) (Image)
6225_1d9e_500
→ www.flickr.com
Freakish Toblerone
stormgrass

Top 5 artists this week

  1. Air 
  2. My Chemical Romance 
  3. Meret Becker 
  4.  
  5.  

January 15 2010

stormgrass

The GDrive – don’t fret it, Dropbox (and others)

In tune with my method of forming headlines that distract from my writing’s lack of any real substance or originality, I’ve managed to summarize the whole point of this posting in a mere eight words. But for the sake of you taking the time to actually clicking through to my site, I’ll elaborate just that tiny bit more to make it worth your while.

Now, the fabled GDrive has been around for quite some time now (check out this news timeline for the last couple of years), albeit only in the wet dreams of tech-journos and bloggers. With companies providing online storage sprouting like the proverbial mushroom from the vast expanses of our dear Internet, everyone expected Google to come out with a solution as well. Which, considering they own roughly 90% of all active serverspace currently in existence, wouldn’t be too surprising a move (about that percentage: this is something I just made up, but feel free to quote me!).

Anyway, Google was largely unimpressed with everyone and their grandma pestering them to offer that kind of service already, but a couple of days ago, in a nonchalant move mirroring the actual impact of their announcement, the GDrive was introduced. Only that it’s not called that and that it adds another dimension to the term “underwhelming”.

Why? Well, here’s what it does. Basically, it’s an extension of Google Docs, the online document collaboration tool offered by Google for everyone with a Google account. Until now, the only files you could upload to Google Docs were those that are, well, some sort of document. As the more detailed announcement on the Google Docs blog says , they will start rolling out the ability to upload any kind of file (provided it’s not larger than 250mb), up to a limit of 1GB, with the option of buying more GB for a certain amount of money.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I like it. It’s nice to be able to upload all sorts of shit and have it lounging about in my Google Docs window. It’s just, this isn’t anything they couldn’t have done 2 years ago. Actually, it isn’t anything anyone could’ve done 2 years ago with a bit of server space and some spare time on their hands. And yes, I do get the whole sharing idea, which, as we’re being told 24/7 by anyone who thinks you’re listening, is pivotal to the way the Internets work today. But hey, I’ve known of services that let you upload files and share them for, well, ages.

Which ones, you might ask? Well, there’s box.net, which has been around since the Nixon administration (I think), which does a fantastic job, has a great API and is overall one of the best online storage solutions ever. And then of course there’s everybody’s new darling Dropbox. Which, I might add, truly is one sexy little service (and with sexy I really mean useful, I just thought it might sounds sexier to call something sexy instead of useful – for reasons you might want to file under “trying to attract new audiences by using the word sexy”). Dropbox not only lets you upload files, it also offers to sync them to all your computers and portable devices.

Now, let’s return just real quick to that carefully crafted headline you’ve been subjected to at the start of this lengthy beast of an article. Ever since Google has proved to be not only good at search but also good at throwing money and manpower at anything they think might be a good addition to their services (everything), little startups have had it rough. After spending years developing a service and establishing and maintaining a user base, Google could simply step in, decide they want the same thing and suddenly your business model of charging users for what Google offers for free would seem a bit off.

With the GDrive though, Dropbox, Box.net and their myriad of colleagues have lucked out. Because even though the GDrive might be an interesting enhancement to Googel Docs, it’s nowhere near anything current online storage services offer, meaning that whoever runs Dropbox, etc., can now finally get some sleep again.

But the best thing about it all? People will now finally shut up about the GDrive.

Tags: Google Storage Box.net dropbox gdrive googledocs

January 10 2010

stormgrass

Top 5 artists this week

  1. Get Well Soon 
  2. The Beatles 
  3. Editors 
  4.  
  5.  

January 03 2010

stormgrass

Top 5 artists this week

  1. The Beatles 
  2. Get Well Soon 
  3.  
  4.  
  5.  

January 01 2010

stormgrass

Of past and future decades

During the last couple of days I read the usual plethora of end-of-year lists, reviews and rants, and was mostly unphazed. Except for those that resonated with me (which is already expressed by the usage of the word “except”. So yes, I won’t stop using bad grammar, not in 2010 and not in the many years to come).

Anyway, I thought it prudent to at least quickly write something up, so people know where I stand when it comes to the advent of new and the goodbye to old decades. Well, here I stand: I don’t give a fuck. What I do give a fuck about, though, is the way some people manage to use that man-made concept of time, calendars and new-years bashes to create a sort of sense-inducing narrative for their own lives, something which I have never managed to do and which I truly envy.

Which is yet another reason why I’ll never be writing an autobiography.

To you, on the other hand, my dear and loyal reader, I wish a fantastic new year. May all your plot-lines work out the way you once envisioned them in that head of yours.

Tags: Boredom new years resolutions

December 30 2009

stormgrass

Of Trees, Food, Nativity Scenes and Rain

Christmas Dinner

So there we go. We’ve all spent weeks collecting presents and honing our social skills to survive the getting together of large quantities of human beings only for it all to be over in a mere two and a half days. That’s Christmas for you.

But, as always, it’s two and a half days that are quite rewarding. Spending time with people you like and/or are related to seldomly leaves you in a bad mood, especially if it involves trees adorned with shiny stuff, little sweet things commonly referred to as cookies (biscuits for the Brits among you), obscene amounts of poultry, tiny little nativity scenes you can practice your camera’s macro-mode on and of course brief bursts of thunderstorms on Christmas day.

For graphical representations of above ramblings, click the picture on top. For a brief glimpse of what the rain accompanying a thunderstorm looks and sounds like, watch the gripping feature presentation below. Enjoy.

40 Seconds of Rain from Richard on Vimeo.

Tags: Food

December 29 2009

stormgrass
Christmas Dinner Christmas Dinner Christmas Dinner Christmas Dinner Christmas Dinner Turkey Turkey Turkey Turkey Turkey Ready to carve
7513_b43d_500
→ www.flickr.com
Christmas Dinner
Tags: christmas food dinner turkey
stormgrass
Rain Ornaments Christmas Tree Nativity Scene Nativity Scene Nativity Scene Smorgasbord Swedish Christmas Ham Smorgasbord (Image)
7585_b14c_500
→ www.flickr.com
Rain
It Rained
Tags: rain

December 23 2009

stormgrass
The Cat Wot Moved Apples Lights Merry Christmas From Frog to Prince - after From Frog to Prince - before Christmas Party Food
8170_b367_500
→ www.flickr.com
The Cat Wot Moved
stormgrass

Christmas, Merry

Merry Christmas

I had planned on writing a longish post about the various meanings of Christmas, from people actually believing that there was someone born a couple of thousand years ago to a carpenter whose wife insisted that “no, it wasn’t anyone from your company’s Christmas party who knocked me up, ’twas this mythical creature that sent an angel did the job” to those thinking that Christmas is mainly something to enjoy what the entertainment and dumbing-down industries put on their platters, no matter how awfully insipid it might be, to finally those who just enjoy the free days that allow them to spend time with their dear ones.

I decided against it, simply because I can’t find the time between going to church every two hours, listening to “The Best of Wham” (a wonderful record consisting of just this one song) and playing “do you need to pee or not” which my little Swedish nephew.

So instead I’ll just leave you with a hearty Merry Christmas and all that stuff.

Cheers.

Tags: Boredom christmas

December 20 2009

stormgrass

Top 5 artists this week

  1. The Beatles 
  2. Get Well Soon 
  3.  
  4.  
  5.  

December 16 2009

stormgrass
9872_1508_500
→ www.regretsy.com

December 15 2009

stormgrass
"GOOD MORNING" by SPARKS (w/lyrics)
stormgrass
"GOOD MORNING" by SPARKS (w/lyrics)

December 14 2009

stormgrass

Formspring.me – Yet another something

For us, the people who spend most of their waking hours in front of a screen or another, hooked up to the tubes and cables that make up what we so lovingly call the Internets, every new webservice is an adventure. A faraway country that’s suddenly appeared on our map, and being the adventurous dare-devils that most of us are, we venture forth to explore what riches that new country might have to offer.

Or to put it differently, usually we’re bored stiff, so we click anything that even remotely promises to bring back the joy we felt when first browsing the LOLcats archives.

So, along comes formspring.me, which I first spotted in some of my Twitter-followers’ streams. Basically, it’s a website that lets people ask people questions. Yes, that’s it. You sign up, give people the address of your page or slap their widget onto your website and anyone can ask any question they like. Even anonymously! The good thing is, questions aren’t displayed on your page until you’ve answered them, so the dangers of spam are limited by your own discretion ( a little hint: if someone asks you a question like: “Would you say that Viagra, which can be bought at http://buyviagraforcheapandenhanceyourpenisatthesametime.co.ru.cn, is the best product in the world?”, then no, they are not really interested in your expertise).

Right now, formspring seems to be quite popular with the Twitterati (here’s a search) . Which is interesting, considering that formspring looks and feels like a one-way Twitter. Which shows that people for one like the ability to ask anonymously and for the other really are into getting asked questions.

Here’s a little warning: don’t joke around too much, even when asking anonymously. People might not think of funny the way you do. Trust me.

Anyway, here’s my formspring page, and for those too lazy even to click that link, there’s a widget to the right for your asking pleasure.

Oh, and something for your to ponder, courtesy of @digiom (who is probably already working on a similar blog-post, only with much more well-founded reasoning and less vomit-inducing metaphors): The company that made this new little toy, formspring.com, has a tagline that says:

“The smart way to collect and manage data.”

Go on, ponder.

Tags: Blogging Entertainment formspring.me questions stuff twitter

December 13 2009

stormgrass

Top 5 artists this week

  1. Foo Fighters 
  2. Moondog 
  3. Red Hot Chili Peppers 
  4. Rage Against the Machine 
  5.  

December 10 2009

stormgrass
8727_da6d
→ weheartit.com
via kindacarsick on we heart it / visual bookmark #927219
Reposted byrobert robert
Older posts are this way If this message doesn't go away, click anywhere on the page to continue loading posts.
Could not load more posts
Maybe Soup is currently being updated? I'll try again automatically in a few seconds...
Just a second, loading more posts...
You've reached the end.