Archives

Mob Mentality

The SopranosIt’s nothing new to say that “The Sopranos” has got to be the best thing on television, but I have to addmy voice to the chorus nevertheless. Having recently caught up on the first three seasons via their DVD releases and watched the fourth season premiere at a friend’s earlier this evening, I have to say that almost everything written in praise of this show is actually true — it is a meticulously crafted dramatic tapestry, it is funnier and scarier than most anything ever seen on television, and it is just that good. What strikes me most about it is how perfectly balanced it is, how it’s constituted of exactly the right amounts of humor, pathos, drama and violence. Now, if only I had HBO.

Continue Reading …

+

Marks, Ropers and Insidemen

The Big ConRight now, I’m halfway through reading “The Big Con,” originally published in 1940, and a major source of inspiration for movies like “The Sting” and, reportedly, the playwright, screenwriter and director David Mamet. The book’s author, David Maurer, was a linguist, but his investigation of the lingo of con men led him to write this engrossing account of marks, ropers, insidemen and the bizarro reality of the big confidence games. It reads like part historical account, part how-to manual,and part hard-boiled fiction.

Continue Reading …

+

Gain

GainHere it is, Behavior’s latest site launch: Gain, the all-new online magazine from the American Institute of Graphic Arts. Gain started life in the dot-com boom as a journal focusing on the practice of experience design, but in this new incarnation it’s all about the increasingly crucial relationship between the business and design worlds. We’ve been working on relaunching this magazine for a while, and we’re pretty proud of it. Enjoy!

Continue Reading …

+

Launchables

LaunchStay tuned until tomorrow for a new Web site launch by Behavior. This is what’s been occupying much of my time — trying to pull together the dozens of tiny parts that go into a launch, and keeping track of all of them while also trying to get some design done. Not to mention sleep and play. At any rate, it’s going to be pretty fun and I’m proud and excited. More tomorrow.

Continue Reading …

+

A Side Note

I am getting back on my feet after a kind of unnerving recent change in my personal life. I often wonder if I should be posting more personal entries in this blog, but for now I’ll continue to refrain. Posts may be intermittent over the next week or two, at least.

Continue Reading …

+

Computer Imaging

Computers: An Illustrated HistoryGerman art book publisher Taschen has released what I sheepishly admit is probably the perfect book for me: “Computers, An Illustrated History.” The book is a somewhat perfunctory historical account of the evolution of big iron mainframes and unexpectedly powerful ‘micro-computers’ and PCs, but probably no one should consider it authoritative. Rather, its true value is as a quietly lavish compendium of 50+ years of computer photographs, mostly marketing shots of hardware. Nostalgiac kitsch aside, this is a remarkable compilation of coolly alluring imagery, some of which is beautiful, and some of which is frightening — but most all of which seems to promise a kind of precision-controlled, modernistic utopia, if only humans would give themselves over to the digital world.

Continue Reading …

+

Chill Factor

The Electronic Frontier Foundation and Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, University of San Francisco, and University of Maine law school clinics have joined forces to produce Chilling Effects, a Web site devoted to educating the public on their rights within the First Amendment and copyright laws. “[It] offers background material and explanations of the law for people whose websites deal with topics such as Fan Fiction, Copyright, Domain Names and Trademarks, Anonymous Speech, and Defamation.” Have a look at the database of cease and desist letters sent by megacorporations to perceived violators of their copyrights to get an idea why the site has that name.

Continue Reading …

+