10/GUI from C. Miller on Vimeo.

This is  a visualization of all the McDonald’s in the continental U.S.:

Click on the photo to read the article about it.  Apparently, you’re never more than 100 miles from a location.  Technically, 107 miles.  But you get the picture.

It did get a little long, though.  A friend from college recommended that they would be much easier to read in a single post, and I am eager to see how it turns out.  I’m not editing anything.  I’m simply stringing together my tweets, so proofreading is minimal.  Curt sentences, abbreviations, or poor punctuation are all due to Twitter’s 140 character limit.  However, for the sake of readability, I’ll insert some paragraph breaks.  So here we go:

Powered up tweetdeck this morning. It interfered with listening to @ifanboy, hit pause. Clicked iPhone headphones, Man Man started up instd.

Griping abt technical glitches sounds so petty, but they can be so frustrating. It’s moments like these when I realize how much time I spend working with a computer or electronics in one fashion or another. All in all, it’s far too much time. And how ironic is it that I express this on Twitter?

Occasionally I’m struck by how engrossed our society has become in technology. It’s ubiquitous. I love being able to have a map of the whole world in my pocket. Or be an email away from anyone. 30 years ago, none of that was possible. But I grew up just as everything was changing. I knew a day before the internet, albeit briefly. And I also know that the existence of the Internet has changed the way I think. I expect immediate satisfaction of any question.

That can be highly rewarding, as well as highly distracting. I naturally don’t think in a straight line, so hyperlinks are dangerous. Spending a random 15-30 minutes is like going down the rabbit hole. 15-30 minutes online that is. I know I’m not the only person to believe that the Internet has the capacity to change the way we think as individuals & as a society@large.

Don’t get me wrong: I love the Internet. It’s a wonderful tool, and I advocate for it. It empowers everyone with a chance to be heard. The barrier to entry to become a netizen is minimal. Everyone may voice their opinions. The downside is, with so many voices screaming to be heard at once, the result is cacaphony. It’s still hard to separate the wheat&chaff

So although in theory the Internet allows equal footing (anyone can start a blog), old media archetypes seem almost inevitable. Big name websites like @gizmodo or @boingboing become trendsetters, tastemakers, and content finders, much like trad. publishers. Anyone who may have started a blog has learned how hard it is to get noticed. I’ve lost count of how many blogs I’ve started and stopped….Largely from what I perceived lack of interest. Perceived as a lack of interest. It’s still hard to get noticed, even with all the benefits of self-publishing that blogging allows.

But writing is just one aspect of the Internet. It goes far beyond writing, of course. The Internet frees access to information. And that is a wonderful thing. It is a great tool that encompasses anything that is susceptible to digitization. Which is a lot. I will end my rant soon. A couple more points to make.

Ok. I’m done with that line of thought now. Back to random tweets.

Fin

So?  What do you think?  Does a post that started on Twitter, which is supposedly accelerating the death of the English language, still make reasonable sense?  Granted, it doesn’t have the polish that a normal piece would have.  But does it still convey the central train of thought?  Let me know.

On a similar note, the Smithsonian has a website dedicated to transportation in America. It’s a website that is as interesting as you make it.  I didn’t explore it that much before moving on.  But I’m hair-brained and easily distracted.

Finally, if you want to see a collection of photos that beautifully illustrates how buildings remain constant in a changing community and society, check out the post my wife put up. The photos themselves speak more eloquently than I ever could.  They are visually arresting and a delight to go through.

Emily and I got a new car. Our old one had become a money pit, and the maintenance costs had begun to skyrocket. Eventually the car would reach a top speed of 35, which is not ideal for driving on Lakeshore or 290. Totally unsafe.

We got a Honda Fit, and we have been completely satisfied. It’s a great city car: compact, fuel efficient, versatile. Much easier to parallel park. Aside from a nasty incident that if we’re friends on facebook you’ll already know about, we haven’t had any complaints.

With that change comes another: I am now driving to work instead of taking public trans. I know it is far less green, and I now use more fuel, but I must tell you, the ability to be home at 5:00-5:30 instead of 7:00-7:30 is wonderful. My evenings before could be very constrained. Now, I’m much more at ease when I get home. My night has opened up. It’s liberating. (I do miss seeing familiar faces and people watching on the bus, though. A lot.)

I’m also done with my coursework for my masters! Didn’t have much time for celebration though; I’ve since started an LSAT prep class. Logic games, reading comp….all the fun stuff.

Emily also finished her written proposal for her PhD program. I’m very proud of her for that. It’s an incredible accomplishment.

We also celebrated our 2 year anniversary this month, and my birthday. We went out on both occasions and had a great time.

It’s been a good month.

I still don’t have the budget to start buying comics weekly, and don’t know what I books I would commit to buying if I did. For a while now, I’ve been following comic book storylines on Wikipedia, and staying up to date that way, although it’s not entirely satisfying. Recently, though, I’ve found some solid podcasts that I really enjoy.*

The first podcast to mention is Around Comics, which is recorded and produced by fellow Chicagoans.  This is a roundtable format show where a group of guys get together and talk about comics together.  It’s solid (although none of them give Cubs fans a fair shake), and very entertaining.

Another one I’ve listened to a few times is 11 o’clock comics.  This is a more rambling podcast with less structure, probably because there is more alcohol involved.  Aside from some overly verbose diatribes into manga, it’s also pretty solid.  Some of their plot summaries could be a little shorter, though.

There’s also Word Balloon, where another Chicagoan interviews comic book writers.  I’ve only downloaded a few, but they were good.  I liked the one with Geoff Johns.  Since I’ve listened to less of these, I don’t feel qualified to say much more, but it’s worth checking out.

Finally, there’s Tom vs. the Flash.  This is a different type of podcast altogether than the others I’ve described.  It involves Tom Katers (who is also a part of the Around Comics podcast) narrating and commenting on old Silver Age Flash comics.  They’re about 15 minutes long on average, and very entertaining.  He pokes fun at absurd plot holes, provides some hilarious social commentary, and turns out to be an unannoying continuity nerd.

I recommend checking all of these out if you’re into comics.  And on another note, I’m proud of Chicago for being such a treasure trove of quality podcasters.

*I’ve linked to each podcast’s website, but all of these are easily accessible and searchable through iTunes.