February 2009

Fish Pedicures?

by Joey deVilla on February 26, 2009

Woman's foot with painted toenails, with little fish nibbling on it

I had no idea that fish pedicures – where you stick your feet in a tank of carp, who then eat the dead skin – existed, never mind that they’ve also been banned in some U.S. states. Here’s an Associated Press video report on the practice and its ban.

{ 2 comments }

“Beatle Juice”: Gorgeous Package Design

by Joey deVilla on February 26, 2009

I love this design concept created by Marc Valega: Beatle Juice!

"Beatle Juice": Juice boxes featuring the Beatles as they appeared in "Yellow Submarine", with the flavours "Apple McCartney", "John Lemo", "George Pearrison" and "Mango Starr".

Here are the juice box layouts:

"Apple McCartney" package in flat form

"John Lemon" package in flat form

"George Pearrison" package in flat form

"Mango Starr" package in flat form

{ 14 comments }

The Truth About the Jonas “Brothers”

by Joey deVilla on February 26, 2009

Rolling Stone cover featuring the Jonas Brothers, featuring one of them morphing into a woman quite seamlessly

I suspected as much. [Photo courtesy of Merricat]

{ 1 comment }

M.C. Escher, Economist

by Joey deVilla on February 25, 2009

I like Mark McHugh’s theory that M.C. Escher’s art was in fact his representations of economic theories. For example, here’s trickle-down economics (the very mention of which always causes me to say “Laffer? You brought her!”):

escher-economy1a

This one’s for sustained growth:

escher-economy2

And this is deficit financing:

mcq-escher-hands2

{ 1 comment }

Ouch!

by Joey deVilla on February 25, 2009

Sometimes the combination of drinking and darts doesn’t seem like a good idea:

Shirtless guy with a dart down his buttcrack does a sexy dance by the dartboard and gets a dart int he side of his head

{ 3 comments }

Yesterday’s “Coffee and Code” at Le Gourmand

by Joey deVilla on February 25, 2009

feb_24_coffee_and_code

Yesterday’s Coffee and Code – the weekly gathering where I leave the home and Microsoft offices and work in a cafe where I’m very accessible – was held at Le Gourmand in the Queen/Spadina neighbourhood. We were 13 people all told, not including the passers-by who wondered about a large gathering of people with laptops and with whom we started a conversation.

For more details, see this entry in the Coffee and Code blog.

{ 1 comment }

This article originally appeared on Global Nerdy.

Over at Kevin Kelly’s blog, The Technium, there’s a video of an amusing interview on Conan O’Brien where comedian Louis CK talks about how we take today’s technology and the way it improves our lives for granted. Kelly describes it as "a cartoon version of a more serious argument that we become blind to progress".

{ 1 comment }

Today: Coffee and Code, and Other Geeky get-Togethers

by Joey deVilla on February 24, 2009

This article originally appeared in Coffee and Code.

The cast of "Hackers"

Coffee and Code is happening today, Tuesday, February 24th, from about 1:30 p.m to 5:30 p.m. at Le Gourmand, (152 Spadina, on the west side, south of Queen and north of Richmond).

It’s not the only geeky get-together in Toronto today:

  • The Developer Lunch (the 10th so far!) takes place today at Noon at Sky Dragon restaurant, on the top floor of Dragon City mall, at the southwest corner of Spadina and Dundas.
  • Later this evening, I’ll be at HacklabTO’s open lab, which takes place every Tuesday night. I’m bringing the Xbox 360 with me, although the Rock Band kit will have to wait for some other night.
  • Also tonight is FacebookCamp 5, a.k.a. Facebook Developer Garage. It’s at MaRS and starts at starts at 6:30. Admission is free.
  • UX Book Club Toronto is meeting tonight at C’est What at 6:30 p.m.. Tonight’s book: user experience guru Bill Buxton’s Sketching User Experiences: Getting the Design Right and the Right Design.

{ 0 comments }

And on the Third Day, He Carved Some Serious Powder

by Joey deVilla on February 23, 2009

Gotta love Jesus – not only could they fail to kill him, they couldn’t even ruin his vacation! Jayme sent me this photo, which she took on College near Dovercourt.

they_put_jesus_to_death

Personally, I think Jesus would’ve preferred a snowboard.

{ 3 comments }

Future Man Tried to Warn Us

by Joey deVilla on February 23, 2009

This article originally appeared in Global Nerdy.

Early 1960s businessmen talking to man in astronaut suit: "So you're saying people will 'tweet' what they're eating for breakfast?" "And 'upload' pictures of their breakfasts to a 'Facebook'?" "And other people will look at the breakfasts and make comments?" "No offense, future man, but is everyone in your time retarded?" "Sorry to burst your bubble, dudes, but you asked. Yes, that's the future."
Click the photo to see its source.

{ 0 comments }

Coffee and Code: This Tuesday Afternoon at Le Gourmand

by Joey deVilla on February 23, 2009

This article was originally posted on the Coffee and Code blog.

Here’s a picture of where this week’s Coffee and Code will take place:

Le Gourmand: Best damned chocolate chip cookie in the city

On Tuesday, February 24th, from about 1:30 p.m to 5:30 p.m., I’ll be at Le Gourmand, which is located at 152 Spadina (on the west side, south of Queen and north of Richmond). If you’ve ever gone walking around Paris looking for a quick bite to eat, it’ll give you a sense of deja vu. It’s a cafe that doubles as a somewhat pricey mini-grocery that carries gourmet food. They make excellent coffee and hot chocolate (you even get a choice of two of French chocolate mixes), delicious sandwiches, a nice bowl of steel-cut oatmeal with fruit, but most importantly, cookies to die for. Hell, they’re cookies to kill for.

As with all Coffee and Code events, I’ll be working there instead of at my home office or the Microsoft offices so that it’s dead simple for you to walk up to me to talk about anything – Microsoft, our tools, tech and platforms, the industry, whatever!

(Prior to Coffee and Code, I’m going to be at the Developer Lunch at the nearby Sky Dragon restaurant. If you’ve got the time, you might want to check that out too.)

{ 1 comment }

The Crisis of Credit, Visualized

by Joey deVilla on February 22, 2009

Last year, I posted an article titled The Credit Crisis, Illustrated, which attempted to provide an easier-to-understand explanation of how we got into this mess in the first place. I now present to you a much slicker graphic explanation called The Crisis of Credit Visualized, a gorgeously-designed video by Jonathan Jarvis that does a great job of illustrating the background behind the current economic situation.


The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

{ 1 comment }

The First “Coffee and Code” Day

by Joey deVilla on February 21, 2009

Montage of photos from "Coffee and Code"

My first Coffee and Code day – a day when I work at a wifi-equipped cafe rather than my home office or the Microsoft offices in order to be very accessible – was a success. For more, check out my article on the Coffee and Code blog.

{ 0 comments }

How Bailouts Work: A Photo Editorial

by Joey deVilla on February 20, 2009

My friend Eldon sent me the following photo editorial, which illustrates its author’s view of TARP:

bailout_1

 bailout_2

 bailout_3

 bailout_4

 bailout_5

 bailout_6

 bailout_7

 bailout_8

 bailout_9

{ 30 comments }

“Coffee and Code” Today in Toronto

by Joey deVilla on February 20, 2009

Coffee and CodeCoffee and Code is an idea I’ve been meaning to try out for some time. Every so often – perhaps once a week – I plan to work somewhere other than my home office or Microsoft’s offices but instead spend the day working in one of Toronto’s wifi-equipped cafe.

The idea is to make myself available to you, to answer your questions and talk about Microsoft, programming, the tech job market, games, accordions or whatever topic strikes your fancy. I’ll be pretty easy to spot: just look for the guy with both a laptop and an accordion.

For this inaugural Coffee and Code session, I’ll be at Urbana Coffee (1033 Bay Street, a couple of blocks north of Wellesley, at St. Joseph) from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. I’ve picked the place for a number of reasons: a central location near parking and transit, friendly staff, free wifi, power outlets aplenty, recommendations from friends and a glowing review from Torontoist. If you’re in the neighbourhood, please drop by!

Since I live and work in Toronto, I’ll be holding most of my Coffee and Code days there. However, my job does involve a fair bit of travel, and it’s quite likely that I’ll hold Coffee and Code days in other cities. Some of my coworkers are also thinking about holding their own Coffee and Code days in their own cities as well.

If you’d like to know more about upcoming Coffee and Code days, keep reading this blog, or check out Coffee and Code’s site at coffeeandcode.org.

{ 1 comment }