Random Friendster Idea

I had an idea for a Friendster feature the other day. Sometimes I'll click on the link that shows all the ways I'm connected to some person who isn't a friend, and the list will be really long, with many paths of length 2 to the person. This is someone who I should in some sense already know; he or she is connected closely to a lot of my friends and is likely to be in my social circle. It'd be cool to see a list of the people who are not your friends (on the site) but who are most closely connected to you in this way. They might be people who you know and want to add as friends on the site, or if you don't know them it might be fun to wonder why. It would also be interesting to see some score representing this closeness measure on the person's profile, instead of just seeing one path to the person like the site shows now. Anyway, of course I can't work on this, and it might just be a dumb idea, but why have a blog if you can't post possibly dumb ideas and see what happens?

KCRW

I saw this article in the Times last Sunday on KCRW, a radio station from Southern California playing all kinds of cool and eclectic music. Then I remembered hearing about the station before in this Frontline documentary. Anyway, I finally took a listen online, and I really like what they've played in the last 40 minutes or so. And, they've got a reasonably high quality MP3 stream; good stuff. Incidentally, I read the Times article while flipping through an actual print version of the magazine, and I doubt I would have read it otherwise, a phenomenon discussed before.

Well, He's Left

I just found out that Robert O'Callahan, a mentor and friend while I was at IBM Research, has moved back to New Zealand and is now working full-time on Mozilla. My time working closely with Rob was really fun and an incredible learning experience, and I know others who have interned with him and feel the same way. Anyway, he's got a blog now that definitely looks like a worthy read. I'm looking forward to seeing how much better Mozilla will get now that Rob is devoting all his work-related energies to it.

Real Quick

Not much posting lately, as I've been busy moving to a new pad; it's slowly becoming habitable. Some random things: first, check out the Lichtenstein exhibit at SFMOMA while it's still there. I really enjoyed it and learned a lot about his work. Second, the Renée Fleming recital today was awesome. I think that with her voice, just about any song would sound incredible. Third, check out this crazy story about a fallen doughnut king that a friend sent me. The writing seems a bit melodramatic, but it sort of matches the guy's life. And finally, go Eagles!!!

Applause

Two interesting posts by Alex Ross on applause at classical music concerts. It drives me nuts when people are out of their seat and heading for the exit as the last notes of a piece are still echoing through the hall. It'd be cool if the applause etiquette was relaxed a bit eventually; maybe people who get turned off by the stiffness of a classical concert might start attending performances more often.

Endings

Here's a nice article on endings in films, books, symphonies, etc. Some random films with outstanding endings that come to mind: Magnolia, Decalogue 10, Manhattan, Charulata.