Drew's View

The Internet, Coincidences, and a Friendly Wager

Warning: This is going to be a little confusing.

My name is Drew McManus. And I have a friend whose name is also Drew McManus. I live in Northern California and Drew2 lives in Chicago. (He has to be Drew2 since I was here first.) Try to keep that straight while I explain the rest.

Drew2 and I met through one of those weird Internet coincidences. And we've stayed connected on the web. (I still can't get used to the Facebook notifications that say "Drew McManus commented on your status.") Our paths have crossed online in a few different ways, and it's one of those amusing "it happened on the web" stories.

Drew2 is well-known in the orchestra world. Among other endeavors, he is the man behind the very popular blog Adaptistration. Since many orchestras are non-profit organizations, some of his readers are also connected to one of my ventures: Bring Light. The coincidences keep coming.

The latest way that our paths crossed: I had some hockey tickets to sell--specifically, seats to see the San Jose Sharks vs. the Chicago Blackhawks. I put the tickets up for sale on eBay, and posted on Twitter to let my friends know. Meanwhile in Chicago, Drew2 witnessed all this and this Facebook exchange followed:

So, the wager is placed. If the Sharks win, I get to display what little I know about the music world on Adaptistration. You can bet I'll be plugging Bring Light.

Go Sharks!

UPDATE: Drew2 has posted his trash talk here.

Abandoned Subway Stations Around the World

Infrastructurist has yet another great pictorial posted. This urban exploration is abandoned subway stations around the world. I'd love to explore some of these.

ARTICLE: Infrastructurist: Abandoned Subway Stations Around the World

Coffee Shops Pulling the Plug on Laptop Users

As a mobile professional, I am in different places almost every day of the week. I think I know just about every coffee shop in the San Francisco Bay Area that has free WiFi (well, at least on the peninsula). I often have slices of time to kill between meetings, and being able to get online can help keep me productive. I always make sure to buy something, and I rarely stay for more than an hour. There are a few places where I have become a "regular," greeted by name, served my 'usual' drink and welcomed warmly. I must be considered a good customer. According to the Wall Street Journal, not everyone has the same experience:

Amid the economic downturn, there are fewer places in New York to plug in computers. As idle workers fill coffee-shop tables -- nursing a single cup, if that, and surfing the Web for hours -- and as shop owners struggle to stay in business, a decade-old love affair between coffee shops and laptop-wielding customers is fading. In some places, customers just get cold looks, but in a growing number of small coffee shops, firm restrictions on laptop use have been imposed and electric outlets have been locked. The laptop backlash may predate the recession, but the recession clearly has accelerated it.

"You don't want to discourage it, it's a wonderful tradition," says Naidre's owner Janice Pullicino, 53 years old. A former partner in a computer-graphics business, Ms. Pullicino insists she loves technology and hates to limit its use. But when she realized that people with laptops were taking up seats and driving away the more lucrative lunch crowd, she put up the sign. Last fall, she covered up some of the outlets, describing that as a "cost-cutting measure" to save electricity.

It's a shame that people will take advantage of free offerings to the detriment of others./

P.S. I am writing this from a coffee shop.

ARTICLE: Wall Street Journal: No More Perks: Coffee Shops Pull the Plug on Laptop Users

Does Cheap Gasoline Make America Fat?

In the new book $20 Per Gallon: How the Inevitable Rise in the Price of Gasoline Will Change Our Lives for the Better, Chris Steiner claims that an increase in the price of gasoline could go a long way toward reducing obesity rates in America. An excerpt of the book was recently published in Forbes magazine.

The amount is hardly nominal: A sustained $1 increase in the price of a gallon of gasoline equals a 10% dip in the nation’s obesity rate--that’s about 9 million fewer obese people clogging up health care systems and costing society (and themselves) money. “The price of gas is a powerful lever when it comes to medical expenses and mortality rates,” Charles Courtemanche [an economist at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro who recently published a study on the topic] says. “There’s a savings in this for all of us.”

Courtemanche found evidence in his data that rising gas prices resulted in more Americans walking and more Americans bicycling. Perhaps just as important, he noticed that, as gas prices increase, people eat out at restaurants less. In addition to more strolling and cycling, people use public transportation more, Courtemanche says, and that, too, burns far more calories than sitting in a bucket driver’s seat, sipping coffee, and flipping through radio channels. People who use subways, buses, trolleys or commuter rail services need to get to and from mass transit stops, and that probably means more walking on both ends. A $1 rise in gas means 11,000 fewer lives lost to obesity-related causes and $11 billion per year saved on health costs, Courtemanche says.

He goes on to postulate that the effect might accelerate as gas prices increase beyond $4/gallon. Sounds like yet another good reason for a hefty gas tax.

EXCERPT: Forbes Magazine: A Skinnier, Safer America

BOOK: $20 Per Gallon: How the Inevitable Rise in the Price of Gasoline Will Change Our Lives for the Better

How Many Types of Highway Interchanges Can You Name?

The always-interesting Infrastructurist blog has a great article on the various types of highway interchanges. Even though I grew up in Southern California, I had no idea there were so many of them. My favorite:

The Lofthouse: A roundabout over two grade-separated highways. Less expensive than than a stacked interchange, but also has much lower capacity.

ARTICLE: What’s A ‘Spooey’? A Field Guide To Freeway Interchanges, Part 1

(via BoingBoing)

Michael Jackson, Rest in Peace

Almost every Michael Jackson song from the Thriller album reminds me of some event in my teenage years. My friends and I saw him perform more than once both solo and as part of The Jacksons. I can recall watching his performances over and over again on worn VHS tape, particularly the one when he first did the moonwalk (his performance of Billie Jean on the Motown 25 Special in 1983). But my favorite MJ performance ever was when he sang Man in the Mirror at the 1988 Grammies. It's a simple, raw performance which I have always thought showed his emotion and talent as a performer. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you, Mr. Michael Jackson:

A Week Unplugged

A group of high school sophomores at L.A.'s California Academy for Liberal Studies Early College High School will forego all electronic devices for an entire week:

"I suspect that people will be going crazy," said student Jamila Mohedano, who doubts her own ability to go unplugged without becoming unglued.

Beginning today, the homeroom class of teacher Shannon Meyer will go cold turkey for seven endless days. We're talking no TV. No iPods. No iPhones. No BlackBerrys. No computers, which means no MySpace and no Facebook. And it gets worse. No cellphones. That means -- weep if you must -- no texting.

I know I would have a hard time doing this for any period of time, but I am certain that my high school age kids would rather die.

Article: LA Times: Students Unplugged — The Horror, The Horror!

The Abandoned Town of Centralia, Pennsylvania

Readers of my blog know I am fascinated by urban exploration. (See Detroit's Beautiful, Horrible Decline and Amazing Rooftops in NYC). Centralia, Pennsylvania is an all-but-abandoned town (Population: 9). The town sits above an underground coal fire that has been burning since 1962, leaking toxic smoke to the surface. Most of the buildings have since been torn down, roads are cracking and overgrown, and in some areas the forest is returning.

Wikipedia entry: Centralia, Pennsylvania
Photo Essay: Jet Set Tramp: Fire Down Below
Via Boing Boing

Holy Suction, Batman!

I saw this on the news the other night and was amazed. It seems that one of those big metal luggage-carrier containers was sucked into the engine of a 747 that was on a taxiway at LAX. Whoa.

Article: LA Times: Metal Baggage Container Sucked Into Jet Engine at Lax

The Economics of Seeing a Yankee's Game

I've been doing a lot of thinking and talking about the economics of sports tickets lately, both as a NHL season ticket holder and for a side-project I've been working on. So, this tidbit caught my eye: Tickets to the new Yankee stadium are so expensive that a Yankee fan might be better off going to see the team in another city--even clear across the country:

Choose one of the two options to see a Mariners-Yankees game this season, and from the very best seats:

Option 1: Two tickets to Tuesday night, June 30, Mariners at Yanks, cost for just the tickets, $5,000.

Option 2: Two round-trip airline tickets to Seattle, Friday, Aug. 14, return Sunday the 16th, rental car for three days, two-night double occupancy stay in four-star hotel, two top tickets to both the Saturday and Sunday Yanks-Mariners games, two best-restaurant-in-town dinners for two. Total cost, $2,800. Plus-frequent flyer miles.

Article: New York Post: Kay Shills as Fans Get $oaked
(via Kottke)

Memories of WWII

My old childhood friend Dave Hampton posted something fascinating on his blog: his Dad's old WWII diary. He posted scanned images of many of the pages in the journal. It's an amazing peek into the experiences of someone on the ground in Europe during the war, some of it courageous, some of i fearful, some of it mundane. All of it is fascinating.

Blog post: Dave Hampton's Blog: History and Memorial Day

Direct Link to the Scans: Dad's WWII Journal

In-n-Out. That's What a Hamburger's All About

BusinessWeek writer Stacy Perman has written a book about the western fast-food chain In-n-Out Burger. In-n-Out is a California tradition, and by far the best fast food that exists.

Perman observes that In-N-Out has prospered by hewing close to the stolid principles of controlled growth, limited menu, fresh food and regional focus -- with the exception of one store in Utah, its 232 locations are all in California, Nevada or Arizona -- set in stone by its founders, like commandments. (Harry died in 1976, his widow in 2006.) As a private company, In-N-Out doesn't release financial figures, though the trade press estimated sales in 2005 at $370 million -- a healthy sum for a small chain.

The intrigue is the machinations of the very-private family that owns the closely held company. 

The Snyders established a line of succession skipping over their older son, Guy, in favor of the more stable Richard. That well-laid plan dissolved with Richard's death in a 1993 plane crash. The inheritance passed to Guy, who had a history of drug abuse and died from an overdose of a prescription painkiller in 1999. With Esther's death seven years later, majority control became vested in two family trusts. It will pass after 2011 to Guy's only natural child, his daughter Lynsi Martinez, 27.

What little has been said about Martinez for public consumption comes from the 2006 court battle between the company and Richard Boyd, a former executive who said he had grown close to Esther, only to be shouldered aside by Lynsi and In-N-Out Chief Executive Mark Taylor, the husband of one of her half-sisters.

Sounds fascinating. I just hope it never effects the quality of the food. I might have to go get a Double-Double today.

Review: Los Angeles Times: In-N-Out: Can perfection survive?

Book: In-N-Out Burger: A Behind-the-Counter Look at the Fast-Food Chain That Breaks All the Rules by Stacy Perman

The White House official photostream

The White House has an official photostream on Flickr. It's fascinating to browse through these photos--really a real-time record of history in the making.

One has to wonder, what is discussed when President Obama and former President Clinton meet in the Oval Office? One of my favorites shows Obama climbing under the Resolute Desk like John-John Kennedy did, while meeting with Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg. But perhaps the most interesting ones show the more ordinary moments, like Obama trying out different desk chairs.

By the way, what do I have to do to get a ride on Air Force One?

Ever heard of Photoshop?

You probably saw in the news that last week one of the 747 airplanes used for the President did several low-altitude flyby's of New York City while being trailed by two fighter jets. The intention was to get some publicity photos of the plane with the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan in the background. Somehow, it did not occur to anyone that some New Yorkers might find this unannounced activity startling.

Perhaps just as surprising, someone thought this was the simplest way to get the required image. The US spent $360,000 of taxpayer money on this photo opportunity. Skott Kelby, the editor-in-chief for Layers Magazine, Photoshop User magazine and the president of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals, spent less than two minutes creating this composite in Photoshop:

Skott has also made the following offer to the White House on his blog:

Rather than spending $360,000 somewhat foolishly (wink, wink), whatdayasay we work out a deal?

I’m trying to raise money for furniture and household appliances for an orphange in Kenya (run by Americans), and I’d be happy to actually take 90 minutes (or more; whatever it takes), and really do the compositing job right, and all you have to do is buy a freezer for around, say $360. You can keep the other $359,640 or give it to GM.

Sounds like a good deal to me.

Random Thoughts on the Porkalypse

Calling it "2009 H1N1" just does not have the panache of "Swine Flu." Personally, I prefer "Porkalypse."

141 people in the United States (population >304 Million) have the flu. And it has been the top story on every newscast and the front page of every newspaper I have seen for the past several days.

An elementary school near my home closed yesterday because six kids had flu-like symptoms. The district sent notices home that parents should plan for childcare, and keep their kids at home. Now all six kids have since tested negative for the flu, and the school will re-open tomorrow.

I can certainly understand that a flu bug for which no one has immunity is something to be concerned about, but this seems to heading past hype and into hysteria. (Side note: I love it when Anderson Cooper on CNN says "We are not trying to over-hype this," and then proceeds to cover it nonstop for an hour).

But above all, I love the practical tips that are on every newscast, in every article, and on signs everywhere you look: wash your hands and cover your coughs and sneezes. Is this new advice to anyone? Now, the CDC has posted a number of "Social Media Tools" that you can use on your blog or website to share this important advice online:

I swear, I am not making this up. I wonder what the CDC budget was for this.

Letters to Obama

There must be countless things that are hard about being the President of the United States, but here is one I had not thought of before: reading mail from ordinary citizens.

Tens of thousands of letters, e-mail messages and faxes arrive at the White House every day. A few hundred are culled and end up each weekday afternoon on a round wooden table in the office of Mr. Kelleher, the director of the White House Office of Correspondence.

He chooses 10 letters, which are slipped into a purple folder and put in the daily briefing book that is delivered to President Obama at the White House residence. Designed to offer a sampling of what Americans are thinking, the letters are read by the president, and he sometimes answers them by hand, in black ink on azure paper.

“We pick messages that are compelling, things people say that, when you read it, you get a chill,” said Mr. Kelleher, 47. “I send him letters that are uncomfortable messages.”

Article: New York Times: Picking Letters, 10 a Day, That Reach Obama
Some of the Letters: New York Times documents: Writing to the President

A Magazine With a Puzzle Buried Inside

I've always been fascinated with complex and secret puzzles (see this earlier post), although I do not always have the patience to finish them. Watching the TV series LOST unfold has been a great pleasure. J.J. Abrams, one of the creators of LOST and Fringe, took over as guest editor of WIRED Magazine's May 2009 print issue. He filled the magazine with an intricate and partially hidden puzzle. One reader has it cracked:

Steven Bevacqua was flipping through the May issue of Wired magazine when he thought he started seeing secret messages. So he spent the next several days following the hidden clues he believed he’d found, using Morse code, alternative computer keyboard layouts and even electrician’s wiring codes to solve the covert brainteasers. Finally he was directed to a hidden Web site, from which he sent an e-mail message to a secret account. A short while later he learned that he was the first Wired reader to solve an extensive hidden puzzle embedded throughout the magazine.

Article: New York Times: A Magazine With a Puzzle Buried Inside

The New and Improved Prius

I've been reading a lot about the new Prius coming out this spring. The car has been re-designed in and out, has a new more powerful and more efficient engine, is even quieter than previous models, and has solar panels on the roof.

Scott Burgess writes for The Detroit News and wanted to hate the new Prius. He came away convinced:

"...With so many improvements, even at its worst, when it arrives later this spring, it's one of the best cars out there."

Article: The Detroit News: Toyota's Revamped Prius Hybrid Gains Higher Mileage, Better Interior

Do we have too many financiers?

Career advice from President Obama, speaking at Georgetown University last week:

“One of the changes that I would like to see — and I’m going to be talking about in this in weeks to come — is seeing our best and our brightest commit themselves to making things — engineers, scientists, innovators. For so long, we have placed at the top of our pinnacle folks who can manipulate numbers and engage in complex financial calculations. And — and that’s good. We need some of that. But you know what we can really use is some more scientists and some more engineers who are building and making things that we can export to other countries.”

Article: Wall Street Journal: Career Advice from Obama and Bernanke

Mysteries of Science

New Scientist has published a list of 13 things that do not make sense. They are all mysteries of science like The Pioneer Effect:

THIS is a tale of two spacecraft. Pioneer 10 was launched in 1972; Pioneer 11 a year later. By now both craft should be drifting off into deep space with no one watching. However, their trajectories have proved far too fascinating to ignore.

That's because something has been pulling - or pushing - on them, causing them to speed up. The resulting acceleration is tiny, less than a nanometre per second per second. That's equivalent to just one ten-billionth of the gravity at Earth's surface, but it is enough to have shifted Pioneer 10 some 400,000 kilometres off track. NASA lost touch with Pioneer 11 in 1995, but up to that point it was experiencing exactly the same deviation as its sister probe. So what is causing it?

It could mean we don't fully understand the laws of Physics.

Other favorites on the list are The Kuiper Cliff and The Wow Signal.

Article: New Scientist: 13 Things That Do Not Make Sense