Matthew Gifford

Pure awesomeness.

IE 7 was released via Automatic Update on Monday. I really hope this doesn’t ruin the week.

Unofficial builds of Firefox (a.k.a. BonEcho) optimized for OS X can be found at BeatnikPad. I’ve been BonEcho for a couple days and have found it to be much more stable than the official release.

The BBC’s program on the history of Tetris is fascinating.

This evening, I bought the current season of Battlestar Galactica from iTunes. It’s a show that I’ve been wanting to watch for the last two years. I’d seen an episode here and there, but I just can’t bring myself to regularly sit down in front of the TV on a Friday night.

I’ve been reading great things about the current season. Fortunately, I don’t have access to cable television, so watching it on Friday nights is no longer even an option. So I bought the season pass, downloaded the three episodes that have already been released (I’m going to need another external drive pretty soon), and watched all of them. Marvelous. Great writing, top-notch graphics, believable acting, and it even makes you think a little.

Then I saw that Steve Gillmor wrote a post along the lines of, but much better than, my post from last Wednesday.

TV is dead because of the Internet. TV is dead because we don’t have time for it. TV is dead because the computer lives. TV is dead because of the stupid blogosphere, the so-called “new” medium of podcasting, TiVo, RSS, and HDTV. TV is dead because TV now sucks more than all of the previous.

That guy is on fire lately.

By the way, check out the Scobleshow vid that Steve mentions, but doesn’t link to. It’s quite an eye-opener.

Steve, I agree with you about a lot of things being dead. But links aren’t one of them.

I just found out that This American Life has a podcast feed. The other day I mentioned how good the show was in a conversation, then realized that I hadn’t actually listened to it in months. It’s amazing how radically my relationship with electronic media has changed in recent months. Unless it’s a sporting event, everything I read, listen to, and watch has to be available on-demand. Otherwise, I can’t give it my attention.

Y’all have probably seen a lot of pink lately, inspired by the fight against breast cancer. Yesterday, I went to the Boulder Foothills Hospital (in the picture) where I was scheduled for a mammogram. I was terrified.

…

Reducing fear doesn’t have to be about life or death or pain to be meaningful and powerful. If you can help your users feel more confident and less stressed, you’ve given them a wonderful gift.

This post by Kathy Sierra is both a good lesson and a top-notch example of using personal narrative to illustrate a point.

I wish Wired Magazine would publish more articles like Vinod Khosla’s essay about his investments in the biofuel industry. Reading someone’s thoughts firsthand, rather than through a mediator, makes for more compelling reading. Sort of like a blog.

A couple Fridays ago, my friends and I returned to Montage. My primary mission was to try the chili chocolate cake.

Of course, I had to have a meal before I got to the dessert. I chose to have the blackened catfish again. It was even more excellent than the first time around, as the vegetables were the proper temperature. However, we didn’t get our drinks until after our meals arrived. Our waiter more than made up for this by giving me a half-bottle of wine to share with the table, even though I only ordered one glass.

The waiter also responded to my eagerness to try the chili chocolate cake by bringing a double portion. Each cupcake-sized portion of cake was served with copious amounts of whipped cream. The cake was crusty on the outside, but warm and soft inside. With the first bite, I was greeted with an unexpected blast of orange. Orange and chocolate is a combination that I don’t normally care for, but I was willing to give this a chance. After several seconds, I was feeling no heat and was beginning to wonder if they had brought the right cake. After a couple minutes, and one more bite, the heat started to kick in. Within another bite or two, the heat was significant. I was starting to understand why it came with so much whipped cream. By the time I finished the cake, my mouth was on fire. Only after dousing the flame with a good deal of wine did things start to calm down.

Overall, I was quite pleased with both the taste and the experience. The only thing I would change is to reduce the amount of orange so that there is more emphasis on the rich, bitter chocolate. However, this fault will certainly not prevent me from ordering this the next time I go to Montage, which should be quite soon. It’s on the list of places we must go when my sister visits in a couple weeks.

I’ve stumbled on some really outstanding music in the last few days. The first is Majesty Snowbird (live mp3), the theme song for Sufjan Stevens’ current tour. I was kind of expecting that Sufjan’s post-Illinois writing would be simpler with more stripped-down arrangements. Boy, was I wrong. It’s grander and more lushly orchestrated than anything he’s done to date. It would be a shame if this didn’t end up on a studio recording.

The other is Bem-Vinda Vontade, by Mice Parade. Particularly, the second song from that album, Nights Wave. I don’t think acoustic post-rock has ever rocked so hard. Great headphone music.