Jason Cosper

Author: Jason Cosper

  • BarCampLA 4 Ahoy!

    If it’s seemed a little quiet around here, it’s because I’ve been helping plan the latest installment of BarCamp in Los Angeles along with Crystal. A lot of hard work has gone into getting this off the ground and I’d love it if y’all could come check it out. If you know me, you probably know what BarCamp is already — but if you don’t let me fill you in a bit. BarCamp is a totally free, ad hoc conference going on both Saturday and Sunday (Nov. 3 & 4) that covers the whole gambit of tech (and even some non-tech stuff) going on in both LA and around the world. There’s a mix of really great people, really awesome (free) food, a keg, a DJ, presentations and other fun stuff planned for the weekend.

    For more info on the venue and the plan for the weekend, check out the BarCampLA wiki and feel free to post any questions you might have about going in the comments here if you’re on the fence. Despite the fact that we’re sort of in crunch time right now — and I’m juggling planning this as well as a handful of other things — I’ll do what I can to not leave anything unanswered.

    P.S. Father of the GPL, Richard Stallman is apparently gracing us with his presence. That, plus a visit from Dan Kaminsky ought to make this weekend plenty interesting.

  • Oh R’lyeh?

    Ya R’lyeh

    Pardon me, I’m busy falling in love with LOLthulhu…

  • The Last 5 Songs I Bought On iTunes

    One of the reasons I love iTunes is because it lets my sometimes questionable and eclectic music tastes be sated with a small handful of button pushes. Yeah, the DRM is a janky pile of shit — as all DRM is — but being able to scratch an itch right away is worth a buck or so to me.

    So in the interest of both show and tell time and internet memes, I’m going to start something up. It might not make it any further than the bits and bytes being transferred here — but I’d like to think my few friends who I’m going to ping to do this will humor me at the very least. Who knows, maybe it’ll spread… *shrug*

    So without further adieu, here are the last 5 songs I bought from iTunes:

    1. Dio – Holy Diver
    2. The Doors – Riders On The Storm
    3. Frank Black – Los Angeles
    4. Ol Dirty Bastard – Shimmy Shimmy Ya
    5. The Jesus And Mary Chain – Sometimes Always

    And the 5 people I’m tagging for this (so long as they actually use iTunes to buy shit, that is) are:

    1. Sean Bonner (Response)
    2. Andre Torrez
    3. Tom Bridge
    4. Matt Haughey
    5. Crystal Williams

    Optimally, these people will do it and tag 5 other folks and the chain will continue. But if they don’t, whatever. I’m not going to be a hardass about it or anything.

    Update: If you don’t “do” the iTMS, listing purchases from eMusic, Amazon’s new mp3 service, Bleep, or even the last few CDs you bought is totally fine by me. The emphasis is on sharing what’s been buzzing thru your skull so much that you had to get it is the point here.

  • One Step Closer

    So I just stumbled onto Pushr via Installer.app tonight. After playing with it for a few minutes, I’ve gotta say that I feel like I’m getting close to my holy grail as far as Flickr apps go.

    Okay, so I can’t select which photos I want to upload or give them titles or tags — so we’re more like 25% of the way there. But what Pushr does do is force everything in my Camera Roll onto Flickr at full resolution. And let me tell you, having the capability to do that is pretty damn sweet. So long as I’m near a WiFi hotspot, I’d much rather do a few quick edits via the web after uploading what I’ve got rather than use iFlickr as a replacement for the Camera app — which forces uploads after taking pictures without any real chance to approve the shot.

    Of course, that’s just my personal preference tho…

  • Henry Needs A Haircut

    Ever have those days where you feel like the guy from Eraserhead? Yeah, me too…

  • Two iPhone Apps I’d Like To See

    Like most of the other geeky iPhone owners out there, I’ve been playing with Installer.app lately. While it’s great and all, there are two apps that would make my life complete:

    1. Flickr Uploader: Yeah, I know I can mail photos to Flickr — but doing it one-by-one is just too damn tedious. Besides, I hate that the built-in mail client shrinks photos down to something “friendly”. I’m not quite sure about anyone else, but being able to check off multiple photos and send full resolution versions of them in a batch while I’m at an event would be optimal for me.
    2. Last.fm Client: I’ve been wanting to upload my on-the-go listening habits to Last.fm ever since I bought an iPod a few years back. Now that we’ve got an iPod that has always-on internet, why shouldn’t this be possible?

    I’m sure that I’m not the only one who would find these applications useful. So who wants to pool together a little money to put a bounty out for them?

    Update 1: So it’s not as elegant as I’d like, but iFlickr is a start as far as Flickr uploaders go.
    Update 2: I’ve actually had a chance to install the iFlickr package. And after playing with it for a little while, I’ve ended up uninstalling it. Let’s just say it needs plenty of work before I’ll run it again.

  • Purgatory

    I damn near had a blistering Larry David style rant moment at the grocery store this afternoon. After getting into the express line with a single bag of cough drops, I notice that the middle-aged lady in front of me has made a mockery of the “15 items or less policy”. Okay, I’m not in any sort of rush. I’ll let it slide.

    Then, after the cashier rings up everything she perks up and says, “Oh, I have coupons!” and proceeds to hand the guy behind the counter a stack for at least a dozen things. Still, I refuse to lose my cool. The Dude abides.

    When she goes for her checkbook to pay tho, I start to get a little bent.

    “Now, I can write this for up to $50 over?” she asks.
    “Yeah, but I have to call my manager over for approval.” the cashier responds.
    She ponders this for a bit while filling out her check and then hands it to him.

    It’s for $50 over.

    The cashier — also starting to get visibly flustered — calls his manager to his register. The manager keys in a code and the check processes thru. Everyone in line can see the light at the end of the tunnel when the cashier gets out two twenties and two fives.

    “Can I get that in fives?” the lady chirps, oblivious to everyone’s sighs, groans and forehead slaps.
    “Yeah, alright…” the cashier defeatedly replies. “5-10-15-20-25-30-35-40-45-50 is your change.”

    As she stuffs the money into her wallet, and we all prepare to get this person out of our lives, she pulls two twenties out of her wallet and says, “Before you close that, do you have enough fives to change these out?”

    Are you fucking kidding me?! I feel like snapping off some snide remark or schooling the gal on the finer points of express aisle etiquette, but I’m just dumbstruck at the spectacle that has unfolded before me.

    The guy pulls out a stack of paper-clipped fivers and counts off even faster, “510152025303540.”

    “Thanks,” she responds. And then to nobody in particular she yammers on, “I owe a bunch of coworkers lunch tomorrow, so I thought I’d just—”
    “Miss,” the manager interrupts “I’m sure these people would love to hear your story, but they’ve been waiting in line for 5 minutes while you took care of what you needed to.”
    “How rude! I’m never going to shop here again!” she crows cramming her money into her wallet and storming out of the store.

    I’ve never heard a line of people at the supermarket break out in applause before, but there’s a first time for everything, I guess…

  • Existential Crisis Of The Day

    How does one go about throwing away a trash can?

  • Fonejacker

    After watching something yesterday on YouTube — which ended up being pretty forgettable in the end — I managed to stumble onto Channel 4’s Fonejacker. As someone who grew up on stuff like The Jerky Boys, I ended up consuming every one of them I could get my grubby little mitts on. I think what I like about them more than anything else is that they’re updated to cover topics like 419 scammers, outsourced cold callers and voice activated help services. Seriously, if you watch nothing else on YouTube this week, at least give these a go.

    P.S. There’s two more videos for your viewing pleasure after the jump.

    (more…)

  • Where Is My Mind?

    I know Surfer Rosa is supposed to be iconic and amongst the best rock albums of all time — but as time goes on, I’m finding that I like Doolittle way more.

    If you’re looking for something deep, there’s no point other than the one above. I guess I’m just sayin’, that’s all…