Jason Cosper

Author: Jason Cosper

  • 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…

  • In Transit

    Heads up, SF peeps! This weekend I’ll be driving up to the Yay Area for WordCamp to rep both DreamHost and Preshrunk in an official capacity.

    As it stands, I’m driving up Friday night and crashing out at Frazier’s secret headquarters somewhere in the East Bay. Since I don’t like being part of the problem — or paying for parking — I’ll be taking as much public transit as I possibly can. So it’s handy that I managed to stumble upon these handy iPhone related Muni apps that use NextBus information. Now all I need is a native looking (i.e. pretty) trip planner and I’m all set. So… Does anybody know of one off the top of their heads — or am I stuck using 511.org over EDGE?

  • Telekinesis

    I know VNC has been done on phones and handhelds before, but the folks behind Telekinesis have done an awesome job of getting a remote desktop app onto the iPhone considering its constraints. What’s even more amazing tho, is that they’ve done so without a proper SDK and using Safari as their interface less than a week after the launch.

    Flickr user tonx has pulled together a brief but awesome set featuring the software in action on an iBook. It’s definitely worth a look if you’re waffling on installing and playing around with it.

  • Hotel Yorba… On A Bus

    Despite the fact that a few members of the audience get on my nerves a bit — shouty guy, I’m looking at you — here’s a great bit of footage from The White Stripes recent performance on a Winnipeg City Bus. Despite its shortcomings, it’s definitely worth sharing.

  • A Bottle Full Of Guilt

    “In Fiji, a state-of-the-art factory spins out more than a million bottles a day of the hippest bottled water on the U.S. market today, while more than half the people in Fiji do not have safe, reliable drinking water. Which means it is easier for the typical American in Beverly Hills or Baltimore to get a drink of safe, pure, refreshing Fiji water than it is for most people in Fiji.”