Jason Cosper

Blog

  • Getting Some tr.im

    While there are a lot of URL shortening sites out there, I’ve actually grown quite fond of tr.im recently.  It’s a little thin on preferences right now, but there are three things that set it apart from the other services out there: 

    Automatic Twitter and Identi.ca Posting

    Whenever you shorten a URL — thru the bookmarklet or their site —  tr.im does the standard behavior and copies the output to your clipboard.  On top of that tho, it also offers you the opportunity to sign in to your favorite microblogging platform and post the URL directly from tr.im itself.  Removing the extra steps of opening up Twitter and pasting a link into the window makes me a very happy camper.

    Zero Account Creation

    Want to save your settings but don’t want to make another account?  No worries!  tr.im accepts both Twitter and Identi.ca logins.  Saving a couple minutes of my time by not having to sign up for yet another service is rad to me in a way that words can’t quite describe.

    Click Tracking

    If you’re signed in to tr.im, you actually get stats on the number of times a link has been clicked. So if you’ve direct messaged or emailed a friend with a link and want to know if they’ve given it a look, there’s no need to bug them about it.  Just load up the tr.im homepage and see if they have or not. Simple enough, right?

    It also has the added bonus of being a super short URL that isn’t abstract like is.gd or zz.gd are. Seriously dudes, what’s up with those names?  I mean, bravo for scoring a 4 character domain. That’s a feat in and of itself.  Still, if what your site does isn’t fairly obvious from the URL, it kind of fails for most passive users before it gets out of the gate.  tr.im actually manages to be nice and descriptive without being too heavy — and that, coupled with the reasons above, is why I like it.

    So give tr.im a try and see if it integrates with your workflow.  Even if you’re a bit skeptical about something as basic as a URL shortener, you might actually be pleasantly surprised at just how well it works.

  • Bring The Ruckus

    The game has changed a lot since I launched Preshrunk in late 2004.  According to Andy at Hide Your Arms, there’s over 150 t-shirt blogs out there now — and I’ll be damned if I can actually find more than a handful that are actually readable and worth following.  Granted, there are a few “good blogs” out there — but the amount of coverage for poorly designed tees and really weak write-ups is pretty fucking dismaying.

    Anyhow, I recently found myself coming to a crossroads of sorts.  It was sparked by a bunch of mail from old, dedicated readers wondering where I’d gone.  Questioning if I’d ever come back.  Asking if I’d consider selling the site (with some pretty decent offers, I might add) or taking folks on as contributors to help get things going again.

    So I found myself asking a very simple, but poignant question.  Do I add more noise to the genre of blogging that I helped start, or do I pack it in?  The money I’d get from cashing out would allow me to fund another project I’ve been working on instead of bootstrapping it — so that was a bit tempting.

    Besides, six months without an update normally means a blog is “dead” in internet time.  And regular readers will no doubt recall that I’ve staged so many comebacks at Preshrunk that it borders on ridiculous.  But I still couldn’t leave my baby just sitting by the side of the road.  Nor could I leave it in the care of someone I didn’t know.  Kinda control freak of me, I know — but that’s always sort of been my way.

    Despite my apparent disinterest tho, I never stopped thinking about Preshrunk.  It was honestly a matter of time (and my poor allocation of it) more than anything.  I have what amounts to half a moleskine of site ideas that I’ve sketched out and jotted down on the train.  Most of them are actually implementable, too.  New weekly features!  New sites!  New ways to fold in social features that don’t involve lazily adding “Digg This” buttons!

    And they’re actually all coming.  Well, that’s the plan at least…  Right now, I’m concerned with getting content on the site and convincing people to come back more than anything.  The bells and whistles can wait until later.

    Speaking of bells and whistles, there’s a new theme up at Preshrunk now, but it’s not really expected to be permanent.  In fact, if you know a solid, affordable WordPress designer, send them my way, won’t you?  Some of the aforementioned ideas need something a bit more robust before they’re deployed.

    Even if you don’t know a theme designer tho, it’d be nice if you can show some support.  Read the blog.  Add the Twitter feed.  Spread the word.

    Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s time to remind these kids where they came from…

  • Dark Knight PSA: Herpes

    If you only watch one video out of the Dark Knight PSA series on YouTube, make it this one.

  • Summer Sunset

    It might be the pollution that does it — but I wouldn’t trade days that end like this for anything.

  • Never Forget

    Okay, this sucks. Allegedly, the owners of the furniture store building down in HelMel painted over one of my favorite murals in Los Angeles. Now it only exists in pictures…

  • That’s How I Roll Too…

    I’m not sure what I like more, the legibility rant or the use of the word “motherfucker”… [via]

  • Boba Fett = Pimp

    Every so often I feel like I miss out by not making the trek down to Comic-Con. This is one of those times.

  • Patchouli and Failure

    Well Intentioned, Slightly Grungy Youth: Hey man, got a moment for Greenpeace?
    Businessman: Got a moment for a shower, hippie?

    Oh Greenpeace street team, will you ever catch a break?

  • Julia Nunes


    For whatever reason, I’ve really been into Julia Nunes lately.  Crystal introduced me to her mostly Uke oriented covers on YouTube a few months back and she ping ponged around in my brain until a week ago.  While she does some solid originals, the standout tracks — for me at least — are her covers.

    Since she doesn’t have any backup singers, she actually records herself singing vocal harmonies where necessary and cuts the videos together to achieve the desired effect.  It’s pretty clever and makes me smile a whole bunch — so I’m hopeful that you’ll enjoy it too.

  • Downtown’s Secret Community Pool

    Today, the coworkers decided to celebrate the birth of our country a day early by grabbing a quick lunch by the pool at The Standard and taking a post nosh dip.

    Apparently, all you need to do to swim in the rooftop pool is buy a drink or grab a bite to eat. Had I known this, I’d have tried pulling that little scam off much sooner.

    Some hipster girl let us know that she makes it over to The Standard a few times a week despite working at the Bonaventure because it’s not too crowded on the weekdays. Good to know.

    With that being said, mojitos run about $13 — and beers are only slightly less expensive — so you might want to take that into consideration.

    Still, it’s a fun way to kill an afternoon. You should go try it sometime…