Author Archives: skierpage

About skierpage

As you might guess, my site is mine. My Schema.org info is at .

software: accelerating the development of EVERYTHING

Posted on 2012-06-13 by skierpage

Draft incomplete thoughts and missing links but I just had to get something out… Marc Andreessen said software is eating entire industries, and from my own personal experience he’s really onto something. Most heard about Facebook buying Instagram for one … Continue reading →

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design: Downton Abbey’s sartorial nirvana

Posted on 2012-06-06 by skierpage

Downton Abbey is high-class underwritten clichéd claptrap (I thought the smug writer-producer mahvelling over his work in the BBC parody really was Julian Fellowes), but season 1 episode 5 achieves sartorial nirvana.  Lady Mary’s charcoal cutaway riding outfit, the men’s cream … Continue reading →

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web: Wikipedia editing ideas

Posted on 2012-06-05 by skierpage

Wikipedia wants to attract and retain editors. “Ideas are cheap, implementation costs,” but here are my thoughts anyway as a long-time but sporadic contributor. For all I know these have been discussed at length and rejected or deferred… New pages … Continue reading →

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web: automating bits of Sprint Picture Mail

Posted on 2012-05-19 by skierpage

(The good programmer is lazy; instead of typing something over and over, she writes a script to automate the steps. The wizard programmer writes a set of object classes that model the problem at hand, and tells those objects to … Continue reading →

Posted in software, web | 2 Comments

web: getting your pictures off Sprint Picture Mail

Posted on 2012-05-16 by skierpage

Sprint Picture Mail was an easy way to upload pictures on a feature phone to a web site where you could organize them into albums. But Sprint was never a serious player in the “online photo site” business. I criticized … Continue reading →

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Anthony Lane, funniest writer at The New Yorker (more!)

Posted on 2012-05-01 by skierpage

Irrepressibly droll. On 20-kilometer walk competitors at the Beijing Olympics: They will continue to propel themselves, year in, year out, as if learning to moonwalk too soon after a hip replacement. On Yoda  (Space Case, “Star Wars: Episode III”): Also, … Continue reading →

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audio: DSD digital nirvana approaches

Posted on 2012-04-29 by skierpage

Four years ago I blogged about wanting “the master tape,” the exact version that the musicians are hearing in the control room. Since then there’s been some progress. 1. High-res digital tracks for download Although Best Buy long ago junked … Continue reading →

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music: “Don’t Disturb this Groove” near-great 12-inch

Posted on 2012-04-28 by skierpage

The System’s “Don’t Disturb this Groove” is a monster jam, filled with lush melodic touches and impassioned vocals with inventive vocal overdubs.So the 12-inch should be one of the greatest of all time!? Alas, nu-uh. It’s one of many unexceptional … Continue reading →

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audio: sometimes vinyl is way better

Posted on 2012-04-15 by skierpage

Switching between the CD and my original signed LP, the vinyl is decisively better: deeper bass, better piano, way more realistic speaking voice. Continue reading →

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music: Blossom Dearie swings coolly, perfectly

Posted on 2012-03-31 by skierpage

Lo-fi but enchanting, maybe the best piano+female vocal I’ve heard At 0:39 the way she trills “surrey-with” and echoes the vibrato moments later in “fringe” is magic.  From 1:35 on her swung notes in winking, blinking, if-yur thinkin’ is right … Continue reading →

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