Karthik Ram's Blog

R.I.P

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 10:20:35 GMT

The goodwill of our current host has run out so this blog will cease to exist at the end of the month. It may be a while before I can find another host so until then, goodbye.

Two thumbs up for In Rainbows

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 7:07:34 GMT

I've been listening to Radiohead's new album all morning. And by god, it's really good. And just in case you've been living under a rock, the album is being sold directly, with no drm and you name your own price! What a nice way to stick it to the RIAA. More backstory here. Buy it here.

I hate when someone pins me down

Sat, 15 Sep 2007 7:16:53 GMT

Clothundrum (n)

When a person that orders witty, nerdy, and humorous t-shirts on the internet, enough to make them the “funny t-shirt guy” in their hometown, needs to travel to a function that will include other people that order witty, nerdy, and humorous t-shirts on the internet and is having trouble packing. See also: conundrum, clothing.

From Matthowie

Darwin partied in college

Fri, 25 May 2007 3:17:26 GMT

In 1831 Darwin wrote this to his college friend C.T. Whitley:

My feelings overpower me when I think of the simple, the elegant, Glutton club & that day of victory & triumph & inward-glorying, which some call sublime, but the wise know it to be the full round feeling from a contented dinner.— Oh Lord what a jolly place Cambridge is.— But it is all over, so there is no use thinking about it. But I cannot help it; I suppose jolly old Herbert & F Watkins are up there.— I swear I would go without my dinner to sit by & see you three eat one. As for old Herbert, I will beat him in telling lies when I come back, if I dont may all men cry eternal shame on my soul.— I wish you three men the quickest the largest & the best digestions of any men in the united kingdoms.—

Also in that letter he writes:

The scheme is a most magnificent one. We spend about 2 years in S America, the rest of time larking round the world

(about his impending Beagle voyage)

The Darwin correspondence project has a ton more (Well, about 5000 letters that Darwin wrote/received).

Missed Connections, Oy

Sat, 31 Mar 2007 3:33:08 GMT

I’ve always wondered if people actually find each other via CL's Missed Connections. Given all the creeps that post something along the lines of “You: _______[ buying, walking, driving, running] ____ [Starbucks coffee, by, on, near] _______ [coffee, Fulton Ave., 80, the causeway]. Me: the hot guy mentally undressing you. Give me a shout”, the odds of a genuine MC seems impossible. Looks like other people are wondering the same thing. Julie Wertz has put together an awesome anthology of missed connection ads as sketches. I really love this one [how true!]. More here.

My Flickr pictures

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 4:45:35 GMT

As you've probably noticed, I haven't updated any pictures on this website in over two years. I've been sporadically uploading pics to Flickr instead of dealing with entire sets. So I finally set up a Flickr section here. I'll slowly phase out the pictures here (and move them off to an archived section).

The Amgen Peloton

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 4:51:56 GMT

I had a nice break this afternoon watching the Amgen Tour of California race ride through Davis in stage 1. I took a bunch of pictures but I really liked this one.

Infographics everywhere

Mon, 19 Feb 2007 6:25:49 GMT

Over the years I've noticed how sophisticated and cool Inforgraphics have become. This is particularly true in the Times (or because I read it so often). Look at this cool yet overly complicated one from last week. Music videos are also starting to use them in creative ways. This video by Manchester based Long Cut uses infographics set to their music. It's so well done that I never noticed the song it's set to! Here's another one by Royksopp (same idea but a lot more detail). Although unrelated, both videos involve the subway, boy-girl flirting, and London. I can't tell which came first.

More Zach Barfing

Thu, 15 Feb 2007 10:33:05 GMT

Ryan Irvine over at wolf-notes coined a new term that makes me cringe every time I say it out loud. Braff Rock. Yes, that's the kind of music that Zach Braff fans like to buy to be hipster and in with the indie/arsty scene. No, seriously. I cried (deep inside) when people told me about their undying love for the Garden State soundtrack. Like Ryan, I don't listen to 99% of the commerical media and therefore compeletely out of touch with what regular people listen to. Heck, I haven't been able to answer a single pop-culture (music) trivia question at my local pub in weeks.More Braff Rock handpicked to make you look cool available at a nearby Stabucks. I hope The Decemberists do better than The Shins when all this is said and done. Excuse me while I go get a box of Kleenex ready.

Is this really me?

Fri, 19 Jan 2007 9:48:38 GMT

I was reading Wondermark this morning and just realized that this is me.