It has been a busy summer

I'm basically finished tomorrow...!

Awkward Rap

I heart Ward Maps

While in Boston, Lauren introduced me to this great little map store called Ward Maps. Ward Maps sells historical maps from thousands of cities across the globe. This particular store caters to the Boston area with maps from as early as 1835. We quickly found a late 1800's map of Lauren's neighborhood in Cambridge and lamented that we don't have jobs and thus could not afford the $170 price tag. But, Ward Maps will reprint any map they have (starting in the $20 range), including sections of maps if you want to feature a particular block of interest. The store also sells specialty gifts such as messenger bags, coasters and t-shirts with your favorite map printed on them.



Check out their full lineup of maps and gifts at www.wardmaps.com

Playstation Portable Slim

As a few of you know, I have been hot and cold on whether to buy a Playstation Portable (PSP) for some time now. I am not much of a gamer, and when I do play games, it is usually of the original Nintendo variety (TecmoBowl anyone?). Since my birthday was on the 10th, I decided to go for it, picking up the $200 PSP Daxter Pack which included the PSP Slim, 1GB memory card, Daxter game and Family Guy UMD video. Considering Best Buy sold the PSP for $170 without a mem card (1gb is $25), I figured I could pay an extra $5 for a game and movie.

Needless to say, I have been impressed with the PSP so far. The Daxter game is meh, I've only played it once. I watched a couple episodes of the Family Guy, funny as usual. But the best part about this device is homebrew software scene. Thanks to pspslimhacks.com, I hacked my PSP to run a bevy of open source homebrewed software, including game emulators and internet video players and audio players. Now I can play Mario Kart on a flight or listen to KCRW at a wireless hotspot!

Check out more at pspslimhacks.com, or just google PSP hacks....there are tons of these sites out there with tutorials to help you set everything up.

PostSecret

Sorry that I haven't posted in a while. I just finished my first year of school and have been basking in my free time.

During that time I have been checking out some new blogs. One of them is PostSecret, which is a continuation of a book by the same name. After flipping through Lauren's copy of the book, I found myself intrigued by people willing to share their deepest secrets for this project. I have posted a sample "secret" below. Be sure to check out the blog every Sunday.

Death by Nalgene?

There is a very interesting article on Sepia Mutiny (via the NYT) about the possible health risks of using Nalgene bottles. Apparently Canada is about to declare bisphenol-a, or B.P.A, a toxic chemical. B.P.A is used in polycarbonate plastics, the same plastics that make up that bottle you love.

Unfortunately, I just purchased a Nalgene bottle from the U. of Michigan store a couple weeks ago. If you are convinced that your Nalgene bottle is going to kill you, be sure to recycle it (recycle symbol 7).

BTW, Nalgene seems to be addressing the issue by phasing out bottles which contain BPA. Let's see if the brand can recover from this kind of hit.

Ethan Kaplan on Mahalo Daily

Interesting episode of Mahalo Daily featuring Ethan Kaplan, VP of Technology at Warner Bros Records. The topic is the blending of music and technology. You can watch it here, and check out Ethan's blog at blackrimglasses.com