A Consequence of Hypoglycemia. » I Learned Something Today

Arr and Arrr

Christopher — Fri, 25 May 2012 18:50:19 +0000

With the three-day weekend upon us, the last thing I want to do is stress about a blog post. So here’s a photo of our pea plants. They’re almost ready for harvest.

Eat your veggies

And for some reason, this excites me.

Enjoy your weekend!

Filed under: I Learned Something Today Tagged: gardening, Life, relaxation, Vegetables

Belbot LLC

Christopher — Wed, 23 May 2012 13:30:20 +0000

Veronica Belmont is on Just Talking this week talking about her career at CNET from intern to Buzz Out Loud superstar, what motivated her to join Mahalo, her experiences working for Sony on Qore and her most recent projects at Tekzilla and Sword and Laser. Veronica has led an impressive career and after listening to this episode it’ll be clear that she’s just getting started.

Follow Veronica on Twitter @Veronica and keep up with her many projects at veronicabelmont.com.

And be sure to check out Tekzilla and Sword and Laser while you’re at it.

Download: Just_Talking-136-Belbot_LLC.mp3

Run Time – 46:45

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Filed under: Just Talking Tagged: Just Talking, podcast, tekzilla, veronica belmont

Hit the Apex

Christopher — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:30:29 +0000

This week Chris Roper is on the podcast talking about his time spent at Virginia Tech and what prompted him to move to the West Coast to pursue his passions. We also talk about his time at IGN, from Intern to Executive Editor, Podcast Beyond and why his journey through video games media was particularly unique. Plus, we cover his time at Zipper Interactive as its Community Manager and why he’s been developing games since the inception of the iTunes App Store. Enjoy.

Follow Chris on Twitter @chris_roper and be sure to check out his level design work Hit The Apex.

Download: Just_Talking-135-Hit_The_Apex.mp3

Run Time – 59:12

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Filed under: Just Talking Tagged: chris roper, Just Talking, podcast, Video Games

Biding Our Time

Christopher — Fri, 11 May 2012 02:00:37 +0000

The grand plan still involves getting a puppy at some point. Until logistics work out in our favor, we have to bide our time. Until then, the Internet is doing its best to satisfy the we-want-a-dog feeling.

As a result, I do things like this.

I retweet things like this (here’s the picture referenced).

Or type “puppy first day home” into YouTube and see things like this:

Or this…

It’s not healthy, but I’m not sure what else I can do until I am fortunate enough to spam Facebook and Twitter with pictures of our own dog one day.

Filed under: I Learned Something Today Tagged: Awesome, Life, puppy, youtube

Mad Men

Christopher — Wed, 09 May 2012 13:30:25 +0000

Tom Kim has had an extraordinary journey through his professional career. Working in advertising, an interactive consultant and a podcaster in and out of the video game industry, there was no shortage of topics to cover. This was one of those podcasts where I had no idea where the conversation was going to go, but I’m glad I was able to record it. Enjoy.

If you’re interested in checking out some of Tom’s work, his personal website is the best place to start.

Download: Just_Talking-134-Mad_Men.mp3

Run Time – 1:09:10

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Filed under: Just Talking Tagged: Just Talking, podcast, tom kim, Video Games

Tennessee Sipping Whiskey

Christopher — Fri, 04 May 2012 23:47:24 +0000

For a Dry County, they sure do know their stuff

So this is happening… instagr.am/p/KNia4-qDFB/—
Christopher (@iam_spartacus) May 04, 2012

I don't drink, but that tour of the Jack Daniel's Distillery was FASCINATING. Highly recommended.—
Christopher (@iam_spartacus) May 04, 2012

Filed under: I Learned Something Today Tagged: Awesome, jack daniel's, tennessee, whiskey

Fresh Air

Christopher — Wed, 02 May 2012 14:20:34 +0000

Melody Kramer is the Associate Producer for NPR’s Fresh Air. Part of her day-to-day tasks include producing web content for the show, and interacting with listeners across the various social media platforms the Internet has to offer. We spend the hour talking about her journey from biomedical engineering to Fresh Air, her professional and personal uses for Twitter, Tumblr, and the like as well as the value of walking 70 steps to your apartment. Enjoy.

Follow Melody on Twitter @mkramer, keep up with her work @nprfreshair and nprfreshair.tumblr.com and if her Twitter Postcard Project interests you, you can find it at http://twitterpostcardproject.tumblr.com.

Download: Just_Talking-133-Fresh_Air.mp3

Run Time – 51:00

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Filed under: Just Talking Tagged: Just Talking, melody kramer, npr fresh air, podcast

Diabetes Memes

Christopher — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:30:57 +0000

Kayla Brown joins the podcast this week to discuss her diabetes diagnosis, her initial exposure to the online community and how she has turned to Facebook and personal blogging to share her experiences with others. This is another classic story illustrating the importance of support, in whatever form it may come in and how the Internet is a key tool in dealing with the emotional strain of living with diabetes. Enjoy.

Follow Kayla on Twitter @kaylas_notes, read her blog at http://kaylaslifenotes.blogspot.com and if you need a laugh be sure to check out Kayla’s Type 1 Diabetes Memes Facebook Page.

Download: Just_Talking-132-Diabetes_Memes.mp3

Run Time – 33:53

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Filed under: Just Talking, Wilford Brimley Tagged: Diabetes, Just Talking, kayla brown, podcast

Awesome

Christopher — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 03:00:42 +0000

@iam_spartacus You are awesome. #Fact—
Diet Coke (@DietCokeUS) April 24, 2012

I’m not saying every company has to do stuff like this, but it’s nice to see interactions like this. I guess that’s what social media is supposed to do, right? Make connections?

Filed under: I Learned Something Today Tagged: Awesome, diet coke, Shenanigans, social media

Appreciating the Classics

Christopher — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 20:30:43 +0000

It had recently been revealed to Dayle that I had never seen Casablanca or Gone With the Wind. I’m sure this may come as a shock to a handful of you given my obsession with the movie industry. I suppose it is a bit of an embarrassment that I had yet to cross these two classics off of my to-watch list. Lucky for us, it rained all day Sunday and my Roku player loves Amazon’s Instant Watch catalog.

First up was Casablanca. Going into this movie, I knew I would recognize a few of the choice lines of dialog, after all this industry can’t help but refer to itself whenever possible. I’ll leave the rest of my observations in bullet points, since I’m my mind is jumping all over the place trying to remember everything.

Humphrey Bogart comes off as one of those guys who knew he was the man and the camera loved every second of him. Not in a “better than you” way – more of a “life of the party” kind of way. I imagine we’ll look on people like Denzel Washington and Tom Hanks with that kind of reverence after their career is long gone.
I can’t help but look back at this movie through the lens of modern film making – they stayed in one location/set for at least the first thirty minutes of the movie. No way something like that happens today.
I can’t remember a close-up of Ingrid Bergman without a combination soft light and the dramatic music. I imagine this is a theme of that generation of film.
I don’t care if this thing came out in 1942, this movie still holds up.

Here's lookin at you, kid.

As mentioned, Gone With the Wind is my mom’s favorite movie. Of all time. It is with this context that I tread carefully. I’ll say upfront I did not enjoy this movie as much as Casablanca. Yes, the movie was nearly three and a half hours long if you don’t skip the musical interludes and yes, I did look at the clock a number of times as scenes were (in my opinion) dragging on but I still recognize this movie’s importance and impact on modern cinema.

My mom has informed me that I need to watch “The Search for Scarlett”, a making-of featurette detailing, among other things, the extensive search for the the actress who would play Scarlett O’Hara. Regardless, I couldn’t connect with Scarlett. In the first hour her character resembled a Southern interpretation of a Downton Abbey character. War-time Scarlett was probably my favorite version, she did what she had to do to get by and when she got back on top she didn’t look back. High-falootin (that’s a word) Scarlett needed to have a stern talking to. By the time her big revalations occur at the end of the movie, I had checked out. My mom says the book presents things a bit differently and maybe one day I will investigate for myself but not today, and not tomorrow.

Oh Ashley!

Ultimately, this movie is a big deal and I’m all for that. I don’t regret watching either of these movies and if there’s some reason you’re reading this and haven’t seen either of these movies I can happily say that you need to make this your new priority for the weekend.

Filed under: I Learned Something Today Tagged: casablanca, gone with the wind, humphrey bogart, movies