Disqus - Latest Comments for jlam

Re: How Sprawl Got Detroit Into This Mess

John Lam — Mon, 03 Mar 2014 04:38:32 -0000

Might i attribute this insight to you and call this the Mad Hatter theory of land use!

Re: Out Now: Podio Notifications for Google Chrome

John Lam — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 15:29:46 -0000

Feedback in the Chrome Store says the browser extension no longer works. In any case as you note, Podio could notify users via many methods. Chrome Notifications seems most simple, but i also like http://mzl.la/12jOQdA in Firefox or a chrome://apps for something lightweight too. This old favorite http://Delicious.com/tools demonstrates the ease of installation for users.

Re: CITY2.0 || Ideas

John Lam — Sat, 26 May 2012 07:32:22 -0000

Better integrated planning would have avoided narrowing University Ave so much in 2004/5 and left enough space for bicycle lanes along the entirety of the avenue in the city, for example.

I didn't post this idea, but i suspect many talented outsiders feel they have no say, despite charrettes and public input meetings. I've made suggestions and given feedback, and years pass before professionals incorporate them—the exact same ideas, unchanged through the years—into planning documents. More examples, the now disbanded Bike & Pedestrian Advisory Committee had suggested bike lanes and shared-use marking in 1999, and the City started implementing them two years ago. Eight years passed before my suggestion to accommodate carsharing made the Long-Range Transportation Plan.

Meanwhile, folks resort to imaginary planning: Crowdsourced Moscow 2012: A Public Space Game, http://fb.com/crowdsourcedm...

Re: Did Google Pre-Emptively Block a 4G iPhone on Verizon?

John Lam — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 11:28:49 -0000

Now would those who supported and even screamed for Net Neutrality boycott the iPhone and buy Android? I don't see Apple changing its app model. For precedents' sake, what punishment it must be to give in and finally do the right thing!

Re: How Clean Must Food Containers Be Before Recycling?

John Lam — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 12:37:43 -0000

“Burning off” organic residue still leaves impurities, and takes energy to heat and boil off the water. This latent heat of vaporization uses extra electricity in melting aluminum.

Re: Income of United States, Japan, India, China, and Indonesia since 1500

John Lam — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:18:58 -0000

Darn, your Wordpress settings culled my graphic. Readers can simply click http://dl.dropbox.com/u/101...

John

Re: Income of United States, Japan, India, China, and Indonesia since 1500

John Lam — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:15:54 -0000

Indeed, presenting the data in log scale helps identify a trend, for the past 20 years the US and Japan have slowed while China, India, and Indonesia have accelerated.

Wolfram Alpha present me the quick graphic below:

I can see a linear scale makes a more dramatic point, especially to those who don't understand logarithms, but a log scale lets us see blips in trends. That's simply more useful, and gives a reason for folks to learn logarithms.

Re: Income of United States, Japan, India, China, and Indonesia since 1500

John Lam — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 08:43:57 -0000

I can see a linear scale makes a more dramatic point, especially to those who don't understand logarithms, but i also echo the call for a log scale. It lets us see blips in trends, and it's simply more useful.

Maybe presenting a link or infographic on logarithms would help.

Re: 10 Must-Have BlackBerry Apps for Small Business

John Lam — Fri, 14 May 2010 19:47:11 -0000

Try also the mobile client for http://SkyDeck.com. Beware it imposes inflexible address and telephone formatting, overriding number extensions and international formats, and mangles sync'ed address books.

Re: More URL niceness We've added an advanced option... | Tumblr Staff

John Lam — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 22:08:33 -0000

Instead of appending arbitrary strings to permalinks, why not keep them as numbers, but change the end punctuation from / to # to create descriptive links like

http://staff.tumblr.com/post/35833561#more-url-niceness

Re: (The official) Tumblr Tumblelog

John Lam — Tue, 20 May 2008 18:34:05 -0000

Woot. Thank you, David! I had long awaited this. Before, i had posted using the marklet, and then jumped into my dashboard to edit and add tags. Thankfully, i won't need to do that anymore, at least not for this reason.

Re: Welcome, Unknowns

John Lam — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 17:25:32 -0000

Gee, 'tis nice to have one of my favorite writers about Web 2.0 tip her hat to me for a tumblelog still trying to find its voice and yet still get first mention in the list! Might i attribute this to the power of the enigmatic?

Imagine my surprise to see you follow me at Linkriver and to see the notification arrive in my mail. As a stream of less personal posts, i hope it doesn't disappoint.

Thank you for the mention, Sarah, and keep up the awesome reporting and writing!

Re: OpenID Foundation – Google, IBM, Microsoft, VeriSign and Yahoo

John Lam — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 10:37:45 -0000

@Joe, pay attention to the location bar and opportunities for phishing are no more than password logins. Even better, Yahoo and http://IDproxy.net use only HTTPS logins, and let you upload and create a custom picture so you can clearly distinguish your Yahoo login page from a spoof. With one login, all OpenID-capable sites become accessible without worry someone might sniff your password over unsecure WiFi links.

Most sites offering password logins also let you recover your login by submitting your e-mail address. This is an open vector for sniffing passwords and substitute logins. By comparison, OpenID sites can rely upon multiple identity providers, should you forgot your login at any one. And don't forget, from the get-go, OpenID requires no additional password to remember!