Who Wants A 3D TV For Christmas?

Posted on December 3, 2011 by laura

Last weekend I saw one of those hyped-up 3D TV displays in the window of an electronics shop in Lons-Le-Saunier, the capital city of the Jura in eastern France. There was a little podium outside the shop on which was mounted a pair of glasses that passersby could look through to view the screen in 3D.

I haven’t heard much about 3D TVs since I left my former job in digital television, and I’d almost forgotten about it. Lons is not a large town; according to the census of 2006 it had less than 18,000 inhabitants. I was surprised to see such a display outside of a major metropolitan area. Curious, I did a few quick Google searches to see how the 3D market was shaping up.
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Posted in Technology, TV | 3 Comments

Is Reading On Your Phone Making You Go Blind?

Posted on December 3, 2011 by laura

The guy sitting in front of me at the Swiss @-print conference today spent some time browsing through articles on his iPhone when the speaker’s topic didn’t interest him.

That’s a cropped version of a zoomed image I took with my 3GS camera, and it’s rather grainy. I don’t know if you can see just how small the text was on his screen, but it was pretty small. From what I could see, I’d guess he had about a third of an A4 page displayed horizontally on the iPhone screen. In that case, the text would have been about 60% of its printed size at best, and most scientific journals aren’t known for their large easy-to-read type.

Since I got my first iPhone, my nearsightedness, which had stabilized over the past years, seems to be getting worse again. I even had to get reading glasses. I know a few other people who have complained of the same thing since they’ve gotten an iPhone, too. It would be interesting to know if we’re part of a larger trend.

Posted in Technology | 2 Comments

Saturday Afternoon At The Museum: Three Original Views Of America

Posted on November 20, 2011 by laura

A few weeks ago, I wrote about The Other America, an exhibition at L’Elysee, a photography museum in Lausanne. Today is the last day of the exhibition, and I managed to take a few hours out of my schedule yesterday to go see it. If you’re near Lausanne today, you can still visit until 6pm. It would be a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

The exhibition presented three original views of America. I especially wanted to see Frank Schramm’s Stand-ups — Reporting Live From Ground Zero, which depicts journalists in the days and weeks following the terrorist attacks of 9/11. However, immediately after passing the ticket counter I found myself standing before the entrance to American Power, and the glimpses of photographs in the next room caught my eye, so I decided to start there.
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Posted in Culture, Journalism, Personal Interest, Switzerland | 2 Comments

Drive Is Pure Emotion

Posted on November 9, 2011 by laura

I went to see Drive this weekend, and I still can’t stop thinking about it. That’s how good it is.

I first heard about the film a few weeks ago on radio France Info. They called it one of the best films of the year, a masterpiece directed by Nicolas Winding Refn that marries popular cinema with cinema d’auteur. After Mike Cane posted some thoughts about it on his blog, I knew I couldn’t miss it.

The praise I’ve read for Drive is well-deserved; it’s undoubtedly one of the most powerful films I’ve seen in years. The plot revolves around a Hollywood stunt driver who works an equally dangerous job on the side as a getaway car driver. After a chance meeting, he becomes involved with his neighbor, a young mother who is raising her child alone. When the lawyer calls to say the boy’s father is coming home from prison, things start getting complicated, and the action takes turn after unexpected turn.

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Posted in Awesome, Film | 2 Comments

Bleak Sunday Afternoon

Posted on November 7, 2011 by laura

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The Black Swan Effect

Posted on November 6, 2011 by laura

The Saint Petersburg Ballet is currently performing Swan Lake at the Palais des Congrès in Paris. TF1 had a short segment today about the ballet company and Irina Kolesnikova, who dances the roles of the White and Black Swans.

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Rejection Letter

Posted on November 6, 2011 by laura

Early last September, I published an essay I had written for a job application. At the time I published it, I hadn’t received any response from the prestigious organization to which I had applied.

Four and a half months after I submitted my application and two and a half months after I started my current job, I received a rejection letter by email:

The last time I hired someone, it seemed to take a long time to find the right person. As I recall, we made an offer about two and a half months after the job opening was announced. In comparison, four and a half months seems unusually long. I’m glad I wasn’t waiting on this answer.

Posted in Personal Interest | 1 Comment

CDs Are For The Birds

Posted on November 4, 2011 by laura

Everyday I look out my office window and am reminded that CDs are still widely used in many places.

Photo taken Wednesday, Nov. 3rd.

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Does Apple Want To Wish Me Happy Birthday?

Posted on November 3, 2011 by laura

I finally got around to upgrading my iPhone to iOS5 last weekend.

The list of new features sounded exciting, even though I can’t have Siri on my 3GS (that’s still not fair).

I didn’t time the installation but it was long and involved several reboots. Once everything was ready, a few screens appeared prompting me for information. I had to decide whether or not to enable location services:

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Posted in Apple, Privacy | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Tintin In Hollywood

Posted on November 2, 2011 by laura

I haven’t been to see The Adventures of Tintin yet, but when I went to the Casino supermarket in France last weekend I got a taste of what to expect.

A big display was set up in the book section.

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