David Caputo is an absolute delight.

I attended The New York Internet Marketing Meetup last night and saw a pretty informative lecture on SEO. It was given by John Murch from SEO Drop. He gave a quick overview of what he does with some useful tips and tricks. One of the things that I thought might be helpful for those of you out there who have no idea where to start with SEO, which stands for Search Engine Optimization, is an ebook by Google.Why should you know about SEO and why is it important? By fine tuning your site you can increase your position in search listings. So if you are currently on the 4th page of a google search for “Dog Tuxedos” you should take a look at the guide and your site. You may be able to organize it better, write in better keywords or some other simple steps that will bump you up to the first page and even the first position.

Above Sea Level? American Sign Language? Argininosuccinate lyase? Nope. What does the title of this post refer to? For me it refers to a phrase buried deep in my past when I used to use AOL. You would constantly see this pop up in chat rooms and, although I am no longer a user of chat rooms, I am sure it still does today. Age / Sex / Location. I made a little php page in honor of this memory from my early years on the world wide web. Just a random little thing that can help you out if your ever caught in a chat room and posed that brain teaser of a question.

http://davidcaputo.net/ASL/ 

It would seem that these three priori are the basis of forming any sort of relationship with someone, fantasized, virtualized or otherwise. You can build an entire drama around an individual by knowing these 3 facts. How old are you, are you male or female and where are you right now. My iPhone is constantly asking me for the later of those three whenever I open a new app. Even if that app really has no feature that would, at first glance, need my location. I am waiting with trepidation for the day that it asks me for the other two pieces of information.

I knew the name Kalustyans long before I knew what it was. To this day my moms chicken curry is one of mine and my siblings favorite meals. The staple ingredient in this dish came out of a large glass jar with a white screw cap and a tattered yellow label clinging onto the side. It read: Kalustyans. Curry Powder. Mild. There was of course a jar of hot curry powder for my dad who liked to sweat through dinner, occasionally dabbing his forehead and letting out a long sigh.

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I was digging through my bookmarks and I found this really great blog on Typography called “I Love Typography”

I have been obsessed with type for a long time. As a designer its kind of a typical trait. I find a lot of people don’t understand it and I am constantly apologetic for my random comments on why Papyrus should be banned from use or how I wish they would have used Univers or Trad Gothic for the NYC Subway Signage. I feel that most designers must have similar stories. I know Matteo Bologna of Mucca claimed himself to be a type masturbator and had to apoligize to any non-designers in audience at a recent AIGA Lecture.

I wonder though, why is it that a lot of people are blind to the nuances of the words around them. Am I just over generalizing and have a sort of “Nascar Blindness” on this?

Kroosh and I should be heading over to NYC Resistor to check out Craft night. I am hoping to buy a little time on the laser cutter (LAZZZZZOOOOOR) to get a few pieces cut for a little lighting project I have been thinking about. The space collectively purchased a 35 watt Epilog laser. Occasionally there are classes that go over the basics of designing for and using the laser.

If you have not checked out Resistor you definitely should. The best way to jump in would be to take one of their fantastic classes I mentioned above. I have taken a few so far and they are really fun. Lots of good ole friendly people hacking interesting things and sharing what they know.

I have heard very good things about the Arduino classes (If Funky, Get Loopy) but I haven’t seen any posted in quite a while. You have to keep close tabs on the class list because they have a tendency to fill up very quickly.

Happy Hacking!

I saw a video that Bre Pettis posted about making sympathy dolls and it made me want to make some of my own. I have gads of old clothing that are so ruined that I can’t give them away but they are perfect for scrapping together some plush robots.I think it came out pretty well for my first robot. It hangs from the ceiling by a thread that comes out of its poor broken robot heart.My future plans include making them writhe in emotional pain while they hang helplessly from their heart strings.