google earth, helping one ancient roman archaeologist at a time.

kind of cool.

via waxy.

is it the El or the "L"?

I forget if I mentioned this before, but it's worth noting again. Scott Moschella of the venerable plasticbugs set out to redesign the interface of the GIMP, a powerful open-source image editor, so that it would be more familiar to Photoshop users. Today brings an interview with him about the project.

But more importantly, the project has progressed enough to start showing up in easy-to-use packages. Click here for a windows installer. Despite the project being Mac-based, the latest version isn't yet available as a .app package. But you can find install instructions here. If that's too daunting, just stick with the original release for now — you can find a binary install package here.

Anybody want to go to this with me next Saturday? I know Yglesias had expressed some interest in the past. Personally, I'm most interested in catching (in order):

• Steve Earle (never seen 'im)
• Le Tigre (same)
• Ted Leo (always fun, but it wouldn't break my heart to miss a show)
• The Coup (I'm curious)
• Thievery Corp. (DC represent!)
• and maybe Head-Roc (the same, plus curiousity)

Or some subset of those. I'm thinking head down in the afternoon, catch a couple acts, grab some dinner and drinks, then back for the main events... what do you guys think?

everybody in d.c. knows about cakelove, and everybody in d.c. has an opinion on it. the bakery specializes in gourmet cakes and particularly cupcakes, both of which will run you a pretty penny. personally, i agree with many others that the cupcakes are entirely overrated (can't speak as to the cakes) - the cake is dry, the icing is a cold slab of butter, and you generally feel like you've been ripped off $3. but some people love 'em. those people are crazy.

well, when i was out running errands today i decided to try out another gourmet cupcake shop that's at the end of my street. it's called cupcakes, and it's run by some physicist-turned-baker chick. it's a postage-stamp-sized bit of a store, decorated with clouds and white tile and other cutesiness. the cupcakes are also $3, and you've got the same variety of traditional+wacky flavors that cakelove has. i chose the double chocolate and the red velvet; they were packed up in cute little boxes and i came home to eat them as my afternoon snack and part of my apparent general plan to get extraordinarily fat in chicago.

well, yum. these cupcakes take the cake. hahahaha. no, seriously, they were stupendous. they're not refrigerated, so the icing isn't rock-hard when you eat it. it's the same type of icing as the cakelove cupcakes - italian buttercream - but it's much more flavorful and smoother. the cake part of the concoction is also moist and delish. overall they're smaller than the cakelove cupcakes, but of much higher quality. so suck on that, warren brown.

the chicago tribune lists the reader-voted seven wonders of chicago here (use bugmenot for registration). in short, they are:

First wonder (26,231 votes):
The Lakefront

Second wonder (19,718 votes):
Wrigley Field

Third wonder (18,800 votes):
The "L"

Fourth wonder (17,957 votes):
Sears Tower

Fifth wonder (17,747 votes):
The Water Tower

Sixth wonder (17,004 votes):
University of Chicago

Seventh wonder (16,962 votes):
Museum of Science and Industry

as far as what i've seen, it seems like a reasonable list, though i'm not convinced the el is as amazing as some people seem to think it is. we'll see if it does the previously-thought impossible in the coming year: make me appreciate WMATA.

anyway, what'd be the seven wonders of the d.c. world? the cherry blossoms would have to be up there (they really are beautiful), and i don't doubt that loads o people would vote for butterstick. the smithsonian would surely make it, and there are enough monuments to fill the list on their own (not to mention stuff like the white house and the capitol). the insane amount of awesome ethiopian food? ben's chili bowl (though i know, i know, many think it's overrated). the chicago hot dog did make it on the lower half of the list, after all, so there's no reason not to think the half smoke couldn't do the same thing. personally, d.c. foodwise, i'd vote for kriston's smoker. a work of brilliance if there ever was one.

Sorry. That was terrible. But it's hard to avoid these awful puns when talking about the Nintendo Revolution — the console's name makes it bad-prose compatible out of the box.

Anyway, the controller has been announced, and it's weird. But also intriguing. Don't be put off by the pictures — actually read the text. It sounds kinda cool. There's also a video here, which my enfeebled computer refuses to play. But I'm confident that it's awesome.

Nintendo seems to be aiming for the nongamer audience with this move. I think it's a good strategy — this actually does look like something I could get my mom to play. But I'm pretty excited about the implications for first person shooters, as well. As this guy points out, Nintendo is responsible for pretty much every controller innovation since the joystick. It's hard to imagine that they'd make a serious misstep in this area.

I'm still on board for the Xbox 360, first and foremost. Nintendo's software lineup is simply too weakened for any serious geek to consider it as a console of first resort. But the Revolution is supposed to be pretty cheap. If I somehow stumble across an extra $150, I could now easily see myself blowing it on one of these things.

tommy and i attended a cubs game last night at wrigley field, which turns out to be less than a mile from my apartment. it was a drizzly, cool night, and tommy asked the box office guy for "the cheapest seats you've got," and he gave 'em to us, alright. we ended up in the very last row of the upper deck behind the third base line. unfortunately, it was also the spot where all the wind in the entire world converges, so by the start of the game i was huddled into a ball, shivering in my thin, long-sleeved shirt. i even resorted to the detestable popping of the collar in a feeble attempt to gain some warmth. tommy looked over at me at one point and said, "you are so. screwed. this winter." i just chattered my teeth in agreement.

besides freezing my ass off, i found wrigley to be a pretty charming ballpark. it seems incredibly small and twee, after the concrete bohemoth that is RFK stadium; there are plenty of bars surrounding it where you can grab a pre or post-game drink; the bleachers situated on roofs of buildings behind the outfield are adorable (what's the story with that, anyway? do people charge to sit up there?); and the concessions were yummy. also, this is just me stereotyping and looking at folks through misty, out-of-towner, suburban-raised rose-colored glasses, but everyone i ran into at the game seemed like a very salt-of-the-earth type character. i know, i'm ridiculous. but the concession stand folks were all scrappy and droll; a group of old men in satin cub jackets brought along a slew of marching band instruments and played them in between every inning; and i don't know! i just like chicago!

tommy and i only stuck around for five innings or so, due to the aforementioned-freezing-off-of-ass, then raced down clark street through the rain to get some killer margaritas, which were indeed killer, yummy, and huge. today i make a foray into the unknown wilds of my neighborhood: GROCERY SHOPPING! i even bought one of those little drag-along grocery carts that old ladies use and plan on pushing it back and forth like the ancient 25 year-old that i am. and i better go soon: the contents of my fridge right now, as they stand, are 12 bottles of water, and, uh, a brita filter.