Sunspots: Umami Edition 37signals 28 Jun 2006

16 comments Latest by Seth Thomas Rasmussen

Ink to paper
Flash demo on printing shows the process for woodcut, etching, lithography, and screenprinting.
The 50 most expensive cities in the world
1. Moscow. 2. Seoul. 3. Tokyo. (criteria = the cost of housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment)
Marissa Mayer’s 9 Notions Of Innovation
"Innovation, not instant perfection: Google launches early and often in small beta tests, before releasing new features widely." Also: "Creativity loves restraint: Give people a vision, rules about how to get there, and deadlines." Accompanying article includes a breakdown of her typical day and reveals she’s not exactly in the meetings are toxic camp.
Bill Simmons’ YouTube Hall of Fame
Sports brawls, 80s tv, wrestling, bad music videos, etc. "16. Mike Tyson Post-Fight Interview - The one with Jim Gray where Tyson vows to eat Lennox Lewis’ kids."

Where Visual Design Meets Usability (UIE interview with Luke Wroblewski)
"Visual design is all about communication. The better at communicating we are, the easier it is for our users to use and appreciate the web sites we design…Sites like Craiglist and Del.icio.us remain popular on the merits of their content. But, does their audience enjoy bumping through the site’s awkward graphics and hard to read text? No, but the personality of the content — It could be high quality, funny, worthwhile, and more — makes the rest more than bearable." (Btw, isn’t the font used on that screen kinda tiny for a usability site?)
Why don’t you see gourmet ketchup?
There’s tons of different varieties of mustard so why does plain ‘ol Heinz still rule the ketchup roost? A: Umami.
Butter vs. Margarine
The news that margarine’s trans fat may be worse than butter’s saturated fat threw lots of confused consumers back into the butter camp. But experts say trans-free margarine is still the way to go if you need a spread. This chart shows how the diff margarine brands stack up.

16 comments so far (Jump to latest)

Nick Carlson 28 Jun 06

Tokyo is a crazy city to live in. It reminds me of toon town in that movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Luis 28 Jun 06

Damn, I thought living in Toronto was expensive. Now I don’t feel so bad.
Yet, I’m still wondering how I’ll pay all those bills.

Luis 28 Jun 06

Butter has been around longer than margarine, plus the process by which it’s made is more natural.

As with margarine, when you start playing with hydrogen, there’s bound to be issues.

John Lewis 28 Jun 06

I read a UK version of the city cost study and New York doesn’t show up in the top 10. I wonder if someone here in the US is fudging the numbers because they are both sourcing the same material.

brad 28 Jun 06

Butter has been around longer than margarine, plus the process by which it�s made is more natural.

Just because something’s natural doesn’t mean it’s better for you. That said, I never use margarine and never will…butter just tastes better. The key is moderation. Basil and black pepper are reportedly natural carcinogens, but that won’t stop me from using them…as long as you don’t overindulge in these things they are unlikely to cause harm.

Homer 28 Jun 06

MMMMMMMMMm. buttter

John M 28 Jun 06

Instead of butter and margarine, use organic virgin coconut oil. Tastes great and has lots of health benefits.

Ken Rossi : CivilNetizen.com 28 Jun 06

5 days without a post. Did everyone take a vacation at the same time?

Phil 28 Jun 06

Is this relative to income of the people that live there or something? I know inflation is bad in Russia but Moscow…. More expensive then Tokyo or New York? That just doesn’t make any sense. A quick search on a moscow real estate site shows 2-3 bedrooms renting for $1500 a month. Good luck finding that within a 30 mile radius of NYC or Tokyo. They also have Dubai above San Francisco, and I know for a fact one can buy a 3 bedroom house on one of their neat little island things for less then a studio apt in San Fran…

Drew Pickard 28 Jun 06

Yeah - I don’t get how Moscow is on there either.
I’m assuming they’re translating to ‘cost of living’ or maybe it’s relational to average salaries in the area.

Or maybe I just don’t know jack about Russia

Matthew 28 Jun 06

Same goes for Taipei, Shanghai or Shenzen (bootleg central).

I’ve lived in 2 of the 3, and unless you’re an ex-pat, no way should they be on that list.

Matthew 28 Jun 06

Same goes for Taipei, Shanghai or Shenzen (bootleg central).

I’ve lived in 2 of the 3, and unless you’re an expat, no way should they be on that list.

falti 28 Jun 06

real estates are really expensive in moscow!

Ian Fieldhouse 29 Jun 06

I couldn’t understand why Edinburgh was nowhere to be seen on the list, but then discovered that they never bothered doing a report here. Obviously Edinburgh wasn’t considered important enough to survey since it’s only the capital of Scotland whilst a sprawling metropolis such as Oxford (!!!?) was deemed worthy.

Basically I don’t think the list is worth much credence, as to say Bratislava and Prague are considered two of the top 50 most expensive cities in the world is quite frankly laughable.

Seth Thomas Rasmussen 29 Jun 06

Mustard pwns j00.