What I remember about 9/11

By Mack D. Male · September 11, 2011 at 3:36pm

Leading up to the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks I have been thinking about what I remember about that day. It has often been said that 9/11 is among a handful of major events that divide time into “before” and “after”, an event for which everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing when it happened. But already the details are becoming fuzzy for me.

September 2001 was the start of my first year at the University of Alberta. I’m not sure why I thought it was a good idea, but I had a lot of early classes that year. On that particular Tuesday, I had a computer lab at 8am. I had arranged to get a ride to campus with my girlfriend at the time. My Grandma, who I lived with, would drop me off at my girlfriend’s house and her mom would drop us off at the university on her way to work. I remember we were heading north on 50th street just past Whitemud Drive when we first heard on the radio about the two planes crashing into the World Trade Center. I don’t remember the exact time, but it couldn’t have been long after the second plane crashed into the south tower. For some reason, I seem to recall the person on the radio talking about “two small planes”.

By the time I got to my computer lab, it was obvious that they were not small planes and that something big was happening. I don’t remember doing any work in that particular lab, but I do remember sitting toward the back of the room, trying to find out more online. I distinctly remember thinking that the Internet seemed unusually slow that morning. I was probably trying to load CNN or the New York Times – it’s funny to think about it now and realize that Google News didn’t yet exist, not to mention Twitter, Facebook, or any of the other places I frequent for news today.

Not long after that lab, I met up with my girlfriend and we went back to her house. We pretty much sat in front of the TV for the rest of the day, like most people I suspect. I went back to my Grandma’s house around dinner time, and I remember she was doing some painting. I remember thinking it was odd that she wasn’t watching TV, but I suppose by that time the news was starting to get repetitive. It would take days, weeks, and months before we learned more about what happened.

And that’s about all I remember. It’s more than I remember about most other days ten years ago, but somehow less than I think I should remember, if that makes sense. I often wonder if I’d remember more or less if I had tweeted and blogged about it like I would today (passive vs. active media use).

Two years ago, Sharon and I went to Washington, DC on vacation. One of our stops was Newseum. They had a 9/11 exhibit featuring the September 12, 2001 front pages of newspapers from all around the world. They have a similar collection from today.

Zagat Survey up for sale

By Mack D. Male · January 14, 2008 at 9:47pm

During my trip to New York in December, I became quite familiar with Zagat. As a foodie, Sharon assured me that Zagat was the final word on restaurants in NYC. And walking around certainly convinced me – tons of restaurants proudly display their Zagat rating or review in the window. If I had to guess, I’d say Zagat makes quite a bit of money, so I was surprised to see this in today’s Times:

Zagat Survey, the guide empire that started as a hobby for Tim and Nina Zagat in 1979 as a two-page typed list of New York restaurants compiled from reviews from friends, has been put up for sale, according to people briefed on the decision.

It is unclear how large a price Zagat will attract. While the company is a worldwide brand, its actual business is much smaller. People briefed on the company’s finances suggest the company could be valued at more than $200 million, which would still be a drop in the bucket for an Internet company or a wealthy executive.

The article hints that the reason for the sale is getting to the next level. Despite tons of success over the last three decades, more capital is necessary to move beyond organic growth. Potential suitors (as mentioned in the article) include just about every company with some cash, including IAC/InterActiveCorp, News Corporation, American Express, AT&T, and others. Heck, why not Facebook? The two companies have a partnership apparently.

I had no idea that Zagat had so many tech investors. The extremely well known Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers is one, as are former Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold and Nicholas Negroponte, director of the media laboratory at MIT.

It depends who the buyer is, but I suspect the Zagat brand will lose some clout after a sale goes through.

Read: NYTimes.com

I wish they all could be Apple Stores

By Mack D. Male · December 28, 2007 at 10:18pm

One of the first places I went in New York after checking into the hotel was the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue. I had been looking forward to it for a very long time, and as I wrote that night, I was not disappointed. Sharon and I spent some time wandering around before I bought my iPod touch. The whole experience was really good, save for the cashier not knowing what to do with my Canadian debit card.

I’m not the only one who has been impressed with Apple’s retail experience this year.

Apple now derives 20 percent of its revenue from its physical stores. And the number is growing. In the fourth quarter in 2007, which ended Sept. 30, Apple reported that the retail stores accounted for $1.25 billion of Apple’s $6.2 billion in revenues, a 42 percent increase over the fourth quarter in 2006.

Not only has the company made many of its stores feel like gathering places, but the bright lights and equally bright acoustics create a buzz that makes customers feel more like they are at an event than a retail store.

In a way, I think Apple is "Starbucking" the technology retail experience. More than coffee, Starbucks offers a place to be. By allowing customers to sit and play with iPods and MacBooks, Apple is doing the same thing – selling community. The key phrase from above is "feel like gathering places".

Trust me, once you’ve been to an Apple store you’ll start wishing every retail experience could be so good.

It’s just too bad there aren’t more of them.

Read: NYTimes.com

NY Day 1

By Mack D. Male · December 17, 2007 at 11:24pm

I suck at coming up with titles for these kinds of posts, so I figure I’ll just go the boring route and number them (unless something really sticks out). I just uploaded 115 photos to my New York set on Flickr. I am kind of amazed at how much we accomplished today! I’m also ticked that none of my txt updates to Twitter worked. I know it’s not my phone, because other text messages were working. Stupid Twitter.

We started out by walking to Rockefeller Center to pick up our Explorer Passes. We saw the tree, and the skating rink, and stopped across the street at Dean & Deluca for coffee. We spent most of the rest of the morning wandering around Fifth Avenue, checking out some stores like Saks, FAO Schwarz, Barnes & Noble, and the Disney store. We also stopped to pickup tickets to the Sex and the City tour. Clearly, one of Sharon’s choices for activities! We went to Macy’s (which was a complete jungle) and stopped at Pax for lunch on the way back uptown.

I kind of wish we had something like Pax in Edmonton. London had the same kind of little places with fresh sandwiches and salads. Aside from Quizno’s and Subway, we don’t have anything really similar back home. Speaking of Canada, we stopped at Bryant Park where we found a giant glass dome advertising Ontario. Yes, Ontario. Inside were two people with snowboarding gear. Riiiight, because Jasper & Banff are in Ontario?!

Eventually we got on the bus for the SATC tour. It was a bit of a gong show at first, but once we got going it was alright. I actually wasn’t as bored as I thought I’d be, and there were clips of all the places we saw, so I could at least make sense of what our tour guide was saying. I think Sharon enjoyed the tour! Apparently our tour had an abnormally large amount of guys – seven out of fifty-five people or something like that.

The tour bus dropped us off at Grand Central Terminal, which was cool as we definitely wanted to check that out. The place is amazing! Lots of people bustling about, everywhere. We ate dinner at a pizza place called Two Boots on the “fast food” level of the station. Afterward, we finally used the subway to get to the Empire State Building. All the way up to the 86th floor observation deck we went, and it was quite a sight. Part of it was closed, unfortunately, but the views we had were still pretty amazing. A very touristy thing to do, but I’m glad we did.

Our final stop of the night was Times Square. It was everything I was expecting and more. Lights, buildings, people, excess all around. I loved it! We checked out a bunch of stores, including the really awesome Toys ‘R’ Us, the Virgin Megastore, and M&M’s World. Very, very cool places. We’ll be back there again for sure.

I’m pretty tired at the moment, no doubt from all the walking we did today. We spotted a souvenir shop at one point that had 18 postcards for $1. Thinking that was damn good, we bought them, only to find two blocks later another shop that was selling 30 postcards for $1!! I am determined to not get ripped off like that again! Heheh.

Though it seems like it’ll be hard to top today, I am looking forward to the rest of the week. I could spend months here and not run out of things to do!

Bloomberg for President?

By Mack D. Male · June 20, 2007 at 10:02pm

I don’t know about you, but when I think of “Bloomberg” I generally think of money. Maybe that’s because Bloomberg L.P., the company that current New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg started back in 1981, is the largest financial news and data company in the world. Or maybe it’s because Mr. Bloomberg is filthy rich! Either way, it takes more than money to run for President doesn’t it? Okay, okay, money is important. Still, that’s pretty much all the press has to go on at the moment:

The announcement by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York that he was leaving the Republican Party to become an independent was made after nearly two years in which his aides had laid the groundwork for a potential independent run for president.

Oh no, not the aides laying groundwork! That means he must really be planning to run for President! Nevermind that he made it clear he wants to finish his term as mayor:

“My intention is to be mayor for the next 925 days and 10 or 11 hours,” he said. “I’ve got the greatest job in the world, and I’m going to keep doing it.”

Ah I can just imagine what the reporters were thinking – he has money, so he must want to run for President, let’s find information that proves us right! Maybe I am just being naïve, but if he says he isn’t running, don’t you think there’s a small chance he is telling the truth?

Bloomberg becoming an independent is interesting, for sure, but I find it kind of comical that the media want to make becoming an independent mean running for President. Perhaps Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have become boring?

Read: NYTimes.com

Starbucks in the Middle

By Mack D. Male · January 17, 2006 at 3:12pm

You know how everyone jokes about Starbucks being absolutely everywhere? Well it’s true, in case you were wondering, and someone named Cory has computed the central point for all Starbucks in Manhattan, or as he calls it, the “center of gravity”:

What does “center of gravity” mean? Well, it means the exact place you can stand in Manhattan and be closest to ALL Starbucks. As if every single Starbucks was pulling you equally in its direction, this is the place where u could stand to feel the most Starbucks power…and not just within a few blocks radius, but for the whole Island!

Gawker does a nice job of summarizing:

Thanks to an array of disturbing mathematical calculations, some dorky-hot fellow has calculated the Starbucks Center of Gravity for Manhattan — the single location where you can be closest to all other Starbucks. Described as existing “somewhere between 5th and 6th, in between 39th and 40th,” this Starbucks is the Ground Zero of corporate coffee.

I’ll be sure to visit that Starbucks if I ever get to New York!

Read: Cory’s Weblog

Xbox 360 Stores

By Mack D. Male · August 31, 2005 at 1:08pm

Looks like Microsoft is getting serious about the Xbox 360 launch, with rumors of plans for two new Xbox 360 stores:

Looks like Microsoft is the last to get into the game with plans to open an Xbox 360 store in New York City’s Times Square. At least, rumour has it that they’re looking into prime real estate for that purpose. And by prime they may indeed truly mean prime, as in the 18,000 square-foot space that is One Times Square.

And the second store, in Tokyo:

The timing couldn’t be any better on this one — ITmedia snapped some pics of the construction shielding surrounding what they suppose is an Xbox 360 store.

I don’t know why a console needs its own store, and such a big one at that, but you have to admit it’s pretty cool

Read: Engadget

Canada’s banks attack the U.S.

By Mack D. Male · July 12, 2005 at 3:36pm

If the government isn’t going to allow bank mergers, the banks will look elsewhere for growth, and that’s exactly what they’re doing. In fact, they turned south of the border:

TD Banknorth Inc., which is paying $1.9 billion for New Jersey-based Hudson United Bancorp Inc., hopes to double in size and make a push into New York City over the next few years, its chief executive officer said on Tuesday.

[The deal] would also give Canada’s Toronto-Dominion Bank, TD Banknorth’s new majority shareholder, a much larger U.S. presence. Other Canadian banks interested in the country include Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Montreal, which owns Chicago’s Harris Bank.

I don’t know if it’s good or bad that our banks are expanding into the States. On the one hand, it’s great for growth and to allow them to compete globally. On the other hand, what if they forget about tiny old Canada?

Read: Reuters

New York shuts off cell service in tunnels

By Mack D. Male · July 11, 2005 at 9:20pm

A quick scan of the headlines and you’ll see that we’re once again in that “what now” period that tends to follow a world event like the bombings in London last week. One that caught my eye today was “Cell phone service disabled in New York tunnels“:

Cell phone service was disabled inside the four tunnels leading into Manhattan after the terrorist bombings in London, but Mayor Michael Bloomberg questioned Monday whether the move “makes the most sense.”

The Department of Homeland Security said the decision in New York to cut off cellular service was made without any recommendation by the federal government’s National Communications System, which ensures communications are available during national emergencies.

I don’t agree with the decision at all. At least they re-enabled cellular service in train tunnels today. No cell phones means no ability to call 911 in case there is an emergency. I think it’s incredibly difficult to try and prevent something like the disasters in London, Madrid and New York, but it’s entirely possible to save lives by having a connection to 911.

I can’t help but think that the terrorists are succeeding when we place our fears of future acts of terror above our ability to call for help when we really need to.

Read: CNN

Freedom Tower

By Mack D. Male · June 30, 2005 at 1:43am

The design for the new Freedom Tower to be built in Lower Manhattan was announced yesterday, and you’ve got to admit, it’s quite impressive. The new tower is built to last, with a base that is just incredible when you think about it, but it will also have reminders of the two World Trade Center towers:

The newly configured building would have no occupied space other than the lobby for its first 200 feet. It would be set at least 40 feet farther away from West Street-Route 9A, a heavily trafficked state highway. Many of its windows would be tempered, laminated and multilayered for extra protection against explosions.

“The tower we have now is even better than the tower we had before,” [Daniel Libeskind] said, congratulating Mr. Childs, with whom he famously quarreled two years ago over the first Freedom Tower design. “It asserts what the site is all about. The tower relates to the memorial, and rises in a symbolic way.”

The only unfortunate part about the building is that because it had to be redesigned, it’s construction has been further delayed, and is not expected to wrap up until 2010. I can’t imagine having lost someone in the famous attacks of 2001, but I suspect that having the new building up and complete would help close the book on that dark day.

Read: New York Times