Author: Sam Kornstein

The History of Rainfall in Massachusetts

Posted on by in Boston/Cambridge

I’ve been learning a bit about data visualization tools lately, and last night I decided to go digging through Massachusetts government websites to see if there was any interesting data I could plot. I didn’t expect to spend my night learning about the history of rainfall in the state, but the Massachusetts precipitation database turned about to be a great resource. Below is what I came up with in half an hour or so. On the map, each color represents a water basin — essentially where the water for the town or city comes from. The size of the circle represents the total rainfall in the area in a given year. You can toggle between years on the right. In

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More on Google Reader and Trust

Posted on by in General

Google’s new trust issue mentioned in my last Google Reader post – mainly that Google might find it more difficult to convince people to invest time to try their new products if they keep retiring apps that aren’t popular with mainstream users – seems to be getting some prominent attention. Slate’s new Google graveyard: James Fallows: Here’s the problem: Google now has a clear enough track record of trying out, and then canceling, “interesting” new software that I have no idea how long Keep will be around. When Google launched its Google Health service five years ago, it had an allure like Keep’s: here was the one place you could store your prescription info, test results, immunization records, and so on

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A Few Thoughts to Add on Google Reader

Posted on by in Current Events

I was a bit distraught to learn of Google’s planned sun-setting of Google Reader this July as part of their “spring cleaning”. It’s hard to describe the unique and important role it plays in a daily routine to someone who doesn’t use it, but I’ll give it a shot. Reader essentially allows users to subscribe to blogs, websites, columns, or really any other type of internet post using RSS feeds. I won’t get into the mechanics, but what this means is that for the 75 or so feeds I subscribe to, I have an inbox of posts that I can read or flip through at my leisure. Many people have written that Google+, Facebook, and Twitter are better suited to serve this role,

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Lightroom 5 Preset: Behind the Scenes

Posted on by in Lightroom 5 Presets, Photography

It’s been a while, but here’s my seventh free Lightroom 5 preset, Behind the Scenes. I’ve gotten lots of positive feedback on the first six, so thanks to everyone who’s given my presets a try. This one is actually quite similar to Speakeasy, but it brings out quite a bit more detail in the shadows, which is great for wildlife shots. Here’s my first example, a bird landing in the water: Some monkeys doing monkey things: And a tree in Boston’s esplanade: Here’s the download: Lightroom 5 Preset: Behind the Scenes To install it in Lightroom, simply right click any preset, select import, and then select the downloaded preset file.

Andrew Combs

Posted on by in Boston/Cambridge, Music

Last weekend I went to see Shovels & Rope at the Sinclair in Cambridge. A few things to quickly note. 1. I can’t really describe Shovels & Rope well, but if you haven’t heard of them, check them out. A recent NYT article actually gets it pretty close: “They like to say they are “making as much noise as they can” with two old guitars, a kick drum, snare, harmonica, tambourine and occasional keyboard. I dare to match them with the couple that set the standard for country duets, Johnny Cash and June Carter. Both couples share Southern roots and that music-from-the-back porch country sound.” They were great live too, although they didn’t quite meet my (very high) expectations. 2.

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Glenn Yoder & The Western States

Posted on by in General, Music

I had a great time last night at the CD release party for Glenn Yoder & The Western States at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge. They put on a great all-around performance, and Jeff Katz, the guitar player and a friend of mine from BU, tore it up on his tele. Here’s a clip I shot: Check out their CD, Javelina, here: