Nathan Chase

Looking pretty sharp, indeed. Lots of new animations. A Pinterest-esque masonry layout. Some auto-enhance stuff for Photos.

Lots of stuff to take in all at once. It seems nice at first glance. Will need more time to dig in and see how it feels moving forward. Still needs more actual humans I know using it.

The whole “if you build it, they will come” mantra doesn’t seem to have held weight for the G+ team yet. You can’t say they aren’t giving it the old college try, though.

I’m checking this out over at http://plus.google.com/+NathanChase.

Pitchfork put up an intriguing article about Daft Punk and their new album, Random Access Memories today. Incorporating parallax scrolling and a clever design, the story flows with a style that’s like a rich-quality magazine amended with the benefits of a digital presentation.

Sites like The Verge and Polygon have done similar full-screen, responsive, custom designs for some of their long form articles. It’s seemingly a trend for these sites to showcase both skill sets of design and writing. I’m all for it. Anything that makes my read an enjoyable one is only going to bring me back more often. Kudos are in order.

Flickcharter Travis McClain was recently inspired by a friend of his to create a list of 100 things he loves about films. The “rules” for the list-making are as follows:

Rather than posting your 100 favorite films (which has been done and overdone), you simply post your favorite things about movies.  I dig the concept, because instead of obsessing over whether the films you put on a list are “objectively good enough” to put on said list, you simply jot down 100 moments/lines/visuals that have made a lasting impression on you or sneak their way into running gags between you and your friends. Just read below and you’ll get the idea.

So here’s a selection of 100 scenes, thoughts, opinions, quotes, moments, and observations on my favorite films – in no real specific order. It doesn’t necessarily align directly with my top 100 on Flickchart, but most of those films are represented. I did make a concerted effort to make this an audiovisual list as well, so enjoy the sights and sounds of some marvelous movie moments…

100

It’s an odd film. Dark tone. Strange plot. Unusual scenes. Mysterious events. But it’s just so remarkable. Altered States.

99

The sexiest film I’ve ever seen. Secretary.

98

One of my favorite war movies, Three Kings, has an incredible moment showing exactly what happens when you get shot. It’s permanently imprinted into my memory.

97

Mark Romanek’s Never Let Me Go is one of the best science fiction movies without spaceships, aliens, lasers, time travel, robots, and all the usual settings for the genre. It’s also an incredibly powerful character study.

96

The supporting actors in No Country for Old Men are really what make the movie great. The leads all do a fantastic job, but the Coens really know how to cast the small roles with people that bring a sense of realism and history to their paltry roles. Just look at how good the store owner (Gene Jones) is in the famous coin toss scene with Javier Bardem.

95

The Hangover shouldn’t be as good or funny as it is – but it is. It’s great. Chemistry between actors can make or break a comedy, and this movie nails it.

94

There are few films that make you feel the testosterone flowing through you more than 300.

93

The interstitial trailers were arguably the best part of Grindhouse.

92

A movie about the relationships of people and wine CAN be quite interesting – and at times side-splitting hilarious. Sideways proves it.

91

Frances McDormand in Fargo. Just awesome.

90

Effects that serve the story and impress with their technical prowess at the same time? The Curious Case of Benjamin Button works both of these angles in so many ways. It strongly reminds me of an exemplary, feature-length version of an episode of Amazing Stories.

89

Robin Williams as a creepy dude in One Hour Photo and Insomnia, or in more serious roles like The Final Cut.

88

The intensity of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was unexpected, and one of the best mystery movies I’ve ever seen. With Fincher & Reznor teaming up for the remake, I have high hopes – but it has a hard act to follow.

87

Despite what you may have heard, The Illusionist IS better than The Prestige. Get over it, Nolan fanboys.

86

I’m really glad that movies like Up in the Air are made. It’s funny without being cliché. Acted with understated performances. Scripted with heartfelt moments and scenarios that both seem hyper-real and relatable simultaneously. It’s much better of a movie than I ever thought it could be.

85

Unstoppable absolutely deserved its Academy Award nomination for Best Sound Editing. Making trains sound as awesome as they did in that movie is not easy. Very impressive.

84

Even though it’s turned into a mostly mediocre horror legacy franchise, the original Saw is a fantastic film. If you called the twist ending at any point during the movie, bravo, because the rest of us didn’t see it coming. As a result – a brutal, satisfying ending to a grueling movie.

83

It was only playing in my town one night. There were no promotions for it. No television spots. When we arrived at the one theater in a 100 mile radius that was playing it, it was not on the marquee, and not on any of the placards at the box office window. My friend Eric and I asked if it was playing. The teller nodded. We bought our tickets to this admittedly secret show. We’re still scratching our heads as to why this movie was essentially thrown away by the studio. It’s a pretty fun, cool movie. Equilibrium.

82

Let The Right One In / Let Me In / Daybreakers. Modern vampire movies can be good.

81

Time travel movies. Primer. Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. The Time Traveler’s Wife. Back to the Future. I can’t get enough. One of my favorite film genres, for sure.

80

The uncomfortable hilarity of Borat. If you’re not laughing at least once out loud watching this film, you’re missing a funny bone. (Side note: Bruno. Not funny. At all.)

79

Crawling through the dark subway tunnels with night vision revealing the evil lurking. Walking between fallen skyscrapers. A wonderful monster design. Subtle, but smart use of “found footage” genre tropes. A fantastic marketing campaign behind it – using the shroud of secrecy and ARG techniques to tease us all. Great, great stuff. Cloverfield.

78

Best fight scene. Ever. They Live.

77

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how perfect the “Tiny Dancer” scene in Almost Famous is.

76

I’m not really into stoner comdies, but “Afghanistanimation”? Funny. Super Troopers

75

The 15-year old me still loves the mood, music, and menace of The Crow.

74

Charlie Chaplin doing some of the most entertaining stunt work on roller skates in Modern Times.

73

Everybody in Batman Returns. So dark. So Tim Burton. It’s such a weird movie…

72

The ability for a feature film to work better as drug use prevention than anything you might ever see in a school health class. I’m looking at you Trainspotting and Requiem for a Dream.

71

Best. Car Chase. Ever. Ronin.

70

Elisha Cuthbert in The Girl Next Door. Yes, please.

69

The mean, green mother from outer space in Little Shop of Horrors.

68

Billy Mitchell. What a smug bastard he’s made out to be in The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters.

67

The last time Eddie Murphy was funny, in Bowfinger.

66

The only movie to make me openly sob in a movie theater. Mr. Holland’s Opus.

65

Shaky-cam notwithstanding, the film that changed the game on microbudget filmmaking success. Still a triumph. The Blair Witch Project.

64

They just don’t make ‘em like this anymore. The Music Man.

63

Absolutely any scene featuring Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds.

62

The film that rekindled my love of The Beatles in the most powerful way. Across the Universe.

61

Crazy Gene Wilder. Genuinely scary, unnerving scenes throughout. Early 70s fashions seeping into the costume designs. Freaky midgets. An entire scene devoted to burping to avoid certain death. It doesn’t get much stranger, or endearing, than the original Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.

60

The iconic score of Batman by Danny Elfman. Still one of the most memorable movie scores on par with John Williams’s best work.

59

“Dad, how can you hate ‘The Colonel’?”  ”Because he puts an addictive chemical in his chicken that makes ya crave it fortnightly, smartass!” So I Married an Axe Murderer.

58

Some of the best acting-against-yourself scenes, smack-dab in the middle of a wonderful, small sci-fi tale. Moon is simply a great movie.

57

The best bleak, tragic ending to a film ever conceived. The Mist.

56

Pretty much any scene in Weird Science.

55

What a great use of a single set! Cube.

54

The Firebird Suite by Stravinsky in Fantasia 2000.

53

The palpable tension – both between James Stewart and Grace Kelly, and the mystery and paranoia contributing to the unfolding events of Rear Window. Hitchcock at the top of his game.

52

The justifiably famous moment in Jaws where Roy Scheider is throwing chum into the water, who then turns, now startled and taken aback seeing “Bruce” for the first time (as we in the audience are), and then slowly backs into the cabin to announce what’s on his and our minds… “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.”

51

The genuine happiness I felt for longtime musical hero Trent Reznor on winning the Best Original Score Academy Award for his work on The Social Network.

50

The right way to do product placement with the Speak & Spell and Reese’s Pieces in E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.

49

The funniest the Farrelly brothers have ever been, by far, and hilarious performances from the three leads – Woody Harrelson, Randy Quaid, and the inimitable Bill Murray. Kingpin.

48

“It says one hundred percent guaranteed, you moron!”  ”Mister, if you don’t shut up I’m gonna kick one hundred percent of your ass!” Fast Times at Ridgemont High. (Also, Phoebe Cates pool scene, of course.)

47

The inspired use of a typewriter as an instrument in Dario Marianelli’s score to Atonement.

46

My first introduction to the brilliance of Darren Aronofsky, in Pi.

45

Despite whatever pitfalls Fincher faced from all angles of the industry and having to follow two superior movies, I still think Alien ³ is a good, visually gorgeous film. It just wasn’t what anyone was expecting to see out of a third Alien film.

44

Still some of the most effectively terrifying  practical visual effects ever created. Here’s hoping the reboot/prequel/remake doesn’t rely to heavily on CG. The Thing.

43

The extreme slow motion intro credits sequence set to Bob Dylan in Watchmen.

42

A.I.: Artificial Intelligence. It’s better than everyone says it is. Underrated.

41

The mystery, allure, and beauty of Kim Novak  in Vertigo.

40

The fact that vampires don’t show up until 45 minutes into the movie in From Dusk Till Dawn. Until then, it’s just an odd crime thriller…

39

Everything I wanted and more. So well executed. So creative. The best animated character/live action blending since Roger Rabbit. Awesome. District 9.

38

The uncanny valley is about to be jumped. It’s coming. Cameron’s going to be the one leaping over it. Avatar.

37

BUM BUM BUM Boummm Bummmmmmmmmmmm. Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

36

A great remake. A stellar performance. A dark, disturbing science fiction horror masterpiece from Cronenberg. The Fly.

35

The most incredible one-shot ever as we follow Tom Cruise and family in the minivan escaping the devastation in War of the Worlds.

34

The superb editing makes the film both thrilling and completely comprehensible simultaneously. No small feat. Jam packed with amazing sequences. Inception.

33

The heart wrenching performance of a very young Christian Bale in Spielberg’s lesser-known war film, Empire of the Sun. It’s rare when a child actor is also the lead in a serious, dramatic film. Even rarer when the acting is nuanced, understated, and telling of a great career to come.

32

Say what you will, but Titanic is awesome. It made a lot of money for a lot of reasons, but the best reason is that it’s a great story. Perhaps a touch melodramatic, but it’s a tragedy enveloped with intense emotional output. Pretty much everything after the boat hits the iceberg is pure bliss.

31

How incredibly excited I am to see Super 8, and hoping it’s everything I wish it can be.

30

Top 5 things I love about High Fidelity:

1. If you’re into music, you’ll love the movie.
2. Cusack rules.
3. Early Jack Black.
4. Cosby sweater.
5. “Do we look like the kind of store that sells I Just Called to Say I Love You? Go to the mall.”

29

Explorers is the cinematic embodiment of how I felt, thought, acted, and imagined as a kid. Use a computer and fair ride parts to build a crude spaceship with a few buddies to find space aliens that have visited you in your dreams? Joe Dante – thank you for making this movie. I still love it.

28

Incredible filmmaking. If you were ever to point to a piece of cinema as art, this is it. Everyone should see it. Do yourself a favor. Watch Koyaanisqatsi.

27

Don’t get him wet, keep him out of bright light, and never feed him after midnight. Gremlins.

26

The best Star Wars parody. Hilariousness from start to finish. So many quotes. Pullman. Moranis. Candy. Brooks. Still a riot. Spaceballs.

25

Gary Oldman creeps me out in the best way possible in The Professional.

24

Hoverboards. Back to the Future Part II.

23

The chestburster. Alien.

22

“I don’t shut up, I grow up, and when I look at you, I throw up!” Stand by Me.

21

“‘Empire’ had the better ending. I mean, Luke gets his hand cut off, finds out Vader’s his father, Han gets frozen and taken away by Boba Fett. It ends on such a down note. I mean, that’s what life is, a series of down endings. All ‘Jedi’ had was a bunch of Muppets.”  Clerks.

20

Who knew that a love story between a “pumpkin king” and a tattered, stitched-up doll could be so compelling. Doubly so as a stop-motion animated musical. The Nightmare Before Christmas.

19

Indy takes the easier option in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

18

This seqeuence. From AKIRA.

17

“I have been stabbed, shot, poisoned, frozen, hung, electrocuted, and burned.” Groundhog Day.

16

What’s in the box? Se7en.

15

All the chaos of the war room climax in WarGames.

14

“Yeah, but you know what? This one here? This was my dream, my wish – and it didn’t come true. So I’m taking it back. I’m taking them all back.” The Goonies.

13

Seeing Who Framed Roger Rabbit more times in theaters than probably any other movie.

12

The score. The effects. The action. The look. I was obsessed with this film from the moment I saw it, and it’s never ceased to remain a favorite. Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

11

But action doesn’t get any better than Die Hard.

10

The T-Rex. Raptors. Every dinosaur, really. Jeff Goldblum. Everyone in the cast is really “on”. What’s not to love? Jurassic Park.

9

Simply the finest underwater film ever made. The Abyss.

8

Jabba. Sarlacc Pit. Speederbikes. The final lightsaber battle – slow and psychologically fueled. Vader’s true face revealed. The atonement of Anakin with the defeat of the Emperor. There’s a lot to adore in Return of the Jedi.

7

Just about every damn thing about Fight Club just rules. What an incredible movie. Score. Characters. Cinematography. Script. Twist. So, so good.

6

“Cats and dogs. Living together. Mass hysteria!” I was a member of the official fan club. Will always be close to my heart. I love Ghostbusters.

5

A tale of time travel – and moviemaking – at its absolute best. A perfect script. A classic. It’s hard to imagine that it could ever be done better than Back to the Future.

4

Star Wars. I’m a lifelong fan. Always will be.

3

The best sequel anyone could have ever dreamed to receive. Cameron at his absolute best. The most adrenaline-fueled blend of horror, science fiction, and action by far. It’s incredible. Aliens.

2

There has been, and probably never will be, a more succinct combination of so many genres so well executed. Out of nowhere, the bar was raised before anyone knew what hit them. My jaw’s been dropped since the first time I saw it. The Matrix.

1

The Empire Strikes Back is my absolute favorite film.

Top 5 Albums

5. The Social Network – Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross

4. The Glitch Mob – Drink The Sea

3. Menomena – MINES

2. RATATAT – LP4

1. Squarepusher – Shobaleader One: d’Demonstrator

Top 5 Movies

5. Shutter Island

4. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

3. Black Swan

2. The Social Network

1. Inception

Top 5 Movies I wish I’d seen in 2010: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Tron: Legacy, Never Let Me Go, True Grit, Monsters.

Top 5 Games

5. VVVVVV

4. Cut The Rope

3. Dead Rising 2

2. Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty

1. Limbo

Top 5 games I wish I’d been able to play in 2010: Alan Wake, Red Dead Redemption, Heavy Rain, God of War III, Rock Band 3.

click to enlarge

I wrote a quick post to Google Buzz recently that dealt with a concept and issue that’s been rattling in the back of my mind lately. We consume so much information from so many sources that we’re bound to run into the same stories. The news that becomes popular does so because of it being shared, telling friends, sending it to others, and spreading the word.

Virality is the term that’s been associated with this for some time. Getting things to “go viral” is a key to success, but the value of any story is its exclusivity, or who publishes it first. The above concept image is a visualization of my thoughts on how this issue might be dealt with.

I call it – Flume.

1. flume – noun. - A narrow gorge, usually with a stream flowing through it.

The goal is to group all similar information from throughout the web, from social networks and from all of your friends, and distill it to just the original sources.

You’d have a list of news stories that are by default presented by popularity. Each story would get a score that represents how often it’s cited across the web – based on tweets and retweets from Twitter, inbound links from reactionary blog posts, and personal status update reactions from friends and colleagues on social networks like Facebook and Google Buzz. The presentation would be consistent regardless of the source, with simple links to click and visit any story in detail. You’d have at-a-glance, with no interaction needed from the user, an importance-ranked delivery of information stemming from the people and content sources they value most.

Behind the scenes, the application would detect when a story all points to the same common news event, and instead of you having to look elsewhere through your various feeds, walls, streams, etc., the story would show up only as a single source origin story – all within the confines of one application.

For example, if CNN gets the story first, that’s the one that would show up in Flume. All other stories that were posted anywhere on the web afterwards would be consolidated underneath it. Anyone posting about it on Twitter – hidden. Anything on Facebook about it – not seen. All of the reactions would fall in a toggleable area below each story, where if you desired to drill down into to see what people are saying, you’d know from where it came from and where it was being talked about. But only if you want to.

So how would it work?

You’d use a combination of keyword density, trackback links, un-shortened URL detection, and possibly the Salmon protocol to algorithmically distinguish the content streaming in as either original or reactionary. As more content arrives, whichever source has the content origin first gets the credit. So if your friend on Twitter was the first to post about a story before it arrived to you via someone else on Facebook, you’d only see the tweet. If the blog post came before the Buzz, you’d get the blog post alone.

The mockup design is obviously heavily influenced by TweetDeck. Where the multicolumn view works in TweetDeck’s favor, I’d like to take all the separated information and throw out anything other than the first place something appeared. Rather than having separate columns for each service, I’d want a single column for all news, regardless of source. If you wanted to of course, you could always re-sort it by source if you desired.

It’s a bit like Google Buzz or FriendFeed, where you have a single aggregated stream of information, but instead of being source-centric, the default is popularity centric. It’s throwing TweetDeck, Google Buzz, FriendFeed, Facebook, Brizzly, Redux, Amplify, Google Reader, and countless other web tools into a blender to create an ultimate single point-of-entry news reading mechanism.

HTML5 and web application standards would be ideal for the client to allow for both desktop and cross-platform mobile usage, while a robust database application layer in the cloud would be constantly evaluating and delivering the ranked information requested by the client.

What do you think? Would a single view of content without the same stories popping up over and over interest you? What other features would you expect to see in this application? What are some of the limitations that would prevent an application like this from existing, and how might they be overcome?

While it’s been a rather lucklaster year for new music, it’s been a great year for video gaming. Lots of new IP’s, blockbuster sequels, and next-gen must-plays. Here’s the list of my 10 favorite games that I’ve been playing this year…

#10 – While this might not be the ultimate Ghostbusters game, it comes pretty darn close. Involvement of the original actors, a script written by Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd, and a real feel of bustin’ ghosts made for a pretty great experience. The way they incorporated so many of the original locales and characters into the story in a way that works well saved the game from some problematic control issues dragging it down. Sound effects, dynamic music from the films, and some trademark Bill Murray quips kept things true to the source – and possibly got a new film’s production kickstarted in the process.

#9 – While the strange choice of 2D stylized cut-scenes left most players puzzled, the actual puzzles of running across rooftops at breakneck speeds while pulling off parkour moves relatively effortlessly made a for a really awesome experience. It’ll be very interesting to see where the sequels will advance both the mechanics and plot.

#8 – Even though there were a few expansions for the original game, none of them lived up to the epic of the original. This game came through as a great thrill-ride filled with amazing set pieces, a few genuinely great scares, and a good mix of action and dread throughout. Alma may be a ripoff of Samara from The Ring movies, but she holds her own in the F.E.A.R. universe and certainly freaks you out just as well.

#7 – This follow-up to the zombie multiplayer frag-fest improved upon the original in many ways – from the expanded locations, melee weapons, and an overall thematic tie between campaigns that made it feel even more cinematic. More variation in zombies, improved visuals, and a new cast all made for great reasons to subject yourself to new hordes of mayhem.

#6 – Fantasy games don’t usually hook me, and even Bioware’s previous sci-fi effort in Mass Effect didn’t keep my interest for long, but Dragon Age simply rocks. It doesn’t try to rock the boat and reinvent fantasy gaming. It takes what works and what we already know and makes a world that we can jump right into and start hacking, slashing, and interacting with immediately. An immense game with so many combinations and permutations of outcomes, there’s almost no end to the ways it can be played. Excellent voice acting, tons of humor peppered throughout the campaign, and some really extensive story lines make for plenty of value in a single game.

#5 – While Super Mario Galaxy might be cool, it’s just not the same as the traditional 8-bit NES original, SMB3, or the Super NES’s amazing Super Mario World. We’re all grown up now, and we play grown up games, but being able to be challenged and reminded of the nostalgic fun of our youth is what we want. This game is the best example of that Nintendo could possibly have come up with. Playing a side-scrolling Mario game is what we’ve all been clamoring for, and this one delivers with multiplayer, cool uses of the Wiimote, and plenty of great new gameplay with new suits to grab, secrets to find, and levels to conquer. It’s so much fun, and the best thing the Wii has had to offer all year.

#4 – No one imagined that this game could be anything but great. Epic missions, unrelentingly bad-ass moments from start to finish, and more of the multiplayer that made the original a runaway hit. If ever a game made you feel like you were playing a blockbuster action movie – this is the best example the industry has. It’s not too long, not too short. Performances, design, and virtual camera work all make for one of the best gaming experiences of the year.

#3 – Who thought that something like this could ever be made? How would they get the original tracks to pull apart and make into a game? Well this game stands as a testament to getting it done and making it happen. It’s truly remarkable how much attention to detail there is throughout, and if you’re even remotely interested in The Beatles, you should own this game. It’s fun, chock full of exclusive content, and offers some of the best trippy visualizations seen in video gaming since Geometry Wars. Kudos to everyone involved putting this together.

#2 – What’s this? A good Batman game? Yes! Finally, someone figured out that there’s a mix of play styles inherent to being the Dark Knight. We want to creep around and snatch bad guys from above. We want to dive into the shattered psyche that convinces a grown man to dress up as a bat. We want to be able to punch, kick, and zipline around effortlessly. This game brought all of that in spades, and brilliantly set it within a fan-favorite locale with Arkham which doubled as the perfect showcase of many of the comic’s greatest villains. Voice acting, exploration, the wonderful Max Payne-esque dream sequences – there’s never been a better rendition of Batman in a game. A must-play.

#1 – DJ Shadow. Daft Punk. DJ Jazzy Jeff. DJ Z-Trip. What else do you need to know? If you care about hip-hop, turntablism, mashups, and DJ culture even in the slightest bit, stop reading this and go pick this up now. The controller is great, the selection of tracks runs an extremely wide spectrum of music, and it makes you feel like you can scratch a record like nobody’s business. Make no mistake – this is not just a cheap Guitar Hero knock-off. This is something that everyone should play. Everyone.

There wasn’t much this year in the way of new music that really impressed me, so I’ve narrowed down my best-of list to simply the top 5 albums I’ve been listening to and enjoying the most this year. I don’t know if it’s me getting more selective in what I like to listen to, or if newly released music is getting worse… In any event, here’s the list:

5. Tortoise – Beacons of Ancestorship

Having been a fan of Tortoise since TNT, I’ve continued to follow their newest releases to see how far their experimentation will take them. This album is a lot noisier, a lot louder, and seems like was a whole lot of fun to make. There’s less soundscapes and more rocking out – perhaps taking cues from the cacophonous tracks Squarepusher’s been putting out lately.

4. Muse – The Resistance

It seems that the U.K. progressive arena rock group can’t get any more grandiose, and then this album drops. Sweeping symphonic passages merge with raucous rock in a way that no one but Muse seems able to pull off. Simultaneously channeling Queen, Depeche Mode, Radiohead, and so many other influences, Muse still finds ways to bring all of them together to create something new and amazing with each new release. This one didn’t disappoint.

3. P.O.S. – Never Better

Underground hip-hop doesn’t get any better than this. Creative lyrics, incredibly bombastic percussive beats, and melodies that pound into your brain – this album has personality to spare. Punk rock influence abounds, which helped to immediately hook me in with its combination of brash guitars and fast rhyming. A simply amazing collection of tracks that has been unfairly overlooked by many.

2. Mute Math – Armistice

The album that almost broke up the band. Armistice represents the decision to throw out everything that wasn’t working and start over from scratch. The result is a great mix of their sensibilities from previous releases and a strong influence on recording in their native New Orleans. They pull off plenty of energetic anthems, subdued jams, and extended offshoots that still point towards their early DJ Shadow influences as strongly as they always have.

1. Kutiman - ThruYou

It all comes to this. The top pick for the year’s best album, and it’s not even really a proper album. It’s not released by any label. It’s not performed by any paid artist. It’s the next evolution in new expression through music, and it comes from the most unlikely of creators using the most ubiquitous of sources.

A man from Israel, Ophir Kutiel, (a.k.a. Kutiman) has advanced what DJ Shadow started. While instead of pilfering sources from vinyl scavenged from record stores, he’s taken the same approach slaving away in his home studio utilizing the next big content source – YouTube. What Kutiman has achieved is an unbelievably entertaining and impressive mega-mashup of tiny bits of samples from a massive range of YouTube videos. He’s used them as the instruments, the vocals, and as visually stunning, quick-edit, VJ-style music videos to comprise one of the most unique collections of songs ever made. This “album” ranges from reggae to drum&bass to funk to dreamy ballads without a skip in quality. Every track is a testament to the dedication this man has put into crafting such incredibly detailed works from the hundreds of cited sources. For this combination of talent, creativity, and innovation – Kutiman’s masterpiece easily gets my vote for the best “album” of 2009.

Biggest disappointments? Imogen Heap’s “Ellipse” and Green Day’s “21st Century Breakdown“.

What was stuck on constant repeat for you this year? Given my top 5, what would you recommend I check out that I may have missed this year that you consider an amazing album?

A very nicely written account of seeing The ‘Burbs at Joe Dante’s Inferno Film Festival, and recounting why the film deserves some respect. Read: Mr. Peel’s Sardine Liqueur: About A Nine On The Tension Scale.

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News360: A Pandora for News? http://smf.is/1zQx3H

The question being posed by a new generation of news readers who now depend more upon online sources than any other, is whether the editorial process for deciding the precedence of articles in a publication - for deciding what you read, when you read the publication - matters. In a world full…

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The sudden death of film http://smf.is/1zJ3XI

Who would have dreamed film would die so quickly? The victory of video was quick and merciless. Was it only a few years ago that I was patiently explaining how video would never win over the ancient and familiar method of light projected through celluloid? And now Eastman Kodak has…

Okay, so maybe Mac and PC people have their differences — a lot of them. But, the same can’t be said about Android and iPhone users. Or can it?

New analysis from mobile data management startup Onavo, shared exclusively with Mashable, sheds some light on the differences between iPhone and Android users, at least when it comes to their mobile social networking behaviors.

Onavo analyzed data from a representative sample of more than 100,000 mobile owners, and looked at more than 40 terabytes of anonymized mobile data over a 30-day period.

The startup discovered some interesting tidbits. The typical iPhone owner, for instance, can’t get enough of Facebook. In fact, 90% of iPhone-toting folks use the social app over mobile networks, and Facebook usage happens to account for 10% of all the mobile data iPhone users consume on their pocket-friendly Apple devices. The Android user is a bit less enamored with Facebook, albeit still “in like” with the social network — 63% of Android owners use Facebook, and Facebook still accounts for 5% of all mobile data on Android.

“The social networking activity on mobile clearly differs according to which mobile you have,” Onavo CEO Guy Rosen tells Mashable. “Facebook, the overall winner no matter what phone you have, is significantly more popular on iPhones in terms of both number of users and amount of usage. And while Google+ has made some big moves on Android devices with more than one in three Androiders is on Google+, fewer than 1-in-10 iPhone users are there.”

In case you’re wondering, the usage percentages in the infographic below show what percentage of iPhone and Android populations use the social apps over mobile networks, and the mobile data usage ratios represent the average MB per user, per app, per month.

More About: infographic, Onavo, Social Media

For more Mobile coverage:

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Fox To Reboot ‘In Living Color’ With Keenen Ivory Wayans; 2 Specials Set For Midseason http://smf.is/1zqo0Z

EXCLUSIVE: Fox is bringing back its groundbreaking 1990s sketch comedy series In Living Color with the series’ creator and star, Keenen Ivory Wayans, on board as host and executive producer. Fox has ordered two In Living Color half-hour specials to air as part of the network’s 25th anniversary celebration in…

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I've done 7. // 9 Mandatory Missions All Gaming Geeks Must Master http://smf.is/1zmD5G

Wired.com editors pick 9 videogaming tasks that any true gamer geek must complete, from the Atari 2600 to the PlayStation 3.

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PixelJunk SideScroller is the 26th-Century 1980's Arcade Game You've Been Waiting For
http://smf.is/1zigiy

A music discovery app for iOS that went live recently shows just what's possible when digital music services open up their libraries and functionality via powerful APIs. Twist Radio takes the music recommendation engine from Last.fm and uses it to help users explore music from SoundCloud.

The result is a…

The high-definition pride of your living room may not want to hear it, but it looks like ultra high-definition TV (or UHDTV) has now taken another step towards reality. While shop-floor products remain years away, experts in the ITU Study Group on Broadcasting Service have made several agreements on technical standards for your (next?) next TV purchase. Increasing pixel count in future sets is also expected to improve viewing angles on glasses-free 3D, which needs more dots to work its lenticular magic. 33 megapixels sounds like it should be enough to work with.

Ultra HDTV technical standards agreed on, more pixels is a good thing originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Oct 2011 15:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Awesome!

From Drinks

Editor's note: Welcome to "Soda," tag-teamed by New York editor Carey Jones and fast-food columnist John M. Edwards, diet and regular soda loyalists, respectively.

[Photos: Alice Gao]

Have you seen the Coca-Cola "Freestyle" soda fountain yet?

It's a pretty remarkable thing. Instead of levers for different sodas, you've got a touchscreen, slick as an iPad. It presents you with 20-odd options: Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Fanta, Powerade... glancing over the logos, it's a pretty impressive list.

But there's more. Push one of those buttons: you want Coke? Well, you can have Coke. But would you rather have Vanilla Coke? Coke with Lime? Or kinds that don't even exist in bottles, like Coke Raspberry or Orange Coke?

It gets pretty dizzying. The first time we saw one at a Connecticut rest stop Wendy's, we went crazy with all the different options and combinations. (It set our car trip back a good hour.) And now that a machine's appeared at a new Five Guys in our Brooklyn neighborhood, we can't get enough. Is Orange Fanta better than Sprite Orange? What about Diet Coke Lime vs. Coke Zero Lime... vs. Caffeine-Free Diet Coke Lime?

If you're a Serious Eats reader, you probably know what's coming next.

We had to try them all.

"All" is a lot. More than a hundred. But there were two of us, and given that John only drinks regular soda and Carey tends to go for diet, the division of labor was pretty clear. Only 65 or so each, right? Heh.

So What Flavors Did You Try?

... Seriously?

Fine.

Coca-Cola®
Vanilla Coke
Coke with Lime
Raspberry Coke
Cherry Coke
Orange Coke
Cherry Vanilla Coke
Diet Coke®
Diet Vanilla Coke
Diet Coke with Lime
Raspberry Diet Coke
Diet Cherry Coke
Orange Diet Coke
Diet Cherry Vanilla Coke
Coca-Cola Zero™
Cherry Coke Zero
Vanilla Coke Zero
Cherry Vanilla Coke Zero
Coke Zero with Orange
Coke Zero with Lime
Coke Zero with Raspberry
Coke Zero with Lemon
Caffeine-Free Diet Coke®
Caffeine-Free Diet Vanilla Coke
Caffeine-Free Diet Coke with Lime
Caffeine-Free Diet Coke with Orange
Caffeine-Free Diet Raspberry Coke
Caffeine-Free Diet Cherry Coke
Caffeine-Free Diet Cherry Vanilla Coke
Sprite®
Sprite with Cherry
Sprite with Strawberry
Sprite with Grape
Sprite with Peach
Sprite with Raspberry
Sprite with Orange
Sprite with Vanilla
Sprite Zero™
Sprite Zero with Cherry
Sprite Zero with Strawberry
Sprite Zero with Raspberry
Sprite Zero with Grape
Sprite Zero with Peach
Sprite Zero with Orange
Sprite Zero with Vanilla
Fanta® Orange
Fanta Fruit Punch
Fanta Lime
Fanta Grape
Fanta Strawberry
Fanta Peach
Fanta Raspberry
Fanta Cherry
Fanta Zero™ Orange
Fanta Zero Peach
Fanta Zero Lime
Fanta Zero Grape
Fanta Zero Strawberry
Fanta Zero Fruit Punch
Fanta Zero Raspberry
Fanta Zero Cherry
Minute Maid® Lemonade
Minute Maid Cherry Lemonade
Minute Maid Orange Lemonade
Minute Maid Raspberry Lemonade
Minute Maid Strawberry Lemonade
Minute Maid Fruit Punch Lemonade
Minute Maid® Light Lemonade
Minute Maid Light Cherry Lemonade
Minute Maid Light Orange Lemonade
Minute Maid Light Raspberry Lemonade
Minute Maid Light Strawberry Lemonade
Minute Maid Light Fruit Punch Lemonade
Dasani with Lime
Dasani with Peach
Dasani with Grape
Dasani with Orange
Dasani with Strawberry
Dasani with Raspberry
Dasani with Cherry
Dasani with Lemon
Dasani Sensations - Lime
Dasani Sensations - Peach
Dasani Sensations - Grape
Dasani Sensations - Strawberry
Dasani Sensations - Orange
Dasani Sensations - Raspberry
Dasani Sensations - Cherry
Dasani Sensations - Lemon
Powerade ION4 Fruit Punch
Powerade ION4 Raspberry
Powerade ION4 Cherry
Powerade ION4 Lemon
Powerade ION4 Orange
Powerade ION4 Lime
Powerade ION4 Grape
Powerade ION4 Strawberry
Powerade Zero Fruit Punch
Powerade Zero Raspberry
Powerade Zero Cherry
Powerade Zero Lemon
Powerade Zero Orange
Powerade Zero Lime
Powerade Zero Grape
Powerade Zero Strawberry
Hi-C®
Hi-C Cherry
Hi-C Orange
Hi-C Raspberry
Hi-C Strawberry
Hi-C Fruit Punch
Hi-C Grape
Hi-C Raspberry Lime
Hi-C Orange Vanilla
Vault™
Vault Red Blitz
Orange Vault
Grape Vault
Peach Vault
Pibb Xtra®
Pibb Zero™
Barq's®
Barq's Vanilla
Diet Barq's®
Diet Barq's®
Diet Barq's Vanilla
Seagram's® Lemon Lime Seltzer

... Those.

Our Plan of Attack

The bright, spacious, friendly Five Guys was the perfect staging ground. (Bonus points for proximity to the apartment; soda-full bellies don't like to travel far.) There's always a crowd waiting by the soda machines, since the burger orders are handed over the counter right there, so you don't look too conspicuous as you linger. There are free peanuts to cleanse the palate. And the burgers are pretty solid, too.

Five Guys advertises "Free Refills!", so in the interest of budget, we could've tested the whole lineup in one visit: two cups and $4.58. But in the interest of fair play and our own beleaguered stomachs, we spaced it out over quite a few.

The ground rules? We had to do every member of a vertical (e.g. Coke Zero Cherry, Coke Zero Lemon...) in one go. We had to taste similar sodas in different verticals against each other (Fanta Grape vs. Sprite Grape; Diet Coke Orange vs. Caffeine-Free Diet Coke Orange) against each other. And we had to try everything, as repulsive—I'm looking at you, Sprite Zero with Vanilla—as it might sound.

Ready? Here goes.

Coke

John: Coke was an easy enough place to start; nothing like the good, old fountain soda. Even out of the futuristic machine, it's still the same, classic taste.
Cherry Coke: Just like the old Cherry Coke, though when tasted among the others, it seems pretty sweet.
Coke Orange: This one felt forced, as if it didn't belong together. Mine tasted like orange pop, but brown—halfway between the original and a straight orange soda, in a strange netherworld.
Coke Vanilla: The vanilla tasted a little too flavored. It pushes too hard, and tasted stronger than the Vanilla Coke bottled version.
Coke Lime: Ugh, gross. Oddly bitter.
Coke Raspberry: I expected this to be downright awful, and it wasn't. It almost tasted better than Cherry coke. The raspberry flavor works with coke, surprisingly.
Coke Cherry Vanilla: Better than I expected, given how awfully sweet the straight vanilla was. The vanilla was mitigated by the cherry for a palatable combination.
Coke Lemon: I'm going to say, a lot better than I expected, after tasting the lime. Tart, good amount of acidity, and it just... worked. Maybe that's why the French serve lemon with Coke.

This round's winner: Definitely the Raspberry Coke, because it was so surprising.

Coke Zero

Carey: Of the three diet colas here (Coke Zero, diet Coke, Caffeine-Free diet Coke) Coke Zero is by far my favorite. And it also has the most robust flavor. So let's start there.

Coke Zero: True to what's in the bottle (and believe me, I drink a lot of this from the bottle).
Coke Zero Cherry: Starting off familiar. Again, true to what's in the bottle or the can, the Coke Zero's robust cola flavor blending well with the cherry flavor, masking the syrup's sweetness.
Coke Zero Orange: I don't understand this. Just don't. It tastes like the "suicide sodas" I'd make from the soda machines of yore, mixing all of the flavors and hating the result. There's a strange bitter taste to this one... almost pithy. (As if orange pith ever came within a hundred yards of this soda.)
Coke Zero Vanilla: Always hated this one (but i don't like cream soda either, and it tastes like a cross between cola and that). I have a pretty high tolerance for fake sweetener but I find fake-sweetened vanilla pretty repulsive, whether in sugar-free Starbucks lattes or in my soda. It's got a slippery sweetness that makes my skin crawl.
Coke Zero Lime: Like the orange, again with the weird bitterness.
Coke Zero Raspberry: This works, like the cherry, and really they're quite similar flavors. (In artificial flavor-land. Not, you know, with regards to fruit.)
Coke Zero Cherry Vanilla: Just happy that something helps mask the creepy vanilla.
Coke Zero Lemon: See, this works. This actually works quite well. I used to drink my fair share of Diet Coke Lemon before they discontinued it at my college WaWa, and for a time it was my favorite of the Coke family. Maybe because lemon's naturally so tart it can use sweetening up. Maybe because artificial lemon, in lemon drops and such, actually tends to taste pretty good. But for whatever reason, I think this works infinitely better than lime.

This round's winner: Coke Zero Lemon. No contest.

Speckled with syrup.

Diet Coke

Carey: I'm a Coke Zero loyalist, but I understand the appeal of Diet Coke: its crisp acidity, its almost metallic sharpness. Less rounded and in a way less cola-like, it works well with different flavors. The cherry is fine, but the cherry flavors comes through a little too strongly, rather than the more balanced Cherry Coke Zero. Ditto raspberry, still one of the better options, if a little more raspberry-skewed.

Orange and lime both work better, clashing less with the soda base. But vanilla and cherry vanilla: repulsive. Nowhere for the vanilla to hide.

This round's winners: Cherry and raspberry, though "most improved" nod to orange and lime.

(Note for anyone inspired to repeat this experiment: Know what happens when you try the above 16 sodas in a sitting? At, say, 9pm? Nothing involving sleep for seven hours or so.)

Caffeine-Free Diet Coke

Carey: After a Diet Coke-induced sleepless night, I certainly understand the need for Caffeine-Free Diet Coke. But does anyone like it? Really? It's always tasted to me like the real stuff's scrawny, weaker little cousin.

Here, flavor-wise, it was a sliding scale between Coke Zero, Diet Coke, and Caffeine-Free; while Coke Zero hid and balanced flavors best, Caffeine-Free hardly did at all. So the orange and lime weren't bad at all, tasting more of those flavors than anything. But the cherry and raspberry were overpowering, syrupy and just too strong. Vanilla and cherry vanilla? I wish I could erase the memories.

This round's winner: None. With a reluctant "not that bad" victory to Orange.

Fanta

John:
Fanta Orange: Very blah, lacking flavor.
Fanta Cherry: Like drinking maraschino cherry juice.
Fanta Strawberry: Okay, I'm now convinced that Strawberry just doesn't work as a sweet soda flavor. Do not get this.
Fanta Raspberry: Like a better Fanta Cherry. I'm stunned that the syrup makes this much of difference.
Fanta Grape: Way too "blue" tasting; it tasted like a melted Red, White, and Blue popsicle. It was not nearly purple/grape enough.
Fanta Lime: This is the least offensive of the bunch, and actually much mellower than a Mountain Dew. Good and tart.
Fanta Fruit Punch: Carbonated Hawaiian Punch.
Fanta Peach: This one smelled like a Jolly Rancher, but tasted like the plastic they're wrapped in.

Score one for: Fanta Raspberry. I'm starting to think Raspberry is the way to go in this machine. Props to Lime for tasting better than Moundatin Dew.

Fanta Zero

Carey: Spain was where I had my first Fanta, and Fanta Free Limón was pretty much my dream soda. Crisp, tart, just sweet enough, the lemon flavor powerful and pungent. But I've never seen the lemon flavor in the States. Why?!

Even in the Freestyle machine, where you can get peach and raspberry and fruit punch Fanta, there's no lemon. It kills me.

(Shit like this is what Wikipedia was invented for.)

In the Freestyle, all these flavors seemed muted and weak, particularly when compared to the Sprite Zero. Sprite's got a tart bite that the strangely flat Fanta can't compare with. Orange Fanta I've always found disappointing, all syrup-y sweet and hardly tart; cherry tastes like a weak shirley temple, but not too terrible, just not as good as Sprite Cherry. Raspberry is the one artificial flavor that's reliably not too sweet, and here it's just fine; fruit punch is like Hi-C, with no real "fruit" flavor but drinkable enough. Either's delicious after strawberry—I couldn't even smell it without cringing, and the Bubbalicious-like, Jello-fake flavor was hard to deal with. Peach is similarly horrid, like drinking liquid lip gloss. Yet grape has to be the worst: the fakest, the aspartamiest.

I'm not usually a lime soda fan, but this one was surprisingly tasty; it reminded me of decent margarita mix, with some bitterness and acidity.

This round's winner: Er... none, really. But we liked the flavor of the raspberry, and the tartness of the lime—so what about a blend? Winner.

Sprite

John: Sprite itself is crisp, acidic, and refreshing, but not all the flavors fare as well.
Sprite Cherry: Kind of meh. I think I like Code Red Mountain Dew better. It wasn't as absurdly sweet as some cherry drinks in the Freestyle, though.
Sprite Orange: GREAT orange pop. This is exactly what orange pop is supposed to be. Slight tart, good sweetness, solid acidity. (I don't care what side of the soda / pop debate you fall on; when it comes to orange, it's pop).
Sprite Vanilla: The nose is potently vanilla. It has body. It tastes like medicine.
Sprite Strawberry: This is awesome, if you like nasty bubblegum soda.
Sprite Raspberry: Like a better Sprite Cherry.
Sprite Grape: This was where I noted the difference between Fanta and Sprite; Sprite is more refreshing, with better acidity. Actually, I preferred Sprite Grape to Fanta Grape, and Sprite to Fanta overall.
Sprite Peach: This smelled like a Jolly Rancher, but it was better than Fanta Peach. Something about Sprite manages the flavors better.

By This Point...

If the restaurant's crowded, no one's going to pay that much attention to whoever's at the soda machine. But at every visit we made, there'd be a lull when someone would notice that each of us had been to the soda machine a dozen times.

Two French guys were the least shy about staring, watching us, their mouths hanging open, as we walked back up for soda again and again. You just knew they were going to tell their friends about it later.

Sprite Zero

Carey: I'm with John: Sprite fares a lot better than Fanta. It's bubblier, not as single-note sweet, and takes the flavors better. Orange and Lime both benefitted from the lemon-lime kick, and cherry and raspberry I liked, too, their sweetness not as powerful. But peach and strawberry were still too sweet to drink (or even smell), grape didn't mesh too well with the citrus, and vanilla... I'm sorry, what focus group approved this?

Minute Maid

John: By this point I felt my diabetes risk climbing rapidly. Soda's a lot more fun when you're not trying them 20 at a time.

The Lemon I found both sweet and tart. Definitely my favorite, and Strawberry wasn't bad either, though the sugar levels were definitely up there. Add Everclear and it'd be a perfect sorority punch. Cherry and Orange tasted way too sweet, and the Fruit Punch reminded me of elementary school juice boxes.

Minute Maid Light

Carey: A genre I can deal with. Minute Maid Light isn't anything you'd mistake for "real" lemonade, but it's an awful lot lemonadier than, say, Crystal Light. The regular version is tart and lemony enough to be drinkable on its own, and I quite liked it paired with cherry or raspberry. Strawberry was as always toothachingly sweet, but orange did better here than elsewhere, thanks to the lemonade giving it a citrusy kick others lacked. And while I don't quite understand the reason behind "Fruit Punch Lemonade," I had no problem with it, either.

Dasani and Dasani Sensations

Carey: Yes, Freestyle not only has flavored waters—it has eight of them. And then eight identical versions with bubbles. So let's not pretend they're each deserving of discussion. The theme in this round: the sparkling "Sensations" were palatable; the flat ones weren't. I've had flavored Dasani before and there's something about its feeling in your mouth (unless it's ice cold) that creeps me out: it's thick and oily and just strange. But the Sensations? Those I'd drink again.

Essentially, it's either flat or carbonated water plus the now-familiar syrups, and the sparkle does an awful lot. Orange actually fared better than Sprite or Fanta orange, the sweetness cut by the bubbles and not amplified by anything else; cherry was a little weak to my taste, but then again, I like the cherry syrup flavor. Strawberry and peach still taste like something made by Bath and Body Works, but they're more palatable here than elsewhere. And the grape and lime. I liked quite a lot; both of them benefitted from being solo, diluted and sparkled up, rather than smashed together with other sweet substances.

The flat Dasanis, across the board, tasted like watered-down versions of oversweet syrups, which is precisely what they are. Avoid.

Disclosure: This round of tasting was conducted after immediately after I covered a trade liquor and spirits show... so interpret them as you will. That said, I have to say that sampling 16 flavored waters and crushing a Five Guys burger was a pretty good idea at that moment. Even if my notes were a little hard to read the next day.

Vault

John: The Regular is something like a watery, carbonated Red Bull—not a promising start.
Red Blitz: This tastes like strawberry, and has that nasty bubblegum aroma and flavor of other sodas with strawberry syrup.
Orange: Okay, this one is good. It tastes like a carbonated, caffeinated Powerade.
Grape: Grey and bland.
Peach: Not as bad as the other peach flavors, but not as good as orange.

Score one for: Orange. But Red Bull is still better.

Powerade

John:
Lemon: This was just odd. I think the acid of the Lemon doesn't mix well with too much salt.
Grape: Tolerable, actually. Kinda like the purple Gatorade.
Strawberry: Agh.
Raspberry: Surprisingly, this was the one beverage where I found the raspberry flavor to be one of the worst. Powerade, I think, is more about sweet/electrolyte balance than flavor, and the raspberry pushes too hard.
Cherry: A little too sweet.

Fruit Punch: and Orange, both classic flavors, were right on. Surprisingly, so was Lime. All three tasted balanced between sugar and salt, with mild flavor.

Powerade Zero

Carey: From this round I learned that... I don't much like Powerade Zero. It's got the strange salty tasty of sports drinks that some flavors mask effectively, but some less so. Fruit Punch, Cherry, Raspberry, and Lemon all came off reasonably well, but Orange and Lime were weak and Grape and Strawberry undrinkable.

And More...

John: There are a few others on the machine that fall under no particular category. Mr. Pibb is a poor-man's Dr. Pepper. It's just not as sharp as the good old Doctor. Barq's is solid root beer, and I approve. Its cousin, Vanilla Barq's made me smile. It's a great blend of cream soda and root beer. Finally, there was a Seagram's lemon-lime seltzer. Down right awful. I don't know if the machine was broken, or if my taste buds were fried by the sugar, but it tasted awful.

Carey: Mr. Pibb Zero comes in no flavors, which is fine with me as I'm not really a fan; it's always seemed to me like a poor man's Diet Dr. Pepper, a little too sweet and flabby. (Wait--I'm reading the above, and John already wrote that. Yes! We are of one mind.) Not being a huge root beer fan, I won't comment on Diet Barq's except to say that Ed Levine calls it the world's finest diet root beer; the vanilla Diet Barq's tastes like that with a little cream soda stirred in.

Any Conclusions?

John: My top three were Raspberry Coke (who knew?), Orange Sprite (tart and refreshing, which most orange pops aren't), and Lime Powerade. The overall flavor-winner? Raspberry. Amazing how raspberry can taste so great and strawberry can be so vile.

Carey: I came away filling my cup with two things: 1. Coke Zero Lemon, and Minute Maid Light mixed with raspberry Minute Maid Light, plus a little Sprite Zero. My rationale: a little raspberry flavor (my favorite) with a lot of lemony tartness and a few bubbles.

Have you tried the Freestyle machine? And what have you found worth drinking?

About the authors: Carey Jones is the editor of Serious Eats New York and co-editor of Serious Eats: Sweets. Follow her on Twitter (@careyjones). John M. Edwards is Serious Eats's fast-food bureau chief and eats 85% of the food Carey orders. Follow him on Twitter (@johnmedwards).