Expedient MEANS

Notes on Film, Art, Writing, Technology and other things by Steve A Furman

  • True Grit – Film Review

    The Coens open True Grit at night with a slow zoom in on a slain man lying just off a softly lit porch, being blanketed by snowfall. The voice-over is Mattie Ross, speaking to the audience from nearly three decades in the future. She describes how her father was shot by Tom Chaney and fled Read more

  • There is No Social Media Playbook

    As the calendar has turned to 2011, we have been inundated with an endless barrage of Social Media predictions compiled by experts and dabblers alike. Some of what I have read are excellent and well informed perspectives backed by data and research, while others appear to be, well, nil-informed. As Yogi Berra once said, “Prediction Read more

  • The Social Network – Film Review

    I expected it to be difficult to separate my personal experiences on Facebook as well as what I have read about Mark Zuckerberg from the film experience. It wasn’t. I almost never thought about myself or my FB friends while watching this very engaging story. David Fincher (director) and Aaron Sorkin (writer) have made a Read more

  • iPod Nano to Become a Touch Watch

    Scott Wilson is the founder of Chicago based design firm MINIMAL, and he has a new project. Mr. Wilson and his colleagues are working to integrate the Apple iPod Nano into the first multi-touch wrist watch. How cool is that! Scott’s studio seems to have the chops to do this, having worked in technology, interaction and Read more

  • The Google Doodle – My Personal Collection

    About a billion of us come to the “white box” everyday across the globe, me included. One of the small pleasures is when you navigate to google.com and see the Google Doodle. Like most things there’s history behind the idea. Read about that history here. When I see one, I snag it and toss it into Read more

  • Think Finance with Google: Tortoise and Hare Mash-up

    It’s been more than two years now since Lehman Brothers collapsed, signaling the public start of the worst economic crisis in U.S. history. Two years in a downward spiral, followed by a bit of leveling off and now a narrow beacon of light piercing the blackness. Despite all those headwinds and pressure, most financial services Read more