Pointing and Giggling: 2006/06

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

BumpTop 3D Desktop Prototype

Yeah, I know it is week-old news, but I never got around to posting about it.

There are some really neat ideas here. Why do I get so worked up about interface?a

For Barb and Liz: First Steps

What would anglophones do without the word "cute"?

More here

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Gabbly might be really, really cool...I'm not sure yet.

It is easier to demonstrate than describe. Click this link:
http://gabbly.com/http://pointingandgiggling.blogspot.com
Go ahead, do it now.

See? You're now in a chat window with anyone else who has loaded the page through Gabbly. Not very useful on a site with as low traffic as this one, but:

Gabbly can generate an embeddable chat device that can be implanted on any page- like a blog sidebar or even a blog post. And it can generate RSS.

Imagine people having real live flame wars of commentary while reading a story on CNN! Or on VoteJake!

Monday, June 26, 2006

Web 2.0 Humor: Listr

From Coolz0r:

"Welcome to the Listr. This post will be updated every time I come across another new name that has an ‘r’ at the end. It seems that it’s really important to have a good and original name first, before you can launch a service in this era of the 2.0 interweb. Also don’t forget to be in beta for a rather long time. It really gives the users the impression that you’re actually trying to make it work.

backlinkr
bananr
beggr
bettr
blogr
bloggr
bubblr
calcr
coastr
colr
craprr
extortr
feedblendr
feedr
flagr
flickr
frappr
gabbr
grabbr
grazr
greenr
gtalkr
idgettr
isolatr
listr
pissr
lookr
mappr
messagr
notifyr
numbr
razr
reportr
retrievr
scanr
soonr
splashr
stalkr
talkr
trackbackr
wankr
weekendr
wishlistr
wrickr
zooomr

Web 2.0 Humor: Extortr

Extortr ("Online Blackmail for the Masses") is an excellent parody that nails everything about "Web 2.0" sites. The name, the logo, and the graphics are all spot-on.

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Blummy and Co.mments: Bookmarklet Joy

These tools were pointed out to me by Hope Leman, who is a Library Technical Specialist at a medical library in Oregon. Thanks, Hope!

Blummy is an organizer for your bookmarklets, customized easily, quickly, and precisely for your needs. The result is that you get a ton of convenient, time-saving features that only take up one button's worth of real estate in your browser's toolbar.

Ever post a comment on a blog, then forget to go back and check the post to see how the conversation continued? Co.mments makes this easy. You can even set up an RSS feed to be updated when new comments are posted.

Stevie Wonder Rocks Sesame Street

1973: Stevie Wonder shows why he was the coolest kid on Sesame Street with this great performance of 'Superstition'.

Not content to stop there, he also recorded his own original Sesame Street song (contray to what others have posted, this doesn't sound like an arrangement of the Sesame Street theme song to me).

Friday, June 23, 2006

Mashup: Quikmaps

Another neat Google Maps Mashup: QuikMaps makes it really easy to mark up a Google map.

Here's one I just made.

Please don't vandalize my car.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

An experiment

So I've been analyzing traffic to pointingandgiggling, and find that a significant chunk of traffic comes from Technorati, the service with which my tags are indexed. In order to see how it impacts traffic, the tags for this post will be many, nonsensical, and varied. I'll report in another post what effect it had on traffic.

Did you arrive here via Technorati? Leave a comment and tell us!

Futurama is comming back!

@#$%, yeah!

"The quirky animated show from "Simpsons" creator Matt Groening was canceled by Fox about two years ago, but will return with at least 13 new episodes on Comedy Central by 2008.
This is only the second time in television history that a show sent to TV's trash heap has been resurrected. Curiously, the first was "Family Guy," also an animated Fox show."

Hurray! I though Futurama was better than the episodes of the Simpsons that were broadcast at the same time. Next to Futurama, Family Guy is crapola.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Audio Mashup by DJ BC: The Coltrane Influence

Love it. Jurassic 5 Mashed with John Coltrane

Mashups: WikiMapia

(From the site)

About WikiMapia
WikiMapia is a project to describe the whole planet Earth.

How to use
Just move the map to find interesting places, click on rectangles. To add an interesting place or object use Add New link. Note: Please only add places interesting to everyone.

Who We Are
Wikimapia was created by Alexandre Koriakine and Evgeniy Saveliev, inspired by Google maps and Wikipedia. Release date: 24 may 2006.

Cool...

My brother has been getting interested in mapping mashups lately. If you see something I've missed, please be sure to let me know. Also let me know if you add any places to WikiMapia.

pointingandgiggling_AT_gmail_DOT_com.

Birdy Nam Nam - Absesses (Turntablism)

Wow!

Even if you're not into the DJ arts, you have to respect the talent and planning this takes.

More Birdy Nam Nam here.

(With apologies:) Star Trek and Doctor Who

First, imagine Matt Damon as a young James T. Kirk. Yup. Potentially in an upcomming Star Trek film to be directed by J.J. Abrams.

I actually like a lot of Abrams' work, and I definitely admire Matt Damon's work...but I'm frankly sick to death of $hitty Star Trek cultural products, no matter how much I've liked Shatner's work on Boston Legal (playing an egotistical, macho lawyer who is losing his mind) and his last album, 'Has Been'. Produced by Ben Folds, I actually really like this album.

Second, my brother, Andrew, has been emailing me to check out the new fan-produced Star Trek series, Starship Exeter (What, Starfleet Academy is is New Hampshire now? WTF?) . I don't care for it, and especially dislike the continued use of godawful 70s design elements, but you may think differently. Here's a direct link to act one of The Tessaurian Intersection. Andrew thinks the production values are surprisingly good (Update, 6/23/2006 - Andrew has clarified tht he didn't think they were good, but that they perfectly replicated the original program's godawful production design). I think that given what some folks can now do at home, the Starship Exeter folks could do a hell of a lot better.

On the other side of the atlantic, BBC Wales DOES know how to revive good Sci-Fi from previous decades. The new Doctor Who series that started up in 2005 is now running on the Sci-Fi Network. They've managed to capture everything that made the old series great, while adding modern production values and, believe it or not, good writers.

Documentary Film: Sketches of Frank Gehry

I may have mentioned that my wife is a professor of art and design history. I understand her passion to be for the history of visual culture, and she has a special love for architecture. These interests have so penetrated my thinking that I'm actually very excited to see the upcomming film, Sketches of Frank Gehry. I first became aware of Gehry while noticing the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota.

IMDb
Wikipedia entry on Gehry

Trailer for the film (Quicktime)
Reviews of the film at Metacritic

The Pleasure of Finding Things Out (Opiates!)

Sure, Feynman wrote on the Pleasure of Finding Things Out (and I love Feynman's books for non-physicists), but Irving Biederman of the University of Southern California believes that the pleasure in finding things out may be that "...[t]he "click" of comprehension triggers a biochemical cascade that rewards the brain with a shot of natural opium-like substances."

An article on Biederman's theory is here, and here's Discovery Channel's coverage.

My wife is a scholar of art and design history. Does this lend new meaning to the They Might Be Giants song "The Statue Got Me High"? [lyrics]

If we fancy ourselves people who enjoy learning, are we really just a sort of benign addict? Does this explain the sometime resulting depression when smart (and/or intellectually curious) people are not intellectually challenged? Are they really intellectually curious, or just addicts?

(Someone, please be impressed that I managed to cram neuroscience, TMBG, Art History, and Feynman into one post.)

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Wherein David Makes Clear He is a ZeFrank Fanboy

Sweet. ZeFrank now makes it possible for fanboys like me to embed episodes of his show on our own pages!

One of my favorite episodes, featuring the song "Anti-intellectualism"

35 Ways You Can Use RSS Today

For those of you new to RSS (Hi Dad!) here's a great list of 35 Ways You Can Use RSS Today.

Firefox Scholar

It might just be me, but Firefox Scholar (a.k.a. SmartFox) sounds way cool.

Developed by The Center for History and New Media at George Mason University, SmartFox will...

...enable users, with a single click, to grab a citation to a book, journal article, archival document, or museum object and store it in their browser. Researchers will then be able to take notes on the reference, link that reference to others, and organize both the metadata and annotations in ways that will greatly enhance the usefulness of, and the great investment of time and money in, the electronic collections of museums and libraries. All of the information SmartFox gathers and the researcher creates will be stored on the client's computer, not the institution's server (unlike commercial products like Amazon's toolbar), and will be fully searchable. The Web browser, the premier platform for research now and in the future, will achieve the kind of functionality that the users of libraries and museums would expect in an age of exponentially increasing digitization of their holdings.

C'mon, that doesn't sound like something you want?

More here.

Tags: smartfox, firefox scholar, firefox, george mason university, center for history and new media

More Web 2.0: TagFetch

I've posted before about tags and one of my new favorite words, "folksonomy".

I think my wife, Liz, became certain I needed to be in library school when I tried to explain to her that tagging is folksonomy but that folksonomy is not tagging.

Today I learned about TagFetch, a tool that searches the tags of many "web 2.0" sites that employ tagging, including flickr, YouTube, Newsvine, reddit, tailrank, del.icio.us, technorati, and feedster.

Handy Firefox "Cheat Sheat"

Great reference for Firefox keyboard shortcuts and a few tips and tricks.

Discussion on favorite Firefox keyboard shortcuts at Digg.

Not using Firefox yet? Get started.

Got questions about Firefox?
Email 'em to me at pointingandgiggling_AT_gmail_DOT_com

Monday, June 19, 2006

Follow-up: Throwies

A s a follow-up to this post:

Wikipedia Article

MAKE Magazine

Film-making, Comics, Fair Use

Bound By Law

Interesting.

More info at Wired, including an interview with the authors.

Ligers DO Exist

(For Wendy and Liz)

Not just from Napoleon Dynamite, Ligers do really exist.

Even snopes.com says so.

More photos here.

More here.

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Library Tech: Why aren't digital card catalogues as easy as amazon.com?

It is a fair question. On amazon.com, you can look up books or other products by partial title, misspelled author name, whatever- and you WILL eventually find what it is you're looking for.

OPACs (Online Public Access Catalogues) are never as easy or effective to use.

A great and funny illustration of this is What if Amazon sucked like our OPAC by David Walker.

To be fair, the interface he uses here to access the amazon.com API is agreed to be obsolete, but it makes the point beautifully. Libraries are going to have to compete with amazon.com and netflix if they want to avoid going the way of the dinosaurs

ZeFrank Featured in the NY Times

Ze deserves every bit of attention he gets. I watch his weekday video blog no matter what else is going on. He's irreverant, funny, and freakin' weird.

Fair warning, the NY Times article requires registration or BugMeNot (If you don't have the BugMeNot Firefox extension yet, get it here).

Genpets

"Your pet, your way — Genpets™ Series 01

are mass produced Bio-engineered pets implemented today. Each pet comes pre-packaged as a fully self-contained unit. Genpets™ learn and adapt. They are fully living pets, but better, modified to be as reliable, dependable and efficient as any other 'technology' we use in our busy lives."

Interesting commentary from this creative site for a product that does not exist.

Created by Adam Brandjes, a sculptor/programmer in Toronto. Same Artist: Flesh Foot, Grave LCD.

Via Metafilter

Download new Weird Al Song, Free with Al's Blessing

Al's album was suppposed to be released in late June but has been delayed by the label for some reason. Meanwhile, Al decided to release a track online in mp3 format for free.

From http://weirdal.com/:

HEY!
How would you like to download a brand new Weird Al song... for free? Yeah, we thought you might. Right-click (ctrl-click for Mac) on one of the links below, and select "save target as" (or "download linked file" for Mac). Don't say we never gave you anything!
You can download it here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, or here.

Or here or here, not to mention here.

Oh, did we mention here?

Birthday Party Theme for 3rd Birthday: Newshour with Jim Lehrer

3-Year-Old in St. Paul chooses "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer" as the theme for his birthday party.

This disturbed me, but at much as if he had chosen something from Fox News.

Almost all Southpark Episodes via Streaming Video

Any bets on how long before this is sued out of existance?

Or this one?

In the meanwhile, enjoy.

Comics Database

Warning: this is a post for comics geeks only. The rest of you should ignore it.

Very much like IMDb for Comics, this site makes me smile.

Saturday, June 17, 2006

MC Lars: "Download This Song"

Interesting statement on the music industry.

Bit catchy, too.

Adblock

Also: How to boycott the Music Industry and still enjoy music

Pianolina

You must try this amazingly neat thingee and make make some music with it.

Friday, June 16, 2006

John Cleese and Marty Feldman
At Last the 1948 Show - Train Sketch
1948

Thursday, June 15, 2006

God Hates Shrimp

I think that God hates Fred Phelps- but this is good, too.

Peanut Gallery: DIY MST3K for OSX!

Neat!

"Peanut Gallery allows you and your friends to have a movie theater experience live, in real-time, over a local Bonjour network or the internet.

You and up to 7 guests can enjoy video or audio from local files, your .Mac iDisk, or the World Wide web, complete with pre-rolls, intermission and Core Video-Powered theater-like visual effects.

Interact with each other via Maya-rendered 30fps* animated characters, inline real-time text chat, and voice.

Peanut Gallery isn't just a video player – it's a Shared Media Experience!

Learn more about Peanut Gallery"

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

What Search Engine Spiders See

This is a neat little lesson in site scraping.

Try directing it to your own site or blog.

Spiderman outs himself to the press

Yeah it is true. I read the comic.

No, he's not gay. He's publically revealing his secret identity as Peter Parker.

For us comics geeks, this is pretty amazing. The rest of you can just ignore this post.

Good summary of Wikipedia on what the Civil War series is about for those who haven't heard.

Superhero comics are really growing up.

I love that Captain America is leading those who refuse government registration.

Jon Stewart Kicks Ken Mehlman's Ass

Last night's Daily Show kicked ass. The chair of the Republican Party was the guest, and Stewart just danced circles around him.

Windows Media Video
Quicktime

via Crooks and Liars

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Frontier Psychiatrist!

I've loved this track for a while. I was tickled to find out the video has been ripped to YouTube.

Impressive Audio/Video Mashup: Crumbs

Embedded Quicktime video here.

Direct link to Quicktime video.

Mashes up three different instructional videos for musical instruments.

Via Metafilter

The Future of Interfaces

Adblock

Includes using this interface for Warcraft III

(Ryan- are you getting this?)

Chewbacca's Blog

Very stupid.

Very funny.

ZeFrank is Creeped Out by Minnesota Nice

Ze's second day in Minneapolis and observations on 'MN Nice' are here.

Also don't miss his dissection of "cool."

Googlepedia is Way Cool!

I love this!

Lifehacker article has good explanation

Monday, June 12, 2006

Brokeback Mountain

So we finally saw Brokeback Mountain last night on DVD via Netflix.

Here's the thing: It's not that great a film.

Yeah, yeah- put aside the social significance (admittedly substantial and serious) of a mainstream, oscar-winning film about a gay love affair.

That aside, not a great film.

Beautiful scenery, good cinematography, decent performances, but...not a great film.

Really. Wholly over-rated. Don't kick yourself if you miss it.

ZeFrank Goes to Minneapolis!

...and makes some reasonable observations...

Also, the first earth sandwich has been completed. Rejoice.

Grafitti Near Our Home

Grafitti seen near our house while I took the dog for a walk.

On the stairs down from the "Circle Park"

This was painted on a peice of plywood and nailed to a telephone post.

Today, I am a true geek/nerd/dork/dweeb

Coming sometime in the next several months.

Good god, I'm lame.

Ask David: Which Mapping Tools?

Steve writes:

I just uninstalled Google Earth...

...You mentioned that there are other faster programs available. Would you point me to them? I specifically am looking for the ability to measure distances as well as look at satellite and hybrid images at the same time...what I mean by "distance" is being able to click your way along a route and add the mileage.

Absolutely! (And thanks, Steve, for being the driving force behind each and every "Ask David" post thus far.)

For those not interested in my preferences, check out this excellent comparison of services at TechCrunch.

My favorites for hybrid views (both street names and satellite imaging) are Google Maps and Windows Live Local (though I find Windows Live Local a bit slow and clumsy with an awkward interface, the "Bird's Eye View" imaging is really nice).

For getting the distance on a route, try Gmaps Pedometer. This is another Google Maps mashup that exemplifies the coolness of open APIs and Web2.0.

Got more questions? Send 'em! pointingandgiggling_AT_gmail_DOT_com.

Sunday, June 11, 2006

DJ as God

Couple of nifty video offerings for those who practice or respect the DJ arts.
(Having nothing to do with the song by Pink)

Roundabout = Turntable

Spin

Kissing Hank's Ass (a metaphor)

I first saw this a few years ago, but just came across it again. I still think it is a riot.

Some fans made it into a short film (Quicktime .mov, not bad, not great) that you can see here.

You can also download the story as a pdf here.

Saturday, June 10, 2006

Urban Ninja

Wow!

Library Humor: A biblioblogger visits the local branch library

This may be funny to you, even if you're not a librarian, if you stay on top of web buzz and all the Web 2.0 stuff. Steve Lawson rocks.

It is hilarious to me, but I'm a geeky librarian-in-training

In seriousness, though- Outgoing president of the American Library Association, Michael Gorman, has been criticized by many as being anti-technology and has even been accussed of pushing the profession towards a culture clash or generational struggle.

Information Technology has radically changed the world, and it isn't done transforming us yet. I.T. has taken apart the traditional structure of a library, and no-one has really figured out yet what NEW structure will work.

In the age of NetFlix and Amazon.com, libraries need to catch up (and catch up damn quick) if they wish to avoid going the way of the dinosaurs. It is an exciting time to be entering the world of librarianship, but it is likely to be a bumpy ride.

Michael Casey's comments are fairly representational of response to Gorman's remarks in the biblioblogosphere.

The article Casey writes about can be found here.

Techno-savvy Librarians weigh in on Gorman's luddite tendencies.

Jake Blogs his Monkey-Spanking

In his post lovingly titled "Too Much Information," my friend Jacob blogs about his own masturbation.

Relax, it is a medical discussion- his doctor asked him for a lab specimen to test the results of his recent vasectomy.

But Jake is a hilarious person. His posts include remarks like:

"...I'm not some old fashioned guy who needs to take the jar out for some dinner and dancing first. No amount of alcohol was needed to ease this partner into the relationship..."

Whole post is here.

Jake never fails to entertain.

Friday, June 09, 2006

Browster Looks Way Cool

Cnet did a glowing review on it.

It LOOKS way cool.

If you check it out before I do, please let me know what you think.

It seems to work a lot like Snap.com, but can be installed as a Firefox Plugin.

Animated .gif Illustrates Bush's Decline in Opinion Polls

Jeebus. He should have stuntmen to do these sort of falls.

Ask David: Google Invitations

Steve writes:

Hi again - You mention invitations to Google. It looks like you can just sign up. What's the deal with the invitations?

Well, it might look that way at first, but you can't really get a Google account without either an invitation or a cell phone.

The first Google accounts (in April 2004) were just for Gmail. Google's method of marketing this new service was completely viral. Folks working at google sent invitations to their friends. As time passed, those first few users were allowed to send out a few invitations of their own. The growth was then exponential, but had an air of exclusivity. It was brilliant marketing. Now, people like me who got a gmail account in about June of 2004 have more invitations than we know what to do with, and there are many more services Google offers that require an account. (Good list of Google Services is here)

There are now TWO ways to get a Google account. You can sign up to have a confirmation code sent to your cell phone, or you can receive an invitation from someone who already has an account.

Many people don't want to give Google their cell number. That's understandable.

Here is Google's official explanation of why these are the only two ways to sign up for an account.

Have a question? Ask David! Email your question to pointingandgiggling_AT_gmail_DOT_com.

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Google Browser Sync

Have you seen this Firefox Extension? The idea is that all your Firefox settings are synched on all your computers.

Still in Google Labs, so they aren't finished perfecting it- but this is a great idea. Somethings can't be easily shared via del.icio.us or similar online favorites/tagging.

You can get Google Browser Sync here.

50 Smart Places to Live (Kiplingers Personal Finance)

I've lived in two of the top ten smartest places in the U.S. to live: Asheville, and Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Huh. I wonder why Syracuse isnt on the list...

Skip the annoying voicemail...by swearing at it!

From the article:

Many IVR (interactive voice response) systems are programmed to recognize key words. Among those keywords are frequently a list of swear words, like the FCC's dirty 7. When asked to respond, use on of those epithets and you will likely be transferred directly to a live human being.

Article from Lifehacker here.

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Stop 'medicalizing' bad behavior (IED)

My brother Andrew said it two days before this article did.

Sort of related: Viagra was originally created as a antihypertensive and antianginal drug. The whole erection thing was a side-effect that Pfizer decided to market. But in order to market a medication, it had to address a medical condition.

So Pfizer created "Erectile Disfunction".

Really. The term "Erectile Disfunction" didn't EXIST previously.

This crap makes me feel like a grumpy of cynic.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Speaking Pictures - Missing Pages

This is unusual and very interesting.

Fans of new media, film, photography, and design should check it out.

Made of manipulated still photographs, not video.

Links are to larger, embedded Quicktime video for those unhappy with Youtube version

Monday, June 05, 2006

Others Link to PointingandGiggling

Not too odd that VoteJake is linking to me- Jacob is one of my oldest friends and was my roommate for a year in high school, and it tickles me that he refers to me as "Jewbacca."

Also no surprise that Ryan Hoover's metaspore links to me:

But these others are a little surprising:
http://spain.zones111.com/4528/
http://blogmall.net/blogs/andalusia/24069/#

Also: http://www.mmplay.de/mmorpg/showthread.php?t=10775&page=2&pp=10

Interesting Recent Articles on Web 2.0 (For Andrew and Ryan)

The sky is falling (Why Web 2.0 Will end your Privacy)

Web 2.0 Has Corporate America Spinning

Don't know what Web 2.0 is?

Wikipedia entry

Tim O'Reilly's take

Why should you care?

How to Choose a College Major

This piece begins "Here is a very important piece of advice: Be sure to choose a major that does not involve Known Facts and Right Answers..."

Very funny, especially if you've worked with undergrads.

Fun Flash Animation: Artist vs. Stick Figure

This is great fun.

SFW, but has audio. Adjust your volume accordingly.

Sunday, June 04, 2006

Cafferty on Ammendment Bush will propose to ban gay marriage

This is the part of Cafferty's speach I liked best:

"This is pure politics. If has nothing to do with whether or not you believe in gay marriage. It's blatant posturing by Republicans, who are increasingly desperate as the midterm elections approach. There's not a lot else to get people interested in voting on them, based on their record of the last five years."

Video: Windows Media and Quicktime

via crooksandliars.com

Music: AC Newman's "Miracle Drug"

I found this track via Pandora.

It is a bit of an earworm.

Download the mp3 (legal! from the record label!) here.

Saturday, June 03, 2006

Just Do It (9/11 grafitti)

I have no idea how to feel about this.

Your thoughts?

Great Gaudi Slideshow!

Great Flickr photostream of Casa Batlló.

Wish my photos of the same building were half as good as these.

Official site is here.

Click on the Union Jack (flag) for english.

Did I say "don't mention the war"? Nevermind

Wow. Americans really don't yet understand that Europe still very much lives in the shadow of WWII.

Interesting artcle.

Soccer. International relations.

Extreme Silliness: Diet Coke + Mentos

Direct link to Quicktime vide o

Site and explanation with embedded video

More ridiculous Diet Coke and Mentos videos at YouTube

Related NPR story

New meaning to the phrase "Bottle Rocket" at hedonistica.com

Watch More TV online with YouTube

Buncha shows here.

Music: Roots Manuva and J5's Chali 2na in "Connect the Dots"

Do you like Jurassic 5?

Check out Chali 2na's appearance in "Connect the Dots" from Roots Manuva

I'm way behind because this came out years ago, but I first heard this a few weeks ago. Great track.

If You're Planning a Trip to Spain...

...be aware of the folowing:

Posted hours of operation for stores and restaurants mean NOTHING. Businesses will open and close when they feel like it. Get over it.
You wil hear an enormous amount of awful, '80s music. For reasons unknown to us, '80s pop is enormously popular and heard everywhere. (Note: We noticed this in Italy and Amsterdam, too- but not in Paris)
There are fewer anglophones per capita in Spain than in most of the rest of Europe. Learn survival phrases. Take a phrasebook.
Rick Steve's books for Italy, Netherlands, and Paris were great for us. Accurate prices, good reccommendations. His Spain book sucked. Not a single price was correct, and there was an alarming amount of innaccurate information. Just awful.
French tourists will often smell bad. German tourists will usually be in large, loud groups. Japanese tourists will be wearing audio devices to allow them to hear their tour guide better. English tourists will wear large, floppy sun hats. Take note of what you find distasteful in the behavior of other tourists and avoid those behaviors. A Spaniard who doesn't speak English will not understand you better if you speak louder.
Yes, bullfighting is disgusting, but there's no reason to point this out to Spaniards. Yes, it would more appropriately be called "Ceremonial Bull Slaughter as Performance Art", but it is extremely bad manners to point this out. Bullfighting is reported on in the ARTS sections of Spanish newspapers, not in the Sports section.
Getting off the plane in Barcelona and asking where to see Flamenco is like getting off the plane at Heathrow and asking where to see Scottish highland dancing...or like landing in Los Angeles and asking where to hear the best bluegrass music. Flamenco is from Andalusia. Go to Sevilla.
Be aware of regional differences. "Catalunya is not Spain" is much like "Quebec is not Canada." Read up in advance and avoid insulting your hosts.

Sevilla and Liz: So Pretty

Sevilla's little streets (especially in the formerly Jewish Quarter) are little and beautiful. We loved the trees, blossoming with purple and blue.

Spaniards like Futbol

Real Madrid won a soccer game while we were in Madrid. Large groups of people noisily celebrated their way down Gran Via.