Blog Post: Bogart at the Gym

Fifteen movies in Harvard Square for $2 each! Why did I hesitate on that Groupon?

The Brattle Theatre’s offer of a year-long membership for just $35 was so popular that they called Groupon after just a few hours to plead “Please shut it off!” Even still, 1250 people got tickets to 15 films, discounted popcorn, and the satisfaction of supporting a 120-year-old cultural center. They would have kept it going, but they’d increased their membership rolls by 25% in less than a day, and they didn’t want to be buried under a mountain of paperwork for months to come.

Of course, I saw this Groupon just minutes before it sold out. Before I clicked “Buy,” I paused to tell a few friends — when I went back, it was gone. Luckily, I didn’t let my disappointment stop me from dropping in on the Brattle’s Creative Director this week. Ned Hinkle has been at the Brattle Theatre for over a decade (he actually built their first website by hand), and he graciously invited me to climb up into the balcony with him for a chat.

The theater started out as Brattle Hall back in 1890, and it’s been in pretty much continuous operation ever since. It started out as a social club and live theater, and had stints as a ballet school and even a police gymnasium along the way. It was retrofitted for movies in 1953, and has spent the almost six decades since then showing art films, classics, and cult favorites. It’s also started a couple of cult traditions, including one that lures Harvard students away from studying for finals to watch Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca or The Maltese Falcon — a tradition that Hinkle said made Bogart the classic icon he is today.

Brattle Hall also houses a great cafe and restaurant, making it a one-stop night on the town, right in the heart of Harvard Square. Even if you missed out on the Groupon, the Brattle is a great place to experience films you’ll never get to see on the big screen — whether they’re classics or current contenders for festival honors.

Visit:
Brattle Theatre
40 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
617-876-6837

Video: Interview at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, MA

Video: “Live Off Groupon” Contest Introduction Video

This first video is of Joselin Mane, the organizer of the MegaTweetup.  This recording was made in a large, hard-walled room near the end of the event, with probably 30 people talking around us. I was standing about 3 feet from the subject, putting the camera and microphone about 2 feet away. The background sound level was similar to what you’d have in a shopping mall common area on a normal weekday evening.

This video is of Rebecca Corliss, whose a capella group performed at the MegaTweetup.  This recording was made in a large, hard-walled room near the end of the event, with probably 30 people talking around us. I was standing about 3 feet from the subject, putting the camera and microphone about 2 feet away. This time, the background was extremely noisy, similar to a crowed bar with no music playing. It was a situation where you had to speak very loudly to be heard over the crowd.

Overall, I think the microphone performed quite well. I’ll be keeping it, and using it with my 7D quite often.

I made this app demo using my new setup, which eliminates all of the shadows I had to deal with when I made the GV Mobile demo. Of course, that video was a fun favor, and this was work for a client, so I needed it to look good.

Here’s the demo video itself:

Right, except that it asked me to vote tomorrow, not today.

I don’t know if this is a case of computer/operator error or a legitimate case of electoral fraud through misinformation, but I was asked to record and share it by a number of people on Twitter, so here it is.

Because it was left today, I could not figure out how to get the voicemail system to say the actual date it was left. If I wait, I can get a properly timestamped version, but that will take a few days. In the meantime, I’ve included a screenshot of my iPhone voicemail screen taken at 2:41 today. I don’t think iPhone screenshots have EXIF data, but it’s the best I can do.

Did anyone else receive one of these calls?

For the record, I didn’t campaign for or support either mayoral candidate this year, so this isn’t an attack on anyone. I just found it curious and thought it was worth sharing.

Click the play button below to play the message.

This has got to be one of my most-used apps.

Please allow us to use the iPhone’s Home button to answer calls.

I know it doesn’t get that cold in Cupertino, but it sure gets cold in many other parts of the world. In colder climates, the iPhone becomes almost completely unusable for its primary function — a phone — as soon as you put a pair of gloves on. If you don’t have iPhone-compatible headphones on when a call comes in, you have to fish the phone out of your pocket, take off one of your gloves, then “swipe to answer.”

I’ve missed calls doing this. I’ve seen people drop their iPhones doing this. I’ve even seen someone use their (probably runny) nose to swipe on a particularly cold day.

The most frustrating thing about this problem is that there’s an easy fix: the Home button.

The Home button is already multi-talented, but it does nothing when a call is coming in. If you enabled the option to push the home button to answer (or push and hold for one second if you were worried about accidental presses), there would be no need for me to take off my gloves. Sure, I’d still need to use my uncovered fingers for dialing, but I can plan when to dial — and plan to be in a warm place. I don’t have that luxury when it comes to incoming calls.

I love my iPhone, but this one thing is incredibly frustrating for a good chunk of the year here in the Northeast.

Winter is coming. Please don’t force me to use my nose to answer the phone.

Adam Weiss

I submitted this idea to Apple’s iPhone Feedback Page. If you agree with me, please do the same. Feel free to copy and paste from my post if you’d like. I just want this to get fixed.

Here’s my review video for the Mint.com iPhone app. You can get the app here.