I stumbled upon Menutopia today (ironically, through one of my Google ads). Menutopia is similar to MenuPages; the idea is to provide the menus online for every restaurant so deciding where to go or ordering takeout is easier. I checked a few and they seemed accurate. In addition, both websites provide additional information about each restaurant, as well as user-submitted ratings and reviews.
Menutopia has a few advantages:
- It has a prettier interface with no ads (not sure how they generate revenue).
- The smart search will generate a list of restaurants as you type in part of the name, which is very helpful.
- Certain restaurants have an option of online ordering, which takes you to directly to the restaurant ordering page on SeamlessWeb.
- For restaurant details, it integrates the Google map of the area. Unfortunately, like MenuPages, it’s at the bottom after the reviews instead of at the top before the reviews.
- Like Amazon, Menutopia allows registered members (free) to create lists of restaurants by theme that are available to others.
MenuPages has been around longer, so it has a much larger amount of user-submitted ratings and reviews. It also serves cities other than NYC: Boston, Chicago, DC, LA, Philadelphia, and SF. For New Yorkers, however, I would definitely recommend checking Menutopia out.
September 3rd, 2006
| Updated: September 6, 2006
General
Business
Clothing (Men’s)
Design
Economics
Health
Finance
Real Estate
Science Fiction
July 22nd, 2006
| Updated: February 25, 2007
I’ve been playing Pac-Man regularly again for the last couple months (since I noticed it’s addable content on Google’s customized homepage). Never really tried to get good at didn’t and I never searched for PacMan strategies either. Apparently, people have figured out patterns which you can execute to clear the levels as long as you do it perfectly. I’m not sure if I should be impressed, scared, or both.
May 21st, 2006
| Updated: June 29, 2006
Last night, I went to the Roots concert at Radio City Music Hall. It was a good show, with several unexpected guests, like DJ Jazzy Jeff, Dave Chappelle, Bilal, and Jay-Z. The response from the crowd when Dave walked on stage was incredible, far surpassing all the musical artists, even Mos Def and Erykah Badu. Guess he still has the elusive “It”. He was certainly my favorite.
Now, Dave is always funny, but his (too brief) 15 minutes on stage was thought-provoking as well. He started by saying he was going to tell us why he left his show and went to Africa. Of course, there were lots of funny one-liners, like being “the first missing [black guy] in America to make the news” and “dodging Oprah’s questions like the Matrix”. But the gist of his story is that he left for Africa because he figured out “the Game” of Hollywood. And while he couldn’t tell us what the Game is, his hint was to read the book Pimp: Story of My Life by Iceberg Slim, otherwise known as the “Capitalist Manifesto”.
He told us stories about pimpin’ from the book that illustrated what the Game is about. He told us about “mileage on a ho” - how many tricks she has left. He told us about the “Bottom Bitch” - the queen of the ho’s, the cornerstone of a pimp’s organization. He told us how a pimp keeps his ho’s in line and how he traps his Bottom Bitch so that she could never leave him. He told us that it was some cold-blooded shit, but that’s what the Game is. And it was clear that Comedy Central or whatever powers above him is the “pimp” in his story and he was their “Bottom Bitch”. Once he figured that out, he had no choice but to disappear to Africa.
But he wasn’t just telling a story about himself, he was trying to spread an idea and seeds for change in people’s thinking. Part of the greatness of Chappelle is his willingness to give voice to the taboo, whether it’s obvious or not so obvious. When he manages to find that perfect blend between social and political observations delivered with street-bluntness and sharp timing, he is absolutely on top of his game. Think of the Black Bush skit in season 2. I just wish he could get his stuff out to us more often. We miss you, Dave.
May 20th, 2006
| Updated: July 11, 2006