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it8bit: There’s No Place Like Home Photo by...

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 01:48:25 -0400

There’s No Place Like Home

Photo by pacalinbergmanstein

The space ship from E.T. was designed by original Star Wars concept artist Ralph McQuarrie, who died today at the age of 82.

superamit: Many of you have asked, so here’s what’s going on...

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 01:47:58 -0400

superamit:

Many of you have asked, so here’s what’s going on with me.

WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE

8/1979: Born. Grew up in CT, built a killer eraser collection, fell in love with computers.

Left college to start a company. Fell hard. Fled to India for 3 months.

Started 2nd company. Learned to be an adult. Fell in love with NYC.

Moved to SF, discovered burritos & some of my fave people on Earth.

9/2011: Got diagnosed with Leukemia!

Cried. Went through 3 cycles of chemo. Hurt. Thought hard about what I want out of life. Grew up a second time.

TODAY

… After over 100 drives organized by friends, family, and strangers, celebrity call-outs, a bazillion reblogs (7000+!), tweets, and Facebook posts, press, fundraising and international drives organized by tireless friends, and a couple painful false starts, I’ve got a 10/10 matched donor!

You all literally helped save my life. (And the lives of many others.)

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

Tomorrow, I’ll be admitted to Dana Farber in Boston for 4-5 weeks.

First I’ll get a second Hickman line to allow direct access to my heart (for meds and for nutrients if I’m not able to eat). Over the next week, the docs blast my body with a stiff chemo cocktail to try and eradicate all traces of cancer cells. In the process, the immune system I was born with, and my body’s ability to make blood, are destroyed.

Next Friday, I get my donor’s stem cells by IV. I start on immunosuppressants to prevent my body from rejecting them (I’ll be on them for 12-18 months). For these weeks I’ve no immune system, so I’m severely vulnerable to viruses and bacteria. My hospital room and hallway become my world.

Meanwhile, the stem cells make their way to my bone marrow and, with some luck, start producing platelets, red blood cells, and white blood cells. At this point, my blood type changes to the blood type of my donor. And my blood will now have my donor’s DNA, not my own.

This is science fiction stuff. I can hardly believe it’s even possible, and there’s lots of chances for things to go wrong. It’s frightening.

AFTER THE TRANSPLANT

Recovery to a new state of “normal” takes about a year, but there’s a few storm clouds hovering:

My immune system is new, like a baby’s. I’m prone to getting sick.

Just as with any organ transplant, there’s a chance of rejection. Except in this case, it’s my blood that’s the foreign body, and it touches every organ. They call it graft-vs-host-disease and it can cause health issues and organ complications for the rest of my life.

Successful transplant or not, Leukemia can relapse. Stubborn mofo.

Overall, 75% of AML transplant patients survive year one, 50% make it through year five. My odds are a little better since I’m young.

THE GREAT NEWS

I’ve got a long road ahead. But I’ve got a donor & amazing family & friends. A few months ago I didn’t have many options. Today I have a plan.

I am alive. I start tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Thank you.

meme4u: http://meme4u.tumblr.com

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 01:47:09 -0400

meme4u:

http://meme4u.tumblr.com

minusmanhattan: Everyday I’m Tumblin’

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 01:46:39 -0400

minusmanhattan:

Everyday I’m Tumblin’

justinrampage: Drew Wise mashed up popular elements from film,...

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 01:45:32 -0400

Metroid Disney

LOST Fantasy

Calamari Damacy

R2-LOVEu

Game of Thrones

Donkey TRON

Super Shooter Bros.

NAMCO...?

Daft Pixel

justinrampage:

Drew Wise mashed up popular elements from film, television and music into a great set of pixelated video game designs. Make sure that you check out more of Drew’s geeky work here on Tumblr.

Geek Art 1 by Drew Wise (Facebook) (Twitter)

THRICE: An announcement from Dustin

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 01:45:01 -0400

THRICE: An announcement from Dustin:

officialthrice:

Thrice is not breaking up. If nothing has broken us up by now, I doubt anything ever could.

However, we will be taking a break from being a full-time band, and the upcoming tour in the Spring will be the last one for the foreseeable future.

Playing music for the past 13 years with…

mrgif: a little peak of the 2ne1 show we just shot. get ready.

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 01:44:32 -0400

mrgif:

a little peak of the 2ne1 show we just shot. get ready.

parislemon: Power

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 01:44:00 -0400

parislemon: Power:

parislemon:

My single biggest takeaway from SXSW was all the talk about battery life. Every single person. All the time. People changing plans because they needed to recharge their phones. People walking around with chargers. People who were chargers. Mophies galore. People uninstalling apps that would…

Photo

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 01:43:31 -0400

seldo: This is genuinely Microsoft’s idea of a “streamlined”,...

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 01:42:59 -0400

seldo:

This is genuinely Microsoft’s idea of a “streamlined”, “optimized” UI for Windows Explorer. They were so proud of it they wrote a blog post about it.

The post is a sort of masterpiece of crazy rationalization, but I think my favourite part may be this screenshot:

Here, they proudly overlay the UI with data from their research into how often various commands are used. They use this to show that “the commands that make up 84% of what users do in Explorer are now in one tab”. But the more important thing is that the remaining 50% of the bar is taken up by buttons that nobody will ever use, ever, even according to Microsoft’s own research. And yet somehow they remain smack bang in the middle of the interface. The insanity is further enriched by this graph:

Again, this is Microsoft’s own research, cited in the same post: nobody — almost literally 0% of users — uses the menu bar, and only 10% of users use the command bar. Nearly everybody is using the context menu or hotkeys. So the solution, obviously, is to make both the menu bar and the command bar bigger and more prominent. Right?

Microsoft UI has officially entered the realm of self-parody.

dcu: I think I may not have reblogged this post from a while...

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 01:42:27 -0400

dcu:

I think I may not have reblogged this post from a while back via Unemployed Sidekick super fan Mary Dan:

Here’s a little doodle I did in response to Henry Alexander’s challenge to ‘Draw Yourself Face-to-Face with Your Hero.’ I drew this last night, but haven’t had time to make a better one yet.

If you can’t tell, it’s Raven from Unemployed Sidekick (partially because I can’t remember what Nightraven looks like and partially because well, he’s awesome.) It was a toss-up between many characters and I finally just decided to pick Raven. And why not? He’s the best!

However… Raven looks a little derpy. (Because it’s from memory and all…) So I plan on making a better one soon. Whether or not I follow through … is another story.

Also, check out Scott’s! His is cool because it’s JIM HENSON who is basically one of the greatest human beings EVER and Scott himself is rad.

Double also, if you don’t know what Unemployed Sidekick is, you really need to check it out because it is one of my favorite things. If you like superheroes and superhero humor, it’s like all your dreams come true.

sirmitchell: aledlewis: You Used To Be Cool. When this hits...

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 01:41:57 -0400

sirmitchell:

aledlewis:

You Used To Be Cool.

When this hits 5k notes, I’ll tell everyone I reblogged it when it was only 50.

jacksonfinter: My first real Cinemagraph. I had this image in...

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 01:41:29 -0400

jacksonfinter:

My first real Cinemagraph. I had this image in my head for weeks but never could figure out how to loop such a dynamic object such as steam. I finally think I have achieved it…

imremembering: Who can you name from this ’80s Last...

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 01:40:58 -0400

imremembering:

Who can you name from this ’80s Last Supper?

[scrapsity]

fuckyeahbabyanimals: mcdavis: I want this little guy to be my...

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 01:40:33 -0400

fuckyeahbabyanimals:

mcdavis:

I want this little guy to be my best friend. We’ll go on walks and talk about girls and life and watch movies together.

(via meini/Flickr)

FYBA heartily agrees with mcdavis.

meme4u: http://meme4u.tumblr.com

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 01:40:00 -0400

meme4u:

http://meme4u.tumblr.com

theamericancreative: This ad was created for the 10 year...

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 01:39:32 -0400

theamericancreative:

This ad was created for the 10 year anniversary of 9/11. It’s a very strong image, but something that I felt was, from a advertising perspective, very appropriate & tasteful. Such a beautiful image, and on this milestone anniversary, we all should be thankful and in full remembrance.

Find more of the agencies work here.

superamit: UPDATE: For the latest on how to help Amit, join the...

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 01:39:07 -0400

superamit:

UPDATE: For the latest on how to help Amit, join the registry, organize a bone marrow drive, and lots more, visit http://amitguptaneedsyou.com/

Two weeks ago I got a call from my doctor, who I’d gone to see the day before because I’d been feeling worn out and was losing weight, and wasn’t sure why.

He was brief: “Amit, you’ve got Acute Leukemia. You need to enter treatment right away.”

I was terrified. I packed a backpack full of clothes, went to the hospital as he’d instructed, and had transfusions through the night to allow me to take a flight home at 7am the next day. I Googled acute leukemia as I lay in my hospital bed, learning that if it hadn’t been caught, I’d have died within weeks.

—

I have a couple more months of chemo to go, then the next step is a bone marrow transplant. As Jay and Tony describe below, minorities are severely underrepresented in the bone marrow pool, and I need help.

A few ways to help:

If you’re South Asian, get a free test by mail. You rub your cheeks with a cotton swab and mail it back. It’s easy.

If you’re in NYC, you can go to this event my friends are putting on.

If you know any South Asians (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, or Sri Lanka), please point ‘em to the links above.

*UPDATE 1* Organize a donor drive near you (the most helpful thing you could possibly do!) email 100kcheeks@gmail.com. They’ll send you kits, flyers, tell you what to say, and make the whole process easy cheesy.

*UPDATE 2* Want to get a free test, but not in the US. Here’s a list of international donor registries that are globally searchable.

jayparkinsonmd:

My friend Amit Gupta founded my favorite photography site Photojojo. A few weeks ago, he was diagnosed with leukemia. Amit is one of the nicest, most genuine, most creative people you could ever meet. Prior to founding the awesome Photojojo, he also co-founded Jelly in 2006 in NYC, a coworking community, that’s now spread to 60 cities across the world and helped spark the coworking revolution. It looks like Amit will need a bone marrow transplant quite soon. We can help him with that.

tony b:

Unlike blood transfusions, finding a genetic match for bone marrow that his body will accept is no easy task. The national bone marrow registry has 9.5 million records on file, yet the chances of someone from South Asian descent of finding a match are only 1 in 20,000.

This is where we come in. We’re going to destroy those odds.

How? By finding and registering as many people of South Asian descent as we possibly can.

Tests are easy– a simple swab of the cheek. If you’re a match, the donation involves an outpatient procedure. It’s not fun, but it’s not dangerous either. And doing it could save a life.

We are encouraging anyone of South Asian descent to take a test to see if you’re a match.

You can get a free test by mail, or, if you’re in New York, you can join us Friday, October 14th for a special party to rally support.

We’ll have test kits on hand at the party, as well as music, booze, and maybe even a photo booth. It will, for the first time, combine a House 2.0-style party with a New Work City-style party, and if you’ve ever been to either, you know they are always something special.

Please spread the word and please do everything you can to help Amit beat leukemia. He’s a superstar.

Much thanks to Tony and pals for organizing this event, and EVERYONE who’s been tweeting and reblogging.

Please help get the word out any way you can. My life quite literally depends on it.

lefthandedtoons: Chopsticks | Left-Handed Toons Comic URL:...

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 01:38:44 -0400

lefthandedtoons:

Chopsticks | Left-Handed Toons

Comic URL: http://www.lefthandedtoons.com/1066/

Photo

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 01:38:17 -0400