March 2008
31 posts
Fold-Ins, Past and Present →
Interactive NY Times feature on MAD Magazine’s fold-in’s from the 1960’s to today. This is such a great way to experience Al Jaffee’s wonderfully clever ideas. [via Waxy Links]
Solar Roadways →
This is a very cool concept for harnessing the sun’s energy, if only it could be implemented. What do you think? [Thanks, Paul!]
OLPC Sound Samples →
This 8.5 GB collection of professional-quality audio samples has been compiled for use with software on the One Laptop Per Child computer … but it is also available to any of us free of charge because it’s CC licensed. If you enjoy making music with computers, this is hugely cool. Wow. I can’t wait to dive in! [via BoingBoing]
Game: Multiball Madness →
A crazed version of breakout with many, many balls. Fun! [via Good Experience]
ElfQuest Online →
The epic ElfQuest comic saga is celebrating its 30th year by placing almost every issue online for free. Amazing! [via BoingBoing]
Change-Congress.org →
I enthusiastically support ChangeCongress.org, a new initiative started by Lawrence Lessig to help politicians break free of the need to become beholden to outside interests simply to get and stay elected. I’ve signed the citizen’s pledge, and hope that my representative does his part to sign the pledge as well. I strongly believe that such reforms are vital to successfully deal with...
“Take it easy on the kid, SilverFox316; everybody kills Hitler on their first...”
– Desmond Warzel’s “Wikihistory” [via BoingBoing]
eMusic Pick: American Football →
I’ve really been enjoying one of my latest eMusic downloads, the first and only album by American Football. Emo, but in a softer, more intimate way, it intelligent lyrics, interesting arrangements, and a warm, clean sound. More info about the band can be found on Wikipedia.
Free professional web photo albums →
Paul van Roekel has put several excellent web photo templates on his site, all free of charge. These are a great way to showcase your photography online, and integrate particularly well with Google’s free Picasa image management program, which is another highly-recommended resource. If you know a little HTML and XML, however, you can adapt the code to any set of pictures. [via Dealighted]
Sir Arthur C. Clarke, Rest in Peace →
Author Arthur C. Clarke died today, aged 90, in Sri Lanka. He was one of my childhood heroes for his numerous contributions to science and literature, and he will be missed. In addition to the BBC article linked above, you can read more about him from his Wikipedia article and at arthurcclarke.net, where condolences can also be expressed. [Image courtesy of Wikipedia]
Ex Libris Anonymous →
If you’re looking for one-of-a-kind journals and sketchbooks, this is a perfect place to go… These fine people have a great eye for kitchy and interesting vintage books that they pick up from library sales, tag sales, flea markets, etc. They then convert the book into a journal by removing the side binding, adding a bunch of blank pages, and spiral-binding it all together. All for $13...
Good Magazine: Buying Organic →
Startling chart of big-name food companies that have sucked up established organic and natural food producers. As someone who prefers to give my business to the little guys, this is a bit depressing. [via BoingBoing]
Down for everyone or just me? →
What a great concept! Use this simple online tool to check if a site you can’t get to is down globally. [via Daring Fireball]
hulu →
This site features free, high-quality online streaming of a number of television shows (both clips and whole episodes), plus a small number of movies. Evidently more is promised in the coming weeks. I’ve been checking it out for a short while now (they gave me a beta invite), and for all of the panning it’s received in the blogosphere, it does what it says it will pretty well, and for...
wildcard →
This one is just for fun… All you have to do is move your mouse and grok.
SomaFM →
While I’m thinking of online music, I should mention that SomaFM is another one of my favorites. This internet-only, independent, and listener-supported suite of radio stations features fantastic content ranging from indie pop to various cutting-edge flavors of electronic. I’m always finding something new to like on Soma, and particularly enjoy having it on when I’m coding.
Pandora →
This is one of those “best of the web” services that I always assume everyone knows about, until someone comes up to me and raves about this thing that they just found last week. Just in case you haven’t heard, Pandora is a free, web-based music player that learns your likes and dislikes (you thumbs-up or down each song) to create customized radio stations. Brilliant!
OrganizedWisdom →
I’m really liking what I’ve seen at this new health information site. Professional health care providers put together information about a variety of searchable topics, resulting in pages called “WisdomCards” that contain highly-relevant and informative content. The range of topics is broad, the quality of information is excellent, and it’s certainly someplace...
Music For Robots →
is just about my favorite music blog. I’m always finding great new stuff, here. I just wish I remembered to check more often … the tracks they feature disappear relatively quickly.
The Best Free Software →
PC Magazine’s list of 157 free software applications contains some pretty great stuff to check out. After all, what have we got to lose? [via Lifehacker]
The Advantages of Closing a Few Doors →
I really like the advice offered by this New York Times article. Sometimes giving yourself fewer options is better, even if it goes against our nature. [via Lifehacker]
Hyperscore →
This software, developed at MIT, allows ordinary people with no musical background (like me) to compose music. One of the programmers is speaking at TED this year, which is how I heard of it, and it instantly hooked me. I admit that I had a bear of a time getting it to work on my Intel Mac because it’s a Windows program that doesn’t play nice with virtual systems, but now that...
DeskCity →
One of my favorite places for desktop wallpaper has just changed URL’s. It’s all in Chinese, but don’t let that deter you. Just find something cool and start clicking to access thousands of beautiful and diverse background images.
