Aug20
The most famous trips in history »
As traced by GOOD Magazine.
World Records Seen From Above »
A sample of the pictures Vincent Laforet has been taking at the Beijing Olympics with his staggering amounts of gear.
Aug18
Stone facade
I think this scene bears a striking resemblance to the set of The Prisoner — this one too. They were actually taken in Longwood Gardens, a beautiful park in southeastern Pennsylvania.
Aug11
How to Shoot the Olympics, Laforet Style »
I’m assuming “Laforet Style” is photographer-speak for “fantastically wealthy.”
GM: What a difference fifty years makes »
Automotive design used to be jaw-droppingly awesome.
Aug09
”when you don’t create things, you become defined by your tastes rather than ability. your tastes only narrow & exclude people. so create. _why #
Aug07
Six Principles for Making New Things »
“Find simple solutions to overlooked problems that actually need to be solved, and deliver them as informally as possible, starting with a very crude version 1, then iterating rapidly.”
Aug04
Launched: pnt.me
When the dot-me domains were released a few weeks ago, I thought it might be fun to pick one up and officially launch some “url shortening” code I’d been experimenting with. Today I managed to put the finishing touches on the first version of pnt.me — which I think looks a lot like “point me,” but won’t waste any extra characters in your tweets.
It’s a standard url shortener, meaning you give it a link that looks something like http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&pwst=1&q=url+shortening&start=10&sa=N and it gives you back something more like http://pnt.me/CzwU9K.
It does have a few other features:- There’s a “copy to clipboard” link, saving you the trouble of highlighting, right-clicking, and so on. Not huge, but nice.
- Adding a semi-colon to the end of any link will forgo automatic redirection, and instead take users to the “details” page for that link. Check it out: http://pnt.me/CzwU9K;. It’s useful for those times you want to see exactly where you’re going, instead of being Rickrolled.
- There’s also the beginnings of a sort of spam-alert, in that if enough people have clicked the abuse link the automatic redirection stops. Users are instead taken to the details page and shown a warning letting them know them know there have been reported problems with the content behind the shortened link. Everyone can still get to their destination — but it’s at their own risk. I set up a fake one here http://pnt.me/PjgpM9; so you can see what I mean. (Update: Enough people clicked through anyway that the warning went away. I guess the system works.)
I’m working on a bookmarklet that will let you shorten links from anywhere on the web, but it’s got issues in IE. And sites with frames. And Wikipedia. (Like I said, I’m working on it.) Try it out if you like, your mileage may vary. I hope to have a new and improved (read: “working”) version up soon.
All in all, I’m quite happy with how things are coming together. It’s fun to polish and release code originally intended to just be a weekend project. Personally, I got a lot more out of the experience knowing it would be in front of someone other than me when it was finished.
Thanks to everyone on Twitter who helped test things out this afternoon. And extra thanks to Jaythan for adding some most-excellent style my wireframes.
Aug02
How to Show Telephone Numbers On Letterheads »
From the early 1960s.
Zombie Haiku »
For those with whom I will be dining this evening. No, not on brains.
Jul17
Graffiti for Butterflies »
How to paint a roadmap for butterflies to follow in urban settings.
What did Apple BASIC sound like? »
Extracting the ancient software from its audio cassette.
Bendy straw construction set »
With that, I would totally drink your milkshake.
Jul12
Thunderstorms
We had an interesting sunset last night that I knew wouldn’t turn out in the camera, so I decided to play around with a little HDR. The results are great, with the exception of the fact that no matter what I do I don’t seem to be able to get my edges right. (Look at the tops of the houses.)
Tips anyone?
If you’re in the mood for experimenting, feel free to try things out yourself — here are the three shots I combined to make the one above.
Let me know if you can get those rooftops to look right.
Pseudo-science explains the Tunguska event »
Summary: A mini-black hole hit, and then became lodged in, the Earth.
Jul07
Jul05
A visual history of SuperSoakers »
These were great on a hot summer afternoon. I had the XXP-175, which the site claims is the first “multi-barreled” of the line, and it seemed staggeringly huge at the time. I can’t remember which one my brother had — might have been this one.
Is the long tail right? »
This author thinks “no.” I disagree.
TheDieline »
Package design goodness.
Jun29
Antarctic Images »
Time-lapse images from Anthony Powell.
The Employable Web Designer »
Andy Rutledge’s tips on being a web designer with a job.
Teaching artificial intelligences through correlations instead of models »
“We can throw the numbers into the biggest computing clusters the world has ever seen and let statistical algorithms find patterns where science cannot.” More on the topic at Wired.
Jun26
Little more than a cameo »
The A.V. Club lists the 19 best movie-stealing cameos in film.
Jun23
Travelers Shift to Rail as Cost of Fuel Rises »
I wonder if it’s too late?
Jun22
Fairchild Channel F »
If I only knew where our old one was.
Jun21
Jun20
Water ice found on Mars »
Yesterday the Mars rover Phoenix twittered:
Are you ready to celebrate? Well, get ready: We have ICE!!!!! Yes, ICE, * WATER ICE * on Mars! w00t!!! Best day ever!!
Teach the Controversy »
T-shirts for the next time you’re out partying with folks from the Kansas State Board of Education.
Sketching in Code »
Wireframes have less use in a world that’s no longer based on the “page.”
Nuke the fridge »
Like “jump the shark,” but for movies. I’m very sorry Indy.
Requiem For A Day Off
A Ferris Bueller’s Day off reboot.
Jun14
Lost in E-Mail »
My take: Email is a low-bandwidth tool best used to diffuse responsibility.
What's left of Lake Delton »
Nature is amazing and dangerous.
2008 Design Trends »
I’d like to say “old” is in, but it’s more like “not originally of the web” is in. Beautiful stuff.
Jun09
GTAIV - Naked Gun Edition »
Spoof of the spoof.
Wind
Amy and I were amazed at how dark the sky was as we were driving along Highway 60 near Hustisford, Wisconsin (which is a bit of a stretch because nothing is near Hustisford).










