This is a pretty cool collection of electronic literature/ hypertext fiction/ web poetry or whatever you want to call it.
Category: tech
In the midst of updating the RSS feeds for Kottke.org, Jason realizes that he has delivered 58 gigabytes of RSS this month. Yes, that is crazy.
Cory Doctorow writes about giving away his books for free.
Here’s a great essay exploring the connections between comics, games, and world-building.
Perhaps when we find ourselves disturbed or bewildered by the popularity of a new genre or medium, itÄôs precisely by giving it that “serious consideration” that we will begin to get to grips with what it is and how it works. But how do we do this, when the new work often seems to have so little to do with our existing aesthetic criteria?
Here’s some clever comment spam, the bastards:
I got the same tramadol attackĶ well, not the same, because it was only about 20 comments instead of 90, and i t have any filtering set up, and I just deleted them one at a timeĶ hmm.. the only thing really in common was that it was about tramadolĶ what filter do you have set up that caught them all?
[thanks, akismet]
A bevy of fake Apple i-products. My favorite of the bunch so far are iPuffs, for the tech-savvy smoker.
After receiving 21 text messages from the victim, a thief was persuaded to return the cellphone and other stolen goods.
The Central Division of the Los Angeles Police Department keeps a weekly map of the downtown homeless population. I wonder what data they are gathering besides headcounts. I’d love to see this map cross-referenced with the weekly crime stats, weather, events, etc.
Here’s a version of the classic videogame Pong, but this one uses real-time fluid dynamics to vary the gameplay.
This is great. Area man loses weight by playing the Nintendo Wii.
Here’s a nice mock-up of the iPhone. This is a nice version featuring professional, rounded corners (ahem).
There are now over 250 games in the Flickr pool called DS Tie-In Games I Wanna Play. There’s a new MacWorld game, recumbent bicycle racing, UNIX SysAdmin Adventure, the New Yorker game, Cool Hand Luke, and lots of other good ones.
Seth Godin on Cingular CEO Stan Sigman’s anemic performance at the Macworld Keynote where the iPhone debuted: “One could argue that you can be a great CEO without having a clue how to speak in public. But why not either get better at it or send someone else in your place?”
Worldchanging: A User’s Guide for the 21st Century (review: 3/5)
I’ve been sitting on this one for a while. I’m not really sure how you review something like this, so I’ll just say it’s a cool, encyclopedic book. Bruce Sterling calls it a “dizzyingly comprehensive chunk of treeware,” which sounds about right. Worldchanging is the meatworld reference book associated with the collaborative Worldchanging website.
Inside, you’ll find short articles on about a million green-related topics. Let’s see… forestry, women’s rights, microfinance, product design, DIY, bioplastics, sustainable ranching, social entrepreneurship, climate change, etc. It is a very pretty book: full-color throughout, nicely designed on heavy paper, and with lots of photos (though woefully short of cool, original infographics). The obvious problem is inherent to an encyclopedia, where no topic is covered in depth, and no entry can be as refined or nuanced as it ought to be (e.g., only 7 pages on “Understanding Trade”). It’s an honest start, and there’s some inspiration to be found if you’re already inclined.
Well, the new iPhone is big, heavy, expensive, and only for Cingular. But damn, it’s really cool and I’m glad someone is finally making progress on this whole convergence thing.
A pretty cool Line Rider video, including an insane jump over a busy freeway. And the Jagged Peak Adventure is pretty classic, too. Despite the fact that Line Rider has already jumped the shark (wikipedia), soon, the game will be coming to the Nintendo Wii and the DS.
Mark Larson 