I like that the UMich School of Information has a very simple graphic that tells you which classes you need to take for each Master's-level specialization, like this one. Compare with my general requirements as an Emory undergrad. Granted, I'm comparing a more specific 2-year program to a more flexible 4-year one, but the UMich image is so much easier to understand quickly. It's good to show the information in multiple forms, catering to those who want to read everything and those who just want a quick-and-dirty introduction.

I liked Chris Anderson's articles this past week on the future of Wired magazine and media in general. "Editors catalyze and curate conversations that happen as much "out there" as on our own site." Cool.

I spent some time last night reliving the magic of Star Wars kid. The orginal is good. My favorite spin-off is the disco version, while the drunken jedi and the clones edit aren't too bad. See also cyber-bullying.

You Thought We Wouldn't Notice tracks art/design plagiarism. Though I'm not a copyright hound, I love this kind of "community standards" work to point out the offenders.

Pitchfork selects the worst album covers from 2006. [via bradley spitzer]

The 10 most dangerous play things of all time.

What happens when you put an iPod into a blender? Spoiler: you get a fine powder of metal and plastic. They don't sell those blenders at the local drug store.

A map of the internet, using contiguous IP addresses. And here's where you can find mlarson.org, or find something else. [via waxy]

The Plain English Campaign has issued their annual awards for 2006. The worst abuses receive the Golden Bull. For example: "The first attribute of the art object is that it creates a discontinuity between itself and the unsynthesised manifold." [via bad language]

Gangs are now actively recruiting and educating people for cyber crime. I suppose we can call this Crime 2.0.

There are super-lions in Botswana. Evolving from a pride stranded on an island, the Duba swamp lions are bigger, faster, stronger, more clever. And their new favorite prey, the water buffalo, are also getting smarter in this isolated little ecosystem. How cool.

Ah, validation. Night owls are more creative.

Blogger Leslie Harpold has passed on. Collected reflections here. What really gets me is the image of her annual Advent calendar. All those expectations and hopes, stopped too soon.

WordCount‚Ñ¢ is an interactive presentation of the 86,800 most frequently used English words.

Lately, it seems like a lot of things are happening automagically. I'm pretty late on this one, as I heard it for the first time maybe 2 months ago. The Google finds 2.2 million+ hits. Looking over at Google Blog Search, we pull up 3 hits for 2001, 3 in 2002, 5 in 2003, 65 in 2004, 1905 in 2005, and here in 2006 have been 7978. It seems like a surprisingly late surge for a term that first made a splash back in the 40s.

This should be fun. Google now has a page dedicated for searching patents. Of course, there's a nice little "beta" label.

A collection of views from other people's windows.

New York Times Magazine selects the 74 best ideas from 2006.

There's a Wikipedia article on the meaning of life. But that's not all--there's also a discussion about whether the article is worthwhile. Meta-metaphysics taking place within the ether of the internet. I love it.

I've always loved writing/ designing letters, and the next logical step is that lately I've gotten interested in bookbinding. This Sunday afternoon I made a simple 64-page single-signature notebook. I haven't decided on a use for it. Maybe as a daily GTD notebook, or just a place to put "things to think about" that aren't necessarily concrete to-dos. Sorry to say I've never been good at personal journaling. A little ribbon helps keep my place. Haven't decided on a way to close it, but a pen fits nicely. I like how the page edges turned out a little uneven. The rounded corners keep it from showing wear too quickly.

Cool, right?