The city

2007-09-01

Listen Milosh: The city. Electronic/Downtempo/Soul.
Video: Walter Robot in Space, on YouTube.

Categories : music

World Wide Words

2007-08-29
Grok
To understand something intuitively or by empathy.

“We must look to Robert Anson Heinlein for the origins of this word, which he invented for his science-fantasy book Stranger in a Strange Land in 1961.
In this, Valentine Michael Smith, a human being raised on Mars, returns to Earth with psi powers given him by the Martians and is transformed into a messiah.”.
(Michael Quinion)

worldwidewords.org: “Michael Quinion writes on international English from a British viewpoint.”.

Categories : books, language

Android 207

2007-08-20
“An android trapped inside of a large maze with no idea how to find its way out.”. Android 207

Android 207, the movie. By Paul Whittington.
Requires Flash Player

Categories : animation

The No Asshole Rule

2007-08-18

“One of the main ideas on the book is that acting like a demeaning jerk isn’t just a personality characteristic that some people have and others don’t.
There is a lot of evidence that, when any of us are around nasty people, we – without realizing it – start mimicking their nastiness, and suffer from asshole poisoning as well.
Management gurus are constantly ranting about the importance of commitment.
But if you work with people who treat you like dirt, they have not earned your passion and commitment. Practice going through the motions without really caring.”.
(Robert Sutton)

The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t.

Categories : books, psychology

Emily Short

2007-08-17
Gargoyle

Interactive fiction tells you the beginning of a story. Then it puts you in charge and lets you decide what your character should do.

You type commands for the main character to carry out, and the story replies by telling you what happens next.”.

“If you enjoy interactive fiction, you’ll find a wide variety of other works available to you.

And, like books, works of interactive fiction come in assortment of genres: fantasy, mystery, horror, and science-fiction, romance and historical, surreal and slice-of-life.
See my PDF Manual on playing IF.”.
(Emily Short)

Bronze

Top: a detail from the home page of Gargoyle, an IF player.
Bottom: Bronze (Emily Short, 2006), cover detail. Interative Fiction created with Inform 7.

Categories : online culture

Killed Trans Am

2007-08-14

“We’ve learned a lot from dismantling Trans Ams, and we intend to post some of this info (along with some humor) on this site.”.
The Killed Trans Am Page, from Hoghead’s Firebird and Trans Am Parts.
By Brian Morelock and Joe Bays.

Categories : online culture

Improv Everywhere

2007-07-17
Suicide jumper “We’re out to prove that a prank doesn’t have to involve humiliation or embarrassment; it can simply be about making someone laugh, smile, or stop to notice the world around them.”.
(Charlie Todd)

“Created in August of 2001 by Charlie Todd, Improv Everywhere has executed over 60 missions involving hundreds of undercover agents. The group is based in New York City.”.

See, for example: Even Better Than The Real Thing and Cell Phone Symphony. Thumbs up.

Above: Nate Shelky and Will Hines in Suicide Jumper (2005).

Categories : art, phenomena

Release Me

2007-07-06
Release Me, by Oh Laura I am a rolling wave without the motion
A glass of water longing for the ocean
I am an asphalt flower breaking free
but you keep stopping me
Release me

Oh Laura, a Swedish band from Stockholm. Indie/pop. Listen: Release Me.

Requires Flash Player

Categories : music

Rocketboom

2007-07-01

Rocketboom is a three minute daily videoblog based in New York City.
We cover and create a wide range of information and commentary from top news stories to quirky internet culture.
Instead of costing millions of dollars to produce, Rocketboom is created with a consumer-level video camera, a laptop, two lights and a map with no additional overhead or costs.”.

Produced by Andrew Baron, hosted by Molly Windman.

Molly Windman on Rocketboom

Right: Molly Windman.

Requires Quick Time Player, or Flash Player, or Media Player

Categories : phenomena

The Phobia List

2007-06-30

“Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is.”.
(German proverb)

“It started in a bar one afternoon.
We were trying to think of the name of a phobia and couldn’t think of it.
I looked for it when I got home and started writing down the ones I found.
Pretty soon it was a fairly decent list. Last count was about 530.”.
The Phobia List, by Fredd Culbertson.

Categories : psychology