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Merry Christmas!

And here's a feel-good story about high-school football, via Metafilter:

sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?...
Undoubtedly the last installment of the year, a new SVG drawing, a design of circles.

plurib.us/1shot/2008/cir...
Goodbye, Cringely, for now.

pbs.org/cringely/pulpi...
The Benny Hillifier takes any YouTube video and replaces the audio with "Yackety Sax".

james.nerdiphythesoul.com/bennyhillifier...

Favorites:
james.nerdiphythesoul.com/bennyhillifier...
james.nerdiphythesoul.com/bennyhillifier...
(via Metafilter)
My color stream project is still progressing.  Just posted a few more topics I've been meaning to get out there...

The programs involved:
briansverymiscellaneousblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/lame-a...

The Plan so far:
briansverymiscellaneousblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/colors...
"Even in the heady realm of fantasy I don't see how this could happen".

qwantz.com/archive/001351...
Part 2 from my sound-to-color project -- filling in a few more details.

briansverymiscellaneousblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/sound-...
Dogs in bee costumes:

beedogs.com/index_files/pa...

When I find collections like this, I want to high-five the collector, then tell them to knock it off already.
Announcing a project I've been working on lately: generating streams of color from samples of sound.  Described within.

briansverymiscellaneousblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/colors...
Barack Obama's win adds to the possibility of another US-hosted World Cup in 2018 or 2022.

sports.yahoo.com/sow/news;_ylt=...

Weirdly, the 1994 US World Cup still holds the record for total attendance for any World Cup, ever.
Joe the Plumber has a website.
We wish our new president blessings of wisdom and good judgment, and we pray he hearkens to our voice if ever we feel our American Dream is being threatened. It will be a loud voice, so good luck trying to ignore it.

secureourdream.com/

Hopefully this is the last we'll hear of "Joe the Plumber", the weirdest political gambit of the 2008 election.
How Comedy Central's The Daily Show works:

cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/10/sec...
Barack Obama has a new website:

change.gov/
A pictorial database of representations of workplace safety concerns:
aem.org/technical/Pict...
(at the bottom of the page, type in that little password in the box, and just click "Find" on the next page.)

Some favorites:
aem.org/Documents/Tech...
aem.org/Documents/Tech...
aem.org/Documents/Tech...
This Reynolds Wrap commercial has haunted me since 1986.  Now, I can finally be free.

youtube.com/watch?v=VVD2jp...

(This link makes use of a new trick in YouTube to link to a specific start time in a video.)
Rolling Stone profile of David Foster Wallace:
It wasn't just writing the novel that made Wallace realize his future would lie in fiction. He also helped out friends by writing their papers. In a comic book, this would be his origin story, the part where he's bombarded with gamma rays, bitten by the spider. "I remember realizing at the time, 'Man, I'm really good at this. I'm a weird kind of forger. I can sound kind of like anybody.' "


rollingstone.com/news/story/236...
Browse the internet as if you were in China.  Neat idea for an un-feature.

blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-1...
Electoral voting maps of every U.S. presidential election:

100bestwebsites.org/alt/evmaps/ele...

Sites like this make me want to be a stats nerd.
Charts and illustrations comparing presidential candidates' word use during the debates. 

mkweb.bcgsc.ca/debates/

Close analysis like this isn't a substitute for informed critique of policy, of course, but it's pretty neat in terms of looking at general rhetorical strategies and techniques.
An illustrated timeline of internet memes:

dipity.com/user/tatercake...
Paul Krugman was just awarded the Nobel Prize in the field of Economics.

In 1978, he wrote a 15-page paper.  From the abstract:
  This paper extends interplanetary trade theory to an interstellar setting.  It is chiefly concerned with the following question: how should interest charges on goods in transit be computed when the goods travel at close to the speed of light?

princeton.edu/~pkrugman/inte...
(Warnings: PDF file; Total nerd-fest)
The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain plays the theme to the movie "Shaft".

youtube.com/watch?v=PfK-Uz...
I really, really like music videos, mostly because they tend to be pretty weird -- they take place in this odd context-free zone which isn't really resolvable into well-defined statements of meaning.

Having said that, the video for the New Pornographers' "Mutiny, I Promise You" is the first music video to make me actually shout "What the @$#% ??" at my computer screen.

pitchforkmedia.com/article/downlo...
There's a page on Wikipedia of the problems solved by MacGyver
While being pursued by dirty CIA operatives at a strip club, MacGyver loads a confetti cannon with make-up powder and fires it at them as they enter a door, thus blinding the enemies with powder.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_p...

Man, I loved that show.
The Love Poem Project, in which an arbitrary term is substituted for the word "love" in different poems:
Right now three things remain: faith, hope, and MTV. But the greatest of these is MTV.
youwillnotbelieve.typepad.com/ywnb_the_blog/...
Roger Ebert answers a stupid question in the same style:

rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...
Animations of various sorting algorithms:

vision.bc.edu/~dmartin/teach...

Totally nerdy, and totally awesome.
Astronomical distances, in condensed comic form.

xkcd.com/482/
My SVG goal for 2008 has plummeted to "I'll take what I can get."  Here's the latest, inspired by a few Apostle Island sailing trips we made this summer.  I hope to get out there again before the season is over.

plurib.us/1shot/2008/anc...
A Duluth MN file sharing case brought (and won last year) by the RIAA was the only trial of its kind of make it to court; and it set controversial precedent for what is considered a copyright violation.  (Namely, files exposed to a file sharing network would be enough.  Proof of files copied would not be necessary.)

Today, a mistrial was declared on that case.
blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/200...
This guy keeps coming up with neat uses for the Mechanical Turk.  I badly want to try it.

waxy.org/2008/09/audio_...
Muppets on YouTube!

The Swedish Chef, Animal, and Beaker sing "Danny Boy":
youtube.com/watch?v=OCbuRA...

Muppet in early TV ad:
youtube.com/watch?v=4bfdaR...

Bert & Ernie on drums:
youtube.com/watch?v=InZNBc...
The author David Foster Wallace is dead, by suicide. 
latimes.com/news/obituarie...

I really don't know what to do with myself.
When bad things happen to cake:

cakewrecks.blogspot.com/
I've spent the day playing with Chrome, Google's web browser, announced yesterday, released today.  The jury is impressed.

google.com/chrome
Why?
wired.com/techbiz/it/mag...
Sioux City got an Olive Garden, and it's the biggest news of all time.

siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2006/...

It's like the reporter wrote the article on a dare.
A music snob (in a good way) takes a retrospective of the 80's.

npr.org/blogs/monitorm...
Telemegaphone Dale stands seven metres tall on top of the Bergskletten mountain overlooking the idyllic Dalsfjord in Western Norway.

When you dial the Telemegaphone’s phone number the sound of your voice is projected out across the fjord, the valley and the village of Dale below.

Sometimes, I love people.

unsworn.org/telemegaphone/...
You are hereby invited to draw a cow.

drawacow.blogspot.com/
A big buzzing 4-legged robot. 
In separate trials, BigDog runs at 4 mph, climbs slopes up to 35 degrees, walks across rubble, and carries a 340 lb load.
If you care about robotic movement and balance, the video is totally great. (via my dad.)

EDIT: In the comments, Brian pointed out that this has come up before.  In my defense, I was the first to link directly to the company's website. (The prosecution, though, is correct in its assertion that I am a moron.)

bostondynamics.com/content/sec.ph...
Robotwisdom condenced critique of BoingBoing & link blogs.

robotwisdom2.blogspot.com/2008/07/everyo...
Quality segment on Midmorning, on attention, distraction, and the science thereof.  (I heard most of this in the car the other day, and was really fascinated.)

minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/20...
Good synopsis of Phoenix Lander's achievements so far on Mars.

spaceref.com/news/viewpr.ht...
I am suddenly terrified.

That an act with millions of fans could escape the popular attention is more evidence of the digital fissuring of our culture. As we ensconce ourselves ever further in our respective demographics, personal and professional, we continue to drift apart from the people right next to us, until even an iceberg holding 4 million tweens can float by unnoticed.


latimesblogs.latimes.com/webscout/2008/...
U.S. Citizens are being trained in the fine art of terrorist-detection. Please refrain from doing anything suspicious.
Taking photos or videos can be deemed suspicious because "surveillance is a precursor to terrorist activity," said Colorado State Patrol Sgt. Steve Garcia

Because, as everyone knows, observation is a precursor to destruction. For the sake of National Security, please do not look at anything. And if you need to take a picture, for the love of God, make sure the lens cap is on.

denverpost.com/news/ci_972507...
Neat visualization of US gov't land ownership.  (Though it's odd to lump "military testing grounds" and "national parks" into one categry.)

strangemaps.wordpress.com/2008/06/17/291...
Businessbib: Because wearing actual clothes is just so much freaking work, sometimes.

businessbib.net/
Proponents of teaching Intelligent Design in schools often rally behind the phrase, "Teach the Controversy."

Here are a bunch of t-shirts which propose alternate contoversies which could also be taught:

controversy.wearscience.com/
A weblog dedicated to the retractions issued by media outlets:

regrettheerror.com
On a trip to the UK.  I thought this updated Google favicon was Google's "Europe look".  Not so.  It's all over.  Bold.

blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-0...
Another lander just landed successfully on Mars yesterday.

nasa.gov/mission_pages/...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_(...)
~ location: google.com/mars/
What happens when the company RockDirect goes on the chopping block? 

Awesome, awesome legal notices:
The failure of Rock is partly attributed to the cash flow difficulties faced as a result of stock misappropriation by a former employee. This led to suppliers reducing credit limits, further adversely impacting upon cash flows.


rockdirect.com/viewNews.php?N...
Kermit the Frog covers sad songs:

sadkermit.com/
Nice spin on a UMG lawsuit against a guy who buys & sells "promo use only" CDs.

eff.org/deeplinks/2008...
Photos of a guy's hands as other things.  Kind of super-awesome.

repubblica.it/2006/08/galler...
How to Speak Hip: an instructional interview with an actual Hipster.  A digital transfer from the original record.
"I understand there have been, from time to time, certain isolated cases of the usage of narcotics on the Hip scene."
"No, man, that's just an ugly rumor, you know?"

"It is uncool to wear shades after sunset, unless, you know, you SHOULD be wearing shades after sunset, in which case it is uncool to take them off."

audio.skeyelab.com/howtospeakhip/
The earliest known sound recording, 1860.  (You can listen, in the left column.)

nytimes.com/2008/03/27/art...
Neat delving-into-details on the intricate relationship between people and computers (disguised as a window manager review).

linux.com/feature/129757
Well.  It turns out I've been to the country with the lowest life expectancy, Swaziland, at 31.2 years.  If I was from there, I'd have about a 50/50 chance of being around right now.

earthtrends.wri.org/updates/node/2...

Below, you'll find links to lots & lots of data.  It makes you register after a bit, but perhaps it's worth it?
Home-brew renditions of Mario music may never get old.  (Via link at end of video, from Peter's recent snip.)

youtube.com/watch?v=2gXh83...
"Six-Word Reviews of 763 SXSW Mp3s"

themorningnews.org/archives/revie...
My favorite bit of graffiti has a dedicated website:

freebillstickers.com/
The American Emu Association:

aea-emu.org/
Nice set of Dino comics - T-rex's Nazi conundrum:

qwantz.com/archive/001179...
qwantz.com/archive/001180...
Various philosophers as action figures.  Kind of wish I had thought of this.

homepages.nyu.edu/~iav202/powers...
Finally releasing my first SVG drawing of 2008.  With new life circumstances, I've revised my goal of 12 SVG drawings for the year down to 6.  (Still seems ambitious to me.  I'm already behind.)

plurib.us/1shot/2008/ele...
Snapshots of word.com, of years past.  One of those early web sites that captured my imagination; and in a small way inspired plurib.us, if my memory serves me.  "Plurib.us" could have been "Word.us", if it wasn't randomly selected to be someone else's.

deadword.com/site/
When Garfield the cat is removed from Garfield comic strips:

garfieldminusgarfield.tumblr.com/

Possibly my favorite:
garfieldminusgarfield.tumblr.com/post/26271093
Neat map of social networking sites' popularity around the world.  (They differ wildly from continent to continent.)

lemonde.fr/web/infog/0,47...
I can't put my finger on exactly why this is so great. 

silhouettemasterpiecetheatre.com/blog/
What Europeans think of each other:

dailycandor.com/what-europeans...
If ethanol not being worth the hype wasn't bad enough, a study finds Ethanol is 2x worse than gasoline on our atmosphere.  (Of course, you've got to start somewhere.)

earthtrends.wri.org/updates/node/2...
Interesting op ed on copyright law, and where it could head.  Not just "it's bad", but "here's how it could be better" - commercial vs cultural use.

guardian.co.uk/technology/200...
3 Neat things, via Waxy.org:

Altered Mario World time-merge:
msm.grumpybumpers.com/?p=20

Simple flash game, Spin the Black Circle:
kongregate.com/games/Alejandr...

Sometimes Red, Sometimes Blue .com:
sometimesredsometimesblue.com/
I have every confidence that regular Plurib.us readers are already as manly as humanly possible.

Nevertheless:
artofmanliness.com/
The British College of Optometrists presents a gallery describing the history and development of spectacles:

college-optometrists.org/index.aspx/pcm...
Consider the number of cultural elements brought together to create this:

youtube.com/watch?v=QcGGxC...

My heart kind of skipped a beat at 2:11. How can I make neat things like this?
Holy Mother of Profanity. . .

"The 5 Most Horrifying Bugs in the World"
cracked.com/article_15816_...

I'm never going outside again.
Bringing a computer-controlled industrial robot into the desert to fling destruction from a distance:

manapotions.com/robopult.html

Build a better trebuchet, and the world will. . . probably give you a call the next time they need to defeat the Saxons.
OpenID suddenly fell into wide support.  Yesterday, Yahoo! and Flickr; today, Blogger.  (Now what?)

blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-0...
I used to know people who were very into historical (and detailed) board games. 

Having said that, the only thing I can say about this is "HOLY MOTHER OF CATS!"

Playing time with 10 players is listed at 1200 hours.


That's for 2 teams, 5 people per team.  I understand that, in terms of the game, Italian troops require an extra unit of water per turn, because they subsisted largely on pasta. Even I am not this nerdy.

boardgamegeek.com/game/4815
The Astrological Magazine is ceasing publication, due to "unforeseen circumstances."

astrologicalmagazine.com/
Using carbon nanotubes, scientists have developed a material darker than any other.

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/n...

How much more black could this new material be? And the answer is none. None more black.
Messenger approaches Mercury

antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080116....
"Sun buys MySQL for one billion dollars"
(MySQL is the open source database engine behind Plurib.us.)

linux.com/feature/124833
Fixing various Safari-on-iPhone annoyances, using bookmarklets.  (Oddly, the biggest hurdle is getting them onto your iPhone/iPodtouch.)

lifeclever.com/17-powerful-bo...
Hasbro is suing Scrabulous, for being too Scrabble(tm)-like.

techdirt.com/articles/20080...
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