McChris
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Information Design Patterns
This work for a Master's thesis identifies common techniques used in information design.
information_design  Flash  hmm 
may 2008
The Future of the Internet—And How to Stop It
Jonathan Zittrain's new book on Internet law and policy is available online with a Creative-Commons license. This site presents the book in an interesting hypertext format that allows readers to comment on specific passages.
CreativeCommons  telecom  Web2.0  publicpolicy 
may 2008
MediaWiki Markup for WordPress
I practically think in MediaWiki markup these days, so this WordPress plugin could come in handy.
blogging  WordPress  useful 
may 2008
Nick Sibicky, Composer - My Music
I saw "Life and Afterlife " performed last night at the Eyes, Ears, and Feet recital and I really enjoyed it.
music  mp3  utexas 
may 2008
User Labor: A framework for sustaining user labor across the web
"With User Labor, we propose an open data structure, User Labor Markup Language (ULML), to outline the metrics of user participation in social web services."
labor  Web2.0  metadata 
may 2008
QSR Magazine: Taco Bell Helps Oklahoma City Get Fit
Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett has announced a partnership with Taco Bell promoting its "fresco menu" for the "Mayor's Challenge" program, which encourages OKC residents to pursue healthy lifestyles.
OKC  stupid  health 
may 2008
Create Digital Music: Record Sales Up — No, Really, Actual Records
Vinyl LPs appear to be the only segment of the physical music business that is growing. I suspect music fans prefer the tactility and size of the LP format.
vinyl  technology  music  business 
may 2008
Social Design Notes: Water Table
design  journalism  development  information_design  weird 
may 2008
The Great Porteño Smokeout
This account is interesting for many reasons, but I'm posting this because I learned that Argentine ranchers would rather raise soybeans than cattle, but the government has policies that coerce them into making meat.
economics  agriculture  Argentina 
april 2008
Photoshop Brushes: Your Number one source for Photoshop Brushes
This site has oodles of no-cost Photoshop brushes.
photoshop  design  useful 
april 2008
Victim Complex: Coping With Bike Theft
BikeSnobNYC offers some sound advice for dealing with bike theft that makes a lot of sense for computers as well.
cycling  crime 
april 2008
Honda Navigation System Warns of High Crime Areas
If this weren't being rolled out first in Japan, I would flag this system that alerts drivers to bad neighborhoods as automated racism. Still, I suspect that would be the case in the states.
GPS  crime  creepy  racism 
april 2008
AP: Charges dismissed against NY professor who obtained bacteria for art
A judge did the right thing and dropped the charges against Steve Kurtz of the Critical Art Ensemble.
art  lawenforcement 
april 2008
Rough Type: Open source as corporate joint venture
A recent study shows that most Linux contributors are not hobbyists, but employees of software-development organizations.
linux  economics  opensource 
april 2008
Tim Robbins' NAB Keynote
Here's an mp3 audio file of actor Tim Robbin's address to the National Association of Broadcasters convention. In the speech, he decries the current state of discourse in the media.
media  celebrity  broadcast 
april 2008
Introduction to Whiteness Studies
In this short essay, Gregory Jay outlines what whiteness studies studies and its goals.
academic  whiteness  cultural_studies  race 
april 2008
techPresident: Truckers are Organizing Online: Is a Nationwide Shutdown Coming?
If this involves Ali McGraw in a halter top, I'm all for it.
economics  labor  transportation  energy 
april 2008
Identi-Tape - 2-inch Safety Reflective Tape
This is the best source for black reflective tape I've found so far.
cycling  useful  shopping 
april 2008
Outlaw Design: 63 Must Have Grunge Fonts
I'm counting the days until the nineties come back. I never quit wearing flannel shirts, so I am ready!
font  typography  webdesign  silly 
april 2008
CHDK Wiki
CHDK is hacked firmware for Canon digital cameras that expand the cameras' range of features.
photography  hack  opensource 
april 2008
Woopra
This looks like a nice traffic-tracking service for blogs and whatnot.
Web_publishing  visualization  blog 
april 2008
New York Times: City Subpoenas Creator of Text Messaging Code
Lawyers representing the NYPD in civil-rights suits have subpoenaed Tad Hirsch for information about his TXTMob software used during the 2004 Republican National Convention.
NYC  protest  elections 
march 2008
Logo Can Make You 'Think Different'
"People who were exposed to the Apple logo generated significantly more unusual uses for the brick compared with those who were primed with the IBM logo, the researchers said. " I would like to see the methodolgy.
advertising  branding  weirdscience 
march 2008
Freedom to Tinker: Comcast and BitTorrent: Why You Can’t Negotiate with a Protocol
"The problem is that you can’t negotiate with a protocol, for the same reason that you can’t negotiate with (say) the English language. You can use the language to negotiate with someone, but you can’t have a negotiation where the other party is the
bittorrent  publicpolicy  telecom  p2p 
march 2008
Avi Alkalay: Google Maps Plugin for WordPress
googlemaps  WordPress  useful 
march 2008
Syndicate Product Covert HQ: A troublesome bird.
AJ relates how Philadelphia cops harassed her for taking a photo in the Suburban Station concourse – where photography is permitted – and reflects on a beating death that took place at SEPTA headquarters days before.
photography  lawenforcement  Philadelphia  stupid 
march 2008
From Hoops To Hipsters - washingtonpost.com
The takeaway from this puff piece on Nike subsidiary Converse is that designer John Varvatos's new boutique occupies the site of former punk club CBGBs.
branding  clothing  punk  co-optation 
march 2008
O'Reilly Radar: Amazon Gets Demanding with Print-on-Demand Publishers
"Amazon has effectively told publishers that if they wish to sell POD books on Amazon, they must use Amazon as the POD printer. Small/self publishers are unsurprisingly feeling bullied."
publishing  amazon  distribution  Web2.0 
march 2008
NYTimes: Researchers Play Tune Recorded Before Edison
American researchers found a mechanical audio recording in France that was created before Edison's claim to inventing the phonograph. I wonder what the reserve price on eBay will be.
oldmedia  records  technology 
march 2008
Sokwanele: Mapping the election conditions in Zimbabwe
It's about time I posted this mashup showing some of the dirty tricks used to suppress the vote in Zimbabwe.
elections  googlemaps  mashup  Africa  neato 
march 2008
Coding Horror: Adventures in Rechargeable Batteries
Jeff Atwood offers some tips and tricks for extending the useful life of those nickel-metal hydride batteries.
gadget  howto 
march 2008
Kevin Allen Jr.: EGP at Target
A blogger has noted that Target is selling t-shirts bundled with games from the Experimental Gameplay Project, which began as a grad student project at Carnegie Mellon. I think this is an interesting use of the retail channel for distributing games.
gaming  clothing  distribution  retail 
march 2008
design history: The Evolution of Mugshot Design
There are only four examples on this LiveJournal post, but they do provide some insights into the priorities of inmate information management over the last two centuries.
photography  lawenforcement  surveillance  information_design 
march 2008
The Bicycle Tutor
This site offers video tutorials on bicycle repair and maintenance.
DIY  video  howto  cycling 
march 2008
Threat Level: S.F. Activists Use Twitter, Pirate Radio to Manage Anti-War Protesters
Updating techniques used in the N30 protests in Seattle, activists are using newer tools like Twitter and microbroadasting to coordinate protester movements in anti-war actions.
protest  activism  Twitter  microradio  anti-war 
march 2008
Experimental Gameplay Project
This initiative aims to be something like the Dogme 95 of gaming. Developers are asked to develop relatively simple computer games about a common theme - over the course of one week. This could lead to some interesting new instructional approaches.
gaming  education  design 
march 2008
43(B)log: Longhorn is long shot for federal fame
A lawsuit against a company using an orange longhorn emblem was dismissed because a study revealed few people associate the motif with UT. Although I think UT over-reaches in protecting its trademark, it seems pretty clear they were using the logo here.
branding  utexas  sports  trademark 
march 2008
Exclaim News: Converse Launches Kurt Cobain Sneakers
The Nike-owned brand is introducing versions of its sneakers that commemorate the work of the dead singer. The insole reads "Punk rock means freedom."
music  creepy  punk 
march 2008
Fix-it Index Page
This is a treasure trove of howtos for maintaining mountain bikes.
cycling  howto 
march 2008
Threat Level : Clinton Debunks Claims She Scrubbed Spitzer Off Her Campaign Site
"New York Sen. Hillary Clinton may be staying mum on the campaign trail in the wake of the Eliot Spitzer scandal involving his patronage of pricey prostitutes, but her campaign's making it clear that the Democratic presidential candidate isn't one to aban
archiving  memory  politics  hmm 
march 2008
Attytood: Geraldine Ferraro and Hillary's "Archie Bunker" strategy for Pa.
This post argues that Hillary Clinton constructs Archie Bunker as the ideal Democrat for the twenty-first century, noting Geraldine Ferraro represented a New York neighborhood much like the one in "All in the Family."
politics  racism  popularmemory  TV  class  NYC 
march 2008
allanti.com: Where was my bike made?
Here's an interesting rundown of where bicycle frames are manufactured. I knew Giant produced frames for Schwinn and others in Taiwan, but I didn't realize they're now the largest (legit) bicycle maker. I still don't know if my "Made in the USA" Cannondal
cycling  business  history  offshoring 
march 2008
The Gaza Bombshell: Politics & Power: vanityfair.com
to:read 
march 2008
designboom: The Pink and Blue Project
color  gender  photography 
march 2008
NYRB: The Charms of Wikipedia
NIcholson Baker reviews O'Reilly's Wikipedia: The Missing Manual.
wikipedia  wiki  epistemology  to:read 
march 2008
Corbis Readymech Cam
Corbis commissioned these neat designs for pinhole cameras that use 35mm film.
DIY  photography  neato  design 
march 2008
Rutherford Photographic (1965-1975)
Images of the installation of a microfilm reader in 1975. My dad worked on these through most of his working life.
archive  history  technology  photography 
march 2008
Experiments: Do Coat Hangers Sound As Good Monster Cables?
A blind test revealed audiophiles cannot distinguish between audio transmitted over unshielded coat hangers and audio sent over expensive Monster Cables.
audio  awesome  hype  marketing  schadenfreude  branding 
march 2008
Bicycle Hacker: Welcome Bicycle Hackers!
Here's a wiki that allows cyclists to create pages describing bicycle hacking projects.
wiki  cycling  hack  transportation 
march 2008
flare: visualization on the web
"Flare is a collection of ActionScript 3 classes for building a wide variety of interactive visualizations. For example, flare can be used to build basic charts, complex animations, network diagrams, treemaps, and more."
visualization  Flash  opensource 
march 2008
Jimmy Wales: Wikipedia founder's fling with Fox News fox
Gossip blog Valleywag alleges Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has a romantic relationship with a Canadian broadcaster compared to Ann Coulter.
wikipedia  hmm  cable 
march 2008
Urban Legends Reference: Black Nascar Drivers
Here's a really vile top-ten list passed off as one of Letterman's. I wonder if it speaks to the attitudes of many NASCAR fans; it's not about bicycle racing, after all.
racism  sports  lies 
march 2008
Project Steev: Why Bail Out Those Using Stupid Tactics?
After protesters were arrested blocking a Florida energy plant, Steev notes, "The bond, to bail out 27 white gringos from jail, was $13,500. That could feed about 22 Bolivian families for a year"
activism  stupid  protest  whiteness 
february 2008
Portfolio: Comcast F.C.C. Hearing Strategy
The cable operator paid people off the street to pack an FCC hearing on its network discrimination practices, keeping critics and activists from attending or speaking at the hearing.
networkneutrality  telecom  cable  FCC  astroturf 
february 2008
Rough Type: Social networking goes to war
Sweet sassy molassy, the DoD has implemented a Web 2.0 site that encourages soldiers to upload and share multimedia from the field as a way of sharing information.
military  war  Web2.0  whoa 
february 2008
Cash Me Out - Forbes.com
Daniel Lyons argues that Sun's acquisition of MySQL represents "The end of open source as counterculture."
MySQL  opensource  business 
february 2008
KHOU: Student voters march at Prairie View A&M
The local political machine located an early voting location no closer to the campus of Prairie View A&M University, so students at the historically black campus marched down a highway to vote.
awesome  racism  elections  texas 
february 2008
Atlantic Monthly: The Next Slum?
Christopher B. Leinberger argues that suburbs, particularly the most sprawl-y are apt to become slums as younger people flock to the cities and transportation costs rise. Anyone who's spent much time In Oklahoma City could tell you that.
sprawl  sustainability  transportation 
february 2008
Obsolete Skills: Skills/Skills
This wiki allows users to list skills they believe have been make obsolete by changing technology.
technology  wiki  history 
february 2008
Slate: Digg, Wikipedia, and the myth of Web 2.0 democracy
In this article, Chris Wilson argues that collaborative sites like Digg and WIkipedia aren't as democratic as one might think because they rely on elite groups of users for much of the decision-making.
Web2.0  wikipedia  production  bubbler 
february 2008
WikiHow: How to Make a DMG File on a Mac
I'm sure I should already know how to do this.
OSX  howto  useful 
february 2008
Wikipedia Idiots: The Edit Wars of San Francisco
A reporter tries to track down a notorious WIkipedia troll, with limited results.
wikipedia  trolling 
february 2008
Ad Age: Media Work Force Sinks to 15-Year Low
This comes as no shock in light of my media jobs, but it's nice to have the validation.
jobs  media  economics  advertising 
february 2008
The Pirate Bay: WikileakS.org mirror archive (Feb 10th 2008)
Torrenting this file is a way to keep in circulation the information quashed by a California judge.
bittorrent 
february 2008
TPM Muckraker: U.S. Court Shuts Down Whistleblower Site
A California judge has ordered an ISP to stop DNS service for Wikileaks.org at the request of a Swiss bank.
wiki  law  censorship  surveillance 
february 2008
film music: mobygratis.com
Electronic music artist Moby has made selected works free for non-commerical media use. It's a pity he didn't use a creative commons license.
music  freeculture  film 
february 2008
Current: Out of print
A Current TV segment discusses an issue I've raised with students: that the Internet has made it difficult for any media to remain an underground secret.
video  subculture  indie 
february 2008
Treasure City: Another Fire!: Next door
Here's an interesting perspective on the recent fire on East 12th street. The intersection with Chicon has to be the creepiest in Austin, and this post explains that the house that burned was used for illegal drug distribution.
austin  crime  drugs 
february 2008
Urban Dictionary: take care
"Commonly used as a parting statement when saying good bye..It is actually a put down to the receiver. " It drives me a little nuts when people say "take care."
language 
february 2008
currybetdotnet: Copy-protection for vinyl in the 1970s
This blog post examines some techniques used to keep listeners from taping albums on wax.
DRM  vinyl  music  oldmedia 
february 2008
Threat Level: Motivational Manager Waterboarded Employee to Spur Sales, Suit Alleges
This sounds like working at Dell.
business  cruel 
february 2008
College Degree.com: Top 25 Strangest College Courses
It's no shock that many of these classes deal with cultural studies, defined broadly. I've taken a grad seminar titled "Whiteness," which didn't seem strange in its context.
education  whiteness  academic  linkbait 
february 2008
An Introduction to Information Design
John Emerson has created a pamphlet introducing information design concepts for activists and advocacy groups.
design  information_design  activism  CreativeCommons 
february 2008
AIGA Journal of Design: This Is Not Only a Test
Phil Patton examines TV test patterns and other media tests in this essay.
TV  history  design 
february 2008
Formula One governing body to launch anti-racism initiative
I wonder why NASCAR doesn't do this.
racism  sports 
february 2008
Internet Archive: Details: Experiments in the Revival of Organisms
If you want footage of disembodied dog hearts beating in a lab, you can find it here.
creepy  soviet  weird  video  b-roll 
february 2008
Pitchfork Feature: They Don't Know
"Grime is the UK's rap (not rap), syncopated urban music with people rhyming over top. Like Jamaican dancehall, there's an obvious kinship with U.S. hip-hop, but once you start drawing parallels they collapse pretty quickly. Grime is its own culture, with
music  to:read  subculture 
february 2008
Internet Archive: Details: Your Name Here Outtakes (Reel 4)
This may be a source of industrial b-roll.
video  b-roll  archive 
february 2008
Internet Archive: Details: All in One
This would be a good source of b-roll of sheep.
video  b-roll  archive 
february 2008
1&1 Internet Inc. - Web Hosting Services and Domain Name Registration
I'm told these folks offer straightforward and inexpensive domain registration.
Web_publishing 
february 2008
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