spacer image
spacer image

May 31, 2006

Sparks Fly

Matt says,

My new favorite song comes courtesy of this Ask MetaFilter thread I posted. The identity of the song had been driving me crazy for weeks, ever since I first heard it play in a commercial for HBO Documentary Films before a movie at the Landmark Theater by my apartment. Ask MeFi to the rescue! Within hours, site members had it pegged -- "Sparks Fly", by Daniel Agust (mp3).

Comments (2) | Permasnark | Posted: 8:48 PM

links for 2006-05-31

mthompson-sig.gif
Posted May 31, 2006 at 4:21 | Comments (0) | Permasnark
File under: Five Words

May 30, 2006

links for 2006-05-30

mthompson-sig.gif
Posted May 30, 2006 at 4:25 | Comments (0) | Permasnark
File under: Five Words

May 28, 2006

links for 2006-05-28

mthompson-sig.gif
Posted May 28, 2006 at 4:21 | Comments (0) | Permasnark
File under: Five Words

May 26, 2006

Commencement Speeches

Matt says,

The e-mail forwards I've been receiving remind me commencement season is upon us. And that means one thing: great speeches. Here's a list of some great ones from the past 70 years.

Comments (0) | Permasnark | Posted: 2:30 PM

links for 2006-05-26

mthompson-sig.gif
Posted May 26, 2006 at 6:21 | Comments (0) | Permasnark
File under: Five Words

May 24, 2006

An Inconvenient Truth

Robin says,

File under Dept. of Effusive Praise: Larry Lessig calls Davis Guggenheim's doc on global warming and Al Gore "the most extraordinary lecture I have ever seen anyone give about anything."

I saw the film with a bunch of Current folks and it was great. Go see it this weekend if you can.

Added bonus: There's actually some rise of the image fall of the word mojo happening with this movie; both it and the slide show it's based on use images, moving and still, to communicate complicated ideas in an extraordinarily efficient way.

Comments (1) | Permasnark | Posted: 8:18 PM

The Stories We Tell Ourselves

Robin says,

Roy Peter Clark quotes James Carey in a remembrance on poynter.org:

"Listen: You don't feel well, so you go to see the psychiatrist. And the doctor listens to your story. And, if he's a good doctor, he's listening for the parts of the story that are making you feel sick. His job is then to help you tell a new story about yourself, especially one that will make you well. Newspapers are the same way. Journalists are telling each other stories about themselves that are making them sick. So the remedy is to tell a new story about journalism that will help make journalism healthy again."
Comments (0) | Permasnark | Posted: 12:47 PM

May 23, 2006

links for 2006-05-23

mthompson-sig.gif
Posted May 23, 2006 at 4:21 | Comments (0) | Permasnark
File under: Five Words

Business Quote of the Week

Robin says,

"Well that's the strategy our president picked. We try to act behind the scenes, and we follow our clients' desires, instructions and everything, so our policy is not to have a vision."

That's Koichi Sawada from game developer Tose, in an interview with Gamasutra. Tose is like the video game equivalent of Flextronics: a behind-the-scenes partner to lots of big, well-known companies. The interview is weirdly fascinating.

Comments (0) | Permasnark | Posted: 12:58 PM

May 22, 2006

Finally Saw Water

Matt says,

... highly recommended. Brought a single tear to this jaded cheek. Go see it, and try not to be all culturally imperialistic about it.

And then come back and listen to "Aayo Re Saki," a ridiculously good song that shows up midway through the movie and has its way with you for a few moments.

Comments (0) | Permasnark | Posted: 9:01 PM

links for 2006-05-22

mthompson-sig.gif
Posted May 22, 2006 at 4:21 | Comments (0) | Permasnark
File under: Five Words

May 21, 2006

links for 2006-05-21

mthompson-sig.gif
Posted May 21, 2006 at 4:18 | Comments (0) | Permasnark
File under: Five Words

Big Organic

Matt says,

Last week's New Yorker featured an interesting piece by Steven Shapin on the American organic food industry and how it's come to mirror the rest of Big Ag. I've moved Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma to the top of my reading list.

Favorite part of the article? My rediscovery of the word "immured," which is how Shapin describes a shipment of organic asparagus that had been held up in distribution from Argentina. The word conjures up images of Fortunato shouting for Montresor. Almost as fun as my discovery of the German word for "bra": büstenhalter.

Comments (4) | Permasnark | Posted: 6:45 AM

May 19, 2006

links for 2006-05-19

mthompson-sig.gif
Posted May 19, 2006 at 4:21 | Comments (0) | Permasnark
File under: Five Words

Illusion is the Ultimate Weapon

Robin says,

Oh my god. The M.A.S.K. intro sequence., circa 1985, is amazing. (And I second everything Dustin says here.)

Comments (2) | Permasnark | Posted: 4:04 PM

The Reality-Based Conservative, Part II

Matt says,

Sad that Peter Viereck died. Good that The New Yorker put the awesome article about him online. (See also.)

Comments (2) | Permasnark | Posted: 12:57 PM

May 18, 2006

Engines of Serendipity

Robin says,

Wish I had time to muse more fully on this, because it's one of the best and most interesting blogposts I've read in ages: Nick Carr on serendipity. Not just the modern disputes, either (though he gets to those); Carr actually starts off with a brief history of the concept.

Three Princes of Serendip, y'all.

Comments (1) | Permasnark | Posted: 4:41 PM

links for 2006-05-18

mthompson-sig.gif
Posted May 18, 2006 at 4:21 | Comments (0) | Permasnark
File under: Five Words

May 17, 2006

Blank Dates

Matt says,

The dates where we only post our Five Words links and no other entries show up badly on the front page. We are aware of this problem and shall attempt to remedy it soon have fixed it. Bam!

Comments (1) | Permasnark | Posted: 6:36 AM

links for 2006-05-17

Robin-sig.gif
Posted May 17, 2006 at 12:27 | Comments (0) | Permasnark
File under: Five Words

May 16, 2006

Mike Orren's thoughts: Um, Lawrence.com has been doing that (albeit better) for at least a year. And TexasGigs has it no... >>

links for 2006-05-16

mthompson-sig.gif
Posted May 16, 2006 at 4:21 | Comments (1) | Permasnark
File under: Five Words

links for 2006-05-16

Robin-sig.gif
Posted May 16, 2006 at 12:21 | Comments (0) | Permasnark
File under: Five Words

May 15, 2006

Usability Testing in Uganda

Robin says,

Matthew Flannery is co-founder of Kiva, one of my favorite new non-profits. On his excellent blog, he's just posted a video of a Ugandan client using the Kiva site. If you're a web designer, or at all interested in the issue of the digital divide, you should watch it. It's actually a bit harrowing.

In related news, the merchant I helped fund via Kiva just paid back 10 percent of his loan! Nice!

Comments (4) | Permasnark | Posted: 11:18 PM

Facebook Was Before My Time, Too

Robin says,

Holovaty rocks Missouri's j-school commencement! As you know, I am a huge fan of both Adrian and commencement speeches, so this is pretty much an excellent way to start the week.

Nice shout-out to the PR-flacks-to-be in the audience, too.

Comments (5) | Permasnark | Posted: 7:00 AM

links for 2006-05-15

Robin-sig.gif
Posted May 15, 2006 at 12:21 | Comments (0) | Permasnark
File under: Five Words

May 14, 2006

links for 2006-05-14

Robin-sig.gif
Posted May 14, 2006 at 12:23 | Comments (0) | Permasnark
File under: Five Words

May 13, 2006

500 Greatest Songs

Matt says,

Blender's made a list of the 500 greatest songs written since you were born. Assuming you, like me, were born in 1980. (Yglesiastical.)

Comments (3) | Permasnark | Posted: 5:14 PM
Robin's thoughts: Note Keepvid.com -- though I know it's not ideal to have an .flv for editing purposes.... >>

Wiicked Cool

Went to E3, the big video game show, on Thursday. First thing in the morning I rushed to meet up with Kevin in line for the Nintendo booth.

Well worth the wait. The Wii controller is really well-designed, and although its current implementations -- in everything from tennis to the new Zelda -- are all fun and interesting, the coolest thing to me is that you can sense there's something even crazier waiting around the corner.

Here's Kevin on Wario Ware, which does a good job showing off some of the bizarre-o different ways you can use the controller:

Robin-sig.gif
Posted May 13, 2006 at 2:23 | Comments (2) | Permasnark
File under: Video Games

May 12, 2006

Public Editor #2

Matt says,

I agree with Jack Shafer, the new NYT public editor puts the lame in Calame. (BuzzMachinetic.)

Comments (0) | Permasnark | Posted: 3:02 PM

May 10, 2006

Peter's thoughts: Wow, I totally hated the screed filed under "Journalism, tech should not mix". The blogger write... >>

links for 2006-05-10

mthompson-sig.gif
Posted May 10, 2006 at 4:27 | Comments (1) | Permasnark
File under: Five Words

Algorithmic Expressions

Matt says,

The amazing Jonathan Harris is at it again, having completed another super-interesting project with a fantastic interface. (Actually, a pair of them.) This time, he and his collaborator Sepamdar Kamvar have outdone themselves with We Feel Fine, a Java applet that offers a peek at blogged emotions, in aggregate or as snapshots. WFF also enabled a spin-off project called Love-lines, done in Flash. Play around with these for a while, they'll awe you. (Infosthetic.)

Comments (0) | Permasnark | Posted: 2:35 PM

May 9, 2006

links for 2006-05-09

mthompson-sig.gif
Posted May 9, 2006 at 4:25 | Comments (0) | Permasnark
File under: Five Words

Thanks for the Intervention

Matt says,

I promise I don't link to McSweeneys every time it updates:

Dear Kelly,

Thank you for crying hysterically during the intervention and repeatedly shifting the attention to yourself. I'm not sure if that was intentional, but if it was, you are a true friend. A person can use a few breathers during such an intense meeting, and your sobbing jags and incomprehensible wailing really helped by raising serious questions about your own stability and obvious addiction to OxyContin