Showing all posts in the links category
Great movie title drops are like clever cameo appearances
8 November 2024
Title Drops, by Germany based data visualisation designer and developer Dominikus Baur, analyses the number of times a movie’s title is mentioned during the story.
It’s something that’s not always possible though. I’m looking at 2001: A Space Odyssey, as an example. Although if you can think of a way it could, somehow, happen, let me know. Time-travel classic Back to the Future, however, is, I think, the gold-standard when it comes to title drops.
I’m not sure movies named for a main character, Barbie for instance, really count. It’s surely a given their name will come into the conversation sooner or later. But something like: “next Saturday night, we’re sending you back to the future“, is self-referential in both a smart, and funny, way.
One thing that seems apparent form the data here is that title drops are becoming more frequent.
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New York Times publishes stinging rebuke of Donald Trump
5 November 2024
On the eve of the US Presidential election, The New York Times has published a strongly worded dis-endorsement of Republican candidate Donald Trump. It’s short, succinct, and well worth reading.
Unlike counterpart publications, including The Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times, The New York Times issued an endorsement of Democrat candidate Kamala Harris, at the end of September.
The result of the Presidential election is usually clear by early afternoon Wednesday, east coast of Australia time. In terms of the Electoral College numbers that is. I suspect there’ll be quite a number of eyes on the outcome here tomorrow afternoon.
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America, current affairs, Kamala Harris, politics
404 Media are not going anywhere, but yes they are
29 August 2024
What we learned in our first year of 404 Media, by 404 Media. Has it really been a year?
Here we are a year later, and we are very proud and humbled to report that, because of your support, 404 Media is working. Our business is sustainable, we are happy, and we aren’t going anywhere.
When 404 say they aren’t going anywhere, it means they’re not closing down anytime soon. They are however going places, no doubts about that.
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One Minute Park, One Million Checkboxes, win Tiny Awards 2024
29 August 2024
One Minute Park by Elliott Cost, has been named winner of the main prize of the Tiny Awards 2024, while One Million Checkboxes by Nolen Royalty, took out the multiplayer player gong.
One is your lucky number this year. Held annually since last year, 2023, the Tiny Awards recognise excellence in non-commercial websites designed by individuals and/or or groups of creators.
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awards, design, IndieWeb, technology
Facebook operates a little differently in Australia
28 August 2024
David Swan, writing for the Sydney Morning Herald:
Rampant celebrity cryptocurrency scam ads are as Australian as Tim Tams, koalas or the Great Barrier Reef, according to American Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, who says the tech giant’s lack of focus on Australia has let scams run wild on its platform compared with other markets.
It’s always nice to be treated differently, particularly by the world’s largest social network.
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social networks, technology, trends
Tiny Awards 2024 shortlist announced, public voting open
24 July 2024
The shortlists for the 2024 Tiny Awards have been published. Now in their second year, the Tiny Awards honour “interesting, small, craft-y internet projects and spaces which basically make the web a more fun place to be.” Think the work of small, and independent creatives.
To be eligible, websites need to be non-commercial, and launched during, or after, June 2023.
Rotating Sandwiches — a website featuring images of rotating sandwiches, go and see for yourself — won the inaugural award in 2023. The 2024 winners — there are two categories, main award, and multiplayer — will be announced on Sunday 18 August 2024.
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awards, design, IndieWeb, technology
Your fixed calorie budget stops weight loss through exercise
23 July 2024
This news, via Kurzgesagt, may not be what some people want to hear. Exercising is useful, necessary in fact, but not so much when it comes to trying to lose weight it seems.
Active people who work out regularly do burn more than inactive people. But only very little, often as low as 100 calories, the equivalent of a single apple. For some strange reason, the amount of calories you burn is pretty much unrelated to your lifestyle. Per kilo of body weight, your body has a fixed calorie budget it wants to burn per day.
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Australian bookseller Booktopia in voluntary administration
3 July 2024
This is sad and concerning news.
The Melbourne based bookseller had become well ensconced in the Australian literary realm, since being founded about twenty-years ago. The company, which is also listed on the ASX (though trading of shares has been suspended), had been struggling financially in recent years though.
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Teleportation: the superpower of choice of superheroes
2 July 2024
Given the choice, a regular person, like you or me, who decides they’d like to become a superhero, will choose teleportation as their superhero superpower. In preference to three other choices they could have made: mind-control, flight, or supernatural physical strength. This is the long-story-short conclusion of some recent research into the subject, by Julian J. Hwang and Dongso Lee.
I’m not so sure about teleportation as a superpower though. It would certainly be useful for travel, but for a superhero? I’d go for mind-control, or supernatural physical strength, instead. Wouldn’t either of those be more useful in subduing your foes?
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The Tetris font, fun and games with typography
28 June 2024
Is there a version of Tetris that requires the player to try and spell words with the Tetris pieces, as they fall from the sky? If there is, I’ve not heard of it. But, that’s not saying much, as I don’t know a whole lot about gaming.
Anyway, Tetris Font, developed by Erik Demaine and Martin Demaine, may not be quite such a game, but you can still have fun typing in a word or name, and watching it take shape with the Tetris pieces.
There goes the morning…
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