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Book Covers ¶

Awesome collection of book cover designs. (Thanks, Gabe.)

Why I Blog ¶

Andrew Sullivan at his best. One of my favorite bits:

You end up writing about yourself, since you are a relatively fixed point in this constant interaction with the ideas and facts of the exterior world. And in this sense, the historic form closest to blogs is the diary. But with this difference: a diary is almost always a private matter. Its raw honesty, its dedication to marking life as it happens and remembering life as it was, makes it a terrestrial log. A few diaries are meant to be read by others, of course, just as correspondence could be—but usually posthumously, or as a way to compile facts for a more considered autobiographical rendering. But a blog, unlike a diary, is instantly public. It transforms this most personal and retrospective of forms into a painfully public and immediate one. It combines the confessional genre with the log form and exposes the author in a manner no author has ever been exposed before.

Love the photo of him, and really enjoying the new design of the site. Much more readable, and with a lot more character.

Twitter Election Coverage ¶

I love innovative ideas. This is one of the most fascinating ways of, as Twitter puts it, “gathering public opinion” that I think I’ve ever seen. Something about it just feels very futuristic.

On a design note, I love that the feed pauses when you hover over it so that you can click on something.

Brads ¶

I just spent like an hour racking my brain and then 20 minutes searching the internet for these stupid little things I couldn’t remember the name of. They’re pretty handy when you need one.

The Modern’s Other Renovation ¶

Andrew Blum on Matthew Carter’s 2003 refresh of Franklin Gothic for MoMA.

NodeBox ¶

The more I explore this site, the more I love the work this group is doing.

Lacuna ¶

(n) : a small opening; a small pit or depression; a small blank space; a gap or vacancy; a hiatus; an absent part, especially in a book or other piece of writing, often referring to an ancient manuscript or similar

Google Chrome Comic ¶

Interesting stuff. Looking forward to trying this out.

The Impending Moustache ¶

Just saw these guys perform yesterday night. Great use of dramatic performance for comedic effect.

McCain Chooses Palin as Running Mate ¶

What?

Barack Obama’s Acceptance Speech ¶

Another great speech from an inspiring Democratic National Convention.

Transcript of Bill Clinton’s Convention Speech ¶

Classic.

Breaking Down the 10-Meter Dive ¶

More cool diving material from the NY Times:

John Wingfield, the head coach of U.S.A. Diving, explains U.S. diver David Boudia’s technique from the 10-meter platform.

The Diver’s View ¶

The NY Times has a nice 3D view of the Water Cube in Beijing from the top of the 30M dive. I can’t even contemplate jumping off something that high. (via Kottke)

Imagining the Tenth Dimension ¶

The companion site to Rob Bryanton’s new book Imagining the Tenth Dimension has an interesting video about, er, imagining the tenth dimension. (via Sadie Lou)

My Big Fat Straight Wedding ¶

Andrew Sullivan has a Comment piece in this month’s Atlantic, discussing the importance of the language of California’s new marriage law. Here’s the shift he thinks the new law embodies:

The premise used to be that homosexuality was an activity, that gays were people who chose to behave badly; or, if they weren’t choosing to behave badly, were nonetheless suffering from a form of sickness or, in the words of the Vatican, an “objective disorder.” And so the question of whether to permit the acts and activities of such disordered individuals was a legitimate area of legislation and regulation.

But when gays are seen as the same as straights—as individuals; as normal, well-adjusted, human individuals—the argument changes altogether. The question becomes a matter of how we treat a minority with an involuntary, defining characteristic along the lines of gender or race. And when a generation came of age that did not merely grasp this intellectually, but knew it from their own lives and friends and family members, then the logic for full equality became irresistible.

Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog ¶

I just can’t help it, I have to link to this, available free on Hulu. Neil Patrick Harris and Felicia Day are excellent in it, and Nathan Fillion delivers a super-creepy superhero. My favorite songs are the opening and closing of Act II and the next-to-last song of Act III. Great stuff.

What Makes for a Good Blog? ¶

This blog meets none of Merlin Mann’s criteria.

Oh, Snap ¶

Jason Santa Maria exclaims his new Polaroid SX-70 in yet another beautifully art-directed post. Somehow when I look through his new posts, I get a queasy feeling like the whole setup he’s got is a house of cards getting ready to come tumbling down. I just hope the Internet Archive is keeping up with him.

Is Linking to Yourself the Future of the Web? ¶

Interesting piece by Tim O’Reilly. Of course, he ends the article by linking to a Google search page… (via John Gruber)

Ninjawords ¶

Speaking of words I like, I found the online dictionary Ninjawords in 2006 when I discovered Wordie, the social network for pedants and grammarians. Ninjawords has since become my favorite general-purpose online dictionary. (At school, I use the OED when I want to see some etymology.) Ninjawords is light on features, which itself is its greatest feature next to its speed. I personally like the lookup history, which makes it easy to see what words you’ve looked up recently. Great for, among other things, reinforcement when learning new words.

Blather and Lather ¶

blather (v) : to talk rapidly without making much sense (n) : nonsensical or foolish talk

lather (n) : the foam made by rapidly stirring soap and water (v) : to cover with lather

I don’t know why, I just love the word blather.

The Joy of $8 Gas ¶

Joel Stein in the LA Times:

If the U.S. were to slowly jack up gas taxes until we’re in the $8 range, life would be better. We’d not only be safer and have reduced greenhouse-gas emissions, we’d probably be happier too. Studies show that the only thing that consistently increases personal happiness is social interaction; high gas prices have led to real estate prices falling faster in suburbs and exurbs than in cities, so we may soon have more content downtown-dwellers. Those same studies show that the thing that makes people least happy is commuting, and telecommuting is way up this year. We could use the tax revenue to fund public transportation. And we’d go back to the days when driving a car was a way to show people what a rich jerk you were. In other words, we would no longer need SUVs for that.

(via Big Contrarian)

Lightning in Slow Motion ¶

Fascinating slow-motion video of a lightning flash. You can actually see the changes in light intensity as the electricity surges. (via Andrew Sullivan)

Roger Cheng on the Gap Between Web-based and Desktop Office Software ¶

I agree with the major points of this article; I think most online office-oriented tools aren’t currently much more than proof-of-concept. We use Google Docs in our editorial process at Sadie Lou. Collaboration is clearly where these web apps shine.

No review of online word processors is complete without a mention of Buzzword, an excellent Flash-based app – probably the best I’ve ever seen. My money is currently on Google Docs however, which seems to continue developing in great strides.

I still think Textile’s the shit.

(via Khoi Vinh)

(adj) : suitable to be eaten; edible (n) : anything that can be eaten; food

I was absolutely convinced the word for this was combustible. Oh well.

Hypnerotomachia Poliphili ¶

Jason Kottke examines the strikingly modern readability of a book published in 1499.