Weekly Tech Links » Discretion

Link Dump 49

Lapper — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 05:00:21 +0000

I am currently between projects and, unfortunately, cannot continue Weekly Tech Links at this time. Hopefully, in the near future, I will begin posting again. Thank you for your patience. Leave your email if you wish to be contacted regarding the reinstatement of the blog.

Wordcamp in San Francisco: Lectures, demonstrations, and… barbeque? It’s the Wordpress convention being held later this month. Everyone’s invited, except for, you know, those with no means to get to San Francisco.
Twenty iPhone shortcomings: We were all looking forward to the iPhone, but unfortunately, like the first-generation iPod, it’s not as perfect as we would have hoped. The one everyone’s talking about is its mindnumbingly slow internet, rather than the wifi-speed we were anticipating.
Warp: Like the classic Windows 98 screensaver, Warp lets you fly through a starfield when you leave your computer for long enough. Not to say Windows 98 was good, but the screensavers will always be in our hearts and minds.
Kongregate Badges: After months in the making, Kongregate has finally released “achievments”; tasks in games that get you both points and miniature badges that appear in your profile. Some of these just bring back nightmares, though. Like Particles.
Howard Forums Wiki: What can I say? It’s a wiki documenting mobile phones. It’s not very complete, but I’m sure you could find something of interest if you cared to look. The forum is far more interesting.
Will it Blend?: This guy’s supposedly part of an advertising campaign completely unique from other PR tactics. Watch as he uses this high powered blender, conveniently available from the online store, to blend… well, everything. From Transformers, to credit cards, and even iPhones. They’re all reduced to dust.
Microsoft Surface parody: Microsoft Surface is supposed to be the future of computing as we know it, complete with the Tangible User Interface that is, itself the next level. However, with consumers seeing business-targeted commercials, these guys have made up a frustrated voiceover.

Link Dump 44

Lapper — Sun, 27 May 2007 05:00:33 +0000

TalkAboutComics blog: The blog for the acclaimed TalkAboutComics site, most notably the forum. The latest post I thought was interesting; it was regarding BC and Johnny Hart, who died a month ago. Did I hear about that or didn’t I?
Ingredient X: Never before has one man so accurately portrayed the oddities of day-to-day life in such spectacular sketch videos and comic strips. Lev tells tales of strange women, procrastination, Saturdays, and many more things you’ll simply have to see to praise.
Polar Clock update: We can be expecting a second update to the Polar Clock screensaver from PixelBreaker, complete with localization and a universal coloring system. I just wish it wouldn’t make my fan spin up.
Particles: This game involves fully elastic collisions and transfering of energy between the several red balls that float about the screen. Your single blue ball needs to stay out of their paths as long as possible; if you get collided into once, it’s game over. How do people beat 240 seconds, anyway?
Panic ripoff: The Transmit truck icon has been so abundantly stolen that it constitutes about 60% of the design thefts on this hilarious page. Panic isn’t mad, but you have to wonder who these people think they’re fooling when they reverse the image and use it twelve times.
The OLPC Wiki: Ah, the One Laptop Per Child project; bringing Linux to children around the world with $100 hand-crank laptops. This is one of their two wikis, the other one being for software development. I don’t even know where you can buy these things.
Metal storm: The machine gun fires one million shots per minute. The handgun fires three times before it recoils. The bullets have no shells and are fired by electronic charge. Metal Storm is the most revolutionary gun to date; check it out.

Link Dump 38

Lapper — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 05:00:31 +0000

Etch-A-Sketchist: This guy’s an Etch-A-Sketch maniac. He draws various pop culture icons and logos with two knobs and magnetic fibers nearly every day.
Last Place Comics forum: The comic’s hilarious, and the forum’s a breeding ground for humorous nerds and the like. Definitely a great hangout place.
MediaFork: Legally, if it’s your DVD, you can make an archive of it. But what if you want that archive on your iPod? Hand Brake/MediaFork allows you to resize and style nearly any DVD to optimize viewing right on that small screen.
Slave Hack: Helping break the temptation around the world, Slave Hack is a very eleborate hacking simulation where you compete against hundreds of other hackers to obtain the best programs and earn the most money possible.
The ESP Game: Another fine webapp by Carnegie-Mellon University, The ESP Game pairs you with another player as you both race to find a term you can both agree on to label the image in front of you. The more images you solve and the faster you solve them both contribute to your point level, which accumulates over time.
House Wiki: House, currently in the middle of its third season, is most likely one of the most spunky medical dramas on television. The disagreeable Hugh Laurie is always good for a laugh, too. Now, there’s a way to show your fandom like never before.
Derrick Comedy: If you are not on the floor laughing after you watch these sketches, you can sue me for everything I have. Derrick Comedy is a team of post-graduate actors with the sense of humor you wish was on SNL. Watch and be amazed.

Link Dump 37

Lapper — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 05:00:27 +0000

Wordpress 2.1.3 and 2.0.10: Honestly, I miss when the Wordpress updates used to include features. 2.1.3 is yet another security update that they hope wasn’t compromised as was 2.1.1.
VIRB: This appears to be a modern, less communistically perverse version of the widely beloved Facebook. I don’t get what’s with these places; they’re just buffed-up forums.
CallWave SMS: This is an inter-widget that allows you to send SMS text-messages to any provider without trying to tap it out on your own phone’s number pad. It’s really useful for contacting friends on the go, but you can’t hide your computer in your hand during class.
Zwok: In a time when there is no war… people throw snowballs. That pretty much being the storyline of this strange game, you’ll still have a blast launching snow at the other team and racking up points as quickly as possible.
The Perry Bible Fellowship: This is the kind of webcomic that just makes you sit back and think about how you can exploit life to the fullest, or interpret it in the strangest and most surreal way possible. It doesn’t update too often, but it’s some worthwhile reading.
Citizendium: In belief that Wikipedia no longer fits the essence of being a true encyclopedia, the co-founder of Wikipedia has created a new encyclopedia. Citizendium is designed to be far stricter version of Wikipedia, where all articles must be cited and checked by experts in-the-field for them to become approved.
Craziest: As the video link replaces the IRC link, we bring you the story of a Scrabble extremist. Believing that the tiles themselves depict the future, she goes on an evangelical escapade to make everyone else aware of the truth. All the while biding her time for the legendary 311-point “triple-triple” word: craziest.

Link Dump 31

Lapper — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 06:00:16 +0000

Wordpress 2.1.1: A “low-to-medium priority” update containing around 30 bug fixes and numerous tweaks. Only about 20 files are being replaced, so you probably shouldn’t worry about it too much.
One-liners: This all-too dramatic Canadian webcomic stars Shishio, the rather shiftily perverse protagonist, as well as two very different Ashtons, a grossly abused Shannon, and more. I don’t think I should talk to you anymore.
Gravatar 2.0: After months of beta testing and builds, Gravatar has its 2.0 launch… with overwhelming failure. The Gravatars simply do not appear for nearly everyone who subscribed after the first day. As the comments stack higher and higher, everyone’s wondering where creator Tom Werner has run off to and what he could do to make up for this.
Viidelectrix: No, I’m not sponsored by Nintendo. But Videlectrix, the game development pseudonym of Homestarrunner.com has converted a handful of their games to work solely with the mouse… meaning it can also work with the Wii remote. Have fun keeping a tire in the air.
Staffblog: The newly implemented Freenode staff blog was publicly announced on Tuesday with a note in the topic. Bask in the brainchild of your superiors and its teachings. Bask!
Math for the Masses: Wordpress.com recently integrated LATEX, the dynamic PNG math-scripting tool used on such software as MediaWiki. Wonderful. Now you can blog all about math, all the time.
This Might Be a Wiki: A very strong They Might Be Giants database containing lyrics to every song, analysis, sheet music, and more. I don’t know what makes your face implode, but that’s the way the movie ends.

Link Dump 25

Lapper — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 15:39:14 +0000

Ideas and Kvetch: New features at wordpress.org include a whole form specifically for complaining. Get your words across with Ideas and Kvetch.
Penny Arcade: A hilarious webcomic that’s been standing since 1998, with cracks at gaming, technology, and everyday abnormalities ever since.
Boot Camp: The quick and free way to partition and install a full-speed and feature Windows XP. After trying it myself, my only complaint is that your Mac partition’s firewall doesn’t extend to the Windows partition. You can take care of that with HouseCall, though.
Hyper Frame: A challenging roundabout game of strategy, where you connect the streams of color through the three faces of the cube. The catch is… you must connect every stream, and none of them can overlap. Wait until you hit five-by-five mode for some real fun.
Skypecasts: Skypecasts are medium to large-scale conferences on just about anything that you can create, and everyone can join. Hosts give and revoke speaking privileges to keep a fun and interactive environment.
TrendMicro HouseCall: If you have no cash or time to spend on a virus-scan program for your Windows PC (or partition), this runs a quick web-based scan and then deletes everything that’s not supposed to be there.
BMEZine Wiki: A very informative wiki regarding piercing and body modification, but I’ve got to say, it’s not for the squeamish. The wiki contains both graphic images and graphic imagery.

Link Dump 23

Lapper — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 17:52:09 +0000

Filzo.de: A very german rant blog, although you can pick out the occasional hilarity. “Spamqueries In IRC”, if I may.
YTMND: Short for “You’re The Man Now, Dog”, a line from Finding Forrester, YTMND boasts thousands of “sites” composed of five-second clippings of imagery and sound. The rating system, forum, and wiki make this site a notable culture.
Skype 3.0: Skype takes another leaping bound, this time on its Windows foot with Skype 3, boasting features such as public chats. Also newly available is Skype 2.5b for Macintosh, now with SMS compatibility.
Heli Attack 3: The one, the only, the Heli Attack 3. If you haven’t played it, you’re seriously missing out. Stock up on all new weapons, including laser rifles, atom bomb launchers, and more. Blast your way through five worlds and into the final endless level. If you can handle it.
Cha Cha: A completely innovative concept. Cha Cha is not only a search engine, but a live-chat engine as well. Talk with a “guide” as he or she checks around the net for your request.
Lemony Snicket: The truth behind the man behind the hedges. A cryptic site for an even more cryptic book series. Perhaps a look around will shine some insight on the curious man.
YTMND Wiki: The wiki for the above mentioned YTMND conglomerate, containing quite a bit of background for the various sites that became famous.

Link Dump 22

Lapper — Mon, 25 Dec 2006 04:20:31 +0000

Blogger Beta: Blogger, the pickup blogging service powered by Google, is moving to a 2.0 of sorts. Some advancements include templates, Google account sign-in, and instant publishing.
IMDb Boards: A huge discussion board for an even larger database. There’s probably a forum thread for every movie ever made. You have to register to even look at it, though.
Lunar Magic: Anyone who’s played Super Mario World can appreciate the work that was put into this one-of-a-kind level editor for the game. Note the ROM requirements on the downloads page.
Yes : I’m Working: You want to be gaming, but you don’t want to be distracted. Office Max brings a charmingly simple breakout game disguised as a Microsoft Office spreadsheet.
IRC At Work: For when your PJIRC java socket gets blocked, IRC At Work is there for you. The interface takes a few minutes to sort out; mostly because the control buttons are ghosted but turn out to function anyway.
Subversive Cross Stitch: The cross stichings on your grandmother’s wall bearing some warm-hearted message have crashed and burned. These blunt, insulting messages sell en massé, causing massive hilarity.
Inheritance Trilogy Wikia: This wiki’s been getting a lot of buzz as of late, what with the Eragon movie being released. It’s an ideal place for the dragon fan.

Link Dump 21

Lapper — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 03:47:05 +0000

Screwed By PayPal: Who said PayPal had support? When this guy ended up with over $1200 of fraudulent charges, he decided to fight the system; he sued PayPal.
Zoomify: This could easily revolutionize maps as we know them. Try zooming in all the way; just try it. You can see each pebble, and each blade of grass. Think about all the photos that takes to make.
FireStats: A fair stats plugin for Wordpress. A live demo can be viewed here for an example, but countless errors specking the coding diminish its performance.
MacFun: Believe me when I say this site is a baby; its ads have just started appearing in Mac magazines, online gameplay is “coming soon”, and the games it offers are overused at best. However, this site has potential—it just has to get out of the stroller.
#firestats: The official information and support channel for the above mentioned FireStats Wordpress plugin. Perhaps I’ll drop by later to find out why FireStats is acting so buggy for me.
30-Second Bunny Theatre: Who has time to watch a two hour movie anymore? That’s right, absolutely no one. Which is exactly why the solution to all your problems lies in a cast of animated bunnies who re-enact all the classics… in just 30 seconds.
Mac Guides: An extensive wiki out of MacRumors dedicated to the information and troubleshooting of Macintosh products. I was there myself the day they set it up; they had it filled to bursting within a week.

Link Dump 13

Lapper — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 07:15:33 +0000

Damn Interesting: A blog where each entry is like an article in a research magazine, but very interesting. You might even say it’s damn interesting. Cool posts include The Crypt of Civilization and Alien Hand Syndrome.
Slashdot: You haven’t heard of Slashdot? Dating back for years, Slashdot has provided tech news within a closely-knit community. Although sometimes mocked for their sheer geekiness, that’s the point, right? It is what IT is.
Google Pack: A bundle of software supplied by Google. Not all of it’s homebrewed, mind you, but you can still use the stuff. The material includes Norton Antivirus, Picasa, Google Video Player, and quite a few more. The pack is available for Windows XP download only.
UNIX Tetris: Very fun. Simply boot up your Macintosh Terminal and start playing one of the most classic games of all time.
#wordpress: An interesting support channel for all your Wordpress FAQ. You can even get some self-promoting in the process.
JustGotOwned: Good for a laugh, just replace a friend’s name with “you”, converting spaces into decimals, and watch as he or she gets incredibly owned, over and over. You got owned… owned owned owned.
2006 Wikipedia CD Selection: In lieu of waiting for the tedious processing and release of Wikipedia’s Pushing to 1.0 project, where their best articles will be released on CD-ROM for permanent usage, you can use this unofficial version, downloadable in .zip format.

Link Dump 11

Lapper — Sun, 08 Oct 2006 05:13:02 +0000

The Unofficial Apple Weblog: Not only does TUAW look like your Mac desktop, but it’s packed with up-to-date Mac news and downloads. Very handy to keep around.
Userbars: Ever looked for something to put in your forum signature? Userbars makes plenty of slick “userbars” that look like they just stepped out of a Macintosh factory. Tell something about yourself… in aqua bar form.
CotEditor: A very nifty program that opens all your server files. It even does highlighting and encoding. Think of it as Dreamweaver for free.
Addicting Games: This site has always been the talk of many, packed full of brand new flash games every week. Just try to play on this site without getting… well, you know.
#spinhome: The channel for Rob Levin’s Spinhome, now a channel in his memory.
Grouphug: Who needs to read diaries? Grouphug supplies millions of online “confessions” before your very eyes. This one’s definitely not for the sensitive.
Wiki: Long abandoned, Wiki is a minimal base for discussion on one of the few wiki-related books, WikiWay. It’s cool in an ancient sort of way.

Link Dump 10

Lapper — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 05:15:09 +0000

Impulsive Highlighters Unite!: This is supposedly a gathering of impulsive highlighters, although the title is a misnomer. The community is quite an interesting Macintosh tech blog that will keep you coming back for more.
Newgrounds: A lot of Flash that went public started right here, at this giant flash database. Tons of audio, video, games, and more every day.
iTunes 7.0: iTunes 7 is packed with features and fixes, along with a great new interface, and finally a new icon. Now available from the music store are full-length movies and 3D, full-version iPod videogames.
VisualBoyAdvance: For all of those who lost their Game Boys long ago, VisualBoyAdvance is to the rescue. A powerful and fast GBA emulator, VBA is highly compatible with most ROMs you may find. Stick to freeware ROMs to keep it legal.
#gamesurge: GameSurge is a network devoted to chats about popular online games, such as Counter-Strike and Call of Duty.
Kokogiak: Kokogiak is quite an excellent site upheld by a former employee of such companies as Amazon and Monster. It’s full of portfolios you could just spend hours sifting through, such as the MegaPenny Project and Google Maps Transparencies.
PeanutButterWiki: The largest WikiFarm on the Internet, PBWiki will host a free public or private wiki, no questions asked. A premium service is also offered, with more themes, editable CSS, higher customizability, and more, but the standard works just fine for us.

Link Dump 9

Lapper — Sun, 24 Sep 2006 17:58:32 +0000

Clever Hack: They’ve got tech news, RSS Thursdays, and even fantasy football stats. No matter how far back you go, this blog is full to bursting of great info.
Myg0t: The original clan of cake-baking, flash-making, Counter Strike-playing fiends with a private community. And definitely watch the flash – can you say “0mg 1337 h4x”?
AA-project: A plugin that allows you to run some programs entirely in ASCII; graphics and all. Strange but awesome.
H*R Games: The classic collection of Homestar Runner games. Cherry get! If you haven’t heard of these, you’re probably dead… or in jail.
#motas: An assistance channel for the infamous Mystery Of Time And Space game. No, it’s not bad to get help; we all get stuck.
Yugop: Bunches of miniature flash activities. If you run out, just look in the archives. So minimalist, but so awesome.
Uncyclopedia: The absolute parody in all of us, on one wiki. Anything you can praise, Uncyclopedia can make fun of with a completely random spin. It’s entirely inaccurate and completely hilarious.

Link Dump 3

Lapper — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 14:48:10 +0000

Bloggage and Dunnage: The personal blog of Rob Levin, founder of Freenode. Everything from road trips to pharmaceutical debates.
Is Your Son a Computer Hacker?: A humorous article about a father who had a hacker son. Ten reasons how even the slightest request, such as more RAM, could warrant you a hacker.
Skype: A very potent VoIP program for all operating systems. Host your next conference call for free, turn your computer into a phone with SkypeIn, and phone a friend anywhere in the world with SkypeOut.
Submachine 2: The Lighthouse: A sequel to Submachine, this logic game bears a likeness to the work of Fasco-CS.
#wikia: The official support channel for the popular wiki hosting service Wikia, complete with stats compiled by GreenReaper.
Fat-Pie: A twisted collection of violently deep cartoons by David Firth.
Meatball Wiki: The icon of wikis everywhere, Meatball Wiki is a community about communities, explaining everything from the work required in setting up a wiki to a user’s right to leave.

Link Dump 2

Lapper — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 06:20:21 +0000

If WWII was an MMORPG: In this post… a simply hilarious reenactment of World War II, gamer-style. Stallin wants some “nuculer secrets”.
Yahoo! Answers: A large, forum-style Q&A community where a point system ties together a loose hiearchy. Accuracy of answers not guaranteed.
The Pirate Bay: Not one, but thousands of full-version programs availble via this filesharing wonderland. A client such as BitTorrent is needed to expand the downloads.
StepMania: Ever played Dance Dance Revolution? If you don’t have the funds to buy the game, StepMania is DDR for your fingers. StepMania is also compatible with most USB pads.
#macosx: This unofficial support channel for Mac OS X is the savior for anyone who’s ever waited two hours on hold for tech-support. Chat live with people who will solve any problem you have.
Emoticon Man: Dan Wade makes funny faces to imitate several emoticons.
Elections for the Board of Trustees: The WikiMedia Foundation is now taking candidate nominations to become members of the Board of Trustees. If you have more than 400 edits before 8.1.06 on any given project, you can proceed to write a statement of candidacy.

Link Dump 1

Lapper — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 07:10:20 +0000

The Concept of Irony: Movies, self-rants, and life in general, through the eyes of a laid-back professor of philosophy.
Exit Mundi: It’s the end of the world as we know it. Well, not yet, but this site is chock full of ways that it could happen, each one in-depth and entertaining.
Lynx for Mac: Surf the Internet legacy-style with this free Lynx imitation for Mac OSX.
Second Life: This is like a more detailed, larger, and MMORPG version of The Sims, in which you build your life in the game with a personalized character.
#freenode-social: This moderated channel is a-buzz with users from all over the network, talking about anything in particular, but never seems to get too crowded. The wait from joining to being voiced is approximately three hours.
Keiichi Anime Forever: A completely free collection of all your favorite anime shows in their original, non-dubbed forms [with English subtitles].
The Unofficial Google Wiki: This wiki, although not affiliated with, is dedicated to the workings of Google, the country’s most used search engine.