Weekly Tech Links » So-so

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 47

Lapper — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 05:00:25 +0000

Wordpress 2.2.1: Yes, I’m sure we were all hoping for a slightly more exciting WP development, but not all the versions can be fun. This one’s a bigfix, and should be downloaded posthaste, I say.
Sandbox Design Competition: I was going to enter this with a friend of mine and try a shot at that $600 first prize. The task is to design a customization entirely out of CSS for the Wordpress theme Sandbox, and the due date is July 29th. It’s very Zen Garden-esque, even though the template’s not exactly raw HTML.
Pimp My Safari: I never thought I needed plugins for Safari, but apparently there’s more than plenty around here. You can even help yourself to their orange logo.
Ratmaze 2: A long-awaited update by PixelJam has finally arrived. Ratmaze is the lesser known of PixelJam’s two games and was rather basic in the hunt-and-collect style. Ratmaze 2 actually has miniature tasks to collect the large cheese letters that spell “Ratmaze”, as well as sporting a timer that counts down. Pressure.
BayIMG: The owners of the infamous The Pirate Bay site are certainly spreading their interests lately. BayIMG is an uncensored image uploading site, as well as the cause for a bit of controversy. They also recently agreed to host a pedophilia-friendly site.
StepMania Online wiki: What you really need here is the setup. StepMania Online is an interesting development that allows versus online play. The downsides of this are that I didn’t know about it sooner and that I can’t seem to get the SVU to stop crashing.
Lebron James Etch-A-Sketch: What can you do with an Etch-A-Sketch? This guy can easily say “a lot”, and you’ll agree after viewing this three-dimensional, well-shaded depiction of NBA player Lebron James.

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 43

Lapper — Sun, 20 May 2007 05:00:07 +0000

Recent Changes Camp Montreal: The purpose of the conference itself is rather vague, but it’s sure to be a large gathering of designers and bloggers alike… in Montreal… from an IRC channel that never has people in it.
Xkcd lecture: The other week, it was made public the the writer of xkcd, the most popular webcomic at MIT, would be holding a lecture. Slashdot describes the incident; here are some photos.
Skype 2.6: When word got around that there was a Skype update for Mac, I was hoping this was going to be the big 3.0. Unfortunately, only minor adjustments have been made in this 2.x update, including an echo fix. We’ll have to wait for Skypecasts.
Kongregate: An interesting gaming community; it’s kind of like a small-scale Newgrounds, but with chat rooms. And challenges. And with no blamming necessary. And no porn.
Wordpress 2.2: Good news; Wordpress now has widgets built in, atom support, and finally, as WYSIWYG hook for a future version of Safari.
WikiMania 2007: Boy, has this been publicized. The biggest, wikiest, most manic wiki conference ever is being held completely out of everyone’s way in scenic Taipei. Registrations are now starting for the three-day early-August event, which is receiving enormous sponsoring.
Atari commercial: Atari is rarely in the limelight anymore, but we tend to forget how profound it was how they spearheaded gaming as we know it… with commercials we laugh at.

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 28

Lapper — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 16:14:38 +0000

FellowSites: The most user-friendly, flexible host you’ll ever find. It was actually started by a guy I know to reduce the overall cost of hosting. Plans start at $1 with 50 cent increments per 500MB storage and 5GB transfer.
The Longest List: …of the Longest Stuff at the Longest Domain Name at Long Last is one of the most interesting directories you’ll ever happen upon. Find out about the longest palindrome, the longest blackout, and much more. Crazy webmasters.
Cyberduck: The most user-friendly FTP program out there, Cyberduck offers a Macintosh-style folder navigation system, complete with information columns. Saved connections are automatically reopened upon launch, and the Quick Conncet menu lets you connect to your favorite server instantly. Not to mention that the icon is a rubber duck.
Neverball: A cross-platform Super Monkey Ball look-alike, Neverball puts you in control of a chekered sphere as you navagate across increasingly harder levels. The learning curve is very natural and you’ll get hooked very quickly. Remember that there’s always a way through; you just have to find it first.
#xkcd: Discuss and laugh about the all-too-true webcomic starring nothing but stick figures… xkcd.
Useless account: We all get so wrapped up in creating accounts everywhere we go… why not create one here? When you join Unless account, you get unlimited account editing for free. But that’s about it. No, seriously, that’s the entire site. I hope you can appreciate this irony.
Audacity Wiki: I’m not aware of too many apps that constitute an entire wiki, but this place seems pretty legit… for a single app as a topic.

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 4

Lapper — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 19:22:59 +0000

Panic! at the disco blog: A travel log, rants, and deep thoughts of the emerging alternative-rock band “Panic! at the disco”. Technically, our marriage is saved.
Eric Conveys an Emotion: And you thought you were a comedian. Eric has done tons of hilarious emotions, on request from fans. Anything from “Can’t Sleep… Clowns Will Eat Me…” to “Eric as a Chick Magnet“.
OpenOffice.org: A complete office suite and an excellent substitute to Microsoft Office for Mac, not to mention completely free.
Orisinal: A collection of serene flash games by “Ferry Halim”, professional web designer. Updated rarely, but very addictive.
##networking: Need help setting up a personal network? No time or patience to look through the manual? Check out this channel for some support. This is a ## channel; an unofficial channel. Fix the field in PJIRC.
Google Fight: Enter two search terms and watch as the stats rise. Who’s more popular?
WikiWikiWeb: Ever looked for the roots of the concept of “wiki”? This, the first wiki, is an encyclopedia on pretty much anything the contributors care to add; and without namespaces, the users are a part of the wiki.

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.