Weekly Tech Links » Stupid

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 48

Lapper — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 05:00:41 +0000

20 WordPress Themes: I’ve never seen any of these, so I’m very surprised by how impressive they are. The first few are by far the most classy looking. They’re not on either of the top ten lists in the WordPress themes sidebar, so there’s a good chance you haven’t had the chance to check these out either.
StepMania Online: I linked to the wiki in the previous post, which actually is rather mediocre and incomplete. The idea of online StepMania play is really something, and I’m sorry that it has such limited functionality that it won’t even work for me. I can’t wait until the final release of 4.0.
Dockables!: The dock of Mac OS X has always been a portal to applications and folders, but not until now has it been able to perform system tasks at the click of an icon. Dockables has quite a few dock icon ultilities to make everything a little bit easier.
Become an M&M: This really doesn’t make any sense above making an M&M that kind of looks like you. It’s hard to do with only three body shapes, them all being rather… M&M-shaped. But you can have fun with this. Go for it.
Digg Arc API: This is a relatively new addition to the Digg API set. Stories split the circle into sections, with sub-levels of topics and large blue arcs linking related stories around the outside. It’s a bit less easy to find new stories than the other ones, such as Stack, but it’s still fun.
WikiMedia Board Elections 2007: It’s another year and time for another wide-scale election for the future members of the WikiMedia Foundation’s Board of Trustees. You need 400 edits before June 1st, including one edit before March 1st to place your vote.
Incredible Ikaruga gamer: Have you ever tried playing with two controllers in the same game? It’s nearly impossible, but this guy seems to complete the final level of Ikaruga just fine in this fashion. I really need to get that for Gamecube…

Link Dump 46

Lapper — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 05:00:35 +0000

If You Stop Smoking: I really enjoyed the original post of this; it was interesting to know that eventually the effects of smoking do wear off if you take the initiative to quit. This high-resolution poster shows a timeline of what happens to your body if you stop smoking right now.
Graphic Calculator story: Never before has the struggle of a software developer been so great and told so gracefully. I’ll bet dollars to donuts you had no idea that Apple actually canceled the famous Graphic Calculator and that it wasn’t to be shipped with the new Power PC Macs. It took a little luck and a lot of help.
Safari 3.0 beta: Initial reaction for this breakthrough edition is poor, even hostile. But that’s mostly regarding the Windows version, which apparently is very buggy and is unfit to be used. The new webkit that is installed for Macintosh, however, is screwing with Colloquy, which is making me pretty down.
Vector TD: Finally, a Tower Defense worthy of mentioning since Desktop TD. Vector TD is from the creator of Flash Element and Circle TDs and is complete with eleven towers, each capable of being upgraded no less than ten times. Multiple maps, ranging from a novice level to one near impossible are now available for your playing pleasure.
Meteor Busters: This game incites the nostalgia of Game Boy and Game Boy pocket, what with its simple functionality and grayscale graphics. Play as any one of five ships and work your way through heaps of meteors, upgrading yourself along the way. The big downside is that a single hit is a death, and a single death is a downgrade. My favorite by far is the sticky bullet ship.
ZuluPad: Consolidate all your notes into a localhost wiki with this “notepad on crack”. It’s cross-platform, free, and great for both the student and the worker.
Big Ed’s Swan Song: I’m sure one must have noticed by now the Net Neutrality chicklet in my footer; it’s been there for a good eight months now. The issue now is that AT&T is pushing for the abolishment of Net Neutrality more than ever; this video explains it all in a Jib-Jab-esque way.

Link Dump 45

Lapper — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 05:01:17 +0000

Health Bolt: This health blog is different from all the rest. The articles are interesting and don’t preach nutrition or exercise. He’s just telling you facts a la Damn Interesting, if you will.
Colorstrology: This site makes minimal sense. Check your birthday for your “true color” and a horoscope-like description of yourself.
CSS dock menu: This is one of the most clever uses of Javascript and CSS I’ve seen in quite some time. It emulates the Mac OS X dock we all know and love, while holding the functionality of a menu.
TripleJack: Watch out for this site; it’s completely addictive. Choose a cute avatar and get playing in this very fun no-stakes multi-player poker game. Increase your points by winning hands, and increase your cash by banking it instead of flashing it.
Web 2.0 logo: We all know that Web 2.0 is just a big buzzword, overwhemingly defined by visuals. This logo is the essence of that, complete with an optional mirror finish and Beta sticker.
WikiHow: How do I do this? How do I do that? Wikipedia doesn’t always have the answer if you’re looking to do a step-by-step, but WikiHow does.
Beat box: I find it fairly amazing how accurately and precisely this guy can keep a beat going. Can you do that? No, you can’t.

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 42

Lapper — Sun, 13 May 2007 05:00:00 +0000

Epic Struggle for Survival: The story of a young man expelled from school under the haziest of circumstances all because he threw a couple of eggs. You’ll have to read it to believe it.
Quizilla: Let’s face it; everyone likes being told who they are, what they like, who they are most like… by quizzes. Quizilla is packed with thousands of quizzes so you can be told what to do to your heart’s content… as content as it may be.
Share This: I’ve recently implemented this on here… Share This allows instant access to posting to your favorite viral link sites such as Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit, and more.
Halo clock: The Master Chiefs keep popping up… until they all get slain in unison and start over again. Such is the operation of this Halo clock, an aesthetic tribute to one of the most popular video games of the ’00s.
Songs to Wear Pants to: Andrew Pants plays guitar for a living. But he’s not your average rock star; he lives entirely on random commissions to create songs from the vaguest to the most specifc instructions. You can also get a song free that’s 1:11 or shorter, but watch out if he finds a hole in your request.
WikiFriends: A genuinely accurate depiction of the latent desire to avoid conflict found on many wikis.
The Dictionary: This supposedly up-and-coming teenager has remarkable covering abilites and, by popular request, is singing the dictionary to the tune of “Fergalicious”. How interesting.

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 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 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 18

Lapper — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 03:52:37 +0000

The Cabal: A secret blog set up for the secret ##cabal @ Freenode organization secret… secret. Believe it, it’s totally secret.
QDB: Short for Quote DataBase, QDB lets you submit some of your most hilarious, awkward, or just plain stupid moments on IRC, AIM, MSN, etc. Then you can browse through others’ for a good laugh.
Stattoo: Now this app is just handy. It runs like Tiger’s dashboard, but faster, cleaner, and with more minimalistic class. Press a hotkey and you’ve got instant weather, battery life, RSS feeds, and more. It’s not exactly free, but with no restrictions on time or features, this shareware’s a freeware in my book.
Javascript Dice-Roller: Quite handy for all those times when you need to, you know, roll a 100-sided die without actually owning a 100-sided die. I mean, who has time to keep track of those things?
#systemrpg: Quite an interesting setup; a few friends and I went and created a solid human-run RPG for IRC. It’s more humorous than serious, since humans tend to make more mistakes than bots do, but it passes the time.
DisclosurePolicy: A disclosure policy generator? I guess it has practical use, but what’s next? An automatic sueing machine?
Value Wiki: An interesting wiki that follows the stock market for investments… this one might just be a keeper. Is Value Wiki a publicly traded company, broker?

Link Dump 16

Lapper — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 06:00:37 +0000

Wikiconsulting: Sign up and help show how using a wiki-blog facilitates deep linkage in organizations.
Wordpress Codex: A bit of an FAQ, troubleshooting, overall assistance wiki for Wordpress. Check it out; you might find something you actually didn’t know.
Uno 1.3.2: A great way to skin your Mac for free, Uno takes the soft gray of the title bars and makes that the entire window. You’ll have to install it to see just how cool this really is.
Nata2: A great collection of various Internet sensations, photos, games, and more. Only the classics are included, so it’s worth checking out.
##cabal: It might not be the real Cabal, but ##cabal always has something fun—and top-secret—going on. You will be voiced soon. Very soon.
Diet Coke & Mentos Experiments: Join two “scientists” as they explore the aesthetic possibilites of controlled Coke and Mentos reactions. This one’s called The Domino Effect; find out why.
Judaism Wikia: Ever been baffled about Judaism? A new-ish Wikia reaches out for jews and gentiles alike. Oy, gevalt.

Link Dump 15

Lapper — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 06:04:16 +0000

Night Minds: The self-created theme on this blog is simply amazing. The header reminds me of some antique I would have seen in my great-aunt’s house.
Yahoo! Time Capsule: An interesting flash site from Yahoo! that hopes to preserv the thoughts of today for a future time. I’d hurry, though. Time runs out in less than a week to contribute.
iTunes 7.0.2: The latest iTunes comes bundled with 2nd generation iPod Shuffle compatability, along with a few bug fixes.
Legend of the Green Dragon: A humorous Browser-Based Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (BBMORPG), Legend of the Green Dragon is a fun way to introduce yourself to online multiplayer gaming.
Colloquy: A subperb IRC client for Mac OSX. Complete with a consule, sleek interface, and fast connections.
Speed Test: Find out your current Internet browsing speed. A very helpful tool.
Commons: The Commons is a brilliant collection of all kinds of images and sounds recordings. Definitely worth browsing through.

Link Dump 12

Lapper — Sun, 15 Oct 2006 05:09:57 +0000

PayPerPost: You may not believe it, but word-of-mouth is the most effective form of advertising today. PayPerPost uses that idea to get advertisers to pay bloggers to write about their products. It’s quite an interesting system.
Campfire: Created by 37signals and spoken highly of by Feedburner, Tech Crunch, and many more, Campfire is a smooth-running chat engine for your company’s project. And, best of all, it can be completely free.
GimmieSomeTune: We all love iTunes, but it’s just too bulky to keep visible all the time. GimmieSomeTune gives you a Dashboard-style floating window with song information, album artwork, etc. Definitely worth a “try”.
Program Geeks Arcade: More than 350 classic flash games from Microlife to Raiden X. You can spent hours sifting through the games you haven’t played for years.
Five Levels of Competence: The five… or six… different mindsets that people eventually end up in when they’re around IRC long enough. Ah, nirvana.
Dihydrogen Monoxide: The horror! How can this substance still be legal? We can guarentee that everything on the site is true; the forumula spelled out is H₂O.
ELWiki: An interesting system; you start off with a subdomain wiki, but once you hit ten pages of content, they give you a top level domain name free of charge. Now that’s an offer I can’t refuse.

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.