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May 31, 2006
X-Men III pays tribute to viral YouTube video? (

the video was released online in February; is that enough time for the line to appear in a summer blockbuster?

)
Six Apart to launch Vox on June 1 (

the social blogging platform formerly known as Comet

) [via]
Second Life adding embedded web browser (

invoking a browser window will be first; later, mapping onto a surface

)
Adobe phasing out GoLive (

Freehand remains a standalone product, but won't be part of the suite

)
The Pirate Bay taken offline by Swedish police (

the MPAA put out their own press release; also, a short interview with the Pirate Party leader

)
Google announces Adsense API (

they're heavily moderating the sites allowed to use it, for good reason

)
May 30, 2006
New Google Adsense API to allow ad revenue sharing (

potentially huge news; I want to see Ning implement this

)
Google Adsense sparklines (

put your daily earnings on your blog

)
MP3s: Conquer the Video Craze (

strange LP of arcade game tips from 1982

) [via]
MMO Charts updated to current data (

World of Warcraft is destroying the competition, but the growth curves for some others are amazing

)
Slashdot CSS redesign contest winner (

here's a writeup from the creator, with a Greasemonkey script using the new stylesheet

) [via]
Video: Steely Dan on the making of "Peg" (

a complete breakdown of the underlying track with the studio master and original players

) [via]
Tim O'Reilly's thoughtful response to the Web 2.0 trademark debacle (

sometimes the blog world likes nothing more than a good old-fashioned pile-on

) [via]
Flickr widgets in Second Life (

next, there needs to be a way to upload Second Life screenshots to Flickr while in-game

) [via]
Rebecca Mead's followup to "You've Got Blog" from 2000 (

quite a bit can happen in six years

)
May 29, 2006
Wired on Tringo, the most popular mini-game in Second Life (

the game has a life of its own, with a retail GBA release

) [via]
Google Gapminder (

Flash infoviz of World Development Indicators from The World Bank

) [via]
May 28, 2006
Pitchfork's long profile of current and future music recommenders [via]
NYT profile of IMDB's founder (

I'm grateful that Amazon hasn't tried to change it

) [via]
Katamari creator not impressed by Nintendo Wii (

also, some very vague comments on his new project

) [via]
May 27, 2006
WEP key as living room artwork [via]
May 26, 2006
Doug Bowman hired by Google (

big congrats to both

)
Cory Doctorow on O'Reilly's "Web 2.0" trademark (

by encouraging ubiquity of the "Web 2.0" meme, O'Reilly diluted the proprietary meaning of the mark

)
Video: Gnarls Barkley on Conan O'Brien (

electric performance; could they have been honoring Towel Day a day early?

)
Websites as Graphs (

or try the visualization yourself with any site

)
Indiana Jones and the Fountain of Youth (

fan-made Scumm game in the style of the old Lucasarts games; start the countdown to C&D

) [via]
the broken laptop i sold on ebay (

disgruntled buyer gets elaborate revenge by posting photos from seller's laptop hard drive

) [via]
30 Boxes adds event and feed mapper (

nice implementation built on top of Upcoming and Dodgeball

)
Nine-minute Waxy widget (

Mat uses Dashcode to built a complete Dashboard widget pulling my remote feed in nine minutes

)
Watercooler Games on the good, bad, and awful media coverage of the Super Columbine Massacre RPG (

don't miss Kotaku's coverage, including interviews with a Columbine survivor and the game's creator

)
Video: Music for One Apartment and Six Drummers (

found audio goodness via Robot Wisdom, who I've really enjoyed lately

) [via]
May 25, 2006
ExtremeTech's roundup of 8 free music recommendation services (

Last.fm destroys the competition, with Pandora next in line

) [via]
Roomba hacked into MIDI instrument (

I won't be satisfied until all my appliances can play the Super Mario theme songs

)
O'Reilly responds to Web 2.0 trademark debacle (

they were called out by Arrington and others for cease and desisting an Irish Web 2.0-branded conference

)
WWW 2006 - Retroactive Answering of Search Queries (

Google's paper suggests ways to recommend interesting new pages based on a user's search history

)
Flash: TagLines, visualization of interesting Flickr tags over time (

the WWW 2006 paper is interesting stuff, though a bit over my head

) [via]
WWW 2006 - Random Sampling from a Search Engine's Index (

new method to benchmark relative sizes of search engines; only about 45% of Yahoo's index is in Google, and vice-versa

)
"Dead in Iraq" virtual protest in America's Army game (

instead of playing the Army-sponsored shooter, he's typing the name of every American killed in the war

)
FC64, Commodore 64 emulator in Flash (

incredible

) [via]
Game-based errors in "The Wizard" (

you can almost feel the disgust emanating from the page; the DVD will finally be released in August

)
The Morning News' 2006 Editors' Awards for Online Excellence (

long name for a good list of links

) [via]
Torrentspy lawsuit accuses MPAA of hiring hacker (

they claim he was asked to steal internal Torrentspy documents by any means necessary

)
May 24, 2006
Half Life 2: Episode 1 goes gold (

the first in the episodic gaming series will be released on June 1

) [via]
Del.icio.us Hotlist (

redesigned homepage highlighs fresh popular links, and a minimum threshold for the recent page

)
Nicholas Carr on Wikipedia's gradual shift toward moderation (

Nick and Jimbo Wales wage battle in the comments

) [via]
Teens using high-frequency ringtone out of adult hearing range (

here's an MP3 of the Mosquito sound and a clip of just the tone

) [via]
Tim O'Reilly on Virtual Magic Kingdom (

some screenshots of user-created rooms

)
Google pushing borderless AdSense by default (

since launch, they've resisted blending ads with content; an interesting switch

)
Smackbook Pro (

switch virtual desktops by smacking the side of the laptop

) [via]
May 23, 2006
The Sheep Market (

10,000 sheep drawings created by Amazon Mturk workers for $0.69/hour

) [via]
Oblivion dominoes (

like the Half-Life 2 mousetrap, but using the Oblivion engine

)
Crushing Competition (

tax preparers lobby to make California taxes more difficult to prepare

) [via]
I Liked It Better Live (

MP3 bloggers collect songs with better live performances than the recorded original

)
May 22, 2006
Ultrastar, open-source port of karaoke game SingStar (

the original judged your vocal performance by analyzing pitch and duration

)
Graphic Novels for People Who Hate Comics (

I'd also toss in Seth's It's A Good Life

)
Video: Mr. Rogers addresses the U.S. Senate in 1969 (

essential watching, this guy was a hero; plus, he could breakdance

) [via]
Bay to Breakers Katamari (

my, Earth really is full of things!

)
Berkeley's "Naked Guy" commits suicide at 33 (

I always heard about him, but never saw him in my four years on campus

) [via]
May 21, 2006
Random Pokey the Penguin generator (

funny, doesn't affect the readability of the original

) [via]
May 20, 2006
Leonard's primer on Nintendo DS Lite homebrew (

worth it for ScummVM alone

)
May 19, 2006
Super Happy Dev House 10 tries a new idea (

a weekend-long contest to build a "money making machine," with Paypal revenue determining the winners

)
May 18, 2006
Snooker maximums on YouTube (

don't miss John Higgins' lucky shot at around 6:40 in this video

)
3D milling service to be offered for Second Life avatars (

at E3, I saw that the Spore team was 3D printing their character creations from corn starch

) [via]
San Francisco scar tissue (

"a piece of San Francisco healing around now-gone railroad tracks"

) [via]
E3 Crabtacular (

apparently, Half-Life 2 gave the entire gaming industry crabs

) [via]
Flickr's hiring (

you couldn't pick a cooler group of people to work with, aside from maybe Upcoming

)
Flash: 10 ways, "information" (

outstanding recursive photo mosaic browser

) [via]
Eric Kleptone speaking at next Web 2.0 conference (

I've been obsessed with the Kleptones' 24 Hours album lately; try Sixteen Sisters for a taste

)
Wireless Guitar Hero mod (

okay, I'm slightly obsessed

)
37signals e-book earns $175k in first 75 days (

incredible argument for self-publishing online

) [via]
Freetar editor preview (

Guitar Hero clone for the PC, still in development

)
May 17, 2006
Nielson/NetRatings study on growth of top social networks (

note that Typepad and Classmates are the only ones charging

)
Video: World Trade Center, the movie (

I predict two years before there's a scifi time travel movie with 9/11 as the backdrop

)
Last chromosome in human genome sequenced (

yay! I want my next child to have a prehensile tail and wings

) [via]
May 16, 2006
Visceral song moments (

MP3 bloggers isolate parts of songs that made them feel

)
Beating Traffic (

OCD commuter collects a year's worth of traffic data during his daily commute

)
History of Videogame Console Prices (

absolute and adjusted for inflation; is it any surprise the Neo-Geo and 3DO flopped?

)
Flickr goes gamma! (

wow, the new Scrumjax Organizr is neat; no more Flash!

)
Yahoo launches new homepage (

also, it looks like they're changing the size of the left-hand navigation links based on your own personal activity

)
Dilbert on Google
Google Notebook launches (

like a personal wiki space, but with options to share publicly (search coming soon)

) [via]
AOL launches UnCut Video (

a YouTube clone with a focus on local video

) [via]
Paying for camouflage (

the new black MacBooks cost $150 more than identical white ones with an upgraded hard drive

)
May 15, 2006
PS3 could be homebrew friendly? (

I'll believe it when I see it

)
Video: E3 morning stampede (

everyone bolted for the Wii, including me

)
Siskel and Ebert behind the scenes (

when Gene gets liquored up, things get interesting

)
Video: President Al Gore on SNL (

missed this while I was out of town

) [via]
May 14, 2006
GameSetWatch's nostalgic look back at the first E3 (

with memories and maps of the convention floor circa 1995

)
Guitar Hero Trainer for Windows (

scrolling tablature and speed control using the Guitar Hero disc

) [via]
May 11, 2006
No dancing at the Parthenon! (

good to know

)
Video: Duck Hunt on the Nintendo Wii (

nuts, they should've added the gloating dog

)
May 10, 2006
Jason Scott on the Best and the Interesting (

I predict Jason Scott will be crowned a saint of the Internet era

)
Plasma Pong (

pong with fluid dynamic

) [via]
Emily Short's observations on using Inform 7 (

writing interactive fiction with natural language

)
New Sam & Max game back from the dead (

stop toying with my emotions, people

) [via]
Google Trends (

compare frequency of particular search terms over time, but without exposing actual numbers

) [via]
Flickr releasing big UI changes next week (

new nav, new search, and a redesigned Organizr

)
May 9, 2006
Love Lines (

tracking the daily loves and hates of the blogosphere

)
Video: Daily Show on Bush's Hayden/Goss deja vu (

he used the same phrase to describe his new CIA director nominee as he did two years ago with Goss

)
Video: Uwe Boll's Pac-Man, the Movie (

"he appears to be some sort of man..."

) [via]
Nintendo E3 press conference live video stream (

just started; liveblogged on Kotaku

)
MP3s: Feist, Live at the Park West in Chicago (

great sound quality, great set

)
E3 2006 Hidden Gems to Watch Out For (

I'm attending Friday, and I'll post my yearly roundup of great underdogs

)
May 8, 2006
Warner Bros. to distribute movies and TV over BitTorrent (

no word on the DRM scheme yet

) [via]
EV1 merges with The Planet (

my current host and the old host for Upcoming, now one happy family

) [via]
Video: Stairway To Heaven Sung Backwards, The Forwards Version (

yes! I was hoping someone would reverse the reversed video

) [via]
Scoble on Croquet, multiuser P2P 3D space (

looks strikingly like the VRML cybermalls of the 1990s, but P2P and cross-platform are both good

) [via]
E3 Buzz (

E3-specific niche news aggregator

) [via]
How to cure asthma or hayfever by infecting yourself with hookworm (

simply go to Cameroon and walk barefoot in the toilets of the local residents, and pray you don't catch dengue

) [via]
Time's five-page exclusive preview of the Nintendo Wii (

the controller is aware of position, velocity, and tilt

) [via]
Dogs trained to sniff out counterfeit DVDs (

sure, but can they smell the difference between letterbox and pan-and-scan?

) [via]
Beatles lose Apple court battle (

now, kiss and make up

)
May 7, 2006
GameLife's E3 predictions (

if you can spare an E3 pass or two for Friday only, GET IN TOUCH

)
Video: Journalist rides with the Blue Angels (

he passes out three times, making this very entertaining

) [via]
May 6, 2006
Bearshare shut down by $30m RIAA settlement (

whack a mole

)
Kottke on IndieKarma micropayment gifting (

penny per visit, but only works well if everyone's using (and not reading feeds)

) [via]
Jim Woodring started a blog (

one of my favorite illustrators posting unreleased art regularly

) [via]
Annalee Newitz on the RFID Hacking Underground (

also: RFDump reveal the data stored on RFID tags

) [via]
Breakout, Donkey Kong, and Frogger polo shirts (

still waiting for a product line of 8-bit neckties

) [via]
Zen Bondage (

also, this Something Awful review highlights some other good indie games

) [via]
Waxxi offers moderated group podcasts at scheduled times (

neat idea, but the name's gotta go

)
May 5, 2006
Jason Scott announces Arcade documentary (

along with Get Lamp, these are the two movies I'm most looking forward to in the next couple years

)
May 4, 2006
Pre-E3 MMO roundup (

orcs, Hello Kitty, and cartoon sex; sadly, no orc sex MMOs yet

) [via]
"Piece of My Heart" cover songs with MP3 (

great version by Dusty Springfield and the less famous original by Aretha's sister, Erma Franklin

) [via]
Original Star Wars to be released on DVD (

finally, I can replace my bootleg Laserdisc rips with bootleg DVDs

) [via]
John Gruber digs up the real story on the Apple Aperture firings (

the only people fired were the terrible managers

)
Myspace blocks Buzznet (

you think they would've learned from the YouTube PR disaster

)
The Day The Lawn Wasn't Mowed (

it looks like the local paper for this large Chicago suburb changed their headline

)
On Bots (

analysis and great visualizations of Yahoo, Google, and MSN crawler activity for a year

)
May 3, 2006
Soda distributors to end most school sales (

I fully expect high school students to riot to get their Coke machines back

) [via]
IRC on the Nintendo DS (

l33t

) [via]
Apple cease and desists Something Awful (

for a service manual they're not even hosting; the thermal grease thread is great, too

)
Six Apart's downtime and Blue Security, the idiots that spam spammers (

a great post sums up how these two stories from yesterday are related

)
Quitting YouTube (

they're cracking down on copyrighted videos, their biggest attraction by far

) [via]
The A.V. Club's 2006 Summer Movie Preview (

the headline sums it up as "Why Bother?"

)
Wired profile of chef Grant Achatz and Alinea restaurant (

scientific foodies pioneering molecular gastronomy

) [via]
Guitar Hero tablature (

also, this video of the hidden track is insane

)
Skypecasts (

like free party lines, but without the phreaking

) [via]
Can I use velcro on the Shabbat? (

also: Shabbat elevators, glow in the dark toys, and no origami!

) [via]
May 2, 2006
Flashmob recreates banned Xbox 360 commercial (

bang!

) [via]
Daedalus, N64 emulator for the PSP (

not enough buttons on the PSP, but badass anyway

) [via]
ASCII Maps (

silly ASCII art proxy for Google Maps, with map and satellite options

) [via]
WSJ on Hollywood's goofy portrayal of the Internet (

with a great gallery of movie clips

) [via]
Vectorama (

old, but good; multiplayer vector illustration playground

)
The Saddest Thing I Own (

epic and destroying; see My Firstborn, Daddy, and Mom's Ring

) [via]
The Web Design Trend Obituary and Death Clock (

what, no drop shadows or rounded corners?

) [via]
The Whole Night Sky (

great 365 Tomorrows entry on the future of music

) [via]
An analysis of 8,468 Pitchfork Media reviews (

the followup pokes into individual author biases

) [via]
ABC adds full streaming episodes of Lost, Alias, and others (

good quality Flash video with commercial breaks

) [via]
Xbox Voice auto-blogs your Xbox 360 gaming activity (

completely bizarre, but entertaining, form of historical activity in natural language

) [via]
Sphere blog search engine launches (

a good alternative to Technorati and Icerocket, but has the same spam problems

)
Introducing Inform 7 (

good introduction to the interactive fiction natural language

) [via]
Apple's Get A Mac campaign (

their new "Switch" campaign is funny and biting, but playing up the youth angle might be too limiting

)
May 1, 2006
OS X to get BitTorrent client for iTunes Music Store? (

great rumor has users getting download credit for sharing video and audio

)
Greg Knauss' An Entirely Other Day is back! (

the original blogger returns after a five year break! I was reading Greg's writing in 1994

)
I Dream of Cake (

amazing couture cakes, like the Jamba Juice cups made entirely of cake

)
Inform 7: Interactive Fiction from Natural Language (

jaw-dropping approach to both programming and IF; check out the examples and download it

) [via]