Sat 20 Apr 2013

Arduino Punk Console
A programmable eight-step noise synthesiser/sequencer made with an Arduino board. Maybe one day I can build something cool like this. In the meantime, maybe I’ll get me one of these babies. Permalink   ·

Rules That Eat Your Brain
On the scourge of ‘zombie rules’ in grammar like the split infinitive, which only serve to obfuscate meaning rather than ease its conveyance. Permalink   ·

Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipes for full-of-herbs fish cakes
Totally making these, but not with haddock, ugh. Coley or whiting would be great. Permalink   ·

Learn to Code a Basic iPhone App
In the future, everyone will be a mobile app developer. Permalink   ·

61 Things I Learned At The National Hobo Convention
This is really pretty amazing and heartwarming and respectful. One of my links of last year. Permalink   ·

Rotary Dial
Man, I miss when Paul Ford used to blog all the time. Those were the days. Permalink   ·

Microbes manipulate your mind
It surprised me to learn a few years ago how connected the brain and the gut really are. It’s freaky stuff, neuroscience. Permalink   ·

Is There a Limit to How Tall Buildings Can Get?
As ever, we’re only limited by the resources we have to hand. But the fact that we’re even seriously thinking about it is pretty amazing in itself. Permalink   ·

13 ways of looking at Medium
Finally an explanation of the thing, which is not explained very well on the Medium site itself. I still don’t get it. I mean I understand it now, but I don’t get it. Permalink   ·

Rian Johnson’s theatrical commentary for Looper
I was thinking only recently how people are missing a trick by not recording alternative commentaries for movies (in the form of podcasts or whatever) and then here comes along one for a new movie by its own director! See also: an alternative commentary for Star Wars. Permalink   ·

British wrestling posters
What a window into history! Permalink   ·

Primer: Horror
If you don’t know much about the genre beyond the obvious, this should open your mind. Permalink   ·

The Most Comma Mistakes
Mostly common sense although I disagree with the need for a comma after ‘Des Moines, Iowa’ as its absence introduces no awkwardness or ambiguity. Permalink   ·

How to make a light theremin
One of a whole bunch of weekend projects at the MAKE website. Filing here for future reference. Permalink   ·

Wikipedia entry on Conway’s Game of Life
I don’t understand the explanation at all, but I kinda get it by looking at it in action. Permalink   ·

Fri 11 Jan 2013

How to be a fan of problematic things
“As fans, sometimes we need to remember that the things we like don’t define our worth as people. So there’s no need to defend them from every single criticism or pretend they are perfect.” For me this goes for stuff like The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises as much as it does for the ‘isms’ tied up in stuff like Game of Thrones. Permalink   ·

Inside the BBC’s Verification Hub
It’s just dawned on me that verification is what subeditors should be doing. American journalism has always had ‘fact checkers’ distinct from their copy editors, whereas on this side of the pond both functions were the preserve of the sub, a role that’s been greatly diminished over the past decade, to the obvious detriment of the media. Permalink   ·

Moshing in the Spiral of Silence
Moshing isn’t my thing either. But it depends from gig to gig; moshers can either be respectful (sticking to the pit) or be assholes. The latter can ruin shows for me. Not that I go to gigs very often. Permalink   ·

The ‘Busy’ Trap
I think people are reading too much into this; my own take on it is that people say they’re busier than they are for two reasons: a) because the impression of busyness connotes status, and b) because it’s easier than turning down invites to dinner/drinks/whatever because you just don’t feel like it. Permalink   ·

Big in Japan (and elsewhere): 29 American cultural entities that found greater popularity overseas
Some of these are pretty obvious, but they missed a few: country music and the Fun Lovin’ Criminals were/are both massive in Ireland. I’m sad to say. Permalink   ·

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s parsnip recipes
Weird that the French don’t eat them. Then again, I didn’t eat them till a few months ago. Permalink   ·

Wed 02 Jan 2013

Lego Cuusoo
Vote with others to get your favourite things made from Lego. This is awesome. Permalink   ·

Tuppenceworth’s lamb curry
Be sure to note the update at the bottom. Looking forward to trying this. Permalink   ·

12 Toys From the 1980s That Didn’t Take Off
I had one each of 4, 5 and 9. Permalink   ·

The ‘Confusing and Nonsensical Grandeur’ of Dublin Transport
Grandeur my arse, you’ll say if you ever have to use it. This remapping is good food for thought, but could only ever work with a proper transfer system. Which we still lack. Even in 2012. Permalink   ·

Learning to Love the Boring Bits of CSS
I’ll get around to implementing some of these tips. Eventually. Permalink   ·

Tue 01 Jan 2013

Tom Coates: A New Sincerity
“I believe that without a belief in sincerity and truth, our political debates, our media, our way of life becomes nothing more than a place where arguments are played against one another like Pokemon. Everything becomes a strategy to win the debate — gotta catch ‘em all — no matter the effect on the world. It’s cock-fighting on the Hindenburg.” Permalink   ·

Troma Movies on YouTube
Most of them are rubbish, of course, but there’s a few gems in the rubble from the Z-movie specialists. And they’re free. Can’t argue with that. Permalink   ·

Monsters Studio Sessions
More Meat Puppets history from Derrick Bostrom, this time on their final SST album, just before the year punk broke. Permalink   ·

BBC Good Food: Lemon-spiced chicken with chickpeas
Simple recipe that looks easy enough; might do this when January’s in full swing. Permalink   ·

Martha Raddatz and the faux objectivity of journalists
It’s easy to ignore these subtle (and not so subtle) biases because we’re too focused on the big picture, but obviously we need to pay closer attention. Permalink   ·

Thu 27 Dec 2012

The way we love now: couples who meet online
Isn’t this the norm now? I know it wasn’t so much when Bee and I met, so we kinda had two stories going for a while, but come on, it’s 2012 now, this is how things are! Permalink   ·

Yotam Ottolenghi recipes: spring onion and chilli buns, plus crab, bulgur and sumac cakes
I’m totally making those crab cakes, once I get my hands on some sumac. Permalink   ·

Eeyore Gets a Marketing Boost Through Synergetic Merchandising Cross-Promotion
Oh, bother! Permalink   ·

Wikipedia entry on Sturgeon’s Law
Commonly cited as ‘90 per cent of everything is crap’. I couldn’t agree more. Permalink   ·

Build the Mac Pro That You Wish Apple Released
Sheesh, talk about a price difference. This makes Apple’s latest moves to make their computers even less user-upgradable really stick in the craw. Permalink   ·

Who Made That Soy-Sauce Dispenser?
That trademark Kikkoman spout is basically an inverted teapot. Sometimes the simplest things are the most marvellous. See also: HiLobrow’s rolling history of condiments. Permalink   ·

Mon 24 Dec 2012

Not in the Cards
“The makers of D&D thought they could beat Wizards Of The Coast at their own game, but it was all a fantasy.” Permalink   ·

500 Free Movies Online: Great Classics, Indies, Noir, Westerns, etc
Some nice stuff here. Permalink   ·

How to use a semicolon
Dead simple, really; in fact I’m using one right here. Permalink   ·

The 22 rules of storytelling, according to Pixar
Ditto the bit about figuring out your ending before your middle. I’d add to that: figure out your middle before your start. Permalink   ·

Space Archaeology reviews Prometheus
Rubbishing Prometheus is easy to do, because it’s rubbish, but the detail of this critique is worth your attention. See also: Red Letter Media talks about Prometheus Permalink   ·

Fri 21 Dec 2012

Obscure Records
The (mostly) out-of-print discography of the label started by Brian Eno to release his and colleagues’ first experimental ambient works. Permalink   ·

River Cottage: Veggie Sandwiches
These are gorgeous, especially the beetroot and radish ones which I’ve made a few times now. Permalink   ·

AnyDice
A web-based dice roll probability calculator; handy for when you’re short of awkwardly faceted dice. Permalink   ·

Board Game Arena
A service that lets you play board games online with friends; looks like a fun way to try-before-you-buy. Permalink   ·

Intro to 3D Modeling: The Complete Guide
We’ll all be doing this in a few years’ time, I’m certain of it. Permalink   ·

Wed 19 Dec 2012

When Black Metal’s Anti-Religious Message Gets Turned on Islam
All religions are fair game for militant atheists and misanthropes alike. I think Islam is big enough to handle it; whether some Muslims think so, on the other hand… Permalink   ·

10 things you might not know about Dublin
So it appears I lived near a windmill — Europe’s tallest, no less — for 2 1/2 years and never knew it. Permalink   ·

Dan Harmon’s Story Circle
An eight-step story structure tool from the guy behind Channel 101 (and the Harmontown podcast). Graham ‘Father Ted’ Linehan swears by it. Permalink   ·

Brent Spiner on playing Conan O’Brien, Data, and Brent Spiner
An engrossing in-depth look at some of his notable (and lesser known) career moves. Permalink   ·

What Can We Learn From Diagramming Sentences?
I’m posting this here mostly because the concept of diagramming sentences completely eludes me; I never did anything like this at school and I don’t know anyone who has (or maybe I do). Permalink   ·

Mon 22 Oct 2012

From books to infrastructure
An illustrated report on Amazon’s evolution from online bookstore to a whole new way of structuring, well, nearly anything: information, production, whathaveyou. Permalink   ·

Modkit: a simple graphical programming system for Arduinos and other microcontrollers
Basically a much easier way to get going with Arduino. Filing this for future reference. See also: Google Blocky: an easy, visual way to learn to code Permalink   ·

Orange aid: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s carrot recipes
After years of detesting the things, I quite like carrots now. Preferably roasted. Anything but boiled. Permalink   ·

MIT develops ketchup bottle that lets you use every drop
It apparently works for most other viscous liquids, too. No more waste! Permalink   ·

The 1925 ‘Hollywood Subway’
I knew a little about the tunnels and such (and LA Noire, of course) but had never read the full story till now. Permalink   ·

Mon 01 Oct 2012

The Weird Fungus That Lives In Your Gut
Biology never ceases to amaze me. Permalink   ·

A guide to the best (and a bit of the worst) of prog rock
Just stick with King Crimson and you’re golden. Permalink   ·

10 Timeframes
Interesting thoughts on the nature of time from Paul Ford. Permalink   ·

Adjust OS X’s Volume in Smaller Increments by Pressing Option+Shift
You learn something new every day. Permalink   ·

Codecademy and the Future of (Not) Learning to Code
A critique written before some improvements were made, but the main point still stands: Codecademy is rubbish for learning to code, because it presumes too much rote knowledge on the part of the learner. Give me an O’Reilly book anyday (in fact, I just took delivery of Learning Javacript). Permalink   ·

The Color of Noise
A documentary on the noise rock label Amphetamine Reptile that will hopefully soon see the light of day after reaching its funding target on Kickstarter. Looking forward to it. Permalink   ·

Sun 30 Sep 2012

Paul Krugman: ‘I’m sick of being Cassandra. I’d like to win for once’
You know we’re going to revisit voices like his some day and think ‘Why didn’t we listen?’ even though we know exactly why, for the same reasons why people have never listened, ever, in all recorded history and millennia before. Permalink   ·

Sublime Text 2 Tips and Tricks
Filing this for future reference. Permalink   ·

Games With Two
A blog concentrating on two-player board games, something me and Bee have really been getting into recently (especially since I’m crap at video games). Permalink   ·

DIY Carpet Runner
I want to do something like this for our hallway; cheaper and more unique than buying a long rug, methinks. Permalink   ·

Movie Simpsons
GIFs and stills from The Simpsons paired with the movie scenes they reference. There are far more than I ever realised [c/o ]. Permalink   ·

Sat 29 Sep 2012

The Guardian reviews Damien Hirst: Two Weeks One Summer
Art’s biggest charlatan gets torn apart by The Guardian’s Jonathan Jones. Bravo! Permalink   ·

Lovely art prints inspired by board games
Very reasonable prices, too. Permalink   ·

Scavenged Luxury: L.A. Post-Punk, D.I.Y and Indie Wave (c 1977-1987)
Here’s a great-looking series of compilations of underground sounds from Los Angeles back in the day. Lots of nuggets from the weirder end of the SST spectrum, too, which I can dig [c/o Boing Boing]. Permalink   ·

The Final ROFLCon and Mobile’s Impact on Internet Culture
I usually rear up when I read about things like this as they always strike me as faux-elite, cliquey hipster guff pretending to be far more important and influential than it really is. So it’s easy to be cynical. But Baio raises some highlights some worthy stuff and raises some excellent questions, even if he does slip a little into the mobile-is-changing-everything fearmongering. Permalink   ·

Who Copyedits the Copy Editors?
If you think this is bad, it’s nothing compared to the copy many journalists submit. Permalink   ·

The World of 30 Rock
It’s not the sitcom du jour anymore (that’s probably Community) but I love the hell out of 30 Rock and it’s interesting to get some of the backstory here. Permalink   ·

Tue 04 Sep 2012

Timeline of the far future
Some of these are too frightening for me to comtemplate. Permalink   ·

Riding the Subway with Stanley Kubrick
Love these slice-of-life candids. They’re very kinetic, too; more animated than feature films of the period [c/o Kottke]. Permalink   ·

Yotam Ottolenghi’s shredded lamb shoulder with watercress and ginger recipe
Ottolenghi does it again; this lamb recipe looks amazing. Will definitely be trying it. Permalink   ·

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s onion recipes
I don’t care if Hugh’s a posh git; I love me some onions and these recipes look delicious. Permalink   ·

Top 10 walks in Europe
Might well do one of these someday. Permalink   ·

GOOD IS DEAD / Blog All Dog-eared Pages: Chip Kidd’s The Cheese Monkeys
Tom’s notes on Chip Kidd’s debut, which I loved when I read it on a whim years ago. Permalink   ·

Mon 03 Sep 2012

Yea, verily wast he tricked oute withe many fineries
Love this thread on linguistic ananchronisms that turn out to be anything but. AskMeFi earns another ‘best of the web’ star from me. Permalink   ·

Hero inflation
“Calling “hero” everyone killed in war, no matter the circumstances of their death, not only helps sustain the ethos of martial glory that keeps young men and women signing up to kill and die for the state, no matter the justice of the cause, but also saps the word of meaning, dishonouring the men and women of exceptional courage and valour actually worthy of the title.” Damn straight. Permalink   ·

The Question: Do footballers know what they’re doing?
You know when people involved in an accident or other such stressful incident say that time seems to slow down? Maybe that’s what’s fooling footballers into thinking they have agency in what’s probably more an instinctual response. Permalink   ·

The corrections column co-editor on… the changing role of the subeditor
Subbing is hard work. Wish I was doing more of it, though. Permalink   ·

Sippey on ‘Black Box’
Jennifer Egan’s latest was serialised on Twitter, and I’m not sure what to make of it. Prose that doesn’t invite replies doesn’t really engage with the medium in any way that hasn’t been aleady overdone. Permalink   ·

Thu 30 Aug 2012

Ravintolapäivä, Restaurant Day, edible urbanism and civic opportunism
On Helsinki’s pop-up food carnival, a real civic celebration inspired by protest. We could learn a lot from the example. Permalink   ·

Did Pixar accidentally delete Toy Story 2 during production?
The answer is yes! But it didn’t matter in the end as the whole project was canned and reworked from scratch. So now you know. Permalink   ·

The wrong Carlos: how Texas sent an innocent man to his death
If this story doesn’t enrage you, nothing will. Permalink   ·

Norwegianism Records
A new boutique experimental label from the dudes in Dead Neanderthals. Permalink   ·

Way More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About Animaniacs
An insanely good show that still holds up today, nearly 20 years after it first aired [c/o Boing Boing]. Permalink   ·

Thu 09 Aug 2012

I am Steve Albini, ask me anything
He’s a very approachable and accommodating fellow, with a lot of stories to tell. Permalink   ·

Invisible Oranges interviews Weasel Walter
From free jazz to no wave to extreme metal, this dude’s got his fingers in all the pies. Permalink   ·

Fungible
“A treatise on fungibility, or, a framework for understanding the mess the news industry is in and the opportunities that lie ahead.” Emphasising quality is the most important thing to take away from this, I think; there is certainly a tendency among traditional media outlets to assume their content has merit simply because it’s theirs. Permalink   ·

Finishing the Intervalometer: the value of finishing, and making what’s in your head
“To learn to make things, you have to Make your own Things. You have to travel a complete path. It doesn’t just make the end more rewarding: it makes the whole journey more rewarding. I wonder if that’s why a lot of Arduinos are in desk drawers, an LED wedged into pin 13: the platform is exciting and interesting, but there was never an itch. When that itch arises, take that board out of the drawer and scratch it. It is difficult, but it is within your abilities, and you will learn a lot. I did.” Thanks for the pep talk, Tom. Permalink   ·

This Is The End, My Only Friend, The End
Colm Tobin remembers The End, one of the two best things Irish TV ever produced (the other being Blizzard of Odd). Permalink   ·

Tue 07 Aug 2012

Gateways to Geekery: Love the Avengers movie? Here’s where to start reading the comics
I hated the movie, but I started New Avengers Vol 1 and I’m really digging it (The Avengers Vol 3 less so, as the art is a bit wonky and the stories overstuffed). Permalink   ·

Reddit Challenge: Name a style of music you dislike…
…and it’s up to fans of said style to find artists that could change your opinion. Permalink   ·

“Power Soak” Your Beans Before Cooking by Giving Them a Two Minute Boiling Water Bath
Going to try this one again; the first time the beans came out a bit chalky on the outside. Permalink   ·

Mike Watt Talks About His ‘Wack’ and Wild Photography
Need to get my hands on that book. Permalink   ·

Where to eat in NYC?
Something visitors to New York need to realise is that everyone’s got a different opinion, and this is just one of them (my own list includes Katz’s, Lombardi’s and Wendy’s — yes, Wendy’s!) [c/o Kottke]. Permalink   ·