- synecdochic: LiveJournal’s DDoS and Russian Politics
This is an excellent round up of the problems that have plagued LJ of late, which are, in turn an interesting insight into the implications of running something that truly is a global service. The short version: if you are an English language user who is tempted to complain about LJ's recent down time, you should probably shut the fuck up before you embarrass the rest of us. And if you are an English language user who isn't actually *paying* for the service, and you're tempted to complain, please make do so a long, long way away from me, because I'd hate to have to beat you with something heavy.
Author: Alasdair
Links for Friday April 8th 2011
- Call Me Fishmeal.: Success, and Farming vs. Mining
This is about business and software. Except, of course, that it isn't. This has done the rounds already because it's about *life*. Read it. - Pow: Zero-configuration Rack server for Mac OS X
Well this is *very* nice. One of these days, I'll get seriously into Ruby. Honest.
Links for Wednesday April 6th 2011
- What is digital?
Some time ago, one of our clients hired someone who was found telling us that they had "ten years experience in digital." as a way of trying to convince us they knew best. It was I phrase I certainly found a little comical. But here's a link that does a splendid job of explaining exactly what it means to be "in digital", as is something I'd also link up with Jack Schulze's pithy phrase "Design is cultural invention."
Links for Tuesday April 5th 2011
- Suwappu: Toys in media – Blog – BERG
Yes, them again. Just go watch the video, and think about the sort of toys your kids will be playing with. And then think about the sorts of toys *you* will be playing with.
Links for Monday April 4th 2011
- Why #StartUpBritain is nothing more than a government backed link farm
I have some interesting in start-ups – I've worked at a couple, and I hope to work at more later in my career. I am dismayed to see that this government, with claims to value entrepreneurship so highly, is essentially devaluing the hard work and enterprise that goes into them by offering a package of "help" that amounts to nothing more that a series of money-off vouchers roughly akin to the usual supermarket "£5 off when you spend £20", and links to sites that frankly, encourage deeply unethical business practices. - Rogue on the Sofa
One that'll appeal to the old school computer gaming nerds. And probably provide you with a few new games to play.
Links for Thursday March 31st 2011
- Why Angry Birds is so successful and popular: a cognitive teardown of the user experience
Absolutely superb analysis of all the little details that have gone into the hit game. Lessons to be learned for anyone designing any kind of interaction.
Links for Wednesday March 30th 2011
- 3eanuts
Peanuts was a 4 panel strip. The gag was in the fourth panel. (I know you know this.) 3eanuts reveals the bleak despair of it all, by removing the 4the panel. - Thorn Dice Set with Decader
Very tempted by a set of D10s in this style. Same chap makes a number of styles of dice, all lovely and interesting in different ways.
The Fate of Woodstock
The source blog will get auto-linkposted later today, but for now, I just had to share this little bit of comic genius.
Links for Tuesday March 29th 2011
- Data Science Toolkit
Get your own virtual server with tools for a variety of common data extraction tasks. Very, very neat.
Links for Sunday March 27th 2011
- danah boyd | apophenia » The Politics of Queering Anything
Interesting thought on the merits and flaws of having expressly LGBTQI identified panels at conferences, versus just making sure that identity politics and queer theory have a role to play in the discourse of every panel.