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December 31, 2008
2008 in photos
From The Big Picture: One Two Three.
Just need a spoon, really
Take your shoes off
The basement of a professional commercial photographer.
December 30, 2008
Seasons in 40 seconds
Title says it all. (via metafilter)
Worst photo ever?
Is this shot for an espresso calendar (wha?) the worst shot ever? (via kottke)
December 25, 2008
Merry Christmas
December 24, 2008
Old skool!
95 "Old school" games you can play online (via MeFi). I think old school encompasses everything from Space War to Quake II. We need some more specific adjectives.
December 23, 2008
Yes, I think I will go tell it on the mountain
December 22, 2008
Liquid glasses
This is kind of cool: "Adaptive" glasses that one can adjust the prescription themselves by adding or subtracting a liquid. Could potentially be really useful for those who can't afford the real thing (Glasses are pricey! Especially when your dog chews them. Twice.)
December 21, 2008
It's an 80s Christmas
Return of the Jedi toys from 1983 Sears Wishbook.
December 20, 2008
Fake Steve on Real Steve
If you've never read anything about Steve Jobs or what he's done at Apple, this is a nice short summary of what he means to the company. Here is a much longer story from 2007. I hope the reports of his ailing health are exaggerated and he's around for a lot longer.
December 19, 2008
Jordan Creek: Want to buy gift cards? No cash.
I don't really get this: General Growth properties, which owns Jordan Creek Town Center (aka JCTC aka the mall where everyone dresses up) won't be accepting cash if you want to buy a gift card. Only credit or debit. The gift cards are through American Express, which might be a hint at why they only accept plastic. But not entirely. Doesn't GG have to pay for every time you pay with a different type of credit card? Also, they charge $2 for a gift card, which is really dumb. I guess you better go directly to Apple to get that card.
December 18, 2008
Where's Ripley when you need her
This Alien-esque jaw-detatching shark freaks me out (watch :20- :40):
December 17, 2008
Ho ho ho (hat)
Ho ho ho. (adding a beard and hat with Flickr.. via waxy, again!)
Who watches the Watchmen? I will..
If you only read one graphic novel (cough, comic), it should be Watchmen (link to Wikipedia, could be some spoilers).
Granted, I haven't read many comics, so maybe I'm not the best person to ask. But I'd seen it thrown about as one of the better comic series out there (it's 12 issues total) and decided to give it a try.
This isn't your average Superman or Batman story. These costumed heroes have problems. And not just "ow I got bit by a spider and now I have an obligation to fight crime" problems.
The premise is that after comic superheroes first became popular in the 1930s, a few people decide to actually put on masks and go out and fight crime. This leads to a few complications: rivalries, romance, violence, and egos. A wrench is thrown into the works when a real superhero is accidently created in a physics experiment. It appears that someone is murdering the masked heroes, and things unfold from there.
The comic follows the cold war, nuclear proliferation, and how the balance of power is changed by one of the countries having a real life Superman on their side.
The art has a lot of little extras throughout that makes it rewarding to visually scan each panel in detail.
The paperback version is only $12 but I'd recommend searching your library for the hardcover "Absolute" version, which is a little bigger.
Oh, and by the way, the film comes out in March. The trailer didn't make much sense to me until I read it.
Future of newspapers
Another column on the future of newspapers (via waxy):
The real problem for newspapers, in other words, isn’t the Internet; it’s us. We want access to everything, we want it now, and we want it for free. That’s a consumer’s dream, but eventually it’s going to collide with reality: if newspapers’ profits vanish, so will their product.
What are bloggers going to when newspapers are gone? The column has a couple ideas. I think these organizations will have to localize their coverage even more. Offer content that no one else is doing. A lot of jobs will be cut, and the quality will suffer. Reporters who have been on the job 25 years and have an amazing quantity and quality of sources in their pocket will lose their jobs. Papers will be looking for reporters right out of college who know video, audio, and HTML.
I agree with the line in the column about newspapers needing to open up and acknowledge that other websites exist. I barely ever see links to anywhere useful in the Des Moines Register. It's like they're scared people will realize there are other websites out there and won't come back.
I predict a lot of mid-size papers will stop doing a print edition in the next 5-10 years. Small town weekly papers might do alright since they're covering news that isn't also done by, say, the local TV news.
I think news will continue to go downhill due to a lack of financial support. It will eventually bottom out, and go back up again when people realize it has real value.
Anyway, I found a couple interesting photography blogs from this question about "job blogs."
Joe McNally
Shooting from the hip
December 16, 2008
Podo Burrows of Tuckborough
December 15, 2008
Come on, Internets, it's cold outside
List of directors' trademark shots.
I'm 98% addicted to film. How about you? (based on the imdb Top 250)
...and yes, He-Man is on Hulu.
December 14, 2008
Redesign
I've been redesigning things over the past couple days, if you haven't noticed. It's not all that different but I thought I'd remove a bunch of links (remember in the early days of the web everyone would link to Yahoo?) and clean things up a bit. The old HTML and CSS was a bit of a nightmare. It still is, but less a feverish nightmare and more like a normal one.
I think I've about finished the main page, individual entries, and the archives page. Let me know if you see anything that's not right (like, "andylangager.net" being bold in Safari and regular in Firefox.. hmm. Still not sure about that one) or if there is anything I should add!
December 12, 2008
2008 in pictures
This Flickr Central discussion is a good spot to check out people's best snaps of the past year. A few of my favorites by others:
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. This one is interesting for its content if you like Back to the Future, but the HDR work is really ugly.
Favorite that I've take this year? Hmm.. probably one of these:
What's your favorite photo you took this year?
Obama logo design
(via waxy)
Part 2:
December 11, 2008
Radio talk
I discovered "Mac's World" on 98.3 here in Des Moines a while back. It featured "Mac," a conservative who was a bit ADD and Bradshaw, the token liberal (I actually did a little bit of video stuff with Bradshaw freshman year at ISU). It was a pretty entertaining show most of the time. They covered a lot of local issues and had a lot of good interviews, from local politicians, the homeless, and school board members. Now, they've fired Mac, citing budget cuts. There must be something more to it, since Mac, who dabbles in real estate and restaurants, offered to work for minimum wage to keep doing the show.
Now it's just Bradshaw. It's not the same. I wouldn't listen to it if it were only Mac, either. They once said they were about the 70th most listen to radio show in the nation, so I'm not sure what's going on. Bradshaw was recently promoted to program director, but he said on air he would have favored the status quo to continue.
Mac is/was a bit of a controversial figure (he often goes a little over the top with his religious rants sometimes.. but hey, it made the show) and he predicted one day it would catch up with him. Maybe it did. I predict they'll lose a lot of listeners.
December 05, 2008
Need a blast from the past?
A Betamaxmas. 1988 style. (via waxy)
December 04, 2008
No thanks!
On the trend of those annoying, aggressive mall kiosks. Last time were were at Jordan Creek they were doing their thing (Aimee knows when they are going to strike.. !) (via MeFi)
Caption time
December 01, 2008
I'd take the cash!
Short anecdote about how a guy's Creative Commons-licensed photo on Flickr ended up in Iron Man (although it sounds like they would have tried to use it even if it were regular copyright). (via waxy)
Wide Receiver Scores Extra Points
After trying to catch a ball, crashes into a kid in the crowd, and then...
