This entry was published at least two years ago (originally posted on May 1, 2009). Since that time the information may have become outdated or my beliefs may have changed (in general, assume a more open and liberal current viewpoint). A fuller disclaimer is available.
Sometime between April 28th and May 1st, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too!
- DJ Richie Hawtin ties Twitter into his setlist with Twitter DJ and Traktor: "The Twitter DJ application utilizes feeds from an updated version of Traktor's standard broadcasting technology to send 30 second updates during Hawtin's set of what's currently playing to a designated Twitter account, allowing anyone following the Twitter group to obtain a unique insight into how a DJ builds the atmosphere and dynamics of a set, track by track, and in real time."
- Ferris Bueller is Tyler Durden: "My favorite thought-piece about Ferris Bueller is the 'Fight Club' theory, in which Ferris Bueller, the person, is just a figment of Cameron's imagination, like Tyler Durden, and Sloane is the girl Cameron secretly loves. One day while he's lying sick in bed, Cameron lets 'Ferris' steal his father's car and take the day off, and as Cameron wanders around the city, all of his interactions with Ferris and Sloane, and all the impossible hijinks, are all just played out in his head. This is part of the reason why the 'three' characters can see so much of Chicago in less than one day — Cameron is alone, just imagining it all. It isn't until he destroys the front of the car in a fugue state does he finally get a grip and decide to confront his father, after which he imagines a final, impossible escape for Ferris and a storybook happy ending for Sloane ('He's gonna marry me!'), the girl that Cameron knows he can never have." (Continue reading comments for more exploration of the theme.)
- How to Be a Successful Evil Overlord: "Being an Evil Overlord seems to be a good career choice. It pays well, there are all sorts of perks and you can set your own hours. However every Evil Overlord I've read about in books or seen in movies invariably gets overthrown and destroyed in the end. I've noticed that no matter whether they are barbarian lords, deranged wizards, mad scientists, or alien invaders, they always seem to make the same basic mistakes every single time. With that in mind, allow me to present…The Top 100 Things I'd Do If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord"
- The Skinny on Using NASA Images: "The short version: All publicly available NASA images are on nasaimages.org, which is co-operated by the Internet Archive. It is most likely legal for you to use them for any purpose (commercial or otherwise) unless there's someone famous in the image. Keep reading for more detail."
- Practical Tips for Combatting Swine Flu in Your Home: "*There is always some flu around and flu is always killing some people. Even when a raw mutant flu manages to kill off more people than a shooting-war, flu has never ravaged whole cities as cholera or the Black Death can do. As awful pandemics go, flu is like the snotty-nosed little sister of awful pandemics. *So if you catch the new swine flu, you're very likely not gonna die. *But since it is a flu, you're gonna kinda WISH you could die. *You're not ACTUALLY gonna die unless your lips are turning blue, you have bad chest pains, you can't swallow water, you can't stand up, you're having seizures and you don't know where you are or what your name is. As this document suggests, you're gonna want to watch out for those symptoms."