Links for November 5th through November 12th

This entry was published at least two years ago (originally posted on November 12, 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 Since that time the information may have become outdated or my beliefs may have changed (in general, assume a more open and liberal current viewpoint).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 November 5th and November 12th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too!

  • Cyoa: "Outside of the realm of task-oriented books, this sort of hopscotch across the contents is a rarity. And the CYOA books are actually not exceptions in this respect, for they too are books that perform a task. But rather than being a definition retrieval system or associative datastore, their interactive function is to create a gameworld for the reader. This is part of the wonder of these books — they took a pre-existing set of interface conventions designed for utilitarian search tasks and mapped a new activity onto it. They were effectively a new kind of software application for the oldest information-display platform we have."
  • Bruji’s Pocketpedia is Back!: "We're very excited to announce that Pocketpedia2 has passed its App Store review and is available once more for download through the iTunes Store."
  • Djay » Spin – the All-in-One Controller for Djay: "Spin is the perfect all-in-one hardware solution to control djay, allowing anyone to mix, scratch, and play music as a DJ would right at your fingertips. Whether you are a beginner or a professional artist, Spin offers everything you need to be a DJ with your Mac. Start DJing today with Spin and experience what it's like to create your own mix for podcasts, slide shows, house parties and even bigger venues."
  • The Jobless Rate for People Like You – Interactive Graphic: Fascinating, if not entirely surprising, breakdown of how the unemployment rate varies within particular demographics.
  • In Which a Fairly Major Secret Is Made Secret No More: "Back in the old days, before Twitter exploded into the phenomenon that it is now, I got a message from Greg Grunberg. Greg plays Matt Parkman on Heroes (this information, which most of you don't need, is provided as a public service to the seven of you who do), and has been in every JJ Abrams project since JJ started making movies in the pre-old days. Greg and I traded several messages about a bunch of different things, and then he sent me a private message that said something like, 'JJ needs voice actors for Star Trek. Would you be interested in doing that?'"