Blank is like Blank
Blank is like Blank is a cute blog that shares “analogies to live by”, such as:
Starbucks is like that crazy ex-girlfriend you still get together with:
You hate yourself for going back, but the familiarity makes it convenient, and until you find something better, it’s all you’ve got.
It’s also a great creative outlet for its creator, Justin Feinstein, a copywriter. I always find it interesting to see who’s behind some of these clever ideas on the Net. This thing seriously needs an RSS feed, though. Justin writes in the comments that he’s now added a feed! (via swissmiss)
PostSecret
I wrote about PostSecret’s Frank Warren coming to Toronto a couple months back, which I sadly missed. PS has, and likely always will rank up there among my fav blogs to read. It’s also the most difficult to read though, revealing a lot of sometimes twisted things about people and the world in general.
Frank has put together a video describing the concept behind PS, and what he’s dealt with since starting the blog in its humble roots a few years back. Not only is the content of this blog moving, but it’s perfectly suited for this medium, as is usually the case with projects that bridge the gap between physical and virtual.
30 Ways…
Wil Wheaton has a nice habit of linking to some good, inspirational stuff, and I saw another one pop up in the reader today, 30 random ways to a happier life by Shane Nickerson. Some of my favs, and those I agree with the most:
10. Love what you love. Don’t trick yourself or others.
11. Cut out people that bum you out.
14. Ignore social constraints if more convenient or sensible than abiding by them.
16. Feel free to simply let parts of your past go.
22. Change is unavoidable. Embrace it, on every level.
29. Always be ready to let go of your original plan…
A lot of these I’ve only recently learned over the past year and have embraced a bunch of them to the fullest extent. Particularly with #10 and #22, and I learned the hard way from #29. To be perfectly honest, I’ve never been happier!
Open Source Art
This is part 1 in a series of profiles on live art exhibits as part of the LuminaTO festival.
Two of the most prevalent themes of the LuminaTO festival are without a doubt interactivity and collaboration. Coming from a technology background, I always find some of the most compelling innovations in the industry have come from transparent collaborations between groups of people. This is often defined as “open source” development.
Be it the completely open contribution-based community behind Wikipedia, the democratically inspired nature of digg, or the more ambitious Open Architecture Network, there never seems to be enough cooks in the kitchen when it comes to forging new ideas.
I’m of the opinion that the same holds true for art. Discovering the many layers of complexity that go in to creating a work of art only serves to further enhance its underlying beauty. As it turns out, the opportunity to observe and influence the creation of many works of art is right at our fingertips all through this week.
Frank Warren of PostSecret hits Toronto
I’m kicking myself for not hearing about this sooner, but Frank Warren of PostSecret fame will be doing an audio/visual presentation this evening outside of OCAD at 8pm. Besides being one of the top ten most popular blogs on the Net, and having been published as a hardcover book, PS is an absolutely brilliant concept. Readers send in anonymous and often highly creative postcards to Frank, confessing their deepest, sometimes disturbing secrets, and he posts them on the blog. Those who plan to attend are encouraged to arrive early since space will be extremely limited. More details over at the Facebook event page.
Passive-aggressive notes
Once in a while a real niche blog comes along that I just fall for immediately. Passive-agressive notes is one of those that documents these wonderful little notes that people leave for each other due rather than having face-to-face conversations. I think we’ve all run across one of these gems in the workplace or in some other public place at one point or another. I think I may need to print myself off a copy of the and/or note.
Plane spotting at Pearson
BlogTO has an excellent little write-up on how and where to best spot planes coming into Pearson International. It’s not every day you see get to see a transcontinental 747 fly over your head! This reminds me of the airport on the island of St. Maarten, which I’ve been to a couple times, and the planes that seemingly touch down within a stone’s throw of the water.
Resume 2.0
Didn’t you hear that the blog is the new resume? It’s true, and I have the Web stats to prove it.
Happy Birthday, Dave!
Dave Winer is celebrating his 10th anniversary in blogging today over at Scripting News, the longest running blog on the Net. For the uninitiated, Dave pioneered blogging, RSS, and podcasting.
How are you?
So we’ve established that Twitter answers the question, “What is the world doing/saying right now?” But how is everyone really feeling? We Feel Fine is a blog analysis tool that looks for the words “I feel” or “I’m feeling” in blog posts across the Internet, and aggregates them into a central location, giving you the ability to sort by date, gender, geography, or just see a random mess of thoughts (see left). It’s all presented in an amazing Flash interface that collects the blog entries into “mobs” and presents some great interactive elements. Cool Hunting also just recently interviewed one of the project’s creators, Jonathan Harris, to get an idea about the inspiration behind the project, and give a glimpse at his new undertaking, Universe.
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Adam is a User Experience Specialist at IBM in Toronto and also produces content of all kinds around the Web.
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