Extra Future

Month: November 2009

  • The EFF Needs Your Help To Bust A Patent on Podcasting

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    by

    Phil Nelson
    in

    [A company called Volomedia was just granted a patent on “a method for providing episodic media.” and the EFF is tackling it.][link] It walks like bullshit, talks like bullshit, and smells a whole lot like bullshit. The EFF is looking for examples of prior art (Prior to 19 November 2003). [link]: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/11/eff-tackles-bogus-podcasting-patent-and-we-need-yo “EFF Tackles Bogus…

  • Chrome OS User Experience

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    Phil Nelson
    in

    [Sketched and screenshotted examples of what the Chrome OS (the open source project is called Chromium) is going to look like][link]. The goal is a noble one: An OS that boots super fast (under 10 seconds), gives you instant access to a modern web browser (WebKit) and gets the hell out of your way. I…

  • Rocky and Bullwinkle mark 50 years

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    Phil Nelson
    in

    [Happy birthday to Rocky and his Friends][link]. If I’m funny, there are two reasons: My mom, and Rocky & Bullwinkle. I guess that is three, but the moose & squirrel are a team. [link]: http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/tvradio/70386872.html “Rocky and Bullwinkle mark 50 years – JSOnline”

  • A Review of Print on Demand Printing Houses

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    Phil Nelson
    in

    [A comparison of three major POD places][link] ([lulu.com][lulu], [blurb.com][blurb] & [adorama.com][adorama]), with helpful video of the finished products. via [@templesmith][ben]. [link]: http://insig.ht/2009/06/print-on-demand-review/ “Adorama, Blurb & Lulu – Book Printing Review” [ben]: http://twitter.com/templesmith “Ben Templesmith” [lulu]: http://lulu.com “Lulu” [blurb]: http://blurb.com “Blurb” [adorama]: http://www.adoramapix.com/ “Adorama”

  • AT&T’s Morale Problem

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    Phil Nelson
    in

    [I’m sure the sentiment is more widespread than this one rep][link]. *Update*: [AT&T says it’s a hoax][hoax], and they’re probably right. Consumerist gets it, though: it doesn’t matter if it’s “true” or not. It felt true, and that speaks volumes about AT&T’s business and culture. [link]: http://consumerist.com/5407532/att-rep-wants-to-die “Transcripts: A&T Rep Wants To Die” [hoax]: http://consumerist.com/5408384/att-says-their-rep-doesnt-want-to-die…

  • ‘I’m going to tell my son the worst swearword in the world’

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    Phil Nelson
    in

    >[My eight-year-old son, Joel, comes into my office to ask if there’s a worse swearword than fuck. “No,” I say.][link] > >There’s a silence. “You’re lying,” he says. > >”There’s none worse than fuck,” I say. > >Joel narrows his eyes. “I know you’re lying,” he says. He leaves the room. With a setup like…

  • Arcade Solitaire: TriTowers from endloop

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    Phil Nelson
    in

    My friends at [endloop][end] have released [a new solitaire game for your iPhone and iPod Touch][link]. It is $0.99 for the next 48 hours, and worth every penny. [link]: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/arcade-solitaire-tritowers/id339038562?mt=8 “TriTowers” [end]: http://endloop.ca “endloop”

  • ‘We Like Lists Because We Don’t Want to Die’

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    Phil Nelson
    in

    [Umberto Eco on his new exhibition in the Louvre][link]. >The list is the origin of culture. It’s part of the history of art and literature. What does culture want? To make infinity comprehensible. It also wants to create order — not always, but often. [link]: http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,659577,00.html “SPIEGEL Interview with Umberto Eco: ‘We Like Lists Because…

  • Emptees Free Mock-Up Kit Vol. 2

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    Phil Nelson
    in

    [Very useful to me in an upcoming project][link]. [link]: http://emptees.com/posts/73551-free-mock-up-kit-vol2 “Emptees – Talk – FREE MOCK UP KIT VOL2!”

  • Edward Woodward (1930 – 2009)

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    Phil Nelson
    in

    [BBC News has the standard obit][link] covered, for a less formal take, see British filmmaker [Edgar Wright’s tribute][edgar]. I used to watch [The Equalizer][equal] all the time in reruns at a kid, and [the Wicker Man][wicker] is one of my favorite films, and one of the best British horror films ever. Nobody had a poker…

  • “Bloody” Brock Samson Skin for Torchlight

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    Phil Nelson
    in

    [A free download][link]. Continuing Extra Future’s cataloging of [fan-made Venture Bros game mods][second]. [link]: http://forums.runicgames.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=5862 “Runic Games • View topic – [SKIN] Bloody Samson” [second]: http://extrafuture.com/2009/06/10/venture-family-for-the-sims-3/ “Venture family for the Sims 3”

  • Usability Question du Jour

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    Phil Nelson
    in

    Say I’m building a website that deals with data from other websites (social and professional networks, etc), and I want users to be able to enter in their existing profile info into of the application. I can’t just ask for their current username (e.g. `http://facebook.com/`), because some of these websites do not have very friendly…