Web Culture

Watchmen prequels anger pretty much everyone

Did you hear about how DC Comics is launching a new series of “Watchmen” prequels based on the iconic 80s graphic novel? They are, and pretty much every comicbook nerd worthy of the name nerd is upset about it. You can read about it on Wired and then once you get the lay of the land, head on over to The Wall Street Journal and read Why The New ‘Watchmen’ Can’t Turn Back the Clock”, which is a really thoughtful piece about the enterprise, including this:

“Let’s not be angry about this, let’s be sad and maybe a bit worried. The Watchmen graphic novel will stay its brilliant, doom-laden, intricate heartbreaking self. The future of superhero comics, however, is much less certain.”

The love story that started with a typo

Spotted over at Laughing Squid, which has more information about this story and the StoryCorps, this is a sweet little video about love in the age of email.

CASSETTE: A Documentary Film about the Cassette Tape

Nerds seem to have a bit of a soft spot for outdated and/or obsolete forms of media. See: typewriters. In fact they take this love of the old so far that they even settle for strange facsimiles of this old-timey media. See: popularity of Instagram. If you’re the kind of nerd who likes old fashioned things (and who isn’t?), you should check out the Kickstarer campaign for CASSETTE: A Documentary about the cassette tape.

(spotted on Swiss Miss.

So SOPA

Trying to gather everything on the Internet-wide SOPA protests and blackouts today would be fruitless and unending. Instead, a few that may have escaped your notice and/or are worthy of a click.

• Get a little education at the Stanford Law Review: Don’t break the Internet.
• Buzzfeed’s collection of blackout pages & SOPA protests.
• If you don’t mind a lot of moronic swearing @herpderpedia is retweeting all the people who don’t understand why Wikipedia is down today.
• Ars Technica’s SOPA Resistance Day banner is probably my favorite.

Every presentation ever

While this video seems to be geared at an academic audience, we can all probably agree that it applies to those of us in the business world too.

How not to handle customer service, or don’t make the nerds mad

In that strange in-between time when the Internet is awash with 2,011 year-end ‘Best of’ lists, the nerd-rage descending upon the head of a clueless and inept PR flak is probably the best thing to read today.

Penny Arcade has the full saga about Dave who just wanted his swanky PS3 Avenger controller and Paul, the not-so-adept PR/Marketing man who will probably looking for a new job in 2012 (that’s my prediction).

This story has made Penny Arcade a bit spotty on the up-time, but you can check out excerpts of the fracas at Kotaku, Forever Geek, Tech Crunch, and just about every other nerd-centric blog.

I don’t know what it is about these sort of customer service flame outs that are so darn interesting, but I can’t look away.

The Internet mourns Steve Jobs

Eternal Flame from xkcd

Like the rest of the Internet we are saddened by the death of Steve Jobs and our hearts go out to the people of Apple and all those who knew Steve. We know all too well the pain of losing a leader too soon.

The Internet in mourning is a strange and beautiful thing, from homepage homages (Wired, BoingBoing, Panic) to great infographics to touching remembrances.

But, I really like the xkcd comic at the top of this post, especially the title text “There's always the hope that if you sit and watch for long enough, the beachball will vanish and the thing it interrupted will return.”

And then there’s this. Which is not an homage, but a commercial from my favorite Apple campaign. I still have one of the print ads that featured Bob Dylan from this campaign pinned above my desk at home.

Is too much information strangling creativity?

Are we all so sick of hearing about, talking about and/or complaining about Facebook and the new changes and the new Timeline that we could puke? Good. So you’re probably in the mood to read something else. Something that might get your thoughts flowing. I’d like to submit this article from Good for your perusal: The Top 5 Things that Bother Me About this Headline. A great piece about how information and the quest for audience hampers creativity. My favorite line: ” I wonder if I’m still a writer, or if I’m a content creator.” Ouch.

Also there’s this:

Ostensibly, having this data at our fingertips would mean that we’re producing better ideas. The more you know about what your audience wants, the better you can create stories and infographics and art for them. If writing a certain headline or choosing a certain color for a button means that the most people will get access, shouldn’t you do it? It’s an interesting question.

And if you’re super sick of anything to do with the internet, go read The Atlantic’s compulsively readable History of Meatloaf (the foodstuffs and not the singer).

Hacking art & culture

Have I mentioned lately how totally in love I am with PBS Art’s OffBook series? It’s amazing. The latest episode is about F.A.T. Lab which, if you watch the video, is described as “this viral marketing wing of the open source movement that was never requested.”

This is probably the smartest, most thought-provoking eight minutes you’ll have today. (Warning for the delicate: there is a project that uses a few of the seven dirty words shown in the video)

A wrench, 1.21 gigawatts & these simple instructions stand between you and a time machine

The sci-fi IKEA manuals are all kinds of wonderful. Specifically this one for the Delorean. Make sure you go to College Humor to see manuals for the Tardis, Lightsaber, and dinosaurs.