Web Culture

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.

Gourmet whole bean coffee hand roasted by Stormtroopers

Kai’s Free Buzz is pretty legendary around The Nerdery (and those who partook at the Webchallenge). The Free Buzz is almost as legendary as Kai’s emails announcing its availability. Here’s a nice excerpt from one explaining exactly what the Buzz is:
“It’s the thickest, chewiest, blackest, most jacked up coffee you’ve ever had. So fresh that even before the hot water hits it, the grinds are still warm from the grinder. So thick, you’ll be sucking the residue from in between your teeth for hours. So jacked up that if Mondays were anthropomorphic enough to have fingers, they’d be slapping your arm looking for a vein.

In the ever-brutal battle between hot things and cold things, pitch black concentrated coffee is often caught in the middle. In the middle of boiling water; in the middle of crushed ice; in the middle of your mug; in the middle of your mouth; in the middle of the morning.”

Imagine the kind of epic nerd caffienegasm that could happen if Kai’s Buzz was made with Star Wars Vader’s Dark Side Roast Coffee from ThinkGeek?

The mind boggles. Really.

The Mac vs. PC debate, this time with pretty infographics

If you are sick of the Mac vs. PC debate and what it says about you skip this post and go play with Hacker Typer (which lets you be like a movie “hacker,” i.e. write code just by pressing random keys).

If you’re like the Mac vs PC debate (and nifty infographics), surf on over to the Hunch blog where they’ve analyzed the differences between self-identified Mac People and PC People using some of the questions Hunch users can choose to answer about themselves.

A lot of the findings feel pretty predictable or, stereotypical. Mac users like design and trendy clothes and Vespas. PC users like impressionism and comfortable clothes and Harleys. It’s still a fun read. And the best part? If you scroll to the bottom and read more about the analysis, you’ll see that 47% of Mac users find the Mac vs PC debate important compared to only 31% of PC users. At least I thought it was funny. Mac users apparently feel the need to justify their Macness way more than PC users.

Heaven is a place on the Internet

Did you catch yesterday’s xkcd?

That’s it right over there ——->

Funny, huh?

You know what makes it even better? The good people at G U D magazine made it possible for you to play that heavenly version of Tetris. Pretty sweet.