The penultimate link dump. This selection comes from the first half of 2007, a year when I didn’t really blog at all. I regret that. Anyway, enjoy:
- Crappy Sound Forever! / David Byrne on how recording technology changed the way music was/is written and performed.
- Freedom is slavery / Links and commentary on free will and determinism. I wrote an essay about free will in one of my end-of-year philosophy exams years ago; I think I concluded it by contradicting everything I’d asserted before the last paragraph.
- English Sentences Without Overt Grammatical Subjects / Or, the grammar of swearing (via Kottke).
- The stuff of dreams / Ferrofluids, dilatants and other freaky sciency things.
- Powers of 10 / “Two leading structural engineers pick their favorite feats of man-made wonder.” They wouldn’t all be my pick, but nice all the same.
- The ecstasy of influence / An essay by Jonathan Lethem on plagiarism in the arts.
- The Morning News Guide to Urban Etiquette: New York City / Yet another urban behaviour guide! Most of this is common sense, but maybe not so common if it needs to be explained to people.
- Japanese Cardboard Box Design / I love the little characters they have for everthing, like the orange juice guy, the staple-free box dude and the smiling aubergine. See also: Speedy! Animal Characters As Japanese Shipping Logos.
- TV Solidarity / A story of dissidence in communist Poland.
- The AV Club interviews Baron Von Raschke
- Densho / “Densho’s mission is to preserve the testimonies of Japanese Americans who were unjustly incarcerated during World War II before their memories are extinguished.”
- Freaks and Geeks: High School Hell (1999-2000) / Judd Apatow and Paul Feig comment on the cult favourite that launched more careers than it’s given credit for. Still need to get the box set.
- How an Obscure Collection of Japanese Action Figures Changed the Way We Play
- 50 memorable pages from the Guardian archive / A special to mark their 50,000 edition in mid 2007.
- A 150-mile walk through the Big Apple / Via RandomWalks; one of the walkers has since walked across America.