Waxy.org: Links Archives: October 2007

Trent Reznor comments on OiNK shutdown (he was an active member) [via]

Marc Andreessen on Open Social (the post-dated press release offers more info, with URLs that aren't live yet)

Jail finds (flotsam abandoned in books from a jail's lending library) [via]

Fan-made plush Portal Companion Cube (also: Cake!) [via]

Ben Brown on Consumating's ill-fated points system (aligning desired behaviors with point rewards is difficult to do and has unintended consequences) [via]

Anil Dash comments on Apple's jab at Windows users (he calls them out for arrogance and inaccuracy)

Jenn Frank on Arcade Attack (insane 1982 "documentary" about pinball versus videogames, with video)

The Tall Stump (first place and audience winner of the 4th Casual Gameplay Game Design competition)

Oink.cd, the #1 site in the world for waffle recipes (I love those guys)

Apple left the Blue Screen of Death easter egg in Leopard's final release (I'd seen this in the alphas, but I'm impressed they kept it in)

The Superest (two artists compete by drawing superheroes that cancel out the power of their opponent's previous hero) [via]

Shintaro Kago's brain-damaged manga, lovingly translated (NSFW for sex and violence, but don't let that stop you; it's a fascinating deconstruction of comic form) [via]

Vented Spleen's comic about living with Crohn's disease (one of the best 24 Hour Comic Day comics I've ever seen) [via]

Matt Haughey on classical as the future of music (related: Alex Ross in the New Yorker on the rise of classical music online)

Daily Telegraph interviews OiNK founder (also, he's been answering questions in IRC)

Little People art installation at the Nuart (when I first saw it, I thought they were tilt-shift photos; more on his Flickr page)

Interactive Fiction Database (newly launched, including community moderation tools, recommendations, and a browser plugin for launching games) [via]

How Dopplr generates colors for every city (it's lovely bits like this that make Dopplr so great) [via]

DJ Rupture defends OiNK in wake of its shutdown (he found his entire discography traded online, but found it reassuring)

Nelson Minar on Techcrunch's misuse of "off the record" sources ("you keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means")

Video: BBC report on the OiNK raid (inaccurate, but interesting; nobody paid subscription fees, and voluntary donations covered costs)

MTV interviews Jonathan Coulton about Portal song (interesting trivia: Valve had the option of using Ben Folds, but went with Jon)

Wired's How Manga Conquered the U.S. mini-comic (10-page PDF, start from the last page and work your way back) [via]

OiNK shut down, 24-year-old creator arrested (very sad, it was one of the strongest online communities; also, saying it's "lucrative" is a flat-out lie)

How the identity of Violent Acres was unmasked (good detective work, brought on by her anonymous personal attacks against other bloggers (and their kids))

USPO rejects Amazon's one-click patent after reviewing blogger's prior art (Peter Calveley's persistent efforts were chronicled on his blog)

Jonathan Coulton on his work with Portal (spoilers; if you haven't played Portal yet, trust me and buy it)

I Played Through Episode Two Holding A Goddamn Gnome (the hypnotizing power of game achievements) [via]

Call and Response (repeating ad jingles in overlapping intervals builds a droning soundscape)

Wired News interviews StSanders about his Shred videos (including a quote from Steve Vai)

Gabe & Max's Internet Thing (share your thoughts with up to 10 people using The Online Blogopolis!) [via]

Vimeo adds HD videos (I'm floored by the quality)

Pillar (Flickr in-jokes galore, and now #1 on Explore)

What single book is the best introduction to your field for laypeople? (brilliant Ask Metafilter thread showcases the diversity of the community)

Zappos brings customer to tears (in a good way) (the only way a shoe store could thrive online is with insanely incredible customer support like theirs) [via]

Hype Machine redesign launching soon (cute, they're waiting until they have 10,000 people viewing the page at once)

People Getting Punched Just Before Eating (reading the comments (never a good idea), it looks like Andy Samberg's pretty divisive)

Video: Font talk with Pat Sajak and Vanna White (hmm, Vanna uses Arial and Helvetica) [via]

New York Mag's cover story on Gawker and "the rage of the creative underclass" (long rant, with a response by Denton) [via]

Introducing Penelope Frances Trott (congrats, Ben & Mena!)

Details on Brütal Legend, new game from Psychonauts creators (metal-themed game starring Jack Black, Rob Halford, and Lemmy)

Ze Frank's "A Social Network for Two" (we could lie about our ages and customize our pages)

Followup on the Mutating Pictures project (the hive mind is great at drawing samurai faces)

Covering cancer in Funky Winkerbean (interesting to see how the fans respond to serious issues in the Sunday funnies)

GameSetWatch's highlights of the 2008 IGF entries (most of these games sound insanely good)

Breath Wars (Flickr's slightly more disgusting followup to Faceball)

Interactive Fiction Comp '07 entries released (IF author Emily Short is publishing reviews as she plays them)

The Believer interviews Adrian Tomine (long, good interview)

Sony Bravia ad borrows from Kozyndan? (after seeing the ad, I assumed they were involved)

Details on the Threadless retail store (much more on Flickr) [via]

TiVo uses PayPerPost for fake grassroots video campaign (later that day, they killed the program and are now trying to remove all the videos) [via]

Flo Control (using image recognition to prevent unwanted houseguests through a cat door)

A Night In With MAME (NSFW review of "Swinging Singles" arcade game from 1983) [via]

Mike discovers an unusual seatbelt fetish on Flickr (~~822~~ 826 pictures of women wearing seatbelts in the back seat, culled with loving, creepy care)