Link Banana

Or “a picture that uses a pair of legs to frame something, usually a torso, in the picture.” Print Magazine — which appears to have little talent at web design — has documented hundreds of examples of what it calls “the most popularly copied trope ever used.” Am I the only one that thinks it’s a little bit dirty?

(via kottke)

Logoblink has amassed a collection of campaign logos from 1960 to today. I’m not sure which is more remarkable: how little they’ve changed or how much they’ve stayed the same. (Editor’s note: That childish quip is an unfair slight of all the interesting oddities that makes the list worth viewing.)

(via kottke)

Jason Kottke notes an interesting phenomenon. Rather than technology advancing to make computer-generated characters look eerily-but-not-completely lifelike, poorly executed Photoshops of real people can make them looks eerily-but-not-completely lifelike.

In what seems a fitting follow-on to the previous story, I finally read a few-week-old story by Jared Diamond in The New Yorker.

My conversations with Daniel made me understand what we have given up by leaving justice to the state. In order to induce us to do so, state societies and their associated religions and moral codes teach us that seeking revenge is bad. But, while acting on vengeful feelings clearly needs to be discouraged, acknowledging them should be not merely permitted but encouraged. To a close relative or friend of someone who has been killed or seriously wronged, and to the victims of harm themselves, those feelings are natural and powerful. Many state governments do attempt to grant the relatives of crime victims some personal satisfaction, by allowing them to be present at the trial of the accused, and, in some cases, to address the judge or jury, or even to watch the execution of their loved one’s murderer.

(via kottke)

News to me: the notoriously secretive Bob Dylan has a radio show on XM. Vanity Fair has compiled an excellent list of the show’s features and quirks. If the graphic’s too hard to read, or you just want more details, the expanded text is available here.

(via kottke, who explains the inspiration for the graphic)

• Because they give us pictures like this.
• And also some like this.

(both via kottke)

It sounds frivolous but that’s doesn’t mean it’s not beautiful. In fact, that may make it more so.

(via kottke)

From the file labeled “Clever enough to excuse it’s shallowness,” a short audio story. Copious profanity ahead.

(via kottke)

Last week, Mario Batalli’s seemingly-bogus claim that pizza in New York was unlike anywhere else because of the city’s water got a lot of play. Thankfully, Mr. Kottke’s gathered some sensible rebuffs to this theory, the best of which is:

There are a lot of variables for such a simple food. But these 3 FAR outweigh the others:

1. High Heat
2. Kneading Technique
3. The kind of yeast culture or “starter” used along with proper fermentation technique

All other factors pale in comparison to these 3. I know that people fuss over the brand of flour, the kind of sauce, etc. I discuss all of these things, but if you don’t have the 3 fundamentals above handled, you will be limited.

There’s something about these unfinished Egyptian hotels that may be even creepier than abandoned ones.

(via kottke)

Also of note, Disney World’s Ghost Resort.

Finally recognizing that they might want to do something about this newfangled Wikipedia thing, Britannica is openning up. Sadly, only a little.

Since they don’t have a good quotable bit about it, they’re essentially letting “web publishers” gain free access to the content, and then allowing them to link to it and make the whole article readable by the world at large. It’s rather a Byzantine — and thus unlikely to make a big splash — system, but I have to give them some credit for trying.

(via kottke)

In similar trying-to-get-with-it news, CNN is selling shirt that feature it’s embarrassing headlines.

Interesting series of photos showing, well, just that. And though this doesn’t include the most graphic parts of a slaughter, I’m sure some will still find it off-putting.

(via kottke)

New York Times film critic A. O. Scott offers a nice goodbye to Roger Ebert as a television personality.

It seems to me that “Sneak Previews” and its descendants, far from advancing the vulgarization of film criticism, extended its reach and strengthened its essentially democratic character. That is not to say that chatting about a movie in front of a camera (actually three cameras), and bouncing from a scripted mini-review to improvised cross-talk, can ever achieve the depth or nuance of a polished piece of writing. (Roger has often admitted as much. When I was at his house, he scribbled a bit of wisdom on the small spiral notebook that is his main conversational vehicle these days: the gist was that when writing, you should avoid cliché, but on television you should embrace it.)

(via kottke)

Jason Kottke’s rather a fan:

Charles Joseph Minard may get all the accolades for his graphic of Napolean’s march to Moscow, but for me, the above chart is the most beautiful ever created. When I look at it, I see Ollie. The graph is a portrait of him, as sure as this photo is.

Mr. Kottke says that these are tilt-shift photos. All I know is that they look like teeny tiny models of teeny tiny people leading teeny tiny lives. …I feel small.

More tilt-shift photo are available on Flickr. (via Dryden, who explains the technique)

Though I have no idea what these photos are doing on a forum called “BMWSportTouring,” there’s no denying that they’re very cool. They show how the space shuttle is assembled, from the hauling in of parts to liftoff. Well worth a look.

(via kottke)

Grant Barrett’s column about the practice is a worth a look. I do this one all the time:

However, a lot of people are now calling the regular Internet the Internets, plural, with an ‘s’ at the end. 

He also mentions “liberry” for “library,” a long time personal favorite.

(via kottke, who’s allowing comments on this one)

The UK’s Royal Mint does it right:

As you can see [by clicking the title link], the Shield of the Royal Arms has been given a contemporary treatment and its whole has been cleverly split among all six denominations from the 1p to the 50p, with the £1 coin displaying the heraldic element in its entirety. This is the first time that a single design has been used across a range of United Kingdom coins.

(via kottke)

A haunting Flickr photo set of a decaying Ohio theme park.

(via kottke)

Line Rider was quite popular about a year ago. I remember wasting far too much time drawing lines and trying not to kill the helpless little sledder. I never did anything even 1% as impressive as this though.

(via kottke)