John Gushue . . . Dot Dot Dot

A merry, merry Hothmas for you

This T-shirt, a seasonal wink on The Empire Strikes Back battle on the ice planet Hoth, made me laugh. And I bought one (actually, more than one), too, because it's available today only. TeeFury sells its wares dirt cheap (US $9), but on a limited edition basis. 

A thought on reaching all audiences

 "I sing to the whole family. I'm anti-demographics."
- Tony Bennett, as said on Elvis Costello's Spectacle

Boy, they don't make ads like this very often

... and for a reason. I learned about this via the Age of Persuasion Facebook feed. 

Five-fact Friday

 
 

The first musical instrument played in space was a harmonica, which astronaut Wally Schirra smuggled aboard a Gemini space mission in 1965. The instrument (like some sleigh bells that Schirra and a collegague also took aboard) is held at the Air and Space Museum in Washington.

The Daily Show, which has made a stock in trade in lampooning TV news programs, keeps track of things with the help of no less than 13 Tivos.

In 1996, Rush became the first Canadian band to be named collectively to the Order of Canada.

Finland leads the world's wealthiest nations in terms of most paid days off, according to a 2007 survey. Finnish law sets aside 30 days of annual leave for workers, and the country has an additional 14 statutory holidays.

Bruce Swedien, the legendary sound mixer who has worked with many jazz luminaries and on numerous Quincy Jones productions, made 91 different mixes of Michael Jackon's Billie Jean before the final version was picked: the second one Swedien had done.

A grand day for a walk

[Surf's Up, as published in the St. John's Telegram on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009. Click here to read more Surf's Up.]

The evenings are dark now, but that hasn’t stopped our family from trying to get out when we can for a healthy walk. The first site on this week’s web tour is all about the St. John’s-area network that has transformed how many of us spend our leisure time. 

Grand Concourse
The Grand Concourse is an ambitious project launched by philanthropist Paul Johnson and his family’s foundation, and now includes a network of trails and guided walks that crisscross the city and into neighbouring municipalities. Many of the trails are old and well-established, but have been upgraded to terrific shape because of the Grand Concourse’s work.
 
The website underwent a recent overhaul, and has plenty to offer, including suggestions on walks of varying skill levels and lengths, with complementing maps and photos. Among other things, it makes good use of mashups with Google Maps, so you can get a good idea of where a given route will take you.
 
While it’s nice to see a more robust web presence, I’d suggest a few things. For instance, it would be terrific to be able print simple, clean sheets on each hike. As well, the organization could develop a greater sense of community by inviting participants to get involved, and using user-generated tools for photo-sharing, hike descriptions, etc. After all, the Grand Concourse, which holds not just one local gem but many, is all about public participation.
 

Elsewhere this week

Scribd
Scribd is fast becoming a popular application all over the web, probably because it’s easy for users. It produces Flash-powered embeddable documents, which means that rather than linking to a PDF, you can put it right in your blog or website, and the reader can see scroll or tab through the whole thing. The document can be as a big as a book or as small as a brochure; that’s up to you. Better yet, it can be shared, which can help let your content move around the web, if you’re cool with that. It’s a handy way to bring something like a PowerPoint presentation to the individual level, as well. Heavy users range from major publishers, like technology gurus like O’Reilly Media, to small businesses. 

Photoshop Disasters
Photoshop Disasters made the news this fall when one of its routine posts – they all involve errors and distortions that somehow made their way to print – royally ticked off fashion company Ralph Lauren. The blog had merely pointed out that a particular model has sci-fi-style proportions, winding up with an impossibly skinny waist. When other sites, including the wonderful Boing Boing, raised hackles, Ralph Lauren went to its corner and had a boo-hoo. Fortunately, Photoshop Disasters is still plugging away, pointing out the sublime and ridiculous.

Swampland
Time magazine may never be able to shake its image as being stuffier than a starched shirt, but that hasn’t stopped it from running a political blog with plenty of bounce. Swampland is a collaborative project by the magazine’s writers, with frequently updated posts on each day’s political news, with an unsurprisingly hefty emphasis on Washington. (It’s not called Swampland for nothing.) I subscribe to the daily email alert, for reminders to check out new content.

Snapbird
Because Twitter’s in-house search system only allows seven days of access, along comes Snapbird, which lets you comb through many weeks of tweets – as long as they were made by friends or those you’ve marked as favourites. A handy tool for locating something you read weeks or months ago.

Little Wheel
Imagine a robot world where the machines have been sleeping, for lack of a better, word, for 10,000 years. A lightning strike reanimates one of them, and in this charming little game, your job is to get everything back on the go, one step at a time. If you’re confounded, you can take a little cheat and click on Walkthrough … but I bet you’ll love figuring out as much as you can on your own.
 

John Gushue is a writer in St. John's, and is currently on leave from his job with CBC News in St. John's. John is on Facebook right here. John is on Twitter right here.

The problem with you, you and you: Rick Mercer on the leaders

From this week's episode of the RIck Mercer Report. A minute long, and pretty much summing up the electorate mood of 2009.

A thought on what lies beneath

"Underneath this flabby exterior is an enormous lack of character."
- Oscar Levant

What kills whom where

What kills Canadians most? Or residents of other nations? And what is the global picture? Check out WorldLifeExpectancy. It's revealing stuff, especially with the ability to compare, contrast and sort.

When stormtroopers kill teddy bears: Faux Facebook status updates

The image above is the start of the funniest thing I read today: a list of five Facebook conversations involving the characters of the Star Wars galaxy. Here's the rest. (A head's up: not for young kids.)

Bohemian Rhapsody, a la Muppets

Freshly released, with various Muppets taking the right roles (who else but Beaker could hit those very high notes) in Queen's evergreen song.

A thought on who needs advice

"A word to the wise ain't necessary - it's the stupid ones that need the advice."
- Bill Cosby

It's the end of the world as they wrote it

I have zero interest in seeing 2012; the trailer was quite enough, thanks. That said, I was intrigued by this list of the best works of apocalyptic fiction, which includes writers as diverse as Cormac McCarthy and Nevil Shute and Margaret Atwood (for Oryx and Crake).

Spice post

Our kitchen is a busy place, but a small one, which has meant we've had to be practical with fitting things into tight spaces. The Kitchn (yep, that's how it's spelled) has a how-to on making your own magnetic spice holder, which is an option I'd pursure - if I had enough wall space.

A thought on conscience

"Conscience is the inner voice that warns us somebody may be looking."
- H. L. Mencken

Mr. Sulu, and other knights of the round table

A mash-up between Star Trek and Monty Python goes down very well at the end of the day. Try not to laugh: I dare you. (I got the pointer to this on Facebook, through Michelle Butler Hallett.)

Abounds of the Baskerville, and other top fonts

Font geeks - and you know who you are - will appreciate this collection of influential typefaces.