John Gushue . . . Dot Dot Dot

Overhauled design at CBC Radio 3

CBC Radio 3 has updated its design. It's cleaner, although it's still a bit harder to navigate than it should. (Try clicking on a permalink.) 

Here's a guide on how to get the most out of the service, which allows for customization, playlists and other fun stuff.

Make your own wi-fi divining rod

Yes, my laptop can do it in a jiffy, but isn't it cool to have a tool that at least looks like it was used centuries ago to do the trick? The tip on making your own divining rod, or dowsing rod, as they call it, comes from - where else - Make.

Web trends of the year

I spend a lot of my time thinking about how the internet gets used, and how web-based technologies are evolving; in fact, it's hard keeping up with everything. This slide show by Richard McManus is an excellent composite of things, particularly on how the web is now about organizing data than a collection of separate web pages, and also of how real-time factors are changing content delivery and management.

ReadWriteWeb's Top 5 Web Trends in 2009

View more presentations from Richard MacManus.

Fast Flip

Google has launched its latest way to earn your time: Fast Flip, a magazine-style browser that collates leading stories of the day from around the web. Selections are determined by rising number of hits, much the same as Google News works, although you can do custom searches. It's available for mobile use too. Here's more on how it works.

I can has synergistic, cross-pollinating web empire

Time magazine profiles Ben Huh, who is making a mint from a bunch of sites and blogs, from the Fail blog to GraphJam to I Can Has Cheezburger.

(Before we continue: Aside from the Lolcats trend that has kind of overstayed its welcome by, oh, many moons, I think Huh has something to answer for because of the Fail meme. I've quite had it with teens and young adults, with no practical life or work experience, instantly and angrily labelling something as "FAIL!!!" - not because it doesn't work, but because they simply don't like it.)

Huh's sites (more than 20 of them) are making a mint:

These spellbindingly inane blogs were built with the kind of user-generated content that has made Facebook and YouTube tremendously popular. But unlike these bigger sites, Huh's company has been in the black since its first quarter. Pet Holdings managed to haul in seven figures from advertising, licensing fees and merchandise sales during the first six months of this year, according to a report given to Huh's investors.

Laugh at that, cats.

Bill Gates never wanted to give you money: great internet hoaxes

Hard to believe that 12 years have passed since one of the great web hoaxes of them all: the idea that Bill Gates will give you some of his money, and all you have to do is forward an email. It survives, in variations, even now, or at least the concept does.

Here's a list of other hoaxes that have played themselves out over the last 15 years or so, some of which were particularly clever.

Why marketing types care about what social networks you use

According to new Anderson Analytics data, what social networks you belong to (and don't) can indicate something about you. All this talk about finding tribes online? It applies to companies trying to figure out where consumers are headed. Interesting piece in Advertising Age. 

We like to watch

As participatory as that darn Web 2.0 can be, it really comes down to most people standing on the sidelines. Or so it seems. And, in the interest of being passive, I'm going to turn you over now to Alan at Gen X at 50 40, who already has what I would point you toward anyway.

A clock with handwritten appeal

No doubt your computer has a clock on it, but here's an option to keep handy for time-checks: a handwitten version. The above capture shows the date; the hours, minutes and seconds are constantly changing. Check it out.

McSweeney's: A course outline that's probably closer than we think

McSweeney's offers notes on the "Internet-Age Writing Syllabus and Course Overview," for the Perez Hilton generation.

You can't just sign up for this imaginary course. You need some prerequisites:

Students must have completed at least two of the following.

ENG: 232WR—Advanced Tweeting: The Elements of Droll
LIT: 223—Early-21st-Century Literature: 140 Characters or Less
ENG: 102—Staring Blankly at Handheld Devices While Others Are Talking
ENG: 301—Advanced Blog and Book Skimming
ENG: 231WR—Facebook Wall Alliteration and Assonance
LIT: 202—The Literary Merits of Lolcats
LIT: 209—Internet-Age Surrealistic Narcissism and Self-Absorption

Ouch. The rest is here.