I’d heard about this for a while, but it’s quite a treat. You should absolutely read the whole thing, but this was my favorite excerpt.
Exploratory learning can be engineered into repeatable systems: Moments of delight and skill acquisition are highly reproducible. All you need is a well designed and balanced system of interconnected feedback loops that helps guide and encourage the formation of new skills.
Serious Eats rounds up the best spots to eat in Austin. Filing this away for later eating.
OMG. Available 3/16. Extra bonus: “Additionally, a special version of Lady Gaga’s ‘Poker Face,’ made famous by South Park’s Eric Cartman, will also be available…” [via @Remy]
The Panic Status Board To keep on top of their various projects, Panic installed an LCD screen with an overview of what’s going on. I’ve wanted to do this at home for the longest time.
Our support turnaround time is faster than it’s ever been. Just the simple act of “publicizing” those numbers — not in a cruel way, but a “where are we at as a group?” way — has kept the support process on-task and, I think, made it a bit more like a video game. (It helps that when all the boxes are at “zero”, a virtual bottle of champagne appears on-screen, and a physical one is likely removed from the fridge.)
I wish there was a cable channel with five minute snippets of experts doing things. In the meantime, you’ll have to suffer through this flash interface showing several others. My second favorite is the boot shining. [via Put This On]
Bed Jumpers A great series of photos, guaranteed to make you smile. You can also see a larger set of images, which isn’t as tightly edited. [via @Pogue]
Man, what that guy said. And while we’re on the subject, Joel Johnson put together an infographic of all of Sony’s gadget products. Insanity.
In the end, it will turn out to be something simple. I probably called the Bankcard Merchant Services department instead of the Merchant Services Bankcard department, and they can only see certain types of accounts, or some such thing. I don’t think my money actually disappeared. The real problem is that the world has become so complex that simple tasks are nearly impossible.
[via marco]
Crumpled City Maps “Crumpled City Maps are soft, yet hard-wearing, waterproof and meant to be creased and crumpled. You can place the area that you’re interested in on the palm of your hand to spot street names then just screw it up, stuff it back into its case or your pocket, and carry on.” via Information Aesthetics
Make A Face My coworker/buddy Mark Paschal built the most funnest website. Login, take a photo with your webcam, it appears automagically. It’s like the internet’s photo booth.
For long emails, you’d write a brief abstract that would go at the top. It would also be a great way to see if you can say in 200 characters what you tried to say in 2,000.
Matt Buchanan of Gizmodo explains how the recently announced Bloom Energy Server works. In short, it’s a new type of fuel cell that will allow business and home owners to cheaply generate their own energy (bonus fact: it runs at 1800°F!). It’s still unclear if they can get the cost low enough for consumers and it is not carbon neutral, but it’s considered a major breakthrough. NYT’s Green Inc. blog has a more general rundown of the device.
An iPhone-friendly jam from the Weightshift crew that makes it easy to find people at SXSWi. I’m looking forward to using this to see where my friends are sitting at panels and avoid my frenemies.
The Ask, by Sam Lipsyte Sam is a funny guy and wrote a book I quite enjoyed (The Subject Steve). This is his newest book and it’s out March 2nd. You can read the first 20 pages at GQ. [via VSL]
The Big Picture: Backstage during Fashion Week The photo essay is so-so, but I do love this photo. It should be up on Slice!
Accolade's Amazing Box Art Panic collects some stunning video game boxes produced by Accolade between 1984 and 1990. The Killed Until Dead box is my favorite and nothing like anything out there now.
The BBC Prepares a New Visual Identity for Its Website “We wanted to create something that is flexible enough to allow all our brands their full expression whilst uniting them into a coherent user experience.” Rethinking the identity of a site this large is an undertaking I can barely fathom. I also really liked the simplicity of their new icon set, seen above, which supports their desire to have pages with “a predominantly neutral colour palette with colour being provided by large and dramatic imagery.”
Yes, I am still 5 months behind on my New Yorkers. For penance, here is a funny Shouts & Murmurs. “All of you ‘Far Horizons’ Fifteenth Tier Plan subscribers may now choose any doctor you like, who will then refer you to the list of approved cheap doctors, ex-doctors, doctors-in-training, and veterinarians.”
Trade School “Take a class every night with a range of specialized teachers in exchange for basic items and services. Secure a spot in a Trade School class by meeting one of the teacher’s barter needs.” My only complaint is that most of the classes are full! [via @lauratitian]
Jim Bumgardner cheats at Foursquare and he’s not ashamed to admit it. He utilized the API to see how far he could go with stealing mayorships and gaining badges.
The “Java Monkeys” [user] got the biggest reactions. Foursquare users get far more irate when they lose mayorship of a Starbucks, as compared to a Statue of Liberty or Mount Rushmore. People are much more attached to the small places they visit over and over, and have some personal investment in. The smaller the venue, the bigger the value.
Serious Eats rounds up the best spots to eat in Austin. Filing this away for…
OMG. Available 3/16. Extra bonus: “Additionally, a special version of Lady Gaga’s ‘Poker Face,’ made…
To keep on top of their various projects, Panic installed an LCD screen with an…
This Wednesday, March 10th, I’ll be speaking as a part of SVA’s Dot Dot Dot…
I wish there was a cable channel with five minute snippets of experts doing things.…