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Links for 16 August 2008 through 20 August 2008

Stilgherrian’s links for 16 August 2008 through 20 August 2008, collected by a team of unemployed philatelists under a Word for the Dole program:

  • Actor’s Release Form | PakBuzz: I was looking for a sample release form which people could use to sign away their rights when they participate in my media projects. This one isn’t a bad start.
  • Video Capture and Editing in Linux using Kino | SLUG: Marghanita da Cruz’s notes from a year ago, explaining how to use a low-end (by today’s standards) laptop, free Kino software and consumer-grade video cameras to capture and edit video.
  • Is there anybody out there? | VatorNews: A 22-minute video interview with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, in which he explains the concept of “ambient social awareness”.
  • Cake Wrecks: As the subtitle explains, this is blog is about “when professional cakes go horribly, hilariously wrong”. Gentle amusement value.
  • Wirecast : Vara Software: “Wirecast is the most advanced live webcasting product available for your Mac or PC. You can stream multiple live video cameras, while dynamically mixing in other media (movies, images etc).” To be investigated soon, though the US$500 commercial license is putting me off a bit.
  • RAAF Bases | Google Maps: A map showing the bases operated by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).
  • Mines of Papua New Guinea | Google Maps: A map showing the location of (presumably significant) mines in PNG.
  • AtGoogleTalks’ Channel | YouTube: Full recordings of the various @Google events, such as Authors@Google. More than 450 of them, including names like Noam Chomsky, George Lakoff, Salman Rushdie, Ralph Nader, Barack Obama…
  • Big Things of Australia | Google Maps: There’s more than 145 Big Things in Australia, from the original Big Banana in Coffs Harbour to… Well, this map shows them all. Explore!
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Links for 15 August 2008 through 16 August 2008

Stilgherrian’s links for 15 August 2008 through 16 August 2008:

  • iUSBCam | Ecamm Network: Software to make a USB camera work with Mac OS X as a webcam, not just Firewire cameras or the built-in iSight. I haven’t tried it yet.
  • Down for everyone or just me?: Sick of people asking you whether some website is “down” for you as well? Point them here.
  • CNN: Is Obama the Anti-Christ? | YouTube: A CNN compilation of US news reports speculating that US presidential candidate Barack Obama is the Anti-Christ. The proof? That there are 900,000 Google search results for “obama anti-christ”. And this makes it 900,001. Idiots.
  • Oz-IA/2008: Australia’s Information Architecture conference, to be held in Sydney on the weekend of 20-21 September. I’ve been invited to go and do some live stuff. Should I?
  • What’s Behind the iPhone 3G Glitches | BusinessWeek: A discussion of possible causes behind complaints of dropped calls and choppy Internet connections… and of course Apple’s usual denial of any problem and no further comment.
  • The Unclutterer Workspaces Pool | Flickr: A group pool of folks showing off their elegantly uncluttered workspaces. My desk cannot appear here.
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Book cover marketing FAIL?

I saw these books sitting in a shop window the other day and the first thing I did was laugh. Why? Well, seeing the four lined up like this seemed like a list of clichés.

Photo of book covers

Germaine Greer On Rage? Well, yes, she does get more than a little grumpy, wink wink, eh? (Although as someone asked me, “Greer on Rage? What would she guest program?”) David Malouf On Experience? Yeah, he’s getting a bit long in the tooth, sure… and need I mention the probable subject of Blanche d’Alpuget’s longing in On Longing?

Yeah, time for another nudge-nudge wink-wink there too.

Now Mark Pesce tells me that Greer’s book is written in the context of the NT Intervention — something worth getting angry about. “A cogent book about rage,” he says. “Perhaps an important one. Time will tell.”

Sure, he’s a fan. Greer is an important public intellectual, though, and today’s First Dog on the Moon cartoon explains very well why everyone hates Germaine Greer. But for me the line-up of little pastel covers and the gift-set option tells me this is for people who want to look like they’re intellectuals.

If Greer’s book is indeed important, then it needs to be more than a fetish for someone’s mantlepiece, along with that unread (and unreadable) hardback of Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose. And maybe that means more descriptive covers?

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Links for 11 August 2008 through 12 August 2008

Stilgherrian’s links for 11 August 2008 through 12 August 2008, polished with a smooth cloth:

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Finally, “The Shave”

Yes, it’s finally complete! Our short film, The Shave. Enjoy. It runs for 3 minutes 35 seconds.

If the embedded video doesn’t work for you, try here.

We decided on the desaturated look rather than going all the way to black and white — though you can see that version in Stilgherrian Live Alpha episode 8.

For those interested in the technicals, it was shot using the built-in iSight camera on my MacBook Pro. We sat the computer on books piled on a milk crate sitting on the kitchen table, and used desk lamps for lighting. We recorded it using Apple’s Photo Booth software. ’Pong edited it using iMovie. Whaddyareckon?

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Links for 10 August 2008

Here are the web links I’ve found for 10 August 2008, posted automatically with cheese and onions.