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newsBytes
(and some bits)

Towel Day 2009

I’m a bad geek, but I’ll go out and find a towel later this afternoon. All hoopy froods should know where their towel’s at, to cope with life most non-floopily.

RIP, Douglas Adams.

Seadragon, zoom in on your life

It’s just another really well-done implementation of an old idea. Microsoft Live Labs has managed to execute another neat tech called Seadragon, allowing you to zoom in smoothly and seamlessly, getting more and more detail from an image. This is definitely the sort of thing that, can ’splode your mind, given time. The mobile version is even more impressive, allowing you to close in on any city, from a map of the world.

Photosynth, stitching together environments, not photos

Imagine what it would be like to have a photo gallery that you could place together, and make a walkthrough. Think of the ability to make a panoramic photo, but now step in to the picture, change the angle, look around. Photosynth is unfortunately Windows-only for now (thanks, Microsoft), but the concept behind it will surely inspire many to take it to other levels.


Developing websites — structure, content, and design

When it comes to websites, structure is something that every designer needs to think about before choosing a typeface or a colour scheme. The planning in these stages shapes how your content is presented and accessed, but in some cases, may actually influence appropriate content choices. Decisions about navigation shouldn’t be left to the end of the planning process, for your designer to deal with as an afterthought. Content is what you want on your site, but it’s extremely important that you make a commitment to a method of organizing it.

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Jonathan Coulton played the Lula Lounge in Toronto!

He’s the man behind the song at the end of the Valve game, Portal, but even before that, he had a cult following on the internet. Almost three years ago, he quit his job as a computer programmer to pursue music full-time. He started a project called “Thing-a-Week,” a regimented approach to his creative side, and one that would cement a great connection to his fans. The concept was simple, but required dedication to pull off. Every week, he would release something. Anything. Most of it was cool stuff. Some of it was übercool. Much of it was about monkeys, and other everyday topics.

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System requirements for being a Geek? Get excited about Diablo III

There are a few defining characteristics for geeks, many of which can be hotly debated. Using a custom version of Linux as your day-to-day operating system, knowing how to code in the assembly language of an obscure piece of hardware that doesn’t even get used anymore, scolding your friends for not having strict doctypes on their webpages about cats they own.

There’s another sort of geek, and that’s the one that gets chills when he or she sees an opening cinematic crafted by the team at Blizzard.

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