evilmartini’s posterous

Okay, I've seen some crazy cool ideas that merge pop culture and code, but this one takes the cake. This would be instant hire me credit if I were looking for a creative developer. That and the code is pretty well written (via 5 minute review) Check out the source (literally) at github. Thanks to @DeadProgram via @MilesForrest for the link. Incase you're too lazy to compile it, here's a gist of the output.

10 YEARS! The X-files (damn your eyes Chris Carter - damn your eyes!)
had me bored after three years and a lame movie that told me nothing.

I can still remember the visceral sense of betrayal when you saw
Kerigan get left behind..... I guess the story here is simple: tell
a good story and you'll make a great brand.

Hollywood, I'd be scared If I were you....

http://awkwardstockphotos.com/

I think far too few people understand true implication of the long
tail. Long tail low cost infinite storage means that the most
awkward soul cringing elements of societal discomfort are now
eternally there for the googling.

The internet - proving that humanity is universally unbalanced since 1975.

Oh - and just in case you missed the point here's another one - ho ho
ho, merry christmas.

http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/2010/07/10/saturday-night-special-5/

This is awesome and hysterical.  If you don't get it, you're probably don't understand the corollary joke that goes something like "There are 10 types of people in this world: those that understand binary, and those that don't."

Thanks to @jm3 for the original link...

An article floated in over the Twitter Transom the other day. Go ahead and read the story ... I'll wait. Should you not be the sort that is all that excited about reading things out of band, I'll get you a the highlight:

The tech press and, apparently, Microsofties alike are trying to figure out what went wrong with the Kin "social phones," which Microsoft canned after two years of development but just seven weeks on the market

Continuing the trend, visiting the MS Kin website - You are greeted with a full screen flash page .... I guess they just wanted to make sure that the iPhone peeps felt a small pang of jealously as those 600k pre-ordered iPhone 4's won't be able to see what they're missing.

But I digress. A fundamental question that seems to elude is why do some large companies thrive under the constant need for change (think IBM) while others seem hell bent on hopping on the luge ride to obscurity and crashing stock prices? Microsoft mystifies me as an entity. Money: Check; Smart People: Check; Market Share: Check; Resources out the ass: Check. So how does a company that weighs in at #36 in the Fortune 50 screw up something so completely as to develop a "smart phone" that has a fifteen minute delay for all data pushed to the phone? Wait - did I say push? The device doesn't support push notifications? Excuse me, did you just tell me that you designed and released a mobile device designed for social media without push notifications?

The Pig Is Committed to Breakfast...

So the question comes down to this: "How come start-ups don't make such colossal fuck ups as this?". Answer: "They can't survive if they do". The reason David (the scrappy startup with no budget, no marketing, and sometimes no capital) can take on Goliath is because they can't afford to loose. For every company that makes a $1B US bad decision with an ill fated product, there are countless start-ups that never make it to market and never raise $100,000 US to get their product idea out the door. We only dub a company David after he kills Goliath, not before.

So what's the lesson here? It looks like no one is immune to the hubris of success. Even multi-billion dollar companies. In a free market, no one is too big to fail and there are innumerable David's lining up to take aim at your forehead with a stone.

This is far more fascinating than it has a right to be. Interesting
use of light and resolution. Definitely geek.

Thanks to @timocratic for the original link.

MSNBC original Photo

Things I find fascinating about this clip

1. Jay-Z songs make better parody’s than most original hiphop tracks
2. It’s solid geek. The narrative makes sense and captures most of the StarWars mythos
3. It’s gotta funky beat, and I can dance to it.