Though admittedly probably with little practical application, we enjoyed toggling the settings and cycling through the range of cartographic projections (see previously) and scalable display options on Making Maps Out of Emojis via the always excellent Maps Mania. Watching the countries crawl across the screen pixelwise reminds me of the zero-player Game of Life. There are atlas and globe configurations and a number of different ways to display landmasses and the oceans with sliders to shift the granularity and ensure our smaller neighbours get represented. Click through for more including how to custom code a dynamic world of one’s own.
Saturday 22 May 2021
Sunday 9 May 2021
prestavba
Once again via Waxy as part of a year-long celebration on a half-century of text games (previously) we are directed towards the BASIC narrative distributed on cassette tape from programmer Miroslav Fรญdler commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the suppression of the Prague Spring by Warsaw Pact troops, allowing players to relive events and make different choices for potentially better outcomes. Such subversive software (see also) was of course not tolerated by the government and many risked their livelihoods and lives in creating and sharing such programs.
Tuesday 4 May 2021
7x7
sensory deprivation: science fiction author Hugo Gernsbeck invented an isolation helmet to eliminate distractions
while my guitar gently weeps: Prince performs a mind-blowing solo during a 2004 induction ceremony for George Harrison into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
๐: revolutionary way to use thirty-year-old gaming controls (see also) to reach new heights in high-scoresseti@home: project Breakthrough Listen seemingly revives the spectre of Fermi’s Paradox
gratitude journal: tiled grid of things to be thankful for from Kira Street inspires one to make one’s own mood board
urban renewal: colour-coded maps like stained glass help one visualise how cities age and grow
; vs –: duelling punctuation preferences of famous authors
Sunday 2 May 2021
9x9
why are you still here: our houses get sick of us never leaving too—via Nag on the Lake’s Sunday Links (lots more to see here)
fake id: the unfortunately inevitable rise of counterfeit vaccination credentials
disaster girl: meme as NFT (previously) nets a half-million dollars at auction
comically overwrought: an oral history of the Crying Dawson gifresident evil village: games company produced a musical, gory puppet show to promote its latest instalment
sunshine state: Florida will make it illegal for social media to deplatform politicians, with a especial carve-out for Disney—via Slashdot
euphonium: found poetry in the history of acoustic waves
web curios: Waxy lets us know that the fine and well-connected newsletter returns after a sabbatical of nine months with the folding of Imperia
windows on the world: artwork by Liam Cobb that fills one with Wanderlust—via the morning news
Wednesday 14 April 2021
family office
Via Kottke, we are directed to this endearing and expect homage to the vision of Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi in the form of this landing page that’s a business card of a business incubator that speaks to its philosophy and unique approach to innovation not to mention a captivating scroll-through with 8-bit dinosaurs, weather and witches.
catagories: ๐พ, ๐ก, networking and blogging
Wednesday 7 April 2021
7x7
silvagunner: an appreciation of the remixing collective from Kicks Condor
film festival: curate one’s own streaming series from a vast, public domain archive
re-branding: artist FAEL redesigns corporate logos with a perfect balance of retro and progressprompts and cues: remedies to exhausting monologues and fostering better conversations
metronome: a fascinating look at synchronicity
ะฑัะฐัััะฒะพ ะบะพะปััะฐ: a 1991 Russian television version of The Fellowship of the Rings (see also) resurfaces on the internet—including an appearance by Tom Bombadil whose otherwise left out of the adaptations
the only post-punk supergroup: the musical stylings of the New Age Steppers
Sunday 4 April 2021
your daily demon: samigina
Presenting as a pony until compelled into human form by an exorcist and ruling thirty legions, this fourth spirit also known as Gamigin is an infernal marquis whose office is teaching the liberal arts and can speak for those souls who died in sin. Governing from today through 8 April, Samigina is opposed by the angel Ieuiah.
Saturday 3 April 2021
7x7
treasureland adventures: an arcade game made for McDonald’s that’s a lot better than most licensed vehicles—see also
campfire tales: Haunted Tik-Tok (see also) and the art of the scary narrative in new media
self-defence for cowards: our social skills have atrophied but we still bid our time before we get back to old, awkward habits
die frankfurter kรผche: more on the modern kitchen designed by Margarete Schรผtte-Lihotzky—see previously
cave ร vins: incredible wine collection hidden beneath a chicken coop
look at me: heretofore unseen footage of John Lennon and Yoko Ono
catch it if you can: a McDonald’s employee training video from 1972
Saturday 13 March 2021
8x8
zaouli: a traditional dance of the of the Guro people of central Cรดte d’Ivoire
line-dry only: experimental living apparel sequesters carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and produces oxygen
everydays—the first five-thousand days: the digital artist better known as Beeple sold an artwork as a non-fungible token (previously) for nearly seventy million dollars at auction, more here⏯: Lou Ottens, the inventor of the cassette, passes away, aged ninety-four
upward mobility: theory that Flintstones and Jetsons take place simultaneously with an elite technocracy and a post-apocalyptic underclass—see also
ikebana: a vintage guide to the art of Japanese flower arranging, previously
life finds a way: using parallel processing and stochastic algorithms, one programmer generates Mona Lisa from John Horton Conway’s game
personรฆ: short documentary Beyond Noh filters through thousands of colourful and evocative ceremonial masks from cultures around the world
Wednesday 10 March 2021
wiimote
Via Seitvertreib, we are treated to this incredibly satisfying, a diverse group of musicians jam to funky variations on the catchy, memetic melody from the Mii channel menu from the Nintendo Wii, collaborating remotely. This is quite the masterpiece to loop over and over again.
mario day
Chosen for the date’s similar appearance to the video game character’s name (see also) when formatted Mar. 10, the celebration has been officially observed by Nintendo since 2016 with tournaments and other Super Mario Brothers related events drawing from the expansive canon and fandom of the Mushroom Kingdom (ใญใใณ็ๅฝ, Kinoko ลkoku) franchise.
Friday 26 February 2021
bitmap bull finch
Via Present /&/ Correct, we really enjoyed these graphics of pixelated renderings of common birds of Japan (ๆฅๆฌใฎ้้ณฅไธ่ฆง) and especially, vis-ร -vis a pair of our recent posts, could firstly relate to the slander and naming conventions of obvious avian defamers and secondly to more personalised labels for new electronic file folders and its source catalogue. Much more to explore at the links above.
catagories: ๐ฏ๐ต, ๐พ, ๐, ๐ชถ, networking and blogging
Tuesday 23 February 2021
♛
Via the always interesting Language Hat, we are referred to a circumspect survey of the names for the six chess pieces in different languages, seventy-eight to be precise. Just a few noteworthy items to compare and contrast, the Rook—usually called a Tower or Fortress in many languages is a ship (ะะฐะดัั́) in Russian, and while the Queen is usually a royal consort and co-equal, the piece is a vizier or viceroy in Arabic, Hindi, Turkish and Russian. The Bishop can also be interpreted as a messenger or runner—from the Latin for cursor. Metonymically, the King was originally the Persian Shah and when under attack by the opposing side, was said to be in check and during the end-game, checkmate—that is, the king is defeated.
Friday 19 February 2021
6x6
polar flare: examining every map projection and how it distorts our world view at once—see previously
simon says: a vast archives of electronic handheld and table-top games and consoles from decades past—via Swiss Miss
fabian society: capitalism coexists with constructivism in Czech city of Zlรญn
hello world: the newest Martian probe beams back its first images
Sunday 14 February 2021
6x6
a note to asterius’ daughter signed ‘from your valentine’: the reliquary and relics of the third century martyr
lost in my dms: a brief history of Dungeons & Dragons the animated series—see previously
barlow & bear: talented duo bringing Bridgerton the musical to TikTok
but patty’s only seen the sights a girl can see from brooklyn heights: a century of the identical twin trope of Hollywood and one actor playing multiple roles, juxtaposed with actual twin child actors sharing a single role
universal language: two examples of diplomats breaking out in song—here and here
anteros: Cupid in the arts through the millennia
Wednesday 3 February 2021
♘,♞
6x6
fietsstrook: LEGO cycling lanes (see previously) on their way
pay no attention to that man behind the curtain: Jeff Bezos to hand over the reigns of power at Amazon
it’s a duck blur: an in depth, retrospective analysis of the 1989 Capcom video game Ducktalesend effector: Boston Dynamics’ Spot gets an arm and gripper attachment
nihon no shiro: abstract woodcuts of the castles and palaces of Japan—via Present /&/ Correct
force multiplier: innovative, portable CLIP drive transforms any convention bicycle into an e-bike—via Swiss Miss
Monday 25 January 2021
your daily demon: valac
Progressing through the House of Aquarius, this sixty-second spirit rules from today to 29 January presents in the form of a cherub—with horns, astride a two-headed dragon, until tamed by an exorcist with his sigil and can be compelled to reveal the location of snakes and hidden treasure as well as dispense lucky numbers and coach for a job interview. Foil to archangel Iahhel who commands thirty legions, Valac—at least in name—makes numerous popular culture cameos, including various video game series, Sabrina, Hellboy, The Nun and The Conjuring.
Tuesday 19 January 2021
Friday 15 January 2021
7x7
oh yeah: this supercut of Kool Aid Man crashing through barriers is somehow soothing
il cameriere: a “self-portrait” by Mannerist painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo—see previously
warp and weft: Scotland honours its Muslim citizens with an Islamic tartan#wikipedia20: wish Wikipedia (previously) a happy birthday, first launched online on this day in 2001
clip & save for g.i. joe command files: the insurrection was filled with Cobra villains—see previously
๐ท: a bevy of COVID-related headlines from the New Shelton wet/dry
start from checkpoint: an arcade style, side-scrolling game about 2020, via Miss Cellania‘s Links