Loud Dog Links

January 19, 2010

• The Botnet Ecosystem (Viruslist)
  Interesting backgrounder on highly sophisticated and specialised market in "botnets" which steal confidential data, distribute spam, run denial-of-service attacks. Fascinating, scary. (via Best of the Moment)
  by: Josh Orum | tags: interesting, security

January 3, 2010

• From A Geekâ��s Geek: Daniel Raffelâ��s Favorite New Projects, Products and Features of 2009 (TechCrunch)
  Interesting list of cool things to look for in 2010.
  by: Josh Orum | tags: interesting

September 22, 2009

• Google Has A Solution For Internet Explorer: Turn It Into Chrome (TechCrunch)
  Many people are unable to upgrade from IE6, the most hated of all browsers. Google offers a solution: download a plugin that runs Chrome within IE6.
  by: Josh Orum | tags: interesting, webapps

June 10, 2009

• Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive (alex.moskalyuk)
  This is very interesting.
  by: Josh Orum | tags: business, interesting, psychology, social

May 17, 2009

• answers to questions from Twitter on teen practices (apophenia)
  Fascinating look at teen behavior with regards to online media, email, cell phones, and related topics from a researcher.
  by: Josh Orum | tags: interesting

May 4, 2009

• Early Results: Labels Losing Money on iTunes Variable Pricing (Digital Music News)
  When will the labels finally figure out that people simply aren't going to pay that much for music going forward? That their business models, which worked well for a little while, just aren't going to work in the future? That they would be wise to focus on delivering quality music for less, not crappy music for more? Arg.
  by: Josh Orum | tags: interesting

March 24, 2009

• Ten Things You Should Know About the Nano (TIME Mag)
  Sweet photos of the $2000 car from Tata. Sadly, I doubt we'll ever see something like this in the US - our safety standards prevent anything this inexpensive and efficient from getting on the road. Still, great for developing countries!
  by: Josh Orum | tags: business, interesting

March 11, 2009

• Bicycle Built for 2,000
  Frivolous and funny use of Amazon's Mechanical Turk - also fascinating and thought provoking.
  by: Josh Orum | tags: interesting

February 26, 2009

• Should We Let California Go Bankrupt? (RealClearMarkets)
  Cogent overview of the financial, fiscal, and economic problems facing California. Interesting reading for anyone with a connection to California. Which is pretty much everyone in the US.
  by: Josh Orum | tags: interesting, politics

February 19, 2009

• The Hofmeister Kink: A Lasting BMW Design Detail (New Media Campaigns)
  Fascinating look at "the Hofmeister Kink," a design element from BMW that other manufacturers have copied to make their cars seem more upmarket.
  by: Josh Orum | tags: design, interesting

February 17, 2009

• Art & Fear (Kevin Kelly)
  Short review of Art & Fear, on making art, by Kevin Kelly. Contains great excerpts.
  by: Josh Orum | tags: art, interesting

January 16, 2009

• Explaining the curse of work (New Scientist)
  The New Scientist explores recent research revealing a scientific explanation behind Parkinson's Law that "work expands to fill the time available for its completion."
  by: Josh Orum | tags: economics, interesting

January 15, 2009

• Interview with an Adware Author (philosecurity)
  Matt Knox, a talented Ruby instructor and coder, talks about his early days designing and writing adware for Direct Revenue. (Direct Revenue was sued by Eliot Spitzer in 2006 for allegedly surreptitiously installing adware on millions of computers.)
  by: Josh Orum | tags: interesting, social

January 12, 2009

• Willard Wigan, micro sculptor (YouTube)
  This guy makes very very very tiny sculptures - statues that fit on the head of a pin, or within the eye of a needle. I expected them to be pretty bluntly done, but they are surprisingly detailed. Fascinating stuff.
  by: Josh Orum | tags: interesting

December 19, 2008

• Speedcubing with the Fridrich Method (NYTimes.com via Kottke)
  NYT profile of Dr. Jessica Fridrich, developer of the leading approach to solving the Rubick's cube quickly. “She chose the basic route, the direction we would take up the mountain,” said Dan Knights, winner of the 2003 World Rubik’s Cube Championship.
  by: Josh Orum | tags: interesting

December 9, 2008

• Most Likely to Succeed (The New Yorker)
  Fascinating Malcolm Gladwell article on our problems forecasting success, but also on student engagement techniques of successful teachers.
  by: Josh Orum | tags: business, interesting

December 1, 2008

• Does the broken windows theory hold online? (Kottke.org)
  I've always found broken window theory fascinating, and it seemed intuitively true. Now that it's been buttressed by research, Jason Kottke asks whether it holds true online - do moderated forums encourage civil behavior, and do aesthetics contribute to the quality of discussion in public forums?
  by: Josh Orum | tags: culture, design, interesting, social

November 29, 2008

• Google Admits "Data is the Intel Inside" (O'Reilly Radar)
  This is interesting.
  by: Josh Orum | tags: interesting

November 18, 2008

• Thomas Kinkade's 16 Guidelines for Making Stuff Suck (vanityfair.com)
  While I don't particularly care for Kinkade's "paintings," I don't share the visceral reaction to them that so many people have. And I actually admire him for being able to distill exactly what goes into making a "good" nostalgic painting like he makes. You may hate his work, but he's very good at it.
  by: Josh Orum | tags: culture, interesting, patterns

November 14, 2008

• exactitudes.com/
  The apparent contradiction between individuality and uniformity taken to extremes.
  by: Martin Ferrini | tags: art, clothes, community, conformity, culture, design, fun, identity, images, individuality, inspiration, interesting, people, photo, photography, photos, social, style