Look at the Birdie is a previously unpublished short story from Kurt Vonnegut which will appear in his new book.
Fifty years in space
An awesome infographic on 50 years of space exploration from National Geographic, although they’re using a kludgey flash viewport. Check out the full size version while it lasts.
Update: If you like that one, check out this visualization of the various mars missions.
Wild javascript
Chrome Experiments showcases some pretty amazing examples of javascript in action. You’ll want to be using one of the more modern browsers to visit the site.
Inside coffee
Ever wondered what’s in your cup of coffee? The best part of wakin’ up is 3,5 dicaffeoylquinic acid in your cup.
Street Smarts
The real reason the financial system almost collapsed… smart guys.
“Did you ever hear the word ‘derivatives’?†he said. “Do you think our guys could have invented, say, credit default swaps? Give me a break! They couldn’t have done the math.â€
More on burgers
A Hamburger Today presents their guide to hamburger and cheeseburger styles. In other news, there were records set for the world’s largest cheeseburger, as well as the greatest number of simultaneous heart-attacks in one location.
Full issues of LIFE
Google Books teamed up with LIFE, to scan full issues of LIFE magazine from the 1930s-1970s and provide them for public viewing.
Update: A Year in Pictures is a particularly interesting artifact for the type nerds out there.
Soviet electronics
The Soviet Digital Electronics Museum is pure gold for the gadget junkie.
Mario AI
Infinite Super Mario AI one of the submissions for the Mario AI competition has been released under a WTFPL license. Make sure to check out the videos.
Books in a digital world
Want to know why books will never go away? Read this blurb from the description of Code(x)+1.
The book is a durable artifact in which author, reader, and the artisans who make and preserve them enter into ordered and potentially pleasurable relationships. A printed book is enhanced by the materials and processes with which it is made. The book in the era of digital reproduction is an object of pleasure as well as a container of information. To consult information relieved of the pleasures of turning a page, smelling ink, or admiring the binding, we can rely on the internet. The book as ark of deposit requires neither electricity nor fossil fuel to either read or maintain. The book as an object dwells at the intersections of writing and art, philosophy and poetics, science and scholarship. The structure of a book is a sculpture for reading. The meaning is transmitted and the book remains.
The production run is limited to 500, anyone want to buy me a copy?
Cheese or font?
Cheese or font? Pretty much what it sounds like, they give you a word, you decide whether it’s a cheese or a font. It’s harder than it sounds.
Writing with distractions
Cory Doctorow offers some tips for writing in the age of distraction. Among them, use plain text not a fancy word processor, realtime communications tools are evil and don’t research, substitute TK for things you don’t know and come back to them later.