It’s the weekly list of links, except this is more than a week late and such. Yeah, I took last week off from blogging. I blame the new school year, a rush order at work and planning a wedding – all of which has helped to warp what’s left of my sanity.
ART
Time to take a bath : http://www.baldheretic.com/2009/08/09/bath-time

Why being a professor is the best job in the world : http://comics.com/pearls_before_swine/2009-08-16/

Poor, poor Annie Leibovitz : http://nymag.com/fashion/09/fall/58346/

GARDENING
Hunting season for gardners? : http://www.chron.com/commons/persona.html?newspaperUserId=rjudd&plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&plckUserId=rjudd&plckPostId=Blog%3arjuddPost%3a805907a5-17e1-4765-afa5-967e18cca9e8&plckController=PersonaBlog&plckScript=personaScript&plckElementId=personaDest

How to ripen tomatoes : http://planetgreen.discovery.com/home-garden/ripen-green-tomatoes.html

A shot of lavender, please : http://www.gardenrant.com/my_weblog/2009/08/grow-your-own-drinks.html

GEEK + TECH
Can Streamy fill the FriendFeed void? : http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/why_streamy_could_be_the_next_friendfeed.php

Wired’s first look Windows 7 : http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/08/first-look-windows7

Maximize Photoshop efficiency and such : http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/08/13/10-simple-steps-to-better-photoshop-performance/

Yahoo’s Know Your Mojo says I’m a “matchmaker,” as in, I should have my own game show. Lame. : http://yahoo.knowyourmojo.com/

We’re the digital sharecroppers : http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/001295.html

1998 was a long, long time ago : http://www.smashingapps.com/2009/08/13/how-popular-website-designs-looked-like-in-late-90s.html

Why not to call your boss a “wanker” on facebook, especially if they’re your “friend” on the service : http://thenextweb.com/2009/08/09/note-friend-boss-fb-bitch-job/

Get the OpenID code : http://openid.net/developers/

iGoogle gets more social : http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/google_launches_social_gadgets_for_igoogle.php

Why not to switch to Windows 7 : http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/08/7-reasons-to-avoid-windows-7/

Facebook to RSS … for now : http://www.allfacebook.com/2009/08/another-facebook-newsfeed-rss-application-emerges-will-facebook-let-it-stay/

What about Bob : http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/001297.html

Advanced CSS 3 Selectors : http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/08/17/taming-advanced-css-selectors/

Fonts on the web – where we’re at : http://www.zeldman.com/2009/08/17/web-fonts-and-standards/

21.3 GB = The Pirate Bay : http://torrentfreak.com/download-a-copy-of-the-pirate-bay-before-its-gone-090816/

WordPress Hook Hacks : http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/08/18/10-useful-wordpress-hook-hacks/

Lookout for the virus that seeks out your stored-FTP passwords : http://www.internetevolution.com/author.asp?section_id=732&doc_id=180663

Photoshop paths refresher : http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/08/18/mastering-photoshop-with-paths/

It’s content strategy, dummy : http://www.alistapart.com/articles/the-case-for-content-strategy-motown-style/

Twitter – It replaces nothing and adds nothing : http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/08/17/why-i-dont-use-twitter/

When stealing isn’t flattery : http://www.designer-daily.com/what-to-do-when-your-design-is-stolen-2855

How to die the green way : http://blogs.chron.com/sciguy/archives/2009/08/the_ultimate_environmentally_friendly_way_to_die.html

HYPER-LOCAL
Chron Neighborhood News draws the attention of Hairballs : http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2009/08/chronicle_email_quotes.php

BlogHouston talks about the Chron’s adventure in bad journalism : http://www.bloghouston.net/item/7791

A high tech county fair? : http://www.fbherald.com/articles/2009/08/15/news/doc4a86d266d07da325602700.txt

“(Alberto) Gonzales teaching a class on executive branch issues is a bit like … Dick Cheney speaking on firearm safety” : http://www.texasobserver.org/index.php?/pi/going-gonzo-in-lubbock/

Texas Watchdog isn’t granted access to the Lege floor : http://www.texaswatchdog.org/2009/08/news-web-sites-denied-press-access/

It’s a good thing blogs always get it right : http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2009/08/bloggingfail_right_here_in_hou.php

Holy Rosary Bazaar is Sunday : http://www.fbherald.com/articles/2009/08/18/news/doc4a8aef2220ad4244821238.txt

Shudder: Could Perry pick Patrick : http://www.texasmonthly.com/blogs/burkablog/?p=4448

“rick perry gay” : http://www.texasobserver.org/editorial/gay-panic/

The latest issue of graffit-e, the newsletter for the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, is out : http://www.class.uh.edu/enews/2009/08/index.html

MIXED SIGNALS
I’m stock-full of playing experience, I’ll let you know : http://communitynewspapergroup.com/articles/2009/08/20/waverly_newspapers/sports/doc4a8c6a9f0eb44811736602.txt

MUSIC
Despite Eddie Money, Neko Case to play Warehouse Live on Nov. 22 : http://www.29-95.com/music/story/neko-case-houston-date-announced

Lone Star Indie Bash : http://indiehouston.org/upcoming-shows/lone-star-beer-is-having-a-show-support-your-states-brewery/

R.E.M. live discs out Oct. 26 : http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2009/08/rem-live-at-the-olympia-set-for-oct-26-release.html

New R.E.M. tracklist : http://pitchfork.com/news/36257-rem-reveal-live-album-details/

Kind of Bloop – a tribute to Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue : http://laughingsquid.com/kind-of-bloop-an-8-bit-tribute-to-miles-davis/

Astral Years : http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/08/17/van-morrison-rediscovers-astral-weeks-in-to-be-born-again-doc/

Why Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue is so great : http://www.slate.com/id/2225336/pagenum/all/

NEWS
Meet the Jefferson Area Drug Enforcement (JADE) : http://iheartejade.blogspot.com/

A screeching halt : http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/21/business/21clunkers.html

The rich not as rich no more, featuring Mr. (Virus) McAfee : http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/21/business/economy/21inequality.html

It’s the weekly obligatory linkpost. Yeah, you know you want it.

RECREATIONAL READING
Another great post from Betty Martin’s blog : http://bettymartin.wordpress.com/2009/08/05/another-anti-war-blog/

GEEK + TECH
Houston design firm makes unmatchedstyle.com : http://www.unmatchedstyle.com/gallery/poplabscom.php

For IE6, gif it, don’t png it. : http://www.pewpewlaser.com/articles/png-into-gif

“The over-extended class” : http://www.gapingvoid.com/Moveable_Type/archives/005073.html

What WebMonkey wants to throw in a black hole, featuring #99ff33 : http://www.webmonkey.com/blog/8_Things_on_the_Web_We_d_Like_to_Throw_Down_a_Black_Hole

Nobody cares about your website : http://newsweaver.ie/gerrymcgovern/e_article001512755.cfm

New tools for Google Services for Websites : http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/new-tools-for-google-services-for.html

The crash-happy Firefox 3.5 : http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/08/08/i-want-to-love-firefox-35-but-it-keeps-crashing-on-me/

16 ways to share large files : http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/08/08/16-apps-that-make-sharing-large-files-a-snap/

Does Microsoft’s investment in Facebook net them “below-the-fold” search results when one searches Facebook? : http://www.allfacebook.com/2009/08/facebook-search-bing/

Advanced CSS tips and tricks : http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/08/10/mastering-css-advanced-techniques-and-tools/

“… A website is more like a storefront … you need to advertise to attract trade.” : http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/08/09/10-harsh-truths-about-corporate-blogging/

As it broke – Facebook acquires FriendFeed : http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/08/10/facebook-acquires-friendfeed/

Blackberry vs. iPhone : http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2009/08/great-geek-debates-iphone-vs-blackberry/

Forgetting is healthy : http://blogs.chron.com/sciguy/archives/2009/08/in_a_webbed_world_do_we_remember_too_much.html

You can’t delete Flash “cookies” : http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/08/you-deleted-your-cookies-think-again/

Android has some cool apps : http://lifehacker.com/5331710/ten-more-neat-and-productive-android-apps/gallery/

How to create a line art silhouette : http://www.layersmagazine.com/silhouettes.html

How to create line art from a photo : http://www.graphic-design-employment.com/live-trace.html

Colorizing line art : http://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=30229&seqNum=8

“New Photoshop Line Art Trick” : http://www.tomrichmond.com/blog/2008/06/06/new-photoshop-line-art-trick/

HYPER-LOCAL
Maybe carp is not crap : http://www.texasobserver.org/index.php?/botb/one-mans-trash-fish

More on the Schulenburg dance hall : http://www.texasobserver.org/index.php?/critics-notebook/destination_dance_hall

WiFi coming to Rosenberg : http://www.fbherald.com/articles/2009/08/06/news/doc4a7b0c05465f7459130225.txt

Sunflower swiping in the Montrose? : http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2009/08/some_old_ahole_is_swiping_the.php

I can’t believe there wasn’t any water at Summer Fest. My God. : http://www.29-95.com/music/story/29-thoughts-summerfest

Prescriptions just got cheaper in Fort Bend County : http://www.fbherald.com/articles/2009/08/10/news/doc4a8082d5e8e8f365451104.txt

MEDIA
On media layoffs, and the wrong assumption of “I’m a lot better than that doofus, so I must be safe.” (the comments are as good as the post) : http://johnemcintyre.blogspot.com/2009/08/patron-and-protege.html

The term is “programmer/journalist” : http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2009/08/how-computer-assisted-reporters-evolved-into-programmerjournalists219.html

NEWS
How to refute the birthers : http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/08/05/birther_faq/index.html

So what – a third of the kids who graduate college were likely pushed there by rich parents and thus have no debt. For the rest, the median debt was about $20K : http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/12/education/12college.html

ART
Why so serious? : http://www.drawger.com/drewfriedman/?section=articles&article_id=8462

Marmaduke explained : http://www.29-95.com/time-suck/story/marmaduke-explained-08-10-09

MUSIC
Elton John + Alice in Chains = Black Gives Way to Blue : http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/08/11/elton-john-joins-alice-in-chains-new-album-to-honor-layne-staley/

.CMX : http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/08/11/in-a-move-im-calling-too-little-too-late-too-proprietary-major-labels-are-introducing-their-own-file-format/

TELEVISION
Mad Men written predominately by mad women : http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/feature/2009/08/08/mad_women_writers/index.html

GARDENING
Tomato blight is partly the fault of the renewed interest in gardening, Dan Barber claims : http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/opinion/09barber.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=late%20blight&st=cse

Coreopsis – one you don’t hardly have to water : http://blogs.chron.com/lazygardener/2009/08/ol_reliable_heat_bloomer_coreo.html

Here’s the obligatory end-of-the-week post-o-links.

ART
Sharks + Beer = (Bleep) yeah! : http://fuckyeahsharks.tumblr.com/post/153105566/nickdouglas-fuck-yeah-beer-fuck-yeah-summer

COMMENTS
Third comment : http://www.gardenrant.com/my_weblog/2009/08/omg-wicked-plants-is-the-cover-story.html

GARDENING
How to recycle rain : http://blogs.chron.com/lazygardener/2009/07/recycle_rain.html

The botanical collection : http://www.gardenrant.com/my_weblog/2009/07/the-botanic-garden-collection.html

I would wiggle mine, but it was mauled by a shark : http://blogs.chron.com/lazygardener/2009/08/for_mon83_whats_in_your_escape.html

GEEK + TECH
Smash it open : http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/08/01/why-the-fcc-wants-to-smash-open-the-iphone/

How to Bypass Stupid Voicemail Instructions : http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/29/how-to-bypass-stupid-voicemail-instructions/

Laughing Squid was banned for mysterious reasons for months from Digg, proving Digg is pretty worthless : http://laughingsquid.com/digg-bans-laughing-squid-without-warning-or-specific-reason/

MySpace steps toward open : http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/myspace_to_bet_its_future_on_open_standards.php

FileSoup under seige : http://torrentfreak.com/oldest-bittorrent-site-targeted-by-police-owner-arrested-090804/

WebTrends 9 is out : http://www.readwriteweb.com/enterprise/2009/08/webtrends-9-google-analytics-eat-your-heart-out.php

Die for freedom, but don’t you dare enjoy it yourself : http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/08/marines-ban-twitter-myspace-facebook/

Kill, kill, kill IE6 : http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/08/06/internet.explorer.six/index.html

A little more openness for facebook Pages : http://www.allfacebook.com/2009/08/facebook-opens-stream-further-pages-become-true-twitter-competitor/

The end of the codec wars? : http://blog.broadbandmechanics.com/2009/08/05/the-end-of-the-codec-wars/

Now that’s what I call a remote control : http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10302894-1.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5

Bring. It. Down. : http://www.bringdownie6.com/bring-down-ie-6.html

IE6 – No More! : http://www.ie6nomore.com/code-samples.html

Transparent PNGs + IE 6 : http://24ways.org/2007/supersleight-transparent-png-in-ie6

A-Z of Free Photoshop Plugins and Filters : http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/08/03/a-z-of-free-photoshop-plugins-and-filters/

Inside the Erskine redesign : http://www.alistapart.com/articles/erskine-design-redesign/

How to redesign your own site : http://www.alistapart.com/articles/redesigning-your-own-site/

HYPER-LOCAL
“Heck, you’ve already reduced the size of the weekday paper to a point the delivery folks are having to add weight to keep people’s copies from blowing away.” : http://loseaneye.blogspot.com/2009/07/chronblog-lets-talk.html

That’ll get their attention : http://www.fbherald.com/articles/2009/07/29/news/doc4a70b8ffe5487069255089.txt

New inspection stickers invoke feelings of cowboy pride, heritage : http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2009/08/new_inspection_stickers.php

No more (kid) culture at the Woodlands Mall : http://blogs.chron.com/woodlands/archives/2009/08/museums_to_clos_1.html

Hail Mary: Nutty Christians vs. Social Science : http://www.texasobserver.org/index.php?/pi/history-the-right-way/

The Smoking Gun vs. the not-so-merry pranksters : http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2009/08/prankster_smoking_gun.php
The right should ‘come to Jesus’ : http://loseaneye.blogspot.com/2009/08/its-time-for-come-to-jesus-meeting.html

MEDIA
Why the AP no longer matters : http://www.boingboing.net/2009/08/02/associated-press-wil-1.html

MOVIES
New Wes Anderson flick, Fantastic Mr. Fox : http://www.29-95.com/movies/story/wes-anderson-totally-wes-andersons-out-new-wes-anderson-trailer

MUSIC
Meridian, JavaJazz merge in a move that makes no sense : http://www.29-95.com/music/story/meridian-javajazz-become-one

Rolling Stone nods Listen Listen : http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/07/30/hype-monitor-listenlisten-ramona-falls-neon-indian

Loving it up while you’re falling down : http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/08/06/aerosmiths-tyler-airlifted-to-hospital-after-falling-from-stage/

Get Tweedy on the phone and over here, stat : http://www.29-95.com/music/story/sigh-another-wilco-tour-passes

NEWS
A Palin divorce? : http://gawker.com/5327957/are-sarah-and-todd-palin-getting-a-divorce

Now we pay you, now we don’t : http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/6557588.html

RECREATIONAL READING
A tribute to Pumpkin : http://seanmorrisseycarroll.blogspot.com/2009/08/orange-jack.html

GEEK + TECH

• Where’s the $10 million, Google? : http://www.internetevolution.com/author.asp?section_id=466&doc_id=179611
• Be a keyboard ninja : http://lifehacker.com/5321432/how-to-highlight-text-like-a-keyboard-ninja
• “Now the challenge is to keep proving that Mozilla matters.” : http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/technology/companies/26mozilla.html?_r=1
• What is a good standard? An essay on W3C’s design principles by Bert Bos : http://www.w3.org/People/Bos/DesignGuide/introduction.html
• A maker’s schedule : http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html
• Unlinker Replaces Thumbnails with Full-Size Images : http://lifehacker.com/5323756/unlinker-replaces-thumbnails-with-full+size-images
• Best. Vista. Service. Pack. Ever. : http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/001290.html
• Kill dead-in-the-water apps in Windows with SuperF4 : http://lifehacker.com/5324471/superf4-truly-kills-faltering-windows-apps
• The definitive guide to negative margins : http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/07/27/the-definitive-guide-to-using-negative-margins/
• jQuery vs MooTools : http://jqueryvsmootools.com/
• Microsoft’s biggest threat isn’t Google : http://www.internetevolution.com/author.asp?section_id=561&doc_id=179794
• A strange era indeed : http://gawker.com/5325619/chris-anderson-asshole-interviewee
• Textures + photos = coolness : http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-use-textures-to-enhance-your-photographs

MEDIA

• AP to index text : http://gawker.com/5321433/ap-to-finally-invent-indexing-of-text-on-internet
• AP and hNews : http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/07/ap-doesnt-know-its-protection-tech-doesnt-protect/
• NPR revamps its website, emphasizing written reporting over audio : http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/27/business/media/27npr.html
• Me likes the NYT Skimmer : http://www.internetevolution.com/author.asp?section_id=705&doc_id=179674
• Two-thirds of internet users have spent time managing their online profiles : http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/social_networks_growing_while_other_social_media_sites_stagnate_and_decline.php

GARDENING

• Plantwoman on the swallowtails : http://www.chron.com/commons/persona.html?newspaperUserId=plantwoman&plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&plckUserId=plantwoman&plckPostId=Blog%3aplantwomanPost%3aff52dfa6-02f9-4a5b-b67a-dad233fc0eab&plckController=PersonaBlog&plckScript=personaScript&plckElementId=personaDest
• Swallowtail mating : http://www.chron.com/commons/persona.html?newspaperUserId=plantwoman&plckController=PersonaBlog&plckScript=personaScript&plckElementId=personaDest&plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3aplantwomanPost%3a1daff255-e32d-4ccd-a24b-27a7cbde7bc6
• What a kook! : http://planetgreen.discovery.com/home-garden/air-conditioning-texas.html
• A self-watering container garden : http://planetgreen.discovery.com/home-garden/selfwatering-container-garden-bin.html

NEWS

• “Ruthless defaulters” unite : http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/weekinreview/26streitfeld.html?_r=1
• Go jerks! : http://physicscentral.com/buzz/blog/index.cfm?postid=3414795237807494042
• Retaliating with truth? : http://www.fortbendnow.com/2009/07/29/39240

COMMENTS

• That’s not journalism : http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2009/07/work_visas_unemployment.php
• Why is Baytown hoarding your personal information? : http://blogs.chron.com/eastharris/2009/07/redlight_cameras_a_new_wrinkle.html

ART

• 2009 live music photos by Pin Lim : http://forestphotography.smugmug.com/Jazz:%20In%20Photos/709276
• Mad Men Yourself : http://laughingsquid.com/mad-men-yourself/

HYPER-LOCAL

• India. China. What’s the difference? : http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/07/cornyns-office-apologizes-for-india-comments-says-he-misspoke.php
• Burka in town Aug. 21 : http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/fortbend/news/6546503.html

MUSIC

• The future of album art is Apple? : http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/07/apple-and-labels-hope-to-reinvent-digital-album-as-something-people-buy/

It’s Friday, and it’s been a long week, and so here’s a collection of random links I’ve found this week that  you might find interesting. This week, I’ve the courtesy to break ‘em up into subject areas.

GEEK + TECH

• Fear the SSN algorithm : http://www.internetevolution.com/author.asp?section_id=679&doc_id=178957
• Digg vs. IE6 : http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/10/can-you-digg-it-maybe-not-if-youre-stuck-on-ie6/
• “… as obsessions go, battling the Borg is waaay overrated” : http://fakesteve.blogspot.com/2009/07/lets-all-take-deep-breath-and-get-some.html
• RSS is too slow : http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/09/speeding-up-rss/
• Check it : http://malwarebytes.org/
• FTP vs SFTP : http://it.slashdot.org/story/09/07/13/142210/RIP-FTP
• Font potential : http://craigmod.com/journal/font-face/
• Zeldman gets interesting : http://www.zeldman.com/2009/07/14/pain-is-my-alarm-clock/
• lifehacks for designers : http://www.designer-daily.com/25-amazing-lifehacks-for-designers-2579
• Unlock the potential of WordPress widgets : http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/07/14/5-useful-and-creative-ways-to-use-wordpress-widgets/
• Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about Google Analytics : http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/07/16/a-guide-to-google-analytics-and-useful-tools/

ART

• Photos of larval fish from Belize : http://www.flickr.com/photos/smithsonian/sets/72157607254072541/
• Polaroid me : http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/13/rollip-brings-back-distant-memories-of-discolored-polaroid-photos/
• New Right Hand Pointing : http://www.righthandpointing.com/

GARDENING

• If only my plants could water themselves : http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/07/irrigatingplant/
• Squirrel vs. Dog – squirrel wins : http://www.chron.com/commons/persona.html?newspaperUserId=vansli&plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&plckUserId=vansli&plckPostId=Blog%3avansliPost%3ab9ea79fe-db93-474b-90c6-a3525c874fdc&plckController=PersonaBlog&plckScript=personaScript&plckElementId=personaDest
• Gardening can kill you : http://www.gardenrant.com/my_weblog/2009/07/thanks-for-all-the-memories.html

HYPER-LOCAL

• Betty Martin recalls the time daddy wouldn’t let her swim : http://bettymartin.wordpress.com/2009/07/11/the-backstroke/
• New theme park in Tomball : http://swamplot.com/grand-texas-theme-park-in-tomball-bringing-some-of-that-texas-frontier-spirit-to-texas/2009-07-09/
• The history of Rosenberg : http://www.fbherald.com/articles/2009/07/14/news/doc4a5cb19b3cddd157802480.txt
• Work (for free) for Swamplot : http://swamplot.com/wanted-swamplot-neighborhood-correspondents/2009-07-15/
• Hey Annise! It only really works if you use it : http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2009/07/wanted_social_media_consultant.php

MUSIC

• Paste interviews Todd “I’m Always on Tour” Snider. He says, “I swear, it’s the truth, I’m not as into music as I am into chicks who will shave their heads and fucking whack a car with an umbrella.” Seriously. : http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2009/07/catching-up-with-todd-snider.html
• Not enough Snider? The previous link links here – the (mostly) true story behind Greencastle Blues : http://www.knoxville.com/news/2009/may/22/life-lessons/

MEDIA

• “ So now you want to put a price on a so-so online product that heretofore has been free and can largely be duplicated elsewhere? Good luck with that.” : http://recoveringjournalist.typepad.com/recovering_journalist/2009/07/you-cant-charge-for-something-that-doesnt-provide-value.html
• Screw the Ethicist, tailgaters deserve worse : http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/magazine/19FOB-ethicist-t.html
• Subsidize this : http://uhjournalism.wordpress.com/2009/07/16/subsidizing-journalism/

RANDOM

• I’ll do this … tomorrow : http://lifehacker.com/5309174/banish-clutter-by-evaluating-your-collections

Here’s a bunch of links I’ve found interesting this week.

• Check out the comments for me heckling the Outlaw Designer about his spelling : http://www.outlawdesignblog.com/2009/talking-shop-episode-getting-published/#comment-8132
• Rules to live by : http://www.zeldman.com/2009/07/02/better-design-through-project-management/
• Because 8 GB (the current capacity of my MP3 player) just ain’t big enuff :http://lifehacker.com/5302056/mp3-quality-modifier-packs-more-music-on-mp3-players
• JQuery Awesomeness :http://flowplayer.org/tools/index.html : Found via new Mozilla’s Open Web Tools Directory : http://tools.mozilla.com/ : And, don’t forget : http://jquery.com/
• Free … as a book : http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/free_it_works_it_cries_it_bites.php : Free is free : http://www.longtail.com/the_long_tail/2009/07/the-priceless-rollout-continues-google-books.html
• Narcissism, anyone? : http://www.buzzmachine.com/2009/07/04/journalistic-narcissism/
• “Everyday baby, when the sun goes down, I get with the fellows I begin to clown, I don’t care what the people are thinking, I ain’t drunk, I’m just drinking!” : http://blog.kir.com/archives/2009/07/albert_collins.asp
• Vanity Fair on Palin : http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2009/08/sarah-palin200908
• Oh, no she didn’t! That peanut! : http://blogs.chron.com/babysteps/2009/07/a_rock_and_other_things_i_wanted_to_crawl_under.html
• How to do what people are doing : http://www.outlawdesignblog.com/2009/2009-web-design-trends-and-how-tos/
• The Internet Is Everything. : http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/08/google-chrome-redefining-the-operating-system/
• All in all, eMusic still ain’t a bad deal : http://www.internetevolution.com/author.asp?section_id=697&doc_id=178927 : Or, you can just listen to the music for a lot cheaper – $36 a year :  http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/05/19/pandora-gives-the-freemium-model-a-thumbs-up-with-pandora-one/ : Or, free is still pretty cheap : http://www.slacker.com/
• We are the war(ld) : http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/07/satellite-uncovers-pirate-weapons-haul/
• Conor Oberst + The Mystic Valley Band present “Spoiled” on Letterman, for when “you get everything you’ve ever wanted and you still feel down” : http://stereogum.com/archives/video/conor-oberst-brings-spoiled-to-letterman_078142.html
• Why I don’t want to be famous or “burned out and directionless” : http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/25/magazine/25internet-t.html
• Free typographic XHTML/CSS layouts  : http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/07/08/free-typographic-xhtmlcss-layouts-for-your-designs/
• Download Giant Princess : http://indiehouston.org/houston-music-concerts/houston-music-artists-giant-princess/
• Something to do Saturday : http://www.houstonpress.com/2009-07-09/music/wild-moccasins-buxton-ghost-mountain
• Carefree Rose = Katy Road Pink :http://blogs.chron.com/diggingin/2009/07/rose_ratings.html

Over at the FLOG! blog, Peter Bagge’s “Observations from a Reluctant Anti-Warrior” is offered as a “stupid war” free sample to promote his new anthology Everybody is Stupid Except for Me and Other Astute Observations: A Decade’s Worth of Cartoon Reporting for Reason Magazine, which just happens to now be on sale.

This excerpt from Bagge’s latest anthology pokes fun at old fogey war protestors. Did I ever tell you the time Ken Freeland’s fanny pack caused him to display his under roos to a large Austin crowd when he was preoccupied with working the bullhorn? I’ll save that story for another day, perhaps.

There’s a lot out there today, and my brain is scattered across so many different things …

• Did you know that cinnamon, cayenne pepper and Diatomaceous Earth may be great solutions to an invasive sugar ant problem? That’s according to Dollar Stretcher.
• The torrent Pirates strike back with a pay-to-hide-yourself scheme that promises to not deter their jail time.
• The Plantwoman – a favorite blogger of mine – responds to my comment and offers a suggestion on how to install a soaker system to ease up the daily watering chore.
• Maybe I’ll go swimming Friday before my indebted servitude to my cousin’s wedding rehearsal dinner. I am her official wedding photographer. My fee: She pays for my babysitting Saturday night because my five-year-old daughter can’t come to the wedding because she booked her reception in a bar that doesn’t allow kids under the age of 10. The bar is, apparently, A-OK with hosting a reception for just-married couples who are 18. What’s up wit dat?
• Opera Unite is freaking awesome.  …. I can’t wait to play with it some more, as I attempt to make my home computer more accessible – without depending on the cloud. We. Are. The. Cloud, it would seem, with Opera Unite.
• As inspired by LifeHacker, I’ve created my own collection of my favorite Firefox Add-Ons … https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/collection/brandonmoeller

That’s it. Enjoy.

HYPER-LOCAL
Respect for Craig Washington : http://harriscountycriminaljustice.blogspot.com/2009/07/craig-washington.html

“When the spindletop stops” : http://swamplot.com/when-the-spindletop-stops/2009-07-20/

HPD to driver: Lemme look at your weiner : http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2009/07/weinermobile_cops_houston.php

Hand it over: Texas Watchdog wins fight for Houston open records : http://www.texaswatchdog.org/2009/07/texas-watchdog-wins-another-open-records-battle-with-the-city-of-houston/

Tony Diaz vs. Houston Press, concerning “Ask a Mexican” : http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2009/07/ask_a_mexican_column.php

I’m so glad we have lawyers, the be-all, end-all solution to any problem : http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/casey/6540583.html

Downtown Rosenberg photo planned : http://www.fbherald.com/articles/2009/07/22/news/doc4a67849c12e81383824996.txt

Texas Watchdog reviews what happened to bill in the Texas Lege that they had an interest in : http://www.texaswatchdog.org/2009/07/confidential-sources-beer-ethics-forms-heres-a-wrap-on-how-the-bills-texas-watchdog-highlighted-fared-in-the-legislature/

Food not bombs and the Houston Public Library : http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2009/07/food_not_bombs.php

Grapes on the Brazos returns : http://www.fbherald.com/articles/2009/07/18/news/doc4a60b8d29a7df005288327.txt

MEDIA
Google to newspapers: “Don’t want us to index your work? Fine. It’s easy. Here’s how.” : http://www.internetevolution.com/author.asp?section_id=697&doc_id=179357

Why Wikipedia photos suck : http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/07/20/0044240/Why-the-Photos-On-Wikipedia-Are-So-Bad

A cable TV employee trolls and tells Jeff Jarvis he is “not a VIP … (or) a good customer” and that he should “wait for (his) turn to get help like everyone else.” : http://www.buzzmachine.com/2009/07/19/cablevision-sucks-2/#comment-398310

Leaving journalism is healthy : http://www.johntemple.net/2009/07/pulitzers-lost-what-cost-third-in.html

Evan Smith to leave Texas Monthly : http://uhjournalism.wordpress.com/2009/07/18/a-texas-version-of-politico/

MUSIC
Free MP3 “Say Please” – Monsters of Folk : http://monstersoffolk.com/

Animal Collective samples The Grateful Dead : http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2009/07/animal-collective-1.html

Kings of Convenience MP3 : http://stereogum.com/archives/mp3/new-kings-of-convenience-mrs-cold_079891.html

Something to do July 31 : http://www.fortbendnow.com/2009/07/23/39155

Elaine Greer at Sugar Hill : http://indiehouston.org/houston-music-concerts/elaine-greer-and-the-tontons-on-sugar-hill-live/

Neko on LexGo : http://www.kentucky.com/lexgo/music/story/866961.html

Goodbye, DRM : http://torrentfreak.com/drm-is-dead-riaa-says-090719/

ART
Is art still art if it’s broken into several pieces : http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/arts/theater/6534250.html

GEEK + TECH
More CSS tricks : http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/07/20/50-new-css-techniques-for-your-next-web-design/

A List Apart: The Inclusion Principle : http://www.alistapart.com/articles/the-inclusion-principle/

Web Accessibility in Mind’s Quick Reference guide : http://webaim.org/resources/quickref/

What’s not to like about liking : http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/20/people-are-using-google-reader-likes-but-some-hate-it-and-its-flawed/

Can’t use the web? Could it be your phone? : http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/how_usable_is_the_mobile_web.php

Dear Digg: if the ad looks like the content, people will stop coming back to look for the content : http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/20/digg-user-voted-ads-in-the-wild-mmmmm-ihop/

Free alternatives to Photoshop : http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/free_alternatives_to_photoshop_with_all_the_bells.php

Web standards open curriculum : http://interact.webstandards.org/

Yahoo can now serve as a basic site aggregator : http://lifehacker.com/5319388/yahoo-tweaks-its-homepage-allows-content-from-all-over-the-web

The latest Google Wave hype : http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/21/google-wave-begins-to-swell-with-developers-wider-release-this-september/

R.I.P. iPod? : http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/21/the-ipod-as-we-know-it-is-dying/

Unless Google buys this, it will never catch on : http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/this_message_will_self-destruct_new_tool_makes_online_postings_vanish.php

Blog eye candy : http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/07/22/50-new-beautiful-blog-designs/

The Facebookization of Yahoo! : http://www.allfacebook.com/2009/07/facebookization-of-yahoo/

Upload photos to Facebook via e-mail : http://lifehacker.com/5321149/quickly-upload-photos-and-video-to-facebook-via-email

Remember the Task is an AdobeAIR ware for Remember The Milk : http://www.jashsayani.com/my-softwares/remember-the-task/

RECREATIONAL READING
Help this dude collect One. Million. Giraffes. : http://olahelland.net/giraffes/

The mystery of grave 449 : http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/07/21/arlington_secrets/index.html

Just because the Baptists do not believe the same as I do doesn’t mean they should be condemned; Christ warned about such stone throwing in Scripture. : http://trueslant.com/loucarlozo/2009/07/21/jimmy-carter-leaving-the-southern-baptists-yes-and-this-ones-for-the-ladies/

Sacha Baron Cohen is Sarah : http://www.salon.com/comics/boll/2009/07/23/boll/index.html

“Many companies miss the garbled, unpunctuated non-English market segment …” : http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/Support-Should-Never-Be-Necessary.aspx

Finally! A cat lady documentary : http://laughingsquid.com/cat-ladies-a-documentary-that-explores-the-real-story-behind-crazy-cat-ladies/

BuckyBalls! : http://laughingsquid.com/zoomdoggle-buckyballs-a-highly-addictive-toy-made-of-super-magnetic-tiny-metal-balls/

Resentment (and vodka) : http://locacrazywriter.blogspot.com/2009/07/part-1-vodka-is-only-thing-that-gets.html

GARDENING
Attract hummingbirds : http://www.chron.com/commons/persona.html?newspaperUserId=plantwoman&plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&plckUserId=plantwoman&plckPostId=Blog%3aplantwomanPost%3a63fa497e-e6d9-4a00-bf93-a1327130d2c4&plckController=PersonaBlog&plckScript=personaScript&plckElementId=personaDest

GWI Annual Honor Roll : http://martagon.blogspot.com/2009/07/annuals-gwi-honor-roll.html

How to grow tomatoes : http://planetgreen.discovery.com/home-garden/comprehensive-guide-growing-tomatoes.html

Fight leaf spot and mildew on my zinnias, already : http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/organic/msg0505002713722.html

Compost made easy : http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/2006-10-01/Compost-Made-Easy.aspx

Herb organizer/herb garden, my frog would love this : http://lifehacker.com/5311492/turn-a-shoe-organizer-into-a-vertical-herb-garden

NEWS
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Police Report : http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0723092gates1.html

Been surfing a lot lately. Here’s what I’ve been reading up on.

Web standards | Here’s the rationale behind the push for Web standards, the main reason I need to learn more about CSS.

Wired.com on Google Friend Connect | Betsy Schiffman wrote an article which alerted me to Google Friend Connect, an attempt by the Web giant to offer code to Web folk like me to allow us to integrate social networking Web sites into our own Site. Imagine being on my page and having MySpace or Facebook controls at your fingertips. Not quite sure what it is yet, as it hasn’t been released, but I asked to be notified by Big Brother Google when it happens.

Google Docs | In the meantime, I should probably take a look at Google Docs sometime.

Snap. I just trademarked my face. | Oh, wait, that was Apple. Ha.

RSS on iPod | Now, that looks like an interesting concept.

iPod customization, et. al | More food for thought.

Free audiobooks? | More for the iPod.

Free classic audio books | iPod geek.

I need a new Word Press theme.

Word Press theme # 1 | I have grown tired of my theme, so here’s a bunch more to look at.

Word Press theme # 2

Word Press theme # 3

Word Press theme # 4

Word Press theme # 5

Word Press theme # 6

LifeHacker.com | I need to RSS this.

Braintied.com | Where did it go?

A Web mystery | Pawel Ciszewski: an entrepreneur or a Web site killer?

Schipul.com | A good Houston Web company.

Tendenci content management | Schipul’s content management system.

Creative Leak | An interesting art community, created by a lead designer at Schipul.

Leila Dallal | My friend, Leila, is an artist. Here is some promo material

Black-Eyed Susan | The official drink of the Preakness. It’s good. But two parts sweet and sour, not three – please. It’s good frozen, too.

Sabai Thai Cafe | Kim suggests this place for dinner.