Cool Running

Nice quick response from Puma with a simple, well-designed, fun/funny, web game.

End of Summer Blowout!

I've been doing a little housekeeping here at WTF that reflects my renewed engagement in all things Web (and in preparation to blog our Tokyo trip!).

Most of the action continues to be over there in the left column.

On Friday, I added my tweet feed.

And, today, I've made a couple of changes:

I removed the Hype Machine widget on the left (though I encourage you to visit HypeM.com yourself for the latest in blog buzz music).

In the vacant real estate over there, I've moved in my "shared items" widget from my Google Reader. It displays the last five items I've selected to share from the dozen or so feeds I read each day with a link at the bottom to all my shared feed items. Check it out, I think you'll find it (like the tweets) a engaging complement to WTF*.

*Or, you may end up agreeing with the dude on the right up there.
Cartoon ©Hugh MacLeod.

Free Samples!

Not exactly free but, as is becoming a trend in online music pricing, you do get to name your price.

If you're a fan of bootleg/mashup/bastard pop, I can't recommend enough Girl Talk's new one – Feed The Animals. It's exquisitely crafted sampladelic anarchy. Give it a spin and see if you can identify the source material as it goes flying by in an almost hour-long non-stop ecstatically schizophrenic collage (though contemporary rap is heavily represented, the samples are pulled from multiple genres and eras, so everyone can play!).

It's available now for download, or you can wait until its analog release in September.

The Tweetin' Lowdown

So almost two years ago, I was almost an early adopter of the micro-blogging service, Twitter. But somehow it didn't take. Now, for a variety of reasons – both personal and professional – I've decided to go back and try to get my tweet on. As with WTF, I anticipate setting an early enthusiastic tempo leveling off over time to an irregular murmur. And, I apologize in advance as you'll likely be exposed to the mundane minutia of my life.

As with all things widgety at WTF, my Twitter widget – Fresh Tweets – is over there on the left if you'd like to follow from here.

Learning Japanese, I Think We're Learning Japanese...

I really think so.



NOTE/WARNING: Some may find the above video offensive – you may want to put on headphones. Particularly if you're at work. While the WTF does not endorse bad stuff – like hate, or evil, or lime deposits on tile, or transfat – we found the above video f*cking tear-inducingly hilarious in 2000 and though we've matured somewhat over the intervening years, we still find it pretty d*mn f*cking funny in 2008. We apologize in perpetuity for any sensibilities which may be offended or simply put out.

Hol and I are two days into our RosettaStone Japanese 1 course. We're sure not to go thirsty – as I can now say (as opposed to ask for which I'm sure has got be in the lesson plan) water, coffee, juice, and tea. And, I can get us a piece of bread and a newspaper. So, we've got that going for us. Oh, and if we need to swim, cook or run we're covered as well.

[A video FYI for anyone on whom the reference in the headline to this post was lost... or, anyone who'd simply like to briefly revisit 1980.]

Oily And Repulsive (But Also Kind Of Attractive)

"Ferrofluid" art from From Tokyo-based artist and professor, Sachiko Kodama.

"...electromagnets and magnetically-charged microfine particles suspended in oil set in motion through a computer controller..."

And then there's this.

Barack-n-Roll

It kicks in at about the :20 mark.

FYI: The original.