I'm 
Ask H&FJ: Four Ways to Mix Fonts
In a world where the list post implies mediocrity and digg-bait it’s nice to know not all is lost.
H&FJ show tips and techniques regarding the use of complimentary typefaces in design. I’ll be referencing this a lot.
Ways to make people alter their behaviour through fun! - Boagworld @ SXSW
66% more people than normal chose the stairs over the elevator.
And 100% more people were annoyed during their daily commute by the STAIRS THAT WERE PLAYING MUSIC.
Adding to the Flock
I just followed a gaggle of new twitter people. All are in the web world and most are at SXSW where I am sadly not.
They all are people mentioned by people I’m already following most notably @squaredeye who is a new addition to my list himself and one I’m enjoying quite a bit although learning he was in fact not a whale was disappointing.
Hi new people!
while this happens all the time I’d also like to add 1) get on subway 2) immediately start playing doodlejump or reading emails 3) realize you can hear the sounds of people around you because you forgot to put on music
Evolution of Type Taste from Grade School to Present by Jessica Hische
Can’t sleep and shopping for large-print wallpaper I found myself at Anthropologie. Their e-commerce experience is pretty straight-forward but there is one thing different that I like:
Download this image.
I’ve never seen this before. It’s an interesting idea. The image that downloads is nothing fancy, just the one in the listing (it’s not even well named, mine was “960040_001_b.jpg”) but I could see the utility in this for sure.
Audience members took turns, often in pairs, using the Chatroulette station on the stage. The conversations with strangers began as they normally seem to, with sarcastic banter getting tossed back and forth. But the interactions began to change as soon as the stranger became aware of the larger audience. A pretty blonde in Brazil, for example, began by playfully flirting with two redheads using the station. When she saw the crowd, she started biting her lips excitedly. The meeting climaxed with loud catcalls from the audience before she was “nexted,” which is website slang for moving on to a new stranger. For the countless nudists on the site, encountering a large crowd was also apparently an exciting treat. A drinking game was made of it: Whenever nudity appeared, the crowd took a drink.
—
We Went to a Chatroulette Party Last Night — Daily Intel http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/03/we_went_to_a_chatroutlette_par.html#ixzz0h3gG0S5b
I am absolutely fascinated by chatroulette. Sometimes technology makes something possible socially that is brand new, interesting, a little dangerous, and undefined. It’s in the infancy of these ideas that all the magic happens. The chaotic infant stage before someone figures out how to monetize it, or game its system. Enjoy it now before prochatroulette opens and publishes “All the Cherries: 10 Ways to Win Big at Chat Roulette”.
Check out all the miniatures from this Flickr user. They’re all full of anthropomorphic hope and empathy.
I’d love to see a stop motion series with these characters.
Squid on Stilts! (via Articulate Matter and @supersgp)
Review of NOW! That’s What I Call Music Vol. 2
This is a (admittedly long) fantastic critique of pop music in the late 90s written by The Onion’s AV Club. I highly recommend you fight through your “TL:DR” impulse and give this a chance. Load it up before you get on the subway and you’ll be done by the time you hit Brooklyn.
Pieces I like the most:
On Britney Spears in the …Baby, One More Time era:
Spears coos, pants, and purrs the song’s come-ons in a crazed libidinal frenzy. She embodies the aphorism I just made up that if you can’t sing well, sing sexy.
Regarding Semisonic, their lead singer Dan Wilson who I’m a huge fan of, and the meaning of the song Closing Time:
On the surface, the song finds the romance in barflies scrambling for a closing-time hookup, but according to So You Wanna Be A Rock & Roll Star, the likeable memoir of Semisonic drummer Jacob Slichter, it was written about the birth of Wilson’s first child. The song’s key line is purloined from the Roman philosopher Seneca, who originally wrote, “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” It’s a line with multiple meanings; there’s the end of life in the womb and the beginning of life outside, but also a father and mother forsaking the pleasures of youth for the responsibilities of parenthood.
The rest of the article is just as good. It’s an interesting take on such a memorable period of pop music when…holy shit I’m old enough to be nostalgic.
Your Bookmarklets, On Steroids – Quix →
This app is incredible. I just installed it and will report back in a couple weeks after I get used to it but right off the bat the list of things it does is staggering. It really is Quicksilver for the browser.
