Link roundup

1. Todd McFarlane describes his own strategy to explain why DC's 52 initiative is ill-conceived:

One of the things I have to do is not put all the All-Stars in the first line. Because if I do all the All-Stars in the first line, the next line is less than All-Stars. What I do is, I take my players, and I consider them to be A, B or C level. And I put six out in each line, I put two A, two B, two C, so that I balance it throughout the year so that I don't get these spikes in sales, and retailers see this steady stream of sales at a steady volume.

2. Madéleine Flores (who I link to periodically) has a new Kickstarter. $10 gets you a digital copy and an original sketch.

3. Bioshock Infinite t-shirt design contest.

4. Tip: Pillow cases are perfect for cleaning ceiling fan blades.

Link roundup

1. News Corp does enough terrible things that you shouldn't have to make up claims.

2. Google's first social network Orkut was briefly very popular in Finland:

Orkut [the Google engineer who built orkut] is Turkish, so we had no idea when we launched it that in Finland evidently that same word means “multiple sexual climaxes.” When people saw a product called orkut, they thought it was a dating service or sex site, and it took off quickly. As soon as they saw what it actually was, interest cooled somewhat.

3. To take a screenshot on an iPhone, hold down the lock button and the home button at the same time for about one second until the screen flashes white. Via.

Link roundup

1. Gizmodo's list of best laptops. You can find the cheap choice at eBay.

2. Free and pretty fun Cowboys and Aliens shooter. Via.

3. A look at the entries in Red Bull’s annual Red Bull Creation event.

4. The WSJ calls the home of the Cincinnati Bengals "one of the worst professional sports deals ever struck by a local government" Via.

5. It's $6 off t-shirts at Zazzle with the code ZBDAYTSHIRTS. I recommend Miskatonic University, Vonster, and my own store.

Image roundup

One can simply walk into...



Lamp post cries out for vengeance.



Nyan Cat put to good use.



Protester - - the comment thread is an interesting window into how people game Reddit.



Glowing bugs.

Link roundup

1. Mark Cuban was a great sport when Deadspin found some of his old college photos, apparently unintentionally made public due to Google+.

2. Lev Grossman on fan fiction.

3. How to tie anything to your car.

Link roundup

1. Find out what Google thinks you're interested in (and turn off the tracking). Via.

2. JShea posted the three sculptures he created for Gallery Nucleus's Harry Potter show.

3. Since I seem to be obsessed with Bruce Timm's art right now, here's a pinup.

Link roundup

1. For other Blogger users, here's a useful comment by a Blogger employee from Ann Althouse's blog:

While our export tools may have been somewhat unreliable when handling blogs this large (Althouse is one of the largest Blogger blogs!), along the way helping Ann we discovered ways to improve them and moving forward Blogger will be much better equipped to handle cases like this.

So Ann while I'm personally sad to see you go (if that is indeed the decision), I wanted to let you know that you will always have a home on Blogger and a team who cares about your experience with Blogger. That also (of course) goes for everyone. We love hearing from users, and anyone can bug me directly on Twitter (@electrobutter) if something is on their mind, or hit up the team via @blogger.

It seems like such a typical Google thing to do to make such outreach efforts only when it was too late to keep her on the platform. Her entire Blogger blog was deleted, possibly by error, possibly by a rogue Google employee, last month.

2. "An investigation into Atlanta’s public school system has uncovered evidence that teachers and principals have been secretly erasing and correcting answers on students’ tests for as long as a decade."

3. "For the past few years, networks have been digitally inserting ads and product placements for new products into old reruns."

Link roundup

1. Johnny Depp has apparently made $350 million from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

2. The Netherlands is apparently the world's third largest agricultural exporter, despite having little land, thanks to hydroponic agriculture that uses computer-controlled feeding of high-quality chemicals. (Presumably such techniques could be applied elsewhere if there was a serious danger of food shortages.)

3. For Los Angeles residents, if there's a police helicopter hovering over your house, you can call 213-485-2600 to find out why. (I had need of this today.) Via.

Link roundup

1. "How to Create an In-Case-of-Emergency Everything Document to Keep Your Loved Ones Informed if Worst Comes to Worst."

2. Free mp3 download of Cory Doctorow's Little Brother audiobook.

3. You'll only get this if you follow the NBA, but Dwight Howard and Gilbert Arenas have been engaging in a planking contest at Twitter, and then Dwight Howard posted this.

Link roundup

1. How to create "cinemagraphs" (animated gifs that look like photos with subtle movement). Via.

2. Big Sister maquette. (Bioshock 2.)

3. Sounds like this former AOL worker has quite an axe to grind, but read this if you're jealous of professional bloggers.

Link roundup

1. "The best notebooks of the year so far." (Check back in six months and maybe there will be some real bargains.)

2. If you liked that Tokyo Rockabilly Club picture I posted the other day, check out this music video - - it shows how the guy achieves such a monstrously high pompadour. Via.

3. Useful wallpaper for learning geography.

*Buy vintage maps at eBay.