I spent way too much time yesterday investigating more contemporary upload scripts & techniques in an attempt to find something that wasn't Flash reliant but also wasn't days worth of programming to implement. Here are my findings:

• Plupload - from the makers of TinyMCE comes this highly flexible upload tool. Much like TinyMCE it is way over the top straight outta the box but can be stripped down to just what you need. I believe the latest version of Wordpress is implementing this so it's gotta be pretty good.
• Uploadify 3.0 Beta - sadly, this seems to have been somewhat abandoned by the original developer but the community has taken to squashing the bugs in 3.0 and redistributing their finds. It's still Flash based (bummer) but it's not like a whole lot of File Management needs to happen on a non-Flash enabled device anyway.
• jQuery File Upload - simple, straightforward script that tacks itself on top of any standard HTML form. I think this is one to keep an eye on for future releases as it will likely continue to get slicker and slicker.
• Ajax Upload - maybe not as robust as some of the other options but all of the necessities are present - some work sprucing it up visually will need to take place.

Last Friday, after posting my video offerings, Chad bestowed the goodness of this video to me. If this doesn't start your week off right then you are beyond the reach of my help.

Earlier this year, Tristen released her full-length debut Charlatans at the Garden Gate. If you haven't heard it yet, please do so now. If you have heard it, then you are probably yearning for some new tunes. Fortunately, she has released a holiday EP that you can download for free that features holiday classics "Frosty the Snowman", "Winter Is Blue" (Vashti Bunyan) and "Blue Christmas." If you aren't in the holiday mood yet, this will get you there.

It's difficult to tell if these creations from David Fullarton are just various doodles from a sketchbook or more fully realized pieces of work; though, in the end, I'm not sure it really matters. I love the collaged style, the looseness of it all and the seemingly nonsensical couplings that pop up.

via Austin.

Take some time to browse through the photostream of Ryan Schude - an excellent diverse offering of portraits, slice-of-life, random interesting vehicles and outtakes from commercial work. It's got a little something for everyone. Swing by his official portfolio when you're done there to see even more.

Have you tried out Google Schemer yet? If you've not heard of it - there's a fairly ridiculous introductory commercial to get you interested. The general idea is that it provides ideas for activities - but, thus far, the implementation is just based entirely on lists from friends. I kind of thought this would be an opportunity for Google to cull a bunch of data feeds about events from a localized area and aggregate them into options. Instead, it's a place for you to set a vague goal for yourself and check it off when you're done (though tracking progress on said goal is not an option).

Long story short, if you haven't tried Schemer yet, don't beat yourself up - there should be no rush to get in on the ground floor.

It's that time again! Load up the playlist and enjoy the slacking off from work. I've got some treats in store for next week to, hopefully, wrap up the year but, for now, enjoy the weekly goods.

• Old Spice - Motorcycle - It is remarkable how great the ad campaigns for Old Spice are; especially considering that I've zero interest in the product. You know you created something great when a customer wants to watch your advertisement over and over. Amazing.
• Inappropriate Folgers Commercial - yes, it's inappropriate but not really.. or is it? Either way, hilarious.
• Haboob Swallows Phoenix - do you know what a Haboob is? Did you know that they aren't that uncommon in the dryer parts of Arizona and New Mexico? Do you understand how terrifying they appear to be?
• Titanic: The Animated Movie - this trailer brings up so many question it's difficult to wrap your brain around. Why does it exist? Why is there a fun loving kids movie based on an enormous disaster? Why is there a rapping schnauzer? Why is his backing band comprised of stereotyped mice? Why, Why, Why? via Paul.
• Geek Love TLC - there is a fine line between laughing with someone and laughing at someone. I'm not sure where the new TLC Geek Love show falls but it seems like something we should all watch in order to decide.
• Priceless Hippo - your level of enjoyment of this is a good gauge of your maturity levels. Me? I'm about 8 years old because I loved it. (Please note, this occurrence is not uncommon in Hippos but it is hilarious).
• Drive Recklessly - an educational PSA on the dangers of speeding. Would you rather save 30 seconds or a life?
• Cheers - NORMisms - it's been many years since I've watched Cheers.. this Supercut is a nice reminder that we all need to revisit it.
• I Gave My Kids a Terrible Present - Jimmy Kimmel gets parents to trick their kids for the benefit of late night TV again. The results are hilarious but I can't imagine doing this to your child; some of them seem incredibly upset! Fortunately, you know they'll forget.
• Waving Bear - you will watch this on repeat for the remainder of the day.

BONUS

• Raiders of the Lost Ark Filmumentary Part 2 and Part 3 are now available. I am sure they are every bit as compelling as Part 1.
• Mariachi El Bronx - 48 Roses - a primo example of why music videos can (and are) still relevant when done right.
• 30 Most Important Cats of 2011 - Falfa sent me this and I am forever indebted to him for it.

Have a great weekend!

Casey Dunn, quality photographer and PUBLIC School member, recently launched a new photo undertaking called Alexander & Sons that serves as a repository for his artistic collections. The first two sets, Hoop Dreams and Populous, document abandoned basketball goals and his experience in Hong Kong; respectively. Go give it a gander; it's great stuff.

Take some time to check out the Google Zeitgeist 2011 that rounds up the top 10 searches of the previous year and couples with it some great search statistics. Even if you find it alarmingly sad that there is only one entry in the top 10 that covers a meaningful global event (#8) you should check out the great graphs, animations and data design of the interior pages; great stuff.

HT Daniel.

• Microsoft decides to automatically update Internet Explorer for everyone - apparently the folks at Microsoft have decided that it's time to force updates on all XP, Vista and Windows 7 machines to get them utilizing the most contemporary browser for their system. While the headline is certainly an exciting notion I have my doubts that this means much of anything because of the IT gatekeepers that will prevent it from really taking hold in their infrastructure. Hopefully it will become more standard practice to not keep most of the business community in the dark ages and this seems to be the first step.
• Bootstrap Rising - a nice little rundown of the perks and potential improvements that could be made to the Bootstrap framework. Good read.

There are few blogs with the consistent goodness of Kateoplis. So, it's no surprise that her compilation of Favorite Photography of 2011 is 100% engaging. Be sure to see all three parts and keep an eye out for, potentially, more as the year wraps up.

Work.place is the creation of Portland photographer Carlie Armstrong. She visits various creative types around PDX and documents their spaces and their process. It's rather wonderful to see such a variety of work - clothing designers, leather workers, fine artists, letterpressers, screenprinters, perfumers and a load more. It's always inspiring to see workspaces but even moreso to know that all these people are in the same city.. it's enough to make you want to move to Portland!

German photographer Frauke Theilking has a slew of great work to show on her site but this Generation series really caught my eye. It's ultra simple - parent and child together in stark comparison. How alike are they? Unsurprisingly, they're very much alike but it's still pretty fascinating to check out. My only complaint is that there aren't a bajillion of them to check out - you get through the series and just want to see more.

Do you know Sam Smith? Aside from being a great drummer, amazingly creative designer and blogger he's also a bit of a film nerd. I say this in the most complimentary of ways. How does this fact potentially enhance your life? Because he's taken it upon himself to release a number of podcasts called Cinema Sound - mostly just quality selections from films he enjoys that will treat your ears. His latest, Volume 3, is "Christmassy" themed; including the likes of classics you didn't remember knowing by heart until you heard them again (i.e. anything from Home Alone). It's a great listen and I recommend you both snag it and follow his future updates.

I mentioned on Friday that Louis CK would be releasing a new comedy special on his site for just $5. No DRM, no commercials, just pay and play. It's getting a lot of media traction because it's a new undertaking for a comic to distribute their work this way. Yesterday, Louis CK posted a progress report on how well it's been going. For less than a week of availability it's already made, profit, around $200,000 (after covering production and web cost). It's not surprising but it's always encouraging to see more and more people realizing that the fewer barriers between artist and fan is largely beneficial. The doesn't seem to have been a large amount of pirating of the material because A) people love Louis CK and B) the cost is so low it's just easier to buy it.

I think his only stumble was to not give fans the option to pay more if they wanted to. I have no doubt lots of people would have taken advantage of the ability to say `thank you for the laughs` with their extra dollars.

There's a nice summary of the project here, a Reddit Q&A here and a recent NPR interview if you're looking more Louis material to fill your day.

Loving this series of images documenting China's Abandoned Wonderland. The "largest amusement park in Asia" ceased development in 1998 and the structures sit dormant now, surrounded by active crops. The rest of the slideshow doesn't have quite the same impact as the above image but it's always interesting to see how far along development can get on a project before being ditched entirely.

If you're hankering for more abandoned buildings (though not neccessarily abandoned Chinese theme parks), steer your browser over to the Will Holland Blog and keep an eye out for the "Lost Cities" series.

Chad ran across the above image and sent me on a quest to find its source video. As anyone would, I took to the task. Turns out the sequence is taken from this video; an absolutely gorgeous music video for Matta courtesy of Kim Holm. The only downer? The song isn't exactly up my alley (subjectively speaking). However, as Casey points out - you can always mute it and just put on some Royksopp for the proper soundtrack. The same tactic works for just watching the GIF for a few hours, too.

Have a gander at the Peep Code Geek Gift Guide if you're in need of some last minute inspiration for this holiday season. Sure, they're peddling their Screencast more than anything but there are several other smart, affordable, ideas in there as well. Boing Boing has been running a great series from Ed Piskor recently and the latest entry covers a lot of Nostalgic NES memories. Be sure to check the rest when you're done.

via Waxy (who has a great article on the upcoming generations thoughts on Copyright that you should absolutely read).

While the poster / preview image for Proteigon may not seem too enticing I implore you to go ahead and click that Play button. The following 1:30 animation from Steven Briand is one of the more clever applications of stop motion you'll seen in some time. And after you enjoy that check out his graduation short film Frictions.

I love a good artist interview. Hearing about process, creative choices, inspiration, goals, etc. is all fascinating. So, stumbling upon Nothing Stranger Than Truth was a nice discovery. The interviews and accompanying photography are all curated by Joe Gomez and cover a range of musicians, photographers and graphic designers. Go check out the Bradley Spitzer profile and I think you'll find yourself hooked.