Underscore.js is "the tie to go along with jQuery's tux." Basically a collection of roughly 60 functions to help aid in common tasks. Taking a look at some of the commands present I can absolutely see how this would be an incredibly handy way to speed up production.
Stripe.js aims to make credit card handling with javascript a bit easier. It creates a single-use token based off of the card number, cvc and expiration that can be passed on to a processing server. Personally I don't do much of anything in the credit card processing realm but it seems like a good tool to have in your shed.
Here is this weeks playlist, watch it on VHX! Some readers have written in and stated that Friday Videos no longer work within Google Reader once I switched to the new VHX system. This is incredibly unfortunate but, sadly, not something that can be fixed by anyone but Google - since they have to "whitelist" an iframe to work within Reader. Such is the pain of early adoption. My apologies to those of you getting this in Reader but VHX is all kinds of compliant with browsers, mobile devices, etc - so just click this link to watch the videos!
Bill Gates Leaps Over Chair - Connie Chung, Bill Gates and an absolutely ridiculous physical challenge. Phenomenal.
Car Jump Rope - yep, it's a car jumping rope. Nope, I can't believe it either.
Patrick Swayze PBR Commercial (1979) - the last thing you likely equate with PBR is Patrick Swayze and Disco Dancing - until now! You can put the video on repeat and have the best day of your life.
Tiny Legs of Fire - a compilation of random videos from Doug Bayne - featuring, among many great things, BeardSlap. Some of it is a bit gruesome and/or work inappropriate but that's more of a quality seal of approval in my mind than anything else.
Big Cat Halloween - what happens when you give large jungle cats a bunch of pumpkins to play with? They behave exactly as you'd expect a housecat to act - they have a blast. Maybe you've seen this one (Since it's from 2010 and has almost 2 million views) but it's still a playful romp.
The Adventures of TinTin - an unofficial opening title sequence for the forthcoming movie. I know nothing about the film, the books or the world of TinTin but this an incredible piece of motion graphics work.
RBMA World Tour 2011 - a myriad of musical styles provide the soundtrack to this immersive animation. The stop motion stuff is my favorite but I fully appreciate all the other styles worked together. Be sure to check out the Behind the Scenes stuff as well - "impressive" just doesn't seem to properly sum it up.
Brad Pitt Ping-Pong - I watched the entirety of this 3:17 video more than once. It's incredibly ridiculous and only made more perfect with its lighthearted soundtrack.
BONUS
Cat vs Hair Dryer - you may feel a bit saddened to learn that the cat is blind but I'd still take the bet that you'll easily laugh aloud seeing the cat attack the warm air.
Stella Artois 9 Step - you'd think a four and a half minute video describing the proper steps to pour a glass of Stella Artois wouldn't be that entertaining but here's proof that it can be done.
Listen, I know I already told you about the Kindercastle, Codaphonic and Shaboi show happening tonight but I would be remiss if I did not stress how unique it is for Shaboi to be playing at all! Yes, I am biased on my love of all three of these bands but, despite that, you really should attend. If you don't actually live in the Nashville area then I implore you to download this record, Curse Walk. It is a short listen but it's ridiculous how good it is from top to bottom.
I recall seeing references to a project called "Terminator the Second" floating around the Internet months and months ago. The idea was to take the film Terminator 2, rewrite the script using only Shakespeare dialog and then perform it live. Turns out, not only was it a legitimate undertaking that reached its funding but its based out of Tennessee and happening this weekend.
My mind is reeling from how great these Skull Nickels are. Originally spawned from the Depression era Buffalo Nickel, the original currency was caste in a soft metal and loads of people were out of work - a pretty phenomenal combo for the spawn of art. They're mostly referred to as Hobo Nickels as the most prominent creators were, in fact, hoboes. You can read more about the history of the artifacts here and browse repositories of many of the coins here.
Yesterday saw the full non-beta release of Lemon, a robust receipt tracking service that not only allows you to forward all your receipt emails into their service with a custom email address but also supplies you with an app to enable you to snap pics of paper receipts. The interface is clean in both the site and the app - getting started is easy. I will admit that, so far, I don't really see the service combing the emails I send it for monetary values and creating an easy to reference table of expenses (which is what I expected it to do). That being said, it does serve as a nice repository of money spent and an excellent way to not lose track of your expenses - assuming you file them away immediately into the system. Looking forward to seeing what this grows into.
Drawing MotionCAPTCHA - "Stop Spam, Draw Shapes" is the tagline for this new style spam prevention where the user is required to roughly draw instead of typing in a nonsense pairing of words or letters. It's pretty forgiving with the accuracy and seems like a nicer way to verify that a human is using your form rather than a bot of some sort. I have my suspicions about the compliance for handicap users but it's early days yet and a solid idea like this is sure to survive.
jQuery Boilerplate - a template for starting your own jQuery plugins. I often think plugins can be a little over the top for their own good but it's a nice, clean, setup for getting started if you're interested in partaking in such a thing. Definitely one for the bookmarks.
It's October so, for me, it marks the time for another installment of my Halloween mix. After seven years of making these it becomes increasingly difficult to compile a quality batch of songs actually about Halloween so I've gone with a more atmospheric vibe, sort of like last year. But I digress...
I present Endless Hell, the Halloween 2011 mix intended to created a crazed, spooky, gloomy vibe. I highly recommend the Single MP3 or M4A mix as there is some actual blending going on that I think benefits the whole immersive vibe.
While I haven't actually heard an episode of it yet (one hasn't been released) I am intrigued by Here's The Thing, a bi-weekly podcast hosted by Alec Baldwin. The first episode is an interview with Michael Douglas and he's recorded episodes with Chris Rock and political strategist Ed Rollins. At the very least, it couldn't hurt to subscribe and check it out - could be fascinating!
What can you say about this Hugo Gernsback invention, The Isolator? Look at this description:
The “Isolator” is designed to help focus the mind when reading or writing, by rendering the wearer deaf, piping them full of oxygen, not only by eliminating all outside noise, but also by allowing just one line of text to be seen at a time through a horizontal slit.
Terrifying. For more from this creative man search this page for "Teleyeglasses."
Siri Says Some Weird Things - I'm sure this sort of thing will be incredibly common once the iPhone 4S is commonplace but I'm enjoying this gallery of amusing responses from the new Siri service. I'm happy to see that the programmers worked in a good bit of humor.
iOS5 Walkthrough - probably nothing that you don't already know but a good solid review of the new features in the updated operating system.
When Can I Use... - incredibly overwhelming but, ultimately, absolutely essential table of supported features in all major browsers. So, if you're curious if you can get away with using X feature and not exclude Y browser - this is the place to have your assumptions verified or denied. Very handy.
DocPool - a repository of shared documents for web developers. It's mostly for the business side of things - invoice templates, contracts, etc - but there are some other handy files in there as well.
I've been seeing this Kern Me game making the rounds lately but just decided to try it out today. It is an excellent way to feel proud of yourself for moving letters around or a quick way to feel ashamed that you didn't nudge left or right just enough. Either way, you're sure to be filled with emotion while playing it.
Yesterday, Ferris sent me a link to this song and I, wrongfully, assumed it was some 1950's era gem he had unearthed and wanted to share. Turns out, it's Nick Waterhouse - a 2011 artist on Innovative Leisure doing new things with a decidedly old sound. I suggest picking up his Is That Clear EP and then diving into his blog and this video... I think you'll be as hooked as I am.
Adam Lisagor is back pedaling another promising looking site. This time around it's Small Demons, a site dedicated to linking all the subjects, nouns, concepts from "all the books you love" and links them together. After watching the intro video the user concept becomes a lot clearer but it's not clear how all these things actually get linked together.. I can't imagine there's a method of automation to such a thing, is there? The site is still in Beta Invite mode so I've not actually used it but the interface looks nice and, much like YouTube or Wikipedia, it seems like a site that could suck you in for hours.
Steve Jobs: Why He Wore the Turtleneck - a quick anecdote about Jobs time with Sony president Akio Morita and how it came to spawn his signature black turtleneck. Combine this with Gruber's wonderful grass stained shoes anecdote and you've almost got the mans entire wardrobe figured out.
First and foremost, if you aren't watching Breaking Bad I suggest you start immediately. The finale for Season 4 was about as compelling as you can get. Don't even visit the official site if you've not watched the show, you're better going in totally ignorant; promise.
If you have watched the show and you're all caught up I suggest partaking in the following extra bits of media.. because there's no such thing as too much Breaking Bad.
Vince Gilligan Season 4 Walkthrough - the AV Club sat down with creator Vince Gilligan to discuss every episode in the latest season. Part One and Two have been posted with the following two installments following during the remainder of the week.
Bryan Cranston on WTF - Marc Maron gets a lot of information and history from Bryan Cranston in this episode of WTF but they also talk a great deal about the formation of Breaking Bad and, ultimately, where it is headed. No specific spoilers, more of a broad thematic goal.
This Dream Anatomy video is probably not within the typical wheelhouse of what you'd expect from here but I think you may still find it interesting. The video tells a brief history of Anatomical Illustration - starting with the crossover of art and illustration around the time of the printing press finding its place in the world. It's not an exciting video but it's got a ton of great information and, possibly, may inspire you to look up some further examples of the great work shown (at the very least check out more from Fritz Kahn, he's the best).
Jeremy recently posted a new mix, Theming on a Come Up, that compiles theme songs and soul music from various Blaxploitation films. I am sure there is some higher thought that can be put into the notion that the film genre was typically focused on criminal situations in ghetto living situations put against these highly upbeat, energetic funk, soul and jazz songs but that's for someone more cerebral than myself to take on. It's just a quality bag of enjoyable songs as far as I'm concerned. Get it.
