Aaron posted a duo of links regarding Spotify; one for it, one against.

• Bloomberg: Why Spotify Will Kill iTunes - Pro
• Harvard Business: Why I'm Not Going Near Spotify (and Why You Shouldn't Either) - Anti

Both are great reads and I thank Aaron for pointing me in their direction. The Anti-Spotify writeup basically argues that they're setting up a bait-and-switch.. get you hooked on their massive available library, have you pay for membership and then raise prices. You'd "have" to pay to keep access to your media. I tend to agree that this is not the kind of gatekeeping that I'm interested in.

But that's the thing. Doesn't Spotify really boil down to personal preference? It's kind of the Analog vs Digital argument.. only this is Digital vs Other Digital. Some people love vinyl and hate mp3.. others can't comprehend why you'd ever want to listen to music with a needle. That same mentality extends to having an enormous library of tunes saved to your harddrive - lots of people don't want that. They just want to pull up a song and listen. It's not an artifact to them.

It's certainly a topic worthy of debate.

If you haven't caught the A Little Bit of Something portfolio yet, please take a few moments to scroll through the site. It's filled with arrogance, bravado, absurdity and a bear. Honestly, I'm not that smitten with the actual work but the writeup is so perfectly ridiculous, you'd be a fool not to want find out more about this guy.

Yesterday I encountered Infinite Mario Bros: HTML5 - a port from the original Java version. It absolutely blows my mind whenever I encounter something this robust that's been pulled off by just using native code - not additional plugins. Infinite Mario Bros is no different.. my mind is blown.

Imagine taking the concept of Google Street View, mix in a little Microsoft Street Slide and then back up the time machine to New York 1982. That's exactly what you get with Street View 1982.

Vanishing New York has a nice interview with creator Dan Weeks and the history of the project. The site, and blog, are fascinating both in their technical execution and their historical content. There's even a portion of the site dedicated to Store Fronts. The only bummer is that the images really aren't that big... I could stand to pore over enormous versions if they were available.

via Eric Mortensen.

I stumbled upon a great interview with Dan Cassaro and found myself impressed both by his body of work (including his curation on the previously mentioned Fifty and Fifty project) and entirely engaged by his simple take on design:

"Design is informed by music, culture, politics, and everything else that's happening around us. Being involved and aware of these other things only makes our work better. It's a good excuse for me to go out and live an engaging life outside of design."

You can tell this thought process shows through in his beautiful collection of work; inspired typography with a vintage, weathered look that is contemporary and nostalgic.

Phenomenal mindset to have for every day living.

This Untitled piece is but one of many from Maggie Lochtenberg worthy of your time. Lots of light leaks and happy accidents throughout. She's also running a Tumblr if you're hoping to follow along.

Last week, ck/ck posted a number of gorgeous images captured via Google Maps. This is a quality over quantity situation so I suggest you view them all: Chad, Florida, Namibia, Australia, California, Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi.

• When Patents Attack - This American Life had a great episode last night about patents, patent trolls and the suffocating of innovation through frivolous lawsuits. It's interesting to hear the argument from the perspective of the corporations holding all the cards - saying that they are the ones making sure the patent holders are getting paid; which breeds innovation. It's a great episode, go listen to it now.
• Faster than $(document).ready() - neat little Javascript function that waits for the existence of a singular div rather than the entire DOM.
• Facebook iPad App Leaks - lots of screenshots of the new app have leaked and it looks quite nice actually. I'd even go as far as to say that it's better than the actual site.

Big weekend... it's probably best if you just stop working now. Here's your playlist and the breakdown below.

• Planet of the Apes Party Fun Time - a ridiculous amount of work had to be put into making this ridiculous compilation of Planet of the Apes footage look like a serious dance party. I love all the subtle added details.
• Look at this! - this was posted last December so it's probably really old news but, man, I love it. Look at this! The laugh is incredible.
• Mini Motorcycle Tooth Pull - kids will always find inventive ways to pull teeth from their head.. this is a phenomenal example. If I ever end up with children, I will allow this kind of behavior and likely encourage it.
• Let's Enhance Supercut - absolutely perfect compilation of Let's Enhance clips. The part about "an image enhancer that can bitmap" is easily my favorite.
• Spider-Man vs Mirror's Edge - If you've not seen the official trailer for the Amazing Spider-Man reboot, watch that first. Then, let it hit you that a large chunk of the second half of the trailer is incredibly similar to the video game Mirror's Edge. I don't see this as being a big deal but I believe the Internet is all flustered over it!
• Kid flashes camera at Women's World Cup - did you see this kid last Sunday? It's like Chunk from The Goonies really does exist.
• Jobless Problem Solved - be sure to thank Fiverr.com for making the Internet an even more embarrassing and demoralizing place.

BONUS

• Liam Finn - Cold Feet - not the greatest video but his new album Fomo is superb. Get it.
• Jim Guthrie - So Small - a little bit of ingenuity goes a long way. Despite being released in 2003, I am just now discovering (and loving) the album this stems from - Now, More Than Ever.
• I Can Go For Sax - how long has it been since you listened to this? Way too long. Put it on repeat for the next hour.. you won't regret it.

Have a great weekend!

Take three minutes to watch this great CNN story on The Art of Eye Making. The piece is a profile on Christie Erickson, of Erickson Labs Northwest, that shows her process of creating a false eye. It is beautifully shot and one of the few instances where you hear about a process going from mass production to singular hand-crafted care. I mean, if this image doesn't convince you entirely, you're beyond my reach!

via Jamie (go get his new mix).

I'll be totally honest in stating that I know very little of the Tour de France. However, this vintage photo set showing moments from the competition from 1933 to 1973 is certainly engaging. Nevermind the cyclists, look at this! How have I not heard of / read about the Atomium before? Phenomenal.

via Keegan (who just announced a tour, go look to see if he's playing near you).

Like Puzzle Games? Like helping puppies escape from perilous situations? Enjoy a quality send-up to classic Metroid? Well then, clear your schedule for Escape from Puppy Death Factory. It's just the right mix of frustrating learning curve and that accomplished feeling only video games give you.

via Brandonnn Boyer.

I almost shared this yesterday but was hesitant that it was too race-y, too over-the-line from what I usually post. However, upon reflection, I can't not share the absurd goodness of Cowboy Henk. You can see a bunch of this Belgian comic here or here.

If you were a fan of The Perry Bible Fellowship I can see this being right up your alley.. albeit a bit more sexualized at times. It doesn't always knock it out of the park but sometimes it's absolutely perfect.

via Paul.

The photostream of Robert Hutinkski is overflowing with gorgeous black and white photos (and a few beautiful color photos as well). I'm a sucker for a foggy image, intense portrait or intriguing silhouette - all of which are offered from Hutinkski.

Be forewarned that if you start at the beginning there are a number of nudes throughout the stream.. all tasteful but maybe not in line with your workplace policy.

via mjut.

Artist Paul Octavious has posted up a number of new prints of his photographs capturing long-exposure records spinning on the turntable. The color blends are unbelievable (especially on this Beatles record).

If those prints don't do it for you (which would be odd) be sure to spend some time with his official portfolio as it is absolutely overflowing with goodness.

Heads up via The Fox Is Black.

Update: Artist Chad Hagen weighs in claiming this lifted from his own concept. It does seem entirely possible....

The fine folks at Pixify found themselves inspired by the new OSX Lion UI buttons and recreated them in CSS. They took the Glypish icons, wrapped them in a bit of minimal markup and are offering them up for usage in whatever you see fit.

If you weren't aware, some hackers were arrested yesterday that were involved in the attacks on PayPal (after PP cut off WikiLeaks) and it seems that the group responsible for the hack (Anonymous + Lulz Security) wants to let the FBI know that they aren't intimidated. Their official response reads almost exactly like KevinMitnick or The Hacker's Manifesto (the later part) - intentionally so.

The response, to me, is a commendable undertaking. I don't think they'll "win" because the concepts they're going up against are so deeply entrenched in how things work it doesn't seem possible to change them. That being said, I still think fighting the good fight is important and wish them well.

Tina Roth Eisenberg, aka Swiss miss, had a simple idea with an incredibly excellent execution - high class designer temporary tattoos - Tattly.

Tattly started out of my frustration that temporary children tattoos are often hideous looking. Think Clip Art gone Tattoo. I was ready to put designy, cool, typographic tattoos on my daughter’s arm. Tattly was born.

The list of designers involved is impressive and I can only imagine that there are loads more on the way. I'm partial to the Mother, Color Burst, Aperture and Scribble pieces.

Amron Experimental, the folks that produced the Split Ring Key have a new key creation - the Carabiner Key. The concept is the same, a blank key with additional functionality. This particular version seems more like a regular key than the Split/Key but I am sure there are those out there that would find it to be the perfect solution to their key situation.

I've mentioned the Movie Title Stills Collection before but I recommend spending some time, specifically, with this lovely collection of Jean-luc Godard typography. I tend to gravitate towards the more simple executions - i.e. Vivre Sa Vie or Les Carabiniers - but they're all great. Inspiring to say the very least.