The above quote from George Orwell is quite troubling when put into the context of Like, Tweet, +1, etc - especially when combined with the knowledge of our skewed news organizations (not Conservative vs Liberal, just skewed in general). Are we moving towards this sort of mentality? Is it happening so slowly that we won't even realize we're in the world of Idiocracy? If so, can it even be stopped?

Food for thought, that's all. via Jed.

Recently I started watching Wilfred - the new FX show starring Elijah Wood in his first television role. It's an Australian remake about a guy down on his luck that attempts suicide, fails and then starts having in-depth conversations with his neighbors dog; an entity only he sees as lewd man in a dog suit while everyone else just sees a regular dog. The premise is, to say the least, pretty out there.

I read through this article about the comparisons of the show to Fight Club and I can certainly see a correlation. I think, mostly, the show is traveling down a path similar to The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret; a non-standard sitcom path flush with darker tones and themes. I'm not entirely sure if I'd call it funny quite yet but it's interesting. Might be worth a viewing once the season has run its course...

I have posted many times in the past about the work of Luke Worley but it wasn't until somewhat recently that he really dove into being a full-time tattoo artist. I setup a single one-page splash site for his services to act as a coming soon for a more involved site / portfolio but it's worth checking out now just for that business card illustration. Incredible. You can check out his ink work over on Flickr.

The last time I posted about the Summer Mix Series I caught a little flak for being a champion of independent music but curating a site that gives music away for free. While it's tough to make an argument against that mentality I will offer these two mixes up as examples of why the site works as a champion for music, and not a champion for piracy:

• Chansons Pour La Vie: I. Prelude to Henry - Aaron put together an absolutely stunning blended mix of songs in tribute to his forthcoming son. Harry Belafonte, Pantha du Prince, Aphex Twin, Talk Talk, Nico Muhly and Don Henley have never existed in the same aural space together so perfectly.
• Repeat! Repeat! - a non-blended themed mix of songs that use a repetitive word or phrase in their title and choral hook. The strong theme presence here makes this less about the piracy of songs and more about the education of an effective hook, charming songwriting and appealing songs.

There are a load of great mixes popping up on the site and the heavier the theme, the more educational and insightful the compilation will be (hence my stress that the themes be more visible this year). Go educate yourself on MIDI Music, Scottish Indie Rock and Hip-Hop Origins while you're there.

Due to no legitimate reasoning I've been failing to take time to just read longer articles I encounter online. I mark them in Instapaper but then don't revisit them. Such a waste. No more! Here's some articles I caught up on last night that I think you'll find enjoyable:

• Michael Winterbottom: AV Club - if you haven't seen the series The Trip at least take some time to go see the movie version.
• Robert Smigel: Vanity Fair - I had no idea that Smigel wrote a ridiculous Green Lantern script and that the Internet revolted upon reading it. Hilarious.
• Louis CK: AV Club - I never tire of reading interviews with Louis CK, even if he says essentially the same thing every time. His work / family balance is mesmerizing.
• Bill Simmons on Ryan Reynolds, Will Smith and the perception of success in Hollywood - great bit of insight into a lack of quality leading men and how the movie industry attempts to manipulate the situation. Can we go back to having unknown actors in stuff? It's more believable when you don't recognize anyone right off.

Check out this great mini-documentary from WereHaus and Ferris Plock covering the legacy of the Skooler - the skateboard cooler.

Check out this great mini-documentary from Ferris Plock covering the legacy of the Skooler - the skateboard cooler.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is a short film and a supplementary iPad app; a bit of cross promotion I'd not seen before. Not only that but the app trailer is phenomenal.. setting the bar way beyond what anyone else is doing in terms of interactive storybooks (as far as I know). It looks to be a brilliant piece of work and likely well worth the $5 pricetag.

via Revgoomba.

I'm liking the idea behind ReaderSwarm; a Chrome extension that enables you to comment on any page online but only amongst particular groups of friends. Madrid has long argued that the majority of Internet Comments are pointless and a waste of time (this site excluded, I usually agree) but I think if the comments were only from and amongst friends; it could be particularly handy.

Thanks to Kate I've been enjoying thoroughly enjoying the photostream of Danny McShane. Images like this are beautiful, ambiguous and engaging. There's no shortage of that kind of thing peppered throughout. There is plenty of other goodness to see, so be sure to click around.

• CSS Lint is Harmful - nice writeup regarding CSS Lint and how its insight into your markup may not be as beneficial as you'd think.
• Building a Pure CSS City - it's a Webkit-only proof of concept but I love seeing experiments like this. It's like watching a technology grow up right before your very eyes.
• The Huge Success of an AppStore Failure - crazy article from GAMEized and their "FingerKicks" game that has sold roughly 1,163 legitimate copies of their game and had 15,950 copies stolen.. a 91% pirate rate. Sad.

Posted without commentary (as it needs none): Ron Swanson vs Food.

via Kate.

Scottish Baker Ben Mine decided to make an edible 7-inch for his friends band. His goal was to create a playable and delicious take on the vinyl record. Surprisingly, he actually accomplished it. The record doesn't exactly sound great but the fact that he was able to use the vinyl plates as a chocolate mold is worthy of note in and of itself. The fact that it actually plays at all is nuts.

via Kim.

I don't recall where I stumbled upon the icon collection of Glyphish but it's another quality set of representational glyphs to add to your collection. It covers all your standard needs but also throws in a few oddballs to spice up your design as well. You never know when you're going to need a Sock, Genie Lamp or Partially Eaten Piece of Meat icon. Better to be safe than sorry.

I have mentioned the photographic works of Katherine Squier previously but wanted to alert you to the fact that she's recently launched her own Tumblr and I'm recommending you follow along. Even if the stream just consists of works from her photostream it will be worth seeing on a regular basis. However, I've got a feeling it may end up being more than that.. which makes it even more appealing.

I can't say that I've been actively seeking Tiny Dinosaur Skeletons in Specimen Bottles but now that I see them I am convinced that they are a quality addition to any home. The artist behind this, Tiny World in a Bottle, actually seems to be sold out of Dinosaur bottles but has a number of other tiny offerings worth checking out; such as - a Viking Ship, a tiny Dog Park or a Fish Bone Specimen.

via Lee.

Quite possibly the quickest playlist this week. That doesn't mean it's not highly entertaining.

• The First Rap Song to be Performed in the UK - not really but it's another great Peter Serafinowicz clip. LOVE the actual rap.
• Thundershirt for Dogs - this is an actual product that you wrap around your pet to calm them during thunderstorms. The product itself seems ridiculous but the video host takes it to a new level.
• Basset Hound Dressed as Sherlock Holms Running Slow Motion - that's all you need to know.
• Ha Ha Ha - perfect.
• Dog Dancer - way too short.

Bonus

• MK12 - Follow the Sun - a vintage style refreshments stand advertisement that goes horribly horribly awry.
• Hannibal Buress at Comix - Arlo assures me this is hilarious.. it's in my queue to watch.

Have a great weekend!

Sing Statistics has unveiled their latest writer / illustrator collaborative book - Reverence Library: Volume One. The gist?

Reverence Library Volume One is the first in a new series of abridged pocket encyclopaedias 'inspired by fact and reworked by fiction'. Essentially, reference books with lies in.

You can see samples of the illustrations on the site, as well as read a few snippets of the text. The concept is pretty much brilliant in my opinion.. I imagine the overall execution is as well.

The above screenshot from How I Met Your Mother may look pretty mundane but, apparently, that Bad Teacher ad showing in the upper right corner was digitally added for rebroadcasting in syndication. In fact, the episode is from 2006, the movie is from 2011.. and the TV wasn't even there in the original shot. You can see more examples here and here.

According to this, rather informative, EW article the ads are being inserted by the company SeamBi, which aims to spread their "dynamic product placement" into more and more shows. I understand that with the advent of TiVO, digital downloads and less and less opportunities to see actual commercials that this sort of thing seems necessary to corporate bigwigs but I can't help but think, as a wholesome TV nerd, that this has implications far beyond their ad revenue. I also think it's the tip of the iceberg into a scary new world of in-show advertising. These examples may be tastefully done but that doesn't mean they always will be. Get ready.

• Our Research into Flash and HTML5: Which One is Right For Your Project? - this was posted back in May but I think the numbers are still interesting to look at. Mostly because the conclusion they come to is that Flash should not be ignored in favor of HTML5, as the adopted rate of Flash is so high. They fail to mention that Flash is a giant resource hog, an SEO blackhole and often an enormous pain to pass around among multiple developers. All that aside, it is good to keep these numbers of HTML5 and/or iOS penetration in mind, as they still have a long way to go.
• Bre.ad - The concept behind Bre.ad is that you add your own special message to any link on the web and then share the bre.ad link with friends to show your thoughts on a particular destination. While I am sure the intentions behind the project are wholesome I can't help but think this basically makes everyone a advertiser. Maybe it's best used for special occasions? Have you tried it out?