The fine folks at Breakfast have developed a rather impressive new toy - an Instagram powered photo printer called Instaprint. You can watch an introductory video here but the basic gist is that their device utilizes the Instagram API looking for hashtags and/or specific location settings and prints out the photos with the same technique used in modern Polaroid cameras (i.e. Zink tech). It even includes captions and comments on the printouts. I've no idea what their plan is for these devices other than to show off how awesome they are at making clever devices but I can absolutely see this making its way into every bar / music venue / restaurant with a clientele that understands what Instagram is (especially if Instagram expands their base to other platforms).

via Madrid.

Designers MX - the mix repository curated by a plethora of inspiring designers - has continued to bring great new content ever since their launch. I just noticed yesterday that there's a Mark Weaver mix - Patterns & Process - and a Jim Renaud mix as well - Pepper Regions IV. Both are recommended - and I'm sure there are goods that I've yet to unearth.

The Box has a great, albeit short, interview up with jack-of-all-trades Shaun Inman. It's only 20 minutes long but they cover all sorts of topics - web application development, game development, where ideas / inspiration come from and the struggles of being a one-man dev team. If you weren't already impressed by the undertakings of Mr. Inman, you will be after listening to this.

HT Mr. Will Jardine.

I tend to keep my Star Wars related posts down to a minimum - the Internet is overrun with the stuff - but occasionally I see something that just shouldn't be neglected. These dramatic photographs of Lego recreations depicting unseen adventures from Hoth. It's all part of a book set to be given away to photographer Vesa Lehtimaki kids and friends. Despite the fact that this one is never going to adorn your coffee table you can enjoy all the goodness right in this set.

Somehow I managed to miss compiling and posting a mix during the month of February. I'm going to blame it on my insane level of work commitments during that time and the fact that I just simply don't consume music in the same way as I have in years past (though, technically, can we count Concentrate as my Feb submission?). I'm content to have a handful of new things come my way and really settle in with them for awhile instead of trying to cram a load of newness down my ears all the time. Maybe I'll revert to my old ways sometime but, for now, this is my latest offering.

Ready for It is a compilation of music I've been listening to with great regularity that brings pleasure to my ears. No over-arching theme to bind it beyond that but I think it fits together rather well. Enjoy!

[ Single MP3 | Single M4A | Individual MP3 ZIP ]

1. Gruff Rhys - Shark Ridden Waters
2. Smith Westerns - Weekend
3. The Dodos - Black Night
4. Thank You - 1-2-3 Bad
5. Spoon - The Ghost Of Your Lingers (Blogotheque version)
6. Tristen - Matchstick Murder
7. Grouplove - Colours
8. White Denim - Drug
9. Telekinesis - Fever Chill
10. Jay Reatard - Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh
11. Mogwai - Rano Pano
12. Toro y Moi - New Beat
13. Millionyoung - Tokyo 3
14. Jensen Sportag - Everything Good
15. mutual benefit - Birdwatcher

Another new episode of Everything; courtesy of Jessica Cather, James Atkinson, Chris Cantwell, Danny Jelinek, Jason Whetzell and Sophie Kipner. It is, as usual, an eclectic grab bag of short vignettes that just might entertain or provoke you.

I have previously posted about the work of Simen Johan but thanks to an exhibition at The Frist I've decided it's time for everyone to revisit the plethora of available work. The 2007-2009 collection of Until the Kingdom Comes is every bit as impactful as the 2004-2006 collection... so spend some time cruising through them all.

I decided to whip up an iPhone Desktop for anyone interested. It now adorns my lock screen.

Artist Clement Valla has stumbled upon an interesting phenomena inside of the Google Earth - if your angle is just right the 2D textures plotted on a 3D plane create surreal landscapes. The insane interstate shown above is but the tip of the iceberg. See more here or straight from the source.

via Ronnie.

Small Business Advice from Jason Fried - six little anecdotes from the founder of 37 Signals that shine a bit of light on his thought process when it comes to business and making money. TweenLite AutoFitArea - how did I have no idea that this was a feature in the TweenLite family? Seems like an obnoxiously easy way to force DisplayObjects to fill a particular space. Combined with Liquid Stage this is pretty much a no-brainer.

Apparently the above email went out to the Hype Machine mailing list yesterday citing the 2008 Summer Mix Series - specifically the War of the Worlds Mix courtesy of Version Industries. I'm glad to see that many years after its debut the mix is still getting accolades.. it deserves it.

The story behind James Wallace and The Naked Light's More Strange News from Another Star is that it was, initially, written and recorded within a two-month period with the intent to have it distributed on cassette in China. Seriously. The deal with the label in China fell through but the album remained existing in limbo.. until now. I was fortunate enough to get my hands on a copy a few months ago and it's been in regular rotation ever since. If ghosts of musicians past ever haunt recordings I'd say that Paul Simon and Harry Nilsson would find themselves very comfortable in parts of this one - though never directly ripped; just a casual and meaningful nod in their direction. I've included "Colored Lights" from the album below but I recommend listening to the album in its entirety.. it certainly works best that way. Go listen or download right away.. it can't do anything but improve your day.

The photography of Rickard Sund is a solid batch - most of which exists in the realm of fashion excursions; series that tell a story without telling a story (and showing off some clothes). More interesting, for me, is the navigation for the site - either keyboard arrow based or you can just "draw" an arrow to the left or right to move forward. It's somewhat impractical (okay, it's quite impractical) but it's novelty enough that it's worth checking out. Beyond that, it's a clean, well presented, smoothly animated and well designed portfolio.. why wouldn't you want to check that out?

via Jamie.

At quick glance you might think the above image is a Furry obsession gone haywire - a Giant Panda obsessed fetish that somehow gained access to a baby panda. Fortunately, you'd be wrong. This slideshow shows researchers going to great lengths to acclimate cubs for reintroduction into the wild. Part of that process, apparently, is to get the young'un used to seeing enormous versions of themselves. The images are as sweet as they are ridiculous.

A site devoted to tracking the demise of Internet Explorer 6 isn't so surprising but a site developed by Microsoft tracking and promoting the demise of said browser is worth raising an eyebrow over. IE6 Countdown does just that - watches the world for its dropping IE6 usage and tries to get people to upgrade. There are any number of rants involved over this but I'll save all that and just say it's good to see Microsoft doing anything to try and correct their past transgressions. I doubt this site is really going to help China drop below the 25% usage percentage but it's better than nothing.

I can't say for certain what I think of this weeks playlist but it's comprised of a wide variety of goods.. so that's something!

• TRON: Uprising Trailer - new animated series set in the same Grid as the latest TRON movie but more of a prequel to Flynn's return. Maybe I'm just a sucker for this style but if The Clone Wars is any indication, it's easier / more effective to make something this crazy as a cartoon than it is a live-action film.
• Jeff Goldblum Scats - I think I could leave this on repeat all day and it would never bother me.
• FADADES - I love it when an artist takes themselves so seriously that it's impossible to tell if they're mocking themselves or not. Is this a joke? Is this an honest expression of weird gothic tendencies? What is happening? I'm not sure I really want to know. via Justin.
• Hasan Baba - best Dad dance ever. Closely followed up by these two.
• Literal 5th Wheel - while I am sure there are all kinds of impracticalities and limitations involved with this I'm still surprised it never caught on.
• iPad 2 Review - this is ridiculous but it's so perfectly dry throughout the whole thing that I couldn't help but enjoy it. I doubt you'll watch the entire 7 minutes but pretty much anywhere you scrub to there's a chuckle-worthy gag waiting.

BONUS VIDEOS

• Barn Own Does NOT like Dogs - I'm a sucker for seeing a wild animal show off its defense mechanisms.
• Super Mario Dance Bros - I'm also a sucker for terrible animations.
• Kinetic Conan - great animation of Conan's NBC farewell speech. via Public School.
• A New Life - a little behind-the-scenes look at the string recording for the the music of "A New Life" - a forthcoming short film from Chad McClarnon with music by Uncle Skeleton.

Have a great weekend!

Stop what you're doing and watch this slideshow of images courtesy of photographer Timothy Allen taken during his time with the film crews of Human Planet; a documentary series that explores mankind's relationship with nature. The above image is from Western Mongolia of a man who uses Golden Eagles to hunt... not some ridiculous Internet meme photo featuring a man beckoning a bird of prey but an actual real-life scenario in which this happens. Fascinating to say the very least.

HT on the slideshow to Make No Sound.

Take a moment today to watch the trailer for Press Pause Play - a documentary about digital culture and how it enables the masses to become creators. The divide between artist and consumer has dwindled with all of the digital tools available to everyone. If the trailer isn't enough content for you, dive into the filmmakers YouTube channel for more bits from the film.

Also Known As: Things I've Tagged In Instapaper:

• The Believer - Interview with David Wain
• A plethora of AV Club interviews.. including: Judd Apatow, Adam Reed, Judy Greer and Ed Helms.
• BBC News: Snake gives 'virgin birth' to extraordinary babies
• The Blanket Octopus

Charlie Brooker has a new show on BBC2 entitled How TV Ruined Your Life in which he explores a myriad of ways that television has skewed our perspective on life and, ultimately, made it more difficult. I've only been through two episodes thus far but both were enjoyable - a sign that the entire series is worth tracking down. Brooker works best when he's going off on a well-worded rant, rather than trying to display some absurdist sketch to prop up his point but there's a good balance of the two throughout. You can watch the episodes on Youtube but since they're not officially sanctioned versions, they may not be there long.

Letter M Press is a forthcoming iPad app aimed at recreating the letterpress experience with software. You select and arrange type, put in the proper spacers and roll the ink. You'll be able to save the designs and export out for use in other programs - so it's not a frivolous app, you could actually use the creations elsewhere. According to this Kickstarter they've actually got a good deal of the app itself written but they need more samples of type to use within it. They've met their goal already (congrats!) but with 48 days left to go on their fundraising they could probably raise a good deal more and make the app that much better. It is, without a doubt, a very intriguing undertaking and I look forward to seeing more from it.

HT Mr. Jardine.