Encountered this intriguing quote via Frank Chimero regarding the drive that humans have beyond the biological and reward response. Very interesting:

We do things even when they don’t satisfy our biological urges, win us a reward or help us avoid a punishment. We play musical instruments during the weekend simply to master something challenging. We quit high-paying jobs to take new jobs that are less lucrative but more meaningful. Human beings, says University of Rochester psychologist Edward Deci, have an “inherent tendency to seek out novelty and challenges, to extend and exercise their capacities, to explore and to learn”. Few would deny that this third drive is also part of what it is to be human.

There are those with more insightful commentary on this than I could provide but I like the idea of a Challenge Drive. Choosing to do something not because it is easy but because it is hard is something we should all get behind.

Liesl Pfeffer makes imaginary landscapes from bits and pieces of existing photography. There are plenty of examples of this in her portfolio but the mountain landscapes are certainly my favorite. It\'s a simple idea with an excellent execution.

Via Jessica.

One of the unfortunate things about the current setup of my site is that I can only show so much of a particular sites work to entice you, the gentle reader, to click through to see more. The above two works by Luke Ferenc Pearson are but a tiny sampling of what he has to offer. There is a healthy mix of posters, random illustrations, comics and captions that are sure to entertain.

via Matthew Lyons.

I love the use of type throughout the entirety of the Oliver Daxenbichler portfolio.. particularly the serif type selection. The layouts are clean and simple but that\'s exactly what makes them work. Bookmarked for future inspiration.

Via Madrid.

The Music Philosophy Project takes memorable song lyrics and works them into text / iconography based posters. It\'s a nice exercise in design and occasionally even inspirational. It\'s interesting to see some of the posters that use uptempo / forceful lyrics put into the context of this sort of design.. I\'m not sure it captures the sentiment behind the original words but it gives it a bit of new meaning. Certainly worth a bit of clicking around!

I\'ve released the latest edition of the We Own This Town podcast. Volume 33 is a bit more eclectic than previous releases - containing a good variety of musical styles; ambient electronic stuff, a little country, some classical influenced and then a dabbling of the rock / pop goodness that it usually comes with. Hopefully you enjoy!

• Download MP3
• Download Enhanced M4A (Chapter stops, artwork, etc).

I\'ve been rather enjoying the Long Exposure series from Atta Kim - mostly because the effect it creates is not a visual onslaught of activity but rather a ghosted hint at it. There\'s a spooky vibe to the images of empty streets with just the faintest nod to what transpired there.

Via Kate.

Today should be a good day. Why? Because the Schwartzblog just released another mix - Wizard Workout. The tracklisting appears to be lean on the heavier side of things but I can\'t imagine that being a bad thing. You are required to go download now.

This is a rare occurrence so I\'d jump on it while you have the chance - Sonnenzimmer is having a poster sale; just $20 for any one of their prints. Nick Butcher and Nadine Nakanishi have always had a penchant for doing something a bit different when it comes to your traditional show poster so, at the very least, browse through the items and appreciate their approach.

Bandcamp\'s label, BC Wax, have released their second limited edition vinyl pressing... this time for Sola Rosa\'s Get It Together. The packaging / vinyl is incredibly well done and goes right along with their mindset of releasing records in a manner that should be sought after.. this quote still sticks with me:

It (the physical version) must somehow be made into an object that every one of your fans has to own, has to hold while they listen to your music, and has to show to all of their friends. It must be transformed from a disposable good into something your fans will fetishize.

I\'m not even entirely enamored on the music of this release but I\'m probably going to buy it just for the packaging. How\'s that for fetishizing?

It\'s pretty much a given that if you show me a vintage flowchart of how science works that has a slightly surreal edge to it (i.e. floating head with cows being inserted) I am going to love it flat out. The French health encyclopedia Le Livre de Sante fills that criteria perfectly - especially the ones above by Michel Simon. You can view more of these images here or here.

via Courtney.

I can remember seeing the work of Landland at Flatstock and loving it but they\'ve certainly been busy the past few years documenting all their goods online for everyone to partake in. The digital versions could never entirely capture the intricate nature of all the line work but it\'s a good place to start. I would suggest browsing their Gigposters page and stumbling upon works like this, this or this before heading over to their official site for various other goodness.

Thanks to Zach I lost a good 20 minutes of productivity yesterday playing through the entirety of Tiny Castle - a brilliant little pixel game that manages to keep things fresh throughout the duration of the play.. and even comes with a pretty amusing reward at the end when you do finish it all up. I downloaded Cave Story for the Wii over the weekend and it pretty much devoured my free time. It\'s an 8-bit style side scroller that evokes the best parts of games like Zelda, MegaMan, Castlevania, etc. Aside from the game being just plain enjoyable it\'s also nice to appreciate the back story. It was originally released in 2004 after five years of development and has been making the rounds since then being ported to different systems and now, six years later, it\'s available in the Wii store. That\'s a decade of slow growth for a game.. kind of the perfect testament to how worthwhile it is.

• Devloping iPhone Apps Book - sometimes I\'ve found that a legit hard copy books covers more ground, more effectively than reading online tutorials. Mobile development is moving really fast these days so this one could get outdated real quick but it could a nice guide for properly using web technologies for the phone...
• AS3 to Cocoa / Objective-C - nice set of tutorials for getting from AS3 to Objective-C. I don\'t really have enough of a grasp on the rudimentary knowledge of Objective-C to even begin diving into this but it\'s nice to know it exists. Via Will.
• How to make an Offline HTML5 App - the example game is a bit lacking in the visual punch department but the techniques involved are solid. Forced offline browser caching on specific media? Yes please. Also via Will.

I\'m all for a good conspiracy / paranoia theory but I think it\'s safe to say that Vivos has gone a little far in their concern over the impending doom-and-gloom of the Mayan 2012 disaster. The company is offering deluxe underground bunkers for sale to help you survive after the chaos has struck the Earth. The really weird part? If you watch this news piece that shows one of the actual bunkers.. it\'s nothing like the proposed designs. Not exactly a shock that it has gone from deluxe designer underground habitat to concrete prison but when you\'re talking about the future of humanity, you take what you can get!

Regardless of how ridiculous I think it is you should read through this article that breaks it all down, watch the promo video, \">the news piece and check the gallery. All worthy sources of entertainment.

Oh yea, also check out the Icons of Death sprinkled along the bottom of every single page.. pretty awesome. And hurry, you\'ve only got 982 Days, 14 hours and 57 minutes remaining!

Microsoft launched their volley into the world of next-gen cellphones yesterday with the KIN - a new smart phone running on their new Windows Mobile platform. It\'s got a full keyboard and a touch screen... not too shabby. I think the KIN One looks like a makeup compact and I can\'t comprehend why someone would want such a form factor for their phone but I suppose that\'s why the KIN Two exists.

Overall, I find it very interesting that Apple, Google and Microsoft are all diving head first into the mobile market with these latest offerings. While I have my own personal preferences I do like seeing what all is being offered by the big players.

Take a moment to browse the works of PNTS; a design studio in France doing some nice things. I particularly enjoy their album packaging pieces. Expect to see some familiar illustrations in there courtesy of Studiofolk...

The newest edition of the Lake Fever Sessions podcast is up - you can snag Volume Two now. It\'s just five tracks culled from the 2010 released sessions but it\'s a worthwhile listen.. it\'s even got a bonus song from the Non-Commissioned officers session that wasn\'t included in the original release.

[ Download Lake Fever Sessions Podcast: Volume Two ]

1. Elvis Perkins in Dearland - “Stay Zombie Stay”
2. The Black Hollies - “When You’re Not There”
3. Brendan Benson - “You Make A Fool Out Of Me”
4. The Non-Commissioned Officers - “Pie Fight”
5. Sondre Lerche - “Heartbeat Radio”

→ Watch This

Send your thank to Zach.

The official description of Nuit Blanche does a good job of setting you up for the plot involved:

Nuit Blanche explores a fleeting moment between two strangers, revealing their brief connection in a hyper real fantasy.

But it falls pretty short in terms of the level of impressive amount of compositing and stylizing that has gone on to create this world. The Making Of is nuts. Watch both - you\'ll enjoy it.

Via Keith.