1. A photoblog of the DNC protests - Having my head in a hole this week (Liam’s in his crib learning how to put himself to sleep), I missed pretty much everything DNC-related. This site has some beautiful photographs of some scary subjects. Fear and your morning coffee go well together?
2. All Your Milk Are Belong To Us onesie - The Wife™ found this one. Hilarious and nerdy. Hilariously nerdy. I’d buy it just to get the puzzled looks from both grandmothers.
3. Stop Sign Designed by Committee [video] - I’m so late to the party on this one. But seriously. If the non-designers want to know what it’s like to create something for a committee, watch this. (Thanks Emily!)
4. The new Nikon D90 - And now I have camera lust. Really just for the high ISO support and the HD video capability. You can keep your 12 megapixels. Seriously, that video ability is cool.
5. Mixtape by DJ AM and Travis Barker - Okay, I dislike both dudes as people. But I convinced myself to get over my snobbery and listen. Pretty cool. I’ve been digging it all morning. (And continuing the free trend from artists…wtf?)

This is fantastic. I’ve bitched about written about this topic before, but really? C’mon, Louisville. You’re better than this.

Below is a job listing (albeit via Craigslist) for a web designer. I’m not sure if the company is trying to play the whole “fun, fast moving start-up” vibe or if they really are just ignoramuses who place about as much value on a real designer as they do on their morning sock-color choice.

“Please note that experience does not play a major role in our research, however working knowledge of a sports(or similiar) website is a plus.” “…must be able to work unsupervised, meet deadlines and capable of having something that the public can see within 7 days of hire date.”

Man I love living in this city.

If you want to know what’s been going on with me (besides seeing my kid do his best impression of Gilbert Gottfried being hit in the shins with a sledgehammer), just turn back the clock. It’s State Fair time, and what I wrote back then still applies all too well. Every August it’s like a horrible, horrible version of Groundhog Day. Just with way more fanny packs.

1. Cookie Monster Cupcakes - I’ve had an unnatural hankerin’ for cupcakes lately and these, besides being brilliant, look extra tasty. Sidenote, I just now realized that Cookie Monster was the first to coin the phrase “om nom nom” [via]
2. Monster Puppets - Speaking of muppets, I’ve always planned on having puppets for my kids. Because they’re hilarious. I found this site that sells them. As soon as I sell the dog find the money…
3. One Olympic photographer’s travel gear - A detailed description of what Vincent (photographer for Time Magazine) hauled to China. So much drool.
4. Video for Cut Chemist’s “First Big Break” - Claims that its the first music video ever shot with a 360 degree panoramic lens. Regardless you can’t beat a video that has live-action robots.
5. Fireworks - (the band) I always thought they were from Toledo, but I guess not. Either that or they’re trying to include Toledo in the “metro Detroit” area. I’ve been digging their songs in carrying on the tradition of being smitten with pop-punk songs played by kids barely out of high school. Makes me miss my Leftovers cassette from junior year.

1. “Stolen” video by Rhymefest - I’m fast becoming a ‘Fest fan. I’ve known about him since his Scribble Jam days, and knew he was the idea-engine behind Kanye West’s “Jesus Walks” single, but I’ve never listened to his albums before. This video has kind of an A-ha feel to it. Just with less running. And more Knowledge.
2. Nikon CLS Practical Guide - Despite hundreds of hours of reading and darkroom time, one pass through this article got to to understand more about my camera and flash than I ever knew. Killer site, and one I plan on digging into much further. Now if I could just start shooting better photos…
3. Using photographs to enhance digital video - The concept of this blows my mind. It’s a demo of a technique used to do real-time mapping of high dynamic range still photographs into video without using post-processing software (among other cool things).
4. TextMate editor - I’m continually searching for the perfect super-editor. Having switched over to hand-coding everything years ago, I’ve bounced between a few, and have been using TextWrangler most lately. But TextMate has so many more features (e.g. the macro to compress AND decompress CSS files!). I’ll be sad when my 30 day trial is up. And I become even more frustrated at home, since no PC-based editors can touch what’s out there for Macs.
5. Netgear’s ReadyNASDuo - Network accessible storage. Simply plug it into your router and have files available immediately (and through http/ftp/etc). Great for idiots like me who don’t have time to screw around with ‘real’ network storage solutions. Now to sell something in order to acquire the funds for this…Jonas?

It’s painfully obvious that things around here for the past few months have been almost solely focused on He Who Poops His Pants with Much Gusto™. I feel badly about this, just as one would be being trapped in a single-topic, one-sided conversation; it’s boring for everyone involved. The lack of depth in topics that I’ve written about lately makes it seem as if caring for/being with him is all that goes on, that my entire life has essentially stopped. And frankly, that’s not too far from the truth.

Things will return to normal (hopefully) soon. I’ll regain my focus and my desire to create things. And while I may doubt the end of his crying fits and pity myself for having no life outside our home, I know it’s all dumb. Because as I sat down to do some work last night, to force myself back into an old pattern, he stopped squirming and looked up at me with a sly, knowing smile.

It may be the crappiest photo in the world, but that smile is exactly what I needed in order to realize that where I need to be right now is not always in front of a computer.

1. Pixel watch - OOH. I like this. Granted, $89 seems a bit much for something made out of plastic. But I suppose you’re paying for the idea?
2. Ampersand Tee - Making a statement with one character. Beautiful. And I could use a grey tshirt…
3. Cooler days & nights - The past few days have been devoid of humidity and depressing heat. This morning it was actually quite cool. And seeing as how a lot of our evenings now are spent on the back deck trying to soothe Liam, this has been a real blessing.
4. Motion graphics for Absolut 100 [video] - Fantastic motion work from Timo Boese of Lowerground. A nice combination of several popular trends in motion design that makes each seem fresh again. Good choice of complimentary music as well.
5. “Skate” short [video] - Filmed in HD on the drool-worthy Red One camera, this short does a nice job of turning skating (and even the bails) into an aerial ballet. Stunning color work as well. Adds a perfect sense of tone and gravity to the video. Download the big version for real appreciation (1280x720, 124.65MB).

“Stanford Law professor Lawrence Lessig details government plans to overhaul and restrict the Internet”

It’s a rather sensational headline (or subhead, rather). And if it had come from anyone other than Lessig himself, I’d be skeptical that it was just more internet boohooing and conspiracy tossing.

From the article:

There’s going to be an i-9/11 event. Which doesn’t necessarily mean an Al Qaeda attack, it means an event where the instability or the insecurity of the internet becomes manifest during a malicious event which then inspires the government into a response. You’ve got to remember that after 9/11 the government drew up the Patriot Act within 20 days and it was passed.

The Patriot Act is huge and I remember someone asking a Justice Department official how did they write such a large statute so quickly, and of course the answer was that it has been sitting in the drawers of the Justice Department for the last 20 years waiting for the event where they would pull it out.

Of course, the Patriot Act is filled with all sorts of insanity about changing the way civil rights are protected, or not protected in this instance. So I was having dinner with Richard Clarke and I asked him if there is an equivalent, is there an i-Patriot Act just sitting waiting for some substantial event as an excuse to radically change the way the internet works. He said “of course there is”.

The 20 minute video from the panel in which Lessig spoke on this is worth watching. There’s a bunch of really smart, influential people involved. And for anyone influenced by the internet—be that a casual user or someone who makes their living in it—this is important stuff to be aware of.