The Web Reader

"Web users don't like to read.... They want to keep moving and clicking." -Jakob Nielson, 2000

It's N.E.E.T.O.

Some wonderful, eclectic fashion and design photos can be found over at indie mag N.E.E.T. Though I could truly care less for the articles, since they're mainly targeted towards girls anyway. Still, there's a number of ideas in there to help inspire me to experiment as I take my new camera for an outdoor test-run later this Spring. Or, in other words, when the weather stems away from the current 10-15° F of ridiculous coldness.

A Serious Man Review

It seems like the idea of falling down the "rabbit hole" seems to be a recurring theme in much of the Coen brothers' films, but A Serious Man seems to top it off. Not only do you have the beautifully painted idiosyncrasies in both characters and story-telling, but it's masterfully crafted for you to enjoy things as simple as a bar-mitzvah or something as horrifying as one's increasingly dissociated well-being. It's wacky. It's murky. But you can't deny the fact that it's downright fun. Especially if you've been exposed to some of the stereotypical Jewish mentality and subculture, you'll get plenty of kicks out of this one. 8.4/10.

Branding My... Notebook?

Doesn't hurt, right? Oh - and my sketches are going up later today or tomorrow in my Flickrstream. Keep an eye out for muchos craziness!

Unhappy Hipsters in a Modern World

"The things that once so defined him — shag carpeting, Room & Board sofas, monogamy — now suffocated him." Yep. This is my new favorite blog.

Ideas for Mad Skillz Club

So after all the griping about lack of direct hard-skill workshops in our program, a few of our colleagues have decided to set up a Lynda-like share/do session of our own. I'll be in charge of logo branding, PR, and organizing of the event, along with 4-5 other members.

Interested? Stop on by the Design Studio every Friday at 3:45PM!

Beach Fossils are Alive

Alive and kickin', that's for sure. The more I listen to this particular band, the more surreal visions of future technology comes to mind. Contextually-aware computers. Beautiful animations everywhere. And a floating landing strip to drop my keys on.

Beach Fossils - Desert Sand (MP3)

Abstract Animal

I must say I am rather impressed by these dark, geometric prints by Abel Martinez. It's like a delicious mix of OK Computer, Unknown Pleasures, and Daft Punky.

Love Exposure Review

Now, this is what I call a breathtakingly ambitious epic of a film. Love Exposure is a story of love, religions and cults, panty-picture-kung-fu, among other things. Yeah, it's also an overbearing 4 hours of run-time, but none of that matters. This film tackles it all. There's crude humor, but also darker, heavier elements. There's love. Life. Lesbian kissing. And here you have me, clutching my heart as I soaked in every minute of it. It's incredibly good. If you're looking for an ultimate night of funny, sad, and uplifting movie watching, look no further. 8.9/10.

Haw-lin Mad Styles

I stumbled upon this really cool FFFFOUND!-like site today. He/she calls themselves Haw-lin. It's topped off with style and pretty much everything I need for an hour's worth of visual stimulation each day.

Vestax Spin DJ USB Controller

Spin—with its seamlessly integrated djay software—allows you to record your mixes as a high-quality audio file, for use in your latest podcast, movie, photo slide show or to make a classic "mix tape". The best part? This $700-bundle of equipment was purchased by Apple and now sells for a mere $250 at the Apple Store. Zing!

Monday Night Hipster Partee

Who says you can't enjoy Monday like any other weekend night? Work hard. And save 2 minutes before sleepy-time for some indie rock hip movin' 'cause Caribou's in the house, baby.

Caribou - Odessa (MP3)

Identifying Identity

"When people show you who they are, believe them." -Maya Angelou

Loungin' with the Wu-Tang & The Beatles

Need a really sweet mash-up album to make your weekend even more perfect? Tom Caruna brings the pain with a mighty-free album for your listening pleasures.

Wu-Tang Vs The Beatles – Got Your Money (MP3)

The Offices of Parliament Portland

Oh, I love beautifully decorated office tours. Next up on the list is Parliament Design Studios in Portland, OR, where they've mastered the art of gritty and openness in the creation of an immaculate workspace any designer would kill for. Via the Sponge.

My Super-Organized Friend, KO

After seeing the way she stacks her Post-Its in her Moleskine, it wouldn't be a far fetched guess to think her filing cabinet looks something like Velo's Crayola Color Chart.

Life is... An Interpretive Experience

"Our experience is always interpretive: whatever perception we have of the world is shaped by our efforts to organize and integrate all of the dimensions of our existence into a coherent whole. Hence, the vision we have will always be as much a reflection of ourselves and our prejudices as it is a discovery of "how things really are." In other words, the very way we see things reveals secrets about us." - John Russon

Muji and Lego Collabo

The future has arrived. Muji and Lego. That is... Legos and paper - with a particular hole-punch (not included for some reason) which allows you to create cute little cyborg creatures.

Supreme Stickers

This thread here made my day. Who would've thought one could make so much moneys off one word and Futura Medium Italicized.

That said, I think I'm going to sew a Supreme sticker on my new backpack.

My Kind of Workspace

Bright natural light, contrasted with natural browns, and an ample serving of modern - Yeah, this is how I'd roll. Just need me some moneys.

Dining Room Collage

A lil' idea to make that dining room a little more homey - add a piece of desaturated collage work (along with a modern frame) to give your space a boost of contemporary goodness and personality.

Zombieland Review

After seeing '9' had a bad test left in my mouth for 2009 movies, I found myself pleasantly surprised by Zombieland, which I'd say exceeded my expectations and then some. Sure, it's no masterpiece, but it's 90 minutes of awesome and certainly doesn't overstay its welcome. I'd give it a nice cult spot right after Shaun of the Dead - filled to the brim with laugh-out-loud moments, a brilliant cast, and a consistently hysterical tone throughout. 8.6/10.

Nope, Not Dead. Yet.

Yeah, yeah. M.I.A. for 3 days is no excuse, but it's all for a good reason, I promise you. After about 5 straight days of coding, I've finally got my online portfolio to look like something half-decent. While it borrows many elements from the Sincerest Agilent Blogcast, a lot of thought went into the story-telling nature of the portfolio structure, though I still have many reservations on my final font choices, especially the balance between bolded and non-bolded link typefaces. Anywho, feel free to check it out and let me know what you think!

How To: Take Awesome Pictures of Your Home

Take it from the best. Then place your skills to the test! Here's some tips from Decorno (Elle and Domino magazine) to help get that shot of your pad fine and dandy:

• Don't ever use an on-camera flash.
• Get a tripod.
• Bracket the exposures. If the lightmeter tells your camera to expose for 2 seconds, start there then do 4 seconds, then 8 seconds until it is obviously too bright.
• Sometimes the best light is really low light. Don't be afraid of 30 second exposures.
• Turn off your lamps and overhead lights. Not just in the room your shooting but in nearby rooms as well.
• Even most point and shoot cameras have manual settings. People would be well served to get familiar with their cameras. They'll be surprised how many functions even cheap cameras have.
• Get to know your camera. Play with depth of field and aperture settings. You can then focus on points of interest and the background sort of fades away.
• If you're scouting for magazines (this is good advice for anyone) remember that editors want to see the whole room. Avoid tons of middle distance vignettes. Also try to show how rooms flow to each other.
• Frame up shots with things in the foreground and middle-ground. Sometimes it's cool to let a chair close to the camera go all blurry.
• Try things that are contrary to the obvious way you look at the room. Like get really low or get up high. Don't think you need to always be super graphic and at right angles.
• Take a shot from a better angle of view. Be willing to move yourself, or your furniture, around.
• The way a room looks best when you're standing in it is often not the best way to shoot it.

My personal tip? Use natural light. Nothing can beat the exquisite, timeless lighting power of the sun! Zing!

For the Love of Anthropologie

World travelin', fabric totin', hipsterism to the max. As seen in Anthropologie's Winter/Spring catalog, featured on Apartment Therapy. I love the shabby chic. Like all the furnished rooms in my dreams.

Avatar Review

Not to ruin the whole thing for you, but I know you've been avidly awaiting for another James Cameron movie to swoop you off your feet. And Avatar certainly does in term of production value and special effects, but its epicness is ultimately shortchanged by a very much recycled combination of Braveheart, Pocahontas, and Star Wars, which some may find revolting. For others, brilliance! Sure, you can argue that it's simple nature in the spirit of entertainment can be acceptable given its few plot holes, but it all boils down to whether or not you can take a mouthful of Cameron's work without feeling like you're watching an over-hyped cliché-a-thon. If you happen to be part of the latter bunch, just make sure you bring lots (and I do mean lots) of popcorn. 8.2/10.

Dream Car Watch: 2011 Lexus LF-A

Dude, I'd be willing to pay upwards of $100 for every minute I could race around in this car. And if that math plays out the way my twisted logic thinks it does, throwing down $375,000 should pay itself off in about a year. Zing!

Safety First

You can never be too careful. Made of powder-coated metal and featuring a single internal shelf, the White First Aid Box is a wall-mountable safety-addict's dream. £25.

Decorating Around White

I keep tellin' people, white walls isn't always a bad thing. Especially if every single piece of your furniture is complimentary and is anything but white. Just check out David Delfin & Gorka Postigo's art-filled home over at AT and see what I mean!

Holy S#$^!! Crosses, Robots, and Akira Arms

I've heard BIRDY NAM NAM's stuff before, but never like this. Never to this caliber. Really. You need to see this. Preferably off a projector screen. With your volume cranked up +102.

Paranormal Activity Review

What a humongous pile of disappointment. I expected to be scared out of my wits with all of these New Moon, Hot Topic tweens raving and ranting about how it's the "New Blair Witch" or something. The acting in Paranormal Activity pretty terrible, despite some IMDB fans claiming it was half decent. But I think what topped it off for me was the fact that the girl's other half - the guy. Oh, man, and let me tell you, he was a guy - dim-witted, full of curiosities, and convinced he was going to solve something without the slightest idea on how to even get started. But hey, it was still scarier than anything else shown in mainstream cinema lately, though that's probably not saying much. 6.9/10.

Hello, Tribeca

It's a new year and Minneapolis-based hip hop duo Atmosphere has just dropped another crowd-pleaser. More angst. More angry. More ill-tastic sweet beats about women breaking his adorable little heart. But the best part? It's the recession-friendly price of free. Beat that shit, son.

Atmosphere - Leak At Will (EP) (MP3 Album)