Thinking Chaos, Thinking Fences

11 December 2002

Cricket Explained (Using Pies) Oddly, there's always a lot of cricket on television here in Ireland. I say it's odd because, well, the Irish aren't keen on the English, and cricket is as English as you get. Nonetheless, it's a madly complex game. I've got a passing comprehension of the game, in the way I understand that luge involves going downhill very fast. This essay attempts to explain cricket in the context of pies. Handy and tasty. 11:02:30 PM    comment []

TextArc 'A TextArc is a visual represention of a text—the entire text (twice!) on a single page.' I'm not sure I understand it, but try out Hamlet. It's strangely beautiful. 10:58:19 PM    comment []

Paintings of Technology This artist, whose only name appears to be Manetas, makes these fascinating paintings of consumer technology like computers and game consoles. This is my favourite--its use of shadow is very effective. Also, the glow of the monitor and the hunched shape of the user are so uncannily familiar. 10:56:20 PM    comment []

Yanks Gittin' the Coloured Moolah From the age of 18-22, I suffered aged Americans who, when paying for goods or services that I was offering (as a waiter or tourist information agent), couldn't help but comment on the "Monopoly money" us Canadians use. Well, you know what, you old coots? Your nation's finally buckled! At long last, the Americans have actually come to recognize that coloured money might actually be a good idea. Now, if only they'd buy into the metric system. I should add that the Euro comes in different sizes, which is a real bonus for the visually impaired. The €5 bill is actually quite small, while the €50 is pretty honkin', but it's a great idea. 10:48:41 PM    comment []

Fantastic URL of the Week: ihumpthings.com Yep, it's what it says on the box. Pictures of people humping things. Mostly, the frottage is with columns, statuary, parking meters, etc. While technically I think it's mostly safe for work, it certainly isn't in good taste. Still, I admire the creation of niche sites. 10:44:38 PM    comment []

Real Time Maps of Your Life This museum in Amsterdam is, I take it, having an exhibit about maps. Well, I'm not sure they're a museum. They're known, rather hilariously, as the WAAG society. Regardless, as part of the project, they've sought volunteers to attach small GPS trackers to themselves for a day. They track the movements of the person across the city, creating these fascinating real-time maps that show where and how that person has moved. Apparently they've got movies now too (I'm not going to risk that with my pesky dial-up connection). 10:24:02 PM    comment []