The Daily Pick

Monday, January 31, 2005

How to Lose Friends and Alienate People with Email



Open Loops has a funny, two-part, list about how to make people angry with email. Example below. Also check out Open Loops' examination of America's Time Use Survey.

posted by Anonymous at 4:23 PM | link | 1 comments

Marketing Your Work Through Amazon.com



Great tips on how to use Amazon in multiple ways to market your self-published book, CD, or DVD. From Kevin Kelly.

posted by Anonymous at 3:20 PM | link | 0 comments

Sunday, January 30, 2005

The Lonely Internet



Does Internet = Social Isolation?

Stanford researchers think so.

"Compared to those who do not use the Internet frequently, those who do—31 percent of the U.S. population, according to the study—spend a whopping 70 minutes less daily interacting with family, 25 minutes less sleeping and 30 minutes less watching television."

posted by Anonymous at 2:33 PM | link | 0 comments

Saturday, January 29, 2005

Creepy Clowns



Who likes creepy clowns? McSweeny's does, and they've published Melissa Bell's excellent story "Creepy Clown Under the Bed's Telephatic Message to Child in Bed, Age Five and a Half."

On the other hand, I Hate Clowns.com doesn't much care for clowns, and they've also got a sister site, Scary or Not?, asks you to rank the scariness of clown photographs.
posted by Anonymous at 5:07 PM | link | 2 comments

Friday, January 28, 2005

Allrecipes.com



I'm always looking out for you. Allrecipes.com is a great cooking site on the net. They have recipes for every need, including quick and easy, vegetarian, low-salt, and suggestions for a well-stocked pantry.

posted by Anonymous at 8:11 PM | link | 0 comments

Thursday, January 27, 2005

Pop-Up Books: History and How-to




The University of North Texas has an excellent site on the History of Pop-Up Books, from the 1700's to today.

Meanwhile, Ann Montanaro's website also covers the Pop-Up history, and she also displays some of her excellent pop-up art.

Hawcock Books is a leading designer of Pop-Ups.

Finally, Joan Irvine, The Pop-Up Lady herself, describes and illustrates a how-to page.


posted by Anonymous at 8:43 AM | link | 0 comments

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

New York Library Places Image Archives Online



New York Places Image Library Online

The New York Public Library has uploaded most of its image archives (over a hundred thousand photos) into a digital gallery. Some terrific photographs and illustrations here.

posted by Anonymous at 5:49 PM | link | 0 comments

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

Disneyworld Hell


I wish I could copy these pictures in a clearer format. But anyways, here are snapshots of people having a terrible time at Disneyworld. Thanks sThig.




We went to Disneyworld today and it's supposedly the happiest place on earth, it looked more like people were in hell.


posted by Anonymous at 7:23 PM | link | 0 comments

Monday, January 24, 2005

Personality Types



I thought everyone knew their Myers-Briggs Type. You know, Introvert/Extrovert, Feeling/Thinking etc. Why would I think that? I don't know. I guess because I am intuitive, and sometimes that allows me to draw (incorrect) conclusions without full knowledge of the facts. At least that's what I just read on this site that you should check out.

These sixteen personality types are based on Carl Jung's personality theories. Anyways, if you don't know yours and would like to find out, or... if you took the test a long time ago and would like to see if you changed at all, surf on over to Humanmetrics.com. The Q&A takes from 5-10 minutes to fill out. Definitely worthwhile, with links to the descriptions of all 16 types.

posted by Anonymous at 8:31 PM | link | 0 comments

Sunday, January 23, 2005

Writing Tools, One Through Fifty



Roy Peter Clark writes a column for Poynter Online. He's offered 50 Writing Tools, and most of them are either very helpful or very interesting or both. #32 is all about developing good writing habits and schedules. It's a good place for anyone to start.


posted by Anonymous at 10:07 PM | link | 0 comments

Saturday, January 22, 2005

Animal Astronauts Remembered



Sam the monkey returned safely from space, and all he got was this lousy, weird T-shirt. Sam and other animals are remembered at Animal Astronauts at Tribe.net

posted by Anonymous at 7:16 PM | link | 0 comments

Friday, January 21, 2005

Worst Children's Book Titles


Peter Panhandler and the Wendy's Night Manager?

This is my favorite site posted so far on the Daily Pick.

Chickenhead.com had compiled a list of the 50 Worst Titles for Children's Books. My favorites include:

Charlotte's Web of Lies and Deceit
The Indian Giving Tree
The Rubber Ducky is Watching You
and
The Silly Clown Who Murders Children Who Don't Listen to Mommy

Check out the other 46 of them

posted by Anonymous at 11:23 PM | link | 0 comments

Thursday, January 20, 2005

Russian Photography Collection

A great addition to the net. The Russian Photography Collection includes images from 1917-45, including many from the sieges of Leningrad and Stalingrad.


posted by Anonymous at 4:45 PM | link | 0 comments

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Geography Games



If you want to improve your Geography skills, then this site is for you. Check out Sheppard Software for games that will help teach you about countries, continents, and the world.


posted by Anonymous at 10:07 PM | link | 0 comments

Tuesday, January 18, 2005

Tasmanian Devil: The Worst Sound I Have Ever Heard

This was one of the most popular posts in the Daily Pick Archives:

A great travel article about Tasmania in yesterday's San Francisco Chronicle.

Also, a recording of a Tasmanian Devil. This is the worst sound I have ever heard in my life. You've been warned.

posted by Anonymous at 6:54 AM | link | 1 comments

Monday, January 17, 2005

Freecycle: Free Stuff Online




Give Some, Get Some. Freecycle is a cool site where you can get free stuff or give away free stuff. It's like a cyber yard sale, but without money involved. You don't even have to trade for things. It's like a socialist Ebay.

posted by Anonymous at 4:42 PM | link | 0 comments

Sunday, January 16, 2005

Google Improved by Users



Here are more than a dozen different, improved ways to use Google. Created not by the company, but by users.
posted by Anonymous at 6:13 PM | link | 0 comments

Saturday, January 15, 2005

Zogg: The Cuddly Menace



This is a wonderfully sarcastic and warm artistic project. Jason Yungbluth has taken a children's book called My Little Golden Book about God, and turned it in to something called The Cuddly Menace by simply replacing the text. The Cuddly concerns an alien race called Zogg that has arrived to take over our planet.


posted by Anonymous at 4:53 PM | link | 0 comments

Friday, January 14, 2005

New York Subway Announcements Sometimes Audible



New York City subway announcements are not unintelligible almost 75% of the time. Up from 2/3rds of the time in 2003.

posted by Anonymous at 2:02 PM | link | 0 comments

Thursday, January 13, 2005

Found Magazine: One of the best sites on the web


People lose stuff, other people find it, Found Magazine posts it on their site. Old notes, photographs, love letters, whatever. Great stories behind these, some you'll read about, some you'll have to make up on your own. Visit.


posted by Anonymous at 3:26 PM | link | 0 comments

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

IFilm: Videos of the Day



Video Site: IFilm

IFilm has all sorts of short videos of recent famous and infamous events. Everything from Fidel Castro breaking his knee, to a Red Sox fan flashing her breasts during a pitch, to George W's one-fingered salute. You'll need Windows Media, Real Player, or Quicktime. The best, by far, is Triumph: Poop Valhalla. Triumph the dog takes on the spin doctors at the Presidential debate. Don't drink milk during this video. It will come out your nose.

posted by Anonymous at 1:04 PM | link | 0 comments

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Random Numbers

Need a random number? How about one number between one and ten? Or, perhaps 10,000 of them between one and 100,000,000,000? Check out random.org.


posted by Anonymous at 2:27 PM | link | 0 comments

Monday, January 10, 2005

America's Time Use Survey: Where Does All the Time Go?



Where does all the time go? Check out America Time-Use Survey Results, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, updated for 2004/05.

 On an "average day" in 2003, persons in the U.S. age 15 and over slept
about 8.6 hours, spent 5.1 hours doing leisure and sports activities,
worked for 3.7 hours, and spent 1.8 hours doing household activities. The
remaining 4.8 hours were spent in a variety of other activities, including
eating and drinking, attending school, and shopping. The average day
measures for the entire population reflect the average distribution of time
across all persons, whether or not each person engaged in that activity on
their diary day.
posted by Anonymous at 10:20 AM | link | 0 comments

Sunday, January 09, 2005

Daily Show Clips Restreamed



Some dudes have restreamed some of the funniest clips from The Daily Show with John Stewart. Unlike The Daily's site, these clips are advertisement free. Thanks some dudes!


posted by Anonymous at 6:19 PM | link | 0 comments

Saturday, January 08, 2005

DNA of Literature: Paris Review Interviews



The Paris Review presents The DNA of Literature, a compilation of all of their interviews with writers from the 1950's to present. James Baldwin and hundreds of other writers. This is a wonderful addition to the net.


posted by Anonymous at 10:32 PM | link | 0 comments

Friday, January 07, 2005

Preview Blogging Software



OpenSourceCMS allows you to preview all sorts of blogging (and other types of) software before downloading them. A very useful site.
posted by Anonymous at 6:24 PM | link | 0 comments

Thursday, January 06, 2005

One Man Safari: Strange and Wonderful Pictures



One Man Safari is this strange blog where strange and wonderful images are posted. It seems to go through stages: rock bands this week, sci-fi the next, old book covers the following... And then there are plenty of images that don't fit into any category. Definitely worth checking out. This is fast becoming one of my favorite sites



posted by Anonymous at 6:52 PM | link | 0 comments

Wednesday, January 05, 2005

Improbable Research: Mailing Random Items Through Post Office



Talk about too much time on your hands. These guys mailed over a hundred random items through the U.S. Postal Service. They attached an address, postage, but no packaging, and waited to see what happened. Mailed items included cans of soup, a twenty dollar bill, a football, a ski, an inflated balloon, a coconut, even a large wheel of cheese. The delivery rate? 64%. Not bad.

More from The Annals of Improbable Research.
posted by Anonymous at 1:17 PM | link | 0 comments

Tuesday, January 04, 2005

Hello From Iraq: Photos and Notes from a U.S. Army Soldier



Photos from U.S. Army Soldier

Hello From Iraq. Photos and e-postcards from Pat, a U.S. soldier in Iraq. From Rich Buchanon's Happy Robot site.

Pat's caption for this photo:

C-130 Rolling Down the Strip
Anyone who has ever flown on a military transport will recognize this picture. The C130 is the backbone of military transport. It does a variety of missions, including, but not restricted to; troop transport, dropping airborne troops and carrying cargo. Sometimes all three at once.

This is my platoon, crammed into the C-130 on our initial flight to Iraq. As you can tell by the sweat on SGT Gove's brow, it's really f*cking hot in this plane. SPC Warren is demonstrating how the Infantry learn to sleep anytime we get a chance. A C-130 ride is not a pleasant experience.

Especially in a combat zone, when the pilot takes evasive maneuvers to avoid enemy gunfire. It's impossible to describe what the pilots can make these planes do - you would have to witness it to believe it. I'll just say that more than once, the wings of this aircraft were perpendicular to the ground - it was a bumpy ride.


posted by Anonymous at 8:10 PM | link | 0 comments

Monday, January 03, 2005

KCSM: The Bay Area's Jazz Station



Insert a little audio culture in your workday, dude. KCSM, the bay area's jazz station has a live stream that's all good, all the time.
posted by Anonymous at 4:09 PM | link | 0 comments

Sunday, January 02, 2005

Literature Nobel Prize Winners



Pearl Buck and all the Nobel Prize Winners in Literature are listed at Almaz.com. Plus, the Pulitzer and Booker winners too.
posted by Anonymous at 12:23 AM | link | 0 comments

Saturday, January 01, 2005

The Daily Pick: About



This is the first post on the new Daily Pick. I've been running this site on my personal Stanford space for this half year. Now, I'm moving it over to Blogger. I'll post the best of the archives here as we move along. -- TK
posted by Anonymous at 11:31 AM | link | 0 comments