Linked List: April 4, 2008

Friday, 4 April 2008

Google to Launch BigTable as Web Service? ★

Mark Hendrickson at TechCrunch:

Google may be releasing BigTable, its internal database system, as a web service to compete with Amazon SimpleDB, according to a source with knowledge of the launch.

Throwing Bones in the Air as ‘2001’ Turns 40 ★

On the 40th anniversary of its release, Ray Pride looks back at the initial critical response to 2001: A Space Odyssey.

My favorite story about the premiere is from Roger Ebert, who reported that Rock Hudson angrily left the theater asking, “Will someone tell me what the hell this is about?”

FontStruct ★

Speaking of FontShop, they’ve released a nifty web-based (Flash) font design app called FontStruct. Fun, but I’m not sure how useful it is. Would have been huge back when pixel fonts were all the rage.

Figuring It Out ★

FontShop’s Ivo Gabrowitsch on the difference between old-style/lining and tabular/proportional typographic figures, and when to use which. (Via Cameron Moll.)

Alright ★

Dean Allen’s Textism — which, if you ask me right now I’d say is the finest weblog ever written in the (admittedly brief) history of this whole racket — is, it seems, back. Huzzah.

Moneydance ★

My thanks to Moneydance for sponsoring this week’s DF RSS feed. Moneydance is a personal finance app that helps you track things like banking, budgeting, bill paying, and investments. There are versions available for Mac, Windows, and Linux, and there’s a developer API that lets plugins be written in Python.

There’s a free demo version, and DF readers can save $10 off the regular $40 price with the coupon “DF08”.

Toggle Dock Zooming On-the-Fly ★

Cool tip from Daniel Sandler: just hold down Control-Shift while mousing over the Dock. I did not know that.

Larry Lessig: How Creativity Is Being Strangled by the Law ★

Inspiring talk by Larry Lessig at TED, on the futility, absurdity, and corrosive effect of modern copyright law.

The Talk Show, Episode 19 ★

With our special guest, the one and only Andy Ihnatko.

xScope 2.1 ★

Nice update to The Iconfactory and Artis Software’s nifty $27 pixel-level detail inspector for web and UI designers.

BBC News: Daily Caffeine ‘Protects Brain’ ★

From the department of things I link to because I really hope they’re true.