Scaled

This is another one of those projects that immediately hit me as being really cool ... and then cooled off quite quickly as I thought about it more. But, before I get to my opinion, what is it that we're looking at in the photo above this paragraph?

The Loog Guitar is the idea/creation of Rafael Atijas' as a project he started for his Master's thesis at NYU. It's a build-at-home, three-stringed guitar designed for children (ages 6+) to help them learn about music and playing the guitar. There are three interchangeable styles (body and headstock) that you can purchase and swap if you'd like; even two neck lengths depending on the age/height of the child.

Already a successful project on KickStarter, the Loog seems to have found a good niche for itself. It appears to be well built and, from the video on the site, even sounds pretty good when played. However, is teaching a child to play on a three-stringed guitar all that much better than "teaching" them to play on a five-buttoned plastic guitar? Furthermore, the US$215 advertised price point for this guitar is already higher than the price for an off-brand 3/4-scale guitar which offers the opportunity for a fast-learner to jump right into full guitar chords and use any available TAB or guitar music resource to continue learning with.

Don't get me wrong... I do think this is a neat project.  The DIY aspect of it, the care of the design (from the packaging to the guitar stand and everything) and sustainable resources used for it as well. I'm no expert on the guitar, let alone when it comes to guitar theory or instruction, so perhaps I'm totally wrong with my criticism here, but I'm just leery of learning an abbreviated version of something with the idea that you can then quickly pick-up the full version of the technique.

What is your take on the project? Will you be supporting it? Would you consider getting one of these guitars? 

» Found at: The Loog Guitar

Plumber

Wow. This is pretty freakin' amazing.  As someone who was/is a big fan of the classic NES game Super Mario Brothers, this video (see link below) is a real trip.  Someone, namely Freddie Wong, created this vision of what it would have looked like for Mario to actually run World 1-1.

Very cool to watch. He's got a whole bunch of other stuff up on his YouTube page as well including a bunch of live-action SFX-filled videos. Certainly someone to keep an eye on!

» Found at: First Person Super Mario, World 1-1 (YouTube video)

Angry

I've never played Angry Birds – heck, I don't even have a device able to play the game – but I know this is a pretty solid homage to the game. I'm a sucker for this sort of inked, scripted, coffee-stained, weathered, faux-classic colour plate style. However, this isn't the only piece of art that Shane Parker has done; it's certainly worth your time to check out his Flickr stream if you're a fan of geek pop culture such as Team Fortress 2, comics and classic video games.

It was his Overlook Hotel kids placemat that drew me to his site via a link I found on Daring Fireball today... but it's worth sticking around to see what else is there.

» Found at: Zero-Lives blog

Primer

This isn't the first time that I've posted some sort of Doctor Who -related imagery, and I certainly don't promise that it'll be the last! For those who are wondering what this series is really all about, BobCanada has put together a bit of a 'primer' for your enjoyment.

Featuring his own drawings of all eleven Doctors, along with extra little bits of trivia and such scattered throughout, this is an excellent piece of work. Be sure to check out the rest of his Flickr stream as well; there is a lot of great stuff in there.

» Flickr: “REVISED Doctor Who Infographic” – uploaded by bob canada

Thunder

Earlier this week, via Twitter and an official press release, we got our first look at the new Thundercats. I'm not personally 100% sold on the new look, but I'm not disappointed either. 

I've caught a few of the classic episodes on Teletoon Retro recently and they don't hold up as much as I'd have liked them to. GI Joe seems to have a certain campy appeal to it, and Transformers a little less so... but the Thundercats episodes I've seen were kinda weak. To be fair, however, I think they were all really early episodes, so perhaps it got better as it went along; I remember being much happier with the post- Season 1 plotlines involving the 'new' Cats (Bengali, etc.) who were found to have also escaped from Thundera (e.g., the made-for-tv movie/mini-series). Actually, looking at the wikipedia episode guide, I think it may have been the number of five-part plot arcs that made it better; racing home from school every day for a week to see what would happen next.

Whatever the case, and my previous, childhood series -bias aside, I'll be keeping an eye out for this new show. I don't imagine that I'll have the same attachment to it as I did some twenty years ago, but it might be fun to watch for a bit. What do you think of the new look? Were you a fan of the original series? The comics?

» Found at: Thundercats Lair forums

Animated

 

I don't even really know what to say about this.  I don't remember where I found it, but I thought it was funny at the time.  Since then, I've gone back a few times to look and laugh at it (which I always seem to do).

For whatever reason, James van der Beek (yes, Dawson from Dawson's Creek) has started a tumblr site wherein he's posting animated gifs of himself doing various emotions and whatnot.  It's funny (and a tiny bit crude, at times)... but mostly it's just funny.  You'll also notice that he's working with Funny or Die which has produced some pretty funny things in the past (and which is, thankfully, blocked at work so I can get some stuff done).

So, the next time you want to know how to properly express that "oh, that was a good one!" feeling or the perfect way to give that "nostalgic" looking- into- the- distance face, this is the place to be.

» Found at: James Van Der Memes

Dive

I haven't even finished reading this, and I'm sure that I'm way behind the curve on even knowing that this excellent resource, Dive into HTML5, was out there, but from what I have read so far, it's quite awesome.  Written in easy-to-understand language, with an incredible "history" of the evolution of (x)html to start – do not skip this part! – this free resource is the perfect starting point for those interested in HTML5, covering everything from the canvas element, video and embeds, geolocation, new form controls, etc., etc.

Once you have finished reading through this resource, A List Apart is a great place to find more information... or, more specifically, A Book Apart. This series of "brief books for people who make websites" looks fantastic.  They have released two books so far, with two more already on the way.  I've previously read (and still own) books Dan Cederholm (and ALA's founder, Jeffrey Zeldman) which are excellent, so I imagine the quality of these references will be nothing less than that.

So, although the holidays are over, these are some excellent references that are either free or very affordably priced for anyone who had a resolution set around working on the web. If you're going to do it, you might as well do it right (and with the right tools around to help you out).

» Found at: Dive into HTML5