February 15, 2008

Some days it’s not even worth chewing through the restraints…

…at least, not with a ridiculously persistent head cold.  Then, however, the Interwebs kick up some crazy little gem that makes it all good.  I got this piece of spam today and was unreasonably amused (names omitted to protect the guilty):

Dear John, I am a recruiter for the xxxx Casket Company and I am interested in networking with you.  I am currently seeking a 2 Product Managers (Wood Product Line, Accessories Product Line). Our headquarters is located in [BFE], Indiana, which is commutable from both [cold places where you no longer live]. xxxx Casket Company is more than the world’s leading producer of premium caskets and cremation products, we set the standard for success and productivity. [...] I am hoping that you might know of other Product Managers that I could network with that might be interested in exploring these exciting job opportunities!  If you are interested in this position, I also welcome that conversation.  Here are a couple of websites that might be helpful when passing along my contact information: [xxxx]. I appreciate your help in advance and look forward to hearing from you!  Sincerely, [xxxx]

Man, what am I still doing here typing?  Who in his right mind wouldn’t give up Photoshop for Wood Casket Accessories Product Line Manager?  It’s the job of a lifetime–specifically, the end of many other people’s lifetimes.  My ship has finally come in–woo hoo!  Adios, suckkaz!! ;-)

You Suck at Photoshop #6 posted

Enjoy.  (Meanwhile I’ll work on forgetting connections made between Liquify & the human digestive system. ;-)) [Via Gary Savelson]

Fun & clever recent infographics

I’m endlessly fascinated with how people display information visually.  Here are some cool recent examples:

• JamPhat features a hilarious (and huge!) collection of hip hop-inspired infographics.  Images are helpfully linked to YouTube vids of the related songs. It was a good day…
• Fun with Venn diagrams: I love the simplicity of this clever music elitism t-shirt. (Compare to Wu-Tang Clan.) [Via]
• What if we regarded flags as info visualizations?  That’s what Brazilian designer Icaro Doria did for the magazine Grande Reportagem.  [Via]
• Call it "Most Inscrutable. Karaoke Interface. Ever."  Or just call it pretty.  Robert from Flight404 (see previous) has used Processing to create the lovely video Solar, incorporating lyrics from Goldfrapp. [Via]
• HistoryShots sells prints of really cool infographics. 
• ArmsFlow presents global arms transactions, visualized in an interactive map.  Clicking individual countries shows their import/export flow for a given year.  Interesting concept, but the lines overlap so densely that it’s hard to see what’s happening.  I’d love to see the whole thing taken further.  [Via]
• Knowing things Biblically:
  • Chris Harrison pours ancient texts through graphical filters in his Visualizing the Bible project. [Via]
  • In the early 20th century Clarence Larkin turned his scriptural knowledge into Biblical infographics. [Via]
• Virtual China features a Chinese diagram on how to cook chicken with beer.  [Via]