Letters Remain

Author: Lloyd Morgan

  • A List of How-To Sites

    Last month an article appeared in The New York Times Magazine praising how-to websites. Now it’s acting as my personal list of how-to websites, helping teach me everything from Chinese dining etiquette to surviving zombie attacks and plating fettuccine Alfredo. Howcast eHow WonderHowTo Instructables SuTree VideoJug ExpertVillage Get Rid of Things How to Clean Things How…

  • Top 10 Ads by Movie Directors

    I think I could easily spend an entire day watching well directed TV commercials. This compilation of the top 10 commercials by movie directors, however, saves me some wasted time and gets straight to the point. Back in 2001, a genius pen-chewing BMW marketing exec stumbled on a belter of an idea – fling bundles…

  • Google Chrome

    Google’s newest offering, the Chrome browser, is due to be released today. The initial ‘press release’ was in the form of this rather nifty comic book created by Scott McCloud. The Official Google Blog gives us the low-down: All of us at Google spend much of our time working inside a browser. We search, chat,…

  • North Korean Propaganda Posters

    These North Korean Propaganda Posters are fascinating. I’ve always loved the design of propaganda posters and this book compiles a great selection from DPRK. Let’s extensively raise goats in all families! via Kottke

  • Doctoring Photographs with Captions

    The documentary filmmaker, Errol Morris, interviews Hany Farid, a Dartmouth professor and an expert on digital photography, on using photography as a weapon. Of course, we all know that doctoring (photoshopping) photographs to make them dramatic, misleading, or politically controversial is a widespread issue (problem?), but what about using captions to influence? The photographs presented…

  • Breaking Past the Uncanny Valley

    The company who produce the animation for Grand Theft Auto, Image Metrics, claim to have create photo-realistic animations that break through the ‘uncanny valley‘ barrier. The Times is a believer, giving us a sample video and stating that IM’s lifelike animation heralds a new era for computer games. “Ninety per cent of the work is…

  • The Personal MBA Book List

    The Personal MBA is a site dedicated to helping people gain an MBA education without the expense of business school. It’s a self-study guide to advanced business topics and concepts. As Kevin Kelly—the founding executive director of Wired—says: No matter what they tell you, an MBA is not essential for landing or handling a good…

  • 20 Things Everyone Needs to Know

    I’m usually quite sceptical about similar lists, but The Independent‘s 20 Things Everyone Needs to Know struck me as actually useful as each list item is authored by a professional who works in that field. And when you’ve got an article co-authored by the likes of Donald Trump, Jennifer Capriati and Larry King, how can…

  • Tim Ferriss Interview

    This interview between Tim Ferriss and Derek Sivers—the entrepreneur who founded CD Baby—concentrates on The 4-Hour Workweek and provides a good recap and overview of the concepts. The following quote, however, feels more relevant to me now as it was when I originally read the book: To learn anything quickly, I approach people who did…

  • Voting America, 1840–2008

    Voting America consists of a series of animated and interactive maps (with commentary) visualising how Americans have used their votes since 1840. Voting America examines the evolution of presidential politics in the United States across the span of American history. The project offers a wide spectrum of cinematic visualizations of how Americans voted in the…