Projects 4 & 5 Deadline Update

So I've dropped well past the deadlines I gave myself for both the Snake project and the SNES coaster project. This has been due to a combined effect of actually getting things done at work, having some catastrophic computer issues and not getting excited enough and getting things done.

It's a coaster (or it will be)

On the SNES coaster project, I have managed to get excited enough to at least start making prototypes (as you can see in the picture). I still have a bit of work to do figuring out how I'd like them to work (in particular they need a backing for added table protection, plus reinforcement of the beads) and then I need to actually make a few and test them out as coasters. Ideally this should all happen in the next week so I'm giving this project a new deadline of November 24, 2012.

I've made less progress with the Snake project but am planning to jump back on it soon. I haven't actually tackled any of the items I discussed last time and given schedules for all the things that need to be done, I think I won't have too much time to focus on it. I'm giving this project a new deadline of January 1, 2013.

Blog: Favorite YouTube Videos (Volume 17)

Welcome to the 17th volume of my favorite YouTube Videos. This volume has a lot of music and a little bit of thought about design.

• Have you listened to a good book lately? The first video in the volume is a video song for Hank Green's "This is Not Harry Potter." Harry Potter has always been an important touch stone in Nerdfighteria, and Hank puts out an annual song with sometime to do with Harry to celebrate that link. I always enjoy the one voice and guitar style and I think this is one of my favorite song Wednesday songs.
• The second video is the video for Janelle Monáe's song Tightrope. I noticed this song because it was in a car commercial and was hearing it 20-30 times a day (thanks YouTube/network television). When I looked the song up I discovered the video had a great concept (as I guess does the whole album, although I must confess that I haven't listened to it in its entirety), was really visually compelling and just a lot of fun.
• The third video is from designer and nerdfighter Karen Kavett. She plays an exciting game of "what if" with YouTube. As you might have guessed by now I spend quite a bit of time on YouTube so I find this pretty cool. Some of the ideas she has have since been taken up by YouTube and some of them are kinda crazy, but it's really refreshing to stop and think about how websites we use all the time are simply products of design.
• The last two videos in this volume are from Pomplamoose (are you surprised, I can tell that you are). The first is a great cover of Deck the Halls, complete with crazy exuberance  the thing I'm calling the "Pomplamoose Key Change" and one of the back up Natalies even smiling! The second is not only a great song but also a great story, which I'll let them tell you at the end of the video.

Blog: Favorite YouTube Videos (Volume 16)

Welcome to the 16th volume of my favorite videos on YouTube. This volume is a mix of music, cuteness and deep thoughts and is a lot of things that have showed up here before.

• The first video is by British YouTuber, Alex Day for his friend, collaborator and roommate Charlie McDonnell. This was a birthday gift in which Alex got several YouTubers (especially ones with ukuleles) to sing a song to Charlie on his birthday. (Also yes, these guys are freaking young!)
• Speaking of Charlie, we also have his video for Ben Folds and Nick Hornby's song Saskia Hamilton. I feel like this video is an example of the age old adage (at least as old as when I first thought of it) that when in doubt you should shout the name of a poet.
• The third video in this volume is a pair of bunnies in cups. I don't think I need to say more.
• Next we have a song from Hank Green about the likelihood of alien life, because most scientific concepts are best handled in song.
• Finally we have a TED talk from the brilliant brain-disturber Ze Frank. In this talk he discusses the show he ran in 2006 (which influenced pretty much anyone I've ever seen vlog, at least indirectly) and engage in deep participation.

Blog : Favorite YouTube Videos (Volume 15)

This volume of my Favorite YouTube Videos is sad, but also heart warming. It starts with a eulogy for a nerdfighter who died too young, and goes on to some very amazing cinematography and then geeky/cool music and  and film making.

• The first video is John Green's eulogy for Esther Earl, who was a nerdfighter and a cool person who died of cancer at the age of 16. It's difficult to know what to say with this kind of video, but it's a good thing to have a time and a place (that they're on the internet makes no difference) to be able to go and say, yes this was a person who existed, who impacted us and who is gone now. I also think the advice at the heart of Johns message is very important, "Don't just do something, stand there."
• The second video is an accompaniment to a NPR RadioLab episode called Words. I haven't listened to the episode yet (and I really should't put things off this long), but the video stands strongly on its own and is a remarkable piece of film.
• The third and fourth videos are music videos by Charlie McDonnell doing acoustic covers of some of his songs from his Trock (Time Lord rock) group Chameleon Circuit. We also get the Charlies of two different periods, the first concerned with Weeping Angels and the second with the ongoing relationship between ... well actually I haven't watched enough Doctor Who, to know who's at war here, but it's certainly epic. 
• The final video is from my perennial favorites Pomplamoose, working together with generally awesome music person Ben Folds and novelist Nick Hornby. This was a bonus track for Ben and Nick's (can I call them that?) ... Mr. Folds and Mr. Hornby's album Lonely Avenue. It's a little more contemplative than some of the songs I've favorited, but it's still a very pleasant listen.