Link roundup

1. Gizmodo's list of best laptops. You can find the cheap choice at eBay.

2. Free and pretty fun Cowboys and Aliens shooter. Via.

3. A look at the entries in Red Bull’s annual Red Bull Creation event.

4. The WSJ calls the home of the Cincinnati Bengals "one of the worst professional sports deals ever struck by a local government" Via.

5. It's $6 off t-shirts at Zazzle with the code ZBDAYTSHIRTS. I recommend Miskatonic University, Vonster, and my own store.

Image roundup

One can simply walk into...



Lamp post cries out for vengeance.



Nyan Cat put to good use.



Protester - - the comment thread is an interesting window into how people game Reddit.



Glowing bugs.

Link roundup

1. Mark Cuban was a great sport when Deadspin found some of his old college photos, apparently unintentionally made public due to Google+.

2. Lev Grossman on fan fiction.

3. How to tie anything to your car.

Link roundup

1. Find out what Google thinks you're interested in (and turn off the tracking). Via.

2. JShea posted the three sculptures he created for Gallery Nucleus's Harry Potter show.

3. Since I seem to be obsessed with Bruce Timm's art right now, here's a pinup.

Link roundup

1. For other Blogger users, here's a useful comment by a Blogger employee from Ann Althouse's blog:

While our export tools may have been somewhat unreliable when handling blogs this large (Althouse is one of the largest Blogger blogs!), along the way helping Ann we discovered ways to improve them and moving forward Blogger will be much better equipped to handle cases like this.

So Ann while I'm personally sad to see you go (if that is indeed the decision), I wanted to let you know that you will always have a home on Blogger and a team who cares about your experience with Blogger. That also (of course) goes for everyone. We love hearing from users, and anyone can bug me directly on Twitter (@electrobutter) if something is on their mind, or hit up the team via @blogger.

It seems like such a typical Google thing to do to make such outreach efforts only when it was too late to keep her on the platform. Her entire Blogger blog was deleted, possibly by error, possibly by a rogue Google employee, last month.

2. "An investigation into Atlanta’s public school system has uncovered evidence that teachers and principals have been secretly erasing and correcting answers on students’ tests for as long as a decade."

3. "For the past few years, networks have been digitally inserting ads and product placements for new products into old reruns."

Link roundup

1. Johnny Depp has apparently made $350 million from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

2. The Netherlands is apparently the world's third largest agricultural exporter, despite having little land, thanks to hydroponic agriculture that uses computer-controlled feeding of high-quality chemicals. (Presumably such techniques could be applied elsewhere if there was a serious danger of food shortages.)

3. For Los Angeles residents, if there's a police helicopter hovering over your house, you can call 213-485-2600 to find out why. (I had need of this today.) Via.

Link roundup

1. "How to Create an In-Case-of-Emergency Everything Document to Keep Your Loved Ones Informed if Worst Comes to Worst."

2. Free mp3 download of Cory Doctorow's Little Brother audiobook.

3. You'll only get this if you follow the NBA, but Dwight Howard and Gilbert Arenas have been engaging in a planking contest at Twitter, and then Dwight Howard posted this.

Link roundup

1. How to create "cinemagraphs" (animated gifs that look like photos with subtle movement). Via.

2. Big Sister maquette. (Bioshock 2.)

3. Sounds like this former AOL worker has quite an axe to grind, but read this if you're jealous of professional bloggers.

Link roundup

1. "The best notebooks of the year so far." (Check back in six months and maybe there will be some real bargains.)

2. If you liked that Tokyo Rockabilly Club picture I posted the other day, check out this music video - - it shows how the guy achieves such a monstrously high pompadour. Via.

3. Useful wallpaper for learning geography.

*Buy vintage maps at eBay.

The latest brilliant visual math lesson by Vi Hart

Vi Hart's latest math lesson makes math look fun and easy. She has a donation button at her site.

Link roundup

1. $20 sketches and the money goes to charity.

2. The Milwaukee Brewers drafted super agent Scott Boras's son in the 30th round. Why yes, Boras does represent the Brewers' best player.

3. TFAW is having a 60% off select graphic novels sale this week.

Link roundup

1. How to disable Facebook's latest privacy violation.

2. Neca is going to make toys for Valve.

3. Destructoid on Nintendo's ridiculous (and probably ridiculously expensive) new game controller: "it's shaped in such a way that gripping it doesn't feel as uncomfortable as it looks."

Link roundup

1. Allow me to brag - - my oldest won the sportsman award at his league-wide little league ceremony yesterday.

2. Lifehacker's Facebook privacy guide.

3. Scan of "Costume Party" illustrated by Eduardo Risso (site is NSFW).

Link roundup

1. Lifehacker's top 10 privacy tricks. I especially like, the suggestion to use temporary credit cards to avoid repeat billing.

2. Bill Belichick gave a commencement speech saying that no championship team in the last decade in the four major sports had the league M.V.P. from that year on the roster. Not remotely accurate, but it sounded good.

3. Gizmodo's updated list of must have iPhone and Android apps.

Link roundup

1. How to use Amazon to self-publish.

2. FYI, it's free shipping plus 30% off everything at American Eagle this weekend.

3. Creepy tree wallpaper.

Link roundup

1. "Remember, when signing up for things with your email address, put the name of the company as your name so that you know who is leaking your email to spammers." More tips about spam here.

2. How to make a foam and posterboard mortar board graduation hat for kids.

3. "The Walt Disney Co.’s Imagineering research division, which develops new technologies for the company’s theme parks, is planning to open a small lab in East Cambridge next month, 11 years after Disney shuttered its last such facility in the city."

*Buy Walt Disney Imagineering: A Behind the Dreams Look at Making More Magic Real at Amazon.

Link roundup

1. The LA Times says you shouldn't buy a car this year. You can click through and find out exactly why, but the article's existence is awfully interesting - - the car companies must have stopped buying ads, right?

2. The Nike + GPS running app is currently free at iTunes. Via.

3. I want to get a wifi router for my parents and need something simple and dependable. (It'll be mostly used for a Kindle, Dell laptop, iPhone and Droid.) Any suggestions? (I have a Cisco ValetPlus, which I've been less than thrilled with.)

Link roundup

1. Scratch-built Wheatley (Portal) toy.

2. Pretty disturbing - - beehive that took over a chimney.

3. Sho Murase posted her illustrations from the Star Wars Visions book (which was overall actually a bit of a letdown).

Link roundup

1. 7 Tools to Help You Conquer Your Allergies, including a recommendation of the SinuSense Water Pulsator Sinus Rinse, available at Amazon.

2. And speaking of Amazon, Richard Dawkins's science book for kids, illustrated by Dave McKean, is available for preorder (34% off). Via.

3. And speaking of gadget lists, "This Super Sherpa Climbed Everest 21 Times. Here's His Eco Gadget Bag."

Link roundup

1. "Is the Downfall of Dominique Strauss-Kahn Also the Downfall of the Euro?"

2. Gawker:

In 2009, the Cerdas, a Las Vegas family whose two daughters suffered from immune deficiency disorders, appeared on the reality show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Their old, moldy house was torn down, and new one, designed to protect the young girls, was built in its place. But as it turns out, the Cerda girls may not have been sick at all.

Six doctors in Oregon testified that neither Molly, age 10, or Maggie, 8, suffer from an immune deficiency disease. Rather, their mother Terri may suffer from Munchhausen by proxy syndrome, a psychological disorder that leads caregivers to invent or exaggerate health problems in others for attention or sympathy.

3. In a pinch, you can use tinfoil to more easily move heavy furniture.