Archive for August, 2009

Every Thursday is Tech Thursday where we share a random assortment of technical links we found and liked.

• The Simpleton's guide to Git is a quite nice introduction to, well, you guessed it - Git.
• Stoyan Stefanov has a great piece on postload preloads, which means preloading information needed by following pages on very popular pages.
• PC Pro found an interesting reason that people refused to upgrade from Firefox 2 to Firefox 3 - they felt that a predictive location bar shows too much of their surfing habits (especially adult content)
• Google books released millions of public domain books in EPUB format. Hackday fodder!
• The known Rich Text Editor "FCK Editor" got an upgrade - it is now the CK Editor and it got raving reviews for its assistive technology support (screen readers get notified about what happens)
• Jon Gibbins collected videos of assistive technology including the introductions by Yahoo's Victor Tsaran
• SVGWeb is a wrapper library for SVG which simulates the results on Internet Explorer via Flash.
• Mark Pilgrim released a free chapter of the upcoming Dive into HTML5 book.
• Google Maps released the second edition of their static map API, including a very handy step-by-step wizard to create a map.

You can propose links to us on Twitter (@YDN) or try bookmarking them on delicious with the tag "forydntt" and please tell us in the comments if this is a good idea.

by Mike Krumboltz

Think public shaming is out? Think again. A husband was caught cheating by his wife. As punishment, she told him to wear a sandwich board at a highly trafficked corner. The sign read: "I CHEATED. THIS IS MY PUNISHMENT."

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by Claudine Zap

Newsflash: Windows are see-through. Meaning, if you are in front of one in a hotel room, and you don't draw the drapes, someone could see you. If that building is located above New York's High Line, a public park built on an elevated train hub, it's not a question. You'll be putting on a show.

The recently opened Standard Hotel spans the elevated park and boasts floor-to-ceiling windows for guests to take in the views. But views go both ways. The New York Post decried the "eyeful tower" where some travelers seem to check their inhibitions when they check in.

High Line visitors told the newspaper they'd spotted bare rumps against the windows, people cavorting in various stages of undress, and even a naked woman jumping on a trampoline. (We know. We didn't realize hotels came with trampolines, either.) And this is the G-rated version. Would someone please think of the children?

The free peep show has gotten a lot of attention, prompting the curious to search online for "standard hotel" as well as to head to the park to take in the, um, nice views.

While New York may seem like the kind of place that would hardly be shocked by a little nudity in the city, much less sex, neighborhood complaints prompted a city official to chide the hotelier for supposedly encouraging such displays. Not to worry. The hotel has promised to "remind guests of the windows' transparency."

However, this may not have the intended effect. The Standard's Facebook page encourages guests to e-mail their naked photos to the site. A New York hotel that loves a little attention. We really are shocked.

Check out a video on the story.

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by Michele Meyer

The Web is always hankerin' for the latest word on who will be starring in upcoming blockbusters. So let's have ourselves a roundup of what folks are reckonin' when it comes to this week's buzziest casting rumors:

Fox turned feline? Meeeow!

According to LimeLife, rumor has it that the role of Catwoman in Christopher Nolan's next Batman movie will be played by "Transformers" star Megan Fox. If this is true, Fox will join a long line of sultry beauties who've played the character, including Julie Newmar, Eartha Kitt, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Halle Berry. However, this version of Catwoman is said to be "more sinister" than her predecessors, which many agree suits Fox's darker persona.

Sci Fi Wire ain't buyin' it, though, and will "eat a pound of kitty litter" if the rumor is true. They point out that there's no film script yet, so it's not even certain that Catwoman will be in the movie at all. They also note Nolan's history of choosing serious, lesser-known actresses over babe-a-licious ones, as he did when he picked Maggie Gyllenhaal instead of Katie Holmes for the Rachel Dawes role in "The Dark Knight."

Fans who are praying that the Fox casting is true will have to wait until the film's rumored 2011 release to see her don the vinyl catsuit. In the meantime, The Sun has graciously posted a mockup of what a feline Fox might look like. 

Britain's Daily Express is reporting that a Wizard of Oz sequel is in the works, and is said to start filming in the U.K. next year. The film's central character will be Dorothy's granddaughter, Dorothy Jr., who reportedly will be played by 15-year-old Dakota Fanning. However, Slash Film dimisses the Daily Express report as "basically sourceless and very possibly truthless."

One thing is for certain: This "Wizard" sequel will be much darker than its 1939 predecessor. As co-producer Todd McFarlane puts it, "You've still got Dorothy trapped in an odd place, but she's much closer to the Ripley character from 'Alien' than a helpless singing girl." Sounds like Dorothy Jr. will be dealing with bigger issues than sleep-inducing poppies and flying monkeys.

Middle-earth's latest hire? Not a Hogwarts grad.

"Lord of the Rings" fans have been eager to find out who will play a younger Bilbo Baggins in Guillermo del Toro and Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit." According to Mania, actor Ian McKellen (who will return to play Gandalf) claims that the role of Bilbo has already been cast, but he's not saying who will play the hobbit.

"Harry Potter" star Daniel Radcliffe was rumored to be in the running, but last week the actor told the LA Times, "I'd have to say, 'Thanks but no thanks,' not that anyone has asked me...Honestly, I don't think they would want me anyway, it's just too close. Whatever I do next, I don't think there will be any wizards in it!"

Radcliffe says he'd like to see "Atonement" star James McAvoy in the role. Other contenders are rumored to include British actors David Tennant ("Doctor Who") and Martin Freeman ("Hot Fuzz"). "The Hobbit" is scheduled to start filming next spring, so we should know soon who will inhabit Bilbo's big, hairy feet.

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How should marketers use social media as a marketing vehicle? First remember the "media" in "social media". There are obviously wonderful viral and engagement opportunities in social media, but it's important to remember that there's a pure media play necessary if any type of consistent scale is to be achieved. Lee Odden interviewed Richard Jalichandra about this after a panel at SES: here's a video of the conversation.

by Mike Krumboltz

Sen. Ted Kennedy's death inspired tremendous search interest in his triumphs, tragedies, and famous family. Some of the most popular lookups are on the late Senator's companions, first wife Joan Kennedy, and second wife Vicki.

Joan Kennedy was married to Ted for 24 years and played an incredibly important role in her husband's career. A popular article from the USA Today explains that Joan stood by her husband through thick and thin, sometimes at a "great personal cost."

During their marriage, Joan supported her husband through the deaths of his brothers and during the infamous Chappaquiddick incident. She also publicly suffered multiple miscarriages and battles with alcoholism. Following her ex-husband's death, lookups spiked on "joan kennedy children" and "joan kennedy alcoholism."

Also, surging were queries on "joan kennedy young" and "joan kennedy pictures." Joan was a model before marrying into the Kennedy clan, and President John F. Kennedy famously referred to her as "the dish." She was recently seen at Eunice Shriver's memorial, just a few weeks ago.

Sen. Kennedy and his first wife split in 1983, and he went on to marry Victoria some years later. The two wives were notably different. Victoria, or "Vicki," was raised in a political family of her own, so she knew what it was like to be in the public eye. Her father served as a judge in Louisiana, and had strong connections to the Kennedy family, even before his daughter married into it.

Some are wondering if Vicki Kennedy will be the one to take her late husband's seat in the Senate. The late "Lion of the Senate" was said to endorse her for the position. Queries on "vicki kennedy for senate" certainly suggest that there is no small amount of interest. When asked about the possibilities of filling the seat in an interim basis, Mrs. Kennedy reportedly said she has no interest. Still, according to Boston.com, "she is well-liked in political circles" and "would be an attractive candidate to succeed her husband."

Of course, those decisions are still a ways away. We imagine that for now, both Joan and Vicki are in mourning, remembering Sen. Kennedy for what he represented most to them: a husband.

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