Just because you can: GUI icons with pure CSS

// Inspired by an elegant piece of CSS code by +Lea Verou, creating the WiFi code (see it here http://bit.ly/wificss), I searched for other examples of this and found this little gem: A demo of 84 icons created with just CSS by +Nicolas Gallagher.

Nicolas calls it's a "technical exercise" but given that this was done back in 2010 and support for the methods used is much wider now, the code should be working in all modern browsers. 

You can see it in action and dig into the code here http://bit.ly/css-gui-icons

HTC cloned Jony Ive!

// The "evidence" :)
1) Video of Jony Ive on Apple's unibody process http://youtu.be/lJx6cF-H__I
2) Video of HTC's zero-gap process http://youtu.be/pDjfh5mFWUc

Public service announcement

// Then again, I'm afraid the internet would be half empty if we followed this rule... :)
via +Kay Kulkarni 

The Ultimate Browser Detection Fail

// So here's a screenshot from #Google #Nexus , running Google's #Android browser, showing a page on a Google service (Google Groups). We notice two things happening: 

1) Google's page can't identify Google's browser correctly and instead mistake it for #Safari
2) Google engineers can't (or wont?) make a page of relatively simple (in terms of features) web service to run on Safari, one of the two biggest mobile browsers, disregarding the fact that both browsers use the same engine.

I've recently switched from Safari to #Chrome due to better memory usage but these kind of ridiculous "games" really need to stop...

So this is Bill Gate's monitor

// Bill showed off his monitor during his AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit http://redd.it/18bhme 
It is actually a 82" multi-touch display intended for presentations but I suppose it can work as a decent personal monitor as well :) If you have the pockets for it, click here http://bit.ly/YYOfYV

The AMA received a lot interest with almost 29,000 comments. For a summary of Bill's answers, click here http://bit.ly/X6nN0d

Married people who like prostitutes

// The new #Facebook  Graph Search was an awesome idea +Mark Zuckerberg, bravo! :) The internet is going to be laughing (while being scared about it) at this for a few days (until we forget about it and continue publicly sharing our data without much thought) 

More fun searches at http://actualfacebookgraphsearches.tumblr.com/

15 Years of Apple.com

// A collection of #Apple 's home page layouts since 1997!
http://www.slideshare.net/choehn/15-years-of-applecom-15990876

Must download: Best of Quora

// If there is a site that you could say "let's convert this into a book", it is probably #Quora . So it's great that they just come out with a collection of 100 of their best responses form the last 2 years. 

The 400-page   #book is available for download as a free #PDF and is split in 18 categories, including food, education, international, law, life advice, literature, music and more.

The #technology part includes: 
- Paul DeJoe's answer to #Startups: What does it feel like to be the CEO of a start-up?
- Steve Case's answer to 1995-2000 Dot-Com Bubble: What factors led to the bursting of the #Internet bubble of the late 1990s?
- Kevin Systrom's answer to #Instagram: What is the genesis of Instagram?
- David Cole's answer to Video Games: Am I missing out by not playing any video or console games?
- Ramzi Amri's answer to Steve Jobs: Why did #SteveJobs choose not to effectively treat his cancer?
- Tim Smith's answer to Steve Jobs: What are the best stories about people randomly meeting Steve Jobs?
- Peter Clark's answer to Silicon Valley Company Culture: Which of the Hogwarts Houses does each of the Gang of Four companies correspond to?

The best thing about the book is probably that is written by people who never intended to write a book or become authors. Their intention was to provide an answer to a question out of their experiences and knowledge without any financial or other motive. 

Download the Best of Quora here http://bit.ly/YhgkhA
If you prefer to read this on your browser or want to check out the full discussions, see the list of the actual pages here http://b.qr.ae/10dDDEt

Does writing in the WSJ mean anything?

// Short answer: probably not. A bit longer answer: 

I just had the pleasure of reading this article by +John C Dvorak on the Wall Street Journal's Marketwatch http://bit.ly/WfVf1V

In it Dvorak determines that #crowdsourcing will soon be over and provides 3 examples: 
1) He went on a site and got a popup (which he didn't know if it was Flash or Javascript(!)) asking him to like the site's #Facebook page. Ergo, Facebook likes are a mess and don't mean anything any more (well tell that to Petter Kverneng who went viral in a single day through the "messy" likes system http://gaw.kr/VAoVbA)
2) He added blogging and video editing as his skills and now is surprised that random people that he accepted in his network are endorsing him for skills he doesn't he is really worthy now. Ergo, +LinkedIn is now "cheapening of the value of crowdsourcing" (By the way, you can hide/delete endorsements or even remove the skills from your profile)  
3) Finally Mr Dvorak discovered the fun of fake reviews on Yelp that are actually mocking Taco Bell. Ergo, crowdsourced review systems are about to be extinct. I hope he doen't find out about Amazon's reviews on "Bic for Her" http://amzn.to/10psWUh or Mr Dvorak will declare Amazon "shortly dead" soon :) 

So there you have it, you read it on WSJ (and then here) first, likes are worthless and crowdsourcing is history. Thank you in advance for your +1s :)

For the record, I blame +Mike Elgan for reading Dvorak's article and spending half an hour writing this #rant :)

Nerds are destroying America

// Bloody nerds using their brains to destroy this great country because they hate everybody... :) 
Have a nice weekend! :)

A Laconic History of the World

// Simplifying history is of course... simplistic, but still here's a #fun    #typographic   #map  designed by Martin Elmer of maphugger.com 

This map was produced by running all the various countries’ “History of ...” Wikipedia article through a word cloud, then writing out the most common word to fit into the country’s boundary. The result is thousands of years of human history oversimplified into 100-some words.

Reader's companion with more information http://bit.ly/12XGpC6
Zoom on it http://bit.ly/U95AjO

A Laconic History of the World

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Behold the Beauty of Bash

// This dangerous and #fun piece of #code (called a "fork bomb") would make a great t-shirt :)
You can try to find out what it does, do a backup first. Or read the analysis here http://bit.ly/VYACFc
Via +Geek Humor

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Romney Self-Googlebombed!

// Apparently if you search on #Google images for "completely wrong" you get tons of photos of Mitt Romney. It's not an old-style #googlebomb but just a regular search engine... feature. This result comes probably from Romney's recent statement that he was "completely wrong" on his characterizations of 47% of americans...

Google search link: http://bit.ly/VQqLGt
Link to statement: http://usat.ly/WSck2T

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Awesome Google Maps fail

// Maybe we shouldn't be so hard on #Apple's #map failures... :) 
Link to the see it for yourself http://goo.gl/maps/4bh3m
And Bing getting it right http://binged.it/QQMkkf 

Reshared post from +Sharon Strandskov

I am usually pretty pleased with Google Maps, but surely there has to be a faster way... I know there were border issues, but I thought they settled those, and imagine you could go through a closer country regardless... anyone know why this would be the case?

Edit: Read comments for more examples, such as those from +Nigel Fish and +Wayne Radinsky, like this one where the pins are both in Vietnam, within 0.12km and it is a 750 hour rerouted drive: http://goo.gl/maps/O9Oy6

Edit, potential reason, thanks to +Jennifer Luzio:
"Google hasn’t actually operated in China since early 2010, when they decided they would no longer censor search results on Google.cn. That move came after Google sustained a cyberattack originating in China, designed to steal the GMail information of Chinese human rights activists. The Chinese government has long denied any involvement.
Users in mainland China can still search using Google Hong Kong."
from SearchEngineWatch
More on the cyber attack: http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2066083/Googles-New-Approach-to-China-A-Closer-Look-at-the-Attack-Heard-Round-the-Web

Either Google is purposefully avoiding China or they have such a lack of quality sourced data that they choose to avoid China.

In album October 5, 2012 (1 photo)

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Country NULL

// We must fight for the rights of our brothers in country NULL! :)

via +Paul Kinlan 

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Dalai Lama is an ass

// 5 Million (5,053,638) followers and not 1 (one) following back? :-) 

Other than that, the guy is great, you should follow him ;) 
But on Google+ => +Dalai Lama 

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Penises on Salad Super-Delegates

// Oh Google automatic #transcribe feature, you're always an instant source of fun! :-)

It's like magic: "We're enjoying a tasty lunch with Athenos feta in our salads, it's super delicious" is transcribed to...
what i'm saying it's a steel into the penis that on our salads super-delegates

More fun on the video link here http://bit.ly/OIVAHI

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Sometimes, life is good

// Sometimes... this happens :) 

via +Malte Ubl 

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Nature as art

Awesome data #visualization by +NASA 
You don't need to look much further for inspiration, just look around you :) 

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History of Art crash course for geeks

This will take 15 secs

Now you can impress everyone at parties with your wide knowledge of art :)

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