The inside story of how Microsoft killed its Courier tablet - CNET »

This is a story I’ve been waiting to read for a long time. Note: this is the setup in a two-part story. The actual “why” comes tomorrow.

24 Hours Of Horror With Edgar Wright »

Now this is a heck of a marathon.

This weekend was the annual Horrorthon here in Dublin which seems to have lost some of its momentum in the past few yeard. A lot of its programme had me scratching my head and thinking “Is that really a horror film?” (e.g. Play Misty for Me or Akira). As a result, I’ve found myself weighing up the films I’d actually be interested in seeing and the films I couldn’t be bothered with and decided that – guest appearance by Michael Biehn not withstanding – it just wasn’t worth my time.

Edgar Wright’s list might be a bit obvious in places, but I’d be first in line at that marathon.

Michael Wee Higgins »

Some of these are better than others, but they all made me laugh.

Especially the bus one. Holy shit.

Hyperbole and a Half: Adventures in Depression »

Heartbreaking.

L-Studio - The Desk »

Since moving home and doing all my work on an easy chair, I’ve started to fetishize desks. This short video is all about the importance of a desk and what it says about the person who uses it. It’s not helping at all.

The Stallman Dialogues »

There was some question in work about whether or not Richard Stallman is actually a plant by Microsoft – some long-game Manchurian Candidate shit – to discredit the free software movement. Evidence: Stallman’s rider for talks, Stallman’s personal FAQ, Stallman eating his own toe-jam.

The original iPod, 10 years later: a re-review »

Ars Technica re-reviews the original iPod. Bottom line: “if you still have one of these original ones lying around, find a FireWire cable and plug it in. You might be surprised at how well it still works.”

Also, the industrial design of the first-gen iPod is still amazing.

Google Reader is the best social network created so far »

More than anything else I’ve read on the topic, Courtney Stanton does a great job of explaining why it’s so sad that Google are nerfing Google Reader

For me, this is the destruction of the only online space I truly give a shit about. (Sorry Twitter, Facebook, etc.) I’m actually really upset about this, as it’s eliminating a social space I’ve been participating in for several years.

He also does a terrific job of explaining why “plus” isn’t a great replacement for the functionality.

I don’t care if Google wants Plus to get bigger, I care about me and my friends who seek to read and discuss the entire internet every day. Is there really no space for different kinds of people to form different kinds of social spaces in Google products? Are they really that fucking stupid about how communities work?

Or, as I suspect, is it just that Buzz and gReader aren’t nearly as effective as Plus at collecting data about my internet use?

How does the iPhone 4S camera stack-up against other cameras? »

Great comparison of the cameras in each of the iPhones.

Generation X Doesn't Want to Hear It »

Generation X is sick of your bullshit.

In fairness, Generation X could use a better spokesperson. Barack Obama is just a little too senior to count among its own, and it has debts older than Mark Zuckerberg. Generation X hasn’t had a real voice since Kurt Cobain blew his brains out, Tupac was murdered, Jeff Mangum went crazy, David Foster Wallace hung himself, Jeff Buckley drowned, River Phoenix overdosed, Elliott Smith stabbed himself (twice) in the heart, Axl got fat.