Linkee-poo goes for the really bad eggs

Huhn. World Malaria Day is my father's birthday. There's something oddly correct about that.

Tsunami stones in Japan. There's some cool Story Bone material in that article. There's the angle of people thinking of generations to come and wanting to leave a reminder of their hard won knowledge. The added angle of future generations forgetting those warning, or thinking of them as quaint relics while they got caught up in the economic expansion. How languages change and some stones are erased by time or cultural shift. And the heartbreak of the stones that were swept out to sea in the recent tsunami. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

LetterMpress promises to bring a "virtual letterpress environment" to the iPad. More info is on their kickstarter page. As someone who owns some slug type, okay, yeah, I really dig letterpress stuff. As a way of printing. As a way of composing, I think it would be a great educational tool (hey, I did it, you understand type in a different sense that way, same with photo-type and rub-on type not to mention ordering type from a service and then using an exacto to compose it the way you want). However, it feels more like a "and then if you pay us more, we'll actually print your creations!" model. Hey, thanks, great. I'd rather work with a press of my own choosing. The problem with letterpress process is that not all shops are the same. Part of their strategy is to acquire physical type specimens, which, then locks you into their press. This is a short lived strategy, because physical type wears out and needs to be recarved or recast. Without that craft, its a dead end. And letterpress on a digital screen? I don't see the need (as a visual, for educational purposes, sure). I can create the same effect with Illustrator and Photoshop. I think it'll be good for some designers who have grown up in the age of computer type. IMHO, they don't have the depth of knowledge or skill at composition that some of us older people (who were trained with the old technology as well as computers) have. Leading, to them, is the space between baselines, a button you push. They don't see it as strips of actual lead.

Cognitive Theory, mixed with learning, and type theory. All three are trigger points for me. Some interesting stuff in there about how we learn and perceive how we learn. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Some links on the cost of living and median wages (hint one of these things is not keeping up with the other). Just in case you need reinforcement of that issue.

Strange, when the rubber meets the road (as in, when all those cuts become actualized, including the actual realization of how small all that "extra" spending that people oppose - Foreign Aid, NPR, etc.) people can be down right reasonable. Of course it's easy for me to say when I've been supporting such "tax hikes" (actually, tax break expirations) for years. What's strange, is in most polls a majority of "Republicans" also approve of raising taxes on those who make over $250,000. (Pointed to by Dan) And then there was the booing of Paul Ryan at his own townhall meeting. Considering the TP stance on taxes, and their organizers'/supporters' more extreme view, it'll be interesting to see the fall out of this. First up, I expect to hear the line about how "those lib'rals invaded the meeting and made a fuss." Queue the denial in 3… 2… 1…

Why, that would never happen, raiding a fund set up specifically for healthcare. That would almost be like raiding a retirement fund. (said with tongue firmly in cheek) Can we say, "Drink up me hearties. Yo ho!"

So, anybody else get the feeling they've just been punked? That last year the Republicans were all contrite. Oh yes, they said, we understand now. We had strayed from the path and forgotten our roots. Thank you, TP, for reminding us. We're fiscal conservatives. We're about smaller government and less government intrusion into your personal lives. We got the message and have had our Come to Jesus Moment™. We have sinned, and now as penitents, we ask your forgiveness. Vote for us and we'll put it all aright. Oh, we're in now? We control state legislatures and governorships and have the House? Ha! Psych.