Since magazines began publishing on tablets, “virtually all” publishers have chosen to export their digital editions as PNG (.png) files, Koch said. “The primary reason they did that is because the fidelity is perfect. What you see on the desktop when you’re designing is exactly what you see on the iPad when you’re finished. Images are the fastest thing to load, and if you’re trying to create a quick, effortless browsing experience, images are the way to do that,” he explained.

“That was okay when there was only one screen size — when you were just working with the iPad 1 and 2,” he added. “When the iPad 3 came out, you were now dealing with a device with four times as many pixels.” The iPad 3 applies an anti-aliasing filter to all low-resolution content, which blurs images ever so slightly. As a result, photographs still look about the same on the iPad 3, but the text looks a lot worse — i.e., visibly blurry, or pixelated.

The Morning News has an interview with the author and picture gallery featuring other water throwing art. (via kottke.org)

Click to view larger image

A Google autocomplete map of the United States. (via very small array).

Slater was struck in the head with luggage that a passenger was trying to unload from an overhead compartment, according to an airport official with knowledge of the incident.

Slater demanded an apology from the passenger but the passenger refused. The two argued before the passenger told Slater to “f— off”. Slater then got on the plane’s PA system and directed that same obscenity at all the passengers and added that he especially meant it for the man who refused to apologize.

Slater is alleged to have then activated the plane’s inflatable emergency slide, grabbed two beers from the galley, then slid down the chute.

(via WSJ)

Sometimes they’ll bury the phone number deep within the website to discourage you from calling.

I got the crackpot idea to apply as a co-pilot at a real airline so I made myself a Swedish flying permit with a logo out of regular white paper. It wasn’t laminated, and looked like something I’d made at home. It was surprisingly easy. The documents look different everywhere in Europe. An Italian airline doesn’t know what a Swedish licence looks like. And you can forge all the IDs you need. I’d train there for two or three hours at a time—at least 15 to 20 times over one and a half years.

via (kottke.org)

First off, ladies, I get it. It’s your Star Wars. The opening credits make your tummy tickle the same way the Star Wars theme, to this day, gives me a boner. I understand. A pair of expensive shoes worn by Carrie is just like a metallic bikini worn by Princess Leia.

Tim SiedellWriter certainly said it well.

• The exterior must be very crisp, but not tough.
• The interior must be intact, fluffy, and have a strong potato flavor.
• The fry must be an even, light golden blond.
• The fry must stay crisp and tasty for at least as long as it takes to eat a full serving.

After over 43 batches of fries in the last three days, and I’m happy to report that I’ve finally found a way to consistently reach crisp, golden Nirvana.

Here’s the full recipe for those who can’t wait to try it!

A brilliant concept of reducing train traveling time. Could this be the future? (via kottke.org)

I’m not exactly the superstitious type but nonetheless, I’ll attempt to heed the advice and make it a better 2010 (less moving the furnitures since they are already in the correct position as what the geomancy forecast predicts).