Friday, March 30, 2012

Hear Shakespeare's Original Pronunciation!

I listened to this on NPR. They have determined what Shakespeare's plays would have sound like in his day. Shakespeare's Original Pronunciation: Speeches and Scenes Performed as Shakespeare Would Have Heard Them

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Fun with Wordle

Wordle at www.wordle.net is a Java Applet that makes a cool image from any copied text. for example, the following was created when I pasted in the Gettysburg Address (by Abraham Lincoln).

Wordle: Untitled
It goes through and removes any common words from the language of choice, and then makes the image where each word is sized based on its frequency in the copied text.

Even cooler is that after creating the image you can go in and play with the font, color scheme and the layout. I have a preference for words at horizontal and vertical angles but you can mix it up more than that with words going every which way.

I think that this would be cool to be able to put on a t-shirt or as a poster. It does let you print it out but I have not done so.

Friday, March 02, 2012

The academy awards of Web Sites

I really enjoy visiting quality web sites, but I do get in a rut sometimes and appreciate finding something new to look at. I have often found gold when looking through the nominees of the Webby Awards. They are in their 16th year and award 67 categories as follows. It appears to be legit, and not just web sites buying themselves into awards. Definitely an escape. Do you have any favorite place to learn about websites?

ACTIVISM
ART
ASSOCIATIONS
AUTOMOTIVE
BANKING/BILL PAYING
BEAUTY AND COSMETICS
BEST COPY/WRITING
BEST HOME/WELCOME PAGE
BEST NAVIGATION/STRUCTURE
BEST PRACTICES
BEST USE OF ANIMATION OR MOTION GRAPHICS
BEST USE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
BEST USE OF VIDEO OR MOVING IMAGE
BEST VISUAL DESIGN - AESTHETIC
BEST VISUAL DESIGN - FUNCTION
BLOG - BUSINESS
BLOG - CULTURAL
BLOG - POLITICAL
CELEBRITY/FAN
CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS/NON-PROFIT
COMMUNITY
CONSUMER ELECTRONICS
CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS
CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS
EDUCATION
EMPLOYMENT
EVENTS
FAMILY/PARENTING
FASHION
FINANCIAL SERVICES
FOOD AND BEVERAGE
GAMES
GAMES-RELATED
GOVERNMENT
GREEN
GUIDES/RATINGS/REVIEWS
HEALTH
HUMOR
INSURANCE
IT HARDWARE/SOFTWARE
LAW
LIFESTYLE
MAGAZINE
MOVIE AND FILM
MUSIC
NETART
NEWS
PERSONAL BLOG/WEBSITE
PHARMACEUTICALS
POLITICS
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
RADIO/PODCASTS
REAL ESTATE
RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY
RESTAURANT
RETAIL
SCHOOL/UNIVERSITY
SCIENCE
SELF-PROMOTION/PORTFOLIO
SOCIAL MEDIA
SPORTS
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
TELEVISION
TRAVEL
WEIRD
YOUTH


Thursday, March 01, 2012

March is Reading Month?

I've tweeted before about Very Short List (VSL), a web site that came up with a lot of very interesting nuggets. They did a recent makeover (with daily guest contributors)  that has yet to get my interest like the old format. A new site that I just stumbled across is Brain Pickings. I like their collection of reading lists on their March 1 post. And while we are looking at reading list. This seems to be a good bucket list of Science Fiction and Fantasy books.  Let me know where you go to find good things to read.