Interesting links for March 2009.

• 15 Tutorials for Recreating Authentic Photo Effects – A list, with descriptions, of tutorials for a variety of photo effects which can be accomplished through use of Photoshop. On Blog.SpoonGraphics.
• 10 Features That Will Make Twitter Better – A wish list of features that should please any hardcore Twitter user. On SixRevisions.com.
• Exporting 720p from iMovie ’09 | Video | Mac 911 | Macworld – Excellent article by Chris Breen outlining a problem and workaround for de-interlacing 1080i HD video from iMovie ’09. Thanks to @JeffCarlson on Twitter for the link.
• Twitterfall: A New Twitter Tool for Journalists – A quick review of TwitterFall, which offers life tweet tracking by keyword with other bonus features. On Poynter Online.
• The Obama Code – Excellent discussion of the president’s “code” and what we should be learning from it. On t r u t h o u t. Thanks to @drkent on Twitter for posting the link.
• How To Turn Customers Into Pirates – I’ve been through nonsense like this and can identify with the problem Mark dealt with. Anti-piracy measures usually do more to annoy honest customers than stop piracy. On TorrentFreak.com. Thanks to @mjvalente on Twitter for sharing this link.
• Tuesday is upon us: new Apple hardware – A summary of the new hardware released by Apple today. On TUAW.
• 5 Brilliant Animations of Sully’s Hudson River Landing – As a pilot, I could only watch one of these. But they are good, probably because of the level of realism. Thanks to @jenniferwhitley on Twitter for sharing the link. On Wired.com.
• GE | Plug Into the Smart Grid | Augmented Reality – This has got to be the most amazing use of computer technology I’ve ever seen on my desktop. Give it a try. Thanks to @MikeTRose on Twitter for sharing the link. (“Slick”? Understatement of the year.)
• Shore Pounding Bliss – Some really, really incredible photos of breaking waves. Must be seen. On Clark Little Portfolio. Thanks to @jeremyhall on Twitter for sharing this link.
• The Book Cover Archive – An archive of over 1,000 excellent book cover designs. Thanks to @elloyd74 for tweeting the link.
• Innovations In Toaster Design – We NEED a new toaster. Wish I could get one of these. On YepYep – Your Daily Waste Of Time. Thanks to @estherschindler for sharing the link.
• Illinois plutocrats are frakkin’ goofy | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine – So the state legislature of Illinois has declared that Pluto is a planet. Like they don’t have better things to do with their time? On Bad Astronomy. Thanks to @dmoren on Twitter for sharing the link.
• My Encounter With a Content Thief – Caught in the act of stealing blog content. On Applicant.com. Thanks to @plagiarismtoday for sharing the link.
• Top ten annoying things to say to wildlife photographer – Everyone who’s shown off a few good photos has heard some of these. Read it and laugh. On Paul Burwell Photography. Thanks to @PattyHankins for sharing the link.
• Adobe Design Center Video Tutorials. – Adobe Design Center Video Tutorials. Free video training materials. Thanks to TUAW for the link.
• Skill up on Adobe products with free video tutorials – Links to free video tutorials for learning software, as well as a bunch of recommendations from commenters. On TUAW.com. Thanks to @MikeTRose for the link.
• Save The Words – Fun site full of weird words. Thanks to @DesertLibrarian on Twitter for the link.
• Hidden Message Found in Lincoln Pocket Watch – washingtonpost.com – I just think this is a cool story. On the Washington Post Web site. Thanks to @sherrieholmes for tweeting it.
• Explaining Twitter to Grandma Rose – This explanation is pretty good, although I know my grandmother (who is no longer with us) wouldn’t have understood. By Hildy Gottlieb.
• Focus stacking – Very cool example of stacking photos with various focus to make a finely focused macro image. Thanks to @BWJones on Twitter for sharing this link.
• Jim Cramer Shorting Stocks, Manipulating Markets, Saying The SEC Doesn’t Understand – Let’s all look at Jim Cramer for what he is — just another media moron looking for ratings, not really caring about misinformation he spreads that could hurt the public. On The Huffington Post. If you’re not sure why everyone is beating up on Jim Cramer these days, watch this week’s episodes of the Daily Show. Jon Stewart’s team certainly does know how to turd mine effectively.
• Surprise: Most Americans View Rush Limbaugh Negatively – Looks like Rush is a burden to his own party. Okay, now tell me something I didn’t know. On AlterNet. Thanks to @HildyGottlieb for tweeting the link.
• The Real Problem with CNBC – Excellent piece about the problems with CNBC and their witless war against Jon Stewart. On The Daily Kos.
• The Daily Show Eviscerates Santelli and CNBC : CJR – How it all started: the Columbia Journalism Review summarizes Jon Stewart’s March 5 smackdown of CNBC.
• When The Daily Show’s fake news becomes real journalism | Media | guardian.co.uk – Excellent article covering the chronology of events that led up to last night’s Daily Show Jim Cramer interview — and its aftermath. On the Guardian.co.uk.
• “This Song Ain’t About You”: The Media Misses the Real Message of the Stewart/Cramer Interview – Has journalism lost its way? Thank you, Daniel Sinker, for finally asking. On the Huffington Post.
• Controversy Continues to Brew Over Media’s Role in Financial Meltdown – Comedian and “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart held a high-profile sparring match with CNBC’s Jim Cramer this week over the cable network’s coverage in the lead up to the Wall Street meltdown. A panel of business writers weighs the media’s role in the economic crisis. On the Online NewsHour from PBS.
• Transcript of Daily show interview between Jon Stewart and Jim Cramer – A complete transcript of the aired (edited) interview. On the Vancouver Sun’s Web site.
• Cramer interview lifts ‘Daily Show’ – Like we didn’t know this? On Variety.com
• Jim Cramer smackdown includes talk of Apple – This is the kind of stuff that needs to stop. As an Apple stockholder and user of Apple products for over 20 years, Cramer’s attempt to manipulate Apple’s stock prices makes me sick. What other companies are being screwed over by people like him? How much money have innocent investors lost? On TUAW.
• The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Thu, Mar 12, 2009 – John Stewart spanks Jim Cramer. My thoughts on this: Cramer is either extremely dishonest or extremely inept — although there is a possibility that he’s both. On Hulu; the entire interview can be found on Comedy Central.
• Fotografia Creativa – Excellent, thought-provoking photos by David Stewart on Taringa. Thanks to @jebro on Twitter for RT the link to this.
• Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable – Are you a journalist or blogger or any kind of serious writer at all? Are you an editor or publisher? If so, read this. All of it. And think about it. By Clay Shirky. Thanks to @jenniferwhitley for sharing the link.
• How the Crash Will Reshape America – By Richard Florida on The Atlantic Online.
• Apple – Support – Discussions – Converting AVI files – Having trouble getting video clips into iMovie ’09? ricktoronto provides some advice in this Apple support forum thread. Worked for me, although I still had a few questions.
• DV, DVD and (XS)VCD on a Macintosh – A good reference for converting all kinds of video on a Mac.
• A.I.G. Planning Huge Bonuses After $170 Billion Bailout – WTF? Uh, Mr. Obama, sir, can you put these boys in their place? Like out on the street with a good percentage of Americans? In the NYTimes. Thanks to @newmediajim for posting this link. Retweet it, folks!
• We found the chip inside the new iPod headphones…but is it DRM? – I’d like answers to the questions in this post. On Boing Boing Gadgets. Thanks to @danfrakes for sharing this link.
• The Culture Warriors Get Laid Off – If Frank Rich is right, this is indeed good news for the country. In the NYTimes. Thanks to @jodene for sharing this link.
• 7 ways to spot a social media snake oil salesperson – Personally, I don’t get the social networking thing for business purposes. Are we all so stupid that we’ll fall for advertising just because it came from a “friend” on a social networking service? But here’s some good advice if you want to take your business to social networks and have found a “guru” to help you. On Wise Bread. Thanks to @aprilmains for Tweeting the link.
• Apple, vendors confirm iPod headphone-chip rumors – This is not the kind of information I want to read about Apple products. On Macworld.
• TweepMe | Browse Members – These people are so desperate for followers that they’ll use a Web service — and possibly even pay! — to get automatic followers. Pity them. They are true social networking losers.
• How to Tweet Your Way Out of a Job – When will they learn? On I’m Not Actually a Geek. Thanks to @jodene on Twitter for sharing the link.
• My Life With Cables – How do you feel about cables? This pretty much sums it up for me — very cleverly. Thanks to @MikeTRose on Twitter for sharing the link.
• 1-800-GOOG-411: Find and connect with local businesses for free from your phone. – A free directory assistance service. Thanks to @jimhobart on Twitter for sharing the link.
• Sheep-Powered LED Display Lights Up Welsh Hillside – Personally, I don’t believe this is real. But if it is, it’s an example of two things: (1) the excellent herding abilities of well-trained dogs and (2) the fact that some people have entirely too much time on their hands. Thanks to @HildyGottlieb on Twitter for retweeting this link. On Gizmodo.com.
• As Jurors Turn to Web, Mistrials Are Popping Up – The solution to this problem is simple: sequester the jurors and take away their cell phones. THAT’LL really pump up the cost of taking a trial to court. On the NYTimes.com.
• Transition Roadable Aircraft Flies – Very cool. Thanks to @JenniferWhitley on Twitter for sharing the link. On avweb.com.
• Pope visits Africa, reaffirms ban on condoms – Catholic Church FAIL. Thanks to @god on Twitter for sharing the link. On CNN.com.
• Dealing with M2T (HDV) for Macs – Jeez Louise! Where was this when I needed help a few months ago? Wish I’d had this info then. I won’t lose it now. On MacHouse – A World of Video Tutorials.
• Polar bear twins: cubs born at the Ouwehands animal park in Rhenen, the Netherlands – Wild animal rescue gone right: twin cubs born to a polar bear rescued at age 5 month from a ice floe. On Telegraph.co.uk. Thanks to @god on Twitter for tweeting the link.
• Twitter Unveils New Premium Accounts – You know, I was believing this until I got near the end. I guess I shouldn’t read Web-based articles too early in the morning, before my brain has a chance to spin up. On BBSpot.
• YouTube – Bomberguy’s Channel – Excellent vintage aviation footage. On YouTube. Thanks to @fly_n_fast on Twitter for sharing this link.
• Stay At the Hotelicopter: The World’s First Flying Hotel – Since 2004, the company behind the Hotelicopter has been working to modify a Soviet-made Mil V-12 into two world firsts: the “world’s biggest helicopter” and the “world’s first flying hotel.” Thanks to @SonoranDragon on Twitter for sharing this link. Very cool.