Interesting links for May 2009.

• How to Survive a Plague – 10 Lessons From the Movies – Lessons for all of us. On SpoutBlog. Thanks to @estherschindler for tweeting the link.
• Internet Star @ Least 473 Years Old – Interesting article in the NYTimes blog about the history of the @ sign as it is widely used today. Thanks to @sherrieholmes for sharing the link.
• The Do’s & Don’ts of Modern Web Design – Excellent and simple list of things to do and avoid when creating a Web page or site.
• Exploring Social Media: What’s in Your Bio? – Here’s a Blog Herald post by Lorelle VanFossen that expands on a post I did a while back about social networking bios. It’s an honor to be quoted on The Blog Herald.
• Why Buy the Milk When You’re Following the Cow on Twitter? – Is Twitter killing traditional print media by removing the need for advertising? On LAWeekly.com. Thanks to @estherschindler for sharing the link.
• Hypercritical – Knowing is half the battle. I can relate to this. On Ars Technica. Thanks to @DanFrakes for sharing the link.
• 20 CSS Short Hands You’ll Love – Great tutorial for CSS. On webhostingsearch.com.
• MacVoices #971: Maria Langer’s Newest Video Course Helps You Learn To Twitter Effectively – My most recent MacVoices interview. In this one, I talk to host Chuck Joiner about my Twitter course for Lynda.com.
• Twitter Search to dive deeper, rank results – A milestone for Google and Twitter. On CNet.com. Thanks to @jodene for tweeting the link.
• Oprah KFC coupons causes riot, possible racial violence – Another reason why celebrity worship is bad for this country. On Collegenews.com.
• The American Press on Suicide Watch – Frank Rich opines on the future of journalism. In the New York Times.
• 50 Amazingly Helpful Time-Tested Tips for the Kitchen – A good compendium of kitchen tips and great source of ideas for anyone who likes to cook.
• The Ultimate Guide to .htaccess Files – Good reference material for anyone interested in creating or tweaking their .htaccess file. On Nettuts+.
• Aerial Virtual tour of New York – Absolutely magnificent interactive aerial panorama by Oleg Gaponyuk, a Russian photographer I have had the pleasure of flying several times over Lake Powell. Oleg did a similar panorama for Lake Powell, which I have as a QTVR file; I’m hoping he’ll send a link to that panorama on the Web. THIS is why I love flying photographers. You can’t get an image like this from an airplane, either.
• 7 reasons why the business world hates social media – Interesting take on why the business world is not fully embracing Social Media. On Visionary Marketing.
• My Job and Welcome to It – Dan Tynan explains what he does, why his livelihood is threatened, and why we should be concerned about it. On TynanWood.com.
• Five reasons why your company blog sucks – You think you’re doing it right, but no one is reading it. Here’s what you might be doing wrong. On The Viral Garden.
• The Journalist’s Guide to Twitter – Excellent article on Mashable about how journalists can make the most of Twitter.
• Virtual Tour Helicopter Journey over Manhattan – QuickTime VR images, with music offering panoramic aerial tours of Manhattan. This is incredible stuff. Created by Oleg Gaponyuk. Oleg did some panoramas of Lake Powell when flying with me several years ago. His work has to be seen to be believed.
• Repper -> create your own patterns! – Excellent online tool for creating patterns based on portions of images you upload.
• WHFoods: Over 100 Quick and Easy Recipes – Pick an ingredient or two (or three or more) and let this site generate a list of recipes for you.
• Hubble’s final servicing mission – It still amazes me that it’s within our ability to do things like this. Excellent photos, as usual, on The Big Picture. Thanks to @jeffcarlson for tweeting the link.
• 100 Amazing Free WordPress Themes for 2009 – Good collection of interesting themes for WordPress. On Smashing Magazine.com.
• The Life and Death of a Twitter Topic – This image graphically explains the rise and fall of a trending topic. Personally, I don’t think there would be trending topic peaks like we’re seeing if Twitter didn’t put them on the home page. All they’ve done is give people a reason to include certain words/phrases in their tweets on the off chance that their tweet will appear when someone investigates the trending topic. In other words, it’s all bullshit.
• The Great Address Book Cleanup – Some tips for cleaning up your Mac OS X Address Book file By Andy Piper on The Lost Outpost.
• Shepard Fairey Ripped Off My Picture First – What constitutes fair use? This post raises some questions. By Ed Nachtrieb on Open Salon.
• Bathtub IV on Vimeo – How could I not like this? Tilt-shift, time-lapse photography video with a helicopter.
• Burnout – What every professional should know about burnout. On A List Apart.
• Bush’s Shocking Biblical Prophecy Emerges: God Wants to “Erase” Mid-East Enemies “Before a New Age Begins” | Politics | AlterNet – So not only was our president a religious fanatic, but he embarrassed us with his nutty ideas in front of the French President. This is some scary shit.
• GOP Holy Trinity on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor: She’s a ‘racist’ – If the Republicans spent as much effort trying to make things BETTER as they spend trying to generate hate and fear, this country would be a better place. Thanks to @god on Twitter for sharing the link.
• PrintFriendly – Excellent utility for making printer friendly or PDF versions of Web pages. A WordPress plugin is also available. Online; no special software needed.
• The Crisis and How to Deal with It – Great analysis of the current economic crisis. In – The New York Review of Books. Thanks to @jodene on Twitter for sharing the link.
• The Vendor Client relationship – in real world situations – Anyone who is in business MUST see this video. This is something freelancers and business owners deal with almost every day.
• The Big Gay Chip on My Shoulder – I couldn’t have said it any better myself. By Rob Thomas on the Huffington Post.
• Homeless Man at Atlanta Tea Party – An example of a picture painted with words. I can really SEE this one. On Unphotographable.
• Plastic Flashback: A visual history of the credit card – Interesting slide show with descriptions on the history of credit cards in the U.S. On Slate.
• The Fallacy of Locally Grown Produce – An interesting analysis of locally grown produce and farmer’s markets. By Brian Dunning on SkepticBlog.
• Why Health Advice on ‘Oprah’ Could Make You Sick – You think Oprah has the answer to all your problems? Think again. The advice she pushes at her audience might cause you more problems than no advice at all. Thanks to @BrianDunning on Twitter for sharing this link. On Newsweek.