Web Pick

In an age when your average video game controller has no less than 12 buttons, and games are so complex they still need 3 different control modes (GTA4, I'm looking in your direction), its refreshing to see developers come out with something as simple as a one-button game.

Such a game, One Button Bob landed in my browser today in all its Flash glory, courtesy of a link from the Funsmith's blog. The aptly named Bob is controlled by only one button, but exactly what that button does changes from level to level. So you have to puzzle out what the button does and how to use it to get past the obstacles in your path, then you have to make sure you get the timing just right before you can progress. How many clicks will you need?

For such a simple concept, there is a wealth of variety here, and I often found myself itching to get to the next level just to see what Bob would do next time I clicked. The pick-up-and-play simplicity of it all gets you started, the ever-changing gameplay gets you hooked.

Just goes to show how much variety and longevity you can really get out of a relatively simple concept. I'm tempted to use the word elegant. But that might be a little too pretentious.

Laughing Squid dropped this video into my news feeds this afternoon. All I can say is, damn:

Just watching this gave me vertigo. The guys who work up there must have cojones the size of watermelons, or at the very least, honeydew.

This morning, I was delighted to find this article by TashaMarie via Laughing Squid. I just cannot get over how awesome this Lichtenstein-esque makeup job is. Shame there aren't more details, though. Wonder what it was for?

Certainly puts my Halloween costume from last year to shame...although I claim moral victory for both not being a professional makeup artist and for applying it myself in a mirror.

Courtesy of The Chief Happiness Officer, here's an uplifting video of a canine prison break:

It seems like you can't turn around in this Information Age without finding a kitten demanding a Whopper, a walrus searching for a bucket or a varied assortment of small mammals pretending to be Jedi. Some of us still melt at the sight, but some, like Matthew Gasteier have had enough, and are saying loud and proud "No more LOLs!".

Matthew runs FU Penguin, a blog of animal photos (and now a book) with a twist. That twist is embittered rage.

[Interview at LA Weekly] found on [Digg]

 Courtesy of BoingBoing, I came across this great Ignite talk today, on the subject of copycat design

Veen likens designers duplicating certain "look and feel" elements of the iPhone in their own devices to Cargo Cults, drawing the whole thing together with the Pablo Picasso quote: "Good artists copy, great artists steal".

I was amused by this use of the quote - and I'm sure the irony was not lost on Veen - seeing as Steve Jobs used the quote in the documentary Triumph of the Nerds, in reference to Apple's own early principles:

From CollegeHumour.com taking a brief layover at Laughing Squid, comes this fantastic satire of internet culture.

Aside from blatantly spending waaay too much time on Digg, these guys seem to be putting out better and better videos of late. I applaud you, oh proud sopohmoric comedians!

During my usual work-avoidance feed reading, I came across a link to a gem of a web service, Plinky.

Plinky is a new take on short-form blogging services (like Twitter, Tumblr, etc), but with a twist. Instead of being presented with a totally blank text box - which to many writers is the scariest thing imaginable - you are given a question to help you get those creative juices flowing.

There aren't a huge number of questions at the moment, but they range from the purely fun ("What kind of superhero would you be?") to the deep and meaningful ("When did you know you were a grown up?").

Even user profiles have a little twist, asking you to choose from a series of questions that describe you - which offers a little respite from the usual boxes for hobbies, quotes, etc.

At the moment its a bit hard to see if this will take off or will fade into insignificance like so many...fady things. But I found it a nice distraction of a work day (was really quick and easy to get going too), and imagine I'll be answering the odd question here and there. And besides anything else, the interface is so pretty!

Shameless plug time, take a peek at my page on Plinky :-)

Courtesy of the Chief Happiness Officer, I saw this beautiful short film today, had me welling up at my desk.

If there's anything that can encourage a positive outlook on life, this is it.

UPDATE: Embedding seems to have been disabled, here's a direct link to the movie.

Just before you go: You guys are great!

Never failing to provide the best of the weird and wonderful snippets on the web, Boing Boing's RSS feed today brought me a link to a set of illustrations by Christoph Neimann, an award-winning illustrator with a coffee fixation.

Drawn in coffee on napkins, they depict the artist's lifelong experiences and obsession with a certain popular stimulant-laced beverage.

I'd love to see him release a book of these illustrations, and I'm desperately resisting the urge to refer to this potential product by the common name for boredom allieviating hardback books.