Kicking things off for this month’s official Speed Linkin’ post is a site designed to help with all of your graphical background needs. Then, we move on to a lightweight forum plugin for WordPress. Ever feel lost when it comes to choosing the best lightbox script? Well it’s Ozh to the rescue with the excellent Lightbox Clones Matrix. Also handy is this incredible list of social media sites. As a big fan of ASCII art, I can spend hours playing with the enchanting ASCII-O-Matic. Here is another excellent tool for checking your site’s gzip compression. For a little SEO fun, you may benefit from learning about your site’s anchor index search results. If you are a heavy Tumblr user, you may want to backup your Tumblr posts. There is also a nice backup tool for your Twitter posts as well. Saving the best for last, check out the site redesign I recently threw down for graphics guru Thane Champie, aka 88teeth. Btw, huge thanks to Thane for providing the sweet “Speed Linkin’” graphic! :)

“Perhaps it’s time for a bizarre diversion…” — Wild Bill recommends these bizarre Flash websites for your personal entertainment, education, and enjoyment:

monoface For a few delightful moments of splendid online fun, prance on over to the hilariously interactive Flash interface currently on display at monoface. Once there, click the "shuffle face" link a few times to get the general idea, and then graduate to plastic surgeon by clicking on the various facial components themselves. Each click mixes androgynous Flash flesh further and further into bizarro land, where smooth blending manifests disturbed visions of hermaphroditic unrest..

heiwa-alpha.co.jp Flexing some incredible Flash muscle, the good citizens over at heiwa-alpha (update 12/2008: site seems to be down..) have produced a Flash site of monolithic proportions. The sheer magnificence of the animated imagery and truly remarkable attention to detail make this surrealistic visual feast one of Wild Bill’s personal favorites. Indeed, for a delightful romp through the collective mind of some truly gifted Flash engineers, crank up the broadband, dust off the Japanese translator, and drop in for a wonderfully bizarre Flash diversion..

An eternal king will come
Dressed in our mortal flesh:
He will come from heaven certainly
To pass judgement on the century.

Before judgement is passed
A great sign will show itself:
The sun will lose its shine
The earth will tremble with fear.

After will come mighty thunder
A sign of great wrath:
In an infernal confusion
Lightning and cries will resound.

A great fire will come down from heaven
In a stink of sulphur
And the earth will burn furiously
And great terror will afflict people.

After will come the terrible signal
Of a great earthquake
As rocks shatter
And mountains collapse.

Then no-one will have pieces of gold
Silver or riches,
And everyone will await
The sentence.

Death will leave them without a penny,
And will crush them all:
There will remain only men in tears,
And sadness will cover the world.

The plains and peaks will be all the same,
Good and evil will reach them both,
Kings, dukes, counts and barons
Will have to account for their actions.

And then will come impressively
The Son of God omnipotent,
He will judge the dead and the living,
The good will go to Heaven.

Children not yet born
Will cry from their mother’s wombs,
And with the crying say:
"Help us, God, omnipotent".

Mother of God, pray for us,
You, the Mother of sinners,
May the sentence be merciful,
May Paradise be open to us.

You, who listen to everything,
Pray God with all devotion,
With all your heart and fervour,
That we should be saved.

Note: English translation of original Catalan version

Osseus Website Multimedia artist extraordinaire, Kenneth Paul Schrag — better known as Osseus to his fellow DLa comrades — is currently in the process of updating his personal design portfolio website (Flash required). Ken’s work is diverse, with online samples covering both graphic design and illustration.

We finally met up with Ken and Yasuko several months ago before their Japanese trip. We shared coffee in the Desert Oasis and shared recent experiences and creative happenings. Ken and Yasuko have been busy working as Graphic Designers in the Seattle area, and have big plans to start a potentially lucrative design-based service business. Beyond this, they have worked several interesting freelance jobs ranging from modeling & sculpture to illustration & design.

In related news, the possible release of DLa #20 — The Elusive Texture Issue — has resurfaced, with potential to catalyze the swift development and re-establishment of the Dead Letter Art empire. Website plans are in the works, and several DLa-related graphic-design projects have been discussed. Especially inspiring are ideas involving letter press and archaic printing methods. Stay tuned..

Modernista!

File under: Inspiration, Creativity, Graphics, and Flash: Modernista!

Electric Sheep

Paying homage to Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? via collective screensaver morphology: electricsheep.org.

Plus, be sure to experience this moving ASCII rendition of the “bullet-dodging” scene from The Matrix: ASCII Matrix Scene (I wish this idiot would quit changing the URL!).

second visit to dune lakes with audio recorder & video camera..

beautiful
beautiful
beautiful

i love the fog.

entering mae valley westshore drive…

seems the fog has lifted — to a degree.
we have… extremely light showers,
barely a thing.
fog. who knew.
but let me just say this:
pink floyd in the house
– ahh yeah.

Continue Reading

And yes, you know as I know — the secret of the Lake: early morning freshly fallen dew filling your nostrils, big sky days, and the chillest of sunsets and evening ambiance air still warm from the afternoon heat as the sun goes down — so quiet, so calm, only the sounds of crickets and creatures clicking and chirping and croaking their way into those glorious, panoramic galaxy star-filled glow-moon nights.

Praise God for each new day! Let today not be a day of grief, loss, or guilt, but rather a day of rejoicing and renewal in the Lord. Today marks a new beginning in my life. Although complicated, its summary may be generally stated by proclaiming God’s greatness and my need for His wonderful love. Insofar as God’s grace and mercy inspire and encourage me to recommit my life to Him on a daily basis, I am able to push forward toward my goals with a newfound enthusiasm and determination, for it is through Christ that I live this life and praise God for providing me with an abundant existence.

One of the best things about living among the sand people..