Chris' Linkjockey blog links to unique, fantastic sites on the web that you haven't seen before.

Saturday, June 30, 2007

Photos of Modern Slavery in Britain

Slave Britain gallery

Slavery still exists in the 21st Century Britain, even though it was legally abolished 200 years ago. The Slave Britain gallery has the stories and photographs from 8 people; 6 people bound in slavery and 2 modern-day abolitionists.
It's shocking and deplorable that slavery still exists in our "modern" society. Please take the time to view these pages, and sign the petition.

Today's Link source: popurls

Friday, June 29, 2007

Best site for Vancouver movie listings

Telus Movies

Telus has movie listings and showtimes for BC, Alberta and Ontario,
along with great reviews, star ratings by the critics and the public.
They also have some of the Hollywood gossip news, and reviews of the art
house and foreign films showing around town.

Thursday, June 28, 2007

"Mustache Rides 5 cents" - Hipsters, Prepare to Die

3quarksdaily - Selected Minor Works: Hipsters, Prepare to Die

An essay on the irony of aging; as you age you become less pithy and prone to stupidity, but it's just not as exciting.

Today's Link source: Gawker

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

The World's Smallest Website

guimp - world's smallest website

The world's smallest website is 18 pixels by 18 pixels. What can you do with such a small page? Play Flash web games, like Pac-Man, Pong, Asteroids, Soccer, and more. Check out their online picture gallery, read news, explore a maze, and more. Astounding!!

Today's Link source: notcot.org

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

iPhwned

Today's Link source: iPod hacks

The iPhone is coming! 5 Essential iPhone links

June 29 is the official release date for the iPhone in the USA, and the hype is enormous. When will it come to Canada or other countries? No word yet.

Maybe it's not so bad, and us foreigners will let the bugs get worked out first. Are you now wishing that you'd purchased one of the original iPods? Didn't think so.

Apple iPhone - official Apple site, with initial iPhone specs

MY iTablet - iPhone news blog (which covered the iPhone rate plans released today)
iPhone Hacks - another iPhone news blog, covering reviews, hacks, and the hype
David Pogue's iPhone FAQs 1 & 2 - Written by columnist from the NY Times
Reviews may be added as they start popping up.

In case you're wondering what the iPhone has to do with Music Tuesdays, the iPhone is also an iPod and has 4 GB or 8 GB of storage for music.

Monday, June 25, 2007

Summer Hiking & Backpacking Essentials

Backpacker Magazine - Backpacking 101

Summer has officially started, and many people use the nice weather to explore the mountains and trails in the great outdoors.

Backpacker Magazine has compiled a list of great articles to prepare yourself for trekking. The categories of articles include: Getting in shape, Essential clothing and gear, Planning your trip and finding a trail, Topographical map and compass skills, Planning for the unexpected, Food, Gear checklists and packing, Tips for leaving no trace, Dealing with dangerous animals and plants , First-aid, Survival, and How to stay warm and dry.

These are great tips for summer and winter camping that could end of up saving your weekend or your life.

Today's Link source: stumbleupon.com

Bonus Link: Vancouver's Mountain Equipment Coop sells great gear for all kinds of gear for outdoor sports, extreme or not. They also have a new blog to discuss their efforts at sourcing from ethical suppliers. Ethical sourcing seems much more difficult than it should be.

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Solid European Travel Blog

Rick Steves' Europe: Blog Gone Europe

Rick Steves does a travel show about Europe on American public TV, as well as a series of European travel books. His free guide to traveling Europe by train is the best, and it's also essential reading for choosing which tickets and rail passes to buy. He has tons of great tips!

He travels extensively through Europe, striving to show you the way through the "back door". That is, he tries to help you experience Europe like a native, and show you the secrets that only the locals know about, and his advice is invaluable.

Instead of waiting for the TV show or one of the guide books, keep up to date with Rick Steves on his blog. Rick is currently in Croatia.

Today's Link source: Rick Steves email notices

Friday, June 22, 2007

Best 2007 NHL Draft sites

2007 NHL Draft

It's one of the biggest days of the year for hockey!

Friday June 21 is the first day of the 2007 NHL Draft in Columbus, Ohio. Rounds Two through Seven will take place on Saturday. One of the projected first picks is Kyle Turris, who played for the Burnaby Express of the BCHL this year.

There are mock drafts and in-depth profiles of the prospects from the NHL, TSN, ESPN, as well as online sources like Hockey’s future magazine, The Fourth Period and the Vancouver Canucks. Many sites promise to have updates as the hockey draft unfolds, and there is a live video stream from the NHL site.

Today's Link source: Linkjockey

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Canadian Aboriginal Story-Tellers

Aboriginal Culture and Traditions Storytelling

June 21 is National Aboriginal Day in Canada.
In honour of this date, today's link has a collection of oral stories told by elders from Canadian First Nations perspectives, and include: First Nations Stories, Métis Stories, and Inuit Stories.

Today's Link source: Google Suggest

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

20 Magic Tutorials

Magic Uproar - Magic Tricks: Top 20 Magic Trick Tutorials

There are 20 video tutorials, mostly featuring card tricks and coin tricks.

I have a couple of friends that are really into magic. Who knows? Maybe in areas where they are unable to draw on the cosmic forces of the universe, they might be able to use some of these Sleight of Hand tricks to impress girls.

Today's Link source: popurls / del.icio.us

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Ever Feel Guilty About Pirating Music? Here's the Solution. [pic]

nuttersmark.com

Today's link is a cartoon.

In essence:
1. Download Music
2. Send $ to Artist
3. Cut Out Middleman

Today's Link source: Digg

Monday, June 18, 2007

What's new in the land of Facebook? 8 blogs about Facebook





Facebook used to be clean, simple and straightforward. Thankfully, they've opened up their system, and allowed third-parties to create new applications for users. Now Facebook has grown so big, and there are so many new apps that it's impossible to keep up... unless you start reading these 8 Facebook blogs.

Official Facebook blog - official news, straight from the source.

AllFacebook - lists and reviews new Facebook apps, Facebook news and speculation on its future.

The Facebook Effect - top media reports about Facebook .

Facereviews - Good reviews of Facebook apps.

Anatoly Lubarsky - Developer-oriented posts on the Facebook developer platform, Facebook applications and the Facebook API.

Inside Facebook - the latest Facebook news and apps.

Official Facebook Developers news - news straight from the Facebook Developers page

facebook in the news - my attempt to track and aggregate all the news in the media about Facebook in one place.

Today's Link source: Scobleizer Find Christopher Walks on Facebook.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Michael Moore's "SICKO" on Google Video

Michael Moore's "SICKO"

Michael Moore's new movie, Sicko, is about the state of the American medical system. For whatever reason, it has been posted on Google Video before it has even been released in theatres. I'm guessing that the director may have leaked it himself. Who knows? It's been getting great reviews, so check it before it disappears.

Today's Link source: Reddit

Correction: The video has been taken down.

The Origins of Father's Day from The Old Farmer's Almanac

Father's Day - The Old Farmer's Almanac

How did Father's Day get started?
This traditional source for long range weather forecasting gives you the brief history. It's hard to believe they've been publishing The Old Farmer's Almanac since 1792, and helping countless generations of fathers on the farm and in the garden.

Today's Link source: Father's Day

Can I do this with Linux?

The Linux Alternative Project - linuxalt.com

A list of Linux equivalents and alternatives to the popular Mac and Windows software from companies like Adobe and Microsoft.

Today's Link source: del.icio.us

Friday, June 15, 2007

Hanging out with Dad in the Workshop

MAKE: Blog

The MAKE Blog is a great site to help you prepare for Fathers' Day for two reasons.

1. You can use one of the great project ideas to hack or build a cool present for dear old Dad.
2. Get an awesome idea for a project that you can work on with your Papa on Father's Day.

Get out the tools, and head to the workshop!

Today's Link source: Technorati Popular blogs

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Micro-blogging with Tumblr

Tumblr. & Linkjockey Tumblr

What's micro-blogging?
Some people cave under the pressure of rigours of creating quality blog posts all the time, so micro-blogging seems to be an attempt to streamline the process.

How does Tumblr fare?
Tumblr is really easy to use. I was up and running in about 2 minutes, and could see myself keeping track of cool links there, kind of like an annotated version of del.icio.us, instead of using Tags. You can embed images, links, chat, text, and video, so it has all the bells and whistles. It would also be good for live-blogging events.

I started the Linkjockey Tumblr site with some other great links sent to me by Richard Belotte (aka the world's greatest magician), namely: Tumblr.com, Freeindie.com, Musicovery.com, Liveplasma.com and Virb.com. Drop me a comment here, or a line on the chat page and let me know what you think of Tumblr.

Today's Link source: Richard Belotte

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Tracking free iTunes downloads

itsfreedownloads - Free iTunes Downloads List

It's bonus music Wednesday.

Every week, the iTunes Store offers free weekly goodies. Normally in Canada and most other countries, it's a Song of the Week, but every country has something different. The

free iTunes downloads in the US are more plentiful, and often include music videos, TV pilots, audiobooks and more.


There are also sometimes bonus promotional deals, where companies offer a free song. At the moment, Subpop is offering a free sampler album to download through the Facebook.

Keep track of the
free iTunes downloads with the itsfreedownloads site or their RSS feed.

Today's Link source: The Google

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Canada's Best Music Journalism

Exclaim Magazine

Exclaim is Canada's authoritative music rag, with profiles of the coolest up-and-coming artists, playlist charts from Canada's college radio stations, and have indie pop culture news (not to be confused with the trashy mainstream news).

They do feature a lot of new Canadian music, but have also profiled exciting global scenes as well. If you know anything about Canadian music these days, you'll know it's doing okay. The reviews are extensive, featuring films, DVDs, concerts, and music from every genre, including: heavy metal, electronic, hip hop, alt-country, pop and rock (though not mainstream), punk, funk, experimental and avant garde, soul and world.

It's the magazine that people WISH that Rolling Stone and Spin were.

When I lived in Japan, Exclaim was the music magazine that I chose to subscribe to because of their excellent pop culture coverage. The low international rates were a bonus. In Canada, the hardcopy version is certainly worth more than the free cover price.

Today's Link source: I have no clue

Monday, June 11, 2007

Definitive Local Vancouver Blog media


Beyond Robson

The internet is known for being "international" and "global", but it's much more difficult to get credible information on a local scale. Sure I can check out websites for local TV and newspapers, but I'm looking for local content that is unique, and web specific.

Beyond Robson covers News, Film, Music, Fashion, Arts, the Vancouver Olympics, Vancouver Nightlife and Events, Sports, Food, and Technology. Hmm... this looks like the same stuff covered by the "real media", except that Beyond Robson is a lot fresher, it's hyperlinked, and has that quirky, original content that you don't get anywhere else.


Purporting to be about "the best of Vancouver culture", there's a daily news posting of links to articles, called Morning Brew, which covers local politics in a way that isn't considered cheerleading. There are entries on Vancouver's all-female roller derby league, the Music Waste festival, a story on local band Parlour Steps, editorials on the anti-Olympic protests, hot nightclubs and events, and tons of other cool stuff. If you're a resident or visiting Vancouver, Beyond Robson will point you to what's hot!

They're part of Freshdaily, which also covers Toronto and Montreal. Freshdaily aims to be Canada's first national blog network, although they've yet to launch officially. Finally, the internet is getting more local!

Today's Link source: del.icio.us

Sunday, June 10, 2007

How Swiss Bank Accounts Work

Howstuffworks "How Swiss Bank Accounts Work"

Today's link is from Howstuffworks , and explains what Swiss Banks are, and aren't. There is lots of explanation of the benefits, restrictions and limits of the laws governing the Swiss banking system. Of course the article also covers the privacy and stability that comes with the famous numbered Swiss Bank Accounts.

Today's Link source: Reddit

Friday, June 8, 2007

What does it take to run a successful business in NYC?

The Profit Calculator - New York Magazine

What does it take to make a profit in New York City?

It's tough to run a business in the world's most competitive city, New York. New York Magazine has 21 mini case studies on a wide range of successful businesses in NYC, where success is often measured by just having the resources to pay the rent. Some of the businesses are legit, some are illegal, but this information is intriguing.

Direct links to the case studies are posted here:

A Yellow-Cab Driver: Samuel Pekoh
A Four-Star Restaurant: Nobu
A Drug Dealer: 'Nick'
A Private School: Horace Mann School
A Private Investigator: Michael McKeever
A Department Store: Macy's Herald Square
A Diner: Silver Star
A Drug Company: Pfizer
A Soup Kitchen: Yorkville Common Pantry
A Financial Firm: Goldman Sachs
A Yoga Studio: Joschi Body Bodega
A Midtown Building: 666 Fifth Avenue
A Sex Shop: Babeland
A Baseball Team: New York Yankees
A Discount Store: Jack’s 99¢ Stores
A Museum: Museum of Modern Art
A Pizza Place: Nina’s Argentinian Pizzeria
A Clothing Store: H&M Flagship
A Copy Shop: Copyland
A Publishing Company: Random House
City Government: The City of New York

If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere!

Today's Link source: MetaFilter

New favourite band.

Ankle Injury video - Fujiya and Miyagi

It's official.
I normally keep the music posts to Tuesday's, but today is an exception. I saw the insanely great music video for Fujiya & Miyagi for the first time last night, and made my decision. I've hyped them a couple of times before, but their music has such great grooves and is so smooth. Their video is brilliant, and their song is named after a medical condition that I have a lot of personal experience with.

Fujiya and Miyagi are my new favourite band.

Today's Link source: Meta Filter

Thursday, June 7, 2007

The best source of Web 2.0 news

Mashable

Mashable is a comprehensive news site covering the events of Web 2.0.

In their own words, "Mashable is the world's largest blog focused exclusively on social networks." In practical terms, some of the news stories in the past couple of days have been about:
- a wine review site (Snooth Launches Basic Wine Reviews Site),
- new Facebook applications (SmartTravel, NewsCloud and Jaiku Facebook Apps),
- an online music collaboration site (JamNow Launches Music Collaboration Site),
- a new advertising medium for bloggers (Wize Launches Affiliate Widgets for Bloggers) and
- Web 2.0 finance and aquisitions news (ThisNext Raises Round of Venture Debt).

In true Web 2.0 fashion, you can create your own profile Mashable including friends, tags and messaging.

Today's Link source: I have no idea.

Linkjockey invites you to join Mashable



Hi, your friend has invited you to Mashable.
Use this link to signup.

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Guides for preparing an Emergency Survival Kit

With a heavy snowfall in the mountains last winter and a warm spring, parts of British Columbia are starting to experience rivers that are flooding over their banks.

This is a good opportunity to give you a few resources to prepare yourself, your family and your home for emergencies. Today's links are different ways that you can be ready in advance of an emergency, such as: floods, earthquakes, power outages, storms, terrorist attacks, nuclear accidents or landslides.

Government of Canada - Emergency Preparedness Guide (pdf)
American Red Cross - Disaster Supplies Kit
US Homeland Security / Ready America - "Get a Kit"
72hours.org- Are you prepared?

Hopefully, you'll never need to use it, but it's better to keep safe.

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Classic Police, Pixies & Bowie concert recordings for download

RELODA MUSIC DAILY


RELODA is another great mp3 aggregator for legal independent music. RELODA has albums, EPs, singles, demos, webmixes, Sessions, and compilations of miscellaneous material.

While some of the other mp3 aggregators such as elbo.ws and Hype Machine have more tracks available, RELODA is a bit more like a high output music blog. It has a good search feature and I really like that there are direct links to all the downloads. Grouping tracks by artists also helps keep things organized.


I think the coolest feature of RELODA is the mp3s of live concerts (bootlegs?), such as: Pixies in Melbourne 2007, Pavement - Peel Session, Kid Koala doing Solid Steel in 2000, The Police in 1979 and 1984, Wolfmother on XFM, Talking Heads - Demos 1975, David Bowie in Santa Monica 1972 and NY in 1976. New and old concerts are represented here.

Monday, June 4, 2007

Global Festival and Event Listings

Worldwide Events Guide and travel inspirations - Whatsonwhen

What's going on?

Whatsonwhen answers this question wherever you are, whether it's Japan, London, Turkey, Bali, New York, Vancouver and Whistler, Costa Rica, San Francisco, Barcelona, or Hong Kong.

Whenever you travel, a great way to experience the local culture is to check out festivals, concerts, parades, matsuri, or whatever events are going on. You can search by city, country, date, and by the type of events. They have loads of country guides, city guides and listings, and it can be a great source of inspiration for your next vacation.

Today's Link source: Rick Steves' Europe: Favorite Links

Sunday, June 3, 2007

15 Reasons Mister Rogers Was the Best Neighbour Ever

15 Reasons Mister Rogers Was the Best Neighbor Ever

Even though I wasn't a big fan of Mister Rogers as a child, this article from Mental Floss really changed my mind about him.

Mister Rogers saved American public television?
He was an ordained minister? Who knew?

He's an easy target for derision from the cooler-than-you kids, but maybe those "boring" children's shows about respecting other people are better than the "exciting", violent 30-minute commercials that sell expensive toys.

The world will miss him.

Today's Link source: popurls

Saturday, June 2, 2007

The Ultimate Guide to folding Paper Airplanes

The world's best paper planes - Guardian.co.uk

Everything you need to fold the world's best paper planes. It includes step-by-step guides for 12 different folded planes (in html and pdf), 24 printable patterns in color for folding planes (or used as origami paper), and top tips from paper airplane experts. It's the perfect way to spend a sunny weekend.

read more digg story

Today's Link source: del.icio.us

Friday, June 1, 2007

Fun online Brain Training games

Lumosity

Linkjockey has invited you to try the brain training games at lumosity.com. The Lumos program is a set of online games and exercises scientifically designed to improve memory, attention, brain speed and other important cognitive functions. The idea is similar to Big Brain Academy and Brain Age from Nintendo, these games are web-based, and are fun, effective and free.

You need to create an account to get started. Improve your mental acuity:
http://www.lumosity.com/account/sign_up?invite=ff1af8a6373a

Today's Link Source: del.icio.us