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

Friday, August 31, 2007

Top beer critic dies

Beer critic Michael Jackson dies
The world's greatest beer critic, Beerhunter Michael Jackson, passed away at the age of 65. He wrote books, created a documentary series, and praised Belgian brews.
He will be missed. Cheers.
Today's Link source: Popurls

Thursday, August 30, 2007

"Shut Up I Hack You" - Elite Hackrz R00L2!!!

Shut Up I Hack You

This IRC dialogue between a 1337 h4x0r had me in stitches. The Elite Hacker was so angry, that he had to consult others for advice in hacking. ROFLMAO.

Today's Link Source: de.lici.ous

Behind the Scenes: The NFL Playbook

ESPN.com - In NFL, the playbook is sacred

Today's Link source: popurls.com

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

How to Have a Number One the Easy Way - The KLF

KLF: Burn a Million Quid (video) and The Manual (e-book)
We're going into the "way-back files" today with the KLF.

Not only were they a successful nineties pop-group, they were pretty convincing artistes.
For my money, their most successful output was the publication of their book about pop music, "The Manual (How to Have a Number One the Easy Way) " (download The Manual .pdf).

Today's pop stars only wish they could be as interesting.

Today's Link Source: Boing Boing

Friday, August 24, 2007

It's official: "Vancouver: Best City in the World"

Liveability: Where the grass is greener - Economist.com

The statistics are in for the annual Economist ranking of the World's Most Livable Cities. Vancouver scores the top spot this year, and Australian cities do very well too. The article has the list of the Top 10 Best Cities, as well as the Worst 10 Cities. Now if we could only get our hockey team to perform like the best in the world.

Today's Link source: Digg

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Texas Rangers 30, Baltimore Orioles 3 MLB Recap

MLB - Texas Rangers / Baltimore Orioles Recap Wednesday August 22, 2007
Uhhh, the Texas Rangers scored 30 runs?
It's pretty amazing that a modern game can have such a level of disparity that hasn't been seen in Baseball for over 100 years. That's sure going to improve the statistics for a whole bunch of Texas players, and destroy the ERAs for a few Baltimore Orioles players.

Kudos to the Texas Rangers for bringing the sports news back to the playing field, where it belongs.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

List of the 10 Solutions to Save the Oceans

10 Solutions to Save the Ocean - Conservation Magazine
Briefly:
1. Eat lower on the marine food web and tap into a bountiful supply of protein
2. Elevate the role of small-scale fishers in the world market
3. Alter harvest strategies to account for evolutionary change
4. Invest in microcredit schemes for women in poor coastal communities to curtail overfishing
5. Tap into the firsthand expertise and ingenuity of fishermen and backyard inventors
6. Simple modifications to fishing gear save thousands of turtles and seabirds each year
7. Create new markets that reward careful fishing
8. Eliminate fuel subsidies to reduce destructive bottom trawling on the high seas
9. Text messaging is changing the face of marine conservation
10. Move toward wholesale zoning of the oceans—rather than piecemeal protection schemes

Today's Daily Link is from Treehugger

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Canucks re-sign Trevor Linden

Vancouver Canucks - Canucks Re-Sign Forward Trevor Linden

The NHL's Vancouver Canucks' annual dilemma about their heart and soul comes to an end.

The Canucks re-signed their most popular player today to a one year contract. At 37 years old, he might not have the best stats for your fantasy hockey pool, but he's an excellent supporting player.
Go Canucks! Go!

Discover new music from TV commercials

Music from TV commercials on Squidoo
As radio continues to get stale, ironically, the best new music is showing up in commercials. It's rare that the artists get credit for the funky music that makes the commercials "cool".

Who are these artists? N.E.R.D., Flaming Lips, Matthew Dear, Wilco, Teddybears, Ok Go, MSTRKRFT, Brazilian Girls, The Helio Sequence, Yoshida Brothers, Wolfmother, Ozomatli, Goldfrapp, CocoRosie, Royksopp, Dizzy Gillespie, and The Polyphonic Spree, to name just a few of the artists featured here.

This Squidoo Lens has TONS of current and classic TV ads with great music. The clips come from YouTube and elsewhere, and have the names of the songs and the artists. For you marketing, film and design junkies, the ads that get the best music also often have some of the best visual concepts.

So, go ahead! Enjoy the commercials without the guilt!

Today's Link source: Squidoo Lens of the Day

$7.2 billion dollar thin-film photovoltaics market predicted

New NanoMarkets Report Predicts $7.2 Billion Thin-Film Photovoltaics Market by 2015


Apparently, there's a new type of solar panel on the market called "thin-film photovoltaics" (TFPV) , and the market for them is supposed to grow by over 7 times in the next 8 years according to a new report from NanoMarkets.
Just so that everyone is straight, these TFPVs are cheaper, lighter, and more flexible than conventional photo-voltaic panels (aka solar panels). They can also be applied to walls, roofs and windows, and work even in low light, unlike solar panels. This sounds absolutely incredible, with all kinds of possibilities for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing strain on the electric grid.

And if you have $3,000 to spare, I'd love to read the full report on the future market for thin-film photovoltaics.

Today's Link source: treehugger article

Friday, August 17, 2007

Imagine a job where you jump out of a helicopter onto high voltage lines

Like A Bird On A Wire - YouTube Video

A mesmerizing portrait of the job of a Powerline Technician (PLT), as he flies on the outside of a helicopter and climbs on to high voltage transmission power lines. Clearly, you can't be a hotdog in this line of work.
At the end of the video, I love how he says that he's afraid of three things: heights, electricity and women.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Nightclubs Suck!

Nightclubs are hell. What's cool or fun about a thumping, sweaty dungeon full of posing idiots?

I'm often interested in hearing contrarian opinions- that is, opinions that run contrary to widely held conventional beliefs. Charlie Brooker's opinion piece in The Guardian is a pretty amusing take on what's wrong with nightclubs.
While I used to "go out" regularly, I don't go to clubs very often any more. Those few times when I do go out for a night of drinking, dancing and fun; I haven't really taken the time to think about why I didn't enjoy the experience all that much.
Now I know; it's not just me, there are lots of reasons why nightclubs suck.

Today's Link source: Reddit

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Make a Solar Water Heater for Under $5

Solar Thermal Water Heater For Less Than Five Dollars

Instructables has great instructions for you to Macgyver yourself a Solar Hot Water Heater using refrigerator coils. Apparently, it's so effective that the hot water heater can quickly and easily heat water that will scald you. Now, that's hot!

I'd love to hear about other diy solutions for renewable energy.

Today's Link source: Treehugger

Monday, August 13, 2007

Top 10 money drains

Top 10 money drains

Part of Bankrate's Guide to Financial Literacy, the list of Top 10 money drains points out all of those daily vices that add up to significant costs over the long term. Help improve your finances and increase your savings by reigning in your spending.

Today's Link source: del.icio.us

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Best current advice on traveling around Europe on a budget

Monday, August 6, 2007

Futurist talks about the future of Christianity

Kevin Kelly on the Next 1,000 Years of Christianity churchrelevance.com
What's your point caller?: Q - Kevin Kelly

I've been a reader of Wired magazine for a few years, and I've come to really respect the work of its founder Kevin Kelly. He is a renowned Futurist, I've written a couple of entries about Kevin Kelly before. I also think his Cool Tools list is just awesome. I recently discovered that Kevin is a Christian, and I did a little more research.

Today's links are notes from a talk that Kevin Kelly gave at a Fermi Conference. He did his futurist thing on possible futures for the Christian church over the next 1,000 years, and his findings are pretty novel. A lot has changed in the church in the past 1,000 years, but he states plainly that one thousand years is only 13 generations. Even predicting half a generation ahead produces some surprising results, and he predicts that by 2040, 30% of all Christians will be from China and the world population will be shrinking.

Learn to speak LOLcat

speak lolcat - lolcat translator
LOLcats are all the rage on teh internets. They're cute and funny, and you can't really ask for anything more than that.
Now you can be like all the cool kids and learn to speak lolcat too. I THINK U WILL LUV IT 2.

Apologies for infrequent writing this week. IM GOIN 2 BE AT CAMP. K BAI.

Today's Link source: popurls.com

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Brilliant ideas for Crafts

Crafty Daisies blog

While I'm no expert in crafts, I do dabble from time to time. From what I've heard, this blog is brilliant for coming up with great ideas for your diy craft projects. Some of their most popular categories are:

Like I said, while I can't personally vouch for the projects, the pictures do like really great and the projects have a really professional, stylish look to them. The Learn to Crochet series looks really popular, and has lots of photos and YouTube videos.

Dare I mention the face of popular crafts, Martha Stewart? Probably not.

Today's Link source: Popurls.com

Thursday, August 2, 2007

Christopher Walks Invites You To Enter the Georgia Straight's Best of Vancouver ballot

Christopher Walks has invited you to enter the Georgia Straight's Best of Vancouver ballot.

The 2007 Georgia Straight Best of Vancouver ballot is now open. Tell us the best (and a few worst) of everything in the city and be entered for some great prizes!

http://www.straight.com/bov

All the good links are from Japan...

This upcoming weekend, Vancouver is hosting the Powell Street Festival; which is Vancouver's annual Japanese cultural festival . I'm looking forward to some great food, like Okonomiyaki, Takoyaki and Yakitori. Yummy!!

In honour of the Powell Street Festival, here are 4 fascinating links that are all related to Japan.

1. Stunning 360 degree view of Yokohama Harbour (Quicktime VR)
2. Maywa Denki - Japan's far-out version of the Blue Man Group (videos)
3. Tokyo's Shinjuku station signage made with adhesive tape
4. Video profile of hetero male hosts at a Japanese Host Bar

Today's Link source: Linkjockey Tumblr

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

SHOCKING: How to talk to strangers in Vancouver

OK Social
http://www.oksocial.org

Here's one of those Harlequin romances that happened in Vancouver: there
was a girl who was pretty shy, but one day she came upon a stranger
sweeping broken glass in front of his house. They talked, and each
discovered the other already had a partner. But their conversation was
so fantastic, they thought about each other afterwards. While talking
they had exchanged business cards. After a few friendly emails, they
stopped communicating due to busy schedules and relationships. After a
year of not speaking, the girl, now single, contacted him. Turns out, he
had become single as well. They have now been dating for almost two
years.

That girl is me. If this doesn't inspire you to start talking to
strangers, how about this: Vancouver now has a simple tool to instigate
speaking with your neighbour. The OK Button, created by Steve, is an
easy way to show people that you are friendly, and they are welcome to
talk to you. Simple, hey? Apparently, Vancouver needs this sort of
tool.

"There seems to be this underlying dynamic in Vancouver, that it's
really inappropriate to speak to someone you don't know or don't have
any reference to, " observed Steve. "I think it's learned behaviour,
it's cultural. For whatever reason, we have a legacy of being on-guard
all the time. In a public space, people stand around not talking to each
other or only talk with their friends. (The OK button) is getting beyond
that with an icon that says, 'Hey, I won't think you're nuts if you walk
up to me and talk to me.' "

While speaking to a fellow traveler about the shyness of Vancouverites,
Steve's lightbulb went off and he started making the buttons. A former
graphic designer, he quickly churns them out for anyone requesting them,
free of charge.

"The idea is to make this a friendlier place, not make money. I love
this city so much. I grew up here. Every time I travel I consider
Vancouver to be the best place. It's just this one thing that drives me
nuts, so I'm trying to do something about it."

Get one, they're free for pick up or we can mail them to you. @

Clutch by auto/ONE
Trunk Gallery

1755 West 3rd Avenue, Vancouver, BC

Buttons available after August 3rd, 2007

Today's Link source: Joe Nidua (Thanks Joe, and congratulations on your
engagement!!)