Extra Future

Hi, I’m Phil Nelson, a writer, developer, and audio-visual maker of stuff. I have been making stuff online for over 25 years. I run RetroStrange and Set Side B. Good to see you.

Blog Archives

Month: March 2011

  • Felix’s Node.js Guide

    A pretty comprehensive look at Node geared toward those with some JS experience. It isn’t why’s (poignant) Guide to Ruby, but it’ll do.

  • Amazon Isn’t Paying License Fees for “Cloud Drive”

    [paidContent:][link]

    >Amazon has launched its new online music locker and streamer without any licenses from the labels whose material it will store and distribute, the labels’ umbrella group IFPI tells paidContent. Not a problem, replies Amazon—licenses aren’t necessary for its new Cloud Drive.

    The music industry is (and has been) [suing MP3Tunes][sue] because they’ve offered precisely the same service. If Amazon sticks to their guns it will be a big win for everyone who buys digital content.

    [link]: http://m.paidcontent.org/article/419-without-licenses-amazons-cloud-player-walks-a-high-wire/ “paidContent – Mobile”
    [sue]: http://www.ipodnn.com/articles/10/11/02/mp3tunes.says.case.win.may.help.apple.and.google/ “MP3tunes: lawsuit win might help iTunes cloud locker”

  • PhantomJS: Headless WebKit with JavaScript API

    [Phantom is a minimalistic implementation of WebKit without a user interface, making it perfect for testing pages or scraping data.][link]

    [link]: http://www.phantomjs.org/ “PhantomJS: Headless WebKit with JavaScript API”

  • Lukas Mathis on Skype 5 for Mac

    [A downgrade in every sense:][link]

    >Unfortunately, instead of making the Windows version of Skype better, they’ve decided to fix the discrepancy by making the Mac version of Skype more like the Windows version.

    Always, always, a bad idea.

    [link]: http://ignorethecode.net/blog/2011/03/30/skype_5/ “ignore the code: Skype 5 for Mac”

  • Ads for ads: The ad-supported app bubble

    The [droste effect][droste] like world of [Ads in apps for apps with ads][link]. Where’s the actual money coming from?

    It’s strange that nobody has been talking about this before now. I guess when VCs are throwing money at you it’s hard to see past tomorrow.

    [link]: http://www.asymco.com/2011/03/17/ads-for-ads-the-ad-supported-app-bubble/ “Ads for ads: The ad-supported app bubble | asymco”
    [droste]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Droste_effect “Droste Effect”

  • Word Of The Day: Thespianage

    In response the still ongoing adventures of Anna Chapman, [Bruce Sterling said][link]:

    >We need a better word than “espionage” for this all-too-public maneuvering

    Naturally, the answer is “Thespianage.” I like to think Mr. Peabody would be proud.

    Let’s make it a thing.

    [anna]: http://bit.ly/dS8SDt “Russian Spies to FBI: Give Us Our Data Back!”
    [link]: https://twitter.com/bruces “Bruce Sterling”

  • A Letter From Lois Lane

    Joanne Siegel, widow of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel, passed away on February 12th of this year. [She’d been working on writing a letter to Time Warner’s CEO, Jeffrey L. Bewkes.][link]

    Joanne is widely known to be the inspiration for Lois Lane, and even at 93 she fit the part. Time Warner’s action in all of this has been gross.

    [link]: http://www.deadline.com/2011/03/letter-from-lois-lane-to-time-warner-boss/ “Letter From Lois Lane To Time Warner Boss – Deadline.com”

  • Kids Dungeon Adventure

    My friend Ben Garvey and his daughter Sasha have created a [Floortop RPG for pre-school aged kids][link]. The idea is your kid uses his or her favorite toys as the characters and baddies. You can buy printable monster cards and rule sheets [on his website][link].

    [link]: http://kidsdungeonadventure.com/ “Kids Dungeon Adventure”

  • The Venture Brothers Renewed For 2 More Seasons

    [This is probably the best news I’ll hear this year][link]. If you haven’t been watching The Venture Bros then you’ve been missing out on a super fun, deceptively complex, show about robots and monsters and super science.

    [link]: http://jacksonpublick.livejournal.com/30750.html “Publick Nuisance – Countdown To Wow-Town”

  • The Show Replay

    [Ze Frank is doing text commentary as he reposts the entirety of The Show on its 5 year anniversary.][link] The Show is a major cultural touchstone between a certain portion of the internet. It’s not a small one, either.

    If you missed it, now is the best time to [start from Show 1][show1].

    [link]: http://www.zefrank.com/theshow/replay/ “The Show :: Replay”
    [show1]: http://www.zefrank.com/theshow/replay/?p=4 “The Show: Episode 1”