Roll With It Baby

It's been a while since I highlighted the new entries in my list of links, so there's a lot of them here...

Gapminder World
A very interesting interactive animated chart and map of various metrics of countries around the world. Choose any of sixteen different indicators to assign to the X & Y axes and the dot size. Or view the dots in their geographical locations and pick a single indicator for their size. Watch it all animated and see how the values have changed over a period of years since 1960. (Some dots disappear when data is not available.) Fascinating.

RealClimate - Responses to common contrarian arguments (against climate change & its human factors)
I've been seeing a lot of the same arguments against a human factor in global warming. Mostly they seem to originate from the same house-organ/astroturf sources funded by a few corporations. Here's the reality, from people who have actually done the real science.

15 Answers to Creationist Nonsense
Another in the bad/pseudoscience debunking genre. This time a Scientific American article that addresses the sometimes convoluted, sometimes simply willfully obtuse arguments put forth in favor of creationism/ID.

IMDB - old style (The new layout SUCKS. Switch all IMDB links to this URL and spread the word!)
IMDB has changed their layout. Their research indicates that most visitors concentrate on the main portion of the screen and largely ignore the links to additional information in the left hand sidebar. Accordingly, they have moved much of what had been in the center section to the left hand sidebar. (Boggle!) IMHO, they should have simply changed the visual styling to emphasize the connection between the main section of the screen and the sidebar. While it lasts, use this link instead of their main URL to get the old style IMDB. If enough people do this, maybe they'll catch a clue.

PR Watch - See who's behind the message.
A useful site that explores and exposes the real source of many messages & ideas you hear passed around on a variety of subjects. Is it the truth, or is it PR? That's the question this site asks and answers.

John's Secret Store at printfection.com
John's Other Secret Store at printfection.com
As you may have noticed (I've mentioned it here enough) I've been designing and selling shirts & gifts at cafepress.com. Recently I learned of this other similar site - printfection.com - with its own selection of goods. They allow "shop owners" to set up categories & subcategories in their free shops (cafepress charges) so I've begun putting up some of my favorites & best sellers to take advantage of their different selection of colors & styles. I've heard their print quality is good too. I have two shops there. The "other" one is the one I won't be showing my parents. ("Bad" words make conservatives cry.) I find that while they seem to have greater potential than cafepress in control of size & position & such, they lack certain controls that would allow easier editing and mass changes.
NOTE: I've recently learned of a "wrinkle" in both sites' printing process for dark shirts that is forcing me to make alterations to many of my designs. If you plan to order one of my darker shirts pleas contact me first here and I'll let you know if the one you want is safe to order yet. Otherwise, you might get a white border around the design.

That's it for now. Hopefully I won't let the roll grow so much before the next update. Happy surfing!