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For the first Link Drop of twothousandnine I thought I’d change the format up. Bigger screen shot of the link, title and text below the image. That update should fix some of the issues pc people have had in the past trying to read Link Drops. If you found this week you were clicking more or less, liking it or hating the different format please let me know. I’m always curious for that kind of feedback.

This time of year allows for lots of “best of” lists so you’ll find some of those this week. There’s a couple sites that have to do w/ Starbucks and the CBC has a couple entries. End of year wrap ups also tend to offer advice about the upcoming year, but anytime someone gives a prediction the reader is at best to take it at it’s peril. Following blindly without question has consequences as the last two years has shown.
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The Times Square New Year’s Ball Timeline
Gizmodo wrote “Last year, we published the 100 year timeline of the Times Square New Year’s Ball. Now we’ve updated it with Philips’ and New York’s newest, most dazzling time ball ever. The 2009 New Year’s Ball is 12 feet in diameter…”

Best of 2008: A List of Design Lists
design:related wrote “It’s without a doubt that 2008 was an interesting year. With over 150 lists from more than 20 different categories, our year-end list of lists should keep you busy for a while.”

Music Lists
Is it bedtime wrote “All across the internet looks-back at 2008’s music are giving way to predictions for 2009. Time then for some lists other people have made:”

Hack for free Starbucks wi-fi on your laptop (if you have an iPhone)
an error occurred while processing this directive wrote “If you have an iphone, you get complimentary access to any AT&T wi-fi hotspot. These hotspots are in several chains, including Starbucks.”

Good typography matters.
1934 wrote “Lately, in my work at NPR, I have become more aware than ever how important good typography is. My main project right now is as lead designer on NPR.org’s redesign, which will go live sometime in 2009. Luckily, I have…”

HOW TO 2008: How To Do Almost Anything With Social Media
Mashable wrote “During 2008, we’ve tried to bring you the best how-tos for achieving more with social media tools: everything from Google products to blogging to online video to productivity and beyond. Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon, Friendfeed, and Delicious all got the How-To treatment.”

Abanico horario
noquedanblogs wrote ““Fan clock” es un reloj que decora el espacio existente entre la hora y los minutos con un abanico. “Fan clock” the colored space between the hour and minute hands suggest a traditional folded hand-fan. Design by Stanislav Katz.”

Book Review: Why Do Architects Wear Black?
A Daily Dose of Architecture wrote “Architects wearing black is a stereotype on par with architects wearing black, plastic-frame spectacles. Most architects don’t abide by these fashion recipes, but if somebody outside the profession comes across…”

“logical or emotional”
i am the weather wrote “Craig Oldham recently published 12 IN 12, an accompaniment to a talk where he gave a listing of 12 things he learned in his first 12 months as a graphic designer. In the talk he touched upon the different cultures of designers…”

outlines
About: “What is 2- and what is 3-dimensional? At first sight the black outlines seem to be the object, but with a change of angle reality shifts. The black lines only form a bench or a chair from one angle, from every other point of view there is no…”

Express Yourself
Visual Culture wrote “en Wilson has designed a chair for children that you can customize by coloring the chair as you see fit. The chair is cut from a flat plywood sheet, and the 2 Dimensional parts are assembled into a chair. If your feeling really inspired…”

HIPSTER RUNOFF Presents 2k8’s Most CMMNTd Posts
Hipster Runoff wrote “HIPSTER RUNOFF is a place for discussion. HIPSTER RUNOFF is a place for commenting. HIPSTER RUNOFF is a for some of the most important social commentary in the world. HIPSTER RUNOFF is a place for progressive ideas…’”

Smart People / Smart Ideas from December 2008
Eyecube wrote “I’ve been thinking a lot about how I interact with social media. What am I giving and what am I taking? How, and what, am I sharing? How am I supporting the efforts of others? To that end, I started doing something on Twitter…”

Full interview: Rahaf Harfoush on government transparency
About: “As transparency and two-way communication become the norm in business, media, and journalism, why has so much of what’s happened in Ottawa recently taken place behind closed doors? Is there something Canada can learn from…”

Grid-A-Licious
About: “Grid-A-Licious™ is a WordPress Theme made by Suprb. Divs are placed in chronological order with a special grid. Grid-A-Licious uses the jQuery javascript framework which can be downloaded from www.jquery.com. This layout can be seen at…”

Hallie Jones – Artist
About: “Content on this page is from my radio show “Artificial Happiness” on WXBH Low Power FM, Brick Radio. All files are .mp3 format. The show features IDM, cliq-hop, experimental, hip-hop, ambient, leftfield, and downtempo electronic music.”

Will Amateur Booksellers Kill Publishing?
GalleyCat wrote “Over the weekend, NY Times writer David Streitfeld ignited a literary blogosphere controversy by blaming amateur booksellers for publishing’s current state of financial distress. The article’s central point proposed that avid..”

Company woe
Economist wrote “To look ahead, look back to 2002. NO MATTER what happens in 2009, financial markets can surely not be as turbulent as they have been in 2008. The virtual demise of the independent investment bank, the rescue of Fannie Mae…”

The Digital Ramble | For Richer, For Poorer
The Moment Blog wrote “The Digital Ramble explores aesthetic topics through materials found online. Seeing Daniel Arsham’s “Hammock” right now, the metaphor hits me in the gut: everything is in free fall, or so it feels. Poverty is relative, it has…”

20 Predictions for ’09
Archinect wrote “We at Archinect like to fondly look back as each year comes to a close. This year we’ve decided to take a slightly different approach. Instead of rounding up the greatest hits from 2008, we’re moving ahead and setting…”

25 fantastic design articles from 2008
David Airey wrote “As a little thank you for reading my blog, I asked what your favourite design blog post was from 2008. A fitting way to finish off the year and to bring in the new, here’s what you chose, and why.”

Monocle Launches Monocle Weekly: Small Talk, Big Issues
Design Mind wrote “Yes, we live (again) in the “age of conversations.” There is something reassuring about listening to smart people having cultured conversations. When I was young, I would listen for hours to music-free radio programming…”

10 Religious Holidays Not Yet Exploited by Hallmark
Mental Floss wrote “What’s not to love about holidays? You get to take off work, everyone’s in a great mood, and there’s always plenty of delicious food lying around. Wouldn’t it be great if we could sustain all that fun and excitement throughout the year?”

Seen at Starbucks
Junk Charts wrote “If you happened to be in a Starbucks recently, you might have picked up some charts, which was what happened to one of our regular readers and commentators, ZBicyclist, who then tried his hand at chart critique here…”

Timeless and Time-Tested Warren Buffett Watch Predictions
CNBC wrote “As a new year approaches, it is customary for journalists to make predictions about the future. This time around, CNBC.com has a collection of prognostications from CNBC bloggers on a special page: Predictions ’09.”

The year 2008 in photographs (part 1 of 3)
Boston.com wrote “2008 has been an eventful year to say the least – it is difficult to sum up the thousands of stories in just a handful of photographs. That said, I will try to do what I’ve done with other photo narratives here, and tell a story of 2008…”

The Ten Most Popular Web Videos Of 2008
Silicon Alley Insider wrote “2007′s most popular Web videos included amateur-created stuff like Tay Zonday’s “Chocolate Rain” and Chris Cocker’s “Leave Britney Alone.” This year professional content creators produced nine out of the year’s 10 most…”

Jesse Wente’s Top 10 Films of 2008
Blog – Q wrote “Q’s Screenboy Jesse Wente offers his take on the Top Ten Films of 2008. Did he get it right? What did he miss? What would your Top 10 be? JESSE’S TOP TEN MOVIES OF 2008 – I tried to keep it to movies released in Canada in 2008”

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