Welcome to this week's edition of our Quality Linkage column. Please enjoy this week’s collection of interesting and entertaining links. Brew a fresh cup of coffee, find a comfortable place, and relax.
??: Coming up this Thursday (May 7th, 2020) the photography experts at our sister site The Sweet Setup will be hosting a photography webinar where they'll be sharing how to take better photos using the gear you already have. It’s going to be a lot of fun, and we do hope you'll join the live stream because you're going to learn a lot.
There'll be a live Q&A portion as well, so come ready with your questions!
Register here to get on the list, and we'll see you on Thursday at 1:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada).
???: You may have seen the truly flawless AI meme generator this week, but in case you haven't, go ahead and say goodbye to your productivity.
⌨️: Nerd out alongside us as Adam Tow takes us on a tour through the history of iPad keyboards.
NSFW for language
?⁉️: The ever-excellent Brian David Gilbert (“BDG”) of Polygon spent a few months and a not-insignificant portion of his remaining sanity trying to figure out why Kirby (as in, the video game character) is both incredibly simple and incredibly powerful.
???: Greg Olijnyk's Instagram feed is really something. He's an Australian graphic designer who uses his free time to escape from the digital world a bit by creating incredibly detailed and playfully cartoonish cardboard robot figures.
+ Also worth checking out along this vein are Daniel Agdag's similarly fantastical cardboard sculptures.
??: As part of The Atlantic's “Fifty” series collecting images from each of the United States, here are some gorgeous photos of Colorado for you to enjoy. The skiier being pulled by a horse-riding cowboy down a city street is the winner, as far as I'm concerned — not that it's a contest or anything.
Of course, I have to also share the collection from my home state as well. ?
???: There's making a peanut butter + jelly sandwich, and then there's making your own “PB&J for adults” completely from scratch. Gotta try this sometime.
??: Peter Maxwell of FRAME Magazine examines the quarantine-driven rise of virtual art gallery tours and why they often disappointingly fail (at least right now) at recreating the experience of physically visiting museums. An instructive article for anyone in charge of putting together such a project for their own gallery.
NSFW for language
??: I recently stumbled across the YouTube channel of “Sam the Cooking Guy”, where Canadian expat and restaurant owner Sam Zien hosts a “cooking show for the rest of us.” He's not about overly fancy dishes — just quality, easy-to-make food that's sure to be a hit at your dinner table.
He also swears a lot and leaves any embarrassing/hilarious goofs in the final cut, and generally seems to have a good time doing what he does. Even if you don't care for his recipes, the videos are still fun to watch.
Here are a couple of his videos I've enjoyed:
One thing I appreciate isn't just how “real” the guy seems in his videos, it's that he often pauses for a second or two to gather his next thought before speaking. Most YouTubers cut that stuff out to keep things snappy and always moving, but Sam lets those moments breathe a little instead. It's kinda refreshing, actually.
Neat Stuff We've Published Recently
- The Olympians' 2016 self-titled instrumental sould album is smooth and funky productivity music.
- Want to experience shockingly good sound and active-noise cancellation from sub-$60 headphones? Boltune has the over-ear cans for you.
- Le Parfait's iconic “Super Glass” jars and terrines have been made in France for nearly a century and are just as useful today for long-term food preservation, canning, pickling, fermentation, and storage of bulk dry goods.
- Last year, former post-hardcore band Emarosa released Peach Club, a smart, infectious synth-pop album that’ll be stuck in your head for a good while.
- DBZ fans are the target audience for Aubrey Sitterson and Fico Ossio's graphic novel/comic series, No One Left to Fight.
- This “Cork Cube” tape dispenser/tiny memo board is large, geometric, angular, sculptural, holds your sticky tape, and is perfect for pinning stuff to.
Got any suggestions for articles, videos, stories, photographs, and any other links you think we should be posting in our weekly Quality Linkage? Please do let us know on Twitter.