“If it was, you’d walk into a library and die. The first time you connected to the Web, you’d blow up, and merely browsing a newspaper would make you a nervous wreck.”

Jeffrey Zeldman:

You just feel, when you’re around people developing the best new web software, that something new is happening, and that many strands are coming together.

I signed up for Gowalla just a few days ago, and though the usefulness of it beyond a fun social network is a bit lost on me, the potential it has is certainly obvious. (Perhaps part of Gowalla’s usefulness being lost on me has to do with the fact that I only have a handful of friends with iPhones, and of them, only a couple were nerdy enough to sign up for it.)

Screenshots of good-looking Mac and iPhone apps. What a peculiar niche of folks we are that we love this sort of stuff. (Via DF.)

“Note: This Chart Designates Operations and Not Authorities”

Leo Babauta’s response to my post from earlier today on attention and trust as it relates to advertising.

In short, Leo’s point is that even if a publisher fully stands behind a company which is placing an ad, it is still a paid recommendation. And thus there is no such thing as 100% pure, trust-based advertising. His suggested solution is for the creator to sell their own stuff instead of someone else’s. Perhaps you sell the very thing you create, or perhaps you sell something else on the side to subsidize your time so you can continue creating.

In a pure and ideal model Leo is right. It would be great if every artist or writer were able to successfully sell what they create to those who are interested in it. But examples where this works out well for the artist rare — too many folks can’t afford to pay for your content with money.

If each of my favorite weblogs went behind a firewall and required a paid subscription to their content I could not financially afford to keep reading each of them (and I only subscribe to 25 or so sites). Instead of paying with my wallet I am willing to pay with my attention.

A beautiful and curious, 5-minute video shot with a tilt-shift camera documenting a day in New York City. Really makes NYC look gorgeous. (Via Phil Coffman.)

The first interview I posted on this site, over two and a half years ago, happened to be with Glenn Wolsey. He was 15 years old at the time. And it’s a great interview; I enjoyed re-reading it just now.

A true-to-form Glenn Wolsey article. This is the kind of stuff that I loved Glenn’s weblog for. Here’s hoping you keep writing, Glenn.

Some great tips from Lukas. I especially like this bit:

There’s a really simple tip almost everybody can use to increase productivity tremendously. Not only is the tip free, it might even make you a bit of money. And it’ll make you smarter. It’s really easy, there’s only one step involved: Sell your TVs.

This gorgeously typeset graphic — “Being a Collection of Proverbs, Saws & Advice for Our Morphean Moments.” — is the introduction to Ben Schott’s upcoming series about insomnia on the NY Times column, All Nighters. (Via Andrew.)