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Niche books, such as the one we did to celebrate a venerable calculator club, have been possible for a while now with digital print-on-demand publishing. Now, Magcloud does the same for glossy magazines.

If this makes you want to publish your own magazine, please do get the typography right; it makes such a difference if what’s on paper isn’t completely hideous. This Periodic table of typefaces is a good place to explore the commonest options (although, if he were real, I suspect Jack Bauer would be annoyed that it doesn’t include Bank Gothic).

Speaking of when calculators were on the cutting edge of computing, none of the hardware modifications I did to mine were quite as illegal as turning one into a pipe for smoking weed. I guess I was never stoned enough to think that would help my programming.

If you’ve ever wondered when the relentless pace of miniaturization would finally cram your computer into its mains plug, wonder no more. Here’s a better picture, and here’s a nice diagram.

Packing data into small spaces has been the enabling technology for practical digital video, but what happens when  you tinker with what the playback devices expect to find in their compressed data? Data corruption as emerging art, that’s what (although when Rambo emerges from it, I think it’s done).

And speaking of cramming things into unexpected places, don’t forget that tomorrow is Sword Swallower’s Day. I’ve heard August 17th is lined up to be Goldfish Regurgitation Day, but I’m awaiting confirmation from the League of Magicians’ Assistants (Gill-breathing Office).

If you thought living in a cave would make you immune to economic problems, think again. The cave in question is now one of the most followed auctions on eBay.

If you’re interested in finding out what the area’s like close to that cave, or indeed, close to anything that’s been photographed, Flickr’s new “nearby” feature might help.

The only disappointing thing about that feature is that it doesn’t have a sufficiently mockable name to show up in this game of buzzword bingo. (Be sure to click the Make another card button if your favourite mock-magnet doesn’t appear right away.)

Good news, everyone! The last of the four Futurama jigsaw-puzzle DVD movies is dodging Royal Mail asteroids on its way to me now; here’s a fairly glowing review (from an admittedly partisan source).

Meanwhile, if you’re literally dying for a hug, here’s a dating service for the terminally ill.

Whereas, if you’re a violin-loving cheapskate, there’s still time to get free tickets to Tasmin Little’s concert at St Martin-in-the-Fields on Monday, March 2nd. (I have mine already, thanks for asking.)

David Byrne declares Hong Kong the world’s worst city for cyclists, while observing the attempts of a fish to escape along the street, and of Filipino workers meeting in concrete niches.

I’ve never thought of the parts where edges meet on a sheet of paper as “dangerous and annoying” before, but I guess if you do, then three hundred bucks is a small price to pay to ensure your safety.

I found that machine while reading about the do-it-yourselfing of this high-tech tech notebook.

What better to compliment it than one of Nakaya’s incredibly crafted pens, for which a limb might be a small price to pay (as long as it’s not your writing hand)?

[Note: You need to use the drop-down list top-right, which lets you navigate through many more pens, as well as the left-hand menu, to choose from different techniques, in order to see them all.]

Musak, the company that displaced uneasy silences from elevators everywhere, has filed for bankruptcy protection. Cue the tiny violins. Oh, wait.

I wonder how Musak would have filled the carefully cooked acoustics of the Melbourne Recital Centre…I fervently hope we’ll never know.

Let’s shout out a big ‘Pip! Pip! Hooray!’ to Unix epoch time, as it reaches the arbitrary-yet-tidy milestone of 1234567890 today. (Also, 1234554321 a bit earlier, if you really need a monotonically-increasing excuse for a drink.)

Don’t forget, if you’re unable to hide irrationally from the world today, there’s another chance to catch up on Friday the 13th next month.

Tips on having what you create survive the Trough of No Value (via Jason Scott)

People manage to get downhill in the darndest things (via Wil Wheaton)

In a sense, it’s every episode of Star Trek at once.

BONG! Free Big Ben ring tones for its 150th anniversary.

PONG! Classic video game is 40 years old already.

THRONG! Graham Linehan invites you to his twittery film viewing.

What very little people get up to in Vincent Bousserez’ Plastic Life :

In Soviet Russia, cats LOL you!
http://rolcats.com

When your girlfriend gets you one of these, it proves she gets you:
http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/2009/02/one-of-the-most-awesome-things-ive-ever-signed.html

“Star Wars” theme trumpet-player Maurice Murphy was on his first day on the job:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1obMuhRgm0

Boy, that’s a lot of galaxies you have there:
http://www.spacetelescope.org/news/html/heic0901.html

Broadcast ignorance + legal threats = wide exposure:

• http://www.badscience.net/2009/02/legal-chill-from-lbc-973-over-jeni-barnetts-mmr-scaremongering/
• http://blog.dave.org.uk/2009/02/the-controversy-that-wont-die.html
• http://nhsblogdoc.blogspot.com/2009/02/shit-hits-fan-jeni-barnett-and-lbc.html
• http://www.boingboing.net/2009/02/05/scientist-who-critic.html