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prior listings

 

• snapshot 4/28/01 
  Description: Online photo journal based in San Francisco. Mostly nightlife and street photography. (Flash)
  Comments: Ken Auerweck tries to take at least 10 snapshots every day.  He's got thousands in his collection by now and 104 of them have found their way to the web in the form of an online photo journal.  Oh, yes, it is a journal — each snapshot is date stamped and each of the pictures is a record of where he was on a given day — what he happened to capture at different moments of time.  Sometimes it's people, some friends, some strangers, and other times it's a building, or something colorful sitting in the gutter, or the sink at someone's house where a party was held.  Whatever he happens to encounter is fair game.  All rather scattered and interesting, Ken's online photo journal is a perfect diversion.  The "tall" version (1 of 2 choices) adds an interesting dimension to his work.  The photos are randomly paired and presented that way and Ken's right that viewing the photos that way adds an interesting perspective to them.  But if you prefer to look at one at a time, just go for the "short" version.  So — I've viewed probably about a half of the photos and will be back soon to see the others.  What I'm really hoping, though, is that a whole bunch more of those date-stamped snapshots in his collection find their way from the shoebox to the webspace — San Francisco makes such a wonderful backdrop and we'll all want to see more...
   
• BBQBOX 4/15/01 
  Description: a box contains extensive 2D and 3D animations, Flash and illustrations.
  Comments: The character standing on the chair at the drawing table is Eric Cheung a/k/a BBQ Wing, a 25 year old born in Hong Kong.  There's a strange culinary theme to the name of the site and all of the great illustration and animation pieces on display are presented as ingredients you'll find in Eric's "box."  Well — Eric's definitely cookin' with gas when it comes to design and art talent, so I guess the site's name is more than appropriate.  The look and feel is colorful and fun and the interface has to be the cutest use of Flash on the planet.  If he's not a professional cartoonist, he should be...
   
• Subdisc 4/10/01 
  Description: experimental design from sweden (flash)
  Comments: Though you'll find a wealth of sites in the Portal Cool Zone that have been around a long time and are just as good as they've always been, one of my key missions here is to make you aware of brand new sites worthy of your time.  Today's pick launched just yesterday.  If you're set at 800x600 resolution, I suggest you either go into fullscreen mode or set your taskbar on "auto hide" if you're in Windows — that way, you won't miss part of the text at the bottom.  What I really like about today's pick is the cool Flash interface and clean, colorful look acheived by Swedish designer Marcus Ericsson.  There's some good content already with the promise of more in the works.  Even though it's hosted by the design firm he works for (which always comes off as being a little commercially promotional in my mind when the link to the "host" is so prominent), Marcus defines this as his own personal playground and that's exactly what it really appears to be.  It's got a fun look and feel and Marcus' creativity definitely goes in more than one direction.  The "merchandise" section even has a shopping cart feature, but it's non-commercial and where you'll find freely downloadable wallpapers and screensavers — only one of each at the moment, but I'm sure that's only temporary.  Then, there's the "jukebox" with several songs written by Marcus — they're not solo performances, though — he's got other musicians playin' with him and it's pretty good stuff.  Had to wait a bit for loading, but I'm on a low bandwith connection at home, so I really didn't mind.  I'm looking forward to seeing how the "exhibition" section grows — Marcus promises it will.  So — I'm pleased to share this 2-day-old site with ya — enjoy...
   
• STRUCT 4/6/01 
  Description: structure-random-pattern-basic-form-examine-[º_º] (Flash)
  Comments: I've looked at today's pick at least a half dozen times over the last week, and sure enough, right after deciding to call it today's best of the cool, there appears to be some server problems.  But I'll stick with the pick and hope that the host is clearing up whatever is causing the "403 Forbidden" messages I'm getting from the site this morning.  Hopefully, by the time you read this review, the permissions, etc. will have been corrected, and you'll be enjoying today's pick.
  
  
  
  It's the type of Flash site that's perfect if you're in "explore" mode and interested in a type of web art that's really only possible with Flash.  In effect, Flash is the interface, and it's the content as well.  I think what separates a site like this from all those other Flash sites you'll hear me whining about on a regular basis, is that the experiments on display here are intelligent studies in form and motion that appear based on the designer's real understanding of actionscripting and the mathematical possibilities it allows.  There's a large assortment of engaging pieces that defy the clichés I keep encountering when looking at so-called Flash labs.  In the end, it's a matter of personal taste and I'm banking on this one pleasing the Flashers among us...